St Oswald's Way
Overview of our walking holidays along St Oswald's Way, a 97 mile long distance trail that runs through Northumberland.
Widford St Oswald Part One Cotswold churches
Widford lies lost among the open fields a few miles along the Windrush from Burford. This isolated church can only be reached by following the footpath along the banks of the river from Swinbrook, as we did or if you have a little more time, from Burford in the opposite direction. St Oswalds stands on the site of a Roman villa with a mosaic now hidden beneath it's chancel floor and is surrounded by the bumps and hollows of the village it once served. Convention ascribes these deserted villages to the Black Death, in reality a more complex combination of factors such as climate and enclosure lead to a proportion of these desertions. However the Windrush valley suffered in both the 1348 and 1360 outbreaks and the chancel painting of the 'Tree Living Kings and The Three Dead Kings' painted at this time may be a poignant reminder of this tragedy. So if you would like to walk with us through the beautiful evening of a Spring day I am sure you will enjoy both the countryside and the fathomless history of this Cotswold valley.
bwthornton.yolasite.com
Service Walls
A key component of construction company Willmott Dixon's bid for building Telford & Wrekin schools was their offer to deliver new, innovative classroom designs. This video tour of Cardinal Hume Catholic School exhibits 'Service Walls', and was used in conjunction with their pitch.
St Marys Church Kempley.wmv
Anglo Saxon Church with Medevial & 17th Century wall paintings
@SaintWilfrids - June 2019
Hexham April 2016
Hexham is a hunting and shooting market town surrounded by countryside 17 miles up the river tyne from Newcastle upon Tyne. This is a quick walk around it.
The Chequered History of York Minster
Perhaps more than most European cathedrals, York Minster has had a chequered history. York has had a verifiable Christian presence from the 4th century. However there is circumstantial evidence pointing to much earlier Christian involvement. Missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in AD 180 to settle controverted points of differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials which were disturbing the church. Tradition speaks of 28 British bishops, one for each of the greater British cities, over whom presided the Archbishops of London, York and Caerleon-on-Usk.
The first recorded church on the site was a wooden structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Moves toward a more substantial building began in the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter. The church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfrid ascended to the see of York. He repaired and renewed the structure. The attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in Northern Europe.
In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt as a more impressive structure containing thirty altars. The church and the entire area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders, and its history is obscure until the 10th century. There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald, Wulfstan and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William the Conqueror in 1066. Joyce Williams proved predictably well informed of the cathedral's history when she conducted Mel and I on a guided tour of the Gothic structure that stands on the site today.
Shipton Oliffe St Oswald
Places to visit in and around Stratford: Shipton Oliffe and Shipton Solers
Descend from the high wolds near the remote villages of Guiting Power and Hawling, down towards Andoversford in the valley below. If you follow the old Gloucester road, rather than the busy A40 you will approach the twin villages as travellers have for hundreds of years. A ribbon of houses that skirts the margins of an infant River Coln, the waters of which glister over two fords and through many a clear pool between clumps of yellow flags, dividing the two villages.
Shipton or 'sheep farm' was divided into two parishes in the middle ages each with it's own small church, though they are barely a mile apart. Shipton Oliffe long in the ownership of the Oliffe family grew in importance and when the two parishes were united in 1766 St. Mary's Shipton Solers fell out of use. By 1883 St. Mary's was reduced to a cow byre and only the intervention of the rector Charles Pugh and his wife saved the church for future generations.
St. Oswald, Shipton Oliffe, a small Norman church with 13th century additions, stands below the level of the road. Once owned by the Abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester the church has a 13th century west bellcote with two bells above two gothic windows inserted by H. A. Prothero in 1903-4. A blocked Norman north door gives evidence of the church's early origins while the Early English chancel has retained many of it's original features including an east window with a shafted rere-arcade. The chancel has an Early Decorated south window, a stepped sedilia and a rare Late Decorated canopied piscina. A 13th century south chapel is separated from the nave by a two-bay arcade inserted by Prothero in 1904. The church has a Perpendicular octagonal font, a pulpit by W. Ellery Anderson 1937 and a plaster 19th century Royal Arms. There is an area of wall painting above the chancel arch which may be early 13th century and other texts of the 17th and 18th centuries. The east window has stained glass by Burlison and Grylls. In the churchyard are an interesting collection of tea-caddy tombs.
