The Road Goes Ever On

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Return To Kilpeck, 1

Students of this blog know that we first visited Kilpeck in 2009 (http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/parish-church-of-st-mary-and-st-david.html), and fell in love with the stone carvings that adorn the early 12th century parish church there, the Church of St. Mary and St. David (probably neither the Mary nor David you're thinking of). We saw similar carvings elsewhere, principally northern and western France, always in Romanesque settings, and also perhaps in Spain and Sicily. For several years we were amused but intrigued by them. I blogged about them in 2013 and 2015 as "funny faces." At Hereford, we learned finally that there is a name and a scholarship about this sculpture, namely, "the Herefordshire School of Romanesque Sculpture." The book by the same name is now in our possession. Alas, I'm going to have study what previously was just fun. But learning is among the best parts of travel. Perhaps I'll finally learn something about sculpture. In any case, we drove the 8-10 miles SSW of Hereford to the ancient hamlet of Kilpeck and its famous little church.

I swear this sign was not there in 2009--surely we would have
noticed it! (don't call me Shirley)--but just up the hill...an
artificial hill no less...are the meager remains of Kilpeck
castle, about the same vintage as the church

There, with a bit of the ditch/moat in view; guarded by sheep

More information

One remnant

The other, with fireplace visible

The countryside

Another view

The church, built, all in one go, c. 1138-1143, give or take

Welcome, similar to the one I photographed in 2009

The font, which, to me looked if anything older than the church
itself; the castle would have had a chapel...

The interior of the church, just to show it is unremarkably
parish Romanesque

Thus

And thus

Four faces...four gospels? The zig-zaggy stuff is all over
Hereford Cathedral

Church yard

Friday, May 27, 2016

Hereford Cathedral, 2016

We visited Hereford (http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/hereford.html) and Hereford Cathedral in 2009 (http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/hereford-cathedral.html and http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/mappa-mundi-and-chained-book-library.html). Because my maternal grandmother was a Hereford, by maiden name, I have always believed myself to be in part English (also perhaps a bit Welsh), and feel a special affection for Herefordshire and Hereford. The connection is conjectural at best, maybe far-fetched conjectural, but I persist. And so we visited Hereford and its Cathedral again. Another good and insightful visit.

The River Wye; Hereford has been on both sides of the border,
but since the Conquest has always been English, one of
"Marches" towns, in the effort to beat back the Welsh

Hereford Cathedral, 2016

Helpful model

Nave view; giant old Norman piers, the rest remodeled in later
styles; Romanesque on the bottom, Gothic higher up...figures

We were impressed this time not so much by the architecture
and glass as the funerary furnishings...some of the best preserved
we have seen...usually they get pretty badly beaten up or even
destroyed during wars of religion, revolutions, schoolboys, etc...
this is Sir Richard Pembridge. a Herefordshire knight who fought
at both Crecy and Poitiers (glory!) and was made a member of
the Order of the Garter by Edward III

We saw and blogged about the famous Mappa
Mundi, a 13th century "map" of the world, in
2009

The cloisters are rather plain but have been replanted with
medieval plants in medieval style

Crossing

More colorful burials

A really old one

Really old graffiti too

Nice folds

The Lady Hall

More color

Contemporary windows in an adjoining chantry

Lady Hall altar

Old south windows in the Lady Hall

Main altar

The famous Willis organ, renovated thanks to the Bulmer
family (cider); their emblem below (Strongbow is also from
Herefordshire)

King Stephen's throne...read Pillars of Heaven...QEII sat in it
on a visit and remarked that it was jolly uncomfortable

The cathedral does regular tours for the kiddies, especially
younger kiddies, and leaves a variety of props around for the
various story-times

Thus; we had a long conversation with this man about Trump;
I think he might have been the dean or some other official (but
then, approaching my 2nd decade of retirement, I am impressed
by anyone wearing a suit)

Kiddie education center

Us, taken by a nice couple from Norfolk; the high was 54 degrees
that day

But wait, there's more...outside, in the cloisters, looking around
at the gargoyles and corbals, and this setting, all of a sudden
my interest in Kilpeck and its funnies was re-kindled;
looking around the bookstore, I found The Herefordshire School
of Romanesque Sculpture, by one Malcolm Thurlby; we had
initially decided to forego Kilpeck--it's a small, obscure site--
but the book changed our minds, and, another hour later, we were
at Kilpeck again, looking at some of the more remarkable 12th
century sculpture to be found...

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Gloucester Cathedral, 2016

From our campsite under Alfred's Tower, we proceeded on to Gloucester, a city we had visited in 2013. After replicating a fine pub meal at the Fountain, we again walked bits of Eastgate, Northgate, Westgate, and Southgate, ending at the cathedral. The city and cathedral are covered well enough in the 2013 posts...http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/gloucester.html, http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/gloucester-cathedral-basics.html, and http://roadeveron.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/gloucester-cathedral-extras.html. Our major interest in returning to Gloucester was the fan vaulting in the cloister adjoining the cathedral. It is the first extended use of this kind of vaulting and still among the most impressive instances. And worth a return.

Stourhead, 2016, 3

A call to Stourhead suggested rather more of the rhodos were out, and we decided a third visit was in order. We're not purists. We'd backtracked enough to Newbury that Stourhead was not seriously out of the way for our generally west-by-northwest heading. Not that anything is seriously out of the way here on Albion.