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May 14, 2006
Fenchurch St. Paul
I’ve been an admirer of the Lord Peter novels by Dorothy L. Sayers for many years. Now that I’m living in London I’ve found that the bulk of her stories are set within a small radius around Russell Square. Indeed, many of her characters’ names come from streets in the area. So, in my copious free time I can hunt up the actual locations where these stories are set.
This first location we’ve set out deliberately to visit is actually nowhere near London. “The Nine Tailors” takes place in East Anglia. All of the geographic features in the book are fictionalized but it is widely thought that the model for the village church in Fenchurch St. Paul was the “Cathedral of the Marshes”, St. Clement’s church in Terrington St. Clement.
The village of Terrington St. Clement is only a few miles from King’s Lynn where we were staying. A quick drive across the flat landscape revealed the spire of a large church. Sure enough, St. Clement church is a giant for a small parish as is the “young cathedral” at the heart of the story of “The Nine Tailors”. There are numerous points of difference but I’m willing to buy that this is indeed the prototype for the village church in the book.
Filed under Literary Locations, Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter Wimsey, Travel, UK, East Anglia and Terrington St. Clements.
Posted by eric at May 14, 2006 08:36 PM