Painswick Clipping Ceremony

The Painswick clipping ceremony is held in St Mary's churchyard on the third Sunday of September, as part of the Painswick Feast. In 2026 that was 20 September; in 2027 it should be Sunday 19 September, a date the church has yet to confirm. The 2025 service began at 3pm; the church does not publish the time in advance on its website, so check with the parish office nearer the day.

What happens

Clipping, which the church spells clypping, comes from an old English word for embracing. On the 2025 order of service it began at 3pm in church, with a procession round the churchyard; after the sermon, for which the preacher is paid a basket of flowers and two buns, the people of the parish, children among them, joined hands among the yews to make a ring right round the church, singing the Clypping Hymn, "Daily, daily sing the praises". It is a church service rather than a performance: the church invites people to join the procession or wait outside, and the churchyard is free to enter.

The clipping is part of the Painswick Feast, the village's September celebration. The churchyard itself is worth time either side: it is on the Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade II for its clipped yews and its table tombs, many attributed to the Bryan family of Painswick stone carvers.

Getting there

Painswick is on the A46 about 4 miles north of Stroud. Stagecoach's 66 bus from Stroud Merrywalks takes about 10 minutes to the stop opposite St Mary's, and in the autumn 2026 timetable runs every two hours on Sundays, at 25 minutes to the hour from Stroud, so check the return times. Stamages Lane car park has only 56 bays, so arrive early or come by bus. The Cotswold Way passes through the village, and the Painswick Beacon walk makes a morning of it before the service.

Where the custom comes from

The record is plain: the clipping took place on and off in the early nineteenth century and was revived as an annual event in 1897, according to the Victoria County History. The church calls the custom ancient, but no earlier origin is recorded. The church, its yews and its tombs are in our page on St Mary's Church, Painswick, and the village in the guide to Painswick.

Earlier in the year, the valleys' other old customs are Randwick Wap in May and Bisley Well Dressing on Ascension Day.