[Bemerton Parish]

George Herbert

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St. Andrew's Page
The delightful little 13th Century Church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is intimately connected with Bemerton‘s most famous Rector, the poet George Herbert, who came here as a deacon in 1630. He was inducted as Rector of the parish of Fugglestone-cum-Bemerton on 26th April 1630, and was ordained priest on 19th September. The tiny church in which he ministered and prayed, was already two or three hundred years old.

In his younger years, George Herbert was heading for a very different career. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, at only 15, and distinguished himself scholastically. He became a Fellow of Trinity College, and then Public Orator to Cambridge University. This was a prestigious post, often leading to places of power in the (Royal) Court. This with his family connections and academic ability promised him high political office.

He had a great struggle with himself over his feelings of vocation to the priesthood, and these were no doubt influenced by his mother's death, and the funeral oration by John Donne, Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He eventually accepted the living of Fugglestone with Bemerton, and was inducted at the age of 36.

He rebuilt the old Rectory opposite the church, and had his own words carved high on the gable;
If thou should‘st chance to find
A new house to thy mind
And built without thy cost,
Be good to the poor,
As God gives thee store,
And then my labour's not lost.
He lived there for his short ministry of only three years, before dying there on March 1st, 1633. When he was buried in an un-marked grave within the chancel, one suspects that no-one, least of all Herbert himself, ever dreamed that it would cause this tiny hamlet with its minute church to become a place of pilgrimage. Pilgrims continue to come from all over the world nearly 400 years later! It is notable that some of the Cathedral choristers, whose music had meant so much to him, came to sing at his funeral. Modern visitors to the Cathedral often start their pilgrimage at St. Andrew‘s, Bemerton.

The door you enter is original, as is the bell, and most of the south wall. The north wall has been completely rebuilt, incorporating stone and features of the original.
On the South wall, behind the door and the font, is a large poster about Herbert, produced by the British Association in 1993 for the 400th anniversary of his birth.
In 1933 the West Window was installed, with images of Herbert in front of the cathedral spire, in the right-hand light, with his friend and contemporary Nicholas Ferrar in the left-hand light. Ferrar stands in front of the church at Leighton Bromswold that he built on Herbert‘s behalf, to Herbert‘s specification. He was executor of Herbert‘s will, and published his poetry. In a note written on his death bed in the Old Rectory, Herbert told Ferrar that he was sending him his writings -

"a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed betwixt God and my soul"

and that

"If he can think it may turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public; if not, let him burn it; for I and it are less than the least of God's mercies."
[West Window]
In the medieval arch in the north wall, opposite the ancient door, is a list of Rectors of the Parish, and Herbert‘s name is found at the foot of the left-hand column.
[Memorial] The simple cross on the north wall, just inside the sanctuary is the most ancient memorial, and simply records his death with the initials GH and the date 1632. [The date reads 1632, and not the expected 1633, because Herbert's death was on March 1st. Because in those days they used the Julian Calendar which calculated the year as running from March 25th to March 24th, all dates in January, February and March seem to us to be one year out. Counting back, we calculate the date by the Gregorian Calendar as March 1st, 1633.] This also indicates that the memorial was probably placed there before the change in the calendar in 1742.
In Victorian times the church had an earthen floor, and legend tells that the teenage daughter of the then incumbent Francis Warre determined to find Herbert‘s grave. She is reputed to have dug up the floor of the church (with never-so-much as a by your leave‘ to the Home Secretary!) and later recorded in her diary that she found lots of bones, but didn‘t know which were Herbert‘s, so replaced them all where she found them!

The Altar Frontal was designed by Jane Lemon and is based upon Herbert‘s poem "The Flower". The poem itself is to be found in a frame on the south wall, in calligraphy by Mary Hargreaves, a parishioner. - See Art & Music in St. Andrew's
In the (now disused) church yard, is a new Medlar tree, planted in 1993 in memory of Herbert. Tradition tells us that Herbert liked to sit under the Medlar tree in his garden. This tree was planted on a very wet Saturday, 3rd April 1993, exactly 400 years after Herbert‘s birth, by Mrs Mary Smith, a long-time parishioner. After her own demise a year or so later, Mary‘s ashes were scattered under the tree. In 2002, the ashes of the Revd Maxwell Williams, sometime rector, were interred just east of the East Window.

In 1867 the church of St. John the Evangelist, just 200 yards down the road, was built because our forebears thought St. Andrew‘s was too insignificant to be a fitting memorial to Herbert, and too small to house the growing population spawned by the arrival of the railway line and the growth of Salisbury. We must ever be thankful that they did not either demolish or alter what was then the ancient parish church!

In Salisbury Cathedral there is a window in memory of Herbert, based upon his poem "JC", and a statue is soon to be installed in the West Front.
George Herbert is commemorated
in the Revised Common Lectionary
on February 27th.		 King of glory, king of peace,
who called your servant George Herbert
from the pursuit of worldly honours
to be a priest in the temple of his God and king:
grant us also the grace to offer ourselves
with singleness of heart in humble obedience to your service:
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Collect for February 27th
George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633
(Revised Common Lectionary)

Click here to see some of Herbert's Poems

last updated 12th April 2003