Easter Week in North Devon Day 8

Another blue sky day led us to explore the old fishing village of Clovelly. The village is managed by a local trust which charges an admission fee to all visitors who enter through a giant visitor centre souvenir shop with an exit to the cobbled path with picturesque views leading down the cliff . . .

. . . on one of the steepest slopes I have ever seen. The charming
old houses and shops cling to the hillside . . . 

. . . until the final steps that wind down to the beach and quay. Once upon a time, Clovelly supported a herring fishing fleet.  The men went out daily to fish, returning to the quay where the women collected the herring from the nets, carried them up to the road where the visitor centre now stands. They were picked up by wagons, carried to the train for transport to the markets of London and other industrial cities. 

Then on to the church in Hartland dedicated to another local saint . . .

. . . Nectan, a Celtic hermit, whose statue is still in a niche in the  tower.

The church was built on the site of an abbey founded by Gytha, mother of Harold the last Saxon king, who lost the Battle of Hastings to his Norman cousin William the Conqueror a few years later. The church is a treasure house of art.

The carved Norman font.

Old panels stored away in an attic storage room when it was too late for God or anyone to save either James.

The beautiful ceiling and carved chancel screen

The embroidered altar cloth

Flemish glass roundels

And some very old carving

At the end of the day we just had time to stop in at the small local North Devon Maritime Museum with interesting dioramas of local history. And a fascinating display of film and photos of military preparations for the D-Day landings done on local beaches because they were similar to the target beaches in Normandy. Problems like how to transport heavy tanks and trucks through water onto the beaches, the proper footwear for soldiers to wade ashore through muddy sand, and efforts to stun the soldiers on shore to give the invading allies time to unload people and weaponry were all tested here. The most dramatic film was of a wheel loaded with explosives to be rolled on to the beach to produce smoke to cover the landing which on its final test, hit a bump in the sand, went wildly spinning out of control exploding as it rolled into watching personnel and followed by a dog who thought it was all great fun.   

Easter Week in North Devon Day 7

Under a threatening sky, we continued our tour of North Devon churches.  Swimbridge is notable for its "hunting parson" Jack Russell who was appointed in 1833 and served for 46 years, keeping a pack of hounds at the ready for a hunt after delivering his weekly sermon. As a student at Oxford he bought a pup off the butcher, crossed it with a local dog, and the Jack Russell breed was born.

The church's most famous art object is an 18th century canopied font . . .

. . . with 16th century carved panels used for the doors that hide the bowl.

Although I liked the knitted Last Supper much more.

Chittlehampton sits in a valley with walls so steep I don't know how the sheep  can
stand still and graze without pitching down the slope.

The church contains a real medieval shrine to a local saint. Hieritha was hacked to death at the urging of her pagan stepmother, and the shrine was established at the holy spring which appeared where she fell dead. 

A statue of St. Hieritha for pilgrims to venerate would have been in place in this niche, but was destroyed
in the wave of Reformation iconoclasm aiming to eliminate Papist practices.

Hieritha's tomb remains within the arched alcove placed next to the high altar.

A random tomb sculpture lies comfortably in the adjacent transept along with other random memorials.

And finally on to another CCT church . . .

. . . with a very old door . . .

. . . and a very charming interior . . .

. . . with a floor that could be a quilt . . .

. . . original furnishings . . .

. . . and a reminder to sing loudly and be joyous.

The next and last church on our list was locked, giving us more time in our comfortable Woolley Lodge, where without the distraction of broadband internet connectivity, we plowed through books, listened to Bob's extensive i-pod collection using a funny little speaker device, ate well and slept soundly. 

Easter Week in North Devon Day 6

Facing  grey, misty, and ultimately rainy weather, we planned a day devoted to church visiting further afield along the northern coast of Cornwall.  The rocky coast of Morwenstow was famous for shipwrecks, wreckers, and smugglers. And the church was famous for its poet pastor Robert Hawker who was appointed vicar in 1834, and remained until his death in 1875. Entering the churchyard, a large white figures looms into view, as if leaping up from its resting place.

The recent replica figurehead of the Caledonia marks the burial of the crew of an 1842 wreck with only one survivor. Hawker insisted on giving Christian burial rites and a churchyard burial to the dead of this wreck instead of the traditional burial at the beach.

The Norman portal

The original Caledonia figurehead inside the church

The ancient Saxon font retained when the Normans rebuilt the church

The Norman arcade of round arches . . .

. . . decorated with carved heads, human and animal . . .

. . . and this interesting head.

Next is Kilkhampton with a churchyard overflowing with the yellow flowers of springtime . . .

. . . and a fabulous Norman portal . . .

. . . with carvings that turn out to be little faces poking up with little noses and peering eyes!

Carved bench ends are a popular feature of the area churches.

Then on to St Swithin's in Launcells with its Holy Well . . .

. . . and Tudor bench ends carved with stories told in picture riddles.

Sir John Chamond who died in 1624 rests comfortably on his crooked elbow after nearly 400 years.

Beautiful floor tiles on the altar platform

Next the church in the large market town of Launceston whose large early 16th century church has a very ordinary modern interior, but an amazing exterior of intricately carved granite in lace-like patterns . . .

. . . with faces and animals . . .

. . . and St. George slaying his dragon . . .

. . . and a recumbent Mary Magdalene with her oil jar.

Lastly, we arrived at another Churches Conservation Trust church in Luffincott.

. . . with a simple elegant interior . . .

. . . of thick walls and mullioned windows . . .

. . . and a memorial window to the local Luffincott family who emigrated to Philadelphia and became the Lippincott's, founders of the once famous publishing house in 1836 by first printing Bibles, then almanacs, and school textbooks.