Restoration Day, more commonly known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, was an English, Welsh and Irish

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

, observed annually on 29 May, to commemorate the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in May 1660. In some parts of England the day is still celebrated. It has also been known as Shick Shack Day, or Oak and Nettle Day. In 1660, the English Parliament passed into law "An Act for a Perpetual Anniversary Thanksgiving on the Nine and Twentieth Day of May", declaring 29 May a public holiday "for keeping of a perpetual Anniversary, for a Day of Thanksgiving to God, for the great Blessing and Mercy he hath been graciously pleased to vouchsafe to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the Restoration of his Majesty..." The public holiday was abolished under the Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859, but the date retains some significance in local and institutional customs. It is, for example, still observed as Founder's Day by the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an ...

, which was founded by Charles II in 1681. In

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, Oak Apple Day was made a public holiday under the

Act of Settlement 1662 The Act of Settlement 1662 was passed by the Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was a partial reversal of the Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, which punished Irish Catholics and Royalists for fighting against the English Parliam ...

Ceremonies

Traditional celebrations to commemorate the event often entailed the wearing of

oak apple Oak apple or oak gall is the common name for a large, round, vaguely apple-like gall commonly found on many species of oak. Oak apples range in size from in diameter and are caused by chemicals injected by the larva of certain kinds of gall ...

s (a type of

plant gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

, possibly known in some parts of the country as a "shick-shack") or sprigs of oak leaves, in reference to the occasion after the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

in September 1651, when Charles II escaped the

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

army by hiding in an oak tree near

Boscobel House Boscobel House () is a Grade II* listed building in the parish of Boscobel in Shropshire. It has been, at various times, a farmhouse, a hunting lodge, and a holiday home; but it is most famous for its role in the escape of Charles II after the B ...

. Anyone who failed to wear a sprig of oak risked being pelted with bird's eggs or thrashed with nettles. In

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

, those not wearing oak were liable to be pinched, giving rise to the unofficial name of "Pinch- bum Day"; similarly it was known as "Bumping Day" in

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

. In Upton Grey, Hampshire, after the church bells had been rung at 6 am the bell-ringers used to place a large branch of oak over the church porch, and another over the

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

. Smaller branches were positioned in the gateway of every house to ensure good luck for the rest of the year.

Modern events

Events still take place at

Upton-upon-Severn Upton-upon-Severn (or Upton on Severn, etc. and locally simply Upton) is a town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Lying on the A4104 (formerly A440), the 2011 census recorded a population of 2,881 for th ...

in Worcestershire,

Marsh Gibbon Marsh Gibbon is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It is close to the A41 and the border with Oxfordshire about east of Bicester. History The village name comes from the English word 'marsh', describing the typical state ...

in Buckinghamshire, Great Wishford in Wiltshire (when villagers gather wood in Grovely Wood),

Aston-on-Clun Aston on Clun is a village in south Shropshire, England. It lies near to the River Clun, with the brook from Hopesay flowing through the village itself, and is on the B4368 road between the towns of Clun and Craven Arms. The village of Broome, ...

in Shropshire and Membury in Devon. The day has been marked in the past by re-enactment activities at Moseley Old Hall, West Midlands, one of the houses where Charles II hid in 1651. At

Fownhope Fownhope is a village in Herefordshire, England, an area of outstanding natural beauty on the banks of the River Wye. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was 999. The village has a church, St. Mary's Parish Church; primary school, ...

in Herefordshire the Heart of Oak Society organise an annual event, where members of the society gather at the local pub and march through the village holding flower and oak leaf decorated sticks, whilst following the society banner and a brass band. The march goes first to the church for a service, and then to houses who host refreshments. The Heart of Oak Society was previously a

friendly society A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutua ...

, but had to reform in 1989 to keep the tradition going. Although Oak Apple Day celebrations have decreased in popularity and knowledge, Fownhope has managed to keep the event going, increasing in popularity and turn-out every year. At

All Saints' Church, Northampton All Saints' Church, Northampton is a Church of England parish church in the centre of Northampton. The current church was largely built after a fire and was consecrated in 1680. It is a Grade I listed building. History Simon de Senlis' church ...

, a statue of Charles II is garlanded with oak leaves at noon every Oak Apple Day, followed by a celebration of the Holy Communion according to the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

''. Oak Apple Day is also celebrated in the Cornish village of St Neot. The vicar leads a procession through the village, he is followed by the Tower Captain holding the Oak bough. A large number of the villagers follow walking to the Church. A story of the history of the event is told and then the vicar blesses the branch. The Tower Captain throws the old branch down from the top of the tower and a new one is hauled to the top. Everyone is then invited to the vicarage gardens for refreshments and a barbecue. Up to 12 noon villagers wear a sprig of "red" (new) oak and in the afternoon wear a sprig of "Boys Love" (''Artemisia abrotanum''); tradition dictates that the punishment for not doing this results in being stung by nettles. In 2021, Oak Apple Day was celebrated within sight of Charles II's former home of Windsor Castle at Eton Wick.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{Refend

External links

English culture: Oak Apple DayCustoms at Great WishfordChelsea Hospital Oak Apple Day

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...