 | |
All Saints - Billockby [Link]
|
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Monday 17 September 2012
Saturday 15 September 2012
Sunday 9 September 2012
Wednesday 5 September 2012
Monday 3 September 2012
Saint Andrew - Little Snoring
 |
| Saint Andrew - Little Snoring [Link] © Godric Godricson |
The lovable rascals in the Diocese of Norwich have allowed large scale vandalism to take place in this wonderful building. The Authorities have somehow hollowed out the centre of this ancient and magnificent structure and left a cement colour to prevail along with a sort of unkempt dustiness to manifest itself. This is a magnificent building that shines forth from its location only to disappoint the searcher after truth when they enter and find a somewhat despoiled interior.
The small flowers at the entrance are welcoming and the building is open which is always a good start to a visit although that is just about where it ends. The spirit of God and traditional devotion has gone. Would it be too much to have a faint and vague smell of incense in the building to evoke that certain something? The faintest whiff of incense inspires a devotional sense and atmosphere and does something to help dispel the gradual slide towards dereliction.
The graveyard is plainly sad and has been cleared away for the ease of the rotary mower and once again the Anglican Authorities have 'got away with it'. An often Protestant Church that makes claims to be a National Church is not 'National' in any real way. The Established Church is becoming a broken chain that has little contact with the public. They will soon start to resemble some of the 'Continuing' Anglican denomination around the world.
 |
| Saint Andrew - Little Snoring [Link] © Godric Godricson |
Friday 31 August 2012
Thursday 23 August 2012
Sunday 12 August 2012
Friday 10 August 2012
Sunday 5 August 2012
Visiting Churches
Visiting Churches is one area that I love because you never know what you'll find. The Church is often the only communal property in the village and its the place where the unusual and the noteworthy is placed in the same way that we place unusual things on the mantelpiece.
The stone coffin from the 13th Century is this sort of unusual. The hole in the centre is the drain hole for the juices formed by decomposition and the floor of the Church would have formed the lid of the coffin. How insanitary is that? Whilst the parish Churches preserve the old coffins the Anglican Cathedral at Norwich turns one coffin into a flower planter.
 | |
13th Century coffin against the wall
|
 | |
| The Anglican Authorities at Norwich Cathedral turn an ancient coffin into a flower planter
|
Friday 3 August 2012
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Reverence for the dead
 |
| In Search Of Gravestones Old And Curious W.T. (William Thomas) Vincent Project Gutenburg |
"Reverence for the dead, especially among their known descendants, will generally operate as a check upon hasty or extravagant "improvements," and it may be expected that those responsible for the administration of local affairs will, for the most part, when they set about the beautification of their churchyard, decide to do what is necessary with no needless alterations. This plan of preservation, as already intimated, is probably the most desirable. But we know instances, especially in and around London, where good work has been done by judiciously thinning out the crop of tombstones, clearing away the least presentable features of the place, and making the ground prim with flower-beds and borders. To do this much, and to introduce a few seats, will leave the graveyard still a graveyard in the old sense, and requires no authority outside the church. It may be prudent to take a vote of the Vestry on the subject as a defence against irate parishioners, but, if nothing be done beyond a decorous renovation of the burial-ground, the matter is really one which is entirely within the functions of the parson and churchwardens. Moreover, although it is not generally known, the expenses of such works are a legal charge against the parish, provided the churchwardens have had the previous countenance of their colleagues the overseers. The account for the due and proper maintenance of the disused churchyard may be sent to the Burial Board, if there be such a board, and, if not, to the overseers, and the cost will in any case fall upon the poor-rate. Converting the ground absolutely into a public garden is quite a different matter, and, notwithstanding its difficulties, it is the course usually adopted. First, the consent of the Vestry is imperative, and every step is carefully measured by a stringent Act of Parliament. A petition for a faculty must be presented to the Bishop of the diocese, and before it can be granted there must be an official enquiry in public before the Diocesan Chancellor—always a profound lawyer, learned in ecclesiastical jurisprudence. Everybody who has any claim or objection as to any particular grave-space, or to the whole scheme altogether, has a right to be heard; all reasonable requests are usually granted, and the closing order, if made, is mostly full of conditions and reservations in favour of surviving relatives and others who have shewn cause for retaining this tomb and that stone undisturbed. In practice it is found that there are not very many such claims, but it sometimes happens that serious obstacles are left standing in the way of the landscape gardener. One almost invariable regulation requires that places shall be found within the enclosure for all the old stones in positions where they can be seen and their inscriptions read; to range them in one or more rows against the interior of the boundary fence is usually accepted as compliance with this rule.
