Sunday, January 10, 2016

Gruyere and marmalade - Sinnington Church

Yesterday was my birthday, and LS likes to have what he calls a 'memory' of the day to remember.  So how did it go, well firstly Jo and David came for a coffee and chatted for a couple of hours and introduced us to the 'gossip' of the village, which is of no importance though a wind turbine, fallen tree on a neighbour's roof did figure largely, breaking the village into two factions;)
My plan had been to have a fondue for our meal, but Pickering did not yield any gruyere cheese, though I found emmenthal.  So after lunch  we went to Helmsley to Hunter's delicatessen shop, and luckily they had some.  We had also decided to have a walk somewhere, so as we had been talking about Sinnington we decided to go there with Lucy, and found what I would call the memory of the day. a church at the top of a hill, my love of churches runs deep!
The river Seven (our river) runs through the village, and it was high and fast, all the rivers that have broken their banks are very dangerous and it is a wonder that hardly anyone has been drowned. but the Seven has some kind of flood defence somewhere apparently.  It is a pretty village grouped round a green.




The Church;  We walked up the hill to the church with a couple out walking, and they explained the history of the old manor that once stood up on the hill next to the church.  All that is left is a 'great hall' on the outside is a 'leprosy' squint window, I think at one time in the 12th century this hall was a convent for a group of nuns from Yedingham.
What makes the church so interesting is the Anglo-Saxon pieces of stone that are built into the fabric of the church, also parts of a Viking hog backed tomb.  Sinnington is not far from Lastingham and many of the churches round here still have evidence of the earlier Saxon churches. The following is taken from British History online, which gives the details to the ownership of the manors.

Preserved in the church or built into the fabric are numerous fragments of pre-Conquest sculpture. Over the porch is a stone carved with a man riding a beast, possibly part of a Norman tympanum, and in the south wall are two cross-heads, one with knotwork and the other with a roughly carved figure of the Crucified and a serpent. Near by is a portion of a shaft with two standing figures. In the west wall inside is the base of a shaft bearing a bound serpent and two other fragments bearing knotwork. Inside the north window is another base of a cross shaft. There are numerous other fragments in various parts of the building, including a hog-back built into the north wall and the base of a shaft on the north side of the quire."


And so to the photos; did I miss the hog back on the North wall I wonder ?

The leprosy window

The Great Hall surrounded by farm buildings.

All Saints church

Solitary aconite pushing up through the pebbles of the path




http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/catvol3.php?pageNum_urls=130&totalRows_urls=288


An entwined dragon ? - http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/corpus_images_vol3.php?set=653

Man riding a beast, over the porch

Cross-head - http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/catvol3.php?pageNum_urls=135&totalRows_urls=288

"The modern timber bellcote at the west end is surmounted by a spirelet and contains three bells, the first being mediaeval and inscribed 'Sancte Petre ora pro nobis,' the second is recast and the third is modern. The church fittings include a communion table with turned legs of circa 1660 and some good Jacobean pewing in the nave. The bench ends have small carved panels in the upper part and on a window-sill is a piece of oak inscribed, 'harken unto the lord's word and let it dwell in your harts.' Preserved in the church or built into the fabric are numerous fragments of pre-Conquest sculpture. Over the porch is a stone carved with a man riding a beast, possibly part of a Norman tympanum, and in the south wall are two cross-heads, one with knotwork and the other with a roughly carved figure of the Crucified and a serpent. Near by is a portion of a shaft with two standing figures. In the west wall inside is the base of a shaft bearing a bound serpent and two other fragments bearing knotwork. Inside the north window is another base of a cross shaft. There are numerous other fragments in various parts of the building, including a hog-back built into the north wall and the base of a shaft on the north side of the quire"  Taken from British Online
And the fondue was delicious, though it did make Lucy sick..... The marmalade was brought from the church sold in aid of a charity in Africa, and still to be opened.


Source of the River Seven high up on the moors outside Rosedale. near Fat Betty!

Creative commons; Colin Grice/Geograph.




14 comments:

  1. Belatedly, A Happy Birthday to you Thelma !

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    1. Thank you Heron, a bit of a coincidence we share the same date....

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  2. How interesting that the bits of ancient stonework were worked into the walls of a later structure. It has me wondering if this was the notion of one man involved in the building or a group effort at preservation.
    On another tack, it sounds as though Lucy doesn't deal well with food made for humans--I've known dogs with the proverbial 'cast iron stomach' and a few who always up-chucked messily when given a treat of left-overs.

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    1. I think Sharon it is more like that there was not enough stone around and they used what there was in the Norman period. Lucy is definitely one of the latter (chucking up messily), no rich food for her in the future, think she has never been used to it.

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  3. What a nice cheerful header photo. Just what we need to remind us that spring will eventually arrive.

    A belated happy birthday to you, and glad you had a nice outing. We always do the same. I am fascinated by the bits of earlier stonework incorporated into your church. The "man riding beast" is I am pretty sure, from my Pictish art studies, "man riding horse" - but a very long backed one. It has hocks and a cresty neck - a shame we don't have front legs left. The one I'm thinking of (just checked my disseration) is VERY similar - St Madoes, slab originally in the churchyard, now in Perth Museum. Elongated horse with high headcarriage and rider sat "into" horse's back. The figure below it (Christ?) is fascinating as it has the "Pictish" snake there too! I wonder if these were from a very much earlier church or perhaps a monastery in the area? Fascinating post.



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    1. Hi Jenny, all these carvings are strange, and I should really manipulate the photos and try and draw out the lines more clearly. Must look up the snake legend, apart of course from the original snake in the garden of Eden.

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  4. What a beautiful walk to take, thanks for bringing us along... Happy Birthday!

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  5. Thank you Devon, and welcome. x

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  6. The Class I Pictish symbol stones have snakes on (adders), and there is definitely some sort of tribal identity or totem/reverence involved with them. Sometimes they are combined with other Pictish symbols (snake and Z-rod for instance), which could suggest lineages or shared leadership? One of the snakes on its own appears on the stone now in the Rectory garden at Glamis, but was originally by a spring - so possibly about healing? Don't get me started or I'll go on all evening!

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    1. I shall have to get a book on the subject of Picts, know very little about them. Of course they also appeared with the saints as well, who destroyed the ammonites/snakes, such as Saint Hilda at Whitby..

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  7. A Belated Happy Birthday to you - that's a very pretty village you visited xxx

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    1. Thank you Trudie, I rather fancied living there at one stage, but the only house for sale was down by the river, not exactly a sensible move. X

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  8. Sinnington is a lovely village isn't it? It is years since I went there with the W I, when we were entertained to tea by the local WI and I do remember the delicious food. We did have a walk round the church and also a walk along the side of that river. So I enjoyed the visit you made Thelma, and the photographs.
    As a matter of interest, have you ever visited Briggflatts (the name of a Basil Bunting poem and a very early Quaker meeting house just outside Sedbergh) - if you are really into old churches it is well worth a visit as it is very accessible (and you could call in for lunch here enroute!)

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  9. Morning Pat, No I haven't visited Briggflats. Love to come to lunch, and will probably start visiting more churches down your way when the weather settles down. I wonder if we are going to have snow?

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