Lierne vaulting, Tewkesbury Abbey

The complex lierne vaulting  above the choir of Tewkesbury Abbey dates from the 1330s. It features unusually bright red and blue paintwork alongside more traditional cream. The bosses are gilded. The central ring of suns were the emblems of the Yorkists and are said to have been added by Edward IV after the defeat of the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. This was the last important battle of the Wars of the Roses.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

St Michael and All Angels, Great Witley

The church of St Michael and All Angels stands alongside the burnt out shell of Witley Court. It is a brick building with an exterior that was faced in Bath stone c.1850 by the architect, Samuel Daukes. The lavish Italian Baroque interior was brought to Great Witley from Cannon's House, Edgeware and fitted to the building by James Gibbs c.1735. The gilded walls and ceiling feature painted panels by Bellucci, a towering monument by Rysbrack and stained glass by Price. It is, if anything more unexpected in an English setting than yesterday's featured church at Hoarwithy.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

St Catherine, Hoarwithy

The church of St Catherine at Hoarwithy, Herefordshire, differs substantially from the usual Victorian Church of England building. Why? Well, it derives its appearance from Italian Romanesque churches. The bell tower, the rounded east end of the chancel, the loggia, the Roman tile roofs and the richly decorated, short apsidal chancel all speak of Italy rather than rural Herefordshire. It is a Grade 1 Listed building and on the day of our visit the steep path to the main entrance was covered in matting to make the ascent easier. A notice said that this had been permitted for one year during which time a more fitting finish was to be laid down.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Church and timber-framing, Colwall

The church of St James at Colwall, Herefordshire is a fairly typical stone building, the product of construction down the ages. The earliest parts of the main building are C12 with additions of the C13, C17 and C19. The south-west tower is work of the C14-C15. What is unusual is the timber-framed building next to the church. The listed building information gives it the name "Church Cottage" and one can imagine it served as the house of the clergy in the late C16 and early C17 when it was newly built. However, it is also described as the church ale-house and today it is used as a store. Its shape - long and not very deep, does suggest an agricultural rather than a domestic purpose. Whatever its purpose it does make an interesting composition alongside the church.

photo 2 © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

St George, Portland, Dorset

click photo to enlarge
The building of the church of St George was begun in 1754 and it was consecrated in 1766. It is the work of Thomas Gilbert, a master stone-mason. The influence of Wren is visible in the exterior which is mainly made of Portland ashlar. The roofs are lead with the exception of the sanctuary which is slate.

The church was built to replace the decaying St Andrew, and was itself replaced in 1917 by All Saints, Easton. St George fell into disrepair in the C20 and was rescued and restored by The Friends of St George. Today it is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is open to visitors who can see the restored Georgian interior.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

All Saints, Selworthy

The church of All Saints at Selworthy, Somerset, sits on a steep slope with fine views to the south. It has a tower that seems to be of the 1300s but the remainder is largely of the sixteenth century, with the date 1538 on a column capital. It is unusual for a relatively elaborate, rural church to be whitewashed, but here the decorative elements of the stonework - window tracery, crenellations etc - are unpainted, and the treatment works quite well. The location makes the usual photographs that are possible with churches completely untenable.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Decorated church organ pipes

It has long been the fashion for the organ pipes in churches to be painted. A visit to major and minor churches is sure to present an opportunity to admire this form of decoration. Most examples will be from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but more recent examples may be seen too. The examples here are in Gloucester Cathedral and appear to use the acanthus leaf as the basis for the design. The colours are brighter than is often the case.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

A window and a print

We were recently in the Italianate church of St Catherine, Hoarwithy in Herefordshire. As we walked through the relatively dark and narrow narthex we came upon this stained glass window near which someone had propped a framed print of a Renaissance "Adoration". The print benefitted from the window light and it made a nice, asymmetrical composition that prompted me to take this photograph.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Melverley, a timber-framed church

The church of St Peter at Melverley in Shropshire is a wholly timber-framed building. There was a time when the majority of churches in areas without easily accessible building stone were constructed in this way. But, over time more durable stone and brick replaced wood, as it did to a lesser extent in houses, and today wholly timber-framed churches are a relative rarity. Melverley's church dates from the 1400s or early 1500s and was restored in 1878. Most of the elevations, with the exception of the east end, feature close-studding i.e. vertical posts with little space between. The pretty broached bellcote continues the timber theme and seeing it reminded me that towers and bellcotes are often the only timber-framed part of quite a few Herefordshire churches.

