Pipe Aston, Herefordshire

B and I have been to see the carvings at Pipe Aston before. But that was in the days before the Dawn of her Enthusiasm for the Romanesque. So it was interesting to see the look on her face when she realised what she's seen then, but not Seen. The carvings here are pretty bloody impressive, some of the best.

She immediately started making comparisons between the style and designs here and the marvellous font we saw at Stottesdon. These are top notch Herefordshire school carvings. And yet this is apparently a tiny church in a hamlet in sight of the back end of beyond.

 

Here's a large bird apparently pecking a smaller bird while a doggish creature spews what I take to be foliage at them. It's part of the carving on the tympanum. There was so much to draw... but it was frustratingly cold and windy so this was the only element I attempted outside. 

Here's the tympanum as captured by John Salmon.

There's our favourite, the Lamb of God, in the centre, with his little leg bent round cutely to support his pole with the cross. The cutely bent horizontal leg seems to be a diagnostic Romanesque feature.  He's also got some kind of radiating nimbus thing going on, but without any circular halo. Flanking him is the winged ox and leggy eagle of (I imagine) the evangelists. Not to mention more animals with tucked-under tails, plenty of patterns, a bit of planty swirlyness. The stones supporting the tympanum are serpenty and planty. Even the chevrons over the top are obviously excellent - they're single stones smoothed into a 3-d shape in a most satisfying fashion. The tympanum is in three parts but they seem different colours, almost as though it's not been broken accidentally but were always separate. Though that would seem a bit odd, given the strange angle. But who knows.

Inside, there's more Norman goodness. It's even said that the planty paintings on the walls are original, which seems quite crazy but perhaps it's true. What took my eye though was the sculptural goodness of the curious tapering small font. It's carved with two animals - one is a wormy tailed wyvern with two little front legs and wings. He's biting the tucked-under tail of the animal in front of him. I originally assumed that one would be a dragon but he's apparently four legs and a tail, and perhaps more of a lion. He's spewing out foliage and does not look best pleased at his tail being nipped. The circular scene fitted nicely in my new long sketchbook:

 

From the NLS's amazing map website

This is the 6 inch 1884 map of the village. Sometimes I wonder if a little bit more prior research could be a good idea... we had no idea this Motte was here, so close to the church. It must surely explain something - maybe this spot wasn't so remote as it might appear. It's called 'Aston Tump' and the Scheduled Monument Record  says it was constructed in the 1130s - a timber castle. There's a stream which flows down the hill here, forms a little moat round the motte and then pops out by the church - we stood and watched the water so doubtless we'd have noticed the 6m high motte if only we'd been expecting it! Never mind. The CRSBI page for the church suggests the carvings are also from the 1130s. So that's rather interesting. I am treating myself to a copy of Thurlby's book on the Herefordshire school which they cite.

Milborne Port, Somerset

B and I have resumed our adventures, but owing to endless hold-ups with internet access at my house, it makes me wonder whether I'll be able to record everything before it disappears from my head. We often have conversations that run -

- Ooh look at that, that's rather like the column at.. now where was it.. you know, that church with the doorway, was it somewhere near X??
- You mean the one with the trees?
- No no no, but yes it did have trees, but the one where we walked up that path. Did it begin with D??

These lovely "affronted animals" (meaning facing each other, rather than being offended) were on the tympanum at St John's church in Milborne Port. They're pretty cute (you can see the original on this link). The surrounding design reminded me very much of the one around Samson and the lion at Highworth.

The church is big and has remnants of Anglo-Saxon-ness - a massive central tower with much fiddly leaf-inspired carvings on the capitals. Unfortunately they were very high up and we couldn't see them properly. They weren't the bold simple style you might expect. We needed a ladder really.

There was also a Norman font, but it seemed to have been hacked about mercilessly. It had arches on the sides but they looked strange - I thought it must originally have been a square font made octagonal by the cutting off of the corners. The base was offensive to the eye. I'm getting far too fussy these days but that's what happens when you expose yourself to all the best examples.

