Tuesday 14 April 2015

St John the Baptist Ichen Abbas



St John the Baptist is the third of the Ichen Vally Churches I visited on my walk though there has been rectors since 1280 this church looks like it was rebuilt in Victorian times

Th Lych gate leads you into the churchyard then onto to the church






Looking towards the church from the gate










On the left as you go through the Lych gate is this memorial which is dedicated to Christopher Byron Simpson. Under hsi name is listed the fallen  of the villave from both ward







The church as you walk along the path to it showing the porch on the north transept




going further around the churchyard you see this angle showing the south  transept





which has had an extension added at one stage














on the west end is a bellcote







It's a bad craftsman who blames his tools buy my tripod was not helping me today. this view looks to the south transept which has had a floor added.





looking west along the nave


 and this is the chancel with altar behind
 View along the nave across the transept to the chancel

and one from by the altar to the nave





The altar is set back in a small chancel which is more like a recess















There is some nice stained glass in the church though the one on the left is a tad out of focus





















The banner and memorial you see here are  in the west end of the nave near the above windows




These are a couple from the North Transept where you come in

One thing I noticed were the amount of memorials  on the walls from family ones to personal to a son killed in foreign land





The lighting in the church is a memorial


The Powlett Memorial

Above is the Silva memorial and the one on the left is a family memorial  though I note Captain Noel Simpson was one of the Old Contemptible of the First World War

Memorial to 2nd Lieut William Ronald Corrie who dies from wound in the First War




There are three Rutherfoord Memorials to sons killed












the third one was called Thomas and he died of Malaria in Syria during the Palestinian Campaign. 
The War Memorials to the fallen from the first & Second World Wars

Brass memorial to Rev Septimus Gillson MA

This was interesting and a tribute to someone who was it seems the last person who was hanged in the UK for Horse Theft







On the way out you can see these memorials in the porch
Seems a shame that memorials that are in such good condition for their age are hidden from sight.







Going back outside to the churchyard you can see a lot of headstones




Some family graves



Crosses & headstones of differing sizes














Some newer was snowdrops growing  near them





Others quite clearly old and some forgotten







One John Hughes the last mad who was hung for horse theft in England, remember the framed cutting from the church





some of the newer graves near the entrance to the churchyard




looking down to the Lych gate
Dove on a cross
 



Couple of graves of pilots who were killed. A father & son who were both in the Navy and Paul Anthony Kelly who was in the RAF






 This headstone of Judith Anne Lawrence is off the path and could be come lost in the Ivy




This old wooden memorial looks though it  could be on it's last legs
I'll leave you with this final photo of a corner of the church with snowdrops growing by the graves.
Have a wonderful weekend.




13 comments:

  1. A really interesting tour and a lovely old church.

    Diana

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  2. Bill as always a wonderful tour. The churches that you find give a whole meaning to old. Many of the grave stones are works of art. Thanks, Tom The Backroads Traveller

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  3. I would spend hours wandering around this place!

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  4. I love the old world charm in your pictures. These places have a mystical magical air about them like they're trying to tell us something.

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  5. Impressive church. Your interiors are superior!

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  6. Beautiful old church....too bad the pews were replaced with the red padded chairs. Somehow they look out of place to me. Thanks for stopping by my blog. Nice work on the google map.

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  7. Thank you for this thorough tour. Too bad that young man had to hang for stealing a horse.
    I posted at Church of St. John the Baptist today too, but a lot different from yours.

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  8. I always enjoy your detailed posts on the great old churches you visit! Thanks for visiting my InSPIREd post!

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  9. Hung for horse thieving was a bit OTT!

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  10. Wow you've been to a lot of churches and all of them hold such interesting facts and history.

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  11. I wasn't expecting to see the chairs inside after seeing the outside of the church. I'm not sure why as we have the same chairs in our 900 year old church except in blue! How fascinating about the grave of the last man hung for horse theft.

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