E1. A Good Knight's Sleep

In this first episode, we learn how to "champ" (camp in a historic redundant church) like a pro while discovering an oasis of wildflowers and a nesting family of bats at this centuries-old church, where poet John Dryden was baptised. 

Tune in for a one-of-a-kind sleepover adventure in Nights in the Nave: A Champing Podcast. If you would like to make some memories, why not give champing a try in the warmer months between March and October? For everything you need to know about Champing, visit: https://champing.co.uk/

Nights in the Nave has been written and produced by Victoria Jenner. My guest has been Chana James and special thanks goes to Fiona Silk from the Champing team. Production was managed by Leigh-Anne Beattie. Editing by Jamie Reed Sound. Music by Nick Varey and artwork by George Allen. 

Follow Victoria Jenner on instagram for more historic adventures: @victoriajenner_history

Chapters

• 0:00 Exploring the river
• 3:10 Prep like a 'Champer'
• 8:14 Arriving at Aldwincle
• 13:48 Meeting Chana James
• 26:00 Bats and their quirks
• 29:12 Grub at the Pub
• 30:08 John Dryden
• 33:58 Night descends
• 38:00 Credits

Transcript

We are finding the river. So this looks very promising. We have come to a stony looking track. And with very large wild hedgerows. So the left and right. Oh, yes. I can see something over there. It looks like a river's edge. And we can see all saints. We can see these beautiful striking spires with the Pinnacle Tower. Absolutely beautiful.

I can hear the water gurgling down below me. And it's so peaceful.

My mind wanders further back to when a Roman settlement was discovered south of the village, and the loop of the river probably gave Aldwinkle its name, which would have been recorded in the Domesday Book as Elder Winkle, meaning old nook or corner. Yeah, it was most likely an Anglo-Saxon landowner, and the village is in a chain of hills beside the valley of the river then, which I am looking at right now.

Welcome to the camping podcast. You may be thinking. And what sort of word is that? To which I answer. It is a combination of the word church and camping, and it amuses me no end. Camping is a unique concept of camping overnight in historic churches, brought to the world by the church's conservation Trust, the national charity protecting redundant churches.

Over 10,000 of happy campers have stayed in their churches that are dotted all over England. So in this podcast series, night in the nave, we embark on our very own sleepover, but with a twist. Each week I invite a new sleepover guest to join me. Victoria Jenner to spend a night with an ancient walls. Together we explore the secrets of a new church and the mysteries it inspires.

In this episode, I travel to a medieval wonder in the pretty village of Aldwinkle where there is indeed a rather peculiar brass in front of the communion rail, showing a man with his foot resting on a dog commemorating William Alder Winkle, who died in 1463. And this evening it is my first ever camping experience, and I would like you to join me.

We're going to learn not only how to jump like a professional, but we're going to experience an oasis of wildflowers. Listen to Anglo-Saxon river's search for a family of plants and a light ourselves with the ethereal poetry of 17th century poet John Dryden, who was born nearby and baptized in this very church. So what are you waiting for?

Pull up a dog rest I should probably say there were no animals endangered in the making of this podcast. And let's travel back to the 17th century.

So I'm currently sitting in my bedroom. I have my bag next to me. I have lots of clothes around me and I'm trying to work out what to pack for my first ever camping adventure. I have some woolly socks, as I'm guessing it's going to be quite chilly in the church. I have some woolen bed clothes. I have a very thick dressing gown.

I have a blanket; I have a hot water bottle. So I think I'm covered. I'm hoping I won't be cold. I'm just wondering what else I should include. But of course, I have Fiona Silk at my fingertips. Fiona Silk is the head of the champing initiative, so I think I'm going to give her a call and hopefully she can put my mind at rest.

Hello, Fiona. Hello. Hi there, Vikki. How are you doing? I'm fine, thank you. How are you? I'm not too bad. I hope you're staying overnight in the church tonight. Yes, I am indeed. I'm going to be driving over to Aldwincle soon, and I'm just in the middle of a packing. Fantastic, fantastic. So how should I prepare? I've got my bag next to me.

