View of the church along the churchyard path.©Carole Tyrrell

It was a glorious Easter Saturday this year and so I thought I’d go for a springtime walk in the Kent countryside near my home. On an earlier visit to St Mildred’s in Nurstead near Meopham in 2019, a local man had recommended visiting Ifield church which was just ‘a mile down the road’.  I assumed he meant ‘a country mile’ which may not be the standard length of a mile as we know it. I travelled to Meopham by train and then put my trust in Google maps.  I was feeling lucky that day…

Esater bunnies in St Mildred’s churchyard, Nurstead. ©Carole Tyrrell

Daffodils in St Mildred’s churchyard, Nurstead. ©Carole Tyrrell

As I sat in St Mildred’s churchyard I saw real easter bunnies pottering about who then adroitly vanished when they realised that a human was about. ‘Very wise.’ I thought and then set off to Ifield. The local ‘big house’ is Nurstead Manor which is across the road from St Mildred’s and it is surrounded by fields with some magnificent horses in them. St Mildred’s was closed but spring flowers were in the churchyard. Daffodils seemed to burst forth on one grave and there were patches of wild violets, purple and white. Spring was in full swing. Due to the lack of street signs, I hoped that I was on the right road when I took a left hand turn and walked on until I saw a sign. Along the road, on the verges, there were great patches of Lesser Celandine which is one of the seven signs of Spring.

Lesser Celandine on a roadside verge. ©Carole Tyrrell

 As I stood there wondering in what direction I should be going as there was no sign of a church, a passer by advised me to follow the signs to the lambing farm 100 yards ahead.

©Carole Tyrrell

©Carole Tyrrell

©Carole Tyrrell

Intrigued, I did so and, after paying £4, I was directed to a shed in which there was an assortment of lambs and ewes in pens.  Some of the lambs were only 2 days old and others were playful, climbing onto their mum’s thick woolly coats or having a kip.  But they were not destined for Sunday lunch as they were a rare breed, the Cobham Longwool, of which there are only 500 in the country. ‘So not for eating.’  the farmers wife comfortingly told another visitor which was a relief. I had held a lamb and felt a little guilty.  We were also shown their two pigs who were very lively and, after a pizza and being given directions, ‘It’s quite a way further on.’ I resumed my walk. One of her companions said as I moved on, ‘Oh she’s one of those people who like visiting churches, they’ll walk miles to see one.’

They weren’t kidding.  The road was empty, devoid of houses and cars and other walkers. It seemed strange to have a church so far out of town but I have become accustomed to isolated churches in North Kent.   Ifield is recorded in the Domesday 1086 and is a hamlet of only 12 houses with no sign of any shops and St Margaret’s is at the very end.  Unknowingly I was on the ancient village street, Ifield Street, which was an isolated empty road and unlit at night.  I can’t imagine too many late night services being held there during winter.

View over the fields from the churchyard. ©Carole Tyrrell

View of church from churchyard. ©Carole Tyrrell

Despite the website saying it was open daily, on my visit it was closed, which seemed odd at Easter. So, I was unable to see the interior and the remaining medieval features.  The nave and chancel date from the 13^th century and there is a 12^th century font.  It’s a quiet location although I could hear the endless traffic on the A2 that separate the church from the hamlet. Its rough stone walls are now covered by modern cement which makes it look younger than it actually is and gave it, in my opinion, a slightly American look. In fact St Margaret’s is known by the locals as the ‘Little church on the Prairie and I could see why as it’s surrounded by fields which contained tall yellow flowers which I assumed were rapeseed. By now the fields would be a bright acid yellow.  Quite a sight to see.It is thought that Chaucer’s pilgrims on their way to Canterbury would have passed by the church, and standing here in this isolated spot I could believe that the landscape might not have changed much.

War memorial just outside the lychgate.©Carole Tyrrell

Names inscribed on the memorial from the First World War. ©Carole Tyrrell

The impressive War Memorial just outside the lychgate dates from 1919 and originally commemorated the village’s fallen of the First World War.  There was

 ‘ a service of dedication for the memorial on 20^th June 1919 which was a week prior to the end of the First World War with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.’

www.ifieldparish.org

It’s built of Cornish silver-grey granite and cost £120 at the time which was raised through subscriptions from parishioners.  Names from the Second World War are also inscribed on it and a full list of names is on the www.ifieldparish.org  website.

The churchyard contains mostly 19^th, 20^th and 21^st memorials and was a symphony in yellow. Dandelions abounded and these can be seen as symbols of astral bodies. The flowerhead in full bloom is emblematic of the sun, the dandelion clock is the moon and the scattering seedheads are the stars.  Lesser celandine was still there in abundance and near the lychgate there was a small patch of cowslips.  I also saw tulips and grape hyacinths.  

More Lesser celandine swarming over the churchyard.©Carole Tyrrell

A patch of dandelions. ©Carole Tyrrell

Grape hyacinths. ©Carole Tyrrell

Cowslips. ©Carole Tyrrell

More cowslips. ©Carole Tyrrell

There were a sprinkling of 18^th headstones on which pairs of winged messengers  and also an impressive winged skull could be seen.

18th century headstone showing winged messengers. ©Carole Tyrrell

18th century winged skull on a headstone. ©Carole Tyrrell

On this one, it can be seen very clearly what the departed’s hobbies or occupation was. A clear example of ‘the tools of the trade’.  And there was an unusual cast iron memorial to ‘our two sons’ on one headstone.

