Why do Christian churches in UK face east?

[chakka35]

That is, the nave and choir run west-east with the altar at the eastern end.
I gather that somewhere in a mosque is an indication of the exact direction of Mecca, which makes religious sense.

But going east from UK we come to Holland, Germany, Poland, the old Soviet countries and then the Pacific. What has this outlook got to do with Christianity?

[bednobs]

i question your geography

[Ric.ror]

Is that true Steve?

[sandyRoe]

Probably because The Holy Land lies to the East?

[Gromit]

It seems it is not wholly true that all churches face east, and there seems to be regional variations which are at present unexplained.

// Antiquarians over the previous couple of centuries, however, have proposed that churches – that is, the end with the main altar and "east" window – are aligned with everything but east, including Jerusalem or sunrise on the first day of building, but most frequently with sunrise on the feast day of the patronal saint to which the church is dedicated. //

http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba94/feat2.shtml

[Ankou]

probably to catch the morning sun through the stained glass windows and thus illumoinating the congregation in glorious colour - rather heavenly perhaps, in the middle ages.

[chakka35]

bednobs - get out an atlas and tell me what part of my geography you question.

Steve.5 - In the fable they came from east of Jerusalem (Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc) not from the east of UK.

sandyRoe - the holy land lies very much to the southeast of UK.

Gromit - that is true. There are variations, but the general tendency is as I say. Take a compass with you next time you walk through a busy city/town centre.

Ankou - maybe. But in my ignorant days when I went to church (what a confession!) the light coming in through the west window at sunset was absolutely glorious.

I had already thought of all of these things and remain puzzled. Could it be that early church-builders actually thought that Jerusalem was east of UK?

[sandyRoe]

But in the days they were building churches aligning the altar exactly with the bearing of Jerusalem would have been beyond them.

[chakka35]

sandyRoe, I am prepared to believe that knowledge of the world's geography was scanty in those days but not that people couldn't distinguish east from southeast. Two different things.

[Ankou]

perhaps you have answered your own q then chakka.

at sunrise the multicolour illiuminations were staggering, and then again at sunset. that would probably tie in with medeval service times, the prime and vespers.

[chakka35]

Steve.5 - good point. Islam is presumably an exception in that the actual direction of Mecca is sacred.

[bednobs]

i would strugle to see how holland is due east from, say aberdeen

[jno]

being east does not preclude being south-east. We still talk of the Middle East and Far East, not the Middle Southeast or Far Northeast-East-Southeast. East in this sense means 'not west' and is to do with more than just compass points. East is also the direction of new dawns; those dying were traditionally thought of as 'going west' (a phrase still in use).

[bednobs]

or newcastle

[jno]

'due east' isn't the same as 'east'. Holland is further east than even Newcastle, even in an earlier time zone.

[chakka35]

ankou - another good point. But is it my imagination that tells me that the eastern position of the altar has some sacred significance rather than merely a solar/architectural one?

[bednobs]

"But going east from UK we come to Holland"
if you were going east from aberdeen, you wouldn't come to holland. That is what i am saying