St Chad’s Church, Holt

I came down to a pastors’ study week in Shropshire on Monday; last year’s event was wonderfully good for the spirit and stretched my grey cells. I do not care for long drives, but this event made it worthwhile.

Enroute, I passed St Chad’s Church in Holt, just over the Welsh border in Clwyd and overlooking the Dee. Well might it be 'Grade 1 Listed', for its insides are awash with curios and historical ephemera. It has a heavily carved font, for example, dating to 1490, which includes the arms of King Richard III, who was killed at Bosworth in 1485; is the given year incorrect, or was the font a bold defiance of the Tudor intruder who took Richard's crown?

The north door, below, is a fine, old feature, yet it has three circular holes cut into it, each with a matching wooden plug to fill it. These were cut out during the civil war in the 1640s when royalist defenders based themselves in the church to ward off parliamentary forces from across the Dee. From them, they could fire musket balls at any brave enough to approach the door. The church was made a fortress; from within, shots were fired at those without.

Strange pockmarks are observed on the western wall within the church, too, and also above the altar, at the east end. Evidently, the approaching roundheads were not deterred by the shots from the north door, nor from the tower. They gained entry to the church and gunfire was exchanged between the two sides, the depressions in the western wall originating from the King's men and the damage on the eastern wall from Parliament's muskets.

This church, far from being a place of peace and quietude, was a battleground, a theatre for armed conflict, a location for violence and warfare. 

Sadly, many contemporary churches are the scene of struggles, tensions, acrimony and outright fighting. Seldom does this turn into actual violence, but a verbal assault can be just as painful. Sadly, even real Christians allow their sinful natures to get the better of them; love of self trumps love of God; words of men are shouted louder than the Word of God. Many of our congregations are scarred and damaged by conflicts and big personalities; may they, just like our physical bodies, pick themselves up and move on. May each one of us support the local Body of Christ and not bruise and batter it with our ambition, sefishness and pride.

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Phil. 2:2-4