Oyster Festival Core Events
Within the fun and spectacle of the Whitstable Oyster Festival are the events that are particularly relevant to the local community and the history of Whitstable. These events are nurtured and overseen by WOFA as part of the town's heritage.
Grotter building
You can learn more about the history of the Oyster and Dredgers of Whitstable here . |
Grotter - a strange and unique word in the English language describes a hollow mound of sand or mud, the outside of which is decorated with oystershells. Built by children, particularly in Whitstable, as a lighted shrine to celebrate St. James' Day. The best Grotters would encourage some monetary reward much like building a Guy for November 5th, except here the cries were "Remember the Grotter" or "Penny for the Grotter please". This tradition was also to be found along the reaches of the Thames where the discarded shell of consumed Whitstable and Colchester oysters were to be found. It continued there until 1967 when it was stamped out as a 'nuisance'. |
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It is therefore entirely fitting that the tradition should be continued in Whitstable, else its memory would be lost in time, and also fitting that the honour falls to the younger generation to build these Grotters for us today. |
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The Landing of the Oysters
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This scene can be found on old pictures and postcards of the town and is symbolic of the landing of the first oysters of the season. The Bay is no longer full of Oyster Smacks dredging the beds or the oystermen rowing the catch ashore in their tenders. Horses no longer load the market barges at the Horsebridge, but as you watch the ceremony it is easy to imagine those days. |
Witness the re-enactment of an event that takes us back over 100 years to the heyday of Whitstable's oyster industry. Renowned world-wide, the Whitstable Oysters, particularly the Natives, were shipped to Billingsgate Market and on to the highest class restaurants and department stores around the country.
The oysters will be brought ashore by the Whitstable Sea Scouts in their ketch "Roma III". The catch will then be blessed by a member of the Whitstable clergy before being presented to the Lord Mayor who will be accompanied by other dignatories, both local and international. The oysters will then be passed to the horse-drawn dray which forms part of the ensueing Oyster Parade for distribution throughout the town.
While admittedly, the original pictures were more likely taken on September 1st, the traditional start of the oyster season, they do symbolise the Whitstable equivalent of a Harvest Festival, and so the event is now depicted during our Summer Oyster Festival celebrating Whitstable's heritage.
The Blessing of the Waters
When you live and work in such close unison with the sea, feed from its bounty and build your houses on land that you stole from the sea, it takes on an entity that you must respect and fear. Whitstable people knew that the sea could easily take back the land, or take for its own anyone of them it chose.
Hundreds of Whitstable men were lost at sea as they sailed around the British Isles, bringing back coal from Sunderland, or taking ore to the south west counties. The mariners often had never learnt to swim for this was seen as a distrust of their vessels. Whilst they were away the wind, rain and the sea sometimes colluded to breach the "walls" they had built to protect their families and on their return they would find the wooden cottages they lived in undermined and destroyed.
No wonder then, that once a year, the townspeople would gather together on the beach and conduct a religious service to bless the waters. They would thank the sea for all it gave and hope by their humility the sea would be placated and not take anything in return.
This age-old tradition still takes place today. We feel secure with our sea-walls and drainage systems and we don't have half of our male population working with the elements of wind and water, but we do have beaches populated with pleasure sailors so it does no harm to remind ourselves of the dangers of toying with nature.
The procession leaves from St. Peter's Church, goes on to Starvation Point, reputedly so called because it was the area around which mariners would wait to see if there was any work available for them to earn enough to feed their families. It then proceeds along Sea Wall to Reeves Beach where the blessing ceremony takes place.
Everyone is welcome to take part in the Service. Whilst you are there remember the Whitstable men who never came back, whilst doing their job or as part of the naval forces protecting our country. Think of those whose lives have been tragically lost, here or around the world, by the power of the sea and ask for its benevolence.
This event is organised by the Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men, the successors of the Society of the Natives of Kent, founded in 1657 and who first elected stewards from Whitstable in 1699.