Hartley Wintney first celebrated this in January 2002, the event is now held annually at the Community Orchard usually on the 2nd Friday of January. Wassail Evening starts at the Waggon & Horses in Hartley Wintney High Street with a short performance by Hook Eagle Morris Men. Wassailers then make their way in a torchlight procession, led by local Scouts and Hook Eagle Morris Men to the Orchard a few minutes walk away where, fortified by locally produced sustenance and the contents of the Wassail Cup, Wassailers ‘Wassail’ an adjacent apple tree before returning with musical accompaniment, to the Waggon & Horses where, traditionally, the group enter by the back door, toast the landlord and depart from the front door.

Wassail is celebrated any time between Christmas and January 18^th. The term Wassail comes from old English ‘wes hal’ meaning ‘be thou whole’ or in good health, and drinking your neighbour’s good health probably came to be called toasting after the ‘sippets’ or pieces of toast floating in the Wassail Cup - a mixture of brown ale or cider, sherry, roasted apples and spices served in a large applewood bowl.

Wassailing apple orchards was carried out to protect the trees from evil spirits and to ensure a healthy crop in the coming season. Cider was poured on the roots and pieces of toast or cake soaked in cider were laid in its fork or hung from the branches for robins who were considered the guardian spirits of the trees. Villagers would gather around the trees with shotguns or pots and pans and made a tremendous racket to raise the Sleeping Tree Spirit and to scare off demons. A toast was then drunk from the Wassail Cup.

St Mary's Church is open each year on the 3rd Sunday in March from 10am to 4pm. Guided tours all day where visitors can experience 800 years of Hartley Wintney’s History and enjoy the fine display of daffodils in the Churchyard.

There are other opportunities to visit the Church every Sunday during summer months from 2pm to 4pm.  Guide books are available highlighting points of interest inside the church and outside where one of the finest view points around the district can be enjoyed.

On 10th July 2004 we hosted our first Open Air Theatre at the Orchard.  Picnickers enjoyed an evening performance of Taming of the Shrew (albeit beneath umbrellas and gazebos).  The evening was so popular that we've decided to make this an annual event.  The Waggon & Horses are the main sponsor of this event.

In 2005 Shakespeare's The Tempest did not prove prophetic and the performance took place on a beautiful summer's evening. Sadly , audience numbers were disappointing, but hopefully this year's Romeo and Juliet will be better supported.