Lychgate to the Church, a photo from North Yorkshire, England

Photographer's Note

Good Morning Everyone,

As with many old churches, St Alkelda's Church has a lychgate. A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English lic, corpse) is a gateway covered with a roof, found at the entrance to an English-style churchyard.

In the Middle Ages, before mortuaries, and at a time when most people died at home, the dead were placed on a bier and taken to the lychgate where they remained, often attended against bodysnatchers, until the funeral service, which may have been a day or two later. The lychgate kept the rain off, and often had seats for the vigil watchers. Bodies at that time were buried in just shrouds rather than coffins. At the funeral, the priest conducted the first part of the service under the shelter of the lychgate.

There is so much history involved with churches that it is always worthwhile having a good look round.

I will show a slightly different view, from beneath the lychgate, as a workshop. It will reveal just how difficult it was to obtain particular views of the building because of the trees.

Have a good weekend, Bev :-)

mkamionka, holmertz, Fis2, jhm, pierrefonds, ikeharel, jean113, CMJC, COSTANTINO, jemaflor, aliabazari, dedee, GyurMaster, PaulVDV, mcmtanyel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lousat (138551) 2022-01-22 3:08

Hi Bev,I am surprised to read that in the past there were also body thieves, for what purpose? An interesting post about this "covered entrance" which in the past had this somewhat macabre use, are customs that I really did not know, luckily everything has remained intact as a testimony of the past centuries. The view in the WS is indeed disturbed by the trees but it is still of excellent quality. Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano

mkamionka (73256) 2022-01-22 3:47

Hi Bev,
Lovely composition with the church at the back but this time with the gate in the main focus. I remember you mentioning this old tradition before. I don't think we have something similar in Poland.
I did notice similar gates in England before there is one at the enytrance to the local church in which Cpt Cook was baptized. I have to revisit it to take a photo.
Nice light here with appropriate level of contrast. There are more and more signs like the two blue signs here which slighlty damage the mood but it is impossible to avoid them anymore -they are everywhere,
Beautiful reportage,
M

holmertz (101930) 2022-01-22 3:50

Hello Bev,
I guess I have told you earlier that a corpse is a "lik" in Swedish. This peculiar gate creates a fine foreground to the photo, but the explanation of its purpose makes a nice photo highly interesting. We get a fairly good view of the tower in the gap between the gate and the tree. The WS is a very nice composition too, even though the trees partly hide the view of the church.
Kind regards,
Gert

Fis2 (169635) 2022-01-22 4:25

Witaj Bev!
Beautiful gate and church tower, I love it.
Good framing, composition and colors.
The plates on the beautiful stone wall spoil the picture.
TFS.
Well done.
Have a nice weekend.
Krzysztof
P.S.
Any comments are appreciated.

Silvio1953 (220495) 2022-01-22 4:43

Ciao cara Bev, great view of beautiful gate with fantastic church, fine details, wonderful colors and splendid light and excellent clarity, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

jhm (211734) 2022-01-22 5:11

Hello Bev,

I think that you choose the most beautiful angle.
The entrance with fence and lovely old wall.
But the tower beside the tree makes your picture attractive.
Nice composition excellent presentation too.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice weekend,
John

pajaran (114821) 2022-01-22 5:19

Pozdrav.

Lep pogled, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lep stari zid sa kapijom i toranj sa satom u dvoristu, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontratsom, perspektivom i uhvacenim trenutkom sa oblacima koji dolaze i najvaljuju promenu vremena.
Dobar rad, lepa fotografija.

Zelim vam lepo popodne, sve najbolje za vikend.
Paja

pierrefonds (113512) 2022-01-22 5:41

Hi Bev,

The trees are helping to frame the scene. The point of view is showing the details of the gate and of the church in the background. The light is giving good colors output. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jean113 (27585) 2022-01-22 9:06

Hello Beverley, am I correct in thinking that lychgates are a feature of English churches? I can't recall seeing them in other countries that I have visited.
I like the composition with the lychgate off centre, which also allows a view of the church and its tower.
I like the w/s shot where you have made good use of the roof of the lychgate.
Kind regards, Jean.

jmdias (114196) 2022-01-22 11:59

bev

looks like if the dead people wasn't really dead the people would have a chance to escape of the grave during these three days waiting in the edge of the cemetery. haha.
a curious structure and note.
take care

jorge

ifege (46851) 2022-01-22 17:01

Hi Bev
An interesting old gate and interesting as well the choices available for the spelling. A good view through the gate and of the church beyond.
cheers
Ian

COSTANTINO (115451) 2022-01-22 22:36

Hello my dearest Beverley
have a pleasant Sunday
original version
here we can see a photo
presenting a gateway
covered with a roof
it seems like a photo taken
from a book with fairy tales
concerning kings and princes
regards
Costantino

abmdsudi (95869) 2022-01-22 23:24

Hi Beverley
Lovely shot of an old entrance to the church and good detail here and really good control of the exposure. There is a lot of detail remaining in the shadows area, Well done.
Best regards

jemaflor (146206) 2022-01-22 23:42

Hi Bev,
good photo about the presentation of this church with this gate, nice rendering, light and sharpness, tfs.

aliabazari (21165) 2022-01-23 1:14

Hello Beverley
Beautiful view of this gate. I see the background of the tower and the blue clock that contributed to the depth and composition. Clarity and exposure are well done. Thanks for sharing

dedee (2931) 2022-01-23 2:56

Hi Bev
A good image showing the gate and the church beyond. I like the faint sunlight on the church and on the path.
David

ikeharel (112395) 2022-01-23 6:26

Hello Beverley,
The old gate has an ancient charm. Good view through with green surrounding of the church, fine details appear, I like especially the clock on the tower.
Good sunsay afternoon,
Ike

*** Found it on Gogle-Map at precisely 54.0721, -2.2889 on Church st., of course, where else...

GyurMaster (24668) 2022-01-23 7:25

Dear Beverley,

As you wrote this is a scenic place which offers interesting compositions, just like this and the WS. To be honest, this time I like the WS even better with the well-used natural framing.

Have a nice Sunday! :)
Gy.

PaulVDV (62770) 2022-01-23 15:32

Hello Beverley,
I think I remember you showing a lychgate at another church once before.
Is a lychgate something typical English or British?
I don't think I've ever seen one in Belgium.
I also seem to remember the explanation in your note from that earlier photo. But I tend to think that nobody in Belgium knows that function of a lychgate ...
Beautiful clear and sharp presentation in an excellent composition.
Best regards, Paul

emka (157280) 2022-01-24 23:40

Hello Bevgates, Very interesting note about the lychgates. I haven't heard about all these old customs. Probably happening only in old England. beautiful view of the gate with the roof and the square tower behind it.

Best regards MAlgo

mcmtanyel (67555) 2022-02-16 20:38

Hello Beverly,
This is quite a charming gate, though its historic use was not for happy occasions.
Regards,
MT