Highworth, Wiltshire

Inside St Michael's, in the centre of Highworth, we found another of one of our favourite quarries, the Tympanum With Animal. Unfortunately this animal is being rather mistreated. It's said to be a picture of Samson and the Lion. This may well be the case. He's straddling it and has a hand round each jaw (a brave thing to be doing with a lion). The lion has the characteristic 'tail through leg' pose that's so familiar from many other places.

I had a look at the bit in the bible that talks about Samson and the lion (being a heathen, it wasn't familiar). "..behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done."

It's a bit mean isn't it. He gets surprised by a lion and rips it apart with nothing but his bare hands? And is too ashamed to tell his parents? That's the implication. Along with the fact that GOD had some hand in it. God involved in needless animal cruelty. Then it turns out the lion is just some weird plot device for an riddle (as part of a story containing a whole lot more violence). Next time he's passing, he notices that bees have made a nest in the lion's innards. So he uses this wholly unlikely situation to say "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness". 

I can't be bothered to go into the biblical story (he gets cross and jealous and kills loads of people). Let us focus on the pleasant association, namely that the phrase is used on the front of Lyle's Golden Syrup tins. 

Image from Wikipedia

It's still utterly freaky though. And I doubt bees have ever nested in a lion. And golden syrup isn't made by bees by the way.

Back to the tympanum, you can see a picture on Britain Express. Where you will notice that somebody with no aesthetic sensibilities decided to carve a long explanation under the stone. If ever there were a moment to ask 'why oh why'... what a strange decision. As though their explanation was as interesting to look at, and as though it might matter in a thousand years. It's quite odd.

Images © Rhiannon 2014

Beckington, Somerset

St George's church at Beckington is home to three rather strange, rather large animal sculptures. They're kind of positioned to look like they're propping up the roof. But I don't think they are. They give the impression of having been moved perhaps. All are cosied up to the edge of windows.

Two face right, and one faces left. When they're mentioned on the internet, only two are mentioned - the poor creature on the other side of the church has gone unnoticed :(

When B and I saw them, we couldn't work out what sort of creature they are. They all have luxuriantly stripey coats - particularly the left-facing one, who has the pattern all over its body. Together with their funny little noses, and wide eyes, we wondered if they could be sheep. There were a lot of sheep figuring in the modern decoration of the church and I wonder whether Beckington made its money with them. But then again - what type of sheep have big fingers / claws? Nope.

They're generally described as lions. And perhaps they are lions, with their claws and stripey manes and silly lolling tongues (do lions have silly lolling tongues?). The two right-facers do have rather lion-y legs and paws. You can walk right underneath them and see the details of their undersides. Interestingly you can see the classic 'tail tucked between legs and brought over back' feature.

The CRSBI site doesn't even mention them. They looked pretty Norman to us, for their weirdness and chunkiness? Maybe not. It's curious there's only three of them, you feel like they've been saved and reused. Pevsner mentions them but doesn't hazard a date. He was a busy man. We can let him off :)

This is from a stone in the outside south wall:

It's rather like the saltire cross and dotted circle pattern that we saw over in the lovely Little Langford. Except they had a fancier three circles per section.

Images © Rhiannon 2014

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

Upavon, Wiltshire

Curiously, the area around St Mary's unusual Norman font seemed to smell strongly of weed. Maybe it was the furniture polish. But the rest of the church didn't smell of it. It was notably weird. There wasn't any stashed in the font (I felt I had to check).

But more importantly, this font has an unusual eight exciting sides to draw, including two with some pretty amazing and fantastical creatures. There is one geometric side, one with what's said to be the Anunciation (an angel, a woman and a dove), and the rest are fantasias of foliage. Am I getting too carried away? Possibly. But it was a particularly concentrated burst of Romanesque-ish sculptural goodness.

This one could be a leopard - and check out his teeth and claws. Or conceivably, Ms Lion, to Mr Lion below.

 This panel is surely a lion because he's got such a furry head. But it's such a shame that you can't see his face, it seemed to have been chipped off. The more charitable explanation would be that the carving was so detailed that it kind of fell off. But it's still rather a shame.

