Bio-Hazard

Haven't posted much, Aleida is visiting. But, just to amuse you, here is a picture of her, sitting on my couch, wearing the free bio-hazard suit we were given for attending the Science Museum's free CSI-Themed evening. Enjoy.

Hike (part 4) St. James Church, Shere

This is St James Church in Shere. Get ready for some history!

"For well over a thousand years a church has stood on this site, on the banks of the Tillingbourne stream in the heart of the village of Shere. Nestling in the wooded Surrey Hills and overlooked by the North Downs, St James Church stands close to the Pilgrims Way, an ancient parth from Winchester walked by pilgrims wishing to express their devotion to God at the tomb of St Thomas in Canterbury Cathedral."

That's quite a walk...

Isn't it pretty?

"The present church dates from the 12th century and took its original form in about 1190. Architecturally it is regarded as one of the finest examples of the Early English style, known as Transitional."
"Altercations and restorations have been carried out from the early 1200s until the present day."
"An original Saxon church stood on this site, most likely built of timber. If there were parts in stone, it is possible that some of the core may be left in the north wall of the nave."
This is the remains of the cell where Christine Carpenter was held. Here's her story:

"The daugher of William the Carpenter, who lived in Lower Street, Christine sought permission as an act of great piety to be enclosed in a cell at Shere Church in July 1329. The Register of the Bishop of Winchester at that time shows that he granted this permission a month later. Christing, duly enclosed, could see only the altar through the squint window and received bread and wine of Communion through the quatrefoil." (You'll see these windows/ squint in a later picture).

Here's a couple of the brasses located around the church, most of them made in the 1400s.
Here is the window and the squint from the inside of the church - where Christine received her meals and the slit where she could see the church. Quite a small space, really.

Here's more about her:

"After three years, Christine left her cell and returned to the world, but then reconsidered and petitioned to be re-enclosed. Again the Bishop consented - but with a different tone this time: 'We order and command you that the said Christine shall be thrust back into the said re-enclosure.... that she may learn at you discretion how refarious was her committed sin...' How and why she came to commit this 'nefarious sin' of leaving her cell, and that happened to her eventualy, all remain a mystery."

How strange...
Here's the view down the main part of the church. The church is actually a stange box shape, rather than the cross shape that most churches come in.
This is caleld the Crusader Alms Coffer. It is made of oak and dates from the 13th century. It was used to collect money by order of the Pope for the Crusaders fighting in the Holy Land. Its three locks are of a later date, the separate keys being held by three responsible parishioners - an early form of combination lock.
This is a tiny statuette of Madonna and Child. It is dated around 1300 and is thought to have come from a pilgrim's staff or perhaps a bishop's pastoral staff. It was found in 1886 by a lady and her dog in the woods above Shere.
Here is the oldest part of the church - the Norman arch. Probably built between 1135 and 1190. Very cool.
The circular marks are scratched into the pillars of the Norman arch in the south doorway. Before the porch was built, the sun would have cast shadows when a stick was inserted in the centre of each dial, to tell the time of services to passing pilgrims.
Here is another old part of the church - a font, dating between 1213 and 1300.

The church was a lovely little surprise along the walk, and well worth a visit. They also had quite a range of books - it's where I bought my "Historical Houses of Gomshall and Shere" book, which was quite handy.

Hope you enjoyed reading all about my hike, I certainly enjoyed doing it!

Hike (part 3) Historic Houses of Gomshall

Gomshall was the village where I started my walk - I just passed through Shere. Gomshall has some (although not as many as Shere) historic houses, so here we go!

These are the Malthouse Cottages. They were originally a three-bay medieval house with a two-bay parlour wing to the south, with ornate timber work on the front and fine chamfer moulding and stops in the main ground floor girders. It was probably built for some dude named John Gatton who died in 1616.
This is Gomshall Mill. It may be on the side of a mill at Gumsele mentioned in the Domesday Surved of 1086, but there is no evidence. It was an important part of the demesne lands of Gomshall Towerhill and is shown in a 1568 inventory as a watermill worth 66s 8d a year beyond the cost of repairs. The present five-bay timber-framed mill building is probably early 17th century and the two-bay miller's house with chimney and bacon loft at the north end is early to mid 17th century.
This is a (now) empty building called The Black Horse. It is the remaining part of a property which seems to have begun as a malthouse built about 1690.
This is called King John House. The main part of the present house is in fine Jacobean brick, and it was built about 1620.
These were formerly two old houses on the north side of the Tillingbourne called Jordells and Yardleys, with a tanyard on the south side across the Packhorse Bridge. They were built around the 16th century.
This was formerly a farm house called Loves with a manor record going back to 1557. The oldest part, now at the back, was an open hall house of the 15th century, and faced east towards the old track running parallel witht he present Queen Street. A large addition was built about 1550.

This is the (very pink) Monk's House. It was built in 1663 on the waste of a previous manor. And it's pink. PINK.

These houses, while old, have apparently no historical significance, at least not enough to put in the book I got from the church. So, enjoy them.

Up next is the final part of my hike blog, all about St. James Church!

Hike (part 2) - Historic Houses of Shere, UK

Welcome to Shere! Share has a huge amount of houses of historic significance, and so, I'll take you on a tour!