Injudicious arrangement occasionally obscures some of the inscriptions, but they are all accessible if required, and anything is better than extinction. It is earnestly to be hoped that at least equal care is taken of the memorials in burial-grounds which are less ceremoniously closed. Where the work is thoughtfully conceived and discreetly accomplished, much good and little harm is done to a populous place by clearing the ground, laying out footpaths, and planting trees and flowers. But the gravestone, the solemn witness "Sacred to the Memory" of the dead, is a pious trust which demands our respect and protection, at least so long as it is capable of proclaiming its mission. When it has got past service and its testimony has been utterly effaced by time, it is not so easy to find arguments for its preservation. There is no sense or utility in exhibiting a blank tablet, and I have seen without scruple or remorse such superannuated vestiges employed in repairing the church fabric. But this, be it understood, is only when the stone is irretrievably beyond memento mori service, and on the clear condition that it is employed in the furtherance of religious work. It is true that a stone is only a stone, whatever it may have been used for, but a peculiar sanctity is in most minds associated with the grave, and we ought not to run the risk of shocking tender-hearted people by degrading even the dead memorial of the dead to profane and secular purposes. And yet, what has become in too many cases of the old gravestones?
 |
| © Godric Godricson |
 |
| Argotti Botanic Gardens & Herbarium Valetta [Link] © Godric Godricson |
The very old ones we may perhaps account for, but where are the middle-aged ones of the eighteenth century? It cannot be doubted, alas, that they have in many churchyards been deliberately taken away and destroyed to make room for new ones. Districts comprising many parishes may be pointed out with all their old churches in the midst of their old churchyards, but without one old gravestone standing. The rule and practice have been to quietly remove the relics of the forgotten sires in order to dig new graves for a new generation. The habit, as just said, rules by districts, and this is the case in most matters connected with the subject of this essay. It is a general and remarkable truth that "good" and "bad" churchyards abound in groups. The force of example or the instinct of imitation may explain the fact, but it affords a sad reflection upon the morality of the burial-place.
Thursday 19 July 2012
Vanishing England
 |
| Title: Vanishing England Author: P. H. Ditchfield (1910) Project Gutenburg |
"Many of them [Churches] have been used as quarries, and only a few stones remain to mark the spot where once stood a holy house of God. Before the Reformation the land must have teemed with churches. I know not the exact number of monastic houses once existing in England. There must have been at least a thousand, and each had its church. Each parish had a church. Besides these were the cathedrals, chantry chapels, chapels attached to the mansions, castles, and manor-houses of the lords and squires, to almshouses and hospitals, pilgrim churches by the roadside, where bands of pilgrims would halt and pay their devotions ere they passed along to the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury or to Our Lady at Walsingham. When chantries and guilds as well as monasteries were suppressed, their chapels were no longer used for divine service; some of the monastic churches became cathedrals or parish churches, but most of them were pillaged, desecrated, and destroyed. When pilgrimages were declared to be "fond things vainly invented," and the pilgrim bands ceased to travel along the pilgrim way, the wayside chapel fell into decay, or was turned into a barn or stable.
