Church in the Woods

We popped out for a couple of hours this morning and paid the Church-in-the-Woods at Bramdean a visit. It's a 'tin tabernacle' (ie a flat pack), built in 1883 by the Reverend Alfred Caesar Bishop so that the commoners, charcoal burners and itinerant gypsies who seasonally occupied the common would be able to attend church.

My interest in the church was due to the forty fossilised sea urchins that comprise the date of construction set into the step by the gate. I've been researching these because they appear in some of the prehistoric burials I've been writing about in my thesis, and because we have one in the family that my grandpa used to bury in his vegetable patch to ensure a good crop. They've long had folklore associated with them and I saw one in the museum in Folkstone this week, referred to as a 'fairy loaf', which is a term peculiar to Sussex and Kent.

Afterwards we went back to where I was digging in October to retrieve my camping chair which got left behind as the last day was rained off (it was safely in (the cubicle of) one of the compost loos!

Since we got back, Basil has been having a lovely, long snooze on the sofa. It's nice to see him so comfortable after yesterday. Thanks for the kind wishes :)