Trent Valley Firsts

On a dull 1 June our aim was to reach the Saxon/Norman minster at Stow in Lindsey. To get there we travelled for the first time down the Trent Valley north of Newark and visited a largely unremarkable set of small tower churches. The contrast with the richly decorated churches of Rutland and South Lincolnshire was startling. No exuberant spires here. The first church we visited, however, was something of an exception.

Holme is  a curiousity, with little architectural coherence, a tile roof and a stumpy little spire. In many ways, though, it was, with Stow, the highlight of the trip. It has a scarcely- touched interior, medieval stained glass, Perpendicular windows, a double monument with a skeleton underneath, a room over the porch and some delightful bench carvings.  It was a pleasure to have access to the key (and a bathroom) from friendly neighbours across the road and the signboard emphasised the welcome it gives to visitors.

Two-tiered monument to John Barton

John Barton's shields on the porch

Elegantly-hatted Isabella Barton

Bench-end angels

The window of medieval fragments has a panel with a fine inscription to the church's benefactor:

"Pray for the soul of John Barton, merchant of the Staple of Calais, d. 1491, who built this church."

John Barton was a Lancashire man and Simon Jenkins, in his book "England's Thousand Best Churches", surmises that he set up in Holme  when he was following his sheep to the east coast ports. In medieval times, Holme was on the western side of the Trent whereas now the river has shifted and has put the village on the eastern, Lincolnshire, side, although still inside the Nottinghamshire boundary.


For the first time we met some other church crawlers and we went round the interior with them. They were from Clacton in Essex and were knowledgable members of a U3A church visiting group . (Chris's photo).



On this trip it was difficult to ignore how close we were to the River Trent. Slightly worrying evidence at Collingham recorded flood levels on the churchyard wall.

Across the river from St George's, Clifton (North and South), High Marnham's power station towers were a looming presence and provided a bizarre resonance with the family name (Cooling) on two churchyard headstones.

It was in Clifton that Chris discovered that his new bridge camera allowed him to take a shot of a stained glass window in the north aisle from outside a clear window in the opposite wall of the nave. That's a facilty we will no doubt be making more use of in this part of the East Midlands, as many churches are locked as a matter of course. Today, however, we benefited from the courtesy of key holders at Langford and Marton, in addition to Holme, so thanks to all of them.

But more of those churches another time. What we really wanted to see was Stow. Visiting our first "minster" on these trips, we were greeted by a peal of bells (some bell ringers from Suffolk were visiting too). It is a  huge  parish church ("monumental", Pevsner calls it), originating from 1034-1050, with later additions and a sympathetic Victorian re-build of the chancel roof and east wall by J.L. Pearson. Known as "the mother of Lincoln cathedral", which it pre-dates, from the outside it looks like a cathedral in its own right. It is a "four star" church among Simon Jenkins' top one thousand, putting it in his top 100.

 Inside, the church has a decided "wow" factor. It is enormously high, with huge Saxon and later Gothic arches in the crossing, supporting the tower, which was replaced in the 15th Century. The "blind" canopied arcades around the chancel suggest that there were seats for a large number of priests, consistent with the function of a minster church in a system of church management before there were parishes. Stow was the base for pre-Norman bishops and was responsible for pastoral care and land management for a large area (explained in a free guide to the church).

There was so much to see that the photos below give only a taster. The font has pagan carvings all around it, supposedly symbolising the casting off of superstition at the sacrament of baptism. A Saxon doorway has been revealed underneath plaster and a brightly-coloured window high in the south wall gives St Hugh of Lincoln a proprietorial view of the whole magnificent church.

Crossing tower arches

Green man on font

Saxon doorway

St Hugh window

With much to absorb in these two feature churches, the remaining 10 or 11 we visited will be held over. In conclusion, however, another "first" cannot go unmentioned. That was the rare example in the tiny St Edith's church at Coates-by-Stow of a rood loft, the only one remaining in Lincolnshire. These were usually torn down during the Reformation so it is exceptional to see the wooden gallery, the faded paintings of the head of the Virgin and sprays of flowers on the tympanum and the rickety stone stairs in the wall which actually lead somewhere!

Click on any photo for an enlargement.

