Grasmere Church

Situated in one of the most beautiful parts of the Lake District, and intimately associated with the poet Wordsworth, Grasmere Church is a place of outstanding interest which draws visitors from many parts of the world each year.

Map and Gallery:

 The date of its foundation is un-certain, and the original site may have been the old Roman Road, through the valley from White Moss to Dunmail Raise, east of the A591.

Tradition has it that St. Oswald, to whom the church is dedicated, preached the Gospel in person on the very spot where the church now stands, and although there is nothing to indicate that the present building is older than the fourteenth century, it is probably the third to be built on this site. A Rector of "Grossmer" (Henry de Galdington) was drawing the revenues of the parish in 1254, and he is the first on the list of "Rectors and Curates" which by 1982 had grown to 51 names.

 St. Oswald's Grasmere takes its name from the Northumbrian king and champion of Christianity who was killed at Maserfield near Hexham in 642 A.D. in a battle with Penda, the heathen king of Mercia. The baptistry window commemorates Oswald's baptism, and the coming of the Holy Spirit into his life is symbolised by the dove. Oswald's reputation for generosity led to St. Aidan's fervent prayer, "May this hand never perish!". After his death in the battle at the age of 37, Oswalds body was dismembered (the head is to this day in St. Cuthbert's tomb in Durham Cathedral), and legend says that his hand did not wither even in death; one of the two churchwarden's staves bears the Hand of St. Oswald to remind us of God's eternal reward for Christian Charity (1 Corinthians 13.)

 The original church consisted of the tower and naive only, and the porch, the south wall, the tower and the small window nearest the tower are remnants of this earliest part of the present building. Evidently, it became too small for the people of Grasmere, Langdale, and Rydal with Loughrigg and Ambleside above Stock Ghyll (the constituent parts of the ancient parish of Grasmere), and around 1500the church was enlarged by building a separate nave on the north side with its own ridged roof to match that on the existing nave, and piercing the massive north wall of the original church in five places to make "arches" connecting the two. This northern nave seated the people of Langdale and is called Langdale Aisle to this day. The gully between the two roofs collected snow and rainwater, however, and in 1562 John Benson of Baisbrown bequeathed money "so that the Roofe be taken down and maide oop again". What the local builders did was to build a second tier of arches on the middle wall to support a new set of upper timbers which carried a new "third" roof overarching the other two and bringing the church under a single roof with the fascinating tangle of timbers so well described by Wordsworth in book 5 of "the Excursion":

 "Not raised in nice proportion was the pile,
But large and mass; for duration built,
With pillars crowded, and the roof upheld
By naked rafters intricately crossed,
Like leafless underboughs in some thick wood,
All withered by the depth of shade above."

 Until 1841, the church floor was bare earth, and the bodies of worshipers were buried beneath it. In that year, however, the floor was raised and flagged, and new deal benches replaced the narrow oak ones till then in use - the ends of two of these 'oaken benches ranged in seemly rows', and dated 1635, may be seen near the tower door. The deal pews were replaced by the present oak ones in 1881.

 The windows have been altered from time to time, and the only early ones left are the small trefoil window in the south-west corner already mentioned and the three-light window of similar design high up on the east wall, almost hidden by the organ. The east window is of clear glass, allowing a magnificent view of the fells and admitting plenty of light into the sanctuary. This was made in 1937, and replaced an earlier Victorian stained glass window. The opening verse of Psalm 121 comes to mind "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help"

 The present alter, with its riddle posts and hangings, dates from 1937, but an earlier alter stands by its side, and together with the alter rails was made in 1755 from wood procured from Rydal at a cost of £12.12s with carriage 2/6d: these are of a piece with the alter previously mentioned.
There are two interesting chars in the sanctuary, one, the Bishop's chair, inscribed 'T. L. 1677', and the other on the north side, 'M. B. 1703'.

 The priest's door into the sanctuary is now covered with a curtain of remembrance, completed in 1939. On it are worked the names of 526 past and present worshippers in the church, one of them William Temple, Archbishop, who loved to worship in Grasmere church on his working holidays.
Beside the door is an old alms-box carved with the date 1648 and bearing the words 'St. Oswald's Poor Box'.

 The bodies of many of the Le Fleming family are buried beneath the sanctuary floor; six tablets, including the two brasses near the alter commemorate them, and the 'Capacious pew' opposite the choir stalls was provided by Sir Daniel Fleming in 1633. The Le Flemings were patrons of the living of Grasmere until 1770, and themselves provided five rectors of the parish, two of whom later became Deans of Carlisle, and one of whom (George, 1728) was Bishop of Carlisle for 12 years (1735-47).

 The nave (from the Latin word 'navis', meaning 'a ship', recalling the Christian's vocation to be a member of 'the ark of Christ's Church') has 20 admonitory texts on framed boards, which were put up in 1711 and replaced similar texts painted on the plastered walls. They include the Ten Commandments, Creed and Lord's Prayer (near the Langdale door), and could be studied by those who could read, and whose eyesight was good enough, during the very long sermons fashionable 200 years ago, (when some preachers were known to go on for an hour, and a few for two...). Some of the great texts of the Scripture are to be found here. "We preach no ourselves; but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves you servants for Jesus' sake", "I know that my redeemer and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth", "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you pure, of good report: if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things".

 The carved stone head in the second upper arch from the east end of the church was found when the east wall was reconstructed in 1841. It was for many years in Kendal Museum, and was later returned to Grasmere.

 Two wooden alms dishes with long handles, hanging on the south wall near the porch, were found in the Tithe Barn.