St. Mary, Shipton Solers was probably consecrated in 1212 as this date was inscribed over the chancel, a discovery made during the sympathetic 1929-30 restoration by W.E. Ellery Anderson. A simple 13th century church of nave and chancel with a west bell-cote added in 1884, lengthened in the Perpendicular period. Most of the windows reflect this 15th century refurbishment although a 13th century lancet survives in the chancel. North and south doors face each other across the nave, the south door appears to be late medieval. When passing through the Early English chancel arch you step down into the chancel, an unusual feature probably a consequence of the sloping ground. Perpendicular king-posts support a wagon roof with carved bosses. Consecration crosses painted in red lead survive in both nave and chancel, possibly late medieval in date, the nave walls have post-Reformation biblical texts. The altar is a 13th century stone mensa found buried beneath the floor during the restoration work carried out in 1929-30. An elaborate painted reredos was carved by Ellery Anderson in 1929, oak panelling was fitted at this time. The nave has a Jacobean pulpit with tester and a modern hourglass stand (the original was stolen) which dates from the 1660 Restoration when sermons were meant to last for over an hour. At the west end of the nave is an octagonal 15th century font. There are a few fragments of medieval glass as well as several attractive 1930s windows by Geoffrey Webb whose web signature can be seen beneath a depiction of the Madonna and Child. Two of the windows have rebus designs, one depicting a house amongst fields of corn commemorates Ernest Fieldhouse while the other shows a ship and tun representing Shipton. St. Mary's is now in the able custody of The Churches Conservation Trust.
The Shiptons are near Andoversford 7miles from Cheltenam, just over an hour from Stratford-upon-Avon.
bwthornton.co.uk
Holy island (st Mary’s church and priory )
The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish monk Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald. The priory was founded before the end of 634 and Aidan remained there until his death in 651.
The Holy Island of Lindisfarne, also known simply as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important centre of Celtic Christianity under Saints Aidan of Lindisfarne, Cuthbert, Eadfrith of Lindisfarne and Eadberht of Lindisfarne. After the Viking invasions and the Norman conquest of England, a priory was reestablished. A small castle was built on the island in 1550.
The northeast coast of England was largely unsettled by Roman civilians apart from the Tyne valley and Hadrian's Wall. The area had been little affected during the centuries of nominal Roman occupation. The countryside had been subject to raids from both Scots and Picts and was not one to attract early Germanic settlement. King Ida (reigned from 547) started the sea-borne settlement of the coast, establishing an urbs regia[b] at Bamburgh across the bay from Lindisfarne. The conquest was not straightforward, however. The Historia Brittonum recounts how, in the 6th century, Urien, prince of Rheged, with a coalition of North British kingdoms, besieged Angles led by Theodric of Bernicia at the island for three days and nights, until internal power struggles led to the Britons' defeat.
Lindisfarne Priory
The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish monk Saint Aidan, who had been sent from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria at the request of King Oswald. The priory was founded before the end of 634 and Aidan remained there until his death in 651. The priory remained the only seat of a bishopric in Northumbria for nearly thirty years.[26] Finian (bishop 651–661) built a timber church suitable for a bishop's seat. St Bede, however, was critical of the fact that the church was not built of stone but only of hewn oak thatched with reeds. A later bishop, Eadbert removed the thatch and covered both walls and roof in lead. An abbot, who could be the bishop, was elected by the brethren and led the community. Bede comments on this:
And let no one be surprised that, though we have said above that in this island of Lindisfarne, small as it is, there is found the seat of a bishop, now we say also that it is the home of an abbot and monks; for it actually is so. For one and the same dwelling-place of the servants of God holds both; and indeed all are monks. Aidan, who was the first bishop of this place, was a monk and always lived according to monastic rule together with all his followers. Hence all the bishops of that place up to the present time exercise their episcopal functions in such a way that the abbot, who they themselves have chosen by the advice of the brethren, rules the monastery; and all the priests, deacons, singers and readers and other ecclesiastical grades, together with the bishop himself, keep the monastic rule in all things.
