Part 3 The Church at Grafton Flyford Extract

Part 3 The Church at Grafton Flyford Extract from John Doharty Map of about 1740 Copyright Worcester Record Office

Part 3 is about the Church and can be done in class or as an independent computer based activity by individual pupils or with the whole class. There is an accompanying Worksheet Hello again. The oldest window in the church

This is the Church of St John the Baptist at Grafton Flyford. The building has changed quite a lot over at least eight hundreds years. Isn’t our church lovely.

The church is first mentioned in a 13 th century document but there was probably a church there long before that. The Domesday Book, which was made in 1086, mentions there was a priest at Grafton Flyford. Click for Questions Our church is the only stone building in the village. We all helped carry the stone to the masons when they built the tower. The original 13 th century part of the church is the bit in the middle. Although it was rebuilt in the 19 th century it would have looked similar. Do you know what this part of the church is called? Do you know what the other parts of a church building are called? Use the plan of the church, and write down the names of the parts of the church in the right places.

The church would have been very important to our peasants and their lord. The rules and rituals of the Christian church controlled all aspect of their daily life. Even though Sunday was their only day off work, they still had to go to church two or three times! Everyone also had to pay a sort of tax to the church which was a tenth of all their income. This could be paid in money, crops, food or farm animals. So if you had ten lambs you would have to give one to the vicar. Click for Questions The animals on the tower frighten me a little bit. Look at the church on your Doharty map can you see a porch? There is a porch on the church now but not on the map, what does that mean? The tower was built in the 14 th century and it has some strange animal shaped water spouts on the roof! Do you know what they are called? What was the name of the special sort of tax that everyone had to pay to the church?

We will now look at the windows in the church. The middle part of the church, called the nave, was the oldest part and the style of the stone part of the windows makes them look medieval in date. The diamondpane glass is of a later date and shows repairs and alterations have been made to the church over many hundreds of years. I remember when the glass was all pretty colours. Inside the church Outside the church

These windows are similar to the last picture but not quite the same. Can you spot the difference? The stone around this window is badly cracked and will need repairing soon - but it is hundreds of years old! Click for Arrow to Show Crack in Stonework then Click for Questions What are these style of windows called. How old do you think the stone window frames are? Would our medieval peasants have had glass in their cottage windows? Would the lord of the manor have had glass in the windows of his manor house? Inside the church Outside the church

The design of all these windows is called ‘pointed arch decorated’ and they were popular in the 14 th century. The glass might have been changed after the 16 th century when for a while plain glass was considered more suitable for a church than brightly coloured glass. In the 16 th and 17 th centuries, people also painted over the coloured pictures on church walls with whitewash. Do you know what happened to make people get rid of the coloured glass and paint over the pictures on the walls? I used to like the pictures on the walls. Especially the angels. Inside the church Outside the church

There are some rare fragments of real medieval stained glass right at the top of windows above the altar and below the tower. Most medieval glass has gone from English churches but the Victorians made stained glass fashionable and filled church windows with colour again. The medieval glass over the altar is in beautiful delicate pale colours The medieval glass in the tower is over-drawn in black to bring out the detailed designs Click for close-up view Talk to your teacher about designing your own stained glass window. For inspiration look at a photographic gallery of windows on website http: //www. kirikou. com/tuttifruitti/stainedgla sswindows/vidriera 26. htm

There are many other features in the church which are from the later medieval and Tudor times. All our babies had their heads marked with the sign of the cross with holy water. This carving is from a very fine 15 th century pulpit made from wood. Click for Question What does a pulpit look like and what happens inside it? This strange large stone object is about 1. 5 metres high and has a little basin inside it. Click for Question This is still used by local people. What is it called and what is it used for?

Grafton Flyford church is known for its very fine and unusual painted wooden wall panels. The panels are about one metre wide and one metre high, made up of planks. They show some strange creatures, which represent two of the four Gospels, which are from the Bible. These were paid for by the wealthier people in the parish. Click for Questions I think that bird looks really grumpy! This is a very odd animal but what do you think it is meant to be? What is the golden ring around the animal’s head called? There is also one around the bird’s head. A very strange looking bird but what do you think it is? Why do you think that some people like to spend lots of money on decorations for their church?

