|
Lewis
Carroll
 |
| Carroll
at 25. |
Lewis
Carroll's father was Rector of Croft church and Archdeacon of Richmond
from 1843-1868. Carroll was 11 when he came to live on the Tees.
He
was one of 11 brothers and sisters, and first started making up
stories to entertain his family.
Much
of "Alice in Wonderland" is said to have been set in and
around the rectory and church.
The
first verse of the famous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky"
was written at Croft. Local historian David Simpson thinks it was
based on the legend of the Sockburn Worm.
Sockburn
lies to the east of Croft, further down the Tees.
The Cheshire
Cat
 |
| The
Cheshire cat? |
Croft
church has a sedilia - a seat for the clergy built into the wall
- at one end of which is a carved stone face of a cat or lion.
Could
this have been the original Cheshire Cat? Seen from a pew it has
a smile as wide as that famous moggy's.
But
if you stand up, the grin seems to disappear, just as it eventually
does in "Alice in Wonderland".
Lewis
Carroll, real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, created the inscrutable
evaporating feline for his "Alice in Wonderland".
| `Well!
I've often seen a cat without a grin,' thought Alice; `but a
grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in
all my life!' |
|
Alice in Wonderland, 1865 |
Relics
 |
| A
child's shoe. |
In
1950 the floorboards of Croft rectory were taken up. They had lain
undisturbed since Carroll's time.
Underneath
were found various Victorian artefacts, which may have belonged
to Carroll's family.
They
are still kept at the church, and include a child's shoe, and a
white glove.
 |
| One
of the white Rabbit's gloves? |
The
shoe is just the type that Alice might have worn, and the glove
is reminiscent of the White Rabbit's gloves in "Alice in Wonderland".
Photography
 |
| Carroll
took this photo of Tennyson's niece in Croft. |
Lewis
Carroll was multi-talented to say the least.
He
was famous not only as a writer and mathematician, but also as a
photographer.
On
the right is a photo of Alfred Lord Tennyson's niece which Carroll
took in the gardens of Croft rectory in 1857.
Return
to Tees Trail page.
|
Lewis
Carroll's real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.
