Every autumn a group of Cheshire men carries a real horse’s skull into the pub and performs a sword fight, a death and a resurrection, and nobody rehearses it.
Halloween now means plastic pumpkins, supermarket costumes and children knocking on doors for sweets. The older version was stranger. In parts of Cheshire, farmhands once went door to door in early November performing a play about death, then took cakes and coins in return. The custom survives in a handful of pubs, and the Antrobus Soulcakers have perhaps the longest pedigree of the surviving groups, according to Calendar Customs.
Most people outside the county have never seen it. You do not need a ticket or a stage. You need a late evening, a pub with room to squeeze in and a willingness to watch a man in a horse’s skull snap its jaws at the crowd. Local history sources say the players do not rehearse, and sons often follow their fathers into the gang.
Event date: Usually from about 31 October or 1 November, over roughly two weekends. Exact 2026 dates are not yet confirmed
Location: The Antrobus Arms and pubs in surrounding villages, Antrobus, near Northwich, Cheshire
Nearest town: Northwich
Getting there: Driving is simplest. Check public transport options with the operators before you travel
Admission: No ticket is mentioned in any of the sources checked. Confirm with the group
Tickets: None listed. Check the group’s Facebook page for dates and venues
Antrobus Soulcakers: What the Play Is
The play belongs to a tradition called souling. Country people believed the boundary between the living and the dead grew thin at this time of year, according to So Counties. Children once walked from door to door singing for spiced cakes, and over time the custom grew into mummers’ plays performed by groups of men.
The Antrobus version has a small cast with big names. The characters include the Letter-in, who opens the play, the Black Prince, King George and a Quack Doctor. King George fights the Black Prince with swords; the Prince falls, and the Doctor brings him back to life. Men play every part, and the Antrobus history site says the roles are thought to represent the souls of the dead.
Then there is the horse. Dick the Wild Horse is the group’s signature figure, and the Antrobus history site describes it as a real horse’s skull painted black, with its jaws wired so that it snaps its teeth at the audience. Calendar Customs describes Dick as a character who causes mayhem wherever he goes. If you have only one image from the night, it’s likely to stay with you.
How the Tradition Survived
The play nearly disappeared after the First World War, when the men who performed it were gone or scattered. Local sources credit Major Arnold Boyd, a naturalist and author, with saving it. So Counties says he documented the words of the play, called a nominy, during the 1920s, and the Antrobus history site says he revived the local group in the late 1920s. The Antrobus Arms became the gang’s headquarters, and it remains the place where performances begin and end each year.
The group’s history has not been smooth. The Antrobus history site records a revival through the Antrobus Youth Club around 1947 and 1948, followed by disputes and a loss of members in later decades as newcomers arrived in the village. In the 1960s, the players filmed a performance for the English Folk Dance and Song Society and travelled to Liverpool, Manchester and other towns to perform.
Scholars have noticed. A paper in the journal Folk Life, titled “The Antrobus Soulcaking Play: An Alternative Approach to the Mummers’ Play”, examines it, and Contemporary Theatre Review has published an article on the group’s use of site, mobility and time. So the play is not undocumented. It is simply unfamiliar to most travel readers.
Where and When to See the Antrobus Soulcakers
Dates matter, and the sources disagree slightly. Calendar Customs says the group performs from 1 November and over the following two weekends, usually at three pubs a night, starting late in the evening at about 8.30pm. So Counties gives a wider window, from 31 October to 12 November. The Antrobus Arms is the base, and the group also visits pubs in surrounding villages.
The group confirms its schedule close to the performance dates, usually in late October, according to Calendar Customs. The group’s Facebook page and the Master Mummers directory are the places to check. Treat every date in this guide as a starting point and confirm before you set off.
The Antrobus Arms sits on Warrington Road, Antrobus, Northwich, CW9 6JD, and has its own website with menus and a booking page. Confirm whether it is taking bookings for the performance nights before you arrive.
What a Pub Performance Feels Like
Expect a full room. Calendar Customs warns that performance spaces are crowded, which is unsurprising when a pub fits a play, a horse and an audience into the same space. There is no stage and no curtain, only the pub floor.
Late in the evening, a pub is warm and loud, and you can expect the clack of a jaw wired to a horse’s skull to cut through it. The group has raised hundreds of pounds for charity over the years, according to So Counties, so bring cash in case a collection goes round.
