Private war

Above: at first sight the church was disappointing, apparently eighteenth-century. However a medieval building stood on the site until about 1750 when the present structure replaced it. The village is tiny, just a few large farmhouses and a massive Victorian hall of such hideous construction that I swerved my car looking back for a second glance.



Above: although the sun was going down there was enough light to enable me to look around. The interior was small. I left the west door open a tiny crack... just in case.



Above: I was very pleased to see this monument, which had the familiar heraldic device of gold and black checks. It is very satisfying to read about a community and then, in the course of field research, to find traces they have left behind. I like the restraint of the design - cool marble shades, with just the shield coloured in (emblazoned).



Above: and looking over the altar rails I found the 13th century effigy I had come to see. Worn and chipped, holding his shield. His brow furrowed as if still pondering the long-gone events of le moyen age.

The area experienced a tumultuous time in the late middle ages, due to a fued between two knightly families. It is not clear what sparked the conflict, although it was probably some form of honour dispute. Local lords were petty monarchs and recruited retinues of liveried followers (one party in this dispute wore checkered hoods, which makes me think they must have looked like modern hoodies wearing Burberry).

This private war simmered on for two decades, with various attempts by outsiders to mediate a truce.

Eventually an itinerant preacher (probably a Friar, but the printed source is unclear) delivered a Lenton sermon at the village cross from 5am in the morning until 9pm in the evening, calling on the two sides to abandon their fight. One of the lords attended in person, the other sent a page riding on a horse covered with blue velvet. The village spent the night in the church praying.

The next day a peace agreement was reached, possibly involving reparations (the transcription is very ambiguous). A relic was taken from the church (or possibly it had been brought by the preacher) and the villagers followed it barefoot in a procession (from where to where? - the vagueness is infuriating). The church bells were rung continuously from morning until nightfall.

As a tokan of good faith both sides in the dispute shaved their heads - this symbolic hair cropping included the two lords and their retinues which probably consisted of a few professional knights supplemented by tenant farmers and yeomen.