Wandering around Long Stratton

Hayzel took the Christmas tree down this afternoon after we got back from a drive into Diss to get school bags, more sheets (satin ones doll, cos they were on sale)  and groceries ... AND of course to check out the Salon where Hayzel is going for interview soon ...  :)

Lawrence Paul - Vidal Sassoon salon in Diss

Leaving Diss

Country road going back to Long Stratton

Quaint Antique Shop as you enter Long Stratton from Diss on the A140

Needless to say Ewan nearly had a seizure over the packing away of all the Christmas things.  So after  Whatsapp-ing David about it, I decided to drag my arse out of the house and take a few pics of the streets where we are now living (yeah, alright ... I needed a bit of peace and quiet!)

looking down our Close to the main road

looking towards village of Long Stratton - Lotus is on the right (behind the Shell garage - I will take pictures next time of the Lotus cars in the window, you guys will drool)

Looking up the road towards Diss, Ipswich, going out of Long Stratton - the Church is on the left past the house on the left, which is called Griffon House, built in 1719.

Front of Griffon House - they were watching me from inside when I took this picture, so I hot footed it away quite pronto

 They are selling Griffin Coach House, which is just behind Griffon House (above) for £289 950 - it is a four bedroomed Grade II listed building - the estate agents link is here, for more detail on the property (Hayzel and I want to buy it!) 
   

I love photographing old churches and the main reason for taking a walk today was to see if I could get into the grounds of St. Mary’s, which is just at the bottom of our road.  

St Mary’s Church, Long Stratton
This church’s history goes back to Saxon times.   The tower is Norman and is one of 124 such round-tower churches in Norfolk.   A local family took care of major reconstruction of the church in the 1300's - what you see today hasn't really changed much since then!

Even though the sun wasn’t shining like it was earlier this morning (imagine that!) ... the light was still okay enough to get some reasonably good shots.   I haven’t reduced the actual size of the uploaded images, so if you click on them, you should get a much bigger, more detailed photo. 

Most of the gravestones are from the early 1800's - I don't know where they hide older ones but will ask next time

My fave photo from the few I took is this one  - I wonder if he's related to Sir Edmund Reeve, who apparently haunts this place!

 The single most important claim to fame of St. Mary's is a Sexton’s Wheel in the church – apparently, one of only two surviving in the WORLD.   (The other being in Yaxley, Suffolk).   It’s unclear as to the purpose of the wheel, but it may have been used to determine which days were used for worshippers to Fast. 

The symbol of the Sexton’s Wheel is now used all over Long Stratton.   There are six bells in the tower, the earliest being cast for John Sturmyn, Lord of the Manor in 1327. The others were cast later; in
1652, 1701, 1734, 1789, and 1904.   Each year a full peal is rung on Christmas Eve, which we could clearly hear from our house this year - Hayzel kept telling me to go outside and listen!

I wasn't able to go inside the Church today but will try soon because apparently there is a Jacobean Font cover, as well as the tomb of Sir Edmund Reeve, who was the Chief Justice of the Common Peace and who died in 1637.  There is a story that his ghost can be seen sometimes riding a carriage.

 Detailed Church records were ordered to be kept by Queen Elizabeth 1 and have been kept since 1547.

On the way back from the Church, I took a photo of the estate agent's sign for a property that is just behind our house:

If you have time, take a look at the estate agent’s link here    for The Old Rectory and check this 6 bedroomed place out!  And it’s right on our door step.  Larney ek se  and all for the measly sum of

£745,000   .... chicken feed.

Looking up the road towards Alexander Close on the left (by the reddish brick house)

Looking further up the road out of Long Stratton - yes, the grass really is THAT green.

I got a lot of information about St. Mary's Church from these websites:

Norfolk Churches
Norwich Anglican Churches profiles


All for now - I've changed the permissions on the blog to allow anyone to comment, which would be appreciated!
Love and hugs to everyone.