St Peter's Church, Camerton

St Peter's Church at Camerton in Cumberland is a more interesting church than the externals admit. I thought it was just a nineteenth-century construction, but online information suggests it is both seventeenth and eighteenth century, with a Victorian bell tower. I assumed the tower was the oldest part, which exposes the poverty of my architectural knowledge. Had the church wardens seen fit to keep it open, the sixteenth-century tomb of 'Black Tom' and a few other, older features, might have indicated its real age.

Another piece of evidence suggesting its older vintage is its location. It is surrounded by the River Derwent on three sides- the north, the south and the east. In the Middle Ages, when marauding Scots and Border Reivers robbed and pillaged indiscriminately, being almost surrounded by a river surely offered a degree of protection, despite the risks of flooding. In Psalm 46:4, we read:

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

That river likely refers to a stream (Gihon) which provided Jerusalem with water in times of drought and siege. The good folk of Cumberland have seldom wanted for water, but the Derwent may have offered just as vital a form of protection.

Despite many and increasing pockets of persecution around the globe, and growing hostility to gospel truth in our own land and time, the Lord keeps His people sustained and His true Church in existence, until such time as He comes for her.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Ps 46:9-11