This house is called Burrowdown. It is a brick house (duh), and it was built about 1865 by the DUke of Northumberland.
This is the Manor House Lodge and it was built in 1894.
This one here is called Tudor Cottage. It is a three-bay timber-framed open hall house with an internal jetty and smoke-blackened rafters. It was built in the early 15th century and a bay was added in 1571. The chimney was inserted about 1620. A hat that is possibly Tudor was discovered in 1972 concealed beside the chimney and it is on display in the Shere museum.
These are called the Vine Cottages. They were built around 1500, although the front part of the homes were redone in the early 17th century.
This house was built about 1660.

And this house, called Denton, was built about 1550.
This is called the Lime Cottage. It was also built in the 16th century.
This house is called Denmarke, and it was originaly probably a four-bay timber-framed house, with a fine upper room fronting the road, perhaps originally jettied, and possibly the meeting place for the manorial court. A date of about 1560-80 is suggested by teh early side-purlin roof. It was refaced and converted into cottages around 1725.
The earliest part of this house dates from 1640, while the newest end dates from the 1800s.
This was formerly an important house called Hawkin's. Two jettied cross-wings and part of the centre remain from a timer-framed hall house of about 1500, though it is not certain whether the hall was an open ahll. The cross-wings have crown-post roofs; the western wing was probably the original parlour, and the eastern wing the original service part.
This is Elm Cottage, formerly Gibble's, and end chimney two-bay timer framed house with a stair turret, built probably aroung 1620. A pot-quern of medieval type, discovered during alterations here in the rubble underneath an old bread-oven, was discussed in the 1964 volumeof the "Surrey Achaeological Collections".
This is Seaforth Cottage. It is timber-framed and built in 1632. It was considerably altered about 1860 by Sir Henry Cole (first director of the V&A).
This is Kinghames Restaurant. The house was built in 1640, although additions were made in the 17th and 18th century.
This is Forge Cottage. Parts of an earlier 14th century survive, although the rest of the building dates from about the 16th century.
This was originally a merchant's hall which dated around the 15th century. The original central open hall was replaced about 1600.

This is Rookery Nook, and it was built about 1450-1500. It was originally a single-storey open hall house, with its parlour end to the east and its service end to the west. By 1700 the house included a blacksmith's on the site.
That alcove was originally a fountain - the sign reads: The Drinking Fountain was given to the village by two maiden ladies, the misses Spotteswood. They lived and worshipped locally, but looked upon alcohol as the devil. They thought that visitors to the White Horse Pub should have an alternative drink and therefore commissioned the fountain in 1886. The fountain was operational until 1970 until the water level changed.
And this is the White Horse pub. I had a lovely rest and a lemonde here after my walk, and it was a lovely building on the inside. It was originally a two-bay timber-framed open hall house of about 1450, with twin service rooms to the north and two-bay cross-wings at both parlour and service ends. About 1600 a chimney with fine stone back-to-back fireplaces was inserted in the parlour end of the hall, and the hall reframed with a continuous jetty. The external timbering was applied about 1920.

There, wasn't Shere lovely? Hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned for more prettiness. :)

My Hike (part 1)

Hello! I know it's been a while, so you'd best get ready for quite a few posts today, most of which will be concentrated around this hike that I did last week.

I was getting tired of the constant crowds here in London, so I decided to head out into the country side, and, armed with my book "Walks in London and South East England", a compass, my camera and a bottle of water, I set out into the wild blue yonder.

This is the path I ended up taking:

Originally this was was meant to be a circlular walk, and to be only about 9km long. As you can see above, I didn't complete the circle - I only ended up about halfway around the circle before I doubled back and came home.
Why? Well... partly because I spent a decent amount of time in a church in the village of Shere, and partly because I took a wrong turn heading into a field, and walked around 1.5 miles in the wrong direction before I figured it out and doubled back. There are just so many paths out there it's easy to get lost. Besides, I saw all the important stuff, anyways! Plus I had already walked over 8 miles.... and was pooped!

I'll start with some general pictures that I took in the countryside - you'll have to wait for the pictures of the church and village.
Ah yes... Public Footpath, this way!
Heading down along the path...
Free string anyone? I thought about it... but I have no need for string.
And yet, even out here in the countryside they will collect your post every day and get it anywhere in England by the next day. Go postal service!

Here's some standard country-bumpkin photos - everything looked so good with the rusty chains and wheat.
And sheep!
And some awful friendly horses. Well, when I say friendly, I mean that they wanted the apple that I was holding. After they got it, then they were awful friendly.
Nom nom nom!
And one lonely tree...

And one privately owned church. It was on private land and privately owned, and closed. So I snuck up as close as I could and snapped some photos before sneaking away.
This is one of the "silent pools". Wikipedia says: The Silent Pool, however, is of a much earlier origin and is considered by some to be a sacred site. It is linked to a folklore tale that says King John on his horse abducted a woodcutter’s daughter who was forced into the deep water and drowned. According to the legend, the maiden can be seen at midnight.

I didn't stay until midnight to see the aformentioned maiden, but the water sure was clear. Clear enough to drink... although I didn't.
This is in the village of Shere. You will see lots of pretty houses and a pretty church in another post.

The day, while cloudy in the morning, turned quite warm and lovely, and the views were quite spectacular.

Stay tuned for more photos of my adventure!