I go to feed my soul ...

I go to lose my mind & feed my soul 

This well known quote describes how I live my life - I need spaces that feed my soul & am happy to seek them out on my own because I enjoy quiet & solitude. 

Solitude is when your inner voice speaks to you, how you ground yourself. 

You are familiar with my favourite local abbey Ruins - there is something there that draws me to it & I visit often when I need space. 

However, the gate is now shut for winter so a walk is needed to it & having the wrong shoes with me for the muddy road, on a whim I decided to visit Buildwas Abbey which is a mere 15 minutes away. 

The joy of driving in to the parking & being the only car & person there - absolute bliss. 

These places take on a different atmosphere when quiet; they almost resonate with their spiritual past & this is what feeds the soul. 

I have visited Buildwas Abbey less than a handful of times only, even though it is not far. This is a comprehensive history of this fascinating space, dating right back to the early 1100's. 

It was a Cistercian abbey with a 12th century church and an original Chapter House with interesting tiles on the floor. 

The tiles are small with many patterns & varied markings. If they could only speak & tell us of the interesting lives who have walked over them for centuries ... 

The vaulted ceilings on these side rooms are impressive but I always find the dark ones a little off putting. 

The River Severn is very close by & that would have supplied the Abbey with all their needs. 

I am glad I stopped off on a whim & even more pleased that I had the space entirely to myself, except for some squirrels who were darting about in the Autumn foliage. 

I hope you have enjoyed this return visit with me, thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 

Shropshire’s religious past ...

Our landlocked county of Shropshire prides itself on being semi rural with interesting open spaces. 

I love visiting our interesting spaces & am fortunate that we live close to several old Abbeys. What I particularly like about them is the atmosphere they exude & the feeling of the layers of history that the spaces have. 

To understand why we have so many Religious ruins,  it helps to know about the Reformation in England & how King Henry V111 played a pivotal role in their destruction. 

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Reformation in Tudor England was a time of unprecedented change. One of the major outcomes of the Reformation was the destruction of the monasteries which began in 1536.

The Reformation came about when Henry VIII wished to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to give him a male heir. When the Pope refused to grant the divorce, Henry set up the Church of England. The Act of Supremacy in 1534 confirmed the break from Rome, declaring Henry to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England.

The monasteries were a reminder of the power of the Catholic Church. It was also true that the monasteries were the wealthiest institutions in the country, and Henry’s lifestyle, along with his wars, had led to a lack of money. Monasteries owned over a quarter of all the cultivated land in England. By destroying the monastic system Henry could acquire all its wealth and property whilst removing its Papist influence.

This led to the Act of Suppression in 1536 whereby small monasteries with an income of less than £200 a year were closed and their buildings, land and money taken by the Crown. The Second Suppression Act of 1539 allowed the dissolution of the larger monasteries and religious houses.

Monastic land and buildings were confiscated and sold off to families who sympathised with Henry’s break from Rome. By 1540 monasteries were being dismantled at a rate of fifty a month.

After the disposal of their monastic lands and buildings, the majority of monks, friars and nuns were given money or pensions. However, there were some abbots and religious house leaders who refused to comply. They were executed and their monasteries destroyed. Thousands of monastic servants suddenly found themselves without employment.

So what were the immediate effects of the Dissolution of the Monasteries? Firstly, vast amounts of monastic land, gold and silver plate were transferred to the Crown. It is said that the King’s own treasury profited by about one and a half million pounds. However a great deal of the wealth Henry acquired through the Dissolution was spent on his wars with France and Scotland. The gentry and rich merchants who bought the land also prospered.

One of the saddest legacies of the Dissolution was the loss and destruction of monastic libraries and their precious illuminated manuscripts. Read more about this period of history here ... 

Shropshire did not escape this period of history  & several are favourites that I love to visit & I love to share them with visitors to our county. 

I recently took visitors to explore the White Ladies Priory; I have visited it several times & it is an interesting building set down a long tree lined path & quite remote. 

