Today was a "stay in place" day in Maidstone filled with much needed spiritual recollection, rest, and research for the next fews days. We prayed Lauds and our other morning prayers together over tea around 8 am, and then we headed to The Society Rooms for a workman-style breakfast.
Breakfast at The Society Rooms.
After morning Mass at St. Francis Church, we visited the old St. Faith Church, a Victorian-era Anglican church that has recently changed ownership and religious affiliation.
(1) Left: Inside St. Francis Church. (2) Inside the old St. Faith Church.
Outside St. Faith's, we admired a traveling sculpture currently stationed in Maidstone called the Knife Angel. Standing at 27 feet tall, this statue was created from 100,00 knives by artist Alfie Bradley in collaboration with the British Ironworks Centre.
The knifes incorporated in the statue were confiscated by police or dropped off at knife amnesty boxes. The angel is intended to raise awareness about and condemn knife crime in the UK.
We then crossed the Millennium Bridge and strolled along the Jubilee Walk on the west bank of the River Medway.
Walking along the River Medway in Maidstone.
From this side of the river, we admired the Archbishop's Palace, All Saints' Church, and All Saints' College. We crossed back over on a pedestrian bridge to investigate these buildings more closely.
(1) Top Left: Archbishop's Palace. (2) Top right: All Saints Church. (3) Bottom: All Saints College.
The Archbishop's Palace is an early medieval palace, originally built in or prior to the 11th century, and it was likely bequeathed as a royal gift to the archbishops of England. The archbishops used the palace in Maidstone (as well as other similar palaces in Charing, Otford, and Croydon, among others) as lodging when they travelled around the diocese. After the Reformation, the palace was seized by the Crown and then sold in the 1580s into private hands and renovated into the typical Elizabethan style that now characterizes the palace. The palace courtyard, stables, and All Saints Church would have provided shelter for those traveling to Canterbury.
All Saints Church (depicted at left) can trace its history back to the 7th century, when a Saxon church dedicated to St. Mary existed on the site. In 1395, the Archbishop William Courtenay petitioned King Richard II to convert St. Mary's into a Collegiate Church maintained by 24 secular canons. A Collegiate Church is a church in which the daily Divine Office is prayed by a community of clerics called canons. They are considered 'secular' in the sense that although they live together, they are not bound to a monastic Rule and are not required to give up private wealth. The new All Saints Church was completed around 1405, with additions continuing through the 20th century.
The south door of All Saints contains small round imprints from musket shot fired during the Civil War of 1648. 1400 prisoners (supporters of Charles I -- Maidstone was loyal to Charles) were kept in the church, along with soldiers and their horses!
Musket shot on the south door of All Saints Church.
All Saints' most famous memorial is to Lawrence Washington, the 4x great uncle of our own George Washington. Lawrence Washington, born in 1546, moved to Maidstone from Northamptonshire in 1601 and became one of the town's MPs in 1603. At the top of the memorial to Lawrence, you can see the Washington family crest. This crest contains three stars and two red and white stripes, strikingly similar to the final design of the American flag! We were surprised and delighted to discover some of our country's history here in Maidstone.
Memorial to Lawrence Washington in All Saints Church, including family crest with stars-and-stripes motif.
For lunch, we ate at The Old Boat Cafe, a floating restaurant moored along the Medway river in the center of Maidstone. The boat, originally dubbed the 'Verbena', was a former horse-drawn narrowboat employed by Fellows, Morton, & Clayton, a well-known canal transportation company operating in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
The Old Boat Cafe.
The Old Boat sources its ingredients locally and focuses on serving Kentish specialties. Lisa and Frans tried one of these specialities: pickled walnuts. To make pickled walnuts, walnuts are first harvested while still green, soaked in brine for 10 days or more, air-dried, pickled in a vinegar solution, and finally ripened for up for 8 weeks. It was briny with the consistency of cooked cauliflower. Different!
We also met some friendly South Africans who had a houseboat on the River Medway. Their boat is called "Dutch Courage," a euphemism for gin!
Meeting the residents of the Dutch Courage.
We then were free to use the rest of the afternoon as we pleased. Lisa, Leslieann, and Harry pursued spiritual time with prayer and the rosary. Frans got a haircut and posted several packages. Scroll through the slideshow below to see more various and sundry scenes from our exploration of Maidstone:
Finally, we went to Fifi's Brasserie for dinner, followed shortly thereafter by an early bedtime in preparation for an early morning tomorrow.
Comments