St Michael Church, Bowness-on-Solway
N 54° 57.140 W 003° 12.822
30U E 486313 N 6089508
St Michael Church has Norman features which have survived the Victorian restoration in 1891. Late Norman (1300's) north and south doorways and a Norman window in the north side of the chancel and a good Norman font have survived.
Waymark Code: WM72ZY
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/25/2009
Views: 1
The site of the church is thought to be where a Roman granary once stood. The church is built from stones from that granary and the nearby Roman wall. It has a double bell tower. The building we see today is from 1891, but a church has stood here since late Norman times (1300's).
There is a leaflet inside all about what to look for during your visit. Of particular note is the tale about the bells.
"The porch of St Michael's church houses two bells which were used in the tower until 1905. These were pillaged from across the Solway estuary in response to a similar raid by Scots, who were pursued across the sands, ditching the Bowness bells in order to escape.
A piece of Victorian poetry commemorates the event:
Relieved from duty here we sit
In well-earned rest together,
Beside the Solway's ruddy sands
Secure from wind and weather.
With near three hundred years of toil
A trifle thin our tone is,
So now at length we take our rest -
The stolen bells of Bowness"
from (
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The Bowness locals retaliated by stealing the bells from Dornock and Middlebie. Each new vicar from where the bells were stolen asks for them back. He is politely refused. (
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Address
St Michael
Bowness-on-Solway
Cumbria
CA7 5AF
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