Chester-Le-Street

This morning we visited the Chester-Le-Street Parish Church, home of St. Cuthbert. It is a beautiful chapel that dates all the way back to 883!Attached to the side of the chapel is the Anker's House. To be an anker back in the day was a high honor, and a sure ticket to heaven, not a weight that holds a boat in place. An anker was a person who wanted to be so dedicated to the church that they were enclosed for life with a ceremony in basically a stone room. The only contact with the outside world they had was through a peep-hole type passage with a view of the far corner of the inside of the church. There was another window where food would be passed in and out. This was a very back to basics life without any physical comforts whatsoever. No lights, no bed, blankets, you get the idea. That makes the stone work and stained glass windows on the inside of the chapel that more magnificent!
For lunch, we were treated like kings and queens by the wonderful Chester-Le-Street Rotary Club. They even found our presentation interesting! All of the people have been absolutely wonderful and have treated us very kindly. The people have such a knowledge of all their history and share the tales in amazing fashion. A 10 minute car ride passes by even faster when you hear about the land and see the sights to go along with them. Thank you Kevin and Ursula!
Jeremy