As a county Suffolk could be said to lack a wide range of surviving calendar traditions. As a consequence the Clopton Rose ceremony is a delightful revival in the picture perfect village of Long Melford.
The rose ceremony is of course a quit rent and such rose quit rents were relatively common in the mid-medieval period and were due to when they were in flower; given in June often at Midsummer. Indeed in 2003 all three existing rose rents; Knollys, Leicester and this one were in the same week with Leicester and Clopton the same weekend.
A rose by any other name
Local records record that in 1436 William Clopton then the Lord of Toppesfield Manor, granted the town of Hadleigh the guildhall and market land, for the rent of one mark a year. This as at some point and unexplained reason was commuted to a red rose. The Cloptons later moved to the larger and more impressive Kentwell and subsequently were no longer interested in the Hadleigh Toppesfield property selling it in 1470 to the Bendysshe family. This family was related to the Clopton’s by marriage and continued to receive the rose rent as presumably did all owners of the property as they had the same manorial rights.
Ironically then, it would seem that although the Cloptons theoretically parted company over 553 with the property and thus the rent; their name would be remembered. I do suppose they did introduce it and it was their generosity that is being thanked.
Such rose rents signified fidelity, as indeed we give roses today for that reason. As the medieval tradition of serfdom was being dismantled, the landlords required something that suggested the same sort of loyalty and the thus to the rose rent was established. Accepting a rose as a token payment was an acknowledgement of the tenant’s fidelity to his manorial lord.
A rose again.
Customs and traditions can sometimes surprise you. Often completely dead customs get revived. Even 100s of years after. It is unknown when the last rose rent was played to the Cloptons such rents were formally removed in an 1922 parliamentary act anyhow. However, the Clopton family has a large social organization with many based in the USA and as such a Jean Clopton came across the existence of the rent which had not been paid for many years. Those surprisingly in 1984 with the agreement of the mayorial office of Hadleigh and Long Melford church where the William Clopton memorial is, to revive the giving of the rose and those develop a revised custom around it. Fortunately, she did not ask for the unpaid roses to be given -otherwise the whole church would have been swamped with roses. Indeed in an article in the East Anglian Daily Times by Gemma Jarvis, ‘Famous church upholds historic tradition with red rose ceremony’, the Reverend Matthew Lawson notes:
“Originally Clopton had planned to charge two percent interest on the debt, in which case the village would have owed 1,303,365 roses. But Clopton says ‘for the sake of good international relations, the family will probably decide to cancel the debt, providing that the village pay us another rose for the next 500 years of rental.”
This first giving may have been more informal in an article in the Hadleigh Society Newsletter, June and July 1990 editor notes under the article “ONE RED ROSE” – An explanation by ‘W.A.B. Jones, that:
“The family have, of course, recently visited Hadleigh from the U.S.A. and were duly presented with one red rose, by the deputy Mayor.”
A bed of roses
When I arrived, a small crowd assembled on the green outside to see some re-enactors firing an old cannon. It was a lively start to the day; but unconnected to the actual Clopton rose ceremony.
The ceremony itself is part of the Sunday eucharist and thus had scant mention of the ceremony until the sermon. In 2023, the sermon supported by powerpoint explained the importance of the rose and mentions in the bible. He speaker stated that the only mention of roses in the bible was ‘rose of Sharon’; I did not have the heart to say to him afterwards that that was a hibiscus. Thus, there were no roses mentioned in the bible.
After the sermon the chair of Long Melford councillors Liz Malvisi and the Mayor of Hadleigh, Counsellor Gordon McLeod, supported by the members of the ministry team carrying staves processed into the chapel where William Clopton’s beautiful white marble tomb was found. The Mayor carried a fresh red rose, the older red rose having been removed previously, and those with a quiet hush, the newer one was placed atop William’s hands held in prayer. The Mayor then bowing his head in respect processed back to the main body of the church.
A simple but moving ceremony which reinforces the importance of the Clopton family to the village. The Reverend Matthew Lawson continued in the article that:
“This usually brings up to 80 members of the Clopton family to Long Melford, however it was a privilege to represent them at the Clopton rose ceremony.
I felt it was important to continue this tradition that has its roots as far back as 1436 in the village and with social distancing measures in place we managed to achieve this.
The Clopton rose ceremony maintains links between the people of Hadleigh and Long Melford. And with oursleves and the Clopton family of America whose ancestors helped to build the church. The ceremony also reminds us that acts of generosity can bear good fruit over many centuries.”
In 2023 the congregation was asked if there were any members of the Clopton family present; sadly there was not although since the Covid pandemic the service is livestreamed and so this has meant that many overseas family members could watch via Facebook.
As said simple service but one which underlines the importance of service and public sacrifice, a theme discussed by the mayor.
In search of traditional customs and ceremonies 
How wonderful this custom was revived! It is things like this that keep us connected to our past. Even though they may seem quaint to some, they unite us with one another. Where I live in the US there are very few, if any, such customs as Rose Rents. Thank you for this post.