Photos of historic churches!

Discussion in 'Arts, Literature, and Games' started by Toma, Jul 23, 2012.

  1. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    Friends :)

    Know anything about historic Anglican churches in proximity to you? Please provide info and pictures!

    Since there was a "boom" in church building seemingly around the entire world from 1850-1910, let's limit ourselves to pre-1840 church buildings. That seems a good criterion for "historic", doesn't it?

    My contribution is that of St. Paul's Anglican church in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the oldest extant Anglican church in North America and was built 1749-1751 as a chapel for the troops billeted in Fort George, of the freshly-built Halifax garrison.

    The parish became the cathedral for the city soon after the Seven Years' War ended. Stained glass windows were added in the 1880s and the church was nearly destroyed in the 1917 explosion in Halifax Harbour; the steeple was blown off, and replaced at war's end. Surprisingly, the evangelical community, with which the parish is historically associated, chose to reinstate the stained glass! Many locally-famous clergy and politicians rest under its floorboards.

    Facade:

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    Original facade, now inside the modern facade - a memorial frame was added to the doors that now lead to the Nave, commemorating the dead of the First World War:

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    Nave, seen from a banner unfurled for an anniversary:

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    Chancel (faces south), Ambo-side

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    Chapel, in a niche east of the Chancel

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    Gallery, from the chancel

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    Memorial plaques & Stained Glass for you Anglo-Catholics ;)

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  2. Scottish Knight

    Scottish Knight Well-Known Member

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    Fantastic building! I particularly like the wording "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" - what a wonderful phrase to read every Sunday

    I like the stained glass windows (I have a secret artistic appreciation for catholic art which makes me a terrible presbyterian :p )
     
  3. Anna Scott

    Anna Scott Well-Known Member

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    [Sidebar: I wouldn't say you are a terrible Presbyterian. Perhaps you are "a little bit Anglican." :p]
     
  4. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    Wow, I LOVE that last photo! Thanks for the input!
     
  5. The Hackney Hub

    The Hackney Hub Well-Known Member

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  6. Symphorian

    Symphorian Well-Known Member

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    The largest parish church in my Diocese, St Petroc's, Bodmin. The present church is largely medieval but has a fine Norman font and the tower base is also Norman. There was a spire rising to 150ft but this was destroyed by lightning in the late 17th century. St Petroc, one of our many Celtic saints founded a monastery here in the first half of the 6th century although he seems to have usurped St Guron who established a monastic cell here a little earlier. Bodmin became an important monastic centre and produced a magnificent 9th century illuminated manuscript known as the Bodmin Gospels. It was briefly the see of the Cornish Bishopric in the 10th century.

    The Exterior

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    The Chancel and High Altar

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    The Norman Font

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    St Petroc's Reliquary, painted ivory and bronze c.1170

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    The tomb of Thomas Vyvyan, (died 1533) penultimate prior of Bodmin before the Dissolution

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    St Guron's Holy Well outside the church

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  7. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    Symphorian, that altar brings me right back to my ancestral country... my ancient family shed happy tears that their homeland was so well-furnished by those who love God!
     
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  8. Scottish Knight

    Scottish Knight Well-Known Member

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    Nooo! You warned me I'd become anglican if I stayed here - it's happening already :p

    This is All Saints Church in Swanton Morley, Norfolk

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    I visited it for a holiday and it really strikes you that such a small village in the middle of nowhere has such a grand church. You can see the area was once very wealthy - Norfolk was famous for its wool in the medieval period.

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    It was built in about 1360. An elderly parishioner told me that it was designed by a very famous architect who eventually went on to help build the cathedral in Norwich

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    On close inspection of the walls you'll notice it's not made of solid stone - since Norfolk has no stone quarries nearby. Hence the outside is built from mortar and flint.

