THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK.I have just finished reading (I admit you might think it a little late in the day!) George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. It took me rather a long time and I confess that I did not enjoy it very much. But, still, it’s regarded as a seminal book, and I have now read it.
Contrast that with a book my wife lent me after it was given to her by a friend from university days and, we think, also a friend of the author. It’s called Steeple Chasing and it’s by Peter Ross. By sheer coincidence Ross is an Orwell journalism fellow. Steeple Chasing is an absolutely wonderful read.
Churches are all around us. They contain art and architectural wonders – they are one huge gallery scattered, like a handful of jewels, across these isles.
In Steeple Chasing, Ross sets out to tell their stories, and through them the story of Britain. He visits an unassuming Norfolk Church which contains a disturbing secret; London’s mighty cathedrals with their histories of fire and love. We meet cats and bats, monks and druids, angels of oak and steel.
It is a song of praise and a joy to read. It’s about people as much as places, flesh and bone not just flint and stone.
Over the years I must have visited hundreds of churches. My wife and I are members of the Church Conservation Trust which looks after redundant churches of architectural and/or historical interest. But, of course, we have also visited many, many churches that are still in use. Frankly, like Nineteen Eighty-Four, some leave me completely cold. Others I find exciting - their history and faith making a deep impression on me.
So, what is it about churches? Why do some leave me completely unmoved and unemotional? Why do others move me and invite me to return?
© Ian Williams 2025. |
