Tullaghobegley, Killult, St. Anne

Tullaghobegley Parish is in north-west Donegal, and includes Tory Island. The name means, "O Begley's Hill". Tully O'Begley founded a monastery in the district. There is an ancient round tower, abbey ruin and two crosses on Tory Island. One of these is the famous Tau Cross, shaped like the Greek letter "tau", T. The renowned landscape and portrait painter, Dr. Derek Hill, (1916-2000), did some of his best work on Tory Island.

The old church was replaced with a new one in 1792. A church was built at Killult, just to the west of Falcarragh, and was consecrated in 1820. This, the present church, was rebuilt in 1840. There is a tower at the west end, with a window in one side, and two doors. It has four small finials on top. Inside, the nave is lit by three square paned windows on each side, the vestry room is to the left. The east window is of three lights, and has plain, lattice glass.

The pulpit is on the left. The two chairs in the sanctuary are in memory of the Rev. William Stewart Griffith, Curate of Tullaghobegley, 1870-1876, and Rector from 1886 until his death in 1911. The font stands in the centre of the nave near the entrance, and their remains a large old stove in the middle of the church with a chimney which goes up through the roof.

The Tau Cross and candlesticks are in memory of Anne Warren, daughter of Cannon F.N. Warren, Rector 1988-1997, and Mrs Warren, who died in a tragic car accident in 1990.

On the south wall, a monument commemorates the Rev. Stewart Griffith, in whose memory the two altar prayer book stands were given.

Rossnowlagh, St. John

Rossnowlagh, "the apple wood", is a parish and village on the south coast of Donegal, to the west of the Donegal to Ballyshannon road. The parish was created originally as a perpetual curacy out of its neighbour, Drumholm, in 1831. The church was consecrated on 21st September that year, and dedicated to St. John. The Church is entered through a small porch at the west end, over which is a bellcote. There are two windows, each of two lights in the side walls, as well as a window with two lights above the porch. There are three windows of two lights in each side wall of the nave. The east window, which has three lights, is of stained glass and depicts the Risen Lord at the empty tomb. It commemorates Francis Jennings, his wife and three of his daughters, and is dated 1951.

The sanctuary is separated from the nave by three-sided communion rails, set into which, on the right side, is a prayer desk. The vestry room is to the right of the sanctuary. The Holy Table is in memory of Robert Hannah, and is dated 1932. Outside, and to the left , is the pulpit, before which stands the font. The lectern on the right side of the nave commemorates Robert Gray. There is a one manual organ by Evans and Barr of Belfast in the south-east side of the nave.

A plaque records the dedication of the lighting and heating systems in 1955 in memory of William and Hannah Smyth. Another plaque records the dedication of the entrance gates in 1963 in memory of the Thompson family. Another plaque on the west wall records the re-hallowing of the church after extensive renovations in 1995.

Clooney, Londonderry, All Saints Strathfoyle

Clooney, "the meadow", is a large parish in the Waterside of Londonderry. In ancient times, there was a chapel of Clooney in Glendermott parish. This was rebuilt before 1600, but was in ruins in 1692. A perpetual curacy was established in Glendermott parish for Clooney district in 1863. James Murray of Caw, Londonderry, granted a site for the church, which was dedicated to All Saints in 1867.

Clooney Church is well sited above the east bank of the River Foyle in the Waterside, at the hairpin bend junction of Bond's Hill and Clooney Terrace. The tower in the north west corner is surmounted by a short octagonal spire. The spire is flanked at its base by four small steep pyramids. Beneath it, steps descend to Bond's Hill below. On the Bond's Hill north side of the church at basement level, are three blind arcades. Round the corner from the west wall with its imposing west door entrance, is a porch which protrudes from the south aisle. The refurbishment of the entrance stonework is in memory of Isobel Lowry, 1983. The list of Rectors of Clooney in the porch was donated by Dick and Dorothy Harvey, 1979. The little window on the left of the porch depicts St. Patrick with a shamrock, and the window opposite depicts St. Columba. These were installed during further renovations in 2000.

