Normanton Church, Rutland Water by phil_sandford

Normanton Church, Rutland Water

Another for Flash of Red February.

Trip out to Rutland today with Carole; very cold, but it made for an amazing sky.

This is Normanton Church, at risk when the valley was flooded to create Rutland Water in the heart of Leicestershire.

To quote from Carole's photograph of the same subject today; "The church was saved by public outcry in 1970. The valley had to be cleared for a new resevoir & the church was deconsecrated & set for demoloition, but the general public had other ideas! When it came time to flood the area, it became obvious that the church would be partly submerged once the high water level was reached. This would have meant the gradual erosion of its foundations and lower walls.
Finally it was decided that the lower level of the church would be filled with rubble and concrete to form a new floor. This would be approximately 60 cm above the water level. Because the church would have become a small island once flooded, a causeway was built to reach it."

For more info on the Flash of Red Challenge for February 2018 please see here - http://365project.org/discuss/themes-competitions/31004/flash-of-red-february-2018-begins-in-4-days

Thank you for your views, comments on yesterday's offering; really appreciated
It’s certainly one of a kind isn’t it? Such a stunning setting!
February 24th, 2018  
Fantastic story with a positive outcome.
February 24th, 2018  
B&w is so right for this
February 24th, 2018  
Boo
gosh, lovely and love the story too
February 24th, 2018  
Amazing narrative and a great photo!
February 24th, 2018  
A stunning sight and great informative introduction ! fv
February 24th, 2018  
This does look good in black and white. Quite different from Carole's color photograph.
February 24th, 2018  
Nice shot of my local. Looks great in B&W. I hope you had your passports to get into rutland :)
February 24th, 2018  
Not my photo but you can see what it looked like before here https://twitter.com/oakhamphoto/status/843107562224607233?s=09
February 24th, 2018  
What beautiful lighting on this Church - and what an unusual church. Great details.
February 25th, 2018  
Very cool photo. Thanks for telling us the whole story. Fascinating.
February 25th, 2018  
@rjb71 I found this too, the narrative is misleading. It still looks to be removed from any other buildings & in the middle of nowhere!
February 25th, 2018  
@carole_sandford That's what I thought. I will ask my dad see if he can remember anything about it.
February 25th, 2018  
Great image and info - I must visit here one day!
February 25th, 2018  
Wow, stunning & so surrounded by water...
February 25th, 2018  
@carole_sandford @rjb71 Wikipedia gives a bit more detail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normanton,_Rutland?wprov=sfti1

I reckon it was a cellar that was filled with rubble and then capped. It wasn’t the Parrish Church of Normanton, but a private church, St Matthews, for the Earls of Ancaster and the Normanton Hall estate.
February 25th, 2018  
Excellent! You can have another fav - but I'm still jealous :)
February 25th, 2018  
Wonderful shot
February 25th, 2018  
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