Churches - interesting

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Cunobelin
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Cunobelin »

St Peter's in Titchfield has its own monster

Image

There is also the Wriothesley monument
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Sweep
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Sweep »

Cunobelin wrote:My father was an organist and loved Church Organs

I always remember him trying to get permission at church to play theirs

He would then play some classic music like "Dambusters" to test out the organ

Amazing sounds

I happened to be in this hawksmoor city church a year or so ago.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_Woolnoth

When a guy just wandered in, having travelled in from kent or essex, sat down and started playing the organ as if it were his own.
I felt priviliged to be there.
Apparently he does it a lot.
An interesting church indeed.
Quite often closed.
Wandered past it so many times without going in.
I commend it to the esteemed forum.
Last edited by Sweep on 5 Oct 2019, 3:59pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Indeed, London is a great place for churches
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Bmblbzzz
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Bmblbzzz »

andrew_s wrote:Some local St Mary's of interest:
St Mary's, Deerhurst
Parts of this date to the 7th century.
Edmund Ironside and Canute negotiated a peace treaty there in 1016 (Edmund died/was killed shortly afterwards, and Canute took over anyway)

Not only is this church interesting in its own right but just up the road is Odda's chapel, a late Saxon church. Odda was a nephew (or similar relative) of King Edward II the Confessor.


Somehow that one had eluded me. I'll have to make a point of visiting it!
Last edited by Bmblbzzz on 5 Oct 2019, 10:19pm, edited 1 time in total.
ChrisBL
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by ChrisBL »

perhaps a copy of England's Thousand Best Churches
by Simon Jenkins would help (with England anyway)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/106/106 ... 46640.html
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Sweep
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Sweep »

ChrisBL wrote:perhaps a copy of England's Thousand Best Churches
by Simon Jenkins would help (with England anyway)
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/106/106 ... 46640.html

Have it somewhere, but interested in personal input/experience from folk on here.
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100%JR
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by 100%JR »

I like our Church's/Cathedrals but hate what they were built for.Built on fear.
BUT some of them are incredibly intricate examples of architecture 8)
Some are really simple like St Leonards in Chapel-le-Dale,Ingleton,Yorkshire Dales or the Church of St Olaf,Wasdale Head,Lake District(Cumbria) but in general they are all very,very beautiful buildings.
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Cunobelin
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Cunobelin »

They a;so served defensive purposes. I have come across a few where the idea was that the locals would (in time of danger) seal themselves in the Church

There is on on the Scottish borders where wedding dresses are restricted in size due to the narrowness of the door
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Cunobelin
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Cunobelin »

Also if you look at corbels, the faces are often dependent on the individual
If you were in favour, then a sculpture was accurate, if you were out of favour, it would often be a caricature, some represented local life, and some were downright political

Image

IIRC it was a Queen who allegedly had one face for the court, one for her clique and another for the people
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Cunobelin wrote:They a;so served defensive purposes. I have come across a few where the idea was that the locals would (in time of danger) seal themselves in the Church

The church in the village on the Somerset/Wiltshire border where my grandparents lived has crosses chiselled on the inside of the doorway arch, along with with additional bolt holes, from an occasion in about the year ~1000 when the villagers locked themselves in the church to shelter (apparently successfully) from a Viking raid.
Brucey
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Brucey »

no thread on a cycling forum about churches is complete without mention of the stained glass in St Giles church, Stoke Poges

Image

This dates from 1643, they say, and some think it shows a kind of bicycle....

cheers
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foxyrider
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by foxyrider »

I'm certainly not of the religious persuasion but I do like a good church, they are often the only examples of local building that survive the centuries. For example, yesterday I visited the tiny hamlet of Littleborough in north Notts, about 5 houses and a fine, if tiny, pre conquest church. Nearby lie the remains of Roman Littleborough or Segelocum as the Romans knew it, as well as a causewayed crossing of the Trent until after the Conquest. Littleborough church gets used for a service about once a month and is in the care of the Church Conservation Trust.

If you like visiting old churches the CCT website can point you to some great examples all across the country - worth knowing if you are out on a cold wet day and need to take shelter for a bit too!

Maybe a touring project would be to visit all of the CCT churches? :)
Convention? what's that then?
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100%JR
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by 100%JR »

foxyrider wrote:I'm certainly not of the religious persuasion but I do like a good church, they are often the only examples of local building that survive the centuries. For example, yesterday I visited the tiny hamlet of Littleborough in north Notts, about 5 houses and a fine, if tiny, pre conquest church. Nearby lie the remains of Roman Littleborough or Segelocum as the Romans knew it, as well as a causewayed crossing of the Trent until after the Conquest. Littleborough church gets used for a service about once a month and is in the care of the Church Conservation Trust.
If you like visiting old churches the CCT website can point you to some great examples all across the country - worth knowing if you are out on a cold wet day and need to take shelter for a bit too!
Maybe a touring project would be to visit all of the CCT churches? :)

Being from Sheffield I assume you know Ranmoor Church?Absolutely stunning building.Sheffield's unofficial Cathedral IMO!
carlislemike
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by carlislemike »

This is a fascinating thread. I am not religious per se but do recognise their role in our common history. I also like the architecture and art they embody. May I throw in my two pennyworth? This site is absolutely a great starter http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk and it leads from Suffolk to Essex and beyond. Well worth finding and reading before a trip or tour. Other churches that I can commend, are the church ar Pakefield nr Lowestoft, All Saints and St Margarets, which has a strange double nave due to the joining together of two churches which were in conjoined buildings. Grave of a Prussian Officer immediately outside the entrance. I'd also commend anyone with a sense of modern art to visit All Saints’ Tudeley near Tonbridge TN11 0NZ. The only church which has a complete set of Marc Chagall Windows. Check on their website for any closure but usually open daily.
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Sweep
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Re: Churches - interesting

Post by Sweep »

Yes it is a very interesting thread.

I think cycling and churches go together very well.

I hereby resolve to contribute more to the thread I started.

With pics if possible.

Suffolk and Norfolk are particularly interesting for churches - quite a lot of disused/ruined ones due to population shifts/economic changes.
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