Tuesday 26 September 2006

The Little Church at Sandringham

Whilst Maurice was on holiday the other week,we decided to take a drive down to Sandringham,I had been before, but he hadnt so, on a nice sunny morning off we went ...


The thoughts of people all over the world turn towards Sandringham at Christmas when the queen arrives. Here it is that she and her family can be free from the glare of public life and enjoy themselves in peace,walking,shooting,riding,going to Church and wandering freely through the woods and fields enjoying the heather, the trees and the sea.
Sandringham is the winter home of her Majesty the Queen and her family from early December through to February obviously the younger ones dont  stay the whole time, I can imagine much too-ing and fro-ing ! But when they are all together for Christmas, there are about twenty three of them,
Our first visit was to the little Church,'The Church of St Mary Magdalene' up the steps with the handrail, and the lychgate,that we see on TV at Christmas time, when the family worship there on Christmas morning.
There to the right is the grave of the little Prince John, fifth son of King George V and Queen Mary (our Queens uncle).there was a delightful programme on TV, which was repeated again recently, about the life of this little prince, and how he lived his life in a house nearby, on the estate, because he suffered from epilepsy, sadly he died at about fourteen and was buried in the Church yard. another grave stone marks the resting place of Prince Alexander, the tiny son of King Edward and Queen Alexandra
We enter the church by the south door, first looking up at the statue of the guardian angel, above the porch, around the walls of the church are memorial tablets, to all the recent Kings and their Queens, the most recent being one of the Queen Mother. Behind us now is the bell tower in which, is the charming little baptistry,at the base of the tower, and contains a Florentine marble font which was given by KingEdward VII, it was used at the public service in December1990 for the baptism of Princess Eugenie.Walking down the aisle, and on your left the eye is drawn to the magnificent pulpit, which was presented to Queen Alexanda on the occasion her 80th birthday, in December1924.It is built of oak and panelled with solid silver. Near to the pulpit is a silver processional cross, Spanish in origin, and over 460 years old, it was presented by Mr Wanamaker in   1918,Queen Alexandra placed it in the church,in memory of the men from the Sandringham estate who died in the great war of 1914-18,and apparently owing to the beautiful workman ship, the cross is extremely heavy, and difficult to carry in a procession.
Mr Rodman Wanamaker was a great admirerof King Edward VII and of his workfor the cause of peace,He presented the magnificient solid silver alter and bronze alter rails to  Queen Alexandra on May 6 1911,the first aniversary of the death of King EdwardVII

Obviously you are not allowed to take cameras into the church so I hope my words have managed to portray the splendour and sincerity of the church where our Queen and her family worship  ,I will tell you about the house and the museum another time ,I hope you enjoy this ....

With Love Jan xx

 

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's lovely Jan is there more to come?

Anonymous said...

A beautifiul photo. Helen

Anonymous said...

hi Jan...

lovely picture, where is it...

Astra!

Anonymous said...

I like that Jan. B. x

Anonymous said...

{{{{hugs for you}}}} love Joanne

Anonymous said...

Great pictures, thanks for sharing the stories

Guido

Anonymous said...

Jan what a lovely entry ~Sandringham is so lovely and peaceful ~ and you described the church beautifully ~ Ally

Anonymous said...

The photos were lovely Jan. I've never been to Sandringham, it looks so peaceful! I look forward to hearing more about the house and museum. Jeannette xx  

Anonymous said...

love your pictures such a pretty church:)

Deb

Anonymous said...

Oh how beautiful! I've always wanted to visit this church...thank you for sharing your pictures! :o)
Lisa

Anonymous said...

Yes, thank you so much, I did enjoy it.  I would love to visit there . 'On Ya' - ma

Anonymous said...

great great entry..............it is sad story about the prince

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jan!  I learn so much from you.  The church and the grounds are absolutely stunning!  Hugs and GBU, Shelly

Anonymous said...

hi Jan...

I have returned to read the story and to view the other pics. I really enjoyed reading the story...Looks like you had another lovely day out, thanks for sharing...have a good evening!

Astra!

Anonymous said...

Seeing you pictures brought our visit back to me it is such a beautiful little church thank for all the history. Love Joan.

Anonymous said...

