Southwell Minster and Derby Cathedral

 

Our trip to Southwell Minster started early as we were determined to have a walk there, before going to Communion at midday.

We arrived at Southwell with no problem, as there is no ring road to tackle, accessing a carpark opposite the minster which is free for the first two hours of parking.

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Southwell is a beautiful town, apparently not only famous for a magnificent Minster but the origin of the Bramley apple. Our walk went past the Old Workhouse and several other historical buildings, testament to a wealthy area. Norwood Park had what I first thought were vines growing but further investigation proved apple. Returning to the town we walked past many Public Houses in use or changed to shops.

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Leaving Scout and Kit in the car we entered Southwell Minster to attend communion. Dogs are allowed in the minster, but we thought that Communion followed by a silent prayer vigil for peace would be too much for them. The Minster has two enormous towers, known as the Pepper Pots, which are quite distinctive.

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The Minster is one of those places that says calm, ancient pillars, and arches with Anglo Saxon stones. It was begun in the twelfth century and has a Norman Nave with a hanging statue of Christus Rex over it.

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We attended the Communion Service in St Oswald’s Chapel. A sign in the chapel told us that St Oswald was a former Archbishop of York who apparently died, washing the feet of Pilgrims on Maundy Thursday in Winchester. Fortunately, our feet did not need washing, so we joined a very welcoming small group for the service. This was followed by a 20-minute silent prayer vigil for peace. We chatted to our hosts about the students and the Jeel Scholarship Fund. Southwell has been involved in Holy Land projects for many years, so they were well versed in the problems and challenges that our students face.

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We were shown the Chapter House where originally the business of the Minster would take place. Now it is more famous for the amazing stone carvings of leaves found all round it.

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Sadly, we had to decline lunch at Southwell as we had organised visiting Derby Cathedral in the afternoon.

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Southwell to Derby should be a relatively short drive and we were doing well until I misinterpreted the Sat Nav on the ring road exit resulting in an extra 10 minutes on the dual carriage way. We did eventually arrive at England’s smallest cathedral with the most expensive parking because on placing the ticket in the windscreen it flew off when shutting the door so a further one had to be purchased. Despite this I managed to meet Canon Carla and Rev Wendy to discuss the students and JSF. They were keen to hear about them and promised to bring up Jeel Scholarship Fund at the next Justice and Peace Committee meeting.

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We had a quick tour of the Cathedral including a plaque to Florence Nightingale, who had Derbyshire connections and a splendid tomb to Bess of Hardwick, whose fourth husband’s tomb we had seen in Sheffield. The earlier Cavendishes are buried under the Cathedral, including some brought back from overseas in barrels of brandy to preserve them. More recent Devonshires are buried at Endsor, at Chatsworth, but one of their most famous ancestors, Henry Cavendish, who discovered Hydrogen is buried there.

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In keeping with being England's smallest Cathedral the Passport Stamp is tiny, but the staff make up for it by giving a sticker too!

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There are toilets at Southwell and Derby, and a splendid shop and cafe at Southwell. Unfortunately, there was no time to sample the cafe this time.

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