Reformation And Iconoclasm In An English Village

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The village church sits outside the village, in the place where a church has sat for over a thousand years.

It has witnessed the destruction of the castle, which was built next to it, in 1322.

And, of course, it witnessed the Reformation, and the terrible iconoclasm of the Commonwealth.

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During the Commonwealth, the altar of this church was ripped out, and was replaced by a table. The other fittings of the church which had survived the Tudor Reformation here, as in so many other places, were ripped out. But for the altar there was nothing but scorn. The mensa was dragged out and was used as part of a stile, so that anybody who wanted to use a particular path had to trample on the altar.

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The mensa was identified for what it was less that forty years ago, and was replaced in the church. The then vicar constructed what he called a "chantry chapel" in the crossing (just at the left in the picture above), with a squint from which the high altar (high table?) can be seen.

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If you look carefully, you can see two of the crosses carved into the altar at its consecration.

Never underestimate just how much some people hate us, and the lengths they will go to to humiliate us and destroy the things we care about.