Lovely vivid description, Jan.  Feel I've been there.  Very sad about the little princes, especially John.  Bunny.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan :-) It's a beautiful church, and I loved your description! I've never been there before but after reading this, it's somewhere I'd like to go to :-) Hope you've had a lovely day!
Hugs to you, love Debbie ~xxxxxx~
http://journals.aol.co.uk/debbiewebb4465/TheLifeTimesofanEssexGirl

Anonymous said...

yes its interesting... I don't remember hearing about this before... thanks. Sandra

Anonymous said...

Hello Jan,  a very interesting entry with great photos.  I saw a TV programme about Prince John, the poor little boy had such a short and sad life, bless him.

Sandra xxxx

Anonymous said...

Very nice. You should be a tour guide. B. x

Anonymous said...

Beautiful!  What a wonderful history and tradition this church has!  It must be so interesting to visit and walk around the grounds.  Your description was excellent!  I look forward to your next entry about the house and museum!
Kathy  

Anonymous said...

I love reading about the Royal Family.  Beautiful church!  Your Duchess of York is in my town today....they are having a "Women's Conference" here in Long Beach, CA.  She's here.  
I got a glimpse of her and Andrew years ago when they came here once.  Always wanted to see Diana, Charles, and the Queen...no luck.
Have  a good day.~~~Pam

Anonymous said...

Jan - that was delightful. Thanku. Luv Jayne x
http://journals.aol.co.uk/funnyface0s0/SingleGirl/

Anonymous said...

I envy you all that awesome history that you experience all the time, Jan!  I just love the stories/history behind all the pictures that you share.  Oh, what I woudn't give to visit there, and see all that you see.  I would be so happy!  Someday, my friend, I am going to visit England!  I am!  Maybe we will have the opportunity to meet, if I ever do! :)

Hugs
Jackie
http://journals.aol.com/siennastarr/Hopefloats/

Anonymous said...

Beautiful...thanks for sharing.   Linda in WA  

 http://journals.aol.com/lsfp1960/LindasWorld/









Anonymous said...

Jan,
This is an awsome entry. You and Jeannette fill me up with such rich history. I imagine Royality would need to be away from the public eye at times.
Thank you for sharing this entry.
Dianna

Anonymous said...

Jan, I loved that entry! you know I love your history lessons! great photos too, such a lovely church and detail, thanks for sharing with us... Linda xx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/lindachapmanuk/metamorphing

Anonymous said...

The church sounds great...history is really fascinating isn't it!
Andie

Anonymous said...

beautiful church! thank you for the engaging history lesson! hugs,natalie

Anonymous said...

The more I read your and Ally's journals I regret I didn't go to England when I had the chance. I'm just not the traveler but it sounds so interesting and pretty. Paula

Anonymous said...

Wow, I LOVE stuff like this!!
I find old churches REALLY interesting. The amount of work and detail put into each one, and they were built back before all this modern technology was available..blows my mind!

Thanks for sharing hun,

Lv Ste
xxxx

Anonymous said...

Hi Jan,thank you for telling us in such detail about this lovely Church in Sandringham where the Queen and her family spend their Christmas time.After seeing your photos you can understand  how she can find relaxation there without the public glare. Your description of everything  excellent......Love Jeanxx

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful church hun.wow,great entry xxzoexx
http://journals.aol.co.uk/zoepaul6968/DomesticAbuse/

Anonymous said...

Lovely entry Jan, and what a pretty church :o)
Sara   x

Anonymous said...

Thanks for shhttp://journals.aol.co.uk/lindapaterson177/IstartedofthislifewithnothingIst/aring the pics were lovely
bella xx

Anonymous said...

I would love a walk round there Jan! I love stuff like this! Thank you for sharing such lovely photos.

Anonymous said...

We love walking round old churches and cathedrals, we have not visited Sandringham, we must try and make a piont of paying it a visit, it sounds lovely,I do look forward to your entries you live in a beautiful part of England,
take care Lynne xx

Anonymous said...

Lovely church, Jan.  I would love to visit the UK someday.  The sights and ancient history are just so fascinating.  Thanks for sharing it with us.  xx  Chris

Anonymous said...

Really interesting - thanks for sharing! Joanie x http://journals.aol.co.uk/symphonyuk/Alifemoreordinary/

Anonymous said...

You make a wonerful tour guide Jan. Thanks Eve