St James's Church, Tytherington

The Church of St James at Tytherington, Wiltshire, claims to have been founded before 1083. It is a plain, barn-like structure, doubtless testifying to its supposed age, though it is long and thin, more congenial to puritan sermons than medieval masses. A large, green board outside its walls proclaims:

Chaplains was endowed by the Empress Mathilda, mother of King Henry I, in 1140. To the passer by this Ancient Church is a witness to the spiritual facts of life and a silent reminder to those who pass by that no life is worthily lived that neglects its duty to God. Its worship is simple and reverent. It aims at lifting the thoughts of men and women away from the harassing things of the world to the High and Holy things of Jesus Christ: to those who need a haven of rest and worship and have not found it, this Church stands as it has done throughout the ages to welcome You.

Although not quite the clear gospel message of Ruin, Redemption and Regeneration one might have read on an evangelical, nonconformist noticeboard, I thought this was wonderfully bold for a small, rural parish church. ‘The harassing things of the world’ is a rather striking phrase, and one which set me thinking. We are harassed, not just by illness and poverty, but by riches and pleasure. It is a true haven of rest we crave, even since our ancestral expulsion from Eden. Although ancient and archaic, this green board says a great deal more than many a parson or preacher’s sermon.