Sadly, this church was destroyed by fire on 14 May 2004, even more unfortunate was that it was an arson attack. There has been a church here since Saxon times and it seems enormously sad that a church set fire 15 years ago is still in this state. Realistically not much can now be done other than to knock down most of the nave and just keep the tower.
The tower is perhaps the most interesting part of the church, not just because it’s mostly what is left standing, but also because it’s the oldest remaining part. The tower dates to the fourteenth century whilst most of the rest of the church dates to 1868.
The church was once quite influential and important, and it is the only one in the country which is dedicated to Saint Wandregesilius. And this in itself is a slight mystery, as why does a church in rural Norfolk have a dedication to a Benedictine abbot from France? Wandregesilius, or Vandrille, went on a pilgrimage to Rome and then, to allow himself a religious life, he left his wife. History doesn’t record exactly what she thought of this. He then became a hermit before going to live and work in the Benedictine monastery at Montfaucon. After that he went to St. Ursanne, Jura, which is now in Switzerland, and then became a hermit.
However, back to the question of why the church is dedicated to him. Wandregesilius also founded the monastery of Fontenelle, and it’s that which is one possibility. The Norman conquerors of the area came from Normandy (obviously given the name) and the name and reputation could have come over at that time.
But there’s another solution suggested by a former vicar of the area, AE Alston, who said that the church likely fell into disuse by the late thirteenth century and it was refounded by William de Dunwich. It’s suggested that he possessed a devotion to, or a relic of, Wandregesilius and that is why the church was rededicated to him.
On another matter, once upon a time there was a medieval village in the area, but this has now gone and so have the roads and footpaths which served the church. The church was also once an important pilgrimage centre, so this was a significant location.
The damage to the porch, with the former nave being unreachable as there are barriers up to prevent entry.
Although the church was heavily modernised when it was restored, and indeed rebuilt, in 1868, it hadn’t changed a great deal since then until it was hit by the fire. Back in the sixteenth century there were two bells in the tower, but the mid-nineteenth century there was just one, with an inscription reading:
“I to the church the living call, and to the grave summons us all”.
Very cheery.
It seems that the oak rood-screen survived the 1868 restoration, although I assume that it was either missing before the fire or destroyed during it. The register of burials, marriages and funerals was reported to still exist in 1900, with the book dating back to the seventeenth century and it contained the baptisms since 1575, the marriages to 1563 and the burials to 1593. I shall try and locate where that book is now…..
For anyone who wants a list of rectors of the church (and I’m not expecting this to hit the tens of millions if I’m being honest) then they’re here.
A sign from the former British Linen Bank, a long-standing bank which was in operation from when it received its Royal Charter in 1746. It actually started life as the British Linen Company and was primarily established to promote the linen industry, although by the 1760s it was predominantly operating as a bank.
The bank continued to grow during the nineteenth century and was renamed as the British Linen Bank in 1906. In 1919 the bank was taken over by Barclays Bank and it was later bought out by the Bank of Scotland in 1969 and they used the brand for their merchant bank business from 1977 until 1999. Sadly that was the end of the business, although their bank notes and cheques seem to be doing quite a trade on eBay.
Back when the Museum on the Mound was the Head Office of the Bank of Scotland, this was the chair they provided the night watchman with to ensure no little burglaries happened overnight. In the style of an Orkney chair it was apparently used for many years and these were often designed so that they sloped forwards, making it harder for the night watchman to fall asleep. The Bank of Scotland appear to have been kinder as the seat looks relatively comfortable.
I’ve only seen this in a few museums around the world, but it appears to be a marvellous idea. They’re seats which visitors to the museum can take to sit down wherever they choose, which must be a useful aid to those who can’t stand for long periods of time or those who just want a little rest…..
It’s like being back in Las Vegas with their display of $1 million where visitors can get a free photo taken. The Museum on the Mound doesn’t have quite such a tourist set-up, but it does have £1 million in used £20 notes. They’ve all been stamped as cancelled, just to avoid any little burglary incidents no doubt.
The Museum on the Mound is located within the Scottish HQ of Lloyds Bank in a building which was once the Head Office of the Bank of Scotland. The constant takeover of banks makes the situation confusing, but there is a helpful banking family tree available for visitors. At least the Bank of Scotland name remains in use.
There was a video on Scottish politics showing at the National Museum of Scotland, covering primarily television coverage of major political events from over the last few decades. It seemed fair in its reporting, although it didn’t have all the politicians that I would have hoped it would have done.
It’d have been hard to make a video about Scottish politics without mentioning John Smith, one of the best respected politicians from the country who sadly died mid-career.
The community charge was introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales in 1990. The idea to start the tax earlier in the country was at the behest of George Younger, the then Secretary of State for Scotland. Although the plan was more to trail-blaze the tax to show it worked, this didn’t prove to be the best of ideas…..
Donald Dewar, the first holder of the First Minister of Scotland role, and I’ll imagine he’ll go down in history as one of the fathers of the nation.
And Margaret Thatcher, when she gave a speech to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 1988. It was controversial to say the least, although that was probably its intention, and it sought to make the Christian case for capitalism and the importance of the market economy.
Another poor quality photo from Edinburgh, but I can’t keep typing that….. This item is in the collections of the National Museum of Scotland, although it doesn’t appear in their on-line database. Or at least it doesn’t for any search of “Trainspotting” or “McGregor”. Their database is one of the more challenging that I’ve used, most of the exhibits I’ve tried to hunt aren’t in it, although they clearly own them. Fortunately the museum has an entire separate page on their web-site about this script to confirm to me that they do actually own it.
Trainspotting is an iconic film and it was filmed in Edinburgh, with this script being donated by the actor Ewan McGregor. He also donated the poster at the same time in 2007, both of them being displayed in the Scotland : A Changing Nation exhibition at the museum.
The museum say about the book that the film was based on:
“Irvine Welsh’s debut novel, Trainspotting, was released in 1993 and depicts an Edinburgh far-removed from the quaint, historic, picture postcard image familiar around the world, with stories of drug-addiction, sex, violence and poverty. Written with phonetic vernacular dialogue and located around the then gritty port of Leith and the estates of Muirhouse, the book drew on critical acclaim and word of mouth to become both hugely successful and highly influential.”
Another poor quality photo (as apologised for elsewhere), but this is a Sinclair ZX80 in the museum’s science collection. I hadn’t realised, or at least given any thought to, that these computers were actually manufactured by Timex in their Dundee factories. Hence why, or at least I assume why, there’s one of these at the National Museum of Scotland.
The computer was manufactured in 1980 and was one of the first computers really designed for the home, with the sales of this and the ZX81 being substantial. The colour ZX81, later better known as the ZX Spectrum, was the first computer that I remember.
