Tales of the Unexpected

Tales of the Unexpected

  • Baptismal Font

    Church Recorders have now recorded nearly 1800 churches, all with a baptismal font of some sort and probably no two alike. That is an amazing thought in itself! Baptism has always been the first rite of passage for a new member of the Church, a ceremony held near the entrance to the church building combining symbolic spiritual cleansing with a welcome into the family of the Church. It is a time for serious commitments as well as for rejoicing and the font, usually set on aplinth and often made of elaborately carved stone, reflects the importance of the occasion. Read more… 

  • A Mystery Cup

    A silver communion cup with a deep conical bowl just didn’t look right for the job.  Engraved on the bowl on one side is the sacred monogram IHS, and on the other are armorial bearings on an oval medallion suspended from a ribbon above a wreath, and the date 1773.  Blazon: Per pale.  Left side – Argent, a lion rampant Azure langued and armed Gules holding in his dexter paw a wreath of laurel proper and issuing from his mouth a scroll charged with the word EMMANUEL [EMMANUEL COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE]. Right… Read more… 

  • St John, Bishopstone – News from Seville

    A few months after finishing our Church Record of St John Baptist Church in the summer of 2017, the Bishopstone village website was contacted by Martin, a student at Seville University studying for a PhD and investigating British people who visited Seville in the early 19th century. He had come across Reverend George Montgomery and his wife, and wondered whether there were any records of this in the village. Read more… 

  • Mary Lowndes Window – lessons in behaviour

    This beautiful window is in the church of St Mary, Sennicotts, Funtington, West Sussex, a tiny church built in 1829 by Charles Baker the owner of Sennicotts house, who fell out with the local vicar and decided to build his own church and barred, by decree, the local vicar from ever preaching there. Not very Christian when compared to ''Acts of Mercy'' the East Window designed by Mary Lowndes and erected in 1913.  Mary Lowndes Window This window depicts all the things Christians should do for others, feeding the hungry, giving… Read more… 

  • A ‘Vinegar Bible’

    Our recorder, who records the books in the Library section, came out of the vestry in St Andrew's church Etchilhampton, Wiltshire, and said, excitedly, "We've got a Vinegar Bible!" "A vinegar what?" I said, not having a clue what she was talking about. She led me to the vestry where, on a table, there was a very large very old bible in a very sorry state.  The bible was exactly 300 years old and many of the pages were very fragile and the case had come away from the block and the spine. There were… Read more… 

  • Historic milestone in church records

    In 2012 the Church Recorders of the Arts Society began the mammoth task of recording all of the contents of St Wilfrid Harrogate - the silver, the paintings, the woodwork, the organ, the bells and textiles. The volunteers catalogued all of this, recording the names of donors, memorial dedications and history. Stunning photographs and expert drawings accompany the listings Read more…