The 900-year-old tradition of the Dunmow Flitch Trials took place over the weekend, with happily married couples vying for a side of bacon by proving their love is still true. The event, which is held every four years in the village of Great Dunmow in Essex, requires couples to prove in a mock courtroom that they have “not wished themselves unmarried” for a year and a day. Emma Hynds and Emma D’Costa, the first same-sex couple to participate in the trials, called it a “privilege” to be involved.
Organisers claim that the trials can be traced back to the 12th century and were mentioned by Chaucer in The Wife of Bath’s Tale in the 14th century. The tradition began when the lord of the manor and his wife begged the blessing of the prior a year and a day after their marriage, with the prior rewarding them with a flitch of bacon. The lord then gave his land to the priory on the condition that any couple who could prove similar devotion would be rewarded with a flitch. The first winner on the trials’ recorded list of honour was Richard Wright from Norwich, who won a flitch in April 1445.
Desmond and Minette Carter travelled from Detroit, with Desmond being a huge fan of The Prodigy’s Keith Flint, who lived in Dunmow until his death in 2019. The couple married a year and a day before the planned 2020 trials, which were cancelled due to the pandemic. The couple returned in 2022 and were among the winners.
The trials are overseen by a jury of “six maidens and six bachelors” who must be convinced that the couples have remained happily married for “twelvemonth and a day”. Couples who succeed in proving their devotion are paraded shoulder-high through the town, while those who fail are given a bit of gammon as a consolation prize.
The trials saw another first this year, with Laura Cohen acting as bearer of the flitch, a role traditionally held only by men. Cohen got involved by asking why women had never before held the role. She said: “It’s great fun. What’s really nice is walking through the High Street and seeing young girls particularly, looking and seeing that anything is possible.
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