Aftermath

We made it home safely and pretty much without incident. Here is just one more picture, this time not a church.

Soon We Will Be on Our Way Home

Our flight out of Heathrow is at noon tomorrow, so this is likely to be the last post. Wish us luck driving back to the airport. At least it will be early on a Sunday morning.

Parade in Norwich

Heading back into Norwich to see the stained glass museum was rather challenging because the city was having a significant celebration today. We lucked out and found some free parking just outside the ring and walked our way through the winding street to the Museum which was housed in St. Peter at Hungate. The display was modest but free. On our way back we decided to get a goodie and a drink. I must look like and easy mark because while we sat outside the shop in a little café area a woman came up and begged off me a pound, which she used in the same shop. She thanked me a second time on the way out. We did a little shopping on our way back to the car but soon realized that our path was blocked by what we would discover was a parade route. Who knows, maybe they were celebrating the fact that we were there. Fortunately, Norwich has a few underground walk ways to get to the other side of the ring. This picture was taken on the other side. Before look we were back on the road and without the help of Margery (the GPS), we were soon on the Ipswich Road back to Hardwick.

Empty Tower

The tower in the back of the church had suffered some wear.

The Wymondham Orchestra Rehearsal

The Wymondham Orchestra was getting ready to rehearse for a concert this evening. After we explored around the outside of the church, we stopped back in and listened for a while.

The Reredos

The reredos, not medieval, was elaborate and magnificent.

Wymondham Abbey Church

We skirted Norwich to catch a church just to its southwest in Wymondham, pronounced \Wim-dum\. This was the largest of the churches we visited today, and quite impressive.

The Ceiling

Right after we arrived, two others came in to the otherwise empty church, a man and his college-aged son. They had come from Norwich. The man I struck up a conversation and we discovered that he was reading the same book Meisha had bought me as a gift, The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane. He was expecting to meet Macfarlane in a few weeks in Cambridge where he lives. As the conversation went on I learned that his father was from Scotland and is mother from Philadelphia. I told him that I was born just outside of Philadelphia. He asked me if I considered myself a Pennsylvanian but, of course, I only lived in PA for 8 of my 63 years. Oh yes, the ceiling in St. Peter and St. Paul’s is quite attractive.

Bird's Nest

The steps to the tower were open so we climbed them, but at the top the door was locked. This bird’s nest with two newly hatched chicks and an unhatched egg were tucked into a small opening in the staircase.

St. Peter and St. Paul Salle

Before long we were off to Salle, pronounced \Saul\. This was a fairly large church in the middle of nowhere.

Rood Screen at St. Giles

This medieval Rood Screen was of particular interest in St. Giles. The theme on this side (left) was “holy women and their children.” The third panel from the left is Mary and Jesus, the fifth is Elizabeth and John the Baptist, and the last panel is St. Anne and St. Mary. The theme of the other side is “Teachers of the church.”

Cottage with the Key

Then we headed back to the cottage with the key to St. Giles. We knocked, heard some noise, heard someone working the lock to the door, but then nothing. Before look a rather frail older gentleman calls out from the open window, “Are you here for the church key?” He told us that he was having trouble unlocking his door but he would hand the key out through the window and we could leave it in the organ bench when we left.

Organ Pipes

Of course the organ pipes that I have been featuring have not been medieval, and these are modest compared to many I’ve shown you, but they are very pleasingly painted.

Medieval Stained Glass

All Saints Bale

So on we went to Bale to find another All Saints Church, this one too with more medieval stained glass.

St. Giles Houghton

St. Giles Houghton was just down the road but the sign at the door directed us to number 121 across the road to obtain the key. But when we knocked, no one answered. The next church was not far so we decided that we would come back.

The Medieval Eye

I couldn't resist.

Medieval Stained Glass in All Saints Barsham

All Saints East Barsham

Again we were on the road early, our last day to explore churches, this time focused on a set of country churches to the northwest. We decided to go far out and work our way back toward Norwich, in case we had time to catch the stained glass museum. Our first stop was here at All Saints East Barsham, not all that far from Walsingham.

At Norwich Market

So, with time left on our hands, we decided to head back to the market place and have a look around. In the square behind St. Peter Mancroft was this grid work of vendor’s booths selling everything you can name. We also spent some time in the modern enclosed mall before heading back to the cottage.

