Cathedral of the fields

So it has been over 2 years and 1 month since I last updated the blog so I felt it was about time I did something and add new content. And what better way to kick start the blog again than to introduce you to the Cathedral of the Fields.

The church in question does not hold cathedral status currently and neither has it done in the past, however it gets its nickname from the grand architecture it displays both inside and outside the building.

So what is it actually called?

Well this church is St Michael the archangel and is located at Booton in Norfolk. Only a couple of miles across the fields as the crow flies from Reepham.

A brief history

There has been a church on the site since the medieval period but was remodelled during the 19th century by Reverend Whitwell Elwin. He was not only the parish vicar but also the designer for the new church.

Some of the original features of the building still exist such as the former west wall however they cannot be seen as they have been encased and covered with flint from Elwin's later remodelling. The guidebook, which costs approx. £3 and is available at the church, suggests that several features of the church have been borrowed from other churches or cathedrals from around the country. For example one that is discussed in the guidebook and at Norfolk Churches website (http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/booton/booton.htm) is that of the nave windows. Their design is similar to that of the nave windows at Temple Balsall. Another feature is the west door which can be compared to that of Glastonbury Abbey. The towers, however are fairly unique in design and cannot be compared to any other building within the UK, apart from the minaret-esque slender tower at the west end which rises up above the window falling slightly short in height or its brother tower standing proud either side of it.

Having wandered around inside looking at the various features it had to offer such at the roof, I wandered around the outside of the building. Nothing impressed me more than the priests door, deeply resessed in the wall with grand carved arches surrounding it. The niche above the door, which would have once held a sculpture of an important figure in Christendom, however it is believed that no such sculpture was installed.

While the building is still consecrated and could be used for worship, it is not actively used and is currently under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust.

My Final View

I have visited the site before but never took photos so I am pleased I have visited again and have taken some photos this time around. It is a beautiful church both inside and out with many interesting features to explore. It is well worth a visit to be immersed in such beauty of the church and the countryside around it and to witness how peaceful the location is.

Many thanks goes to Simon Knott of Norfolk Churches for the the background information and reading. Some information contained within this entry has been adapted from material by Simon Knott at http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/booton/booton.htm.

 

All photos displayed on this site unless otherwise stated have been taken by me and copyright belongs to myself.

Piggery (Kett's Heights)

I have been meaning to publish this post for a while, well shortly after I posted about Kett's castle however I have been busy hunting and searching for new places to post about.

Anyway here it is.

A piggery on Kett's heights. I found this while searching for St Michael's Chapel on the heights. I thought I would post this on my site as it is a history that has been forgotten about. Today the site is overgrown with very short walls visible under the plant growth.

The piggery was a former stables which was converted at the start of World War Two when the need for locally produced food was high. Along with the piggery a concrete lined pond was used as a place to collect water for the livestock.

At the site of St Michael's chapel the flint walls are all that remains of a greenhouse which along with the piggery (stables) are all that remains of the height's previous use. Before being a place for food production, the height's were used as gardens created by the manager of the city gasworks which resided at the bottom of the hill. Local people used the hillside and gardens as allotments growing Alexanders which is used as a substitute for celery. This plant can still be seen growing in abundance all over the hillside.

Kett's Castle (Chapel of St Michael on the mount)

A couple of weeks ago I visited Kett's heights, Thorpe Hamlet on the edge of the city centre. There have been many uses of this site over the years from alotments to parkland to camp site of a rebelious mob. I became interested in this site after a discussion with a friend regarding a photo he had taken of the site. In the photo were some flint walls. The reason for my interest is that I had read an article and had knowledge of there being religious buildings on this site from around the 11th Century. I had heard and researched St Leonard's Priory. I will not go into this monastic house in detail here as I will post this seperately.

Please visit the blog of my friend to view the photos that started my interest in this area of the city. http://eastscapes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/on-top-of-city-ketts-heights.html

Having visited the site and walking around it for a few minutes I cam across what I was looking for. I found the old flints walls which mark the location of the Chapel of St Michael on the mount. In the late 11th Century Bishop Herbert De Losinga, the first bishop of Norwich, embarked upon building the Cathedral and in the process several Anglo-Saxon churches were demolished, one such church was St. Michael's. So as to build bridges and make amends with the Ango-Saxon population Bishop Herbert had a small chapel built on the mount and called it St. Michael's. The chapel was cared for and managed by the monks from St Leonard's, with their duties including daily services at the chapel.

Around 400 years later, St Michael's chapel fell into disuse as a chapel. However is 1549 during the rebellion lead by Robert Kett the Chapel of St. Michael was used again. This time it was used as the headquarters for Kett's campaign against the city. Using the remains of the chapel on the mount as his 'castle' it gave him a great vantage point to view what was going on in the city below him.