{"id":12697,"date":"2024-01-17T19:38:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T19:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=12697"},"modified":"2024-03-06T13:29:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T13:29:52","slug":"days-out-all-saints-polebrook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=12697","title":{"rendered":"DAYS OUT: St Mary\u2019s Reed, & All Saints, Polebrook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What a vista!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love being out and about in the countryside. It\u2019s refreshing and exhilarating in a way that being stuck indoors simply can\u2019t compete with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dinky little church!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On this day, I encountered several interesting buildings, inc several churches. First up was St Mary\u2019s at Reed, a rather small and homely slightly out of the way little church. I love the quiet peaceful location. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nice flinty porch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Strange lettering on\u2019t door!?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside the church, folk were busy working. I wonder, do the chalked letters on the door mean it\u2019s being restored? Are they carpenter\u2019s marks? Note the damage to panel B+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Working on the organ, I think?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I should\u2019ve taken more pics, I guess. But the presence of the guys working kind of put me off. They appear to be working on the organ. The organ is the other end of the church (behind me, in the above pic). They\u2019re working the other end cause there\u2019s more room to manoeuvre there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/strong>Odd but nice window. And men at work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was a bit too busy and messy to get good pics inside, with all that was going on. So this was a very brief stop. Plus, in all honesty, there was t a huge amount of interest. I\u2019d like to visit again. When the church is otherwise empty. See if that impression is correct or erroneous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Note the darker patch on the tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The fabric of St Mary\u2019s is, like many churches, a right ol\u2019 patchwork. Most notably there the dark patch atop the tower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All Saints.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the course of my travels I\u2019ve taken to stopping and investigating churches. And the more I do it. The more I love these old buildings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A mighty edifice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a non-believer, in either religion more generally or Christianity in particular, there\u2019s a strange tension in there somewhere. Or perhaps I just say that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Quite an entrance. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Truth be told, when I visit churches there\u2019s no tension whatsoever. Usually instead a sense of exaltation. Which, I suppose, is something they were, at least in part, intended to evoke? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some fantastic lights.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All Saints in Polebrook has some very nice stained glass. And I\u2019m always drawn to \u2018the lights\u2019, as they\u2019re sometimes referred to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Saintly stuff, as per the name.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Beautiful light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not just the light through the stained glass, but the light in churches generally. Mind you, that has<\/em> been materially affected by historical changes: if stained glass was torn out, during the Reformation or at some other time (possibly in more Puritan times (ECW or shortly after?), and replaced with plain glass, it changes the quality of illumination inside, naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I like these tall thin windows.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This glass is dated 1928. I wonder, is all the glass in here of that vintage? Or is it a more mixed bag? This one, below, for example, looks very different\u2026 not of a piece, so to speak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wow! An explosion of intense colour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, a closer look answers that question, the above is dedicated in 1981. Very recently indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zooming in\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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What a window!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, as ever, the windows draw attention to the thickness of the walls. What amazing buildings churches are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ah\u2026 the Divine Light!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nice dedicated glass.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Two extraordinary lights, dedicated to Tev. Richard Hinds and Susannah Hatfield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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War and the church? Hmmm\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always found it odd how a religion that, in its secondary phase – i.e. New Testicle – professes for the most part to be a more pacifist \u2018turn the other cheek\u2019 type affair (never mind old Testicle exhortations, such as Thou shalt not kill), cosies up to the State and Power, and I\u2019m particularly vexed by this in relation to war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And Polebrook, abd one assumes the church, as part of that, has very strong very recent martial connections, with the WWII creation of RAF Polebrook, and the presence of the (?) Bomber Group. As it happens, I\u2019m adding this blog entry retrospectively, whilst watching Masters of The Air<\/em> on Apple TV, making this a very resonant theme for me, right now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And it\u2019s time to leave.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On leaving the church, and getting out into the countryside, it was a crisp and beautiful winter day, with partly clear and partly clouded – and rather dramatically so – skies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Really beautiful.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This pano\u2019 is nice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love the above pano\u2019. And yet, as is so often the case, the rather puny camera on my iPhone fails to capture the awesome if rather empty grandeur of such simple yet sublime moments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love being out and about in the countryside. It\u2019s refreshing and exhilarating in a way that being stuck indoors simply can\u2019t compete with. On this day, I encountered several interesting buildings, inc several churches. First up was St Mary\u2019s at Reed, a rather small and homely slightly out of the way little church. I … <\/p>\n

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