.
This is a much larger Victorian church (although some of it can
be traced back to 1092). When we arrived, there was some sort of
low key music festival going on (seemed to be country music?)
which made it difficult to take photos. St Gile's still has an
Anglican congregation but also a Romanian Orthodox congregation.
It has many stained-glass windows of saints. A Homless Centre is
run there as well.
St Athanasius
wrote one of the three creeds (statements of faith) in the
Book of Common Prayer.
St Augustine was
an early theologian. He is credited for the saying "He who
sings prays twice".
St Etheldreda was
an English princess who founded the abbey at Ely.
The Venerable
Bede lived from 673 to 731. He was an English
historian, and a Benedictine monk. His Ecclesiastical
History of the English Nation, in Latin, is still an
important primary source for English history from 597 to
731.
St Peter
"King Henry VI was an unsuccessful king, whose reign saw
the loss of the parts of France conquered by his father,
and ended tragically in the War of the Roses. but a pious
and good man. He was a great benefactor to education,
being the founder of both King's College (he's holding the
chapel) and Eton College.
This door has some lovely carved panels.
This flower was in the garden of St Giles.
The Round Church or, more properly,
The Church of the
Holy Sepulchre (one of only four remaining in England)
dates to 1130. It is not often used for services but
contains some information on the history of Cambridge.
John the Baptist baptising Jesus with an angel looking on.
An angel helping to hold up the ceiling (see above)
St Matthew
St Mark
St Luke
St John
We decided to go on a tourist bus which took us around
Cambridge. It was a double-decker bus with part of the roof
removed. It was a good way of seeing some of the sights but
taking photos proved to be difficult.
We are seeing more wisteria as times goes on.
After going around the route once, we
continued around again but got off the bus to visit the
largest church in Cambridge. This is
The Church of Our
Lady of the Assumption and the English Martyrs. There
were many people inside waiting to go to confession and/or
praying so we felt it would be inappropriate to take many
photos.
It was then time to head for the Chapel at
Jesus College for Evensong. As with all the colleges, one
enters through the Porter's Lodge to request entry to the
college. It was 5:40pm. The porter said in an important
Porter sort of voice, "Yes, Evensong is at 6:30pm but 6:00pm
on Fridays and Saturdays". He was a bit sheepish when we
pointed out that it was actually Friday and we were ushered
through! We were expecting the same mixed choir that we
heard on Tuesday, 9th May, so we were surprised to hear
boys' voicing rehearsing. We found that Jesus College has
two choirs, the College Choir (which we heard on Tuesday)
and the Chapel Choir which was there on this occasion. The
music included the introit "This Joyful Eastertide" by
Charles Wood, the Responses by Spicer, the canticles by
Dyson in F (a favourite of Satoshi's) and the anthem "O
Salutaris Hostia" by Edward Elgar. Once again, the music was
of the highest standard, except for the treble soloist who
missed his entry at the beginning of the Magnificat. We felt
sorrow for him. The organ voluntary was Adagio in E Major by
Frank Bridge.
The gate into Jesus College
After Evensong, we walked to the nearby
Sainsbury's (supermarket) and bought one of their "Meal
Deals" (a sandwich, some fruit and a drink) and then called
an Uber to take us to West Road Concert Hall. We made it
with just enough time to eat our food and claim a good seat
in the hall (the tickets were unreserved). The concert this
time was a program performed by the City of Cambridge
Symphony Orchestra.
The concert was very enjoyable and we marvelled at the skill
of the young pianist,
Juanjo Blázquez,
born in 1998. All the musicians were excellent.