Oxfordshire Day takes place on 19 October, the principal feast day of St Frideswide (c.650–19 October 727).
Frideswide is the patron saint both of the city of Oxford and of the University of Oxford.
She was an English princess and abbess, who by legend founded a monastery later incorporated into Christ Church, Oxford.
Northamptonshire Day takes place annually on 25 October, the feast of St Crispin.
St Crispin is the patron saint of shoemakers, cobblers and leather workers – an important industry in the county.
This date was selected by public vote from a shortlist of five.
The four other options were:
- 5 January – death of Philippa of Lancaster (1430), queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden
- 26 February – radar first demonstrated in Upper Stowe (1935)
- 31 May – death of Waltheof (1076), 1st Earl of Northampton, the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls
- 28 July – battle of Talavera (1809), battle honour of the Northamptonshire Regiment, the ‘Heroes of Talavera’
Essex Day takes place annually on 26 October, the feast of St Cedd.
Cedd (c.620–64) was an Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop who was an evangelist among the East Saxons.
Lancashire Day has taken place annually on 27 November since 1996.
It commemorates the day when Lancashire first sent representatives to Parliament, the Model Parliament of King Edward I (1295).
Bedfordshire Day takes place annually on 28 November.
The date, chosen by popular vote, commemorates the birthday of John Bunyan.
Several alternative options included:19 January – earldom (later dukedom) of Bedford recreated (1550); 12 April – Bedfordshire County Council granted its coat-of-arms (1951); 20 June – siege of Bedford Castle begins (1224); 13 August – Blenheim Day, celebrated by the Bedfordshire Regiment and its successors; 12 September – birth of prison reformer John Howard (1726); 14 October – first flight of the airship R101 from Cardington (1929); 6 November – 1st and 2nd Battalions Bedfordshire Regiment meet at Bailleul en route to Ypres (1914); 15 November – first High Sheriff of Bedfordshire appointed (1575); 25 November – feast of St Catherine, patron saint of spinners, weavers and lacemakers; 15 December – birth of Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams (1899).
Caernarfonshire Day takes place annually on 28 November.
It commemorates the death of Prince Owain Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd (1137–70).
Shropshire Day takes place annually on 23 February, the feast of St Milburga.
Milburga (d.715) was a Mercian princess and the abbess of Wenlock Priory.
In the eleventh century, her reputation as a miracle worker turned Much Wenlock into a place of pilgrimage.
Visitors flocked to St Milburga’s Well seeking cures for their ailments.
The first Cheshire Day took place in 2021.
It commemorates the date when King Edward I, who was also Earl of Chester, reconfirmed a charter of liberties for the county.
Staffordshire Day commemorates the foundation date of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons (1759).
The date was selected by public vote from a list that includes: 5 July – discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard (2009); 6 September – the future King Charles II hid in an oak tree in South Staffordshire (1651); 18 September – Doctor Samuel Johnson born in Lichfield (1709); 27 September – James Brindley, renowned engineer and resident of Leek, died (1772)
St Augustine of Canterbury (d.604) became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597.
The Church of England considers him to be one of its founding fathers.
