Now I know

I learnt today that a Dossal is an ecclesiastical ornamental cloth hung behind an altar and this one is rather special, as it was designed by William Morris. It hangs in the Priory Church of St Mary Magdalene, Lanercost and I saw it for the first time today.

A product of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the late 19th Century, it was embroidered by ladies of the Parish and first hung in the Priory on Easter Day 1887. Over the hundred years it was in place it deteriorated, through neglect, insects, mice and dirt. Eventually a huge cleaning and restoration task was carried out and it was rehung on Easter Day 2013.
 
It looks wonderful. And I was also impressed with some beautifully worked facsimile pieces that were embroidered, in the same stem stitch as the original, by ladies of the parish in 2013. They are on display in the church. And there is a lovely booklet available, which tells the whole story of the Dossal.
 
The thing is that this was found by chance. We don’t live that far from Lanercost and have often been to the Café there, especially when the grandchildren lived in Brampton close by and we used to take them there after Nursery or school.
 
(Rainie do you remember being there and sitting outside before we went to the Roman Wall?)
 
But we had never actually been into the Priory itself, or if we had it was a long time ago. However today, flashing our brand new English Heritage card purchased in Northumberland, we went in. It is very impressive and we wandered around the ruins for a long while – in the sunshine. Hardly anyone else around.
 
Then we decided to have a quick look in the Priory Church, which is now the Parish Church, and this is what I found. How did I not know it was there? Sometimes we overlook things on our back door step.
  
I have put a close up in Extras.