The annoying death of Brooke

Lichfield is full of little historical monuments like this one in Dam Street. It commemorates the death of a Parliamentarian general in the English Civil War, Lord Brooke, whose army had cut off the Royalist forces in the city. 
He died 365 years ago today.

The Parliamentary side was understandably aggrieved by this loss of a general and shortly afterwards a pamphlet appeared, called 'England’s Losse and Lamentation'. It said that Lichfield was “the sinke of iniquity, cage of unclean and wicked spirits; ungodly, prophane, and most perfidiously wicked; chief instrument of the Kingdomes misery. Let the remembrance of thee be hatefull; and thy name blotted out from among the Townes of the Provinces.”   Like I said...aggrieved.

Incidentally, the monument says Brooke was shot by a sniper whose job was to "annoy the besiegers".
The plaque was erected in the 1700s, when the word ‘annoy’ presumably had a little more venom to it than it does today…!

As old as it gets in Alstonefield

Alstonefield may be a remote village, away in the hills of the Peak District, but it also has some of the oldest monuments in the county.  The ancient church and churchyard, which is over 1000 years old, is fairly littered with Saxon stone fragments.
Even the base of this Saxon carving that you see here is probably Saxon (with its characteristic knotwork) itself, being most likely a former wayside cross.

Making a monument to himself

There was a certain arrogance to some of the rich squires of old.
John Wedgwood’s will specifically wanted a huge monument to be erected to himself after his death: "I desire my body to be interred within my estate at Bignall End in a vaulted tombe at the summit of a certain field called Old Hill…..and my executors to cause an obelisk or monument to be erected."
Sure enough, his executors built this monument, in 1845.

What's more, the present sight is only a quarter of its original size - after a lot of it fell down a few years ago.
I wonder if any of us would, nowadays, want to seen as so openly self-important.

Deadman in cemetery

I'm afraid I'm one of those who find cemeteries, especially older ones, endlessly entertaining.
Where else could one's sense of irony be reinforced - by finding the grave of Mr Deadman?

Mr Deadman's angel-monument in Rugeley Cemetery is curiously old-fashioned  - you'd have thought it was a late nineteenth century piece, not one made in 1944, which is when Mr Deadman died.

Armadillo out of the ground

The Lidice 'Unearthed' Monument in Haney has already been dubbed (affectionately one hopes) the 'Armadillo' by locals. 
According to the artist, "...the shape looks like it's coming out of the ground - which shows its mining connections.", but, well, what do artists know?

The monument remembers the reaction to a massacre which took place in World War Two in Lidice in Czechoslovakia.  Colliers in Stoke on Trent were horrified by what had happened in a fellow mining town; and raised huge amounts of money to help rebuild it after 1945.
The campaign to remember Lidice has gone on ever since; this monument was completed in 2013.

A view from the top

This toposcope (panoramic viewpoint) is atop a stone pillar (erected for the Millennium) which is atop a triangulation point which is atop the highest hill on Barlaston Downs which is itself atop the east bank of the valley.  So it’s quite high up.
Being high up makes it a magnet for runners, orienteering enthusiasts and serious ramblers, who see it as a bit of a challenge.
 

Punishment central to village

A set of 'stocks' sits in the centre of Warslow village.  It's thought that these probably date to the nineteenth century, but no one knows for sure.
Stocks were a gentler form of punishment than pillory or ... gulp ... gibbet, and were more meant as a medium of public humiliation. 

But I wonder why the good folk of Warslow like to use a form of punishment as a centre-piece for their village?  Perhaps they hope the stocks will act as a silent deterrent to any baddies.

Grotesquely frightening

This is one of the 'grotesques' that you will find acting as a pillar-stop in the Lady Chapel at Bradeley Church.
Its job is to scare off evil spirits.  It sure frightens me.

All is not as it appears

It is always incredibly disappointing for me whenever I happen to pass this 'ancient cross'.  At first sight, it would appear to be the ancient preaching cross of the now-destroyed Chapel Of St Bertelin in Stafford centre - which would make it an astonishing 1000 years old.
In fact, it is actually a replica of the real cross, which is buried immediately under it.  The real cross was deemed too fragile to be left out in the atmosphere.

Incidentally, Saint Bertelin is a proper home-grown Staffordshire saint (though he may be just legendary....).  Also known as Bertram or Beorhthelm, he has a few sites dedicated to him around the county.
And the cross may actually not be a cross, it may even be a coffin.  Hmm.

Once were Greats

Times change.  On the facade of the Nicholson Institute in Leek, now also the town's library and Art Gallery, you'll see these four faces.  The four are the Eternal Geniuses of The Arts & Sciences - at least so far as the makers of the buildings were concerned back in the 1880s.
The four are Shakespeare, Newton, Reynolds, and Tennyson - and above their heads is a quote from the poet Milton.

However...  of them all, probably only Shakespeare is the one now whose works are still well-known, loved & appreciated.

