Church of St Denys, Silk Willoughby

The Church of St Denys in the Lincolnshire village of Silk Willoughby is another fine, medieval gem. From its tall roof to its thick-set font, it is awash with the curious and the fascinating. Yet it is also a place in which people have made a contribution because they wished to be remembered.

As well as a peculiar piece of surviving medieval wall painting, in which one character is apparently wearing striped pyjamas (above), various pillars and the church porch are covered with graffiti. Not the rough, criminal kind, with which our subways and bus stops are plagued, but the rather more genteel carvings which the long-dead literati were pleased to execute:

Some are signed and dated (Timothy Tipler 1592, below):

Some carved their names more than once, or were these Timothies different generations of the same family?

Some drew portraits of their contemporaries, a school teacher, or parson, perhaps:

Some felt the need to draw around their soles.

While others drew wildlife:

Whoever they were, they left their mark.

Be so involved in a church that if you left, you would be missed. Too many Christians say nothing, think nothing, do nothing. Be useful, be helpful, be serviceable. God remembers, even when others forget.