Cawston

The village is dominated by the tower of St. Agnes Church which rises to the height of 119 feet and 6 inches. Unlike most Norfolk churches the stones for the tower were brought from France. Cawston and Salle are widely regarded as two of the finest churches in the county. The poet John Betjeman famously said: 'Lovers of Norfolk churches can never agree which is the best and I think one is either a Salle or a Cawston man.' However, Betjeman's favourite Norfolk church was at Walpole St Peter.

St. Agnes Church Cawston

Cawston also has a magnificent hammer-beam roof decorated with winged angels. Looking up, it appears to be the hull of a wooden ship.

The hammer-beam roof

In the north aisle, which is associated with the Plow Guild, there is an old plough and the sign from the Plough Inn at Sygate which reads:

'God spede the plow and send us ale corn enow our purpose for to make at crow of cok of the plowlete of Sygate: be mert and glade war good ale yis work mad.'

The mystery writer Kate Charles set her 1995 novel Evil Angels Among Them in the fictional village of 'Walston' which is probably based on Cawston.

The novelist, actor and TV presenter Stephen Fry attended Cawston Primary School for a short period of time in 1965. His family had recently moved to a house in the nearby village of Booton and Fry records his first impressions of the school in his autobiography Moab is My Washpot. Many years later he also opened a fete in the village which prompted him to recall Norfolk fetes from 20-30 years ago. Here is his wonderful description:

'At East Anglian country gatherings there was dwile flonking - now sadly replaced by the more self-conscious urban appeal of welly throwing. There was bowling for a pig - in those days country people knew how to look after a pig, I expect today's average Norfolk citizen if confronted by such an animal would scream, run away and sue. There was throwing the wet sponge at the rector (or vicar - generally speaking Norfolk villages thought it smarter to have a rector than a vicar - I believe the difference is, or was, that the bishop chooses a vicar and the local landowner chooses a rector). There were bottle stalls, bran tubs filled with real bran, Guess the Weight of the Ram for a Penny competitions, coconut shies and tractor or traction engine rides for sixpence.'

Links:

St. Agnes Church

Stephen Fry

John Betjeman

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