Waberthwaite church

The setting of this little church, by a bend in the river Esk, protected from northerly gales by the wooded slopes of Muncaster Fell, is truly idyllic. Those who come to see the church see it standing squat on its dramatic site near the unreliable ford across the river. It is easy to appreciate the many centuries of Christian family worship in this typical dale church. The architecture is simple, with nave and chancel combined in a single rectangle. Its walls of rough weathered granite and local slate roof make it as much a part of the landscape as the fells and the stone dykes that separate the meadows.

Map and Gallery:

 Location Map

 There is no written record of when the church was built, but all the indications are that it was some time in the 12th century. It could well have replaced an earlier church; the ancient preaching crosses in the churchyard and the associations of 'Cross', a short distance away, with St Bega, suggest that the site has been used for Christian worship for well over a thousand years. We also have no precise record of the dedication. For centuries it has been believed to be to St John the Evangelist, and is so documented, but there is a reference to the church of St James of Waberthwaite in a deed of 1392.

 The interior has the homely atmosphere of a church built by the people of small parish for their own use in their worship, uninfluenced by outsiders, even from the next dale. For most of its history Waberthwaite has been a small and relatively poor parish, largely dependant on farming. This may account for the small number of nineteenth century improvements and the absence of the memorial tablets, so beloved by the Victorians, on the walls. Apart from the box pews and the ceiling, which were installed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the interior must look much as it has done during the greatest part of the last eight hundred yeards.

 From time to time repairs and modifications have been made. In 1796 a new steeple or bell gable was erected at a cost of £14.10.0 and in 1855 the porch was rebuilt at a cost of £3.12.0. The present appearance of the interior dates from 1807 when a major refurbishment was completed. There is no record of what it looked like prior to that date, but probably there was no seating other than benches against the walls for the elderly, with the rest of the congregation standing or kneeling between.

 However, in August 1806 the vestry meeting resolved to flag, pew and ceil the church. The work was undertaken by Robert Clark of Eskdale at an estimated cost of £66.0.0, to be completed by 23rd March 1807. The church-warden's accounts, dated 2nd May 1807 are of interest if only for the comparison with late twentieth century prices. In 1986 the roof was replaced, in the same style and materials as previously, for £4,926!

 Box pews were very common in churches all over the country from the seventeenth to the mid nineteenth century, but from then most churches replaced them by the now conventional rows of seats facing the Holy Table, and it is rare for the old style to be retained.

 There must have been other, unrecorded alterations. The stone work of the different windows varies widely in age. Thus, the perpendicular, two light, west window is thought to date from the fourteenth century, whereas the side windows are from the sixteenth century, and the east window was installed in 1931 as a memorial to the wife of the Revd P.W Parminter, Rector from 1915 to 1955.

 The font, to the left of the entrance, is probably of Norman workmanship, and is a solid block of sandstone, quite massive, carved with 'broaches' at the corners. Some say that it is made from a capital of a Roman pillar. It is similar in size and type to the fonts at Crosby-on-Eden, near Hadrian's Wall, and Gilcrux near Maryport. From 1807 to 1973 the font was buried in the corner of the then pew 17 but from 1973, with the authority of a faculty from the Diocese, pew 17 was removed and the font, for so long hidden, can now be seen behind the heavy entrance door.

 Opposite the entrance on the north wall is hung the royal coat of arms; those of George III (1760 - 1820), bearing the date 1778.

 On the left, towards the east end, is the pulpit. This is oak carved with patterns simplar to those on an oak press from Gosforth Gate made in 1628. The pulpit carries a carved inscription in raised letters, 'The gift of Abraham Chambers, gent' and a Latin quote which translates as 'Woe is me if I preach not the truth. SR 1630'.

 At the east end, on either side of the window, are two large wooden tablets. to the left is set out the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer, to the right the Ten Commandments. The date of these tablets is not known, but in 1561 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ordered all churches to display the Commandments. This, and the style of the lettering, suggests that they may have been set up in the latter part of the sixteenth century.

 Pew 1, at the west end, is slightly raised and extends to the full width of the interior. It is known as the 'choir' and houses the small chamber organ which provides the music for the service, and on special occasions still accommodates a choir.