I've got lots of clothes completely messing up my room. What do I need to pack? Well, most churches are unheated spaces, so imagine you're walking into a very large space, quite lofty. So I do recommend you bring plenty of layers and bring your warm bedding as well. So we'll have the beds laid out and some campbeds, and it's all quite cozy as well.

They'll be a couple of blankets as well, just in case. Hot water bottles too, in case you need them. There will be a kettle where you can boil all the water for hot drinks, I mean mugs. There'll be all the basic stuff there, so just bring anything else you need to make it cozy and to do whatever you'd like to do.

Maybe a board game or book or something like that. It already sounds really, really cozy. And often there's this preconception that sleeping in a church may be a bit creepy, a bit scary. I'm getting the sense that it won't be like that, which is great. What do you think? I think everyone experiences it in a very different way.

And of course, some people might think that having that peace or that quiet all around you might feel a little bit scary. And certainly with ancient buildings you might hear a little creak as actually they sort of they move in the night, or just ancient buildings react very differently to being at home. But it's that beauty of just having the whole of that space and waking up in the morning with a light coming in through the windows at the stained glass windows.

It can be absolutely fantastic to just experience in that way. And most people just really love that peace and serenity that you feel within the building itself. It's already sounds very atmospheric. So am I taking from this? Are you a camper? Do you enjoy the experience of it? I love camping, yeah, I'm just thinking back to the time that I stayed at Aldwincle, and I think it was one of the best nights sleeps I've ever had.

You know, you've got the beautiful space and limestone of the walls, the floors, but also it's the wildlife outside as well. You're fairly close to the river, so you've got all the wildlife you're experiencing. You've got bats in the tower rooms. If you go out at night into the into the churchyard, you'll be able to see the bats leaving the tower and things like that.

The one you're staying at tonight is without electricity or running water. So it's something that I don't have all the facilities. So that varied with that particular church you're staying at, it has a waterless toilet and we provide the bottled water. So we just get around it that way and provide lanterns and fairy lights. So you've got all the light you need to make the space cozy.

So it is an escape from all the digital world that we live in, which obviously this podcast is part of and we love all of that. But actually sometimes we just need that. That breaks a little. And I think what I've personally experienced, and I've heard from the feedback from the guests as well, that when you stay in a church overnight, without that connection to the lights and the mod cons that you would expect in a hotel room, for instance, you are literally just unplugging and you just have that extra sense of peace from the quietness, this thick walls and the doors, and you just feel the sense of safety and security of what's around you. And I think for me as well, and I'm sure your experiences too, is just learning about the stories of the building and the people that make that building as it is. It's so important to continue our heritage and to learn about that and to share it with so many people, too. I think that's what makes it special.

Thank you so much, Fiona. I'm very much looking forward to my sleep tonight in the chat and in the footsteps of John Dryden and his and his amazing connection with this church and Aldwincle. Thank you.

So I've driven 12 miles northeast of Kettering and I've just come off the A6, A5 into the Thrapston road. I'm now taking such a narrow, very high hedge country road to Aldwincle All Saints, which is just where I'm traveling to today, is the first church in the village with a beautiful, stunning tower that I can see through this gorgeous foliage.

Wow, it's so striking. But just before I get that, I want to explore around a little bit. So I'm now just stop as I'm waiting for a tractor to come by me. But I mean, you know, it's such a beautiful place. It's okay just to sit here and have a little look around. I'm right by Aldwincle preschool.

Gorgeous little stone houses either side of this quite narrow road. So I'm wondering how this great big, heavy duty tractor is going to get by me. Oh, squeezing by squeezing straight. There we are. Oh, and there's another one. Heavy traffic in Aldwincle. So now what we're looking for as we drive through the village, is somewhere where we could potentially find a little route of footpath so we can go find the River Nene.

Oh, can you hear the kites?

And there we are, the main way footpath near Box Lane. And it's right next to this really beautiful sign. Old fashioned sign saying Aldwincle. And it feels like going back in time. This village is so picturesque and quintessential.
 

