The

Friends

of

Lastingham Church

​​​The Friends of Lastingham Church was established to help preserve this unique place

The Friends of Lastingham Church is a registered charity for all those for whom Lastingham is important. For a good many of its long years since it was founded as a monastery ad 654, Lastingham has been a centre of pilgrimage, and today attracts many visitors.

​The reasons why people come to Lastingham vary enormously but few leave unmoved. Many people find they visit repeatedly over the years and that, during times of stress and trouble, they find some strength or comfort here. Others find a fascination with the sheer age of the place, its beauty and its historical importance.



The Friends works with the Vicar and Parochial Church Council to help maintain the building and to foster research into its history. If this place is important to you for whatever reason, please consider becoming a Friend of Lastingham Church. For further details, please call the Chairman Peneolope Dawson-Brown on 01751 417 251

Pilgrimages

​​The Friends of Lastingham Church was established to help preserve this unique place

​

The Friends of Lastingham Church is a registered charity for all those for whom Lastingham is important. For a good many of its long years since it was founded as a monastery ad 654, Lastingham has been a centre of pilgrimage, and today attracts many visitors.

​The reasons why people come to Lastingham vary enormously but few leave unmoved. Many people find they visit repeatedly over the years and that, during times of stress and trouble, they find some strength or comfort here. Others find a fascination with the sheer age of the place, its beauty and its historical importance.

The Friends works with the Vicar and Parochial Church Council to help maintain the building and to foster research into its history. If this place is important to you for whatever reason, please consider becoming a Friend of Lastingham Church. For further details, please call the Chairman Peneolope Dawson-Brown on 01751 417 251

Forthcoming Events

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Articles Written by Friends

VISIT TO THE ANCIENT CRYPT CHURCH OF ST MARY, LASTINGHAM

 New Year’s Eve 1991
 

Iron-black ring;
Huge door, heavy-handled,
Yields inwards in the dusk
Of dying December,
Above, birds, frail-fledged,
Neep in dark niche,
Roost-raftered, restless.

Tread-worn steps;
Staircase, age-cold
Leads downwards past present
To present past.
Above, butterfly, fray-winged
Flutters in lit narthex,
Time-tricked, trapped.

World-weary feet;
Traveller, Druid-drawn,
Steals below in the death-glow
Of the day.
Above, people, church-charmed,
Gather round plaster crib,
Christmas-cast, cosy.

Tear-tracked mask;
Pilgrim, pillar-propped,
Yields inwards in the twilight
Of the year.
Below, Saints, stone-shrined,
Flit formlessly in boneless being,
Viel-viewed, envisioned.

Peace-filled heart;
I, vigil-visited,
Lean forwards on the threshold
Of the nascent year
Within, voice, vault-echoed
Resonates still-small in apsed cerebrum,
Celt-called, Cryptic.
 
 
Hilary Wilmshurst   © .