Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, circa 1900.Note the Hobbyhorse on the right, a feature of the Morris Dances elsewhere.

The first recorded reference to the dance is Robert Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire, 1686, but a carbon analysis showed the antlers used in the dance date to the 11th century - though these may well have replaced an even older set. The antlers suggest an Anglo-Saxon origin. The dance may have originated in the pagan period of the ruling dynasty of Mercia, based nearby at Tamworth, who owned hunting lands in Needwood Forest and Cannock Chase surrounding Abbots Bromley. The royal forester would have organised sympathetic magic rituals to ensure a plentiful catch each year, a tradition that survived into Christian times and seen as affirming the villagers' hunting rights. Even when the lands were granted to Burton Abbey in 1004 a forester would have been employed, and by the 16th century, when the abbey was dissolved, this hereditary position bore the title "Forester of Bentylee"). From then until the 19th century the dance was the prerogative of the Bentley family, passing to the Fowell family in 1914 through a marriage alliance. The Fowells continue to run it to this day. In fact the dance is now performed in California and it may be seen as recorded in one of the clips from the Renaissance Faire included in this site's video gallery.

The director of this site grew up on the fringe of Needwood Forest and walking distance from Abbots Bromley. The Abbot of Burton's Benedictine Abbey is the source of the village's name, and one of its abbots founded Burton Grammar School, which the director attended for ten years. Picture and some data courtesy of the Yorck Project, under Creative Commons Attribution-Share- Alike License (Wikipedia).