Picking up sixpences at Smithfield 1902

Centuries-old tradition, when 21 sixpences were placed upon a flat gravestone in the churchyard at St. Bartholomew in Smithfield, London, on Good Friday morning. Gathered are twenty-one aged widows with the church officials and a few spectators. Photograph showing a widow kneeling and picking up one of the sixpences, on rising she receives a freshly-baked hot-cross bun from another gentleman, who then assists her to walk over the stone, subsequently each widow is presented with a penny

Annually Bartholomew Ceremonies Churchyard Custom Distribution Nov17 Picking Smithfield Tombs Traditions Widows

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