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Ever since St Wulfram& #39;s in Grantham won the Finest Non-Cathdral UK Church twitter competition I ran near the start of lockdown, I& #39;d been meaning to visit. Now that she& #39;s open for private prayer again, I decided to nip over and say hi to her - and Oh! What a beauty she is...
Nobody is certain when the oldest parts of St Wulfram& #39;s Church were built - the only certainty is that they& #39;re from before the 1180& #39;s. Much of the church is newer, however, as it was hit by lightning and mostly burned down in 1222.
Due to the plague, large parts of the church to the east , and the crypt, have been closed off - but I went knowing that& #39;d likely be the case, as it has been for all of the churches I& #39;ve visited recently.
When I walked in I wandered straight over to the south aisle, planning to work my way around methodically, getting good photos of each stained glass window, before settling down to pray, and then photograph the rest of the building for you.
HOWEVER!
HOWEVER!
As I began photographing the first window, a man walked over to me, and asked if I was interested in the stained glass. I told him that I was just "one of those church weirdos" and it came up that I was the one responsible for the twitter competition a few months prior...
It turned out that he was there to do some quick bits of maintenance and housekeeping, and asked if I& #39;d like to accomplish him, and see all the bits people aren& #39;t normally allowed in.
Obviously I immediately agreed.
Obviously I immediately agreed.
Above the South porch of St Wulfram& #39;s Church in Grantham hides the oldest truly & #39;public& #39; library. Founded in 1598, using a bequest of £100 from a nearby rector, Francis Trigge, the library contains over 350 books, 80 or so of which are still chained to the shelves.
Some of the highlights of the library include a copy of the same book Columbus was using when he stumbled on America (pic 1), a & #39;vinegar bible& #39;, famous for the typo which reads "the parable of the vinegar" instead of "vineyard" (pics 2&3), and a bestiary (pic 4 - the cat)
Then we headed up the tower, to the roof!
Climbing up and over the roof means you get a beautiful close up view of the lead detailing on the end of this section.
The higher roof is the south aisle, the lower one is that of the Lady Chapel (currently closed off because of the plague)
The higher roof is the south aisle, the lower one is that of the Lady Chapel (currently closed off because of the plague)
Not a bad view at all...
Being up on the roof also meant getting lovely close up views of some of the stonework, the gargoyles, and the careful and beautifully done repairs and restoration.
We climbed higher, into the ringing room, and then up to see the bells themselves.
We& #39;d have gone even higher, up to the spire and parapet, but the guy needed to rush off to an appointment and didn& #39;t have time to fetch the keys.
And as much as I& #39;d have loooved to see those things, I& #39;m just extraordinarily grateful for him showing me as much as he did as it is.
And as much as I& #39;d have loooved to see those things, I& #39;m just extraordinarily grateful for him showing me as much as he did as it is.
I mean, he just popped in to hang some anti-moth stuff in the library and adjust a cable on the roof, and ended up giving a random bloke a guided tour of the churches hidden rooms!
Back on the ground, he quickly showed me the inside of the soaring Victorian font cover (a real life & #39;open for a suprise& #39; moment), told me which memorials I MUST see, and left to get on with his day.
The font itself, below the enormous ornate cover (made to celebrate Queen Victoria& #39;s Diamond Jubilee), is from the 1400& #39;s. It& #39;s heavily carved, but the carvings have all been highly weathered and mutilated (note the lack of faces).
But I know, you& #39;ve all been waiting for the money shots. So welcome, folks, to St Wulfram& #39;s Church, Grantham.
The Finest Non-Cathdral CofE Church in England.
The Finest Non-Cathdral CofE Church in England.
St Wulfram& #39;s has a series of gorgeous wooden ceilings, from the lightly detailed but elegant roof of the nave, finished with angels and gilt lettering, to the flashier panelling of the east end, painted and gilded in the Chancel itself, and left plain to the north and south.
The wooden barrier you see is called the "rood screen" - named for the cross, or "rood" sitting atop it, and it separates the nave, to the west of the church, from the chancel, to the east. This one dates from the Victorian restoration of the church.
These diamonds are called "hatchments" and are the coats of arms of various members of noblilty who died in the later half of the 1700& #39;s. This set have been particularly nicely lit though, I must say.
Here we see the lavishly carved pulpit, organ, and organ loft. The organ takes up the east end of the north aisle, behind it is the Corpus Christi chapel, but, that wasn& #39;t open to visitors, because of the plague (understandable).
This, in the far east of the south aisle is the lady chapel, with St Wulfram& #39;s reliquary, and some gorgeous stained glass. Below is the crypt. Again, due to the plague, this was as close as I could get.
You& #39;ll notice, in the south aisle, a strange protruding window in the wall above the door to the south porch... It opens out into the library we saw earlier, and from it you can look out into the church.
To the west you& #39;ll notice the pillars and masonry become chonkier, this is so that it can support the great weight of the tower and spire (the 6th highest in the country).
Now who wants to see some stained glass?
St Wulfram& #39;s has a collection lovely stained glass windows - these examples are from the 1970& #39;s
St Wulfram& #39;s has a collection lovely stained glass windows - these examples are from the 1970& #39;s
Whereas this is Victorian stained glass, but placed in a modern setting...
And these windows (bar the obviously modern one on the right of the first photo) are from the late 1800& #39;s
Then there& #39;s the memorials, the two Big Ones are these:
The first to a bloke who, and I quote "was unfortunately killed by a Cannon-Ball" in 1747
The second to a bloke who was granted a peerage and died literally the next day, before the paperwork could be fully sorted.
The first to a bloke who, and I quote "was unfortunately killed by a Cannon-Ball" in 1747
The second to a bloke who was granted a peerage and died literally the next day, before the paperwork could be fully sorted.
Speaking of memorials, there& #39;s this nice tomb canopy in the south aisle, too.
All in all, you chose well. St Wulfram& #39;s is a gorgeous church, and I hope to return one day and see the bits that are currently closed because of the plague.
Because I& #39;m queer af and love churches, please enjoy this gratuitous photo of the pride flag that flies outside her.
Because I& #39;m queer af and love churches, please enjoy this gratuitous photo of the pride flag that flies outside her.
This thread is over. Have some sexy doors. Goodbye.
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(I live near enough... I& #39;ll be back.)
