Fingle to continue their bat survey

Nature

Going Batty

16th August 2017

This week Dr Matt Zeale and Andy Carr from the University of Bristol are returning to Fingle to continue their bat survey. Back in June I was lucky enough to join them for the first of four evenings of detecting and trapping…

Though it was only late afternoon, as we assembled at the Fingle Bridge the moths were out and the midges were beginning to bite which, we were assured, boded well for a successful night. Our evening started with a tour around Fingle so Matt and Andy could familiarise themselves with the woods and identify potential trapping locations. As we drove, Andy explained that to date very little bat surveying has taken place in Fingle (the only exception being a number of emergence surveys on the larch that had to be clear felled because it was infected with phytophthora).

Their excitement at trapping somewhere that hadn’t been trapped before was palpable. Members of the Fingle team were no less eager as understanding what species are present is vital for our restoration and management of the woods. Matt and Andy had therefore been asked to conduct an audit of sorts, using bat detectors and traps to identify what species of bats are present. Although they were keen to stress that the survey isn’t definitive, if we don’t record a particular species it doesn’t mean it isn’t here. But four nights of trapping, two in June and two this week, should provide us with a good picture.

We were on the lookout for locations to site two different styles of trap, mist nets and harp traps. Mist nets are typically made of a fine polyester or nylon mesh suspended between two aluminium poles (so it resembles a volleyball net) and are approximately 6 metres wide. We were therefore looking for a narrow, natural tunnel where the net can span the gap in the vegetation, as bats have a tendency to fly in the middle, equidistant from all vegetation.

A bat caught in the fine mesh of the mist net

Harp traps are smaller than mist nets, measuring approximately 3m wide and 4m high. We were therefore keeping our eyes peeled for a small window in the vegetation in which to site the device. It comprised a stainless steel frame with dozens of fine filaments stretched from top to bottom. It capitalises on bats’ flight characteristic of turning perpendicular to the ground to pass between obstacles (in this case the traps strings) but as they can’t maintain that angle of flight they drop unharmed into a catch bag below. This bag means harp traps are less labour intensive than mist nets as they only have to be checked every 30 minutes (and don’t carry a risk of entanglement). As the trap is only small they are often used in conjunction with a lure to increase effectiveness. A lure plays bat echolocation and social calls (either synthetic or playback), tricking them into thinking there are other bats in the area. As we were trying to see which species are present our lures were programmed to cycle through a mix of different species calls.

 

A harp trap filling a small window in the vegetation

 

Matt setting up the lure

As surveying takes place at sunset, after we had found some suitable locations for the traps we retired to the pub to have some food to sustain us for the long night ahead. Replete, we returned to the woods to set up the traps. As the birdsong drifted away we hoisted the first of the two mist nets into the natural tunnel created by the vegetation overhanging the riverside track. This process required great care as the fine mesh nets can easily become tangled or damaged. In the dappled dusk light the net was virtually invisible, a point reiterated by the fact that we had no sooner put the net up when a bat flew into it (Tom and I were still clinging to the poles as Matt had gone to grab the guy lines). Terribly excited by our instant success we summoned Matt back to discover it was a soprano Pipistrelle. We were suitably impressed that he was able to identify it by its musty smell; an ID confirmed when he checked the markings on its wings. With the sound of a tawny owl in the distance heralding night-fall we hurried to erect the other mist net on the path that leads down from the Hillfort, whilst Andy put up three harp traps.

As soon as the traps were in place excited shouts of “Matt” and “Bat” (often indistinguishable) were ringing through the air from every direction. The mist nets proved productive with five Pipistrelle (including two sopranos of which one was lactating) and a heavily pregnant Barbastelle. The Barbastelle has a distinctive pug-shaped nose and is very rare, with numbers in the UK only thought to be around 5000. This was therefore a very exciting find although we were divided over whether its squashed nose was endearing or ugly! It also yielded my favourite find of the evening, a brown long-eared bat. Long-ears are unmistakable, with (as the name suggests) very long, ram like, ears.

 

One of the many Pipistrelle bats we caught

Next we set about checking the catch bags on the harp traps. On first inspection the bag was empty but Andy’s trained eye spotted a bat tucked in the top right hand corner, which was a female Daubenton. As a widespread species mostly found in woodlands which roosts close to water, its appearance wasn’t perhaps surprising.

