Dunmow’s final preparations for Flitch Trials
The Flitch - Credit: Archant
As the town of Dunmow prepares for the Flitch Trials on Saturday, July 9, the flitches (or sides) of bacon have been prepared for the event by butchers in the town.
Pictured here are butchers Peter Sweetland and Alan Coulson whose flitches come from farmers at Great Garnetts and Priors Farm. Five couples will go on trial and they can all win a flitch if they are good enough.
They will each have had to prove that over the past year they haven’t regretted being married even for a single day. They will be cross-examined by barristers and the jury will be young men and women from the town.
The event, which dates back to the middle ages, is all for fun, and the most humourous answers could well win the day.
The triumphant couples will be carried through the town on special flitch chairs and the event begins with a parade from the Saracen’s Head pub leaving around 10am.
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The mock court cases will take place in a marquee near Foakes Hall.
Three hampers have also been donated as raffle prizes for the public who witness the trials. They have been given by The Town Team, and branches of the Co-op in Great Dunmow and Flitch Green.
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Tickets for the trials from www.flitchtrials.co.uk
Trial Times
There are five trials each lasting about an hour.
They start at 10am, 2pm, 3pm, 7pm and 8pm. Before each trial, there will be a procession from the Saracen’s Head pub to the marquee at Foalkes Hall and afterwards there will be a swearing of oaths in the Market Square.
