Little Bispham - All Hallows

Postcard circa 1900's

Another from 1910 onwards.

I love cobbled walls , round the back of the house just near the church is this fantastic cobbled wall !

Kate and I were trying to figure out thou why some of it had been bricked up ?

Taken in 2014 

On a rare open day the Church laid out some photo's and paintings they have ! Painting below and after that an actual image - one of the people on the tour ( quite mature ) said that he remembered the stone cottage and wished it was still there.

Next I must thank Brian Hughes & Michelle Harris for the following information as they know much more than I do with regards to the church history

The Arch and the Zodiac

After almost one thousand years, as you might expect, little remains of Bispham’s Norman heritage. However, if you look closely enough, you might just be surprised. Take the entrance to All Hallows church, for instance, which has to be one of the finest examples of Norman craftsmanship you’re ever likely to see. Nowadays the arch is generally locked away from prying eyes, being it surrounded by a much later porch. However, when the church is open for business, it’s well worth taking a look. 
Here’s what the Victoria County History has to say about it: “The Norman arch appears to have stood untouched till 1883, when it was pulled down, the stones numbered, and rebuilt again in its original position.”

Nothing is ever straightforward with Blackpool’s history, however, and, whereas the chevron blocks are undoubtedly original, the County History continues: “Unfortunately in the rebuilding the whole of the stonework was re-chiselled and the Zodiacal carving was entirely re-cut.”
Exactly how close the carvings we can see nowadays are to the originals we’ll probably never know, the Norman originals having, apparently, been lost. Some of the modern replacements, however, also seem to have taken a battering, most notably Taurus, Cancer and Aquarius. The Victoria Country History mentions that the Norman versions of Cancer and Taurus were two of the least defaced.

It might be an idea to quickly run through the symbols for those not familiar with astrology. From the bottom left corner of the illustration to the top right then, we can see: Aries the Ram, Taurus the Bull, Gemini the Twins, Cancer the Crab, Leo the Lion and Virgo, whose job description speaks for itself. The blocks above them are all carved with typical Norman chevrons.

Unfortunately, there’s also some dispute as to whether or not the arch has always belonged to the church. Reverend Bulpit takes up the story in his ‘Notes from the Fylde’: “The Rev. C. S. Hope told me that there was a tradition that the Bispham Zodiac arch had been brought from elsewhere.”

Records verifying Reverend Hope’s assertion, however, don’t appear to exist, so it’s highly possible that the tradition originated from some cynical local historian refusing to believe that anything relating to Blackpool’s Norman heritage could still be found.

 

 

However, Robins Lane was almost certainly a keeill road and originally ran to All Hallows church. Nowadays, the lane has been amputated at its junction with Kincraig Road, but, according to old maps, originally it continued around the pond ( see left - thanks to Brian for the sketch )


All Hallows church also once had its own ‘holy well’. This, of course, is a good indication of its prehistoric roots. Although rebuilt in the seventeenth century, All Hallows church maintains evidences of an earlier structure dating back to the Norman times, firstly in the shape of a carved archway just within the porch, and secondly in the form of two circular Saxon steps constituting the base of a later cross-shaft in the churchyard. Almost certainly the grounds constituted a significant religious site, predating both of these ancient artefacts.