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

Nave vaulting, Hereford Cathedral

Hereford's Saxon cathedral was rebuilt in 1030-1040 but in 1055 was burnt down by the Welsh. The Normans set about building the cathedral again, and it was consecrated between 1142 and 1148. Thereafter the cathedral was added to down the centuries. However, the building was also subject to a number of collapses and restorations and consequently care is needed to distinguish original from renewed. The nave, for example, has some original, rebuilt Norman columns (though eight bays were reduced to seven), an Early English style gallery (but late C18) by Thomas Wyatt and vaulting, also by Wyatt, made of lath and plaster.The paintwork of the vaulting dates from c.1850 and is by  N.J. Cottingham. George Gilbert Scott, who led a restoration in the later nineteenth century, called it "offensive". Most people today, I think, would not agree with his judgement, seeing in it a subtle richness.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Gloucester - warehouse flats and narrow boats

Gloucester Quays is the fancy name given to the restoration of an area of Gloucester Docks. It includes a large shopping centre, places to eat, many flats (in converted warehouses as well as new-build), a college, ship repairers, museums etc. All this stands alongside the actual docks themselves which are home to sailing ships, motor boats and lots of narrow boats, virtually all being pleasure craft. The docks were originally built to connect the city to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and the River Severn, which they still do. However, their commercial purpose is no longer required and they have found a new purpose in the activities described above.

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

Rainbow houses, Gloucester

"Rainbow houses" was the way the local paper in 2020 described the transformation of some aged Gloucester houses by brightly coloured paint. It's not unusual to see terraces where each house is painted a different colour but usually those colours are taken from the tasteful and traditional selection that established paint manufacturers offer. I'm not aware that the screaming colours of these houses are widely sold: they must have been specially mixed.

I quite like what has been done here in small doses in a few locations. But if it were to be more widespread I'm sure it would soon lose its charm.

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

Polychrome stonework, Great Malvern Priory

Down the ages the builders of stone churches and houses have used different coloured stone in decorative ways. Banding and chequering is common in Britain as is the marking out of entrances and windows. In the Victorian period architects extended this practice to brickwork, particularly during the period when Venetian Gothic was fashionable. Coloured stonework is a feature of the exterior of Great Malvern Priory in Worcestershire. However, here it results from the great variety of types and colours of local stone, aided by the way the stone changes colour over the years. Many architects and restorers look to match and blend new stonework with the old. At Malvern this isn't the case and the effect is very attractive.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Georgian brickwork

The building shown above was built for the master of St Katharine's Hospital, Ledbury, in about 1488. A significant portion of this building exists inside (particularly its arch-braced roof and on the north elevation (timber framing). It was remodelled in 1588 with further extensive modernisation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In recent years it has been sensitively restored and now holds the town library. The Georgian doorcase shown above marks the main entrance. Much of the brickwork in this south elevation dates from the eighteenth century and is laid, quite typically, in the Flemish bond (alternating headers and stretchers). The white pointing is probably lime mortar. It is a fine example of the Georgian bricklayer's art.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Victoria Place, Newport

Walking up the hill out of the centre of Newport, through unremarkable and past its best Victorian workers' housing, we came upon the surprise that is Victoria Place.This is two terraces of six houses that face each other across a short street. The builders levelled this site before building - there is the first surprise. Subsequent owners have treated both terraces as the unity they are and painted them with a single colour scheme - the second surprise. They date from 1844 and were built by Rennie Logan & Company, contractors for the Town Dock. Would that more such buildings were maintained with the sensitivity accorded to these rows.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100