This year’s Town Sunday Service was held in the Parish Church of St Mary and St Eanswythe on Sunday 28 June at 1030 hours where this year’s Mayor, Cllr Jackie Meade was officially named.  The Service was led by the Town Mayor’s Chaplain, Kate McNeice with Rev. Chris Johnson and Vicky Fredrich also taking part in the Service.

From 1313, the inhabitants of Folkestone, summoned by the blowing of a horn, assembled annually at the Churchyard Cross in the Church grounds to elect their Mayor. Following the English Reformation of the 16th Century, when many traditional religious monuments and symbols were removed or fell into decay as part of sweeping changes to church worship and governance under Henry VIII and his successors, much of the original Churchyard Cross disappeared. By the end of the 19th Century, only its plinth and steps remained, but the custom of the election continued uninterrupted, preserving a link with Folkestone’s medieval past.

In 1897, Canon Matthew Woodward, amid considerable controversy, had the present cross built on the ancient site. Although the Town Mayor was elected in the comfort of the Town Hall, it was from the Churchyard Cross, prior to the Service in Church, that the Town Mayor was named, and prayers were said for the person honoured and elected by the Town Councillors for the Town of Folkestone.

The Town Mayor, Councillor Jackie Meade, attended and was accompanied by the Town Councillors of Folkestone, the Town Mayor’s Cadet and other civic dignitaries. The occasion was fully representative of Folkestone’s life and community with townspeople, clubs, societies and organisations invited to be represented.

For further information, please contact Folkestone Town Council offices on 01303 257946 or email georgina.wilson@folkestone-tc.gov.uk.