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Kent Old Maps
1895 – 2022 1895 – Hoo St. Werburgh. – 2022 1930s – High Halstow – 2022
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Old Essex Maps
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Church Photography
English parish churches are the custodians of some of the world’s most outstanding works of art – stained glass, monuments, tiles, woodwork, furniture and the architecture itself, often dating back a thousand or more years. They can be treasure troves of artefacts of local, national and international significance. Promoting this to visitors is a way to keep our churches open, loved and most importantly, conserved and maintained. Visitor experience will always be enhanced by interpretation materials with high-quality imagery. I am an accomplished photographer specialising in historic buildings, mainly churches, their interiors, exteriors, details and landscape settings. I produce high-resolution digital imagery for prints, printed literature and digital publication. I…
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St. Mary’s Chickney then and now
St. Mary’s church, Chickney, Essex, was struck by lightning on 3rd May 1902, causing extensive damage to the spire. A grand total of £329 was raised so repairs could be undertaken but the building suffered further neglect over the years. Further repairs were carried out in 1930 but eventually the cost of maintaining such an ancient building overcame the resources of the parish and in 1975 it was passed into the care of The Churches Conservation trust. Today, visitors can find this hidden marvel open daily and particularly atmospheric. Stonework in the walls predates the Norman Conquest and that of the medieval font is a delight. Slide the divider on…
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Return of the Stainburn Bible Stand
Early in 2014 my attention was drawn to an inscribed brass ‘memorial plaque’ being sold in Belfast on a well-known auction website. The first to bring this to my attention was a vicar in Northamptonshire, who’d noticed that the words inscribed in the plaque mentioned ‘Stainburn’, a picturesque North Yorkshire village whose church fell within my guardianship as the Field Officer working for the owner of that historic building, The Churches Conservation Trust. Fortunately the astute vicar emailed the CCT without hesitation asking, “isn’t Stainburn one of yours?”. My eyebrows were raised. Surely if this memorial plaque belonged to St. Mary’s church in Stainburn, how had it ended up in…
- Church Monuments, Churches, Heritage, History, Post-Medieval History, The Churches Conservation Trust
Henry Audley’s Monument at Berechurch Essex
Henry Audley’s magnificent memorial stands in St. Michael’s Church, Berechurch, a mile or two south of Colchester in Essex. “His date of death is not known but, as he is known to have been alive in 1664, this monument, erected in 1648, took shape some years before he died. Flanked by flaming urns, his armour-clad effigy reclines on its side, looking out. His head rests upon his helmet and one of his gauntlets rests upon his sword. Beneath are the figures of his five children – Katherine, Marian, Abigail, Thomas and Henry, one of whom carries a skull, indicating that he had already died. Above is the Latin inscription, crowned…
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21st-Century Iconoclasm?
Heritage Crime… Little Cawthorpe, Lincolnshire, St. Helen’s Church The present church of St. Helen was constructed in 1859 to replace a medieval church, this being the third building on this site. Records indicate the earliest church having been founded here in the 1100s. Its stained glass, designed and made by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, was installed between 1860 and 1890. The windows were painstakingly created by highly skilled artists and craftsmen during these years. The south windows depict Christ and the Doctors and the Presentation in the Temple. The impressive west window, donated by the inimitably named Lysimachus Parker, who died in 1860, shows Noah’s Ark, the Baptism of Christ…
- Church Monuments, Churches, Heritage, History, Post-Medieval History, The Churches Conservation Trust
William Burges’ Rose Window
The rose window high in the west end of the church of Christ the Consoler, Skelton-cum-Newby, dates to the mid 1870s and was made by Saunders & Co. to a design by Frederick Weekes. Christ the Consoler is shown enthroned in a central position in a mandorla presiding over representations of the stages of life on the inner circle and people from all over the world on the outer. This church was designed by William Burges (1827-1881) for Lady Mary Vyner, in memory of her son Frederick. He had been kidnapped by brigands in Greece during his Grand Tour and, aged only twenty-three years, murdered during a rescue attempt. Lady…
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High Ambition, Low Elswick
St. Stephen’s tower, Low Elswick, is one of the most overlooked and rarely mentioned buildings in the CCT’s portfolio of historic churches, despite the local and international significance of those who built it. It remains a landmark for those travelling to and from Newcastle city centre towards the A1 and retains a ring of eight bells cast in 1880 by Taylor’s of Loughborough. Designed by local architect, R. J.Johnson, the foundation stone for St. Stephen’s church was laid on 19th November 1866 by Sir William Armstrong. Armstrong’s empire had flourished upon engineering brilliance, he having invented the hydraulic crane and the Armstrong breech-loading gun, both being watershed developments for heavy…
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2020 Heritage Bike Ride
The inaugural annual ‘spires and spokes’ heritage bike ride was completed on 26th September 2020. Raising money for The Churches Conservation Trust, Graham and Colin cycled a 75km route around Leicestershire, stopping at several churches of national and international historical significance now owned by the CCT. The ride raised just over £330 for the CCT’s vital conservation work. Our day began with a drive to our starting point at Tickencote. Finding a convenient parking spot outside St. Peter’s we went in to gawp at the incredible 12th-century chancel arch, vaulted roof and font. This was Colin’s first taste of the English Romanesque and it didn’t disappoint. We took lots of…