St Giles’, Tadlow is a “well-lit by jewelled blue-grey windows; a characteristic floor, delicate strips of pink and yellow on the sanctuary walls, and a delicious font of pinkish grey on a white base”.
The quotation above is from Paul Thompson, William Butterfield’s biographer. You see, this is a medieval church “pleasantly placed, in a leafy position” that had a Butterfield restoration in the late 1800s.
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If, like us, you keep an eye on the Church Commissioners’ consultation page on closed churches, you will see that there is a live consultation which seeks to put this Grade II* Cambridgeshire church into our care.
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St Giles’ has its origins in the 13th century with walls and windows built from fieldstones and dressed but irregular blocks of Clunch.
The chalky tower was added in 1472.
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It appears that the chancel was reduced in length some time before 1748 and appears to retain that footprint. Inside, the much-decayed floor slab with the ghost of an effigy just inside the south door is to Margaret Brogriffe of 1493.
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But really, the inside is all about Butterfield. He spent the best part of 20 years (1855-1874) restoring this church. We are yet to learn what condition it was in when he began this restoration campaign.
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As well as improving the internal environment of old churches, the aim of the Victorian High Movement was to reclaim the architectural nirvana of the 14th century – to return to this high point of religious expression in architecture. Colour was a hugely important part of this.
In most of Butterfield’s churches colour is confined to the sanctuary, floor, and font, and often only the east window has stained glass. The east window is by Butterfield’s favourite stained-glass artist, Alexander Gibbs.
Medieval fragments survive in some nave lights.
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The church comes with a mega list of repairs. It’s suffering severe structural movement, needs new roofs, drains, stone stitches, glazing repairs…
All going well, this church will be in our care next month. We can’t wait to start mending it, and welcoming people back.
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Huge thanks to @badger_beard for all of these great photos, and for being a friend to St Giles' over the past few years.
With a 15th-century rood loft hovering over rows of 18th-century box pews, the interior of St David’s, Llangeview in Monmouthshire offers a glimpse into the forms of worship from two bygone ages.
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Spanning the entire width of the nave, the rood loft is a relic from the late medieval past. Before the Reformation, the rood loft would have carried the rood, a carving of Christ on the cross.
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Alongside Christ, there would have been carved depictions of the Virgin Mary and John the Apostle. Sadly, none of the medieval roods survived the Reformation.
Caught Moss-Handed: how the rare mosses on the roof of St James’s, Llangua enabled the conviction of two criminals in the 1950s.
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In the summer of 1951, a farmer spotted two men climbing on the roof of Llangua church at dusk. Unfortunately, by the time the police arrived, the men had fled the scene.
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After committing further criminals acts in the local area — namely the theft of tools and car batteries — the authorities caught the men, who turned out to be two brothers that had come to Monmouthshire from Cardiff.
Across the centuries, the saintly dedication of a parish church can change — and at Manordeifi in Pembrokeshire, it is thought that the church's dedication has shifted several times throughout its long history.
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A Christian place of worship at Manordeifi is believed to have stood on the site of the present church since the 7th century. The earliest church here was reportedly dedicated to St Llawddog.
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A son of the Prince of Usk and a renowned as a miracle-worker, Llawddog became the focus of a popular local saintly cult. As such, there are thought to be four other churches in the region that were also originally dedicated to him.
Why is the English name for the festival of Christ’s resurrection so different from its name in almost every other language?
1/9 📷 East window of St Cadoc's, Llangattock-Vibon-Avel by Lavers & Barraud (1875).
In English, this most important Christian festival is known as Easter, whereas in most other languages, its name is markedly different: Pâques in French, Pasg in Welsh, and Páscoa in Portuguese.
2/9 📷 East window of St Beuno's, Penmorfa, Gwynedd by an unknown maker (c.1851)
This divergence between English and most other European languages is a hotly debated historical topic, relating to the transition from paganism to Christianity in England during the 6th and 7th centuries.
3/9 📷 East window of All Saints', Ballidon by C.E. Kempe
Caring for over 60 places of worship in England and Wales means that from a few of our churchyards you can see some varied sights.
From 20th century infrastructure to cultural landmarks, the fabric and fate of our churches has been shaped by their localities.
1/6 📷 Sutterby
On the Welsh border, in the remote fields of Herefordshire stands St Peter's, Llancillo. Adjacent to the church is an 8 meter high earthen Motte, which is all the remains of Llancillo Castle. This fortification was originally constructed in the 1090s by Richard Esketot.
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Releasing plumes of steam into the sky, the cooling towers of the Drax Power Station are visible, across the flat Yorkshire’s Ouse Valley, from St Helen's, Barmby on the Marsh. While St Helen’s tower was built in the 1770s, the cooling towers were constructed in the 1970s.
Red and yellow and pink and green ... most children can tell you that rainbows contain seven colours, and many of us use 'ROYGBIV' to remember them. But people haven't always seen rainbows this way.
Rubens' 'The Rainbow Landscape' of 1636 was painted just three decades before major new scientific theories about colour and light emerged. The rainbow lights up surrounding clouds with highlights of lemony yellow and blue.
In 1664, Robert Boyle conducted experiments with prisms, and in the 'artificial rain-bow' he produced, he observed five colours: Red, Yellow, Green, Blew and Purple. ...