As we were walking along the river to check on the other two harp traps, we heard a really loud splash and turned to see huge ripples emanating from a spot in the river below us. I suspected it was an otter, a suspicion later confirmed by an unmistakable chirping noise. You could also just make out Daubenton bats skimming the surface of the water, again a sighting confirmed by the fact that the bat detectors in our hands (which divides the frequency of the calls by 8 to make them audible) was busy picking up common Pips and Daubenton’s.

The first harp trap we checked was empty but the second had a bat in it. Andy established that it wasn’t pregnant so he let us put our identification to the test with the help of the FSC (Field Studies Council) guide. The guide was very good and clear until we tried to distinguish between the different Pipistrelle species. However, with Andy’s help we established it was a non-breeding female Soprano.

We returned to find they had found another brown long-eared in the harp trap and a pregnant common Pipistrelle. We all called it a night at midnight leaving Andy and Matt and Tom (our gadget volunteer) to finish the last couple of hours of surveying in peace.

Cornish Tin

Cornish

TinCornwall is justly proud of its ancient tin industry that began nearly 4,000 years ago during the Bronze Age. Cornish Tin was mined by our Celtic ancestors and exported to Europe and the Middle East where it was used in making weapons and tools. Nowhere in the world was tin mining so engrained into the local culture as Cornwall and especially so during the 19th and 20th centuries

Alternative Title: tinstone Cassiterite,

Alternative Title: tinstone

Cassiterite, also called tinstone, heavy, metallic, hard tin dioxide (SnO2) that is the major ore of tin. It is colourless when pure, but brown or black when iron impurities are present. Commercially important quantities occur in placer deposits, but cassiterite also occurs in granite and pegmatites. Early in the 15th century, the cassiterite veins in Saxony and Bohemia were mined for tin; peak production occurred there in the 17th century. In the 18th and much of the 19th centuries, the very large vein deposits of Cornwall were the major source of tin. Today most of the world’s cassiterite is mined in Malaysia, Indonesia, Bolivia, Nigeria, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and parts of China; other countries produce smaller amounts. For detailed physical properties, see oxide mineral (table).

The Teign Gorge

• Located in Chagford, Devon, South West England, England
• The Teign Gorge is a stunning wooded valley by the National Trust's Castle Drogo and Gardens located towards the northern border of Dartmoor National Park
• The River Teign runs along the valley floor as it flows from the high moors down to the Devon coast at Teignmouth
• Tors and attractions within the Teign Gorge include Hunter's Tor, Sharp Tor and Fingle Bridge
• A section of the Dartmoor Way runs along the valley floor and a short stretch of the Two Moors Way cuts around the high valley side
• Extremely popular at weekends/during holiday periods, we'd recommend starting from the parking area at Fingle Bridge Inn by Fingle Bridge. It gets very busy, so if you're exploring the area in those times, be patient
• We'd also recommend lunch or a drink in the ancient stannary town of Chagford or the pretty village of Drewsteignton, both of which are close by
• Other wooded valleys on the fringes of Dartmoor National Park include Lustleigh Cleave and Lydford Gorge and Waterfall, Belstone Cleave and Canonteign Falls. The Dart Gorge by Ashburton is a joy

Case Study 10 

Fernworthy Forest, Dartmoor, Devon 

Location and ownership of woodlands 

This case study deals with the Forestry Commission’s Fernworthy Forest block on Dartmoor, some six miles south-west of Moretonhampstead. The total area of Fernworthy Forest is some 575ha (~1400 acres) of which ~150ha (~375 acres) has been designated for demonstration implementation of alternative silvicultural systems. The area of most relevance for ATC demonstration purposes is centred at SX 656835. 

These woodlands are owned and managed by the Forestry Commission, in consultation with South West Water who manage the neighbouring Fernworthy Reservoir. The vast majority of the site consists of twentieth century spruce plantations onto open upland moorland. Ferworthy Forest lies within the Dartmoor National Park and the South Dartmoor SSSI site, in a highly-sensitive landscape. 

Significance/ reasons for selection as case-study example 

This site has been selected as a case-study within this project for two main reasons:- 

1. It is one of the rather few examples where there is well-developed application of alternative silvicultural systems to perpetuation of upland Sitka spruce (adoption scenario 6). It can be compared with the Cwm Berwyn, Cefn Llwyd and Clocaenog cases. In an isolated plantation block within the sensitive Dartmoor landscape, adoption of ATC offers one approach to increasing public acceptance as a recreational resource, alongside timber production and watershed protection. 

