Tag: christchurch

This was a recent (24-07-2024) walk around my local town, again, in the area of the Priory.

Images. left to right, top to bottom:

• Remains of a mausoleum, apparently for one Mrs Perkins, who died in 1783. She had a “horror of being buried alive and requested that her body should not be interred but that a fabric should be erected to receive it near the entrance to the free school then in St Michael’s Loft in of the Priory so that the boys should hear if she revived”. Of course, she didn’t…
• Back (inside?) view of the mausoleum
• A general view towards the Priory
• A stream, tributary of the Avon
• An ornate pond in the gardens behind the Priory
• Bear’s breech (a species of Acanthus)

While in the gardens, behind the Priory, we found a sculpture, commemorating the 900th anniversary of the of the building of the Priory (1094-1994). It reflects a humorous picture of events and life in the long history of the Priory. The sculptor was Jonathan Sells, and work was carried out at this site from June to September 1994.

Images, clockwise top left to bottom left (taken from the placard you can see in the top right image):

• Side A – Monk climbing on the shoulder of brother monk to feed the birds in the nest. Monks studied and worked at the Priory.
• Side B – Couple getting married with ‘Flambard’ (Bishop of Durham) ringing a bell above them. Ranulf Flambard, who planned the building of the Priory in 1094, later became the Bishop of Durham. The clock face reading 9:00 represents 900 years.
• Side C – Norman soldier helping Bishop up on the crook, signifying the commencement of building the Priory Church during the Norman period. Present day Vicar of Christchurch the Reverend Hugh Williams ringing the bell. The Vicar of Christchurch is representative of the present life of the Priory
• Side D – A man from Henry VIII’s era ringing the bell whilst supporting the Vicar of Christchurch on his head with sword in other hand and kicking Monk. The Priory as we know it today was completed in the reign of Henry VIII, at this time the monastery was dissolved hence meaning of the foot against Monk

After the gardens, we headed to a local fish & chip restaurant (aptly called Priory Fryer) for a meal and drink. The restaurant had lots of old pictures of the local area on the walls, one I did a “before and after” type view:

On the left, a picture of Christchurch High Street in olden times (note the Ship Hotel if you can make it out). On the right, now (24-07-2024, note The Ship – still there)

And some general views of the High Street I took while waiting for the bus to take me home.

I recently moved to Christchurch. This would have been at the beginning of 2022. It’s a long story how I came to move here. But, in the first two years, I didn’t do much exploring, various reasons, mostly to do with health. But since my recent hospital stay (you can read more about that here ), I have a renewed interest in life…

So in recent weeks, I’ve done a bit of exploring. Not on my own, with my sister, my eldest niece and my sister’s partner, all on different days. What follows are some pictures I took, and a little detail accompanying each.

Part 1 – 2nd June 2024

This was my first excursion, with my sister. Clockwise from top left to bottom left:

• Waiting for a bus to the main part of Christchurch. This is my local pub, the Railway
• After getting off the bus, at Priory Corner. This is the ruins of the Norman House
• A view inside the ruins of the Norman House
• A mallard having a a lovely swim in the side stream next to the Norman House.
• A view across the bowling green towards Christchurch Priory
• A sign showing the Norman House and other bits of interest in the area

Continuing on from that same day, again clockwise from top left to top right, then bottom left to bottom right:

• Down the main river Avon, with a flat-bottomed punt, used for fishing
• Same view, but more zoom
• A view up the side stream (across the bridge from the Norman House in previous images
• Same view, but more zoom
• A view towards the ruins of the Great Tower (you can see this in the sign in previous images)
• A more zoomed in view of the Great Tower

Part 2 – 17th June 2024

My second excursion, this time with my sister and eldest niece. We went a bit further this time. from top left to top right, then bottom left to bottom right:

• Christchurch Priory
• Another view of the Priory
• Hmm, slightly out of order, this was a swan swimming on the river Stour, south of the Priory
• Another view of the Proiry
• A zoomed view of the Prior tower. showing the weather vane – a fish!
• A general view of the river Stour, south of the Priory, with lots of boats

Part 3 – 19th June 2024

My third excursion, this time with my sister’s partner. Clockwise top left to bottom left:

• Stocks
• The ruins of the Great Tower
• A sign, giving some detail of the Norman House from previous images, and the castle (of which the Great Tower is part of)
• A squirrel enjoying a paper straw it stole from a rubbish bin
• Not sure what this is.
• Another view of the Great Tower

Continuing on from that same day. From top left to top right, then bottom left to bottom right:

• A tree with lots of squirrels
• A leafy tunnel leading to the Priory
• A friendly blackbird
• A view of the Priory
• Another view of the Priory with its graveyard
• A view through the trees with the Prior graveyard (and the Priory just visible too)

I hope you enjoy these pictures. I will add more about Christchurch as I get out and about there.