Contributions of the group Parish Churches of England [whole exterior only]

St Lawrence's

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Tue, 05 May 2026 17:41:20 +0000

Old Sea Dog has posted:

Gnosall, Staffordshire

St Lawrence's

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Tue, 05 May 2026 17:41:17 +0000

Old Sea Dog has posted:

Gnosall, Staffordshire

Salisbury Cathedral

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 16:55:08 +0000

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Salisbury, Wiltshire

St Leonard's

nobody@ipernity.com (Kris Lockyear) — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 20:23:18 +0000

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St Leonard's church Old Walden, Bedfordshire. Sadly the church was closed for repairs when we visited.

Pentax K-3iii, SMC Pentax "K" 28mm f/3.5 shift.

St George's Day

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:05:50 +0000

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Gnosall, Staffordshire

The Priory

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 13:49:36 +0000

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Christchurch, Dorset

Cromer Parish Church

nobody@ipernity.com (natureoncam aka Greg) — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 13:10:43 +0000

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View large for scale and stonework detail.

Cathederal of the Fens

nobody@ipernity.com (natureoncam aka Greg) — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:42:59 +0000

natureoncam aka Greg has posted:

Walpole St Peters to name it correctly
Walpole St. Peter's Church is simply a fenland village parish church, but its beauty has so stunned visitors that it has been called the Queen of the Marshlands and Cathedral of The Fens.
Believed by many experts to be one of the finest churches in England.

Upwell Parish Church, Norfolk

nobody@ipernity.com (natureoncam aka Greg) — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:42:40 +0000

natureoncam aka Greg has posted:

Set on the banks of the river Nene this chrch is notable for its octagonal tower.
There is a very good write up of this church on the Norfolk Churches website.

St Mary's, Titchwell, Norfolk

nobody@ipernity.com (Kris Lockyear) — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 15:22:01 +0000

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Last year we stopped briefly here on the way back to our B&B because I spotted the round tower. It was getting late and the church was locked.

Pentax K-3iii, SMC Pentax 28mm f/3.5 shift lens.

St James, Castle Acre

nobody@ipernity.com (Kris Lockyear) — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 17:18:01 +0000

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Pentax K-3iii, SMC Pentax "K" 28mm shift lens.

St Pancras Church Coldred Kent

nobody@ipernity.com (John Lawrence) — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 15:40:32 +0000

John Lawrence has posted:

Coldred comes from the Old English ‘col’ meaning ‘coal, especially charcoal’ with ‘ryde’ as a ‘clearing’; therefore, a ‘clearing where coal is found or made’. The Domesday Book records Coldred as Colret.
Coldred parish church is dedicated to Saint Pancras, one of only 6 such dedicated in the country. The Normans built it in the 11th century, within the newly constructed Motte and Bailey castle which was built by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, half-brother to William the Conqueror. An unknown founder cast a bell in the 14th century, which split in two in 1939. The two cell church remained much the same for the next 500 years.
There was some restoration done by the Victorians.

The uneven ground around the church is the remains of the castle mentioned above, many Roman artefacts have been found in the surrounding area.

Coldred, at nearly 400 feet (122 m) above sea level, is one of the highest places in East Kent

Best viewed Large

MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VISIT AND COMMENT IT IS APPRECIATED

St Andrews Church Sheperdswell, Kent

nobody@ipernity.com (John Lawrence) — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 14:11:33 +0000

John Lawrence has posted:

Although there was a place of worship registered here in the 14th Century, this tiny church is entirely Victorian and is a building of great charm designed by Benjamin Ferrey in 1863. It is built of local flint with Bath stone dressings and is distinguished by a little spire let over, but not quite on, the west end. The interior is simple and consists of nave, apsidal chancel and little transepts. The east windows are by the St Helens Crown Glass Co., and represent the Ascension and Four Evangelists. The south window of 1900, by Kempe, shows the Epiphany. The good polished marble decorative shafts to either side of the chancel arch, together with the corbels in the nave, are typical of Ferrey's work. It is a pity that the original font, which was of fine Cornish marble and had matching marble shafts, had to be destroyed, owing to its instability, in 1955.

I am digging out archives! (it was a bit dull)

My thanks to all who visit and comment it is appreciated

St Mary's in autumn

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 19:14:43 +0000

Old Sea Dog has posted:

Stafford, Staffordshire

St Augustine's Church Northbourne.

nobody@ipernity.com (John Lawrence) — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 19:10:21 +0000

John Lawrence has posted:

Northbourne comes from the Old English ‘nord’ meaning ‘northern, north’ and ‘burna’ as a ‘stream’; therefore, ‘north stream’. The Domesday Book chronicles Northbourne as Norborne.
Northbourne parish church is a Grade: I listed building, dedicated to Saint Augustine. The Saxons built the first church on this site. The Normans rebuilt it as, one of only a few, cruciform churches in Kent in the 12th century. They made some alterations in the following century, particularly to the windows. In 1711, Mathew Bagley cast and hung a ring of five bells in the tower. In 1800, Edward Hasted described St Augustine’s church as a ‘large goodly building, consisting of a nave, chancel, and transept, having a large square tower in the middle, which has probably been much higher. There are five bells in it. The church is built of flint, with quoins, door, and window cases of ashler squared stone; some arches of the windows are pointed, some circular, and some with zigzag ornaments. The western arch of the tower is pointed with triple dancette ornaments; the others circular’. In 1865, the Victorians added the porches and carried out restoration work to the chancel. Alfred Bowell augmented the bells to six, with a treble, in 1911. This Church is in the Eastry and Woodnesborough Benefice in the Diocese of Canterbury.

