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Crayola

Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand Crayola and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. Since 1984, Crayola has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards.

Originally an industrial pigment supply company, Crayola soon shifted its focus to art products for home and school use, beginning with chalk, then crayons, followed later by colored pencils, markers, paints, modeling clay, and other related goods. All Crayola-branded products are marketed as nontoxic and safe for use by children. Most Crayola crayons are manufactured in the United States.

Crayola also produces Silly Putty and a line of professional art products under the 'Portfolio Series brand', including acrylics, watercolor, tempera, and brushes.

Crayola LLC claims the Crayola brand has 99% name recognition in U.S. consumer households, and says its products are marketed and sold in over 80 countries.

History
The company was founded as Binney & Smith Company by cousins Edwin Binney and Charles Smith in New York City in 1885. Initial products were colorants for industrial use, including red iron oxide pigments used in barn paint and carbon black chemicals used for making tires black and extending their useful lifespan. Binney & Smith's new process of creating inexpensive black colorants was entered into the chemistry industries competition at the 1900 Paris Exposition under the title "carbon gas blacks, lamp or oil blacks, 'Peerless' black" and earned the company a gold medal award in chemical and pharmaceutical arts. Also in 1900, the company added production of slate school pencils. Binney's experimentation with industrial materials, including slate waste, cement, and talc, led to the invention of the first dustless white chalk, for which the company won a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Initially formed as a partnership, Binney & Smith incorporated in 1902, and in that year Binney & Smith developed and introduced the Staonal marking crayon. Then Edwin Binney, working with his wife, Alice Stead Binney, developed his own famous product line of wax crayons beginning on June 10, 1903, which it sold under the brand name Crayola. The Crayola name was coined by Alice Binney who was a former schoolteacher. It comes from craie (French for "chalk") and ola for "oleaginous" or "oily." The suffix "-ola" was also popular in commercial use at the time, lending itself to products such as granola (1886), pianola (1901), Victrola (1905), Shinola (1907), and Mazola (1911). Crayola introduced its crayons not with one box, but with a full product line. By 1905, the line had expanded to offering 18 different-sized crayon boxes with five different-sized crayons, only two of which survive today—the "standard size" (a standard sized Crayola crayon is 3+5/8 ×) and the "large size" (large sized Crayola crayons are 4 ×). The product line offered crayon boxes containing 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 24, 28, or 30 different color crayons. Some of these boxes were targeted for artists and contained crayons with no wrappers, while others had a color number printed on the wrapper that corresponded to a number on a list of color names printed inside the box lid, but some boxes contained crayons with their color names printed on their wrappers.

The Rubens Crayola line, started in 1903, was directly targeted at artists and designed to compete with the Raphael brand of crayons from Europe. The crayon boxes sold from five cents for a No.6 Rubens box containing six different-colored crayons to $1.50 for the No. 500 Rubens Special Artists and Designers Crayon box containing 24 different-colored, larger (4+1/4 ×) crayons.

In April 1904 at the St. Louis World's Fair, Binney & Smith won the Golden Medal for their An-Du-Septic dustless chalk. Subsequently, Crayola used the opportunity to develop a new packaging strategy by emphasizing their gold medal on the front of many of their products and crayon boxes. This strategy turned out to be so successful and recognizable to their brand that they phased out nearly all of their other Crayola line box designs to adapt to the gold medal format, which appeared on their packaging for the next 50-plus years.

In 1905, the prototype offering of their new No. 8 crayon box (with eight crayons) featured a copy from the side of the medal with an eagle on it. This was changed to the other side of the medal with the 1904 date on it in Roman numerals.

Binney & Smith purchased the Munsell Color Company crayon product line in 1926, and inherited 22 new colors, 11 in the maximum and 11 in the middle hue ranges. They retained the Munsell name on products such as “Munsell-Crayola” and “Munsell-Perma” until 1934, and then incorporated their colors into their own Crayola Gold Medal line of boxes.

In 1939, Crayola, by combining its existing crayon colors with the Munsell colors, introduced its largest color assortment product to date; a "No. 52 Drawing Crayon 52 Color Assortment", which was retired by the 1944 price list.

In 1949, Crayola introduced the "Crayola No. 48" containing 48 color crayons in a non-hangable floor box.

Further expansion took place in 1958 with the introduction of the 64-color pack that included the company's first crayon sharpener built into the box. The 64-color box was called "a watershed" moment in the history of the Crayola crayon by Smithsonian National Museum of American History curator David Shayt.

