Santiago de Compostela

After making two 'Pilgrimages' on foot to Santiago de Compostela (see my other blogs) it needs to appear here as one of my favourite churches!
It must rate as one of the most impressive buildings architechturally in Europe. Externally it appears to be 18th century Baroque. Internally it is pure Romanesque. Sadly the 'Portico de Gloria', hidden behind to Baroque west Front, has been under restoration for the past 3 years or so. The Victoria and Albert has a cast of it - see here:- Victoria and Albert Museum - Portico de Gloria
and the Wiki web site is here:-Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

After a walk of 400 miles, to arrive in the old town of Santiago with its narrow streets, and then to walk out into the sunlight of the Obradoiro square is unforgettable.

The magnificent 'baroque' west front.

But inside the building it is still old 'romanesque'.

The gilt reredos of the High Altar. If you 'click'on it to enlarge it you will see a pilgrim behind the statue of St. James, giving him the traditional hug as thanks for a successful pilgrimage.

The largest thurible in the world! Swung on certain feast days and occasionally by the request of a pilgrim group who club together to pay the fee!!

"Roland's Horn" is kept in the Cathedral museum in Santiago. Last time I was there (2011) sadly it was not on display.

Snitterfield

This village and Church has links with the Gunpowder Plot. The now demolished moated house of Norbrook  was the home of John Grant. He was a member of  the Gunpowder Plot along with Robert Wintour and Catesby's servant Thomas Bates. Norbrook became the plotters headquarters. After the failure of the plot on the discovery of Guy Fawkes, the plotters rode from here into Staffordshire where they made their last stand. Grant was blinded, his eyes being burnt out when a spark from the fire ignited the gunpowder they were trying to dry. He was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. After being found guilty along with the other conspirators, on Thursday 30 January 1606 he was executed at St Pauls Cathedral.

St. James the Great, Snitterfield

This Church was supposedly begun shortly before the Black Death struck in the 1350s. The tower especially has a distinct demarcation between different types of stonework. This is also visible on the outside walls of the chancel.










Of interest are the ancient tiles incorporated at various places in the walls. This is similar to the Saxon church at Brixworth (see earlier post), where the builders used tiles from a local Roman villa. There is of course a Roman town at Alcester just a few miles away. I wonder if there is any record of a villa nearby?

St James the Great, Snitterfield

Inside the Church

These two carvings on the choir stalls, along with the mermaids below, are among the few original pieces remaining from mediaeval times. There are a number of replacement modern carvings of other saints and apostles which are easy to identify by their undamaged state!

Sadly there is little to link the Church with its patron saint - James the Great, or with the pilgrimage to Compostela. I did however spot a small 'scallop shell' waymarker glued on a radiator at the back of the church!

Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire

The village is bordered on three sides by the rivers Windrush and Thames making an ideal defensive position. There is a reconstructed Bronze Age stone circle about a mile to the south.
The church of St. Michael stands to the east of the manor buildings; a typical Anglo-Saxon setting of church and manor. The nave of the church dates from 1120 - 1150 with the chancel dated at 1260.
A walk round the outside of the church reveals its Norman origins. Do not miss the plaque on the south side with its inscription recording the deaths of two young people.

St. Michael's, Stanton Harcourt 1

The interior of the church has a number of interesting features. One of the most interesting is the remains of the mediaeval shrine of St. Edburg (Eadburga) which was apparently 'rescued' from Bicester Priory at the dissolution by Sir Simon Harcourt, the base is dated as 1320.
Please read the comment below on the true dedication of the Saint depicted in the painting on the screen! My thanks to Chrisi for the information.
The screen itself has a number of roughly carved peep-holes through which a kneeling person could watch the Mass being celebrated.

St Michael's, Stanton Harcourt 2

In the Harcourt Chapel (among others) is the tomb and effigy of Sir Robert Harcourt Jr. who died c.1509. The Harcourts played a number of parts in the civil war between Lancaster and York. Sir Robert Harcourt Sr. was Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1455 and was killed by the Lancastrians in 1470. His son John Harcourt was outlawed in 1483 for his part in Buckingham's rebellion. John's son, Robert was made a Knight of the Bath in 1494 and succeeded his father before 1495. Sir Robert Jr. served as sheriff of both Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. His tomb has above it a standard reputedly carried by him at the battle of Bosworth.
One of the brasses is to Henry Dodschone, the first Vicar of the parish who died in 1519. Before his incumbency the living was a Rectory in the gift of Reading Abbey.

Garway, Herefordshire

The church of St. Michael, Garway lies in the Welsh Marches not far from the famous church of Kilpeck. It is one of six churches in England attributable to the Knights Templar. There would seem to have been a church on this site before the Templars rebuilt it in about 1200 to their design. The Templar church originally had a circular nave - supposedly copied from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The Romanesque (Norman) chancel arch is from the Templar church. The nave has been rebuilt in the standard rectangular form with the circular nave foundations being hidden until their excavation in 1927.
The carving of the 'Agnus Dei' is now high on the west end wall. It was probably moved to that position at the time of the rebuilding of the nave. The chancel and side chapel are part of the original Templar building. In the farmyard next to the church is the dovecote which was part of the Templar's Preceptory.





Photos:
The foundations of the circular nave can be seen on the north side.

The chancel arch




On the outside of the chancel there are scratched carvings on many of the stones.

