wrongonesin:When you grow up practically next door to an old church where your uncle is Vicar, you l
wrongonesin:When you grow up practically next door to an old church where your uncle is Vicar, you learn pretty much everything about it. I’d explored every passage, every secret room before I was nine. As I got older, that knowledge served me in surprising ways. I always had a place to escape for time by myself, where nobody could find me - two or three little chambers no one but me had been in for at least 200 years. There was also a secret altar, past some twists and turns in the lowest level - below the crypt. It was at the end of a long, low hall I was able to run down when I was 5, but a grown person has to take on all fours. Based on what I could read from the inscriptions it was used by pagans for secret rites in medieval times - even after the church was built over it.If I really like a boy at school - or a tourist ogling the ancient church, I’ll offer to show it to them. Sometimes I’ll offer to teach them something about those early pagan rites. I have to say, I’ve never been turned down. And whatever pagan gods that altar was for, I think they’re very happy. -- source link