The interior of the church is most impressive, as indeed is the whole building. The central nave is flanked by two arcaded aisles with short transepts contained within the line of the east end of the aisles. Three marble steps lead into the chancel, beyond which is a three sided sanctuary. Beneath the north aisle, there is a basement which contains choir vestries and other prayer rooms.

There is a small prayer desk at the west door which commemorates James Gibbons, 1969. Above the west door, there is a rose window. Above that are two stained glass windows, and over them, again a single single circular window in the apex of the roof. In the west wall of the south aisle, there is a small window of coloured glass, depicting a dove, and beside it a window depicting praying hands, the gift of the McCorkell family. On the other side of the west wall, a window depicts The Good Shepherd in memory of Thomas and Margaret Alexander and their parents, George and Mary, 1968. The baptistery is at the west end of the north aisle. The window in it depicts Jesus gathering the little children, 1898. There are two pairs of windows in the north aisle. The first pair is of opaque diamond glass. the first of the second pair is in memory of soldiers of the 5th Londonderry Battalion of the Ulster Defence Regiment who were killed of who died between 1970 and 1992. It contains the city crest and the badge of the U.D.R., and the Bible. The other window has opaque diamond glass. In the south aisle, there are also two pairs of windows. The first pair has one window which was presented by the Brownies to mark sixty years of their existence in the parish, 1932-1992. Their motto, "lend a hand" is inscribed. The other window is of opaque diamond glass, as are both windows in the neighbouring pair. The nave and aisles are separated by four arches above which are three clerestory windows of two lights on each side. The window in the south transept contains various figures in stained glass, and has tracery above. It commemorates Henry Lane, 1894. The opposite window in the north transept illustrates the "Nunc Dimittis", (St. Luke 2:29-32) on the left, and, "behold the Lamb of God", on the right. The left section is in memory of the Rev. Edward Stewart who died in 1883, and the right section commemorates his son, the Rev. John Stewart, Vicar of Clooney, 1872-1880. The three windows in the sanctuary have two lights each, and are inserted in the three sections of the apsidal east sanctuary wall. Each window has three levels. The twelve Apostles are depicted in the top two levels, and there are various Biblical scenes in the bottom levels. Memorial inscriptions at the base of the whole window record that it was erected in memory of W. S. Harvey, who died in 1870, to the Glory of God at the desire of and by the bequest of James Nesbitt. It is altogether, a magnificent set of stained glass windows. Round the base of the sanctuary is a fine marble reredos.

The altar is finely carved. Two of the four chairs in the sanctuary are in memory of Canon William Garstin, Curate of Clooney, 1905-1908, and Rector, 1914-1920. The prayer desk in the sanctuary is in memory of Mary Campbell, 1958. There is a prayer desk at each end of the choir stalls. The vestry room is to the left  of the chancel, and the organ chamber is on the right. The organ is of two manuals and pedals, and its detached console is in the north aisle. 

The pulpit on the right is of brown marble. The small prayer desk beside it was made in 1996. A small font adjacent commemorates James Moore who died in 1987.

The two memorials to those of the parish who fell and served in the Great War and in the second World War are on the east wall of the north transept. A monument on the north wall of the north aisle commemorates Lt. William Gilliland of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who was killed at Galipoli in 1915. Margaret Gilliland who died in 1938, and Joseph Cooke who died in 1918 are commemorated on other memorials on the same wall. On the south wall of the south aisle, there is a memorial to Sgt. Major John Lowry who died in 1936, and a memorial to Martha Plummer who died in 1940.

The High Altar, St. Peter's Parish Church, Jersey, Channel Islands

I simply adore this Parish Church. Everything about it screams "Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness"

The history will follow later, I just could not keep the photographs to myself any longer.

The Parish Church of St. Martin Le Vieux, Jersey, Channel Islands

There has been a church on this site for 1,000 years or more. The first record is a charter of 1042 in which William, Duke of Normandy, granted to Cerisy Abbey in France, "the (Parish) Church of St. Martin the Old in Jersey, its lands and a third of its corn-tithe"

Slowly the original tiny chapel, on the site of the present chancel, grew into the current structure. First the nave was added and a century later a transept- making the building the shape of a cross. The tower (without the spire) was built. The 14th century saw the south  wall of the chancel opened up and the South Chapel (now the Lady Chapel) added. A century later the south nave was added and the present building was almost complete. An uncompleted chapel to the north of the chancel was started early in the 16th century and eventually finished to a reduced plan 200 years later; and finally the spire- first heard of in 1582- gave us the present church building.

