Dorchester Abbey Pt 2

 

 This week I'm showing you Part 2 of Dorchester abbey which features the inside. I took a couple of trips over this because on the first visit I was not happy with the photo's I took of some of the parts of the abbey. All the photo are taken on either my Canon EOS R6, Compact zoom or iPhone. My advice is get a coffee and sit back while you look at the photo's`

The way in leading to the church past some of the old original buildings on the site

If you come through the south door you are faced with this view of the church. The west door I came through is similar

Looking straight down the aisle to the chancel, the whole things disappears in the distance

Zooming in to a closer view of the seating area

 

The choir stalls which are more recent than many churches I visit

The chancel with the altar that is used for services in the foreground

Another view different camera looking along the nave

The Altar beneath the chancel window

Here we look back along the nave to the rear of the church

The pulpit stands off to the north side of the nave

After finding my way onto the pulpit you can look down to the nave

 

 

 Also back to the choir and chancel

 

Looking back at the pulpit you can see  screen separating a chapel from the rest of the church, this is St Birinus chapel
 

 It was shut off to visitors but I slipped in and got a photo of the chapel

 

Zooming in towards the altar

 

Looking through the screen you can see family memorials hanging on the north wall
 

Looking a little further down the altar in the chapel  

Going over to the south aisle you look down it with the shrine of St Birinus

 There are two chapels at the end of the south aisle the first is the Lady Chapel with this beautiful alter back

beside it on the wall is an even more beautiful mural

Above the altar you find this stained glass window

Going over to the next chapel on the right which is no less beautiful

 

Where I was pleased to see a coffin byre which looks old from the dark wood, It was not until I got home and lightened the photo I found out how old it was, check out the date inscribed on it

Over to the left where the wall partitioning off the chapels was you cannot help notice a Union Jack hanging in a protective covering

Beneath it is a plaque

Take a good look at the flag

Poppies line the wall beside the plaque

Now read the plaque. I must admit after reading it I was quiet lost for word an wondered how many lost soldiers the flag had covered for their last moments on earth. May They Rest in Peace

At the back of the chapels you can see the organ, my previous visit the loft was empty but on the way in to the church on this visit as I walked up the path I could hear the organ and for the rest of my visit I was treated to the sound of church organ music

He was quiet lost in his work

The sound was beautiful, Before I left I spoke to him and he told me he was one of the organists that played there among the other churches he played at.

Back in the south chapels the two south stained glass windows and east window

In the corner above a doorway is this carving of a head

This one looks as old if not older

Close up of a couple of the figures on it

Now to the font which is old, it's Norman, lead and one of the few lead fonts in Oxfordshire, you might have seen a few of them in my blogs. There are another two in the area, Warbrough and Long Wittenham which is the most original with it's base. You can see both in my blogs

Close up of the detail on the font

Along the side of the chapels you can see tomb effigies

They are all in good condition

A bishop of the Abbey?

A knight in repose

You can also see a great many floor tomes in various states some where you can read the inscription others just where the were

You can spend time reading them

There are also a few church brasses to see

A knight

and more tombs where the brass has gone

This tomb effigy belongs to Sir John de Stonore, he is buried in the Abbey but I could not tell you if it is here

Some of the stained glass windows. The magnificent Chancel window

The tracery and stained glass on top beneath you can see another head carving

One of the south aisle windows

and the second one

a lancet

this is in the St Birinus chapel

over on the south side of the chancel

and the north side

The carving on the tracery is superb and very old

One of the first things you see coming in the church are the wall paintings

I need to find out more about them (I know who to ask)

The altar by the main painting. What I read somewhere is that the area beneath the paintings is an old cript

A very old church chest

Floral display beside the north wall of the chancel with the stained glass reflecting on the wall behind

 

 

I will leave you with this view of the church. I hope you enjoyed my tour of the abbey church which I have tried to show though no doubt missed much of it out. If you are visiting the area it is well worth going along to visit and spend time looking around. I still have to return again sometime as I want to look around the museum

Till next Time I wish you all a peaceful weekend

Take care

Dorchester Abbey

 

I thought it was high time to revisit Dorchester Abbey and write a more detail blog that the one I published back  2015 where I only showed a small part of what you could see there. The history goes back from when it was a Roman town but you can read more of about Dorchester Abbey by following the link. As there is some much to see both inside and out I will do the blog in two parts with the inside next week.

 A view of the Abbey Church from over the road with the old toll house in the foreground

This is the path I went along after going through the gate by the toll house

Not sure of the reason for the flowers around the porch but it added a very nice touch

This is the south entrance which has some superb ironwork hinges on the door

Near the south entrance is this preaching cross which lacks the cross on top and is capped off

Walk further over in the churchyard and you get a wonderful view of the whole church

This is the south aisle with the west  entrance and the way you go in

Standing beside the tower it looks huge

You have to walk right over to the north side of the lawn area on the north side to see most of the church

This is over on the east side of the lawn

 Standing near the east end looking along the north side of the church

Over in one corner you find a quite are to sit and ponder

The centre piece is this beautiful sundial

When you walk around the east end you get to appreciate how big the building is

Walking around past the east end of the south aisle

 Eventually you will come back out on the south side

Looking back towards the church and the Museum

Here we look down towards towards the lichgate which is the main entrance

This is what it looks like form the outside of the lichgate

The churchyard is over on the south side of the church and where you will find the old headstones 

Over on the south east end of the church you find more old graves

It is worth walking around to find them

The graves are long forgotten about by any surviving relatives

 I spotted someone taking a photo of this one and asked if they had found a relative but they answered they like the contrast between the headstone and kids slide in the background 

Towards the east end you find a couple of chest tombs

A nearby cottage backs onto the churchyard

It's a peaceful churchyard to walk around 

A family tomb

Contrasting a cast iron cross seems t outshine the nearby tombs 

I have been to the abbey before and had noticed the lack of any reference to the WWII American airbase that was a couple of miles away the lack of war graves very evident the lack of any memorial even more so. While walking back near some shrubbery by the north path I noticed something partly hidden. This stone with a plaque to the memory of the en who lost their lives. I feel it is little to show for what the gave. The airbase was called RAF Mount Farm and there is little to show that was once there, the main part of it now the village of Berinsfield but there are bits of the airfield that can be seen.

Next week I will take you inside. Till then have a peaceful weekend 

I'd dedicating this blog to two gentlemen from my village who passed away in December and January I remember them with fond memories  and they will be missed by many people. RIP