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Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder
of the Little Gidding Community, 1637
The Friends of Little Gidding
A December pilgrimage
Little Gidding and its parish boundaries
Little Gidding - Early history
A December Pilgrimage and this biographical note
on Nicholas Ferrar are reproduced by permission of Simon Kershaw.
A December Pilgrimage is copyright © 1993 Simon
Kershaw, All Rights Reserved. Reproduced by Permission.
Nicholas
Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637
Nicholas Ferrar, born in 1593, was the founder of a religious community
that lasted from 1626 to 1646.
After Nicholas had been ordained as a deacon, he
and his family and a few friends retired to Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire,
England, to devote themselves to a life of prayer, fasting, and
almsgiving (Matthew 6:2,5,16). They restored the abandoned church
building, and became responsible for regular services there. They
taught the neighbourhood children, and looked after the health and
well-being of the people of the district. They read the regular
daily offices of the Book of Common Prayer, including the recital
every day of the complete Psalter. (Day and night, there was always
at least one member of the community kneeling in prayer before the
altar, that they might keep the word, "Pray without ceasing.")
They wrote books and stories dealing with various aspects of Christian
faith and practice. They fasted with great rigour, and in other
ways embraced voluntary poverty, so that they might have as much
money as possible for the relief of the poor.
The community was founded in 1626 (when Nicholas
was 34). He died in 1637 (aged 45), and in 1646 the community was
forcibly broken up by the Puritans of Cromwell's army. The memory
of the community survived to inspire and influence later undertakings
in Christian communal living, and one of T.S. Eliot's FOUR QUARTETS
is called "Little Gidding."
His exact date of birth is unknown, but the Community
at Little Gidding observed the quatercentenary of his baptism on
27th February 1993. I quote from 'Seeds' (the magazine of the Friends
of Little Gidding and of the Society of Christ the Sower):
On 27th February, the anniversary of Nicholas's baptism,
we met in our candlelit church for a communion service using the
original 1549 rite---a form of worship familiar to the Ferrars.
Margaret selected a variety of readings about the life of Nicholas
and the first Community; and for hymns we used some of George Herbert's
poetry set to 17th century music.
[Actually the statement about the 1549 rite being familiar to the
Ferrars is either a misprint or a mistake: the 1559 Prayer Book
of Elizabeth I would have been the BCP they knew, and the eucharist
in particular is a little different between the two books.]
His family was quite wealthy, and were heavily involved
in the Virginia Company, which had a Royal Charter for the plantation
of the colony of Virginia. People like Sir Walter Raleigh were often
visitors to the family home in London. Ferrar's niece was named
Virginia, the first known use of this name. Ferrar studied at Cambridge
and would perhaps have gone on to further study and the life of
a don, but the damp air of the fens was bad for his health and he
travelled to Europe, spending time in the warmer climate of Italy,
where he would have seen the work of Philip Neri and other Oratorians.
On his return to England he found his family had
fared badly. His brother John had become over-extended financially,
and the Virginia Company was in danger of losing its charter. Nicholas
threw himself into preserving his family from ruin. In this he was
successful, and he served for a short time as a Member of Parliament,
where he tried to promote the cause of the Virginia Company (which
in fact did lose its charter).
At the age of 34 he gave all this up to move to found
a community of prayer. In this he was supported by his mother, Mary
Ferrar, and his brother John. They discovered and bought the manor
of Little Gidding, a village which had been deserted since the Black
Death (a major outburst of bubonic plague in the 14th century),
a few miles off the Great North Road, and probably recommended by
John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln whose palace was at the nearby
village of Buckden. The first thing they did was to clear the tiny
church which was being used as a barn and restore it for worship.
Mary Ferrar and her extended family and household (about 30 people
all told) moved into the manor house. Nicholas Ferrar was ordained
Deacon and was the leader and spiritual director of the community.
The community attracted much attention and was visited
by the king, Charles I. He was attracted by a gospel harmony they
had produced, and asked to borrow it, only returning it several
months later in exchange for a promise of a new harmony to give
to his son, Charles, Prince of Wales. This the Ferrars did, and
the superbly produced and bound manuscript book passed through the
royal collection, and is now held by the British Library. Another
friend of the community was George Herbert (also born in 1593 I
believe) who was a deacon and held the prebend of Leighton Bromswold,
4 or 5 miles south of Little Gidding. After being ordained priest
he moved elsewhere, but died shortly afterwards, leaving Nicholas
Ferrar as his "literary executor".
Ferrar, who never married, died on 4th December 1637,
and was buried outside the church in Little Gidding. The leadership
of the community passed to his brother John. They were visited by
the king twice more. Once he came with the Prince of Wales and donated
to the community some money he had won at cards off the prince the
previous night. But his third visit was in secret and at night.
