Boy Do We Have A Church!

It's a pity that we are not religious as we've just discovered that our local church is not only a wonderful historic building but also houses some of the most fabulous religious artifacts we've ever seen. Of course we'd read about the church plenty of times when we were researching where to move to but imagined most of these glowing reports to be tinged with a touch of  exaggeration to attract tourists. We thought that we would save a visit until we were settled in and had some visitors to stay. But with another house full of workers today (two kitchen fitters, the landscape gardener and the men delivering the new garden office (at last)) we felt it best to escape the upheaval and brought our visit forward. We discovered that the reports were far from hyperbole and, if anything, slightly understated.  

We popped into the Lemon Tree for an excellent light lunch (squid and chorizo salad and a veggie burger) before heading across the road to the church. 

St Michael's dates from medieval times.

This is the amazing church organ. My photo doesn't do it justice. It dates from the 1600's and is ornately carved and finely painted.

This fragment of medieval art is more complete than that we saw recently in Rochester Cathedral.

The Duke Of Norfolk's tomb is as spectacular as any you are likely to see anywhere not just in the UK. It is a masterpiece that easily matched some of the works you might find in Renaissance Italy.

And that's just one of several spectacular tombs inside the church. Here is another.

The fourteenth century font is another medieval masterpiece.

And the church interior is of near cathedral proportions.

We didn't have long to explore the building today and I reckon it's somewhere that we can go back to again and again and always discover something new. 

It certainly humbles our own "Grand Design" but, after feeling fed up earlier in the week, we're starting to see some signs of progress.

  

Marion's Southwold Beach Hut potting shed is going up.

And Tony has put the curve into the lawn area and prepared the groundworks for the paths and the small patio outside the office. It almost looks like we're planning go-karting in the garden. 

We still feel a bit like prisoners in our home but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we've got two weeks in the caravan to look forward to soon. Maybe when we get back we'll be nearly finished and ready to settle properly into our new life here in this wonderful little town.