Greensted church

St Andrew’s Church at Greensted is the oldest wooden church in the world.

It’s about 15 miles from my house, or 30 minutes drive down country lanes. The church is in a really peaceful setting away from the main town of Ongar. While I was there there was a small stream of people curious like me to see some really old bits of wood.

The wooden beams in the photo date from 1060 although the church itself has been there from around 700AD. The body of Saint Edmund, King of East Anglia, and England’s first patron saint martyred in 869AD (the Normans replaced him later with St. George) rested in the church in 1013 on its way to Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.

I took these photos on 21 January 2012, having found myself with nothing to do one Saturday afternoon. It’s also only about 15 miles from the city of London but you feel like you’re on another planet when you visit the place, it’s just so remote.

The church has a website here.