Truro Cathedral and White Feather Stories Which Comfort the Bereaved

This is Cornwall's cathedral in Truro. The foundation stones were laid by Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall in 1880. The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary was finally completed in 1910.

On a recent visit to the cathedral I snapped a few photos.

While in the cathedral I noticed the poem, as below, titled The White Feather Sniper.

This made me smile as I have collected many stories about  white feathers over the years.

The stories I have collected all have the same theme: where people have seen white feathers following the death of a loved one.

I realise many will think of this as being in some sort of fairyland, but I have experienced this myself.

In a very short period of time, a few years back, three people very close to me died within a fifteen month period.

This was obviously a difficult time but my wife and I started seeing white feathers, completely out of the blue. They were mostly large fluffy feathers which often appeared when we were thinking of our loved ones. For some reason the white feathers brought us comfort.

Here are just three of the many white feather stories I have collected:

(1) My dear husband, Gene, passed away and ever since then I have found white feathers.

My grandson and I were sitting in the same place my Gene and I would sit in Church and a white fluffy feather landed between us. In the Spring my son took me to a major league ball game and down came a white feather. And it goes on and on. I'm making a collection of them.

 Just when I need a feather from Gene, down it comes. In my heart I know its the Lord and my Gene saying every things alright!

(2) When my mother died, it was the worst moment of my life. I was in tatters and, as silly as it sounds, I couldn't believe that she had really died.

At the funeral I was in bits as we stood around mother's grave. As I looked down at the coffin a large white feather fluttered down and settled on some flowers, on top of the coffin. A good friend said, "Look your mother is thinking about you." I wasn't sure what she meant but somehow it was as if I had pulled myself together. I stopped crying and felt at peace.

Over the next few days I saw other white feathers and I believe they were from mother telling me she was alright and I should get on with my life.

(3) My sister passed away very suddenly aged 17, a few years ago.

I had never seen a white feather in our house ever before, but they began appearing every single day for the first couple of weeks after she passed away. I wasn't very religious beforehand, but I definitely took it as a sign.

When it was time for me to leave my home a few weeks later, to go back to college, I found a gigantic white feather on my bag, and one stuck to the car door.

I'll leave it there with just the three stories, though I have dozens and dozens more.

It's a difficult, emotional time when a loved one dies and I guess we like to think that they live on.

When my mother died I found a poem in her purse - I feel she knew I would find it there. It was handwritten and I had no idea at the time who it was by. I have since learned that it was written by Canon Henry Scott-Holland, 1847-1918, Canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London. Here's the poem:

Death Is Nothing At All
Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped away into the next room,
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we are still.
Call me, by my old familiar name.
Speak to me,
in the the easy way you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
What is death, but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you,
for an interval,
somewhere very near,
just around the corner.
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost.
One brief moment and all will be as it was before.
How we shall laugh
at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

Thanks for reading today's blog, despite it being a little different to my normal posts. I'll finish with another photo of Truro Cathedral. 

On Tour: Visiting Wells Cathedral - 16 Photos.

On a previous 'On Tour' post to Cheddar Gorge I mentioned that traditionally true Cheddar Cheese had to be made within 30 miles of Wells Cathedral. So, to follow up on that, today we have photos of this magnificent cathedral.

Kindly note the photos were all taken prior to the coronavirus lockdown. 

The building of Wells Cathedral began way back around 1175. The first phase of the building took around eighty years and the wonderful (west) front was completed with over 300 medieval statues, most of which can still be seen today.

The scissor style arches are quite spectacular.

The arches were added in 1338-48 for internal strengthening and were put in place by a master mason, William Joy

As I understand it, the first organ at Wells Cathedral was in the early 1300s.

The present day organ was built by Henry Willis in 1857.

Now a few odds and bods. First we have the Cope Chest used to store the robes of the clergy. This dates back to 1120 and is made of local oak. It's still in use today.

Now we have the tomb of Thomas Bekynton: the Chancellor of England and Bishop of Bath & Wells from 1443 to 1464.

I'm not too sure who the following gentleman is but it gives another example of tombs within the cathedral.

Now the Wells Cathedral clock. This is something a bit special. It is said to be the second oldest clock mechanism in Britain, and probably the world, to have survived and still to be in use. It is believed that the works were made in 1390 and that the clock face is the oldest surviving original of it's kind anywhere.

When the clock strikes every quarter, jousting knights run round above the clock and the Quarter Jack bangs the quarter hours with his heels.

A couple of the ornate ceilings

One of the attractive windows. This is the East Window dates from the 14th century but has had some later restoration.

Finally looking up at the outside of the church from the grounds.

I enjoyed my visit to Wells Cathedral. It's not the largest by any means but it has a special quality. Some say it is one of the most beautiful.

See also 'on tour' post: Visiting Glastonbury Abbey, Glastonbury Tor and King Arthur