Ironstone and Angels

Kirby Bellars

Leicestershire this time and what a contrast to the grey limestone churches of Lincolnshire!  Around Melton Mowbray most churches are built of ironstone, smaller ones wholly of ironstone and others part ironstone and part limestone.  This makes the colours on a sunny day really quite vivid, ranging from dark rusty brown to orange, but many of the churches show considerable erosion which results in some cases in an odd knobbly effect, as at Kirby Bellars. There the erosion on the south and western sides is serious, especially when compared to the northern more sheltered side where some of the original surface survives.   

Elsewhere the stone appears to be trying to return to the beach where it must have originally been formed; indeed at times it is possible to see masses of compacted shells poking out from the stone.  But with the degree of erosion in places it is really possible to imagine some time in the future where it will become a serious issue and for small rural churches could that mean the end of their life as viable operational buildings?  But for now the ironstone produces a very picturesque quality to many churches in the area. 

Another feature of the area is that in many churchyards there are slate gravestones, some dating from the C17 and many from the C18.  These came from the Swithland slate pits, near Loughborough, and are characterised by beautiful lettering and touching doggerel and many have depictions of cartoon like angels, called locally Belvoir Angels, mostly at the top of the stones.  It is rare to see so many memorials from the C17 and C18 outside in graveyards but the endurance of the slate has ensured that now, 250 or even 300 years later, we can still celebrate the lives of long dead parishioners and still mourn their tragedies.  One poignant memorial to a toddler dated 1724 reads, 
 
   Short was his race
   Long his rest
   God takes them soon 
   Whom he loves best

For me such insights into life lived so long ago by our ancestors is one of the things that makes church visiting so rewarding.  We found these stones in abundance at Upper and Nether Broughton and at Long Clawson.

 
 St Mary’s church in Melton is justly celebrated, “the stateliest and most impressive of all churches in Leicestershire” (Pevsner).  But strangely it didn’t grab my heart strings as I thought it would.  Yes it’s grand, big and airy with its remarkable Perpendicular clerestory windows around its nave and transepts, and it’s everything the guide books say about it but even so what we especially liked this trip were the smaller churches around Melton, particularly Holwell and Wartnaby.   


Holwell hardly merits much of a mention in Pevsner, being only a simple rectangular building with a single bellcote, but its setting in the centre of the village on a small rise well above the main street is lovely.  Again, like at Dry Doddington and Brandon, the churchyard is now laid out as an open green space incorporating seating and the village pump.  And the church’s simple interior could easily lend itself to use for other communal activities in a village where few other facilities appear to be available.  We’ve seen such uses in other villages where the local church is again assuming a stronger relationship with its parish rather than in places where the church seems on the periphery of village life rather than being central to its community.

Wartnaby is another tiny church with no tower.  It was undergoing extensive repairs when we visited and was covered in scaffolding.  Inside though is an early round arched arcade which still bears its original painted ornamentation of flower and plant motifs and fleurs de lis.  Very unusual, we must revisit when the repairs are completed.  Again, it has a lovely setting in a tiny village.   We also visited two other miniature churches at Welby, where there is no village, and at Sysonby, right on the edge of Melton’s built up area.

Scalford

Asfordby

Elsewhere we were impressed by Scalford which has quite a grand church, and is well worth a visit, as is Asfordby, and happily we could see inside both but other churches we visited were locked with no indication of where we could find a key.   

One of these was at Frisby on the Wreake which has an interesting church with a beautiful Decorated south transept window featuring flamboyant flowing tracery, quite unusual in a village church.  As for the rest of the day the other churches we saw were strangely less memorable, or maybe we just tried to see too many churches in a day, but the weather was so good we had to make the most of it!

 




What else?  Well, we were intrigued when coming out of Holwell we encountered a gated road with dire warnings about the possibility of the ground collapsing under us if we ventured off the road, due presumably to former iron workings.  But what also amused us was the little sign added to the warning notice which advised us, “CAUTION LAMBS ON ROAD”.  I know it was to warn us to watch out for lambs who might not yet have learned the highway code but the thought also occurred that perhaps there might be some huge mutant lambs marauding along the lanes up ahead. That reminds me also of that other favourite sign that proclaims “DANGER HEAVY PLANT CROSSING”.  For years I’ve watched out for a giant oak or triffid like plant suddenly lurching across the road in front but I’ve never seen one yet… One day…

23 May 2012

Pagan Sites or Washed Away Villages?

 

Dawn came with a fiery redness in the eastern sky but happily the shepherds got it wrong this time and our April outing had spells of sunshine, white clouds and blue skies in equal measures.