And as I'm wondering, down the winding lanes, following signs to the river I come across very smiley, happy, local and I want to know more about her experience living in a chocolate box style village. So you've been living here for a few years? I know I've only been here six months. Six months. Wow, what a beautiful view. Yeah, it's absolutely beautiful.

And walk down there towards the stream, over the bridge around that way. And I go round to the Hyde and sit in there and watch everything that's going on over the water. It's lovely. That's beautiful. What sort of wildlife do you say? I'm not really up on it yet, I'm afraid. I've got lots of homework to do on that.

But all kinds of ducks aren't there? Yes. Waterfowl. Yeah. It must be so serene and peaceful. Yeah. It's lovely. It's so quiet. Yes, I suppose the dogs as well. Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. Oh, lovely. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye. Have a good day. So we know that the area both such a rich history but also it is a haven for wildlife.

The attractive villages of Aldwincle and Wait and Hope are nestled in this dramatic curve of the river. Then. And this is a Site of Special Scientific Interest with its flower rich waterside meadows, which we're walking through now, and they are absolutely stunning. And this riverside woodland and marshy grassland providing the ideal place for over 100 species of flowering plants, which means there should be butterflies.
 

Very excited about that and dragonflies in abundance. And so we're walking down this lovely narrow footpath. Oh gosh, here the water. We are close.

And with its footpaths and bird hides, the reserve is also an ideal venue for watching birds such as geese under and kingfishers. And here we are. We are at the river. So I'm particularly looking out for snipe and heron. I've heard they are here, and also magnificent planted willows and even otters. And there are thistles. There's so much colour emerging and popping out and we've just managed to step out, I think, at the perfect time of the day, because it's been quite blustery and windy and lots of rain, and now we've just stepped out into Aldwincle and a little bit of sun is emerging from the sky.

Can you hear the pigeons cooing? There is so much wildlife here. It's so peaceful. So I've just found the River Nan, which is what we've been looking for. We've just done a bit of a trek and we found the perfect spot, so I can sort of see it. I can't quite get to it, but it's just over this mass of stinging nettles.

But I can hear it, and I think that's quite powerful. I can hear the gurgling. So yes. Why not enjoy a walk along the banks of the river, or a stroll amongst limestone, slate and thatched cottages which there are in abundance here? Absolutely beautiful. So now we're just questioning River Nene or River then, and it's both pronunciations. It says that there was a croquet match in 2021 that settled the dispute over how to pronounce it, so let's see what the outcome to that was.

Good old Google think. okay, so to resolve the issue organizers, this is all from Yahoo news of a local croquet derby decided to make the match the decider on which pronunciation should be used. The Northampton team won, beating their Peterborough rivals, winning the rights for the river to be pronounced and then there we go, there we go.

It is now time to meet our sleepover guests for this episode. So as I pull up, I see a figure standing just outside and looking up at such a striking square tower church with a pinnacles and carved 15th century tower that simply dominates the surrounding countryside. Hello, Chana. Hello. It's me. I am talking to Chana James, communications manager for the church's conservation trust and champion Gyuri.
 

Chana joined CCT in 2008 and after being a volunteer looking after five Warwickshire churches and has since worked in a number of different teams and roles. Chana has short blond hair, a bubbly personality and an infectious laugh. And I just know we're going to have a great evening. Let's go inside.

Oh, wow, look at that curtains here. It's absolutely beautiful. It's only this time of day with the sun coming in through the windows. It really is. And there are no queues. Yes, I can tell you a little bit more about that in the pews today. I'm just going to put all of my bags down. Oh, it would have had pews originally and they were taken out I think in the 19th century, but in medieval times they wouldn't have had pews.

People would have stood for services. And it was only after the Reformation when services got longer, there was a need for pews. So we are going to be exploring this church and stepping in the footsteps of medieval people who would have been here. Yeah, yeah. And they would have done all sorts of things in the church. There is a story that the altar rail, over there is so the gates, in front of the altar are to stop animals getting to the.

No, to the inside, to the chancel, because it would have been used for all sorts of things. So we're quite noisy. Village meetings because it was the biggest building in the village. And, most people lived in quite small dwellings. So this, church dates back to, I think, the 14th century. I, Sean and I explore the elegant medieval interior.

