Roll's of Honour

 

I do have a blog written for this week which along with another two churches gave me another three blogs to write but last week due to circumstances beyond my control I could not visit and more. On Thursday England went into a four week Lock-down which means I cannot go anywhere till the 2nd December so I thought of when else could I write.

As it is going to be Remembrance day on the 11th next week and normally we have a Remembrance Sunday I thought this week I would show some of the Rolls of Honour I have come across in the churches I have visited. Every church I visit I look for the roll and get a photo. I will also get photos of the war graves so there is a record and they are not forgotten. Now most Villages in the UK have a memorial to those who died in the two great wars. some are quite elaborate and a stand proud in the village for all to see but if you go into the church you will find another listing the names of the local people who died. If you look though any of the churches I have featured you should find a Roll of Honour shown, below are a few of the ones I have seen.

  Above is the one from World War One you will find in St Mary Church in Cholsey. I always thought they never had one till I saw this. 

One of the names on the memorial is H.J.Abdey his name is at the bottom of this commonwealth war grave in the churchyard, the name at the top is that of his brother who is not listed even though you can see he died within a few days of the start of WWI. While at camp he was taken ill and died before going to war. He was given a War grave but is not listed as one killed in action

Underneath is a second plaque listing the fallen in World War Two. Placed there after the war. Not as elaborate but then no one thought there would be a second war.

 There is a small stone block on the Forty (village Green) that I feel was placed there as an afterthought and remembers the dead of all the wars.

 

Go to Aldworth  nor many miles away and you will find  a Roll of Honour on the East end wall of the church under the Window

This Roll is in Clifton Hampden Church near Abingdon. Out side you can also find the memorials to a couple of other decorated men from WWII

 

This roll at St Michael Llanfihangel-Nant-Melan is typical of the ones you find in Welsh churches 

 

Landrindod Wells on the other hand has a chapel dedicated to the men who gave their lives but then its a major town and the War Memorial shows hundreds of men on it.

The church also has this stunning Stained glass window also..

This one is in Rhulen a country church in Wales 

You will find this in the porch at Crikadar a village in the hills above the Wye Valley

This one is on the wall of the village pub in Denchworth Oxfordshire 

This memorial is in Hinton Waldhurst, the plaque at the bottom shows the name of Airey Neave who survived the war after escaping Coldiz Castle a notorious POW camp. He was murdered by the IRA outside the House of Commons in London where he was MP. I think his name was a worthy addition

I will leave you with this shot of the Commonwealth War Grave of Marine Dale Edward Gostick who was killed by a Mine when his Viking Armoured Truck hit a mine in Afghanistan. He will be remembered like the other fallen from the Wars on Remembrance Day 

 

We Will Remember

Till Next time Stay Safe and have a Wonderful Weekend

 

St James the Great, Denchworth

 

I had been waiting to visit this church for a while and finally got around to going there and another church in the vicinity a few weeks ago, the only let down from my visits were neither were open.

"Denchworth had a parish church by 1086, but the oldest part of the present Church of England parish church of Saint James is 12th century. This is a small part of the south wall of the nave, which seems to have been rebuilt and extended westwards in the 13th century. The south doorway is a plain late Norman arch.

Later in the 13th century the north chapel and the north-west tower were added. The south transept was added in the 14th century and was originally Decorated Gothic. The chancel, north chapel and possibly the south transept were rebuilt in the 15th century, mostly with Perpendicular Gothic windows.The church was restored from 1852 onwards. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The Perpendicular Gothic font is also 15th-century. The Perpendicular-style pulpit is neo-Gothic and was made in 1889.

The south porch is neo-Gothic and was added during the 19th-century restoration. It replaces a two-storey south porch, in whose upper room Gregory Geering and the then vicar established an antiquarian chained library. Its contents included a 1483 edition of the Golden Legend that is now in the Bodleian Library in Oxford and other rare volumes that were transferred to Denchworth vicarage. The library also held curiosities such as a "mermaid's rib".

