Douglas Carswell's Blog

A service of dedication

Today I attended a small service of dedication to mark the installation of a new hatchment in a church.

The church is almost a thousand years old. With fewer than half a dozen hatchments on the walls, the thought struck me that I was witnessing something that can, on average, have only taken place every century or so.

In one corner of the church lay a medieval knight, carved from some ancient English oak. He had been lying there, clutching his broad sword, since the 1280s.

I like to think that in another 700-and-something years, someone else will look up at the hatchment we installed today. 

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