Dodging today’s rain, Jackie and I made a little more progress in weeding the soggy rose garden soil.
When we visited Romsey Abbey on 14th December 2014 this turned out to be a very significant day in relation to Judy Walker, the author of ‘Romsey Abbey through the centuries’, a fascinating history that I finished reading today.
I bought the book from the Abbey shop during that visit . The reason can be gleaned by clicking on the highlighted name.
Local histories, I find, are sometimes the product of keen researchers who don’t write very well, and are often stronger on detail than on analysis. Consequently they can be rather boring. Not so this one. Walker is clearly a thorough researcher who writes very well. The foundation stones of her subject, originally a Benedictine nunnery, were laid down towards the end of the first millennium, so she covers more than a thousand years in her little book. She offers architectural, ecclesiastical, political, and social history in a very readable manner, setting it in national and international contexts. A product of Romsey Abbey Publications the paperback is of good quality with sound binding and lasting paper. There are a number of useful illustrations spanning the centuries.
This view of the church from the south-east was drawn by C.E.Mallows in 1895. Does it include a Victorian selfie?
I was intrigued to spot just three spellcheck errors, all on the same page. One referred to ‘Kind John’, certainly a howler for ‘King John’, who would hardly have warranted such an epithet.
This evening we dined on a meal from Hordle Chinese Take Away followed by Normandy Apple Tart and custard. Jackie drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Reserve des Tuguets madiran 2012.