CROWLAND. CROYLAND ABBEY

Took this remarkable building in the second week in November, and it was very cold and blustery in Crowland. So much so that at times I had difficulty keeping the camera still when shooting outside.

Before I even reached the Abbey I fell in love with the Trinity Bridge, which can be found just down the road.

 This is a triangular bridge dating from the 14th century, and it is now a bridge over nowhere as the course of the two rivers that it used to bridge have been altered over the years.

  The Abbey was founded in the 8th Century, with St Guthlac living there as a hermit from the years 699 until 714. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539, and over the centuries large sections of the building have collapsed. The building itself has had a torrid history. It was ransacked by the Danes in AD 870 with the then Abbott Theodore being murdered. There was also a disastrous fire in AD 1091, in which the entire building was razed to the ground. The Abbey was re-built, but suffered another fire in the 12th Century, with some reports stating that the Abbey was also damaged in an earthquake at one point!

  As well as the obvious damage, a closer look shows that many of the statues have been defaced over the years, with many heads missing and faces obliterated. Some of this damaged would have occurred during the English Civil Way when the Abbey was under seige for three months. The nave roof collapsed in 1720.

  The North Aisle of the Abbey is used as the Parish church today, and this is about an eighth the size of what the building would have been before 1539.

  Whilst I was visiting the Abbey, a willing band of volunteers was doing some work inside. They obviously had a great love of the building, and were keen to tell me some of the history, which I was keen to hear.

  It seemd as if everywhere that you turned here there was a photo opportunity! When I got home and looked at the shots taken, it was astonishing the detail in the photographs from high up that I had not noticed at ground level. In the grounds, there were some of the most ornate grave stones that I had come across.

  I made the trip back to Crowland Abbey to take in their August Bank Holiday Flower Festival. A very friendly guide showed me a fascinating external feature of the Abbey, which was a carving of Halley's Comet, which was said to have been visible when Medieval stonemasons were working on the Abbey. I was also very taken with the grave of William of Wermington, master stonemason and benefactor to the Abbey. The stone, with his effigy carved in to it, dates from 1427 and is on display inside the Abbey.