The Wirksworth Stone links right back to Saxon times and shows scenes from the life of Christ. It is carved in vertical pairs. The top left clearly shows Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, and next door to that is a cross. For an interpretation of the other carvings, follow this link.
Dated at around 800AD, it is believed to be one of the earliest Christian artefacts in the Peak District. For years, it was hidden beneath a paving stone in front of the altar, but was rediscovered in 1821 during a reordering of the church. It was the lid from the tomb of an important person buried under the church. A full sized skeleton was discovered under the stone, but the remains have not been identified.
This Norman font was restored in 1896. I love the arrangement of red, white and blue in celebration of the Jubilee.
Apparently, during his school days, my uncle won a prize for his drawing of this font.
Rather more up to date, this rather splendid model of the church was created in memory of Doreen Schofield (1939 - 2004)...
and the tiles were painted by Wirksworth children to commemorate the Jubilee.
I love the history of tis country. The more I learn the more there is to know.
ReplyDeleteSweet set of posts, H. Love all the pictures of the prep being done for the Queen's Jubilee.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post ! What a lot of history behind this old church !
ReplyDeleteWell written. In fact your English is so impeccable I can't hear your accent. Maybe one day you could write a blog in dialect?
ReplyDeleteDuring our few stays in Great Britain I always enjoyed coming upon old churches to investigate. We are so overdue for a return visit. Hopefully next year. BTW...you asked about my blog header. It is from North Wales in Conwy. We stayed in a B&B that was right next to the castle walls.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting my blog with the deer and the double decker bus.
ReplyDeleteThank you too for this tid-bit of info (little sealed packet). There is soooo much history in the U.K. Our daughter lives in London, St. Johns Wood, and when we visit her and her family we always are seeing some part of English history. Our biggie this spring probably was the Pew Gardens.
We also have friends in Northampton, halfway to Derby. We met them in Spring, 2010, on a Baltic cruise and have corresponded and visited since. This spring they helped us get a 'next-to-front-row' place across from Parliament where we could see the Queen in her carriage coming to address Parliament. Of course she waved to us. LOL
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