Tuesday- Wymondham

Many people here have favorites villages. Some like them because of a particular pub. Some like them because of the shopping. Wymondham was a small village just south of Norwich that I had found on the internet last night. The pictures of the abbey drew me in and I had to go see it. We stopped to see it before heading into Norwich. After viewing the abbey, the old rustic homes, and seeing the local countryside...I may have found a favorite village of my own.

The abbey is an imposing building, built in 1106 by Normans. It used to be much larger, but was partially destroyed when Henry VIII declared the separation of England from the Catholic church. The monastery was sold off, the monks kicked out, and eventually, the monastery (the only remains of which are the arch way you can see in some of the pictures) fell into ruins. The abbey still functions as the town's parish church.

It was terribly cold, or we would have stayed longer. Weslee's hands and lips began to turn blue. Kevin and Wes headed back to the car early while I took a few more pictures. This, so far, has been my favorite building to take pictures of. In a matter of a hour, it changed its face so many times, it was like shooting a different building with each frame. As the sun came out and shone upon the lovely limestone and fall trees surrounding it, it looked like it positively glowed. At other times, when the sun would hide momentarily behind a cloud, it looked almost gothic and gloomy. Very interesting and very fun. We're thinking of returning here in December for their 30th annual Dickensian Evening ringing in the Christmas season in quaint village style.