St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Gosberton
An audacious bet
Running up all sides of the spire of St. Peter and St. Paul’s church in Gosberton are little decorative stone projections, known in architectural circles as crockets. It was using these as footholds that a stonemason named Hudson climbed in 1869 to the very apex of the tower and, for a bet, tied a silk handkerchief – presumably to the weathervane. After his descent he challenged anyone to retrieve the handkerchief. The challenge was accepted by a bricklayer called John Ashwell. Ashwell managed to get to the top, retrieved the handkerchief and for good measure whipped off his braces, tore them apart, and tied one half to the top. On his descent he slipped, but was saved from a nasty fall by his waistcoat, which snagged on one of the crockets. Presumably because of his lack of braces, his trousers came down in the process, exposing his bare backside – or at least his undergarments – much to his embarrassment and the crowds amusement, no doubt. Apparently the braces hung at the top of the spire for some while, despite attempts to retrieve them, including using kites. Eventually, wind and rain finally solved the problem.
How true is this story?
There is no contemporaneous record in the newspapers of the incident, but an article in the 2 April 1949 edition of the Lincolnshire Standard stated “These facts were recorded when the Rev. Payne was Vicar in 1920, and an old couple, Mr. and Mrs. Paulson, who clearly remembered the incident, signed their names at the bottom of the entry in the church log book.” Census and other records confirm that a John Ashwell, a 23 year old builder/bricklayer, lived and worked in Gosberton at that time. How ironic that, having avoided what could have been a fatal fall from the church spire, his death eventually came from a fall. He died in 1885, at just 40 years of age, a short time after he fell off his cart near the vicarage – just a stones throw away from the scene of his cheeky jape in 1868. .
