It was sunny and rather warm (even if the pictures look as if it wasn't), and at the cottages on the other side of the road where it said you could get the key for the chapel from, an elderly lady was sitting on a bench. She was wearing a sundress and straw hat and reading a book; a tired looking slightly overweight elderly dog was resting beneath the bench.
The lady gave us the key, and so for the first time, I set foot inside the chapel.
Part of what was originally a Roman mosaic floor, recycled for the chapel when it was built in 1115 is still there.
The chapel was originally used as both a chapel and a hospital for lepers and blind priests, who would receive clothing and shoes twice a year, and food and ale every day.
It was peaceful and quiet, we were the only visitors that late afternoon, and took our time to look at everything and read the information provided on leaflets.
Back out into the sun, and home to our pretty cottage, we ended the first full day of our holiday with a nice meal and some telly.
It looks lovely - and no doubt when it was built giving those with leprosy and the blind a place of their own was a kindness, and they were given food and ale. I wish we were still as kind to those who don't always conform to society's idea of beauty or success.
ReplyDeleteThe less fortunate were really badly off in those days with nothing like today's welfare systems in place, and a person's life wasn't worth much if they weren't very rich, part of the aristocratic or clerical high society. All the more important must such places have been.
DeleteAt least in theory, today in most countries systems are in place that allow everyone access to benefits such as healthcare and shelter.
Hello Meike,
ReplyDeleteWe love these serendipitous events when by chance one can gain entry into a place which looks as if time has stood still for decades!
The chapel looks beautiful and how wonderful that it offered hospitality to those who were on the fringes of society. Truly Christian and one likes to think that this would be still found today in some form or another.
Hello Jane and Lance,
DeleteThe chapel also shows that people wanted to avoid contact with lepers by all means; they would not allow them to enter places of worship where everyone else gathered. Lepra is still widely misunderstood today, although we know a lot more about it from the medical point of view.
Yes, I love such unexpected finds, too - and usually, one finds them a lot easier on foot than while whizzing past them in a car.
Such a rich history the chapel has! How nice that it wasn't just allowed to decay and someday be barely a memory.
ReplyDeleteThe Ripon Civic Society does a lot for this and many other sites of interest in and around Ripon. I sometimes visit their website, and they have a regular column in the Ripon Gazette. If I lived in Ripon, I think I'd be a member.
DeleteThis is beautiful and the history with it gives it a very deep meaning for me. I'm really happy that you were able to go inside this time.......
ReplyDeleteSo am I, Kristi! I already had thought about asking for the key last time I was there, but somehow didn't feel like "intruding" on the people who hold the key. This time, the lady was sitting outside, so I felt less like a bothersome tourist.
DeleteIsn't it wonderful what you can find hidden away in corners of the countryside. It's one of the things I like best about England, although I am sure the same applies in all countries that have been inhabited for many centuries. It is a matter of finding these hidden treasures.
ReplyDeleteIt really is, Jenny, and although this chapel is not in the countryside and actually just a few minutes' walk from Ripon's town center, it is in an area without shops or restaurants and therefore probably not visited much by the average tourist.
DeleteWhat a privilege to get the key! It must have been exciting to set foot in the chapel. Have a nice day Meike!
ReplyDeleteIt would have been more exciting if I had not looked at the photos of the interior of the chapel beforehand, on the chapel's website :-)
DeleteYou too have a nice day!
I remembered the Leper Chapel because I spent a lot of time on that particular post last time (not because of the Chapel but because of the two wonderful cars you included in the post). Quite a lot of churches provided Leper Chapels but this is the most interesting one that I'm aware that I've come across.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like particularly about this chapel is that, according to what it says on their website and other internet sources, the building itself has had such little altering that it pretty much still looks the same way it will have been when it was new. That was in the year 1115... which will be 900 years next year!
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