2. The site is one of the Forestry Commission network of alternative silviculture demonstration sites and hence is fairly well recorded in terms of inventory and past silvicultural operations applied. Stands range from well-developed ATC with a complex structure, to young stands receiving a first ATC-directed thinning. This makes it a valuable ATC demonstration example for high yield Sitka spruce. 

Owner objectives for management (including adoption of ATC systems) 

The Forestry Commission in England manages its estates for a combination of economic timber production, conservation and recreational amenity objectives. The balance between these objective sets varies with the type of forest and its location. At Fernworthy Forest priorities have been economic timber production, catchment/ freshwater protection and recreational amenity. ATC is employed on a site specific basis by FC in support of management objectives. Alternative silvicultural systems are being adopted within this forest for demonstration purposes, and due to perception that landscape factors made perpetuation of forest cover a key priority and that existing spruce stands were regenerating. ATC should have significant economic benefits in terms of reduced restocking costs, environmental benefits by limiting the scope for siltation from clearfell operations and recreational amenity benefits in terms of maintaining a permanently forested landscape for the visitor experience.  

Biophysical characteristics of the site 

The areas of Fernworthy Forest of principle interest for ATC demonstration lie on the lower slopes surrounding the southern end of Fernworthy Reservoir and range in elevation from 350-400m asl, with north-easterly aspect. Other areas reach 500m asl. 

The climate of the site is fairly warm and wet [ESC AT5 ~1260 dd, MD ~75 mm, annual rainfall ~1840 mm] with a rather exposed wind regime for ATC [DAMS = 17]. The solid geology is of intrusive Dartmoor granite. Soils are primarily of the peaty podzolic type, in some cases with a substantial accumulation of peat. Hence these soils would typically have ESC SMR of Moist and ESC SNR of Very Poor. 

Terrain is moderate across most of the forest, with only 20% by area posing issues for conventional harvesting and forwarding machinery. The site has relatively good road access for silvicultural management and timber extraction over a network of internal tracks and rides, giving egress onto a nearby minor public road. However subsequent timber transport in the East Dartmoor locality is sensitive, with the busy visitor season to be avoided. There is public access thoughout the forest with basic visitor facilities. 

Stand history and current composition 

Fernworthy Forest is dominated by pure Sitka spruce crops established between 1920 and 1980 (with some younger stands being the second rotation on the site). These are high yielding crops with YC 14-24, average 16 for the forest as a whole but likely to be 18-24 for the more sheltered productive areas now under ATC transformation. The forest is notable for the development of large-diameter Sitka spruce with tree sizes in excess of 3m3 in the mature overstorey. There are also small areas of large-diameter Douglas fir, some western hemlock which regenerates strongly onto clearfelled sites and a limited amount of Japanese larch. Lower parts of the forest are already developing considerable structural diversity as a result of early advance regeneration. 

Silvicultural treatments applied to date and intended future silviculture 

A proportion of the older, well-thinned p1920’s and p1930’s spruce stands had “self converted” by advance regeneration prior to the formal ATC trial being established. The main silvicultural approach adopted since 2004 at Fernworthy Forest has been transformation thinning. While some of the older stands had received motor-manual intermediate first thinnings and brashing prior to establishment of the ATC demonstration project, younger stands had not. Thinning is now carried out using standard forestry harvester and forwarder equipment sets, although as the proportion of larger trees >0.7m3 increases, motor-manual initial felling and lower-stem crosscutting is required. Permanent racks are installed through the younger crops at 15m spacing, from which the intervening matrix can be intermediate first thinned by harvester reach without ground pressure within the growing area. Subsequent thinning strategy adopts a frame-tree selection/ crown thinning method by contrast to the standard intermediate or low thinning typically used in clearfell-restock forestry. Two different experimental stand treatments are applied depending on the desired final stand structure (a) simple two-storied shelterwood and (b) complex irregular. It has 

been found to be necessary to pre-mark frame trees prior to mechanised thinning as harvester cabs did not allow adequate visibility for feller-select crown thinning. Later thinning operations may require much greater dependence on motor-manual working. 