©Carole Tyrrell

©Carole Tyrrell

©Carole Tyrrell

This is the largest and most significant group of memorials and commemorates the Colyer Fergusson family who were associated with Ightham Mote, now a National Trust property. It’s a

‘medieval moated manor house roughly 7 miles from Sevenoaks’ according to the National Trust website.  Thomas Colyer-Fergusson, eventually to assume the title of ‘Sir’ when he assumed the additional name of Colyer in 1890 and his bride, Beatrice, set up home at Ightham in 1889 and were keen to make their mark on the house.  They were very forward thinking and introduced:

‘central heating, electricity and bathrooms connected to the mains water supply.’ Ightham Mote | Kent | National Trust

These amenities were undoubtedly appreciated by their retinue of indoor servants and gardeners.  In addition, the Colyer-Fergussons introduced the opening of rooms to visitors on one afternoon a week for the price of 2 shillings.  Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust was a visitor.

But the carnage and of the 2 World wars badly affected the Colyer-Fergussons.  In the first World War, Thomas’s second son, Billy suffered shell shock and the youngest son, Riversdale was killed at Ypres aged 21.  Riverdale’s death had a profound effect on Thomas in that he would not allow the gardeners to

‘make any changes to the garden, asking them not to cut back any plants or remove dying trees.’

 Ightham Mote | Kent | National Trust

During the Second World War, Max, Thomas’s eldest son, was killed in a bombing raid on an Army training school in 1940.

Thomas died in 1951 and Ightham Mote was inherited by Max’s son, James.  He had no children and was only too well aware of the huge expense that would be incurred in maintaining the house. So he sold it and its contents leaving it with an uncertain future and eventually it was taken over by the National Trust. The baronetcy became extinct with the death of the 4^th Baronet in 2004.

There is an obituary on the Kent Archaeological Society website to Sir Thomas in which he is thanked for his ‘patient and persistent work’ in transcribing parish registers.  This was no mean task as they were largely handwritten and not indexed.  He was very involved with the Society and eventually became its Vice-President. 

   

©Carole Tyrrell

The last Baronet, after this the title died out. ©Carole Tyrrell

And so here the Colley-Fergussons rest in this serene churchyard surrounded by the other departed villagers and parishioners and the Spring flowers that indicate Mother Nature is returning to life.  It was interesting to see a connection between Ifield and Ightham Mote as the house is one of my favourite places to visit and I based a short story on a particular painting on display there.

I retraced my steps back to Meopham and St Mildred’s churchyard resisting the urge to ask any passing horse and rider a lift for some of the way.  The clip clopping of horses hooves had let me know that there was an equestrian establishment close by. Already the long shadows of the early evening were racing over the fields but it had felt so wonderful to be outside and exploring once again after a long winter.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading

History of St. Margaret’s Church | Parish of Ifield (ifieldparish.org)

Ifield St Margaret of Antioch | National Churches Trust

Ightham Mote | Kent | National Trust

Colyer-Fergusson baronets – Wikipedia

Obituary – Sir Thomas Colyer-Fergusson 1865-1951 – Archaeologia Cantiana, Vol. 64  1951  page 186 (kentarchaeology.org.uk)

St Clement’s, Hastings Old Town. Image from https://oldtownparishhastings.org.uk, image uncredited.

It was Mayday and I wanted to be outside watching people dancing for all they were worth on the West Cliff at Hastings.  The seaside town holds a lot of memories for me as my maternal grandmother had a cottage down there and we would have family holidays there when I was a child.

Hastings has changed a lot since then. It’s still a fishing town and the catch is still sold on the beach, fresh off the boats. But like a lot of coastal towns it became very run down when people started to prefer foreign holidays to traditional bucket and spade ones.

On Mayday, two lifestyles collide. There’s the 25,000 bikers on the seafront, parading up and down, and the Mayday revellers and Morris dancing up on the West Cliff. 20 years ago when I first came across it, it was held in the Castle but it then became too large for it and so the West Cliff is now its home. As you can imagine Hasting is absolutely packed until roughly 4pm.  The queue for the funicular lift up to the top of the West Cliff was even longer than usual and so I started to explore the picturesque Old Town.  St Clement’s attracted me as I thought I could explore the church.

It’s an ancient church and there may have been one on this site since 1080. It was rebuilt in 1380 and is the civic church of Hastings.  The other local church is All Saints and together they form the old town parish of Hastings.  A bomb dropped on St Clement’s and a nearby pub during the Second World War which inspired an episode of the TV series ‘Foyle’s War.’  It blew out two of St Clement’s windows.

But there is also an artistic connection in that Dante Gabriel Rossetti married Elizabeth Siddal here in 1860 and his sister, Christina, is believed to have worshipped at St Clement’s whenever she visited.  But alas, the church was closed on my visit and the churchyard was full of people enjoying themselves sitting on tombs and the church steps.

A profusion of wild garlic in the pocket sized churchyard. ©Carole Tyrrell

So I wandered on and then smelled something pungent on the breeze. ‘Wild garlic.’ I thought and so I followed it.  The pungent aroma led me to behind St Clement’s church and on the other side of a picturesque alleyway I discovered a tiny, pocket sized churchyard tucked into a corner. There was hardly anyone about as they were all wending their way up to the Mayday celebrations and it was so peaceful. This is part of the closed St Clement’s churchyard.

Bluebells in profusion contrasting with the white flowers of wild garlic. ©Carole Tyrrell

The only headstone that was slightly readable is on the left hand side. ©Carole Tyrrell

Close up of almost readable headstone. ©Carle Tyrrell

The steps in the churchyard through the lush plants. ©Carole Tyrrell

This could be a very rough hourglass. ©Carole Tyrrell

The churchyard with St Clements behind it. ©Carole Tyrrell

The alley between the churchyard and the church. ©Carole Tyrrell

The intoxicating smell of wild garlic was coming from the bountiful flowers inside the churchyard and  I was tempted to take a couple of sprigs home with me.   The white flowers contrasted with the abundant alkanet and blubells and headstones poked up from the mass of flowers.  One or two were faintly legible and I thought I could see a symbol on one but most were now weathered and illegible.  I moved further down the alleyway and found that the churchyard gate was padlocked but there was a wooden bench inside and I thought ‘What a quiet, calm place in which to spend a lunch hour.’ 

