The Crypt at St. Marys Lastingham
Last month I posted a photograph of the crypt at Lastingham that is over a thousand years old. There are only two possible points of view to photograph in this tiny space. The earlier shot was taken from the steps looking towards the alter. This is the reverse, I think I prefer it, the steps are like a time machine . When you walk up them you are travelling from the 11th to the 13th centuries. When you leave St Marys Church you are back in the modern world. Not a bad trip to make in this small little village in North Yorkshire
I have put the earlier shot in the comments so you can compare them should you wish
Lastingham is in the North York Moors National Park and its village church St Marys is itself very old. However it’s when you enter the church and go down the steep stone steps in the centre of the nave that you really begin to travel in time.
There are records that suggest a monastery was founded on this site in about AD650 . Around AD 725 the first stone church was built, and Cedd an important missionary from Lindisfarne human remains were reburied beside the altar. Stephen of Whitby refounded the Saxon monastery as a Benedictine house in 1078. Stephen built this present crypt over the place where Cedd was believed to have been buried. The crypt has been relatively unchanged for well over a thousand years.
I have not visited the Crypt for many years and it was a great pleasure to descend again into this remarkable space, which has a strange quality of calm.I would agree with Simon Jenkins, author of England's Thousand Best Churches, when he calls the Norman crypt of St Mary's church in Lastingham 'one of England's special places'. He’s certainly right.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A COMMENT IT’S MUCH APPRECIATED.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW MY STREAM I SUGGEST YOU OUGHT TO READ MY PROFILE FIRST
The Crypt at St. Marys Lastingham
Last month I posted a photograph of the crypt at Lastingham that is over a thousand years old. There are only two possible points of view to photograph in this tiny space. The earlier shot was taken from the steps looking towards the alter. This is the reverse, I think I prefer it, the steps are like a time machine . When you walk up them you are travelling from the 11th to the 13th centuries. When you leave St Marys Church you are back in the modern world. Not a bad trip to make in this small little village in North Yorkshire
I have put the earlier shot in the comments so you can compare them should you wish
Lastingham is in the North York Moors National Park and its village church St Marys is itself very old. However it’s when you enter the church and go down the steep stone steps in the centre of the nave that you really begin to travel in time.
There are records that suggest a monastery was founded on this site in about AD650 . Around AD 725 the first stone church was built, and Cedd an important missionary from Lindisfarne human remains were reburied beside the altar. Stephen of Whitby refounded the Saxon monastery as a Benedictine house in 1078. Stephen built this present crypt over the place where Cedd was believed to have been buried. The crypt has been relatively unchanged for well over a thousand years.
I have not visited the Crypt for many years and it was a great pleasure to descend again into this remarkable space, which has a strange quality of calm.I would agree with Simon Jenkins, author of England's Thousand Best Churches, when he calls the Norman crypt of St Mary's church in Lastingham 'one of England's special places'. He’s certainly right.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A COMMENT IT’S MUCH APPRECIATED.
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW MY STREAM I SUGGEST YOU OUGHT TO READ MY PROFILE FIRST