here are the photos, some of the photos i took on my walk up to St. Nicholas church in the village, dated to the Domesday Book. while there i also traced the earthworks that surround the church.
they run around the very top enclosing a the area where the church now stands and given the hight and the views it is easy to see why a settlement or sacred site would have been chosen to be there...
this is the bottom of the lane that runs up the hill and when these oaks were young it would have been a peaceful place to rest
a small kissing gate halfway up the hill
a peaceful lane heads upwards~there are sweet chestnut trees along here, but the squirrels had got to the fallen husks before i did!
the third, yes third entrance! it is here that you get the first sign of earthworks running around the top of the site
the yew next to the 1763 tower, built to replace the original which was falling down~carbon dated to over 1000 years old in 1793 its girth was 15 feet, now more than 20.standing close you really get an idea of its great age
another view of the yew
the porch of the church porch ~ dated c 1250
to the left of the porch
the graveyard is like a woodland walk. the majority is left to nature with some cursory pathways.
Commonwealth War Graves
In WW1 the village had two hospitals for wounded troops, particularly from India and New Zealand. Meerut Road recalls the Indian troops who fought in the war and my road and the one adjoining are named in honour of the New Zealanders.
8 comments:
What gorgeous photos - what a lovely place!
I am enjoying these morning (for me) ambles. What a wonderful place, beautiful photographs....I felt like I was there.
What a nice walk you are taking me with you! Chris de Burgh once wrote a song “Country churchyard” which is still one of my favorite songs ever and this is just how I imagined the graveyard. Those huge trees seem so majestic.
Amazing, amazing, amazing. Thank you for taking me on that sacred journey with you!
What a beautiful place, lovely photos.
Twiggy x
OMG!! THAT IS WAY TOO COOL!! I wish I could have been there! The energy must have been crazy!!
Brett it was amazing and funnily my first visit in a 'pagan' frame of mind...becuase i grew up in the village there are many, many names there i know and my friend who i went through school with so it was kind of a trip to say hello and remember, i also stopped in front of every war grave~i think of my great granddad johney buried in france and hope someone over there does the same. and as for the earhworks, they are there all right and actually even mentioned on the churches website. while up in the oldest part i did get a feeling of being watched, not a horrid feeling, just slight flitterings that may have been a falling leaf or something more...
What a truly amazing place to visit and to have it in your own village, wonderful,you were meant to be back there Lee!
Love from Kathy and the girls
Post a Comment