Day 2 - Chasing Chiltons Tuesday - part 3

And that brings us to the Church of St. Paul Without the Walls, Canterbury.

Probably built in the 13th century and partially rebuilt in 1876.  The Chiltons worshipped here 1586-1589 and in 1599 and at least 3 of the children were baptised here.

It was really nice of the Rector, Canon Noelle Hall, to meet us at the church and let us in - she explained the history of the church and went over the Parish records with Dave (needless to say, he was THRILLED!) -

I loved the altar area - and it's nice that this is still an active parish church...

The memorials on each side were beautiful -

and what I thought was cloth or wallpaper, was actually tile!

 The Daniels (above) had several memorials.

 

Afterward, we headed for Richard's (Jenny's husband) place of work - the The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) - in Canterbury -

I agree with Jenny that this thing is just creepy!
what a terrible window display for a serious institution.

And, of course there was much discussion over records and cool things to see...

we were having a great time!

 

The walk to dinner afforded us a glimpse of the Christ Church Gate and part of the Cathedral (since we didn't have time to look at anything more, we will, of course, have to go back!)

West Gate

 

And on the way back to the train station, we got a quick look of the City's medieval walls -

 

What a great day!  Family, Friends, and Stuff to See!
Looking forward to going back!

Day 2 - Chasing Chiltons Tuesday - Part 2

The second church, in Canterbury proper, was St. Martin's Parish - it was built during the Roman occupation of Britain and is mentioned in Bede's History (completed in 731) - it was here that the Chiltons worshipped from 1593-1596.  There are at least 900 graves and the oldest date than can be read is 1686...their literature states that it's the oldest church in continuous use in the English-speaking world.

the tower is from the 14th century and has 3 bells, the largest was made in 1393

the font was constructed from a well head in the Cathedral cloisters made between 1155-1165; additional Chilton children were baptised here

and, as with St. Peter's, there was plenty to see...

the altar cloth is made from hand-painted silk with embellishment of the Alpha/Omega whorl in plaited silk

 



there were even the expected heads at the end of arches!

and, again, it was too bad we had to go meet the Rector at the next church, because the grounds were exactly the kind we enjoy wandering around...