This is a "Topsy Turvy" Church the front which faces open countryside is exactly the same as the back, this is the "back" where the entrance is!

Best viewed large Please

MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VISIT AND COMMENT IT IS MUCH APPRECIATED.

Rochester Cathedral

nobody@ipernity.com (John Lawrence) — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 16:49:22 +0000

John Lawrence has posted:

Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent.
The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the seat of the Bishop of Rochester, the second oldest bishopric in England after that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The edifice is a Grade I listed building
The first mention of a Cathedral in Rochester was when King Ethelbert founded the Cathedral in 604A.D. The Cathedral was consecrated by St. Augustine and was blessed to St. Andrew who was the Patron Saint of Monasteries, where St. Augustine was from.
The first Bishop of Rochester was Justus in 604 A.D. The original Cathedral has since vanished through the re building of the present-day Cathedral. However, in 1889, work on the Cathedral uncovered the foundations of the original Cathedral under the west end.
The foundations were about 1.5m (5 feet) deep and what was left of the walls were 70 cms (2' 4") thick. The walls were made of stone and Roman brick. The original Cathedral had a round end named an 'Apse.' The length was about 14 metres (46' 6") and the width was about 8.8 metres (29' 6") when the Normans invaded England in 1066, Gundulf became the Bishop of Rochester in 1077.
Gundulf also built the Castle opposite the Cathedral and the Tower of London. Gundulf started to design the new Cathedral for Rochester. In 1115, Ernulf was inaugurated as the Bishop of Rochester. In 1137 and in 1179, a fire engulfed the Cathedral and it was badly damaged. In 1215 the Cathedral was looted, first by King John and then in 1264 by Simon de Montfort’s men when they laid siege on the city.
It is traditionally thought that King Henry VIII met Anne of Cleves in the cloisters of Rochester Cathedral. Unfortunately, in the 1800's Rochester had become one of the poorest Dioceses in the country. Again, it was robbed of its treasures by unruly soldiers.

Unbelievably, the Cathedral became a place of ill repute, where often gambling and drinking took place. Samuel Pepys described it as a 'Shabby place.' Through the 1800's, the Cathedral had gone through several restoration processes, and finally in 1880, Gilbert Scott restored the Cathedral to its present-day appearance.

The large tree outside (conveniently hiding a crowd going in to the building!) is a Catalpa tree, sometimes called the American Indian Bean Tree, is not a common species in Britain and is over 100 years old.

MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VISIT AND COMMENT IT IS APPRECIATED.

Holy Innocents Church Adisham, Kent.

nobody@ipernity.com (John Lawrence) — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 15:21:16 +0000

John Lawrence has posted:

The Manor of Adisham was probably given to Archbishop Justus by King Eadbald of Kent (son of King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha) in about AD 624 following the King’s conversion to Christianity. This tradition was preserved in a charter in about 1080 when Archbishop Lanfranc re-allocated the Manor to the Cathedral Priory. The tradition is supported by its rare dedication to Holy Innocents for whom a feast day was designated in the 5th Century. In Roman times the site above the great pond (filled in 1964) had been the centre of an important farming estate.

Nothing remains of the original (presumably wooden) Church. The existing building was erected between 1150 and 1350 and restored in 1869-70.

From the beginning it was probably a Minster or central Church from which a group of priests from the Cathedral served the surrounding area, hence both it’s size and cruciform shape. Adisham Court Farm which is nearby is still the property of the Church.

Between 1542 and 1555 The Vicar of Adisham and Staple was John Bland a firm believer in the protestant faith, who was burned at the stake as a heretic on 12th July 1555, during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary. He is commemorated on the Martyr’s Memorial in Canterbury’s Martyr’s Field.

There have been some extensive restorations inside the Church. Pews have been removed and the building (which is grade 1 listed) is now more accessible by local community groups and the Village School.

My Thanks to all who visit and comment it is appreciated

St Lawrence's

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 19:57:38 +0000

Old Sea Dog has posted:

Gnosall, Staffordshire

St Lawrence's

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 19:57:31 +0000

Old Sea Dog has posted:

Gnosall, Staffordshire

St Lawrence's

nobody@ipernity.com (Old Sea Dog) — Sun, 06 Nov 2022 19:57:28 +0000

Old Sea Dog has posted:

Gnosall, Staffordshire