Yesterday my visitors, Susan and Louise, and I took a short bus ride down to the quaint little village of Dorchester on Thames. This adventure was suggested by Tony, the I.T. guy for Spencer House. He told us there wasn’t a lot there, but it was a cute village with a fantastic abbey and a couple of good restaurants for lunch.
So, at 9:36am we boarded the #106 bus in the drizzling rain. It was probably a scenic bus ride, but we really couldn’t see much because the windows were so fogged up! Nevertheless, we arrived shortly and were let off at the entrance to Dorchester Abbey.
This place was amazing! Its history goes back to the early 600sA.D., when a missionary named Birinus came to the Dorchester area and started building churches. The present-day abbey stands on the site once occupied by the original Saxon cathedral. It is a huge stone edifice, with sections that were built in the 1140s, the 1240s, early 1300s and 1340s.
It was interesting being in the abbey all by ourselves. We wandered down the middle aisle of the chancel, admiring the magnificent stained glass windows, the needlepoint kneeling cushions, the massive stone columns and sculpture. The most interesting area was the shrine area, which contained what looked like sarcophagi. These were stone-sculpted effigies of long-gone medieval knights. One had his legs crossed; this indicated he had been killed in battle.
After touring the abbey we wandered over to a very upscale antiques store (nothing under $150) and finally wound up at the White Hart for lunch. It was also a very quaint building – a hotel and restaurant – parts of the building dated back to the 1400s (I think). The restaurant had a blazing fire, which really felt good. We each had the 2-course lunch. For starters, Louise and Susan had a tower of tomato, avocado and shrimp, while I had black pudding (blood sausage) topped with a poached duck egg (really couldn’t tell it was a duck egg). Then for the main course, I had fish pie, Susan had chicken pie, and Louise had pork. The food was delicious – we all cleaned out plates (no room for dessert).
We caught the 1:43pm bus to Oxford, arriving a little after 2. A very pleasant half-day outing despite the weather. However, I think I will do this trip again in the spring, when it’s warmer and the roses bordering the abbey lane are in bloom!
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| 13th century sculpture of a fallen knight, thought to be William de Valance, the younger, d1282. |
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| Cemetery outside Abbey. |
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| A table grave in the cemetery. (That's what I'm calling it!). |
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| A thatch-roofed house in Dorchester on Thames. |
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| Louise and Susan at the White Hart. |
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| East window at back of sanctuary. Some of the clear glass in the top 3 rows dates from the early 14th century. |
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