Do not expect a polished theatre production. The players do not rehearse, according to the Antrobus history site.
Other Cheshire Soul-Caking Groups
Antrobus is not the only group. Lymm Heritage Centre says only four groups remain active in Cheshire: Warburton, Antrobus, Halton and Comberbach. The first two perform in Lymm. So Counties adds that the tradition has seen a revival in Chester, Knutsford, Alderley Edge, Comberbach and Mobberley.
If you like this kind of folk survival, read our guide to England’s forgotten summer festivals for other customs that carry on, or how the Barwick in Elmet maypole keeps a Yorkshire tradition alive. For more pubs with a story attached, see our list of Britain’s secret pubs.
The Lymm Connection
Lymm Heritage Centre calls soul-caking Lymm’s oldest tradition, possibly a thousand years old, and says its play involves death and resurrection, a devil, a cross-dressed character, sword fights and a quack doctor who raises the dead. It also records testimony from Tommy Saville that the custom continued in Lymm in the 1920s and 1930s. The heritage centre says only in Cheshire are these plays performed at this time of year. That claim comes from a single source, so treat it as local pride rather than a settled fact, but it explains why the county keeps four groups going.
Why It Matters
Most British folklore survives as a photograph in a museum. This one survives because a few families keep turning up. A play about death, performed in a pub without a script anyone reads from and with a horse’s skull as its lead, has outlasted a world war, disputes among its own members and the loss of village life around it.
That is the Secret Britain angle. The play gives you the older attitude to November: the dead are close, the doctor can fix anything, and the evening ends with a pint. You lose nothing by seeing it. You lose a good deal by assuming it will always be there.
Soul Cakes: The Food Behind the Name
The name comes from the cakes. The Antrobus history site describes a soul cake as a small, round, biscuit-like cake made with oats, spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger, and dried fruit. People once gave them to the singers who called at the door, and the custom of offering them to the dead is behind the play’s name.
Bake a batch before the performance if you like. It links you to the tradition more directly than any photograph.
Where to Eat and Drink
The Antrobus Arms, Warrington Road, Antrobus. The pub is the group’s headquarters. It has its own menus, a booking page and a Christmas page, so it is a working pub as well as a base for the play.
Where to Stay
Wincham Hall Country Hotel, Wincham, near Northwich. A family-run hotel with 11 en-suite bedrooms on Hall Lane, a short drive from Antrobus. Confirm the distance and availability before you book.
Worth Knowing
- The play has a character called a Letter-in who opens it, and a Quack Doctor who ends the fight by raising the dead.
- In the 1960s, the group filmed a performance for the English Folk Dance and Song Society to preserve the custom.
- The horse is a real skull painted black, with its jaws wired to snap.
Practical Tips
- Confirm dates and pubs on the group’s Facebook page in late October.
- Arrive early. Performances start around 8.30pm and pub rooms fill quickly.
- Stand back from the horse. The jaws snap at the crowd.
- Bring cash for a charity collection.
- Nominate a driver because you will be spending the evening in a pub.
- Use the AllTrails app to find a walk around Antrobus and Northwich in daylight before the evening performance.
Responsible Visiting
The players are villagers, not performers on a tour. Stay quiet during the play, ask before you film and keep the cast’s route through the pub clear. Buy a drink, tip the landlord and leave when the evening ends.
Reader Q&A
What is soul caking?
It is a Cheshire custom in which men perform a mumming play in pubs in early November. It grew out of souling, when people visited houses for soul cakes.
Who are the Antrobus Soulcakers?
A group of men who perform the play each year, with the Antrobus Arms as their base. The group’s history says Major Arnold Boyd revived it in the late 1920s.
When do the Antrobus Soulcakers perform in 2026?
Usually from about 1 November over two weekends, but sources differ, and dates for 2026 are not confirmed. The group confirms its schedule close to the date, so check its Facebook page in late October.
Is the Wild Horse real?
Yes, in the sense that the skull is real. The Antrobus history site describes a real horse’s skull painted black, with wired jaws that snap at the audience.
Do I need a ticket?
No source checked mentions one. Confirm with the group and the pub when you check dates.
Closing
When the last line of the play ends, and the horse is lowered, the pub returns to its evening, and the village goes back to a Cheshire November. Read more in our History guides.
