Forncett is justifiably proud of its link to William Wordsworth, the radical poet acknowledged as the poet of nature, who awakened consciousness within his readers of the beauties and harmonies of the natural world. He will be forever associated with The Lake District, where, living with his sister Dorothy and close to Coleridge, he changed the course of poetry, introducing and refining what is now called 'Romantic poetry' as part of the movement of Romanticism in literature and art.

William, his sister Dorothy and 3 brothers were born in Cockermouth, (William in 1770 and Dorothy a year later on Christmas Day), into an impressive spacious house with a garden bordering the river Derwent.   They were baptised together and went to school together as young children. Their garden seems to have allowed early lessons in nature study. Dorothy's name for the tiger moth caterpillar was "woolly boy." We have an early clue to Dorothy's tender sensibility; we are told that on her first sight of the sea as a small child, she burst into tears. William makes references to these happy early years together in several poems:

'The blessing of my later years
Was with me when a boy:
She gave me eyes, she gave me ears
...................
And love and thought and joy.'

When Dorothy was 6, their mother died. Three months later she was sent to Halifax to live with a second cousin of her mother, Elizabeth Threlkeld, and was not to see her beloved brother again for 9 years. (It is possible that a psychologist would be able to comment on this separation in the light of the pair's later intense and dependent relationship). Indeed, Dorothy was not again to return home; her father failed to send for her, although her 4 brothers returned home regularly from their boarding school. Her foster-mother, (always called aunt), was loving and warm however, and Dorothy spent happy years in the heart of this family, making too, a deep friendship with Jane Pollard, a girl of her own age with whom she later became a prolific correspondent. Her brothers though, were not forgotten, especially William. She told Jane, "We have been endeared to each other by early misfortune." Her upbringing in Halifax was grounded in the values of honesty, kindness, optimism, thrift and hard work and shaped her life-long dedication to family and service. She continued to write to Jane for many years.

 Dorothy Wordsworth Photo Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=717043

The connection with Forncett was to begin in 1788.   By the age of 17, Dorothy, had been removed from the home she had shared so happily with her aunt, to live with her Grandparents. Here, she was not happy, but the intervention of a kindly uncle, The Reverend William Cookson altered the course of her life. He took an interest in Dorothy, (she was of course living with his parents), tutored her and then invited this 17 year old niece to live with him and his new wife at the living in Forncett he had been offered. Dorothy's reaction is recorded in a letter to Jane, "To live in the country and with such kind friends!..I was almost mad with joy..."   She was not disappointed..."That Uncle whom I so much love...every day gives me new proofs of his affection and every day I like him better than I did before."

Her first impression of the handsome Georgian rectory was of "grace and beauty" and "the little church called the heart to meditation and peace." She wrote to Jane: "We are now happily settled at Forncett - my room is one of the pleasantest in the house. I intend to be a great gardener and promise myself great pleasure in taking care of the poultry which we are to have in abundance."

The Rectory and Church in the early 1900s (?). Postcard from Jarrolds Forncett Archive, Thanks to Forncett Archive.

 Forncett is proud of course of its connection with William Wordsworth but we have to admit the time he spent here was brief, often little more than a footnote in biographies of the great man. His younger sister though spent formative years here, five of them. These were happy times for Dorothy, (setting aside her perpetual longing to be close to William); we know this from letters written by her and accounts of her busy practical life. Here she learnt many useful domestic skills and opened a little school, undertaken with the greatest dedication, taking pride in her pupils' achievements. We can imagine how the pupils would have loved this kind, sensitive, lively teacher. It is possible too, to picture her from written descriptions, a slight lithe figure, dark hair flying, full of joy and enthusiasm, loving her surrounds, and her duties. John Thelwall described her as "...the maid of ardent eye." She quickly became imbued with the evangelical philosophy of her uncle and his friend William Wilberforce, who was "struck by the vitality of this young girl, her words tumbling from her mouth with an almost stammering intensity." He gave Dorothy 10 guineas a year to distribute to the poor of Forncett.

