St. Wulfram's is another five-banger. It was near Peterborough, and we'd been there before, way back when, and we couldn't find a place to park our Roadtrek. Something about Sir Isaac Newton. This time we found street parking with ease, just a few hundred feet from the church. St. Wulfram's gets it five Jenkins stars largely for having the tallest of all English steeples, 283 feet. It was erected, so to speak, in the first quarter of the 14th century, and Jenkins speculates it may have been the tallest building in England until the 20th century. I've noticed that nearly all of the five star churches we've visited so far have something to do with size.... Be that as it may, our visit to St. Wolfram's was altered somewhat by our arriving after visiting hours and touring during the rehearsal of the mixed young person's choir, I mean, quire. The church was interesting and impressive, and the music, though halting and repetitious, was beautifully punctuated by giggles. A treat we didn't want to intrude upon. St. Wulfram, BTW, was bishop at Sens in the 8th century, and a missionary to the Frisians, the original speakers of what we now know as English. They murdered him. In any case, it really ties so many things together. The steeple notwithstanding, what I found most interesting about St. Wulframs was the line of funny faces, grotesques, that wrap around the building. Some of the best we have seen on this campaign and worthy of a separate post.
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| North aisle, off of which the north porch is the visitor center |
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| Helpful model |
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| Ad majorem gloriam Dei |
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| Some work still to be done on the north porch addition |
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| Interestingly carved chair |
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| In the south aisle |
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| Quietly peering over into the chancel and quire |
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| Kitchen |
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Click to enlarge and read about the gendered first editions of James I's Bible, as
produced by the King's Printer |
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| Original organization chart |
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| Looking into the gallery |
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| Rare view into font hood |
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| We are all works in progress |
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Across the street, The King's School; what they don't tell you is that it was from
the steeple at St. Wulfram's that young Isaac dropped apples and oranges,
attempting to gather evidence for his Theory of Differential Gravity |