It is almost cavernous and feel, with few furnishings, offering a rare chance to see its beautiful limestone arcades and arches up close. The church was originally eyeless, but the north aisle was added around 1190 and the south end around 1350. The church was expanded in the early 14th century when the porch, spire and clerestory were added. It's perfect the fact that this was your first camping church, and the fact that it's now our first podcast episode isn't that ideal.

So you set up camping or camping, I should call it. You set up camping? Chana. Yeah, seems like a long time ago now. I came to CCT in 2008, so I've had two children in that time, so it doesn't seem as though I've had a couple of sort of breaks. But, yeah, I came back from maternity leave in 20.

Oh gosh, 2013, after having my daughter and my then boss Peter Ayres, who was manager of the Southeast region, which I was part, I was marketing officer. He became ACTU CEO and he's now moved on, to another role. But it was his idea camping. And it started off we had a group of scouts camping in one of our churches in Northamptonshire called FIR, though, and they were just it was a one off, and they wanted to, as part of one of their projects to clean up the church and churchyard.

And they asked if they could camp, and then Peter said, would that'd be great if people could camp in the church and we could call it camping. And I sort of laughed and said, oh, that's that, that'll never happen sort of thing. And then, it was in 2014, we started really exploring it as an idea, and I was scoping up churches and also when was our first camping church.

And the reason we chose it was, well, a few reasons. One of the main reasons was it's not too far from where I live. So I'm from Northamptonshire and it was my projects. I have one nearby. It's really handy because it has churches all over England and it fulfils our requirements, so must come full circle and camping. It's one of those projects.

I mean, when you tell people about the Churches Conservation Trust, quite often they say, oh, camping, I've heard of that. And it's brought us a whole new audience. Even if people don't come camping. It showed people that these buildings are accessible to everyone. You don't have to be religious to commend them or to use them. And it's fun.

We're sitting on these camp beds which are already really comfy, although they make quite a lot of noise. I've noticed that as we've been sitting here, so in the night we have to be quite still. I think. Yeah, I mean the beds are put together, there's three beds lined up, almost dormitory style in between two columns. But you can move your bed if you, if I don't think a snow.
 

And then from our beds I spot something quite disconcerting looming from the tower near the camp beds. So what is this? It's called a coffin bear. Baier. BAIER and it's got it's a wooden structure, like a stretcher, and it's got big wheels. I think they look a bit like pram wheels. It is. I don't know if they've been replaced at some point.

It does. And look at these quite big leather straps and it's got that. so it's like a wooden shelf with wheels and it's the size of a coffin and it's, got a brass plaque on it and it says, this bear is presented to the church of all Twinkl all Saints, for the glory of God. And in memory of Thomas Littleton, Lord Milford, by his widow and the rector of the parish, 1896.

I'm the resurrection and the life so that dates it. So it's 1896, and this would have been used for the funeral service from the house. So let's say someone in the village, brought down the road. You came through the little gate when we arrived, and that's where the coffins would have stopped, if it was raining or for people to wait.

And some lich gates are much bigger, and they have benches on either side for the funeral procession. Some even have a stone bench in the middle where if you didn't have a beer like this, sometimes they were like a wooden thing without wheels that people carry it and they could rest it on there. So it's a really interesting part of the history.

And Lich is an old Anglo-Saxon word, linked, derived from the word for corpse. So it sounds makeup and it is a bit, if you think about it too much puts. I think it's fascinating as well. Absolutely. And it's quite isolated in this. Well, what's this area? Is this the old bell tower? Yeah. Well underneath the if we look up there with the west end of the church and if you look up, you can see a very ancient floor about 30, 40ft up.

So this we're in the tower now. It's stood on the basically the ground floor of the tower. And there are bells, you can see a little bit of a powerboat coming down there, but they're not in remarkable condition. But the had the bells would have been used and people would have heard them across the village and further afield.

And the tower is it's quite fancy for a small village church. It's quite ornate and with these pinnacles on the corners, and you can see it from the river. So it's very it's a very prominent landmark. And can I just check the this over here on the wall. Is that the old weathervane I think. Yeah. They look like, the metal flags, aren't they?

