Restored timber-framing

The former Master's House in Ledbury was the residence of the person in charge of the adjacent St Katharine's Hospital (founded 1231). The present building mainly dates from c.1488 and the eighteenth century. Today, following a major restoration, it serves as the town's library. At the back of the building some timber-framing from the fifteenth century can be seen. It is unusual in that the infill is pillowed and stands proud of the woodwork. The colour of the framing and infill is the same: something that was more commonly seen in the past than today, though current examples are not difficult to find. On the day I took this photograph I was drawn to the raking light accentuating the details of the construction.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Last Supper

On a brief visit to Leominster Priory we were surprised to come upon this sculpture of "The Last Supper". It is the work of the English sculptor, Peter Barnes, was completed in 2019, and is currently touring cathedrals and larger churches. The piece is a mosaic with a difference being constructed of a clay-like base material inset with black and white computer keyboard keys.

These form the shape, features and clothing of the figures. They also combine to make traditional patterns and biblical quotations that are worked into the surface. The artist says he lost count of the number of keyboards he needed, but estimates that it has more than 50,000 keys.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Medieval stained glass, Tewkesbury Abbey

The medieval stained glass above can be seen in Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, and is believed to date from 1340-4. It was sensitively restored by Kempe & Co in 1923-4. The full length figures depict: in the centre Christ displaying the stigmata, to his left Mary, to the right, St Michael, and in the left and right outer panels, the Apostles. At the bottom right corner of the photograph is the kneeling, naked, monochrome, figure of the donor of the window, Lady Eleanor de Clare, who died in 1337.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

The Chequers Ale House, Leominster

We came upon this timber-framed building as we walked along the oddly named Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. The leftmost part of what is The Chequers Ale House (a pub), with the leftmost gable, after a cursory glance, appears to be Victorian, but  closer study reveals original box framing, barge boards and bressumer. All the building to the right has close studding, is underbuilt, and could have been erected at the same time, or slighty later, around 1600. The change from plain tiles to Welsh slate on the roof suggests it was divided in terms of ownership, and the rightmost door, with number 67 on it makes me think it still is. It's a difficult building to read without going inside: perhaps we'll drop in for a drink when we are next in Leominster and try and unravel the puzzle. 

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Pixelated Birmingham hotel

I suspect that fewer buildings of the twenty-first century will weather as well as those built in earlier centuries. Are there any modern buildings, I wonder, that will be improved by exposure to time, weather and the rough and tumble of daily life, something that is a feature of quite a few older structures? I pondered this as I took the photograph above. It is a detail of a Holiday Inn Express building in the centre of Birmingham. Its pixel-style cladding is certainly eye-catching. But, I wondered, will it be cleaned when required, will rust stains appear, as they have on the nearby old\new styled street lights. Or will it be re-modelled when the sharp newness of greys, blacks and white becomes passé drabness?

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Magnolia stellata

The few upsides of global warning aren't given much prominence when the subject is under discussion because the downsides are so cataclysmic. However, they do exist and one of them relates to the many magnolias growing in UK gardens. Each year their showy flowers appear in March, and each year along come frosts that turn their white and pink tinged petals to a disfiguring brown. The increasingly mild springs we are experiencing in the UK, brought about by global warming, will mean we are more likely to enjoy their beauty throughout the weeks they are in bloom. I paused on a recent walk to photograph this inviting Magnolia stellata as it reached over a garden wall.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Great Castle House, Monmouth

Great Castle House in Monmouth was built in 1673 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquis of Worcester and Lord President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. It is a grand "town house", a secondary dwelling to his country estate, a residence suitable for him to occupy when busy with his official duties. The building is located near the ruins of Monmouth Castle and is constructed of pink and grey blocks of local Old Red Sandstone. The main elevation is symmetrical: the almost symmetrical wings are nineteenth century additions. The house became superfluous to its owner's needs relatively soon in its life, and it subsequently became an assizes, a judge's lodgings, a school for young ladies, headquarters of the Militia Regiment and the museum of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, a function it still maintains.

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

Flags and electrolier

I remember the time when I thought that digital cameras had started to produce photographs that were technically better than those possible with 35mm film. My recent purchase of a new phone demonstrated that the digital photographs that it produces are bettter than the "compact" digital cameras of only a few years ago. Since I don't change my phone very often it could be that the date phones surpassed compacts was even earlier than I imagine. I took several shots with my phone to test its competency and show this one as an example of what it can achieve. The electrolier and flags were in the window of an antique shop, and the colours, reflections and glowing filaments made a composition that appealed to me.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: iPhone

Former Congregational Chapel, Monmouth

What to do with old buildings that no longer fulfill their original purpose has always been something of a problem. Something of an answer, more often than not, involves converting them to housing. I've seen windmills, water mills, factories, pubs, hospitals, prisons, maltings, breweries, warehouses, post offices, and many other kinds of building converted to single or multiple occupancy housing. The Congregational Chapel, Glendower Street, Monmouth, is an example of a religious building that has become housing (in 2002). It was built in the town's backstreets in 1843-4, in the classical style, by William Armstrong of Bristol. The facade has been sympathetically painted  and only the palms, the absence of an information board, the name-plate "Glendower House" and the blocked ground floor windows, give a hint that it is no longer a place of worship.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Clappers of the old ring

Many English churches feature inscribed bells that date from the medieval period and later. The bells and the structure in which they hang often requires repair and restoration. This must have happened at Great Malvern Priory in 1887 because in that year Edward Archer preserved the old "clappers" (the pieces of metal that strike each bell) of the ring i.e. the collection of bells, and mounted them on a display board with accompanying text, verse and decoration, all made from dome-head nails. If you look carefully you can see the date of each clapper - two are dated 1611, three are dated 1707 and one has the words "Virgin Mary about 1380". The display can be seen in the Priory porch.

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