Turning away from the small oasis of calm, I braced myself for the walk up the West Hill and told myself not to look down while climbing.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading

St Clement – Hastings Old Town Parish (oldtownparishhastings.org.uk)

Hastings St Clement | National Churches Trust

This month’s symbol features a single word, Mizpah, which is a representation of an emotional bond that goes beyond the grave. It isn’t a common symbol and I have seen only a few examples in cemeteries while out exploring.

However, during the 1980’s and 80’s, I often used to see Mizpah inscribed on old fashioned jewellery such as brooches when browsing in charity shops and jumble sales. At that time, I thought that it might have been another word for ‘Mother’.

These two examples date from the late 19th century and were found on Etsy. Images used without permission.

But, it was on an Open House visit to St Nicholas church in Chislehurst that I discovered its real meaning. I had read somewhere that Napoleon III was buried there but, alas, it was the wrong church and he had long since been re-interred elsewhere. However, on a churchyard tour that afternoon led by a volunteer I finally learned what it actually signified as he indicated Mizpah on the Campbell monument.  He said that it came from an Old Testament phrase ‘I will set around you a mountain which will keep you and protect you.’ I haven’t been able to find this particular Biblical quotation yet.

The word, Mizpah, appears in the Old Testament in Genesis 31:49:

‘And Mizpah, for he said, the Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of another’s sight.’  King James Bible

In other words, the one left behind is still protected and watched over even though their loved one has gone.  A touching link between two people or an entire family who have been separated by death or another force.

But there is another version, according to Wikipedia, in which it’s claimed that Mizpah stands for ’Lord watch over me’ and relates to the story of Jacob and Laban. Jacob fled with from Laban’s house in the middle of the night with all of his earthly possessions including animals, wives and children and Laban was soon in pursuit.  But the two men came to an agreement and built a watchtower or Mizpah.  This would be a border between their respective territories, and neither would pass the watchtower, which was reputed to be merely a pile of stones, to visit the other to do evil. God would be the only witness to their pact and would protect one from the other.  Today a modern village stands on the supposed site called Metullah which means lookout.

However, I prefer the more poignant reference to the affectionate ties between the departed and the bereaved and the wish to leave them with the feeling that they were still being supported and protected as exemplified by the one simple word.

Mizpah jewellery is still available and is often in the form of a coin shaped pendant, cut in two, with a zig-zag line bearing the words that I quoted in the first paragraph.

Here are two examples that I found online; one is vintage and the other is contemporary.

This first example is from Beckenham Cemetery and the Victorian epitaph is an affectionate tribute to a much loved and missed wife, Emma.

The second is from the Campbell monument in St Nicholas churchyard.  The Celtic cross above the grave is also of interest as it has strapwork on it made from entwined snakes, themselves symbols of eternity and mortality.  The Campbells had two famous sons: Sir Malcolm Campbell and his son Donald.  Note the small motif of a bluebird in one corner above the epitaph.  This was the name of the vehicles on which both Sir Malcolm and Donald achieved several world speed records during their lifetimes. Donald was tragically killed in 1967 when another world speed record breaking attempt on Coniston Water went tragically wrong and both he and Bluebird sank to the bottom of the lake.  It wasn’t until 2001 that his remains were discovered and buried in Coniston cemetery.  Nick Wales, his son, maintains the grave and also holds the world record for the fastest lawnmower. Donald Campbell’s Bluebird has been restored and was taken out for a trip on Bewl Water, near Tunbridge Wells by its new owner Paul Foulkes-Halbard in 2017.

The final one is a modern version, again from Beckenham Cemetery, and is dedicated to a Kathleen Sabine and dates from 2000.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

http://biblehub.com/genesis/31-49.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizpah_(emotional_bond)

http://www.helenalind.com/mizpah.htmlhttp://mizpah.biz/what-does-word-mizpah-mean

http://mizpah.biz/what-does-word-mizpah-mean

http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/mizpah/

1938 water-speed record-setting Bluebird K3 is back on the water after extensive restoration | Hemmings

In 2012, I found this beautiful, imposing Celtic Cross in St Margaret’s churchyard which is in Lee, a suburb in south east London.   This is a church and churchyard in two halves.  The remnants of the older building and its churchyard is across the road from its much larger, Victorian replacement.  The older churchyard contains some interesting 18th century memorials and I can recommend exploring if it’s open.

The newer St Margaret’s is also worth exploring if it’s open as it contains Pre-Raphaelite style wall paintings and interesting stained glass. As you might expect, its churchyard mainly contains 19^th century memorials as you might expect and then when I went around the back of the church I found this memorial.

This memorial is an example of the Celtic Revival that was popular from 1880-1910 and the Arts & Crafts movement. The epitaph is written in flowing Art Nouveau script and was well worn which rendered it virtually indecipherable. All I could make out was that it was in memory of a deceased wife. This was a real pity as I would have liked to have known more about the person who was buried there and what had happened to her.

I noticed the four symbols; one on each corner of the cross. An ox, an eagle, a lion and an angel. I’d never previously seen this combination on a funerary monument and thought, in my ignorance, that it might have meant that the deceased had loved animals.

But, after posting my photos of the memorial onto The Cemetery Club Facebook page a fellow member replied saying that she thought that the symbols might represent the four evangelists:

Angel = Matthew
Lion = Mark
Ox = Luke
Eagle = John

These were ‘the four canonical gospels with the four living creatures that surround God’s throne’. I had to consult a Bible website for further information and it referred me to the Book of Revelations. In verses 5-8:

‘Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind,  …the first living creature, like a LION, the second living creature like an OX, the third living creature with a face like a HUMAN face (the angel), and the fourth living creature like a flying EAGLE. King James Bible

The four living creatures are also mentioned in Ezekiel 1: verses 1-1 as well as in other religious texts such as St Irenaeus of Lyons and St Augustine of Hippo.