The corporation became a publicly traded company under the symbol BYS on the American Stock Exchange in 1963, and later moved to the New York Stock Exchange under the same symbol in 1978.

In 1977, Binney & Smith acquired the rights to Silly Putty, a stretchy, bouncy silicon rubber compound. Crayola markers were introduced in 1978 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Crayola crayons. In 1984, the company was acquired by Hallmark Cards, a privately held corporation. Colored pencils and a line of washable markers were added in 1987.

In August 1997, Crayola collaborated with Alliance Atlantis and the entertainment arm of Hallmark Cards to release three direct-to-video adaptations of famous children's novels under the name Crayola Kids Adventures.

Crayola Crayons were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 1998. On January 1, 2007, Binney & Smith reorganized as Crayola LLC, to reflect the company's number one brand.

In 2011, My First Crayola was launched. Products include triangular crayons and flat-tipped markers.

In 2015, Crayola announced "Color Escapes" for adults to help them relieve stress. The kit includes four collections, such as geometric, garden, natural, and kaleidoscope.

Crayons
Crayola crayon packs vary in package counts of just a few crayons sold to establishments such as hotels and restaurants, to hand out to their young guests, to 832-crayon "Classpack" bulk boxes marketed to schools. The colours contained in a package have ranged from two to 200 (although a 200-color package includes "special effect" crayons such as glitters, neons, etc).

The most common retail packages are multiples of eight, with 8, 16, 24, 48, 64, 96 and 120 packs being marketed today. A 150-crayon pack featuring a plastic telescope-like case was introduced in 2006, and includes 118 regular color crayons, 16 glitter crayons, and 16 "Metallic FX" crayons, as well as a built-in sharpener at the apex of the tower. This was succeeded by a 152-crayon set in a plastic yellow carrying case in 2013, with all the colors from the 150-crayon set plus the standard colors Piggy Pink and Blue Bell.

Colors
As the size of Crayola crayon packs increased from the original 1903 crayon packs, the variety of colors available has also increased—reaching 120 colors by 1998. Since 1998, new colors have been added, but always replacing existing colors. In all, 60 colors have been retired, bringing the total number of regular colors produced to 180. On March 31, 2017, Crayola announced that Dandelion would be retired. On September 14, 2017, the replacement color "Bluetiful" was announced. The color is reportedly a new hue realized after experiments done at Oregon State University. It was discovered while scientists were experimenting with electronics.

According to Crayola, they currently manufacture 120 standard crayon colors which are all included in the regular 120-count box. This does not include specialty crayons like the Metallic FX, Gel FX and the glitter crayons, but does include fluorescent crayons.

Colors chart
The colors in the box below come in the packs of 8, 16, and 24:

Cultural impact
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History maintains a collection of Crayola crayons founded by an original 64-color box donated by Binney & Smith in 1998. The collection now includes more than 300 boxes of crayons.

The Crayola crayon was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame as a founding member at its inception.

Crayola has been featured in segments from the popular children's shows Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, with the official 100 billionth crayon molded by Fred Rogers himself in February 1996 at the plant in Easton.

Commemorative postage stamp
In 1998, the United States Postal Service issued a 32-cent postage stamp to commemorate the cultural impact the product has had on almost all Americans.

The stamp is part of the 1900s decade sheet of the Celebrate the Century souvenir sheet series, and was designed by Carl Herrman, illustrated by Richard Waldrep and printed by Ashton-Potter USA using the offset/intaglio process.

Crayola color census 2000
In 2000, Crayola held the "Crayola Color Census 2000" promotion in which Americans were asked to vote for their favorite Crayola crayon color. Celebrity entrants George W. Bush chose "Blue Bell", Tiger Woods chose "Wild Strawberry", and Courteney Cox chose "Red". Overall, "Blue" came in first, with "Cerulean" second, and "Purple Heart" third.

Crayola Experience
Originally opening as the Crayola Factory, the Crayola Experience is located at 30 Centre Square, Easton, Pennsylvania, at Two Rivers Landing. Open to the public, the Crayola Experience is a roomy, crayon-centric warehouse including events, a café, a store, attractions, some familiarizing guests, and Crayola's history with products.

A "discovery center" was built that showcases the manufacturing process of crayons. There is also a "Crayola Hall of Fame" in which the retired crayon colors are displayed.