It is all very sad and deplorable. But the roll of abandoned shrines is not complete. At the present day many old churches are vanishing. Some have been abandoned or pulled down because they were deemed too near to the squire's house, and a new church erected at a more respectful distance. "Restoration" has doomed many to destruction. Not long ago the new scheme for supplying Liverpool with water necessitated the converting of a Welsh valley into a huge reservoir and the consequent destruction of churches and villages. A new scheme for supplying London with water has been mooted, and would entail the damming up of a river at the end of a valley and the overwhelming of several prosperous old villages and churches which have stood there for centuries. The destruction of churches in London on account of the value of their site and the migration of the population, westward and eastward, has been frequently deplored. With the exception of All Hallows, Barking; St. Andrew's Undershaft; St. Catherine Cree; St. Dunstan's, Stepney; St. Giles', Cripplegate; All Hallows, Staining; St. James's, Aldgate; St. Sepulchre's; St. Mary Woolnoth; all the old City churches were destroyed by the Great Fire, and some of the above were damaged and repaired. "Destroyed by the Great Fire, rebuilt by Wren," is the story of most of the City churches of London. To him fell the task of rebuilding the fallen edifices. Well did he accomplish his task. He had no one to guide him; no school of artists or craftsmen to help him in the detail of his buildings; no great principles of architecture to direct him. But he triumphed over all obstacles and devised a style of his own that was well suitable for the requirements of the time and climate and for the form of worship of the English National Church. And how have we treated the buildings which his genius devised for us? Eighteen of his beautiful buildings have already been destroyed, and fourteen of these since the passing of the Union of City Benefices Act in 1860 have succumbed. With the utmost difficulty vehement attacks on others have been warded off, and no one can tell how long they will remain. Here is a very sad and deplorable instance of the vanishing of English architectural treasures. While we deplore the destructive tendencies of our ancestors we have need to be ashamed of our own".
Monday 9 July 2012
Orbs
 |
© Godric Godricson The orb experience |
When I started this blog I made a mental note to keep an eye on the idea of orbs. These are the spheres that can appear in photographs when you have low light and a flash. This photograph was taken on a day when the natural light was very low and there was no electric lighting available. The flash can be seen on the woodwork. Within seconds of this photograph being taken there was an enormous thunder storm with lightening that flashed across the sky.
I was aware of the idea of orbs being a supernatural phenomena and in this location and in this low light I was prepared for anything. Luckily the person who occasionally travels with me likes a good Gothic scene and a dark medieval Church. I was pleased not to be alone as the thunder shook the building and the sky became white with electricity. Wow!
When I had a look at the picture and found the orb I was delighted. It was as if my feelings about orbs were confirmed. Eventually, I had found one and captured it as it floated over the East End. Larger than most orbs, this orb has an almost geometrical quality and in truth I would have liked a perfect sphere.
Weep no more for what is past
 |
| © Godric Godricson |
- WEEP NO MORE FOR WHAT IS PAST
- (from "The Cruel Brother," 1630)
EEP no more for what is past, - For time in motion makes such haste
- He hath no leisure to descry
- Those errors which he passeth by.
- If we consider accident,
- And how repugnant unto sense
- It pays desert with bad event,
- We shall disparage Providence.
- Sir William Davenant (1606-1668)
Sunday 8 July 2012
Hassocks
 |
| Hassocks or Kneelers Traditional Church fabric to keep knees from the floor © Godric Godricson |
Saturday 30 June 2012
The ruins of Saint Andrew - Southolm Juxta Hale
I'm interested in Church ruins because they often contain lost graveyards and a source of social history. Regrettably the site of Saint Andrew (Southolm Juxta Hale) is a bit of a mystery. I know where the Church should be in the landscape although there is clearly nothing on the surface. Industrial ploughing has taken away the site of the building in the plough soil and the locals have robbed out the stone and flint. Whilst the remains of the departed are no longer commemorated they continue to rest in this magnificent environment.
From the Anglican Church website.... "Holme Hale was originally two lordships: Holm and Hale, both held in the 14th century from Lord Fitzwalter: Holm by Sir Robert de Hulmo and Hale by Sir Edmund de Illeye. The two lordships were separate, distinct places, each with a church dedicated to St Andrew. The Black death in 1349 decimated the population, and the two lordships were eventually combined in about 1375, doubtless on the authority of Edward III"
It's a pity that the modern Church of Saint Andrew in the nearby village of Holme Hale has always been locked when visited. Doubtless through the needs of the Anglican clergy and community.
It's a pity that the modern Church of Saint Andrew in the nearby village of Holme Hale has always been locked when visited. Doubtless through the needs of the Anglican clergy and community.
 |
| Saint Andrew - The deserted village of 'Southolm Juxta Hale'. The faithful departed under the field © Godric Godricson |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)