St Andrew's, Eaton, is the only remaining thatched church in the Norwich area. Some of it dates back to the 12th century
"Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
One of the kneelers (there were heaps more, all with a different design)
This is another section of the same building, added in 1993. Most services are held in this section.
At the ends of the beams holding up the roof, there were carvings.
Generally,
we have not been able to explore anything we have seen along
the road as we have had certain places scheduled. Today we
had more time and so felt we could visit some extra places.
Norfolk has a huge number of churches - in Norwich you can
almost literally be standing at one church and see the next
one! As we were driving towards Dunwich, we saw a sign to an
historic church...
and we found St Mary's, Yelverton.
This window in the porch was installed in 2001
The Pulpit. The steps on the left used to go up to the rood screen.
The base or dado of the screen survives and is a great treasure of the church, because its painted panels show angels rather than saints.
St John the Baptist, Hellington
Sadly, this is a "redundant" church, meaning that it is no longer used for services. Many such churches, including this one, are looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust.
We found it amazing that a building like this could be left unlocked, seemingly 24/7 and not be vandalised.
The women at the empty tomb with an angel.
The Last Supper
There was a large Bible in the church. The date printed at the bottom of the page is 1842.
Turning the handle moves the brace to accommodate coffins of different lengths.
This hare was certainly in a hurry. Was it late perhaps?
St Margaret's, Hale is another redundant Church. It was built in the 12th century.
The round arch shows it's Norman,
The font dates from the 15th century
A happy lion!
This is St James the Great
The organ.. and what is that on the floor to the right?
One can never be sure what one might find in these churches!
Looking west from the altar
Lunch was at the Flora Cafe, on the beach at Dunwich.
The Beach at Dunwich
This is a model of the town of Dunwich. The section below the dotted line has been lost to the sea, beginning in the 13th century.
At least 10 churches are known to have been lost to the sea. The last one was All Saints'. It was abandoned in 1750 and began to fall into the sea in 1904. The last buttress fell in 1922 but it was retrieved and rebuilt in the grounds of St James Church (see below). The dates on the photos are 1776, 1887, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1909, 1911, 1919, 1920 and 1922.
The entry to Greyfriars
St James', Dunwich
A view from the west end
The Lectern
The Wise Men Visit Jesus. He doesn't look very impressed by their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh!
A view taken from the east end
The last buttress from All Saints'
The ruins of the chapel of the leper hospital are located within the graveyard of St James.
and we found St Mary's, Yelverton.
This window in the porch was installed in 2001
The Pulpit. The steps on the left used to go up to the rood screen.
The base or dado of the screen survives and is a great treasure of the church, because its painted panels show angels rather than saints.
St John the Baptist, Hellington
Sadly, this is a "redundant" church, meaning that it is no longer used for services. Many such churches, including this one, are looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust.
We found it amazing that a building like this could be left unlocked, seemingly 24/7 and not be vandalised.
The women at the empty tomb with an angel.
The Last Supper
There was a large Bible in the church. The date printed at the bottom of the page is 1842.
As we visited each church, we found
information about others in the area so it became quite a
"church crawl"!
St Gregory's, Heckingham
This plant was gradually taking over everything in this area. It appears to be celery but we are not sure.
This bible was huge...
...and it contained a large number of beautiful engravings. This one is Moses in the bulrushes.
The Madonna and Child
Hagar and Ishmael
Rebekah at the Well
The Lesson of the Passover
The Good Samaritan
I tried to find how to get power to the Organ to give it a go but it seemed that the power was off.
St Gregory's, Heckingham
This plant was gradually taking over everything in this area. It appears to be celery but we are not sure.
This bible was huge...
...and it contained a large number of beautiful engravings. This one is Moses in the bulrushes.
The Madonna and Child
Hagar and Ishmael
Rebekah at the Well
The Lesson of the Passover
The Good Samaritan
I tried to find how to get power to the Organ to give it a go but it seemed that the power was off.
Turning the handle moves the brace to accommodate coffins of different lengths.
This hare was certainly in a hurry. Was it late perhaps?
St Margaret's, Hale is another redundant Church. It was built in the 12th century.
The round arch shows it's Norman,
The font dates from the 15th century
A happy lion!
This is St James the Great
The organ.. and what is that on the floor to the right?
One can never be sure what one might find in these churches!
Looking west from the altar
Our next scheduled stop was the town of
Dunwich.
Lunch was at the Flora Cafe, on the beach at Dunwich.
The Beach at Dunwich
This is a model of the town of Dunwich. The section below the dotted line has been lost to the sea, beginning in the 13th century.
At least 10 churches are known to have been lost to the sea. The last one was All Saints'. It was abandoned in 1750 and began to fall into the sea in 1904. The last buttress fell in 1922 but it was retrieved and rebuilt in the grounds of St James Church (see below). The dates on the photos are 1776, 1887, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1909, 1911, 1919, 1920 and 1922.
The entry to Greyfriars
St James', Dunwich
A view from the west end
The Lectern
The Wise Men Visit Jesus. He doesn't look very impressed by their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh!
A view taken from the east end
The last buttress from All Saints'
The ruins of the chapel of the leper hospital are located within the graveyard of St James.
We then drove back to Blythburgh to see Holy
Trinity Church. This is a large building which contains much
of interest. It is known as "the Cathedral of the Marshes".
Its acoustics were highly regarded by the composer Benjamin
Britten and concerts are still held there as part of the
Aldeburgh Festival (which he founded).
This statue of the Holy Trinity is above the entrance. It was installed in 2000.
A few fragments of medieval glass survived the iconoclasm during the English Civil War.
The pulpit dates from the Stuart period around 1670-1675.
I discovered today that the carvings found on the end of some pews are called "poppyheads". This comes from the word "puppis" which means the figurehead of a ship. Some of those at Holy Trinity (carved in the 15th century) represent the seven deadly sins:
Pride
Gluttony
Hypocrisy
Avarice
This poppyhead represents Winter.
The Lectern
The screen
The organ with one side of the choir stalls.
This is a "Jack o'the clock" which was part of a clock from 1642. He is now used to ring the bell to mark the beginning of services.
This statue of the Madonna and Child was created by the artist Peter Eugene Ball in 1997.
The carvings on the front of the choir stalls are saints.
Each one carries his symbol which helps with indentification. This is St Jude (Thaddeus)
St Matthias (axe and Bible)
St Phillip (three loaves)
St Andrew (with his diagonal cross on which, according to legend, he was crucified.
This statue of the Holy Trinity is above the entrance. It was installed in 2000.
A few fragments of medieval glass survived the iconoclasm during the English Civil War.
The pulpit dates from the Stuart period around 1670-1675.
I discovered today that the carvings found on the end of some pews are called "poppyheads". This comes from the word "puppis" which means the figurehead of a ship. Some of those at Holy Trinity (carved in the 15th century) represent the seven deadly sins:
Pride
Gluttony
Hypocrisy
Avarice
This poppyhead represents Winter.
The Lectern
The screen
The organ with one side of the choir stalls.
This is a "Jack o'the clock" which was part of a clock from 1642. He is now used to ring the bell to mark the beginning of services.
This statue of the Madonna and Child was created by the artist Peter Eugene Ball in 1997.
The carvings on the front of the choir stalls are saints.
Each one carries his symbol which helps with indentification. This is St Jude (Thaddeus)
St Matthias (axe and Bible)
St Phillip (three loaves)
St Andrew (with his diagonal cross on which, according to legend, he was crucified.
As we were driving towards Aldeburgh
we saw a sign to Leiston
Abbey so decided to add it to our schedule
too!
As I have mentioned before, it
is difficult to fit in everything that we want
to do in one day. Sadly, we arrived in Aldeburgh
too late to do a tour of "The Red House" in
which Benjamin Britten lived from 1957 until his
death in 1976. At least we could see the
outside!
Part of the garden of The Red House
Part of the garden of The Red House
Our last stop before our
accomodation was the town of Snape (nothing
to do with Harry Potter!). It is in Snape
that Benjamin Britten transformed the
largest a complex of buildings known as the
Snape
Maltings into a concert hall.
The Concert Hall
We have driven past quite a few fields sown with canola. They are just as colourful as those in Australia!
The Concert Hall
We have driven past quite a few fields sown with canola. They are just as colourful as those in Australia!
We arrived at our
accommodation "The Railway Inn" at
Westerfield in time to settle in an
enjoy dinner.