These Forncett years seem to have passed in deep contentment and letters from Dorothy at the time confirm how agreeable she found her home. We are told that: She looked on "meadows scarlet with poppies, most beautiful to see". Every morning she "heard the singing of a great choir of birds, thrush and bullfinch and blackbird and yellowhammer. The larks soared singing from among the graves." The woods, hedgerows and meadows would have been dense and rich with wildflowers, and alongside the footpaths and river at the bottom of the garden, butterflies and dragonflies would have abounded.

Her domestic duties increased as the family increased. Dorothy adored her young charges and she worked alongside her aunt as helpmeet and aunt, with unflagging energy and tenderness. Her love of William though is unwavering and the bond is deeply mutal. He wrote to her:

"I have thought of you perpetually: and never have my eyes burst upon a scene of particular loveliness but I have almost instantly wished that you could for a moment be transported to the place where I stood, to enjoy it"

The closing months of the year of 1790 brought immense joy to Dorothy; William, returned from a walking holiday, made his second and longer six week stay at Forncett Rectory. "Every morning they walked in the country. Every evening they paced the avenue of limes or up and down the long gravel walk of the garden from four to six, heedless of the whistle of the North wind amongst the trees over their heads, heedless of the cold." The young poet and eager sister, although deep in conversation, would have been very alive to the beauty of their surroundings. Norfolk skies would have shown sunsets of every hue. Perhaps they heard the rooks cry in unison as the wind rose and the treetops shuttled to and fro. We know that here William wrote one short sonnet, untitled, but known as 'Sweet was the Walk'.

'Sweet was the walk along the narrow lane
At noon, the bank and hedge-rows all the way
Shagged with wild pale green tufts of fragrant hay,
Caught by the hawthorns from the loaded wain,
Which Age with many a slow stoop strove to gain;
And childhood, seeming still most busy, took
His little rake; with cunning side-long look,
Sauntering to pluck the strawberries wild, unseen.
Now, too, on melancholy's idle dreams
Musing, the lone spot with my soul agrees,
Quiet and dark; for through the thick wove trees
Scarce peeps the curious star till solemn gleams
The clouded moon, and calls me forth to stray
Thro' tall, green, silent woods and ruins gray.'

From windows in the Rectory they would have seen the timeless grey tower, encircled by rooks and the peaceful graveyard. It is tempting to imagine that on Sundays, William and Dorothy, (Dorothy in bonnet and William probably wearing the forerunner of the 'top hat'), would have made the short journey to join the farming families and gentry of Forncett, sitting quietly on a wooden pew, light slanting through high clerestory windows, to hear their uncle's sermons.

Wordsworth's visit to France fostered early revolutionary and radical ideas, although these were to alter over later decades. He also fell in love. Marie Annette Vallon bore him a child in 1793. She was the daughter of his host, a surgeon in Blois. Poverty though, drove William home leaving his daughter and her unmarried mother. This was a terrible blow to Dorothy who had cherished the idea of making a home with William, possibly in Forncett. Hoping that Annette might yet be brought to Forncett, the task fell upon her to tell her uncle. Dr. Cookson was shocked; he considered William selfish and imprudent and barred him from Forncett. This almost certainly marks the point at which Dorothy no longer saw her future in Forncett. Although devoted to her Aunt and Uncle, her most earnest desire was that she should live with William. She finally left in February 1794 for Halifax and was reunited with William shortly after arriving. They would rarely be separated again.

Dorothy is not revered merely for being her brother's sister. We have interesting testimony about her character; Wilberforce considered her to be a woman of "excessive organic sensibility" in whom burned "the secret fire of a temperament too fervid." De Quincey considered her to have a "constitutionally deep sensibility" and "some subtle fire of impassioned intellect which apparently burned within her." Her fame today, growing since the last century, rests on the journals she wrote later in life, when at last living with William at Grasmere. In them she reveals herself as a poet naturalist. Dorothy had wide and deep knowledge of the natural world; her observations were close, her descriptions had clarity. Her journals are full of tender observations of landscape, flora and fauna.

"The young Bullfinches in their party coloured Rainment bustle about among the Blossoms and poize themselves like Wire dancers or tumblers, shaking the twigs and dashing off the Blossoms. There is yet one primrose in the orchard - the stitchwort is fading - the wild columbines are coming into beauty - some of the gowans fading...The scarlet Beans are up in crowds...The heckberry blossoms are dropping off fast, almost gone - barberries are in beauty- snowballs coming forward- May Roses blossoming.”