Dragon Hall

After eating the sandwiches we made to use up some of the food we had bought at the grocery store, we stopped at the book store/library at the Julian shrine across the street and then we took a back alley to the next street over where Dragon Hall was located. It dates back to the 1430s when Robert Toppes used it as the center of his international trading empire. We were able to look around for a short while until we were discovered by a couple of workers who were setting up for a special event—a wedding—that was scheduled to take place later that day. We were quickly ushered out.

Inside the Royal Arcade

We walked through the Royal Arcade on our way back to the car. It's as beautiful as the outside. Meisha stopped in a toy store and bought a certain little fellow an interesting toy.

Late Pre-Raphaelite Stained Glass Window in St. John Maddermarket

When we arrived at St. John Maddermarket, the man inside was very eager to help us out in identifying the artifacts. He pointed out all the medieval stained glass and was particularly interested in showing us a colorful carved monument to Christopher Layer (who dies in 1600) and his wife Barbara (1604). He had done considerable research on the monument and was scheduled to do a lecture on it in the near future. It featured all sorts of religious symbolism, including personifications of Pax, (peace), Vanitas (vanity), Gloria (glory) and Labor—again, not medieval, but nonetheless interesting. He also pointed out this stained glass window done in the late Pre-Raphaelite style in 1913, which was designed by John Powell & Sons, possibly after the style of Burne Jones. Note some of the symbolism in this scene of the Annunciation, like the three beams—God, the Son and Holy Ghost—shining down on Mary. On the font in front of her is depicted on the right Eve eating the apple and on the left Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. The idea is that Mary’s obedience wipes away the sins of Eve. Madder, by the way, is a red dye.

St. Michael-at-Plea

At this point we started back in the direction of the car with the plan to stop at two churches on the way. As indicated before, many churches in England are being used for other things. St. Michael-at-Plea is now a Christian book store and café. The café is us up front in the chancel. There were still some medieval brass grave markers there.

Bosses in St. Helen's

The bosses on one particular part of the ceiling where of particular interest to Meisha and she was able to purchase a book about them.

Cloisters at St. Helen, Bishopgate

St. Helen’s was part of the Great Hospital, the only medieval hospital in England to survive the Reformation. Though much of the church has been modified, this striking cloister was intact. The original church was designed so the inmates (patients) could witness the numerous services throughout the day, as their illnesses were going to be cured more from cleansing their souls than it was from cleansing away germs. The men were arranged on one side of the altar and the women were arranged on the opposite. There were four nurses at any given time who had to be over fifty as not to cause disturbances among the men.

Pedestrians Only

Now we were heading across town, past Norwich Cathedral, to St. Helen, Bishogate. On our way we used many of the pedestrians only byways.

Pelican Font in St. Stephen

So after St. Peter Mancroft we head back to St. Stephen and find it open. It was undergoing major repairs because the ground on one corner was sinking, causing the walls to crack. But the pelican, this time on the font cover, was of particular—albeit not medieval—interest. If you look closely, you can see the red on the breast of this pelican signifying the blood.

The Organ in St. Peter Mancroft

The Reredos in St. Peter Mancroft

This reredos in St. Peter Mancroft, probably of gilded wood, is not medieval. It was constructed in 1886.

The Library

On our way to St. Peter Mancroft we were distracted by two stores: The Television and Movie Store and the gift shop at the information centre. Meisha was able to find several gifts for family and friends in the Television and Movie Store but I was unsuccessful in finding what I was looking for—Union Jack T-shirts. This shot of the library is taken from the front of the Television and Movie Store and the information centre is attached to the library to the left. St. Peter Mancroft is just to the right.

The Growing Wall

Between Super Dry and St. Stephen’s was this interesting display, a design made from various growing vines and grasses.

St. Stephen

Still in the rain, we headed back to centre city to see St. Stephen’s but it was not quite 10:00am so we spent a bit of time in a clothing store called Super Dry. Yes after waiting a while longer, we decided to see St. Peter Mancroft and then come back.

Inside St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist Cathedral from across the Ring

St. John the Baptist Cathedral from across the Ring Our next stop—in the rain—was St. John the Baptist Cathedral, which was on the other side of centre city. Because all our guides are focused on churches rather than cathedrals, we did not realize it until we got there that it was built in the nineteenth century. But it was no less beautiful. There are two "rings" (they are not particularly round) around Norwich. This, the inner ring, is a four lane road just outside what used to be the city wall, some of which can still be seen in spots.

