The town of Dunmow is filled to capacity with fascinating and thrilling diversions and, while one may not be faulted for assuming all these exciting activities have to do with the town's close proximity to London, the fact of the matter is that Dunmow has been an exciting and lovable town in its own right for centuries.
Dunmow first arose during the days of the Roman Empire when that nation had cast a wide swath of power and control over a huge portion of Europe. In those days the town was little more than a settlement but by the Middle Ages Dunmow was already an important and indispensable part of the nation of England. It is during this time that we begin to see some of the many trends and customs that are still a part of Dunmow to this day. While such things as weekly markets are still common among many of England's oldest towns, it is a rarity to see a town that is so close to London that still adheres to its old traditions so admirably. This is due to the fact that London's big-city influence has often made many surrounding towns little more than suburbs that are often homogenized to the point of irrelevance. Dunmow, thankfully, sticks to its guns by maintaining the same charm that has made it a beloved part of the nation for hundreds of years.
Perhaps the most famous of Dunmow's longstanding traditions is the famed "Flitch Trials". This famous event has been going on for so long that the Trials even gained mention in the world-famous Canterbury Tales. The specific chapter is the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. At any rate, the Flitch Trials work like this: Every four years there are six local bachelors and six local single women and they act as the judges for a gaggle of different couples that compete to convince the panel that they are most perfect for one another. More specifically, the couples must be married for over a year and the aim is to make the bachelors and single women believe that the couple in question has never regretted marriage even once for a year and a day. Whoever wins the coveted honor is then paraded down High Street and awarded a flitch of bacon. A flitch is an ancient word for a piece of side meat cut from an animal but these days the word "flitch" is only used when it is part of the phrase "flitch of bacon". Thus, it is essentially salted pork meat that was of course much more popular in the days of limited or no refrigeration. There are several other towns in England that still carry on this tradition of a contest for the most happily married couple and nearly every town still awards the traditional flitch of bacon. For this reason, Dunmow should always be held in the highest regard for anybody who appreciates the stunning history of England. If more towns were more proud of their storied pasts the world would be a better place indeed.
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