Glastonbury Abbey

Yesterday we also went to Glastonbury!  The Abbey there is in ruins, however, because it was ransacked during the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in 1539.  The abbot at Glastonbury was one of the few to put up a fight and was hung, drawn, and quartered on top of Glastonbury Tor, a place I'll post about later.

The site is very pretty and is surrounded by rich Somerset mythology.  The myth that makes it most famous in England is that it is the supposed burial place of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere.  However, this may be, as the British would say, a "dubious" possibility, as the finding of the King and Queen's bones coincided with a decline in the Abbey's popularity among pilgrims.  They were found in 1191 at one site and re-interned in a black marble tomb inside the Abbey in 1278 with King Edward I watching.

 This is where Arthur and Guinevere are said to have originally been found.

This is the site of the former black stone tomb in which the were reburied.  The sign reads:  "Site of King Arthur's Tomb.  In the year 1191 the bodies of King Arthur and his Queen were said to have been found on the South Side of the Lady Chapel.  On 19th April 1278 their remains were removed in the presence of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor to a black marble tomb on this site.  This tomb survived until the dissolution of the Abbey in 1539."

Now I have some sweet pictures of ruins!

A wall.

The wall in the picture before this runs to the right of this picture.  The Abbey was huge!

The corner of a ruined abbey is a lovely place for a bench.

View of the Abbey from the Edgar Chapel, which is behind the high altar.  The Abbey goes beyond the two tall things at the end.  Quite expansive.

Shameless selfy.  Me with some ruins.

I think this is very pretty.

Look at the flowers growing on the ruins!

That's all for now.  We have an incredibly early start tomorrow.  We're going to Cornwall and to the Atlantic Coast for the weekend!  It should be fun, but even if I went to bed now and got up 10 minutes before they were picking us up, I'd only be getting about 7 hours of sleep, and I still need to pack!  Thanks for reading!  More soon!

Stonehenge!

I went to Stonehenge today!  Holla!!!

They warned us before we went that a lot of tourists find Stonehenge somewhat underwhelming.  Apparently, everyone has such high expectations of it, that when they actually see it, they're not very impressed.  Possibly due to this warning, I had reasonable expectations and ended up being extremely impressed!  The stones are huge!

The history of Stonehenge is even more amazing.  It was long thought that the site was the work of the Druids, a religious cult existing around 250 BC.  However, Stonehenge WAY predates the Druids, going all the way back to about 3100 BC.  It was built in three stages:  1.  A circular ditch and bank are dug and the Heel Stone, is placed outside.  The midsummer sun was to rise over the Heel Stone.  (3100 BC)  2.  Two circles of bluestones were set up inside this bank and ditch.  They weigh about five tons each and came all the way from Wales 240 miles away!  (2150 BC)  3.  A large circle of stones linked with lintels is built.  Inside this a horseshoe formation is built.  (2000 BC).

What I find the most interesting is that no one knows who built it.  No one really knows why it was there.  There are some theories.  Maybe people came there to be healed.  Maybe they came to worship their dead.  It certainly has some astronomical and apparently tribal or religious significance.  The complete lack of certainty makes the place very mysterious and all the more interesting.  Why is it there?  Who put it there and where did they go?  Why did they drag these massive stones all the way from Wales?  What is the significance of that exact location?

At one point, people were carting stones away from Stonehenge for other uses, but it was eventually decided that the site should be maintained.  The first recorded foreign visitor was the Swiss Herman Folkerzheimer in 1562 and it has been a tourist attraction every since.

It's kind of cool because it's in the middle of pretty run-of-the-mill countryside.  In addition to this, there are two roads running right near it.  Imagine driving by Stonehenge every day on your way to work!  It was really cool.  I was sleeping on the bus and I suddenly woke up and we were at Stonehenge!  Anyways, enough about that.  Here are some pictures.

This is what Stonehenge originally looked like, or what it various evidence suggests it probably looked like.  Note the horseshoe and two circles inside the larger circle.

         
WOAH!  I'm at Stonehenge!  I'm even pointing at it.

The stones.  I think it's just so awesome!  This was also before the rain.

Countryside and SHEEP!

                    
A view of the stones from the other side.

        
A nice college-student, touristy, American shot at Stonehenge.  The weather is also crazy.  It will go from being sunny and completely clear one second to raining and really windy the next.  Everyone was right.  It is really cold and it rains here a lot.  But there are periods of nice weather too.

I also went to Glastonbury and visited the Glastonbury Abbey ruins, which are surrounded by a good deal of Arthurian legend and the Glastonbury Tor, which is way on top of a hill and surrounded by beautiful countryside and its own bit of history.  But right now, I have a lot of homework.  So I'll get to those when I'm done!

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....

Chapter One: The Arrival

Well, I've arrived in Bath. 

Here's all I have to stay so far.  Dublin has a pretty sweet airport.  Their signs are in Gaelic and English.  If that's not cool then I don't know what it.  Also, one of the first things I saw was a huge American flag.  As my eloquent brother would say, "Whipped."  If you don't get it, don't worry.  It probably just means you're sane.  Anyways, here's proof:

Anyways, the airport at London seemed smaller than I expected.  Maybe I just expected such a huge buzzing metropolis that it could never even hope to meet my expectations.  The bus to Bath took me to, of all places, Bath.  And now I'm here. 

