Old Cathedral and Church of St Michael

That is very interesting regarding the gate. A Tapsel gate is a type of wooden gate, unique to the English county of Sussex, which has a central pivot upon which it can rotate through 90º in either direction before coming to a stop at two fixed points. It was named after a Sussex family of bell-founders, one of whom invented it in the late 18th century. Only six examples survive, all within a 10 mile (16km) radius of Lewes, the county town of Sussex. Tapsel gates have the dual advantage of keeping cattle out of churchyards and allowing the efficient passage of coffins carried to and from the church during burials. The name sometimes is used more generally to describe swivelling gates of a similar design elsewhere.

Helen, I forget you can get information off this internet, I did not know it was only a Sussex gate, I never looked it up, I got my info. from a local lad in Pyecombe in 1984 when it was a drinks station on a 80 mile run. Interestingly, a few yards away are the Jack and Jill windmills.

Lovely print of St Michael's

Steve and I were out today testing my recent camera acquisitions. Here are a couple of the window over the west door.

St Michael's with Holy Trinity in sunlight.

The spiral staircase in the Cathedral spirals in a clockwise direction going upwards, so the defenders would be able to stab down around the twist of the stairs to big advantage for right-handed men. So waggoners and carts followed suite, and drove on the left, as did the Romans, as I proudly explained to a group of open-mouthed Yankee soldiers one-time in the Cathedral.