Southover Bonfire Society was formed in 1886. However, this was by no means the start of bonfire celebrations in Southover. We have a far deeper past but those tales will be added in due course so please keep visiting our site.

For a great many years the celebration on the 5th of November had been a riotous affair. For it to continue there were going to have be changes, order was needed, and so it was in 1853 that the town bonfire society was formed with what is now known as Borough and the Cliffe bonfire society. This was followed by Commercial Square bonfire society in 1855. Southover did not come into existence until 1886 and this was because the bonfire boys of Southover were not so easily turned from the ways of the past. It was only when the Lord of Southover insisted upon it as he had become mightily impressed by the organisation of the other societies and probably a little envious. Thus the society was formed with the intent of leaving the old ways behind, hence the society motto 'ADVANCE' being chosen as it was time not only to move on but also to encourage society members to better themselves and the other societies.

Originally the colours of our Guernseys were orange and white but this later changed to orange and black due to the tie between the people of Southover and William of Orange (King William lll 1689-1702). This bond was strong to say the least,  and Southover was the first society to carry a banner commemorating his landing at Brixham in 1688, which we still do to this day. The original street wide banner is long gone but the society still has one that was made in the early 1900s and the one we carry today is a smaller copy of that.

And I suppose now is as good a time as any to remind people that the roots of bonfire were buried deep in the hatred and loathing of the Catholic church. Yes, there was the gunpowder plot of 1605, the Spanish armada of 1588 and many other Catholic conspiracies, but it was during the reign of Queen Mary 1553-1558 that the seeds of hate were planted with the burning of the seventeen protestant martyrs in Lewes. This was to inflict a wound not only on the people of Lewes, but all of Sussex and it took along time to heal. However, there is no modern day hostility towards the Catholic church or any other and the society will not tolerate such behaviour. We explode a pope of a bygone age with the intent to remind people that such atrocities will not be forgotten.