The Crayola Experience was featured in a Food Network episode of Dinner: Impossible. A dinner was held for 150 employees of the Crayola Experience to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 64-box of crayons. Chef Michael Symon's mission was to create an eight-course tasting menu for this event, where all eight items of the menu had to match eight randomly chosen Crayola crayon colors.

On October 11, 2003, the Experience unveiled "The World's Largest Crayon", a 15 ft crayon weighing 1,500 lb, as part of its celebration of 100 years of Crayola crayons. The giant crayon, 16 in in diameter, is blue, and was made of leftover crayon bits ("leftolas") sent in by children across the United States.

It opened its first location in Two Rivers Landing, in Easton, Pennsylvania, in May 2013, its second location in The Florida Mall, Orlando, Florida, in June 2015, its third location in Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, in February 2016, its fourth location in The Shops at Willow Bend, Plano, Texas, in March 2018, and its fifth location in Chandler Fashion Center, Chandler, Arizona, in May 2019. With five new locations planned to open by 2027, their sixth location will open in fall 2024 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Fine art
Although marketed to children and amateur artists, several professional artists have specialized in using Crayola crayons as their primary medium. Don Marco, who works with Crayola crayons and construction paper, is one of the better known crayon artists, having sold over one million prints of his original artworks.

Other products
Crayola LLC produces a broad range of products other than their famous crayons under the Crayola brand name. These include colored pencils, markers, inks and paints, modeling clays, coloring books, and artists' tools. As with all Crayola products, these are all marketed as non-toxic and safe for use by children.

Silly Putty
Silly Putty is a silicone polymer children's toy used for various purposes. Silly Putty was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2001.

Portfolio Series
The Portfolio Series is a line of water-soluble oil pastels, watercolors, drawing pencils, colored pencils, and acrylic paints marketed to artists and educators.

Liquitex
Binney & Smith acquired the Liquitex corporation, a producer of fine art supply products, in 1964, but sold it to the Colart company in 2000.

Silly Scents
Silly Scents is a line of scented crayons, markers, colored pencils, clay and paint.

Staonal
Marketed as a general (non-coloring)-use crayon for industrial purposes, Staonal was developed in 1902 and still continues.

Scribble Scrubbie Pets
Scribble Scrubbie Pets are animal figurines that can be written on with washable markers. Various 'digital pets' are available using the Scribble Scrubbie Pets App.

Crayola Studios
On August 3, 2023, Crayola launched a studio division that will produce content for kids and families. Victoria Lozano, Crayola’s executive VP marketing, will oversee the division.

Licensing
Numerous products, ranging from bath and personal care items to bedding and electronics, are produced by other companies using the Crayola brand name under license. Firebrand Games developed a Crayola-themed video game, titled Crayola Treasure Adventures, which was published by Crave Entertainment for Nintendo DS in 2007. Climax Studios developed another Crayola-themed video game, titled Crayola Scoot, which was published by Outright Games for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2018.

In 2021, Kellogg's and Crayola teamed up to create a fruit-flavored cereal with a coloring book on the box. Kellogg's Crayola Jazzberry Cereal are rainbow-colored corn puffs, and the package included access to a digital pet in the Scribble Scrubbie Pets App.

Christmas lights
In the 1996–1997 season, Crayola produced Christmas lights using its name with colors such as pink, orange, blue, gold, green, red, and more.

Manufacturing
Crayola has manufacturing plants in Forks Township, Pennsylvania; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Lindsay, Ontario; and Mexico City. The colored pencils are made by Faber-Castell in Brazilian plants.

title: Crayola


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St Botolph's Church, Boston

St Botolph's Church is the Anglican parish church of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. It has been referred to as "Boston Stump" since it was constructed. Its tower is 266 ft tall, and was long used as a landmark for the Boston fishermen; on a clear day it can be seen from Norfolk. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Background
The church has one of the tallest medieval towers in the country, with a height of approximately 266 feet 9 inches (81.31m).

It can be seen for miles around; its prominence accentuated by the flat surrounding countryside known as The Fens. On a clear day, it can be seen from East Anglia on the other side of The Wash. The nickname, Boston Stump (also known as "The Stump"), is often used as a reference to the whole church building or for the parish community housed by it. The formal name is Saint Botolph's Parochial Church of Boston. The name "Boston" is thought to have evolved from "Botolph's Town".

