Did You Know that 'clench' is an olde English term for the very hard chalk
quarried around the East of England, much loved by medieval masons for its
durable yet easily workable qualities?
Did You Also Know that the interior of the Ladies Chapel, set in the grounds of
Ely Cathedral and completed circa 1250 (built ostensibly to the greater glory of
Our Lady Of Grace, but almost certainly a pagan shrine to the Lady Ethelreda,
founder of the original church at Ely built circa 540, itself built on the site
of an even older monastic retreat), is carved exclusively from clench quarried
near Boston, Lincolnshire?
Thus, six centuries ago, masons could be seen manipulating Boston Clench, a
situation we trust has been inverted in recent years.
This has been a public service announcement by the Truth Is Stranger Than
Fiction department of the Cambridge Clench.
-- Rev Wu Wei
