Wednesday 28 August 2019

The Proud And The Diffident

The walk in the countryside between Anstey and Meesden which yielded the photos of Fields And Farms in the last post also included visits to two churches, one for each village, and two very different buildings they were.



St George's at Anstey stands commandingly and impressively above the winding village street. It's a big, complex church which deserves more space and photos than I can include here. But before we get to the church itself.....



The churchyard is entered by an ancient "lychgate". It may look quaint and picturesque, but the purpose of such covered gateways is somewhat macabre. In the days when most people died at home, their bodies would be wrapped in a shroud and then left in the lychgate to await burial. At sometime in history a portion of this particular gate was converted into a lock-up for miscreants.



A closer look reveals that the carpenter who made the structure did not stint with the amount of timber used for the job!



Once inside one is immediately aware of the visual and practical problems created by the cruciform plan around a central tower; the relatively low, rounded Norman arches, which support the great weight of the tower, effectively separate the chancel from the nave. This was of little importance in medieval times, when those two parts of the church were kept separate, often with a solid screen between the two. Many churches that were built on this plan were redesigned with a new tower at the west end, but not here.



If you want to see the chancel properly you need to pass beneath the central tower. The choir stalls are particularly interesting.



Back sometime in the 1300s a carpenter took his planes and chisels and fashioned these seats from the raw oak. They've been doing their job quietly for around seven-hundred years now - though not so quietly a few days ago when one of the tip-up seats slipped through my fingers and fell into place with an ear-splitting thump! Fortunately no damage was done to either the seat or my fingers.



The strangely carved ledges beneath the seats are known as misericords and provided a handy little ledge to rest on while standing through long services. But it's down at the other end of the church where there are even stranger carvings to be seen....



The font is adorned with mermen holding their tails - and each merman having two tails! Now, if you've been reading this blog for a while you might be thinking that you've seen this before. Back in July, 2016, I showed you a very similar one at the little St Peter's Church in Cambridge. There are just two fonts like this in the whole of the country (quite possibly the whole world) and you've now seen both.

But at the other extremity of my roughly elliptical walk there was a very different church awaiting me....



If you go to Meesden looking for St Mary's church you probably won't find it. You have to take one of the minor roads out of the village, look for a little painted sign, negotiate a five-bar gate, then tramp off down a stony track. You still can't see the church, but just as you're thinking you might be on someone's private drive.....



….you discover the church, hiding away among the trees. You wouldn't expect to see much here, in fact in such an out-of-the-way place you'd probably expect it to be locked.



Round on the south side of the church you'll find the entrance - and what an entrance it is! This glorious little porch dates from just before the Reformation, which put an end to such architectural frivolities. All the authorities on the subject date the porch as being entirely from the sixteenth century, but luckily I'd read a post on David Gouldstone's blog "Icknield Indagations" in which he points out that an old picture in the church shows it without the fancy upper portion. What's more if you look closely the bricks at the top are larger (and newer) than the rest of the porch. So it appears that the ornate top is a Victorian addition, though one good enough to have fooled all the experts except that clever Mr Gouldstone. Thanks, David.



Inside there's more to see, though some things were destroyed and replaced by the Victorian renovators.



They didn't get rid of the memorial to Robert Younge, who stares down rather disapprovingly as he has since his death in 1626. It's been repainted but the bright colours are authentic enough. In our modern age it's tempting to associate bright colours with cheap plastics, though in the past bright paints and dyes were only available to the very wealthy and were therefore seen as very desirable.




There's a rather rustic little organ....


......and I liked the neatly converted-to-electric lamps. But there's something older and more interesting on the floor of the chancel....





This small, rectangular area is decorated with mosaic tiles, each one precisely shaped to fit the pattern. They are a bit worn as they have every right to be having survived around seven hundred years. As you look closer you find that some are stamped with patterns and with coats of arms.


Who would have thought there'd be something so rare, beautiful and valuable hiding away down one of Hertfordshire's innumerable back roads? 


Take care.




21 comments:

  1. I love it all - thank you for sharing.

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  2. Loved that, John; what a pair of gems. What was the reason for St Mary's relative isolation? Are we talking a shift of village here, or what? There are various reasons- as you know - for churches being a little distance from the the villages they serve.

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    1. The village is a very scattered settlement anyway, the only concentration of buildings being to the west of the church and this area was once called Meesden Green, suggesting an outlying hamlet. The church is nearer to Meesden Hall and Meesden Bury, two large houses on ancient sites which presumably influenced where the church was built. I doubt the population was ever very great, hence the small size of the church.

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  3. Are these two churches still active? I noted your comment about expecting the church to be locked. Unless my memory is faulty, when I was young churches were always unlocked, reinforcing the idea of sanctuary. I suppose it's a sign of the times that places of worship now feel the need to bar their doors.

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    1. Yes, both are active though the smaller church only holds two services a month. Most churches in rural areas are left unlocked during daylight hours. Some fear criminals or vandals taking advantage of this and elect to lock their churches - though many display the phone number or address of the keyholder who will either lend you the key or sometimes come and show you around. There's quite a lot of evidence that keeping the church open actually deters thieves as they never know if someone will catch them in the act. It's a pity when churches are locked as it tends to separate them from their communities and make them seem unwelcoming.

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  4. All the details are wonderful to see John. The story behind the gate is remarkable!

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  5. Love the old architecture. I am always wondering how they did it!

    But none of it compares to the photo of the lovely walk through the woods.

    Have a blessed day, John.

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  6. These are great photos of such beautiful architecture!

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  7. The tiles, seats and lynchgate caught my eye. You always have such fascinating adventures, John.

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  8. Such detail in those seats and mosaics. How beautiful it must be to see them with your eyes and touch them with your hands. Seven hundred years and still awe-inspiring.

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  9. When I was a small child the bier carrying the coffin was often left under the lych gate for a while before the funeral.
    I do love hidden-away churches and this one is a gem.

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  10. Beautiful churches and still in service for today's communities. The architecture and background add to their story. Great post, John and thanks fr sharing.

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  11. I really enjoyed seeing those mermen carved into that lovely Norman stone font and how very special too is that delightful floor covered in those mosaic tiles.

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  12. That’s one sturdy gate house! The choir chairs are so interesting, especially the carvings. But why the wrap around head rests, I wonder. To keep the choir members upright should they fall asleep, perhaps? So many interesting things to look at.

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  13. Both have their own beauty, but the second one really appeals to me the most for some reason. I am always amazed that they door are left open. And I am thankful they are till we can get to see the inside. That floor is amazing.

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  14. All treasures. Filled with history, art and craftsmanship.

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  15. You find some very interesting places. The age of the tiled floor is amazing. I wonder what modern buildings will still be around in 700 years. We have a scandal in Oz at the moment where new apartments are falling to pieces already because they were not built to regulation standards.

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  16. The church in the village where I grew up has a lychgate and I never knew what the original purpose was.... now I know, thank you! These are two wonderful churches. The choir stalls are gorgeous, but rather uncomfortable I should think!

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  17. Oh I would have definitely thought it John, I imagine in a country with such a rich and ancient history there would be many undiscovered treasures. St George's is a beautiful church but St Mary's speaks to me more, that floor is stunning 💜💙

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  18. The lychgate! I did not know the name, or the purpose, of these structures. I thought they were just ornate entryways. Goodness.

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