St. Mary's Tower and West Walton Parish Church: West Norfolk, UK

in #travel6 years ago (edited)

We happened to be visiting family in a small English village called West Walton, when Amanda's uncle insisted that he show us around the tower in the center of the village. You see, he was in charge of the key to the church and tower which he was very proud of! He couldn't wait to show us around.

Who knows if he was supposed to be letting anyone inside, but we were all responsible adults so we all went along to check it out. England is absolutely full of ancient structures like these. I often wonder if it would be possible for a person to explore all of them in one lifetime.

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I am just now realizing that I would just love it if I could pick which image that I'd like to show up as the preview image. With steem, you end up delivering images out of order. Oh well!

So first off, he handed Amanda the key and told her that it was a great honor and that no one was ever supposed to have the key except for him. So that was kind of cool. He she is holding the blessed key.

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All that I could think of while looking at the key was just how easy that it would be to open that door with a peace of wire. But I digress.

Next we started our walk toward the tower. We first came across this sign which reminded us of just how old the town is. It states that the community was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. Wow! This kind of thing blows my mind. Here in America there just isn't anything even close to that age. Of course there were people here, but they didn't really pollute the land with permanent structures like our European ancestors.

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After a short walk down the road, we could see the church tower off in the distance.

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One striking feature in Europe from my perspective is the 1000 year old buildings sitting right in the middle of modern neighborhoods. It looks so out of context to someone like me, but it is so common that it all starts to blend together after you've been around for awhile.

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Plaque attached to outside of tower

Once we were on the grounds I believe, we came across this sign with an illustration of the tower on it. I wondered how often they had to replace this wooden sign since it rains so much. I imagine the sign is a lot newer than it appears to be, but who knows?

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This next building is directly behind the tower. They still do church services in there as you'll see by the chairs set up in the worship area.

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I love the intricate designs on these old buildings. They really knew how to do lavish decorations back in the old times. Not just that, but these buildings were really built to last! Can you imagine a house built in 1950 still being around 1000 years? Forget that, it won't even last 150 years.

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This place is certainly showing some wear and tear though. The uncle that was showing us around was a bit frustrated at the time because the village was having trouble keeping the maintenance up. There wasn't enough money allocated to do repairs.

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Check out this crazy door. There's a big door with a smaller door in the middle. Presumably the small door is for everyday use and the larger door is for moving things in and out. But the weird thing is, the small door is really small and high up. You have to duck and step up and over to get in!

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I am beginning to wonder if my head is a little wonky. I've noticed that a lot of my pictures come out slightly clockwise. Oh well!

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Outside there are lots of gravestones. This was a bit sad for me to see because I could not make out a single word on a single stone.

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It is likely that the identity of those buried here may be lost to time. That is, of course, unless there are records in the church somewhere.

I suppose that if you are buried there, you probably don't really care much these days about who remembers you. I was told that after 100 years they dig you up and bury new bodies in your place, with land shortages and all. However, looking at these stones I'd guess that whoever is down there has been there for well longer than 100 years!

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Great discoveries in a small township - I agree, it would take several lifetimes to explore it all. The large and famous cathedrals see many visitors, but places like this are largely hidden.
I just returned from Paris and marveled at the line-up of people at the Notre Dame. I've been in it before, so this time I skipped it and just walked around the outside taking shots of gargoyles (some of which reminded me of people I know, lol).

Yeah, we went there a few years ago and walked through Notre Dame a few years back.
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I am starting to become more interested in the less explored places. By the time you visit some of these famous places, it starts to feel a bit cliche... In fact, I think I'll do some more posts from obscure places that I've visited over the years.

good choice - hey, the place looks abandoned! When I was there (2 occasions) you had to elbow your way through the crowds.
I do have some more obscure places also. But sometimes I forget where I took them.

We tend to travel at weird times when other people are working. I think it was winter when we went to France last.

I remember it being very cold and the crowds weren't too bad! I do recall another time we were there for business and it was much busier, the way you describe it.

both times I went early in October. Winters in the EU are not pleasant, but far from what I experienced in my time in Canada.

You are right about that! I grew up in Ohio in waist deep snow. I remember when we were in France, I got hot at one point and took my coat off, just wearing a tee shirt. All the locals were wearing gloves, scarves, hats and thick coats looking at me like I was not a real human. haha

haha, yes, that is funny - in Vienna also: the attire for ladies particularly, as soon as the temp drops to about 20C (just under 70F) is to bundle up in thick scarves and like you, I am out in a tee shirt. The end of the girl watching season.

Hi @nuthman ,hope you are fine. The visit to west Walton is showing that you, Amanda and her uncle enjoyed a lot. What a big key Amanda is holding .how much it weighs ?

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No idea what it weighs.. It was solid iron, though.

Beautiful edifice. I do not know why some modern building are outlasted be these ancient ones.
If you can't open the door with that key you might just have to tore it down with it it LOL. @nuthman

Haha, I know! The key doubles as a weapon.

So much history! So much beauty! And wow that key is pretty incredible....what an honor it must have been :)

Thanks! I always enjoy exploring these kinds of places.

I enjoyed your visit to St Mary's. You have a down to earth way of explaining things which fits in my head just right. :-)

Now that is a proper key!

Oh how I'd love to spend ages going through all of England's old buildings, alas I only get a portion of each year to try and do some of them.

Soon the Kentish countryside will be mine to discover a bit. We shall see what I can discover. Of course, I cannot wait to revisit one of my favourites there, Sissinghurst.

It must have been an honour to hold that key.

I haven't been to the Kent area but I have some friends who live there. I will have to go down there at some point.

I would like to explore some of the other old building around Europe as well one of these days. I want to visit Spain and Germany.

I have never been to Spain, and I have only been to Germany as a kid in a military family, so I didn't see much!

I saw that Domesday sign up there, but I read Doomsday. So I sat there for a few seconds confused. I've often wondered about how easy it would be to pick a lock that has one of those old fashioned keys too. Maybe it isn't as simple as it looks.

Don't feel bad. I saw doomsday as well! Yes, perhaps the key is more complicated than I give it credit..

Hello friend , The buildings are quite ancient as you said. The government should provide funds to keep the maintenance.

I agree. A lot of these building are protected by the government, meaning you cannot destroy them. But no one is paying to maintain them.

Very nice captures mate. England has so many ancient structures that one can visit all of them in one life time. Here in India also you can see hundreds of thousands of ancient buildings, monuments and pieces of art made by English men as from 1757-1947 India was being ruled by the British empire. I very much like the scluptures and the medieval designs of the building. Also it seems to be a nice and cloudy day for photography. Hope u didnt face rain that day.
Here in India, our annual festive season just began, just like Christmas, our Durga Puja festival is the most shouted festival in here. I wrote a photograohy post about it, hope u enjoy mate! Also I created an SBI giveaway contest, no resteem, follow or upvote is mandatory so everyone can feel free to enter. I invite you to take part in the contest mate. @nuthman 😄
Stay well and keep posting! Steem on!

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Great photos!

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