About Northiam Bonfire Society
Northiam Bonfire Society is a volunteer-led community organisation based in Northiam, East Sussex.
The modern society was formed in 2012, following the success of Northiam's celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. What initially grew from a weekend of village celebrations soon developed into a permanent organisation dedicated to bringing people together, raising money for local causes and giving Northiam its own annual Bonfire celebration.
Although the present society is relatively young, Bonfire in Northiam has a much longer history. Research by the society has uncovered records of an earlier Northiam Bonfire Boys dating back to 1882, when around 1,000 people reportedly attended the village celebration.
Today, Northiam Bonfire Society is particularly recognisable for its purple, black and white colours and Highwayman and Highwaywoman costumes, while its annual procession and fireworks regularly attract crowds of more than 3,000 people.
The Northiam Bonfire Boys of 1882
For some time, local tradition suggested that Northiam had possessed a Bonfire Society in earlier generations, but documentary evidence was difficult to find.
Research into historic newspapers eventually proved the stories correct.
In November 1882, the Hastings & St Leonards Observer reported what it called the first demonstration of the Northiam Bonfire Boys.
Members assembled on the Green outside the Six Bells Inn before processing through the village behind their banner and the Northiam Brass Band.
The principal character that evening was Sir Garnet Wolseley, one of the best-known British military commanders of the Victorian period, who appeared on horseback.
After processing around Northiam, the Bonfire Boys returned to the Green for fireworks and a large bonfire upon which Guy Fawkes was burned.
The newspaper estimated that an impressive 1,000 people attended.
For a village celebration in 1882, it was already a substantial event.
Gunpowder in the Grocers
By 1892, Northiam's celebration was being described as a carnival and had become increasingly elaborate.
That year's event included the usual procession around the village before finishing with a large fire in Doman's Park.
But one of the most entertaining details appeared a week later.
Two Northiam grocers, Mr Johnson and Mr Edwards, found themselves in court after being discovered storing 46 pounds of gunpowder without a licence.
The surviving report does not establish exactly what connection that gunpowder had with the Bonfire celebrations, so it would be unwise to draw too firm a conclusion.
Nevertheless, the timing has ensured that the unfortunate Northiam grocers have earned a place in the society's historical record.
In Trouble for Their Costumes
Costume caused another brush with the authorities in 1906.
Society members Thomas Larkin and Charles Dunk appeared before the magistrates after wearing the King's uniform during the Bonfire celebrations despite not serving in the armed forces.
Their costumes fell foul of the recently introduced Uniforms Act.
Both men pleaded ignorance of the law.
Fortunately for them, the Chairman of the Bench considered the offence relatively minor and allowed them to escape with costs of 5 shillings and 6 pence each.
It is a wonderfully specific glimpse of what Northiam's processions looked like more than a century ago – and evidence that elaborate fancy dress was already an established part of the village celebration.
Raising Money for Good Causes
Northiam's charitable tradition also reaches back into the early twentieth century.
By 1910, the society was collecting money for good causes and donated £3 10s 9d to East Sussex Hospital.
Those donations appear to have continued until 1925, when the earlier society folded.
Nine years later, Northiam Bonfire Society returned.
At the society's 1934 annual supper at the Crown & Thistle, President Captain Cyster welcomed the revival after a nine-year absence and praised the work undertaken by members and the committee.
Letters of thanks were also read from the Earl Haig Appeal Fund and Northiam British Legion.
The revived society continued supporting East Sussex Hospital, donating more than £10 in both 1935 and 1937.
After 1937, the historical trail disappears. The modern society believes its activities were probably curtailed by the Second World War, although it has not found evidence establishing exactly when the earlier organisation finally ceased.
Reformed After the Diamond Jubilee
Northiam had to wait until 2012 for a society to emerge again.
This time, the catalyst was not Bonfire itself but Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.
Villagers had organised a weekend of events celebrating the Jubilee and found that the experience generated considerable community enthusiasm.
The organisers saw an opportunity to turn that goodwill into something permanent.
A Bonfire Society could provide the village with an annual focus for community events, fundraising and social activity while restoring a tradition that historical research would later prove had existed in Northiam more than a century earlier.
Nick Searle took the initiative, contacted the Sussex Bonfire Council and called a meeting.
On Monday 10 December 2012, Northiam Bonfire Society was formally founded.
Purple, Black and White
Northiam Bonfire Society is easily recognised by its distinctive colours of purple, black and white.
