St Mary's Church, Kingswood
We will forever be grateful to this church and its custodians for the knowledge they gave us and the act they were kind enough to show us around both the church and the abbey gatehouse. What was supposed to be a flyby visit ended up being an educational tour with a recommendation (to Tintern Abbey) and we now hold this place, and it's slightly leaky roof, in our hearts.
Now St Mary's is actually quite a rare church, and this is because it was one of the few churches that were built during the reign of George I. When the Big Bully King dissolved the monasteries, specifically Kingswood in 1539, the people here continued to worship in the Lady Chapel. However, by 1719 it had become unsafe and as the community had a right to worship, a new church was required. St Mary's was commissioned and built in 1723 allowing for an unbroken thread of worship that was able to last for almost 1,000 years.
This site is rather special as some of the graves here are ancient and predate the church itself which is a bit unusual, but we rather morbidly love it when it happens. The church itself was then renovated in the 19th century and altered quite a bit from the original Georgian design. It gained an entrance porch, Gothic windows, and a transept that boasts a wide English style arch.
The rather pretty bell turret which housed a few pigeons when we visited is also home to a clock mechanism which also predates the church. There is also a bell in there which holds the inscription 'God Save our Queen (Anne) and Church'. A little bit later, after the bell was enclosed, 8 tubular bells joined it.
The church has seen better days for sure, but is still active and in need as it accepts donations. We really enjoyed our time in Kingswood and they are so friendly here!
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images are ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
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