 Inside the nave and chancel are a single space with the inevitable barn-like feel to it.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire

 

click photo to enlarge

St David is a small settlement in Pembrokeshire, Wales, that has the status of a city, largely because of the cathedral of St David that is located there. It is widely quoted to be the smallest city in Britain, though the City of London is smaller in area than the parish of St David. The cathedral itself looks more like a large church, and is similar to those medieval and later parish churches that were elevated in status as the population increased in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. St David's cathedral grew from a C6 monastic community and the current cathedral was begun about 1118. Repeated rebuildings due to bad workmanship, earthquakes and neglect were necessary, and major work was undertaken in 1862 -1870 by George Gilbert Scott. To this visitor the building was a remarkably interesting oddity, not least because the undulating ground in which it is set allows a photograph that shows the cathedral from above.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Dried hops

Herefordshire has long been a county where hops are grown. However, the old traditions of cultivating this essential ingredient in beer making have given way to more modern methods. Tall hop kilns no longer feature. Nor are migrant workers from cities employed on a seasonal basis. Where stilts were once used to allow the workers to reach the plants that grew up tall poles and strings, today low-growing plants that grow hedge-like are more easily harvested. One tradition that hasn't been lost, however, is the decoration of churches in hop growing areas with the leaves and flowers of the hops. The dried examples in the photograph were displayed round the chancel arch at St Peter, Dormington.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Contrasting styles of architecture

The church of St Francis Xavier (Roman Catholic) and the former Post Office, both on Broad Street, Hereford, make odd but striking neighbours. The church is by Charles Day, dates from 1837-9 and is in the Greek style with a portico featuring two giant Doric columns in antis. It is finished in a bright yellow stucco. The adoption of a pagan Greek style for a Christian church was not universally accepted at the time it was built. The adjacent Post Office of 1880-1 is by E.G. Rivers in the Jacobean style. It is faced with Portland ashlar and has the characteristic Gothic and Renaissance details, though leaning rather heavily to the former. Such building juxtapositions don't please everyone but I quite liked the pairing of the upper stories.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Multicoloured church flowers

I've noted elsewhere in this blog that one of the best places to find interesting displays of flowers is in churches. Many hold specific flower festivals where contributors are encouraged to be creative, often having to construct an arrangement on a specific theme. Other displays can be linked to particular times of year such as Christmas, Easter or Harvest Festival. Many churches have a rota of displays in key parts of the building, often created and tended by a rota of arrangers, with colours and arrangements carefully constructed on a theme or using complementary colours. However, occasionally we come across individual displays that are simply a riot of colour, as is this example that we saw in the church of St Thomas, Monmouth.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

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

Hereford Cathedral - looking west from the choir

click image to enlarge

One of the pleasures of photographing the interior of a large church or cathedral in winter is that, cloudless sunny days excepted, a photograph often combines elements that are lit by artificial light and others lit by natural light. The artificial light usually has an orange tinge while the naturally lit areas have a blue cast. Those distinctions are clear on this photograph - the stonework, woodwork and the tiled floor of the choir are lit by electric light; the massive stonework of the nave columns and the vaulting ribs (with the exception of the arches of the arcades) have the blue cast of natural light entering through the nave windows.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Church with cafe, All Saints, Hereford

Many medieval parish churches open weekly or monthly for tea,coffee and a snack. Such openings usually accommodate local people and the occasional traveller. However, there are, increasingly, churches that include a permanent cafe that is open for the extended hours usual for such eating places. Cafes of this kind are often prompted by declining congregations and a need for extra funds to finance the building and the work of the parish. I don't know what led the church of All Saints, Hereford, to install this quite elaborate cafe in east end of the builing (and in the upper aisle) but they did a fine job in adapting the interior to the extended requirements.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Restoring medieval churches

We often come upon workmen who are busy restoring or repairing medieval churches. It's not surprising really - how many buildings can survive for several hundred years without regular maintenance? Recently we called in at the church of St Andrew at Allensmore in Herefordshire and found workmen busy restoring the timber frame of the south porch. This structure last had major work done in 1857 when it was completely rebuilt. The two workmen in the photograph had stripped off the roof tiles and were replacing some of the timbers that gave structure and strength to the porch. Work of this kind can't be done by just anyone, and the van of the workmen showed them to be accredited for work on ancient buildings.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Tewkesbury Abbey decorative metalwork

In the medieval past the cost of the upkeep of the nave of a church usually fell to the lay congregation. However, the chancel and everything therein was funded by the church i.e the clergy, since it was their private domain in which they worked. But, since much of the money of the clergy derived from tithes paid by the laity, the congregation's pockets were hit twice. This pattern of cost sharing was true of many cathedrals and greater churches too. Consequently beautiful embellishments were made in the chancel, less so in the nave. And these embellishments were hidden from the congregation in the nave by rood screens, gates etc. This gate, which looks to be of Victorian origin, separates the choir from the crossing and nave at Tewkesbury Abbey. Today, in keeping with the times, it is usually open.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Organ practice

Recently we were in Hereford Cathedral at a time when the organ was sounding. The organist was playing a fiery piece on the massive instrument and at times it felt like the old Norman columns would give way as the deep notes and heavy reverberations filled the ancient space. A few days later we were in the church of St Michael, Ledbury, where an organist was playing gentler tunes on the more modest instrument. The dullish day required illumination so that the music score could be seen and it made a nice pool of warm light to emphasise the focal point of the scene.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

West front, Wells Cathedral

I haven't had much luck photographing at Wells Cathedral. On the last but one visit to the building it rained making outside shots difficult or impossible and interiors a lot darker than I would wish. On my most recent visit, a few weeks ago, we were about to step over the threshold and enter the building when the fire alarm sounded within and everyone came briskly out into the close. A wait of twenty minutes or so was only enlivened by the arrival of a fire engine and finally the all clear at a false alarm. This time I did the inside shots first - fewer people! Then went out  and took this photograph of the west front and its impressive tiers of canopies, many with medieval carved figures.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300