Bath Abbey

In the middle of town, or as they call it here, the City Centre, there is an absolutely gorgeous Abbey.  Any time I walk through or by the City Centre, which is quite often as I live on one side of town and attend class on another and practically anywhere else I'd want to go is either in or next to the City Centre, I end up passing the Abbey.  I will say that seeing the Abbey is the highlight of each one of those walks.

The site has a history of twelve and a half centuries.  During this time three different churches have occupied the same spot.  The Bath Abbey website describes them as follows:

• An Anglo-Saxon Abbey Church dating from 757, pulled down by the Norman conquerors of England soon after 1066;
• A massive Norman cathedral begun about 1090. It was larger than the monastery could afford to maintain and by the end of the 15th century was in ruins;
• The present Abbey church founded in 1499, ruined after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 by order of Henry VIII, was completed in 1611.

I wish I could say the church is still a Catholic church, as that is how it began.  However, everyone knows Henry VIII's changing of British Christianity and as referenced above, dissolution of monasteries and other Catholic structures.  The church is now Anglican.  It is nonetheless incredibly beautiful and very effective (in my opinion) in drawing the eyes Heaven-wards.

I first just went into the Abbey to explore and admire it's intricate and fantastic embellishments.  Today I went on the tower tour, which took us up 212 steps to the room of the Abbey, with stops behind the clock face, in the ringing room, next to the bells themselves, and on two different levels of the roof.  From the top we had a bird's eye view of Bath.  I got some truly amazing pictures.  The tour cost six pounds, but I think that was the best six pounds I've spent in all the time I've been here (food included).

I think there's a limit to how many pictures I can put in any one post and I don't want to sell any element of the Abbey short.  So I think I'll just have to have several posts dedicated to the Abbey.  This will also be good.  I intend on going back and buying one of the official guides, so that I can explore and learn about every nuance, every stained glass character, everything.  Today, I'll focus on the windows.

The windows of the Abbey are so beautiful!  At the lower level and in the soaring window behind the altar, there are several stained glass panes.  The rich colors are so pretty!  Below are some examples.

The Easter candle with some beautiful stained glass behind it.  I might be a little too proud of this picture.  The Easter candle is very prominent in the Anglican Church as well as in the Catholic Church.

The window behind the altar.  It's a little harder to see.  It's really stunning though!

The upper level of the Abbey has clear windows with a sort of grated or latticed design.  They are wonderful for letting in light.  From the outside of the Abbey you can also see through these windows out the windows on the other side and the effect is really neat.  See the picture below.

WOAH!!!!  Here you should be thinking, "Yeah Jane, that is pretty neat.  You really have an eye for architectural beauty."  Probably.

Here's a picture of the clear windows from inside:

You're probably thinking now:  This is really cool, but what's the point of having two different kinds of windows?  What do they even look like together?  My response to the first question would be that I have absolutely no idea.  My response to the second:  They look unbelievably amazing.  Check out these pictures.

This one shows the levels of the church.  The clear windows are in the tall center of the church.  The stained glass ones are lower and line the lower ceiling-ed sides.  I think this picture kind of shows what I like about both.  The stained glass provides decoration and devotional pictures while the clear ones let the light in.

This is not from the main altar, where the stained glass goes all the way to the roof of the Abbey but from one of the side wings, another place where the stained glass goes as high as the clear glass.  Don't they look wonderful together.

I'm tempted to post more pictures of windows, but I'm afraid I couldn't tell enough about them.  I hope to learn the Abbey inside out and post a few more times on it and visit several more.  One of the great things about studying in such a small city is that I can get to learn a few places very well, which is how I prefer to travel.  I've just been today to the park and a path literally five minutes walk from my house that were among Jane Austen's favorite places to walk.  Along with the Abbey, those are my favorite places in town.  I'll post on them very soon.

If I find any more windows worth posting on, I'll definitely put them up!  Tomorrow, the whole program is headed to Stonehenge and Glastonbury.  I'll post on that too.  Goodness!!!  It seems I'll have a lot to report on.  I miss the States, but I'm having a blast over here.  You're all in my prayers!  Hopefully I'll get the first batch of postcards out soon....