St John's Church, Waberthwaite
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St John's Church is situated on the south bank of the River Esk in the hamlet of Hall Waberthwaite in the former
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Waberthwaite Waberthwaite is a small, former rural civil parish (about 4 square miles in area) on the south bank of the estuary of the River Esk, in Copeland, Cumbria, England. Since 1934 it has been part of the combined parish of Waberthwaite and Corney, ...
(now part of the civil parish of Waberthwaite and Corney),
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, England. It is an active
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
in the deanery of Calder, the archdeaconry of West Cumberland, and the
diocese of Carlisle The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the ki ...
. Its
benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
is united with those of St Paul, Irton; St Michael, Muncaster; and St Catherine, Boot. The church is recorded in the
National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...
as a designated Grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.


History

St John's probably dates from the 13th century, with later alterations and additions, but the presence of the remains of 9th- and 10th-century crosses in the churchyard indicates that the site was a religious centre for centuries before that.


Architecture

The church is constructed in
roughcast Roughcast or pebbledash is a coarse plaster surface used on outside walls that consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown at the wor ...
stone with
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
roofs. Its plan consists of a single cell (i.e. there is no
transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
and the chancel and
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
share the same space with no dividing arches or screens between them). A
vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
is attached to the east end of the north wall, and a porch covers the entrance at the west end of the south wall. The porch was rebuilt in 1825.


Internal features

Inside the church is an octagonal wooden
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
with carved decoration and the inscription: THE GIFT OF ABRAHAM CHAMBERS GENT. VA(E) MIHI SI NON VERUM PRAEDICO ("Woe to me if I preach not the truth"). It is initialled S.R. and dated 1630 (S.R. was possibly Samuel Rutter who appears to have been
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of Waberthwaite in 1630. He subsequently became
Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Peel Cathedral, Cath ...
.) The
font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...
is a lead-lined hollowed-out
monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...
of sandstone with a square plan and oak lid. On the north wall opposite the door are the
royal arms The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, or the royal arms for short, is the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently King Charles III. These arms are used by the King in his official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom. Varian ...
of
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. Both kingdoms were in a personal union under him until the Acts of Union 1800 merged them ...
. The interior of the church was fitted with box
pews A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...
, and
flagged Flagging may refer to: *Running out of time on a chess clock *Flagging (tape), a colored non-adhesive tape used in marking objects *Flagging (shipping) of a merchant vessel under the laws of a flag state *The activities of a flagger (disambiguatio ...
and ceiled in 1807. The oil lamps of an earlier age have been retained and artfully converted to electric.


External features

The church has a
bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...
on the west
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
containing two 15th Century bells which were retained when the bellcote was refurbished in 1796. The south bell (the
tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
) has the inscription SANCTUS JACOBUS (Saint James). DOMINUS THOMAS WALKER (Sir Thomas Walker) in Lombardic lettering. Thomas Walker was rector of the church from 1439 till some time after 1473. The north bell (the
treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...
) bears the inscription HENRICUS SEXTUS REX (King Henry the sixth). This is also in Lombardic lettering. Whether the bells were donated by Henry VI (e.g. in gratitude for the safe haven provided by Lord Muncaster when Henry was fleeing after his forces had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Yorkists in the battle of Hexam in 1464 or the battle of Towton in 1461 (sources vary) - cf "The Luck of Muncaster" at
Muncaster Castle Muncaster Castle is a privately owned castle overlooking the River Esk, about a mile east of the west-coastal town of Ravenglass in Cumbria, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed b ...
), or whether they were merely installed during his reign (1422 to 1471), we do not know, but in either event it gives us a possible date range for their installation which is consistent with their installation during the rectorship of Thomas Walker. The naming of St James on the south bell is interesting. Though there may be nothing unusual in church bells bearing the name of a saint to whom the church is not dedicated, it is worthy of note that when the
advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...
of Waberthwaite church was transferred to Sir Richard de Kirkby in 1392, the church was referred to as St James. If the church was originally dedicated to St James and subsequently re-dedicated to St John, then it would appear that the re-dedication may have taken place after the reign of Henry VI.


Churchyard

In the churchyard are the remains of two Anglo-Scandinavian high cross shafts constructed in
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
. Collingwood has dated the two cross shafts. The fallen shaft he has identified as being Anglian in the style of its decoration, and has dated it as no earlier than 850 and no later than 925. The standing shaft shows strong Norse influence in its decoration, and Collingwood has dated it to about 950. Both shafts have rectangular cross-sections, and are decoratively carved on all sides, but the fallen shaft was used as a threshold for the church door for a long time and is badly worn on one face. The standing shaft was found in the churchyard in 1825, and then used as a
lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
. It was moved into its present position and reunited with its socle, which was also found in the churchyard, between 1884 and 1889. The standing shaft is a
scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
. The churchyard also contains a 5' 6" high sundial. An inscription states that it was made in 1830 by Watkins and Hill of London for the Reverend J. Stanley and it is calibrated for the latitude of 54 degrees, 13 minutes. The plinth is of sandstone and has a square top on which are mounted a brass
gnomon A gnomon (; ) is the part of a sundial that casts a shadow. The term is used for a variety of purposes in mathematics and other fields. History A painted stick dating from 2300 BC that was excavated at the astronomical site of Taosi is the ol ...
and an inset circular brass plate graduated in hours and 2-minute intervals. The dial also has a scale of months and days. It is registered as dial number 2220 in the register of the British Sundial Society.


Legacy bell

On the internal sill of the west window is a bell that originally belonged to the Chapel of St. Luke which stood at Lane End in Waberthwaite. The bell is dated 1882 and was moved to the church when the chapel was demolished.


Gallery

image:Waberthwaite_church_cumbria.jpg, Waberthwaite church image:Waberthwaite church.jpg, St John's Church, Waberthwaite, from across the Esk image:Waberthwaite_cross_cumbria.jpg, The large cross shaft – 10th century.C A Parker, ''The Gosforth District'', pub Titus Wilson 1904. image:Waberthwaite_church_and_cross.jpg, Waberthwaite church showing sundial and cross shaft image:Waberthwaite_church_and_crosses.jpg, View of sundial and both the standing and fallen cross shafts. The fallen shaft is at the foot of the sundial.


See also

* Grade II* listed buildings in Copeland * Listed buildings in Waberthwaite


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waberthwaite, St John's Church Church of England church buildings in Cumbria Grade II* listed churches in Cumbria Diocese of Carlisle Paley and Austin buildings Monumental crosses in England