This time we continued our search of villages in the Witham Valley. Martin had spotted on the map that many churches along the valley are located close to the river well away from the centre of their villages, such as at Westborough, Barnby in the Willows and Stapleford. Could it be that the churches were built on pre-Christian sites where there was a ritualistic connection between the river and the site or had early settlements near the churches been swept away by long ago floods and then rebuilt at a safer distance away from the river? Or is it just coincidence? Perhaps there’s a future PhD on this subject and we may well return to it in later blogs. Our day was coloured, however, by speculation about pagan sacrifices and votive offerings cast into the waters….

We started the day at Dry Doddington where the church sits proudly in a beautifully kept village green, fringed with colourful spring flower beds. Presumably there must have been a churchyard in earlier times but the effect is certainly neat and different, though at Brandon a few miles away there is the same feature. Another unusual feature is that the tower and spire has a pronounced lean, almost enough to rival the slightly more famous church at Pisa. Unfortunately the church was locked and so we then followed the local bus two miles to the next village, to the more celebrated Claypole church, accorded two stars in Simon Jenkins’ list.

Claypole is an impressive church with spire and ornamentation in abundance. Inside it has beautiful carvings of leaves on the capitals of pillars throughout and hiding amongst them some depictions of green men. Could there be any connection with Southwell Minster where similar carvings can also be found? Lots of interesting things to see inside, notably the ornate sedilia and aumbry in the chancel, the delicate rood screen and Perpendicular font. Outside the church is big, too big to photograph comfortably in a single shot and though it was possible using wide angle it could only be done with huge distortion of the verticals. Beautiful church though and well worth a visit.

The next four churches were in small villages and on a more domestic level, Stubton, Fenton, Brandon and Stragglethorpe. Of these Stragglethorpe is the most interesting having the rare distinction of not being rebuilt in the Victorian period, presumably because, unusually, it had been restored in the previous century. Inside there are Norman arches and a complete set of C18 furniture including pulpit and pews, and notably a huge box pew that was presumably for the lord of the manor, so big that it occupies a good proportion of the nave. Many thanks, incidentally, to the young lady who came running across to us with the key even before we’d worked out where we should go to fetch it from.

The day was going well but then we hit a few problems. Firstly it was getting near lunchtime so we thought we’d find something to eat in the next village but first we had to endure a nose to tail first gear stop start queue of traffic on the A17 due, we found out later, to road works nearer Newark. Having survived the queue, and associated argument in the car as to how we could and should have avoided it, we arrived at Beckingham, only to find the pub closed and the church covered in scaffolding as it was undergoing major work on its tower. So we had to hastily replan our route and the next pub wasn’t until Norton Disney, several villages down our list and several miles to the north. 

A pleasant lunch was followed by a brisk walk to the very engaging church, again near the river and on the edge of the village. The church possesses many gargoyles and other funny carved faces, both inside and out, some looking almost as if they could have been the original models of Disney characters! Several ancient stone effigies in the side chapel as well.

Then on toThurlby, rather plain and locked but within the churchyard there is a poignant area containing military headstones commemorating RAF pilots and aircrew who died in WWII and later, some tragically very young. These must have been stationed at the nearby Swinderby aerodrome.

Our trip then continued back to the simple, mainly Georgian, church at Stapleford very close to the river and well away from its village. Then on to Coddington, but both churches were locked. We had hoped to see the Victorian Pre-Raphaelite stained glass windows at Coddington but it seems to be necessary to pre-arrange access to the church and we will have to return another time. 

So in the late afternoon sunshine we went onto our last church at Barnby in the Willows. Here the churchyard borders the river and it is a really superb setting seen from the riverside. The church is surprisingly large for a small village and the general impression is that it looks a bit patched up with areas of rendering around the clerestory and eastern end. The first thing to see though is the grand and ornate C15 north porch which features again some rather comical carved faces and creatures, very similar to those at Norton Disney, perhaps even by the same set of masons. It also has a particularly long chancel which appears to have been added on much later than the rest of the building. This is unusual in several aspects, not least because of the curious windows in the chancel which the British Listed Buildings website describes as C17, though I’ve certainly never seen anything like them anywhere else.

Our day out was as usual very enjoyable and despite being in a week of heavy rain and grey skies luckily we seem to have picked the best day of the week. I hope that we are similarly lucky when we go out in May, this time, for a change, to the area around Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

22 April 2012.

Cold, Gloomy and Locked Out!

