Yorkshire Holiday - Wednesday,14th September - Part 2: The Strid

Earlier this year Amanda from The Quiet Walker blog did a post on her visit to Strid Wood and a natural feature called The Strid where a river can swallow people!! I was fascinated by the idea and, as we were so close, just had to go and have a look.

Don't you just love stone walls covered in moss? :)

It was a beautiful walk through ancient woodland.

J M W Turner visited Bolton Priory and the surrounding area several times producing a series of water colours and sketches of the Priory, The Strid and Barden Tower seen in the distance in the photo below.

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Finally, we reached The Strid where the river suddenly narrows forcing water through a gap at great pressure. Should you be unlucky enough to fall in there is reputedly a 100% fatality rate due to a deadly combination of fast currents, vortices, underwater rocks and overhanging rocks. It gets its name from the Anglo Saxon word "stryth" meaning turmoil or tumult.

We drove further into the Dales stopping off at a picturesque village called Burnsall. It is such a shame we weren't there longer because I really would have liked to explore more of the Dales and villages.

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E catching Pokemon at the Priory, I think.

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On the way back to the cottage we stopped at a pub in Embsay called the Elm Tree Inn for a meal - good pub food with huge servings at great prices :)




*D - photos taken by D with the Canon SX50 HS

Yorkshire Holiday - Wednesday, 14th September, Part 1: Bolton Priory and the Parish Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert

On Wednesday I was hoping we would go to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens and had even planned a picturesque route through the Dales. Sadly, the long and pretty route turned out to be my downfall as B vetoed the trip as too far and suggested if I wanted to visit an abbey Bolton Priory was only a few miles away.



A rather lovely ancient tree

First view of Bolton Priory

History

1120 - A community of Augustinian Friars (known as Black Canons) was founded at Embsay, near Skipton.

1154- Lady Alice de Romille of Skipton Castle gave the Canons land and money to they could form a community at Bolton. The monastic way of life the friars followed observed the vows of poverty, abstinence and chastity.

1539 - The Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII closed Bolton Priory, furnishings were removed and lead stripped from the roofs. The Nave was allowed to remain for use as a Parish Church following the new Church of England faith.

1853/80 - The church underwent a Victorian Restoration mainly by the architect, George Street

1982/85 - Major refurbishment of the church.

Plan of the Priory today

The Priory before the Dissolution

The Choir

Graves and North Transept

The Choir

Cloister and Nave (the latter is the Parish Church)

South Transept

Plants in Walls

The Parish Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert


The doorway to the church is a beautiful example of Early English architecture c1220

The wall paintings by Thomas Bottomley and his assistant were installed in 1880. The five madonna lilies represent the Virgin Mary and the 6 other symbolic plants - barley, olive, vine, passion flower, rose and palm represent events and sayings in the life of Jesus. Below the plants are emblems - one heraldic (Priory Cross derived from the Arms of the Earls of Albemarle who were early patrons of the Priory) and an Angel, Chi-Rho, Lion,Crossed Keys, Paschal Lamb, Star of David, Ox, IHS, Eagle and Alpha and Omega.

This model shows the Priory as it would have looked before 1539.

Victorian pipe organ

Font (1867) designed by George Street

The stone altar is a rare example of a pre-Reformation altar which may have been used by the Canons. The central hollow may once have contained a sacred relic. There are 5 consecration crosses on the altar (which I managed to miss - as usual I didn't read the guide book until after the visit - I also managed to miss a Green Man:( ). The altar once served as a floor slab over the tomb of Elizabeth Morley (see brass plate below).

Stained Glass - the upper section of the windows contains some ancient glass (14th century)

The six south windows contain 19th century glass by Pugin, a famous stained glass artist, depicting 36 scenes from the life of Jesus. The windows were installed in 1853. I couldn't get photos of all 6 as the sun was shining directly through 2 of the windows.

The Cuthbert Window shows St Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne and a Patron Saint of the Priory. He is depicted holding the severed head of St Oswald who was King of Northumbria and killed in battle by Penda of Mercia. The King's skull was buried at Lindisfarne. In the 9th century when the monks had to leave there due to Viking raids they took the skull and St Cuthbert's remains with them. These are now interred in Durham cathedral where the Lindisfarne monks eventually settled.

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River Wharfe

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I paid a brief visit to an excellent secondhand bookshop (Grove Books) selling rare books with a lot of books on Yorkshire and a large collection of natural history books. I was swooning over the amount of Collins New Naturalist and Wayside and Woodland books. With the family nearby I decided purchases would not be prudent - I had already got into trouble trying to buy a new cuddly toy (a sheep) in Harrogate! As B points out we are supposed to be decluttering not adding more!


After lunch we visited The Strid but I'll do a separate post on that (there will be less photos!).