stars and stripes

...it was so disappointing to wake up to such a dark and murky day after yesterday's sunshine. Fortunately, I had a backup plan that has enabled me to continue my Purbeck houses and families story without getting wet.

In yesterday's Creech Grange blip, I introduced you to Oliver Lawrence.

150 years earlier, in 1390, the Lancastrian Edmund Lawrence married Agnes de Wessington. The Lawrence family crest was the Crusader Cross, and the Wessington's was Two Bars (stripes) and Three Mullets (stars). The resulting union combined all these elements into a new crest.

Just inside the porch of Steeple parish church, is a beautiful stone carving of the crest. There is another one above a side door, and the crest is repeated on the ceiling bosses of the nave. An identical crest appears on the signet ring of George Washington, who was also a descendent of the Wessington (Washington) line, and the English Bars and Mullets have become the American Stars and Stripes.

The flag in Steeple church, depicted above, is the flag of Washington DC and was presented by Walter E Washington, mayor of Washington on 25 July 1977. Coincidentally, the beautifully restored barrel organ also came from the United States in 1858 when it was purchased by Nathaniel Bond, originally for the church in Tyneham. It was moved to Steeple when Tyneham was evacuated for the MOD in 1943. Several of the Bond family were parsons at Steeple.

Another important Purbeck family is linked to Steeple and I will feature them later in this series...