    There is also a friendly group of bellringers that allow visitors to come along and join in their practice in the evenings :)
     
  9. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    That's lovely, SK! The nave in particular creates majestic pretensions of the glory of Heaven... even if it's humble - but then again, the glory of God is man fully alive, and if humility and 'littleness' bring us to life, we are bringing glory to God. ;)
     
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  10. Symphorian

    Symphorian Well-Known Member

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    Bellringing is just an excuse for a good booze up. I used to ring...ah happy days. (Or should that be happy daze!)

    Nice church though.
     
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  11. Andrea

    Andrea Member

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    Well my Church has been classified by the city as an historic building, but I live in the Midwestern USA which means none of our Churches are going to have been built before 1840. Ours was started in 1860, but the chapel was built in 1910 I think.
     
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  12. Gordon

    Gordon Well-Known Member

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  13. nkygreg

    nkygreg Member

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    I hope you bear with ne on this one. St Augustine Florida is the oldest settlement in the USA. These grounds were the place of the first Catholic Mass in the USA (long before the Pilgrims). I visit this place every year and love it.
    st aug.jpg
     
  14. Symphorian

    Symphorian Well-Known Member

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    St Peter's Chapel, Bradwell, Essex, England.

    Celtic church founded by St Cedd in 654, built on the foundations of a Roman Fort. Used as a barn for cattle and grain in the 18th century and restored to use as a chapel in 1920.

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    Bradwell.jpg
     
  15. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    That's astonishing, Symphorian! I had thought that the oldest Anglo-Saxon churches were A.D. 800s or 700s at the earliest. Lovely!
     
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  16. Lowly Layman

    Lowly Layman Well-Known Member

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    I've been here many times myself. Very beautiful.
     
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  17. Old Christendom

    Old Christendom Well-Known Member

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    This is the Anglican church in my hometown, the Holy Trinity Church, Diocese in Europe.

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    Built in 1822, the cream coloured square building in the neo-classical style was the design of the British consul, Henry Veitch. It is topped with a dome, and you would think you were approaching a library rather than a church. It is not certain whether Veitch designed it in the style of a round temple because he was a freemason, or whether he was influenced by Portuguese law that allowed only Roman Catholic churches to have a tower or spire. Several steps between four stone columns lead up to the entrance. Once inside there is a feeling of roundness about the church, brought about mainly by the circular gallery supported by pillars. The altar consists of a dressed communion table. The reredos is a semicircular wooden screen with a brass cross fixed at the centre, above which is a domed ceiling which has gold stars painted on a blue background. A fresco of palm trees enhances this image of a tropical setting. A wooden pulpit is on the left of the altar and to its right is a wooden lectern. To the south side is a small chapel also with a small starry domed ceiling. In the baptistery is a statue of Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt and wife of King John I of Portugal and mother of ten children, one of whom was Prince Henry the Navigator. The statue was originally placed in the church gardens on the 600th anniversary of the peace treaty of 1373 between Portugal and England.

    The Holy Trinity Church has served as the centre for Anglican worship in Madeira island for nearly 200 years and is known locally as the Igreja Inglesa (the English church). It has a small nucleus of permanent local members, but the majority of the congregation at the main Sunday service consists of visitors of many different nationalities and Christian traditions. There are two eucharists on a Sunday, one on a Wednesday, and daily morning prayer throughout the week. A notice board gives details of daily, seasonal and other services, study or devotional courses, and forthcoming social activities. The church enjoys friendly relations with the other Christian churches in Madeira, most of which are Roman Catholic and Portuguese speaking. It frequently hosts concerts of classical music.
     
  18. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    That's amazing, Old Christendom. I'd rather be there than in the majority-Anglican cultures, just for that beautiful church alone. :)
     
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  19. Old Christendom

    Old Christendom Well-Known Member

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    I usually hear the 8 a.m. mass at the side altar you can see on the right of the first picture. The liturgical orientation of the celebrant is ad orientem. Holy Communion is distributed to the people on the communion rail, with everyone kneeling.
     
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  20. Incense

    Incense Active Member

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    The altar at my Church, it is very old but I do not know how old...:blush:
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