 This aisle commonly known as the Langdale Aisle, is only a yard narrower than the nave, confirming that it was constructed as a second nave. A glass exhibition case near the organ contains, among other relics the pitch-pipe formerly used by the Clerk who led the singing, Wordsworth's own prayer book, and an 18th century stole.

 The Organ is a three-manual instrument built by J. J. Binns of Leeds, and was given as a memorial in 1923. I contains 26 speaking stops and 12 couplers. The Steinway grand piano was given in 1980, and is used in the regular summer concerts in the church. A display corner is due to be constructed in 1984 by removing the two pews facing across the church in the N.E. corner.

The tower was built of unknown stones probably gathered from the beck. the stones are bound together using strong mortar, making massive walls from three to four feet thick. " A mighty fortress is our God", said Luther, and the tower speaks of God's strength. It was roughcast until 1891, then the roughcast was removed and the walls re-pointed. This proved inadequate to resist the rain, and in 1911 the tower was again cemented and roughcast.

Beneath the tower is the font, which it is believed came from Furness Abbey.

The chime of the bells is an odd one, and may contain the metal of the Pre-Reformation bells, although re-casting has robbed them of their ancient marks and inscriptions. The present bells are the same which the poet Wordsworth heard on Sundays, and nothing has been done to change this link with the past, although offers to add to the peal have been made from time to time. The first record of re-casting is in 1673-4, when the expenses of the bell-founders' journey were paid, and probably the bells were re-cast in a pit in the church yard. The two largest bells were again re-cast in 1731 by the firm of Sellers of York. Each bell carries the founder's name and date, and the arms of the le Flemings of Rydal. The smallest bell was described as "burst and un-ringable " in 1792, and remained in this condition until 1809, when it was re-cast by T. Mears and Son of London. All the bells were re-tuned and re-hung in 1924.

There are more than twenty memorial tablets in the church, the most famous of which commemmorates William Wordsworth, who worshiped in St. Oswald's with his family, particularly when they lived two miles away at Rydal Mount- more, perhaps, than when they lived in Dove Cottage or at Allen Bank or even when they lived just across the road at the Rectory. This memorial tablet, opposite the le Fleming pew, bears a medallion portrait by Woolner, together with an inscription which is a translation of the Latin dedication to Wordsworth of John Keble's 'Oxford Lectures on Poetry'. It says that he "failed not to lift up the heart of holy things, tired not of maintaining the cause of the poor and simple, and so, in perilous times was raised up to the chief minister of high and sacred truth". Lay people also can be ministers of God.

The sculpture of the Madonna and Child on the central pillar to the left of the naive is by Ophelia Gordon Bell. She was born in 1915, and in 1940 married the local artist William Heaton Cooper in this church, where she was later baptised and confirmed. Her work is also seen in the figures of the Nativity Crib. She died in 1975.

In early days, each of the three townships which made up the parish of Grasmere was assigned a part of the churchyard as a burial ground, and each township had its own gate and was responsible for the upkeep of this and part of the wall ( and of the church building itself). The Grasmere entrance was the North or Lych Gate adjoining what was until 1854 the village school, now the Gingerbread Shop. The Langdale or West entrance was opposite the Church Stile (now the National Trust shop and an art studio, but formerly the village inn), while the entrance for the Rydal-Loughrigg-Ambleside township was the south gate, near the porch. From time to time trees were planted; young ashes cost 1/6d. in 1684, and a yew tree 1/-in 1706. Eight of the existing yews were planted by Wordsworth in 1819, and near one of them and quite close to the River Rothay is his grave, marked by a simple slate stone with the inscription "William Wordsworth 1850. Mary Wordsworth 1859". The next grave to the north is that of their daughter Dora, wife of Edward Quillinan, and the next but one on the south side is that of Wordsworth's sister Dorothy, now chiefly remembered for her diaries and letters. West of Dorothy's grave are those of the two Wordsworth's children, Catherine and Thomas, who died at the rectory in 1812. Nearby is the grave of the poet Hartley Coleridge (son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge), the site of which was chosen by Wordsworth. Near the Lych Gate is the grave of the distinguished Arctic explorer, Sir John Richardson (1787 - 1865).

The Rushbearing This festival, surviving only at Grasmere and a few other places chiefly in the north of England, comes from the remote past - some would say even pre-Christian in origin. Formerly the earthen floors of churches and halls were strewn with ruches for warmth and cleanliness. The early records of Grasmere show payments for gingerbread and ale for the Rushbearers. When at last the floor of the church was paved (in 1841), the need for rush-strewing was removed, but the ancient custom has always been "a day of annual joy". The traditional bearings have been handed down from the past. In most places, Rushbearing is associated with the Patronal Festival, and in Grasmere it takes place on the Saturday nearest to St. Oswald's Day (5th August). As from time immemorial, all children in Grasmere bring their bearings to the Churchyard wall, and after walking through the village, "pass to the wide church door, charged with the offerings that their fathers bore." After a short service in the now rush-strewn church, the bearing are left in the church and the children receive the traditional reward of gingerbread on which the name of St. Oswald is stamped.

Until 1983, all the surviving parish records were kept in Grasmere Church, but under the Parochial Registers and Records Measure of 1978 all records of 100 years of age or older have now been removed for safe keeping in the County Archives at Kendal. The registers go back to 1570.

Grasmere is very privileged to have a church of unique beauty and great historical interest, some of it over 600 years old, and we should pray for those who work and worship in it. However, Solomon's words at the dedication of his temple remind us of the need to get our perspective right. "Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot thee; how much less this house which I have built!" (1 Kings 8.27). In the end, it is we as Christians who are meant to be living monuments to the power of Christ dwelling in us, and everything we do should be an act of worship. For "you are not your own. You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body, and know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you" (1 Cor. 6.20,19.