You never know where your travels might take you, but when you don't expect it, it might take you to the place where your ancestors used to worship, for me that's St Dunstan's Church in England.
I admit that I am obsessed with European churches and cathedrals. Can you blame me? Besides being glorious houses of worship, they are also magnificent museums with works of art on their own merit (the UK has its fair share for certain.) Some are over 1,000 years old AND still hold services -- sometimes just seeing these incredible sites is amazing but actually attending a service takes it to the next level. If you are lucky sometimes, you might attend a service where your ancestors once worshipped – so in a sense, a chance to chase your ancestors. This is what happened to me during my trip in London.
My husband and I planned our first trip to London a few years ago and planned on seeing the usual tourist attractions. But I also remembered many references to a church in London where my 11xs great grandparents (Richard and Isabella Pace) were married in 1608 so thought it might be interesting to find the church – eventually leading me to St Dunstan and All Saints Stepney – in London’s East End.
When we arrived in London, we didn’t realize how difficult it would be to find the church, as medieval churches in England don’t have addresses. The taxi driver didn’t really know where the church was either, so it was a little bit of an adventure for us. But when we drove up to the church, I immediately recognized the magnificent bell tower from photos online. It was very quiet but then suddenly the church bells from the towers started striking, making it feel like a movie.
Immediately the thought occurred to me that this still-functioning church was 1000 years old and was the site of the marriage of my probable 11xs great grandparents and I was standing in front of it!
We walked around the grounds and admired the ancient tombstones of past churchgoers. Of course I did not expect to find Richard or Isabella’s graves, as I know they traveled to America a few years after being married here. But I did see tombstones that were hundreds of years old with intricate details. That is another thing about Europe – the church graveyards contain hundreds of years of history – like stone textbooks. For example, we found out that many seafaring men including a servant of Sir Walter Raleigh’s were buried in the yard.
As we walked the grounds, we noticed that a few people started arriving and we thought perhaps we could quickly take a peek into the church. A churchwarden named Zena approached and asked if she could help. With jet-lag articulation (as this was our first full day in London), I explained my ancestry quest and asked if we could perhaps sit in on the service. She was very kind and seemed to be interested in my passion and gave us a quick tour before the church service was to begin. The inside was absolutely beautiful.
One of my favorite parts of the church’s beauty was a stained glass window in the east wing. Although one might expect it to be old, it is actually modern. If you look closely, it depicts Christ as triumphant over devastated post-war Stepney. It is stunning yet sad at the same time.
As we continued our tour Zena explained that St. Dunstan's was also referred to as the “Church of the High Seas” as it was the parish church of the British seagoing empire. It was from this parish that the Elizabethan sailors set off for India and the New World. Most Americans who come to the church (like me) are descendants of local men who manned the ships that sailed off to the New World aboard the Radcliffe in the 16th and 17th centuries. This fact made sense as Richard and Isabella sailed off to the New World as some of the early settlers did in the 17th century.
The service was very formal and similar to a Roman Catholic mass (which made sense since this church did break away with Henry VIII’s rule.) After the service, we were asked to join the members of the church in a coffee social. It was great getting to talk to the people who lived there and had history with the church.
Churches and cathedrals in Europe have strong historical importance for many reasons, not just religious. I think it is certainly interesting to tour these sites (and I strongly encourage you to do so) but I also recommend you take the time to sit in a service. Many are open to the public and you can sit in the back if that makes you more comfortable.
Since this visit, we have been back to St Dunstan's twice (to be a third time soon) and have also attended services in London at St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey (where we were invited to sit with the choir in the quire). I’ll save that story for another day. But, for right now, St Dunstan's will always hold a special place in my heart.
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