Looking beyond the obvious

Judging by a recent e-mail sent to me by the team at LHaR, it seems that the Volunteer Heritage Stewards have done a great job in completing the Places of Worship surveys in the time allocated. At the time of writing there appears to be just 50 or so remaining. The power of volunteers, indeed!

As the surveying of these assets draws to a close I have found myself thinking about some of the experiences I have had and particular features I have noticed whilst out and about in the county. As in previous blogs it is often the human stories that hold my fascination.

The quality of the craftsmanship seen in churches never fails to amaze me and the pride that the various trades obviously had in their work. Walking into a large church on the border with Nottinghamshire, I could have been forgiven for thinking I had entered a cathedral, such was its size and grandeur. Gold leaf and elaborate woodwork was everywhere to be seen! In direct contrast to this was a redundant church at the southern end of the Lincoln Edge. Here the church was more modestly appointed, serving for many years, the small hamlet in which it is situated. Despite its size, the internal woodwork was obviously made with great pride and attention to detail. The box pews were ingenious in their use of space within the confines of the church. Their design reflected very clearly the relative social importance of the local congregation; commodious family pews nearest the altar and the more basic, smaller pews towards the rear.

I have learned that the churchyard itself can also yield fascinating historical detail for the interested visitor. At a church in the Sleaford area C17 raised “boxed” tombstones immediately attracted my attention. In various stages of deterioration, these slabs of stone must have been incredibly heavy to both fashion and install. It was easy for me to imagine a team of stonemasons struggling to manhandle the stones into their correct positions. As interesting to me was how well the tombstones have retained their shape, overall appearance and legible inscriptions, some for almost 300 years. As well as the more predictable passages from the Scriptures seen commonly on tombstones, the more unusual ones are of interest. Much can be understood of the social and moral conditions prevalent at the time they were crafted, not least the style of language used and the decidedly chaste tones of the inscriptions!

I have sometimes sheltered in the porches of churches to write up my survey notes and looking around have noticed unusual and unexpected features in the architecture (for example, a line of frogs carved around the stone door frame of a church in the Sleaford area and a gargoyle, half way up a church tower in the Gainsborough area, blowing a raspberry, and appearing to stare down on the passers-by!) Of all these quirky features, my enduring favourites are the informal pieces of C18 and C19 graffiti that appear to have lasted so long because of the painstaking manner in which they were carved. I have included a photo of such an example. I imagined the name might have been carved in an idle few moments, perhaps by a member of the choir or by a grave-digger during his lunch-break! Who knows? What is clear however, is how enjoyable I have found the past few months spent surveying churches. These experiences have reminded me to always try to look beyond the obvious when visiting these remarkable buildings.

Colin, Heritage Steward