The Memorial to Miss Blackmore (1839-1914)
 

Visitors who toil up the hill to St Leonard’s Church cannot fail to notice the most unusual carved wooden bench standing beneath the churchyard wall to the left of the porch. Many are also glad to be able to rest awhile there before perhaps tackling the steps up to the church entrance. The bench bears a carved inscription: “In memory of Ruth Blackmore 1839-1914”. But what is the history of this bench? Fortunately, inside the church is a small wood-framed newspaper cutting (undated) with the following narrative.

Miss Ruth Blackmore was one of the best known members of our congregation, and all who knew her loved her. She had many friends among the poor, and was always trying to do good, as far as her strength and means permitted. She lived in North Road, just above the Churchyard, and often used to say when she had been climbing up the long and steep hill from the town, that she would like to be able to provide some seat or rest place near the Church.
seat
 
She lived in North Road, just above the Churchyard, and often used to say when she had been climbing up the long and steep hill from the town, that she would like to be able to provide some seat or rest place near the Church. It was quite usual to see people sitting on the steps of the Church Porch for want of a better place. Miss Blackmore’s many friends felt therefore that a memorial to her could not take a more appropriate form than that of a comfortable seat under the trees outside the Church Porch. The Mayor and Corporation willingly gave their consent for the seat to be placed there.

It was designed by Mr. Lorden, jun, Architect, who is now in China, and the work and carving were executed there, and the result is a most handsome, substantial and comfortable seat, indeed it is almost too good to be out of doors exposed to all weathers, so exquisite is the carving, but the wood of which it is constructed is very hard, and will get harder by exposure: it is what is known as Canton Larchwood, and will in a few years turn black like ebony – it is very dark already. The stone legs supporting it are cut out of Soochow granite.
In the centre of the back is a carving which represents the figure of Mercy attended by two children. She is standing on a lotus, and holds an infant in her arms which she is feeding from a long shaped flask or bottle.
The top rail of the back of the seat is carved with the different Chinese emblems of immortality, and the characters, reading in the Chinese manner from right to left, are “ee lu te ping”, meaning “One road great peace”.

The arms of the seat in some cases contain carvings of the mythical “Flo Lo Bird”. Supposed to be an immortal bird which never settles on the earth. It is the emblem of gentleness, and the Chinese say that it only appears for a moment at the birth or death of some good person, and then flies away again. There are some other carvings representing Chinese myths. At each end of the back of the seat are the two lions of Justice and Truth, beautifully and fantastically carved out of the hard solid wood. The lion on the left holds a fretted ball in his paw, and that on the right has his paw on the head of a young lion. In the mouths of both the large lions are small round balls, which are loose, though too large to admit of their being pushed between the teeth, and are thus firmly guarded in the mouth: how did they get there? Were they cut out of the solid wood and left when the lions’ mouths were carved? The whole of the seat is very handsome, and the fantastic carvings very quaint and interesting. It is to be hoped that the public, for whose benefit this resting place is provided, will preserve it from all harm or disfigurement out of respect for the good woman in whose memory it is erected, and in gratitude for her kindly thought for them, which has now been brought to such a splendid practical result.

Sadly, vandals stole the two large lions by sawing them off the back. The bench also became further damaged and dilapidated over time. However, around the year 2000 Don Whatford (a member of our congregation) took an initiative to repair and reinstate the bench. Its present familiar appearance is shown in the accompanying photograph, but I wonder if anyone knows where there may be an earlier photograph or illustration of the bench in its original glory. And does anyone know more about Miss Blackmore, who was clearly a well-regarded person in her time?

Brin Hughes
 
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