St Andrew Wanborough

 

 By the time I reached this church I was really starting to feel it from lack of liquid as I had bee at it for over four hours I thought the church would be interesting but turned out a big disappointment as it was locked. It is one church I would go back to to see inside

The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew is unusual in having a spire at one end and a tower at the other. There are only three parish churches with this feature in the UK. The others are at nearby Purton and at Ormskirk, Lancashire. There is a bit more history on wikipeda in the link to St Andrew's Church Wanborough 

 From the carpark the north side of the church

Walking up the path where it spits right to the north porch and left the south side, one thing you notice is the central spire

Path leading to the porch

Around to the east end 

The south side giving a good view of both tower and central spire

Central spire where you can see windows letting in light

The tower and south porch

Northwest view of the tower

North porch and spire, this was where I found the church locked much to my disappointment, I really would like to have seen inside

Over to the southeast side of the churchyard cremation memorials

towards the western boundary older headstones line the uncut grass area

Old family chest tombs and headstones under the shade of a tree

Smaller chest tomb and headstones

There must have been a lot of wealthy people living around here from the number of chest tombs in this part of the church

More older monuments near the trees

Looking towards the south and more modern graves

 

 

 Commonwealth War Grave of Corporal A.E.Pickering 

Older headstones looking towards the south of the church where I will take my leave. Though I only spent a short time here the heat had really got to me and after reading some history about the church I may well make an effort to return some time

Till Next time have a peaceful weekend

St Swithun Hinton Parva

 

St Swithun Hinton Parva  was the forth of the churches I visited on my tour around the Swindon area, up to now the churches had been mixed in their looks. Hinton Parva was only a few miles from the last church and on my route back towards Swindon. I had mapped out a loop from the first I was meant to visit and failed but was now back on course. I was unsure what to expect but was very pleased when I walked though the gate and saw the church. As it was it turned out to be a gem and the best of the visits that day in my opinion. Little history on Wikipedia but the parish council has again opted to link in British History online click on the link to read more. It is Norman and grade 1 listed.

Took this shot over to the left inside the churchyard

From the main gate

Another closer view from the churchyard

This is the view from the roadside of the west end

Around the north side

The chancel end with old headstones leaning against the walls, no doubt the family tomb was place as near to the east end as possible because of the wall and no access around that part

While walking around I heard a buzzing noise which came from around here

Bees were buzzing around the roof here you can see some of them flying around

and while Looking around the inside of the church I spotted a few more bees and hear a buzzing coming from the tower, you can see a dark area on the wall

More bees swarming around. I did phone the vicar so hope she  sorted them out

These graves are near the west end wall

Tomb still with inscription on it

 The south side of the church are where I started hearing buzzing bees around

North side churchyard with older headstones

Under the yew tree some nice looking old chest tombs, three looking like they could be the same family members

Door in the porch leading to the church

Inside looking down the nave

From midway along the aisle

The chancel

Altar and east window

The stained glass being rather shame I did not get the colouring better

Pulpit and clerks desk look Jacobean from the carving

Another view of the pulpit showing the carving on it

Looking down from the pulpit

South aisle

Another shot showing the doors on the pews

The altar has the Roll of Honour for the village

It does look long but the lower one shows all who served their country

The north aisle

Now there are some beautiful stained glass single windows the centre one being at the end of the north aisle

Also a few interesting memorials to see and a bequest on show

There are tombs in the floor as well the older one being 1653 and the other I came across by lifting the carpet

Royal coat of arms, the date making it George III

View of the pews with the doors closed along the aisle

Noticed this on the was in a beautifully restored cart for carrying coffins

The font looked really interesting with the carvings

It looks Saxon but could be Norman

I liked how the light shone through the window here

I will leave you this week with a photo of an old Bible with the nave in the background.

Till next time I wish you all a peaceful weekend