Impressive, but not impressed

You'll find the Lady Chetwynd Memorial in Colwich Church.  It's impressive enough, being almost life-size, but this mid-Victorian style of relief sculpture does leave me cold I'm afraid.

I think the boy is supposed to be one of the Roman guards at Jesus's tomb, in the act of being surprised by Jesus coming back to life.  His plainly eroticised figure rather distracts from the message, I'd think...

The Spode who got the girl

Josiah Spode was one of the great potters of the eighteenth century, who, alongside men like Wedgwood, made the Potteries famous. 
Yet, this grand and rather overwhelming monument in Stoke Minster is for his grandson - Josiah Spode III (who is largely unremarked in the history books).  In fact, as far as I can see JS III only ran the business for two years.

Still, to have a grieving maiden weep over your death for nearly two centuries is some sort of achievement I suppose...

Codsall tomb of bright colours

This astonishing monument at St Nicholas Church in Codsall dates back to the seventeenth century when nearly all such grand tombs were decorated in such bright colours.  The fashion for unpainted stone came later.
Sir Walter Wrottesley is the grand lord's name.

Eternal face-off at Bradley

Bradley Church is pretty perfect for the 'church-crawler', ie someone who enjoys musing on the ancient heritage & art that can be found in many historic churches.
One piece that draws the eye in Bradley is the seventeenth century wall monument by the door, where Sir Thomas Browne and his wife now face each other for eternity.

I was intrigued by the chevron etched into the wall between them, though there is no explanation for it that I could see.  The chevron is one of the heraldic symbols of Staffordshire county.

Jacobeans do Elvis, almost

Yet another ancient hair-cut to astound!  Why the Jacobean gentry thought it was a good idea to sport a quiff, as does this gentleman (Robert Meverell, entombed in Ilam Church), is hard to guess.   But then - who ever understands the vagaries of fashion anyway?

This is not the only 'Burton Peak' hair-style (as this cut was known) that you will find on a tomb in Staffordshire.  There's a rather handsome one in Forton too.

(There's a rather nice set of reflections about Ilam Church in The Corners of My Mind blog)

This post appeared on the 'Surprise' page of the My Town Shoot-Out Photo-Blog

Skeletal effigy

This rather grim effigy is one of the oldest monuments in Lichfield Cathedral, dating back to the end of the 15th century.  The tomb-figure is that of Thomas Heywode, a dean of the cathedral, who seems to have been also responsible for maintaining its library.

Quite what the original figure looked like, I guess we may never know.  The monument, despite its great age, is not much talked about in the guides; and the actual piece itself is decayed, and almost tucked away, behind the North Door.  However, I can quite believe that the good Dean had no problem being represented in a skeletal way - they were not so squeamish about the processes of death in those days.

Remembering Sir Robert

There are Peel Family monuments littered all through St Peter's in Drayton Bassett, but don't get mixed up - this is the one to the great man, who was the prime minister of the country in the early half of the nineteenth century.

The 'People' raised monuments to him because of his courage in defying his own party, when he went about repealing unfair laws.

Pure-water village

If there's one place that likes water, it's Newborough.  It has three well-dressings, which is rather a lot, even for a town so near to Derbyshire, where they really do love well-dressings.

You'll find this monument, which celebrates the long history of Newborough, right in its centre.  In the old days, an old trough which ran into a spring nearby carried these words on its side: "Aqua Pura Nequa Dura, Omnibus Satis Atque Gratis" (Pure water, not hard, enough for all and free) - and you can see this monument has copied those sentiments.

Charity (except for Tamworthers)

As befits the day of the year when we all should be charitable, it's good to remember Thomas Guy,  one of Staffordshire's greatest philanthropists.   
And here is the plaque over one of Staffordshire's most famous charitable institutions - Thomas Guy's Almshouses, in Tamworth.   Even to this day, 'worthy folk' who have fallen upon hard times are housed in one of the cottages on the site.

However, Thomas Guy was not, erm, totally given over to feelings of Charity.

On learning that his home-town of Tamworth had rejected him as MP, he had a fit of fury; and insisted that the rules of admission to his almshouses (which lie in the centre of the town) were changed.
He insisted that NO resident of Tamworth could ever qualify for a cottage thereafter! 
Only his relations and people from the hamlets & villages around Tamworth ("hamleteers") would ever be allowed to live there ... as you can see from the plaque, which is over the entry gate into the almshouses.  The rules stand to this day.

Hmm.  Oh well.  At least the almshouses still serve their purpose.

Bravery rewarded. In a way.

Poor Timothy Trow.  Seeing a young girl fall into the canal at this spot (along London Road, in Oakhill), he jumped from the tram he was on (this was 1894), dived in to try to save her, was affected by cramp - and drowned.
Fortunately for her, the girl was eventually pulled out, and lived.

However, the public was so affected by his brave act that a collection was raised for the memorial obelisk you see in the photo.

If you do go to see Timothy's monument, you might wonder where the canal is, as there is no sign of it now. The Newcastle Canal was closed in 1935, and since filled in.