Church of the Hospital of St Cross

The Church of the Hospital of St Cross near Winchester in Hampshire is attached to a rather fine set of medieval almshouses for old men. These institutions usually have a small chapel attached, but the Church of St Cross is more akin to a cathedral, which is ironic, seeing as a real one sits just a mile or so up the river. Built in the 1130s according to Norman taste: the arches are rounded, the decorations are chevrons and the scale is large and heavy. Even that parsimonious Simon Jenkins gives it a full four stars in his England’s Thousand Best Churches.

Curiously, former Masters of the almshouses felt the need to graffiti the choir stalls with their signatures (graffitiing is now a lower-class occupation); the name of John Watson M.D. (1559–1583) is said to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s choice of name for Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick.

Furthermore, the lectern, which since at least Tudor times has tended to be in the shape of an eagle carrying God’s word, is distinctly parrot-like. Perhaps the joiner had not seen an eagle; then again, how would he have seen a parrot? Eagles are majestic in their soaring and powerful with their talons, but a parrot is known for its colours and the accurate recitation of what it hears. May we not only read God’s wonderful word and bear it to others, but know it, love it and repeat it to ourselves.