09 May 2007

St Andrews Greensted-juxta-Ongar




This week's Wordless Wednesday entry.

The churuch is one of the jewels in the crown of Essex, perhaps the most maligned county in England. There has been A place of worship has been on the site of St Andrews for over 1600 years. The oldest feature, the wooden beams, are 11th century so St Andrews is the oldest wooden structure in Europe. The rest of the church is Tudor while the tower is 17th century.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are gorgeous photos. I love historical buildings! I only wish we had such a site in Canada that was 1600 years of age! Cheers from Toronto, and Happy WW!

jams o donnell said...

L'anse aux meduse must be of a similar age to the saxon timbers. Great WW post yourself Sue!

Unknown said...

Fantastic photos and as usual, I love the powerful effect of the black and white...

Anonymous said...

Love the photo--I can always count on you for an awesome photo each week.

Marc said...

very picturesque!

Happy WW!

Stacie said...

Another beautiful old church.

Anonymous said...

Real Essex is nothing like the white stillettos & XR3i image it's been given-they're all from East London!

Great photos & history, that part of the world is where one half of my family hails from, as Alison will no doubt tell you in a minute!

jams o donnell said...

THanks all. I am always glad that people like my pics!

Ah so your ancestry is Ongar then Chris? I agre about the crappy stereotype.. my own ancesty is Irish on both sides

Alison said...

I wrote a comment earlier and it's not here!!

I said, what a great choice for this week, jams. My Dad and I used to go here a lot.

Am I right in remembering there is a knight buried by the porch?

Feel free to delete this if another turns up ;-)

Shaz said...

Yet another ace WW post from you, your pics are fabulous & very interesting Jams x x x

jams o donnell said...

Thanks Shaz.. My head will expand with such comments you know!

Absolutely right Alison, there's a grave believed to be a norman knight just by the porch.

letha said...

Now I've heard of Ongar, I used to work for Detox5 and their biggest rival is based there or was (I forget which now), never been to Ongar though.

This church is amazing, it's now somewhere I want to visit before I move up North.

Cinnamon Girl said...

That is lovely, thanks for sharing. Mine is along the same lines in that it is from a cemetery ;)

Anonymous said...

its very pretty. I think with this one I like the colour picture better

L.L. Barkat said...

I love architecture. And you've captured this in such a beautiful way!

Beaman said...

Very impressive history and very interesting, especially about the wooden beams.

Melanie said...

So very beautiful!

elasticwaistbandlady said...

I'm holding back my jokes about old wood, jams!

What a gorgeous building. I can see the influence it had on modern homes. There's a 70's era neighborhood down the road with houses that look exactly like this!

The Minute Man: Colin Chang said...

History is always inspiring the future. Great shots esp the black and white!

Wendy Ann Edwina D'Cunha e Pereira said...

they were so talented in those bygone years... the church is truly beautiful

JHS said...

Lovely photos. I would really enjoy visiting.

Valtool said...

As many said, I too love the old churches. Very nice shots.

Miscellaneous-Mum said...

Why is essex maligned? I'm intrigued

Katya said...

So very beautiful...the pics leave one with a feeling of great reverence....

Anonymous said...

Happy Tuesday.

An Ordinary Mom said...

Great photos! I love the sharp lines and angles you captured.

Pearls of Wisdom said...

Great pictures as usual. This is one of my favorite blogs for WW. Thanks for sharing and Happy WW.

Angel Mama ( Pearls of Wisdom)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful photos...great church...

beakerkin said...

Okay Jams explain why Churches except for the wacky round ones in New Enland appear gothic. No self respecting horror film could ever be shot in the proximity of a round Church.

Jenn in Holland said...

Just weighing in with another WOW. Love the shots.

Melissa @ Banana Migraine said...

I love photos of old churches - beautiful!

Linda said...

Thank you for sharing the history and the photos - these are places I would most definitely like to see someday!

Laura said...

Rock on old churches - the older the better. I love places that have been consecrated to God for so long. Thanks for sharing this.

Ian Appleby said...

Jams, sorry to be off-topic, but I just wanted to say thanks for the links you provided for me last week.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it to you, but you take a mean photo, as well.

Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and Chloe said...

Wonderful old church. :) Just lovely! If only its walls could talk!

Alice (in BC Canada) said...

Awesome! I'm struck wordless with such incredible history.

Everyone is invited to my blog, hope to see you there.

jams o donnell said...

Thanks for visitign all. Ian, you're welcome!

Beakerkin.. Good question I suppose it must be the English influence.. on teh other hand there was a big gothic revival in the 19th century.. that's why the Houses of Parliament have that look...

On the other hand a gothic pile looks a damn sight more eerie than art deco!

Qtpies7 said...

Nice pictures!

The Minute Man: Colin Chang said...

Wordless Wednesday : Guess-It's answer is up! Comeon down and take a peak!