Evensong at Yorkminster

Sun spilled onto the carpet this morning this morning making a puddle of warmth for the first time in days. As I went to get the car a warm breeze carried the scent of mown clover and dare-I-say summer!? Summer was, however, short-lived since a front was moving in and it would be raining later. Cold maybe even gale-force winds from time to time by tomorrow morning the news said.

We drove into York and parked in the Shambles Car Park --- Got out the chair and headed into the old city. Our first stop was Jarvic Museum built on the spot where a remarkable archaeological dig was begun in the 1970s. Due to construction a treasure trove of artifacts from 900 B.C.E. was discovered. This was the time when York was occupied by Vikings from just across the channel in Denmark. Most of the artifacts were preserved in a peat bog-like conditions which made the fine even more rich and significant. Feces could be analyzed for diet, skin and bone preserved in near perfect condition!

The museum built over the site is a combination of Disney and experiential learning. There is a village that replicates the one of the time. It has been duplicated down to the fact that the people represented are reconstructions based on remains found in the bog. Not only are the buildings reconstructed --but the smells of the place are used to make the whole experience more real. Instead of Pirates of the Caribbean, we have Vikings of York......

We were ushered into a "time machine" that uses the same technique as a simulator --- a clever film of a young couple take us back through time --- initially it is decades-- through changing costume, but then it moves to centuries. When you arrive at the village --- you move through it (a la Mr. toad's wild ride) in monorail gondolas and see each workshop or home described in detail through speakers.

The people speak to one another in a language Jarvic (a language that sounds remarkably like Danish). The smell is acrid and somewhat unpleasant --- especially as you pass near the privy! There were 10,000 people living in York at that time -- which is a really astounding number ---if you consider the conventions that would have been in place for hygiene.

Trade was going on regularly in the area --- in Amber and other precious materials, as well as pottery, skins, and food. The docents were dressed in period costume and seemed to enjoy interacting with the visitors who after the journey through the village --- encountered them throughout the actual museum. One, a woman who was a "healer---witch," was especially interesting to talk to as she explained her costume and particularly the jewelry she wore which had a great deal to tell about who she was.

She said that at that time, she would have been important even to the lords for her powers with the Gods, and often would have been with an army during its campaign. Her personal God was Lokey, but she also worshipped Oden and a number of the other Norse Gods. Not only were the original artifacts displayed, but there were also replicas that kids could handle. It was a great museum to get kids interested in history...and archeology.

After the Jarvic experience, I left Kathy in a courtyard having coffee and headed over to the Castle museum. As I learned, it was never actually a castle, but was truly a prison. Part of the museum was closed since a new exposition was opening about the prison itself and was having final preparation for opening the next day!

One of the most interesting things in this museum was the preserved Victorian street including a horse and carriage hastening along. An entire day and night pass on this street, so as you walk along you can experience it at any time of day or night. It included a thunder shower in the evening. There were real stores along the lanes where you could buy reproduced articles from the time period. I went into the toy store and chatted with the proprietor. Every detail was accurate --even down to the Victorian cash register. The toys in the store he explained would only have gone to the wealthy --these would not have been toys for ordinary children. In fact children of the time would be working as apprentices in real world shops or on farms.

The second floor of the museum had homes from British history from the Georgian period forward. These were like windows into the past. They didn't have the depth of material that the Victoria Albert Museum had, but they made up for it in the realistic way in which things were displayed.

I also went into a small church which had been partially restored and had a huge piece of art work as its centerpiece. Then I picked Kathy up and began the walk toward the Minster where we were going to attend Evensong. We stopped and shared a sandwich and soup at a local eatery, and then continued out walk up the Shambles, a very well preserved Medieval street on which some of the buildings actually almost touch as they reach skyward. The "daub and beam" construction has moved over the centuries leaning out over the street as if to look down on and observe what is happening. The sidewalks all tilt in toward the center of the narrow street which functioned as a natural sewer. This tilt makes keeping the chair on the walk difficult, but the hill leading to the Minster is not too steep and the walk was quite pleasant as we encountered many things that are unique to this part of England.

The Minster is so big you cannot really take it in... You can't get far enough away from it. The square in front of the cathedral (though a Minster is the term applied here since it was a missionary church) is called Dean's square --- while I am sure it refers to the Dean of the Cathedral --- I like to think of it as My DEAN'S square! I wish he were here to see this place. When you enter the church you clearly see why it holds such importance.