The four symbols are known as a tetramorph. This is a symbolic arrangement of four different elements and is derived from the Greek tetra, meaning four, and morph, which means shape.

In Christian art, the tetramorph is the union of the symbols of the Four Evangelists, the four living creatures into a single figure, or more commonly, a group of four figures. Portraits of the four evangelists are often accompanied by the tetramorphs or the symbols often used to represent them as in the image below.

Each symbol can be described as a tetramorph in the singular, and a group as the tetramorphs but usually only when all four are together. Tetramorphs were very common in early medieval art especially in illuminated Gospel books. They are still common in religious art up to the present day. Other examples of the combination of different elements are the Sphinx in Egypt which has the body of a lion and the head of a human.

The animals associated with the Christian tetramorph originated in the Babylonian symbols of the four fixed signs of the zodiac; the Ox representing Taurus; the lion representing Leo, the eagle representing Scorpio and the man or angel representing Aquarius. In Western astrology the four symbols are associated with the elements of, respectively Earth, Fire, Water and Air. The creatures of the Christian tetramorph were also common in Egyptian, Greek and Assyrian mythology. Early Christians adopted this symbolism and adapted it for the four Evangelists as the tetramorph, which first appears in Christian art in the 5th century.

There is a tetramorph in Ely Cathedral and also over the entrance door to St Augustine’s church in Kilburn, north London. I have also found two more in London’s Brompton Cemetery but not as well carved and, although large, not quite as imposing.

But the one in St Margaret’s churchyard is a lovely monument which is beautifully carved and really stands out in the churchyard due to its size and position.

References and further reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetramorph

The lion, the bull, the eagle and the angel: the Tetramorph | Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

church history – How did the four living creatures become associated with the Gospel writers? – Christianity Stack Exchange

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

https://www.biblegateway.com/

https://faithhopebeliefprayersmiracles.blogspot.com/

Five child angels, their faces turned to each other, framed by small wings, except for one that was staring out at me, I wanted to reach out and touch them but didn’t want to damage them.   They formed a roundel at the centre of a tall cross with the phrase ‘And with the morn those angel faces smile’ inscribed at the base of its stem.  I was on a tour of Beckenham Cemetery when I first saw them.

Our guide did not comment on them but the monument is in a prominent place on the main road through the cemetery and I often wondered about this pretty and poignant memorial.

But on a visit to Highgate Cemetery East in 2014 I found another example but on a smaller scale which was on a tombstone dedicated to Alfred Hack and dated 1956. There is a distinctly 1930’s look about the angels from their hairstyles.

I also discovered another version which featured cherubs faces instead of childrens on a visit to Knebworth in 2016. But on a further visit to Beckenham Cemetery in the same year, I found another similar one which was a short distance away from the first.  In this the child angels seem to have more definite, individual faces and the one that has her head towards the viewer is looking downwards instead of outwards.

Now I wanted to find out more about the quotation and the angels and my research led me to a Victorian hymn that was sung on the Titanic at its final service on board and by the inmates of Ravensbruck concentration camp as the SS led them in.   The ‘angel faces’ is a quotation from ‘Lead, kindly Light’,  in fact it’s the penultimate line and like ‘Rock of Ages’ it caught the mood of its time.

These are the lyrics:

‘Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom
Lead thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not for ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead thou me on,
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long thy power hath blessed me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.’

However, the writer John Henry Newman (1801-90), always refused to reveal the meaning of the ‘angels faces’ or what the ‘kindly light’ actually was.

Originally a poem, it was written by Newman in 1833.  He was then a young theologian and Anglican vicar and was going through a challenging time in his life. Struck down by a fever which nearly killed him while travelling in the Mediterranean, Newman’s  servant was so convinced that he would die that he asked him for his last orders.  But in his autobiography, Newman told him ‘I shall not die, for I have not sinned against light’.

Newman recovered but that wasn’t the end of his troubles.  Desperate to return to England he then took a boat from Palermo to Marseilles only to end up stranded and becalmed in the Straits of Bonifacio. Exhausted and frustrated Newman wrote the poem, ‘The Pillar of the Cloud’ that, in 1845, became ‘Lead, Kindly Light’.  Newman was not happy about this as by then he’d converted to Catholicism and hymn singing wasn’t included as part of divine service.  He went onto become Cardinal Newman, one of the most important figures in English Catholicism, and also an important writer. In 1900 Elgar set Newman’s poem ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ to music.

‘Lead, Kindly Light’ has struck a chord with those in danger or about to enter the endless dark realm and needed the comfort of a light leading their way through it.  Miners awaiting rescue from deep underground  during the 1909 Durham mining disaster sang it  as did the  passengers on one of Titanic’s lifeboats  when the rescue ship, Carpathia,  was sighted the morning after.  It caught the Victorian mood perfectly as did ‘Rock of Ages’ and Queen Victoria asked for it to be read as she lay dying.  It also inspired a celebrated painting by the Scottish artist, Sir Joseph Noel Paton in 1894 in which the angels are pensive young woman.

But why did one line from this song inspire two monuments in Beckenham Cemetery and one in Highgate East?  I noticed that both of the Beckenham monuments were on children’s graves and that the carved angels were also children. Perhaps the mourning relatives left behind may have wanted the consolation that their beloved children would be waiting for them when their time came.

The first one is the Foster family monument.  The epitaph is now virtually unreadable but I could make out the name ‘Francis Frederick’ carved along the base.    There are two inscribed ‘Books of Life’ placed on top of the grave.  One is dedicated to John Francis Foster and Alice Gladys Alice Chapman and the other is dedicated to John Francis Foster and Alice Emma Foster.

The second one is the Pace family monument and is to the two daughters of Henry William and Elizabeth Pace.  These were Lilian Alice who died in 1888 and Grace Irene who died in 1903.  Strangely enough they both died at the same age and Elizabeth herself is commemorated here as she died at 33 in 1912.