Earlier buildings
Early English legends say that the church was built on the site of a monastery founded by Saint Botolph in 654. As the main source of this account is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it is strongly disputed. Modern historians believe it much more likely that Botolph's monastery was located at Iken in Suffolk.

The Boston Stump is not the first church to have been built on this site. Archaeological evidence indicates that a smaller wooden and stone Norman church had existed on the location of the south aisle of the present building. William Stukeley, the 18th-century antiquary, mentions large stone remains to the south of the church. Excavations during the mid 19th century revealed a Norman stone pillar and a number of coffins from the period.

The small church was inadequate for a booming town with trading revenues to rival London. Trade was across the North Sea with the Low Countries. The town also became a theological centre, with no fewer than four religious houses. In the beginning of the 14th century, the parish began work on a much grander building, more fitting for a prosperous town.

Historically, the transformation from a small church to the equivalent of a continental European cathedral was begun in 1309 under Sir John Truesdale, Vicar of St Botolph's (‘Sir’ being a title of priests at the time). In this period there was change and upheaval across the continent and England following the arrests of the Knights Templar by King Philip the Fair of France on Friday, 13 October 1307.

England became a refuge for many individuals with ties on both sides of the channel, and there was a surge in building construction across England. For approximately the next 20 years, theological determination was disputed among the crown, nobility, and clergy in England. Political turmoil from these events led to the Hundred Years' War and the eventual formation of the Church of England in the 16th century.

Foundation and architecture
The existing church was begun in 1309 at the east end, as was customary. With the chancel built, work reached the south aisle and moved on through the nave until its completion around 1390. Foundation trouble, because of proximity to the river, delayed progress while the chancel was extended to prop the building up and create a greater level of structural stability. The nave piers had been leaning dangerously to the east. This work was successful to the extent that today the tower leans by less than half a centimetre, despite its great height.

The tower was not begun until 1450, by excavation of a deep, wide hole. Indicating the architectural skill employed by the builders at the time, the tower remains structurally solid and has not required any restoration work to realign it despite The Haven being only 33 ft away and the original foundations built under water level.

It was completed between 1510 and 1520 in the Perpendicular style that had become popular during much of the 15th century. A walkway at roughly two thirds of the height of the tower encircles the edges, giving great views from the Wash in the east toward Lincoln in the west. Reached by 209 steps, the walkway also provides access to the tower level with the bells.

The tower is topped with a highly decorated octagonal lantern ringed with pinnacles, one of fewer than half a dozen medieval examples surviving in England. Others, including the church of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, are now ruined.

The nave is 242 ft long and 104 ft wide, making the internal space of the building impressive by its sheer size. It terminates in the vaulted chancel containing the high altar at the extreme eastern end of the church. The church was vaulted in wood in the 18th century, but the nave vaults were removed in the 20th century.

The relatively short period of construction for such a large church is fairly unusual in England, and an indication of the wealth of Boston. Most similarly sized churches, largely cathedrals, took hundreds of years to build due to constant fund shortages, giving them a variety of different styles as exhibited by other East Anglian churches, such as Ely or Peterborough. The Stump was built in less than 150 years, giving it a rare sense of architectural coherence and unity.

Misericords
St Botolph's has an array of sixty-two misericords dating from 1390. Subject matter includes mythology, heraldry, and some everyday scenes - NB-02, for instance "Master seated birching a boy who is trying to protect himself with a book. Three other boys are looking on," and NB-03 "Two jesters, each squeezing a cat under its arm and biting its tail".

Dimensions and statistics
St Botolph's Church is the widest parish church in England, the tallest to roof, and also one of the largest by floor area. The very largest by floor area is Holy Trinity Church in Hull, now known as Hull Minster.

 * The tower is 266 ft high.
 * The walls of the tower are 40 ft
 * Ground level interior height of the tower is 137 ft.
 * Views from the top of the tower reach 32 mi.
 * Interior space is 20070 sqft
 * Nave length is 242 ft.
 * Nave width is 104 ft.

There are many dimensions of the church that correspond with dates in the calendar. The roof is supported by 12 pillars (months), the church has 52 windows (weeks), and 7 doors (days of the week). There are a total of 365 steps to the tip of the tower (days of the year). There are 24 steps to the library (hours) and 60 steps to the roof (minutes and seconds).

Significance of the tower
The tower of St Botolph's Church is 266 ft high, making it the tallest parish church in England to its roof. For the last one hundred and thirty odd years, there have only been 26 bells at the Stump. 15 carillon bells, 10 bells hung for full circle ringing, and the sanctuary bell (27, including the old ship's bell).

