Court Leet ceremony steeped in tradition

IT’S a ceremony steeped in tradition and once again it was time for the new high and low bailiff of Alcester to be sworn in outside St Nicholas Church.

Steven Brown is serving his second term as high bailiff while David Parkes steps down from being town crier to become the low bailiff for the next 12 months. He will then become high bailiff for a year and then return to his town crier duties in two years’ time.

Alcester is one of the few towns in the country that maintains this traditional aspect of English town life with the annual election of a court leet bailiff which dates back to 1292.

“We have a very unique community spirit in Alcester and our court leet raises money for local causes such as litter picking and trips for children. Hundreds of years ago the high bailiff was the governing voice in the town and the court leet was the body that enforced law and order. It was responsible for making sure the correct weights and measures were applied to meat, bread and ales, in fact the court leet still had a handful of powers up until 1977 when the Local Government Act came in,” High Bailiff Steven Brown said.