St Swithun Martyr Worthy

The next church along my walks was St Swithun in Martyr Worthy. The village sounds like one you would read about in an Agatha Christie book and I might add looks a bit like you would imagine it be as well. St Swithun dates back to the 12th century when the nave was built and the north & south doors are Norman. The church also belongs to  the Ichen Valley Churches 

 The first view you get of St Swithun as you come to it along the Ichen Way

Turning up along Church lane to the entrance

you might also notice this on the wall as you walk up the lane

  The church from the footpath leading to it

and looking along the North side from the lane

The church is another with a bellcote and no porch on but does have a nice Norman entrance doorway

 Another view of the East end showing the Apse Chancel

Inside we see a wonderful light and airy nave looking towards the chancel

And on the wall around the chancel arch you could see written the Ten Commandments 

a closer view of the writing on the wall. This is something I have never come across before like this

Here we look to the apse chancel

with the altar in the apse

 Round which are three windows

 The central window behind the altar depicting the Lamb of God

either side are ones showing saints Peter with the key to Heaven and St John with the chalice







 

turn round near the altar and you see a wonderful view along the nave, it's also worth a look at the differing ceilings on the roof.

looking at the back here you can see the wooden bellcote support and off to the right is the organ which you can see in the chancel

The pulpit is carved wood one on top a stone & marble pillared base







which if you look still has candles on. The font is stone but has to be one of the smallest I have seen yet

This is the view of the nave you get from the pulpit

In the nave you can see windows of a similar stile

But you have to go to the back of the church under the bellcote to see any reference to St Swithun the saint the church is named after.
There are quite a few memorials worth looking at around the church like these below

This coat of arms may be to do with the bishop of winchester

family memorials and ones to past rectors can also be seen

Interesting one this on AdmiralSir Thomas Pasley

A small roll of honour is to be seen also listing where they fell

William Collis Memorial

Looking down on the aisle you can see some old tombs and memorials

They are well worn but you can still read the inscription on them

Last view of the church ceiling

The church yard is not huge

but does have some tombs

and decorated crosses though this is the first head & foot stone I have seen like this

Very nice memorial to Commander Sir Miles James Rivett Carnac

This one is hard to read but tells you the ashes of Agnes Freshfield & her four sisters are scattered nearby

I like this fenced off family grave

The angle is the grave of a child but I wonder who lies under number 79












  More family graves in the corner

and a couple of local war heros

Couple of family tombs

one which is becoming lost

The churchyard

Have a great weekend

St Mary Easton

St Mary was the first of four churches I had planned to visit on a walk I was doing near Winchester. turned out most of them were along the Pilgrim way. St Mary is reputed to be Norman though I can find little in the way of history about the church though it does belong to the Ichen Valley Churches and you will be visiting all of them in the next four blogs

This is the view you get of the church from the road side, one thing I liked was the bell cote.

 The churchyard has this nice lych Gate and either side is a small roll of honour

Just next door is the old church school and if I'm right through the porch are two doors, one for Boy's & one for Girl's

 First thing you notice is the Norman doorway

To the left is the bell cote and stairwell leading to it, On top is  a weathercock

looking over to the right you can see the chancel end of the church

 Outside the entrance are some old chest tombs

On the North side of the church the doorways is mirrored though not so embellished, not doubt the did not want the peasants getting ideas.

Viewing the church from the East end you can see it has and Apse topped with a a chancel cross

 Going inside was a bit of a  problem as the door was locked but I heard a voice telling me to wait a Minuit and when the door opened it was full of people cleaning so some of the photo's this week will have people in them.

Down near the wonderfully carved rood screen is a wooden pulpit on a stone plinth and opposite is the font which looks like it could date back to Norman times as well

Going inside the apse chancel you can view a clad wall to the back of the altar

 Which is well lit from the three windows

 This is the central window with the crucifixion depicted

you can see these windows on either side

 Looking out of the chancel you can see this view of a well re-ordered church

Looking down the nave the walls are wood clad though the original pews were replaced, are and wood worm taking their toll

This is a view of the rood screen which at one time also had a loft

Because I spotted a door above the pulpit and another to the side of it which lead to the stairs

There are some nice memorials on the walls which date back to 1595 but unfortunately
it came out blurred  but was to Agatha Barlow

Memorial to on eo fthe rectors of the church

This is one amazing framed nativity scene used as a memorial 

Coat of arms (Charles II )

Beautiful roll of honour for WWI

Memorial to J M Freshfield

Under the WWI roll of honour is this one to the fallen from WWII

I did also notice a couple of lancet windows with glass that looks like it could be Tudor

At the back under the bell cote you can see another stained glass window and a memorial which was not easy to get a photo of. By the time I got here I felt I had been under their feet too long and went outside to the churchyard

These are some of the old headstones you see

near the path leading to the church

some similar indicating a family group

some near the church though the words long since eroded away

couple of family chest tombs

here we look to the far side of the church yard which is very large for the size of the village

These tombs are around the east end of the church looking across to the river Ichen

After leaving I took a walk to the far side of the churchyard where the newer graves are

and took this on leaving the churchyard and trundled on to the next church on the list

If you have time walking the Ichen or Pilgrims way then it is worth having a look  in the church
  I'll leave you with I took of the church after I crossed the River Ichen