This is the one in Highgate East dedicated to Alfred Hack and dated 1956.

However the symbol has been adapted to feature cherubs as in St Mary’s, Knebworth’s churchyard. These are on the tombstone of the Lutyens family’s nanny, Alice Sleath.

But I am indebted to Douglas Keister’s Stories in Stone for the possible origins on the image of the angels.

The composition of the five heads may have been adapted from  a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA entitled ‘Heads of Angels Miss Frances Gordon’ which was painted during July 1786 – March 1787.  The sitter was the then 5 year old Frances Isabella Keir Gordon (1782-1831) who was the only daughter of illustrious parents. They were Lord William Gordon (1744-1823) and his wife Frances Ingram (1761-1841), second daughter of Charles, 9^th Viscount Irvine (1727-78), who were married on 6 March 1781. Her uncle was Lord George Gordon (1751-93), whose political activities had sparked the anti-Catholic riots of 1780.

Frances’ mother outlived her by 10 years and the painting was then presented to the National Gallery.  It was enormously popular and was reproduced on numerous decorative items and photographic reproductions such as ‘The Cherub Choir.’

And so a poignant and powerful symbol was created from the combination of a great painting, an inspirational hymn and Victorian taste and led to the two lovely memorials to much missed children in Beckenham Cemetery..

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and Further Reading

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3668066/The-story-behind-the-hymn.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead,_Kindly_Light

http://www.thebeautybag.net/videos/angel-faces-smile/

‘A Child’s Portrait in Different Views: ‘Angel’s Heads’‘, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1786–7 | Tate

Stories in Stone, Douglas Keister,  2006, Gibbs Smith

The tombstones in St Margaret’s churchyard, Rochester are arranged like teeth along one wall. It faces out onto the Medway and, if you’ve got the strength, to look over there’s also a steep slope beneath. But it was here that I found the Good Samaritan headstone.  Never underestimate the power of a lovely sunny day to really bring out the beauty of a good carving.

A man is depicted on it, lying half naked being comforted by another man while a horse, presumably the victim’s, stands nearby.  In the distance two figures, presumably men, walk away with their backs to the scene.  It’s a well carved little picture and  I immediately thought of Parable of the Good Samaritan.

I am indebted to the Kent Archaeological; Society for the transcript of the epitaph. .  Even at 400% magnification, all I could make out was

‘…….Wife….

….this life…

…1777…..

…Children..’

It actually reads:

(In memory of)

Catherine Wife of Will Bromley

Departed this life

The ( ) Feb 1777

aged 33 years

Also Six Children

Will Bromley

departed this life

( ) June 1783 aged 41 years

Also William Gerrad Bromley died

the 30th of January 180(7) aged (36 years)

The Parable of The Good Samaritan comes from the Gospel of Luke, verses 10:25-37 and here is a shortened version taken from the World English Bible:

‘Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”’

He said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Samaritan who stopped to help is described as Good but in reality Jews and Samaritans hated each other. They were known to destroy each other’s temples but few people have heard of the Samaritans nowadays. According to Wikipedia, the parable is now:

‘…….often recast in a more modern setting where the people are ones in equivalent social groups known not to interact comfortably. Thus, cast appropriately, the parable regains its message to modern listeners: namely, that an individual of a social group they disapprove of can exhibit moral behaviour that is superior to individuals of the groups they approve.’

At the time in which the Parable is set, the Jerusalem to Jericho road was known as ‘The Way of Blood’ due to the amount of blood that was spilt on it from attacks on travellers by robbers.  It was extremely dangerous.  In fact Martin Luther King Jr in his ‘I’ve been to the Mountaintop’ speech given the day before his death, had more sympathy for the Levite and priest who ignored the victim and went on with their journeys. He described the road as:

‘As soon as we got on that road I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road … In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.” And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking, and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’^’]

Wikipedia

There are several other interpretations of the Good Samaritan parable and if you are interested you can find them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan

The phrase ‘Good Samaritan’ has become part of modern language and denotes someone who helps a stranger. There are several worldwide hospitals named after him and it has inspired art, fiction, photography and sculpture amongst others.   This is a 17^th century painting from 1647

and here is a modern sculpture from Nova Scotia.

However, the only images that I could find that resembled the headstone carving were from 19^th century bibles which were much later than the carving on the headstone. This is taken from the 1875 Children’s Picture Bible Book.

So was the wife or the husband buried in St Margaret’s churchyard the Good Samaritan or was the image chosen to remind the viewer to be one to their fellow men?  We may never know.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated

References and further reading:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A25-37&version=KJV

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan

https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/monumental-inscriptions/rochester-st-margarets-church#03

It’s snowdrop time again and already they are beginning to put out their heads and make passers by feel that Spring is finally on its way. But there’s more to snowdrops than their pristine white colour.

February 2 was Candlemass and it seemed appropriate to revisit an older post featuring one of the first, and perhaps one of the most symbolic, flowers to appear in the New Year….

Imagine yourself in a gloomy medieval church on the festival of Candlemass. You, and your fellow parishioners, have each brought your candles to be blessed by the priest and, after the procession which will fill the church with light, they will all be placed in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary.   Candlemass marked the end of winter and the beginning of Spring and the blessing is to ward off evil spirits.  It traditionally falls on February 2 and is shared with the Celtic festival of Imbolc.  And in the churchyard outside you can see green shoots forcing their way up through the hard winter earth.  The snowdrop’s milk-white flowers show that spring is on its way as they begin to emerge into the light.

The placing of the lit candles in front of the Virgin Mary’s statue gave the snowdrop one of its many other names – Mary’s Tapers.  But there are many others such: Dingle Dangle, Candlemas Bells, Fair Maids of February, Snow Piercer, Death’s Flower and Corpse Flower.

