Just Call Us Accidental Tourists

DH and I had the chance to get down to the London Temple yesterday, and after spending some quality time there, we took another route home. Actually, we just turned right at the roundabout instead of left..

Our wanderings landed us in the wonderful village of East Grinstead, Sussex. As we were trying to figure out what to do, or where to turn around, I spotted a lovely church tower in the near distance. We found a car park, and got out for a stroll.

What we found was this--


Now, there is no shortage of charming, lovely churches here in England. In fact, almost every village has one. But look at the turbulent history of this building--

We stepped inside to take a peek, and were met with some beautiful stained glass. The windows tell many stories, from the history of the building itself, to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.





Here's a photo of the altar at one end of the church:

And the organ with all of its pipes at the other end:

Our favorite stained glass window was this one:

The three series of panes on the bottom tell the story of Christ teaching the multitude from a boat (Mark 4).

And the middle three panes show the miracle of turning water to wine at the wedding feast (John 2). If you look closely at the series of panes on the right you can see the water changing color as it flows down.

Just gorgeous.

Outside on the grounds there were many headstones and memorial markers, most of which were so eroded by the elements that we couldn't read them. This marker in the actual interior floor of the church was interesting to me...

It reads, "Here lyeth Anne Barcley, sometyme wyfe unto Henry Barcley, doctor of lawe deceassed the 12 of May 1570."

I love the old spelling, as well as the phrase "sometyme wyfe".

It was an amazing building.

And just across the street was a row of 14th century timber row houses. Check out the slant of those windows!




We feel so fortunate to have this time here in England. It's so fun to take a different turn and see where the road takes you. Sometimes you stumble upon treasure.

If you'd like to learn more about East Grinstead, check out the link. I will warn you that is only wikipedia, so take it for what it's worth.