England/Scotland 2024 Pilgrimage – Day 14: St. Albans and Cotswolds

Saturday, September 14, 2024

To be honest, all the churches are getting scrambled in my head. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE seeing them. It’s just when I go to write about them, I hope I’m telling you about the correct churches of the day. If in doubt, double-check Gregg’s Facebook post. He tags me in them.

We left Cambridge after a quick continental breakfast at the hotel. Simple yet tasty.

St Albans Cathedral

Saint Alban was the first martyr in what we now call Great Britain. It occurred in the 200s! That is long before the time of St Patrick and all the other Saints we’ve been “following” on this trip. Wow!

We arrived at St Albans Cathedral in time to follow the priest into one of the chapels for Eucharist service. After the service, we chatted with the priest (she is the dean.)

The Very Reverend Jo Kelly-Moore, Dean of St Albans, sends greetings from St Albans to Church of Our Saviour.

She also took time to share St. Alban’s story with us:

A priest from mainland Europe was being pursued by the Romans. He fled across the (now) English Channel to St Albans. Alban provided refuge for the priest and hid him. During the priest’s stay, Alban decided to follow Jesus and became a Christian.

People in that day and society were identified by their clothes. So Alban exchanged his Roman clothes with the priest, allowing him to escape his persecutors.

The Romans realized that Alban had provided a safe refuge to the priest and, after he refused to recant his new-found faith, they killed him. Thus, Alban became the first martyr from Britain.

The priest continued to spread the gospel of Jesus until he was caught and killed. Below is a series of icons which tell the story.

Again, this was in the late 200’s, early 300’s!

It is interesting to realize that Christianity took numerous paths as it spread to this area of the world.

History Timeline

I found this timeline to be helpful and fascinating.

Reconnecting with High School Friend

After visiting St Albans, we headed towards Oxford to my friend, Jennie’s home. I know Jennie from Cocoa, Florida, where we attended the same elementary and high schools. She used to play in my brother-in-law’s neighborhood. Jennie and Brad are both a year behind me in school and Bryn a year behind them.

Jennie was on St Mark Episcopal Church youth group retreat where I became lifelong friends with Anne Marsh. I was there with my Dad who had driven the Lynx bus, transporting the group.

Anne introduced me to the Episcopal Church and inspired a family tradition of attending Christmas Eve midnight mass, one that Gregg and I have continued as one of our family traditions.

It is curious to see the Episcopal Church influence woven through my life. I grew up in the Southern Baptist church. Once married, Gregg and I worshipped at Bible/Independent churches until Covid.

In college, I became angry and disillusioned with God and consciously turned away from Him. After a few years of fruitless searching for something more, I turned back to God. The Episcopal Church helped me rebuild my faith as I worshipped there for almost a year.

I left because the liturgy had become rote. Also, I desired a church with people my age. Ironically, Gregg and I began attending a Bible church on the very same day. The singles group was small, yet Gregg was so quiet, it took me at least 4 months to notice him. 🤷‍♀️

Oxford

Back to Jennie. She moved to England after college and has lived here ever since. We’ve stayed connected, thanks to Facebook. When Gregg and I visited the UK with Cathy and Erika (2013ish?), Jennie met us in Oxford at The Eagle and The Child Pub, where the Inklings had met (Tolkein, CS Lewis, and others.)

Since then, she has moved to Oxford and now works for the Church of England Oxfordshire Diocese, on the advisory council for church preservation. We had many interesting and enlightening conversations, learning a lot from her.

Jennie gave us some book suggestions as we planned this trip. When she learned we we were coming to Oxford, she and Steve invited us to stay with them. Steve is also a wealth of history and church information. It was a delight to spend time with them.

Cotswolds

Gregg willingly gave the driving over to Jennie. She drove us around the beautiful Cotswold countryside. She knew of a good cafe, Quince and Clover at Great Tew, and after a delicious lunch of soup there, she we explored several churches.

Many were locked, so we weren’t able to see inside. Yet we still enjoyed seeing the outside. And Jennie pointed out many architectural and structural things I would not have noticed or understood.

St Michael and All Angels, Great Tew

Not far from the cafe, we parked and walked down a long walkway through a grassy area to St Michael and All Angels, Great Tew. It is an 11th or 12th century church, beautifully preserved. (And modern bathrooms added in a building on the side.) The organist was practicing, which was a special treat!

St Edward’s Church, Stow on the Wold

Gregg and I planned to visit a unique church in Stow on the Wold Monday, on our way to London. As we drove through the Cotswolds, we rounded a corner and there was the town! So we took the detour to see St. Edward’s Church.

Yew trees are often found in church yards. They can live hundreds of years. Trees had become a place of safe haven at one point in history, so churches used them as a symbol of peace. This particular church had planted trees on either side of the doorway. Over the many years, the trees have become merged into the church walls. It was a very popular site.

St John the Baptist Church, Burford

Though we couldn’t see the inside, St John the Baptist Church was fascinating as Jennie pointed out evidences of additions and building redesigns through the ages. It also had two very nice, old Norman doors.

This church has been granted a “Grade 1” designation which means it is very well preserved and holds significant attributes.

Chef Steve’s Dinner

Back at the house, we met Steve, who had been giving tours at Christ Church all day. (Our turn will come tomorrow!) He loves to cook (Jennie does, too) and had picked out a Greek chicken recipe from the NY Times he wanted to try. We were more than willing to be taste-testers. And it was a four-thumbs-up vote on keeping that recipe for future meals.

We all stayed up, chatting, as long as our eyes would let us. Tomorrow is another day here, thankfully.