They are on poles. And they were. Yeah, they were weather vanes attached to each of the four pinnacles on the tower. And obviously at some point they've been deemed unsafe, but they've been put here in the tower. And also behind you, you've got it's like a wooden frame with some LED sheets mounted. And if you look closely, the footprints, footprints over there from the roof and what workmen used to do.

So there's a date here. So there's an outline. Someone's drawn around their foots into the light, and it's like a shoe print. And you've got the initial is that July be 1839. And that would have been for good luck or to, you know, to bring them. Look there. They've put their footprint on the, on the, on the building.

Sometimes people did that not on church roofs but on other types of stonework. If they're going on a long journey for good luck, they'd, show around the outline of their foot. It's remarkable that now we're displaying it. It's part of the fabric of the church, which is lovely, and everyone can come in and see it, and it's being displayed in this area a bit like a mini museum, which is lovely. Yes.

You, Chana, what do you want champers to take away from the experience. Can anyone champ. Absolutely anyone can I mean anyone can visit our churches. But I think in the past it's always been that with some people there's been a reticence to go in a church maybe if they're not religious. But we've got we've got a noticeboard outside.

And I noticed when we came in there was in a new poster and then it says all a welcome, come in and explore. And it's about the history of the building. Obviously that's still consecrated. So that's another thing. People think our churches aren't consecrated. They've just been divested. So they've gone into retirement. But yeah, as long as people are respectful of the building and so far we haven't had any problems with that with champers and yeah.

Anyone can do it before darkness falls. I'm aware that we need to enjoy the exterior of the church in a bit more detail. So we venture out through a large oak door riddled with old marks and historic graffiti, and into a vast graveyard considerably wild, with lichen covered graves emerging from tufts of grass and wildflowers. It is a picturesque scene, and what's more, we are surrounded by what appears to be a carefully manicured walled garden leading to a manorial house and grounds.

We're on the south side of the church, looking up at the tower. And yeah, it's quite a big church for this village. You know, normally country churches, aren't built on this scale. I'm going to say that it's this is a mishmash of medieval dates, isn't it? So the church is basically 13th century in date, but then we have a 15th century tower, and we have a chantry chapel in the vestry.

And then we have evidence of early building, an early building surviving in the chancel arch on the piers of the south arcade. To me, apparently. And the north arcade is slightly later, and they, they think perhaps 14th century, but the plates, tracery windows of the chancel, the east window, and the one on the north side, of 13th century.

So a real mishmash. I wonder if the glass is that old. It does look like old glass, isn't it? And it has that green tent which I really wavy. It's got a square tower with pinnacles on the tops, on the four corners, and you've got these amazing gargoyles, and some of them are actual gargoyles, the water spout. So gargoyles are from the French for throat and gargoyle.

And you can see that one at the top there. It's got a water spout coming out of its mouth, and it was an early form of, almost like before guttering. And it was to stop the rainwater seeping into the church so it would throw the water claim at the church so that it didn't cause damage. But the others, I just, grotesques there.

So you can see them with their funny faces. I mean, I'm not sure what they are. Yeah. We've got all sorts of sort of peculiar beasts up there, haven't we? Very toothy. Some of them look quite animalistic. Bestial? Yeah. And if I was a medieval child, I would have been quite scared of those. Absolutely, absolutely. And this collection of lively carvings of very toothy or feathery animals mean the only tenants of All Saints Tower.

Upon finding some bat detectors that champion guests can use during their stay, plus some rather dubious looking droppings outside, we came to the conclusion that we were sharing our sleepover adventure with yes, some bats. And it just so happens I recently hosted a lecture with some bat experts I know. Very convenient for this podcast, so I want to welcome Diana Spencer and Kate Jones, who have worked on protecting bats in churches.

Let's cut to their wise words on this matter. The idea of bats and churches has been around for quite a long time. Whether that have always been present in churches in such large numbers is a different matter. I think we've certainly seen that there are more bats in churches now than perhaps have been in previous decades, but we just sort of wanted to mention the idea that that's been there in the of decoration and around churches for a long time.

