Inside St Mary's, Fordham, in Cambridgeshire, a few intriguing items give clues to its ancient history — a medieval bell, a medieval pew with a carved lion, and two remarkable medieval tombstones which have come to rest on the altar steps ...
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These curious carved stone slabs appear to be coffin lids. But how old are they, where have they come from, who was buried beneath them, and what messages do they communicate to the living?
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The larger stone is beautifully decorated with an elaborately floriated cross. At one end, toothy wyverns are chewing on the intricate vine.
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The other stone is much smaller. Could it have been for a child? Or did it once mark the burial of a heart or viscera?
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Dr. Madeleine Grey @heritagepilgrim investigates these mysterious memorials at Fordham ...
Did you know the verb canter comes from Canterbury? It was coined to describe the easy galloping pace of pilgrims as they rode into Canterbury to St Thomas Becket’s shrine.
Pilgrimage to Canterbury began in 1172, and one of the most popular routes was the Pilgrim’s Way.
The Pilgrim’s Way is a 153 mile journey from Winchester to Canterbury. Along it, you’ll find the ruined church at St Mary’s, Eastwell in Kent.
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It’s on the Charing to Chilham leg of the journey, which Donald Maxwell summarises, “In which is much water, first in well, West and East, then in a Lake, and finally in a River.”
Britain was last invaded was 1797. It was February. 1,400 French soldiers under the command of American Col. William Tate landed on the coast at Carreg Wastad, Pembrokeshire. The invaders sacked the nearby church of St Gywndaf, Llanwnda, home to a 1620s Welsh bible.
What exactly happened to the bible at that time is open to debate, but it bears evidence that it has been pulled apart with considerable force. Some believe French soldiers burned pages to keep warm, others suggest its pages were used as toilet paper…
📸: Llywelyn2000
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The Battle of Fishguard only lasted a few days. But the bible, one of the oldest in Wales, disappeared for centuries. That is, until it was discovered in the 1990s in a bin liner in the church. Its importance was realised, and it was placed in a display case in the church.
Sitting in isolation on a knoll in rolling open countryside is St Lawrence’s, Hutton Bonville. It closed in 2007 and has lain empty since then. A picture of timeless, relentless melancholy.
Last October, we took this little church into our care.
St Lawrence’s is a small medieval church that was much altered in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The story of this Yorkshire church is told in its stonework: the variety of colour, tooling, lichen, carving, joints … and of course, cracks.
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In this location, the church really only makes sense in relation to Hutton Bonville Hall, which was demolished in 1962. The only physical neighbour this church now has are the Hall’s two abandoned 18th-century gate piers, swathed in nettles and cow parsley.
Llangatwg Feibion Afel, in a little valley north-west of Monmouth, is one of Monmouthshire’s most remote churches. As you approach from a lane through fields, you might think you’ve discovered a lost medieval castle.
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But in the early medieval period, St Cadoc's was a 'mother' church or 'clas' church at the centre of a large community, and one of the most important churches in the area.
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An early charter shows that Llangatwg Feibion Afel’s daughter churches included:
Llanllwyd, Llanfaenor, St Maughan’s, St Thomas of Newcastle, and St Thomas of Panrox.
But where are these churches now? (and where on earth was 'Panrox'?)
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In splendid isolation on the Llyn Peninsula, St Mary’s, Penllech overlooks the Irish Sea. A church has been here for over 800 years, serving generations of farming communities.
Its interior, where walls and woodwork are painted light grey, radiates simple beauty.
Mentioned in the Norwich Valuation of 1254, the church is medieval in origin; however, the font is the only substantial survivor of this age. It’s a roughly hewn basin of brown stone, painted white on the inner face, and sunk into the shaft beneath.
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Most of what you see today is a rebuilding in 1840 by Samuel Jones. These rows of timber trusses, with their splayed shoulders, have an almost industrial feel. The closely spaced rafters almost resemble corrugated metal sheeting and lend a sort of warehouse vibe.
#OTD in 1913, William Manning, William Kitchen and Frank Smith were charged with playing Pitch and Toss with six halfpennies on the tow-path near Boveney church, Buckinghamshire.
The men were bored, the fish weren’t biting, and they wanted to pass the time...
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In this game, players take turns throwing a coin against a wall with the aim of landing closest to the wall. Known by many other names around Britain, incl. Pigeon Toss, Penny Up, and Nippy, it was a favourite children's game, and was even played by children in Ancient Greece. 2/
Pitch and Toss was a popular gambling game among adults too. But the three men at Boveney, who had been caught throwing their coins in a public place on a Sunday afternoon, insisted that they were simply playing to pass the time because they hadn't caught any fish.