Two close knots

Another for my Stafford Knot collection!  This knot graces the old railway station at Rushton Spencer, though the building (1844) predated the railway line. 

Only 20 yards away from this building is the (Stafford) Knot Inn - which also bears a knot (see its knot) - so, two for one!

Here lieth George

The earliest 'modern' gravestones erected to the memories of individuals date back to around the sixteenth century - but few of them survive.  Though this gravestone, from Rushton churchyard, is much later (1738), it has the same shape as ones of 200 years earlier.
The quote starts "Here lieth y' body ... George" and then goes on to mention his parents (probably). We can only guess what words are missing , as the fascia is crumbling off.

In at The Knot? Or not?

Two more 'Stafford Knot' appearances for my collection!  The Stafford Knot is the symbol of the county, and I like to collect the different interpretations that artists give to the rebus.
In this instance, the knot is the right way up - unlike the example in my last post.

It vaguely amuses me to wonder how the staff at the Knot Inn answer the phone. They surely don't pick it up and say "K/Not in...", do they?

(Stafford) Knot Inn

Yet another sighting for my Stafford Knot collection. Hurrah!

This one is at The Knot Inn at Rushton Spencer.

Church-within-a-church

The church of Rushton Spencer is a church-within-a-church.  The eighteenth-century sandstone exterior that you see encloses an older, fourteenth-century timber church.
No one is clear as to why the parishioners of 300 years ago wanted to preserve the old building inside the new building.  Perhaps they were just familiar with it, and respected its age...

Attractive decay

Dilapidated buildings seem to suit the countryside - as though they are simply part of the landscape.
The same buildings in the town would be seen as unpleasant examples of 'urban decay'.
Strange, that.

Christmas ghost story - 'buried alive'

At Rushton Spencer village churchyard, under the yew-tree, you'll notice a grave that is out of sync with the other burial.  Thomas Meakin (or Meaykin) is laid the 'wrong way round', ie his gravestone faces west instead of east.  This can happen for a number of reasons - but one is that the grave might contain an unhappy spirit.

If Thomas' story is true, then he would be unhappy.  His friends suspected that he had been drugged with a powerful poison, fallen into a coma, and been buried alive.  When they dug his grave up, it is said that he was lying not on his back, but on his front - a sure sign that he had waked after being buried.
Thus Thomas was re-buried the 'wrong way round', with the new inscription "As man falleth before wicked men; so fell I".

There are a few sources for the story - neatly pulled together on the Mondrem website.

Hug bridge

The course of the River Dane marks the boundary with Cheshire on Staffordshire's North-Western side. 
Running over the river, you will find 'Hug Bridge' which is the main crossing hereabouts - on the A523 at Rushton Spencer.

It's not a very distinguished bridge, but it is listed.

The heights of worship

Known as the 'Chapelle in the Withernesse' (chapel in the wilderness), St Lawrence Church & Graveyard in Rushton Spencer certainly does seem abandoned.

There is not a house or habitation within half a mile of the church, and, if you want to get there from the main road (and don't fancy following the winding lanes to get to it from the back), you have to cross the fields and climb up the side of the ridge to it ... as you can see in this photo. 
In fact the grey streak you can see in the photo on the side of the hill is actually a long railing - erected there to help the weary parishioner make it to the top!

It seems that what happened is not so much that the church was built to be so solitary, on top of the hill, but that the original village around it moved away... down towards the main road, leaving its ancient church behind.

St Lawrence was founded in the 1200s, but, despite its age and isolated position, services are still held there weekly.

This post was featured on the City Daily Photo Theme Day on the theme of 'heights'