Considerable experience has been gained in avoiding damage to dense natural regeneration when thinning the over-storey in the older stands - this depends on effective directional felling when motor-manual techniques are used, coupled with carefell take-down control and lift-out to racks when mechanised harvester are used. Skidding has been considered inappropriate due to the greater risks of regeneration damage. Due to rapid growth rates, some natural regeneration in mature stands now requires respacing, which will be carried out with brush-cutters when 6ft in height. 

Evaluation of current silvicultural status in terms of ATC adoption/ regeneration 

Although formal conversion to alternative silvicultural systems only began at Fernworthy Forest in 2004, the profuse level of advance spruce regeneration and the rapid growth rates achieved in the forest mean that substantial areas have already reached developmental category 2 (progressive/ mature transformation) while others are at developmental category 3 (early-stage transformation). The most advanced areas have begun to develop some complexity and irregularity in their structure, while other areas are essentially uniform two-storeyed spruce shelterwoods. Continuation of ATC silvicultural transformation at Fernworthy Forest appears to be secure, as it is proving successful and forms an established part of the FC national ATC network. 

Commentary on inventory and monitoring protocols/ demonstration potential 

This site forms part of the Forestry Commission ATC demonstration site network and hence has an existing regime of enumeration for inventory and research purposes, using the protocols set out in FCIN45. The site therefore has considerable and ongoing ATC demonstration value and potential. The site is potentially suitable for both organised and self-guided learning visits, but, for the latter option, there would need to be a significant investment in interpretation materials (probably portable). 

Commentary on economic and operational implications of ATC adoption 

Economic and operational aspects of ATC adoption at Fernworthy Forest have been assessed and reported as a case-study within FR IPIN 13/06. The large size of some spruce trees has posed a challenge both in terms of the need for motor-manual felling and subsequent outsize marketing. Careful brash management to protect forwarding and extraction routes is required in case of thinning operations generating less brash. 

Other relevant field examples recorded within the project 

As an example of the application of ATC working to near-pure upland Sitka spruce, experiences at Fernworthy Forest can be compared with the Welsh examples at Cwm Berwyn and Cefn Llwyd Forests (Case Study 11), Clocaenog Forest (previous report) and the upland Scottish work at Kilmichael and Penninghame Forests (Case Study 12). Work at Fernworthy has been successful in large part, but for a number of reasons has not been as prominently reported as that at Clocaenog and Cefn Llwyd.

CADBURY, MID DEVON, DEVON

© Mr Brian Pearce

IoE Number: 437165
Location: CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS,
  CADBURY, MID DEVON, DEVON
Photographer: Mr Brian Pearce
Date Photographed: 03 September 2003
Date listed: 05 April 1966
Date of last amendment: 05 April 1966
Grade I

The Images of England website consists of images of listed buildings based on the statutory list as it was in 2001 and does not incorporate subsequent amendments to the list. For the statutory list and information on the current listed status of individual buildings please go to The National Heritage List for England.

