The Oddest Elephant You Ever Did See

When visiting Bressingham the other week we arrived with plenty of time to spare. However in England, wherever you are, there's always something else to see if you know where to look. And so it was that we set off to hunt for quirky big game in the village of South Lopham.

While naturalists might look elsewhere, followers of this blog may well have already guessed that I'd go searching in the parish church. The first thing that strikes you as you make your way across the churchyard is that massive tower. But we'll ignore that particular "elephant in the room" for a moment to investigate a tiny stone angel in the bottom right of the above photo.

This tiny gravestone commemorates the short life of a little girl who passed away, aged just nine, in 1930.

Now to that tower. Something about it looks all wrong; more like a castle than a church perhaps. And it's not only its massive bulk. The influence of Gothic architecture on our churches is so strong that those round-headed arches take us by surprise. Interestingly there is a more normal pointed window low down in the tower - that must be a later insertion, because this tower is solidly Norman, built in 1100 AD. The other arches were never openings but were entirely decorative - apart from those at the top were left open to allow the bells to be heard.

Around the back of the church is a Norman door that has since been infilled.

Inside you can see the two mighty arches that support the weight of the tower. If you stopped to think about it - arches nearly 1,000 years old holding up tons of stone - you'd never venture beneath them to view the chancel, but of course that's exactly where we're going next.

It's a rather unusual chancel, lighter than many and with more bare stonework than fancy carving. The large, plain glass east window gives an entirely different feel from the more usual stained glass. I can't see any elephants yet!

There's only one coloured window and it's a very nice example, though more modern than most of this ancient church, dating from the late 1800s.

It was this odd little square window that caught my eye. Someone else agrees as they've embroidered its likeness on a kneeler.

Cricking my neck to examine the roof I find what looks like medieval carving on the roof supports. Still no elephants, but getting a bit warmer.....

Aha! This looks more likely. The carved bench-ends of old pews and choir-stalls are often home to a whole menagerie of extraordinary beasts. We need to have a closer look.

These look like dragons to me - though obviously neither I, nor the medieval mind that imagined them, had ever seen one. They've taken a battering over the years, as you can see.

This looks like a dog which is holding a rabbit or hare. Animals catching or devouring prey are frequently depicted in such carvings - I don't think anyone knows why.

Here's another favourite subject - "a pelican in her piety". As everyone in medieval times knew, a pelican uses her beak to spear her breast to draw blood to feed her offspring. What kind of imagination came up with a "fact" like that?* This poor old pelican has also been deprived of her head at some stage.

And this, believe it or not, is South Lopham's very own eccentric elephant! If the artist had ever seen one then he clearly hadn't looked too closely. My own feeling (for what it's worth) is that someone had seen an elephant - a few had been brought to England and were exhibited at fairs - and had drawn a sketch for the carver. But the wood-carver looked at it and couldn't believe what he saw. Surely those feet must be wrong and it must have hooves like a horse. And what is that long thing where the nose ought to be? I know, it's a beak! It's such a pity that the ears have broken off, who knows what was there: donkey ears, horns, antlers?

And that's how we wasted a little time till Bressingham Gardens were open to the public.

Take care.

* I know some of you will want to know how the pelican story originated. You could start by looking here:

Christian Symbolism: The Pelican in Her Piety — St Mary Magdalen School of Theology (theschooloftheology.org)