During the Black Death in 1349 the Villagers of Edgefield evacuated their homes and moved to higher ground a mile away, leaving only the church behind. It became more and more neglected, and by the 1870’s its chancel arch was sagging, the walls were rumbling, the pews were collapsing, and even the font had lost its pedestal. Canon Marcon wrote "it's broken and moss covered walls, its miserable seating, its chancel arch with with a threatening bend in it, its wretched alter old and stained, its font with only its early English basin remaining, without pedestal or foot piece, were enough to try the stoutest heart".
A devastating restoration of aout 1820 had reroofed the church at the cost of the lead from the roof, for bells and a monument, all of which paid for a cheap deal roof which "in one pitch covered nave, aisles and clerestory". To the new rector it provided an opportunity not just to restore it but to rebuild it on a more convenient site.
Although Canon Walter Marcon was new to the living, he was hardly new to the village. He was born in the rectory in 1850 and after getting his degree and serving his curacy he came back and spent the rest of his life there, dying in the bed in which he was born. In 1977 he obtained a faculty from the Bishop, persuaded the Marchioness of Lothian to give him a site in the village, organised a savings scheme in the Parish to help raise the money and started the work.
The main body of the old church was dismantled and re-erected in a faithful reconstruction, leaving just the tower and chancel behind. The medieval screens and old wall monuments were reinstated, and even the font bowl was given a new pedestal. There was talk of restless spirits in the graveyard, disturbed by the removal of the church but Canon Marcon pressed on. The new St Peter’s and St Paul’s was consecrated in 1884 and all that now remains of the old church is the rather ghostly hexagonal church tower and the chancel arch.
Canon Marcon also left a splendidly bound diary which is very private and contains his deepest feelings - it has been passed through successive rectors. The inscription on the flyleaf reads:
Edgefield Rectory, July 1880.
This book is the private property of me, Walter Herbert Marcon, and not of the parish or the church wardens. I wish my executors to give it after my death to the next incumbent, after he has been duly instituted. I beg him to make provision that it may never fall into other hands.
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication
To view the church micro stats page, please click here
Please do not wander through any gates or onto any driveways. The cache is NOT on private land and can be accessed from the roadside.
The cache is a small camouflaged screw top round container with enough room for smallgeocoins and trackables. Please make sure the cache is covered when replacing. You will need to bring your own pen.