Custom · Fenny Stratford
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Six tiny cannon, one red-hot poker, a deafening memorial.
See it clearly
Free to watch at the Leon Recreation Ground, reached by a signed footpath south of Queensway, at noon, 2pm and 4pm on 11 November (Saturday 10th when the 11th is a Sunday). Expect very loud bangs and mud; St Martin's church holds occasional popper exhibitions.
Near Fenny Stratford: every eleventh of November, six little cannon called the Fenny Poppers go off with a bang, all to keep one man's memory alive.
Browne Willis, the antiquary who built St Martin's church at Fenny Stratford, wanted to be remembered. He endowed an annual St Martin's Day sermon and feast, and from his time come the Fenny Poppers: six small tankard-shaped cannon. One burst and all six were recast in 1859. Every 11 November they are packed with powder, plugged with rammed newspaper and set off with a long poker heated red hot in a brazier, at noon, 2pm and 4pm. The firing moved from the churchyard to the Leon Recreation Ground. One account links the date to Willis's grandfather Dr Thomas Willis, who died on 11 November.