Carlisle churches
I wanted to post all of my cathedral photos here. But I quickly realized that I took too many to do that. And that's with me not taking as many photos as I would have liked. In reading the book I picked up on the cathedral after-the-fact, I discovered a number of things I missed. (Guess who's going back next year!)
So I was forced to post my photos on Facebook again. Click here to have a look at them.
The cathedral was a beautiful place. It left me feeling serene and comfortable - the way a church should. St. Cuthbert's was just a few minutes' walk up the road from the cathedral, but it was a world away. I didn't go inside this church, because it's outside left me feeling cold and uncomfortable.
If you haven't done so, yet, click on the link above and take a look at Carlisle Cathedral. Then come back here and take a look at St. Cuthbert's.
As I was strolling around the cathedral grounds on the hunt for historical treasure, I spotted a sign that indicated a St. Cuthbert's Church off to the southwest. I followed the sign and could see what appeared to be a church tucked back behind a hotel, but I saw no way to actually get to it. So I left the cathedral grounds, walked down the street a bit, and hunted for another sign of the church. Down one alley, I saw its roof and headed toward it.
The church sits square to the old Roman road and is believed to be built on a foundation that predates Cuthbert's visit to Carlisle in 685 AD. This is the fourth church to be built on this site and dates to 1778.
The church didn't look like much. The hotel next to it had a heavy-duty iron gate across its carpark access. The convertible in the photo had stopped, because the driver needed to close the gate. That was pretty intense security for what seemed a nice little neighborhood.
The sign announcing St. Cuthbert's indicated it was both Anglican and Methodist. Later research revealed that when the local Methodist church lost its hall, St. Cuthbert's offered the congregation use of its tithebarn. So both congregations reside on the same property.
As I entered the church grounds, I spotted another sign. This one warned me that use of the footpath was at my own risk. I initially thought it was because the stones were loose and/or uneven, but it was a perfectly good path. And then I saw the barbed wire.
Barbed wire topped the entire wall around the church. Not only that, but broken glass was strewn along the wall, as well. What I couldn't decide was if the glass was part of the deterent, or left from those the church was trying to keep out. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant.
Both the cathedral and St. Cuthbert's grounds attracted people having lunch on the grass or sitting under a tree reading. The difference was that the cathedral had families and even business people enjoying the grounds, but St. Cuthbert's attracted clumps of rough-looking teenagers. That put me on my guard, especially when a great number of them watched me enter. But what really gave me the creeps was the grave stones. They were lined up along all the walls. It didn't take me long to realize that they weren't marking actual graves. They were just the headstones.
The movie "Poltergeist" immediately spring to mind: You didn't move the cemetary! You just moved the headstones! (I paraphrase.) It was unsettling to me.
Now I know the bodies are meaningless. But when I visit a cemetary or churchyard, I always take care not to step on the grave. It's disrespectful to me to do so. And to have headstones without the actual graves was just wrong somehow. Couple that with the barbed wire and glass, and the rough crowd attracted to what was actually a lovely area and you had an atmosphere a world apart from the serenity and comfort of Carlisle Cathedral.
The church was open and I did make it to the door. But I could not go inside. It wasn't because I didn't want to disturb anyone within. It was because I didn't want to get close to whatever it was that attracted such negativity.
I walked quickly away from St. Cuthbert's Church and I did not look back.
So I was forced to post my photos on Facebook again. Click here to have a look at them.
The cathedral was a beautiful place. It left me feeling serene and comfortable - the way a church should. St. Cuthbert's was just a few minutes' walk up the road from the cathedral, but it was a world away. I didn't go inside this church, because it's outside left me feeling cold and uncomfortable.
If you haven't done so, yet, click on the link above and take a look at Carlisle Cathedral. Then come back here and take a look at St. Cuthbert's.
As I was strolling around the cathedral grounds on the hunt for historical treasure, I spotted a sign that indicated a St. Cuthbert's Church off to the southwest. I followed the sign and could see what appeared to be a church tucked back behind a hotel, but I saw no way to actually get to it. So I left the cathedral grounds, walked down the street a bit, and hunted for another sign of the church. Down one alley, I saw its roof and headed toward it.
The church sits square to the old Roman road and is believed to be built on a foundation that predates Cuthbert's visit to Carlisle in 685 AD. This is the fourth church to be built on this site and dates to 1778.
The church didn't look like much. The hotel next to it had a heavy-duty iron gate across its carpark access. The convertible in the photo had stopped, because the driver needed to close the gate. That was pretty intense security for what seemed a nice little neighborhood.
The sign announcing St. Cuthbert's indicated it was both Anglican and Methodist. Later research revealed that when the local Methodist church lost its hall, St. Cuthbert's offered the congregation use of its tithebarn. So both congregations reside on the same property.
As I entered the church grounds, I spotted another sign. This one warned me that use of the footpath was at my own risk. I initially thought it was because the stones were loose and/or uneven, but it was a perfectly good path. And then I saw the barbed wire.
Barbed wire topped the entire wall around the church. Not only that, but broken glass was strewn along the wall, as well. What I couldn't decide was if the glass was part of the deterent, or left from those the church was trying to keep out. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant.
Both the cathedral and St. Cuthbert's grounds attracted people having lunch on the grass or sitting under a tree reading. The difference was that the cathedral had families and even business people enjoying the grounds, but St. Cuthbert's attracted clumps of rough-looking teenagers. That put me on my guard, especially when a great number of them watched me enter. But what really gave me the creeps was the grave stones. They were lined up along all the walls. It didn't take me long to realize that they weren't marking actual graves. They were just the headstones.
The movie "Poltergeist" immediately spring to mind: You didn't move the cemetary! You just moved the headstones! (I paraphrase.) It was unsettling to me.
Now I know the bodies are meaningless. But when I visit a cemetary or churchyard, I always take care not to step on the grave. It's disrespectful to me to do so. And to have headstones without the actual graves was just wrong somehow. Couple that with the barbed wire and glass, and the rough crowd attracted to what was actually a lovely area and you had an atmosphere a world apart from the serenity and comfort of Carlisle Cathedral.
The church was open and I did make it to the door. But I could not go inside. It wasn't because I didn't want to disturb anyone within. It was because I didn't want to get close to whatever it was that attracted such negativity.
I walked quickly away from St. Cuthbert's Church and I did not look back.
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