Category Archives: Alfred Lord Tennyson

The 7th Earl, His 2nd Wife and St Peter’s Church Deene.

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St Peter’s Church, Deene, Northamptonshire.

This has been years in the making. We have visited St Peters Church, Deene, Northamptonshire many times but have never passed through its doors, but recently all that changed and the doors yielded with a certain amount of dexterity applied to the large door handle. 

The Church is under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust

It is the last resting place of James Thomas Brudenell Seventh Earl of Cardigan who lead the charge of the Light Brigade famously portrayed in Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem.

Monument Seventh Earl of Cardigan and Lady Cardigan, Adeline Louise Maria

You will find the Earl and his second wife’s monument in the South Chapel along with other members of the family dating back to 1531. When we visited the entrance to the Brudenell Chapel was locked so acquiring a picture of the memorial was a challenge. The Earl who’s character and temper is well documented can be seen clearly with his splendid whiskers but his wife has her face turned towards her husband so her features are not visible, but her personality and eccentricity was no less fascinating than the Seventh Earl.

Adeline Louise Maria De Horsey was Twenty Seven years younger than James Thomas Brudenell when they met and he was still married but they both fell in love and she became his mistress until Lady Cardigan died and they could marry.

James Thomas Brudenell Seventh Earl of Cardigan fell from his horse and died In 1868.   Lady Cardigan, Adeline Louise Maria lived on at Deene Park which she loved, enjoyed riding, hunting and arranging steeplechases through the church graveyard, becoming more eccentric with time dying forty seven years after her husband Lord Cardigan in 1915 at the age of ninety.

St Peter’s Church Deene Northamptonshire

The approach to St Peter’s Church from Bulwick Road appropriately with two fine horses grazing in the foreground.

The East Window, St Peter’s Church, Deene, Northamptonshire.

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wondered.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred!

The Charge of the Light Brigade

BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

Somersby, Bag Enderby and Beyond

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Early Years of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lincolnshire Wolds

As far as I can recall from this distance in time, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott were the backbone of my early poetical education, Lord Alfred Tennyson played a very minor role in the form of The Charge of The Light Brigade but Scots Wha Hae, To A Moose, Tam O ‘Shanter and Lochinvar where written into the psyche by those who wrote the educational syllabus.

It was only later that the appreciation for Mariana, In Memoriam, Maud and The Lady of Shalott to mention just a few was developed.

There have been countless words written on Tennyson’s early years, his relationship with his father and The Lincolnshire Wolds he grew up in.

I have no desire to add to the tally, only to say if the opportunity presents itself it is well worth a visit to Somersby, Bag Enderby and beyond, I am sure you will find The Lincolnshire Wolds a delight.

I hope you enjoy the photographs below which may inspire you to visit.

St Margaret's Church, SomersbySt Margaret’s Church, Somersby, Lincolnshire, England

George Clayton Tennyson, Alfred’s Father was rector of the parish,
from 1802 until his death in 1831
He lies at rest in the churchyard.

The Grave of Alfred's Father the Rev George Clayton TennysonThee Grave of Alfred’s Father the Rev George Clayton Tennyson,

The eldest son who went into the Church and the second son who inherited the title.
St Margaret’s Church, Somersby, Lincolnshire.
Born in 1781. Died on 18 March 1831 at the age of 52

The Old Rectory, SomerbyThe Birth Place of A Poet Laureate, Somerby Rectory, The Lincolnshire Wold
The Grange, Somersby,The House Next Door. The Grange, Somersby, Lincolnshire.

Build for the Burton Family,
Sits next door to Somerby Rectory and opposite the Church St Margaret’s

St Margarets, Bag EnderbySt Margaret’s Church, Bag Enderby, Lincolnshire

Lies a 15 minute walk to the east of Somersby
Alfred’s Father was also rector here from 1806 until his death in 1831

Harrington HallHarrington Hall, Harrington, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire,

Harrington Hall, a 50 minute walk to the south east of Somersby.
It appears in Tennyson’s poems over the years along with its rose garden,
the Church of St Marys next door with its cross legged knight
and Rosa Baring a resident of Harrington Hall

“Yonder in that chapel, slowly sinking now into the ground,
Lies the warrior, my forefather, with his feet upon the hound.”

From Locksley Hall Sixty Years After by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

St Marys Church, HarringtonSt Mary’s Church, Harrington, Lincolnshire

“She came to the village church,
And sat by a pillar alone;
An angel watching an urn
Wept over her, carved in stone;
And once, but once, she lifted her eyes,
And suddenly, sweetly, strangely blush’d
To find they were met by my own;
And suddenly, sweetly, my heart beat stronger
And thicker, until I heard no longer
The snowy-banded, dilettante,
Delicate-handed priest intone;
And thought, is it pride, and mused and sigh’d
‘No surely, now it cannot be pride.’”

From Maud by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Gunby HallGunby Hull, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, Engalnd

Gunby Hall is a 4 hours 30 minute walk south east of Somerby
on the way to the seaside town of Skegness, it is today under the care
of The Nation Trust. In Tennyson’s day the owners were still the Massingberd Family,
Tennyson described it as “A haunt of ancient Peace”