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| View from the West Side | View from the South Side |
| The story of the Christian faith in Rudston starts, surprisingly enough, with the
monolith: it was there, at the obvious gathering point for the local inhabitants, that the
first missionaries to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to this village would have preached.
So successful was their preaching that the village became known as Rudston, from Old English
'rood', the cross of Jesus, and 'stone'. The Monolith and the church from the east side. |
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If they had built a church immediately, it would have been of wood and no trace has survived.
Given the number of foreign invaders and the unsettled times, it isn't surprising that
by the time the Doomsday Book was written in 1086, It records no church building in Rudston.
Shortly after the Norman conquest, probably around 1100, the then Lord of the Manor,
William Peverel, had a new church built. From that period dates the tower. You can still see
the stonework of the original entrance at the west end of the church, where the vestry window
now is.
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The original entrance. See text above. |  |
The Norman Font: Around 900 years of age and still in use! |
Also from that period is the font, standing now at the 'new' entrance to the
church. When people become Christians and join the church, they are baptised in the font,
which is why fonts are nearly always to be found near church doorways. It is a fascinating
thought that the babies and adults baptised today are using the same font as their Norman
predecessors and that it (and the church building as a whole) has been in continuous use for
some nine hundred years!
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The "Four-Manual" Organ |  |
A Piscina |
Click the picture for a large view.
The church was enlarged in the 13th century, when the north and south aisles
were added. That is also the date of the chancel arch, at the junction of the choir (that is,
the part of the building where the choir stalls are) and the nave (that is, the main body of
the church); and slightly later are the sedilia, or stone seats, in the sanctuary (that is,
the part of the church beyond the altar rail).
If you stand at the east end of the north
aisle you can see that the choir was lengthened from it's original early-13th century
dimensions by looking into the odd hole to your right. That was a 'squint' so that people
in the north aisle could see the altar - the trouble is, the squint doesn't point at the altar
any more; and in any event, it has been blocked up…..
Next to the squint is a piscina, a
sink for washing the vessels used for Holy Communion, which shows that a side altar once stood
at the end of the north aisle. A further piscina can be seen in the sanctuary - this time still
in use.
Most of the rest of what can be seen dates from the Victorian period, when in the 1860's the architect G. Fowler Jones redecorated the church. From that time comes the reredos, or panelling behind the altar, with its' extraordinary selection of colour in the Minton tiles; the tiling on the floor; and the eccentric lamps in the nave and aisles. Perhaps someone found the reredos a bit too bright for their taste, for it disappeared behind a coat of distemper until 'rediscovered' in 1970! |
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A view towards the altar, take a close look at the eccentric lamps! |
In the sanctuary you will also see the altar, where Holy Communion is regularly
celebrated. On the night before he died, Jesus took bread and said, 'This is my body' and wine
and said, 'This is my blood'; and he told the disciples to maintain that service. It is still
the most important service in nearly all of the church and has different names according to
different traditions: 'the Eucharist', 'the Lord's Supper', 'the Mass', 'the Sacrament', 'the
Liturgy', are all names that are used, as well as 'Holy Communion', to describe one and the
same service.
In the north wall of the sanctuary is the aumbry, a wall-safe containing the
Reserved Sacrament, Holy Communion for the sick & housebound. A light burns over it to
show the presence of Christ there. Turn around from the aumbry and you will see the splendid
organ case. Sir Alexander Macdonald of the Isles had a four-manual organ built--over twice the
size of what would be normal for a village church-and played it himself. You can see him at
the console in the stained glass over the console now. It was the first organ outside London
whose bellows were electrically operated. Having been reduced to two manuals, it now once more
been extended to three. (See the next page for a look at the stained glass window.)