Glass Ornament - Pilgrims' Christmas (Choir)

Every Christmas, the sound of choristers' voices fills Winchester Cathedral in a tradition stretching back roughly a thousand years. The choristers, boys aged seven to thirteen, are pupils at the Pilgrims' School within the cathedral Close, and originally were part of the great Benedictine Priory of Winchester, associated with the pilgrim shrine of St Swithun.

They stay at school over the Christmas period, singing services daily and rehearsing intensively to perform for the thousands who pack into the cathedral to hear them. The choir boys put in around 20 hours of singing a week on top of their schoolwork, carrying forward a choral tradition that has echoed through these walls for centuries, long before it became one of England's best-loved Christmas customs.

This little glass ornament captures a touch of that carolling tradition, small enough to tuck onto the tree or slip into a stocking.

Size: 3 cm x 3 cm