The snowdrop’s appearance has also inspired many comments . According to the Scottish Wildlife Trusts website they have been described as resembling 3 drops of milk hanging from a stem and they are also associated with the ear drop which is an old fashioned ear ring.  Anyone who has seen a group of snowdrops nodding in the wind will understand what they mean.   The snowdrop’s colour is associated with purity and they have been described as a shy flower with their drooping flowers.  However, the eco enchantments website reveals that the flower is designed in this way due:

‘to the necessity of their dusty pollen being kept dry and sweet in order to attract the few insects flying in winter.’

Snowdrops have been known since ancient times and, in 1597, appeared in Geralde’s ‘Great Herbal where they were called by the less than catchy name of ‘Timely Flowers Bulbous Violets’.  Its Latin name is Galanthus nivalis.  Galanthus means milk white flowers and the nivalis element translates as snowy according to the great botanist, Linnaeus in 1753.   In the language of flowers they’re associated with ‘Hope’ and the coming of spring and life reawakening.

However, yet despite all these positive associations, the elegant snowdrop has a much darker side. Monks were reputed to have brought them to the UK but it was the ever enthusiastic Victorians who copiously planted them in graveyards, churchyards and cemeteries which then linked them with death.  Hence the nickname name ‘Death’s Flower.’

They were described by Margaret Baker in the 1903 ‘Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore and the Occult of the World’ as:

‘so much like a corpse in a shroud that in some counties  the people will not have it in the house, lest they bring in death.‘

So that’s where the ‘Corpse Flower’ nickname came from.

Snowdrops are also seen as Death’s Tokens and there are several regional folk traditions of connecting death with them. For example in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries it was considered very unlucky to bring the flower into the house from outside as it was felt that a death would soon occur.  The most unlucky snowdrop was that with a single bloom on its stem.    Other folk traditions were described in a 1913 folklore handbook which claims that if a snowdrop was brought indoors it will make the cows milk watery and affect the colour of the butter.  Even as late as 1969 in ‘The Folklore of Plants’  it was stated that having a snowdrop indoors could affect the number of eggs that a sitting chicken might hatch.  A very powerful plant if these are all to be believed – you have been warned!

It’s amazing that this little flower has so many associations and legends connected with it but I always see it as a harbinger of spring, rebirth and an indication of warmer days to come.

But the snowdrop also has a surprise.  This came courtesy of the Urban Countryman page on Facebook – not all social media is time wasting!  If you very gently turn over a snowdrop bloom you will find that the underside is even prettier and they also vary depending on the snowdrop variety.

Here is a small selection from my local churchyard and one from Kensal Green cemetery.

So don’t underestimate the snowdrop – it’s a plant associated with life and death but watch out for your hens and the colour of your butter if you do decide to tempt fate…..

©Carole Tyrrell text and photos unless otherwise stated

References:

http://www.plantlore.com

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/naturestudies/bright-in-winters-depths-why-the-flawless-flower-of-candlemas-is-ajoy-forever-8483967

http://www.flowermeaning.com/snowdrop-flower-meaning

http://www.ecoenchantments.co.uk/mysnowdropmagicpage.html

Nature’s “death tokens”

Queen Alexandra’s memorial ©Carole Tyrrell

The memorial is set into the garden wall of Marlborough House which had been Queen Alexandra’s London home and was sculpted in bronze by Alfred Gilbert who also designed the Eros monument in London’s Piccadilly.  Alix’s memorial was his last great work and he worked on it during 1926-1932. It was his biographer who brought him back to England after his scandalous flight to Bruges with creditors chasing after him. He had left the tomb of Alix’s son, the Duke of Clarence, unfinished after going wildly over budget. It’s in Prince Albert’s Chapel near St George’s Chapel in Windsor. The tomb was also in the Art Nouveau style and is wildly extravagant. The Duke lies on top of the tomb dressed in a Hussar uniform while above him a kneeling angel bends over him to place a crown upon his head. Alix never fully recovered from his death and kept the room in which he had died as a shrine. So Gilbert was an obvious choice for Alix’s memorial despite Edward loathing him.  After 20 years of silence, it was presumed that Gilbert was dead.  However, he had been living in Rome on a Civil List pension. But, despite his antipathy to Gilbert, Edward knighted him and made the Royal Academy re-admit him. And, finally, the missing figures in the Duke’s tomb were completed.

Alfred Gilbert by Frederick Hollyer 1887. Shared under Wiki Commons

Arthur Sanderson, drawing of the tomb of the Duke of Clarence, Prince Albert’s Chapel, near St George’s Chapel, Windsor. from Pinterest.

Queen Alexandra’s memorial has been adapted from Perpendicular Gothic architecture with 3 buttressed and pinnacled canopies over the 4 allegorical figures and linenfold motifs on the screen behind them.  On either side of the central figure there are 2 more smaller figures; one holds a cross and represents Religion and the other has no attribute. The two pillars on either side of the figures have lamps in them at the top and I imagine the effect must be quite ghostly and mysterious at night.

The figure called ‘Religion’ ©Carole Tyrrell

The unattributed figure ©Carole Tyrrell

Faith ©Carole Tyrrell

Hope ©Carole Tyrrell

Love Enthroned ©Carole Tyrrell

I think it’s a Marmite statue in that you either love it or loathe it and, admittedly, it’s not for everyone. The four figures, all female, remind me almost of a Pieta as they surround a young girl whose arms are in the shape of a cross. I am indebted to the Victorian Web who quote Richard Dorment’s comments on the composition:

‘The four figures, all female, two of whom appear to be asleep, and three are crowned. In the central group, the crowned woman behind the young girl represents ‘Love Enthroned’ and she is supported by Faith and Hope on either side of her.  She is directing a young girl on the cusp of womanhood setting out across the river of Life which springs from beneath her throne.  This represented Alix’s charity to children and her coming to Great Britain across the water from Denmark.  

