Blenheim, 2009

France and England were at war constantly, more or less, from the 14th century to nearly the 20th. The War of Spanish Succession was the early 18th century episode, when Louis XIV overplayed his hand by trying to grab both Spain (no heir to throne) and the Austro-Hungarian empire, and all the overseas trade. The Brits stepped in along with their northern European allies, and defeated Louis' armies at a place called Blindheim. The man of the hour was 54 year old John Churchill, a public servant mainly, whom Queen Anne had placed in charge of her armies. Churchill's administrative skill translated into military skill, and the Queen's armies were victorious. As a later Churchill observed, it was from this point that Britain stepped onto the world stage as a major player. Anyhow, the Queen rewarded the elder Churchill with lands and a hefty stipend and the title Duke of Marlborough. His wife was one of the Queen's confidants, it so happens, too. Anyhow, Blenheim Palace (Blinnum, the Brits say) is the result.

We toured Blenheim--truly a palace and, originally, a monument to one man--on a cold and rainy Tuesday. It terms of scale and opulence, it is quite the best we have seen so far. No interior pix, as usual, except one displayed above. Despite the wet and cold, we walked the grounds and gardens too.

Winston Churchill was born at Blenheim, and some of his formative early years were spent there. His father, Lord Randolph, was younger brother to the then Duke. Moreover, it was at Blenheim, in the Temple of Diana, that Churchill proposed marriage to Clementine Ogilvy. Consequently, Blenheim is in part a monument to Sir Winston too. He and Clementine are buried in a simple parish churchyard a mile or so from the palace.

We drove on to Kidlington, 4 miles north of Oxford, and parked for two nights on a quiet town square, just across from the Sainsbury's.

Marlborough's Victory Column

Front view of Blenheim

View from upper garden

Capability Brown waterfall

View from grounds

Room in which Winston Churchill was born

Bucket brigade

Great old trees on the grounds

Grave of Winston Spencer and Clementine

Spencer Churchill

Charlecote Park

Charlecote Park is another manor/fortified residence, dating

from the 15th century. Elizabeth stayed here two nights on

her return from her last visit to Kenilworth. But Charlecote

is perhaps more famous for 1) being Capability Brown's

first landscaping job, and 2) the site where, centuries

earlier, a young Will Shakespeare was caught poaching

and punished by the great lord. All this according to lore.

Will had his revenge in both Henry IV part 2 and in the

Merry Wives of Windsor. Power of the pen.

View of "new" wing from the garden

The River Avon, altered slightly to improve the view and to

add a waterfall; Nature was apparently never good enough

for Culpability Brown; in the distance, by the river, you

can see several deer, presumably descendants of those

poached by Master Shakespeare

Childrens' playhouse, beautiful thatching, wood-work,

paneling, stone hearth, etc. Let them eat cakes.

Kenilworth

Site of the "Mere"--from King John's time, Kenilworth had a

great lake or mere, a hundred acres or more, created by a

huge earthen dam

On the earthen dam, used for jousting

tournaments from King John's time

View of interor buildings

The Gatehouse, itself a mansion

Dudley's crest, Robert (of) Leicester, now in a beautiful

hearth in the gatehouse

Original great hall

Ruins

The Hall Dudley built for Elizabeth

Monday morning we drove out to Kenilworth Castle. It is a ruin now, "slighted" after the Civil War, but an impressive ruin, and, outside London, few sites in the UK have more history and lore associated with them. Mortimer, Gaunt, King John, the Edwards, the later Henrys, and most importantly Elizabeth, all had dealings with Kenilworth. At its heigtht, in Elizabethan times, it was one of England's three or four great palaces, which the Queen gave to her favorite, Robert Dudley, whom she made Earl of Leicester. She visited Kenilworth three times, the last for nearly a month, Dudley's final attempt to persuade her to marry him. The rest is history. And literature, as in, e.g., Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth.

Baddesley Clinton

Later on the 18th we drove on to the Baddesley Clinton House, near Warwick. It's probably my political/religious sympathies that are in the way, but I found this nearly the least interesting place we have been in the UK. Baddesley Clinton is noteworthy for its Elizabethan "priest-holes"--hidden chambers where counter-reformation (and counter-Elizabeth) priests could be hidden. At Baddesley, there were several. It was an industry, somewhat reminiscent of the "underground railroad" in the US, with architects and builders of these priest-holes as well as "pursuivants," bounty-hunters, more or less, in the employ of the Queen and her ministers, chiefly Cecil, I believe. A film we have watched, just to get in the mood, that well depicts the horrors and brutalities of the Wars of Religion is Elizabeth, with Cate Blanchett. Its treatment of the Elizabeth/Robert Dudley matter is pretty far off, we think, but its general representation of the times is accurate, if graphic. The religious wars lasted well into the next century and resulted in, among other things, the separation of church and state that we Americans enjoy, mostly in unfortunate ignorance.

Baddesley Clinton is noted also, if not noteworthy, for a Victorian pair of couples who resided there and fixed the place up, painters, poets, and philosophers who are now deservedly forgotten. Except for the house.

