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WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WHITBOURN
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What's New OR: 'Yo, ladies ... What's happenin ? Whatever Next ? [ Downs Lord Triptych / The Two Confessions / Amy-Faith & the Stronghold] |
Published
in Wišowinde, Journal of Ša Engliscan Gešisdas, no 128. Summer
2002. In
the company of thirty or so of my lady-wife's 'A level' students during a recent
archaeological field trip to Battle in Sussex, I was press-ganged into giving an
account of the 1066 conflict and its upshot. WIŠOWINDE readers may rest
assured my spiel was a sober and even-handed recitation of the tale, although I
may have briefly touched on the laughable 'feigned retreats', the glorious last
stand of the huscarls and worthy-of-far-greater-remembrance 'Malfosse'
incident. I might even have dwelt on the infinite benefits bequeathed to
us by William the Bastard's cultural mission. My reward ( aside from lager
refreshment in the nearby '1066' pub ) was for several people to say
afterwards that they saw the event differently now. 'This is actually a
sad place for us, isn't it ?' one told me. So,
England 1, Normans 0: that day at least. Or possibly 2-0 as you may read .....
For,
another student pointed out a plaque, circa 2ft by 2ft, placed, without date or
ascription, in the northern wall of the former cloister walk, facing the
Abbott's Hall/present-day school building. It reads, as follows: 'THIS
STONE HAS BEEN
SET
IN THIS PLACE TO
COMMEMORATE
THE
FUSION
OF THE ENGLISH
AND
NORMAN PEOPLES
WHICH
RESULTED FROM
THE
GREAT BATTLE
FOUGHT
HERE IN 1066'
Or
leastways it did once. Today, the lower portion, from 'COMMEMORATE THE
..' onwards, is literally peppered with little pockmarks that the group
consensus took to be air-gun pellet impacts ! Significantly, it is
the portion regarding the 'FUSION OF THE ENGLISH / AND NORMAN PEOPLES' which
is most afflicted, with the lines above and below far less ravaged.
Indeed, line 1 and 2 are barely marked at all, but the concentration of fire (
if that's what it is ) has rendered the middle a lot less than legible. As
one of the group ( no, not me ) commented, 'Yeah, like the 'fusion' of the
Americans and Red Indians ....' Of
course, there could be another, non-interesting, explanation, like some very
selective fault in the chosen stone causing differential decay - but I doubt it.
So,
whilst I really shouldn't approve of vandalism in any form, the anarchic
thought nevertheless arose that some sniper's heart was in the right place, even
if his/her trigger finger tends towards the naughty side. To be honest,
what they'd done was only a material working out of the inmost thoughts of my
heart regarding the crass 'commemoration'. Then
the question arises of who might they be ? And how had they got away with
what looked like the work of at least a whole box of pellets and a sizeable
investment of time and effort ? Thereagain, perhaps we shouldn't be prosaic and
look for a material culprit. Maybe it was the ghost of a fallen ( and now
re-equipped ) huscarl that snipes away by night. Or the spirit of truth -
armed with a rifle .... Even
so, I'd like to ask if any other Companion has noticed this evidence of active
Saxon resistance or whether anyone else can shed any light on what might be a
latter-day mystery of the battle ? On
an entirely different note, WIŠOWINDE 121's brief mention of the 'Surrey
Archaeological Collections' article on the heraldic roof bosses in Godalming
Parish church, skates over an even more interesting story. As the foremost
expert on the Church structure, Alan Bott, recently related to a conducted tour
group, the early 16th century found a need for urgent repairs to the building,
but the usual tale of a lack of funds to do so. The solution which seems
to have occurred to William Westbrook ( died 1537 ) of the local Westbrook
family/Manor, was to write round to fellow veterans of the battle of Flodden (
near Branxton, Northumberland), fought between the English under Thomas Howard,
Earl of Surrey, and the invading Scots, on 9/9/1513. Westbrook had the
neat idea of a sort of sponsored repairs project whereby, in return for
donations, all his old Flodden cronies would be thanked ( other than by
Godhelmians and God ) with repetitions of their heraldic designs on bosses in
the roof. This then finally explains the puzzle of why Godalming church
should be studded with the coat of arms of Tudor warriors who had nothing
whatsoever to do with the Town or area. It
likewise follows that my little Surrey home may possess an un-remarked memorial
to this most crushing of all the Scottish defeats: a disaster in which they lost
their King, James IV; twelve Earls; nineteen Barons; three hundred-odd Knights
and lairds; the Archbishop of St Andrews; two other assorted bishops; two abbots
and the Provost of Edinburgh. - not to mention most of their army. Also,
local legend has it that the heavy heraldic bosses are prone to fatally plummet
onto the head of any Scottish visitors daring to enter Ss Peter and Paul's
Church. Well, all right, no - only joking ..... And
the relevance of all this to WIŠOWINDE readers ? Well, Ss Peter and
Paul's is Saxon in origin, with some remaining Anglo-Saxon carved stone work and
2 surviving Anglo-Saxon windows ( admittedly tucked away and only to be
seen by intrepid roof-space explorers - but that's the only reason they've
survived .... ). The carved stones are on display and available for
communing with, under the watchful eyes of two 13C painted saints recently
rescued from a six century sleep under plaster, in the Lady ( or Flodden, as I
call it ) Chapel wherein William Westbrook's bones reside. In
short, a massive concentration of powerful English history in one tiny space,
open to all for free and thoroughly recommended for a visit.'
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