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Sites Anne T has logged on trip number: 91 (View all trips)
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St Mungo's Church (Bromfield)
Trip No.91 Entry No.1 Date Added: 15th Aug 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
St Mungo's Church (Bromfield) submitted by Anne T on 10th Jul 2018. The dark red semi-circular stone is (the remains of) AS Corpus Bromfield 04, a 10th century hogback, as seen from the inside of the south porch. Located above the main door of the church, we stood for ages trying to make out the original hogback. The wavy edge at the top of this dark red sandstone is the only clue. According to the AS Corpus photos, the hogback can be better seen from inside the church, but the church was locked, so we were unable to see.
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Log Text: St Mungo's Church, Bromfield: We'd arranged with the church warden for the church to be left open for us for an hour or so this morning, so this was our first stop on a 'five church stop' tour. We were looking forward to finding cross head and cross shaft fragments, and to being able to see the reverse side of the hogback stone above the doorway.
Whilst it looks quite daunting from the outside, the inside of the church is lovely, with some unique features, such as unusual corbels and the chancel arch, which is 'transitional between Norman and Gothic styles'.
I found the cemented remains of the cross head cemeted to the west end of the north aisle, and had to remove umbrellas and a carpet sweeper to see it. It was very cobwebby, and looked sadly neglected.
AS Corpus Bromfield 02 was in two pieces. There was a collection of old stones in the north transept, and we needed to move a low bench and a collection of chairs to be able to see this.
The hogback from the other side (inside the church) was much more convincing, and there was also a consecration cross on the right hand door jamb of the south door. Well worth returning to see.
St Mary's Church (Gilcrux)
Trip No.91 Entry No.2 Date Added: 16th Aug 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
St Mary's Church (Gilcrux) submitted by Anne T on 10th Jul 2018. We may not have been able to see the Viking cross head and shaft fragment, but we did spot this underneath the window in the southern external wall of the sanctuary. The notes inside the church say it is the remains of a grave slab, recut for use as a lintel.
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Log Text: St Mary's Church, Gilcrux: The little car park outside the church was full (3 cars and a Water Board van), so we had to park just west of the well and walk back to the church – only a little way. The church door was open for us this time.
This is a remarkable little church inside. At first site, the nave appears more like a Methodist chapel – at first glance. Then my gaze lit on the archway into the chancel, with a ‘squint’ over the right hand column and a chunk taken out of the eastern side of the left hand column. Walking into the chancel is very reminiscent of Escombe Saxon Church – this place is ancient and very peaceful.
The collection of stones was underneath a table against the south wall, near the porch, so we turned into furniture removers, carefully taking the notice board, vases and loose notices off the table, then moving the table to examine and photograph the pieces.
We managed to put together the pieces of the cross head and part of the shaft, and photographed two sides. One of the pieces left white, chalky marks on our hands, and is very white against the grey of the other two pieces. This is clearly the cast of the upper part of the cross head.
We closed the church door to indicate to the keyholder we’d been in and left again, and walked round to the north side of the church, where it is very obvious that the church has been built on a mound.
There was no church guide book, but there were some ‘notes for visitors’ which I photographed, and have typed into my walk journal.
The spring was in full flow, and it was lovely to hear it babbling away. Brilliant. Definitely worth a return visit.
St Mungo's Dearham
Trip No.91 Entry No.4 Date Added: 16th Aug 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
St Mungo's Dearham submitted by coin on 29th Mar 2017. The Viking Cross at Dearham
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Log Text: St Mungo's Church, Dearham: AS Corpus Dearham 03 and The Adam Stone: This was a return visit. pre-arranged with the lovely Reverend Mary, who drove from Crosscanonby to very kindly unlock the door of the vestry to show us AS Corpus Dearham 03, part of a cross-head.
We also saw the Adam Stone. Mary moved the knitted figures of Jesus and Peter and invited me to climb on the pew to get a better photograph. We felt so welcome, we didn’t really want to leave!
St John The Evangelist (Crosscanonby)
Trip No.91 Entry No.3 Date Added: 17th Aug 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
St John The Evangelist (Crosscanonby) submitted by Anne T on 17th Aug 2018. Face D of AS Corpus Cross Canonby 03, also known as The Thunder Bolt Stone. The Corpus tells us this face shows: "the incised ornament consisting of a single horizontal line on which converge three incised lines from above and below." This is the famous 'thunder bolt' symbol.
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Log Text: St John The Evangelist, Crosscanonby: We had arranged to meet the Reverend Mary at the church at 2pm. Between Gilcrux and here we had an hour to spare, so went into Cockermouth for lunch and a quick walk round the town. Travelling through Dearham and across the A596 to Crosscanonby, as we dropped down a small hill after having crossed the A596, we realised how close this church is to the Solway Firth (according to UK Grid Finder measurements its 900m).
This little church is side on to the road, and is virtually invisible until you reach the gate into the churchyard, although the ‘this church is open’ board gave something away.
I’d not looked at the AS Corpus notes I’d brought, but straight away we spotted the hogback against the south eastern corner of the nave.
Walking inside was a real treat. This is clearly a very old building. Reverend Mary (just ‘Mary’ she said) told us this church used to be the mother church for Maryport and the farm house next door (to the west of the church) used to be part of the monastery; the monks used to process from the monastery to the church; rumour has it there is a tunnel from the farmhouse to the church, but it’s never been found.
