Sawley Abbey

[poliphilo]

After picnicing on the coast we drove inland in search of something medieval.  I leafed through my English Heritage guide book and picked out Sawley Abbey. I didn't think we'd been there before, but as we got closer and I started to recognise the scenery I realised we had. It was ten years back (at least) and I'd just bought Ailz a pendulum and she walked round the church trying to dowse where the high altar had stood.
 
The guides tend to be a bit sniffy about Sawley. "Not a major monastic site"- that sort of thing. I don't suppose the monks thought of it in those terms.

It was a Cistercian house with a reputation for producing fine scholars. The name used to be written Salley and maybe it was pronounced that way too.

There's a pretty, little village and the river Ribble runs nearby. This was Yorkshire until 1974, when local government reorganisation turned it into Lancashire. The hill framed by the arch (cobbled together from bits of monastic detritus) is   Pendle Hill- famous as the meeting place of the 16th century Lancashire witches.

Places like Sawley make me very happy in a sad sort of way. Does that make sense?

Comments

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

The detritus arch is great. It has me wondering just where the bits of carved stone fit into the original Abbey. What was the location of the carved face in the second last photo?

Your sad happiness (or happy sadness) makes sense to me. I tend to define such feelings as a happy melancholy. Ruins do that to me as well, especially the kind where only a few stones are left standing against a beautiful backdrop.

I have to say that English Heritage really manicures their properties.
:)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

According to one website there were once two arches spanning the road. They were demolished in the early twentieth century and the bits and pieces used to make this roadside arch.

The funny little face nestles inside a foliate canopy which might once have housed a statue.

Churches don't have to be ruinous to affect me this way. For instance I found Durham cathedral extremely moving. An important factor is whether the site is religious or not. I love abbeys, churches and stone circles. Castles and stately homes- with odd excepetions, like the wonderfully quirky Bolsover castle- tend to leave me cold.