17 members of the Friends of Romsey Abbey enjoyed another of Brian Woodruffe’s tours of local churches, this time calling at Wherwell, Longparish, St Mary Bourne and Hurstbourne Priors. Brian is a very knowledgeable guide and is able to highlight many aspects of each church which most visitors would not immediately
All four churches had specific items of interest. At Wherwell Brian highlighted the Victorian architecture in a very traditional style, whilst at Longparish a key feature was the narrow chancel in contrast to the broad nave. The opposite was true at St Mary Bourne, where the chancel is much wider than the nave, giving a rather strange appearance to the building from outside. Finally, at Hurstbourne Priors the use of brick for a side chapel contrasted with the rest of the building. Internal features such as monuments, several very historic fonts, a superbly etched window at Wherwell, and the contrast in the styles of stained-glass windows, were all pointed out to the party.
Donations were made to all four churches, and the party had a very enjoyable pub lunch at The George in St Mary Bourne.
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