Share this page!

Friendless Churches Profile picture
Twitter logo
13 Jan, 6 tweets, 3 min read
Welcoming hands greet visitors to St Michael and All Angels', Castlemartin in Pembrokeshire.

The wrought iron gates in the lychgate were made and presented to the church in 1890 by the multi-talented Pembroke engineering firm J&A Stephens - known locally as 'Knacky Stephens’…
The original "Knacky Stephens" was John Stephens — Castlemartin's village blacksmith. He had the knack for fixing machines. His sons John and Archibald were also very ingenious, and grew a business as Agricultural, Marine and Motor Engineers.
J&A Stephens did everything from repairs for the Admiralty Dockyard, to hiring out steam road rollers and farm machinery, to providing equipment to build a lighthouse on Skokholm Island. Archie even invented and patented a new submarine shackle, but it never went into production.
The 'Knackies' introduced the first bicycle to Castlemartin, and taught local ladies to ride it. The company also ran a motorcar taxi service and owned a double-decker bus from Glasgow called the Dreadnought. They hired it out for day trips, and even to campaigning suffragettes!
The gate at Castlemartin (seen here) was modelled on one from Sandringham. The hands may have been cast from one of their own; in 1893, Archie's 5-year-old son Corbett was the model for another hand-handle that they cast for the gates at their own engineering works.
Read more about ‘Knacky’ Stephens and see a picture of little Corbett's hand(le):
pembroke.foundryhousepembroke.org.uk/StephensFamily…

And learn about St Michael and All Angels’, Castlemartin:
friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/church/st-mich…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Friendless Churches

Friendless Churches Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @friendschurches

Friendless Churches Profile picture
14 Jan
In some of our churches not all is what it seems. Marble columns that appear round and richly carved recede to painted curlicues. Velvet curtains that hang sumptuously are nothing more than daubed oils. Varnished woodwork the work of an illusionist.

#thread Image
Because that's what these are: illusions. Or, to give the proper name, it's trompe l'oeil - a French term that literally means deceives the eye. It's a technique to trick the viewer into perceiving a flat painted detail as a 3D object.

2/ Image
At St Mary's, Mundon in Essex, the east wall has Baroque-style Commandment boards feigned in pink squiggly marble and suspended from impossibly delicate ties.

3/ ImageImage
Read 8 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
11 Jan
At St Beuno's in Penmorfa, Gwynedd, a fragment of 16th century stained glass remains in a window on the west wall. In 1905, it piqued the curiosity of Charles E Breese — a local solicitor, Liberal politician and antiquarian …
Breese learned that until about the 1860s it had been a part of a larger window on the east wall, which was known, from its inscription, to have commemorated Maredudd ab Ifan ab Robert (aka Meredith ap Ivan ap Robert, or Meredith Wynn) and his third wife, Margaret Maurice.
Meredith, the founder of the influential Wynn(e) family, was said to have fathered 20 children and to go everywhere with a personal bodyguard of 20 tall bowmen.
Read 9 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
9 Jan
Do you need to know how to graft an apple tree, how to ‘make a horse piss and dung', or need advice on making a wise choice in marriage?

John Gwin, 17th century churchwarden at Llangwm Uchaf, has the answers to all of these questions, and much more … Image
Throughout his life, John kept a 'commonplace book' — recording family affairs, local events, home improvements, advice on husbandry, poems, medical treatments, and parish politics.
It’s survived to give us a fascinating window into life in Monmouthshire in the late 1600s. Image
John had a particular interest in medicine, recording cures that combined traditional and modern medical ideas. His interest wasn’t purely academic. We can imagine John’s fears as he notes the directions for treatment of his two children — 'sick of the smallpox'. Image
Read 5 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
8 Jan
The old church of St Matthew's in Lightcliffe, West Yorks is now just a tower. The rest of the church was demolished in 1973, despite our strenuous efforts to save it.

The loss was of historical significance — because this was a building of pioneering Georgian construction.

#🧵
The Neoclassical building had galleries of 'pews with a view' on three sides, and surviving photographs suggest that the quatrefoil columns supporting them were made of cast iron.

2/
The material had been used in buildings since the late 17thC — Christopher Wren employed it in the House of Commons — but the oldest surviving example of cast iron used for gallery supports is at St James's, Toxteth, built in 1775. Lightcliffe's church was built the same year.
3/
Read 10 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
3 Jan
Last September we took the medieval church of St Helen's, Skeffling, in the ancient wapentake of Holderness into our care.

St Helen's, now remote, once stood at the gateway to trade across the North Sea.

#thread
This region, at the mouth of the Humber, was marshland until it was drained in the medieval period, which explains the challenges we face today with structural movement.

2/
Inside the church, amidst clutter and green-streaked walls, are the architectural and artistic flourishes of six centuries, including finely carved corbels, numerous neo-classical monuments, a triple sedilia, ship graffiti, carved roof bosses, and countless other delights.

3/
Read 4 tweets
Friendless Churches Profile picture
30 Dec 21
Deep in the Black Mountains is an ancient oval churchyard. It encloses a church that has clung to the mountain for over 800 yrs. Homeless headstones form a jagged line-up outside. A sundial has told the time since 1686. Inside, an oxblood rood screen survives against the odds.
1/
This veranda-style screen dominates the interior. It was carved in the 14th century and painted with an ox’s blood. The red background is peppered with stencilled white roses.

2/
In the centre, a cross is picked out in bare wood. It’s the ghostly reminder of the crucifix that was lost from here during the Reformation.

3/
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @friendschurches has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @friendschurches!

Read all threads by @friendschurches

:(