As a child, Robin attended St Mary the Virgin’s church for Christmas, Easter and harvest services with her primary school and family. She can remember being curious about a carving of a crab that was on the wall of the church. Her mother, Linda, had gone to the local library to search for church records, and she was able to inform Robin that the crab was an emblem of the ancient Scrope family, whose memorial sat above it. Nine-year-old Robin had been disappointed by the answer: “an explanation had never been the point. She had simply liked being the one who wanted to find out the truth.”

Over the chancel arch inside the church is a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds: “a misty, mystical image, the boy-angel contemplating the distant vision of a cross emitting golden rays…”

There’s also a statue of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill with a Jacobean dress; it is life-sized and horizontal on a marble shelf, propped up on his elbow. His wife lies beneath him in an identical pose.

As for the outside of the church, here’s some description: “The hush over the sleepy, sunlit graveyard felt ominous. He passed a strange, almost pagan-looking column covered in carvings to his right as he approached the heavy oak doors.”