Gressingham, St John the Evangelist

St John the Evangelist

Gressingham

Lancashire

Above. A view of the South side of the church.

Above. Possible remains of an Anglian cross in the South wall.

Above. Looking at the East window in the Chancel.

Above. Looking down the Nave.

Above. Window dedicated to the Goss and Braithwaite families. Gifted by Mary Agnes Braithwaite in 1956.

Above. Window dedicated to the Chippindale family, gifted by Arthur William Chippindale in 1927.

Above. Window dedicated to the Chippindale family, gifted by Arthur William Chippindale in 1927.

Above. Window dedicated to the Chippindale family, gifted by Arthur William Chippindale in 1927.

Above. East window in the Chancel. 

Above. The Marton tomb.

Above. Window dedicated to Elizabeth Ellen Hurst in 1870.

Above. Another view of the Marton tomb.

                                              Above. Another view of the Marton tomb.

Newbury, St Nicolas

St Nicolas
Newbury
Berkshire

Cathedral of St Leonce, Frejus, France

Cathedral of St Leonce
Frejus
Provence
France

Scarborough, The Butter Cross

The Butter Cross

Scarborough

North Yorkshire

First mentioned in 1547, the Butter Cross could possibly date from the 14th century. Some of the decoration, sadly now very weathered, is similar to crosses and their shafts that have been reliably dated to this period. 

The Butter Cross now stands at the junction of Low Conduit Street and St Mary's Street, but would once have stood, complete and with a carved head, in Cross Street. Why it was moved to this spot, hidden away from all but those who accidentally stumble upon it, is beyond me.

Like many towns and villages throughout England, Scarborough originally had more than this single cross. Town documents mention the Haldene Cross, the Corn Cross and the Rede Cross...but sadly these have all since vanished. If you take a closer look, some carved decoration can still be seen, though the stone is very badly weathered.

Whitby, St Mary and Abbey, recent weather damage to cliff face.

St Marys church and Abbey
Whitby

Above. View of St Mary with the Abbey in the background. The weather damaged area of East Cliff is now covered with wire meshing.

Above. A wider panoramic view of East Cliff with the church, abbey and weather damage.

Kendal Parish Church - Restored West window

Kendal Parish Church - Restored West window
Kendal
Cumbria

The West window in Kendal Parish church has been restored and placed back in the tower, along with new sand stone uprights. As you can see, the colours are incredibly vibrant......however, due to the location of the organ in the organ loft, it is impossible to properly photograph the window in full. As a result, only some of the panes were visible.....shown here.

Whilst photographing the newly restored windows, I was informed that there are plans to illuminate the windows from inside, so that the full intricate details can be seen from the outside. Obviously this won't be an ideal situation, but it will be much better than the current way the window is viewed. As soon as this is done, I'll post photos here to see how it looks.

Oxford churches

Oxford churches

When I visited Oxford in 2012, my wife my little boy and I, picked up a leaflet from the Tourism office on Broad Street. If I remember rightly, the walk was about 3 miles, and is easy walking, taking in many of Oxford's interesting buildings including the churches shown here.

Information on the walk and some of its interesting buildings can be found here.

Here is a good map showing a number of the more interesting buildings that can be found within easy walking distance of the city centre.

Carfax Tower

The only portion of the church of St Martin that survives, is the 12th century tower, sitting at the junctions of St Aldgate, Cornmarket Street, Queen Street and the High Street. 

Between 1122 and 1896 the church was the City Church of Oxford, a postion now held by St Michael's at the North Gate. When the main body of the church was demolished (1896) the church lost it's significance to the city.

The church has a peel of bells dating from 1676, and the tower, like at St Michael, is open to the public. 

St Michael at the North Gate

This is probably Oxford's oldest building (competing with Oxford Castle's tower), and probably dates from around 1040....a rare pre-Norman structure. The church sits on Cornmarket Street the junction with Ship Street.  

The church is built on the site of the original Northern entrance or gate into Oxford, town defences that are now sadly much diminished. William Morris, the pre-raphaelite designer, painter and writer was married here in 1859. St Michael's church holds the position of City Church of Oxford, the church where the Oxford's Mayor and its City Corporation are expected to worship. It is open to the public, and access is available to the summit of the tower which provides great views over the city of Oxford.

There is some interesting information at St Michael's official website.