Eastwood – St Laurence and All Saints – call changes competition

The annual district striking competition took place at Eastwood on 17th November 2018. It was a lovely sunny autumn day when we arrived and the church looked lovely in the sunshine.

St Laurence and All Saints, Eastwood

There were 5 teams entered into the competition, so between ringing and listening I had a chance to walk around the church, both inside and outside. It is situated right beside one of the runways at Southend Airport so services (and competitions) are often interrupted by planes taking off and landing!

Exterior:

Interior:

Noticeboard:

I rang the #4 bell, which was founded in 1693!

 

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Blackmore – Priory Church of St Laurence

Visited on 27th March 2018. It was very bright weather and hard to get a decent shot of this beautiful church. It was closed.

 

Waltham Abbey – the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross and St Laurence

This church is all that remains of the once large Waltham Abbey, which gave the present town of Waltham Abbey its name. It’s got a beautiful ceiling.

We visited once on the 20th February 2010, due for another visit I think.

Abbey Church of the Holy Cross and St Laurence, Waltham Abbey

Interior:

 

Noticeboard:

The noticeboard

Thaxted – St John the Baptist with Our Lady and St Laurence

Thaxted church is one of the most beautiful in Essex, and is situated at the top of a hill lined with notable old houses. There is a Guildhall dating from around 1450 just nearby and also a windmill. All very photogenic!

I have lots of photos of this church, a couple from a visit on a beautiful sunny day on 19th March 2012 and the rest from a visit on another beautiful sunny day on 6th April 2017.

St John the Baptist, Thaxted

Exterior and views around the churchyard:

Interior:

Eastwood – St Laurence and All Saints

St Laurence is a very old church which now finds itself at the end of a runway at Southend Airport! There is a sarsen stone at the base of a pillar, very difficult to photograph. These pics were taken on a visit to the church on 5th May 2017.

St Laurence and All Saints, Eastwood

Exterior:

St Laurence and All Saints

The porch

Southend Airport is just the other side of the fence

Tiny door with a scratch dial above it

Interior:

The font

Looking down the nave to the chancel

16th century silverware

Restoration notebook dated 1873/1874

Reredos

St Laurence is a ground floor ring of 6 bells, here the ropes are kept up out of harm’s way with a spider

6 bell ropes held up by a spider

Dates the bells were cast

Noticeboard