There are volunteers who serve as docents everywhere --- the choir is clearly very active, entirely composed of men and very young boys, it sings every day at evensong and probably participates in a number of services in addition to this one. Upon entering the eye is immediately drawn upward to the Gothic arches high overhead. The weight of the structure is the equivalent of 40 jumbo jets on each pier.....it is an astounding feat of engineering that this place could have been completed in the 13th century.

The windows soar skyward as well with many panels of painted and stained glass telling the biblical narrative, but they are too far away to read clearly --- they only read as color for the eye. At the end of one transept is the rose window which clearly has the Tudor white rose and the Hastings red rose together in each section. The organ pipes are ornately decorated and there is a great organ console in the main part of the church with a smaller one in the quire (choir). Along the outside of the choir are the most important of those entombed in the cathedral, along with a list of all of the organists, and Deans.

The stone at the entrance indicated that the structure dates to 627 A.D. But when I toured the Crypt and understory of the church I learned that it was even older than that. The original building was a Roman Basilica (these were originally not holy buildings -- but were public buildings used to garrison roman troops. The Normans built over this basic structure, and then again it was rebuilt as the current Gothic Minster in the Medieval period. The museum below had artifacts from each structure and most interesting of all it was clear to see how the original piers were reinforced to make sure that they continue to support the weight of the stone for many years to come. There are stone rods and pilings that were added to each pier to help carry that immense weight and you see all these remarkable architectural details in the crypt. Many other interesting things reside there.

A Roman sarcophagus is on display showing that the burial customs of the time included a hole in the bottom of the burial chamber to allow gases and fluids to drain away during decomposition. Ingenious --- I guess the lid of the sarcophagus could pop off if there were no where for the gases to escape. Other interesting details --- that one would not know from above --- things like when the Normans conquered the area -- they took the remains of the Anglo Saxon saints out of the church....so after the Normans were gone, they put them back but this time in a used Roman Sarcophagus and they left them in the crypt. (St. Andrew -- I believe).

Also there was an exposed drain from Roman times that still functioned, figures and parts of the exterior which had been completely removed and replaced in 1998 -- due to the corrosive elements of air pollution, the chalices and silver used by the church over the centuries, and then of course the crypt itself -- with places to mediate and pray provided.

After we finished exploring the rest of the church we queued up for Evensong. It was a beautiful service, however, it bothered me that there were no women represented in anyway in the service --- It also bothered me that there was no place for the congregation to be part of the service (except in the recitation of the creed) NO HYMN, NO shared reading...everything was done for you....by clergy or choir....so as far as worship goes this would not have been worshipful for me. It was beautiful music and I must confess that I loved the psalms that were sung === (84&85) BUT worship cannot be done for you......I am a child of the reformation.

Another peculiar thing for me was (I assume they were sextons----) that men robed in black preceded and followed the procession of the choir. The carried a brass post with a ball on the end and a crown on the end of that.....they closed the doors and also preceded the clergy to the Bible for the reading of the scripture. The Bible sat on a brass stand in the center of the choir it was a great eagle that supported the scripture.....I personally like having a human hold it for the reading.

I kept thinking of Andrew and Don--knowing that this really is the sound and experience they both love in worship....The choirmaster even looked like Andrew but wore his robes and a hood (I do not know the significance of that either) It was strange to hear only men's voices --- and boys of course on the soprano and alto parts.

People did not sit for the postlude --- but of course I did --- I must say however, that Andrew is a better organist than the one who played for the service I attended. I am sure, however, that this was not the Big Cheese Organist!
When we left the Minster --- they were closing up the shops and it was starting to rain so I rushed us along the streets back to the car park.

The gentleman who helped us find the handicapped spot was still there. He greeted us and wanted to know if we had a good day --- I said FABULOUS.....he asked if I got lots of good photos. When I said I had, he said, give me your camera --- I know you didn't get this one -- I handed him my camera and he literally ran up the ramp ...and disappeared. For a moment, I thought, you idiot.....you just gave your camera to a stranger ---- we had been warned not to do that in Egypt and I thought for a a split second that maybe he was going to take it and keep it!

But in a minute or two he was back handing it to me --- with shots of the river Ouse with a boat on it and some of the city in the distance. What a kind thing to do for two strange old ladies! We headed back to the hotel stopping on the way to pick up some chips and sandwich meat. I was raining and pretty cold by the time we got back so instead of picnicking outside on lovely picnic tables, I picnicked in our room and we went to bed promptly-----though I read some more of the murder mystery that Kathy had finished which was placed in Cornwall in the village we had just passed through!