St. Briavels Church & Castle



"The church was locked but a sunny spell offered an opportunity to take an improved exterior shot, to replace the one already on my website.
I crossed the road to the castle which is now a Youth Hostel. I was allowed in. I was amused at the stocks - I suppose rotten tomatoes would not hurt too much if one was shackled in one of those. Outside in the village I knocked on the door of what looked liked the rectory (pointy windows house on 'aerial' view).
The lady there said it was no longer the rectory but said she'd ring the rector for the key.
The rector was out but suggested the 'THE OAK HOUSE' where the organist lived. The organist was out but the organist's father - a charming gentleman and church warden - was in. He was only too pleased to give me the grand tour. After going round the church which used to have the tower above the 'cross' of the building in plan, he asked if I would like to go up the tower. This we did via a spiral staircase, trapdoor #1, step ladder, trapdoor #2, then a very steep ladder again, trapdoor #3 (all 3 being locked and padlocked and the two lower ones being counterbalanced with weights and strung with pulleys). We even dismantled the cupboard to reveal the ancient clock mechanism (see bottom photo) now powered by an electric motor. The views from the lead roof were breathtaking."
"St. Briavels' much restored church has a fair monument with (recumbent) effigies dated 1573"
To the right is a monument to Charles Court.

St. Mary's Church
Photos by John Wilkes
of Cam near Dursley, Gloucestershire
The Gloucestershire
Photo Library
:


Page composition by
Allan Taylor
Vancouver, Canada
http://www.allthecotswolds.com

Here is a description of how he went about getting the photos:

Above photo, the recumbent effigies are of the Warren family

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