Her affectionate observations are intensely alive, made with humour and throughout her journals her descriptions are poetic in the power they own to bring images and associations to the reader's mind's eye. It is believed that William made use of her written observations, among them this:

"I never saw daffodils so beautiful, they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed into the wind..."

Full due is paid by Wordsworth to the debt he owed to his sister, making use in his poetry of their intense discussions and the notes in which she recorded all they saw, in their long explorations and walks. That William valued her immense talent and loved her almost reverentially is shown in his poetry:

'...thy breath,
Dear Sister! was a kind of gentler spring,
That went before my steps.'

It tempting to speculate that had Dorothy not turned almost her entire energy to the domestic life of those she loved, and the necessary drudgery and long hours that accompany this, plus her additional work as William's amanuensis, that she too could have become a brilliant poet. This was the eighteenth century and early nineteenth however, the same time in which Mozart's sister Maria Anna Mozart, (Nannerl), was playing with prodigious talent alongside her brother in the great houses of Europe and composing. Society then, decreed that women should marry, or lead the life of the industrious spinster, helping the family. Had Dorothy and William been born today, who knows? Maybe Dorothy would have been anxious to write more and publish. The Brontes were determined to do so but were born a critical 46 years later; Jane Austen, born just a few years after Dorothy, succeeded. Dorothy though, had another preoccupation. Much of her life had been spent in a nurturing role and it was William, beloved chosen brother and genius, who satisfied her passionate need to devote herself entirely to the welfare of another. William himself, recognised Dorothy's literary skill. It is believed by many today, that Dorothy, through her poetic contributions to his work, her care and constant companionship, helped ensure her brother's achievements and lasting reputation as one of the world's greatest poets.

Sources:

Maclean, Catherine MacDonald. 1932. 'Dorothy Wordsworth: the Early Years', Viking Press.

Gittings, Robert., and Manton, Jo. 1985. 'Dorothy Wordsworth', Open University Press.

Wilson, Frances. 2008. ‘The Ballad of Dorothy Wordsworth', Faber and Faber.

Times Literary Supplement Biography and Letters

Did you know that St Peter’s has two war graves and that someone looks after them every six months?  Elaine Tibbit tells us about her role.

"Hi, my name is Elaine and I am a volunteer with the CWGC (Commonwealth War Graves Commission).  The Commission was established by Royal Charter in 1917 as the sole organisation charged with the commemoration of Commonwealth service men and women who died in the First World War (this remit was later extended to cover the Second World War).  Today, the Commission maintains the graves or commemorations of over 1.7 million of such fallen service personnel worldwide, including more than 165,000 war graves at over 12,000 locations in the UK.  I have been a volunteer since the beginning of 2021 and work for a project that has been funded by Annington Homes, called Eyes On, Hands On (EOHO).  The project is very new and was set up to assist the Commission in inspecting and reporting on the condition of scattered war graves.  There are thousands of CWGC graves scattered throughout the UK, primarily in local churchyards.  Many of these sites have a single or small cluster of graves, these are called 'scattered graves'.  Until the project was started these scattered graves were only inspected on a rolling basis every 2 - 5 years, the EOHO project helps ensure the graves are inspected more frequently and where needed, receive attention.  

George Henry Thompson  Photo: Elaine Tibbit

Approximately every 6 months I will inspect your two CWGC graves, Flight Sergeant Roy Arthur Tann (1943) and Driver George Henry Thomson (1918).  I take a photograph and write a report on the condition of the headstone and the surrounding vegetation as some may need to be trimmed in order to see the casualty’s headstone clearly.  I look after 23 casualties across 10 churchyards.  We must always remember that a lot of the headstones are over 100 years old and they will not and should not look new.  However, we do check whether the headstone needs cleaning – we have to be careful we do not over clean the headstones and damage them but if they do need a clean, I have been trained how to do it. Also, if the area around the grave needs tidying, I can trim light vegetation. Sometimes an inspection can reveal damage to the headstone, my report is used to assess that damage and helps the CWGC Operations team decide what to do next. This will most likely include a second inspection by the Operations team. Where possible they try and repair the headstone – our aim is to keep as many of the original headstones as possible. However, if the damage is too great, sadly sometimes a new headstone is required.