Also with the putative lion was this truly crazy creature, like something from Hieronymus Bosch's imagination. I've read that it could be a sphinx. Or maybe a dragon. But to me it looks like a plucked chicken with a huge mouth, that's just eaten someone, and that's their head still in the creature's mouth. It's marvellously mad.

Up next, gloriously freehand foliage designs:

There are two more which incorporate foliage and cross symbols:

And here the nested chevron panel:

The detail on the so-called Annunciation panel didn't come out very clearly on the photo I took. To draw more than one or two things in situ is very tiring, it takes a lot of concentration! I can see a dove (the holy ghost?) and maybe Mary with a cross. She could be carrying a baby, but that wouldn't fit very well into the idea of the annunciation! Sometimes she's depicted spinning, but I'm not sure it's that, and sometimes it's a book, but it didn't look very book-like either. Gabriel (for it is he, if we are dealing with the Annunciation) also has a halo, and maybe has wings and armour-plated shoulders. It's quite difficult to say. Their faces in particular are very worn - they look a bit like Aliens. The plant in the middle has leaves that look a bit lilyesque. That would fit with other contemporary depictions - the lily being a symbol of Mary's purity. The angel is definitely holding something, and this is referred to as a sceptre in descriptions of other Annunciation depictions, but here it isn't very big, so maybe it should be called a wand, which sounds decidedly peculiar. But let's face it, the whole idea of the Annunciation is decidedly peculiar (unless you're a paid-up member of Christianity).

My drawings are a bit wonky, but then so are the carvings. I can only find one photo online, at the British Listed Buildings website, and curiously it doesn't show the most interesting faces of the font. There are so many photos of cats online, and (so I understand) of people in states of undress. But only one photo of the excellent font at Upavon. And that's just how things are in the world.

Images © Rhiannon 2014

Cherington, Gloucestershire

We ducked out of the rain into the porch at St Nicholas, Cherington. I didn't feel sure that the lions were properly old and Norman, mostly because they haven't got the 'tails under legs' theme. And they've got strange little heads. They look more like little cats than big lions. Which would be fair enough if you'd never seen a lion (it reminds me of a photo of an elephant and castle on Deborah Harvey's blog.  Maybe they're fine and genuinely Romanesque though. They were in a tympanum after all. And they're doing that affronted thing face-to-face. B was happy enough. Maybe this is an excuse to visit Many More Tympanums to compare.

There's a photo of the lions on Rex Harris's Flickr page. Wherever we go, he seems to have got there before us.

Since our visit I read on the British History website that there was another tympanum:
"A second more elaborate tympanum, said to have come from the south wall, is at Cherington Park."

Mmm more elaborate. But I can't find a picture of it on the internet (yet).  Wasn't it great when you could just stroll off with a tympanum and stick it on your own grand house. Cherington Park's just next door to the church. Perhaps I should have just gone and rang the bell. Maybe it was moved when Mr Baldwin repaired the church in 1815 and saw fit to carve his own name on the lintel below below the lions. Tch.

A slight Cherington update (8.8.14)

I noticed on British Listed Buildings that the other tympanum was still on Cherington Park in the 1980s, despite the building's 'partial demolishment' in the 1950s. So this is good news for tympanum fans. (All two of us.)

I've also found out what the tympanum depicts, thanks to my lovely InterLibraryLoan of Charles Keyser's 1927 book. He says: "On upper part a sundial with serpent above, a lion on left, and griffin on right. Below four courses of the fish scale ornament, and three rows of indented on the lintel." He also says 'Probably moved in 1816', so perhaps he had the same idea as me about it being appropriated when the church was repaired. It sounds as if it is an interesting design.

Images © Rhiannon 2014

Ampney St Mary, Gloucestershire

These strange creatures are at the isolated church of Ampney St Mary. There's a photo of them on Bethan's blog here.

  In fairness it was just about to hammer down with rain, but I didn't position this so well on the page. They're some of my favourite creatures yet. One might be a lion with a tidy bottom and super elegant back legs. Another a griffin? They've both got the tail-under-leg thing going on. But what are those two creatures underneath! They've got kind of Cheshire Cat style faces. But strange maggoty legless bodies.


 Images © Rhiannon 2014