Stubbington Drove (Beating the Bounds) Traditional Cache

Beating the bounds is an ancient custom still observed in some English and Welsh parishes. A group of old and young members of the community would walk the boundaries of the parish on Rogation Sunday, to share the knowledge of where they lay, and to pray for protection and blessings for the lands. Although modern surveying techniques make the ceremony obsolete, at least for its secular purpose, many English parishes carry out a regular beating of the bounds, as a way of strengthening the community and giving it a sense of place.