A wonderful new grotesque has been carved for St Florence Church tower, to replace one on the south east corner of the tower which had been destroyed by weather.

The creation has been made by Oliver Coe of Coe Stone, the main contractor on the restoration of the church.

In discussion about this, it emerged that in many places when a new weathercock was placed on top of a tower it was taken in to the local school where the children were invited to jump over it as it lay on the ground.

This allowed those children, on becoming adult and having their own families, to say to their children and grandchildren when pointing at the weathercock atop the tower “I jumped over that.”

On a slightly damp morning in early November, the children of today’s St Florence VC School were invited to do the same with the new gargoyle. After being introduced to Mr. Coe as the carver of the stone, they came out by class to look at it and then, when it was laid flat, they each either jumped off the stone or over it. With nearly 60 children taking part there is sure to be some lively debate between parents and children over the next two or three generations about whether and under what conditions the jump happened!

*A gargoyle takes its name from the French word ‘gargouille’ for throat and is the term given to a carving which is designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building. A grotesque does not have an opening through which water can pass and is a decorative piece only.