The weekend had been fabulous, T-shirt weather in mid-March. But come Wednesday, the day of our first foray of 2012, the morning started misty, gloomy and depressingly cold. At least it wasn’t raining but it didn’t bode well for brilliant photography. It brightened up later in the afternoon but until then skies were leaden, photographs rather colourless and interior shots difficult. Things weren’t helped as the first three churches on our list were all padlocked and of the ten churches we visited during the day only four were open. It’s a sad reflection on our society that churches have to be locked up to protect them from theft and vandalism, but it also reflects the fact that the role of the church within rural communities is often peripheral, no longer the centre of village life and merely an expensive building to maintain which is only occasionally used for sparsely attended services.

Anyway as always, even in difficult circumstances, there was enough of interest amongst the ten churches we visited. The plan was to visit villages along the Witham Valley north of Grantham. We started out at Sedgebrook, a biggish church mainly of ironstone with the golden browns of the ironstone contrasting well with the grey of its Ancaster stone edgings and surrounds. We would have liked to have seen the interior, particularly the chancel and chapel described in Pevsner as “so lavishly adorned that the effect is almost barbaric.” The church is sited next to the historic Sedgebrook Manor, a grand house associated with the Thorold family and Thorold was a name we encountered again and again in the churches we visited during the day.

Our second stop was Allington, a quirky church with no tower and much of the building constructed in Flemish bonded brick, probably C17. This incorporates some reused windows from an earlier building and doubtless that indicates an interesting period in the church’s history as the mid C17 would have been an unusual time for church building given the turmoil within the church at that period when Laudian and Puritan elements were vying for precedence and the country erupted into civil war. Now the church is peaceful with a lovely setting surrounded by big houses, and a beautifully maintained churchyard.

Then on to Grantham and what can you say about St Wulfram’s church that hasn’t been said already? It’s one of the very rare 5 star churches in Simon Jenkins’ England’s Thousand Best Churches and Jenkins describes the spire as “one of the most exhilarating images of English Gothic”. The whole church is magnificent and though dark inside, as strangely it lacks a clerestory, new lighting picks out carved angels in the roof to great effect. The Lady Chapel and crypt chapel are also impressive as is the huge highly ornate font cover presented to the church to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to appreciate all the church’s beauties as it was lunchtime and again the church had to be locked up. Out in the cold again we sought refuge in the bar of the historic Angel and Royal Hotel.

The weather brightened up a bit after lunch with a first quick stop at the early Victorian church at Manthorpe. Clean lines and a well thought through gothic design of appropriate scale but what was the purpose of the series of curious stumpy spikes sticking out from the spire? Nice carved heads on the porch.

Then to Marston, deep in Thorold family country. Marston church was open and well worth a visit, especially for the Thorold family monuments, including the grand 1594 tomb of Sir Anthony Thorold. There is also a curious feature consisting of two oddly shaped openings within the spandrels above the south arcade which appear to be neither decorative nor functional. Just one of those quirks that make untangling the history of our village churches so fascinating.

The next church was Hougham only a mile or so from Marston, where finally the sun came out. Hougham was lovely, again clean lines and an attractively simple C18 chancel with clear glass windows. But workmen were replacing lead on the north aisle roof. Like many churches in the area thieves had recently ripped the lead from the roof, in this case, we were told, for the third time. We’d seen similar damage at Leadenham on a previous trip and again were told there that the diocese and heritage bodies required that lead should be replaced with lead so of course the churches remain targets for thieves again and again. But why does lead have to be replaced with lead when there are plenty of alternative materials available that would be just as efficient in keeping out the elements, materials that could indeed be cheaper, could still look similar to lead and would not risk further attack? When many churches are not roofed with lead in the area why not allow different materials to be used? So what if re-roofed buildings might look a bit different? The history of church building involves continual evolution, parts collapse or crumble into decay, liturgical changes or the changing role of churches over the centuries have all involved modifications to the fabric so where’s the problem?

And while I’m on the subject why not allow churches to put up photo-voltaic panels on their roofs. Because of their east-west orientation most churches have extensive south facing roofs so PV panels could be a good little earner for cash strapped rural parishes and that could pay for other essential repairs. And if permitted widely I’m sure that the design of panels could be modified to be as unobtrusive as possible. And a further thought, lead roofs themselves are often not very attractive, particularly when they are old and become distorted or ragged around the edges.