He was fleeing from defeat (at the battle of Naseby?) and heading
north to try to enlist support from the Scots. This was Cromwell
country (Cromwell himself was born in Huntingdon, had lived there
and in Saint Ives, and was MP for Cambridge(?), but John brought
him secretly to Little Gidding, and got him away the next day.
The community was now in much danger. The presbyterian
Puritans were now in the ascendancy, and the community was condemned
in a series of scurillous pamphlets as 'an Arminian Nunnery'.
In 1646, the community was forcibly broken up by
Parliamentary soldiers. The brass font was thrown into the pond
(from where, much damaged, it was recovered 200 years later). The
village remained the property of the Ferrar family, however, and
in the early 18th century another Nicholas Ferrar restored the church,
shortening the nave by about 8 feet, and building the "dull
facade" as Eliot calls it.
Passing out of the family, the church was further
restored in the mid 19th century by William Hopkinson, who had
the armorial stained glass (4 windows with the arms of Ferrar,
Charles I, Bishop Williams & himself) inserted, and put in
a crucifixion window at the east end (this window was removed
a couple
of years ago and replaced by a Palladian-style window with plain
glass). It was Hopkinson who discovered the font and had it
restored
to the church. He also put in a magnificent 18th century chandelier.
In the 20th century there was a revival of interest
in Ferrar & Little Gidding, typified by the romantic historical
novel 'John Inglesant'. Bp Mandell Creighton (Bishop of London
at
the turn of the century) wrote an article on Ferrar for the Dictionary
of National Biography. The story of how T.S.
Eliot came to write the poem is told in Dame Helen Gardner's
book 'The Composition of Four Quartets'. He probably visited
Little
Gidding only once, in May 1936. A friend was writing a play about
the visit of Charles I to Gidding, and asked Eliot for his
comments.
After writing 'The Dry Salvages', Eliot wanted to complete what
he now saw as a set of 4 poems, and he quickly settled on Little
Gidding. It was written and published during the war when it was
by no means certain that English culture and religion would
survive.
The opening stanzas, according to Dame Helen, are the only piece
of narrative verse in the Four
Quartets, unique amongst Eliot's poetry. The "place
you would be likely to come from" is London and the
blitz, or German air raids; the "route you would be
likely to take" is
straight up the A1 from London and then across country just as
I described yesterday, and is the same whether you are Charles
I ("a
broken king") or not knowing what you would find (as my own
first visit). The pig-sty is part of the former farm buildings.
THE
FRIENDS OF LITTLE GIDDING
Founded in 1947 by Alan Maycock, the Friends of Little Gidding organised
for over thirty years an annual pilgrimage and raised funds for
the maintenance of the church at Little Gidding. One of the original
members was T.S. Eliot, whose poem entitled 'Little Gidding' helped
to renew interest in the place and its history.
Alan Maycock looked forward to community life being
restored to Little Gidding. And when this occurred in the late
1970s
the Friends decided to attach themselves to the Society of Christ
the Sower. The Community disbanded in 1998.
A
December pilgrimage (1993)
You drive out of Cambridge, north-west up the busy
A604 dual carriageway, passing by Saint Ives. Over the A1 (the "Great
North Road") onto the brand-new A14. After a few miles turn
off north and drive a few hundred yards to Leighton Bromswold,
where
George Herbert was the prebend. Then on, further north, down narrow
country lanes, hardly wide enough for 2 cars to pass. Now you're
out of the flat East Anglian fens and into the Huntingdonshire
Wolds,
where the land rises gently and is lightly wooded. A few more turnings,
through Steeple Gidding, and on towards Great Gidding. Finally,
a little signpost points down a single-lane track: "Little
Gidding". Down this muddy road for a few hundred yards and
you reach a small group of simple brick houses clustered around
a large old farm house. A sign proclaims "The Community of
Christ the Sower" in a circle around four ears of wheat arranged
as a cross, and points to a small car park off to the left---it's
just another muddy field. Out of the car the cold, damp misty December
air hits you: you sniff, button up your coat and wish you'd worn
wellingtons.
A footpath leads from the car park alongside the
garden of the big house, and brings you to a small churchyard, tidily
kept, with several tombs. A small
church, with a weird 18th century facade, stands in the middle
of the churchyard, a small door in the middle of the west front.
Before the door stands an altar-tomb, a couple of feet high: this
is the grave of Nicholas Ferrar. Inside the church it's dark, and
still bitterly cold and damp. It's just a single aisle, say 30 feet
long by 15 feet wide, with a small sanctuary beyond. There're no
pews or seats, just 17th-century collegiate-style stalls around
the west, north and south walls. Brightly-coloured 19th-century
stained glass windows depict the coats of arms of Nicholas Ferrar
(incorrectly), King Charles I, and the 19th-century restorer. A
brass font with a battered crown stands like a standard candlestick
at the north side of the sanctuary step. On the south side, a low
doorway leads to the tiny vestry, about 8 feet square, with a disused
fireplace, and an old cupboard, piled with dusty hymn and prayer
books. Back out into the church again. At the west end is a small
display of guide books, postcards, and copies of "Four Quartets"
and other Eliot works. You turn round to the east and say a prayer.
