Birds, Bats And Bug Attend Churches

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30233, 11 September 1963, Page 15

Birds, Bats And Bug Attend Churches

(Special Crapdt. NJtJ’-AJ LONDON, September 10 Britain’s parish churches attract all sorts of congregations. Correspondents have been writing to “The Times about them. . The first animal to make the news was a mouse whica appeared on the altar at the parish church in Devizes. Wiltshire.

It was an intelligent mouse, for it remained at the north for the Epistle, crossed to the south for the Gospel and assumed the orthodox centra, i position for the Creed. It surreptitiously disappeared before the offertory was reached. The vicar of the church suggested “The Times * might like to hear of other unexpected visitations. Stories

have been coming ever since. In Denston Church, near Newmarket, on Easter Day. a turkey escaped from a pen in an adjacent farmyard and laid an outsize egg on the altar. In St David’s Cathedral, Wales, on Christmas morning. a robin flew out of a vase of holly on the altar. The church at Sherborne. Dorset, is plagued with bats —not only in the belfry, but in the nave as well. In a country church tn Worcestershire the vicar had to move to the lectern at sermon time because a goose was sitting in the pulpit In the village church at Totnes, Devon, a Friesian

heifer ambled up the aisle, knocked over a vase of flowers near the lectern, and lay down peacefully chewing the cud right in front of the altar.

Canterbury Cathedral is the home of an insect which is very rarely seen. It is known as the Canterbury bug.

Recently it appeared suddenly on the altar and remained throughout the service.

Tradition has it that it was brought over by the Pilgrims or Crusaders

Another story came from a former British chaplain in Java who lost his Communion bread.

Every time he replaced it throughout a service the bread was dragged away by a small lizard.