Sunday's Spotlight - The Jewel of the Crown

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE.

In last week's blog I wrote about the secular attractions of Malmesbury as experienced during a visit there with Pam, Ruth and John. This week I'd like to introduce you to its real jewel; the ecclesiastical side of the town.

 

Malmesbury Abbey is at the centre of the town and can be seen from miles around. However, the bit you can see now is about one third of the size of the monastic Abbey built in the seventh century. That early Abbey contained the second largest library in Europe and was one of the leading seats of learning in that continent.

The Abbey was completed in the 12th century and one of its outstanding features, which can still be seen today, is the carving on and in the entrance porch illustrating various Bible stories.

The spire of the Abbey was taller than that of Salisbury Cathedral but in 1500 it was destroyed by a violent storm, along with two thirds of the nave and transit. Then in 1550 the tower also fell, destroying the three Western Bays of the nave. In all about half of the building was lost.

Henry VIII dissolved the monastery there but a rich merchant bought the building from him and gave it to the town as its parish church. The destroyed part of the building was demolished with the nave being given an altar and the damage part walled off.

 

The flying monk, who built himself a primitive hand glider, has a memorial window in the building. The story has it that in the 11th century he jumped from the tower, glided for a few yards and landed roughly breaking both legs. He's lucky it wasn't his neck!  There is a window in the Abbey depicting this foolish fellow but it's not easy to find and you may have to seek directions from one of the friendly voluntary guides on duty there.

 

The first person to be killed by a tiger in England is also buried in Malmesbury Abbey churchyard and her grave can still be seen today. We kept a wary eye out for Tigers but it must have been a bit too cold for them because we didn't spot any.

 

Today in the main nave, up in the arches, you can see an observation box; the sort of thing that the BBC might put in place if it was broadcasting a service there. I was as puzzled by this as I was by the townhouse with its three-storey tower but I did discover the answer for the existence of this rather strange addition.  It was for visiting relatives of the monks, who were not permitted to take part in the service from the nave.

I'm still trying to discover why that town house has this three-storey tower built into its roof. Please, any ideas you may have for its usage -- even if they're absolute guesses and not the right reason -- then do submit them into the comments for this blog.

The town also has a small Roman Catholic church, situated in its centre. A nice quiet building, tastefully decorated and very peaceful. Another church well worth visiting, even if you only want to spend a few minutes of peace and quiet.

Sunday's spotlight - An autumnal day out

BY GUEST BLOGGER PETE

Last week I went down to Cheltenham for a couple of days to meet up with Ruth and John. It was great seeing them both again and we had fun that first evening deciding where we would go on the following day.

In the end we decided that our first visit would be to Malmesbury and then, in the afternoon, the Arboretum, whose name is, possibly Westonbirt or something similar. In the end we restricted our visit to Malmesbury.

For over seven years we lived in the county of Wiltshire but I can't remember, during that time, ever making a trip to Malmesbury. That was our loss because, once there, we decided to spend the day rather than go on to Westonbirt, which we had visited a couple of times before any way.

If you've never been to Malmesbury then it is a place I can definitely recommend. It is rich in architecture covering a number of centuries. It has a few steep hills but if I can manage them then I'm pretty sure most of the readers of this blog could as well.

In some ways Malmesbury reminded me of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, -- although the hill wasn't as steep in Malmesbury as it is in Shaftesbury. The whole town was a blaze of colour -- natural colour.

We have had an extremely good autumn this year and only moderate rain and reasonable winds has resulted in the trees producing a wonderful array of colour. At one time Ruth and John lived in New Hampshire and, on couple of occasions, we visited them during the American fall season and became "LEAF PEEPERS". England, this year, had most of the variety of colour that New Hampshire displayed but the big difference is that we don't have the density of trees that are found there.

Each autumn Pam attempts, not always successfully, to catch a falling leaf. This year, in Cheltenham whilst walking home one evening, proved to be a success in the leaf catching challenge. The next challenge will be to eat 12 mince pies between December 1 and Christmas Eve. If you want to join her in this challenge then you've got to remember that each mince pie has come from a different source. Try it!

The colour of the leaves set off the architectural beauty of the old houses in Malmesbury. One house that really caught my attention was a comparatively ordinary building but rising from its roof was a three-storey stone tower. There was nothing on the outside of the building to tell what the significance of this was. Guess I'll have to go on the Internet to find out -- unless, that is, one of you, dear readers, knows the answer.

I have enclosed a photo of this house, complete with its tower, plus some other shots I took during our visit to Malmesbury.

Weekly Bird in the hand

Here is this week's bird in the hand - the things I'm grateful for:

• Meeting friends whom you haven't seen for a year but instantly reconnecting like you saw each other just a few days ago
• Bumping into people you haven't seen in 15 years and seeing the joy in their faces
• Being able to laugh about death and funerals!
• The beauty of architecture - we went to Malmesbury this week and saw Malmesbury Abbey which is a wonderful alchemy of Norman and Gothic Architecture. Fascinating to see the changes over the hundreds of years.

•  British foods that we have missed in a few months (like all the pork pie John has been eating this past week and all the gooseberry and rhubarb yoghurt I've been eating!!!).
• Umbrellas!

Hope your week has been a good one!