Day 10: Our Last Day in Derbyshire

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Max: I wake up early and let Caitlin sleep in. I am going to spend quiet time doing on-line research. While we have been in England some new developments have occurred in our DNA search and Cousin John and I have been emailing theories. This morning I email him my frustrations with my private search and he is quickly on the phone from London with a “Cheer up and keep a stiff upper lip” pep talk. He soon has me laughing and has searched about for a place to get the tire fixed. So, heigh ho, heigh ho, it’s off to the tyre shop we go. And here we are waiting for a new tire and the alignment to be performed whilst our plan to drive to Shirley for lunch at the Saracen’s Head gastro-pub slowly falls apart.
We settle for lunch outside Wirksworth, so now is perhaps the time to talk about how touchy English restaurant owners are about lunch hours. Open for Lunch 12 to 2:30 turns out to mean, perhaps, 12 to 1:45; an open sign in the window may mean, “we’re closed,” and a posted menu might just not be offered because it is “late.” We go into a restaurant that could be called, “Why, Aren’t You Just the Nuisance Arriving 45 Minutes Before Closing?” So we are given the meager nuisance menu of “baguettes” or “jacket potatoes,” not the tempting 2 course advertised lunch. We further prove our nuisance status by asking for mustard for our fried ham sandwiches, so we dare not ask for a knife sharp enough to cut the 9 inch baguettes into reasonably sized portions. This is served up with dreadful service and a lot of fussing about as the restaurant is noisily closed around us, 20 minutes before posted closing time. We leave the British tip—almost nothing. The tomatoes on the sandwich were delicious, however, I must say.
We have had just about enough fun trying to dodge oncoming cars in Medieval Alley Ways—Caitlin is planning a new t-shirt line: I Went to England and All I Got is This Medieval Rock—and we have had enough of Tiny English Village Bad Road Karma. We head back to Wirksworth, put the car in the Pay and Display lot and spend a few hours on foot exploring the town.
Wirksworth is a small market town, and purported by some to be the ancient Roman town of Lutudarum. The star of the town is the, now, Church of England St. Mary’s Church. Saint Mary’s Church is believed to have been a place of worship since the 600’s, although the current church was begun in the 13th century. We wander through the ancient burial ground, and open the door. It is cool, dark, and dank inside—it truly does feel ancient. There is a hand written map and guide to lead us through the centuries displayed in this cross-shaped church. There is structural evidence of the 14th century in the clerestory windows with the line of the 13th century roofline still visible. There is the tomb of Sir Anthony Lowe who died in 1555 after serving Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I. there is a Norman era font lined in lead. But what makes this church truly spectacular is the Saxon carvings. In 1820 a Saxon stone coffin lid was discovered, along with a skeleton, under the chancel. The lid, with carvings from the life of Christ, dates from at least the 8th century and possibly the 7th and so might possibly be that of Betti, a Saxon missionary who may have founded the original church. Throughout the church there are other exquisitely primitive and beautiful Saxon carvings, most notably “t’owd man” a miner with his pick who symbolizes Wirksworth’s long history of lead mining from pre-Roman days to the early 1900’s. It is a lovely and quiet time with just Caitlin and I exploring the dark and musty church. Later, John Pegg will tell us that the parishioners of St Mary’s continue the ancient “Clypping the Church” ceremony in early September of every year: by circling the church holding hands they “embrace” their church with a lovely blend of Pagan and Christian ceremony.

We leave the church, and visit the Memorial Garden. In Wirksworth we have seen two memorials to those who have perished in war. It is painful to visit these memorials with their wreaths of red poppies and lists of names of those lost to the town. As we approach November 11th, red poppies are offered up for donation and worn to honor the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians especially since WWI, known in the US as Veterans Day and in the UK as Remembrance Day: “Lest We Forget.”
We stop for a moment to see the un-earthed outline of a medieval house and then go on to the shop for essentials: spinach and gin. Tonight we will cook up all of our left overs in preparation for departing Hog Cottage early in the morning.

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Photos

The Wirksworth Stone
The Saxon coffin lid discovered in 1820.

The Norman Font
If you look closely you can see that it is lead lined.

T'owd Man
The carved image of a Saxon lead miner.

The Church Close
The close at St. Mary's is notable because it encircles the entire church, more like that of a cathedral.

Outline of Medieval House
The plaque to the right states that this is the outline of an old medieval house that was discovered during a renovation. It can be dated because of the beams used.