SS 90 SWCADBURY8/38Church of St Michael and All Angels5.4.66GVI

SS 90 SW CADBURY 8/38 Church of St Michael and All Angels 5.4.66 GV I Parish church. C12 font ; tower possibly C13 (q.v. Bickleigh): circa early C16 north aisle ; restoration of circa 1840 ; further restoration of 1857 by William White. Volcanic trap rubble with freestone (mostly Bathstone) dressings ; asbestos slate roofs ; C19 crested ridge tiles to nave and chancel. Plan of nave, chancel, west tower, 4-bay north arcade (1 bay to the chancel), south porch. The development of the church is not clear but it may have been a nave and chancel church with west tower in the C13, extended by a 4-bay aisle in the circa early C16. The porch is also early C16 origin. In 1843 the east and tower windows were described as "New" as were the altar and communion rails. The chancel roof may also date from the same phase. In 1857 William White rebuilt the south wall, replaced the north side windows and replaced the nave roof. The chancel has an east gable coped with Ham Hill and crowned with a cross, a 3-light circa 1840 Perpendicular east window with a hoodmould. The two south windows are both William White : one cinquefoil-headed light to the east and a 2-light Decorated style window to the west. Between them is a characteristically William White feature; a narrow priests' door inserted in a wide buttress with set-offs. The doorway is chamfered and stopped with a pointed segmental arch with a 2 plank door with strap hinges. To the east of the porch the nave has a William White window with 3 flush trefoil-headed lights, similar 2-light window to the west of the porch. The north aisle has coped north and south gables crowned with crosses and 3-light 1840 north and south windows, the east window with a hoodmould. The north side windows are 1857 by William White as is the C19 buttress with set- offs. The windows are asymmetrically-placed ; two 3-light windows with trefoil- headed lights and a similar 1-light window to the west. 3 stage unbuttresed, battlemented west tower without pinnacles or string courses. The tower is slightly battered with a large projecting rectangular north stair turret with slit windows. The tower has similarities to Bickleigh (q.v.) although the battlementing has been rebuilt. The west face has a volcanic trap shallow-moulded doorway with a pointed segmental arch, cushion stops and a C19 plank and cover strip door with strap hinges. 3-light circa 1840 Perpendicular west window with a hoodmould; 2-light belfry opening, the lintel a C19 replacement giving trefoil-headed lights, the original probably being cinquefoil-headed, the form of the belfry opening on the north face. The belfry openings on the east and south faces are granite with 2 segmental arched lights. The south face has a cinquefoil-headed opening at bellringers' stage. The porch has a coped gable, crowned with a cross and flush buttresses with set-offs; double-chamfered 2-centred doorway in volcanic trap, the inner order dying into the walls. The interior of the porch has timber-topped benches and a circa early C16 2- bay arch braced roof with moulded purlins and a collar purlin, the southernmost truss is a C19 replacement. Moulded 2-centred inner doorway in volcanic trap with cushion stops, door probably C20 but incorporating an earlier lock box. Interior Plastered walls; timber chancel arch formed by the abutment of the nave and chancel roofs ; plain tower arch with panelled soffit. Black and red C19 tiled dado. The 4-bay arcade has been painted but is probably Beerstone with shallow-moulded Tudor arches, piers with corner shafts and good, varied carved capitals. The aisle roof is probably early C16, a keeled unceiled waggon with the principal ribs moulded. The chancel roof, possibly circa 1840, is of similar design but with a carved wallplate and carved bosses. William White's 3-bay nave roof is arch braced with a collar purlin and collars between the common rafters which have diagonal boarding behind them. The easternmost truss, which forms the chancel arch, is carried on painted wooden posts on corbels. Numerous fittings of interest. The reredos is said to be 1890 (Church Guide, n.d.) but looks earlier : perhaps it is 1840 with later marble embellishments. It extends the width of the east end with gabled commandment boards to left and right and a central nodding ogee flanked by blind arcading. Polychromatic marble to the niches includes a corbel to support an altar cross. Stone credence table supported on a marble demi-angel. The floor tiling includes memorials to members of the Coleridge family and is probably 1857 ; timber Gothic communion rail of 1840. The altar, in situ in 1843 (Davidson), is made up of fine minutely-traceried panels, probably C16 and unlikely to be of English craftsmanship. The choir has some interesting stalls made up of a mixture of medieval and C19 bench ends; 1 bench end is especially interesting, shouldered with a crocketted head and carved with intersecting tracery very similar to the notable set at Atherington is North Devon. Unusual C17 lectern originally from Ottery St Mary (Cresswell) with strapwork decoration and a turned stem. Stone drum pulpit, possibly circa 1840, decorated with blind arches. Unusual, probably C12 volcanic trap font with a square bowl, scallopped underneath on a round stem with decoration on the plinth. The stem and plinth are C19. The font cover, circa 1840, clearly not designed for the present font, has an ogival profile and is carved with blind tracery. The benches in the nave are utilitarian C19 with rectangular ends. The east end of the south aisle is a family pew screened off by a low early C19 Gothic screen. A number of interest monuments. In the floor at the east end of the south aisle 3 ledger stones of the early C17 including a particularly fine one commemorating George Fursdon, died 1643, which includes armorial bearings in relief and a verse "Bee dumbe thou influence of officious verse/Fursdon esquier lyes veild within this herse/Twoold bee to rude an insolence to his shrine/too cloathe transcendent merit with a line"/. Early C19 grey and white marble wall monument on the north wall of the chancel to George Fursdon, died 1837, signed E. Gaffin, Regent St. London. Late C18 grey and white marble obelisk wall monument in the aisle to Charles Hale, died 1795, with a long inscription on a white marble sarcophagus. Also in the aisle a white marble wall monument to Elizabeth Lyon, died 1789, signed Kendall, Exon : an obelisk with a draped urn. Several other C19 wall monuments. Important late C15 stained glass in the east window of the north aisle, moved from the east window. A central figure of Christ showing his wounds was clearly originally part of a 7 sacraments design by the Doddiscombsleigh atelier of glass painters and is the largest single surviving figure from the workshop outside Exeter Cathedral. The flanking lights are probably by the Hardman company who provided 2 windows in the north aisle and 1 in the south aisle. Westernmost window in the south aisle by Clayton and Bell with a memorial date of 1877. Chancel windows by Beer of Exeter. A chest in the vestry (curtained off at the west end of the aisle) is said to be 1606 (Cresswell) and retains some painted decoration. A fine Church with notable glass and a good restoration by William White. Davidson, "Church Notes East of Devon", MS is West Country Studies Library, pp. 493- 498 Cresswell B., "Notes on Devon Churches, Deanery of Tiverton ; typescript in West Country Studies Library Devon Nineteenth Century Churches Project Illustration of the Church in 1842 in W. Spreat, Picturesque Sketches of the Churches of Devon (1842)

