The cordial
Lilac-and-gooseberry cordial has been made for the Lilac Fair since 1953 and is sold only at the fair, from the stall by the statue.
The cordial stall was begun in Coronation year by Dorothy Pargeter and five friends, who made 140 bottles in Mrs Pargeter’s kitchen on Tanners Lane and sold them for the fair committee. It has been made every year since, except in the years the fair was not held. In 2026 the cordial committee, now nineteen volunteers, made 1,486 bottles.
How it is made
The gooseberries are picked at Holloway Farm, above the town, in early July, and bottled by the committee that week. The lilac flowers are picked the following May, in the four or five days before the fair, from the trees in the churchyard and on Church Walk and from gardens in the town whose owners offer them. Only fully open heads of the common lilac are used; the two white trees by the lych gate are left alone.
The flowers are steeped overnight, the infusion is strained and combined with the gooseberry syrup, sugar and lemon, brought to the boil and bottled hot. The recipe is the committee’s and is not published. It has been changed twice: in 1977, when citric acid replaced tartaric, and in 2009, when the sugar was reduced by a fifth.
The cordial is made in the Church Hall kitchen, which is registered as a food business with the district council, by volunteers who hold food hygiene certificates.
Buying it
- Sold only at the cordial stall by the statue, from 10.00 on both days of the fair, until it runs out.
- £6.50 for a 50 cl bottle (2026 price).
- On the Saturday morning, until 12.00, it is one bottle a person.
- Members of the Trust may reserve one bottle each, to be collected from the museum desk on the Monday after the fair.
- We do not sell it by post or online, and we do not sell it to shops.
On the label
Dilute one part cordial to six parts water, still or sparkling. Keep in the fridge once opened and use within four weeks. Contains sulphites (in the lemon). Made in a kitchen that also handles nuts, milk and gluten.
The profit from the cordial goes into the Lilac Fund, which pays for planting and caring for the lilacs on Church Walk and around the statue.
Helping
The committee is always glad of pickers in May and of clean 50 cl bottles with screw caps, which can be left at the museum desk at any time. If you have a lilac in your garden you are happy to have picked, please leave your name and address at the desk. See Volunteering.