The church has monumental brasses to Oliver Hyde (died 1516) and his wife Agnes, to William Hyde (died 1557), his wife Margery and their children, and to another William Hyde (died 1567) and his wife Alice. One of the inscriptions for William and Margery Hyde has a commemorative plaque for the foundation of Bisham Priory in 1333 on the back. In the south transept is a memorial tablet to Gregory Geering (died 1690) and four more to members of the Geering family who died in the 18th century.

The tower has a  of four bells, but they are currently unringable.^[10] Ellis I Knight of Reading, Berkshire cast the treble bell in 1624. Henry III Bagley, who had bellfoundries at Chacombe in Northamptonshire and Witney in Oxfordshire, cast the second bell in 1733. The remaining bells are from the Whitechapel Bellfoundry: the third bell cast by Robert Stainbank in 1868 and the tenor bell by Mears and Stainbank in 1869. St James' has also a Sanctus bell cast by an unknown founder in about 1699.

St James' parish is now a member of the Vale Benefice, along with the parishes of East Challow, Grove and West Hanney."

The first view you get of the church which in this case was the pub carpark which was the only place I could see to park

Nearby is this pillar which is an is an old preaching cross from the 14th or 15th century

 On the wall of the pub you can see this Roll of honor

Open the doors an inside is a hand written Roll

Getting a reasonable view of the church is not easy until you get around to the South side of the church

The East end looking West

This impressive memorial is in the churchyard on the South side

The North East end of the church

Back to the West end looking at the bell tower

The porch on the South side is tucked up beside a chapel

The South wall of the chapel looking towards the West end

The Chancel at the East end where you can see a priest door

Another shot looking at the East end of the church

Above an eroded Gargoyle watches out from a buttress

This is the view you get after walking in the churchyard

Looking East down the churchyard from near the South chapel

Looking Est along the North side

You can see some old headstones in the churchyard

Near the far East end of the churchyard you will find the Commonwealth War grave of Lance Corporal F Haines

Looking back towards the church from the East end of the churchyard

Looking North

Couple if crosses which are under the trees

This tomb looks quite old and is quite eroded

Above on the South East corner of the chapel I spotted this circle which has been carved, wondering if it was part of a Mass Dial.

Right looking East along the North side of the churchyard from the path

I will leave you this week with this shot of a cross that has ivy encroaching on it

I will try to return when I find out the Church is open again.

Till Next time Stay Safe and have a great Weekend

St James Little Milton

 

This is a return visit To St James Little Milton for me as I have been here before many years ago but could only get photos of the outside. After visiting St Peter Great Haseley I found out that St James Little Milton was open. As I drove past it on my way home I decided to stop off and get a few photos of the church. I knew from the start the church was Victorian so was not expecting to see any older parts to the church that aside I thought it was worth stopping at. Only a couple of lines of history on Wikipedia:-

"The Church of England parish church of Saint James is a Gothic Revival building designed by John Hayward and built in 1844. Hayward also designed the west tower, which was added in 1861.^"

 

The the link at the beginning will show the exterior of the church and the small churchyard the photo above is a new photo from when I visited and looks across the churchyard

Inside I found the church quite airy and light

Looking down the nave to the chancel

Viewing into the chancel

In the chancel to the altar

Looking back towards the West end

Rather nice Pulpit

From the pulpit you see this view of the church

View of the West end and the stained glass window in it

You can see a lot of nice stained glass in the church

All of it of a different design

All of it showing different pictures of saints

Above the East window which is partly hidden by the altar screen.          On the left is a Royal coat of arms what is unusual is the fact it is of Queen Elizabeth II. First one I have seen.

The font which is near the entrance as you come in

Over on the South wall of the nave you can see the Roll of honour for Little Milton

The top plaque lists the fallen in the First World War  

The lower one the men who lost their lives in the Second World War

In one side of the chancel arch is the church banner 

On the North wall of the chancel beside the altar is a holy water stupe 

Either side of the altar you will see these beautiful candelabras

I will leave you with this cross with a heart behind that I spotted in the corner at the can of the church.

Till next time stay safe an have a peaceful weekend