Norman Doorway

This Norman (11th or 12th century) doorway came from St. Michael at Thorn which was destroyed at the same time as St. Julian’s. Notice that the arch is rounded on the top, i.e., Norman.

Font at St. Julian's Shrine

Today, Friday, we headed back to Norwich. Meisha had the day carefully planned out, with all stops marked on the map. Our first stop was to be St. Julian’s Church because it was opened earliest and by luck we discovered a car park (parking lot) right across the street where we could leave the car for the day. St. Julian’s is not medieval because the original church was destroyed during World War II. Because Julian (born in 1342), an anchoress who wrote The Revelation of Divine Love, is such an important figure in Norwich and because people wanted to continue using the site as a pilgrimage destination, a shrine to Julian (who was never canonized as a saint) was built on the site. Margery Kempe visited Julian many times. This font is a treasure which originally belonged to All Saints Westlegate. Unlike most of the fonts (c. 1420) we have seen that had the figures of saints on them, the faces were not desecrated during the English Civil War (1640s) by chipping them off. There were two phases of destruction: first the Reformation when Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church in the 1530s and then when the Puritans wanted to eradicate the iconography in the next century.

Birds in the Barn

We discovered a family of English barn swallows in the barn where the clothes dryer is kept. Look close to see the female on the nest.

Someone Loves Strawberries

On our way home, which was primary through back roads following driving school car, we decided to stop at a farm store that we have passed just about every day on our ways in and out of Hardwick. This tiny morsel was displayed outside the store.

Significant stained Glass Window

The stained glass in this window was given to the church in 1480 by Sir Robert Wingfield. The two upper left panels are of particular interest to Meisha because they depict the annunciation (in the first) and Mary with her mother St. Anne.

Unique Spire

The tower has a most interesting spire on it. It was erected during the fifteenth century and is made of lead-covered oak.

St. Peter and St. Paul’s East Harling

East Harling is a small community east of Thetford and St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church is a very prominent feature in the village.

St. Cuthbert's Thetford

Since it had been raining when we passed St. Cuthbert’s earlier, we stopped to take pictures on our way back to the car, before we headed to East Harling.

Fern in the Ruins

You have seen plenty of ruins on this blog but no ferns yet, so here’s a tiny fern growing out of the ruins of the priory wall. While exploring the extensive grounds of the ruins Peter and Heddy befriended us—Peter, a gentleman of 72 and Hetty, his border terrier. Peter helped us with information about the ruins, told us stories about fox hunting and otter hunting and reminisced about his earlier days living in Cornwall.

St. Peter's Thetford

Just down the street is St. Peter’s, but the man at the information center had already told us that it would not be open, so we moved on toward the ruins of St. Mary’s Priory Thetford.

Thomas Paine

After Hawstead we headed north, around Bury St. Edmunds, to Thetford. Thetford proudly displays a statue to its favored son, Thomas Paine. Now, of course, not everyone in Thetford appreciated having an American patriot be its most honored citizen.

Elizabeth Drury and John Donne

The Drury family acquired the estates surrounding Hawstead and Robert Drury became a friend and patron to John Donne, the renaissance poet. When Druiri’s daughter Elizabeth died at age 15, Donne wrote an elegy in Latin, which appears above her tomb.

Wooden Pelican in All Saints

Rendered here in wood is the pelican with her beak into her breast and three young chicks at her feet. This is one of the original medieval poppy-heads on the ends of the benches. The benches were all replaced early in the 20th century, but they retained a set of the original poppy-heads for the benches in the first row.

All Saints Hawstead

Our next stop was the tiny village of Hawstead about five miles south of Bury St. Edmunds. We were looking for All Saints Church.

Modern Paintings of the Crucifixion

Most of the insides of St. John’s was no longer medieval, but there was a series of 14 modern displayed around the church depicting various phases of the crucifixion. They were quite interesting and this was the final painting in the series. Note the formation of the body hair on his chest.

St. John's

Our last church in Bury St. Edmunds was St. John’s. Notice how different the tower is from those we have visited thus far.