Prior to 1550 and the Reformation, the Church in Jersey, was part of the Roman Catholic Church, and part of the French Diocese of Coutanche. In Febuary 1499 the Pope attached the Church in Jersey to the Diocese of Winchester which remains so today. After 1550 the living became an English Crown Appointment. The English prayer book was translated into French for Jersey. The Church was at one stage was a Huguenot Temple and many of its features destroyed. The chancel was boarded-off and used as the parish school until 1842.

The Beautiful "Ecce Homo" Window at the bottom of the South Nave

The Magnificent East Window depicting the Ascension was restored in 2000 by public donation

The Lady Chapel

The Saint Martin Statue. This wooden statue, presented in 1936 by Lady Trent, wife of Jesse Boot the founder of Boots Chemist.

Beautiful brass lectern

The standards in glass cases on the west wall by the door are those of the St. Martin,s Jersey Mitilia which was disbanded in 1946. A different motif is carved on the end of every pew in the Church.

The Pulpit 

Mosaic panels in the reredos represent the four Evangelists.

The Chancel was boarded off in 1550 and used as the parish school. It was restored 1842.

The Parish Church of Saint Mary, Jersey, Channel Islands

The earliest known mention of St. Mary's church is in 1042, when Guillaume, Duc de Normandie, later William the Conqueror of England, gave to the Abbey of Cerisy in Normandy two "free" churches in Jersey, St. Mary and St. Martin (ecclesia Sancta Maria arsi monasterii et Sancti Martini veteris), with lands and a third of their wheat tithes and their advowsons. The name, St. Mary of the Burnt Monastery, suggests that the church was built on, or near the actual site of a primitive monastery which was destroyed by pirates. The fire, at whatever date it occurred, would have made building, or rebuilding, a matter of urgency.

It seems likely that this monastery at St. Mary was a daughter establishment of the known monastic centre in Sark, founded in about 570 by St. Maglorius (St. Mannelier) within sight and comparatively easy reach of the St. Mary coastline.

Lady Chapel (North Chancel) with remains of Norman Windows in the East Wall.

The evolution of the church building can be seen from the above photograph. In the earliest portion, the present north-east chapel, traces of two windows of the 11th or early 12th century date and of clear Norman type, were exposed on the east wall in 1978. This highly important discovery shows the only known instance of Norman windows in an east end in a local parish church.

South Chancel and High Altar 

Also revealed during the re plastering in 1977 was the piscina (on the right in this photograph) circa, 1342. Also an aumbry (on the left in this photograph). There are granite brackets on the east end wall which would have supported statues before the Reformation, possibly of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John.

View showing the vaulted roof.

The vaulted roof is of interest. The north, the oldest part, is supported with strong ribs at intervals, approximating to the buttresses on the outside, and this part of the roof is noticeably higher than the later, southern part.

Pews

The present pews, made of Gothenburg pine and were installed in 1865.

A large oak plaque, carved in relief.

In 1973 a large oak plaque, carved in relief, was presented by Major amd Mrs Gordon Rice and accepted by the Ecclesiastical Assembly for errection in the Parish Church. It depicts Christ and St. Margaret Mary, the 17th century nun and visionary of Paray-le-Monial who emphasised the love of Christ by encouraging devotion to His Sacred Heart.

St. Lawrence Parish Church, Jersey

No one can date the parish churches of Jersey precisely. Old parts were pulled down and re-built new chapels and aisles were added for their enlargement and, at St. Lawrence the process was such that no part of the original structure can be identified. St. Lawrence Parish had at least four chapels, St. Clair, St. Eutrope, St. Nicholas and St. Lawrence, of which the last gradually developed into the Parish Church.