The tower was used as a marker for travellers on The Fens and in The Wash. It is commonly believed that it was once lit from inside the tower in order to serve this purpose at night as well as during the day. George Jebb's Guide to the Church of St Botolph, with Notes on the History of Boston mentions rings in the tower from which lights could be hung, pointing out that it was a popular practice. The accuracy of this reference is not known. Pishey Thompson, in The History and Antiquities of Boston, quotes from Britton, editor of The Lincolnshire Churches, in the Division of Holland:

"The lantern, no doubt, was intended to be lighted at night for a sea-mark. The church of All Saints at York has a lantern very much resembling this of Boston; 'and tradition tells us that anciently a large lamp hung in it, which was lighted in the night time, as a mark for travellers to aim at, in this city. There is still the hook of the pulley on which the lamp hung in the steeple.'" "And Stow tells us that the steeple had five lanterns; to wit, one at each corner, and 'It seemeth that the lanterns on the top of this steeple were meant to have been glazed, and lights in them to have been placed nightly in the winter; whereby travellers to the city might have the better sight thereof, and not miss their way.'"

The tower became important again in World War II, when Lincolnshire was known as "Bomber County" for its proliferation of air bases. British and American pilots would use The Stump as a signpost to guide them back to base. It also appears that the German Luftwaffe used the tower as a marker, but the town of Boston suffered few bombings.

When floodlighting was recently fitted at The Stump, a great deal of research was done. The yellow lighting of the octagonal lantern was specially put in place to represent the historic use as a marker to guide travellers on land and sea.

Architectural influence abroad
In the 1920s, the truncated tower inspired the form of several structures during a resurgence of Gothic Revival buildings in the United States. The spire of Harkness Tower at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut (1921) and Riverside Church (1930) in New York City were the closest exemplars of the original masonry structure. Skyscrapers such as the Chicago Tribune Tower (1925) and New York's American Radiator Building (1926) also took formal cues. In Boston, Massachusetts, so named for St Botolph's parish, Boston University planned its own "Boston stump" in the form of the Alexander Graham Bell tower, but these plans were never realized.

Name
The official title of the church is "St Botolph's Church of the Parish of Boston", but it is more commonly known as the "Boston Stump", and more simply by locals "the Stump" ever since it was completed. In what is still a matter of debate, there are a number of believed origins of this nickname that at first applied to the tower and is now frequently used to describe the whole church. What is certain is the real roots have long since faded from memory.

The first is that the tower took so long to build it resembled a stump during the construction phase. Seventy years was not, however, a particularly long time for a tower of such height to be built. Many similarly tall structures would be built a level at a time over hundreds of years.

Secondly, it was intended to be completed with a spire. This seems unlikely, as there has not been a single recorded lantern tower in England that has been topped with a spire. It is possible that a spire was originally intended to rest on the first phase of the tower. It would have looked rather like St James' Church, Louth.

The third explanation is that it is named after the dramatic appearance it creates rising from the flat fenlands that surround it for miles. Other churches, including Ely Cathedral, also derive nicknames from their appearance when viewed from the Fens.

Library
As a centre of learning, St Botolph's has a library that is located above the porch. The height of this above ground level is perhaps to protect the precious books contained within from flooding, an event that was frequent when the church was originally built.

The library was re-founded in 1634, as a result of the metropolitical visitation the previous year. The books from that period were mostly donated, with donors' names recorded on the fly leaf. A later 17th-century vicar left his books to the library, about doubling its size. The bookshelves date from 1766. Indications from the book bindings show the library was not chained, although some books have been held in chained libraries. Catalogues were produced before the Archdeacon got rid of numerous books in 1819.

By 1950 this collection had more than 1,500 volumes. The majority of books (about 1,200) date to the 17th century, but about 150 books were printed before 1600, and there are a small number of incunabula dating from 1501 or earlier. Many of these books are believed to be a gift of Anthony Tuckney (1599–1670), who was vicar when the library was first established.

The most notable titles are a 12th-century manuscript, St Augustine's Commentary on Genesis, and a 1542 edition of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Religious books from the time of the early printing press include the Book of Common Prayer from 1549, and also a collection of books by Dutch philosopher and theologian Erasmus, published from 1545 to 1548.

