Canterbury Cathedral

Today was our last day in Kent. We had only one stop today and that was Canterbury Cathedral. We attempted to visit the cathedral on Saturday but arrived after it closed for visitors. We just walked along the grounds outside. It was frustrating trying to get to the cathedral that day. We could see it but couldn't figure out how to get there. We had to pull over a number of times to try and orient ourselves.

Augustine was the first Bishop of Canterbury. He was given the church in 597 by King Ethelbert. Today we knew exactly where to go and got to Canterbury right after the cathedral opened. It was definitely worth the hastle and frustration of Saturday. For 2 pounds you are able to take pictures inside the cathedral. Inside the current cathedral the spot where Thomas Becket was killed in 1170. In Trinity Chapel, within the cathedral itself, there are a number of important items. A brass inscription and a burning candle mark the spot where the Shring of St Thomas was destroyed during the Reformation. Two of the more famous tombs within the cathedral are both in Trinity Chapel: the Black Prince, Edward Plantagenet, and King Henry IV & his wife.

The only place where pictures were not allowed was in the crypt. The crypt contains a number of small chapels and a few tombs. There was was tomb in the floor that is marked by only a small foot-high chain. It is supposed to contain the remains of one of the monks that was with Tomas Becket when we was murdered. However, without exhumation, that will never be known and even then...who knows.

Afterwards we walked around the pedestrian center of the town. Old stone streets and Tudor buildings gave Canterbury an amazing (yes, I've used that word alot) charm. We hated to leave and would have loved to spend more time there.

I was time to head back to Croughton...I had to go to work the next day.

This mini-vacation was great. We saw some great natural and man-made sights, got to experience history with all of our senses, and had fun doing it!

Dover Castle & the White Cliffs of Dover

The weather cooperated perfectly today. We drove down to Dover. Our first stop of the day was Dover Castle. This castle was memorable for many different reasons. Its history is one of constant use. At the top of the keep is a Roman lighthouse that dates to the first century. Right next to the lighthouse is a Saxon-era church where services are still held. There are medieval tunnels that were used up to the 1700's for defenses.

Perhaps the most important era of the castle is one that is both the latest and cannot be seen. Underneath the castle is over 3 miles of tunnels that were carved into the chalk cliff. It served as the organizational hub of the "Miracle of Dunkirk," the evacuation of 300,000 British, French and Belgian soldiers from across the English Channel that were surrounded by German soldiers in the early days of World War II.

After visiting the castle we went to the White Cliffs. We parked the car and walked along the paths that run along the edge of the cliffs. From the top you can watch the ferries load/unload the vehicles to/from France. There was a long line of trucks just waiting to get into the complex.
The cliffs themselves are very soft and piece of chalk were lying everywhere. There were veins of flint within the walls. They grew from the minerals in the chalk that were dissolved over time by the rain that came through the porous chalk. Information in the visitors center says that the chalk grows at only 1cm/100,000 years! The cliffs are Dover at one time connected England/Wales/Scotland to the mainland via a land bridge that collapsed following the last ice age.

The weather, as I said, cooperated perfectly. It was very clear and one could see France across the channel.

Bodiam Castle & Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Today we visited 2 National Trust properties in Kent.

Our first stop was Bodiam Castle. The castle doesn't just sit in a moat. It appears that after construction in the 1300's the land around the castle was flooded. The only way in was via a small drawbridge. The castle is in amazing shape and much of the interior walls remain. You are able to see where the servants lived, the chapel, the great ball and a number of the private rooms.

The castle was in constant use until the English Civil War when it was gutted. It's histoy is pretty much non-existant until the 20th century when rebuilding started.

We were able to climb to the top of the main tower where we could look over the countryside and view more of the architecture of the building.

We stopped for sandwiches and soup and then headed to Sissinghurst Castle Gardens. There were no tours but a little climbing. We were able to climb to the top of the tower so we could look over the entire garden layout. They kids were able to walk around and touch flowers so they didn't appear to be too bored. :-) Most of the flowers were no longer in bloom but the layout was amazing and one could easily imagine what it looks like in the spring & summer.

Afterwards, we tried to find some neolithic burial chambers. I had the maps but no exact directions. (my undoing). Unlike CADW in Wales, English Heritage doesn't like to put up signs to their smaller properties. We drove around the main roads and even down a long (supposedly) two lane road that looked promising. But to no avail. We ended up in downtown Rochester and had to make our way back to the M2. We then gave up and treated the kids to Pizza Hut.

Hastings Castle & the city of Hastings

Today, Sunday the 24th, was the second day of our Kent vacation though we ventured out of Kent today.

We drove down to the town of Hastings and, more specifically, Hastings Castle. Hastings gave it's name to the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066 that marked the Norman Conquest of England. William the Conqueror defeated King Harold of England in the battle that actually took place in the (now) town of Battle north of Hastings.

The castle itself lies on top of a tall cliff the overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It lies in ruins today. In fact, a large portion of the castle has fallen into the ocean over the centuries. It was abandoned in the late 1200's after a few years of bad storms caused the cliff to collapse and take part of the castle with it. The views from the castle are amazing.

