Celebrating the Kentish Hooden Horse

Celebrating the Kentish Hooden Horse explores the history, heritage and continuation of the East Kent Hoodening tradition. The project considers the relationship of Hoodening to folk theatre and performance, landscape and psychogeography, working class customs, folk revivals and the new wave of folk activism. 

Project activities to date

Poor Old Horse (January 2023)
Sonia Overall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg6BbVp4Erw

A short creative film responding to the East Kent custom of Hoodening, using site-specific footage, music and spoken word. The film draws on a range of creative practice research methods, including walking with text and objects, ambulant writing and collaborative experimentation with musicians and performers. Spoken word text in the film also draws on and responds to written sources from Canterbury-based amateur historian Percy Maylam (The Hooden Horse 1909) and the transcript of an interview with an early 20th century hoodener (Tom West 1980).
The film was shown in the project exhibition (below) and shared with digital archives. Shortlisted for the 2023 Marŝarto Award for walking art.

3D Digital Scanning (January 2023)

Digital scans of 19th and early 20th century Hooden Horses, loaned from private collections, facilitated by Dr Catriona Cooper. An animated film of the scans featured in the project exhibition (below)

Hooden Horse Day (January 2023)

1. Sandwich Medieval Centre, Sandwich
2. Time & Tide Taphouse, Felderland
3. St Crispin Inn, Worth

A day of free activities exploring and celebrating Hoodening and connected customs. Pop-up exhibition; Hooden Horse Handling Workshop with scratch performance; village-to-town performance walk and wassailing led by Sonia Overall, James Frost and Trudgepig; Wassail & Cheer event with the Deal Hoodeners.

Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse (February – June 2023)

• Exhibition at Maidstone Museum
• Programme of community events

A major exhibition exploring Hoodening and connected guising customs through the contexts of seasonal customs, folklore, ritual drama, folk horror, rural landscape and workers’ rights. Featuring Hooden Horses from early and contemporary teams and Morris revival horses alongside items from the connected traditions of Northern skull horses, the Old Tup, the Welsh Mari Lwyd, West Country Obby Oss and ancient stag disguises. Performances from modern Hoodening teams across Kent and artists Post Workers Theatre, Rosa Irwin Clarke and Lunatraktors, exploring the custom in a contemporary context. Panel event and public talks with speakers Prof. Ronald Hutton, Dr Geoff Doel, George Frampton, Ben Jones, Ben Edge and Mark Norman. Folklore Podcast recordings.  
https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/whats-on/events/

Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse: exhibition catalogue
James Frost

A significant exhibition catalogue by exhibition curator James Frost, with contributions from Dr Geoff Doel and Ben Jones. Includes contemporary and revival Hoodening texts. https://ozaru.net/ozarubooks/animal-guising.html

The Hooden Horse: a Christmas Masquerade (November 2023 – January 2024)
Exhibition at Herne Bay Seaside Museum, curated by James Frost.

A local exhibition showcasing early and revival Hooden Horses from East Kent.
Programme of connected performances, workshops and talks.
http://theseasidemuseumhernebay.org/exhibitions/exhibitions/

Christ Church Hoodeners (December 2023)

Hoodening performance by CCCU staff for Christmas Cracker event, December 2023.

Hoodening & Wassail (January 2024)

• Sandwich Medieval Centre, Sandwich
• Time & Tide, Sandwich
• St Crispin Inn, Worth

A day of free activities exploring and celebrating Hoodening and Wassailing. Pop-up exhibition, reenactment group Øst Centingas; village-to-town performance walk led by Sonia Overall, James Frost and Trudgepig; orchard wassailing; Wassail & Cheer event with the Hospice Session Band. 

« Back