Many sermons were recorded and are held by the library. Some considered to be of political and religious importance were given by preacher Robert Sanderson, a royalist during the English Civil War. At one point, he served as the personal chaplain to King Charles I. Such preachers who combined religion with politics, provided a unique viewpoint into the Royalist mindset.

Although the parish records from before 1900 were moved to Lincoln in 1988 for safe keeping, the parish library remains one of the ten biggest in England today. A dedicated cataloguer has been hired, and the library is being recorded and restored.

Political climate and its effects
The Reformation in England resulted in a reduction of the cathedral-like complex. At its peak the church was larger than it is today, including a number of attached buildings: the Corpus Christi Chapel to the south-western edge of the porch, and Charnel House on the eastern side of the nave opposite the Cotton Chapel. Together these extensions created a traditional cruciform shape to the building.

But in 1612 the church was damaged by militant local puritans. This is the year when the present pulpit was erected. Its grand style and prominence indicate the importance accorded to preaching in the time of the Pilgrims. More damage was done by Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War. They are said to have used the church as their camp in 1643. The Parliamentary forces destroyed stained-glass windows that they found politically or religiously offensive, as happened in many other churches in Lincolnshire.

John Cotton was a 17th-century vicar of Boston. A Puritan, he was noted as a preacher and attracted new members to the congregation. He wanted to change the Anglican Church from within, and simplify its liturgy & practice. He moved to Massachusetts in 1633 as a leader of settlers who had already emigrated (some had spent time in the Netherlands for religious freedom), as well as his own followers. He was instrumental in founding and naming Boston, Massachusetts. The "Cotton Chapel" at St Botolph's was named for him. At one time it was used as a school, and later as the fire station. It was restored in 1857.

Restoration
Early restoration work to repair war damage was carried out during the 17th and the 18th centuries. The organ, lost in the Reformation, was replaced in 1715.

From 1851 to 1853, a major period of Victorian restoration occurred. Nottingham architect George Place worked on the church as lead architect, under the direction of Gilbert Scott. The changes they oversaw included the removal of the tower ceiling and the addition of stone vaulting, as originally featured in the medieval plans. Place was responsible for the design of the east window, based on that of All Saints' Church, Hawton in Nottinghamshire, and the original design for the choirstall canopies. The high quality of craftmanship at the end of the 19th and the early 20th centuries is demonstrated here, particularly in the carved wood and stained glass. Augustus Welby Pugin created the baptismal font, which dates from 1853.

Between 1929 and 1931, a major restoration project took place under the supervision of Sir Charles Nicholson. The work included replacement of the nave roof and the installation of a new flat wooden ceiling, and strengthening of the tower. That entailed wooden scaffolding being erected up its entire height. Significant financial support for the restoration work came from the citizens of Boston, Massachusetts. The peal of bells in the tower was restored with a new bell frame, increasing the number of bells from eight to ten. This was increased again in 1951 to 15. The bells are now fitted on three racks of five, and were funded by a legacy.

Some restoration work began in 1979 in preparation for the 700th anniversary of the church. This programme, led by architect Nicholas Rank, was expected to cost something in the region of £3 million. In 2005, The Boston Stump Restoration Trust and Development Appeal was launched to carry out restoration and development of Saint Botolph's Church. The process of restoring this ancient landmark is underway and to date (2013) has included cleaning and conservation of the tower and West Door, cleaning and restoration of the chancel and Cotton Chapel, and the building of new visitor facilities. The latter were officially opened by Anne, Princess Royal in July 2012.

Burials

 * John Taverner

Events
In addition to regular worship services, the church holds regular fundraising events, and events for various schools. Every year, Boston Grammar School celebrates the giving of the Royal Charter to the School by holding a Charter Day service in the church.

The Restoration Trust also holds several fundraising concerts. Artists who have performed at the church include Lesley Garrett, The Black Dyke Band, and The Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir. On 26 June 2013, the Boston Stump Restoration Trust held their annual dinner in the nave in St Botolph's Church. In September 2013, the Restoration Trust held a Grand Celebrity Concert with the St Botolph's Singers, featuring Caroline Trutz and Special Guest, Aled Jones.

Environment
Due to its location in flat, low-lying fenland near the sea, the town of Boston has always been at risk of flooding. The buttress on the south-west corner of the tower has been used since the 18th century for keeping a record of the heights and dates of flooding of the church by the River Witham. Flood defences were improved following the North Sea flood of 1953. The church was flooded in 1978 and again on 5 December 2013, when the North Sea flood of 2013 resulted in 2 ft of water inside and 4 ft outside the building.

