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A year of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Great Flood |
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Have we missed the anniversary?
Before 1752 England and Wales used the old style, Julian, calendar and each year changed on Lady Day (25th March), not 1st January. So, though it seems very strange to us, 24th March 1605 was followed by 25th March 1606!
To make matters even stranger, the cycle of the calendar was becoming out of step with the movements of the heavens. By 1751 it had become so far out of step that Parliament passed the Calendar Act, which decreed that Wednesday 2nd September 1752 would be followed by Thursday 14th September 1752 to realign them. To prevent further errors creeping in, the last year of each century would only be a leap year if it was divisible by 400. (Thus 1900 was not a leap year but 2000 was.) 1752 was also the first year to begin on 1st January.
And it doesn’t end there! In the 1700s the calendar was 11 days out of step, but one of those days was caused by 1700 being a leap year when it shouldn’t have been. Thus in the 1600s the calendar was only 10 days out of step.
This is why the 400th anniversary of the 20th January 1606 (old style) is the 30th January 2007 (new style).
(However, just to be on the safe side we held the Wave of Bells on 20th January and the Service of Commemoration on 30th January!)
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Mark at St Bride’s, Wentlooge |