Sexton's wheel at St. Mary Church in Yaxley
Eamon Duffy:
Late mediaeval devotional custom made fasting on bread and water a conventional and common way of honoring saints to whom one had a particular devotion. A custom like the Lady fast, in which the devotee noted which day of the week Lady Day in Lent (the feast of the Annunciation, 25 March) fell on, and observed that day throughout the year as a fast in honour of the Virgin, was established by 1410... In the parish church at Yaxley there survives a sexton's wheel, a roulette-like device with six spokes, each assigned to one of the major feasts of the Virgin. Coloured strings were attached to each spoke and the wheel was spun: the devotee seized a string and observed the weekday on which the relevant feast fell as a fast in honour of the Virgin throughout the ensuing year.[The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy. Yale University Press, 1992]
Sexton's wheel at St. Mary Church in Long Stratton