It doesn't really matter that this outing was three weeks ago. It was just the most AMAZING place to go! Gadfield Elm chapel is one of the lesser known site of church history for our church. But it should be more well publicized in my opinion. This cute little chapel was the very first LDS chapel -- as in, the first real chapel that the church actually owned. It was built by a religious group called the United Brethren. Then most of the members heard the gospel and were baptized, and eventually gave the chapel to the church. Brigham Young even preached at Gadfield Elm, at least once.
The building was sold in the late 1840s to help finance all the saints who were emigrating to the US. It was privately owned for 150 years, and eventually fell into disrepair. Some members of the church bought it back in 1994 and started restoring it. It was dedicated as a chapel by Elder Jeffrey R Holland in 2000. That's a short church history lesson for those of you who were interested. (There's a whole site about it, if you want to google it... I'm terrible at adding links, sorry.)
We had a nice drive in the country getting there, eating a picnic lunch in the car on the way. We stopped to give Spencer some "lunch" and let Sammie talk to some sheep, up close and personal. The weather was perfectly gorgeous, which made for a great outing.
One interesting thing about the chapel is the lock on the outside. It's a combination lock, with a laminated sheet in the window giving "clues" for opening it. If you're a well-versed member of the church, you shouldn't have any problem figuring out the combination... things like "at what age can children be baptized into the church?" and "how many chapters in the book of Jacob," etc. So, we were able to have a little self-guided tour of the chapel while we were there. Very peaceful and quaint. We even signed the guest book and looked back through it to find Tim and Becky's names (yay!), from when they visited us (and Gadfield Elm) over two years ago. (Hard to believe it was that long ago!)
Artsy shot by Brian...
After our tour, we hung out on the grounds, giving Spencer a chance to stretch out on a blanket, and Samantha a chance to run around.
In the back of the chapel, there's collection of white rocks, along with markers for children to decorate them and a sign telling people to "help yourself!" So, Brian and Sam decorated a cute rock, which Sam has deemed a treasure that she likes to carry around the house.
We spent the rest of the afternoon driving back through our favorite little villages in the Cotswolds. Soooo gorgeous. I don't think I could ever get enough of the Cotswolds, the perfection of English countryside. It really was just so lovely!
The only downside to this outing was the car seat. Spencer hates his car seat. I repeat, Spencer HATES his car seat. We thought he was hungry first, so we fed him. Then we thought he must need a change. Nope. Maybe he's hot? Nope. Cold? Nope. Just hoppin' MAD every time we put him in the car seat. The drive home was about 3 hours. Spencer screamed for more than two of those three hours, only stopping for a brief 20-minute nap in the middle. That made it not quite so pleasant to be driving along this dreamy countryside with a child wailing at the top of his lungs the entire time. The worst was the 45-minute stretch at the very end. He really didn't stop AT ALL, and our only option was to get him home and out of the seat as soon as possible. Not fun. But I guess there are thorns on every rosy day, eh? We had fun! Too bad we didn't go to Gadfield Elm earlier, and we would have definitely recommended it to our many visitors! A great day trip.
It doesn't really matter that this outing was three weeks ago. It was just the most AMAZING place to go! Gadfield Elm chapel is one of the lesser known site of church history for our church. But it should be more well publicized in my opinion. This cute little chapel was the very first LDS chapel -- as in, the first real chapel that the church actually owned. It was built by a religious group called the United Brethren. Then most of the members heard the gospel and were baptized, and eventually gave the chapel to the church. Brigham Young even preached at Gadfield Elm, at least once.
The building was sold in the late 1840s to help finance all the saints who were emigrating to the US. It was privately owned for 150 years, and eventually fell into disrepair. Some members of the church bought it back in 1994 and started restoring it. It was dedicated as a chapel by Elder Jeffrey R Holland in 2000. That's a short church history lesson for those of you who were interested. (There's a whole site about it, if you want to google it... I'm terrible at adding links, sorry.)
We had a nice drive in the country getting there, eating a picnic lunch in the car on the way. We stopped to give Spencer some "lunch" and let Sammie talk to some sheep, up close and personal. The weather was perfectly gorgeous, which made for a great outing.
One interesting thing about the chapel is the lock on the outside. It's a combination lock, with a laminated sheet in the window giving "clues" for opening it. If you're a well-versed member of the church, you shouldn't have any problem figuring out the combination... things like "at what age can children be baptized into the church?" and "how many chapters in the book of Jacob," etc. So, we were able to have a little self-guided tour of the chapel while we were there. Very peaceful and quaint. We even signed the guest book and looked back through it to find Tim and Becky's names (yay!), from when they visited us (and Gadfield Elm) over two years ago. (Hard to believe it was that long ago!)
Artsy shot by Brian...
After our tour, we hung out on the grounds, giving Spencer a chance to stretch out on a blanket, and Samantha a chance to run around.
In the back of the chapel, there's collection of white rocks, along with markers for children to decorate them and a sign telling people to "help yourself!" So, Brian and Sam decorated a cute rock, which Sam has deemed a treasure that she likes to carry around the house.
We spent the rest of the afternoon driving back through our favorite little villages in the Cotswolds. Soooo gorgeous. I don't think I could ever get enough of the Cotswolds, the perfection of English countryside. It really was just so lovely!
The only downside to this outing was the car seat. Spencer hates his car seat. I repeat, Spencer HATES his car seat. We thought he was hungry first, so we fed him. Then we thought he must need a change. Nope. Maybe he's hot? Nope. Cold? Nope. Just hoppin' MAD every time we put him in the car seat. The drive home was about 3 hours. Spencer screamed for more than two of those three hours, only stopping for a brief 20-minute nap in the middle. That made it not quite so pleasant to be driving along this dreamy countryside with a child wailing at the top of his lungs the entire time. The worst was the 45-minute stretch at the very end. He really didn't stop AT ALL, and our only option was to get him home and out of the seat as soon as possible. Not fun. But I guess there are thorns on every rosy day, eh? We had fun! Too bad we didn't go to Gadfield Elm earlier, and we would have definitely recommended it to our many visitors! A great day trip.
3 comments:
Your trip home with a screaming baby sounds dreadful, but the REST of the whole outing sounds like it was really FUN and picturesque! I'm glad you got to have that nice relaxing day---and I'm especially glad that Brian was able to take some time to be out with the family like that!! Love, Mom
What a fun adventure! I love the cotswolds as well, and the gorgeous English country side. :D Most of all... hooray for screaming babies. :D
That is seriously so cool!! I just brought Scott over to tell him all about the church and the lock. I need to tell my dad. He would think that is very interesting. I love the lock idea. That's just cool and I'm glad you were able to figure out your way in. The inside was neat to see. And how neat that you saw Tim and Becky's signature.
Scott says you look really good and you do!
The screaming baby in the car for hours on end as you try to enjoy your lovely trip through the countryside sounds AWFUL! Absolutely awful! I'm glad you did the trip though. Sounds like a great one.
- Alicia
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