Today we ventured over to Castle Acre, a small village about 1 1/2 east of us off the A47. It was an absolutely beautiful day...cool, crisp and sunny! Castle Acre is known for its old priory and castle remains and of course it is an English Heritage property. The priory is one of the largest and well preserved monastic sites in all of England. It was started by a French Monk who came over in around 1090 AD. Here you can see Kevin and the kids off in the distance as we walked down to the priory.
The daffodils were in full bloom today and the priory and church were so amazing looking. Most of the buildings are in ruins but the prior's lodging area are very much in tact and you can walk up into the first floor chapels and private chambers. Most of the rock used on the outside of the buildings was flint that had been cut flat...it's really cool looking. Guess if you needed to start a fire you could just strike the side of the building.
The church must have been magnificent back in the day. The monk who built it loved decorations and had loads of ornate carvings done...look at all the arches. The church was brought to rubble after Henry the VIIIth left the Catholic church and the land that the church was granted to one of Henry's good friends. In order for the gentleman to keep the land and insure that it didn't fall back into monastic use they destroyed most of the church and other buildings so that Catholic church wouldn't try to reclaim the land.
Inside the church you can see where all the columns used to stand tall and the now grass floor used to be multi-colored marble tiles.
Here we are at the front of the church looking back. It seems surreal that very holy rituals took place on the very spot we were standing. I wonder what the monks would have thought about my daughter running around columns during the services back in those days.
I loved this column remain that Addie and I are sitting by. Either the stone was darker and set up in a checkered pattern or the moss grew in a really amazing way.
There were lots of these worn away windows and I happened to catch Kevin and Harrison through one of them. There were beautiful fields around the priory and apparently public footpaths because a ton of people were catching glimpses of the priory from the outside of the fence.
I thought this was one of the coolest things we saw here because it was different from anything else we've seen at other old buildings...it's the monk's lou - outhouse - toilets!!! There were two floors set up...one for main level access and then the upstairs ones were off their sleeping quarters...which incidentally were straw beds with minimal blankets. The stuff would fall into the little canal they had set up below and it would get carried off by the flow of the water wheel just a hundred yards or so away.
I had Addison sit on these stairs which would have taken you to the upper sleeping quarters. I went around the corner quick to take a picture of one of the small chapels and a few seconds later I heard "Mummy, mummy" really loud. I came back around and couldn't see Addison...then I looked up. She had walked all the way to the top and there wasn't much at the top to keep her from falling 12-15 feet. She scared me to death so ran up to get her. The few steps on the bottom where in pretty good condition but were rubbled stones towards the top, so it was a bit tricky getting up and down. She has no fear, I tell you.
Addie sure felt like climbing a lot today. For the first time, we let her climb up a set of the really steep spiral stair cases. Kevin was right in front of her and I right behind. So if it looks scary enough for her little feet to be walking up them, just imagine Kevin and I trying walk up them.
The upper prior's chambers where very well preserved. Addison thinks it's so cool to stand up inside the fireplaces in all the places we visit.
Kevin and Harrison had a lot of fun hanging out together. We didn't get much use out of the back pack carrier with Addie, but Harrison does really well in it.
After we ate the best Sunday roast dinner at the Peacock in town, walked over to the Castle Acre Castle site. First we stopped by the village Gate. It's still kind of funny to see these really old gates that have no practical use anymore and are just there. It's hard to image what things used to look like way back when with all the modern houses built up around it.
The castle site is actually free to gain access to and lots of people seem to have picnics and such there. There are huge earthen mounds built up on the site as a means of protection for the former castle. You can still see the remains of the protective wall.
Here are Addie and I standing on the protective wall which is at least 1.5 meters wide and the base of the castle is right behind us. This was the first level and you can make out the remains of a huge fireplace from the second level just above my head and to the left.
Addison found some placards that showed a pictorial of what some of the other buildings on the sight might have looked like. You can see the huge earthen mounds behind her which enclose a huge area that would have homed the workings of the people who worked at the castle.
Finally this is one of the structures used as the castle gate. Addie and I are standing in what would have been a guards station. It was built into one of the big hills around the castle used to protect it.
We had a great day and can't wait for our next adventure.
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