We did a tour of the ground floor of the cathedral, and found out heaps, of course it is now four days later and it is fading away!! The cathedral was begun by Etheldred who was a Queen but left her husband the King to become a nun....she founded the monastery here.
Painted ceiling of the cathedral, the original painter died from poisoning. ..no suspicious circumstances , he used to lick his paint brushes and so ingested arsenic and other paint substances!
The main alter backing is encrusted with precious stones, there used to be 6 candles on the alter and two Victorian gas lamps at the side, they must have made the back look really sparkly.
Can't help myself......love the stained glass windows!!
Octagonal centre of the cathedral, the original collapsed and was rebuilt by the Victorians, who also replaced the stain glass windows that were taken out when Henry VIII decided to destroy all the monasteries in the country. At the same time the walls were brightly decorated in red, green and gold but were painted over in white wash many times so the faithful would not be distracted from their prayers.
This is the floor plan of the cathedral and monastery buildings, it covered a large area and these were all over the UK.
Yew berries, they are everywhere at present
Cathedral from the back
Carol found a secret garden but as it had a lock on the gate we assumed we were not supposed to be in there!!
Tourists at the Cathedral!!
Just love the different door ways you find here
Very old tomb stones by the cathedral
Walking around the side
And now off to visit Oliver Cromwells house
How cute is this one ?
I forgot to take a photo of the house!!!! Duh!!!! It was a slightly bigger version of the little one above
Kitchen fire place where the cooking happened
An example of what Mrs Cromwell would
Cook
Eel stew anyone??
Helmets and a hat from the war
What every soldier carried with him
Another old building down the street, we are off to the car now have to move it as our time is up, we found a free car park which is most unusual here.....we are going to try and find a pub by the river.
Mmmmmmm.....there is the cathedral way over there......
Well we have crossed the river and the cathedral is over there....I think we are heading the wrong way....but I do not want to be the back seat driver....not yet anyway!!
We finally turned back and went down a really narrow windy road and found the pub
And the river with the canal boats....maybe it's a canal not a river?? 😉
The Cutter Inn...lunch time...yep it is 2.20pm!!
David and Carol settle in
David had a cheese and pickle sandwich....the man at the next table offered me his black Labrador, but when I said "Yes thankyou" he changed his mind and said I think from your voice you have to take him too far!! I said I didn't mind but he changed his mind!! Lol!!
Very restful looking place.
Off home to, Carols at Ramsay now for a rest, this being a tourist is hard work!!
We have nipped over the back fence at Carol's to have a look at the Mortuary Chapel, only two exist in the UK now, this one is locked up for the winter, apparently you could view your loved one who had died from an infectious disease through a glass window here before they were buried.
Lovely rose hips
So e strange fungus growing in the grass
Beautiful detail on a grave stone
Chapel from the cemetry
Gatehouse at the chapel
In Carol's garden
Ok enough for one day
Bye for now
Great photos, Sue.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue ,wow Thankyou for sharing,I found your post very interesting,Thankyou for sharing.xx
ReplyDeletewhat wonderful photos x SO much inspiration there for when you get home x I think that strange fungus is a group of toadstools .. they are poisonous so best left alone xx glad you are continuing to enjoy your visit x
ReplyDeleteSo much history and so many beautiful sights. What a wonderful opportunity for you both.
ReplyDeletePS - the supervisor may not appreciate having to share his space with a new labrador pal. Maybe it is lucky the man changed his mind.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your photos, they're lovely. Saw the gorgeous Cody dog today.
ReplyDelete