Orthodox Church of Saint Seraphim of Sarov

The Orthodox Church of Saint Seraphim of Sarov at Walsingham, deep in rural Norfolk, has been active since its foundation in 1966, and holds regular services as well as being a place of pilgrimage. The church is also home to an icon workshop, and publishes liturgical texts. In 1978 the priest of Saint Seraphim's became a monk and took the name of David, and the church became a monastic control until Archimandrite David died in 1993.

If the architecture looks a little unorthodox (sorry about that) it is because the church was converted from Walsingham's disused railway station. The church is dedicated to Saint Seraphim of Sarov who was born in Kursk, a town in the west of Russia close to the border with the Ukraine.

Below is an icon of Saint John the Wonderworker made by Leon Liddament - iconographer in Saint Seraphim's icon workshop


Web resources:
* Saint Seraphim in Walsingham
web site - do visit it for the inspirational story of the church.
* Icon workshop web site

* Orthodox Church in Great Britain
*
Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain
Photograph of Saint Seraphim's taken taken by Pliable, 28th January 2006, image of icon of Saint John the woodworker from Saint Seraphim's web site.

Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
If you enjoyed this post take An Overgrown Path to Pilgrimage and The Year is '42

Comments

Pliable said…
Quite moving that my little story has been picked up by the official Russian Orthodox Church web site.
Garth Trinkl said…
Thank you for the interesting story about this Orthodox church in
Britain fashioned from a disused railroad station.

One point of clarification. The city of Kursk, the birthday of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, can, I think, be best described as being in Western Russia [not far from Ukraine], and not Eastern Russia (or the Eastern "Russian Federation").

The city of Kursk, Russia has some resonance for me, since one of N.'s uncles, a young Soviet soldier, was killed there by the Nazis in World War II. (One of her grandmothers was killed by the Nazis in what is now Kharkiv, Ukraine, during World War II. Her family poignantly remembered both of these relatives during the recent Orthodox Christmas eve and day dinners we shared together.)

Thanks again for the post, for sharing your photograph, and for the important links.

*

PS. Several crew members of the Russian Kursk submarine, who lost there lives in the tragic August 2000 Barent Sea incident, are buried in a cemetary across the harbor from central Sevastopol, Ukraine/Russia (the military port is leased to Russia until 2019). One can take the harbor ferry to visit this cemetary and memorial site -- one of many in the city.

The Kursk submarine, itself, was capable of carrying 24 cruise missles with either conventional or nuclear warheads; and 28 torpedoes.

http://www.russialink.org.uk/kursk/events.htm#SSGN%20KURSK
Pliable said…
Garth, many thanks for your, as ever, valuable comments.

I have corrected my slip of Russian geography which you quite correctly pointed out, Kursk is now in the west of Russia. The relation between east and west and dollars and pounds seems to give me trouble as I progress through middle age.

The personal story you add to my article is particularly touching. It is uncanny how these overgrown paths really do lead to new discoveries and understandings. I had been re-reading Geoffrey Haydon's biography of John Tavener who has strong connections with the Orthodox Church, and it was that path that led us to Saint Seraphims on a beautiful, but bitterly cold, Norfolk January day.

Thanks also for reminding us of the Kursk submarine tragedy. All my regular readers will know that the terrible power of nuclear fusion is a recurring theme on this blog.
Anonymous said…
You mean nuclear fission...
Anonymous said…
Dear Mr Shingleton,
THANK you for your support.Our fundraising campaign for the Church of Saint Seraphim is now underway, and the issue of Orthodox News out shorthly will give up-to-date information.
with gratitude,
Sylvia Batchelor
Anonymous said…
Greetings in Christ!
Sylvia has passed on your article to us. It is good to know that St Seraphim's is getting a higher profile. We are promoting the appeal through our free newspaper, Orthodox News. We, St George Orthodox Information Service, share a founder with St Seraphim's and are therefore closely linked.
Andrew Bond

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