Church organ pipes

The church organ pipes that attract the attention of visitors are usually those that have received paintwork decoration - like this recently posted example, and this painted en chamade set at Usk church. But, there are many unadorned organ pipes in Britain's churches and they catch the eye with their simplicity, repetition and contrast, as with the example above in St Mary's church, Ross on Wye.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Foggy December graveyard

click photo to enlarge
There are few places that so readily evoke a sense of mystery, whatever the weather, than a graveyard. If you add to the tombs some trees, mist, frost and a late afternoon watery sun trying, and failing, to penetrate the gloom, then the scene can quite easily convert into a characterful photograph. This image shows part of the Victorian extension to the churchyard that surrounds St Mary, the parish church of Ross on Wye in Herefordshire.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Trends in modern stained glass

The west window of the church of Lady St Mary, Wareham, Dorset, is a good example of one of the trends discernible in twenty first century stained glass. It is by the stained glass artist, Andrew Johnson, of Exeter and was installed in 2011. What do I mean by it exemplifying a trend? Well, the window is richly multicoloured, has a single composition spread across all the tracery, and exhibits some elements that are non-representational but a majority that depict recognisable (including local) subjects. So, at the bottom are town buildings including the other churches and the notable octagonal font of St Mary's. The shoals of fishes reference the two local rivers. In the centre is a large cross. The bird of prey and bull(?) are possibly two of the evangelists, though all four would be more usual. Like many windows of this period I think the details more interesting than the whole, and I find it a little odd that the focal point (the cross) has somewhat washed-out colours.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

White lily

White lilies are very frequently found in church flower displays. They are used for their symbolism. White represents purity in general and purity as it attaches to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It can also represent rebirth and consequently it is particularly found at Easter adjacent to the font and also near representations of the rebirth of Christ. This example in Tewkesbury Abbey caught my eye due to the vivid colours of the stamens.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Commemorated in brass

Elsewhere I have extolled the virtues of slate as a medium on which a person may be commemorated. Today I make the claim for brass - it is cheaper in terms of material, costs less to engrave and takes up less space. On the other hand it lasts longest when not exposed to the elements so the inside of a church is clearly the best location. The example above is in St Mary's, Ross on Wye. It was made at a time when English spelling had not been properly standardized. You might like to read it yourself before reading my copy of the text.

HERE LIETH THE BODY OF THOMAS BAKER, MERCER
THE LATE HVSBAND OF IANE HIS WIFE WHO
DECEASED THIS LIFE TO THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN THE 14 OF SEPTEMBER 1622

EVEN SVCH IS TIME WHICH TAKES IN TRVST
OVR YOVTH OVR IOIES & ALL WE HAVE
AND PAIES VS BVT WITH EARTH AND DVST
WITHIN THE DARKE AND SILENT GRAVE
WHEN WEE HAVE WANDRED ALL OVR WAIES
SHVTTS VP THE STORIE OF OVR DAIES
NOW FROM WHICH EARTH & GRAVE AND DVST
THE LORD WILL RAISE ME VP I TRVST
Vivat post funera vertus

The Latin inscription at the bottom translates as "Virtue outlives death".

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

WW1 memorial, St Mary, Ross on Wye

Most, if not all, cities, towns and villages have an outdoor cenotaph listing the fallen of WW1, WW2 and subsequent conflicts. In November it becomes the focus of remembrance of those who gave their lives in the military service of their nation. In many places this memorial is complemented by a similar list of the fallen of, particularly, WW1 in the local Anglican church. This conflict - the "war to end all wars" - resulted in more miltary deaths than earlier or later wars in which Britain had been involved and profoundly affected society and families across the nation. The memorial in the church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, is very typical of such monuments. It lists the names in alphabetical order (some do it by rank!) followed by the regiment or service in which they fought and features the line from Horace (Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori). Also typical is the dates and a decorative mosaic, here featuring a cross and wreath. It is spotlit, hence the vignette-like fall off of light towards the edges.

Writing the above brought to mind a brass memorial that I recall seeing in Sutterton church in Lincolnshire.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Last Judgement, St Mary, Fairford

In the west window of the church of St Mary, Fairford, Gloucestershire (see previous post), the stained glass depicts The Last Judgement. In the bottom right is a portrayal of Hell and its denizens. Here the glazier seems to have indulged his imagination and as well as showing the usual horned creatures with pitchforks there is a fearsome two-headed Devil (?) swallowing the condemned souls. Against the dark red background of the glowing fires of hell it makes for an unforgettable image.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Crucifixion, St Mary, Fairford

The stained glass windows in the church of St Mary, Fairford, Gloucestershire, are unique. They fill all the windows of the building in a planned sequence of religious subjects, were made around the same date (c.1500-1505), and were probably designed and made by the same glazier - Barnard Flower, the King's Glazier. The people of the town managed to protect them from the puritanical iconoclasts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and so we are able to appreciate them today. The crucifixion scene above (often called The Passion) is in the top of the east window above the altar.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Remembering the plague

In the corner of the churchyard of St Mary, Ross on Wye, is a fourteenth century cross. It comprises three octagonal steps, a base, shaft and renewed cross-head. The base is inscribed Plague, An Dom 1637, Burials 315, Libera nos Domine (Lord deliver us).

