Nov 12, 2019
The main photo for this post is the beautiful marble-tiled paving of the chancel at All Saints Church, Babbacombe in Devon. It is made up of coloured Devon Marble varieties from the Petitor beds – a form of limestone that can be polished for a marble effect (not a...
Nov 10, 2019
Parish Church of All Saints, St. Alban’s Road, Babbacombe, Torbay, Devon (1865-74). One of the key works of the architect William Butterfield (1814 to 1900) that sticks in my mind is that of Keble College, Oxford. The overall shape of the building appears as a sober,...
Sep 17, 2019
Figure 1: Ruins of the north wall of west range at Dunkeswell Abbey, East Devon. Church of 1842 behind. Nestling in a valley of the Blackdown Hills, on the banks of the River Madford, are the enigmatic remains of Dunkeswell Abbey. Only fragments are left of the abbey...
Aug 27, 2019
Figure 1: Belfry Windows with Anglo-Saxon Baluster Shafts at All Saints, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire When looking at Anglo-Saxon churches there are 4 features to look out for: Belfry Windows Triangular-headed doorways or windows Strip-work on wall surfaces...
Aug 2, 2019
On the 27th July 2019 I attended a concert of the Somerset Chamber Choir in Wells Cathedral. The picture above is one I took just as the audience were settling and the choir were getting ready to start. The choir is in front of, and framed by, one of the three...
Jul 23, 2019
Figure 1: Hand gestures: The Bayeux Tapestry – the arrival of Halley’s Comet in the sky (Source: Thames & Hudson, The Bayeux Tapestry (London: Thames & Hudson, 1985), p. 32) The other day I was watching my dog scrabbling to get at a treat that had slid...