Norwich, St Stephen: Life Passing By

 

Situated in Norwich city centre, St Stephen's Church, lies a short hop from the Norwich Forum (the modern 'civic' meeting place for the city). Along with St Peter Mancroft and St Giles, it is one of the churches built as part of the post-Conquest 'French Borough' that was established by the Norman's during the 1070's. This urban planning explains the relative distance between these three churches, in contrast with the succession of churches clustered along nearby St Benedicts Street. These churches were established during the Anglo-Saxon period with small parishes carved out of the larger (and older) 'proto-parish' of St Gregory's Church on Pottergate. 

Unusually, whilst the north and south aisles of the church date from around 1350, the nave and chancel were re-built during the sixteenth century. The north porch, that forms the lower storey of the tower, also dates to the mid-fourteenth century, with the tower being added, above it, in 1601. 

When the Chapelfield Shopping Centre was opened in 2005, the north-south pathway running through the graveyard became a pedestrian thoroughfare with around 50,000 people passing by the west end of the church every day. I say this without any judgement, but I very much doubt whether many of the folk who pass by spare much thought about the people buried either side of the pathway. In particular, I wonder who has noticed the poignant memorial set into the north-west buttress of the church.

If you take a close look, you soon realise the tragedy that is depicted here. Recorded on the small grey stone are the names of six children of Elizabeth and Timothy Jefferies, who pre-deceased their parents. I am fortunate enough not to have experienced the loss of a child, but I imagine it is an agony beyond description. My heart goes out to this family. I 'lead' weekly history walks in Norwich for the charity, MensCraft. During last week's walk - which was exploring the theme of 'Love & Kindness' - we took time to recognise the pain and poignancy of this loss, before moving to the south of the church to place a bunch of flowers on a grave as our way of honouring their memory. It may have been a small gesture, but I think we all felt more emotionally connected with the layers of meaning that lie within this space. 

The inscription reads thus:

Here lyeth the bodyes of

The children of Timothy

Jefferies and Elizabeth

His wife

Katherine there Daughter was buried June the 12th 1669

William there sonne was buried Decemb ye 26th 1672

Edward there sonne was buried June the 23rd 1676

Elizabeth there Daughter was buried September the 29th 1677

Timothy there sonne was buried April ye 13th 1680

The Fallible Flaneur <*(((((><(