United Kingdom - Cathedrals etc

So I mentioned back in the Ireland post about how much I was loving the architecture and stained glass windows of the many different churches and cathedrals... well, I continued to see them in the UK... so much so, that they are going to have their own post...

This is Winchester Cathedral - It is the longest Medieval Cathedral still intact (the longest in the world is in St Paul's Basilica in the Vatican)

Inside looking towards the altar

Some of the stained glass

In the last month I have been to, oh my gosh, I don't know at least 20 different churches and cathedrals... and in one sense, you've seen one, you've seen them all... but that really isn't true!!  Each time I get amazed that 1000 years ago they could build these amazing structures while today we still struggle to build a road without potholes...  but anyway, I digress...

This is inside Christchurch Priory - Emily has said she'd like to get married here.  

You can see the different styles of masonry here for the different parts of the building

So, I'm admiring these buildings when Emily's mum (celebrity shout out for Jan Heaton) tells me about a book by Ken Follett (and also suggested by Oprah with her book club) called, "Pillars Of The Earth".  It is basically the trials and tribulations of a town and its people in the 1100s as they are building a cathedral.  At first, I was like, "wow, it sounds riveting..." but it actually was a good, easy, read.. and then it was informative too...

Bath Abbey

Inside Bath Abbey

Canterbury Cathedral - The head church of the Church of England

The inside of Canterbury Cathedral - not the biggest in the world, but it felt HUGE when I was in there.

Some of the stained glass windows

Looking up to the added tower... no zoom in this picture.. 

This is where they say the King's knights killed Thomas Becket..

Part of York Minster

It is especially famous for it's stained glass windows

The inside was great too, I thought..

As I've been going to these cathedrals, I've been able to tell how they built certain parts of it, and then when they've been in different states of ruin, I've been able to learn more as I can then visualise what I had read... put simply I've been fascinated...  Below is Rievaulx Abbey... it was stated to me that they were the best Monastic Ruins in the country... I think that was right.. I loved this place from the moment I arrived...

My first glance at the ruins

These ruins show the outside turrets that support the wall

What would have been the inside of the amazing Abbey...

So anyway, without putting a hundred pictures (believe me, I could have...) these were some of my personal faves... (by the way, I will be posting all my pics (well the selected ones anyway) to my Facebook page... so, if you like what you saw here, you can continue to join my fascination there)

Lastly, Robert Louis Stevenson probably said it best when he said this...

"I never weary of great churches. It is my favourite kind of mountain scenery.  Man was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral."

I hope that I have been able to get you as interested in the structures as I am.  If not, well thanks for continuing to read anyway... :)