Index of Subjects and Contributors

(click on choice)

Wesleyans on an outing in about 1893 courtesy of Mrs. J. Bowes

"All Saints" Church in about 1900 - courtesy of Mr. B, Widdowson and John Abbott

"It was the Vicar what done it" by Brian Widdowson

 The case for Saint Swithuns - courtesy of Mrs. A. Howell

The Wesleyan Chapel in the early 1900s - courtesy of Mrs. A. Howell and Mr. J. Abbott

The Chapel Anniversary Parade in about 1900 - courtesy of Mrs Betty Wadkins via John Abbott

Methodist parades in the 1930s - courtesy of Mrs. A. Howell

The following article, describing the use of "magic lanterns" to enliven Church sponsored gatherings within the village at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries was written by Brian Widdowson, secretary of the Long Bennington Local History Society, and was first published in the Journal of the Magic Lantern Society.

“I bought my first magic lantern two or three years ago. It came complete with a box of a hundred or so slides. When I had sorted the slides into some sort of order I found that there was a strong historical and religious bias to the collection. I had a complete photographic set of The Tower of London; most of a black and white lithographed set entitled Reformation of England, The Spanish Armada; and various other historical scenes and figures. There were also a good number of slides depicting Protestant martyrs and their fate. It would have been perfectly possible to assemble an ad hoc set entitled Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. I resisted the temptation.

I could not help wondering what kind of person originally owned my lantern and the slides that came with it. One of the photographic slides in my collection depicted a Victorian vicar complete with dog collar and beard. The quality of the slide suggested that an amateur photographer might have taken the original photograph. Could it be that the reverend gentleman depicted in the slide was once the original owner of my collection of slides?

I remembered that during the 1940s, when I attended Sunday School, the local vicar came every month or so with his projector and gave us a film show. This projector was equipped to show black and white 35mm filmstrips, one frame at a time. The subjects shown were of a religious nature, usually depicting missionary work or life in the Bible Lands. In the late nineteenth century it was common for the local vicar to own a magic lantern, and this tradition evidently outlasted the use of glass slides.

One of my other interests is local history, and I knew that in my village a few parish magazines had survived from the late nineteenth century and early 1900s. I searched them for references to magic lantern shows and to see if there was a connection with the local vicar. The earliest reference I found to a magic lantern show in the Long Bennington and Foston Parish Magazine was from January 1898. In that month the Ministering Children’s League and Girls' Friendly Society were treated to a reading of the work of the Girls’ Friendly Society,

illustrated with a Magic Lantern, and enlivened by songs and recitations. In the second part of the evening, Mrs Grote illustrated her recitation and reading with the magic lantern.

 At first sight it does not look as though the local vicar was involved in this show, but since the local vicar was also the magazine editor it could have been a case of false modesty.

There is also the possibility that another vicar was involved. Mrs Grote, who gave the recitation in the second part of the evening’s entertainment, was Long Bennington’s Lady of the Manor. In 1898 she had been widowed for some years and at the time was keeping company with a Reverend Joyce of Cheniston Gardens, Kensington, Middlesex. The happy couple were married the following year and Mrs Grote became Mrs Grote-Joyce. Perhaps it might have been the Reverend Joyce’s magic lantern that had been used on this occasion?

There can be no doubt about who operated the lantern in April 1899, when a piece in the magazine reads:

Waifs and Strays Society — A Lecture ‘Lincolnshire Past and Present’ was given in schoolroom on 28th February by Rev. A.Hunt, Secretary of Waifs and Strays Society The Magic Lantern views were excellent. There was a Collection on behalf of St Hugh’s Home at Lincoln, which amounted to £1. 5s. 2d.

This time it was definitely ‘the vicar what done it’!

The vicar, however, was not involved in the magic lantern show given to the Ministering Children’s League in December 1899. The parish magazine tells us

The entertainment was an unqualified success thanks to Mr Ouvry’s excellent magic lantem. It made up for the unfortunate mishap which Mr Piercy had with his lantern the previous night. Sorrow was expressed for Mr Piercy. The League was able to hand him £1. lOs. for the Mission he represented.

