Still not had a chance to visit any new churches and rather that post up an old blog I thought I would show you the Churn Benefice. Most churches in the UK now belong to a group or Benefice with either a single minister of two that look after it along with their lay preachers. Some of them can comprise of one or two churches others can be many more. One of the bigger ones in my area is the Church Benefice and is one of the few where I have visited every church.
The first one which is the next village to where I live is St John the Baptist South Moreton
I found this quite a frustrating church to visit and see the inside as it was always locked. I eventually got hold of a key holder and went along to see the church. The church is not in a good state and needs some TLC but from what I can glean it is on the verge of being closed, personally I think it is a good candidate for the Churches Conservation Trust to take on.
The next village along is South Moreton where you will find All Saints Church I have been here a few times and found it a very interesting church to look around. It quite a bit of history surrounding it and still have a lot of very old features to see.
Another church not far away in the Benefice is St Michael & All Angels Blewbury a very old church which dates back to before the Normans but was rebuilt by the Normans in 1190, you can see a lot of the old church when you look around. The church is near a place called Churn which lends it's name to the Benefice
The Next village along you will find St Mary Upton
a nice little church dating back to the 12th century and rebuilt in 1885
The furthest away is St Andrew West Hagbourne
and one which I seem to take a long time to get around to visiting but I feel worth it
Going back to the other side of Bluewbury you find the the Astons which comprise of two churches, the first is All Saints Aston Upthorpe which is the oldest church in the group and one which is associated with the Battle of Ashdown where King Alfred defeated the Danes
If you walk back though the village and along a footpath you come to St Michael Aston Tyrrold
The church looks a lot newer though dates back to Saxon times and rebuild by the Norman. The village lays along the bridleway from the village I live in and I need to go back sometime to revisit the church.
That concludes my tour of the the Church Benefice I hope you found them interesting. I may well show other benefices in the coming weeks.
Till Next Time Stay Safe
and have a great Bank Holiday Weekend
A nice group of typically English churches. How many vicars does it take to look after such a large benefice?
ReplyDeleteI wonder that myself
DeleteBilly!
ReplyDeleteGreat church show. They are all antique and built in an interesting English style. In my country, churches are open only on Sunday and for a limited time.
Have a nice Sunday, Billy:)
They are not open here at all at the moment
DeleteWonderful post. So many similar churches but always something interesting to see.
ReplyDeleteSimilar but different in many ways
Delete...last evening I watched BBC's Father Brown, the surroundings look a bit familiar.
ReplyDeleteAh my wife is a fan of that as well. quite often I try to work out where in the country it is
DeleteI'm going to look at your links to original blog posts. So far At John the Baptist, South Morton. The ancient yew tree is interesting and the grotesque on an outer wall looks like a Green Man. Some good viewing for the coming week at home. Have a good week.
ReplyDeleteSome need updating, I may well do a few more blogs on Benefices yet
DeleteSo much history! Thanks for sharing these wonderful sights.
ReplyDeleteLots of it and more to come
Deletea nice selection of churches there. Sometimes it's hard here to find someone who has a key to a locked up church, alot of them are in rural spots so you have to drive quite sometime to any houses.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually lucky and if they are locked the key holder is local
Delete