Friday 23 July 2021

Church-crawling thwarted - Cascob, Discoed and Cregrina

 


Well, Eldest Daughter and I had a disappointing afternoon church-crawling yesterday.  As we were heading up towards Presteigne, I found a number to phone to see if Cascob church would be open.  Chap not sure - but Discoed would be, and that was just a couple of miles down the road.  We decided to chance it but unfortunately the Church was locked, and when I went across the lane to the cottage opposite to get the key, there was no reply (though cars outside).  A notice said to shut the gate, as sheep were grazing in the churchyard.  Here is one of them.


We particularly wanted to see the interior of this church because of the ABRACADABRA witch spell.  There is a link HERE which tells you more, but no illustration.  The church is dedicated to St Michael by the way.




The Yew tree here is rather special, and probably a thousand years old.  It's female, and was one of a pair but sadly the other fell in a gale in the 1990s although a sapling has been planted to replace it.  The girth of this one is 762 cm (25 feet) in circumference.



The church probably dates from the 13th C and this mound has been considered to be either a tumulus or a Norman castle motte in the past but is more likely to be rubble from a collapsed/rebuilt church tower.



As we knew Discoed was open, and very close by, we paid that a visit next.  As you can see from the view below, it's in a very rural setting.  It's another one dedicated to St Michael.




This stunning stained glass window is dedicated in memory of Judy Hiam, and installed in 2017.  One of the nicest stained glass modern windows I've seen.


At the other end of the church was a more traditional window - the sun streaming through made the colours so beautiful.


It wasn't an ornate church - no pews and a new floor and  the socially-distanced chairs set out gave it not a great deal of atmosphere.





Not a poet I had heard of - though he lived in the Fens most of his life until suddenly upping sticks and moving to Wales!  You couldn't get more difference in scenery.  HERE'S a link, if you're interested. 


This is a stunning Tudor manor house, recently traditionally restored.  Thank heavens that the oak is the colour it should be -sun-faded to grey and not painted black (I hate it when timbers aren't left as nature intended).  It is called Upper House and HERE is a worthwhile link to the restoration work with amazing photos.

An even more venerable Yew tree here, which is an amazing 5,000 years old and is one of the five oldest in the British Isles.  It has a girth of 37 feet and is male.  There is a female tree elsewhere in the churchyard. The fact there is a spring at the gateway to the church suggested to Tam and I that this was a place of ancient worship, far predating Christianity.  



Finally, on the way home we had noticed that Cregrina Church was just 2 miles off the main road, so we headed there.  We couldn't get in and thought the door was locked but apparently it is never locked and you just have to give it a hefty heave with your shoulder . . .  It was once on a main cattle drover's road, and is largely 13th C  and dedicated to St. David.


This morning the chap from the Council is coming to test the water for the 4 properties which are on it.  This could be interesting!  Whilst our supply comes through a UV filter, which we maintain, there is still a lot of sediment and we were left instructions to "boil all drinking water" by the previous occupant.  It should have been tested in 2019, but wasn't, and couldn't be tested before we bought the house last year because of Covid restrictions.  Fortunately the charges are shared between the 4 properties.

14 comments:

  1. Even with our cathedral, it's advisable to check it's open as it is often partially closed for services {weddings, funerals, or Royal visits and the like} but such a shame you couldn't get the key. Interesting link, thank you, re: Abracadabra Charm. The stained glass, both pieces, are beautiful indeed. I can feel the heat from some of your photos. Good luck with the water testing today.

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  2. Well, the phone number it gave to check through, wasn't very helpful! Hey-ho. We will try another time when looking at churches up that way and there are some good walks in the new-to-me book Walking the Old Ways of Radnorshire which I got this week.

    Chap from the Council said because we had the UV system, he'd be very surprised if there was a water problem, but there may need to be Works Done on the holding tank in the future . . .

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  3. Some very interesting buildings.
    Permanent seating wasn't common until the Protestant reformation...starting to come in in the 1400s. Apparently to differentiate between Protestants and Catholics

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    1. Gosh, imagine having to stand for hours if you had an old wind-bag of a priest droning on and on! Didn't know about the seating and the Protestant reformation - now, there's a crew who would lock the door on you until they had brainwashed you each week!

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  4. A super post and wonderful churches. So sorry some were closed though. I visited two local ones in Herefordshire last week and one was locked and the other only open for private prayer.

    I just love the modern stained glass window - it is stunning and the rest of the church looks interesting too. Lovely to see the Tudor Manor House sympathetically restored. I can see when we feel up to travelling further I will have to visit your lovely area :)

    Hope all goes well with the water testing. We once stayed at a holiday cottage in Cumbria that had a uv system for treating water.

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    1. I think Covid has a lot to answer for with the closed churches. Probably only the bigger one open and even then, not always. There's one on the way to Brecon I always desperately wanted to go into as they had an Early Christian Monument, but it was always locked and I wasn't going to go to church one Sunday just to satisfy my curiosity. The camera may have been a give-away anyway!

      That stained glass was something special. I bought a card that the church sold with the blue glass window on.

      Apparently just 1% of houses rely on a private water supply - most of them out in the wilds of Wales and Scotland I expect.

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  5. I love the soft grey of natural timbers, have nevr found the stark black timber buildings very attractive. The ancient yew is wonderful, all the seasons and ceremonies it ---she---has seen! Imagine...

    lizzy

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    1. The company did a very good job. Black is bad enough - we once viewed a cottage for my mum which was timbered throughout - walls and ceilings - and the off-his-head owner (we thought he was squatting) had painted each beam and joist a different colour of GLOSS!

      The yew trees were something else. There's another venerable one at Much Marcle too, in Herefordshire.

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  6. You still managed to see quite a bit--even if you weren't able to get into one of the churches. Agree with you about that beautiful modern stain glass window--the colours are glorious. The juxtaposition of the modern with the ancient Yew trees and the restoration of the timber house...made for a really interesting post. Thanks!

    Hope all is well with the water storage system.

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    1. Blue is my favourite colour so this one ticked all my boxes.

      It was a lovely churchyard, great views, and so peaceful.

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  7. ABRACADABRA is an interesting word. Have you seen it stacked into a pyramid so that it still reads correctly no matter which (witch?) way you approach it?

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    1. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6170513 I hope this will give the link to what we missed in the church, Tom. Apparently by the time the charm was spoken, as the last "A" left the curate's lips, the spell would be broken - "witch" is a good thing!! I hope you don't mind me pinching your pun!!

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  8. I adore that Tudor house and agree that the timbers should be left natural <3

    I'm looking forward to catching up with your posts as I've spent far too much time working myself into the ground this year and blogging is just for me <3 I'm going to make a coffee and browse.xxx

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    1. Enjoy your bloggy catch-up. That Tudor house was really SOMETHING.

      Trying to stay awake until Tam comes home from J's.

      Still waiting for it to rain. I think the Met Office got it wrong (again).

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