Wells Cathedral, Somerset

Wells Cathedral

visited February 2020

Wells Cathedral, in the small town of Wells is a beautiful place to visit (although perhaps not on the rainy day in February when I visited!). It's got some glorious stained glass, the stunning West Front, a lovely chapter house, with very worn stairs to get to it, and splendid scissor arches. It is also, of course, the resting place of many of the great and the good of the area.

Sadly most of my photos don't seem to have come out of the many memorials around the building, but I was very excited to find a cadaver tomb, that of Bishop Thomas Beckington who died in the late 13th century. The other photo which came out is the memorial lined cloisters which, as with many cathedrals, are a peaceful place to spend a while.

Now the cathedrals are open again, do go and visit Wells, and take in the Bishop's Palace and Vicars' Close while you're in the city. 

Romney Marsh Churches, Kent

 Six Churches on Romney Marsh, Kent

Visited August 2020

Romney Marsh in Kent is a strange place, flat and, even in the middle of a very dry summer, wet. I guess the clue's in the name! There's a trail of 14 Medieval marsh churches which one can follow so on the hottest day of the year so far we set of in a car to go to 6 of them - the other 8 will have to wait. One, St Thomas Becket, Fairfield, had no graveyard (hardly surprising, as it's on a small mound in the marsh, and was only accessible via boat in winter until the 1960s!). Thanks to Covid-19, only one was open to the public, so what you get is views only of the churchyards. But what fine places they are!

All Saints, Burmarsh

This is the lowest church in the marsh, build 13ft below sea level. You have to cross a small bridge to get to it.

St Peter and St Paul, Newchurch

This church has a leaning tower, or at least the bottom two sections lean and are buttressed - it looks odd because the top section doesn't lean!

St Mary the Virgin, St Mary in the Marsh

This church is the burial place of author E. Nesbitt - the wooden marker in the churchyard is a replica, the original is inside. Near a priest's door there's a simple scratch sundial in the stone, which I love.

St Clement, Old Romney

This church is where the artist & filmmaker Derek Jarman is buried. It's near to his famous cottage at Dungeness, which is well worth a visit.

St Augustine, Brookland

This church is odd - the bell tower is not on top of the church as they usually are, but a shingled structure beside the main door! There are some lovely old graves in the churchyard too.

St Thomas Becket, Fairfield

This church has no surrounding churchyard, but I couldn't not show an image of it - it's the very picture of what a marsh church should be!