Published: Wednesday, 24th September, 2008 12:00
Retro: Preaching in vane
By David Cliffe, Reading Central Library
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DO you know the story of this weathervane at Sonning?
It shows a priest in a pulpit, preaching to three empty chairs. The gentleman who gave me the picture postcard told me that it had been put up to shame an unpopular priest into resigning.
A book Country Curiosities, by Raymond Lea, says that the following words are written on the weathervane, though you cannot see them on this postcard: “The unpopular priest – he ever speaks the truth yet turns with every wind.”
Mr Lea says that it was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens who designed the house called The Deanery which it adorns.
You can see it from the main road, just above Sonning Bridge.
The house was built around 1902 for Edward Hudson, founder and managing director of Country Life magazine. It was built on land where the house of the Deans of Salisbury once stood.
This is not so strange as it sounds – the Bishops of Salisbury had owned the Manor of Sonning from the time of the Domesday Book until 1574, when the Bishop surrendered the manor to Queen Elizabeth I in exchange for other lands nearer to Salisbury.
Even after that, the Deans of Salisbury continued to nominate the vicars of Sonning until 1836.
Books about Sonning say that the weathervane commemorates a rather earlier clergyman, the Rev George Howman, who scandalised the village between 1822 and 1841.
His father was vicar of Shiplake and they were able to communicate, before the days of the telephone, by means of flags. George Howman had a flag-pole in the garden of Cedar Cottage, from where it could be seen by his father, Arthur, who had a flag-pole in his own garden.
George Howman was considered 'worldly’, and was apparently unpopular.
Nevertheless he remained at Sonning for almost 20 years.
I have not come across many examples of this 'worldliness’ spelled out – apart from his membership of an archery club!
Presumably it took very little to scandalise Sonning nearly 200 years ago!
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