Saturday 28 March 2020

Explore Churches


I would not call myself a religious person but I think if any one asked me why I liked visiting churches I would not be able to put a finger on it. I was brought up a Catholic and my Mother being Irish was quite devout and would always drag me along even if I did not want to go. My father was Church of Ireland an odd mix considering they came from the South never went to church though each night he would kneel by the bed and say a prayer. I would always go to Mass on a Sunday with Mum (I should say I was dragged along as I would rather stay with Dad) even when I got to adulthood I went or took Mum along in the car, by then most weekends I would be away with work or my hobby of motor racing and miss Mass but Dad would take her. Years later I go my Father passed away and Mum had him his funeral at the Catholic church. I then made sure she went to Mass on Sunday even after I got married though when I moved away for a while or went off to work abroad there were times, I could not take her. Mother passed away and I lost faith and stopped going to Mass on Sunday.
But there was always a draw to a church for me, many times when I was working abroad working, I found myself near a church and would always visit be it of my own faith or another I felt at peace in one. 
Sometime around 2008 I came across a new website called Geograph UK where photos were collected from the grid squares of the Ordnance Survey map needless to say I joined in and to date have contributed over 38000 photo's many of them of Churches which if I was anywhere taking photos I would always visit. 
In 2012 I started my Blogs. I have never given a reason form my starting this blog other than I came across a blog on Taphophilia a translation of this is Tombstone Tourist which I confess I tended to be when visiting a church, back then it was called My Grave Place but after a few years I felt it was too macabre as I had been featuring more churches so it became the Church Explorer I’d become a Church Crawler as I found out and I had quite a collection to show, but after a while I  found I needed to visit more to write about and turning to my favourite OS maps I noticed how many were around where I lived at least fifty.  Going to visit Wales provided me with even more. The diversity of churches is amazing all being different is some way. The architecture is what I like the most and my greatest joy is going into a church and finding it dates to Norman or Saxon times. Wall paintings and a bonus to see and I was pleased to see a few near where I lived had them. 
Religion is something that is personal to everyone and many people do not have any but I always maintain you do not have to be religious to visit a church just appreciate the building and peace with in.



You may have noticed that on the bottom of my posts an avatar showing a purple church on a black background. I was looking for something to use for a calling card I could give to people and leave at Churches I visit. I came across it along with many other avatars but I linked the simplicity of this one
After changing the background colour and that of the church I ended up with purple to use on a grey background for the card. On the blog I added black because it showed up better.

Now While I look at the Ordnance survey maps to find churches to visit I have been using a couple of other methods to find out more about them. you may notice on the right hand column of the blog a list of links.  A church near you is the Church of England Website and will tell you who looks after the church with some phone numbers that might be useful, if your lucky there is a website to visit to tell more.
Now what I did not realise until I visited this site but the avatar I used belonged to  Explore Churches. which was one of the sites that came up on researching a church, it is also part of the National Churches Trust and  is very useful in that there is a map showing churches which are under their umbrella. The website gives a lot of information what to do as we are stuck in at the moment with Virtual visits, Favourite Churches by famous celebrities, the one Ben Fogel liked was St Mary the Virgin Fawley which is not that far from where I live and one I visited last year. If you notice that Yew Tree in a churchyard you will find an feature on the oldest ones in the UK.
The Map shows churches in your area and when I checked it out I found that quite a lot of the ones shown in my area I had visited. 


One of the oldest a few miles form me is All Saints North Moreton which surprised me when I first visited the church in how old it was the The Stapleton Chantry Chapel is well worth seeing especially the stained glass window
A few miles away is another superb church which is St Andrews East Hagbourne
another superb old church where a good friend of mine used to play the bells, he died last year and his wish was to have his ashes scattered from the bell tower he played at, I could not tell you if this happened.


Another which I visited is  St Botoph Swyncome 
which is quite out on a limb in the county but seems to have quite a congregation who go there. The church has a window that commemorates the death of Alfred Taylor and his wife but I feel the Commonwealth War grave of Sergeant J.H.Barnet in the churchyard  is bumbling, the poor guy died when the plane he was gunner in crashed nearby, he died in the crash but what must have been devastating  is that his parents lived in the village.

Into Wales and another church I visited near where I stay is St Stephen Old Radnor
A beautiful old church which I found out has the oldest Organ in the UK still working dating back to 1540  and that was when Henry VIII was on the throne. the rest of the church is just as wonderful to look around


St David Cregrina is another beautiful old church worth visiting dating back to 1300 it looks like it has never been touched, the churchyard is well kept and worth looking around as well


The last church I will feature today from Wales is St Cewydds Disserth
I was not looking on a map for this one but happened to take a little detour with my wife on our way back from shopping and were going back to out caravan. We noticed a caravan site and went to see what it looked like (not for us, park homes) and drove past the church. I asked my wife if she minded if I went for a look and went back with my camera. I heard some singing coming from the church and nearly left but the choir who were singing had finished and started filing out. It was fine to go inside and when I did I was stunned, it was like walking back in time to the 17th century with box pews dated to that time and with dates and peoples names carved in the seat backs. To me it was a privilege to see this little piece of history. Up to the I had only ever come across a church like this once in Oxfordshire at Woodeaton.
Explore Churches is part of the National Churches Trust who help look after churches in need of help please have a look at their websites and see the churches they help
I will leave it there and next week tell you some on another trust that looks after redundant Churches.
Till next time please stay safe  








16 comments:

  1. Dear Billy!
    Thank you very much for all your posts about churches, cemeteries and sacred art. I love visiting religious places. I always get to know many valuable historical monuments there. Your photos are perfectly taken.

    Thank you so much that I could see them.
    I wish you good health. Be safe.
    Lucja

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    1. That is too kind, I would not say they are that good

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  2. Interesting. You might be interested in the website of the Churches Conservation Trust too:
    https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/
    They restore otherwise redundant churches and open them to the public.

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    Replies
    1. Ah I writing on that next week, there are a few of their churches around where I live

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  3. Your reviews are always beautiful ... and your photos too!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  4. ...Bill, I also would not call myself a religious person either, but I enjoy art, history and architecture. These are things that I find special about cemeteries and churches. Take care and stay safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seems we both appreciate similar things then

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  5. Very interesting post. Thank you for sharing a bit about yourself.

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    Replies
    1. We are all different and our views never the same. stay safe

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  6. Oh absolutely Bill! I don't consider myself particularly religious either but there is definitely something about churches that draws me in to have a peek. I think without doubt it has a lot to do with the history and my love of old architecture. Looking forward to seeing more of your discoveries when the world gets back to normal, take care and happy Easter ✨

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    Replies
    1. People of a kindred spirit in different parts of the world

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  7. Replies
    1. Somos todos diferentes e temos as nossas opiniões, mas em muitos casos são semelhantes.
      Feliz Páscoa

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