We were having so much fun in Hastings. After eating lunch we made a slight change in our plans and, instead of heading to 2 other castle that were in the area we decided to spend the day in Hastings. We walked along the beach. Instead of sand the entire beach was made of flint rocks that have been smoothed and shined by the constant movement of the waves. We then played a found of mini-golf. Colin had a furious comeback, after falling behind early, to win by 2 strokes.

Leeds Castle

Today was the first full day of the mid-term break. We have decided to spend 5 days in Kent and the South-East of England.

Our main stop of the day was at Leeds Castle in Maidstone. It sits on 500 acres and was set up as a charitable trust by its last private owner, Lady Baillie, in 1974. The list of the previous owners of Leeds Castle is a veritable Who's Who of English history. At one time, a Lord Culpepper was asked to take the Prince of Wales into exile in France. The castle and 5 million acres of land in Virginia (all the land between the Potomac and Rappahancock rivers) was given to the Culpepper family as a thank you gift. The 3rd Lord Culpepper had no sons so the castle and the land were given to the eldest daughter's husband's family, the Fairfax's, upon his and his wife's deaths. The plot of land in Virginia was broken up and later became, among others, Culpepper and Fairfax counties. Later, Fairfax county was broken in two with the second part becoming Loudoun county.

There was a nice walk from the entrance up to the castle. We passed through a duck enclosure, though not all the ducks remained there, and up a path that brought us through trees to a big clearing where the castle sat. The castle had a moat around the entire castle. We were able to see most of the castle. Its serves as a converence center and also a hall for special occasions. After the castle tour we got a bite to eat and, as the weather turned windy and rainy, walked through the aviary towards a hedge maze. Even though it was raining the maze was fun at the center of the maze was a litte hill that looked down to a grotto that was made in the 1980's. We then walked down to the very ornate grotto. "The Grotto presents the ‘underworld’ in a series of macabre forms and representations: alchemy, fossils, bones and mythical beasts created out of shells, minerals, wood and other materials." - from the Leeds Castle web site

Web Site Picture Addition

Pictures have been added to the exisiting Oxford and Oxford Faces (the building gargoyles).
A new directory has been added documenting our trip to White Horse Hill / Uffington Castle / Dragon's Hill / Wayland's Smithy

White Horse Hill / Uffington Castle / Dragon's Hill / Wayland's Smithy

Today we took a ride to the southwest Oxfordshire to visit White Horse Hill, Uffington Castle, Dragon's Hill and Wayland's Smithy.

Between Uffington Castle and Wayland's Smithy is a Bronze Age road call the Ridgeway. We didn't walk the entire 1.3m from Uffington to Wayland's Smithy. We found a road that took us closer (and through a dirt/mud road next to a corn field) to Wayland's Smithy so we only walked a few hundred yards on the Ridgeway.

These sites are all run by the National Trust but there are no buildings on the site. You are pretty much free to walk anywhere except on the horse itself. The land is very hilly but all of us, even Rachel, was able to climb up and down the hills.

There is nothing remaining of the actual castle structure but at the top of the hill you can walk along the hills on either side of the ditch that surrounded the castle.

Saxon legend has it that if you leave a silver piece and your horse at Wayland's Smithy it will be reshod for you by Wayland the Smith. The children found a number of 1, 2, and 10 pence pieces on the rocks and in the burial chamber itself.

More Pictures!

New pictures from BlenheimPalace & Buckingham Palace have been added to the pictures web site. Pictures have also been added for Christ Church College & Waddesdon Manor.

Field Walking

Natalie and Colin went with daddy today on a public footpath. We were in search of a deserated medieval village near Croughton called Astwick. We parked in a pulloff on the A43 just south of Brackley and walked along the public footpath. If you visit Ordnance Survey, click on "Get A Map", enter "Croughton" as the search term, and then hit the "East" arrow you will see location of the village. We didn't find anything though I think we didn't walk far enough. Either way, we had a good time walking in the fields.

Oxford Visit

The kids were in school on the 11th but I was off so Jennifer and I spent the day in Oxford.

Our first stop was Bodleian Library, which is the English equivalent of the Library of Congress in the US. We didn't tour the library itself but visited the exhibition on Medieval maps that was at the Library.

We then walked down High Street to the University of Oxford's Botanical Gardens, while many of the flower beds were being cleared there were a number of flowers outside from all over the world. Inside the Glasshouses were exotic tropical plants. Established in 1621, the Garden is the third oldest scientific garden in the World (oldest in the UK) and contains over 8, 000 different plant species.

We stopped at a little cafe for lunch and then headed to Carfax Tower. It is the only remnant of the old city church of St. Martin, demolished in 1896 to improve the traffic flow at what was a very important road junction; the pedestrianisation of Cornmarket Street and Queen Street has greatly reduced the significance of Carfax as a "meeting of ways". After the demolition of the church the Tower was repaired and restored, and a fine view over the city may be obtained from the top. The two figures beneath the clock strike the quarter hours. A display of the history of the tower is to be found on the second floor.

Our last stop was The Eagle & Child pub on St. Giles St. This medieval inn has academic associations. J. R. R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the rest of the Inklings gang met here. It is where Thomas Hardy wrote Jude the Obscure, and Jude’s wife Arabella pulled fictional pints. Now St John’s has bought the Eagle & Child on the opposite side of St Giles. The Inklings formerly met here, in the “Rabbit Room” at the back, and jovially nicknamed their pub the Bird & Baby.