Those who went before

Last week, my husband took me to a medieval church in the neighbouring village of Crostwight. He led me down a grassy track, at the end of which was a black wooden gate to a churchyard with ancient graves and a stone church dating back to the early fourteenth century. Decorating the eaves were six carved heads, which the rector’s wife said are believed to be of the labourers who built the church.

Inside was a wonderful surprise: the remains of murals painted by the villagers who built it. Considering the basic technology available in medieval England, the village labourers did an excellent job, leaving us this wonderful church to enjoy hundreds of years later.

The rector explained that, as there is no electricity, services only take place from March to September. However, there is a candlelit carol service in December, when everyone is huddled together in warm coats, hats and scarves – another labour of love.

a hard day’s work ends
sitting by a blazing fire
counting callouses

Kim M. Russell, 1st September 2025

It’s the first Monday of September and, at the dVerse Poets Pub, that means we are writing haibun about Labor Day with Frank.

Frank reminds us that Labor Day commemorates the struggles and accomplishments of the Labor movement. He also wants us to think about the word ‘labor’ and how we can “hope to survive without the vital work performed by workers of all kind? From the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to the healthcare we receive, to the levels of education we achieved: we all benefit from laborers.” Not forgetting “personal labor. Or the labor of our own mothers, without which we would not be here.”

Frank has also given examples of poems about this topic, one by Joseph Millar and the other by W.D. Ehrhart.

Franks says: In whatever way we relate to it, let’s celebrate this Labor Day with our own labor of love! Let’s write our haibun alluding to Labor!”

21 thoughts on “Those who went before”

  5. That is a lovely building. I am glad it survived the reformation when so many medieval churches in England did not. I also particularly liked the final line “counting calluses”. I’m very sure the people who built the church originally would’ve been covered in calluses from all of their hard work.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. We have lots of unusual and ancient buildings in Norfolk. I’m looking forward to visiting the newly restored Norwich Castle. There was a fantastic programme about it on Channel 4 recently. I still have a free ticket from when I received my volunteer’s award at Norwich Castle before Covid.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a reply to Aaron Guile Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.