![]() ![]() ![]() The poet John Betjeman was a fan of what he called 'church crawling' (visiting several in a day) because he said it 'introduces you to the history of the country'.Īt St Lawrence's, in the Norfolk village of Harpley, he sees a name scratched into a window. Meanwhile, St Mary The Virgin in Whitby is now so famous because of a certain book that 'a sign has been placed on the door advising visitors to please stop asking for directions to Dracula's grave'.īut most of the venues are run-of-the-mill. At St Paul's he learns that when its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, burning sheets of paper fell 20 miles away.Īt nearby St Mary-le-Bow, the famous bells are each engraved with a biblical quotation, their first letters combining to spell 'D WHITTINGTON'. Some of his destinations are the superstars. He still loves them as buildings and his travels make for a very interesting book. A stonemason at Gloucester Cathedral hated the 'hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness' of Catholicism, while Ross himself 'left the church, but churches never quite left me'. One atheist explains: 'I needed beauty in my life and I found it inside churches.' Even some who retain a faith still reject organised religion. At St Mary-le-Bow, the famous bells are each engraved with a biblical quotation, their first letters combining to spell 'D WHITTINGTON' ![]()
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