 There are two bells hung in a bell cote above the west gable, each being inscribed in Latin, in Lombardic lettering, dating them from the latter part of the fifteenth century. The inscription on one reads in translation, 'Saint James Sir Thomas Walker'. Presumably this refers to the then current view of the dedication of the church, and to the Sir Thomas Walker who was the Rector from 1439. We know from the records that he was still Rector in 1473, but it is not clear whether he was the priest, or a layman in receipt of the tithes. The latter was not uncommon at that time, and for many years after, but the courtesy title of Sir was sometimes applied to the clergy.

 The translation of the inscription on the other bell is 'King Henry VI'. King Henry VI of England was born in 1421 and was crowned in 1429. He died in 1471 but was deposed in 1461 after his defeat at the battle of Towton near York. After the battle he took refuge in Muncaster Castle, and it is thought that the bell and its inscription are in some way related to this.

 A third bell, dated 1882, can be seen inside the church behind the organ, hung in a cradle in the embrasure of the west window. This was used in St Luke's Chapel which stood for many years in a field now occupied by Waberthwaite Church of England School at Lane End. This chapel became unsafe and was demolished.

 The church registers date back to 1656, the oldest consisting of 25 leaves of parchment stitched together without covers. It records burials from 1656 to 1724, baptisms from 1657 to 1721 and marriages from 1679 to 1722. There are churchwardens' accounts from 1679 and a vestry book of similar date. All these ancient records have been removed from the church to the diocesan archives, ostensibly for safer storage.

 The church silver is of interest because it includes an Elizabethan chalice, dated 1576, and a silver paten of about the same date. For security reasons none of this is kept in the church except when needed for use in a service.

 In the graveyard are a number of ancient memorial stones, mainly from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One of the oldest, near the south wall of the church, is of some interest. It is to the memory of William Grainger, Rector of Waberthwaite 1677-1698, and the inscription, now weathered and almost undecipherable, reads:

'Sir William Grainger lies here, and being the one who had the care of our souls in Muncaster, one whom none called grasping, he died May 15th 1698'.

The fact that he was not grasping must have been significantly unusual at that date for it to warrant mention on his memorial stone.

 The elegant red sandstone pillar which can be seen in the graveyard is a sundial. Its date is not known, but from the design it could be eighteenth century. However, its clean condition points to a later date. It is too high to be read by a person standing, and may have been designed for use by someone on horseback, in which case one would assume that it was not intended for its present location.

 Behind the sundial are the carved shafts of two preaching crosses. Both cross heads have been lost, and for many years the shafts were part of the structure of the church porch. The larger, now standing upright, was the lintel and the smaller, which now lies across the base of the sundial, served as the threshold. Naturally in that situation it suffered considerable wear from the feet of worshipers and the decoration on the face has been entirely worn away. The two stones were rescued from the porch by the good offices of the then Lord Muncaster, possibly in 1885 when the porch was rebuilt, but more likely in 1884. The socket stone was found in the graveyard, unbroken, and the larger stone, which fitted, was restored to its rightful place.

 These two fragments of stone have been, and probably still are, of considerable interest to archaeologists, and have been the subject of much research and comparison with other similar stones in the north of England. A learned paper by the Revd W S Claverley in 1892 shows drawings he made of the carvings at a time when the stone was still clean. The carving is 'hacked work', i.e. cut by a tool similar to a minors pick, not by a hammer and chisel.

 In the case of the now vertical shaft they show on the east face, in the third panel from the base, the figure of a horse and, in the above panel, two less clear figures, probably human, facing each other. Weathering and growth of lichen have obscured the detail, but have added a delightful pattern of colour. It would be such a pity to clean them now just to reopen the debate as to their date. There have been various estimates of their date, the best guess being almost any time between 850 and 1000 A.D. Probably none of this matters to the worshippers who use the church, or those whose remains lies beneath the grass, or those visitors who are tempted to come down the lane to Hall Waberthwaite by a signpost on the A595. What is important is that this place has been a site of Christian worship for at least a thousand years, and who knows for how long before that.