For centuries, the small market town of Honiton in east Devon has been celebrating the Hot Pennies Ceremony, a unique tradition with a bizarre backstory that’s as cruel as it is quirky.
Each year, on the first Tuesday after 19 July, hundreds of Honitonians (and curious visitors) gather beneath the upper-storey windows of the town’s pubs and prominent buildings from where assembled dignitaries throw pennies into the street for collection by the crowd. But what appears to be a gesture of generosity takes on a distinct sense of sadism when you learn some of the darker details of this ostensibly quaint tradition.
Where did the tradition of hot pennies come from?
Years ago, so the story goes, the wealthy people of the town would heat the pennies up on stoves before launching them into the street, deriving much merriment from the sight of the poor peasants of the parish attempting to pick them up and burning their fingers in the process.
Honiton has existed since Roman times and is famous for its fine lace, which was used in Queen Victoria’s wedding dress and veil, and worn again by the Queen at various important occasions. But the celebration that takes place in July dates back to 1221, when the town received a royal charter to hold a weekly market.
An annual fair was held to mark this important local event, which originally took place in winter. When the curious ceremony started, it’s thought roasted chestnuts were thrown to crowds.
The fair was later moved to summer to coincide with the feast of St Margaret on 19–20 July, and at some point – certainly by the 17th century – instead of receiving tasty, warm chestnuts, peasants started being pelted by rather more painful hot pennies.
How the ceremony begins
Honiton’s hot penny proceedings start at midday in the Old Pannier Market, where the town crier holds a garlanded pole aloft in his gloved hand and declares: “No man may be arrested so long as the glove is up.” It’s not clear exactly how much you can get away with or how legally binding this statement now is, but in years past this kind of reassurance was required to encourage people to throw themselves into the fray without risking being collared for bad debts or errant behaviour.
The first batch of pennies are lobbed from the balcony of the old Assembly Rooms, above the market, by the mayor and a mob of moneybag-clutching dignitaries. From here, the pole-holding town crier leads a procession around the town, and more coins are tossed from the upper windows of Honiton’s history-soaked pubs and other older buildings.
How hot pennies is celebrated today
After centuries of this twisted custom playing out, locals are wise to the game and turn up properly prepared, with hats, funnels and inverted umbrellas ready to catch the loot before it even hits the ground. Lots of pre-1960s pennies are used to give the occasion a sense of antiquity, but these days the coins are just gently warmed, rather than being roasted until they’re red hot, so the chance of injury to onlookers has been greatly reduced.
Risk is not removed altogether though, as my daughter Ivy discovered the first year we attended. New to the area and beguiled by the enigmatic events happening on our West Country doorstep (we’d already experienced the Ottery Tar Barrels and were looking forward to the upcoming World Nettle Eating Championships – both tales for another time), we duly turned up to see what the Hot Pennies Ceremony involved. Sadly, just seconds after the coin tossing started, Ivy (having made the rookie error of looking up) copped one right in the eye. Hysterics ensued, and we ended up going home early and penniless.
Word for the wise: if you attend this event, wear eye protection.
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Top image: throwing hot pennies to children at Honiton Fair, Devon, in August 1943, Credit: Mirrorpix via Getty
