Not so much a drive as a trundle along through a few back roads in the sunshine. The haze was quite thin, the sun shone, the cabbages, or maybe Brussel Sprouts, were growing in the fields and emitting a noticeable fragrance, if that is the right word. I stopped alongside a field of grass like shoots and watched a skylark hover twenty feet above. The song is one of the best you can hear, no wonder it inspires music! In the distance a grouse like creature croaked away, his throat must be sore, and in between the birds there was silence, complete silence. With traffic right outside my door, the old 'Stane Street' runs past my window, and a bypass close enough to allow the noise of busy traffic to be murmuring in the background, it was delightful to sit in the sun in almost complete silence, bar the bird life. An occasional 'four by four' came by, one or two driven by farm folks, the rest by people suffering in the recession, and by the time I got out the roads were become home to Sunday drivers again.
I stopped of at Cressing church on the way back. Standing here for almost a thousand years, and this spot used most probably for pagan worship long before that, the small church building stands in a graveyard used to this day. The normal attitude today is to allow parts of the graveyard to run wild to some extent, just behind the memorial it is possible to see small daffodils and snowdrops peeping through the grass. One half of the yard is tended while the rest grows wild in a controlled manner. Up at Black Notley some time back I noticed the sheep has broken through and were happily ruining the controlled part of that graveyard. Here all was peace, especially as no service was being held that day. Three or four churches are now controlled by one man quite often, this one was High Church, that is Anglo Catholic, and communion was held elsewhere. At least it is used but this does mean it is always locked when I pass by.
This small side door, possibly to allow objectionable clerics to escape, looks as if it has been here for years. Certainly that end of the building is constructed in a different manner from the main part. I wish I had looked up the history again now. No time at present however. So a close up of the construction of the wall of the main part, very common around here. There are a couple of old Roman bricks in there but I think the majority are later. There were Roman villas around here in days gone by.
What do they call this, Charnel or something like that? Most church buildings here have such construction, sometimes they are quite big also. A few Roman narrow red bricks also.
Just clearing up and I have deleted the last post I made and once gone never recovered!
I was not born an idiot you know, I had to work at it!
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4 comments:
I love looking at old churches, and that wall looks really interesting. What a pity the church is locked. Sometimes you can think it will be fascinating inside, then you get in and it has been Victorianised and you wish you had stayed outside. Other times, it's just mind blowing.
Cycling around and stopping at old churches is one of my favourite things to do.
English churches, as opposed to Scots ones, are very different in nature. Built by a variety of people, such as Lords of the manor building one for themselves rather than the locals, and often standing where Saxon wooden buildings once stood, they can speak of almost a thousand years history by themselves.
Oh how I would love to visit such places.
Jerry, they are great to visit, you would love it.
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