Dowsby, Home of the Early Eyres!

We headed south from York and realized that it would only be a half an hour longer to get to Cambridge tonight if we stopped at Dowsby, the home of the first Eyres (Hares) who joined the church and immigrated to America.  We were pretty excited when we got to Heckington, about 10 miles from Dowsby where we think there are records of weddings and marriages in the family. The church was enormous and so beautiful!

Note the new shades!

Wending our way through little villages, we were amazed to find little churches in every village. Such a devotion to God.  Just wish they were full every Sunday after all that time, effort and money!

Home at last!  It’s been 22 years since we last visited. I’m sure some of you will remember that infamous ride in our rented van.  What I remember most is that we had a quart jar of honey, which rolled around on the floor until the lid came off and covered the entire van!

At the little Dowsby church where our ancestors attended church for many generations, we couldn’t find any gravestones that said Eyre (if it’s like Denmark only the rich folks were allowed to be buried in the churchyard) Maybe that was because the name of the itinerate farmers there were actually Hares who dropped their H when pronouncing the name to the census taker. But Dad/Rick is quite sure that there is an Eyre buried somewhere under this sweet little Angel! 

The church was locked but rick managed to get some pictures through little diamond shaped window pieces and did pretty well!  Remember when Grandma played the organ here?

This was the stained glass window that must have inspired them every Sunday.

This sacred place serviced the people of Dowsby for hundreds of years!

Here’s the country round about and a beautiful little bridge within a couple of miles of the village.

We mailed a letter to Charity from a Dowsby Post box that looks exactly like ours!

What a joy it will be someday to meet these people and “get the details”!