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Apart from a gatehouse off Cartmel's village square, the Priory Church of St Mary and St Michael is all that remains of the priory founded in 1190 by William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, and one of the premier knights of the realm. The Augustinian priory was dissolved in 1536, but, having nowhere else to worship, the village was allowed to keep the church. Hence, for a parish church, it is very grand - with an enormous east window and many fascinating features and fine monuments.
Christchurch Greyfriars is a tranquil city garden on the site of the former 13th century Franciscan church of Greyfriars - once the second largest church in London after St Paul's. The remains of four queens were buried here - in no particular order: the heart of Queen Eleanor of Provence (d 1291), wife of King Henry III and mother of Edward I; Queen Margaret of France (d 1318), 2nd wife of King Edward I and a principal benefactress to the church; Queen Isabella (d 1358) the 'she-wolf of France', wife of Edward II and mother of Edward III; and Joan de la Tour (d 1362), Isabella’s daughter and Queen of Scotland. The church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. A replacement church, designed by Christopher Wren, was in turn destroyed by bombing in 1940, though the west tower still stands. It's a spot for quiet contemplation now - though, naturally, it is haunted.
Coombes Church is perched on the side of a hill on the edge of the small farming hamlet of Coombes. Mentioned in Domesday, both the church and tiny community date from Saxon times. The name may be older. Apart from the charming location, the church is famed for its astonishing medieval wall paintings, dating from 1130, which were discovered in 1949. It is a real treasure, set in the South Downs National Park and not far from Shoreham
Croyland, or Crowland, Abbey was a monastery first founded in the early 8th C by Ethelbald, King of Mercia from 716-757, on the site of the hermitage of St Guthlac. It was destroyed by the Danes in 866 and re-founded as a Benedictine abbey in the mid-tenth century. From the 10th to the 15th centuries the monastic buildings were extended and rebuilt and the abbey was one of the wealthiest in East Anglia. It was dissolved in 1539 and the monastic buildings demolished, with the exception of the nave and aisles of the abbey church which were taken into use as the parish church. During the 17th C Civil War, the church served as a Royalist stronghold, defended by earthworks. The nave and south aisle of the church fell into disrepair in the 18th C and parish use became restricted to the north aisle, which remains the case today. Both the existing church and ruins have some fascinating features. As well as the visible remains, the site is also important as that of a pre-conquest monastery, the buried remains of the Anglo-Saxon hermitage and monastery, the medieval monastic buildings and the Civil War defences.
Crowland is also known as the likely home of the Croyland Chronicle, a unique primary source for English medieval history.
Crowland
Peterborough
Culross Abbey was founded by Malcolm, earl of Fife in 1217-1218 as a daughter house of the Cistercian monastery at Kinloss. The abbey church was built soon after, with work continuing into the 1300s. The abbey had a reputation for producing fine books, but monastic life came to an end with the Reformation of 1560. The choir and presbytery of the abbey church were taken over as the parish church, but most of the abbey buildings fell into ruin, so little remains. What there is is fascinating, however (including a climb up a ladder into the remains of the vaulted refectory). The church itself is cruciform and contains several items of particular interest. Probably the most impressive is the Bruce Vault, built in 1642, which houses the marble memorial to Sir George Bruce, builder of Culross Palace, and his wife. The memorial includes eight kneeling statues, representing the couple's children, in front of the memorial. There are also the effigies of a knight in armour and a lady, John Stewart of Innermeath, Lord of Lorn, and his wife, dating from 1445 but badly defaced during the Reformation.
There are rumours of ghosts. And a legend of a tunnel beneath the abbey, where a man in a golden chair sits waiting to give valuable treasures to anyone who succeeds in finding him.
Culross
Glastonbury Tor is a magical place, with links to Celtic mythology and the legend of King Arthur. Some say this conical hill, rising from the Somerset levels, is the Isle of Avalon. Now topped with the roofless tower of 14th century St Michael's church, there is evidence of other structures on the site since at least the 5th century and it has been used by man since prehistoric times. The Tor has distinctive, but unexplained, terracing on it. The last abbot of Glastonbury Abbey and two of his fellow monks were executed on the summit in 1539.
Post code is approximate. It is a walk to the top and there are no facilities. Parking in Glastonbury, cross the A361 and follow the path from either Dod Lane or the bottom of Wellhouse Lane. You can take a circular route.
Great St Mary's (aka 'GSM') is a parish church and the University Church, the first home of the University in 1209. The present building dates from the 15th century. The Protestant reformer, Martin Bucer (1491-1551), preached here, was burnt nearby, and his ashes are interred in the church. Queen Elizabeth I visited the church and Stephen Hawking had his funeral service here. It is famous for its bells, which date from 1515, and its clock, installed in 1793. For a fee, visitors can climb the tower for fabulous views over the city. The picture is the view to the north, showing Gonville and Caius College in the foreground.
Senate House Hill
Cambridge
It may come as a surprise that one of - if not the - finest Baroque churches in Britain is not in London, but in rural Worcestershire. It dates from 1735, replacing an earlier medieval parish church which stood a little way to the west. It was built by the then owners of neighbouring Witley Court, the Foleys, possibly for their convenience, but not as a private chapel; it has always been a parish church. In 1747, the interior was transformed by the installation of internal decoration from the chapel at Canons, Lord Chandos' Edgware palace - and the impact is astonishing. Dedicated to St Michael and All Angels, Great Witley Church also boasts the Foley Monument, at 26 feet (8 metres) reputed to be the tallest funerary monument in the country.
off Worcester Road
Great Witley
Holme Cultram Abbey, more properly St Mary’s Abbey at Holm Cultram, was founded as a daughter house of the Cistercian Melrose Abbey in 1150. At that time, this part of England was under the control of the King of Scotland, a position that was reversed in 1157. Holme Cultram became wealthy, primarily from wool and salt, but was always at the risk of raids from Scotland. Particularly devastating raids were made in 1216 and in 1319 (or 1322). The latter was carried out by Robert the Bruce - despite the fact that his father was buried in the abbey. In 1307, the 'Hammer of the Scots', Edward I, spent his last night at Holme Cultram, dying the following day near Burgh-by-Sands.
The abbey was dissolved in 1538, but the church was allowed to continue as a parish church - partly because it was the parishioners’ only refuge from marauding Scots. Since 1557, the Right of Presentation to the Living of Holme Cultram has rested with the University of Oxford.
The abbey buildings decayed and materials from them were reused throughout the locality. The current church is a fraction of the size of the original abbey church - it is actually only two-thirds the size of the original nave. Most of the monastic buildings have long-since disappeared. In 2006, arson resulted in a devastating fire that destroyed much of the remaining church, as well as the medieval abbey's records. The building has been rebuilt and is now a peaceful, light, place of worship and a fascinating place to visit.
Abbeytown
Bosham is the oldest Christian site in Sussex and is mentioned by Bede, but settlement in the area probably goes back to at least Roman times. The oldest part of Holy Trinity, Bosham, is Saxon - the church is featured in the Bayeux Tapestry - with Norman and later medieval additions. A notable feature of the church is a grave, thought to be that one of King Cnut's daughters, who drowned in a nearby millstream. There is also speculation that Harold, last king of the Saxon English, was buried in the church after the Battle of Hastings.
Bosham
Nr Chichester
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