Sumer is Icumen in – ‘The Reading Rota’

The original medieval manuscript of Sumer is icumen in returns to Reading, thanks to a major loan from the British Library. 

It is one of the most celebrated pieces of medieval English music, believed to have been created at Reading Abbey in the mid‑13th century. This is the first time the manuscript has come back to the town since the dissolution of Reading Abbey in 1539. 

It is displayed in The Story of Reading gallery, within the Reading Abbey displays, in its own dedicated case just metres from the Abbey Quarter where it was likely composed over 750 years ago.

Often cited as the earliest known English song with surviving music, the joyful celebration of spring and new life has deep resonance in Reading, where its legacy still echoes from school music lessons to the stone plaque in the Chapter House of the Abbey Ruins.

The Reading Rota has influenced generations of musicians and has appeared in works as varied as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Wicker Man (1973), and the beloved children’s series Bagpuss (1974).