Another Sunday, another church!
This week I went to the little village of Walesby (population 249) which has two Anglican churches. Not bad! One is quite famous locally as the Ramblers' Church but it is up a rough track on a hill some distance from the village and isn't used for regular worship. Today I went to the "new" church of St Mary, built in 1913.
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| Walesby altar kneeler showing the church |
Many churches these days have hand-worked kneelers. This picture of the church is part of the altar rail kneeler. Other sections show wild flowers from the Lincolnshire Wolds.
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| Great for the minister to play Hide and Seek with the congregation |
It's quite an unusual church and rather awkward for conducting worship, because there are two pillars slap bang in the middle of the aisle so part of the congregation can't see the Minister and, what's worse, the minister can't keep an eye on them!
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| My great uncle |
I have a very soft spot for this church as many years ago my great uncle (by marriage) was Rector here. I don't come from a very religious family and my father used to tell people that I was the white sheep of the family. I don't remember Uncle Palmer much (and certainly don't remember his time in Walesby) but I do know that he conducted my parents' wedding.
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| Think very carefully before getting married in this church! |
I must just mention the church gates. The Walesby tradition is that any bridegroom married in this church must lift his bride over the gates before he is allowed to take her home. The gates were recently replaced but as you can see, the gates are low with some parts even lower to the gate to make the lifting easier. The old gates can be seen on the kneeler above.
What a beautiful kneeler, and what an interesting story about the gates!
ReplyDeleteI love the kneeler! Ours are red velvet with no adornment other than some dripped candle wax. These are lovely as is the whole church. I love the gates but then we know I have an affinity for gates! Lovely pics, Mary and your uncle was very handsome!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the gate tradition was started and how many brides and grooms wished that it hadn't! The altar kneeler is lovely. I often visit little country churches and marvel at the beautiful kneelers, I started photographing all I saw but the collection got out of hand.
ReplyDeleteMost of all, I enjoyed hearing about your Uncle Palmer.
The church where my grandparents (now only my grandpa) and several of my aunts and uncles attend has pillars right in the middle of the aisle too. As a child attending family weddings there I always wondered to myself about the odd pillars that made it difficult to see up front. At least, that's how I'm remembering it.
ReplyDeleteThe kneeler in the photo is great! What a neat addition to the church.
Lovely handiwork on the kneeler and a pretty church. But I don't like the look of those spikes within the gates; they could cause a nasty injury if there was a stumble.
ReplyDeleteI bet you were glad not to have to reach the other church up the hill.
Those kneeler was a joy to see, I love the tradition about lifting the bride over the gate
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