Weathervane Wednesday ~ From the church where a Mayflower ancestor's parents are buried

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I started out by publishing only weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes from all over New England.  Sometimes these weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are very unique.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very special and unusual weather vanes.

Today's weather vane is from somewhere in England.

Do you know the location of weather vane #336?  Scroll down to see the answer...

This is the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, England where Henry and Margaret Howland, the parents of Mayflower passenger John Howland, are buried.  This church has parts dating from the 1200s, 1300s and 1400s, and the chancel was erected between 1247 - 1352.  It looks much like it did when the Howland family worshiped here in the 16th century.

The weathercock on the church tower is typical of the time period, and is a traditional symbol of a Christian church.  There is a myth that in the 9th century one of the Popes decreed that each church should have a weathercock as a reminder of "In this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times" (Matthew 26 verse 34).   The rooster tail is a perfect shape to catch the wind.

There are six bells in the tower, one was donated by the Pilgrim John Howland Society in 1981.  According to the church website, the oldest bell dates from 1603.  When we were visiting the church, one of the church members let me ring the Howland bell!

My blog post about our visit to this church in England:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/along-pilgrim-trail-fenstanton.html 

Fenstanton’s St. Peter and St. Paul Church:  http://www.fenstantonparishchurch.org.uk/church-history/

Click here to see all the previous Weathervane Wednesday posts! 

------------------------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ From the church where a Mayflower ancestor's parents are buried", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 8, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/11/weathervane-wednesday-from-church-where.html: accessed [access date]).