The three crowned women are bowing and ministering to the young girl and the central figure draws out the child’s limp arms to form a cross.’ The Victorian Web, Richard Dorment

Dorment then goes onto compare elements of the memorial’s composition to the depiction of the Lamentation which is:

‘where three women who either attend the prostrate Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross, or mourn over the body of the dead Christ at the Crucifixion.’

He also adds that:  

‘Now we come to the girl whom he positions between the legs of the figure of Charity. In Renaissance painting the placement of an infant or adult between its parent’s knees symbolises parturition and therefore descent from the preceding generation: the placement of the child in the Alexandra monument implies that she is born from a Trinity of Faith, Hope and Charity and that the Queen, who possessed, all these virtues, has passed them on to a younger generation of women’

The Victorian Web, Richard Dorment

I think that it’s an interesting interpretation and I haven’t found any others with different meanings.

The memorial was described at its unveiling in 1932 as having ‘

‘A ghostly, neo Gothic appearance’

and

‘inspected from across the road, it was of great bronze doors to an Italian cathedral’

On the bronze base are the words:

‘a tribute of the Empire’s love 1925.’

and

 ‘Faith, Hope and Love. The Guiding Virtues of Queen Alexandra’

is inscribed on the granite base. and the memorial. in its enigmatic way, is a representation of it.  When I visited a cut rose and a bunch of roses lay on top of it, presumably in tribute.

Inscription to Queen Alexandra ©Carole Tyrrell

There is a more conventional statue of Alix in the grounds of the London Hospital in Whitechapel. She was its President, was keenly involved in its work and was reputed to have visited the Elephant Man while he was a patient there.  In 1904 she introduced the Finsen light cure for Lupus to England and presented the first lamp to the hospital. The statue was erected by the Friends in 1908. But I know which one I prefer. 

Queen Alexandra memorial ©Carole Tyrrell

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

References and further reading:

Alexandra Rose – Our mission is to give families access to fresh fruit and vegetables in their communities

https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/queen-alexandra-statue

https://www.rct.uk/collection/people/queen-alexandra-of-the-united-kingdom-1844-1925#/type/subject

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=31484&p=0

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7467/alexandra_of_denmark (info on children etc)

https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/imperial/display/33671-prince-and-princess-of-wales

https://cgregoryroses.com/princess-alexandra-potted-uk-rose  -the Alexandra rose

https://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/image/552667

https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=45876  words to Ode written by John Masefield music by Elgar

https://www.hastings.gov.uk/parks_gardens_allotments/parks/alexandra/ Alexandra Park Hastings – details of opening

https://victorianweb.org/sculpture/gilbert/38.html

The Marriage of the Prince of Wales with Princess Alexandra of Denmark

https://www.kat58.co.uk/the-marriage-of-the-prince-of-wales-with-princess-alexandra-of-denmark/ statue of Alexandra in Whitechapel within the ground sof the London Hospital

https://statues.vanderkrogt.net/object.php?webpage=ST&record=gblo194 useful quote

.’. Queen Alexandra Memorial .’.

Queen Alexandra – SW1 : London Remembers, Aiming to capture all memorials in London

Caroline’s Miscellany: The guiding virtues of Queen Alexandra (carolineld.blogspot.com)

Queen Alexandra Memorial – Marlborough Road, London, UK – Figurative Public Sculpture on Waymarking.com  

Alfred Gilbert – Wikipedia

The Queen Alexendra memorial ©Carole Tyrrell

People pass by Queen Alexandra’s memorial every day on their way to and from the Mall.  It’s set back from the road in an alcove and is a rippling Art Nouveau composition, if bronze can be said to ripple.  I am indebted to the Tea and Morphine facebook page for featuring it and as soon as I saw it and found its location I knew I had to go and see it.  I love Art Nouveau and there was an air of mystery to the sculpture.  Who were the figures?  Who was Queen Alexandra? The memorial is very close to the royal monument section of the Mall and, on my way, I passed tourists busily snapping away at memorials of George VI and the Queen Mother as well as walking along the Diana, Princess of Wales, memorial walk. Buckingham Palace is only a short walk away.

But this particular monument is to a Queen who lives on in the many, many memorials to her in every road, avenue, street, park, hospital and even another palace high up in the North London hills that have been named after her. There are 67 Alexandra Roads in London alone. This memorial has a tale to tell of a scandalous sculptor who was persuaded back from exile and ignominy to create his last major work to commemorate the longest serving Princess of Wales in history.

Queen Alexandra as the Princess of Wales in 1881 by Alexander Bassano. Shared under Wiki Commons

Christian IX of Denmark with his family in 1862. From left to right Dagmar, Frederick, Valdemar, Christian IX, Queen Louise, Thyra, George and Alexandra. Shared under Wiki Commons

Princess Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia (1844-1925) or ‘Alix’ as her family knew her was chosen, aged 16, as the future wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the son and heir of Queen Victoria.  18 months later they married in 1863 and were crowned in 1902 after Queen Victoria’s death. Alix came from Danish royalty as her father was King Christian IX and her brother was appointed King of Greece as George I.  She was Princess of Wales for 38 years from 1863-1901 and was immensely popular. Fashion conscious women copied her dress sense but she had no political power. 

Instead, she worked tirelessly for various causes and founded her own charity, the Alexander Rose, in 1912 which aimed to support Londoners in poverty.   It’s still going today but, since 2014, it has issued Rose vouchers to enable families to access fruit and vegetables. Alix’s great, granddaughter, Princess Alexandra is its patron. I can still remember buying paper roses on stick pins in June in the 1970’s for Alexandra Rose Day and there is still an Alexandra Rose plant. Alix brought the idea of selling paper roses from her native Denmark.

Princess Alexandra Rose from an online seed catalogue.

