There have been a number of mentions of William Booth on other threads.  Here is the grave of him and his beloved, formidable wife off Stoke Newington Church Street in Abney Park Cemetry.  OK, its not a church, but the Sally Army didn't do churches.

That looks delightfully pre-industrialisation West Midlands, with half-timbered porch, and brick ? walls.  But where is it?  I can't see a reference to Uffmoor Wood in Collins Pocket Guide.

Kenelm according to legend was a child prince of Mercia martyred by a jealous aunt in the Clent Hills.  Is that this chapel? 

Historically that was not true - there was a Mercian prince of that name, but he died in battle.

Whoever or whatever he was, he was buried at Winchcombe Abbey in Gloucestershire.

Coo, thanks for that link, andy.  But is it Romsley church in your photo?

Now that' interesting, andy.  Is that tree a sign of popular devotion, offerings to the spring, or just a picnic that has gone horribly wrong?

It would be called litter where I live.

Let's go a bit further afield: The Compania de Jesus Church in Cuzco in the Peruvian Andes, start of the Inca Trail. It rather dwarfs the nearby Cathedral. Like most Andean churches, it has a hybrid design and symbolism, with important Inca spiritual associations subsumed into the Catholic norms:

MabelJane

Exterior paintings on churches is a Romanian speciality, particularly in the North of the country, which I would be fascinated to visit.

eg http://www.mtour.go.ro/voronet.html

Orthodox attach great significance to painted icons, but do not use carved figures or statuary.  Hence their use of painting here, but  I am not aware of exterior painting in other Orthodox countries.  I'm told the weather in Romania can be extreme, so the use of painting is unexpected.

I hadn't noticed the scaffolding.  That is because most of Bucharest is a building site, and scaffoldling is a standard feature everywhere. 

I've never been to South America, so thank you for the pics.  I know Westminster Cathedral has done a couple of recordings of Latin American C16 & C17 polyphonic church music.

If Pim Derks sees this, it may remind him of a favourite book.

One of my very favourite Welsh Churches.


St Nicholas. It is 13th century with a very long chancel, striking nave and double piscina. A French architect is said to have designed it for Eleanor, the queen of Henry III. The central spire rises from an eight-sided tower. Inside is an effigy, thought to be Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster who died in 1361.

The tower and other parts were built by Prince Edmund (son of Henry III of England and later Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster) for his mother Eleanor of Provence

Unfortunately money ran out and even to this day entering the Church you go into a bare barn of a place, with the altar and seating contained behind doors right at the very end.

It also contains the tomb of Jack of Kent, supposedly a magician.  In 1400, Owain Glyndwr  began a war which within three years, saw the English expelled from Wales. The last great leader of the Welsh nation against the Anglo-Saxon oppressors, he disappeared into the medieval night, whilst his fate has always been unknown,  rumours of his survival in south Herefordshire/Welsh borders still exist. There is a connection said to have existed between the outlawed Glyndwr and a legendary character of the Welsh borders - 'The Magician - Jack of Kent'  Were they one and the same?  It is thought that Glyndwr lived his remaining years with his son-in-law Sir John Skydmore at Kenturch in Herefordshire, which ties in rather nicely with the theory.

All fascinating stuff and a truly magical place I think.  And possibly the resting place of a Welsh hero and the founder of the first Welsh Parliament.

Or are we Welsh too soppy and sentimental?