The ancient tradition of wassailing has been held at the home of Purbeck Cider, near Corfe Castle in Dorset, to bless its orchards and encourage the trees to fruit well.
A huge crowd wrapped up warmly and went out with blazing torches into the orchards at Lower Bushey Farm on Saturday 17th January 2026.
Torches were lit from braziers before crowds headed out into the orchard
Last ceremony followed by bumper harvest
Led by the King and Queen of the Wassail Joe and Kate Hartle, who have run the company out of Lower Bushey Farm since 2016, pieces of toast were placed in tree branches to attract good spirits.
Cider from last year’s harvest was then sprinkled round the roots of one of the oldest apple trees on the farm in thanks for last year’s harvest, and a shotgun was fired into the air to scare away any evil spirits.
The Purbeck Mummers led the crowd in a rendition of traditional wassailing songs, to encourage good fortune for the growing season ahead.
And Joe and Kate hope that the ceremony was every bit as successful as it must have been in 2025 – as that was followed eight months later by an exceptional harvest with some of the sweetest fruit ever produced on the farm.
After a long, hot summer, harvesting began on Tuesday 9th September 2025, two weeks earlier than normally expected, and carried on until late October, with a bumper crop of fruit which had very high sugar levels.
Joe and Kate Hartle have run Purbeck Cider from Lower Bushey Farm for 10 years
“Truly a vintage year in 2025”
Joe Hartle said:
“It was truly a vintage year in 2025, with amazing sugars and concentrated flavour profiles, and we encountered some Purbeck apples with a specific gravity of 1078, which was exceptional!
“They were fantastic crops, the juice volume from our fruit yield was as expected and in line with previous years but with high sugars – we really can’t wait to share the cider of 2025 with the public!
“We also held our first Apple Day event with an amazing turnout where more than 4,000 kilograms of apples and pears were donated by the public from 97 individual drops, which has been pressed and is currently maturing.
“Our local expert identified 127 different apples, the highest he has ever identified in one sitting – it was a really great day with lots of people enquiring about cider making, watching harvest and pressing and engaging with our ciders and the fruit we grow.”
Purbeck Mummers led the crowds in singing wassailing songs to bless the apple trees
“So important to keep rural traditions alive”
Kate Hartle added:
“We feel it is so important to keep these rural traditions alive, like wassailing the apple tree in January, which was documented as long ago as the 14th century, and almost certainly would have been performed long before that.
“Local villagers and farm workers would visit the orchards after dark on Twelfth Night, banging pots and pans and singing loudly to scare off any bad spirits lurking in the trees.
“They would then ask the trees for a good harvest in the coming year, and some of the wassail drink would be poured around the roots of the oldest tree.
“It is a truly magical evening that honours an ancient English tradition as well as the history of our own orchards, and we also hope that the ceremony has been successful as it was in 2025!”
Swanage sea shanty singers Kelp! got the evening under way with some rousing songs
Purbeck Mummers back in strength
Swanage based sea shanty singers Kelp! started the evening of entertainment at Lower Bushey Farm before the Purbeck Mummers performed their age old play in the sheep shed.
The group, which was set up in 2013 to revive an 18th century play from Lulworth, came close to folding in 2025 with the loss of several key players, but an autumn recruitment drive resulted in new mummers coming forward.
Mummers and guisers – performers in disguise who also kept mum so that no one could guess their identities – can be traced back at least 700 years, although today’s plays are based around written records of the entertainment from the 18th century.
Characters in the Purbeck Mummers play include King George, Old Father Abraham, Mr Holly, Beau Roamer, Beau Slasher, the Turkish knight, Trim Tram and a quack Doctor who claims to bring people back from the dead.
King George was the hero of Purbeck Mummers’ play
Green shoots of springtime
No one can be completely certain of the play’s message, though it is believed to have started as a message about death and resurrection, to reassure people that the dead of winter would soon give way to the green shoots of springtime.
Sue Wheatley, Purbeck’s first female mummer, said:
“Traditionally, the plays were performed by farmers who didn’t have much to do during the winter and would go round to manor houses in disguise, hoping to get a little bit extra food or money to help them.
“The play we use originated in Lulworth – there are loads of different mummers’ plays, but they are all basically a tale of good against evil and feature Saint George or King George as the hero.”
Firelight processions and loud noises are key to driving evil spirits out of the orchards
Joe Hartle was in charge of the traditional gunshots to drive out bad fortune
Bad fortune driven out of the orchard
After performing their play, the mummers led a torchlight procession to the farm’s orchards to bless the apple trees and sing wassail songs to the health of the old apple trees.
With loud cries of ‘Wassail!’ – an Anglo Saxon salutation meaning ‘good health’ – the crowd was then encouraged to make as much noise as possible to ensure that all bad fortune was driven out of the orchard.
Celebrations then continued late into the evening with live music from Chris Edward, barbecue food and plenty of hot mulled cider to keep the chill at bay!
King George and Old Father Abraham of Purbeck Mummers discuss the finer points of wassailing
Wareham town crier Jacquie Hall introduced the Purbeck Mummers
Purbeck Mummers introduced several new faces for the 2026 event
Chris Edward provided live music as the celebrations went on late into the evening
Further information
- Enjoy the Purbeck Cider story on its new website
