All Saints Church Interior, 21st May 2024

This is the first of my village recordings to have taken place inside a building; that of All Saints Church. The church sits in the heart of the village, and is open to the public during the week for quiet reflection. I wanted to capture the ambiance of the building and to see if any sounds of the building creaking etc. could be heard. Despite trying on two occasions any interior sounds were largely absent. Instead, the thick walls filter out most of the the village soundscape, with the noise of a lawnmower, planes and passing cars being some of the only discernible sounds. This is in stark contrast to the bubbling atmosphere of services (especially the Christmas crib service). As the only visitor during that particular time of day, it was an immensely peaceful time. My recording equipment was positioned before the substantial memorial to Judge John Clench (c. 1535 - 1607). Clench owned land in and around Holbrook and was an English judge, a Serjeant-at-Law, Baron of the Exchequer and Justice of the Queen's Bench during the late Tudor period. Clench was present at the hearing of Margaret Clitherow of York; a catholic woman accused of harbouring Catholic but who refused to to enter a plea. She was subsequently pressed to death by a sharp rock being placed under her back, her own front door placed over her body and a huge weight of rocks and stones piled on top. It is said that it took her 15 minutes to die and that her body was left like this for six hours. She was pregnant with her fourth child at the time. I would like to extend by gratitude to the Reverend Jenny Seggar for allowing me to record on church property. This episode was made possible through funding from Arts Council England through their Developing Your Creative Practice grant.