Great Malvern Priory

 Just a quick one as I need to get organized for my little city break.  Pam is coming to feed round etc and Tam will be here Weds/Thurs.  Alfie is still very needy and gets lonely if I am not here 24/7.  This will be my last break for the year - after this, just local days out.  

I had a surprise invitation yesterday for a belated birthday meal with my neighbours two doors away.  We had a lovely time, and no washing up for me afterwards!  Nice to think that two young men can put up with an Old Crone who natters on about history and archaeology :)

Anyway, Great Malvern Priory - it took me several times to find it - even my phone Sat Nav sent me round in circles.  Having driven in from the far side of Malvern, due to the main road in STILL being closed due to land slips - and a fresh one just happened - I literally drove right by it, so was able to navigate back after the Fair.

The Priory font is a simple Norman bowl on a Victorian pedestal.  Like many others, it suffered the fate of being a garden ornament until rediscovered and returned to the Priory in 1838.

The print in the photo is small but I needed to get the whole memorial in.  Click on it to enlarge and read their names.

There was a lot of beautiful stained glass, as the following photos illustrate.

This is the West window, the glass of which was donated by Richard of Gloucester  (Later Richard III) and his wife Anne Neville in 1483. Through his marriage to her, he was Lord of Malvern Forest. Unfortunately much damage was done due to the strong Westerly winds affecting this side of the church and so the Day of Judgement depictions have been blown in (bits at the bottom by the look of it).

The Magnificat window.  This was created by local craftsmen in 1501 or 1502.  A great storm blew some of the window in during the 1700s so some of the original glass ended up as a jumble at the bottom.

Above and below, fragments of Medieval glass.

Wonderful modern Tom Denny windows dating from the Milennium.

I took photos of pretty well all the carvings on the monks stalls - and completely forgot about the wonderful Misericords beneath, so I will have to go back won't I?!  The carings varied in skill.

This looks like the Apprentice was still very much in the early stages of his training!!  I think it was probably a much later replacement.

This face had a real look of the Tollund Man bog body I am going to see next week . . .

If you visit, it is worth buying the guide book (£5) as it tells you so much about the history, and about the stained glass.

Off out to top up on cat biccies as the kitten ones are a Hit here . . .