With apologies to Evelyn Waugh (who came up with the telegram word ‘soonest’ in ‘Scoop’). we look for superlatives (mostests, shall we say) when we visit the countryside around Carlisle. We find St Olaf’s, Wasdale Head, which claims to be the smallest parish church in England. I fully expect this claim to be challenged, just as it was when I invited readers in another context to give details of churches where the chancel step went down rather than up. There were a handful as I remember but I can’t tell you where. There are also rare (one being the unusualest) thatched churches in England. There came to the notice of readers of this blog Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. Another one is St Peter’s, Markby, Lincolnshire.
There are probably more than a few candidates for the roundest church in England. The Temple church, a royal peculiar in the City of London, would be one, though it has now become the nave of a larger building. St Chad’s, Shrewsbury would be another. And the Round Church (aka Holy Sepulchre church) in Cambridge delights to be known as such.
Greensted church, near Chipping Ongar, Essex can well claim to be the oldest wooden church in the world. Its walls are made of split oaks. It has been renovated by the Victorians and is still in use today as a place of worship. During the past few days we have seen pictures of what remans of a church dating from about CE 320 in Colchester. It accommodated about 100 worshippers.
The largest parish church in England is a title that is contested by three notable buildings: Great Yarmouth, Holy Trinity, Hull (now styled a minster) and St Botolph’s, Boston, Lincolnshire. The title turns on how these three candidates came to be designed – as a collegiate church or a parish church pure and simple. The enclosed volume also comes into it. I leave this question to my readers. The tallest medieval Church of England parish church spire is that of St James’s, Louth. Third tallest is again in Lincolnshire, Grantham parish church.
A useful book for those interested in such things is Simon Jenkins’ ‘England’s Thousand Best Churches’.
DECLARATIONS
Ruth Carroll is Vicar of Holy Trinity and Christ the King, Stevenage, Herts. Born in Massachusetts, she is amongst other things a Morris Dancer. She has assembled parishioners to declare their faith by reciting one at a time to camera a section of the Nicene Creed for the benefit of visitors to the church website. Dare I say without fear of contradiction that this is a unique website feature?
PORTSMOUTH REMEMBERS
Remembrance Day service at Portsmouth cathedral will be followed by a display on the cathedral website of wreaths and crosses from the service plus veterans’ memories.
BIRMINGHAM, TOO
There will be no public event on Remembrance Day in Birmingham. A socially distanced Act of Remembrance will take place in Birmingham cathedral
NEWCASTLE’S BOOK
The Remembrance Day parade has been cancelled in Newcastle owing to Covid-19. Those wishing to observe the day are invited to pay their respects by visiting a book of remembrance hand-made in four volumes of vellum.
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