Wigan Album
Standish
9 CommentsPhoto: RON HUNT
Item #: 30730
I'm not a geologist and as they say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing but I believe this is a glacial erratic. A piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare (to wander), and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of miles.
In Santorini Greece, on holiday,we went to a site that was being dug out and rocks that had been analysed had originated in Ireland, believed to be from the last ice- age.
The boulder is still sat there near to the church front door
The boulder was discovered in the new extension to the graveyard - it now sits to the left of the church porch, beside a sarcophagus (stone coffin) found when they were adding the vestries at the East end of the church.
I think the caption has two events mixed up. The church was built well before 1895!
1895 could have been when the spire was rebuilt after the original one blew down. The main body of the church dates back to the early 1500s I think, and is Grade 1 listed.
WN1 Standisher. From church website.
The tower, which was believed to have been built in the 14th century, was left untouched when the church was rebuilt in the 1580s. The spire which surmounted it was struck by lightning in 1814 and finally blown down in a great storm in 1822. It was rebuilt but only lasted 45 years and in 1867 both tower and spire were rebuilt.
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https://stwilfrids-standish.org.uk/church/
There's been a church here since 1291.
It's interesting to see that the Boulder is near to the church doors as we have a similar size one out side the Methodist Chapel on Wigan Rd Westhoughton. It has a brass inlay indicating John Wesley stood on it to preach to the good people of Howfen on his travels around these parts.
I too believe this to be a glacial erratic. In fact I believe it to be a large boulder of Eskdale granite, brought down by the glacial ice during the last ice age which ended around 12,000 years ago.