| ©2018 St. Blasius Old Parish Church, Shanklin
The History of St Blasius Church
This
outline
history
and
guide
is
intended
to
welcome
the
many
visitors
to
Shanklin
Old
Church.
Some
of
the
church's
history
remains
obscure
-
it
did
not
become
a
parish
church
until
1853,
and
much
of
what
the
visitor
will
see
is
the
result
of
a
major
restoration
started
in
1852.
Previously
it
was
the
Manorial chapel founded in the reign of King Stephen by Geoffrey de Lisle.
Opinions
on
the
attractiveness
of
this
little
church
vary,
but
few
who
come
here
now
would
agree
with
the
rueful
tone
in
an
early
guide
book
–
“almost
every
trace
of
antiquity
has
vanished”-
-
or
the
even
more
dismissive,
“it
has
been
so
altered
and
added
to
that
it
is
now
of
little
interest”
-
W.
M.
Page
in
A
History of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
On
the
contrary,
there
is
a
great
deal
to
interest
and
please
the
discerning.
Mercifully,
the
sad
fashion
of
dismissing
all
things
Victorian
has
had
its
day
and
we
are
free
to
enjoy
the
strikingly
peaceful
beauty
of
the
church
and
its
surroundings,
situated
as
it
is
on
its
own
small rise under the downs, overlooking the pond and former grounds of the Manor.
ST. BLASIUS - AND SOME MYSTERIES
Many
visitors
ask,
"Who
is
St.
Blasius?"
as
few
English
churches
were
dedicated
to
him.
This
question
can
be
answered,
but
if
they
continue
by
asking,
"And
why
is
this
church
dedicated
to
him?"
the
answers
become
hedged
about
with
"possibly",
"probably"
or
"it
could be that..."
To
deal
with
the
easier
question
first:
St.
Blasius,
or
Blaise,
was
the
young
bishop
of
Sebaste,
in
Armenia
(now
in
Turkey)
in
the
time
of
the
Roman
Emperor
Licinius,
in
the
early
fourth
century.
It
was
a
time
of
persecution
of
the
Christians
and,
his
whereabouts
known
only
to
his
congregation,
Blasius
had
to
take
refuge
outside
the
city
walls,
in
a
cave
in
the
forest.
Here
he
ministered
to
sick
or
injured
creatures
that
he
found,
while
a
reward
was
offered
for
his
capture.
The
forest
animals
lost
their
fear
and
made
their
way
to
him.
An
unfortunate
return
for
Blasius'
goodness
was
that
the
tracks
of
the
visiting
animals
led
hunters
to
discover
his
hiding
place;
they
took
him back to Sebaste so that they could claim the reward.
As
he
was
being
taken
to
prison,
a
woman
brought
him
her
son,
who
was
choking
to
death
with
a
fishbone
in
his
throat.
Blasius
freed
the
bone
and
saved
the
boy.
As
thanks,
the
woman
brought
him
food
and
candles
in
prison
as
he
awaited
trial.
Blasius
was
tortured
by
being
torn
with
sharpened
wool-combs,
before
being
beheaded.
These
features
of
his
story
caused
his
later
adoption
as
the
patron
saint
of
wool
combers
and
of
sore
throats.
He
was
also
the
patron
saint
of
animals,
until
he
was
superseded
by
St.
Francis
of
Assisi
in
the 15th century.
Quite
how
St.
Blasius
came
to
be
the
patronal
saint
of
this
small
church
in
Shanklin
is
a
matter
of
speculation,
though
some
facts
are
known.
Knowledge
about
him
came
to
England
as
a
result
of
the
crusades.
When
Richard
the
Lionheart,
on
a
crusade
in
1192,
was
shipwrecked
on
an
island
off
the
coast
near
Regusa,
(the
present
day
Dubrovnik
in
Croatia),
he
wished
to
build
a
church
to
offer
thanks
for
being
saved.
However
Bernard,
Archbishop
of
Regusa,
persuaded
him
to
give
the
money
towards
the
rebuilding
of
the
cathedral
in
the
city,
dedicated
to
St.
Mary
and
St.
Blasius.
Because
Archbishop
Bernard
was
extremely
unpopular
in
Regusa,
the
citizens
managed
to
send
him
to
England
with
Richard
when
the
king
returned
to
his
kingdom,
and
on
Richard's
death
in
1199
Bernard
remained
at
the
court
of
King
John.
When
the
Pope
appointed
another
Archbishop
of
Regusa,
Bernard
was
left
without
position
or
income
and
had,
perforce,
to
accept
demotion
to
the
position
of
Bishop
of
the
then
undesirable
diocese
of
Carlisle,
a
post
unfilled
for
some
years
as
it
was
a
wild
and
disputed
borderland.
Clearly,
Bernard,
ex-Archbishop
and
the
new
Bishop
of
Carlisle
brought
the
Balkan
St.
Blasius
to
Northern England.
A puzzle and a guess
Tradition
has
it
that
one
of
the
family
at
Shanklin
Manor
went
on
the
crusades
and
is
believed
to
have
carved
the
crusader's
cross
on
the
original
doorpost
to
the
chapel
(this
cross
can
still
be
seen
in
the
stone).
He
might,
if
he
was
a
member
of
King
Richard's
retinue,
have heard of the saint at Regusa, or from Archbishop Bernard.
A question of dedication
If
the
chapel
had
been
consistently
dedicated
to
St.
Blasius
since
the
twelfth
century,
we
might
consider
the
puzzle
of
the
dedication
virtually
solved.
But
the
twelfth
century
dedication
by
Geoffrey
de
lnsula
(the
family
later
became
Lisle)
of
the
manorial
chapel
was
not
to
St.
Blasius,
but
to
St.
John
the
Baptist.
Mention
of
St.
Blasius/St.
Blaise
is
made
through
the
centuries,
though
at
the
time
of
the
major
rebuilding
in
1852,
and
as
late
as
1890,
the
church
was
still
known
as
St.
John's.
The
dedication
to
St.
Blasius
must
therefore
be
a
revival,
perhaps
of
the
dedication
of
a
chantry
altar
within
the
chapel.
There
is
no
known
record
of
the
change
or
of
the
reasons
for
it.
Some of the mystery remains.