An Historical Pageant of Rothley

Other names

  • The Temple and the Town

Pageant type

Jump to Summary

Performances

Place: Forecourt of Rothley Court Hotel (Rothley) (Rothley, Leicestershire, England)

Year: 1977

Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors

Number of performances: 2

Notes

6–7 June 1977

[Performances were staged in the evening on both days.]

Name of pageant master and other named staff

  • Producer and Researcher [Pageant Master]: Offley, Rodney
  • Master of Music: Reg Pilgeam
  • Dance and Music Consort: Carolyn Bull
  • Stage Stewards: Stephen Bates and Graham Crowden
  • The Setting: Frederick Sleath and Bernard Perry
  • Sound: David Cockshaw
  • Lighting: Jack and Kevin Harrison
  • Dressing: Rosemary Hilton and Lois Dalloway
  • House Steward: Michael Jones
  • Ticket Sales: J.M. Thompson
  • Heraldry Research: Frank Hale
  • Programme, Tickets, Publicity: Rodney Offley
  • The Chronicler Voices: Gordon Harmer, David Wilson, and Harry Thackley

Names of executive committee or equivalent

Organising Committee

(this was for the entire Jubilee Celebrations)

  • Chairman: Mrs C.G. Fishbourne
  • Vice-Chairman: Mr A. Welsh
  • Treasurer: Mr M.F. Ward
  • Hon. Secretary: Mr C.R. Poole

Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)

  • Offley, Rodney

Names of composers

n/a

Numbers of performers

1 - 200

Financial information

n/a

Object of any funds raised

n/a

Linked occasion

The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II

Audience information

  • Grandstand: Not Known
  • Grandstand capacity: n/a
  • Total audience: n/a

Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest

n/a

Associated events

Part of wider jubilee celebrations including:

June 5

  • Church Service at the Parish Church
  • Jubilee Cricket Match on Rothley Park
  • Gymkhana

June 6

  • Parade
  • Trade Exhibition
  • Tea for Over 70s
  • Tug of War
  • Skittling for Pig
  • Five-a-side Soccer
  • Clay Pigeon Shoot
  • Welly Throwing
  • Children’s Sport
  • Flower arranging and cake making competition
  • Dance and Barbecue

Pageant outline

The pageant told the story of Rothley from BC 55 – AD 1900: from Julius Caeser to Queen Victoria

Key historical figures mentioned

n/a

Musical production

n/a

Newspaper coverage of pageant

n/a

Book of words

None known

Other primary published materials

  • Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee: The Temple and the Town: An Historical Pageant, Rothley B.C. 55-A.D. 1900. Np. [1977].

References in secondary literature

n/a

Archival holdings connected to pageant

  • Information on the Pageant taken from ‘The Pageant of Rothley 1977’, Rothley Parish Council Website, accessed 7 December 2016, http://www.rothleyparishcouncil.org.uk/the-pageant-of-rothley-1977.html

Sources used in preparation of pageant

n/a

Summary

The pageant in the small Leicestershire village of Rothley was one of many in a late flourishing of pageants held to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II (see entries on Carlisle, Biggleswade, and Lingfield). The pageant was researched, written, produced and directed by the local historian, Rodney Offley.1 As the Jubilee Programme declared in no uncertain terms, ‘Every village has an history, Rothley is no exception. The Historic Pageant is an attempt to show in both sight and sound, the place of Rothley Village and its inhabitants has played in national and Local events. It is a pageant for villagers by villagers’.2

Footnotes

1. ^ See ‘Rodney George Offley’, Offley Society Newsletter, 46 (Spring 2000), 5-6, The Offley Family Society, accessed 7 December 2016, http://www.offleysociety.co.uk/nl_46.htm
2. ^ ‘Silver Jubilee Celebrations 1977’, Rothley Parish Council, accessed 7 December 2016, http://www.rothleyparishcouncil.org.uk/silver-jubilee-celebrations-1977.html

How to cite this entry

Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘An Historical Pageant of Rothley’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1390/