This afternoon, I have decided to feature some unusual, possibly 10th century, stone carvings from the Church of St. Helen's, Bilton-in-Ainsty, Yorkshire, which I recently visited. These unusual carvings can be found in the Lady Chapel of this church which has origins dating back to Saxon times. Being of possible 10th century AD date, the carvings could be from the Viking era. The vertical stone immediately above may have been the shaft of across. This and the other stones may have been re-used as grave-markers at various times. I find these carvings pleasantly primitive and striking. In their day they were intended to convey messages at a time when most of the population would have been illiterate and Christianity a relatively new introduction.

Elsewhere today, I have been busy:

• Designing a new web page for my main catswhiskerstours website.
• Responding to various tour enquiries (one confirmation).
• Posting information to my separate GlasgowAncestry blog on Brown family history.

As regards the ancestry blog, in the case of one posting, this has turned into a message board for an extended family of descendants now residing in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Its pleasing to see the blog functionality being used in this way.

Weather in Glasgow today is cold but dry with vestiges of snow lingering on in sheltered spots.

Labels: Historic Churches Yorkshire

posted by Nigel Cole @ 7:13 AM