Sergeant Roy Arthur Tann, a family memorial. Photo Elaine Tibbit

There are different types of memorials, so not every headstone is maintained by the Commission.  If the family of the casualty chose to mark their loved ones final resting place with a private memorial, all I and the commission can do is inspect to ensure that the casualty’s name is legible.  If, however, the name is not legible, the Commission will try to get authority there is a process to gain permission from cemetery authorities, the family and other interested parties to add an additional marker. This can be either a full-sized Commission headstone or a Gallipoli Marker at the grave. Every service man or woman must be remembered.

I have done a little research into the 2 casualties in your churchyard.  Unfortunately, a lot of World War 1 service records were destroyed when the record office was hit by a bomb and ensuing fire, however, I did discover that George Henry Thomson was from Kirkcudbright in Ayr. Looking in the National Archives (with help, I am still learning) we found George’s medal card. He was an early joiner – he enlisted in November 1914. We also found his service record which wasn’t destroyed by the fire. He was born in 1889 and was a farm servant. He died 4 years and 1 week after he enlisted. George was a driver with the Army Service Corps.  He passed on 10.11.18 after contracting influenza.

Flight Sergeant Roy Arthur Tann was just 23 when he died.  He was based in Melbourne, Yorkshire with 10 Squadron Bomber Command as a Navigator.  He was killed on 3.11.43 when his Halifax aircraft hit telephone lines and crashed during an emergency landing at Shipdam Airfield.  They were returning to Norfolk from an early raid on Dusseldorf.

I hope this has given you a little insight into some of the work of the CWGC.  Please take a look on their website for lots more information  CWGC"

We are tremendously grateful to CWGC and to Elaine for their work in commemorating those who gave so much.

After 18 long months St Peter's bells were heard again with a toll to celebrate the life of the Duke of Edinburgh.

St Peter's has one of the best rings of bells in Norfolk, thought to be second only to St Peter Mancroft - they have been silent for so long due to the restriction imposed by Covid meaning that ringers could not gather in the narrow confines of the tower chamber.  On 17th April they joined in a nationwide tribute to Prince Philip.  A toll of 99 rings from a single bell rang out across Forncett.  Trevor Smith, a very experienced ringer who has rung at St Peter's many times, did the honours.  You can read more about Trevor here

About the Bells

There were four large bells at St. Peter’s in 1552 and the Church was one of the first in the vicinity to have as many as five bells. Clearly, change ringing was flourishing here from 1602 when the ring of five was completed by Norwich bell-founder William Brend. When the bells were rehung in 1778 the landlord of The Tuns advertised that “all gentlemen ringers that will please to make Trial of the said Bells shall meet with the kind reception by their humble servant”.

In 1875 the cracked tenor bell was recast by John Warner of Crippleton, London. By the 1930s the bells had become un-ringable. In 1938 John Taylor of Loughborough carried out a complete restoration, recasting the cracked tenor bell and rehanging the bells in a new two-tier bell frame. Between 1939 and 1988 twenty-six peals were rung – more than any other five-bell tower in the country.

A new treble bell was cast in 1982 from the cracked number two bell at Forncett St. Mary Church and hung at St. Peter’s to complete a ring of six. The work was done in memory of Mary Armstrong, a former churchwarden and headteacher of the School. The treble is inscribed as follows: “To the glory of God and in thanksgiving for the life and work of Mary Armstrong BEM 1907-1980”. The Peal Board commemorating the new ring of six by a special peal of doubles, 5040 changes, on December 17^th 1983, may be seen to the left of the tower door.

Although the ring of six contains bells of five different dates (1980, 1938, 1602, 1737 and 1875), it is considered to be one of the finest in the county. The tenor bell weighs 13cwt 12lbs in the key of F. During restoration work in 1986 painted numbers were uncovered on the wall of the ringing chamber. These were probably used by eighteenth century Forncett ringers to ring Call Changes (1).