Our day out concluded with three more churches including the lovely church at Westborough, filled with sunlight streaming through its big clear glass windows. Lots of interest inside including two small oddly placed possibly re-used Saxon circular windows high up in the north wall, wall paintings of Time and Death, a Jacobean pulpit, remains of a medieval screen, and curious carvings on the poppyhead bench endings in the chancel that would seem to show devil heads licking the backs of naked people at prayer.

Many more churches to see. Looking forward to our next trip. Hope the weather is better next time.

16 March 2012

Celebrity Churches

It is quite reassuring, when pursuing what some might call an eccentric pastime, to come across well-known and respected people who share the same passion. OK, I'll be honest, I mean when you come across celebrity churchcrawlers. Discovering two who have visited churches that we have visited ourselves provides, if you can believe it, a sudden thrill of excitement. These are the actor Richard Briers and broadcaster and comedian Mike Harding. In this article we will mention 2 churches we have shared with them that also have celebrity connections with historical figures.

Richard Briers' book "English Country Churches" covers 100 he has visited and includes 13 in the East Midlands. He sums up well the attractions of church crawling:

"At a time when those all-important moments of tranquillity and reflection become increasingly hard to find, sitting quietly in the cool of a building that has been standing for a quarter of the Christian era or longer helps put life into perspective. Visiting a country church is like opening a window on living history ... inside every one and around every churchyard the past is always present."

One of his favourites is St Helen's, Brant Broughton, in Lincolnshire, which we visited in June 2011. It is an example of a fine medieval church that was sympathetically restored by the Victorians. In fact, it was restored by one of the most influential church architects of the time, G.F. Bodley. The crowning glory was the restoration of the 15th Century angel roof.

George Frederick Bodley, 1827-1907, has been described by Country Life as one of the great British architects. He worked extensively for the Church of England and his work, especially for the Duke of Westminster in Cheshire, is regarded as among the best examples of the Gothic Revival.

At Brant Broughton his client was the rector, Frederick Sutton, who wanted, when he arrived in 1873, to reclaim the church from its state of "poverty and squalor."  He ensured that the restoration was completely in harmony with the work of the original medieval builders. In restoring the roof, Bodley kept the original colour scheme and as much of the original wood as he could. We rather like it. The church is deservedly included in Simon Jenkins' book "England's Thousand Best Churches" and other features of it will no doubt crop up in future posts.

Our other celebrity, Mike Harding, visited St Peter and St Paul, Exton, in Rutland, which he mentions in his "Little Book of Tombs and Monuments." This is one of an attractive series of books in which Mike includes his own photographs of stained glass, gargoyles, green men and other features in churches he visited while on tour all over Britain. Exton is one that we visited in August 2010.

The feature that caught Mike Harding's eye was the 1686 memorial to Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden (not Lord Lonsdale, as Harding mistakenly ascribes it), carved by Grinling Gibbons. It seems the Viscount's (the figure on the left) missing fingers fell off over the years and were thrown out by cleaners!

Simon Jenkins includes the church as one of his thousand best purely on account of its monuments, which fill every corner. This one, in marble, has urns, swags and curtains and would not be out of place, according to Jenkins, commemorating an 18th Century pope in St. Peter's, Rome. We are very pleased we photographed it.

*****

Mike Harding's book, which also includes Wirksworth (Derbys), Gaddesby (Leics) and Grantham (Lincs), to which we will no doubt return, was published in 2008 by Aurum Press Ltd.

Richard Briers' book was published in 1989 by Robson Books Ltd and re-published in 1995 by The Promotional Reprint Company Ltd, exclusively for Bookmart Ltd, Enderby, Leicester.

"England's Thousand Best Churches" by Simon Jenkins was first published by Allen Lane in 1999 and by Penguin Books in 2000 and 2009.

The article on G F Bodley was published in "Country Life" on Sat 30 January 2010.

Before the Welfare State

A number of churches we have visited have monuments or plaques that record acts of great generosity. Parishioners who made money, often as merchants in London, seem to have remembered their humble origins and left bequests to the poor. Here are three examples.

The first is a simple plaque to the memory of Mr John Brown, of Barrowden in Rutland, who left rents from a property in Hammersmith, London, for blankets to be given to the poor of Barrowden every New Years Day.


According to Kelly's Directory of Rutland for 1928, the Charity Commissioners in 1908 agreed that the money, then half the rent, or £50, could be applied more generally to the relief of the sick, poor and needy. 'The Leicestershire & Rutland Village Book', compiled by the Leicestershire & Rutland Federation of Women's Institutes, records that the relief was distributed monthly as free groceries to elderly residents, in the 1990's at least, by the village shop and post office.

