Gloucester Cathedral and Gadfield Elm

We saw this sign on our way down the road and had to take a picture. 

This is the exterior, near the front door, of the cathedral.

On our way into Wales we stopped at Gloucester Cathedral.  There has has been a house of worship here for 1,300 years.  King Edward II and Robert Duke of Normandy (son of William the Conqueror) are buried here.  We weren't able to take pictures inside which is unfortunate because the stained glass was gorgeous.  There were amazingly detailed animals, faces and pictures from biblical stories and English History.  The architecture is beautiful as well.  We went on a tour and the guide was very good about trying to include the kids by talking about Harry Potter filming locations in the Cathedral.  I guess it was used heavily in the Chamber of Secrets.  The funny thing is that our kids haven't seen any of the movies. 

The walls were coming down and the structure was quite unsafe when it was
acquired in 1994 so it was taken apart piece by piece with each piece numbered
so it could be put back together again in the same order.  They were only missing a
few stones and they found replacements from an old barn up the road,

After our stop at the Cathedral, we drove to Gadfield Elm, which is the oldest LDS chapel in the world.  It was founded by a fundamentalist Christian group called the United Brethren as a way for them to worship as they saw fit according to their reading and understanding of the Bible.  In 1840, nearly the entire congregation was baptized into the LDS Church and they handed the deed over to Wilford Woodruff.  The building was sold to pay for church members to emigrate to the US and over the years it has been used for many things and fallen into disrepair.  In 1994, church members from the area bought the property at an auction and slowly raised money for its restoration.  In 2004, the trust deeded the property to the LDS Church.  Now there is a lovely site to stop and feel the Spirit and enjoy a bit of the history of my pioneer ancestors.  The missionary couple there were very welcoming.  They lived in the vicinity so we enjoyed talking to them about their part in the history of the building and the Church in the area.   There was a small field and the good sister found a Frisbee and a ball so the kids could play for a bit.  It was a wonderful place to stretch our legs before finding our newest home.