The church is pretty special, although I focussed on photographing the stones in the porch whilst Andrew spoke to Mary about the structure of the building, as I was conscious of taking up Mary’s time and we needed her to come across to Dearham to open the vestry for us. I’d love to go back and spend more time here.
St Bridget's Church (Bridekirk)
Trip No.91 Entry No.5 Date Added: 18th Aug 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
St Bridget's Church (Bridekirk) submitted by Sunny100 on 19th Apr 2011. Illustration of The Cross-Head fragment at St Bridget's Church, Bridekirk, Cumbria, by Rev William Slater Calverley 1847-98.
The above image is from his renowned work 'Early Sculptured Crosses, Shrines and Monuments in the Present Diocese of Carlisle 1899 Ed. by W.G. Collingwood.
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Log Text: Font with Runic inscription, St. Bridget's, Bridekirk: We had an hour to fill between appointments between churches, so headed off to Bridekirk to see the font with runic inscription, which we'd missed during our last visit on 1st May 2015. The notice said the church was "normally open during daylight hours" but on this occasion the main door appeared to be bolted at the top from the inside, so we couldn't get in. This time, not having a six month old granddaughter with us, we walked round the outside of the church and noticed a collection of old grave slabs displayed against the exterior of the apse at the east end of the church, including an old cross base. None of these in mentioned on Pastscape.
Checking back in my photos, I had taken a photograph of the font. The middle band (when enlarged) does indeed have a runic inscription on it.
St Mungo's Well (Cumbria)
Trip No.91 Entry No.8 Date Added: 18th Aug 2018
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
St Mungo's Well (Cumbria) submitted by ocifant on 26th Jun 2005. Looking at the various maps, the location of this well is difficult to discern. It's actually easy to find once you get to the church though.
From St Kentigern's in Caldbeck, walk through the churchyard from the road, and exit via the rear gate. Cross the footpath to the river. Immediately on entering the river path, there are a couple of steps down to the riverbank. These lead to the well.
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Log Text: St Kentigern's Well, Caldbeck: This was our last stop of the day, and to a part of Cumbria we've never travelled through before. From St. Bridget's in Brigham, we followed the B5299 to Caldbeck village, which took us over cattle grids and moorlands, with only sheep and the occasional other car in sight.
Caldbeck is a really pretty little village, and we resolved to come back during the daytime, when the shops, church and café were open.
The well can be easily found by walking down the footpath to the west of the church, until you get to the bridge over the river. As it says in the "Holy Wells of Cumbria" booklet, turn left just before the bridge, and you immediately come to some steps down the (steep-ish) bank to the river. We heard the trickle of water down the slope, and the well basin comes into view as you look down. At the time of our visit the water missed the basin and was trickling down the rock, under the shrubbery, into the river. There was a fair flow of water coming down the bank.
We walked along the footpath along the northern side of the churchyard for about 100mand found a lovely weir with small waterfalls. It was possible to walk down to the gravel beach. A lovely spot indeed.
Chantry Well (Brigham)
Trip No.91 Entry No.6 Date Added: 18th Aug 2018
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition -1 Ambience 2
Chantry Well (Brigham) submitted by Anne T on 16th Aug 2018. This is the approximate site of the Chantry Well, as pointed out by the church warden of St. Bridgets, and as recorded by Pastscape Monument 9025 and the Old Cumbria Gazetteer. A new mains water pipeline is being driven through the field, although it was previously recorded the well was destroyed by quarrying. Some marshy ground still remains fenced off in the corner by the red arrow.
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Log Text: Chantry Well, Brigham (Destroyed) The Reverend Mary told us there was a holy well at Brigham. There are actually 2 listed – Chantry Well and Nun’s Well, next to the A66.
Mr. Furness, the church warden also mentioned the well, but said it was no longer there. In the field opposite the church, a new water pipeline is being constructed. In the field to the south a new housing estate is also being built. There is no access into the field because of the building works, but the grid reference gives a point where the tree line bends.
St Bridget's Church (Brigham)
Trip No.91 Entry No.7 Date Added: 18th Aug 2018
Site Type: Ancient Cross
Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2018. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
St Bridget's Church (Brigham) submitted by Anne T on 18th Aug 2018. This is Brigham 05, part of a cross-head dating to the 10th century. It was first recorded in 1881, presumed to have been found in restorations of 1864 or 1875-6. Note the curly haired naked figure, with his right hand and a snake (or interlace) bound across his stomach. His left hand is described as having an open palm, lying above the interlace of the right arm.
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Log Text: St Bridget's, Brigham (Anglo Saxon Stones): Whilst this church looks very austere from outside, and the entrance doors dark and foreboding, once inside the church, it is a completely different picture – this church is light, airy and welcoming. The painted ceilings are fantastic.
The church warden turned up as arranged, and was so welcoming. He sought out a guide to the church and old postcards for information, then left me photographing the stones whilst Andrew walked round the church with him.
Time was all too short here, and I could have spent another hour, but we knew the church warden needed to get home, and the evening traffic was building up outside. In our haste, we missed Brigham 13, a cross base at the west end of the church (I thought I’d photographed it, as we went through all the AS Corpus pages I’d brought with me, but realised (too late) it wasn’t the correct stone).
After looking at the Fletcher family grave (now very worn and held together with large staples, I walked over to the west end of the churchyard to look at the farmhouse, which used to be the rectory for the farm).
We also looked for the site of Nun's Well, but were unable to see anything.