Frances was driven here from Swindon by a friend, and collected by Jacqueline for lunch at Elizabeth’s where they will spend the weekend. Over coffee and cake Jackie and I enjoyed a morning of reminiscences and revelations with our sister-in-law and my sister.
This afternoon, stopping off at Otter Nursery for yet more bulbs, we took a forest drive.
We got no further than the Parish Church of St John the Baptist at Boldre which took us on a virtual journey to Sydney, Australia.
At Church Lane we stopped for me to photograph reflected trees bowing over the still stream.
Around the corner we were attracted by a banner stretched on the church fence celebrating the tercentenary of the birth of Rev William Gilpin.
Unusually the doors – a memorial to John Bousquet Field, his wife, Cecilia, and their 16 year old grandson, Thomas Mostyn Field, midshipman on HMS May sunk at the Battle of Rutland in 1916 – were unlocked.
As shown by the list of incumbents on the wall, Gilpin was the vicar from 1777 – 1804.
This text from Lt Col Peter Chitty can be enlarged in the gallery, as can the following extract from Chitty’s pamphlet below.
It is Rev Richard Johnson who
takes us with the First Fleet to Botany Bay, arriving in 1788. The story, featuring in the caption beneath Brian J Down’s drawing of St Philip’s Anglican Church, can be enlarged in the gallery. When I visited Sydney in 2008 many shops carried lists of the names of those first passengers in their windows. I imagine they are still there.
Jackie produced these images of the exquisitely carved lectern
and the flower arrangements in situ.
Field horses are at home in the pastures below the church.
This evening we dined on Tesco’s Kentucky Fried Chicken; onion rings, chips, baked beans, cauliflower and its chopped leaves with which I drank more of the Haut-Médoc.
Interesting history and forest drive, Derrick.
What an unusual combination of food as well as church decorations.
Every church has a story to be told.
What interesting history!
What wonderful photos, Jackie and Derrick! (I am always fascinated by door and window photos! These you included here are fabulous!)
What a lovely forest drive!
Hope The Gals have a great and fun fun fun time! 🙂
(((HUGS))) ❤️❤️❤️
I liked the lectern and the bowed tree in an interesting post.
First Fleet to Botany Bay – One of the first events every Australian child learns about in a history class.
Lovely photos – as usual – Derrick. We visited Sydney last year and I confess I didn’t go into a single church, which is unlike me. Did you mean Queen Mary at the Battle of Jutland?
Boldre ; now there’s a name. I believe, but I have been known to be wrong now and then, that this town gave its name to Rolf Boldrewood the pen name of Thomas Browne who wrote “Robbery Under Arms”. Browne was an ancestor of the mother of my first wife.
Churches are filled with stories
An insightful interesting article about the beginnings of Australia’s colonization …
I love the eagle!
The history is both fascinating and thought provoking. It’s amazing how people travelled all those distances and defined new places which in turn defined them.
What interesting history Derrick. I have been craving fried chicken, that was my kind of meal!