Peace and tranquility. When did that become such a novel experience?
I’m old enough to recall sitting as a child with my mother at a neighbour’s house when they weren’t afraid of sitting in silence and all you could hear was the gentle tock ….tock ….of the clock on the wall.
Traditionally, rural folk didn’t feel the need to fill the space with chatter but we’ve come full circle. Gone is the quiet companionship round a pub table with the odd grunt of acknowledgement. Now we’re quiet for another reason – to stare intently at our smartphones.
At the height of the Covid pandemic in October 2021, English Heritage encouraged us to silence those phones, finish our conversations and “enjoy England’s abbeys and priories in contemplative quiet”. There were 16 properties participating and apparently the peace descended in the last hour of each day of each site’s opening.
Talking and texting
But it failed to catch on in our relentlessly frantic world. Keeping up with overflowing news feeds, WhatsApp, texts and other alerts can be compulsive. And who hasn’t been in the company of someone who talks incessantly about nothing in particular?
The monks who inhabited the abbeys and priories would know all about contemplation. English Heritage senior historian Michael Carter, whose work is focused on monasteries, saints and relics, has said there are many misconceptions about monks, not least that they took a vow of silence.
“Monks took vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and also stability – that’s not to leave the monastery without the permission of their superior. That’s not to say silence wasn’t very important to them.”
It seems the most frowned upon noise was unnecessary conversation, especially gossip. Penalties included corporal punishment before the entire community, the reciting of penitential prayers and a diet of bread and water.
Silence is golden
With so much social and economic disruption and political tension, perhaps we need that silent space more than ever. Never mind ‘Churches without walls’ as championed by Justin Welby during his tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury (2013-25), our church buildings are places that, faith or not, we still appreciate in times of uncertainty. That’s quite apart from the magnificent architecture passed on by our forbears. In Suffolk, there are over 400 ancient church buildings and, in Norfolk, way over 650, among them beautiful and tranquil buildings with blissfully quiet churchyards.
Our spaces
It can make sense to turn buildings into community assets that will benefit everyone but the value of church buildings, in enriching people’s lives with their centuries of history and the spectacular quiet spaces they offer, should not be forgotten.
Author Jonathan Glancey explains how churches can offer refuge and solace even when empty.
“Here are traces and echoes of hundreds of years of hands and feet and voices of artists, craftsmen, children, of nesting birds and wildflowers. Here are memories of christenings, weddings and funerals. And memories, too, of those who have died in war.”
Let’s cherish them.