But Alix’s marriage was not a happy one. Edward was openly unfaithful with several mistresses, one of which was the actress Lily Langtry. The public believed that their marriage was a love match but Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Edward’s parents, had begun looking for a possible wife in 1858 believing that an early marriage would settle a ‘difficult’ son.  The couple had 6 children, one of whom died after a day and the Duke of Clarence, who had been second in line to the throne, died after an influenza pandemic, aged 28.  There were many rumours about the Duke including that he was thought of as a possible suspect for Jack the Ripper. Alix suffered from increasing deafness which was caused by hereditary otosclerosis and died at Sandringham in 1925 aged 81 from a heart attack. Poet John Masefield wrote an ode dedicated to her with music from Sir Edward Elgar called ‘So many true Princesses who have gone’:

So many true princesses who have gone

Over the sea, as love and duty bade,

To share abroad, Till Death a foreign throne,

Have given all things, and been ill repaid.

Hatred has followed them and bitter days.

But this most lovely woman and loved Queen

Filled all the English nation with her praise;

We gather now to keep her memory green.

Here, at this place, she often sat to mark

The tide of London life go roaring by,

The day-long multitude, the lighted dark,

The night-long wheels, the glaring in the sky.

Now here we set memorial of her stay,

That passers-by remember with a thrill:

This lovely princess came from far away

And won our hearts, and lives within them still.

Photo ©Carole Tyrrell

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated.

Part 2 – The scandalous sculptor of the memorial, Alfred Gilbert, and the possible meaning of the figures.

A country churchyard on a warm, sunny May day can be a peaceful and interesting place to explore. All Saints churchyard in Staplehurst is one of those as it looks down over the village from its hilltop perch.

I have already discussed one of the symbols that I found in there which featured in a an earlier Symbol of the Month. This was ‘The Choice’ which I found in the older part of the churchyard.  After exploring the newer part of the churchyard and seeing ‘nature’s lawnmowers’ aka sheep in the field behind I returned to the older section.  I then discovered this headstone with a combination of two symbols on it.

At first glance you might be forgiven for thinking that this is the grave of a warrior or someone involved in warfare as the combination is formed from a bow, a quiver of arrows and a circlet of oak leaves.  The bow and arrows are a symbol that has been known for centuries and since the earliest times has been associated with hunting and survival.

The headstone is dedicated to Edwin Fitch who died at the fairly young age of 43 on 22 January 1869. The epitaph goes on to state that Edwin left behind a widow and two children; Marianne and Walter William.  There is also another inscription above it that states that the stone was erected as a mark of respect by the Staplehurst Cricket Club.

But, as with most symbols, there are other meanings and I am indebted to theartofmourning blog for reminding me of these.   For, although a cricket field can occasionally turn into a polite and gentlemanly battlefield, I was sure that there were softer connotations to the bow and quiver.

The other most obvious interpretation is of Cupid shooting his arrows of love straight to a lover’ s heart. Indeed, he is traditionally portrayed holding a bow with an arrow ready to aim and fire. There are also the famous lines in William Blake’s poem, ‘Jerusalem’:

‘Bring me my bow of burning gold

Bring me my arrows of desire.’

There is also a Biblical link with children. In Psalms 127:3-5 children are described as being:

‘Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.

I interpret this to mean that a man’s children will continue his family line and achieve their place in the world.

The oak leaves underneath the quiver and bow are an ancient symbol of strength and the oak was known as the tree of life in pre-Christian times. According to memorials.com it is believed to have been the tree from which Christ’s cross was made.

Edwin had an untimely death and we don’t know if he, his family or members of the Cricket Club chose the symbols.  But I believe that it was a final message from him to his family that he left behind and that this thoughts were of hope.

There is also a small verse underneath the epitaph:

‘My wife and children dear I bid you all adieu,

By God’s commands I leave this world and you

And trust my friends whom I have left behind

May give you comfort, and to you be kind.’

In this Edwin clearly hopes that his friends will support his family after he has gone. The Fitch family may have been in financial straits with the death of Edwin as the Cricket Club provided the headstone.

I have found out more about Edwin and his family.  He married Maria Wickings on 9 September 1852 and they had three children together.

• Marianne born in 1853
• Walter William born in 1855
• Charles born in 1858

Sadly, Charles appears to have been stillborn or may have died in childbirth as he was born and christened on the same day and is not recorded on Edwin’s epitaph. Marianne followed her father to the grave in 1875 aged just 22.

I have approached the existing Staplehurst Cricket Club for further information on Edwin but the present club has only been in existence since the 1950’s.  They thought that Edwin might have been the very first member but are undertaking further research.  One current member thought that there might have been a private Staplehurst Cricket Club associated with the nearby Iden Manor.

This is now a nursing home but was once the house of the Hoare banking family. There are members of this family buried in the churchyard.  In 1904 they sold the manor due to impending bankruptcy and they were well known in the area for holding cricket and football matches, flower shows and other events for the village.

Finally, I think that this is a poignant combination of symbols that left a powerful and comforting message to his family.  A man whose last thoughts may have been of his family and now lies under the green canopy of the tall trees of Staplehurst churchyard with his beloved daughter.

©Text and photos Carole Tyrrell unless otherwise stated

References and further reading:

https://artofmourning.com/2011/01/09/symbolism-sunday-the-arrow-and-quiver/

https://www.memorials.com/Headstones-Symbolism-information.php

https://stoneletters.com/blog/gravestone-symbols

http://headstonesymbols.co.uk/headstone-meanings-and-symbols/acorn/

http://www.thecemeteryclub.com/symbols.html

http://www.staplehurstsociety.org

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54684/jerusalem-and-did-those-feet-in-ancient-time

https://biblehub.com/kjv/psalms/127.htm

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+127%3A3-5&version=NIV

http://mlesdes.eklablog.com/england-s-national-symbols-free-article-a92748989