THE CORONATION
With feeling's of great thankfulness we are able to record that the King and Queen were crowned in Westminster Abbey, on Saturday, August 9th. The King had happily recovered in a wonderful manner from his serious illness, and was able to go through the sacred ceremony, performed with all the beautiful and ancient ritual of the Church, without great fatigue. In our parish the day was observed in a due and proper manner. In the morning the ringers rang out merry peals on the bells, and Divine Service was held in Badsey Church at 11 a.m. The form and order of service drawn up by the Archbishop of Canterbury was used. This consisted of a shortened form of Litany, the service of the Holy Communion together with special prayers and hymns, and the proclaiming of the King. The Vicar gave the address. It is worthy of notice that the Coronation in Westminster Abbey took place in the Communion Service, which emphasizes a fact, very often forgotten, that the Holy Communion is the chief service of the Church, around which all Christian worship centres. The King and Queen both received the Communion in Westminster Abbey. In our own Church the Communion was celebrated entirely, the musical portion being nicely rendered by the choir to the setting of Woodward in E flat, the Te Deum to the music of Smart in F was also sung. With regard to the secular festivities of the day, the dinner for adults had already been held on June 20th, and it was not possible to repeat this, but all the children of Badsey received their Coronation cups and saucers or mugs, and were again entertained at tea out of the balance in hand at the disposal of the committee. After the tea the children had athletic sports, and prizes were given out of the funds. Peals on the bells were rung at intervals during the day, and in the evening a very good display of fireworks was given in the Stockey by Mr. C. A. Binyon, the expense being defrayed out of the Coronation funds. The children of Wickhamford were entertained at tea and had mugs presented to them, and sports were organized for them. The children of Aldington also were presented with Coronation mugs. They had previously been very well entertained on June 26th when dinner was also provided for all the adults.