The defrocked vicar in a barrel
My overnight case is getting a lot of good use at the moment since I seem to be in the middle of the medical conference season. Last weekend found me down on the Norfolk coast in the picturesque little village of Stiffkey.
It is a curious place, a cluster of red-brick and flint cottages clustered along the meandering River Stiffkey.
It has a single humped-back bridge, an Elizabethan hall, a wonderful old church and surrounding farms perched on the salt marshes. The village is famous for its cockles, a local delicacy called Stewkey Blues, and for the local asparagus which seems to thrive in the soil there.
There are otters in most of the Norfolk rivers today, including the Stiffkey, which I can attest to. There presence is good since they almost disappeared in the 1980s, because of the widespread use of pesticides which polluted many of the rivers then. In fact, there is a blue plaque in Stiffkey, for Henry Williamson, the author of Tarka the Otter farmed there from 1937 until 1945.
Another famous resident in the 1930s was the Vicar of Stiffkey, the Reverend Harold Davidson. He was a fascinating character who had trained as a circus performer before following his father into the clergy. Apparently, however, he spent too much time away from his parish, visiting London in order to try and 'save fallen women' from the lifestyles they had fallen into. His motives were suspected and he was defrocked by the Bishop in Norwich in 1932.
It may be that he was unjustly maligned and fell victim to the views of the establishment at the time. At any rate, left without an income he returned to his previous occupation as an entertainer.
He travelled to Blackpool and performed in street theatre, where he would appear either standing in a barrel or being apparently roasted in an oven while a figure dressed as the devil prodded him with a pitchfork. Sadly, in 1937 he appeared in a circus show in Skegness where he entered a lion's cage as a modern Daniel in the lion's den. Very sadly, one of the tame lions somehow perceived him to be a threat and he was mauled.
Our conference was held in Stiffkey Hall, a wonderful Elizabethan building with four towers, a croquet lawn and a fascinating history. It was built by Sir Nicholas Bacon, the keeper of the Great Seal for Queen Elizabeth I. Sir Francis Bacon, one of his sons by his second marriage, grew up there. He in his turn was to become keeper of the Great Seal to King James I.
Sir Francis Bacon was one of the first true scientists. He wrote Novum Organon, one of the most important texts of the time, a work on logic. Rather than relying on authoritative discussion to arrive at a truth, he advocated experiment and inductive reasoning.
Ironically, he died from pneumonia after performing an experiment on the refrigeration of poultry.
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Weather for Wakefield
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -4 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 0 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
