Uffington. CHURCH : ST MICHAEL
July 2009 and the first day of a long weekend cycling in Lincolnshire. I had started off from my home village early on the Friday morning, calling in at Sutton, near Castor, and Ufford before heading to Uffington. Due to a slight navigation problem, I accidently visited Stamford inbetween Ufford and Ufington. This added several miles to my route, which I regretted later on in the day.
Uffington is a lovely village, and the parish church of St Michael is an imposing sight. It is thought that there has been a church on this site since Norman times, although nothing remains of that original church. The oldest part of the present building is the north arcade, which was built in the last quarter of the 12th Century.
The magnificent tower and spire, supported by flying buttresses, dates from around 1480. Restoration was done on the tower in the 17th century, and the eagle eyed amongst us might see the date 1639 on the tower. There are six bells in the tower, and four of these have the inscription "Thomas Norris Made Me 1640". Regular visitors to this site might know that I have a particular interest in this family of bellfounders. The Norris bellfounders came from Stamford, and Thomas Norris was the son of Tobias Norris who founded the company. These bells are of a considerable age, but they could well be older even than 1640, as it is thought that Norris re-cast the existing bells the year after the restoration of the tower.
This church is normally open, and there are some very fine monuments to see here. The effigy on the Knight on the north wall of the chancel is said to be that of Richard De Schropschire, who bought the Manor of Casewick in 1392. This effigy has been vandalised over the years. The photograph third from bottom on the right shows that a figure "A" appears to have been carved in to the knight's chest. It also appears that the knights facial features have been re-carved (and re-carved very badly as well!).
Opposite the Knight is a monument featuring two men kneeling towards each other. Some real history here as it commemorates the final resting place of Sir Roger Manners, esquire to the body of Queen Mary (died 1558) and then Queen Elizabeth I. The inscription on the monument reads as follows...
'HERE LYES ROGER MANNERS, ESQUIRE TO THE BODYE TO QUEENE MARYE, AND QUEENE
ELIZABETHE, AND THERD SONNE TO THOMAS LATE ERLE OF RUTLAND: ANNO DOMINI 1587.
Another monument in the chancel shows Laurence Staunton and his wife kneeling with two children behind them. Staunton became the Rector of Uffington in 1587. A photograph of this is included below. Look at the size of the hands on the effigy of Laurence Stanton. Oversized hands were often used on monuments such as this.
The bigger the hands, the more pious the person was seen to have been. Interested to see a winged skull on this monument. This is to symbolise the mortality of man. The skull represents death, the wings denoting the swift passage of time. Bleak symbolism perhaps but the skull is wearing a crown, sometimes they can wear a laurel wreath, which represents victory. In this case it would be victory over death through living a good life and moving on to heaven.
Outside, and the church grounds are well kept. There are some Georgian gravestones here of the very highest quality, still in good condition today. Interesting to look at gravestones of a similar age and quaility in nearby built up Stamford and look at the damage that polution has caused there.
St Michael at Uffington is set in lovely, picturesque surroundings and is an absolute pleasure to visit. One of my favourite churches visited whilst compiling this site.
The blue sky was fast disappearing and black storms clouds were gathering, see picture top left, as I left Uffington and headed off towards Tallington.
