CustomFamous
The Tichborne Dole
Twenty-three acres on her knees, and a curse to guard them.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Country house where flour is given out on Lady Day
- Legend from
- Family tradition / living custom
- Tone
- Curious
A dying woman crawls round twenty-three acres before her torch goes out.
Every Lady Day, 25 March, flour is blessed and handed out in front of Tichborne House to people from Tichborne and Cheriton, one gallon per adult. Legend says the dying Lady Mabella asked her husband for land to feed the poor. He said she could have as much as she could go round while a torch burned. She crawled round 23 acres, still called the Crawls, and cursed anyone who stopped the dole. When it lapsed in the 1790s, the family had seven daughters and no heir, so the dole was restored. It was still held in 2026.