Holy Trinity Church (Goodramgate), York

I had every intention of writing last week, but lost 10 pounds in two days on the lower intestinal flu diet.  Needless to say, I was a bit incapacitated.  (Unfortunately the weight came back after I was able to drink enough fluid.)

Back to York...

There are a great many churches within Medieval York, which surprised me at first.  I didn't think there were enough people that lived there at the time to support that many, but then Janilee reminded me that it was a county seat and a major international trade center.  There may not have been that large (comparatively) of a permanent population, but the numbers coming in and out of the city made up the difference.

The Holy Trinity Church (Goodramgate) is kinda hard to find.  The entrance is a small iron gate with a triangular clapboard sign that is put out during business hours.  The yard and church are behind tall walls that don't look any different than all the other back sides of other buildings in the area.  I think we passed it three times before I noticed the sign board.  Oh, and you have to specify the Goodramgate part to differentiate it from the other Holy Trinity churches in town.

When you get through the gate you see this:

To the left of the tower and just above the tree you see the spires of the Yorkminster, just to give you an idea of how close it is to other churches.  Also you can see the walls on the left.  A gardener was pulling ivy off the walls when we got there, and chatted with us briefly.  Mostly he complained about the ivy, but invited us to enjoy ourselves, and that they closed in an hour and a half.

 The church was built in the 1100's, but was fitted with box pews in the 15th century.  It is one of the few places in England that still has the original pews.  Apparently they were put in for families to sit at while listening to the long sermons of Protestant ministers.  Lunch would be brought, and depending on the exact congregation, activities for the children may also have been included.

So many people were buried in this church that the main floor is now a couple of feet higher than the original floor.  This shot was taken from a side apse.

The church is also known for its medieval stained glass windows that somehow survived World War II fairly intact, though some small repairs had to be done.  I got such a kick out of this repair, I had to take a close up of it for my husband.  Plus it's cute.

The windows (obviously):

  The repair:

I don't know why they decided little yellow cartoon airplanes, but there you are.

My computer is being weird - either that or my internet connection is - so I'm going to close this entry.  Next week, I'll post some other random York pictures, and try to tell you a bit about my actual work.  Most days I don't really go rambling over the local countryside, but sit and read and think about the PhD stuff.  My husband reminded me today that was
original intention of the blog, so I probably ought to mention it from time to time.

More York

It's kind of odd.  I spend all week thinking about what to post, planning to do it on a Sunday evening, when I take a break from schoolwork.  But then Sunday comes along, and I have a hard time finding things to write down.  Not what to write about, just what to say about it.  Weird.

Anyhoo, more about York. 

Within the walls of the city there are very few cars, and most of the streets are not accessible to them during day hours by law.  It is understandable, really, as most of the streets were built up during the late Medieval era, and there is usually only room for one vehicle to pass, without room for pedestrians.  Even with these toy cars you can park by picking it up with one hand that seem to be popular here.  But that's a rant for another day.

The buildings are a really interesting mix of modern and medieval right next to each other, and sometimes in the same building.

Here's a close up of a couple of the faces, just because.

This wonderfully well preserved and cared for Tudor building (is that right?  I need to bone up on my architectural styles) with fun painted faces and delightful stained glass is also, as you can see, a TK Maxx clothing store touting the latest styles.

I passed a realtors' on one of my trips being lost within the city and found an ad in the window for a building like this, only not so ornate.  You can own your very own Tudor building in the walled city of York for a mere 795,000 pounds sterling.  And, according to some men we spoke to in a pub where we had lunch, one of which was the owner of the establishment, you have to have Council Planning permission to paint, change the floors, or drive a nail.  And should you want to update to modern conveniences like electricity, you have to move a mountain of paperwork. (Actually, all the buildings have electricity, I'm sure, but you can't change anything about the historic aspect of the place when you renovate.)

One of the more interesting sections to get lost in - trust me, you will get lost - is The Shambles.  Starting out as a poor section of town that housed butchers and the like, the streets are small and winding, with straight lines apparently a concept that hadn't occurred to the early city planners...if they existed.

See what I mean about the cars?

Evidence of the butcher's shops are in street names...

(There is a spider's web around the piglets, which gives me the giggles for some reason)

...and the ancient butcher's hooks that can still be seen on or under the eaves of some of the shops.

I like this building.

And the detail on this one, that started out as a booksellers.

The historic information plaque for it is helpful.

And who wouldn't like a Tudor building that is so old it sags, next to a pub called the Golden Fleece with a large gold sheep hanging as the sign?  Or maybe that's just me.

Here's a close up of the sheepie:

There is also a Roman Bath museum that we didn't get to that is housed inside a pub (where else...This is Britain, after all), and all kinds of strange little shops.  But ten pictures is probably enough for one blog entry.


Next week, churches!