St Peter’s Church, Cogenhoe

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Summer Pilgrimage to Peterborough Cathedral, 4 August 2016


Seven years after our first visit the Sunday School Pilgrimage returned to our mother church Peterborough Cathedral for a day of activities in the cathedral and a chance for others to take a tour of the building and practice a little retail therapy.  Many thanks to all who supported Sunday School by joining us on the coach that day.

West Front of the Cathedral Children sketching Figure holding Saint Oswald's severed arm Picnic in the grounds

Good weather meant the first task of drawing the impressive west front resulted in some well observed drawings before we entered the Cathedral to begin our quiz based on the history of the former Abbey using the history boards in the aisles. We saw Maundy coins, counted cogs in the old clock and saw the site of Katherine of Aragon’s burial and the first site of Mary Queen of Scots’ tomb before her reburial in Westminster Abbey. There was a guided tour for other members of the pilgrimage later in the morning.

Lunch was outside in Laurel Court, site of the old cloisters, then choices were made for the positions in the monastery before the young people dressed as Benedictine monks, then with robes on and hoods down they processed the cathedral as an Abbot, Precentor, Kitchener, Sacristan, and most important of all, a Cellarer! We had permission to make rubbings of some of the tombs before we headed back to our assembly point before boarding the coach. On the way we saw many groups of firefighters then outside two fire engines all taking part in the regular fire drills held in the building, so important after the devastating fire there a few years ago.

The ceiling in the nave was painted on panels at ground level which were then placed in position.  Following the fire, the ceiling had to be cleaned and looks magnificent.


Here is a carving on the choir stalls showing a figure holding St Oswald’s severed arm.

Keeping up with the times

The Cathedral has its own Pokemon trail .  As there is no Wi-Fi and poor phone signals, the Pokemons are on show.  Here is the first one lurking under the font.  There are several more to find.

Painted ceiling of Nave

An easy journey home saw us back to Cogenhoe at exactly 4pm.  Watch this space for next year’s outing, Lincoln seems a popular choice!?!