The carving of the 'Agnus Dei'

Garway, Herefordshire 2

More strange are the hand carved symbols over the piscina in the Templars chapel. These are a fish, the 'winged chalice' and a lamphrey
The carved head on the chancel arch is also of interest. In the heresy trials the Templars were accused of worshipping Baphomet - the horned god!
For readers of the Da Vinci Code this church is a 'must see'!

St. Lawrence, Weston-sub-Edge

The church of St. Lawrence, Weston-sub-Edge near Broadway in the Cotswolds has the appearance now of a 'Victorian Barn'! After an enthusiastic rector heightened the roof and rebuilt the chancel etc. it is hardly recognisable as a mediaeval church. However the signs are there if you look.




Inside the church:-
There is the blocked off doorway to the ancient rood-loft still outlined on the south wall. (The pulpit is Jacobean)


The piscina and alcove that used to hold the aumbrey remain in place on the south wall of the sanctuary.

There are the remains of ancient carvings in a corner near the north doorway.

As seen in the first photo there is a large moated site to the west of the church. This covers an area of some 2 hectares (4 1/2 acres). It is marked on O.S. maps as 'Site of Manor House'. There is no obvious 'Moot Hill' as at Guiting Power but the ancient church site and the dwelling of the 'Lord of the Manor' are ajacent. More telling is the fact that the church building is due east of the manor house site which could possibly date back to Anglo-Saxon times?? It would be interesting to know if any excavations have taken place here and what dates are given for the buildings.

Guiting Power in the Cotswolds

The church of St. Michael and All angels at Guiting Power in Gloucestershire is of interest on several counts. It is of course the name of a hymn tune set to the words 'Christ Triumphant'. Historically its roots go back to Anglo-Saxon times if not earlier. There is a tiny Saxon sarcophagus in the church and a 'barrow' in the parkland just to the north-east of the present church building. There are remains of the Norman / Early English church incorporated into the present building. Alongside the 'barrow' are the foundations of a tiny Saxon chapel and an ancient trackway runs over the field to the eastern boundary of the churchyard.
A book called 'Church and Manor' by S. A. Addey (published in 1913) talks of the foundation of Saxon churches alongside the THING-VOLLR or Moot Hill. The Tinwald Hill, the home of the Isle of Man parliament is about 130 yards west of the small chapel of St. John. The ancient records of Iceland show the Great Moot or Al-thing joined by a fenced path to the circular Law Court to the east. A little to the south of the Law Court is an oblong church.
Is it possible that, as Addy suggests, we have here at Guiting Power an ancient Norse settlement, adapted over the years into a Christian Manor and church?

The so-called 'Barrow' is to the north of the tiny Saxon church. The flat top to the 'barrow' does suggest that it could have been used for a village / district 'parliament'.


A beautifully carved Romanesque (Norman) doorway.












The tiny Saxon sarcophagus, one of the smallest found in the U.K.

Remains of Saxon chapel/church

Guiting Power in the Cotswolds - more pictures

North doorway of present church

Detail of North doorway








Sunken track to church

Saxon chapel with mound to north-west

Bradford on Avon

This tiny church of St. Laurence was 're-discovered' by Canon Jones in the 19th century. Before its re-consecration it had been used for secular purposes (apparently becoming a house, a school and part of a factory). There is always a question mark over the original purpose of a building of this type. looking at the layout it is more likely to have been the 'hall' of a saxon nobleman or wealthy merchant. This would fit well with its past history. Otherwise the question is - when and why was it taken over / handed over for secular use?

Brixworth in Northamptonshire

All Saints' church, in Brixworth founded circa 680 AD and described by many experts as "The finest Saxon church north of the Alps". An interesting feature is the use by the early builders of Roman bricks from the site of a villa in the fields to the north of the present church.

Brixworth church detail

Looking at the south door, we can see where the original Saxon work has been infilled and a smaller 'Norman' doorway inserted at a later date. The arch of the 'new' doorway is typical of the period 1100 to 1150.


The photo on the right shows the Saxon 'herringbone' stonework and the use of Roman tiles in the arch of the door








Left: A photo of the nave of the church looking west to the inside wall of the tower with its triple light saxon window.

Right: This is taken looking east to the altered chancel arch and the saxon sanctuary in the form of an apse. I wonder if the original building was two storey?
There is a 'step' in the interior walls all round, below the clerestory windows. There is certainly the outline of a door on the inside wall of the tower below the triple window; this means that there was at least a gallery across the west end of the nave.

Zennor in Cornwall

A picture of the famous mermaid carving on a bench end in the church of St. Zenoria in Zennor on the north coast of Cornwall. shown here with a comb and a mirror. The local legend tells how a mermaid fell in love with one of the young village boys who sang in the church choir. After Evensong one Sunday evening she enticed him down to the sea where they both disappeared!
The mermaid was carved in churches as a warning against temptation. The mermaid of legend entices men to their destruction with her beauty and sweet singing.

East Portlemouth

One of my last parishes before retirement was East Portlemouth near Salcombe in South Devon. The mediaeval Rood Screen there has on the chancel doors a representation of the assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We tend to forget that it was a 'Roman Catholic' church before the Reformation. This screen is a reminder of our common heritage in England.

The Lord in Glory is also depicted on the screen. This should have been on the other centre panel opposite the Virgin Mary, as below, but got moved in one of the restorations onto the right hand pair of doors by the organ.