St George's Day

Did you know that according to wikipedia, St George 'is one of the most venerated saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Eastern Catholic Churches'?

Theme Day: The Colour Yellow

I have to use this opportunity to show you one of my favourite things in a church: a hassock.

Hassocks are cushions that people use to kneel. Used in churches they tend to be hand stitched in all sorts of motifs. To see the ones I showed before click here

I found this one in St Mary's in Stodmarsh.

Today is theme day in the City Daily Photo world and we all publish a common theme.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the Blean

This is the church St. Cosmus and St. Damian in the Blean , not far from Canterbury.
Surrounded by fields, it is unusually isolated, nevertheless is warm and welcoming.
It has an incredibly fascinating history and if you are interested visit their website.

Theme Day: Glass

I found this wonderful stained glass window in a church in the village of Fordwich in Canterbury.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

St Dunstans Church - Thomas More

I am sure most of you know who St Thomas More was but, in case you are just another ignorant moron, here is a bit more about the guy who wrote Utopia - not only wrote but he invented the word too - and one of the most important Renaissance Humanists in England.

Born in London on 07/02/1478 he became a lawyer (his father was rich) and by the age of 23 he was already a barrister - yes, the lucky bugger was clever too. In fact, he was so clever that by the tender age of 43, he became an advisor of King Henry VIII. His political career didn't stop there though: in 1523 he also became Speaker of the House of Commons, and in 1529 he was promoted to Lord Chancellor.

Unfortunately, he was also a very (I mean very) religious guy - flagelation was just one of the many things included in his daily routine (I did say he was very religious!) and after a series of political bad moves he ended up refusing to sign the Act of Supremacy which made King Henry VIII the new Super Pope.

As you can imagine, that didn't go down well with his boss and in those days, sacking the poor guy was not enough: you had to behead him too. God, don't wish you could still behead a few now? (Fred Goodwin, Madoff, Peter Cummings, to name a few).

Anyway, how does this guy end up in St Dunstan's Church in Canterbury?

Well, his daughter Margaret was married to the rich local Roper family and they managed to rescue her dad's head which after a week on a spike in London Bridge was ready to be thrown in the Thames. She brought it back with her and buried it in her Roper Vault where it aparantly still is. Don't worry, if you visit, you don't have to see it.

More was canonised in 1935 and is highly revered by the Catholic Church.

Read more about The Life of Thomas More

Holy Cross in Goodnestone

This is the entrance to Holy Cross Church in Goodnestone.

A very pretty church with a wonderful restaurant next door.

Windows Series - St Dunstan

Again, I am aware of this not being a great photo from a technical perspective but if you want to have a good idea of what St Dunstan in Canterbury looked like the last time I dropped by, you can hardly get it better.
The only light coming into the room was from the small windows - not many and a few with stained glass. It was, still, a beautifull place to be...

Theme Day: Path and Passage

St Dunstan Church - Canterbury

Today is a special day for me. I have been publishing photos of Canterbury and the neighbouring areas for one year.

I thought I would take you to a special place. Somewhere I have not taken you before. So I have brought you to St Dunstan's Church, an extremely important place in the history of Canterbury and Britain.

It was here in July, 1174, that King Henry II, came to pay his penance for the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, St Thomas Becket. He arrived at St. Dunstan's, changed into sackcloth and ashes and walked barefeet to Becket's grave in Canterbury Cathedral where he prayed for forgiviness.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

St John the Baptist Church In Barham

By the number of pictures of churches I show in this blog you must think I am a very religious person.
The reason for that is not only Canterbury has so many churches but also I love them...
Here we are in Barham... in a cold and wet Sunday

Painting

I feel privileged for having had the opportunity to see this old painting.
Most people in Canterbury don't know of its existency let alone seen it.
If you are interested, visit The Grey Friars (only opens on Wednesday for Eucharisty) at 12:00 and you will find it in one of the small chambers below the nave.

Hassock series: Donkey

If you have been following my blog you will know that I love hassocks. This is from the church in Goodnestone.

St Peter's Church in the Heart of Canterbury

On Sunday I braved the cold weather and went out to take pictures.

As I walked down the St George's St, I noticed St Peter's Church was open so I went in.

It was my first visit there and the lady minding the place told me that it was open because it is that time of the year - Advent - when churches welcome those who for one reason or another come to church.

The interior is very nice but simple. A few items here and there and nothing like Canterbury Cathedral, its big sister up the road. For more information on the history of the ST Peter's Church visit their website

The banner in the picture was given to the church in memory of Dorothy Violet Keeler (1902-1970) who not only was a member of the church but also was the mother of the kind lady showed me around.

St Mary's Church in Nackington

This is St Mary's Church in Nackington. It is a very quiet place with lovely surroundings and very very English.
I love the red berries in this picture

St Mary's Church in Lower Hardres

This was taken a few days ago when I went to visit Lower Hardres.

Hassock series: Blues

I haven't shown you a hassock in ages...

I found this one in St Mary's Lower Hardres Church

Windows Series - St Nicholas in Ash

I have decided to start a series of pictures called Windows. This is the first one.
You will need to click ont he picture to see the real beauty of it.

Pigeon Hole

I found this in St Mary the Virgin in Elham, a very active Anglican Church.

More Hyminaries

Yeah yeah...I love churches even though I an Atheist!

There one so neatly arranged were found in Elham Church

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin in Elham

Today I went to Elham and while I was there I visited the Church of St Mary the Virgin.

My goodness! What a beautiful church. The building dated from between 1170 and 1200 is not much different from many others ragstone and flint churches around Canterbury and you could almost give it a miss.

Inside it is another business because unlikely so many poorly kept churches, St Mary is full of interesting features, furnishings and most probably, have excellent people running it.

It is very clean and extremely well kept with beautiful flower arrangements displayed in various places around the church. The parishioners of St Mary the Virgin in Elham should be proud of their work because it is a wonderful and obviously loved church.

My favourite thing in there was the organ loft. According to the booklet I bought in the church, "the organ itself is a Lewis instrument with gilded pipes and richly carved oak case and it came from Bexley Parish Church in 1937."

Hymnal or hymnary?

According to Merriam-Websters dictionary both words can be used for a Book of Hymns.

Here we have some, neatly lined up in a shelf, in the Church of St Mary in Fordwich