In former times when maps were rare, it was usual to make a formal tour of the parish boundaries. The priest of the parish with the churchwardens and the parochial officials, headed a crowd of boys who, armed with green boughs, usually birch or willow, beat the parish boundary markers with them. Sometimes the boys were themselves whipped, or even violently bumped on the boundary stones to make them remember. The object of taking boys is supposed to ensure that witnesses to the boundaries, should survive as long as possible.
The ceremony had an important practical purpose. Checking the boundaries was a way of preventing encroachment by neighbours; sometimes boundary markers would be moved, or lines obscured and a folk memory of the true extent of the parish, was necessary to maintain integrity of borders.
Chawton parish council currently has a vacancy for a parish councillor.
A number of new local web sites have been built in the surrounding area and these are now linked from this site at their owners request, they are :
Chawton was featured today on CNN as part of their coverage of the current cold snap across England. You can see the video 
Welcome to the new look Chawton village web site.
