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vixana666
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Guest
There are 2 churches dedicated to St Luke in Abercarn, one of which is still open (for the moment anyway, there are plans to shut it). However, the larger and much mre impressive of the two was shut in 1980, after many years of problems with the roof. The original roof was replaced with concrete in 1958. I have also heard from a local man that it was the first church in the orld with an arched roof above the altar, though obviously I'm not sure whether that's true. I can't really find much history about this place, unfortunately, and what I do find is hearsay from locals, but it is a gorgeous building.
There is next to no security, a gate falling off its hinges is all that stops you. I think they rely on the site being out of the way and hard to see. Once you squeezed through the gates a split stone staircase greets you, one side of which is so overgrown you really can't access that way. Luckily the other is fine.
As you look up through the trees you catch glimpses of the church. It's really imposing, a huge stone building with tiny slit windows.
Then you get to the churchyard, and see the huge tower.
Then you enter through the side doorway, where some pikeys have kicked the door through long ago. The front door is bricked up.
Old graffiti...
There are alot of small rooms on the ground floor, it feels more like a dungeon than a church.
Then you can head up the stairs... stepping around the piles of abandoned beer cans of course...
And halfway up is another small room, allowing you to take a rediculously arty shot from floor level >:3
Then, as you reach the top of the stairs, a huge, vaulted room comes in to view.
This shot shows the 'first ever' arched roof over the altar...
If you look around there are some creepy, pitch black vestry rooms, and a spiral staircase up the bell tower. It was so tiny, my feet barely fit on the steps sideways.
Each floor of the bell tower is the same, with a hole for the bell rope, and a small window.
A picture taken up through the holes...
You can get right up on the roof, however I didn't linger here as I think most of the structural faults were relating to the roof.
A view of the outside of the arched roof...
Tip of the belltower...
After this I went to explore outside the church some more.
Found a, ummm, caravan... (strange)
The ruins of a wall
And, just before leaving I spotted this strange little cellar thing. The lockers in the looked fairly modern, and the paint wasn't in quite the state the rest of the church was. It just seemed strange.
I hope you enjoyed my report, and that it wasn't too picture heavy XD
There is next to no security, a gate falling off its hinges is all that stops you. I think they rely on the site being out of the way and hard to see. Once you squeezed through the gates a split stone staircase greets you, one side of which is so overgrown you really can't access that way. Luckily the other is fine.
As you look up through the trees you catch glimpses of the church. It's really imposing, a huge stone building with tiny slit windows.
Then you get to the churchyard, and see the huge tower.
Then you enter through the side doorway, where some pikeys have kicked the door through long ago. The front door is bricked up.
Old graffiti...
There are alot of small rooms on the ground floor, it feels more like a dungeon than a church.
Then you can head up the stairs... stepping around the piles of abandoned beer cans of course...
And halfway up is another small room, allowing you to take a rediculously arty shot from floor level >:3
Then, as you reach the top of the stairs, a huge, vaulted room comes in to view.
This shot shows the 'first ever' arched roof over the altar...
If you look around there are some creepy, pitch black vestry rooms, and a spiral staircase up the bell tower. It was so tiny, my feet barely fit on the steps sideways.
Each floor of the bell tower is the same, with a hole for the bell rope, and a small window.
A picture taken up through the holes...
You can get right up on the roof, however I didn't linger here as I think most of the structural faults were relating to the roof.
A view of the outside of the arched roof...
Tip of the belltower...
After this I went to explore outside the church some more.
Found a, ummm, caravan... (strange)
The ruins of a wall
And, just before leaving I spotted this strange little cellar thing. The lockers in the looked fairly modern, and the paint wasn't in quite the state the rest of the church was. It just seemed strange.
I hope you enjoyed my report, and that it wasn't too picture heavy XD