A folk tale tells that the strong winds blowing around the Stump are caused by the breath of the Devil. After an exhausting struggle with St Botolph, the Devil was breathing so heavily that the wind has not yet died down.

Present day

Simon Jenkins, in his book, England's Thousand Best Churches, ranks St Botolph's among the top 18. Architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner describes it is "a giant among English parish churches".

As befits the size and architectural importance, St Botolph's is a member of the Anglican Greater Churches Group, established for the small number of parish churches that have cathedral-like proportions without the title to match.

A full 3D model of the Stump can be viewed on Google Earth.

Stained-glass windows

One of the large stained-glass windows commemorates important figures in the history of Boston. The figures represent: Anne of Bohemia, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Anne Bradstreet (who went to New England in 1630 and became America's first poet) and Jean Ingelow. The bottom pictures portray John Cotton witnessing the sailing of the Arbella in 1630, and Archbishop William Laud and Anthony Tuckney founding the library in 1634.

Organ
The church has a large three-manual pipe organ by Harrison & Harrison. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. In the church's early days each of the various guilds had their own organ but the guilds were suppressed in 1547 and by 1589 all existing organs in the church had been disposed of.

The church was subsequently without an organ for more than a century and a quarter during Puritan days, until Christian Smith was engaged to build one in 1717. Some of Smith's pipes still survive in the present instrument but, over the years, various builders have had a hand in its development, namely Nicholls, Hill, Bishop, Brindley, Norman & Beard and Henry Willis. The last major rebuild was in 1940 by Harrison & Harrison of Durham. In 1987, Harrisons carried out a restoration making some slight tonal changes and taking advantage of modern solid-state technology to increase the facilities. In April 2007, they carried out some routine maintenance and cleaning, and upgraded the combination capture system to include 64 separate channels. The number of general pistons was increased from three to eight. It has three manuals and pedals, with 41 speaking stops and 12 couplers. The action is electro pneumatic. The chamber organ is a ‘Premier’ model built by the firm of Cousans (Lincoln) Ltd in the 1960s. It is used for more intimate choral performances, where the main organ is not always appropriate, and with an orchestra, as a continuo organ.

List of organists

 * John Taverner 1500 - 1525
 * Unknown 1640 - 1716
 * John Webber 1717 - 1741
 * James Allen 1741 - 1774
 * Robert Lysons 1774 - 1820
 * Josiah Ferdinand Reddie 1820 - 1826
 * Thomas Kerfoot 1827 - 1832
 * Unknown 1832 - 1834
 * William Binfield 1834 - 1846
 * William Richard Bexfield 1846 - 1848
 * Edward Thirtle ca. 1848 - 1867?
 * Walter Bond Gilbert 1867 - 1869
 * Daniel Joseph Wood 1869 - 1875 (later Organist of Chichester Cathedral and Exeter Cathedral)
 * George Herbert Gregory 1876 - 1919 (formerly organist of Tamworth Parish Church)
 * Alan James Derrick 1910 (acting organist)
 * Gordon Archbold Slater 1919 - 1927 (later organist of Lincoln Cathedral)
 * Joseph Bernard Jackson 1927 - 1951
 * Philip Marshall 1951 - 1957 (later organist of Lincoln Cathedral)
 * David Arthur Wright 1957 - 1999 (continuing after retirement and in 2007 being appointed Organist Emeritus)
 * David Shepherd 2002 - 2013
 * Marc Murray 2010 - May 2015
 * John Lyon 2015 -
 * George Ford 2016 - July 2018

Directors of Music:
 * Gary Sieling 1997 - 1999
 * Eric Wayman 1999 - 2001
 * John Lyon 2001 - 2006
 * Eric Wayman 2006 - 2009
 * Marc Murray 2010 - May 2015
 * George Ford 2016 - July 2018

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: St Botolph's Church, Boston


text:
Dropper loop

The dropper loop is a type of loop knot often used on multi-hook fishing lines. It can be created in the middle of a long line and forms a loop which is off to the side of the line.

Techniques
There are two main methods of tying the dropper loop. Finally drop the loop through the central twist.
 * 1) Gather a loop and then twist it around the overlap a few times
 * 2) Form the loop and then use a matchstick to twist up the overlap.

title: Dropper loop