St. Mary's Church, Battle

The Benedictines built the church and abbey on the site of the battlefield next door. In around 1115, Abbot Ralph built this church to serve the people of the community that had grown up around the abbey.

Abbey Interior and Battle Commemoration

Underneath the main floor of the dormitory is the novice's chamber. However, since there were few novices here, this was likely used as a common room. The vaulting of the ceiling is quite wonderful. At the far end is a the only fireplace on this floor so this would have been at least a little warmer than some other places.

The doors are finely arched and the stairs are evenly laid giving this accessway a pretty modern look.

The large windows made this room, even on the bottom floor, quite light and habitable.

Just north of the dormitory stood the church. It is now gone... only the outline of the foundation exists. I was not able to get a photo of this that would make any sense. This is unfortunate, for in 1070 when the church was originally built the altar was placed at the spot where Harold fell.

A few yards from the location of the church stands a monument to the world changing event that happened here in 1066. The inscription on the monument translates as:

Translated as - God be with us, In the historic field of Senlac, where brave Harold the Saxon fell, 837 years after the battle that gave Britain the Norman Law. The Norman remembrance, came from the Banks of the Seine to proclaim with joy the peace of the Sisters of Normandy. 1066 - 1903

 

The Abbey at Battle

This is the same end of the abbey you saw yesterday, just from a different direction. It is carefully buttressed and is, from this outward side, filled with openings to various larders and storages rooms.

Battle: The Abbey and the Battlefield

There are certainly older structures in England. After all, this spot as a place of significance has only existed since 1066 and the structures are hundreds of years more recent. Still, this is a place that carries such historical weight that it is hard to imagine another place that can compare based on a single day's activities.

St. Leonards-on-Sea

Just next door to Brexhill is St. Leonards-on-Sea. The casual observer would not notice that they'd passed from on the the next. However, St. Leonards is where our pet sit is located. We are up on a hill where we can see the sea from the back deck. Being the warm, dry summer season, it is nice to be able to venture outside with multiple layers or rain protection.

Brexhill

Low tide on England's southern coast shows that the beach is composed of stone rather than sand. The regular array of breakwaters extending out into the sea attest to the turbulence of the sea along this shore.

A Bit More of Rye

As partial testimony to the length of time that this town has existed, it is easy to find an eclectic mix of architectural styles. Additionally, us yanks are always a bit jarred by finding a Boots in an building that is older than my grandmother.

Meanwhile...Back in England

On our way to our house sit, we stopped in Rye for a short look about.

A Gathering Storm

Now that you are thoroughly confused about where we are at the moment, I thought I'd toss in a relatively current posting. As you probably have figured out, I try to keep ahead of things with my posting so that I have a queue of posts ready to go even if our schedule prevents me from a daily updates. At the moment, I'm about two weeks ahead, which means that what you see today is about two weeks out-of-date (rather than the 2-4 months out-of-date that you've been seeing... we'll get back to that soon). This is, I think, part of the big storm and cold weather that hit the US in late October. This is how it arrived in the high desert.

Views of Alaska Near Nome

It is a lifeless place on first glance. Remember, however, that all the animals I've shown you in earlier posts are found in this place.

So, What Does the Western Alaska Look Like?

Even without the animals to spice things up, the region around Nome is an interesting place. Not that there are spectacular things to see or really impressive mountains, but rather that it is place not quite like any other.

As I have noted before, if solitude is what you are after, this is the place to come.

Life in a Beautiful but Hard Place

A reminder that life near Nome is often hard and ends in the usual way. This reminder of the musk ox sitting on the snow is a stark sign of the what life is like.

Snipes and Plovers

Not far from the road, we found some birds wandering, looking for food. the first one here is a western snipe.

Water Birds and Other Critters

Here's another view of the long-tailed duck we saw yesterday. Yes, I realize that this bird does not have a long tail. I believe this is a juvenal or female, hence the shorter tail.

Birds Among the Willows and More

Sometimes the birds choose to perch on a part of the bush that is nicer than simply the bare limb. On this occasion, this savanna sparrow treated us with a pose on one of the open willow blooms.

Along the Nome-Teller Road

Now that I have you all calm and settled on churches in southern England, I thought I'd shakes things up with another round of birds from Alaska.

Above (and below) are a few images of the western (aka Wilson's) snipe.

St. Denys, A last Look

Just above the roster of those lost in the first war, we see remnants of a painting from a much earlier century. These have only been uncovered in the 19th century.

St. Denys - IV

 

Inside the church we find a mixture of old and very old construction. All of it is handsome. The roof rafters are special. More to come.

St. Denys - III

Today we start with another one of the beautiful doors of the church. 

St. Denys - II

As you well know by now, I am taken by these colorful markers. I find that even though I cannot read much of what it says, the color feels like a painting of the life that once dwelled in the body lying here. Sometimes I stare at one of these photos and conclude that I know the deceased in ways that reading the words carved there cannot express. Just my imagination, I suppose.