Randwick Wap

The Randwick Wap is the spring festival of Randwick, a hillside village above Stroud, held over two days in early May. On the first Sunday of the month three Double Gloucester cheeses are blessed at the spring service in the church at 11am and rolled round the churchyard. The following Saturday is Wap Day: the procession gathers at the War Memorial at 12.30pm and ends with a fair on the village green. In 2026 the service was on 3 May and Wap Day on 9 May. The 2027 dates had not been announced when we checked in October 2026; by the same pattern the service would be on Sunday 2 May and Wap Day on Saturday 8 May, to be confirmed by the organisers.

Wap Day

The heart of the day is the procession. The Wap Mayor and the Wap Queen, chosen by the village in a secret ballot and declared in March, are officially cried in at the War Memorial and lead the procession through the village with the High Sheriff, the Sword Bearer, the Flag Bearer and the Mop Man or Mop Maiden. At the Mayor's Pool the Mayor and Queen are anointed with water, and on the slope of Well Leaze the Mayor and Queen each roll the two saved cheeses three times to foretell the season. Music and dancing go with them the whole way.

On the green the fair has stalls run by local charities, food and drink, a beer tent, games, a dog show and things for children to do, with live music through the afternoon. The event is glass free. The organisers do not publish an entry charge; money spent at the stalls goes to local causes.

Getting there and parking

Randwick is about 1.5 miles (2.5km) north-west of Stroud, up steep lanes. Parking for the fair opens at midday on Wap Day, half an hour before the procession gathers, so arrive early. The Vine Tree in the village is a good place to end the day. The beech woods above the village, Standish Wood, make a walk the next morning.

Where the Wap comes from

The organisers believe the Wap goes back to the Middle Ages and take its name from the wappenshaw, an old review of local men and their weapons; that origin is tradition rather than record. What is recorded is that the spring revel was stopped in the late nineteenth century by the court at Whitminster for its rowdiness. It was revived in 1972 by Randwick's vicar, the Revd Nial Morrison, and has run every year since, apart from 2020 and 2021.

In the same month, the children of Bisley carry flowers to the village wells for Bisley Well Dressing on Ascension Day.