Friday, June 15, 2012
Slaugham Church and Village
There is rain again outside my window.
I hope it clears, for later we plan to go on a guided walk around Charlwood with a local historian and the post card club members.
But for now I will think back two days to that little oasis of sunshine that we found in Slaugham.
Our walk began at the church.
We have walked through the lych gate, and turn to look back at the village.
I have learned that Lady Dundas lived in the cottage you can see.
An inscription within the beams of the lych gate roof.
"We have loved, we love, we will love".
The first parts of the church were built in the 12th and 13th centuries. It has been added to and restored in Victorian times.
The graves were many and varied.
This dates from 1615 - almost 500 years old.
The grave of Lord nelson's sister is in this churchyard.
Much of the churchyard is a wildlife haven.
This yew tree is hundreds of years old.
The trunk is enormous, but becoming hollow now.
The gateway through to the vicarage garden and the huge vicarage next door.
The village is very small and unspoilt.
The houses now are very sought after and desirable.
These are not homes for the farm workers.
One of the Lords of the Manor decided that a red telephone was rather garish for his village and decreed that it should be white.
The notice on the side tells people of this and earns nobody to attempt to change its colour.
These days the need for a telephone box is very doubtful. Our homes have phones and most carry a telephone with them when out and about.
I don't think that post boxes will become redundant.
This one is 100 years old and maybe a few more years.
It dates from the reign of Edward V11.
The only cottage which may still be lived in by an old Slaugham worker.
It needs some work.
He has lots of interesting bottles in the window.
I was reading about this house on a blog the other day - written in 2009.
The writer had found the cottage and found that there were boxes of bottles which people could buy.
Perhaps he has no energy for such things now - or no spares.
Now have they got this cat on their roof because they love cats or because they hate cats?
I presume this sculpture is meant to deter neighbouring cats from approaching.
But it is such an appealing sculpture - surely the people love cats!
Finally we are back at the church and gazing at the cottage we saw through the lych gate.
The Dundas family were an important aristocratic family in the Slaugham parish for some centuries.
In recent years our brother in law became almost a private chauffeur for the aging Lady Charlotte Dundas.
The cottage looks lovely amongst the yellow flowers.
It has stopped raining now......looks like we will be able to go out on a walk in the home of our family ancestors this evening and maybe sup half a pint in a pub they have frequented; well some of them surely did.
I hope it clears, for later we plan to go on a guided walk around Charlwood with a local historian and the post card club members.
But for now I will think back two days to that little oasis of sunshine that we found in Slaugham.
Our walk began at the church.
We have walked through the lych gate, and turn to look back at the village.
I have learned that Lady Dundas lived in the cottage you can see.
An inscription within the beams of the lych gate roof.
"We have loved, we love, we will love".
The first parts of the church were built in the 12th and 13th centuries. It has been added to and restored in Victorian times.
The graves were many and varied.
This dates from 1615 - almost 500 years old.
The grave of Lord nelson's sister is in this churchyard.
Much of the churchyard is a wildlife haven.
This yew tree is hundreds of years old.
The trunk is enormous, but becoming hollow now.
The gateway through to the vicarage garden and the huge vicarage next door.
The village is very small and unspoilt.
The houses now are very sought after and desirable.
These are not homes for the farm workers.
One of the Lords of the Manor decided that a red telephone was rather garish for his village and decreed that it should be white.
The notice on the side tells people of this and earns nobody to attempt to change its colour.
These days the need for a telephone box is very doubtful. Our homes have phones and most carry a telephone with them when out and about.
I don't think that post boxes will become redundant.
This one is 100 years old and maybe a few more years.
It dates from the reign of Edward V11.
The only cottage which may still be lived in by an old Slaugham worker.
It needs some work.
He has lots of interesting bottles in the window.
I was reading about this house on a blog the other day - written in 2009.
The writer had found the cottage and found that there were boxes of bottles which people could buy.
Perhaps he has no energy for such things now - or no spares.
Now have they got this cat on their roof because they love cats or because they hate cats?
I presume this sculpture is meant to deter neighbouring cats from approaching.
But it is such an appealing sculpture - surely the people love cats!
Finally we are back at the church and gazing at the cottage we saw through the lych gate.
The Dundas family were an important aristocratic family in the Slaugham parish for some centuries.
In recent years our brother in law became almost a private chauffeur for the aging Lady Charlotte Dundas.
The cottage looks lovely amongst the yellow flowers.
It has stopped raining now......looks like we will be able to go out on a walk in the home of our family ancestors this evening and maybe sup half a pint in a pub they have frequented; well some of them surely did.