Naturam Cambela fontis

Naturam Cambela fontis
       Mutatam ftupet efle fui, tranfcendit in undas Sanguineus torrens ripas, et ducit in aequor Corpora caeforum ; plures natare videres,
       Et petere auxilium quos undis vita reliquit.”Natur y gwanwyn ar gyfer Campbell
        Roeddwn yn newid efle ftupet, tranfcendit lannau nant, yn y tonnau y Sanguineus, a mynd ag ef ymaith i mewn i'r môr o gyrff o CAEFS; gweld mwy o nofio;
        Ac mae'r tonnau o fywyd wedi gadael iddyn nhw, pwy i ofyn am help. "

SECRETS OF THE HIDDEN SOURCE IN SEA Parish: Chagford

SECRETS OF THE HIDDEN SOURCE

IN SEA

Parish: Chagford Ordnance Survey Explorer Map OL28 Another of Devon's Stannary towns. Today it is a delightful base from which to explore the fringes of the moor. Castle Drogo near here is sometimes called the last castle built in England, and its position overlooking the steep wooded slopes of the River Teign is very suggestive of a medieval defensive site. This National Trust property only dates from the last century but it is impressive w and so too is the much smaller burial chamber at Spinster's Rock, a couple ol miles away, which is more than 3000 years older than Castle Drogo. This is an area where careful study of the Ordnance Survey map will reveal much ol interest, including Chagford Bridge, Gidleigh Castle and the standing stones and stone rows on Chagford Common. 37 DRUID'S WELL Grid Reference: SX716861. Good public access; the well is l»v the roadside. The name supports the appeal ance of this well as the massive moss-covered granite slabs loo) a if they have stood here for cvei However this may not be for m 11 < I i longer as a recent collision wilb it vehicle has shifted the stones lit the extent that they now lonl In danger of collapse, and the* '•pilii| which they protect is t hoi*ml with mud and debris. The slle I* next to Middlecott whicli was rt Domesday settlement and clime by are two ancient stone < nm*nH known as Middlecott Cross anti Week Down Cross. These alt* early Christian monuments dalliii from 7th-9th centuries ami suggest that a route at mss I hit moor once ran through hen

St. Sexwulf.

44    SOME SAINTS OF STAFFORDSHIRE.

by only one meal a day, and her time was largely devoted to satisfying her craving for exhausting and painful prayer. She would remain in church all night and would recite daily, in addition to the usual monastic offices, the whole of the Psalter, remaining on her knees, it is said, until the labour of love was done. To my unchastened mind it seems that she might have been much more usefully employed ; but the story is probably a pious exaggeration. Were any woman to remain on her knees while she recited the whole of the Psalter, she would probably suffer from bursitis patella so acutely as to prevent her kneeling at all.

St. Werburga lived to an advanced age and then, like St. Chad and others, experienced a premonition of her end. She therefore retired to Trentham where she passed away peacefully on the third of February, 699.

Her body, at her own request, was taken to the monastery she had founded at Hanbury, where it remained until the year 708. It was then disinterred in the presence of Coelred, the King of Mercia, and was carried to Chester. In the course of time there was erected over the relics a stately church, which ultimately became the cathedral we know to-day.

