On the penultimate Saturday of November, before the temperature finally dipped to that closer to winter, I visited St Firmin’s church in Thurlby. Many churches in the fenland area are, understandably, eighteenth or nineteenth century, so it was a treat to find a substantial church with origins in the 10th century and lots of evidence of expansion over the years.
The church clings to the lowest part of the village, the
rest of it sitting on the higher ground up the hill to the west. The church and
a few houses are cut off from the rest by what is now the busy A15, but was
historically King Street, a Roman road leading to Lincoln.
What delighted me most about the church was its liminal
location on the very point where the snooker-table-flat fens rise up to higher
ground. I had checked maps and a satellite image of the church before I
arrived, and knew that Car Dyke, the local Roman canal was next to the church,
but I was very pleased to see it played a part in the boundary of the church
grounds.
Car Dyke is said to follow the Iron Age shoreline (there is
an old book featuring a wonderful map that I last saw in a Stamford bookshop
that illustrates this point perfectly, but I cannot find it – the search will
continue) and there has been much discussion, therefore, about whether the dyke
was built as a canal or as a drainage dyke. Frankly, it is impossible to build
such a feature and for it not to act as a drainage feature and likewise to
create a feature and not expect people to use it for transport. There are some
signs that the dyke has been used for transport and it links up well with roads
and paths that still exist in the landscape. I look forward to Rex Sly’s
upcoming book on Car Dyke to read what he has made of it.
You would expect the church to be on the western ‘dry’ side of Car Dyke, but it is on the ‘wet’ eastern side instead. There are several things to remember here: firstly, Car Dyke is largely straight and the boundary between fen edge and high ground is not; the church was built hundreds of years after Car Dyke and the shoreline was not close at that point; it is possible that people were living or ploughing all the other available land and it made sense to use land that was available. We cannot rule out the fact that earlier religious features were there first (as is presumed at Maxey church) and this was a continuation of that. It’s worth pointing out that St John’s Church Peterborough/Medeshamstede was originally built on the boggy fen edge with less success and it had to be moved at the start of the 15th century because it was often inaccessible in the winter.
The church is lovely and there is an adjoining car park, which makes visiting easy, so I recommend you do. I didn’t get the chance to go in to the church, but I was more than satisfied with the features outside. The porch features two large coffin lids which are complemented by others used in the wall by the entrance gate to the graveyard. I am certainly no expert on architectural features, but there are a number of interesting faces and features on the walls to observe; you might want to take binoculars or a decent camera to see them. If you’re very observant, you’ll spot the faded datestone in the wall at the north-eastern end of the church by the curious feature that looks like a bowed stand for a statue. If anyone knows what it is, then do let me know!
The graveyard is really well kept and there are some unusual
and noteworthy gravestones. See if you can spot the panther family as you start
to walk around, or some of the common local names such as Lenton.
The southern side of the church has a feast of different windows as if a foreman has gathered every window shape they could find in a workshop and forced them all into the part of the church they were asked to build. There is little logic to them from the outside, so I am hoping that a visit inside the church will explain the existence of such oddly placed windows.
Walking to the edge of the churchyard really gives you a sense of the churches place in the landscape, and how it was been extended into the flatter land as it has become necessary. You can also get a greater sense of how the land rises up at Car Dyke and then continues up the hill.
Should you still be curious about Car Dyke, you can follow the path that runs along it either north to Bourne or south to Kate’s Bridge. There appear to be some interesting mounds to the south, so I intend to return to see what they are. On this day I headed north and followed the footpath over the culverted dyke – it’s always nice when modern features respect the old boundary lines. The path is short and takes a quick turn over the released dyke, over which is a tiny bridge with what appear to be old footings. After crossing a (very high) style you find yourself in a field and you can follow the path across it to continue to walk along Car Dyke all the way to Bourne, should you wish. On that route you’ll pass the old manor house and The Grange, which has clear examples of ridge and furrow in the fields close to the A15.
St Firmin's is a little oasis and a delightful site to visit
if you want to blend Roman history with medieval and more recent history. It’s
also delightful to stand at the edge of the graveyard, knowing it was once the
Iron Age coast and that as you look northeast there is nothing but flat land (and
Spalding) between you and The Wash.
All images belong to the author.
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