Diocese of Chichester

Plough Sunday is a traditional English celebration of the beginning of the agricultural year that has seen some revival over recent years.

Plough Sunday celebrations usually involve bringing a ploughshare into a church with prayers for the blessing of the land.

It is usually held on the Sunday after Epiphany, the Sunday between 7 January and 13 January. Accordingly, work in the fields did not begin until the day after Plough Sunday: Plough Monday.

Fr Andrew Birks, Vicar at St Mary’s Chidham in West Sussex was called to bless the plough on a local farm in rural Chidham. (Photo courtesy of Russell Sach - The Telegraph) 

He said: “Plough Sunday is a tradition that goes back to medieval times when the communal village plough was often stored in the parish church over the winter months. In these difficult times of Covid it has become even more important to embrace these tradiitions to give hope to all the people working on the land in a time of worry and uncertainty. We remember and pray for them.”

The Sunday service for Plough Sunday on 10^th January came from The Octagon group of parishes in West Sussex and was streamed by the Church of England. You can watch it here