KNOWLTON CHURCH AND HENGE

Located on Lumber Lane off the B3078 in Cranborne, Dorset, the site is just a short drive up on the right.  Access is gained through an old gate at the west side of the site.  You walk through the henge (Neolithic earthworks that form a ring which pre-dates the church by several thousand years).  The surrounding landscape is grass and I loved how wildflowers are allowed to bloom naturally on the ring which adds a softness to the church.  As to the weather , well not every day is a bright blue sky in England, and this day was no exception; A steel grey sky and the occasional spot of rain.

Example of the layout of a Norman Church

 
 

I started with my usual ‘survey’ and made my way about halfway around so that I was facing the south side of the church.  It amazing how much is still intact. Most of the walls are still standing and you can clearly see that different generations have left their marks.  The most obvious is the much later addition of the bell tower.

The design is Norman and the walls make it easy to make out original layout of the church, and their use of rounded arch doorways and flint in the construction.  The roofline is visible on the bell tower's east wall, the tower itself is attached to the Nave and to the right, through an archway is the North Aisle. Looking back from the bell tower through another arch, is the Chancel and to it's left, the North Chapel. I think that there might have been a porch just outside the Nave at one time as well. The bell tower has survived the best with the only damage at the very top.





inside the bell tower

Nothing remains of any rafters except the holes that once
supported their weight, which are now filled with grass and flowers.   

Rounded Norman arches

Standing within the walls and looking around I found myself daydreaming about what it looked like a very long time ago, and wondering who the people were who spent hours here in humble worship.  It is not very spacious, and being the only parish church for miles, it must have been very crowded. Norman churches had very little light, and what few windows that might have existed would have been little more slits so on a grey day like today it must have been very dark and gloomy. Even candlelight would have been unable to cast any large amount of light across the parishioners.

Faint traces of designs

Looking carefully I found traces of the old master artists hand in faint images of a leaf motif on one of the walls. 











There is a resolute solitude that weighs heavy in the air like a feeling of expectation.  Perhaps because it is a church an atmosphere of the past still lingers amongst it's stones. I felt comforted by this feeling and spent quite a long time roaming around, peering up the high walls, into little holes, and touching the now rough and weathered surfaces.

  

View from North Aisle thru to Nave

 

 

The church was abandoned after the village went into decline (and eventually disappeared altogether) and has been sitting empty ever since;  it's only companions the yew trees and the barrow. 

I wandered out of the church and to the east where two massive yew trees sit just beyond the crest of the henge. I thought they might have marked an entry way at one time since the ring opens there as it does in front of the bell tower. Their canopy seemed to invite me to have a closer look so I strolled up the embankment to see what was on the other side.

I was not prepared for what I found...

Strung amongst the branches were hundreds of small memorial tributes left by many different people of diverse ages and cultures.  Among them were prayers for departed loved ones, poems, a flint heart, a child’s toy, letters and words of comfort. In a way I felt like an intruder, but at the same time compelled to read them each in turn.  In the silence of this place it was a very  moving. Later when I was writing in my diary I had found it very hard to describe the emotions I experienced under those very old trees.

(Out of respect I took only a few photos and then moved on).  

 

After taking the next series of the shots I lay on the grass sipping a cup of tea just enjoying the moment. It was nice to take time to watch the clouds move across the sky, the shadows and light reflecting on these ancient stones.  After three days of nothing but the noise of airports, hotels, driving and jetlag kicking in it was nice to finally stop, really stop. 

What a spectacular way to start my holiday, sitting in a henge  thousands of years old staring at an 900 year old church!

View of the church flanked by the yew trees on the left and the barrow on the right

View from the ring



View from 'porch' through the arch to the nave

window in top of bell tower from inside
 

 

new arch construction that creates the entrance to the bell tower

 

View of the yew trees from inside the ring

View of the barrow from inside the ring

View standing inside the ring

 

View from the chancel side

Norman arched doorway from nave to what might have been a porch outside

window

View up the bell tower

Standing in the bell tower and looking back to the chancel

Another window

Looking from the chancel arch into the bell tower, the arch on the right opens to the north aisle.
You can see the different arch styles very clearly here.
 

I did not explore the barrow which is a short distance outside the ring.  When I arrived I was the only one there however, at some point a group of people had arrived from across the field and were wandering around. I decided to leave it for another visit. 

Besides, looking at my watch I saw that I had spent a very pleasant 2 or more hours meandering and daydreaming so it was time to head down the road.

I had two more churches to explore.