Beating the bounds
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Beating the bounds or perambulating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in parts of England, Wales, and the New England region of the United States, which involves swatting local landmarks
Beating the bounds of the parish of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford (picture taken at Oriel College).
Beating the Bounds in Mill Lane, Cambridge. The clergy and parishioners of Little St Mary's, Cambridge annually walk round the boundaries of the parish, singing hymns and psalms and praying for blessings on the residents and their activities.
Beating the bounds memorial plaque in West Ham
This stone commemorates a beating of the Marldon parish bounds in Devon in May 2000.
Rogation days
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Rogation days, also known as Rogationtide, are days of prayer and fasting in Western Christianity. They are observed with processions and the Litany of the Saints. The so-called major rogation is held
Beating the bounds
…for civic leaders. In former times when maps were rare, it was usual to make a formal perambulation of the parish boundaries on Ascension Day or during Rogation week. Knowledge of the limits of each parish needed to be handed down so that such matters as liability to contribute to the repair of the church or the…
Blessing the Fields on Rogation Sunday at Hever, Kent, in 1967
Woodcut illustration of Pre-Reformation processional order, c. early 16th century