Two gravestones side by side at Llanelieu, Powys commemorate nonagenarians who both 'departed this life in hope of a joyful resurrection' in the first quarter of the 18th century.
But they couldn't be more different …
A simple, engraved stone with minimal inscription remembers David Powell of Cwm-Hwnt, who died in 1725 aged 92.
In contrast, the maximalist memorial to William Awbrey, topped with the Awbrey coat of arms, has been carved in relief from top to bottom, much like a printing press block. It’s not so much a tombstone, as a *tome* stone!
The words of the inscription — all caps — are indiscriminately broken over lines and SEPARA
TED:BY:COLONS.
We are informed that Awbrey, who died in 1716 aged 90, was the son of Thomas Awbrey, Gent and the husband of Elizabeth (daughter of William Awbrey).
He was also the father of TEN children: Richard, William, Theophilus, Anne, Mary, Elizabeth, two Thomases and two Marthas.
This uncommon carving style can also be seen on the 1669 stone for four-year-old Thomas Awbrey (the first Thomas) which rests inside the church. At the base of that stone, beneath its raised rows of text, are some worn but intriguing symbols.
There’s much more we could say about the Awbreys. William Jr. married Letitia Penn, daughter of William Penn — quaker & founder of Pennsylvania. The surviving Martha was also an early settler. Perhaps if William’s gravestone was bigger, his family would have mentioned this too!
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“…Lichen, which hath a wonderful operation to cure the rhagadies, fissures and chaps in the feet.” That’s Pliny the Elder’s top tip for getting your feet into shape for the summer.
But why stop at your feet? Lichen has been used in medicine over the globe centuries.
Some lichens have been found to have mild antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, and were handy for treating scrapes and stings. But they also did some heavy-lifting medicinal work such as promoting hair growth, curing jaundice, and treating rabies.
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Churches and churchyards are especially important for lichen. @BLSlichens
tell us that there are over 20,000 churchyards in England and they are home to almost half of all British lichen species. In fact some individual lichens may be as old as the gravestones they grow on.
The ancient church at Llantrisant, Anglesey is tucked behind a farm. Among the plastered walls and panelled pews, is a marble Baroque monument. It dates to 1670 and commemorates Hugo Williams. It was erected by his son, William Williams, ‘a man of some dash and bravado’.
Born at Llantrisant in 1634, William Williams became named Speaker of the House of Commons – a role for which he felt himself to be eminently fitted. He became Treasurer of Gray’s Inn, for alongside his parliamentary career he continued a high-profile practice at the bar.
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But his career was marked by sudden changes of allegiance - and hence gave rise to his nickname as 'the arch trimmer' – a person who fluctuates between political parties.
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Given the dereliction at St Helen’s, Barmby on the Marsh, only fragments of the Victorian decorative schemes survive. However, we have been able to pick out some layers, and gain an idea of how this church may have looked in the 1850s and 1870s.
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The earliest surviving scheme is simple and sober. It comprises a pinkish-brown dado to approximately a metre in height. Then a coat of powder blue runs to the ceiling. Just above the dado, a stencil scheme of light brown of repeating palmettes flows around the entire nave.
St Michael's, Tremaen, in Ceredigion was constructed in the 1840s with an ashlar facing of distinctive Pwntan sandstone, quarried from nearby Tanygroes. ...
Pwntan is an Ordovician sandstone, making it about 440-480 million years old. This pale, fine-grained, ironstained stone can be precisely cut by skilled masons. The tight interlocking of polygonal stone blocks at Tremaen is masterful.
Local blogger & Welsh stone enthusiast Caroline Palmer puts it perfectly:
‘So close is the fit that mortar looks to have been almost superfluous, and ... the whole external surface of the church resembles a complex jigsaw puzzle in which no two pieces are even similar.'
From the 1830s to the 1990s surveyors made these benchmarks to record height above Ordnance Datum Newlyn (ODN – mean sea level determined at Newlyn in Cornwall). From this reference, the elevation of another benchmark could be calculated by measuring the difference in heights.
The horizontal marks supported a stable ‘bench’ that a levelling stave could rest on. This design ensured that a stave could be accurately repositioned in the future and that all marks were uniform.
Over a stone stile, St Andrew's, Bayvil nestles in crunchy bracken. Overlooking Newport Bay, the church survives almost entirely as the Georgians left it.
But St Andrew's is a bit of an enigma. Nobody knows when it was built or by whom.
From the outside the Gothick windows are the only hint of what may lie inside.. Lifting the latch on the bead-and-butt west door, an interior “of delightful and luminous simplicity” is revealed.
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A complete set of box pews lines the south wall. A crenelated vestry enclosure takes up the northwest corner. But the chief joy is the triple-decker panelled pulpit, reading desk, and clerk’s desk - the former so tall it almost touches the ceiling with its sounding board.