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St. Peter's Church, Wallingford, Oxfordshire (Formerly Berkshire)
Graffiti from the 17th Century
A tower room tucked away at the top of a winding staircase is a novel feature of the new virtual tour of St Peter's Church in Wallingford.
Overlooking the banks of the River Thames, St Peters is a Grade II listed building, noticeable for its beautiful 18th century architecture and towering openwork spire. Built in 1763 after its medieval predecessor was destroyed in the Civil War, the church is no longer used for religious services. Now under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust, it's been used in recent years to play host to special events, such as music concerts.
Inside the building is a serene space which has been carefully restored to its Georgian glory. The main body of the church features a high coffered ceiling and rounded apse, overlooked by a wonderful stained glass window. Inlaid within the stone floor is the tomb of the 18th century judge and Tory politician, Sir William Blackstone. The impressive spire with its octagonal belfry was possibly considered somewhat bold when added in 1776, being described as "rather cheeky" by an architectural critic of the time.
Just inside the main doors which lead into the entrance hall, is the entrance to a mystery which lies within the small, snug tower room within the roof of the church. The base of a winding stone staircase can be seen, ascending into a dark, narrow channel, which visitors are currently unable to access due to health and safety concerns.
Within the confines of this compact room is something quite unusual. For scribbled across the whitewashed bricks above the wooden wall panels and pressed into the door surrounds, are hundreds of inscriptions. Carved into the stone or written on the surface in pen and pencil, can be seen a myriad of different autographs; names, initials, dates, and even job titles such as 'clock winder'.
Keen to open up the space to viewers was the reason behind the Trust's decision to have a virtual tour produced. As volunteer at St Peter's, Keri Dearmer, explained, "We wanted people to be able to see it because we think it's quite exciting."
If proof was needed that graffiti is not just a trend found in modern times, some of the lettering dates back a few hundred years. Said Keri, "The earliest signature we have found so far is from the mid 18th century, with the most recent being from 2003. There seem to be a good many inscriptions from 1941 leading us to believe that the church must have played a certain role during the Second World War."
What inspired the longstanding custom of the curious calligraphy in the tower room? The reason has never been documented so, eager to find out more, The Trust is planning to record each and every name and date; they will then publish them locally to see if anyone knows some of the signatories and their stories.
Take the tour of St Peter's church yourself, feel the history, and see if you can uncover any of the secrets of the many people from the past who have left their permanent mark in history within these walls.
The list of names are in an attached document. If you think you know who any of these people are please let us know! If you have them in your family tree even better! We are trying to create trees where possible but this is limited by the fact that most of them have only initials and not full names.
Attribution: Sciencebloke at English Wikipedia