I thought I would start the year off with a round up of some of my favourite church's I featured & visited last year. My Blog is now entering its' Third year and I never ceased to be surprised by the churches that I find locally and further afield. You pass by churches with no more than a second glance not considering what they are like inside but they are places of peace where you can spend some time away from the hassle of daily life even in a busy town. I have said many times you do not have to be religious to visit a church you can just go and spend some time there in quiet contemplation or if you wish pray. Most of the time I visit I stand there and wonder on the people who used to come to worship in the place in the distant past. What type of people where they? Sometimes you go and walk round the churchyard and you can see the answer.
Please enjoy some of the churches I visited that in my own words knocked my socks off
The first one that really made me stand back and look was the Holy Rood in Woodeaton not far from Oxford
It amazed me that this wonderful village church had withstood the ravages of time and still looked like it was in the 17th century 
A truly stunning church.
The Holy Trinity Ardington stands out next not because of the age but the chancel and Altar backdrop
It was quite beautiful
St James at Avebury stands out not only because it stands outside a Henge but because the rood screen is so old and was hidden during the civil war
Quite magnificent you have to admit
St Thomas of Canterbury I visited twice because the door was locked the first time
and I had to go back after seeing some mosaic on the wall but I was not expecting the mosaic behind the altar. It was worth the effort
The next
place is one that is near to the hearts of My Wife and myself. We were
so taken with the place we came back later in the year and renewed our
vows together there in the grounds.
Glasonbury Abbey a place that sill exudes peace
Hart to believe that the ruins here was once the chancel
I republished a few Old Bix being one though now the place is fenced off for safety and Aldworth Church which is famous for its Giants
Going back to Glasonbury when My wife & I retook our Vows I found St Patrick and wondered how I could have missed such a wonderful little church.
The chance to go inside St Peters Wallingford was not one I was turning down
How many ties had I passed the place and wondered on what it looked like
Thats what I missed all those years
The pace that never disappoints me is Wales. I love going there when ever I can and I will say none of the churches I visited there disappointed me
St Cewydd's was the one which really knocked my socks off
Not many churches you can go in and the look like this and the date of 1668 carved on the door of a pew
My favorite churches I visted in Wales were all with in a few miles of each other near where I stay. The three St Davids of Glascwm Cregrina. Rhulen.
Glascwm may have been the oldest
A shame the rood screen was lost
Cregrina may have lost its porch
and retained it's rood screen
but St Davids Rhulen.
stands out as being the most simple and in my view the nicest visited, a place you can be at peace
Happy New Year
6 comments:
They're all gorgeous churches. Happy New Year, Bill!
It had to have been tough choosing favorites out of all the beautiful places you visit!
Love seeing all of these wonderful churches, Bill! Happy New Year. You are making me want to plan another trip to Jolly Old England soon!
Bill. You are indeed fortunate to able to view the interiors of so many of the churches that you posts. Thank you so much for sharing them each week. Tom The Backroads Traveller
They are all so lovely that I wouldn't be able to choose a favourite!
no way to pick a fave in this post. i will say i hope to one day see one of these or many of them in person. that would be a world class dream of mine. awesome!! ( :
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