6th October 1934 SA

RANDOM NOTES

Not many days ago I went once more to Sandon, and in the sunshine of a lovely afternoon was able to see the many beauties of the church of All Saints, which has undergone vast changes since it was described by a county historian a few years ago as being in need of careful restoration. There is no gloom in Sandon Church as there should not be in a building which is situated on a hill whence can be seen one of the most attractive landscapes in Staffordshire. There is the freshness of the light oak, the colour of the memorials, the general neatness of the whole to create a feeling of brightness and to stir the emotions. In addition, there is the pleasing consciousness that memories of the centuries long since gone are mingled with the knowledge that gratitude for mercies and blessings in latter days have led the members of the distinguished Harrowby family to restore the edifice in a singularly successful manner. In no village church that I have been to for so many years have I been more delighted with the skilful and loving manner in which restoration has been carried out. There is a ring of deep sincerity about the dedication inscription in the rood-loft of the Harrowbys, in which is placed on record the thankfulness to Almighty God for the spared life through the Great War of an only son, and for the life and example of that only brother of Lady Harrowby, whose career was filled with good character and service. The many improvements effected by the restoration have considerably atoned for the damaging alterations made in the so-called “restoration” of over ninety years ago, and I would advise that all who wish to see how admirably a modern restoration can be made to pay a visit to Sandon Church. There are features which have made the ancient look better, and uncoverings which reveal mural histories from past centuries. Mr. W.D. Caroe, the well-known ecclesiastical architect, who supervised the transformations, can be remembered with gratefulness, and I wish it were possible for him to take in hand with similar thoroughness the beautifying of other churches in our county which today are languishing in dire decadence.

It was impossible to linger in loneliness that afternoon in Sandon Church without recalling the visit made to the building in 1780 by Thomas Pennant, as he made his way from Chester to London. It was in the springtime of the year that Pennant found himself in the delightful woodlands of Staffordshire, where “the steep slope is beautiful, cloathed with plantations of recent date, but extremely flourishing.” The traveller was greatly interested in the Erdeswick monuments, particularly in the one to Sampson of that name, who took care to provide his own massive memorial two years before he died. Pennant’s comment was that Erdeswick might have spared himself the expense of a monument, as his work would have perpetuated his name; a gracious compliment, indeed, by one chronicler to the memory of another. Pennant gave in an appendix of his book particulars of the Erdeswick genealogy inscribed “Upon a curious monument and tomb against the North wall,” and Shaw, writing in 1794, said he had been to Sandon Church “to compare copies of the divers monuments, arms, etc., in the fine old church, of the celebrated Erdeswick and his ancestors, which still remain in the highest preservation.” As neither of these writers make special mention of the genealogical trees discovered on the walls of the church in the latest restoration, it may be presumed the paintings were hidden in the 18th century by the plaster, which has now been removed. The trees—which are supposed to have been designed and executed by Erdeswick himself—are intensely interesting, and, as restored by Professor Tristram, the noted expert in this important branch of antiquarian research, they constitute one of the most valuable heraldic possessions of the county. It was a happy circumstance that exact drawings of the heraldic trees were made before they were stowed away under the plaster-work, so that the present-day restorers had first-hand information to guide them. Erdeswick was a big man in his day: he knew it and so do we, and he occupies a great deal of space in Sandon Church. There have been other big men in Staffordshire besides Erdeswick, and the cynical comment of many of the present generation often takes the form of the query: “What a glut of stonework there would be in our parish churches, and how little room there would be for the worshippers if everybody of any note were to make their own monuments before their death, and sprawl their genealogies over walls and floors.”

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