In 2016, Dan and I tried to visit a church called, Saint Mary the Virgin in the village of Aldworth. We were able to explore the church grounds, but the church was locked, preventing us from seeing the true magic; the tombs of the legendary “Aldworth Giants.”
Yes, England has giants!
The De La Beche family lived in the area in the 1200’s and they were extremely prosperous. Many of the family members were well-regarded knights and very much involved with the royal family at the time, under the reigns of Edward the second and Edward the third. The De La Beche family was extremely tall, over seven feet, and many of them have been entombed in Saint Mary the Virgin, in what are said to be life- size monuments.
On our 2018 trip, we attempted a second visit to the church and this time, we bought along my mother-in-law, Jan. First, a few exterior pictures of Saint Mary the Virgin, taken from our previous trip. I love the entry gate, which looks straight out of a fairy-tale.
The door was unlocked and we were able to see the giants! If the tombs are accurate, they were very tall people. I was a little creeped-out that the tombs are so close to the pews. I haven’t attended church since I was a child, but every church that I’ve visited in the United States, as been very modern, with no buried bodies inside. I guess burying bodies in a church is not so strange, when you’re in a place to ponder both the meaning of life and what comes next. However, as someone who is not accustomed to this situation, it gave me an unsettled feeling.
The “Aldworth Giants” are interesting, but unless you’re visiting the area, I cannot recommend this as a must-see.
We also visited St. Nicholas Church in Compton, where Dan was baptized. We tried to find his name on the baptism role, but discovered that they only keep the most recent years on display. Although not religious, my mother-in-law helped sew the kneelers many years ago and was delighted to see that they were still in use. We visited as the church was being decorated for a wedding that was occurring later in the afternoon. St. Nicholas Church is beautiful and surrounded by a field with horses.
England has seemingly endless historical sites and I’ve been really fortunate to see much of the country, far beyond what the average tourist would be able to visit. It is doubtful that I would have visited either of these churches, if I had not both, married a Brit and if these particular places had not been near his hometown.
I met my husband in 2012 and prior to meeting him, I hadn’t even visited Europe. I could never have imagined that not only would I visit England many times, but that it would begin to feel like a second home. My heart is in both the U.S.A and the U.K.. It is becoming intimately familiar, especially when we are able to visit local sites that would not be on a tourist’s radar.