Moorcroft Plough Sunday

People gather on Plough Sunday to receive the first agricultural blessing of the year. The following day is Plough Monday - which marks the beginning of a new agricultural year.  This was the day the farm workers would return to work following the Christmas season and in the 15^th century the tradition of a plough being dragged through the streets and money collected for parish funds was started.  The money raised was used to pay for ‘plough lights’, which were candles that were kept burning in church throughout the period to bless those working in the fields. 

And so it with this Moorcroft design. On one side, as the first furrows are ploughed in the field, a small crowd still clad in colourful winter clothes, walk towards the vestibule of a large church with hope in abundance. Left outside, a vintage tractor in cheerful red enamel, the shape of its front grill aligned with the shape of the Baroque arch-windows of the church, and a wooden prong plough.  

 On the reverse a canopy of ancient trees frames the design, as the lines of the plough reveal a hope fulfilled.  The tranquil British countryside basks in a day of peace and quiet before the farm workers return to the land on Plough Monday and the new year of toiling the land commences.

Limited Edition of 20

Shape 37/8

Designed by Kerry Goodwin