On the up-side, we camped that night at a real campground, one of the more interesting ones, at the Warwick Racecourse (horses), right in the paddock. While Vicki did the wash, I strolled about the town on a nearly-deserted Sunday afternoon. We had decided to forego the Warwick Castle "Experience," which we had done in 1989 with our daughters. Alas, poor Warwick!

Baddesley Clinton House

One of the priest-holes

Garden, grounds

Stained glass windows all around the house, mostly

celebrating the various coats of arms associated

A day at the races...

Parish Church of St. Mary and St. David, Kilpeck*

Eight or nine miles out from Hereford is the hamlet of Kilpeck and its Parish 
Church of St. Mary and St. David. What is of interest here are the carvings 
about the church, near the roof, door and window-ways. They are all 12th 
century and apparently the only examples of secular Norman sculpture in 
existence. On a church, no less. And, I must say, they are a complete and total 
hoot!

Altar; so far so good

Door...no religious imagery...at least that religion...

Beautifully carved sandstone, but no obvious 
religious symbolism

After this, however, things start to get a little weird

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Birds? Of a feather?

Lovers...I really like this one

Dog and bunny show? My sense of Norman art and architecture is forever 
changed...

Then it gets really weird

And weirder

The fine print

*Afterthoughts: subsequent years of travel, in the UK and throughout Europe taught us that there was really little unique to this little church; it's simply one of finest early examples; and it was the beginning of my subsequent fascination with "funny faces," Sheila-na-Gigs, and so on. Examples abound in the later years of the blog...maybe some day I'll put a tag on them... (May 12, 2020)

Mappa Mundi and the Chained Book Library

Mappa Mundi replica

Books in chains

Among Hereford cathedral's most important and unique treasures are the 13th century Mappa Mundi (map of the world) and its two chained libraries. World maps are not unusual, but 13th century Christian maps are. This one is about a meter square, on vellum, in one hand. Pictured here is a replica (photography not allowed), but you can see the original on the web by apppropriately googling (mappa mundi hereford would do). As with everything else in the European middle ages, the map liberally mixes theology with whatever else is under discussion, in this case, geography.

In the middle ages, a book was as valuable as a farm or house (!!!), yet much more removable and portable and thus vulnerable to theft. The medieval answer to this problem was the so-called chained library, in which all the books are chained individually to a central rod, one on every shelf of the bookcase. Most others have disappeared, but Hereford's was in use well into the 18th century. Vicki commends this approach to all former fellow librarians concerned about library theft.  Myself, I am reminded that, at SMU, where libraries once reported to yours truly, the highest theft rates were always in the law and theology libraries.

Hereford Cathedral, 2009

Hereford's cathedral--the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Ethelbert the King--has the same general history as most of the others we have seen hereabouts...early Christian beginnings, Norman foundations, parts fell down, put back up, pretty much finished by the 13th or 14th centuries, renovated in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was spared the ravages of the reformation (it was never associated with an abbey), though looted, but the most important items, from today's point of view--the Chained Book Library and the Mappa Mundi--were untouched. Oh, and it has a 19th century Willis organ I got to hear when I stayed to listen to the choir practice.


Central tower

West face

Nave

West window

Ribbed vaulting

Altar and choir

Choir practice; note boys choir members in

blue robes

Hereford

City square, Hereford

The "Old House," city square, ground zero, Hereford; part

of the city museum, it is crammed with 16th and 17th

century furnishings

Among the furnisings...beautifully carved

A toddler lap-walker...

16th century dog door

"The Lawsuit"--16th century humor

First, it's not "Hereford" as in the cattle, as Americans say it. It's "Hair-a-furd." (Travel is so educational.) Hereford is not on the tourist circuit, and, in fact, has not been on any circuit much since the Welsh were tamed. Hereford was one of the "Marches" towns established in the borderlands as a first defense again Welsh incursions. But then the Welsh stopped incurring, and things have since been pretty quiet in Hereford.

My maternal grandmother's surname was Hereford, and, accordingly, Hereford is a place we had to visit. I must say, for the afternoon and evening we spent there, it is a charming mid-sized town, very pleasant on the eyes, and containing some real gems, at least for those into books and knowedge generally. But more of that later.

We parked on the fringe of the CBD and walked into town, and Vicki quickly found the city museum's "Old House," at ground zero, a beautiful half-timbered structure that dates from the middle ages. A little conversation with the staff revealed that there is no one in Hereford named Hereford, never has been, and that--he surmised--when people moved to America, many were not so eager to retain their identities. So, many American surnames that link back to England or Europe are really just the town they were from, or some town they could think of with immigrations people. We have seen this in numerous other cases and were not surprised. I was undeterred, nonetheless, from having my own "Roots" experience, and felt a special closeness and warmth with everything I saw, however remote or irrelevant. ("Wow, so an ancestor of mine might have shopped at this very Marks and Spencer's.") He also informed us that while Hereford is still home to the international registry of all Hereford cattle, there are practically no cattle left in Herefordshire. It is is sheep country. OK, I have never cared for cattle that much anyway, except for steak, cheese, cream, leather....

The rest of our Hereford experience was enlightening and edifying and upbeat, but I'll leave it for the next post.