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The 56th National Town Criers' Championship

Seven Town Criers in costume holding bells

The Town Criers pose for the camera.

About the Town Criers Championship

The Hastings National Town Criers Championship is now in its 56th year and sees Town Criers come from all over the country to compete for the coveted title. The organisers have again chosen Priory Meadow Shopping Centre as the venue because it brings the competition closer to the people of the town.

This year the performances of the Criers will be judged on:

Volume
Diction
Clarity
Inflection

Entrants will also be judged for their fit of costume, bearing, overall appearance and use of historically relevant props.

The competition starts at 11.00am with the Home Cry (about their home town or place of origin) followed at 2.15pm with the Second Heat which is a themed tribute that must include the introductory phrase 'Oyez, Oyez, Oyez' and the concluding coda 'God Save the Queen' - this years theme is The Olympics 2012 - and at 4.15pm the Mayor will present the Prizes.

The Order of Cry:

Michael Kean-Price - Tewkesbury
Iain Mitchell - Ferndown
Peter White - Seaford
Angela Standing - Arundel
John Papworth - Kelvedon
Alistair Chisholm - Dorchester (last years winner)
Neil Batsford - Burgess Hill
William Turberfield - Ledbury
Stan Whitcher - Medstead, Alton
Michael Wood - Willerby
John Scholey - Tunbridge Wells
Cyril Richardson - Walsall
Jonathan Jones - Farnham
Robin Burfoot - Rochester
Peter Taunton - Stafford
Doris Eastwood - Langton Herring
James Wearne - Felixstowe
Pearl Capewell - Bretton

Visit our News page for details of the winners.

History of Town Criers

Town Criers were the original 'newsmen', finding their origins in the early Greek Empire as Spartan Runners.

Symbol of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers

The first criers in Britain can be found in 1066 when news of William of Normandy's invasion was passed from town to town by men employed to remind everybody of Harold's authority. As the literacy of Britain's population remained low well into the late 19th century, people came to rely on criers as a useful way of hearing about proclamations, edicts, laws and news.

Above: The ancient and honourable guild of town criers.

Oyez, Oyez, Oyez ('hark' or 'listen') became a familiar call in town squares, markets and public meeting places all over Britain, a summons for the townspeople to gather and listen to news of plague, victories in far off lands, royal births and deaths by execution.

News of the Great Fire of London in 1666 and of Guy Fawke's thwarted Gunpowder Plot against the English Parliament was spread by Town Criers.

Their position became so important that harming a Town Crier was turned into a treasonable offence!