Katharine and I had a trip to Selby a few days ago. One of the highlights of a visit to Selby is to look around Selby Abbey. The only remains of the Abbey are the church, still in use after almost 1000 years. This is a view of the nave, looking towards the altar and screen, with the choir beyond.
Although Selby Abbey is now a parish church, it was one of England’s great monastic churches, built on a grand scale and to a high level of architectural and artistic mastery. Founded in 1069 by William the Conqueror, three years after the Norman Conquest, and added to over time, it is a key building illustrating the transition from Romanesque, or Norman, to a fully developed Gothic style. It is also significant for surviving intact the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s.
The painted and stained glass of the fourteenth-century east window illustrates the Tree of Jesse and is held in place by one of the best example of curvilinear tracery in Britain. There are also rare examples of fourteenth-century carved figures, which sit astride the parapets within and outside the choir. These important features have been affected by centuries of industrial activity as well as atmospheric salinity from the nearby North Sea, which has seen deterioration of the exterior stonework, highlighted by one of the pinnacles falling from the central tower onto the transept. Fire damage to the abbey in 1906 created long-term issues in some surviving stonework that has become problematic in recent years. Furthermore, as a parish church within a community badly affected most recently by the closure of the area’s coalfields, Selby Abbey lacks appropriate funds for its restoration.
It does have a very active team of volunteers to welcome visitors, and refreshments are available (and gave us a very welcome break during our explorations). We have visited several times before, but each time there is more to discover. An addition since our last visit was a set of rather attractive stations of the cross. We were also fortunate to be there when their weekly prayers for Ukraine were being held. The news from Katharine's relatives in Ukraine is that so far all of them are OK, though living in difficult circumstances.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Sorry for the late response, we have only just got home from a few days with our two daughters, their husbands and children on our delayed New Year gathering. We are now thoroughly exhausted after a fun filled time!
Selby Abbey is a lovely place to visit, with lots to see, and a very friendly welcome.
It’s good to hear Katherine’s family are keeping safe
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
Sorry for the late response, we have only just got home from a few days with our two daughters, their husbands and children on our delayed New Year gathering. We are now thoroughly exhausted after a fun filled time!
Selby Abbey is a lovely place to visit, with lots to see, and a very friendly welcome.
Ian
Thank you Vesna, I'm pleased that you like it!
Ian