Isle of Wight - Part 7: Godshill Village and All Saints Church or the Church of the Lily Cross

 

On the Wednesday we visited Godshill.  Godshill is exceedingly picturesque but it does get busy and in my view is a bit too touristy!

The Old Smithy with wishing well and stocks.

I spy a sign to the church which I really wanted to revisit. B and E didn't fancy the steep walk up the hill so D and I went on our own.

 

This is one of the classic views of Godshill to the side of the church - shame about the cars!  I don't know for certain but I suspect the cottages are holiday lets.

Into the churchyard.

The church tower is a landmark for miles around and holds the dubious record of being the tower most often struck by lightning in the whole of the country.  

I've cheated a bit here as I forgot to take photos of the whole church so the next two photos are from my previous visit.

The church at Godshill is dedicated to All Saints but it is also known as the Church of the Lily Cross because of the unique medieval mural on the East wall of the South Transept.  The first church built here was in the reign of Edward the Confessor (between 1042 and 1066). Nothing remains of this church and very little of the Norman church that superseded it.  The present building dates from the C14th.

The church is the largest pre-Reformation church on the island being 90 foot long and 60 foot wide across the transepts.

There is a charming legend concerning the building of the original church.  Missionaries originally began to build a church three miles south of the village that exists today.  However, they found on several mornings that the stones they had laid the day before had been removed overnight to the present location of the church.  After the third occasion they took the decision to build the church where the stones had been place i.e. on God's Hill.

C18th sundial

Restored C15th stone cross

I wished I had had more time to explore the churchyard - the views from it are wonderful.

D was not very happy that I wanted to go in the church so yet again it was a very quick whizz round in about 10 minutes :( As usual I missed many important features :(

Church interior - there are two naves and two chancels.

The organ is 150 years old and contains some C18th pipes.

I couldn't find any information on the age of the font. Although I should perhaps have read or taken a photo of the leaflet on it which had the title "Frequently Asked Questions"

Royal Arms Queen Anne 1707

Statues on the Rood

Consecration Cross

One of the chancels

I couldn't find any information on the stained glass.

East Window

Leigh Monument

Monument to  Sir John Leigh (died 1529) and his wife Agnes, ancestors of the Worsleys of Apperdulcombe.  A canopied tomb made of Caen Stone.  It was difficult to get a photo due to the presence of the altar!  I am not tall enough to get decent photos of the effigies so I missed the small figures of two hooded bedesmen between them.

Monument to Sir James Worsley (son in law of Sir John Leigh) (died 1538) and his wife Anne (died 1557).  There are two kneeling figures at desks facing East.

Again it was hard to get a decent photo.  

Fragment of a wall painting

This is the Lily Cross which gives the church its other name.  Again hard to get photo as it is behind railings and I think that area of the church has an alarm!  It is a painting of the Crucifixion with Christ shown crucified on a cross of three branches and each branch is divided at the top into another three.

Many of the old gravestones in churchyards were covered in lichens.

D and I went back into the main village to look for B and E.

Wesleyan Chapel from 1838

We eventually found them and decided to go for a cream tea.

D's looked delicious - he had a savoury cream tea.

*D

We had a very quick look round the shops - the only things I bought were a fossil of a fern which D wanted for his birthday and I treated myself to a little jug covered with painted umbellifers to take to the caravan to use as a vase.

Plants in Walls - Hottentot Fig again!

This is the Old Smithy garden

In the evening we had a small barbecue.

In the next post I will write about the Smugglers' Trail in Niton - D and I did the local part of it one evening and also a few photos from D and E's walk another evening up onto St Catherine's Down to see St Catherine's Oratory also known as "The Pepperpot" which is a medieval lighthouse.

Reference:

"Buildings of England Isle of Wight" by David W Lloyd and Nikolaus Pevsner, Yale University Press, 2006

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera and those marked *D taken by my son with the Canon SX 50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).