St Cuthbert's Church, Edenhall

St Cuthbert's at Edenhall in Cumbria is a peculiar church building. Its tower, from the fifteenth century, was clearly built in dangerous times, for it has a series of holes around the base of the parapet from which defenders could loose arrows, fire guns, or pour oil on its attackers. These are more usually associated with castles and fortified manor houses, but in these wild borderlands between England and Scotland, even churches were thought fair game.

Other battles seems to have taken place within the church, too. Though less violent, the passions would have run just as high. Some of its windows are glazed with medieval stained glass; judging by its state and from what we know of history, it was likely smashed up at the time of Reformation or Commonwealth. I have no doubt that this created arguments or worse. Likewise, when someone decided to store the broken, coloured pieces and have them re-fitted into the windows, objections and protests would have been registered.

Without, a medieval base for a stone cross is still extant. In the 1500-1600s, its cross would have been lopped and the shaft broken up. In the nineteenth century, one was re-erected, and remains to this day. Such things might seem trifles to us, but bloods would have boiled and hackles risen as one group of people reformed the style of worship, and another, later on, sought to turn back the clock. I noted that Jeremiah Marsden appears to have been rector here in 1658, a puritan who seems to have entered the pulpits of many parishes. I think we know on which side he would have stood.

Contrary to the trite and superficial calls for unity from the ecumenists of the 1960s and 70s, there are things which divide us and there are battles still worth fighting. While not wishing to nit-pick and divide genuine brethren unnecessarily, there are issues for which our churches should be on guard and our battlements patrolled. Those churches which denied biological gender (which, according to this spring’s Supreme Court ruling, are even now on the wrong side of history) and corrupt the meaning of marriage, are not fellow travellers on the road; they are apostates and wolves, and against their pernicious wiles must we be on the alert.