curiouswombat | Church Post Two

I visited Malew church this week, too. This is a little different to most of the other parish churches, a walk around inside with explain why.

This is the outside of the church -

You can see that it was, originally, the same simple shape as most of the others, for example St Mark's in the pictures yesterday. But then someone has added a bit at the end - and another bit on the far side...

Which gives odd effects inside the church.

This is the view when you enter the door -

Dark wood box pews, a rather nice arched roof, and a better class of lighting than in some of the smaller churches.

Just inside the door, near the stairs up to the balcony, is the font - which is clearly filled with a rather nice jug -

As you walk up the aisle towards the chancel the church suddenly opens up at your left - the north side of the church.

Remember that odd extension you could see at the side of the church on the first picture? This is it. It is a north transept. But there is no matching south transept, which is a bit odd. And anyone sitting near the back of this area would not be able to see the priest at the altar, or even when he preaches. Opposite the North transept, instead, is the organ; beyond it is the chancel, which was also added to the original, and is a slightly different width and height to the original church.

Here is that north transept -

And yes - it does slope up away from the central aisle, a bit like a theatre!

There are some rather beautiful stained glass windows in the main body of Malew, again unlike most of the other parish churches which only have stained glass in the widow over the altar - almost all the windows are Victorian, but very high quality Victorian I think, although I am no expert.

Again they are all set in dark wood -

There are signs, here of more money than in the other country parish churches. Where it has come from is clear if you look at the memorials around the church (more, and fancier, than in the other churches, too). Here are a couple -

Governor John Wood.

And some Goldie-Taubmans - a name long associated with the Manx aristocracy, and money. For Malew was the parish church for Castletown - the ancient capital of the island. This is where 'the great and the good' worshipped...

Here is a Christian family memorial -

You can see she was a Taubman before her marriage. And she is a Christian whose main address is in Cumberland - the very same Christian family from whence came Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on The Bounty fame.

And here a more recent memorial to William Christian of Milntown and Ronaldsway (a large estate about 2 miles from the church) - known as Illiam Dhone and a well known figure in Manx History.

This one also caught my eye -

That young man lived quite a life when he left the island and became an officer in the Queen's Army.

And a last memorial - this one is to... well, read it and see -

Yes - it does say Julius Caesar. It was amongst some Christian Family memorials and so I would assume he was Julius Caesar Christian, as Caesar, in particular, is still not uncommon as a forename in some families on the island.

Enough of memorial stones.

This is the view back down the body of the church from the chancel steps, showing the small balcony at the back -