We had decided to go for an early evening pub meal before returning to the cottage to start packing and tidying up but after leaving Blackgang Chine it was a little early so we drove down to Chale and I was able to revisit the lovely church of St Andrew. As we used to stay very close to the church I have been inside a couple of times before and also spent several hours trying to id churchyard lichens with the aid of a hand lens - definitely not as easy as it sounds!
A church, possibly first just a small chapel, has existed on this site since 1114 when it was dedicated by the Bishop of Winchester on 1st December. The church was built by Hugo de Vernon, Lord of the Manor of Chale, extended in the 12th century, a Perpendicular tower and north and south porches were added in the 15th century with further alterations in the 16th century and the church was renovated in 1875.
It is not known why the church was dedicated to St Andrew although one theory is that the saint of that name was a fisherman and he may have been chosen due to the church's coastal position.
There may once have been a beacon in the tower used to signal to and from the Pepperpot beacon nearby.
It is an interesting churchyard with many old graves.
Patronage of the church over the centuries has been held by Longfords, Pounds and Worsleys and now Keble College, Oxford.
The church contains many beautiful coloured stained glass windows; six of which were made by Charles E Kempe- the famous Victorian stained glass designer and manufacturer. All of these windows have been verified as genuine Kempe windows and several bear one of his trademarks of peacock feathers used to show the angels' wings.
Not the best of photos but I love the 2000 parish maps that you sometimes see on your travels - some are embroidered and some are painted.
Scene of the Last Supper engraved on the pulpit
This map of the churchyard and book including a comprehensive list of recorded burials and location of graves (where known) from 1679 to the present day would be really useful if you were researching family history.
The house in the middle in the background is the house we used to stay in (it is no longer a holiday cottage) with wonderful views to the one side of St Catherine's Down and the Pepperpot and towards the sea and along the coast to Freshwater from the other side and front windows.
Onwards to Niton for our meal at the White Lion. We discovered this pub on our last holiday to the isalnd and it was only a few hundred yards from the cottage where we were staying. The food is good and cheaper than the Buddle!
Tennyson savouring a pint :)
Pudding time :)
Final holiday post will include another trip to Yarmouth and a visit to St James' church.
4 comments:
Gosh you did visit quite a few places while you were away, so many great photos to look back on. St Catherine's Lighthouse is a lovely building.
Nice to look round the church with you, the grave with the railings round, might sound daft but why the railings? lovely grave stones with the flower shapes cut out and the Angel ( have sent for the grave book ) The past few churches I have visited have had Swallow nests in the porch too. The stone work inside the church looks very solid and having the grave list is handy. So nice to see the church open.
Food yum !
Amanda xx
Amanda Peters - Thanks so much. One of the fun things about doing blog posts is that you get to re-live the holiday!
I could have spent a lot of time looking round the churchyard! You can apparently buy a copy of the graves list which would be interesting if you lived local and had time to spend some time there. I think they may have put railings round graves to keep animals out although I think they are more common on family grave plots rather than individual graves. A google search suggests a lot disappeared during WW2 when scrap metal was needed. It is always good to see swallows nesting in church porches :) Hope you enjoy the book - it has a lot of info in it and I find it very useful - if I ever see a hard copy anywhere I will buy it as the Kindle is not so good for reference books I find - not so easy to flip backwards and forwards!
Such a beautiful church and churchyard and how wonderful to have stayed nearby on your previous visits. Love the notice on the door re the swallows. Inside the windows look wonderful. The pub looks wonderful too and those puddings look very tasty, no wonder Tennyson looks pleased with his visit:)
Rosie - Thanks so much. Yes, it was a great place to stay (we went there about 4 times) great location and views. Ye Olde Cottage, Niton, we stopped in last time and September Cottage, Brook this year were both excellent though and would stop in either again :)
Tennyson did enjoy :)
Post a Comment