These large wooden wall panels are heraldic shields called ‘Coats of Arms’. These symbols are to show all the people who go to church who the important local land-owning families were. The on the left has faded colours but the on the right has been recently restored and the colours are now bright and clear. Click for Questions Can you write down the special heraldic names for the colours on these shields or Coats of Arms? Use the Symbolism of Heraldry website to find out about the colours, animals and other symbols. http: //www. digiserve. com/ heraldry/symbols. htm There are two very important heraldic beasts on this panel. What are they called? Talk to your teacher about designing your own Coat of Arms. What sort of special qualities do you think they are symbolising? and select ‘Design a Coat of Arms’ from their list of activities. Use the shield plan on your Worksheet or go to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website at: http: //vam. ac. uk

Grafton Flyford church, like most churches, has had lots and lots of alterations and changes over the hundreds of years since it was first built. This little doorway, for example, was inserted into the wall of the chancel in the 16 th century. Click for Question Explain how your can tell that this doorway has been put in later? Look closely at the stone work of the walls. I have seen the priest and curate use this door. But we are not allowed to. Why do you think this doorway was inserted here? Look at the photograph of the church. If you went through this door what do you think would be on the other side? Click again to see door hidden behind the curtain Click to see where the door is inside the church.

During Victorian times the old medieval tiles were replaced by new ones. These are in front of the altar and probably looked very similar to the original medieval tile designs. Click for Question Click to see some medieval tiles This is a church floor of medieval tiles. They look very similar although they are faded and some of the tile patterns are mixed up. The Victorian designs are made in sets which fit together to make up the pattern, then a single row is put between each patterned set. Count how many tiles make up each patterned set of tiles? Talk to your teacher about designing your own medieval or Victorian set of floor tiles. Use the tile plan on your Worksheet or go to the Victoria and Albert Museum website and select ‘Design a Tile’ from the list of activities.

I am really glad that I haven’t got such a funny name! Here is a list of the Rectors of Grafton Flyford church going all the way back to 1280, which is in the 13 th century! Rectors were the priests who took the services in the church. There are some very unusual names. The first three names are Norman French but they are written in the Latin language which looks very strange to us. Click for Questions What do you think the names Ricardus, Henricus and Robertus are in English? Have a good guess! Look at the last letters of most of the Rectors’ first names - what do you notice about them?

Inside the church there all sorts of different things on the walls. Here is a list of special rules for Christians. They are on display so that no-one can forget the rules or say they don’t know what they are! Click for Questions The numbers are written in Roman numerals, which are not the same as our numbers. Can you work out what the numbers are and how many rules there are? We have to repeat these rules over and over again. To make sure we know them. Do you know what this list of special rules is called?

Another huge board on the church wall shows the church charities. This is a list of all the people who have generously given money or land to the poor people of the parish. Can you read and copy down neatly on your Worksheet the last two pieces. They are quite hard to read in such old fashioned writing. One is from Mary George, but the letter ‘s’ when it is inside a word is written like an ‘f’ - which makes it a bit confusing. The last one is very faded - you can only just see the name Andrew Baker Esq. See how you get on. Here is a close-up to help you. Click for close-up

This is what was written on the board. Did you manage to work it out? Mary George Widow gave Forty Shillings the Interest thereof to be given in bread Yearly upon Christmas day by the Churchwardens to the poor Widows and Fatherless children of the Said Parish. Andrew Baker Esq of Hill Court gave by Will twenty Shillings to the Poor of this parish to be paid out of his Estate at Flyford Flavel Yearly for ever given in Bread at Easter by the Minister and Churchwardens. The poor people were grateful for the bread but they probably would have liked something a bit more exciting to eat for Christmas and Easter! What do you think they would have liked?

Extensions for use with Grafton Flyford Church Educational Presentation • • Use Worksheet plans and websites to: Design a stained glass window Design a medieval Coat of Arms Design a set of medieval or Victorian style floor tiles If I was lord of the manor, I would like a dragon for my Coat of Arms!

The End of Part 3 The Grafton Flyford Educational Presentation was produced by Deborah Overton It was nice Worcestershire County Council meeting you. Please visit us Historic Environment and again. Archaeology Service