General Chat

Just remembered St James Clerkenwell was open too wasn't it Jean:)

Sheila, St Sepulchre is always shut up every time I go by there - the only time I've seen it unlocked was when Songs of Praise was being filmed there but we weren't allowed in:)

Rach, that's the thing - a lot of people would like to go into passing churches for religious reasons too but it's just so rare you can:( Doesn't say a lot for religion these days

Sue, we had a peek in St Paul's but I resent the entry fee - seems very wrong to me.

Unfortunately Lynda we found that a number of the larger cathedrals are now charging. York Minster, Lincoln Cathedral. Durham Cathedral ask for a donation which we willingly gave but when 4 people go to a cathedral 40 pounds is a lot to pay out.

Sue xx

It's so disappointing not to be able to get the 'feel' of where our ancestors were baptised, married and buried by not being able to enter the church when we are on one of our walkabouts (:

Simon, the vicar of St Silas, was absolutely wonderful and showed me the entry in the register that contained my baptism and then made a photocopy for me.

That was another very special day for me :)

Hello, Uggers. I went to the church where a lot of my family were hatched matched and dispatched and it was locked. When I went to the vicar's house he refused to come and unlock it for me. It was only over the road from him and I was very disappointed. In Leeds I went to St Peter's Cathedral and a couple of ladies showed me all around the church and allowed us to take a photo of the altar. We've had mixed success getting into churches. In Salisbury we were made very welcome in the cathedral for the Sunday service and were lucky enough to hear a visiting choir.

Sue xx

I've tried (twice) to get in to St Sepulchres - no luck as yet, but St Martins in the Fields was open - probably because its on the tourist trail!

Been walking round London today and obviously you see a lot of churches - every time I go, almost all of them are shut up. I think that's a real shame, even if only from a family history point of view, but also it seems very unfriendly and unwelcoming in general. I sometimes feel like churches do everything they can to isolate themselves from the general public

A couple of exceptions I've come across in the past in London that I know of are St Clement Danes, which is open to visitors, and St Silas Clerkenwell, where the vicar was there and a really friendly and welcoming bloke