Twyford, Leicestershire

Twyford on the map

 Our next Twyford is nestled right in the middle of a triangle of sleepy countryside between Leicester, Oakham and Melton Mowbray. We visited it hot on the heels of our splendid Derbyshire excursion, and this was a very different environment. St Andrew's Church (yes, another one) is a proper village hub, smack in the middle of a higgledy-piggledy collection of houses, from modern 20th century back to Georgian farm buildings and the manor house, which would once have been the focal point of the village, but is still reasonably modest given its prestige. Unlike the nightmare of West Felton, however, everything has been planned and built with respect and attention to keeping the village beautiful, and it's surprising how effectively all the different ages and sizes of homes sit together.

St Andrew's Church

The church, like so many in this part of the country, makes a feature of the local limestone. The tower dates back to the 12th century and has a 'proper' ring of six bells (the first ringable peal on our trip, so Becky is pleased to inform me). The rest, like so many others, has been added over the centuries.

We got exceptionally lucky today. Apparently the church is not normally open, but we arrived just as the fire extinguishers were being serviced, and the church warden was happy for us to go in and potter around.

The large limestone chancel arch is the first striking impression, and is echoed with a variety of arches around the nave, but there is a lot else to find. The impressive vaulted timbers all end in cartoonish grotesques - little carved caricatures, presumably of local folk, although no-one is yet sure. There is a modern, but very striking stained glass window in the chancel, and the font is believed to be the same age as the church, although there have been a few repairs over the years. We also found the grave stone in the apse of John Williamson, died 1755. One suspects he might be happier not to be buried beneath a radiator..

John Williamson lieth beneath
the central heating

The glorious font, at least 800 years old.
The legs are apparently newer.

St Andrew and his cross
(now, of course, the saltire of Scotland),
engraved on the tower

Impressive arches and vaulted
 ceilings in the nave.

A couple of grotesques on the north wall

Our favourite grotesque.
Looks like Skeletor, if you squint

The Oddfellows tapestry

Sadly, it seems that everyone is a bit vague on the precise history of the grotesques and much of the rest of the church, but one thing that is readily apparent is that the Society of Oddfellows has been heavily invested in St Andrews' maintenance and upkeep over the centuries. I confess that we didn't know much about the Oddfellows and had to do some research. As you might reasonably expect they are one of these 'fraternity' secret societies, like the Masons but less cliquey, and a lot more Midlands-centric. Their website is full of messages of friendship and co-operation so they are probably decent chaps (and, these days, one hopes, ladies too). Their origins seem to be sometime in the 18th Century, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they have been keeping an eye on the place since then and - almost certainly - are responsible for all the grotesques.

Sweet little cactuses and stuff

We'd be willing to bet that there is still an Oddfellow or two looking after the place now, judging by the churchyard, with its wildflower meadow and delightful little planting of succulents outside the church door.

Now...could we find any graves older than John Williamson's?

John Oxon, d 1710

Mary Wright, d 1715

 

Probable ford locations. The famous Twyford
viaduct (not visited on this occasion) is just
 to the west of the village, on the dismantled
railway running across the north-west

Yes, we could! The oldest graves, like John Oxon, are often tucked up close to the church walls, but a special shout-out to Mary Wright, who was found beneath a little oak tree in the far corner of the churchyard. John's gravestone is topped by an angel and a couple of saltires and, if I were paid for guessing, has been kept immaculately restored over the centuries by the Oddfellows. It's community work like this that makes village churches such a pleasure to visit.

Time to go ford-spotting! Well, this was a doddle today. Although the village isn't extensively documented, there are plenty of references to the two fords still being in the village, and a quick glance at the map gave us a good guess where they might be.

No grandiose crossings over major rivers here: the waterway that meanders through Twyford is the unglamorous - but still rather pretty - Gaddesby Brook.

Our gut reactions were right on the mark. The manor house estate is just to the left of the T of Twyford, and these fords were clearly created to allow quick access to the fertile farmland to the north. Both are now replaced with concrete bridges, but we could stand on them and see evidence of the paving stones and cobbles in the brook's shallow waters.

View from the bridge, with evidence
of a crossing

The bridge over the right-hand ford

The left-hand ford. Note the constructed
bedrock still visible at the bottom of the photo

This is definitely the first Twyford of the trip where we have been able to obtain cast-iron evidence of both fords, and indeed cross them both - albeit on a bridge

The Fields Around Twyford
by Yvonne Freeman

We had to grab a souvenir from such a pleasant little village, and again got very lucky. The sign on the Dotty Gallery indicated that the place might be closed on Mondays, but the owner, Lesley, was happy to unlock the door, offer us coffee and chat as we browsed around. And what a delightful selection to browse: a volumatic, eclectic, and affordable selection of local arts and crafts. If you are ever in the vicinity of  Leicester or Rutland, the Dotty Gallery is well worth a visit. We could have bought most of the shop, but in the end settled for a little bit of glasswork, some earrings, a couple of greetings cards and - most importantly - a slim mixed-media (I have a soft spot for mixed-media) painting of 'The Fields Around Twyford', which is now exhibited with pride in our hallway

If the pub opened on Mondays, it would have been nigh on the perfect day, I reckon.

Our next trip will take us to Twyford, Oxfordshire.