Lindisfarne became the base for Christian evangelism in the North of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia. Monks from the Irish community of Iona settled on the island. Northumbria's patron saint, Saint Cuthbert, was a monk and later abbot of the monastery, and his miracles and life are recorded by the Venerable Bede. Cuthbert later became Bishop of Lindisfarne. An anonymous life of Cuthbert written at Lindisfarne is the oldest extant piece of English historical writing. From its reference to Aldfrith, who now reigns peacefully it must date to between 685 and 704. Cuthbert was buried here, his remains later translated[c] to Durham Cathedral (along with the relics of Saint Eadfrith of Lindisfarne). Eadberht of Lindisfarne, the next bishop (and saint) was buried in the place from which Cuthbert's body was exhumed earlier the same year when the priory was abandoned in the late 9th century.
Durham Cathedral and the Shrine of St Cuthbert
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, United Kingdom. It is the seat of the Bishop of Durham, the fourth-ranked bishop in the Church of England hierarchy. The present cathedral was begun in 1093, replacing the Saxon 'White Church', and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Europe. In 1986 the cathedral and Durham Castle were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Durham Cathedral holds the relics of Saint Cuthbert, transported to Durham by Lindisfarne monks in the ninth century, the head of Saint Oswald of Northumbria, and the remains of the Venerable Bede. In addition, its library contains one of the most complete sets of early printed books in England, the pre-Dissolution monastic accounts, and three copies of the Magna Carta.
From 1080 until 1836 the Bishop of Durham enjoyed the powers of an Earl palatine, being given military and civil as well as religious leadership in order to protect the Scottish Border. The cathedral walls formed part of Durham Castle, one of the residences of the Bishop of Durham.
There are daily Church of England services at the cathedral, with the Durham Cathedral Choir singing daily except Mondays and when the choir is on holiday. The cathedral is a major tourist attraction within the region, attracting 755,000 visitors in 2015.
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York Minster, York, England, United Kingdom, Europe
York Minster is a cathedral in York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by a dean and chapter under the Dean of York. The formal title of York Minster is The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York. The title minster is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title. Services in the minster are sometimes regarded as on the High Church or Anglo-Catholic end of the Anglican continuum. The minster has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic choir and east end and Early English north and south transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, (finished in 1408), the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. In the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 16 metres (52 ft) high. The south transept contains a famous rose window. York has had a verifiable Christian presence from the fourth century. However there is circumstantial evidence pointing to much earlier Christian involvement. According to Bede missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in AD 180 to settle controverted points of differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials which were disturbing the church. Tradition speaks of 28 British bishops, one for each of the greater British cities, over whom presided the Archbishops of London, York and Caerleon-on-Usk. The first recorded church on the site was a wooden structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Moves toward a more substantial building began in the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter. The church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfrid ascended to the see of York. He repaired and renewed the structure. The attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in northern Europe. In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt as a more impressive structure containing thirty altars. The church and the entire area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders, and its history is obscure until the 10th century. There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald, Wulfstan, and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William in 1066. Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the church. The church was damaged in 1069 during William the Conqueror's harrying of the North, but the first Norman archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, arriving in 1070, organised repairs. The Danes destroyed the church in 1075, but it was again rebuilt from 1080. Built in the Norman style, it was 111 m (364.173 ft) long and rendered in and red lines. The new structure was damaged by fire in 1137 but was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was built, all in the Norman style. he Gothic style in cathedrals had arrived in the mid 12th century. Walter de Gray was made archbishop in 1215 and ordered the construction of a Gothic structure to compare to Canterbury; building began in 1220. The north and south transepts were the first new structures; completed in the 1250s, both were built in the Early English Gothic style but had markedly different wall elevations. A substantial