debris4spike | Morwenstow - Hawker & Harvests

On Sunday it was our Harvest Festival .. and, as ever, this was the hymn that we, like many others, started with -

Although the Jewish Faith had the "First Fruits" festival, until the mid 19th Century, it was not seen in the Christian faith. The Rev R.S. Hawker, who at the time was Vicar of Morwenstow Church, decided that Harvest was something to be celebrated.

He was radical ... even in today's society he would be frowned on!

He smoked opium ... in a hut that he constructed on the side of the cliffs, but from that he also managed to do something to stop "wreckers" ... in North Cornwall the cliffs are high, and there are only a couple of safe-ish anchorages. He did try to stop the lucrative business of the wreckers, and to rescue the ship-wrecked sailors, thus stopping the salvage of goods from a dead crew.

So, a very outspoken man ... but it's great to celebrate Harvest!

I realised on Sunday that I hadn't posted the pics I took at Morwenstow when Mum and Dad were down a couple of weeks ago ... So, here they are, behind the cut ...

The figurehead of The Caledonian - a wrecked ship that he helped to save a couple of the sailors, and paid for the rest to be buried.

This font is pre the Church ... dated from pre 1066

The new vicarage ... the one built by Hawker. Hard to see on this picture, but each of the chimney stacks are different, and all are shaped the same as the multiple Churches that Hawker was incumbant at.