Stiffleaf's photos with the keyword: toller fratrum

this chained monkey sits between two spiral chimneys. he is supposedly holding a mirror, and dates from c.1540

over the altar is this fragment of a carving of mary magdalene washing christ's feet, work from fairly early in the c12

font of c.1130

the main block of c.1540 facing south has a chimneystack with two spiral chimneys with a chained monkey inbetween. on the righthand corner, presently overgrown, is a wyvern on a spiral buttress.

under the scaffolding and plastic, the east wing has good carved detail of circa 1540 , including this figure playing the bagpipes and baluster like renaissance pendants as hood moulds, odd on a single storey block.

inside the east wing all is now chaos, the east wall has collapsed, and the roof trusses lie in a tangle. although long used as a barn, and only of one storey, this was the most ornate c16 building here, and it is to be hoped that it can be restored to good order soon.

font of c.1130

font of c.1130

font of c.1130

this tiny mid c19 cell of a church holds two c12 treasures and a modern story. the carving over the altar and the font, both of c.1130 ; the story is of the parishoners declaring independence from the diocese, the bishop having wished to close the church and the parishioners wanting it to stay open. they say it's all because the vicar wanted to impose happy clappy worship, and treated them like children, whilst they preferred the book of common prayer, so now they are not allowed to call their meetings a service and do without a vicar. good enough for trollope, or an ealing comedy, and wonderfully english, but it also raises the question of who morally owns the parish churches of england, often built with lay funds and full of our history, yet at the mercy of the church when it closes them and even sells them sometimes.

on the main block of c.1540 facing south is a spectacular chimneystack ending in two twisted chimneys with a chained monkey inbetween.

font of c.1130

under the scaffolding and plastic, the east wing has good carved detail of circa 1540 , including figures and baluster like renaissance pendants as hood moulds, odd on a single storey block.

font of c.1130

over the altar is this fragment of a carving of mary magdalene washing christ's feet, work from fairly early in the c12

font of c.1130

font of c.1130

this tiny mid c19 cell of a church holds two c12 treasures and a modern story. the carving over the altar and the font, both of c.1130 ; the story is of the parishoners declaring independence from the diocese, the bishop having wished to close the church and the parishioners wanting it to stay open. they say it's all because the vicar wanted to impose happy clappy worship, and treated them like children, whilst they preferred the book of common prayer, so now they are not allowed to call their meetings a service and do without a vicar. good enough for trollope, or an ealing comedy, and wonderfully english, but it also raises the question of who morally owns the parish churches of england, often built with lay funds and full of our history, yet at the mercy of the church when it closes them and even sells them sometimes.