Saturday 27 June 2015

St Matthew Llanelwedd



St Matthew's has defied me once again to look round the inside so it will just be an external tour till I get to see what is on the other side of the door. The church itself dates back to the 14th century and has a 14th century tower on it. It was heavily restored in 1877 and is an example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture.









This view is looking across from the west side of the churchyard


The South side with the entrance porch





The East end of the church with the chancel window









The imposing looking 14th century tower





Looking East to the porch













The churchyard beside the path on the North Side






Not sure what this is, could be an old font near the East end of the church







These grave slabs are now on the South wall












In the porch is this memorial



The entrance porch and a tombs beside it. There also seems to be a lot of slabs hung on the wall of the church





Looking across the South side of the churchyard to the porch
The ivy is getting hold of this memorial




Quite a lot of grave crosses in the churhyard
This is one of my favorites 




There are a few more headstones becoming lost in the ivy




these two are under a tree
 
But I will leave you with this shot for now,
Have a peaceful Sunday

 
You can read more about the church here on Britain Express or on the CPAT website

Thursday 25 June 2015

Old Sarum Cathederal


Until I visited Old Sarum I never knew it was a hillfort let alone have a cathedral there but the place is huge and the place dates back to 400BC. The Normans took it over and built a Motte & Bailey Castle along with a Royal Palace and Great Cathedral. It lasted 300 years till the Salisbury Bishop fell out with the Wiltshire sheriff causing the removal of the church to where the present Salisbury is now.English Heritage now own the site and the outline of the cathedral is still there

This is a model of Old Sarum Cathedral which is part of a bigger one at Salisbury Cathedral picture is from Wickipedia  so it will give you an idea as to what I will be showing you in the rest of the blog.
The picture shows the Cathedral from the North so the chancel is on the left hand side beside that you can see the cloisters. 

This is what is there now just the outline





there is an information board telling you about the Cathedrals 




an another telling you about the fellow who had it moved.

 This looks from the east end of the site where the chancel & altar would have been





This to the old east gate of the castle 800 years ago I'd have been looking at a huge support pillar had I been stood in the same place







This view would be looking down the nave to the chancel

which they think looked like this according to the board in the photo





The information is on the right and you should be able to read it if you click on the photo




 Same view only from outside the west end wall
The South Transept 




If you remember the first picture you can see a building in front of the North Transept, well this is what is left of that.





This was the Vestry or Treasury  there were windows as we can see from the dips in the stonework, just beyond you can see the outline of the Cloister





the place was supported on these pillars
 Small alcove in the wall





Looking along to the Cloister end of the vestry
 This was one of the windows that let light in the place




The outer wall of the Cathedral and part of the cloister looking to the Vestry
and this was part of the cloister with the vestry at the end

The new cathedral can be seen in the distance and that is where all the robbed stone from the original went so if you visit the new one you will also be walking in parts of the old one

Hope you have enjoyed my little trip round Old Sarum Cathedral
Have a good Weekend







Friday 12 June 2015

St Mary Builth Wells



Some of the following photos were taken a few years ago on one of my visits to Builth Wells. The visit was cut short as you can see later in the blog. All the photo's were taken handheld with out the tripod. I have now added photo's from my latest visit



The churchyard at St Mary Builth Wells. John Wesley preached in the churchyard on the 3rd May 1743







One of the paths through the churchyard




St Marys church  from across the churchyard












The churchyard looking towards towards the church hall, the spire if from another of the towns chapels














Going in the porch you can see this tomb effigy












Latest photo of the effigy which is John Lloid of Towy 1st Sheriff & Justice of the peace in Wales & servant of Queen Elizabeth I. He died in 1585
Really nice tomb slab which dates back to 1606, must be the oldest I have seen




The entrance to St Mary with the font to the right
 
Inside you can see this bell which was cast in 1764 and rehung in 2002 for the Queens Golden Jubilee. The plaque on the right tells you more


The Font with carved cover near the entrance
 

There is also some great stained glass windows in the church, this one I think is at the back
This is a rather impressive window which depicts the nativity


The centre rose in the nave end of the church
 

















These are the windows showing the Annunciation and the Birth of Christ  which were in the last shot

This one is has an inscription. "Dedicated to all little ones, in Memory of Harold Carpenter.

This stained glass window is in  the South Aisle

The nave looking towards the chancel
 
Last time  when I went to take photos of the chancel I noticed a coffin and promptly stopped what I was doing. At this point I felt I was intruding and after saying a prayer left the church. I felt some one should have been with the coffin and after regretted not staying a while RIP.
 This time I was able to get a photo of the chancel

 and the chancel window


The carved wooden Altar

View back down the nave to the back of the church





Eagle Lectern which is looking to the Roll of Honour



 The carved wooden pulpit




The churchyard looking across to the South side of the churchyard












Looking across to the North side of the churchyard









Looking up to the Church tower which dates back to 1300


Panoramic done by Google Awesome

Have an enjoyable Weekend