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ReaderByLamplight — The Cathedral (Churches of the Marsh IV)
#englishsummer #romneymarsh #bluesky #church #churchcathedral #england #stone
Published: 2017-12-26 22:04:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 293; Favourites: 20; Downloads: 0
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Description
St George - Ivychurch (England), August 2016Straddling the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England, the wetlands of Romney Marsh hold the special appeal of out-of-the-way places. Their very distinctive landscape is mostly made of immense skies, low grass and extensive grazing fields criss-crossed by drainage ditches. The Marsh is not devoid of a certain otherworldliness, which famously prompted the local clergyman Richard Harris Barham to write in The Ingoldsby Legends : "The world according to the best geographers is divided into five parts, namely Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and the Romney Marsh".
Romney Marsh is also known for the various churches scattered around it, testimonies of the small communities who lived there throughout the centuries. Because of its size and imposing architecture, St George's church is locally known as 'the Cathedral of Romney Marsh'. Unlike many other churches of the Marsh, it is not located in a desolate place, but within the small village of Ivychurch, almost next door to a pub doing a (moderately) brisk trade, at least in summer, with passing cars and the occasional tourist : the equivalent of a vibrant metropolis in Romney Marsh !
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Comments: 4
Another wonderul shot from you 
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Thank you ! Ivychurch looked somewhat sleepy (in a good way) on that day, but you wouldn't really expect otherwise from a tiny English village in the middle of August, when the weather is spectacularly fair. I'm happy you like the description, too !
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Quite a stone monument it is. Religious architecture has always fascinated me, the religions themselves I find interesting as a student of human history. It appears almost fortress like in its tower shape, with some lovely arched doors and windows, would those be Norman style? The blue clock is quite a surprise to see. Did you happen to get a photo of the pub too? I find them interesting as well.
Rich T.
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Thanks a lot for your feedback ! Yes, I dare say the architecture is of Norman inspiration at least, although the main body of the church dates from the 14th century only and the tower itself was added another hundred years later, so the design must have been somewhat archaic at the time. But, as is the case with many churches of Romney Marsh, St George's was (re)built on the site of a much earlier church, so perhaps they replicated the original pattern.
As to the blue clock, you have a keen eye indeed. Many church clock faces in England are actually painted in blue. Look, for example, at St Mary the Virgin, the second in the "Churches of the Marsh" series :
It is quite difficult to come upon a satisfactory explanation for that, one of them being that it is in some way related to a religious meaning of the colour and refers either to heavens or to priestly garments.
No picture of the pub, unfortunately, and thus no secular memento of Ivychurch !
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