Lych gate

Many traditional church buildings in England are approached through a lych gate. This is true of St Werburgh, Hanbury.

Typically, a lych gate consists of a shed-like roof, covered with tiles or thatch and supported by four or six wooden pillars, with or without additional embellishments or decorative features. There is also, not surprisingly, a gate!

There are, however other styles of lych gate. In some parts of the country, lych gates are more commonly constructed from stone and St Keverne's church in Cornwall even has a chapel of rest built above its lych gate.

The word lych originates in Saxon English and has survived through to modern day usage. The Saxon word lych meant corpse and the purpose of the lych gate was as a resting place for a body in transit to a funeral service. In the middle ages, bodies were commnly buried in shrouds, rather than coffins, and sometimes had to be carried over distances to reach the church. The shrouded body would be laid on a bier under the lych gate while the funeral procession awaited the priest. Often the first part of the buriel service would then be read under the shelter of the gate, before the cortege continued into the church.

The oldest lych gate in England is believed to be at St George's churchyard in Beckenham, South London, and dates from the 13th century. It is likely that lych gates date back long beyond this but, being wooden structures, no older ones have survived to the present day. Most current examples date from the 15th onwards, including some new ones built to commemorate the Millennium.

I've never before stopped to think about the origins of the lych gate, but I think I find this slightly creepy. Without wanting to be irreverant, it strikes me as being a bit like a bus stop for bodies.

St Werburgh

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Fauld Explosion

http://h-little-sealed-packages.blogspot.com/2010/03/strictly-no-admittance.html . The site of that explosion was outside the village of Hanbury, just over the border from Derbyshire into Staffordshire.

Hanbury is a small village about 7 miles from the town of Burton on Trent. The village church is named after St Werburgh, a Saxon princess who, in 1680, became abbess of the nunnery founded here by her brother Ethelred, King of Mercia. Werburgh died in 706 AD and was buried in the village; as a result of which, the church became a place of pilgrimage. Unfortunately, in the early 900s, when the Vikings became a threat, her remains were moved out of the village to Chester.

The church itself was largely rebuilt in the 14th century, had clerestories added in the 15th century and then the tower and south aisle were rebuilt in 1842. 

For those who, like me, haven't the foggiest what a clerestory is:

clere·sto·ry also clear·sto·ry (klîrstôr, -str)

1. The upper part of the nave, transepts, and choir of a church, containing windows.
(Free Online Dictionary)

...and now I know what they are, I can spot them quite easily in the photo.

The outside of the church is certainly impressive and I would have liked the chance to look around inside, but the memory which will stick with me most, is from walking towards the small graveyard at the rear. To the front, the church is quite enclosed, with a lane running by and cottages alongside, so as we walked round the side of the building, the view took me completely by surprise. The village is elevated, overlooking the Dove valley, and the church is perfectly placed to take advantage of that. It wasn't clear enough to make a good photograph, but we could see for miles.

Derventio

By the time it meanders through Derby, the River Derwent is reaching the end of it's 50 mile course. In a few short miles it will reach Great Wilne on the border with Leicestershire, and mingle its waters with those of the significantly larger River Trent.

It is really thanks to the river that Derby exists at all. The Romans built a fort on it's banks, in the area now known as Chester Green; chester being a Roman word meaning 'settlement'. The Roman fort was named Derventio. Following on from that, there is evidence of Saxon settlement, but Derby really began to grow during the time of the Vikings, by which time it was known as Deoraby, meaning 'The Place of the Deer'.

At one point in its journey through Derby, the Derwent passes behind the Council House. From the steps here, can be seen the weir, which stretches the entire width of the river, and also the Inner Ring Road (at this point called St Alkmund's Way, after the church which had to be relocated in order for it to be built).

The old bus station used to be just down from here and a walk by the river (or, in my case, usually a hop, skip and jump from step to step) was often the treat dangling at the end of a childhood shopping expedition to town. These days, I tend to walk along here much more sedately!

Footnote 16.2.10 - The weir was built across the river to form the Derwent Basin, providing an access point for the now disused (and mostly eradicated) Derby Canal, which was built to link Derby with the Trent and Mersey Canal. I will investigate this further for a later blog.

Tissington

Tissington is one of many villages around Derbyshire with names containing the Saxon word 'ton', meaning an enclosure or village and/or the Saxon 'ing' meaning the place of. In the original Saxon, it would have been Tizinctun, but, during my childhood, I remember it being most often referred to as Tissen; as part of the triplet Tissen, Brassen & Carsen (Brassington and Carsington).

The village figures in the Domesday book, where it is reported to have had a population of 100. It's not much bigger now!

Primarily, Tissington is an estate village, having been built around Tissington Hall - the seat of the FitzHerbert family for the past 500 years. The present hall is Jacobean and dates from the 17th Century. It replaced an Elizabethan Hall in a slightly different location.

Close up, the Hall looks very impressive, but I particularly like it in this setting, nestling in the hollow below the field and framed by the trees.

Not a bad place to live!

Breedon on the Hill

Breedon Hill is not enormously high but, because it is surrounded by relatively flat countryside, it can be spotted for miles around and is a well known local landmark. The name Breedon on the Hill derives from the Celtic word bre (meaning hill) and the Anglo Saxon word dun (also meaning hill), so I guess you could say it is named 'Hill Hill on the Hill'.

Sad person that I am, I had a low hanging branch of my sycamore tree lopped in order to be able to see this church from my bedroom window. And this is only the last in a long line. There has been a place of worship here since the founding of a monastery in about 676, and before that it was a hermitage! The present church of St Mary and St Hardulph dates back to the Middle Ages and has original Saxon carvings built into its internal walls.

Last October, I walked around the area with a friend and we were delighted to find the church door unlocked. It is beautiful inside and has a tangible air of the sacred.

Definitely worth a return visit.