Tributes have been paid to a priest who was awarded the prestigious Legion d’Honneur at a special service at Ripon Cathedral at the weekend, as a 'credence' table bought thanks to his legacy was dedicated by the Bishop of Leeds.
A former Royal Marine Rev John Langdon was in charge of landing troops on to Sword Beach during the D-Day Landings. The young lieutenant made five crossings – delivering more than 5,000 British and US troops to Normandy before his ship was sunk. He had just enough time to rescue his bible and tennis rackets before HMS Empire Broadsword went down!
John Langdon, whose ecclesiastical career included being a minor canon at Ripon and Chaplain of St John’s and St. Mary’s Magdalen’s Chapels, received the medal shortly before his death two years ago. The credence – or side – table, bought with his legacy, was one of several items dedicated by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rt Rev Nick Baines during the Founders and Benefactors Service on Sunday 15 October.
The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Dobson said: “I’ve known John all my life; he baptised me and when I moved to Ripon he led the prayers in my installation service. I was not surprised when I learnt that he had kindly left money to the cathedral – knowing how important it had been to him over the decades."
The service celebrated the contributions made by people over 13 centuries. Receiving no regular government funding the cathedral relies on donations, gifts and legacies to sustain it. No one knows this better than long-time server Norman Kitney, who, together with his family commissioned a missal stand for the cathedral in memory of Norman’s late wife Ann. The missal stand is a lectern which holds the books used in Holy Communion.
Norman recently celebrated 70 years as a server, assisting the clergy at the altar during Holy Communion. The missal stand, which was also dedicated at the service, has been made at the famous Mouseman workshops in Kilburn in North Yorkshire and now stands in a cathedral whose medieval wood carvings inspired the Mouseman himself – Robert Thompson.
Norman found the current missal stand being held together with sticky tape when he returned to serving after losing his wife. He said: “I asked what had happened and was told that some staging had dropped on it. So together with my sons and their families and with the approval of the Dean and Chapter, we decided to buy a new one in memory of Ann.”
It’s not the first gift or bequest from Norman’s family. He explained: “Whenever the items are used in whatever service – and I am there – it is as though they are part of the family.”
In addition new copes – the long cloaks worn by the clergy, have been bought thanks to a legacy left by Bill Forster a former Dean’s Verger at Ripon and author of Ripon Cathedral: Its History and Architecture.