Tea or Coffee with a biscuit?

I had the mindset of a casual, inquisitive tourist and not, as required in a formal Church service, a humble and penitent demeanour.

It had been a mistake for me to look up the architectural and historic details of the particular church but it was a nice thing to be able to do ,on the sunday morning , over coffee and toast and before getting ready to go.

It was also quite an interesting bit of background reading in my thick, chunky volume of Pevsner's Buildings of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

On a purely secular basis I was looking forward to seeing, at first hand, the much admired interior as described by Mr Pevsner and this in spite of his rather dismissive opinion of the exterior. This he felt had been somewhat vandalised by mid Victorian enthusiasm for cement render over the original stonework. The origins of the building are Medieval, reputed to be from the early 1300's and with many very prolonged subsequent phases of alteration and enlargement through to the mid 19th Century large scale re-modelling.

There was a very evident sense of heritage on walking through the archway which, unusually, forms part of the pedestrian pavement. I pushed open the very heavy, cumbersome and intrusively creaky oak doors very much against the flow of shoppers and those yet to get home from a saturday night out in the city centre pubs and clubs. It is a heritage that comes alive with the all pervading odours in an old building of dampness, fustiness and a fine layer of dust amongst the pages of hymn books and pew bibles.

The church, some twenty minutes from the scheduled start of the morning worship, was vibrating under the tolling of heavy brass bells and the hushed tones of those preparing to administer and receive. I slid onto the bench seat as far back from the front and as close as possible to the door in order to observe proceedings inconspicuosly.

Later arrivals, their welcome indicating them to be regulars, glanced at me in a regular procession. I felt a bit hot and flushed , thinking it to be from this passing attention and loosened two of my three layers of scarf, coat and cardigan before realising that I was sat on the pew directly in front of the sole radiator for the whole building. Although it was generating a great temperature of dry heat it was a losing battle against such a draughty and stone-cold environment.

I do have some experience of religious services from compulsory attendance when younger at a time when a third of my family made up the choir at our local church. Then, there appeared to me to be just one universal format to Church of England worship. Now it is a bit of a leap of faith what you will get even from parish to parish.

I was informed that St Mary's was in the Anglo Catholic mould. This appeared to be playing out as a wisp of vapour took to the cold air across the Nave. There was however no distinctive smell of incense. A hissing noise pinpointed the source of the emission as the water boiler in the curtained off alcove amongst the Tupperware sealed custard cream biscuits.

The service was mainly sung but with the largest proportion of those present being in an official capacity I had a good, strong vocal lead to follow. The hymn choice was very traditional and I recognised the tunes if not ye olde words. The final blessing came around too soon.I can give a favourable report on my fact finding mission.

Back home, still in the warm glow that comes from worship and the output of a large cast iron radiator I re-read Pevsner and ticked off in true I-Spy style the features of the church I had seen. On my next visit I would be quite happy to relinquish the hot seat. This was not out of consideration for others but out of a sense of self preservation. Apparently the tower under which I had been sitting had collapsed in 1518 demolishing the whole west end of the building. A little knowledge, in the hands of those with little faith, can  lead to unnecessary perceptions of danger and peril. I will make sure to listen carefully and prayerfully next time in church rather than be seduced by architectural ornament and the finer points of Victorian cement render.