In a record for the year 1180, we read of her relics being carried through Chester in order to quell a raging fire which had baffled all ordinary methods of extinction. During the reign of Henry VIII. the shrine was desecrated and the relics scattered abroad. What remained of the shrine was converted into the throne that is used by the bishops of Chester at the present day. It is adorned with sculptures of the Kings of Mercia; but probably the fabric was not erected until the close of the 15th century.

St. Sexwulf.

The year 675 was memorable in the history of the see of Lichfield. Archbishop Theodore was resolved that the unwieldy diocese, occupying the whole of Mercia, should be subdivided; Winfrid, the bishop, was resolved that things should remain as they were. Theodore was not the man to brook opposition, and in the year 675 he formally deposed Winfrid from the see. In his place ho appointed another of our Saints of Staffordshire, St. Soxwulf.

Sexwulf founded the great abbey of Medeshampstead (now Peterborough), and his extraordinary activities throughout the whole of the diocese earned for him the honour of canonisation. And, in truth, the episcopacy in those days was even less of a sinecure than it is to-day.

First and foremost, it was obligatory that many hours, both by day and night, should be spent in prayer. Again, every man trained to the priesthood was compelled to practice some kind of manual labour. This was a duty imposed on the priest while supervising his village flock, and on the bishops whilst governing a diocese more than one third the size of England. Some of the clergy, following the example of St. Paul, followed the more humble crafts; others, more cultivated, enriched their altars with chalices and patens wrought in precious metals, and added to their libraries manuscripts embellished with exquisitely finished illuminations. St. Dunstan, for example, worked in all the metals and was, moreover, a maker of church bells and organs. St. Wilfrid wrote the four Gospels in letters of gold on a purple ground, and presented them to the church at Ripon. In the days of Sexwulf, “ the dignity of labour ” was something more than a political catchword.

He spent much time in teaching and almsgiving, and more still, of course, in the administration of the diocese. Furthermore, he was an exalted member of the judiciary. To travellers of all nations and to the ecclesiastic with a grievance he was by law directed to consider himself “ a kinsman and a protector,” a phrase which exactly epitomises the revolution that Christianity had wrought in the national conscience. It was no empty phrase. When Rochester was destroyed by the Danes, the bishop of that place sought refuge with Sexwulf who at once found him a church at Hereford. He took, as I have said, an active part in the administration of the law, and diligently attended the chief courts of justice in his diocese, more especially the half-yearly shire-motes, where, by virtue of his office, he presided over the bench of ealdor-men. Here his superior education enabled him to instruct the ignorant, and his episcopal authority helped to control the passionate and prejudiced; more important still, it checked the besetting tendency of litigants to appeal to the pagan practices of their forefathers.

His sacred calling gave him power also to arbitrate over family feuds and to put an end to domestic strife. That is always a

SOME SAINTS OF STAFFORDSHIRE.St. Werburga.

42    SOME SAINTS OF STAFFORDSHIRE.

“ The things you tell me would be more likely to work faith in me if the hart were to appear in answer to your prayer.”

Then did Chad prostrate himself in prayer, and the thicket stirred, and, behold, the hart was standing before them. And the saint instructed Wulfhad, and anon baptised him.

Wulfhad betook him home and told his brother Rufin that he had become a Christian. “ I, also,” said the other, “ have long wished for baptism. I will go seek holy Chad.”

Werbode, however, had made himself privy to all that was afoot. Wherefore, he sought out the King and told him that the young men had become Christians, and were at that moment worshipping with the man called Chad.

Then the King in anger set out for the cell; but Ermenhilda implored Werbode to hasten away and warn her sons of their father’s approach. This he promised to do ; but contented himself with one glance through the window of the oratory, returning to Wulfhere to report that his sons obstinately refused to abandon their religion.

Wulfhere, pale with anger, burst into the oratory, and commanded them to renounce at once the Christ; but Wulfhad answered him that they had no wish to break the laws, or to lose the fatherly affection of one who himself had once accepted Christianity ; but that no torture that he could devise would turn them from Christ.

Upon which the King straightway struck off his head.

Rufin, who seems to have been emotional and impulsive, while lacking the moral fibre of his brother, turned and fled. His father, however, pursued him and at Burston, near Sandon, so the story says, slew him also.

