Death and Resurrection in the Hop-Yards

The hop-yards of Worcestershire stretch like a living hymn, their vines curling skyward, their whispers carrying the secrets of centuries past. In the 19th century, before the hum of machines stole the rhythm of the harvest, these fields were sacred, a place where death and rebirth danced in harmony. The villagers of Tenbury Wells, their hands stained green with hops, honoured a ritual of ancient origins: the burial of the busheller and a chosen woman, who would then be "resurrected" from beneath the hops, symbolising the earth’s promise of fertility for the year to come. This ceremony, deeply rooted in the land’s cycles, was kept alive in the memories of those who had lived it. Among them was Old Sarah, the village herbalist, who shared tales of the ritual with a new generation. The harvest of 1885, rich with promise, was one such story — a tale of sacrifice and renewal that would forever echo in the hills of Worcestershire.