Back at the blogging thing, now that Terry and I have relocated to York for 10 days. Only two stops today, York Minster Cathedral and St Olave's Priory. York Minister was originally built in from 1080-1100 by William I's choice for Archbishop of York, Thomas of Bayeaux. Thomas had laid the original foundation upon a flood plain, so the ground wasn't stable enough to sustain the weight of the cathedral, so in 1225, Walter de Gray, the Archbishop at the time, completely rebuilt the cathedral. It took almost 400 years to get it completed, but because the time the elapsed was so great, what you end up with are 3 different time periods of English Gothic architecture adding the the charm of this place.  In 1405, the central tower's foundations failed, and the tower collapsed on itself, leading to more renovations. It took until 1472 before the cathedral was completed. In 1829 and 1840, two fires swept through the roofs of the Quire and the Nave, precipitating more construct...

 I left Norwich, headed back toward London, stopping overnight in Bury St Edmunds. I had two nice visits, and two short ones. The first stop was Wymondham Abbey (pronounced Wyndham). It was an Abbey founded by William d' Aubigny around 1107. For the first 400 years, Monks lived and worked on the east end of the Abbey, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The people of Wymondham were lucky enough to get to keep majority of the Church for their own Parish church.  Three generations of William D'Aubigny's were buried at this church. The volunteers were so excited that one of his descendants actually came by to visit today, but most of my other ancestors were too long gone to be found here. This was a beautiful church, and the most striking feature to me was the row of wooden angels that made up the ceiling in the main portion of the church. Here they are shown below. In addition to the D'Aubigny's, there were some Flowerdews, Hengraves, and one Maud Bigod, but aga...

 What a nice city to visit. I stayed about a half a mile from the inner city, and about a mile from my furthest stop today, Norwich cathedral. Lots to do, see, and places to eat. Yesterday was Turkish food, today was Thai food.  Norwich Cathedral, still standing after 932 years. This place became a religious site in the 7th century long before the Normans arrived, but within 30 years of their arrival, work began on the current day cathedral, and it was completed before 1119.  I showed up at the front door just before the rain arrived, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but two worthy Volunteers, dressed up in their gear! I love church volunteers! They are so knowledgeable of their churches, and so willing to help! I had 9 names of my ancestors who were supposed to be buried inside the cathedral, and when I showed them the list, we got to work. The first tomb they showed me was Sir Thomas Wyndham (1468-1509, 1st Earl of Darcy). Here it is above. Most of the tombs...

 The weather cooperated today, and other than being a little windy, it was a beautiful day. Maybe not so much with the rest of the week, but I'll take days like these.  I'm in Norfolk until Tuesday, and travelled up North to Binham Priory first. It was an Augustinian Sister house of the Church in St. Albans, and started by a nephew of William the Conqueror, Peter d' Valoignes.  The Augustinian orders were usually the wealthiest of the orders, and of particular interest to Henry VIII. The Priory was dissolved in 1539. The Priory gatehouse I have mentioned this before, but just as a reminder, the Dissolution of the Monasteries had very little to do with Henry, Catherine of Aragon, and the Church of England. It had everything to do with confiscating the wealth of all the Abbeys, Priories, Convents and Friaries to fund the Monarchy. There were over 800 of them in England before they were taken down. Binham was one of those, but the main part of the church became the local par...