The man in the long black coat



      The stonemasons must have been snowed under with work and on a bonus to produce and deliver this almost gallery sized display of foundation stones on an old and derelict Primitive Methodist Chapel and school.
      Members of Parliament, architects, builders, society stewards, society treasurers, somebody who lived in a 'the castle' and inevitably the local people of power and influence; it seems that anybody who was involved or provided funds would seem to have been given the opportunity to provide a foundation stone. Their signature on the building for posterity so when the builders take over the restoration we hope they keep the stones.


      There are so many stones around the chapel that, as we said on previous post, we began to lose them in the undergrowth. We counted eighteen that were visible but there were more around the side and on the back of the building, perhaps those people with less influence had their foundation stone put in the 'back stalls', as always a pecking order prevails.


      Now the big question is whether or not they all wore long black coats or just the preacher. Maybe the preacher was the legendary and mythical Bible John himself, before he became known as a wandering fenland preacher.
      You'll know him if you see him because Bible John has dust on the hem of his long black coat.



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