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Another visit to Copford Green Church

Another visit to Copford Green Church

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I went back to Copford Green Church on a fine sunny day a few days ago and took some pictures of the exterior of the church. It was about the middle of the afternoon and because the sun is relatively low at this time of year it was casting large shadows of the nearby trees on parts of the church.

When I got back home and looked at the pictures on my computer I could see that whilst the parts in the sun were fine the shadows were so black that they were virtually devoid of detail. Most of the pictures were, therefore, scrapped although I kept a few.

I went to the church again yesterday, another fine sunny October day, but this time in the middle of the morning. On this occasion the sun was shining straight down the churchyard and casting very few shadows so the pictures were fine.

You can see the pictures by following the link on the Essex/Colchester page on the main part of the web site.

Extra mural activities.

Extra mural activities.

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I'd like to be able to say that we went out this afternoon because the weather was so nice again – but I can't because it was raining most of the afternoon. The weather forecast was for showers and I suppose it was but with only a few minutes between each and the showers were long.

Still our proposed destination was St. Michael and All Angels Church at Copford and it was the inside that we were interested in seeing so the weather could do what it liked – and it did!

This church was described by Pevsner as the most remarkable Norman parish church in Essex. It is interesting architecturally and has a pretty woodland setting but the remarkable Norman wall paintings are the real attraction and that is what we went to see. These paintings were described by Simon Jenkins as amongst the best in England and you can see why.

Just remember that these paintings, together with the building, are Norman and date from around 1130 which makes them nearly 900 years old.

The picture above is of the Apse with the altar just out of the bottom of the picture.

What is unusual in a church is to see a complete set of the signs of the zodiac, all 12 of them, and some of them are shown in the picture above on the underside of the Chancel Arch which leads into the Apse.

This shows Christ as the central figure in the 'Christ in Glory' fresco shown in the first picture above.

It was certainly a worthwhile trip and I intend to go back in better weather and take an exterior picture and to try to get a general view along the nave.

A promenade in the park.

A promenade in the park.

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We have had quite a number of warm, sunny days this September and so it was last Sunday when we went to Maldon.

We walked down to the Hythe Quay where the sailing barges moor and east along the promenade which slowly curves round as it progresses eastwards so I stopped to take this view looking back to the quay where you can see the barges with their tall masts moored alongside. The church is St. Mary’s which is one of Maldon’s churches and dates from Saxon times.

We turned off the Promenade before we reached the end and made our way to the riverside path and headed further east towards Northey Island. This view is from the path looking North across the river towards Heybridge Basin.

We reached the road to Northey Island and went down to the water’s edge. The causeway across to the island was still under water and is accessable only at low tide. It was on this causeway where the Battle of Maldon took place in 991 between the Saxons and the Vikings.

We made our way back along the riverside path and went back through the Promenade Park where I took this last photograph. The masts of the sailing barges can still be seen in the distance.

Another lovely warm September day.

A Sunny September Interlude

A Sunny September Interlude

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It was such a lovely September afternoon yesterday that we decided to take a trip out to St. Peter’s Chapel at Bradwell-on-Sea which is already featured on the web site.

The sunlight had that magical mellow September feel to it and walking from where we parked the car to the chapel the surrounding landscape, complete with blue sky and clouds, looked wonderful.

St. Peter's Chapel

St. Peter’s Chapel started life 1300 years ago as a Saxon cathedral and sits on the banks of the River Blackwater near the site of an old Roman fort and a lot of the building material was taken from that fort.

The river at this point is about a mile wide and we walked the short way across the salt marsh, which was a bit muddy, to the rivers edge (not a particularly bright thing to do when wearing sandals). There was a large area of the shore covered in broken shells of the Common Cockle through which a small stream ran into the river.

Bradwell-on-Sea

Here is a closer look at the chapel.

St. Peter's Chapel

Later that evening, when we were back home, Amanda spotted this in our garden.

Tawny Owl

Only it’s head is visible but it is a Tawny Owl roosting in one of our trees. An unusual sight at this time of day in bright sunlight. It made a nice end to a nice day.

Going up in the world.

Going up in the world.

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Yesterday we went to Purleigh, a small village near Maldon, to visit the church. They were having an ‘open’ day which included the tower so we were able to climb to the top to see the views over the surrounding countryside.

It was obviously popular with a lot of people going up and down and you can see why when you look at the views.

View from Purleigh Church tower

This is a view of part of Purleigh.

View from Purleigh

This is the church seen from the ground and if you look carefully you will see the heads of people looking down.

View of Purleigh Church

For some unknown reason very few churches were built during the reign of Elizabeth I so that Elizabethan churches are rare. After visiting Purleigh we went to Woodham Walter to see the Elizabethan church there.

View of Woodham Walter Church

View of Woodham Walter Church

What you can’t see in the first picture is that the main body of the church appears to have been constructed as two sections.

The stepped gables are a feature of Elizabethan buildings.

Early vandalism

How’s this for early vandalism? Someone has carved their initials into the stonework together with the date – 1668.

A little further down the road is the timber-framed Bell Inn.

The Bell Inn

A nice little trip on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

A short visit to Maldon

A short visit to Maldon

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The weather today was mostly cloudy with the occasional flash of sun coupled with a very strong wind – not a gale but strong enough.

I drove to Maldon, Essex, parked in a car park next to the canal, and walked along the path by the River Chelmer and took two pictures during an all too brief sunny spell.

Maldon and the River Chelmer
On the picture above you should be able to see some boats moored on the far side of the bridge. They can’t get any higher up the river as the masts won’t go under the bridge. Possibly also a picture for the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Maldon and the River Chelmer

Then I went back via a village called Wickham Bishops to have a look in Sparkey Wood. Amanda, my wife, had seen lots of bluebells there last year and I was hoping to take some photographs this year but I was out of luck. I was obviously too late as the bluebells had gone to seed. Oh well try again next year.

I did see a large Wood Ants nest positively seething with ants. Amanda had already warned me that if I stood still for any length of time I would probably find that they were crawling up my legs – and they bite! So I didn’t stop for long.