Old Churches Invaded By Brass-Rubbers

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31221, 19 November 1966, Page 2

Old Churches Invaded By Brass-Rubbers

In the village churches of England and in the old university chapels it is quite common now to see women kneeling on the floor with their heads down. They are not absorbed in prayer, neither scrubbing nor polishing. They are brass-rubbing.

The revival of an old art form has become something of a craze wherever there are brass tablets and effigies set in the floors or walls of England’s historic buildings.

The principle is the same as putting a penny under a piece of paper and smearing it over with a lead pencil.

Using large sheets of fine, firm paper over the fulllength figures of mediaeval knights and their ladies or some venerable churchman, the brass-rubbers work with heavy crayons. Some go over their Impressions with several colours, others are content with plain black or red. The rubbings are kept in scrolls for a collection or framed and hung on spacious walls. Some have been sold in the United States, where there is always a market for anything “new-old.” Brass - rubbers eventually became a bit of a problem. Many vicars, vestries and university authorities now make a charge of 10s or £1 a visit. Tt keeps down the influx and, in the case of churches, aug-

meats parish funds. But the rubbers still know where to find chapels and churches that are free. Mrs Phyl Wardell, the Christchurch children's author has brought back a fine collection from Oxfordshire and they were among the first belongings she unpacked on arrival home yesterday morning.

Most of them were done by her daughter-in-law, Mrs Dorothy Wardell. They passed on their enthusiasm for their hobby to Mrs Wardell. Phyl Wardell’s favourite rubbing of her own, is one she did in St. Mary’s Church, Ewelme, 'Oxfordshire, of Thomas and Matilda Chaucer, who died in the fifteenth century. These two meniorials were put down in the church by their daughter, the Duchess of Suffolk. This Duchess and her husband also built a block of almhouses for 13 poor men in the village. Still in good repair, they are now

pensioners’ apartments. But for all his charity the Duke of Suffolk died a traitor to England. He was “hackingly beheaded with a rusty sword.” The Duchess was also indicted for treason but escaped her husband’s fete. American tourists have also become fascinated by brassrubbing. Mrs Wardell met two of them who made a point of doing one drawing a day as they toured English villages. Mr and Mrs Wardell spent six months at Oxford in a family reunion. Their son, Dr. W. M. Wardell, is doing medical research at Oxford University and their daughter was also there at the time doing post-graduate studies

after gaining an M.Sc. with honours in zoology from the University of Canterbury. With her third children’s book, “Passage to Dusky” ready for publication and another story accepted by the Australian Broadcasting Commission as a radio serial, Mrs Wardell is not resting on her laurels. She expects to be back into daily writing routine very soon. Although she has always used New Zealand backgrounds, (th® West Coast and Fiordland) in her earlier stories, it is possible that Scotland will creep into a story she already has in mind.

“I began writing for 10 to 14-year-olds because my own children were in that age group at the time,” Mrs Wardell said yesterday. “I shall probably continue in this field.”

Mrs Wardell practices Yoga, which she finds helps her writing. “When I’m stuck for ideas I do a few exercises; they relax me and get rid of mental blocks,” she said.

But on the ocean cruises to and from New Zealand it was mainly Yoga that interfered with her writing programme. On both voyages someone discovered she could do these exercises and in no time she was conducting shipboard classes.