A few years ago, I ventured into the parish church of St Andrew at Curry Rivel in south Somerset and couldn’t help but admire this extraordinary tomb monument from the early-17th C. The stone, plaster and paint bring it alive in a unique way that we don’t often see...
Tewkesbury Abbey was originally a Benedictine monastery and is now a parish church. It was built in the early 12th C and remains, although in part, a significant example of Norman architecture. In the 14th C the abbey received an upgrade. This post looks at the...
On a recent visit to Tewkesbury Abbey, I was struck by the carvings of individual faces from the 14th C. The abbey had an upgrade in the 1320-1350 period, which is likely when the faces were carved. These are faces from over 670 years ago. What were the times they...
I am presently recording the diaries of Edward Phelips V (1725-1797) of Montacute House. They are in different places and have started my project at Montacute House itself, which has kept 4 of them. These are for the years 1759-1774 (one diary – with some...
The route to power and wealth that Thomas Wolsey (c. 1470/71 to 1530) followed is extraordinary. From the son of a butcher in Ipswich to one of the most powerful men in northern Europe is unparalleled. I wanted to think about Wolsey in terms of making himself like the...
THE SHELL GROTTO AT JORDANS, SOMERSET Shell grottoes grew as a fashion in the 18th C. The grotto was a creation of somewhere ‘other’ than the formal country house and garden. A magical place embellished with exotic shells, corals, fossils, stalactites, stones and...
