Strange Tourist Attraction: St Margaret’s
My post about Westminster Abbey reminded me of another strange church that I visited, in fact, its right beside Westminister Abbey. I’m talking about St. Margaret’s of course.
The fact that there’s two churches on the same site is strange and unusual to say the least, but that would just be the beginning of strange things associated with this particular church.
The first thing I found strange about this church is its tower. There’s four clocks on that tower, one on each side. But they’re not ordinary clocks; they’re sundials. Moreover, each sundial is a different type. I found this quite odd.
The second thing I found odd about this church was the inside. Once again, I didn’t feel comfortable wandering around. There were bad vibes all around.
Researching on the internet, specifically at the St Margaret’s site, I discovered some more interesting and strange things about it.
St Margaret’s was built in the latter part of the 11th century by the Benedictine monks dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch. Apparently, and I never knew this, her cult was extremely popular in the middle ages. In fact, The Westminister Abbey / St Margaret’s site mentions this.
I find it strange that if she and her followers were considered a cult that the church was allowed to a. be dedicated to such a ’saint’ in the first place and b. allowed to stand. Naturally, the church is of such a historic place that one couldn’t just tear it down. But still, it seems odd; maybe even more so, since the church is still in use today.
Be sure to check out that wikipedia link on Margaret of Antioch for more strangness…And that link to the St Margaret’s site for more history about it.
