A wealth of creativity

This week I'm not living Sussex lifestyle as I'm visiting family in the north west of England.  Yesterday we happened to visit the lovely market town of Nantwich which today still retains much of it's ancient character.

I was particularly impressed with saint Marys church - the towns oldest building and often referred to as the cathedral of South Cheshire. There were loads of interesting features both inside and outside - such as 'The Green Man ' (a pagan fertility symbol in a Christian church!) , and the representation of the Devil flying away with a woman with her hand stuck in a jar (the masons' way of getting revenge on their thieving landlady!).

On walking around the church it made me realise just how much skill and creativity had gone into making the church what it is today - from the stained glass to the oil paintings, from the tapestries to the metalwork, from the tiles to the stonework, from the wrought iron work to the hand crafted wooden furniture - I could go on, but it was all pretty amazing.

Some of the items were very old and some were a lot more recent as the parishioners continue to work together to decorate their church.  Some of the most recent work are the tapestry covered kneelers depicting local scenes, culture and industry. Could there be any other church where you could kneel and say your prayers on a picture of a Rolls Royce or a train built at Crewe?