Reading Minster Part Two

As promised the photos I took inside Reading Minster. My apologies  for the size but I only realised after downloading them I had the camera set to video when I too them so they came out a different size. I suggest a cup of coffee for this blog, it's quite long

The area under the belltower which is covered in memorials







 

that extend all the way round

As you walk in the church you get this superb view along the main nave aisle

which leads into the Chancel

where you can get a good view  of the altar and chancel window

The back of the altar is very impressive with a crucifix and tow saints flanked by angels

Over to the right through a screen is the Lady Chaple

If you visit the church you really need to see this memorial

It has to be one of the most impressive I have seen todate

Looking across the altar

You can also see this wonderful organ

at the back of the North Aisle you can see a small doorway which was the old entrance to the Nunnery and now leads to a memorial chapel

Called St Edwards Chapel, it is large enough for two people to pray in

One think I noticed was the amount of war memorials in the church. The one on the right is one of two to the policemen who died in both wars

The memorial on the right is to those who died in

This memorial to the dead of the great was  1914-18 was pointed out to me. Seems the rector saved it from a skip (trash Can) and had it mounted in the church, I find it astounding any one would throw such a history plaque away

The end of the North aisle

This alter at the end of the North Aisle

The screen here  I presume lets you get behind the organ. Above is a view looking the other way up the North aisle

Above the painting above the North aisle altar while on the right another old doorway which is not used any more

The pulpit with a beautiful display of flowers in front

The view you get from the pulpit towards the nave

and turning right looking over the North aisle

The North aisle from the back

Looking down the South aisle to the screen, to the right you can see some people heading to the south entrance to the church

There is some magnificent stained glass in St Mary's

All depicting various scenes from the Bible

Above is the stained glass window in the lady Chapel 

With a closer view of the Madonna & Child

Two memorial of the same family can be seen in the lady chapel beside the screen

Both are from the early 1800's

Here we look at the top of the screen where you can see flags hanging from the walls of the chapel

The floor in the church has many tomb slabs

Of people who were buried years ago in church vaults

These two are in the aisle leading from the South entrance

Looking along the floor in the main nave aisle

Thought I'd show some of the detail from behind the altar with these shots

The stained glass windows in the North side of the chancel

and of course some of the work done by the lady's who look after the church, I have not come across seat cushions in a while 

This Christmas Fair was going on while I visited selling cards and gifts for various charities
































Couple of the banners in the church

and a tomb slab which you see walking in the South Entrance

This pillar is one of the ones which came from the former Reading Abbey

Though when you look a all of them on the South side I would think most of them came from there

The font & cover you see when walking in form the West end tower entrance

Around the centre of the church is the altar with candles you can light while you pray

The floral display in front of the pulpit

I'll leave you with this view of St Mary

Reading Minster

Or Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin to give it's proper name stands in a area called St Mary's Butts.  Some history which has been pillaged from Wikipedia

"There has been a church here since the 7th century when a Saint Birinus founded a small chapel on the site Silver coins of the 9th century have been found in the churchyard, dating back to the period when Kings Ethelred and Alfred of Wessex were fighting the Danes at Reading, and also the era in which Reading supplanted Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) as the local centre of importance.
In 979, Queen Ælfthryth, wife of King Edgar of England, founded a royal nunnery on the site as an act of repentance for the murder of her stepson, King Edward the Martyr. All that remains of this nunnery is a rounded Saxon door in the church, most likely used by the nuns to attend church services.
In the 11th century, the Danes sacked Reading and the nunnery was destroyed. By the time of the Domesday Book, the church had been granted to Battle Abbey by William the Conqueror.
In 1121, King Henry I founded Reading Abbey which grew to become one of the most important religious and political centres of England. For the following 400 years the Abbey was the centre of ecclesiastical power in the town, and the Abbot also held the post of Rector of St Mary's.^[
The main body of the church dates from the late 11th Century, however in 1539, the Abbey was dissolved on the orders of King Henry VIII. In the Reformation that followed, St Mary's church was stripped of its altar, statues and stained glass, and by 1550 was in need of extensive repair. Between the years of 1551 and 1555 the church was extensively restored, using quantities of masonry and timber from the ruins of the Abbey. Contemporary accounts include payments for the dismantling and carriage of the Abbey's choir and nave roof, and is believed that the pillars which now separate the Minster's south aisle from the nave came from the Abbey.

Interior of Reading Minster

In 1918 a war memorial chapel, known as St Edwards Chapel, was added with entry through the old Saxon doorway of the nunnery. The church had undergone further restoration in 1863 when a new choir aisle was added, and in 1872; with further work in 1935 and 1997–2003"

I've decided to show the church in two parts with the inside next week

The thing that makes St Mary stand out is the chequer pattern of the stone. No doubt a fare amount of the stone used came from the former Abbey

Getting a view of the whole church is not easy due to the trees screening it but you get this view from the South East side

But it is the tower which takes the eye

I changed lens for this view of the church to show both North and South Aisles

View from Chain Street of the chancel window end of the church

Not sure when this addition was added, I suspect in Victorian times to take the vestry

Walk out the South doorway and you get this view along the path through the churchyard

The tombs along St Marys Butts side of the church

the stone in the foreground is a headstone laid down, it is a good five foot long

couple of tombs

two more one with a head & footstone.

This cluster of tombs is near Chain Street

Above looking at one tomb towards Gun Street. The tomb on the right is on the North side of the church

Along with a few others under a large tree

Not sure what happened here, the tomb looks like it was built by the wall or cut in half

This view is along the North side of the church along with this ivy covered tomb

Towards the end of the churchyard on the North side

Another ivy covered tomb

Though at least the name is visible on the end. Looking back East along the churchyard

Through the end bars of the tomb on the left

This extension was built in 1918 as a memorial chapel it is known as St Edwards Chaple and the entrance is through the old Saxon doorway of the nunnery

On the west end of the church you can see these plaques

and not far away someones initials

This is the only wall memorial on the church and is on the South wall

The plaque above is in the porch.
Next week I will bring you Part Two with photos from inside the church