central tower was also completed, with a wooden spire. Building continued into the 15th century. The Chapter House was begun in the 1260s and was completed before 1296. The wide nave was constructed from the 1280s on the Norman foundations. The outer roof was completed in the 1330s, but the vaulting was not finished until 1360. Construction then moved on to the eastern arm and chapels, with the last Norman structure, the choir, being demolished in the 1390s. Work here finished around 1405. In 1407 the central tower collapsed; the piers were then reinforced, and a new tower was built from 1420. The western towers were added between 1433 and 1472. The cathedral was declared complete and consecrated in 1472. The English Reformation led to the looting of much of the cathedral's treasures and the loss of much of the church lands. Under Elizabeth I there was a concerted effort to remove all traces of Roman Catholicism from the cathedral; there was much destruction of tombs, windows and altars. In the English Civil War the city was besieged and fell to the forces of Cromwell in 1644, but Thomas Fairfax prevented any further damage to the cathedral.
York Minster, York, England, United Kingdom, Europe
York Minster is a cathedral in York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by a dean and chapter under the Dean of York. The formal title of York Minster is The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York. The title minster is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title. Services in the minster are sometimes regarded as on the High Church or Anglo-Catholic end of the Anglican continuum. The minster has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic choir and east end and Early English north and south transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, (finished in 1408), the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. In the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 16 metres (52 ft) high. The south transept contains a famous rose window. York has had a verifiable Christian presence from the fourth century. However there is circumstantial evidence pointing to much earlier Christian involvement. According to Bede missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in AD 180 to settle controverted points of differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials which were disturbing the church. Tradition speaks of 28 British bishops, one for each of the greater British cities, over whom presided the Archbishops of London, York and Caerleon-on-Usk. The first recorded church on the site was a wooden structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin, King of Northumbria. Moves toward a more substantial building began in the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter. The church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfrid ascended to the see of York. He repaired and renewed the structure. The attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in northern Europe. In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire. It was rebuilt as a more impressive structure containing thirty altars. The church and the entire area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders, and its history is obscure until the 10th century. There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald, Wulfstan, and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William in 1066. Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the church. The church was damaged in 1069 during William the Conqueror's harrying of the North, but the first Norman archbishop, Thomas of Bayeux, arriving in 1070, organised repairs. The Danes destroyed the church in 1075, but it was again rebuilt from 1080. Built in the Norman style, it was 111 m (364.173 ft) long and rendered in white and red lines. The new structure was damaged by fire in 1137 but was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was built, all in the Norman style.
The Gothic style in cathedrals had arrived in the mid 12th century. Walter de Gray was made archbishop in 1215 and ordered the construction of a Gothic structure to compare to Canterbury; building began in 1220. The north and south transepts were the first new structures; completed in the 1250s, both were built in the Early English Gothic style but had markedly different wall elevations. A substantial central tower was also completed, with a wooden spire. Building continued into the 15th century. The Chapter House was begun in the 1260s and was completed before 1296. The wide nave was constructed from the 1280s on the Norman foundations. The outer roof was completed in the 1330s, but the vaulting was not finished until 1360. Construction then moved on to the eastern arm and chapels, with the last Norman structure, the choir, being demolished in the 1390s. Work here finished around 1405. In 1407 the central tower collapsed; the piers were then reinforced, and a new tower was built from 1420. The western towers were added between 1433 and 1472. The cathedral was declared complete and consecrated in 1472. The English Reformation led to the looting of much of the cathedral's treasures and the loss of much of the church lands. Under Elizabeth I there was a concerted effort to remove all traces of Roman Catholicism from the cathedral; there was much destruction of tombs, windows and altars. In the English Civil War the city was besieged and fell to the forces of Cromwell in 1644, but Thomas Fairfax prevented any further damage to the cathedral.