It's patron was the Abbot of Blanche-Lande, who received the third part of the tithe, the Abbot of St. Sauveur le Vitcomte was alloted one-sixth and the Bishop of Avranche a half. The minister had sixteen vergees (seven acres) of land, and  the living was worth 35 livres tournois (£1.35p). The oldest document to mention it is a Charter of 1198, by which John (the Lord of the Isles, and later King of England) gave the Abbey of Blanche-Lande in Normandy the Church of St. Lawrence in Jersey. The consecration date of the Church of St. Lawrence extracted from the Livre Noir (supposedly an authentic document formerly kept in the Cathedral of Coutance) is given as Monday 4th January 1199.

It is almost certain that it (the Church) started life as a small chantry chapel on the site of the present chancel. When the family that owned it threw it open to their neighbours, a short nave was built. As the population increased the nave was lengthened. Then a tower and two transepts were added, to give the Church the form of a cross. It is interesting to note that the tower only attained its present height during the restoration of 1890-1892.

The north transept was swallowed later by the building of the north aisle. The south transept is now the south porch. In the 13th century, the Parish demolished the old nave and built the present one, longer and loftier than its predecessors. The stonework shows that it was added to the tower and not vice-versa. This meant that the nave had become much finer than the chancel, so in the 15th century the latter was pulled down and the present one built. The two last sections can be dated exactly. Sire Louis Hamptonne was Rector for fifty-six years (1502-1558). He was rich and generous; his benefactions included the addition to the Church of the beautiful Hamptonne Chapel, with it's vaulted roof (unique on the Island of Jersey)

and it's gargoyles, representing spirits of evil driven out by the worship within. The date of the chapel is 1524 and is carved on the north-east buttress.

Hamptonne was still Rector twenty-two years later, when the north aisle was added. In 1546, the Royal Court authorised authorised the sale of wheat rents belonging to the treasor to pay for the "enlargements of the Church by constructing a chapel alongside the nave". The building then attained its present shape and size.

Rector Hamptonne lived long enough to see great changes in his Church. For years, Protestant propaganda had been undermining the old faith, and many of the clergy themselves were attracted by the new views of the Reformation. In 1548 the Jersey States imported two French Huguenot Pastors "to expound the word of God to the people purely and sincerely", and since the Rectors contributed voluntarily to their support, we may assume that they were not opposed to reform.

(Above is a photograph of the long wooden Calvinist Communion Table, that is on display in the church of St. Lawrence.)

Hamptonne cannot have been pleased when the Royal Commissioners began to confiscate Church property. First all the obits and Masses were seized. In this way St. Lawrence lost twenty-four endowments, as well as bequests left to two fraternities of St. Nicholas and St. Katherine. In 1549 the Act of Uniformity forbade Latin Services and this was obeyed and the following year the Privy Council thanked the island for "embracing His Majesty's laws concerning Divine Services".

However, Jersey could not use Cranmer's Prayer Book, for this had not yet been translated into French. The only French Prayer Book available was that of the Huguenots, so Hamptonne and his brethren had to make use of that. Then came the order to remove all images, closely followed by another to surrender all but one of the church bells.

Edouard de Carteret was one of those who signed the Discipline  Ecclesiastique, which imposed the Calvinistic systems on the Island; and Claude Parent, who followed him, was a Frenchman who had been a Huguenot Pastor at Bayeux. Their respective reigns were De Carteret 1572-1576; Parent 1577-1580. Under them St. Lawrence was transformed into a Huguenot temple.

The stone altars were broken down, and four times a year a long narrow wooden Communion table was set in front of the pulpit, where people stood all round for Communion.

The chancel was filled with pews facing the pulpit. The stained glass windows were smashed. The old wall paintings were blotted out with whitewash. This was done so thoroughly that, whereas in most Jersey Churches stone corbels show were images once stood, in St. Lawrence even the corbels have disappeared. The Calvinist regime lasted till 1623. The Dean Bandinel enforced for a time the reluctant use of the Prayer Book, but under Cromwell the old Hugeunot service was resumed. The French Prayer Book was finally restored in 1660 when the King regained his throne.

St. Lawrence was the last church in the Island to see its great restoration, for three hundred years few changes were made to the internal arrangements. Those who remembered it as it was before 1890 knew what it looked like in the days of Charles II.

The following are scenes from the life of St. Lawrence

The beautiful East Window showing the Last Supper has a peculiar object on the table.

More of the fine Glass on display in St. Lawrences.