It's not a completely new thing. It's very important. Just want to let everybody know. popular misconception is that that's been belfries. Now that might venture into a belfry, but it's not ideal for them. It can be pretty chilly out there, and it can be quite loud with the bells. And so much as journalists loved to write out tales about our project that, say, bats in the belfry, realistic, you won't find many past in the belfry.

Most of the time they prefer it. So perhaps under the under the nave roofs or tucked up into synonyms where it's a little bit warmer. so yes, I just thought I'd not that one on the head quickly. no belfries. And so where are the bats in churches? Well, they're much more likely to be here. And I suppose the big question is, why do they like it so much?

Because there's no doubt that more and more we are finding bats in our medieval churches especially. And the way I talk about this describe this is I think about that when we're walking to a big ancient woodland, great habitat for bats, and we look up and we see these wonderful columns of tree trunks, and we see the branches arching above us and we think, wow, look at this.

It's like being in a cathedral. And in many ways it is because there's this wonderful structure that you get in churches, and it's very appealing to bats, is waiting for them to swoop around through the columns. And then when they want to waste, there's all this wonderful space up in the roof. So anyone who's ever been in an old church will know there's a complex network up there of wood, different types of wood, various bits of carpentry, and you can see all these little crevices up here are very similar to the kind of thing a bat might enjoy roosting in in an ancient tree.

If you think about the bat, tiny little body of purpose dwells quite a body about the size of a pound coin. So, so many spaces where little animal that small to find, place to rest. So you can see somewhere like the South Isles going to be very, very warm from eternity. Space areas, perhaps on the north side of the church or the tower or the crypt gives the equivalent of a natural cave, or a mine or a bridge, and then more likely to be places you would find that hibernating, because they prefer a sort of a colder environment for that.

So you can see as a whole, the building provides not just one habitat for bats, but many, many different types of habitat in different spaces. They can roost. And as Kate said, we know particularly the quite often these are buildings that have been a feature of the landscape for hundreds, up to a thousand years necessarily. And when a lot of the other landscape, the surrounding landscape has changed really quite dramatically, particularly in the area in the east of England where I am, that can be a real feature.

After all our exploring, Sean and I decide to grab some dinner. This is what is so great about chomping. You can order a takeaway, bring your own picnic, or pop to the pub, which we clearly need to do for research purposes. Yes, we jump in the car and make a short five minute journey over several small bridges and a very windy road to the Woolpack, in which is situated in the village of Islip.

That looks yummy. It doesn't really yummy. So what have you got? You've got chickpea, chickpea and aubergine base I think. Oh my gosh, you're surprising. Oh wow. Oh oh that's for you. I know what that's for your fingers. There we go. Thank you, thank you. That does look delicious. The ribs tuck in everybody. Wow. Lovely.

After a marvellous meal, we head back to All Saints, where some poetry awaits us. You may be wondering now, who is John Dryden? Well, he is often referred to as the greatest English poet of the 17th century. That's right. Quite a big deal. Especially as he's following some profound names like William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, and he is arguably considered the greatest playwright.

I am not claiming he is the best, although Sir Walter Scott did nickname him Glorious John. But there are a number of highly compelling stories that surround him. He was born in 1631 into an extended family of rising Puritan gentry in Northamptonshire, but as a teenager he was sent to the King's School at Westminster to be trained as a King scholar by a very Royalist headmaster, and this made an impact because, despite Dryden's family siding with the Commonwealth, often Dryden revealed Royalist sympathies and his works.

Perhaps because of family pressure, Dryden largely avoided published again until he had left Cambridge, where he was an undergraduate at Trinity College and had been employed by Oliver Cromwell government. He then went in to write plays, political satires, odes, whilst the Great plague and political turmoil of the Civil War riveted and gripped England. Dryden was then appointed Poet Laureate by Charles the Second in 1668, but this didn't last long when he converted to Roman Catholicism in the 1680s.

As a result, he'd devoted the rest of his life largely to translations, notably a verse translation of the works of Virgil and what made the shift in his success even worse. Dryden had a long standing conflict with John Wilmot, who was the second Earl of Rochester, and Rochester hired thugs to attack him in convent Garden near his home.