Looking down on to the bell frames. Photo: A Moskvina

When you first walk into a bell tower the bells will usually be in the down position for safety reasons. This way the bells will only swing from side to side and if someone happens to pull on one of the Sallys (the rope) there is no danger. This is also the position the bell would be in for Tolling.

When the bells are in the up position, the bell is set just over vertical and resting on what is called the Stay. When the Sally is pulled the bell will be pulled off the Stay and will swing down and round, under its own weight, virtually 360 degrees back to its original position. (What then has to be done is to not allow the bell to swing too far back the other way and hit the Stay!!).

The lightest bell in any tower is referred to as the Treble, followed by Number 2, Number 3, etc. up to the heaviest bell being referred to as the Tenor. Bell weights are given in hundredweights (cwts) and pounds (lbs).

The basics of learning to bell ring include following another bell leaving the right space. Your ears will tell you what is correct, but as a guide the person you are following must have pulled about half the length of the Sally when you begin your pull. It is important to develop a smooth regular pull so you can feel the rhythm.

There are many different methods of bell ringing. Methods are generally referred to by an official name assigned to them by The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. Such names have three different parts – the method’s name proper, its class and its stage. The name proper is the method’s personal name, e.g. Plain Bob.

As a learner you will start ringing Rounds (controlling the bell) and then move onto ringing Call Changes (each call swaps over an adjacent pair of bells). As you advance there are other basic methods the most recognised including Plain Hunt, Grandsire, Plain Bob as well as ringing Peals. A Full Peal can consist of up to 5,040 changes and can include various methods and lasts approximately 3 hours. Any bell can also be Tolled for funerals, memorial services, etc. For example, I tolled the bell for the passing and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at St. Peter’s in 2021.

Bell ringing is also known as Campanology and a bell ringer is called a Campanologist.

Trevor Smith – Bell Ringer (Campanologist)

References

1. Izat, Rosemary and Webster, John; The Parish Church of Forncett St. Peter, Norfolk: an Historical Guide, Forncett Parish Council, 2010, page 11 (all the text in italics).

Nearly every historical monument in England is a testament to the great skill of the stonemason.  You can see it at St Peter’s, in the stonework tracery forming the windows and look up at our gargoyles!  In 2006-8 stonemasons replaced some of the badly eroded stone on the tower, following in the footsteps of the numberless men who plied their skills through centuries of time that stretches back before the dark ages.  Relatively little is known of their lives, or how they achieved the skills that left an indelible mark upon Europe.

Stonemason at work at St Peter's in 2007. Photo: John Webster, Forncett Archive

Many learnt to handle and hew stone in quarries.  Other apprentices would have worked in 'The Lodge', which was a shelter open on one side and sometimes built against the wall of the building (often a church) being worked on.  This is where they would have learnt fine carving work, studied the master stonemason's plans and eaten.  A master stonemason was a man of status;  he would need a great array of skills. He might have belonged to a Stone Masons' Guild.  Then there were everyday masons and these fell into distinct groups.  There were 'hewers' who shaped the stone and 'layers' who set it into place.  Hewers were paid around 20% more than layers.  A humbler kind of hewer was called a 'scappler'.  He would use an axe and hammer and work in quarries.  Not all stone was found in quarries though.  Roman sites were often raided and the bricks and stone was incorporated into buildings, including, it is thought,  Roman bricks in Forncett St. Peter's Church.

Roman bricks forming the head of a lancet window. Photo: A Rae

The contracts of stonemasons could be harsh.  At Fotheringay in 1434, if the work was not finished on time, the mason could be committed to prison.  Sometimes the contracts were for summer only and always limited by day length.  So although these craftsmen earned more than agricultural labourers, they had to rely on small-holdings or other work.

 There were inherent dangers.  Many were blinded by flying chips, or slipped on a barrow-run, or fell from towers.  Plague ravaged the population during the fourteenth century and life expectancy was short.  The richest master masons if they reached old age could have enjoyed some comfort but that was not the case  for all who worked in this profession. 

After the plague, when serfdom gave way and men could own land or become tradesmen, parishioners took on the task of church upkeep and improvement.  This resulted in a flowering in every village of artisan skills, evident in every parish church.