Rushbearing
Rushbearing is a celebration of the Parish Church, and its patron saint St Oswald. Prior to the laying of the pew wooden floors and slate aisles in the church, the floor was rough earth covered in rushes. Each year the first covering with new rushes was the occasion for a festival.
The first mention of Rushbearing was in 1680 in the Warden's accounts 'for ale bestowed on those who brought rushes and repaired the church, one shilling’.
Grasmere Rushbearing in its present form goes back to the 1840s. Traditionally the Bearings are shapes representing biblical and religious themes, today Bearings come in many shapes and sizes.