The Princes of Gwynedd
Watch this short documentary film about the princes of Gwynedd and discover the striking castles, peaceful churches and royal palaces of Wales' most powerful Medieval Dynasty.
snowdoniaheritage.info
Swinbrook Part One
Swinbrook is a delightful village within walking distance of Burford.It was the childhood home of the Mitford sisters, parodied in Nancy Mitford's 'The Pursuit of Love'. Nancy, Unity and Diana are buried to the west of the church. The church has work of c1200 but the exterior is Decorated and Perpendicular with a western bell tower added in 1822. It is famous for the Fettiplace monuments, six generations of whom recline on shelves on the north wall of the chancel. A path through the churchyard leads to St. Oswald's church lost in the river meadows along the banks of the Windrush. The Windrush runs through a ford in the middle of village which seems remote and timeless. There is a wonderful pub which was once a water mill and is owned by the Duchess of Devonshire, nee Deborah Mitford and a picturesque cricket ground.
bwthornton.co.uk
St Marys Wolborough New Clapper
The clappers of the 7th and tenor bells at St Marys have been replaced with nylon shafted composite clappers supplied by Whites of Appleton. Here is the tenor being rung up.
A walk around Simonside, Northumberland Feb 2017
A walk around the Simonside Hills, Northumberland. A circular walk from Lordenshaws car park taking in Spylaw, Coquet Cairn and the edge of Harwood Forest following part of the St Oswald's Way. Decided not to return along the main Simonside ridge due to the crazy wind that picked up, instead following the forest track and meeting up again with the return path back to Lordenshaws!
Music by Blackflower facebook.com/blackfloweruk
John’s Visit to St Elphin’s! Warrington
DJJohnny visits Warrington Parish Church - St Elphin’s! Looking at the cannon ball holes in the wall - as result of the English Civil War in the 1650s!
The Bells Of Peover and the Tree of Imagination
The Bells of Peover is believed to date to 1839. It was called Warren de Tabley Arms at one time and still has the de Tabley family crest painted near the top of the front wall.
The landlord in 1871 was a George Bell whose family were brewers of beer on the premises and owners of several public houses in the area. His ghost is reputed to haunt the present beer cellar!
The pub is situated opposite the church of St Oswald. Founded in 1269 and built of Cheshire 'magpie' construction with a Norman sandstone tower, its medieval bible chest was hewn from a Cheshire oak tree.
In the early months of 1944, when American soldiers were billeted at nearby Peover Hall, their commanders, General Eisenhower and General Patton, made plans for the D-Day invasion of Normandy over lunch here. This is the reason why the flag of the United States flies alongside the British.
The Tree of Imagination is located on the corner of Free Green Lane and Broom Lane, Lower Peover.
Google Co-ordinates 53.26592, -2.383369
St Budeaux Parish Church Tenor Bell removal January 2014
The frame holding the church bells has become damaged over the years since 1931, and they are being taken out for refurbishment. The bell shown here is the Tenor bell, the largest. Peter is the coordinator for the fund raising of the bell fund and has raised nearly £35000 in the last 2 years to make this happen, well done Peter
Incidentally, SIr Francis Drake was married in this church!
Walks in Shropshire: Exploring Whittington Castle
Harriet and I take a less than serious walk around Whittington Castle on a busy Saturday morning.
Whittington Castle is a castle in northern Shropshire, England, owned and managed by the Whittington Castle Preservation Fund. The castle was originally a motte-and-bailey castle, but this was replaced in the 13th century by one with buildings around a courtyard whose exterior wall was the curtain wall of the inner bailey. As a castle of the Welsh Marches, it was built on the border of Wales and England very close to the historic fort of Old Oswestry.
I am Richard Vobes, the Bald Explorer, exploring Britain. Check out my website at:
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