On Saturday I went on an observation mission remarkably similar to an election observation mission. I deployed to my Area of Observation (Northamptonshire and Warwickshire) by train on Friday evening with my observation partner.
We had a list of seventeen churches to visit. Like polling stations there were too many for one day so my partner chose ten and worked out the routes between them. This was the 15th church sculpture tour devised by James Miller and it has become increasingly popular – there were more than 150 of us on Saturday. It was a highly enjoyable day and I’d like to share some highlights. There were six of us in our party in two cars: my host and hostess, a friend of theirs, two dogs and me. We dined well on Friday evening and had boiled eggs for breakfast on Saturday morning to fortify ourselves for the long day ahead.
We were well briefed: 43 pages of A4. “Things you need to bring: one pound coins (for collection boxes), these notes, a torch, a camera, a map, a picnic, umbrella, Pevsner guides.” Our first appointment was at St Nicholas, Stanford on Avon.
James Miller, in his comprehensive notes, expatiates: “ a remarkably handsome building of the early 14th century. Externally rich local pinkish iron stone … the church was held by Shelby Abbey until the Reformation and then by the Cave family (later the Lords and Ladies Braye) who acquired the manor circa 1540”. It is a handsome building but the monuments within are why we are here. Not exactly a monument, but on the west wall of the nave is rather a fine organ built in the 17th century for Magdalen College Oxford where it stayed until 1736 when Sir Thomas Cave acquired it.
The south wall of the nave has a breathtaking collection; “a veritable gallery of statuary” (Pevsner). Here is an overview. My hand was a little shaky after two many Vesper Martinis the night before.
On the left is an undated memorial commemorating Edmund Verney done by Felix Joubert in 1896. Judging by the shield at the base of the sculpture Edmund came a cropper in the Zulu Wars. In the centre foreground is Sir Thomas Cave (died 1558) and his wife carved in alabaster. Behind them are Henry Knollys and his wife, Margaret Cave, and daughters done around 1610. Let’s take a closer look.
Henry lies comfortably on his back looking rather dignified. It is supposed that his wife was a later addition on a narrow ledge beneath. To fit her in she has to lie in an excruciatingly uncomfortable pose on her side. Their daughters kneel on either side of their parents. Here are two more things that caught my eye.
It is pleasing to see churches where there is a continuum and here there is a Victorian monument to Sarah, Lady Braye, who died in 1862. Her dog is at her feet, a theme I will return to.
Our host at St Nicholas was Nicholas Fothergill, heir to the current Lady Braye. He told us that bats had done significant damage to his ancestral monuments but ingenuously he devised a heated bat box that they prefer to the church roof – problem solved. Now it is 10.00 am and we need to crack on. But you have had 600 words so, to be continued.