Then back out into the fast-fading December afternoon light and
look around. You're standing on a hill looking south across the
rolling countryside and bare ploughed fields. There is no sound
except for a few birds calling overhead, and the occasional distant
gunshot. It's hard to believe you're only 4 or 5 miles from the
A1, one of the country's busiest roads. It's easy to believe that
this was the peace and quiet which drew Nicholas Ferrar and his
family from the busy world of London commerce to establish the only
community in the Church of England in the 300 years between the
dissolution of the monasteries, and the Oxford movement. It's easy
to see what draws Christians of all denominations to this simple
shrine, to remember the example of Nicholas Ferrar, and to live
in a community at this place. You walk round to the farm house,
in through the front door. In the hall is a small display of Ferrar
and Gidding memorabilia, and you turn left into a decent-sized room
labelled the Parlour. In the corner a lady looks up from her reading,
smiles and welcomes you, "Would you like some tea? Cake?"
"Yes, please." She disappears. Around the walls are more
Ferrar pictures, and photographs of Little Gidding and members of
the Community. It's lovely and warm and you undo your coat and look
with dismay at your mud-spattered trousers. A notice tells you that
the tables and chairs in the room were made by a member of the community
and that you can buy similar furniture. Your host returns and you
gratefully sit down to eat and drink, noting the books on the bookstall.
Further conversation, then it's time to drive home in the dark,
pledging to return someday, and pondering the advantages of community
life.
POSTSCRIPT (December 1994): The font has now been
removed from the Church, where it was becoming damaged. It is to
be displayed in the Parlour, and a new font made by local craftsmen.
The small vestry has been restored as a small, heated, side chapel
or oratory.
A December Pilgrimage and this biographical note
on Nicholas Ferrar are reproduced by permission of Simon Kershaw.
A December Pilgrimage is copyright © 1993 Simon
Kershaw, All Rights Reserved. Reproduced by Permission.
Please note that some of the information
contained in this article is out of date.
More
information about T.S. Eliot from The Academy of American Poets
FOUR
QUARTETS T.S. Eliot An accurate online text
Little Gidding and its
parish boundaries
The Parish of Little Gidding is bounded on the North
East by the Bullock Road, on the South East by Steeple Gidding,
on the North West by Great Gidding and on the South West by the
Alconbury Brook. The parish contains 724 acres and the land rises
from 112 feet at the brook to about 200 feet at the village.
Little
Gidding - Early history
The earliest known history is that the manor was
held by Warner Engaine, the great grandchild of William Engaine
of Great Gidding. In the early days the manor was generally known
as 'Gidding Warner', later 'Gidding Engaine' and finally Little
Gidding.
The Engaines continued to live here although the manor was split
up between the family but in 1307 was held by William Engaines son,
Ralph, who was also the Parson of Copmanford (Coppingford).
The manor at Copmanford and Little Gidding was held
by Sir Robert de Stokes in 1390 and by John Stukeley in 1408. It
was sold in 1423 to Sir John Knyvet who in turn sold it to John
Gedney of London.
In 1428 the manor was held by William Walker. Little
is known after this date until 1510 when the manor was held by Christopher
Drewell. The Drewells sold it to Sir Gervase Clifton for £5,500
around 1598. After Sir Gervase Clifton died in 1619, Esma, Earl
of March disputed the ownership and the case by decided in his favour
following a suit in Chancery.
In 1620 the Earl of March sold it to Thomas Sheppard,
who in 1625 sold it to Nicholas Ferrar and Arthur Woodnoth as trustees
for Nicholas's mother, Mary Ferrar. Mrs Ferrar repaired the house
and church and also in 1634 restored alienated glebe to the rector.
On her death, the manor passed to Nicholas Ferrar, who was the originator
and guiding spirit of a small band of religious devotees who settled
in Little Gidding.
King Charles 1st visited the manor 3 times, the last visit being
on the 2nd May 1646 whilst on his way to join the Scots army. In
the following November, parliamentary soldiers sacked the house
and the church and the family fled. They did return however in July
1647 and remained until a few years after the restoration. The house
probably fell into ruin after they left, part of it is said to have
been taken down in the early 18th century and the remainder in 1798.
The site of the Manor House can still be seen between the existing
Ferrar House and the Church.
More information about Little Gidding can be found
on the Little
Gidding Church website.
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