The sequel is Greek tragedy. Werbode was siezed with madness on the spot, and in his raving published abroad the story of his crime. The King fell dangerously ill, and when he recovered his bodily health St. Chad alone could minister to his despondency. So, at least, urged Ermenhilda, and at last, broken and penitent, he sought out the man of God.

f St. Chad was singing the Mass, and Wulfhere dared not approach until he had been shriven by the saint. St. Chad, however, knew what the King desired, and raising the figure, prostrate at the door, heard his confession and bade him go root out idolatry from the land.

Ermenhilda caused the bodies to be buried at Stone. It has been said that the place-name commemorates the great pile of stones the Queen erected over the grave, stones that she used afterwards in the building of her nunnery at Stone. She also built, it is said, a chapel at Burston on the spot where Rufin was slain.

In after years the procurator of the nunnery at Stone obtained from the Pope the formal canonisation of the two princes, and the head of Wulfhad was enshrined in the church of St. Lawrence at Viterbo.

St. Werburga.

When King Wulfhere, broken with remorse, turned to the consolations of religion, one woman there was, in addition to Ermenhilda, ready to strengthen him in his resolve. This was St. Werburga, his daughter, who, in the end, wrung from him permission to take the veil. The rite was performed at Ely in the presence of the King himself, the royal abbess, Etheldreda, and many bishops and nobles. She was still at Ely when news was brought that her father was dead, and that her uncle, the pious Ethelred, reigned in his place.

After the lapse of several years, the king bestowed on her a sort of travelling commission to superintend all the nunneries in his kingdom. The work was congenial, for she seems to have had a liking for discipline—or, at least, for its exercise and maintenance—and before long the houses under her control became models of monastic rule.

Through the king’s liberality she founded religious houses at Trentham (in Staffordshire, and not, pace Mr. Baring Gould, in Gloucestershire), at Hanbury in the same county, and at Wecdon in Northamptonshire. And it was through her influence and initiative that Ethelred founded at Chester the collegiate church of St. John the Baptist, and presented to St. Egwin the ground for the abbey at Evesham.

If Werburga, in her capacity as spiritual adjutant-general to Mercia, was strict in exacting obedience to discipline, she by no means spared herself in the exercise of ascetic abstinence and mystic self-mortifications. Her physical hunger was appeasedWerburgh (also spelled Wærburh, Werburh or Werburga) (d. 3 February 699 at Trentham in modern-day Staffordshire) was an Anglo-Saxon princess who became the patron saint of the city of Chester in Cheshire. Her feast day is 3 February.

The British Medical Association

who are the bma

Two leading health unions are calling on the home secretary to make the NHS exempt from a new charge which will be payable on overseas doctors and nurses.

The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing say the Immigration Skills Charge, coming into effect in April, threatens NHS budgets.

It will mean the NHS must pay £1,000 per year for any worker coming to the UK from outside the European Union.

The government has said it is committed to building home-grown skills.

Nurses remain on an official list of occupations of which the UK has a shortage.

Recruitment drive

The unions have written to Home Secretary Amber Rudd, saying they are "deeply concerned" about the effects of the new charge.

They fear current staffing problems could be made worse when the Immigration Skills Charge begins.

In the letter, seen by the BBC, the unions say the government has suggested funds raised from the charge would be reinvested back into the UK health system. But the unions say they have been given "no guarantees".

The £1,000 charge for workers on Tier 2 visas, payable upfront, will add a significant amount to the bill for any hospital planning an overseas recruitment drive.

An example given on the BMA website says that if a hospital wanted to employ a doctor on a Tier 2 visa for five years, the hospital trust would need to pay £5,000 upfront when applying to UK Visas and Immigration for a certificate of sponsorship.

The unions say diverting funding away from frontline budgets "cannot be appropriate" and they want health and social care staff to be exempt from the charge.

The charge is aimed at cutting down on the number of businesses taking on migrant workers and incentivising the training of British people to fill those jobs.

However, the unions have said the NHS will continue to be reliant on doctors from the EU and overseas because of the length of time it takes to train a senior doctor.

They added that there were limited places at UK medical schools and on nursing degree courses to build the workforce that the government wants.

But the government insists the charge would help to encourage investment in training.

There is a reduced rate of £364 per worker for "small and charitable" sponsors.

It will also not apply to those in PhD-level jobs and international students switching from student visas to working visas.

The unions said it would be "unfair" to penalise employers for recruiting people on Tier 2 visas when checks are already in place to make sure jobs are offered to UK and EU nationals first.