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From: 156 Autumn 2022
Author: Chris Butterfield
Last year’s account of the St George’s Day service was tainted by the limitations of the coronavirus restrictions. No procession from the Town Hall. Only our Chairman Howard Crapper in attendance to represent the Freemen. Congregation seated apart from each other. Masks worn by everyone.
I hoped that this year, with all restrictions lifted, we might be back to where we were in 2019. But my hope was tempered with worry. So many things in life seem destined not to return to what they were in pre-pandemic times. Having arrived in the City centre well before the appointed time, I enjoyed a coffee in The Nosebag, a long-established café in St Michael’s Street, only to learn that it was closing three days later after over 50 years’ trading, as the owners had despaired of the business ever recovering to where it had been before.
So I walked down Cornmarket Street with a worried expression, passing other closed businesses on my way, concerned at what I might find, or not find, at the Town Hall. My dismay turned to delight as I arrived to be told that the last Freemen gown had just been taken. There was a milling throng ready to line up behind the mace bearer. Not having a gown, I decided not to join the procession, but to take some photos and join the Civic party at the church. Things got even better when we arrived, to find a full church, a shortage of service booklets, and not enough space for us on the allotted Freemen pews, so we had to overflow into the south aisle.
he mace, which in 2021 had been laid on a table, was clamped into place in its allotted position at the end of the front pew. The service was led again by the City Rector the Reverend Anthony Buckley, and as last year the first lesson was read by our Chairman and the second by the Lord Mayor Councillor Mark Lygo. It was good to see that the Order of Service once again not only welcomed the Lord Mayor and the Freemen of Oxford, but also contained a short historical account of the Freemen. On the back cover was a photo of the sculpture on one of the church pillars depicting St George slaying the dragon. That pillar is beside the pulpit from which the City Rector gave his address, referring to the wish of so many to slay the metaphorical dragons that beset them. He mentioned three such dragons in particular: a sense of not being loved, a feeling of no hope, and a lack of purpose. So many, especially in these particular times, will empathise with what he had to say.
At the conclusion of the service, which as ever at St Michael’s was notable for the excellent standard of its music, the Freemen joined the procession out of the church, into the spring sunshine, to enjoy coffee together in the church lounge. In past years we have taken lunch at The Mitre, but this is closed indefinitely, so our Chairman had arranged lunch at The Chequers at the other side of the High Street. It was nice to enjoy the fellowship of so many other Freemen once again.
Absent Freemen may still be able to view the service on the St Michael’s website. And if any Freeman should visit the church (the oldest in Oxford) he or she is invited by the City Rector to enjoy a complimentary ascent of the tower. Just email Vicar@smng.org.uk to say when you wish to come, and if Anthony happens to be free he will be pleased to greet you.
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