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

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

Lovely photos. My dad's side of the family were from Yorkshire, and I am pretty sure we visited this area when I was a child, so thanks for invoking some nice memories. :-) We used to drive up to Yorkshire from Cornwall about three times a year to visit relatives, and Dad had a passion for old architecture and ancient sites, so he took us to see ruins, castles, cathedrals, and old towns like York every time we travelled. We also got to see different places everytime we 'overnighted' en route. I fondly remember us searching around Lincoln cathedral for the Lincoln Imp, among other visits. :-)

I love the old monasteries and abbeys. There is something profoundly moving about the way the remains stand as a monument to the past history of our country. Something profoundly spiritual about the sites too, that really touch me somewhere deep inside.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Even though I'm a (naturalised) Lancastrian, I have to admit that Yorkshire is the loveliest of English counties.

I've never been to Lincoln. There's still so much of Britain I haven't seen.

I'm as sure as I can be (without any solid evidence) that I was a monk or nun in a previous life- perhaps in several.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

The whole 'past lives' thing is very interesting. Evidence issues aside, it is certaily one way to explain feelings some places evoke, deja vu, and other things that haunt us from time to time. I don't know what I may have been in the past, though I am open to suggestions. LOL

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe in reincarnation. On the whole it's probably a good thing we don't remember past lives. I don't suppose our brains could cope with the overload.

[silverhawkdruid.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I guess not. Maybe as we develop spiritually we get to keep more hints to our past lives because we are more able to grasp the basics? I don't know really. I just believe that reincarnation makes way more sense than other life after death, or lack of life after death, theories. I have always considered coming back optional, kind of when you die you get a life review, followed by a summary of reincarnations and lessons learned to date, and then a, 'well, what would you like to do next' discussion.
It's just a thought that makes sense to me. :-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It makes sense to me too.

I think we're here on earth to rack up experience and gain wisdom. After we've achieved a certain level of spiritual expertise the need to reincarnate disappears.