Treasures, Tales And Secrets

There's a fiendishly difficult quiz on Radio 4 called Round Britain Quiz in which teams of very clever people attempt to unravel multi-part cryptic clues. Questions like:

Q "Where might you go to remember a parson who collected wood from Flanders, a one-legged poet, the most beautiful woman in England a hundred years ago, and the friend of a boy who never grew old?"

A Why, the church at Cockayne Hatley, of course.

How so?

The church of St John the Baptist is a handsome looking building for a village church, but its location, tucked away down a rough farm track in a small isolated village, doesn't hold much hope of grand things hidden within. If I hadn't done a little research I might have turned away once I found it locked. But there was a sign telling me where to obtain the key, so off I pedalled back down the lane.

Armed with the key and the instructions to insert it upside down and turn it "the wrong way" I was soon inside what was obviously an unusual church. 

The village gets its odd name from the Cockayne family who were lords of the manor here for over 500 years. In 1806 the Rev Henry Cockayne Cust became both the squire and the parson for the village. Celebrating his first Christmas in the church he was shocked to find snow falling through the holes in the roof and settling on the altar. He vowed to restore the church to its former glory.

Now at the very time when Rev Cust was shopping for fittings for his church it so happened that churches and monasteries in Flanders, in the wake of the destruction caused by Napoleon's army, were ready to sell. I think it's safe to say that the dear Reverend got rather carried away with his purchases and bought more beautiful carved wood than he had room for.

As a result the choir stalls overflowed the chancel and had to be arranged in the nave as well. Eventually he somehow fitted everything in, though the huge pulpit he acquired had to be sold to a cathedral!

The quality and quantity of the carving is astonishing, most notably the panels behind the choir stalls in the chancel. These are the sensational 17th century ‘papal’ stalls from the Abbey of Oignies, in what is present-day Belgium, carved with the faces of various saints. The one in the centre above is St Gregorius, who held the office of Pope till his death in 604AD. It's surely the only representation of a Pope in an Anglican church!

So that's answered the first part of the question. For the second part we need to go outside.

In the churchyard stands this monument to W E Henley, a poet and friend of Rev H Cockayne Cust's dashing grandson, Harry. Henley, regarded as a great poet in his day, is chiefly remembered today for his poem Invictus which he wrote while a patient in hospital, thinking back to an earlier hospitalisation when tuberculosis of the bone resulted in the amputation of his leg. So there's our one-legged poet.

The poem Invictus crops up nowadays in the film of the same name, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Also it is an inspiration for the Invictus Games for wounded, sick or injured servicemen.

Robert Louis Stevenson was a friend of Henley and used his disability, his bushy red beard and booming laugh as the inspiration for Long John Silver.

Back in the church one can see the details of the Baptism of Lady Diana Manners (later Lady Diana Cooper) who lived the early years of her life at the Hall at Cockayne Hatley. Although her father is listed as the Duke of Rutland everyone knew who the real father was - none other than the Rev Cockayne Cust's grandson Harry.

So that's the most beautiful woman in England a hundred years ago. Apparently the Hall was rented by the Duke of Rutland.....surely it can't be mere coincidence, was the old Duke just making it clear to everyone that he knew exactly where his daughter belonged?

It is believed that handsome Harry Cust spread his DNA liberally among the British aristocracy, probably improving their looks as a result! He didn't confine himself to the higher echelons of society either. He was almost certainly lingered long enough among the housemaids to father one Beatrice Stephenson who went on to marry a Lincolnshire grocer and become the mother of Margaret Thatcher!

You've probably worked out that the boy who never grew old was Peter Pan and his friend was Wendy. Our one-legged poet W E Henley was also a friend of J M Barrie, author of Peter Pan. More relevantly, Barrie was charmed by Henley's little daughter Margaret who referred to Barrie as her "fwiend" or her "fwiendy-wendy" and is said to be the inspiration for both the name and the character of Wendy. Margaret died tragically young and is remembered on the same memorial as her father.

So we've answered our question and, once again, found that there's more to discover in a little hidden part of the English landscape than most people would imagine.

Take care.