St John the Baptist and St Mary's Church is the parish church of Stiffkey in the English county of Norfolk. It is dedicated to St John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary; the double dedication is the result of, historically, there being two churches in the churchyard. St Mary's was deconsecrated in 1563, and abandoned; St John's then being renamed. [1] The church is best known for its association with Harold Davidson, the Rector of Stiffkey who was defrocked in 1932 and subsequently killed by a lion in Skegness.
The church is largely perpendicular, but the west tower and charnel are earlier. [2] There is a 4-bay perpendicular nave, with flushwork parapet. The chancel is late 13th or early 14th-century. There are surviving rood stairs on the south side of the nave. [3] There is a wall monument to Nathaniel Bacon, dating from before 1615, possibly by Maximilian Colt. [4] The church is Grade I listed. [5]
The war memorial is a wall tablet, depicting Calvary, [6] and commissioned by Davidson. [7]
The organ was built by the Positive Organ Company. [8] The organs built by the Positive Organ Company were generally small, one-manual instruments, designed to be mobile and well-suited for small churches. [9] [10] They were, however, undated: the company traded from 1898 to 1941, which provides some parameters to its date. [11] The organ was rebuilt in 1954, by Williamson & Hyatt of Trunch in Norfolk. [12]
In 1769 the parish of Stiffkey was consolidated with All Saints, Morston. [13] In 1972 it was consolidated with St Andrew and St Mary, Langham Episcopi. [14] It was further consolidated in 1976, with All Saints Cockthorpe (now redundant, and in the care of Norfolk Churches Trust) [15] and Binham Priory. [16] It was consolidated again in 2003, with St Mary, Gunthorpe, All Saints, Bale, St Andrew, Field Dalling, St Margaret, Saxlingham and All Saints, Sharrington, to now form the Benefice of Stiffkey (St John and St Mary) and Bale. [17]
The church is best known for Harold Davidson (1875-1937), Rector 1906–32. Born to an ecclesiastical family, Davidson initially pursued a career as a stage comedian. Nevertheless, he then attended Exeter College, Oxford, and was ordained in 1903. He was appointed to the living of Stiffkey with Morston in 1906. Davidson was obsessed with the idea of rescuing 'fallen girls' (i.e. prostitutes), and spent his week, from Monday to Saturday, in London, ministering to young girls. His conduct in doing so resulted in him falling out with the churchwarden at Morston. In turn, this led to a complaint to the Bishop of Norwich, and a hearing in a consistory court in 1932. The court's verdict was that Davidson was guilty of five counts of immorality; as a result, the bishop defrocked him. Davidson returned to a career as a stage entertainer, initially at Blackpool, and then, eventually, in Skegness. It was in Skegness that he performed a Daniel in the lions' den routine with an elderly, toothless lion. Attacked by the lion, he died of his injuries. He was buried in the churchyard at Stiffkey; the inscription on his grave describes him as 'Priest'. [18]
Other clergy of note include:
Notable burials include:
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