The buildings have what can best be described as ‘layers of history’ 

Another favourite that I visit often is the Abbey at Lilleshall - it has a lovely setting which I really love. There are parts of it that I find eerie as they are dark areas with ornate details on the roof. I love standing at the bottom of the old Abbey entrance & looking all the way down the vast space. I am always in awe of the craftsmanship of those who built these so long ago. 

One I had not visited was this local one, near our county town of Shrewsbury.  I was so pleased that we were the only visitors to Haughmond Abbey which means that you can really absorb the atmosphere & get a feeling for the space. 

 Just look at the two towers on the sides of the window - one square, one round. They just look like the shape one might find in fairy tales, so lovely.

The Abbey faces the Shropshire hills in the distance, the impressive line of hills that we love so much & which are impressive & steeped in geological history.

This is the map of our monastic houses in Shropshire 

I have visited about half of them & will be making an effort to try to find the others. I consider myself to be ‘spiritual’ & find that these spaces are very calming, peaceful & they feed the soul & the past draws you in because I can feel the layers & weight of history.

This is a recent visit to Buildwas Abbey, another on that list and a previous visit to Wenlock Priory  in the pretty town of Much Wenlock. This Abbey is quite stunning with gorgeous topiary hedges & shapes & beautifully tended gardens ... 

I hope you have enjoyed this little visit to some of my favourite places with me. 

Thank you for your company, stop by again soon,
Dee ~💕~

Stepping back in our Shropshire history

Hi everyone,

Do you love finding new places to explore. I have lived in Shropshire for 20 years & passed Buildwas  Abbey regularly but the gates have always been closed or I have bot had the time to linger there.

Quite by chance this past week, we passed it & the gates were open & I just knew that it was meant to  be.

This is the background according to wikipedia 

The Cistercian Abbey of St Mary and St Chad was founded in 1135 by Roger de Clinton, Bishop of Coventry (1129–1148) as a Savignac monastery and was inhabited by a small community of monks from Furness Abbey. The stone from which it was built was quarried in the nearby settlement of Broseley.

The abbey's location near the border of Wales meant it was destined to have a turbulent history. Welsh Princes and their followers regularly raided the Abbey and on one occasion in 1406, during the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr, raiders from Powys even kidnapped the abbot. This however paled in comparison to an earlier event in 1342 where one of the Buildwas monks, Thomas of Tong, murdered his abbot, managed to evade arrest, and then petitioned for re-instatement into the Cistercian order.

I love these places when they are still so that you can feel  the atmosphere of the history that envelops it -  daughter & I were very fortunate that it was early morning & we were the only visitors. The stillness speaks to me, it gives you time to absorb the history & importance of the building & this was just so. 

The arches are so dominant & I can easily imagine silent monks making their way along the corridors & the upper floors which often had corridors in between the walls ...

We could walk quietly between the massive pillars, taking in the vastness of the building & the lovely quietness speaks loudly to me .... 

This view reminded me of Roman & Greek architecture 

The hugeness of the church looking towards the Nave shows the enormity of the Abbey

Magnificent arches hint at the size & grandeur of the Abbey

One of the corner rooms - looks out ...

 The caretaker offered to open the crypt for us - I was keen to see it. However it was really cold there & dare I say it, just a little creepy ...

Looking back from the back of the crypt toward the entrance again ...

The interesting architectural things are kept in the crypt, what history is contained there. There was a feeling of history there, a weight which you could not escape ...

I was glad to get back out in to the sunshine & the bright blue skies after the cold & darkness of the crypt.

I am so glad that I finally managed to visit this impressive Abbey. There is a similar one, Wedlock Priory  just 15 miles away in Much Wedlock that I love visiting too & another Abbey at Lilleshall that I visit often because I love the stillness of it. 

I am one of those who find great peace in the stillness of spiritual places - they help you to stay grounded, to keep life in perspective when there are things that trouble you & life needs a stillness to it. 

I hope you have enjoyed visiting the amazing Abbey with me, may you have a wonderful week too, thank you for taking the time to stop by - your company & comments are always appreciated. 

Dee ~💕~