King Edred's Coronation
Pageant type
Notes
Information drawn from 'Survey of Historical Pageants' undertaken by Mick Wallis; with thanks to Tim Everson of the Kingston Museum and Heritage Service.
Performances
Place: Canbury Gardens (Kingston Upon Thames) (Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, England)
Year: 1946
Indoors/outdoors: Outdoors
Number of performances: 1
Notes
8 June 1946
Name of pageant master and other named staff
- Pageant Master: Finny, W.E. St Lawrence
Names of executive committee or equivalent
n/a
Names of script-writer(s) and other credited author(s)
- Finney, W.E. St Lawrence
Notes
Finney seems to have acted as pageant master, director and script-writer all in one.
Names of composers
- Reid, Dr R.G.
Dr R.G. Reid was responsible for the pageant music, though it seems he died before the performance took place. It appears likely that he either composed or arranged the music.
Numbers of performers
n/a
Financial information
n/a
Object of any funds raised
n/a
Linked occasion
- End of the Second World War.
- Anniversary of the coronation of king Edred in 946.
Audience information
Prices of admission and seats: highest–lowest
n/a
Associated events
Kingston Upon Thames Victory celebrations
Pageant outline
Key historical figures mentioned
- Eadred [Edred] (d. 955) king of England
- Oda [St Oda, Odo] (d. 958) archbishop of Canterbury
Musical production
n/a
Newspaper coverage of pageant
Newspaper reports are held by Kingston museum and Heritage service, so the performance was certainly covered in the local press.
Book of words
n/a
It is not known if a book of words was published, but a transcript of the script is held by Kingston Museum and heritage Service.
Other primary published materials
n/a
References in secondary literature
n/a
Archival holdings connected to pageant
- Kingston Museum and Heritage Service holds a copy of the script, together with newspaper reports and publicity material.
Sources used in preparation of pageant
n/a
Summary
This historical pageant was part of Kingston's programme of Victory celebrations after the end of the Second World War. Directed by W.E. St Lawrence Finny, it was held outdoors in Canbury Gardens, and seemingly performed once, on 8 June 1946. Accompanied by music devised by Dr R.G. Reid, all the episodes were set in 946, the subject-matter being the coronation of King Edred one thousand years ago. The pageant was thus also associated with the commemoration of an anniversary.
Younger son of the more famous Edward the Elder, Edred (or Eadred) was a tenth-century king of England. He came to the throne in 946, being consecrated by Oda, archbishop of Canterbury, at Kingston Upon Thames in August of that year. The thousandth anniversary of this event was thus an opportunity for the town to celebrate one of its many connections with national history, and specifically with the crown (site of the coronation of seven Anglo-Saxon monarchs, Kingston is the oldest of the four Royal Boroughs in England).
Footnotes
How to cite this entry
Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘King Edred's Coronation’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1581/