At 20:26 21/01/04 +0000, you wrote:
>She thinks it's in
>Weir Quay or Bere Alston area.
Katrina,
If the work was on the small cushions used to kneel on whilst at prayer -
don't ask what the correct name is for them, I was brought up a Baptist -
they were probably in the parish church at Bere Ferrers (both Weirquay and
Bere Alston are in that parish) a substantial structure dating from at
least the 13th century and rebuilt in the 1330s. The needlework was quite
recent - 1990s. The church itself has strong links to mining. It benefited
from the tithes collected during the working of the Crown silver mines in
the parish from the late 13th century onwards. The size of the church
reflects the funds available to it and the rector, with the title of
archpriest, had four assistant priests.
There is a later church, Holy Trinity built in 1848, in Bere Alston which
is the largest settlement in the parish and its development is again the
result of mining with rapid expansion in the 19th century as deeper mines
were opened up using steam powered pumping to get under the ancient medeval
workings. It is possible that the needlework you saw was in that church.
Peter
______________________________________________
Dr Peter Claughton,
Blaenpant Morfil, nr. Rosebush, Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. 01437 532578; Fax. 01437 532921; Mobile 07831 427599
University of Exeter - School of Historical, Political and Sociological
Studies
(Centre for South Western Historical Studies)
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list.
See http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/mining-history/ for details.
Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/
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