Church Micro 2347…Empingham Traditional Geocache
Church Micro 2347…Empingham
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The church of St Peter dominates the landscape. The church is set on high ground in the centre of the town. The church was mainly built in the 13th century, with the elegant perpundicular tower and broache spire being added in the 14th century.
Alteration were undertaken here in the 15th century, at which time the roof was raised and clerastory windows replaced by larger ones. An extensive restoration took place in the 1890's.
Under an arch in the north transept there is a tomb with a carved cross on it. It is thought that this might be the final resting place of Stephen Of Sutton who ordered that he be buried in the church in 1280. There are a few wall paintings in evidence here, including one of the Virgin Mary in the south transept. There is also a repeated five leaf floral like pattern painted on to the walls in the south transept, very similar to that seen at nearby Great Casterton.
Looking up, there are carved figures of angels set in to the roof. Stained glass in the south aisle includes a representation of Simeon holding the infant Jesus. The font is modern, Victorian by the looks of it, and no doubt dating from one of the restoration periods
The church clock is relatively modern, dating from 1895, replaced during extensive Victorian restoration. The previous clock was made by famous Stamford clock maker John Watts in 1686, and this is now in Stamford museum.
A real rarity is to be seen on the North side of the exterior of this church. There is a small carving of a woman, internet research has seen this carving listed as a Sheela Na Gig. These are very old, usually Norman, carvings which usually feature old women holding open their Vulva. These are seen as fertility symbols. Some have suggested that they are the female equivialent of the Green Man. They are pretty rare and this is one of just two that I have seen in the churches covered by this site. The other is at Etton, on the outskirts of Peterborough.
There are an interesting set of church bells to be found here. To start with though, there is evidence to suggest that church bells were cast in the church grounds of St Peter. Occasionally, nomadic bellfounders set up shop, so to speak, as close as they could to where the bells were being hung. At the time of North's Victorian study of the church bells of Rutland, there was a ring of five bells here with all of them being cast by G Mears of London in 1859, with the existing ring being replaced at that time due to all of the existing bells being damaged.
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats page found via the Bookmark list”
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Urnq uvtu.