It is a memorial near the burial place of those in the town who died when the plague made a resurgence in England in that year. Presumably the town "re-purposed" the cross as a memorial to the victims of the disease. A modern plaque nearby also notes that the dead were buried at night without coffins.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Altar reordering

In the second half of the twentieth century the Church of England began to come to terms with declining numbers in their congregations and a desire to have less separation between clergy and laity. Part of the response to these changes was to have an altar at the east end of the nave (or at the west end of the chancel). This brought the presiding priest closer to the worshippers rather than being distant, at the east end of the chancel near the high altar. However, the high altar was usually retained and the new altar could not be allowed to outshine it. The church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, illustrates this solution. A modest altar has been placed at the west end of the raised chancel. It has no permanent frontal, cross etc. but signifies its presence very effectively by being lit underneath. 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Rudhall memorials, Ross on Wye

Part of the interior of the church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, is dedicated to the display of memorials to a local family, the Rudhalls (spelling varies). The earliest piece dates from c.1530, the latest from 1817, and the photograph shows two of the most prominent examples. In the background is Colonel William Rudhall (died 1651), a local commander of Royalist troops in the Civil War. He is dressed in ancient Roman armour but his hair and beard are contemporary to his day. In the foreground is a portrait bust of Thomas Westfaling (died 1814) who married into the Rudhall family. It too is classical in inspiration and is the work of William Theed Senior (died 1817). The absence of irises and pupils in the subject's eyes appears odd to us, but it is a feature of both ancient Greek and ancient Roman portrait sculpture, though in those cases the marble may well have been painted, as was the rest of the sculpture including clothing.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

St Mary, Ross on Wye

The church of St Mary, Ross on Wye, stands at the highpoint of the town above cliffs that fall away to the River Wye below. Its significance in the landscape - it is visible from great distances - is ensured by its 205 feet high tower and spire.

We recently climbed the tower, to the parapet where the spire begins, and briefly enjoyed the view over the town, valley and nearby wooded hills. I say briefly because when we were up there a squally shower that had been approaching when I took the main photograph, lashed the church and drove us back under cover.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Churchyard tree

This fine specimen of a tree can be found in the churchyard of St Mary's, Ross on Wye. It is a notable tree for its short trunk and fan-like shape as well as the spectacle it presents in autumn. And for the fact that I can't identify the species. I've seen the tree in a few places around the country - they draw attention to themselves with their tightly packed branches that are sharply angled upwards - but I've never been able to put a name to it. I suspect it may be a Caucasian Elm (Zelcova carpinifolia), or perhaps a Keaki (Zelcova serrata), but the descriptions and illustrations of neither of these are entirely like the tree in the photograph.

Addendum: It's a hornbeam!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Stained glass subjects

The subjects that are depicted in the stained glass of Britain's churches usually embrace familiar themes. Christ and his family, the apostles, saints, stories from the Bible, the Holy Ghost, instruments of the passion, decorative designs based on architecture and nature, coats of arms, donor's details etc will all be familiar to most regular visitors. Sometimes, however, a subject surprises the viewer. I've seen the coronation of Queen Victoria, graphic WW1 scenes, tributes to local inventors, and much else. But, the window in the medieval church of St Mary, Monmouth, showing, George Edward Street, one of the premier Victorian architects, the man responsible for one of its restorations, is most unusual. All the more so because when Street was asked to report on the building prior to working on it he called it "extremely unattractive and uninteresting." The glass shows him holding the plan he came up with that would have swept away the Georgian work and replaced it with his own cruciform design.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Alabaster tomb effigies

When the Puritan iconoclasts took their hammers to the carved tomb effigies of the parish churches of Britain they must have been particularly pleased to come upon those made of alabaster. This soft, slightly translucent stone, a marble-like variety of gypsum, would yield very easily to their blows, and noses, hands and any other decorative protrusion would easily be detached. You can visit churches throughout the land and find examples of this kind of assault. Sometimes restorers have rebuilt that which was lost: elsewhere the vandalism remains for all to see. The photograph shows two such effigies in the Priory Church of St Mary, Abergavenny. They are Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook d. 1469 and his wife, Margaret. They can be found in the Herbert Chapel alongside six other tombs dating from the early C14 to the late C17.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

St Mary, Ross on Wye

The tower and spire of St Mary mark the position of the town of Ross on Wye from near and far. This is due to the elevated position of the church at the highest point above the River Wye, as well as the height of the spire and the size of the pinnacles. The spire reaches 205 feet and dates back to the 1300s. It was subject to rebuilding in 1721. The pierced obelisk pinnacles were enlarged in 1743, and further restoration work, due to lightning and its exposed position, was undertaken in 1852 and 1911.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

A gravestone puzzle

It's not unusual to come across individualistic gravestones - death seems to attract such things. However, I've never seen one like this before. It is in the graveyard of St Mary's church, Monmouth. The grid of letters forms a kind of acrostic that has the name of the deceased in the form of "HERE LIES JOHN RENIE", in such a way that the inscription can be read in 32,032 (or is it 45,760) different ways. What made a humble house painter, or perhaps his relatives, commemorate him in such a way? This website has some interesting ideas.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

St Mary, Kempley

The small Norman church of St Mary at Kempley in Gloucestershire lies some way from the village's main cluster of buildings. An early twentieth century church of architectural significance now stands there, and St Mary's has been left in the care of English Heritage and is managed by the Friends of Kempley Church. The structure has the oldest timber roof of any building in England, and the chancel and nave feature some of the best preserved medieval wall paintings in Britain.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10