More on Gainsborough Old Hall and All Saints' Church

As promised, here is more from the visit to Gainsborough Old Hall.  I do like this lion sculpture in the Great Hall.

 The Great Hall itself has some beautiful timbers.

The kitchen has enormous fireplaces - there is another one like this on the opposite wall.

This is the view up one of the chimneys - Chris wanted me to take this photo.

 A view of the garden through the diamond shaped glazing.

 Another view of the herb garden.

Chris noticed these hanging acorns on the bed before I did.  They are detachable and I marvel at that attention to detail.

 Even the floors are beautiful, with the brick herringbone pattern.

 Around the Old Hall are paths and grass areas, with trees.

 Another view of the brickwork.

I do like the higgledy-piggledy nature of the building, where you can see areas which were added over the years, like the chimney stack.

Having spent a good while at the Old Hall, we ventured to All Saints' Church in Gainsborough. It has an ancient tower but an 18th Century main body.  On opening the double door, this is what we saw.  It is a large, light and open space, which was quite unexpected.  It reminded me of a theatre, but a church service does share elements of a theatrical performance.   This part of the church was built from 1734 - 1744.  There is more information about the church here.

 This (according to the little brochure I found) is a Morris and Co window.

There was a Georgian font, which was something I hadn't seen before.  It was rather elegant.   I was really impressed with the church as sometimes churches can be dark and oppressive.  This one was decorative, light and beautiful.

Merry Christmas

(photo of a cherub from a church in Rutland - post can be found here)

Merry Christmas to all blog readers and commenters out there.  I hope that you have a lovely and peaceful time.

With all the sad and awful things still happening in the world, I am reminded of part one of my favourite Christmas carols,"It came upon the midnight clear" written by Edmund Sears in 1849 (thanks to Wikipedia).

"Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing."

The other thing in my head now is part of the Desiderata ("Desiderata" (Latin: "desired things") is a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann - with thanks to Wikipedia again).

"...And whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy."

Good advice to us all in this Christmas season and beyond.

First Garden Visit 2016 part two

Having visited Brightwater Gardens, we then went on to Hackthorn Hall, part of the Hackthorn Estate.  The gardens are open three times a year and this was the first time this year, opening for the snowdrops.  When I looked back at my photos, snowdrops didn't figure very highly - I was obviously more interested in the box hedge and the blossom.

 The box hedges either side of the path leading to the church were cut into a beautiful undulating pattern.

It was a very photogenic view (except for the blue pipe across the path!)

 I did take this photo of a clump of snowdrops growing inside the hedge.

This formal garden appealed to me and I'm sure that the summer planting will soften the lines.

 Looking back towards the church.

 We wandered through the woodland and I liked the ground covering ivy, camouflaging more clumps of snowdrops.

I loved the image of the church as seen through the blossom and sunshine.  We went to the walled garden, which has several greenhouses, one containing the second oldest grape vine in the UK, after the one at Hampton Court.  We stopped off at the village hall for tea and crumpets and then made our way home, after a lovely day.

Churches and decorations that make me smile

 We visited the local church to my friend's Granny's house on Saturday too.  It is a beautiful little church made from the local mellow brown stone.  Inside, there are some lovely pieces of stained glass, apparently made in the ' Low Countries' and probably medieval.  I thought this Nativity scene above was particularly beautiful, especially with the sun lighting up the colours.

 Looking round the church, I noticed two small faces which made me smile.  The first was this little cherub, at the base of an eighteenth century memorial on the wall.  I liked his pudgy cheeks and the way his wide open eyes have been carved to give them a lot of life.  He looks a little unsure in his expression, but I thought he was a real character.

The other face I noticed was above the pulpit, at the base of an arch.  He looks very happy, but also somewhat enigmatic as we'll never know what he was smiling about.  He gazes out at visitors, as he has done since he was carved, with a big welcoming smile and long may he continue to do so.
Unfortunately, the church has suffered the fate of many small village churches and is in the process of being closed due to falling numbers and the costs to keep it going.  I don't know when I shall be able to visit it again, so am pleased that I had the opportunity on Saturday.