Priories and Pubs

It's just me writing today because Stefanie had a very normal day of class while I went on a field trip to two churches and a pub to explore the effects of the Reformation on the English landscape. (That's one thing you certainly can't do in America: go on a field trip for your Tudor History course.) 

Getting mail from your family is always
a good way to start out the day!

We gathered at 10:00 am to drive in a van to Boxgrove Priory. The church was a monastery before the Reformation, when Henry VIII dissolved all the monasteries. It's still beautifully decorated on the inside, in addition to having an impressive graveyard. This church survived much of the looting and destruction that other churches witnessed during this period due to the influence of a wealthy local family, the De La Warrs (that's the family that founded Delaware and had a hand in the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia). 

The grave of the first American soldier killed in
World War II; he volunteered to fight for the British. 

The ruins of part of the priory

The priory was built on a Roman site; they re-used
Roman roof tiles in the wall, which you can see here 

After exploring the grounds a bit, we headed off to a thatched roof pub called the Gribble Inn for lunch. The pub brews several beers on site and bakes its bread fresh every morning. Professor Hutchinson bought us all a beer; I had the Gribble Ale which was quite good! It was a nice enough day that we could sit outside, which was lovely. 

My ham, tomato, mustard sandwich was incredible. 

All the beers that the pub brews

We got back into the van and drove to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Warminghurst, which is no longer in use but shows how a church would have looked "in Jane Austen's time," as Professor Hutchinson said. It was a stark contrast to Boxgrove Priory, as it had very little ornamentation. 

These doors are from the house of William Penn,
founder of Pennsylvania. 

During Edward VI's reign, even the crucifix probably
wouldn't have been allowed. 

This bronze monument depicts the Shelley family. 

One of the Shelley sons was found harboring a
Catholic priest; he was drawn and quartered and
someone was sent to remove him from the
monument because there was a law stating that a
monument couldn't depict a traitor. 

Across the hills, we could almost see a Roman
sacred site on the top of the far mountain.

After the fairly short drive back to the university, I asked Professor Hutchinson if he would answer a few questions about the paper due Wednesday. He not only agreed but also said we could grab a coffee while we discussed it! I feel a lot better about the paper now (he even recommended some new sources for me), but I still have a lot of work to do. Therefore, Stefanie will be in charge of the blog tomorrow while I frantically write about Lady Margaret Beaufort, King Henry VII's mother.