Here's an article by David Lanning about the 'green man' he found in St. Andrew's after the floods of 2008. 

"THE GREEN MAN"

It has taken me a long time to tell you about this but after the worst of the October flood water in church had subsided I was walking around the church on my own surveying the damage and feeling somewhat depressed about the whole affair.

Near the back of the church I saw on the floor, still covered in mud, a small 4cm block of wood. I picked it up without looking and put it in my pocket, thinking it had probably fallen off the screen leading into the choir vestry.

When I returned indoors I took out this piece of wood and completely to my surprise found it was a carving of a "Green Man"

So what is a Green Man, well the term was only introduced in 1939 by Lady Raglan who used the terminology in the Journal "Folk Lore". Often it's the name of a pub of the same name, or as the "Jack in the Green", or as the May King. In reality it is a carving either in stone or wood of a mans head with leaves or greenery emerging from the face. His origins are lost in the mists of time, but he appears all over the world, and so is truly one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of pagan mythology. He is always connected with greenery, and is a fusion of man and the green world of nature, of re-birth or renewal. In Christian imagery he became a symbol of Easter and resurrection. With only a few exceptions the medieval masons or wood carvers depicted him as a gentle and benevolent deity.

Try as I might I cannot find where this piece of wood came from, we have no missing pieces on any of the screens, perhaps he was hidden in the church and the flood water released him from his hiding place only to emerge as a symbol of celebration of ever- renewed life. I like to think this was the case as it has a message for me that the flood was not a disaster but a wake up call from God that we have to re-new our church and breath into it new life.

What will we do with him, I hope that we can mount him on a plaque and record the find so that we will remember the 28^th October 2008 as a night of the re-birth of St. Andrews.

Who knows, perhaps the flood did the church a favour!

David Lanning

Churchwarden