What unfortunate mishap Mr Piercy had with his lantern is not recorded. Older members of the village believe that it caught fire. This event is just the sort of memory that would be passed down through the generations and it seems very likely that this was the case.

I had a little more luck with a magic lantern show given to the Sunday School children in January 1905:

Children’s’ Christmas Treat arranged for the Festival of the Holy Innocents; tea in the schoolroom at 5 o’clock. The children were joined by their parents and others interested in the Sunday Schools and Bible Classes at 6 o’clock. The Vicar reviewed the years work — 31 children gained prizes. Afterwards, the Vicar and Mrs Rees exhibited their Magic Lantern, with slides depicting well-known nursery tales, and a few games brought the party to a close.

The magic lantern and slides clearly belonged to the vicar and his wife. Why were there no ‘well-known nursery tales’ among my slides, if they were such typical subjects?

In March 1907 a new name appears in the parish magazine in connection with magic lantern shows. The following account, about a Christmas treat given to the Ministering Children’s League in another village mentions a Miss Way:

An account was given by Miss Way of Christmas at Chapel Court Mission Room, Borough High St., on Sat. 13th January. Tea for the children, a magic lantern show, and then distribution of presents — garments made by the Long Bennington Ministering Children’s League workers.

The involvement of the Way family was mentioned again in January 1910. At the Sunday School’s Annual Christmas Treat on December 30th, ‘tea was followed by a Magic Lantern, exhibited by Mr Way’. Hugh Way was a close relation, probably a nephew, of Mrs Grote -Joyce, the Lady of the Manor. It is possible that Hugh Way was using a magic lantern that once belonging to the Reverend Joyce. TheReverend Joyce had died in 1903, three years after marrying Mrs Grote. The lady was not lucky in love.

It would seem from the evidence in the parish magazines that the magic lantern was indeed a popular instrument with Long Bennington’s Victorian and Edwardian vicars. If this were generally the case it would go a long way to explain the vast amount of magic lantern slides with a religious theme still in existence. The fleeting descriptions in the parish magazines are all too brief, but perhaps by building up a study of these local references we can begin to see how the slides were used and how they fitted into the fabric of everyday life. In English villages of this time, the vicar was a central figure, and his involvement with the magic lantern would make it an important part of the village scene.”

  The following extract from the Parish Magazine of August 1901 makes a case for the original name of the Long Bennington parish Church being "Saint Swythins". [Subsequently, the church was redesignated St. Swithuns from the former All Saints.]

We are indebted to our old friend Mr. Allison for the following interesting article on Church Dedications. He proves, we think conclusively, that the original Dedication of Bennington Church was Saint Swithun. We are grateful to Mr. Allison for he has thrown light on what before puzzled us, viz, the date of our Village Feast. (There then follows an article about the dedication of churches, and changes of dedication, etc.)

The article concludes:

"In the 14th and 15th centuries, the tendency seems to have been towards superseding purely local Saints by the favourite names out of the service book, the Catherines, Margarets and Georges; while the tendency of the post Reformation dedications was either in favour of purely Scriptural Saints, or of direct dedication to the Blessed Trinity or to the Saviour. There was a strong reaction against the ordinary Calendar Saints and a marked preference for the very non committal dedication to All Saints. So that we look with a little suspicion on the title “All Saints”. And in the case of the Church of Long Bennington, this suspicion seems well founded. For in Bishop Repingdon’s Register at Lincoln, 1405 — 1420 we find the following wills quoted by Mr. Gibbons in his "Early Lincoln Wills" "Thomas Borege of Long Bennington 5th April, 1417, To be buried in St. Swythin’s Churchyard, Bennington.” This may, I think, be taken as conclusive proof that the ancient dedication of Long Bennington Church was to St. Swithun and not to All Saints. While the fact that the village feast, which is, of course, the feast of the Patron Saint, is held to this day in the middle of July is corroborative evidence, St. Swithuns day falling, as we all know, in the 15th of that month."