Edington, Wiltshire

Castle Combe, Wiltshire

An illustration of our favourite Norman knight popping his feet up on a little creature for eternity - what an amazing stone carver the artist was, it's such a fantastic sculpture.

My original sketch is here. The above has lost some of the latter's vagueness and impression of close observation. That's sort of good and bad at the same time. I'm not displeased with this version though.

Figheldean, Wiltshire

People who have dogs tell me that their pets provide other people a conversational opener, an excuse to start talking to a stranger. And that's a nice thing for us British. I think I've found my dog substitute - a massive purple sketchbook, first outing today. At Figheldean church not one but two people spoke to us as a result, and then someone else turned up too. The building's obviously well used for its original purpose.

We heathens had come to see the carved knights lying either side in the porch, although they were slightly obscured by some very jolly boards covered in colourful magnetic letters advertising the latest goings-on. Encouraged by our enthusiasm for the knights, we were given a kind and very comprehensive tour of the church by one of its custodians. It was interesting to see some greenstone in the columns (photo here though the columns are quite incidental to the photographer's intentions :)

 

But Figheldean is one of those churches that's been very messed about with, and there's even some neoNormanness going on. So its main attraction for us was the knights. Our guide surprised us by explaining they'd been dug up in a nearby field - perhaps hidden there during Cromwell's time, he speculated.

 

None seem to be able to compare with the lovely knight at Castle Combe. But these are the second-best we've seen! The cute little dogs / lions at their feet are well carved, with excellent paws (though the right hand one has been reassembled facing the wrong way). One knight has deeply carved folds in what I assume is a cloak. The other looks very comfy on his pillow. It would have been cool to have more chance to look at the pair closely, do a bit of drawing, take some photos without the magnetic letters in the way. But never mind.

 

It was also instructive to overhear the correct pronounciation of the village name - Fyaldene. I'd have been calling it Figgledene for ever more.

You'd think photos and stories about these knights would be all over the internet. But they're not. I think they should be. These knights are great.

I found some mention of them in John Aubrey's Topographical Collections of Wiltshire. He says:

FIGHELDEN.
Near the Belfre, in the South Aisle, are two fair freestone monuments of Knights crosse-legged, with shields, and at the feet of each is a Lyon. I could not learn whose Monuments they were: they are tumbled now, 1671, one on the top of the other. 

 Underneath in that edition, written in 1862, it says: "These effigies, having received some injury in their horizontal position, were for some time placed erect in the chancel: but have lately been restored to the place in which Aubrey saw them.

Pevsner says they're 'probably late 13th century'. But he also says one of the knight's pillows is supported by angels. I can't see it myself from the photos. Perhaps we need a closer relook.

Boyton, Wiltshire

After the knight at Castle Combe, so early on in our forays, no carved knight has really come up to scratch. They can't compete the amazing depiction of his chain mail. Who'd have thought the first example we saw would turn out to be so good. So the knight in Boyton church - despite being in really good condition - didn't impress us as much as it should.

But I was most taken with the animal at his feet. As usual you can find descriptions in books that clearly don't match with the evidence of your own eyes. For example this one which calls the animal a lion. It's not a lion - do lions have tails like that? They do not. Do they have ears like that? Little short legs? Splayed feet? Etc? Nope. It's an otter and even someone with the most passing interest in wildlife would have to agree. So if it is an otter I'd imagine that's quite unusual. And who wouldn't want to rest their feet on an otter for eternity, I ask you that.

Here's the font which is very plain, but I think you'll agree, pleasing enough in its proportions; I bet it's a Norman model. I'd happily go for a fatter base. But now I'm just being absurdly picky.

Lower Seagry, Wiltshire

I can never get the bottom of fonts to come out right (this is the folly of drawing what you think is there rather than looking at it). This one has a Y design that we've not seen before. I guess they're kind of extended chevrons.

And here is something not Norman, but still rather cool. It's got a similar chunky look. This is from a monument of the 17th century.

Images © Rhiannon 2014

Castle Combe, Wiltshire

We first visited our Norman Knight on the first true day of our Drawing Odyssey, way back in March. We both feel curiously fond of him, so I feel slightly shame-faced not to have posted these drawings before now (August). 

He really is outrageously superb. The anonymous carver has made him so real, you can imagine him (slowly) waking up. This is not down to his face, which is actually carved very simply, but due to the superbly solid and believable body shape, the drape of his clothes, and the perfect pose of his ankles and feet. I have to say, it's his feet which I like the best. They are so carefully and skillfully observed that you can only imagine the carver must have had someone in mail lying next to him while he carved. I think it's safe to say he didn't have a lion, because the mini dog/lion at the knight's feet is pure imagination. It's a nice thought though, to be resting your feet on a crazy little lion dog for eternity.

B and I were not connoisseurs of cross-legged chain-mail knight sculptures at the time. And as a result of seeing him, we're keen to see others. But it seems that our knight friend at Castle Combe is actually a very good, and very intact example. We've been other places where similar sculptures have been rather hacked about. And his chain mail is really very good, it has been carved to follow the lines of his body just as a real suit would.

The blurb in the church (which isn't always as accurate as it might be) says it's an effigy of Sir Walter de Dunstanville, who would have lived at the castle of Castle Combe, and is supposed to have died in 1270. There's also some factoid about crossed legs indicating that he went on two crusades. But I'm led to believe that the leg-crossing is more style than symbol.

The carving is so good that the mystery artist must have surely have been in great demand. There must be other effigies of his (or even hers, who knows) somewhere. I know it's a 'type' and there will be plenty of other cross-legged knights with dog-lions, but maybe it's worth bearing in mind.

ps
I just found the craziest thing on this page which is suggesting a WdeD is in Shrewsbury abbey. This cannot be right. Unless he's turned into one of those crazy saints whose relics were everywhere and with about three places claiming to have their skull. No, it does seem to be correct that it's a De Dunstanville. There seem to have been several Walters. Maybe ours is a grandson. It'd be interesting to know how effigy styles changed over time.

 Images © Rhiannon 2014