Saturday 14 November 2015

St. Clement's Ashampstead



The third church on my trip and one I would probably have missed if I had not planed the route by looking at the OS map. The church dates back to the 12th century and unknown to me at the time had some  13th century frescoes which could have been commissioned by Lyre Abbey in Normandy. I only found about them when I walked in the church and saw them. The pictures I took were published on Mural Monday a few weeks ago.

Looking at the church from over the fence it does not look that old





Even when you look round the outside of the church
 Much of the church is hidden from a good view by the trees




The bell turret here is 15th century though I could not say when the buttresses were built 



The south side of the church

Inside the church looking down the nave was when I realised I had found a little gem with the wall paintings

This is the whole of the inside using my wide angle lens from behind the font
 

which I thought was impressive with the inlaying around it 




I must admit to being a bit taken with the wall art so forgot to do my usual tour round




Though I did take some time in the chancel



where I thought the altar stood out with the arches
 The light lent itself to it was well though in this photo the sun had started to go in




The only stained glass was the three lancet windows in the chancel
with St Clement one side and St Frideswide the other

With Jesus in the centre window







The church does have a few memorials on the walls


That I struggled to capture 





there was also the church banner  on display












 

The Roll of Honour for Ashamstead



But like I said earlier the murals took my eye





they were in amazing condition
with friezes along the wall as well




though in places it was understandably faded












I took a closeup with the flash to see the colour in it


Going back outside I wandered round the churchyard





Which was shaded with well matured trees




and well cut grass
I came across on war grave that of
H.J.Cortnell Leading telegraphist RN H.M.M.T.B.48  14th November 1943 age 36






The churchyard on the north side 





A large monument with covered urn on it and an old headstone which looks to be dated 1665






 




There were some tombs in the churchyard






which could be seen as you walked in along the path
I'll leave you with these last few photos from the church which took as I was going


 This carving of a dove was by the Chancel arch near the Pulpit


Below  the Pulpit  I noticed this plaque to Brian Calvert  as I was about to leave



I went outside found his grave  and paid my respects. He used to go to the same pub as me. The Bell at Aldworth which was the first organisation to charter the Concorde. One heck of a pub outing and I was on it. I was glad I had seen his grave RIP Brian
 Have a peaceful Weekend

In your thoughts & prayers please remember those people of Paris who were murdered on Friday night


8 comments:

  1. Hello, Bill!
    Beautiful pictures of the church and the adjacent cemetery.
    Substantial interesting gravestones.
    The new mixed with old ones.
    Greetings from the distant Polish:) *

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  2. Your great churches just keep on coming...keep up the good work.

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  3. It's a beautiful church. I love the details especially the dove.

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  4. I was quite fascinated by this tour of this unique church. And did you know that you'd find the grave there of someone you once knew?

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  5. Hi Bill, another great countryside church. Those frescoes are amazing. What a great find!
    http://happywonderer.com/2015/11/15/inspired-sunday-8/

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  6. Thank you for taking me on a tour of this delightful old church. The wall art is remarkable. It was good you did a close up. These would look beautiful when restored. I did struggle to see what it represents. Is it a nativity scene?
    The thing I liked most was the dove. How beautiful. And then your own story of how you went to the same pub as the man in the grave. Amazing!
    Greetings from Spain,
    Lisca#7

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  7. love all the arches. i enjoy so many of those fancy details. ( :

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