Barrowden church, St Peter's,  is a listed building, grade II*. Its spire is a "broach", fitting the corners of the tower without a parapet.

Barrowden

In Billingborough, Lincolnshire, Thomas Buckberry left £100 in 1827 to be invested in Government securities. The dividends were to be used to purchase bread, to be distributed to the poorest persons in the parish after divine service on the first sunday of the months of November, December, January, February and March "for ever."

To qualify for the bread, regular attendance at divine service was necessary and the vicar and churchwardens were to use their discretion in deciding who was most proper to receive it. The executors had to fix or erect a shelf for the bread and a stone in a conspicuous place which stated the nature of the bequest.  Conspicuous, yes, but not that easy to read!

Billingborough

Billingborough is on the edge of The Fens and the church's imposing 150ft high spire, with its delicate flying buttresses, is prominent for miles around. St Andrew's is listed grade I.

The most generous bequest we have seen so far is that of Rev William Dodwell to the parishioners of Welby, near Grantham in Lincolnshire (and Stoke Rochford, where he was also rector). He left the income from £1608, 11 shillings and 6 pence, held in 3% annuities - that's £106,000 in today's money. His executors were to ensure that £15 a year was available for the education of 12 poor boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 12; £10 for one or more apprenticeships for a useful trade or service and the residue for money, clothes, bedding, coals or other fuels for the "deserving poor". According to the records of the Charity Commission, the charity was still paying out £360 in 2010. (All historical info courtesy of Google).

The church, St Bartholomew's,  is a gem of a grade I listed building and was open when we visited.

Welby

Church Crawling - What's the Fascination?

When I was at school there was always great excitement approaching four o’clock in the afternoon when a double headed express would come steaming past our school playing fields. My friends, perfectly sane kids and most with a good sense of humour, would rush out after lessons with their little books of train numbers desperate to record whatever came past and as it was the early 60’s there were often a few odd engines well outside their normal territory which apparently added to the fascination. Except I didn’t get it. Engines were just engines, big black noisy smelly things with smoke and steam pouring out of low funnels, but essentially all the same. Photogenic maybe but none of my friends had cameras and the object of it all seemed just to find out the number of each engine and underline it in the little books. Instead I liked to go and visit old churches, also photogenic, also iconic in the context of old England, often full of architectural beauty, redolent with social history, imbued with the mystery of centuries and a bit scary with all those dead bodies in the churchyards. Especially if you were only 12 and alone on your bike because all your mates were clustered somewhere along the East Coast Main Line watching out for the Flying Scotsman or whatever else happened to pass. I was an odd child; I even liked Brussels sprouts.

So what do you do if 50 years down the line you find yourself retired with lots of time on your hands and located in a part of the country where there is a medieval church every two or three miles and some of them good enough to feature in all the best guide books? No good asking my wife as she sees churches as I used to see steam engines (though I must admit that to see a steamer in full flight now is something really special….). So with Martin’s wife having similar views to mine the idea arose that the two of us might just occasionally have a day out in the country, provided the weather was good, have a nice drive through the countryside, maybe an occasional walk across fields and along streams, of course a good pub lunch and a few churches just to give the day a bit of structure.

So our church crawls began and the areas we chose to see first, mainly Rutland and Lincolnshire, are full of wonderful churches and not just the splendid well known ones like Heckington, Swaton or Lyddington, but also little quirky churches like Brooke (Rutland), Howell (near Sleaford) or Peakirk(near Peterborough). In fact every church has its beauties, often poignant, often dilapidated but still beautiful. Every church has its human stories of happenings long ago and the people involved in those events, and while visiting churches we often meet up with people, sometimes a local coffee morning held in the church, American tourists looking for ancestors, local church helpers, village vicars, other church crawlers, or even the local squire who wants to know what we are doing, especially if the lead has just been removed from the local church.

There are four of us now who go out for a day, usually once a month throughout the warmer months. We’ve been doing it for a couple of years and have visited over 100 churches, averaging around 12 per trip, probably spending about half an hour at a church if we can get in, much less if the church is locked up. We’ve been lucky so far and out of our 12 usually 7 will be open. Many thanks to all those dedicated people out there who still keep their churches open, especially in these days when many churches have sadly been targeted by thieves.