Norfolk Churches

St Peter and St Paul

Church of St Peter and St Paul, West Newton, Sandringham

The Church of St Peter and St Paul at West Newton overlooks meadows of grazing sheep. For the estate workers at Sandringham the land was truly a part of their lives, as they listened to the sermons and sang hymns to the accompaniment of the newly restored organ. The windows are wide and if your eyes wander from the rood screen, the stained glass or up to the timbered roof they eventually will rest on the green fields and contented flocks outside.

The rood screen

The worshippers have entered the church through a magnificently, well-crafted lych gate. The building has been saved from the wear of time by generous donations from King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. But it would not be long before the local Pals brigade gave a greater gift for King and country.

Frank Beck, the estate manager, had recruited grooms, gardeners, labourers and household staff to form a volunteer company, E Company. Now in the 5th Battalion, Royal Norfolks, they fought bravely at Suva Bay, Gallipoli on a hot day, 12 August 1915. Captain Beck and his men were not seen again.

The brightest of churches, with view out to the fields

In July, 2019 we were driving through the Sandringham estate admiring the well-kept cottages and the extent of the royal lands of pine forest and rhododendron. As a boy of eleven I had been climbing a tree after our picnic lunch when a sliver of bark split my finger. We drove back to the Jenny Lind Hospital for attention.

On this visit we had been looking at Norfolk churches and came across St Peter and St Paul at West Newton. It was a late July summer’s day, hot enough to enjoy cricket as a player or spectator, or to sit and rest at a weekend as Frank Beck and his men would do in the idyllic days before 1914. Today it was the most perfect of days: quiet, still and warm, butterflies fluttering and insects buzzing. So quiet. We stop at the lych gate and read the names of those who were lost for so long, taken up in a cloud it was believed, but the true story would be revealed in time. Captain Beck’s gold fob watch was found many years later at Gallipoli and returned to his daughter. He and his pals are remembered forever, here in this church and everywhere among us.  

View from the church windows
County of Norfolk showing West Newton

Follow up

All the Kings Men. (Film 1999) David Jason as Captain Beck, Maggie Smith as Queen Alexandra.

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Lost-Sandringhams/ viewed 31 Dec 2019

Manchester Libraries

For a lover of libraries, Manchester is a dream. From the bijou private Portico Library to the extraordinary magnificence of the John Rylands Library, from the ancient Chetham’s Library to the Central Library in St Peter’s Square, one is lost in a world of beauty and knowledge. And let’s not forget the welcoming Working Class Movement Library in nearby Salford.

Chetham’s Library This is the oldest free public reference library in the UK, founded in 1653 under the will of Humphrey Chetham, a prosperous Manchester textile merchant, banker and landowner. He also provided for a school, now a music school of world renown. The building is even older, built in 1421 to accommodate a college of priests, and is a beautiful sandstone building with a magnificent interior. It even includes a selection of chained books to remind us of past practices. Only photographs can do the interior justice.

Be amazed that you can sit at the table where Engels and Marx read about the conditions of the working class in England and began to formulate their revolutionary doctrines. Their reading material is there (in facsimile – no white gloves needed!) for you to read.

John Rylands Library Opened to the public in 1900, this was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband John. Today it is part of the University of Manchester Library. A late Victorian neo-Gothic building with some elements of Arts and Crafts design, it is set in a central part of Manchester which in 1900 was cramped, sooty and often foggy. While the soot and fog have lessened, it remains a surprise to see such an imposing cathedral-like building in the middle of crowded streets.

Statue of John Rylands takes pride of place

Portico Library Do not miss visiting this delightful place. Over 200 years old, this independent subscription library and exhibition space is housed in a purpose-built and very beautiful building in the centre of Manchester. Previous associates include Elizabeth Gaskell and Emmeline Pankhurst.

Central Library This is certainly very central, being set in St Peter’s Square, site of the ‘Peterloo Massacre’. The local history section is enticingly presented.

Reading Girl by Giovanni Ciniselli 1832-1883), a marble statue located on the stair landing, where it gleams with reflected light. It was bought in Italy by Daniel Adamson, the first chairman of the Manchester ship Canal Company, and given to the library by his family in 1938

Walk to Salford to see the Working Class Movement Library in Jubilee House, a Victorian-era former nurses home, worth a look in itself. The library started in the 1950s as the personal collection of Edmund and Ruth Frow. By the 1980s their house was at bursting point and Salford Council agreed to house it. The oldest items date from the eighteenth century, but the living collection continues to grow with up to date donations from campaigners, activist groups and unions. The ground floor is used to showcase exhibitions.