Now living in poverty, Dryden died in 1700, and so he was buried in the local cemetery of Saint Anne's. However, ten days later he was exhumed and reburied in Westminster Abbey.

This is so isn't it right Chana, that All Saints is of particular interest for its association with the poet John Dryden. And Dryden was born in the rectory which is now a private home but is opposite the church. And we saw it as we come in. It's very, very close. And he was baptized in All Saints and he lived in the village for many years.

Yes. We have a wall plaque in the sanctuary which commemorates Dryden and his links to Aldwincle. I think it's safe to assume the medieval font, which we can see here at the west end of the nave, is the same font at which Dryden was christened. Wouldn't it be nice if we could try and find a poem? Let me have a quick look.

Night came, but without darkness or repose. A dismal picture of the general doom. Wessels distracted when the trumpet blows. And half unready. With their bodies come those who have homes. When home they do repair to a last lodging call with their wandering friends. Their short, uneasy sleeps are broke with care to look how near their own destruction tends.

Those who have none sit around where once it was and with full eyes. Each wanted room require haunting the yet warm ashes of the place. As murdered men walk where they did expire. That's very fitting. That is very fitting. Like I found something very ominous. We're sitting in this very beautiful, dark, atmospheric church with these shadows a sort of looming beyond, keeps it and just sort of flash over there.

It's really creeping me out. I got where was the flag? Probably a reflection of something over the coffin there. Oh, there. The click a little bright light. Okay. No, it was probably just a fairy light. It's probably a reflection. Well, there's no fire that's ever that's probably a reflection. But I think it's really incredible how after 700 years with the reliving this medieval experience.

Absolutely. And the buildings pretty much untouched, I know subsequent generations have made changes and messed about the building a little bit, but overall it's remained relatively untouched. And it's really beautiful just sitting here. It feels very peaceful, not spooky, even though we were just telling ghost stories outside. I'm not scared. You're not scared of you? I'm not scared.

No, I think it's really lovely. It's a really beautiful, peaceful interior. I don't feel spooked out at all.

Sleep well. It's nitpicky.

You know, every morning. How did you sleep? Surprisingly well, actually. Yeah. How did you sleep? Yeah. Good. Thanks. I was tired after all that one. And John Dryden poetry? Yes. That's a hero of the pigeons killing, waking up, snoring. I can also hear the building creaking slightly. Yeah, just little creaks as the building sort of wakes up. So quiet.

It's a really sleepy little village as well as night. I've barely heard any cars outside. Yeah, there aren't masses of, creepy crawlies or spider webs or anything like that. That I thought that would be putting that big one on my pillow. So, like, my head. Oh, the door has gone.

Hello. Good morning. Well, wicked. How are you? All right. We did this. Your breakfast? thank you. That's amazing. Oh, I love the wellies. Completely shift in check. Cup of tea? Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. That's it. That's plate seven and eight. Fell on platform bread. Oh, that is so lovely. Thank you so much. Do you run a farm kitchen.

Oh is it for this breakfast. Beds and breakfast. Oh amazing. And then I wrong as well. So I'll go check on the stock. You in ruins and I. Oh great. Oh what a lovely place to live. Did you sleep last night. Yeah. We people do. Some people that quite loved it. Loved it.

So I'm now enjoying a marvellous cup of coffee outside as I sit on one of the benches, just looking out at John Dryden's house opposite and I'm right next to this beautiful Pinnacle Tower. So I'm sandwiched between these, both marvellous buildings. Such a gorgeous view. Just to wake up to. And it's been such a magical experience, one that I cannot recommend enough to anybody.

And this is my first time champing, and it has exceeded my expectation in every way.

If you would like to make some memories, why not give camping a try in the warmer months between March and October? For everything you need to know about camping, please visit champing.co.uk. Nights in the nave was written and produced by me, Victoria Jenner. My guest has been Chana James and special thanks goes to Fiona Silk from the champing team.

Production was managed by Leigh-Anne Beattie, editing by Jamie Reed, sound music by Nick Varey and artwork by George Allen.