History Notes – by Peter Jackson

Veni, Vidi, Vici – originally published October 2011

I have often wondered what effect the Roman invasion had upon the Britons who inhabited the settlement which stood where Eccleston now stands. Did the inhabitants oppose the invaders or did they welcome them? There is no direct evidence of warfare locally, though we do know that the Romans were opposed elsewhere in Britain.

Clearly the military appearance may have been significant. Arms, armour, and possibly pennants, may have contributed to a sense of power and threat which it would have been foolish to oppose.

The building of the fortress, the walls, and the use of materials which may have been strange and unique may have astonished the locals.

There is no doubt, however that the Romans brought with them organisation and culture. The advent of Christianity will have occurred as early as the 1st Century. There are examples of Roman graves, interred in the Christian manner, in the immediate area. The faith, however, was not universal, and the pagan gods were also worshipped and this persisted in England until the Norman invasion. There is an example of a warning couched by King Canute prohibiting pagan belief in his reign.

Eventually, in the 4th Century, the Roman legions were summoned back to Rome, which was under threat from invaders. Whether the threat was imminent is not clear. It would have taken some considerable time for the Legions to cover the distance back to Rome. Whatever else, it is apparent that Christianity left at the same time and the area reverted to pagan belief. The fortress was looted and pillaged and it would seem that Deva became a ghost town very rapidly. What is never clear is what happened to those legionaires who had retired, may have married and were living in ‘coloniae’ which were akin to retirement homes.

Whatever the case, it seems that civilisation in terms such as that introduced by Rome disappeared for many centuries, with some aspects, such as paved roads and piped water supplies, disappearing until the 18th and 19th Centuries!.

Christian missionaries returned to the area in the 6th Century and Christianity was re-established. One cannot help but admire the courage, determination and faith exhibited by missionaries in approaching pagan settlements. It was not only their courage but also the psychological approach in setting up Christian crosses and altars as near as practicable to the pagans’ meeting place which had been their ‘comfort zone’.

Thus Eccleston Old Churchyard, close to the tumulus, has been the site of a Christian church building for over 1000 years. The tumulus had been excavated in the 18th Century by the then Rector of Eccleston who stated that he had discovered a large quantity of human bones.

What is amazing is that the faith has endured to this day despite civil wars and changing times. Long may it so endure.

Autumn – originally published September 2011

Autumn a season much beloved of poets, who wax lyrical, and quite properly so. For me, May and October are my favourite months, the solve disadvantage of October being its proximity to November which is, invariably, dull, dismal, damp and dreary.

Autumn has close connections with the Harvest. Man, originally a hunter gatherer, moved towards agriculture around 3500BC. But, from its origin, agriculture was ever risky. If crops did not mature then the possibility, frequently encountered, was famine. When there were animals, then the lack of winter feed meant that the sad alternative was that they were put down.

As the centuries passed, the physical toil involved continued, only to be ameliorated to some extent with the advent of machinery from the 18th Century. Thus technology helped, but did not eradicate physical effort. There remains, however even now, one factor which remains unchanged and to which modern technology has found no adequate response. That is, of course, the weather. This can reduce, or in extreme cases, destroy yields. It may be that in a small land mass surrounded by sea, such as Great Britain, it can be no more predicable now that in the dawn of agriculture.

When harvests are safely gathered in, there is, and always has been, considerable rejoicing. Pagan people may well have attributed success to their gods. The rejoicing was the celebration of the satisfactory outcome of this physical toil, and the relief that the food would be available for the coming winter. Harvest Thanksgiving services do not feature in the early Christian Calendar and it was not until 1843 that such a service was first introduced in The Church of England.

The “instigator” is said to have been Robert Hawker, a clergyman, devout and caring, who is remembered not only for the Harvest Thanksgiving, but also for his extreme eccentricity! Born in 1804, after his education at Pembroke College, Oxford, he was ordained and given the living of Morwenstow in North Cornwall, a parish situated on precipitous cliffs where many ships came to destruction.

Hawker made it his duty to recover the bodies of drowned sailors and give them Christian burial in his churchyard. This work involved considerable effort and personal peril. In a recent TV travelogue, Hawker’s activities were mentioned, including the fact that the sailors he recovered were buried in a communal grave which he marked appropriately, with a figurehead from the wreck.

Hawker will be ever remembered for his eccentricities, not least his wearing of fisherman’s clothing, but we should remember him for his Christian charity and for his memorable devotion to his calling.

Harvest Festival Thanksgiving Services, which now feature in most parishes, are generally very well attended. Long may this be the case.

The Royal Society “Take nobody’s word for it” – By Peter Jackson. Originally Published July / August 2011

It is time to consider the Royal Society, where the first Secretary was John Wilkins, later to become Bishop of Chester. The heading is a loose translation of the Latin Motto of the Society. Loose it may be but its meaning is abundantly clear. It means, effectively, do not rely on other people, do your own research, publish your findings and accept the criticism of others. In the 17th Century, the rule of Aristotle, namely that “the first principle of all action is leisure” was observed. Leisure was seen, not as relaxation, but a different activity.

This principle, together with the increased freedom of thought accorded by the Reformation, led to a wider interest in scientific subjects. But not all Fellows were scientists. Early members of the Society included the diarist John Evelyn and scientists such as Boyle and the architect Wren. The early years were complicated by the ravages of the Civil War and, during the Protectorate, meetings were abandoned for a while. With The Restoration of the Monarchy, however, the activity was resumed and the monarch, King Charles II allowed the use of the prefix “Royal”. He also became a fellow!

The first meeting of the Society founders, 12 in number, occurred in 1660 when it was resolved to invite a further 40 members. It was reported that 35 accepted and of the latter, 19 were “men of Science”. The remainder included soldiers, statesmen and clergymen. This curious mix of professionals was to continue to the middle of the 19th Century. Thereafter, Fellows would only be elected on merit of scientific research. This move was opposed by some who wished to cling to the mixture of scientific and lay membership. The reason for this lay in another feature of Stuart England which relied heavily upon patronage both in the furtherance of careers and in the matter of funding. There was no central government funding and reliance was placed often upon the financial assistance of affluent, but unqualified, Fellows. Once established, progress was rapid thought not in every detail. There were still remnants of the old thinking. An example was Isaac Newton, who, despite being one of the great intellects of all time, was at the end of his life still working on the transmutation of base metals into gold.

The 18th Century, however saw the emergence of the canal buildings and early steam engines, static and for propulsion. There was much thought given to the production of agricultural machinery. This was a slow process but, with the improved wages which the growing industries offered, this led to a flight from the land which continued well into the 19th Century.

The industrial revolution, the railway system, the advent of gas and much later, electricity, and the advent of the internal combustion engine, were all the ultimate products of the Experimental Philosophy which had its origins in the early meetings of The Royal Society.

There is a downside, of course, and that is in the way in which many of the discoveries have been used to create weapons of war. The internal combustion engine enabled mechanised warfare in the shape of tanks and aircraft and chlorine gas was used on the Western Front in the First World War. The splitting of the atom led, not just to nuclear energy but also to the atom bomb, the slaughter at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the possibility, during the Cold War, of world catastrophe. Dare wer hope that one day, invention will be used for the benefit of the human race and not as a means of its destruction?

In conclusion, we must not forget Ralph Lowndes, Rector of Eccleston (1685-1690) who was a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was not a scientist. He was evicted from his living having refused to sign the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. His excuse was that he had signed the oath in respect of James II who, though in exile, was still alive. Whether that was his true motive or whether he objected on the grounds that England now had a dual monarchy (the only one in its long history), we shall never know!