Saturday 27 August 2016

St. Bartholomews Nettlebed




From what I can find out there has been a church in Nettlebed for a thousand years. The present church, St. Bartholomew's, replaced the second church and was completed in 1846 following a major re-build. Parts of the tower date back to Norman times and are all that remains of the previous church
Time for a coffee this week, it's a long one







The entrance though the Lych gate and if you look over the wall nearby you get this view of the church













Round to the South side and the entrance porch













The west end with the  main part of the church on the side of the twoer















The door could well have been the original entrance to the church though I find it hard to see what part of the tower is Norman








Looking at the east end of the church






The door here looks like a porch entrance but I think it was just for the priest













Another view of the east end looking across the churchyard








Opposite ends, the chance and the tower


















Lot's of old headstones around from around 1700





more from the 1800's














Viewing up the South side to the church









All these headstones blong to the Fleming Famliy






















 Celia Johnson was an actress who was in a flim called Breif Encounter who you might remember from this Blog from in A Bit About Britain
She was married to Peter Fleming who was a travel Writer and  brother of one Ian Fleming

They lay buried beside each other with  other members of the family




The grave of Robert Fleming who started the Bank Robert Fleming & Co


















Not sure why but I liked the carving on the stone, the pillar is unusual round here













Quite a few crosses in the chuchyard

















And this rather magnificent memorial which I'm afraid the wording has eroded off though the coat of arms survives 







 Sort of stands out on it's own








Couple of War Graves. F.W Steptoe &
 F.W. Groves














Loved this carving of an angel





it was not the only one as you can see in this photo




Some of the headstone you can see in the churchyard















Not see this type of tomb before














I was impressed by the bowl in the wreath













The churchyard has a lot of headstones for a village of it's size












The porch with signals me to go inside

The photo does not quite show how light the church was when you walk in the door





Above is the font which is in the South Aisle and on the right the screen at the back of the church






The nave which is very light

Looking towards the chancel with the light shining through the window







Heading through the chancel arch to the chancel itself












The Chancel window was installed in 1970 and is in Memory of Dr Robin Williamson the work is by English painter and stained glass designer John Piper

The altar and  screen








on either side of the chancel you ca see these panels












Looking out of the chancel to the nave and the back of the church





Another view of that superb chancel window and the altar cross














Here we have the marble pulpit with a prayer desk in the foregroound







Above the view of the nave from the pulpit and if you look over to the left you will see this fellow looking in your ear











The church banner on the left and another prayer desk to the right beneath a couple of the memorials in the church










 Another view of the pulpit with a floral arrangement in front






The  memorial on the left and below are at the front of the nave. The John Clark one is in the South Aisle










Nice memorial to Henry Algernon Baumgartner a past vicar of the church


Michael Valentine Fleming who died a hero fighting the Retreat to Dunkirk


Valentine Fleming who was the son of Robert Fleming founder of the bank Robert Fleming & co
He is also the Father if Peter & Ian Fleming


 This is the near buy stained glass window in memory of them










The angels are St Valentine & St Michael














and at their feet you can see the dedication to Major Valentine Fleming DSO













And Captain Michael Fleming











Some of the carving son the ends of the pews








Over in the South aisle you can see quite a few memorials













The south aisle


The east end wall of the South aisle








These memorials are really worth going in to look at












This one is really quite something to view








with gilding and coats of arms















It's dated 1658 & 1674 to some of the Harris family








I found the detail on it quite amazing


















the skulls so realistic and the coats of arms beneath
















Beneath the Harris memorial you can see this one to Edmund Taverner 1637


The South Aisle chapel




High up on the North side of the South Aisle















and at the back is this coat of arms which gave me some grief trying to get the lighting right 









Remember the screen at the back of the nave well this is the view from it


You can see right down to the chancel







Before going back outside some of the other stained glass in the church












This one is at the back of the South aisle by the font


Back outside & I had notice this planter which turns out is a Romanesque font 





On the north side churchyard are more tombs














This brick one  is in good condition












By the wall a headstone which may well have been put there out of the way being misplaced












Nearby a couple more older headstones














Looking at another tomb with others in the background














A couple more headstones which look like they are from the 1700's

















Going out the Lychgate you cannot help notice the War Memorial with the fallen listed from the first war on one side















While the other has those from the second








Nearby a poppy wreath left from Remembrance Day with Remembrance crosses in a line nearby

An interesting church which had some surprises for me, I hope you enjoyed the tour.
Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend