Friday 6 March 2009

St. Petronilla's...

March, July and November of every year I wander up the hill to our little church, St Petronilla's. There I join Lesley to help her clean the church. This is not an onerous task given the tiny size of the congregation, so it's generally a simple matter of dusting the pews etc, sweeping the floor and vacuuming the carpeted areas. It usually only takes about 45 minutes, every Friday morning of those months. I started doing this as a way of participating in the day to day activities of our little village. Apart from that, I rarely set foot in the church, just attending local funeral services, the annual Christmas Carols by Candlelight service and perhaps a couple of other services or fundraising events that may be going on there.

It's a really lovely sunny day here today although I guess it's also typical March weather - namely it's also jolly cold outside! So some of these photos have some camera shake but given that I was shaking from the cold, it's hardly surprising...

Here's the view from the car park looking over the 'new' graveyard and across to one part of our little village...



And this is the gate into the churchyard itself with some the old gravestones to be seen. Most of them are in a pretty precarious state and only on a very few can you actually read the inscriptions... a shame really because I enjoy reading old inscriptions. Some can be amusing, others downright vitriolic!



Inside the church, the stained glass windows are stunning...







These are all different in each of the window bays...



But my absolute favourite is the window above the loft where the bell ringers sit. You will just have to imagine the magnificence of this window as the sun had not moved sufficiently to show its true glory...



Here's part of the door leading into church, showing some detail to the carvings...



And finally, a photo of the church, showing the path leading into it... shame the rose isn't in bloom because it really is superb with the most beautiful perfume to it...



Over the years I've been meeting Lesley here to do our little bit, I've grown very fond of the church and I enjoy the peace and quiet here. Mind you, Lesley and I tend to put the world to rights as we chat away (teeth chattering too through the cold inside the church!) and we share many giggles about this and that. All in all, I think I'm the lucky one who receives far more from this 'chore' than I ever expected to. What a bargain!

13 comments:

  1. Lovely windows and gravestones, very serene. A nice way to start my morning.

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  2. Such a lovely church and churchyard...very easy to see why you are so fond of the place, Veronica! The interior looks to have a nice serenity and calm...*SIGH*...Happy weekend ((HUGS))

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  3. i'm not really too religious but i do appreciate old buildings and that little church of yours is beautiful. any idea how old? warmer days are coming, you can count on that.....take good care and have a lovely weekend, jack

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  4. What a beautiful place ~ I enjoy wandering around old churchyards too and reading the inscriptions on the headstones.

    That stained glass window with the staircase is a great photograph.

    Marie x

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  5. Dear Veronica, very nice photos, I liked the windows. It is nice to go to a peaceful place to "think", or to "pray".
    Have a nice weekend,
    Rosana

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  6. Rosana sent me here...you have splendid blog! Bravo!

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  7. Maureen, Tracy, jack, Marie, Rosana, glad you all like our little chuch - it's rather sweet! jack, the building, or parts of it, date back to early 1300's. There have been changes and additions over the centuries. The bell tower used to have a wooden spire apparently, but it fell down on the night that Oliver Cromwell died - just one of many such instances on that night.

    Clay, Welcome, thank you for dropping by and for such a nice comment! Warm wishes, V xx

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  8. Hi! what lovely pictures of the church, those stained glass windows are just spectacular! I remember all the years that I would wander the cemetaries with my parents, who were very much into geneaology, reading the headstones, and me wondering about the people and what they might have been like! Good memories. I always remember a peaceful feeling being there.

    I was reading through some of your posts, and love the pictures of your yellow labs! That one particular photo of them lying in front of the fireplace, wow, what a peaceful calm comes over me just looking at it. your home is just lovely!

    Warm sunshine today here in Germany too, but rather cold out, so it is typical for March. But we are glad of the sunshine!

    warm wishes from here, Debby

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  9. Hi Debby, Welcome and thank you for dropping by. glad you like the stain glass windows and I agree with you that it is a lot of fun wandering around old cemetaries. Yes, it's fascinating to think about the people under the headstones... ! My dogs send wags to you and to Jazmin. Warm wishes, V xx

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  10. Beautiful post. I love the one from March 1st as well. What a lovely place to be an a cold winter day. Wish I was there sipping tea with you. Beautiful dogs too. I love the post about the goats. We had goats once. My son had an allergy to cows milk, so we kept one for awhile. What a headache she was. We couldn't keep her in anywhere and one day she had pushed the backdoor open and there she was laying on the girl's bed when we got home from school.

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  11. What a lovely post, & a truly lovely church.
    I find it very curious that I have no religion, & no god, yet I love old churches, & old cemetaries.
    The windows look beautiful in this church.

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  12. Hi June, thank you so much for dropping by - love your story about the goat :)) although I imagine it was far from funny for you at the time... I will be dropping by your blog a little later Warm wishes, V xx

    Hi Meggie, I understand what you mean about old churches and cemetaries - it's the peace and calm, the 'restful' feeling I get from them. Also, they're such a fascinating commentary on past lives and the past centuries. These days there are not too many places left standing to make those statements... Hugs and love to you Meggie, Vxx

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  13. Hi Veronica! Such a pretty church. Someday I will get myself a camera and take some shots of the churches in our town.

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