In the village of Llanfair Kilgeddin, deep in Monmouthshire's coal-mining country, lies an astonishing expression of the Arts & Crafts movement.
Inside St Mary's church saints and seasons, planets and pomegranates, whales and walruses are scratched into the wall plaster.
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Inside St Mary's church saints and seasons, planets and pomegranates, whales and walruses are scratched into the wall plaster.
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The panels depict the Benedicite; the hymn of praise to God's creation flowing over the walls. They radiate the warmth of three successive summers, when they were painted in 1888-1890.
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The artist was Heywood Sumner. An archaeologist as well as an artist, Sumner re-invented the classical technique of sgraffito, in which layers of coloured plaster are overlaid and then a design scratched through to reveal the underlying colours.
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In 'O Ye Children of Men', all the ages of life are represented, from the mother looking intently at her baby, to a corpse in a shroud. A young girl plays with a butterfly, lost in her childhood innocence...
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... Next to her, a schoolboy walks towards adulthood, rolling a hoop through which we catch a glimpse of old age. Before him, workers of land and sea take a brief rest from their labours.
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On the north wall, in 'O Ye Mountains and Hills', Sumner pulls the surrounding landscape into the church: the Usk carves its way through the valley, Llanfihangel Gobion church tower peeps through, and hills, including Sugarloaf Mountain, meet the sky under a vivid rainbow.
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To read more about this unique church in Wales: friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/llanfair-kilge…
(For any Arts & Crafts enthusiasts, Henry Cole and co. revived this technique @V_and_A in 1860s but Sumner took this ancient craft gave it an Arts & Crafts twist. We'll do a post on sgraffiti soon.)
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(For any Arts & Crafts enthusiasts, Henry Cole and co. revived this technique @V_and_A in 1860s but Sumner took this ancient craft gave it an Arts & Crafts twist. We'll do a post on sgraffiti soon.)
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Hello! Post-script here: some of our excellent, knowledgeable followers have pointed out that Monmouthshire is a county of two halves and this church is in the agricultural bit - rather than the coal-mining bit, even tho mines aren't far from the church. Sorry if we misled you!
