Churchyard

 Dear Reader,

Norman churches in England (c.1066-1150)  were monumental stone Romanesque structures built by the Normans to assert religious and political authority after the Conquest, replacing nearly all Anglo-Saxon, mostly wooden, buildings.   

Characterized by round arches, massive pillars and often decorated with chevron patterns, these grand, long naved multi-story basilicas aimed to dominate the landscape with key examples including Durham Cathedral and St.Albans Cathedral.

In some cases churches were built as acts of atonement.  For example, William the Conqueror founded Battle Abbey on the exact spot where King Harold was killed during the Battle of Hastings.  

 

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From Dorothy Wordsworth  January 27th   1802   Westmorland

'A beautiful mild morning; the sun shone; the lake was still, and all the shores reflected in it......The bees were humming about the hive.   William raked a few stones off the garden, his first garden labour this year.  I cut the shrubs.'

 

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Churchyard

 

The day was ice cold,
frost sparkled on hedges and trees.
Grass glittered in
the graveyard of the old
Norman church,

 still standing firm and solid.

 

A ghostly haze hung over the

headstones, banks and banks

of snowdrops sheltered under

 trees in great clumps,

a few early daffodils peeped out.

 

There was silence everywhere.

Far away hills and fields
filled my vision and

spirituality filled the air.
Angels flew around me,

shared their                                                            

paradise of quiet perfection

and love.

 

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With best wishes, Patricia