The printing for the Tympanum Project arrived at St. Peter’s Church in Parwich today. Following the dedication of the replica tympanum, this completes the Project, as all the Heritage Lottery Fund paperwork is now completed.
There are leaflets in the Church for people to take away. They contain a brief history of the carved stone focusing on the evidence for dating it, complementing the interpretation of the symbols on the display board.
There is also a reference booklet that can be seen in the Church or downloaded as a pdf via the Church website. The downloads are available in two formats, firstly the complete illustrated version (this may take a couple of minutes to download) and secondly a text-only version to print out. This has the full background information on: the arrival of Christianity in our area; how reglious stone carving developed locally in the centuries leading up to the Norman Conquest; the history of our tympanum; and details of related carved stones in other local churches.
Good to see that the leaflets have now come, and particular thanks to Peter for drafting them and organising their printing. Can I also point out – just in case readers were not aware of this – that the whole tympanum project has been paid for by grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and we have not had to dip into our own church funds at all. Well done to those who oversaw the funding application – and let’s hope that the village’s next application for a substantial grant is also successful!
Also a thank you to the Local History Society for their financial support (albeit on a much smaller scale than the Heritage Lottery Fund) and to Brian F and Andrew R for their practical support and information input.