Editor’s note:Â Kate lived in Mermaid Street for many years, before moving to Canterbury. She was active in church life and the Arts Festival here. She was a direct descendant of William Wilberforce, and active in opposing modern slavery.
In the crypt of the cathedral where Thomas a Becket was murdered, and Kate worshipped most mornings, a goodly number from Rye joined family, Canterbury friends and members of the International Ecumenical Fellowship last Tuesday for a service of thanksgiving for Kate’s life .
Kate (as you may imagine) had carefully organised the service, though it took place nearly two years after her death. Her body was buried with that of her husband in Rye Cemetery in August 2020.
Tuesday’s service included tributes to her work for Sotheby’s with European ceramics, from Oxford and Berlin. The Angel’s Farewell from The Dream of Gerontius was sung – few of us knew her grandmother was Elgar’s favourite angel. We heard a moving meditation she had written, seeing in a broken vase in her Rye home a symbol of a broken church and a broken world, which can be restored.
Image Credits: Courtesy of Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival ber Music Destiveal .