Digging into records about St Helen's, Skeffling (the most recent church to come under our wing), we've discovered a connection to *Madame Sarah Grand* — a Victorian feminist author who was internationally famous (and scandalous!) in her day but has since been largely forgotten.
Born Frances Bellenden Clarke, she married at 16 to a much older widower with children not much younger than herself. It was an unhappy marriage, and after leaving her husband, she devoted herself to writing, lecturing on women's issues and campaigning for votes for women.
Grand's novels centred on the 'New Woman', a name she coined for educated women who sought independence from oppressive marriages, and greater social freedoms. She promoted women's cycling, and argued for less restrictive, 'rational' clothing, such as split skirts.
'The Heavenly Twins', published in 1893, was her first commercial success, selling 20,000 copies — surprising for a story that highlighted the double standards of sexual morality for men and women and the devastating effects of syphilis on families.
Mark Twain reviewed it and declared that “The grammar is often dreadful, but never mind that, it is a good strong book”.
Sarah's writing made her a heroine for many women but also ostracised her from a lot of the people in her social circle.
Sarah Grand's family lived at the Manor of Rysome Garth, less than two miles from Skeffling, and her parents were buried at St Helen's. A speech she once gave on churches gives a clue to her feeling about the family's church …
“If they had never been far away from home they could have no idea about the way the heart softened and expanded at the recollection of the little spot of earth which they had been taught from their earliest childhood to believe was holy ground.”
However, by the end of the century, St Helen's was, as now, in need of restoration. The roof was replaced in 1901, but the south wall was still in a dangerous condition.
So on 11 March 1902, Madame Grand, the 'popular authoress', gave a lecture in Hull to raise funds for Skeffling parish church, with the vicar in attendance.
(News cuttings from the British Newspaper Archive)
Grand 'scattered pearls of wisdom freely' for a 'delightful, if fatiguing' (!) hour and a half, exploring the theme of memory: “things we are glad to remember, things we are afraid to remember, things we regret to remember and things we forget to remember”.
Other wry observations included that “there are some people who manage to be kind in so disagreeable a way that it is quite an effort to be properly grateful to them”.
On age, she noted that young people are now marrying when “our grandfathers would have been putting on their grave clothes” and that “the way to keep young is to maintain one's interest in life”.
In 1920, Sarah Grand moved to Bath. The city's new mayor, elected in 1922, had no wife to perform the traditional duties of Lady 'Mayoress', and Grand was asked to take on the post as an independent woman — a role which she filled three times.
Grand was so popular that she was encouraged to stand for Mayor herself, but declined. In WW2, Sarah Grand’s house in Bath was bombed and she moved to Wiltshire for safety, where she died in 1943 at the age of almost 89.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our thread about Madame Sarah Grand.
Like all of our churches, St Helen’s, Skeffling is rich with human experience, and we’ll be sharing more of its stories soon …
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With a 15th-century rood loft hovering over rows of 18th-century box pews, the interior of St David’s, Llangeview in Monmouthshire offers a glimpse into the forms of worship from two bygone ages.
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Spanning the entire width of the nave, the rood loft is a relic from the late medieval past. Before the Reformation, the rood loft would have carried the rood, a carving of Christ on the cross.
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Alongside Christ, there would have been carved depictions of the Virgin Mary and John the Apostle. Sadly, none of the medieval roods survived the Reformation.
Caught Moss-Handed: how the rare mosses on the roof of St James’s, Llangua enabled the conviction of two criminals in the 1950s.
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In the summer of 1951, a farmer spotted two men climbing on the roof of Llangua church at dusk. Unfortunately, by the time the police arrived, the men had fled the scene.
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After committing further criminals acts in the local area — namely the theft of tools and car batteries — the authorities caught the men, who turned out to be two brothers that had come to Monmouthshire from Cardiff.
Across the centuries, the saintly dedication of a parish church can change — and at Manordeifi in Pembrokeshire, it is thought that the church's dedication has shifted several times throughout its long history.
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A Christian place of worship at Manordeifi is believed to have stood on the site of the present church since the 7th century. The earliest church here was reportedly dedicated to St Llawddog.
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A son of the Prince of Usk and a renowned as a miracle-worker, Llawddog became the focus of a popular local saintly cult. As such, there are thought to be four other churches in the region that were also originally dedicated to him.
Why is the English name for the festival of Christ’s resurrection so different from its name in almost every other language?
1/9 📷 East window of St Cadoc's, Llangattock-Vibon-Avel by Lavers & Barraud (1875).
In English, this most important Christian festival is known as Easter, whereas in most other languages, its name is markedly different: Pâques in French, Pasg in Welsh, and Páscoa in Portuguese.
2/9 📷 East window of St Beuno's, Penmorfa, Gwynedd by an unknown maker (c.1851)
This divergence between English and most other European languages is a hotly debated historical topic, relating to the transition from paganism to Christianity in England during the 6th and 7th centuries.
3/9 📷 East window of All Saints', Ballidon by C.E. Kempe
Caring for over 60 places of worship in England and Wales means that from a few of our churchyards you can see some varied sights.
From 20th century infrastructure to cultural landmarks, the fabric and fate of our churches has been shaped by their localities.
1/6 📷 Sutterby
On the Welsh border, in the remote fields of Herefordshire stands St Peter's, Llancillo. Adjacent to the church is an 8 meter high earthen Motte, which is all the remains of Llancillo Castle. This fortification was originally constructed in the 1090s by Richard Esketot.
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Releasing plumes of steam into the sky, the cooling towers of the Drax Power Station are visible, across the flat Yorkshire’s Ouse Valley, from St Helen's, Barmby on the Marsh. While St Helen’s tower was built in the 1770s, the cooling towers were constructed in the 1970s.
Red and yellow and pink and green ... most children can tell you that rainbows contain seven colours, and many of us use 'ROYGBIV' to remember them. But people haven't always seen rainbows this way.
Rubens' 'The Rainbow Landscape' of 1636 was painted just three decades before major new scientific theories about colour and light emerged. The rainbow lights up surrounding clouds with highlights of lemony yellow and blue.
In 1664, Robert Boyle conducted experiments with prisms, and in the 'artificial rain-bow' he produced, he observed five colours: Red, Yellow, Green, Blew and Purple. ...