In fact, I'm writing this in an absolutely adorable room in an absolutely adorably townhouse with an excellent view and precious garden.  Tomorrow we get our full orientation of the city.  What's expected of us academically, where various places are, where to find cheap groceries, hopefully where to find a brush...I forgot one.  I've also learned that I have to read Emma and Persuasion in addition to the two Jane Austen novels I read for the course.  I'm very excited to read more Jane Austen, but I will certainly be busy.

I've done a bit of wandering around the city.  It's absolutely beautiful; it has exceeded my expectations.  The weather has been good, i.e. sunny, somewhat warm, and only threatening rain.  I'll post more later, but for now my favorite part of the city (by far) is Bath Abbey.  I took pictures from practically every angle.  I'll probably write a whole post about it once I take the tour.  But for now:

Isn't that gorgeous?  Of course it is.  And it's also bedtime in England.  More later!

Book the First: Janie Goes to England

In one week's time I will be on a plane to Dublin, from which will I will board a flight to London's Heathrow Airport and from there take a coach to the city of Bath, situated in the south western part of England.  I will be studying with Advanced Studies in England and taking two English courses.  Jane Austen in Bath and Transatlantic Romanticism (a comparative course on the English and American Romantic poets).  I applied for this program back in October and am, needless to say, very excited to finally get there.

Jane Austen, my namesake, lived in Bath for years.  Apparently, she held a strong dislike for the place.  I can easily believe this.  In her two novels set primarily in Bath, Austen sets the city in a negative light.  The likable Anne Eliot of Persuasion, which I read for class last spring, dislikes Bath. And the easily mocked, provincial, and impressionable Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey, which I'm currently reading for class in England, loves the place.  Hopefully the city will make a more favorable impression upon me than it did upon Austen.

So far, my experience of summer school has been enjoyable.  I have to do much of the required reading before I arrive, so I've been immersed in Jane Austen and the Romantic poets.  I very quickly reread Pride and Prejudice, one of my favorites.  I loved it even more with this reading.  It doesn't hurt that the most beautiful and most amiable (if a little naive) character in the book shares my name.  I'm rapidly progressing through Northanger Abbey, which I've never read but am loving.  It's strength of composition and biting commentary really demonstrate the genius of the author.  As for the poets, I've started some William Blake, but am really looking forward to reading Wordsworth and Keats again.  Once the novels are finished, I'll have more time to attend to the poetry.  Preparation for Bath has already furnished the first few weeks of summer with plenty of amusement and promises more before my departure.  I can't wait to enjoy reading these works in England and visit the places they talk of, such as the Pump Room, the Royal Crescent, and Tintern Abbey. 

I'll keep this blog updated with my adventures abroad and potentially some adventures within the pages of cherished books.  Please keep me in your prayers as I travel and study.  You all will most certainly be in mine, especially if you comment on my posts.

Look out Bath!  Not so long ago, you were subject to Jane Austen's censure.  A week from tomorrow, another Jane is coming to form her opinion of you.

If you are into what could be a potentially boring history, here is a synopsis of Bath's Wikipedia entry:

Bath has quite an interesting history.  It houses the only naturally occurring hot springs in the United Kingdom, which also provide the foundation for its unusual name.  It began as a Roman spa town known as Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis"), Sulis (or Minerva) being the goddess the natural spring was dedicated.  The Romans built great baths, a temple, and a city wall over the course of the first three centuries A.D.  The Romans eventually lost control to the Anglo-Saxons and their structures became worn down.  The Anglo-Saxons gave the town the name meaning "at the baths" which naturally gave way to it's current, apt name, Bath.

The city became home to a monastery, priory, and Bath Abbey, the site of the coronation of Edgar of England.  It became an ecclesiastical seat for the Roman Catholic Church, who, even after moving their seat to the nearby city of Wells retained the title "Bishop of Bath and Wells." 

As, by 1500, the abbey church needed restoration, the current bishop had a new, smaller one built.  This was completed shortly before King Henry VIII dissolved the priory in 1539.  The church was left unattended until the city's revival as a spa town during the Elizabethan era when it became the parish church.  Queen Elizabeth I gave Bath city status in 1590.

There was a great deal of building and restoration during the Stuart period and even more during the Georgian period.  The influx of tourists as a result of Bath's revival as a spa town necessitated this growth.  John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger laid out the new architecture of the city; this architecture is reminiscent of the cities classical foundations. 

In the early 18th century Bath gained a theater, and it's famous Assembly Rooms, including the Pump Room.  (Jane Austen writes of all of these!)  It declined in popularity in the 19th century and suffered some under the German air raids of the Second World War.  However, everything has been rebuilt and the city is now thriving, if somewhat touristy.  It is known as a center of both study and tourism.  Home to two universities and several other colleges, it has a large student population that is about to increase by one for five weeks!  England, here I come!