神圣之夜：在教堂里露營(yíng)

It was dark and chilly， and I was lying in a sleeping bag on a narrow camp bed. But I wasn’t in a tent， tipi or yurt—I was in a church. That’s because I wasn’t camping， nor even 1）glamping； I was “2）champing”.

OK， it’s a terrible name， but what a brilliant idea！ The Churches Conservation Trust looks after 347 churches that are no longer used for regular worship： it repairs and maintains the buildings， and finds new uses for them： circus schools， 3）GP surgeries， artists’ workshops. Church camping was the bright idea of Peter Aiers， one of the trust’s regional directors. He says that churches embody hundreds of years of British history， and are beautiful buildings 4）to boot， so what better way to appreciate them than spending a night in one？ And have it all to yourselves.

St Mary the Virgin in Fordwich， Kent， where I stayed， is certainly historic. （Champing is also offered at medieval All Saints Church in Aldwincle， Northamptonshire， and in the Georgian interior of St Cyriac St Julitta at Swaffham Prior， Cambridgeshire. The trust is hoping to add more.） St Mary’s dates from Norman times； there are 14th-century stained-glass windows， 17th-century wall paintings and 18th-century wooden 5）box pews. The church’s most famous object， the Fordwich stone， dates back to about 1100 and once formed part of a saint’s shrine； perhaps St Augustine of Canterbury’s.

A stroll around the churchyard revealed graves from the 1640s， and even older-looking stones whose inscriptions had weathered away over the centuries.

It was a bit overwhelming， especially when the key was handed over—a suitably huge， heavy， ancientlooking chunk of iron—and my friend and I were left alone. We couldn’t raid the 6）mini bar， play music or call room service. And， unlike the average hotel， our bedroom was public property： when we neglected to lock the door， a man wandered in with his dog to look around.

The door safely locked， we explored the church’s nooks and 7）crannies. We examined the rare bread shelf， where loaves for the poor were once left. We climbed the 14th-century bell tower （inadvisable： it is pretty 8）rickety）. We stood in the 9）pulpit composing a sermon， examined the magnificent Royal Arms over the chancel arch， and played the organ （badly）.

With fewer than 300 inhabitants， Fordwich is the smallest town in England. Its tiny town hall was built during the reign of Henry VIII and is believed to be the oldest still in use. It contains fascinating objects such as a 10）ducking stool， for use on “scolds” and “gossips” in the 15th century. Fordwich is a sleepy place today， a town in name only， but it has a bittersweet air of faded grandeur. It was an important port until the 11）Stour 12）silted up； stone from Caen in Normandy， which was used to rebuild Canterbury cathedral in 1067， was unloaded at Fordwich.

We had dinner at the Fordwich Arms， one of the town’s two pubs. The long-serving landlord 13）regaled us with tales of Fordwich past as we ate potted shrimp and pork belly in the cosy bar. We would be back for breakfast （the trust had arranged for the pub to open specially to serve us a full English in the 14）panelled dining room）.

Then it was time for bed. I had expected it to be 15）spooky—just the two of us， walking through a graveyard in the dead of night to a dark， 16）draughty old church. Nothing could have been further from the truth； it was simply quiet and peaceful. We lit lots of candles to 17）illuminate our box pew “bedroom” and piled duvets and pillows on top of our 18）spartan beds.

Champing isn’t 19）billed as a luxurious or romantic experience—the churches are still 20）consecrated spaces， though guests are free to 21）get up to whatever their consciences allow—but it was undeniably a special place to spend the night.

I had packed lots of layers， just in case， and had a great night’s sleep. We woke to jewel-like light 22）filtering through the stained-glass windows and the morning calls of birds in the tree-shaded churchyard. It was the first time in years that I’d been in a church on a Sunday morning. With no strict checkout time， we lingered， 23）loth to leave our sanctuary. But the lure of a proper toilet in the pub （we just had a camping loo in a tent outside the church’s north door） got us moving.

Fordwich is on a scenic stretch of the Stour—St Augustine travelled along it in 597 on his way to become the first 24）Archbishop of Canterbury—so we opted for a canoe trip. The five-mile paddle to Grove Ferry took us through Stodmarsh nature reserve and our guide， Andrew Magnell from Canoe Wild， pointed out 25）herons and 26）marsh harriers， and signs of beavers and woodpeckers.

27）Paddling a two-person canoe with a less-than-able seaman was something of a lesson in Christian values of forgiveness and so the Grove Pantry Pub Inn， right on the riverbank， was a welcome sight.

Fordwich is a couple of miles from Canterbury and a short drive from the north Kent coast—we went to Whitstable—so there is plenty to do beyond the parish. At ￡60 a head， it is certainly not as cheap as camping. But considering that you have sole use of a historic building， which has witnessed important events in people’s lives for hundreds of years， it is a bargain. More than that， it is a privilege.

四周又黑又冷，我躺在一張窄小的野營(yíng)床上的一個(gè)睡袋里。但我既非身處普通帳篷或印第安圓錐形帳篷中，也不在氈房里——我在教堂里。因?yàn)槲也皇窃诼稜I(yíng)，更加不是在豪華露營(yíng)，我是在“堂營(yíng)”。

好吧，雖然名字難聽(tīng)，但這個(gè)主意很贊！教堂保護(hù)信托基金會(huì)管理著347座不再用于日常禮拜活動(dòng)的教堂。管理工作包括修葺和維護(hù)教堂建筑，以及為教堂尋找新用途：開(kāi)辦馬戲?qū)W校、用作全科家庭醫(yī)生的診所、給藝術(shù)家做工作室等。教堂露營(yíng)是基金會(huì)一個(gè)區(qū)域主管彼得·艾爾斯想出的機(jī)靈點(diǎn)子。他說(shuō)教堂展現(xiàn)了英國(guó)幾百年的歷史，本身又是美麗的建筑，還有什么欣賞方式比在里面住一晚更妙呢？你可以獨(dú)享整座教堂。

我扎營(yíng)在坐落于肯特郡福威奇鎮(zhèn)的圣瑪麗教堂，其歷史意義不必贅述。（北安普敦郡阿爾德文科村的中世紀(jì)諸圣堂、劍橋郡斯沃夫漢姆普瑞爾村的圣希里亞克和朱莉塔教堂都開(kāi)展了露營(yíng)項(xiàng)目，后者有著喬治王時(shí)代藝術(shù)風(fēng)格的室內(nèi)裝修。基金會(huì)期望開(kāi)放更多的教堂進(jìn)行這個(gè)項(xiàng)目。）圣瑪麗教堂的歷史可追溯至諾爾曼時(shí)期，擁有14世紀(jì)的彩色玻璃窗、17世紀(jì)的壁畫(huà)和18世紀(jì)的木結(jié)構(gòu)廂座。教堂內(nèi)最有名的陳設(shè)是福威奇石，曾是一個(gè)神龕的一部分，其歷史可追溯至12世紀(jì)前后。神龕曾安放某位圣人的遺體，據(jù)說(shuō)這位圣人有可能是坎特伯雷的大主教圣奧古斯丁。

沿著教堂院落漫步，這里的古老墳?zāi)箍勺匪葜?7世紀(jì)40年代，有的看起來(lái)甚至年代更為久遠(yuǎn)，經(jīng)過(guò)幾個(gè)世紀(jì)，墓碑上的銘文已經(jīng)風(fēng)化了。……