Pembridge Bell Tower

We visited our cousins in Herefordshire today and stopped off in Pembridge to show my sister this amazing bell tower in the grounds of the Church of St Mary the Virgin.  It is unique in the country.  There is an octagonal ground storey, 14 metres in diameter, with a vertical
weather-boarded bell stage and a third boarded stage with a small spire.  Inside you can see eight immense braced oak pillars which form a square rising to the top of the lower truncated pyramid roof.  No nails were used in the construction!  Research concluded that the timbers were felled between 1207 and 1216 and that the tower was first built at the time of the Magna Carta.  Research also shows that the tower was rebuilt in 1668 when Charles II was restored to the throne following the Civil War.

I've added an extra showing the view down to the village of Pembridge as seen through a very narrow window which rather appealed to me.  A second extra shows the patriotic pudding our dear cousin prepared.  It seemed a shame to tuck in and spoil the pattern!