Client Announcements

St Albans Cathedral and Sainsbury's team up to reclaim the Hot Cross Bun

ST ALBANS CATHEDRAL LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO RECLAIM AND RENAME THE HOT CROSS BUN

- Cathedral seeks to restore the original name, the ‘Alban Bun’, and raise money for local homeless charity and Cathedral mission

- Predecessor of today’s bun was created in St Albans in the 14th century and given away to the homeless

- Partnership with Sainsbury’s St Albans will trial production of Alban Buns on a much larger scale

St Albans Cathedral is campaigning this Easter to reclaim and rename the traditional hot cross bun. The modern British Christian tradition of the Easter bun is said to originate in St Albans, Hertfordshire, where Father Thomas Rockliffe, a 14th Century monk, developed an original recipe and distributed the bun to the local poor on Good Friday, starting in 1361.

The original secret recipe for the Alban Bun is still used at the Cathedral and the cafe serves the buns as part of the marking of Easter each year. The cross is cut into the bun, rather than piped and bun has a more variable shape. Amongst the ingredients are ‘grains of paradise’ which lend it a distinctive taste. The Cathedral hopes to eventually install the Alban Bun as a replacement culinary symbol of Holy Week.

“Recently we’ve lost touch with the significance of the bun, and its link to Holy Week and the Cross,” said the Very Reverend Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans Cathedral. “These days it’s possible to buy Hot Cross Buns throughout the year. Whilst any reminder of the importance of Easter is welcomed, we’ve come to the conclusion that the Alban Bun might be a way of reaffirming the significance of the bun as a symbol of Christ’s death and resurrection.”

Supplies of the Alban Bun have been limited in the past and sold solely through the Cathedral cafe but this year a local supplier to supermarket chain Sainsbury’s will be supplying the buns on the Cathedral’s behalf. A special stall in reception at the local Sainsbury’s store, manned by Cathedral volunteers, will offer the buns to shoppers in exchange for a charitable donation, with all proceeds going to the Cathedral’s mission. Maintaining a link with the 14th Century tradition, the Cathedral will make a donation from the proceeds to Open Door, a local charity that supports the homeless.

Sainsbury’s supplier will bake the buns to the authentic recipe and then deliver on Maundy Thursday. Buns will be available at the Cathedral and at Sainsbury’s in St Albans in exchange for a charitable donation.

The Cathedral has developed a wider range of products under the brand ‘Alban’s Originals’, including locally bottled beer and apple juice from ancient orchards.

“We’re very excited about putting our buns on a slightly bigger footing this year,” said Cheryl Turner, manager at the Cafe at the Cathedral. “We’re very proud of our heritage and of the food that we serve. We may not be in a position to rival Duchy Originals yet, but we’re hopeful that our buns will be an enormous success.”

- Ends –

For more information:
Hamish Thompson 07702 684290
hamish.thompson@1238kmh.com

The Dean of St Albans will be in London on Monday morning, March 30th, and will be available for interview.

Samples for taste tests are available on request.

About St Albans Cathedral

The Cathedral is built on what is believed to be the site of the martyrdom of St Alban. The hill upon which it stands overlooks the valley of the river Ver, beyond which lie the buried ruins of the Roman city of Verulamium.

The shrine of St Alban is documented from early times, and it is recorded that St Germanus of Auxerre visited the site in 429. Early in the 8th century, Bede wrote of the ‘beautiful Church worthy of all Alban’s martyrdom where miracles of healing took place.’ The monastic structure of this church was re-ordered by King Offa of Mercia in 793 and a new order and discipline introduced by St Oswald in the 960s. The availability of huge amounts of building material from the ruins of nearby Roman Verulamium was put to use in the Norman era, from which time many of the features of the building date.

previous:
next:

Newsroom