Today’s picture was taken through one of the chancel windows overlooking the Menai Straits in Penmon Priory aka Penmon Abbey aka Penmon Monastery aka Penmon Church depending on which guide book or pamphlet you believe or which ranting expert in their field you believe.
Just off the bottom right hand corner of Anglesey at Penmon Abbey/Monastery/Church there are remains of religious buildings spanning more than 1,000 years. It was the site of a monastery dating back to the time of St. Seiriol, who lived in the 6th century had his own well which is now Holy. In the early 13th century the Celtic community was reorganized under the Augustinian Rule, and at this time the priory/church was enlarged and still serves as the parish church today.
The priory survived the Edwardian conquest and expanded slightly, but was dissolved in 1538 by Henry the Whatever.. If you’ve ever wondered how they actually dissolved the monasteries, and if you have an enquiring mind you probably have, Henry the Whatever went around the country with buckets of strong acid pouring it hither and thither but mainly on very nice buildings where there were men in dowdy dressing gowns with bald patches brewing their own ale.
Oddly enough it wasn’t until the 1970s that men in dowdy dressing gowns with bald patches took to brewing their own ale again, mainly in frothy covered buckets in airing cupboards. Not that the contents were fit for much else than dissolving buildings and in our case living room furniture including the wooden arms on the settee, the coffee table, the hall carpet and successive pairs of dentures. The rows went on for days.
The buildings passed into the hands of the Bulkeleys of Beaumaris, who like all the thieving gentry and well to do of their time, legally turfed off the people eeking a living from the land and ‘enclosed’ much of the area as a private deer park and built the dovecote where the fat man with the radio tuned in to the football stands taking £2.50 to go to the end of the bay.
Anyhow, a nice stained glass window Cyril, I say a nice stained glass window Cyril. Ever thought of PVC double glazing though? Buy one you get one free.. I say buy one you get one free.
No comments:
Post a Comment