Swanton Morley, All Saints, Norfolk: The Sense of Perspective

View from east of All Saints, Swanton Morley, across the Wensum Valley, looking towards Bylaugh Church

Following a working week during which it was hard to lift my head up from the workaday, I returned to Swanton Morley. I was more than ready to slow down, savour some space and enjoy introducing two dear friends to the church and its magnificent setting. Although I had initially intended for us to go on from here to Elsing, I decided that this was an apt place to end our rich day of exploration. 

Together, we had enjoyed laughter, serendipity, a long stare at the massive Koi Carp swimming ghost-like at the Urban Jungle Cafe; clear skies, stunning medieval architecture and art. We had journeyed alongside each other, sharing stories from our past, including poignant and sometimes moving reflections. I have come to realise that encounters with our churches offer a space where meaningful things happen. For some, this may be a faith-based experience. For me, personally, it is more about finding space to encounter and be inspired by beauty; there is the subliminal harmony of these places. They are meeting places, enriched by generations of the living - so much art, material culture, hope, loss, pain, Love... they stimulate my intellect and stretch my imagination. They are places of the head and the heart. 

Before departing, we three resolved to return here on a summer evening and sit in silence for an hour looking eastwards to look at the magnificent view across the valley. 

Silhouette: All Saints, Swanton Morley

<*(((((><( The Fallible Flâneur