Tudor manorial church--character needs to find rope

Buffysquirrel · Aug 12, 2016

Our time travellers are in the cemetery of a Tudor manorial church in the reign of Elizabeth I. Our protag has fallen into a deep muddy hole and needs hauling out. His boyfriend needs some rope. Would there be spare bell ropes or some other kind of ropes he could find?

Thanks!

WeaselFire · Aug 12, 2016

Maybe. Maybe not. But since you're already deviating a bit from reality by way of time travel, why not just make your boyfriend find some rope? Bell rope would be likely, even if it has to be cut from the bell. Maybe there's a stable. Maybe there is work being done and there are ropes around for hauling things up scaffolding. Maybe there's a hanging going on down the street. Maybe there's a rope vendor with a wagon load of his wares hanging around the manor.

Write it as you see fit. Though having him run into the church yelling "I need rope for my boyfriend" might get him tried as a witch or demon. The Tudor era wasn't exactly progressive or liberal.

Jeff

Alessandra Kelley · Aug 12, 2016

WeaselFire said:
Maybe. Maybe not. But since you're already deviating a bit from reality by way of time travel, why not just make your boyfriend find some rope? Bell rope would be likely, even if it has to be cut from the bell. Maybe there's a stable. Maybe there is work being done and there are ropes around for hauling things up scaffolding. Maybe there's a hanging going on down the street. Maybe there's a rope vendor with a wagon load of his wares hanging around the manor.

Write it as you see fit. Though having him run into the church yelling "I need rope for my boyfriend" might get him tried as a witch or demon. The Tudor era wasn't exactly progressive or liberal.

Jeff

To be fair it might be unclear exactly what he means. "Boyfriend" is a fairly recent coinage which doesn't seem to have had its romantic overtones until the 20th century. Someone yelling about one in the 16th century would be broadly understood but probably not as someone talking about a romantic partner.

Also: a quick search for Tudor household rope

I don't know what "clock rope" is, but "well rope" seems pretty clear. Tudor manors have kitchens and stables, both of which are likely to have several kinds of ropes around.

waylander · Aug 13, 2016

Ladder iin the Sexton's shed at the side of the church. If you're hand-digging graves then you need to able to get out of them

Old Hack · Aug 13, 2016

Bell ropes are usually kept in the bell-tower, which would be a bit of a climb. And were there bell towers in Tudor times? I'm not sure. If your people are time travellers perhaps one of them could be wearing a paracord bracelet. Useful stuff, paracord.

mirandashell · Aug 13, 2016

I think a ladder is a better idea. If you're not carrying paracord in your TT kit.

Buffysquirrel · Aug 22, 2016

Thanks everyone who responded

. I like the idea of a ladder, altho I'm not sure Tudor graves were deep enough to need one. I bet they'd need one to polish the glass or something....

mirandashell · Aug 22, 2016

One of the locals would have a ladder for patching the roof.

Maythe · Aug 22, 2016

I'm pretty sure there were bell towers in tudor times as I worked somewhere with a church. My work place was built in the latter part of Henry VIII 's reign and the church predated it and had a bell tower. Actually the local town has a church with an Anglo-Saxon tower but I can't be sure whether it was built as a bell tower. My first thought about bell rope is that stuff is bloody thick - what are you cutting it with and how long do you have to do it?

Buffysquirrel · Aug 22, 2016

Good point. Really leaning towards the ladder at this stage.

Susannah Shepherd · Aug 22, 2016

I once lived next door to a pre-1066 church with a bell tower, although I'm not sure whether it had always had bells.

The sexton's hut and/or charnel house might also have normal-sized rope for lowering coffins into graves. I don't think a deep grave would be implausible for Tudor times, unless you're in a crowded London churchyard: burials got shallow there simply because they ran out of space in their tiny graveyards. Not an issue in most other places, and I assume by 'manorial church' you're probably referring to a rural or semi-rural area.

stephenf · Aug 23, 2016

hi
Churches in Tudor times did have bells, But I would suggest your church has builders working on it , scaffolding and ropes would be there .

Bolero · Aug 25, 2016

Definitely bells, or at least one bell, going way back for announcing church services, sounding invasion alarm.....

Twick · Aug 25, 2016

If there's a well, you'd need a rope to lower the bucket. Maintenance on the church building would make a ladder somewhere almost mandatory.

How far down is the friend? Even lowering a cloak or something might work.

Tudor manorial church--character needs to find rope

Buffysquirrel

WeaselFire

Benefactor Member

Alessandra Kelley

Sophipygian

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

mirandashell

Buffysquirrel

mirandashell

Maythe

Buffysquirrel

Susannah Shepherd

stephenf

Bolero

Twick