In The Voices of Morebath, a groundbreaking study of the life of a 16th-century West Country parish, the eminent historian Prof Eamon Duffy vividly evokes the fundraising “ales” which helped pay for building upkeep in churches across the country.
Home-brewed beer and music from travelling minstrels were frequently on offer at these raucous occasions, which were “a linchpin of social life” and “the only reliable source of parish funding”. Villagers were expected to attend and support the events financially. Most did so enthusiastically, although a more puritanical ethos after the Reformation put a dampener on ecclesiastically sanctioned cakes and ale.
