Five on Friday

Fridays come round so quickly don't they? In what seems just like the blink of an eye it's here once more and so it is time to join in with Five on Friday, kindly organised for us by Amy at Love Made my Home.

 On Tuesday we were invited to join very special friends at Langar Hall in Nottinghamshire to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary.  I remember being at their wedding in 1977 and they were at ours a couple of years later.  We had joined them at Langar Hall once before for a special birthday celebration and I loved the place then and it was just as wonderful on this occasion, cosy, comfortable, unhurried and the food was wonderful.

After lunch we had a wander around to the church which stands next to the hall.

The church is dedicated to St Andrew and is a 13th century building restored and added to in both the 15th and 19th centuries.

It is part of the Wiverton Group of Parishes all in the Vale of Belvoir which also included the churches of Cropwell Bishop, Granby, Tythby, Colston Basset, Barnstone and Elton on the Hill.

In the churchyard there are several preserved 18th century memorials, usually made of Swithland slate, bearing the carved image of the Belvoir Angel.  These carvings are found in churchyards across the Vale of Belvoir but very little is known about who carved them.  Here is a - link - to more information about them.

Shall we go inside?  I'm sure there will be five further things I can tell you about this lovely church.

 
1.  The nave - the wooden pews were removed in the 1970s and the present curved seating arrangement opposite an alter in the north isle came later.  St Andrews is a large church for such a small village and is sometimes known as the 'Cathedral of the Vale'.

2.  In the North Transept are monuments and  memorials to the Chaworth family of nearby Wiverton Hall.  The figures on the monument in the foreground are of Sir John Chaworth and his wife Mary daughter of Sir William Paston.   Mary was his second wife.  The figure on the monument at the rear is, according to several sources, Sir George Chaworth but the printed label laid on the tomb says Henry Chaworth and according to Thoroton Henry son of George is mentioned in Latin script on the same monument. Perhaps both are there? A bit of a puzzle!

3.  In the South Transept is the monument to Thomas, Lord Scrope of Bolton and his wife Philadelphia.  The kneeling figure is of their son Emanuel.

 At the top of the steps, behind the bier is a small exhibition about one of Langar's famous sons.

4.  Samuel Butler the writer was born at nearby Langar Rectory, the son of the Rev Thomas Butler who was responsible for many of the alterations in the church during the 1860s.  Samuel Butler's grandfather, also Samuel Butler, was Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry and Headmaster of Shrewsbury School where Charles Darwin was one of his pupils.  The later Samuel Butler who's most famous novel is probably The Way of All Flesh also made popular translations of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey. Here is a - link - to more about Samuel Butler.

5. In the church, behind the Scrope memorial,  are many memorials to the Howe family, who lived at Langar Hall, including the following

To the Memory of
RICHARD HOWE, EARL and VISCOUNT HOWE,
VISCOUNT HOWE and BARON CLENAWLEY, in Ireland;
Admiral of the Fleet, General of His Majesty’s Marine Forces
And Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter:
He died the 5th Day of August 1799; Aged 73 Years.
Also of MARY JULIANA HOWE,
Second Daughter of RICHARD EARL HOWE;
She died the 9th day of April 1800; in the 35th Year of her age.
And of MARY COUNTESS HOWE,
Who died the 9th Day of August 1800;
In the 67th Year of her Age. 

Here is more about Richard Howe, who was Admiral of the Fleet during many naval campaigns including the Glorious First of June.

Click on the link below to find others who are joining in with Five on Friday this week