Edith & Harold (by Alexis Markwick, 2018)

Edith Festival 2024: Saturday 19 October

For a third year, the Friends of Edith is having a festival in honour of the prime widow of 1066, the partner of slain King Harold. The statue of them in in Grosvenor Gardens, West St Leonards is old but increasingly appreciated. Bernard McGinley reports.

The setting of the 1875 statue of Edith Swan-neck and King Harold Godwineson (by Charles Wilke) was enhanced by a wildflower garden at the place. Additionally the nearby toilet block was painted to look like an Anglo-Saxon Manor House, and explanatory storyboards were also put in to explain the connexions and history behind the installation. The improvements have been widely appreciated.

Friends’ improvements in Grosvenor Gardens

Festival

This year’s Edith Festival will be held on Saturday 19 October at the White Rock Hotel (opposite the Pier) as part of the Hastings Week programme of events: from noon for a 12:30 start, with an opening including the Mayor.

The programme arranged by the Friends of Edith will include three presentations:

Professor Chris Scull FSA (of UCL and Cardiff) on archaeological excavations revealing the royal site of one of our earliest kingdoms

David Dennis on the story and history of Old Winchelsea, a drown’d town, and the subject of his current book

Dr James Wright FSA on the exploration of ancient buildings and the myths that mislead.

The full programme and tickets can be found on Eventbrite.

Ian Jarman, founder of the Friends of Edith, commented,

We are really looking forward to this year’s event. The brilliant discoveries at Rendlesham [Suffolk] are revealing much about the important early kingdom and kings of East Anglia, one of whom – Raedwald – was buried at nearby Sutton Hoo, and which also have interesting connections for Edith. The extraordinary local story of Winchelsea and its precarious survival has long been a fascination for many people. And it will be exciting to hear some common beliefs about old buildings debunked by an expert! It is a fitting culmination to a very eventful year.

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