Come Ye Blessed...
LONG CLAWSON : CHURCH OF REMIGIUS
Church Post Code LE14 4ND
Open to visitors
When the Heathcote's looked at the church grounds at Long Clawson they recorded 12 Belvoir Angel gravestones. I am missing one here, which was not photographed as it was very weathered with inscription unreadable. A very lovely church with interesting church grounds and friendly locals.
Sadly, not all of these are in good condition; but starting off with one which is! The stone reads 'Here lyeth the body of John Parnham who departed this life January 18th 1709 in the 74 year of his age'
'Marke and behold the upright man how God doth him increase for the just man shall have at length all joy with rest and peace'
'Come Ye Blessed' is carved across the top of the stone, with the 'ye' carved in to the forehead of the angel itself. The hourglass and crossed bones are to be found top left and right.
He lived to what would have been a good old age in those days. Incredible to think that this man would have lived through the English Civil War and the Bubonic Plague
A gravestone to Ann Smith is battered and bruised. A large amount of the top has been broken away, leaving just the lower portion of the angel's face and one small section of one wing remaining.
The stone reads ' Here lieth the body of Ann wife of Richard Smith who died September 2nd 1752 ages 39 years'.
An interesting inscription at the foot of the grave begins by saying 'Farewell vain world I had enough of thee Nor do I value what you think of me' The inscription gets harder to read as it goes on; with the last of it now being sunk below ground level.
This was actually quite a popular epitaph with similar examples turning up in Boston, Massachusetts, the phrase no doubt going over to the states with those emigrating. The full verse should read roughly along the lines of
Farewell Vain World I have Enough of the and now I'm Careles what thou sayst of me What Fault thou seest in me Take Care to Shun There worke within thy Self That Should be Done Thy Smiles I Court not nor thy Frowns I fear My Cares are past my head lies quiet here
A double angel stone to William Fawkes is of great quality, the three lines under the angels being carved in relief, the area around the letters being carved away leaving the letter itself standing proud of the stone.
This was a great skill.
I have pointed out many times during the compilation of this site, the problems that these stonemasons had with spelling and letter spacing. What is beyond doubt though is the skills that they possessed in other areas of their craft.
It reads (in relief) Here lies interr'd the body of William Fowkes who departed this life Oct ye 31st 1732 aged 28'
(not in relief) 'You young men all repent in time for I was call's just in my prime It's much lamented mongst us all so rare a plant so soon should fall for all the country tis their cry O pity he so soon should die'
A fabulous piece of work.
A gravestone to Elizabeth Shilcock is, compared to the other Vale of Belvoir Angel stones here quite basic. It has the same design; angel with wings outstretched, wearing a ruff. It has the same wording that many have 'Be Ye Ready' carved across the top but there is little fine detail in the wings.
This one is dated 1742, so it is not an early example that would be fine tuned with practice!
The stone reads 'Here lies the body of Elizabeth the wife of John Shilcock she died April the 16 1748 in the 25th year of her age Also Elizabeth daughter of John and Elizabeth Shilcock who died aged 1? year'
The gravestone to Margaret and Henry Marriott has suffered a pretty hefty blow at some point over the years. Much of the top is broken, with just a small section of one of the wings remaining.
The hourglass at the top left as we look at it is just discernible, the crossed bones that would have accompanied it are absent.
It reads as follows with brackets to indicate where words are missing
'Margaret (wife of) Henry Marriott Died Nov XI 1727 aged ( )
Henty Marriott also died October ye 16 1733 his age 70 years'
'Grieve not for us dear friends our glass is run It is the Lord and let his will be done with conscience pure we hope to see his face and rise again to glorifie his grace'
The gravestone to one Elizabeth Fawkes is unusual in that the angel, along with hourglass, crossed bones and heart symbolism, can be seen half way down the grave rather than across the top.
It reads 'Here lyeth the body of Elizabeth the widow of Richard Fawkes and mother of Will Fawkes. She died October ye 31 1725 aged 61 year'
An epitaph at the foot of the gravestone says 'Reader stand still and shed a tear think of the dust that lyeth here and whilst thou dost read this of me think on the glass that runs for thee.
A double angel grave to Mary and Richard White would have been another wonderful piece of work in its day; but this is another to have suffered damage.
The left hand angel as we look at it is all but gone, and the right hand angel appears to have suffered deliberate damage at some point, with the face looking to have been chiseled out!
It is believed that some of the Vale of Belvoir Angel gravestones were defaced by those of a Puritan nature, who objected to the angel itself. Impossible to tell, but perhaps this is what we have here?
Husband and wife died within two days of each other in February 1727, Mary aged 34 years and Richard aged 41 years.
'A loving husband and a virtuous wife here lies confined both to leave this life Even though their bodys they return to dust Their souls I hope are dwelling with the just'.
A gravestone to Stephen Hall stands back to back with a much larger slate gravestone. I found this one hard to shoot due to a few lighting issues.
Just the basic Belvoir Angel design with a heart symbol to one side. A couple of swirly designs for whatever reason made me want a walnut whip!
The stone reads as follows...
'Here lies the body of Stephen Hall who departed this life October the 14th 1722 aged 59 years'
'All flesh is like the withered hay It springs it grows then fades away'
The gravestone to Ann Morris is another that is fairly basic by the standards of this firm of stonemasons. There is less detail in the carving, particularly in the wings.
