A CHURCHCRAWLER'S GUIDE TO PARISH CHURCHES AROUND PETERBOROUGH
Join me in another affectionate ramble around some parish churches which surround Peterborough...
Thank you for taking a look at this, my second website, which takes a look at parish churches which can be found around Peterborough in the United Kingdom. These website are designed to replace my original site, Peterborough Churchcrawler, which was hosted my Moonfruit. which originally set up back in 2006, and which ran for 15 years, before the hoster ceased trading.
The first replacement site looks at churches within a very rough 20 miles radius of Peterborough. This second site picks up where the first one left off, and extends the radius a little further. If anyone would like to see the first site then please click on the photograph on the left to be directed there.
What you will see here is a record of my travels as I visit and photograph the churches that have become an important part of my life during the last 15 years. I have cobbled together a brief history of each of the churches and will combine this with a few, occasionally tongue in cheek, observations of what I have seen.
Best wishes,
Robin Peel Peterborough January 1st 2023.
Photograph top left the beautiful church of St John the Baptist, Morton, Lincolnshire. Top right, the church of St Mary the Virgin, Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire. Immediately above two long range shot; on the left is All Saints, Winwick, Cambridgeshire. On the right is the church of the church of St Mary, Leighton Bromswold, Huntingdonshire; with this being photographed on a glorious Saturday morning with the air thick with the pollen from oilseed rape. Below left, early morning sunshine on a monument from the wonderful church of St Peter & St Paul, Exton, Rutland. Opposite that, a fine Victorian Last Supper reredos from All Saints, Stamford, Lincolnshire. Below that, modern stained glass from the church of St Mary, Edith Weston, Rutland.
As mentioned already, this site will pretty muck pick up where the first site left off; extending the circle around Peterborough that the first site started. However, this is not intended to be an even circle! It will probably end up looking more like an octagon than a circle.
This site will extend a little further away from Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire and Rutland but there will be a greater emphasis on Rutland; taking in churches as far as the banks of Rutland Water.
I hope that the two sites together go some way to providing a reasonably comprehensive look at the churches which surround Peterborough. All photographs taken and used on this site are my own. If you see your own church on here and see any errors in the write up, please let me know and I will alter accordingly. Note is made of whether the churches were open at the time of visiting. It is always good to check though with the individual churches to see if they are open.
Find Me On Facebook!
Please click on the photograph on the left to be taken to my Facebook page, which will also look at churches that are outside the catchment area of my websites.
Why This Site Was Set Up...
The original Peterborough Churchcrawler site was set up back in September 2006, running for just over 15 years before it fell foul of hoster Moonfruit ceasing to trade.
Some of you who visited the old site may know the reason that it was set up; for those who don’t the story is as follows.
I was struggling for a while following the loss of my father, who I had helped to look after through a long illness. The manner of his passing, early in 2004 was traumatic. Life was a struggle for quite a time and there were long periods of depression to add to a life long anxiety problem.
One day, a friend suggested that I go on long walks and I found myself on a day off from work, walking three miles or so to Castor. The church there was open and I went inside to sit down. There was a real sense of peace and calm inside; I can remember a solitary bird song as I took in the peace.
At that time I was quite heavily involved with football; following Stamford AFC who at that time played in the Southern League. The day after my walk to Castor, I went with a friend to see Stamford play at Cirencester. We lost quite heavily and my friend suggested that we visit a few Cotswold villages on the way back to try and cheer ourselves up a little.
We visited three villages and took a look at the churches in each of the villages. On the drive home, the first thoughts came to mind about visiting each of the churches within a ten miles circle of Peterborough, and setting a website up detailing my travels. This would give me somewhere to go, something to do! People to meet, places to see! This was a means to fight against the depression which left me not wanting to do anything!
Well, the ten miles soon became 20 and then 30 and then I was sitting in a fish and chip restaurant in the Peak district, on a week long Peak District churchcrawl wondering how the heck that had happened.
When the Moonfruit site closed there were two options, give up or start again. It was a no brainer! Start up again from scratch but try to make this new site a little more detailed, with better photographs and fewer spelling mistakes! One of my Facebook followers said in a comment ‘Remember why you set it up in the first place’. Spot on!
I have seen some beautiful churches and met some lovely people. The Facebook page has lead to friendships being made which are greatly valued.
Thank you for taking a look at my site; this is why it is here!