HAVE you ever wondered about how the harvest festival was started? Well, surprisingly, it only started less than 200 years ago.

Before the church harvest festivals began, it was always a good knees-up on the village green and in the local tavern. That was until the Rev Robert Stephen Hawker arrived in Morwenstow, a tiny hamlet in north Cornwall. This was in 1834 and he always strode the lanes in a bright purple or red cassock.

It was a harsh life on the farms back then, and if the harvest was poor it meant starvation for the villages. But the summer of 1843 was perfect and the harvest that year was exceptionally good. The people of Morwenstow were getting ready for the usual drunken party when Hawker stepped in and asked, 'Who did they think gave them the harvest?' Feeling a bit guilty, the people came to his church. Hawker led them in giving thanks to God for his rich blessing upon them.

The Christian harvest festival had arrived — in Morwenstow. This service is now one of the most popular in the church year.

David Luckhurst

Crocken Tor Road

Okehampton