There is a single heart against the angel, who appears to be asleep in this depiction!
This stone reads 'Here lieth the body of Ann wife of Francas Morris who departed this life May 16th 1753 her age 36 years'
'Pale death will hardly find another so good a wife and kind a mother A sore disease my body siez'd that pierced me to the heart Till death gave ease as God did please to cure me of my smart'
'Pale Death' here could be either a name given to the disease that
killed here or perhaps it is from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse where death is said to have ridden a pale horse.
Sadly, a stone to Robert Hicks has been badly damaged at some point over the years, the entire right hand side as we look at it, now missing.
'Come Ye Blessed' would have been inscribed across the top prior to the damage.
With the exception of the name of the deceased, I am struggling to put much more detail to this one.
Most of the Belvoir angel stones in the church grounds here are to the south and east of the church. The stone to Thomas Dubleday appears not to be in situ, as are a cluster to the east by the looks of it and this one is off to the north.
This stone has heart symbolism at the top with the stone inscribed 'Here lies the body of Thomas Dubleday he died May 30th ages 55 years 1738'
'A sore disease my body seized which pears'd me to the hearttill death gave ease as God did please to cure me of my pain'.
Again we see here the problems that the masons had with lettering and spacing. The surname is started in upper case letters and is finished in very small lower case in an attempt to get everything in!
SOME NOTES FROM MY VISIT
It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning in 2020, with a visit to the church of Remigius at Long Clawson; relishing the chance to be able to get out and about again with the lifting of covid restrictions.
Long Clawson is a pleasant Leicestershire village which can be found deep in the heart of Belvoir Angel country; having Hickling and the Broughton’s as neighbours. It recorded a population of 662 at the time of the 2021 census.
Nottingham is around 16 miles away to the North West with Grantham roughly the same distance off to the North East.
With great respect to the village itself, which was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086, Long Clawson is probably best known for its dairy; this being one of only six in England to produce Stilton cheese. As is indicated by its name, the village is long and thin, with the church of Remigius standing centrally on raised ground in its church grounds filled with slate gravestones.
The present church dates back to the 14th century, but has earlier origins. This glorious ironstone structure looked beautiful in the morning sunlight. It is of cruciform structure, being set out in the shape of a cross. It consists of central tower, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, north and south transepts, north and south porch, north vestry and chancel.
The chancel and transepts were largely rebuilt during the late 19th century with the north vestry also being added in Victorian times. The church must have been in a poor state structurally as before the restoration and rebuilding of 1893 a proposal had been made to demolish the church and rebuilt it. The outline of the original roofline before the clerestory was added can be seen on the west face of the tower, with the clerestory itself consisting of three single light windows.
It was quiet and peaceful with little on the roads; traffic still much reduced as covid continued to cause many problems. It was good to be out and about again and it was a pleasant surprise to find the church open to visitors when so many were still closed. Entry on the day was through the south porch, with a label stop greeting visitors making their way towards the porch, with tongue out in gesture of insult.
Moving inside, there are three bay arcades to north and south, each having octagonal piers and moulded capitals. The central crossing tower has tall, elegant pointed arches; with label ends featuring human faces looking down the nave to the west.
The east window is comparatively small, being of three lights with a central stained glass panel illustrating Jesus as the Good Shepherd. There are no sedilia or piscina here against the south wall, which would normally be found in the chancel and possibly these have not survived following a period of restoration.
There are a couple of modern stained glass windows here which are of great interest, being made by stained glass artist Pippa Blackwell in 2016. The west window shows the baptism of Jesus, with Jesus central, arms outstretched in blessing. Jesus is depicted with a golden nimbus which radiates outwards and swirls around him. The Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends upon him with butterflies and a dragonfly caught up in the golden swirls.
John the Baptist stands off to the left, and there is a depiction of Long Clawson church. Opposite this is what I think might be St Remigius baptising a King. If that is right it would be King Clovis I, the King of the Franks, whom he baptised on Christmas day 496. There are only six churches dedicated to St Remigius in the country so I suspect that stained glass recording this event is very rare!
Up in the tracery of this window we see an exquisite showing of the annunciation with the Angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary, with each of the two portrayed with large yellow nimbus and the two surrounded again by a swirl of colours.
In the south aisle we see another exquisite modern stained glass design by the same artist. Here we see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the two human characters silhouetted in in the centre of another golden swirl. This is surrounded by greenery and animals with the tree of the fruit of knowledge away to the right. An idyllic scene, but the serpent twists its way around a branch over the top of the two and things are suddenly about to change!
Other stained glass here consists of a single panel depicting the Virgin and child with the Virgin Mary, as usual cloaked in blue.
A recumbent crossed legged effigy of a knight is to Ralph De Bozon; this dating to the 13th century which makes it older than the present church here. Strangely virtually all of the features on this monument have been weathered away. Perhaps it had been stored out in the open for some time. His head rests on a pillow, what remains of his hands raised in prayer. His sword is at side but his shield is missing, with tell tale holes indicating where it would have been attached.
Also worth mentioning is a ledger slab on which is a carving of a skull; this being a memento mori symbol, with crossed bones below also being an often used symbol of mortality. This is a message, which is the same today as it was when it was carved; live a good life, trust in God and do not be caught short when your own time comes! And it days of low life expectancy back over the centuries it could be later than you think.