Rather than adopting a conventional striped Smuggler jumper, the society developed an identity based around Highwaymen and Highwaywomen.
The basic costume consists of black trousers or a skirt with a white, purple or black shirt. Members add a tricorn hat or lady's riding top hat, purple accessories, a black coat or cape and a black eye mask.
The result is particularly effective in a torchlit procession.
Northiam takes considerable pride in its costume and has even won Best Dressed Society from Rotherfield & Mark Cross Bonfire Society.
The society confirms Highwaymen and Highwaywomen as its chosen costume, but its published history does not give a documented explanation for why that particular theme was originally selected. It is therefore better to leave the reason open rather than invent a historical connection.
Northiam Bonfire Night
Northiam's annual procession has grown substantially since the society was formed.
The event now regularly attracts more than 3,000 spectators, a remarkable turnout for a village of Northiam's size.
Members are joined by visiting societies and drumming groups for the torchlit procession along Main Street before returning to the Bonfire Field.
Once the procession reaches the field, the society gathers for its Bonfire Chant before the fire is lit, followed by the fireworks display.
Food, a bar, amusements and live music add to the evening, turning the firesite into a wider village event rather than simply a location for the bonfire itself.
Northiam Bonfire 2026
The 2026 Northiam Bonfire Procession and Fireworks takes place on Saturday 3 October.
The Bonfire Field on the A28 south of the village opens at 6:30pm, with the procession leaving at approximately 7:30pm.
Members and visiting societies process into Northiam before returning to the field, where the bonfire is expected to be lit at around 8:30pm, followed by the fireworks display.
There is also live music before the procession and after the fireworks.
The society's purple collecting buckets will be out along the route, with the 2026 street collection supporting Northiam Library and The Commando Academy.
Purple Buckets for Local Causes
Charitable fundraising remains one of the central purposes of Northiam Bonfire Society.
The society makes an important distinction between money raised to stage Bonfire and the donations collected during its main procession.
All money placed in the street-collection buckets goes directly to local good causes.
That continues a remarkably old Northiam tradition.
The earlier society was already donating money to East Sussex Hospital in 1910, meaning the connection between Northiam Bonfire and charitable giving can be traced back more than a century.
The Midsummer Festival
One of Northiam Bonfire Society's biggest fundraising events is its Midsummer Festival.
Held on Northiam Playing Fields, the festival brings together live music, craft stalls, local beers and ciders at the appropriately named Highwayman's Bar, a barbecue, children's activities, classic vehicles and a dog show.
The 2026 Midsummer Festival took place on Saturday 20 June, forming part of a year-round calendar that also includes craft fairs, quiz nights and concerts.
These events provide the money needed to stage the annual procession and fireworks while also fulfilling the original 2012 aim of creating activities that bring the village together.
Membership
Northiam Bonfire Society is run by its membership and welcomes people who want to become actively involved.
Members meet on the second Monday of each month at the Rose & Crown.
Membership involves considerably more than appearing in costume on Bonfire Night.
The society expects members to contribute throughout the year by supporting and staffing fundraising events and helping with the annual procession.
Members also represent Northiam at celebrations elsewhere.
For the home procession, preference is given to members who have supported at least one other society's event, either by marching or assisting.
That encourages the reciprocal support that has helped Northiam establish itself within the Bonfire calendar since 2012.
From 1882 to the Modern Society
Northiam Bonfire Society has an interesting combination of old history and new traditions.
The modern organisation was only founded in 2012, emerging from the community spirit generated by the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Yet research subsequently revealed that Northiam's Bonfire history stretches back at least 130 years before that revival.
The first documented Northiam Bonfire Boys processed through the village in 1882, accompanied by their banner and the Northiam Brass Band before an estimated crowd of 1,000 people.
By 1910 the society was already raising money for good causes. It folded in 1925, returned in 1934 and disappeared from the surviving record after 1937.
The society created in 2012 has added an identity of its own to that history.
Its purple, black and white Highwaymen and Highwaywomen are unmistakably Northiam, while the annual procession now attracts crowds exceeding 3,000.
And more than a century after the original society began collecting for good causes, today's members are still rattling buckets through the village and putting the proceeds back into the local community.
Northiam Bonfire Society may have been reborn in 2012, but the discovery of its Victorian predecessors means today's members are continuing a village Bonfire story that can now be traced all the way back to 1882.