tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post3315045548896250774..comments2024-03-25T15:10:13.792+00:00Comments on English Buildings: Axbridge, SomersetPhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-50054350033391848712017-01-10T05:36:21.591+00:002017-01-10T05:36:21.591+00:00Beautiful roofs always attracted me. I prefer Roo...Beautiful roofs always attracted me. I prefer <a href="https://flatroofrepairblog.wordpress.com/2017/01/09/roof-repair-contractors-get-comfort-of-every-season/" rel="nofollow">Roof Repair Contractor</a> for roof safety. It is long lasting.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17827039934973576346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-8042618971969881692016-11-01T19:57:04.813+00:002016-11-01T19:57:04.813+00:00Try Low Ham in Somerset for Gothic of C17 - why go...Try Low Ham in Somerset for Gothic of C17 - why go for new forms and plans when the old served well? Even if tracery and mouldings were not what they had been, they served their purpose ...<br />and anything approaching Greek or Roman was pagan, of course. per apsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18269755913501559944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-67226323941064815782016-11-01T17:29:02.289+00:002016-11-01T17:29:02.289+00:00Philip I am sure that you are familier with Kings ...Philip I am sure that you are familier with Kings Norton church in Leicestershire built 1760-61 to the designs of John Wing the Younger. The church is an eighteenth century preaching box but the external architecture is Gothic taking its cues from the Perpendicular style. The question raised by this church is it a continuation of the Gothic tradition or is it an example of Gothic revival? The Wing family background is that of stonemasons so it is reasonable to suppose that they were familiar with Gothic architecture from working on churches in the district.<br /><br />By the time of the reformation i don't suppose there was a great need for new churches in the country, so the opportunities to experiment with new styles would have been limited. No doubt any design in a classical style would have looked foreign and attracted the suspicion that it was somehow Papist.<br /><br />Stephen Barkernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-52889479360333705552016-11-01T16:13:35.336+00:002016-11-01T16:13:35.336+00:00The church at (South) Malling, Lewes, is very conv...The church at (South) Malling, Lewes, is very convincing Gothic, except for the south doorway. I don't think the use of the Gothic style in the reign of Charles I has any particular partisan "meaning" - the politics is as messy and ambiguous as anything leading up to a civil war. And the 1630's in particular seem to have been a good time for building things, including a remarkable number of tombs - no ancient parish church seems complete without one of that date! <br /><br />I think we can discount nostalgia in the use of 17th century Gothic - windows and tracery follow straight on from the Tudor period - none of the hankering after the Decorated period as in the 19th century Gothic Revival. I don't recall seeing in person any Irish church building of the period - but London/Derry cathedral is supposed to be very good Gothic: we can't usually accuse the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland of High Church tendencies. And some of Wren's churches (in spite of his quirkiness) are convincingly so. <br /><br />Don't some of the older stone-built churches in the West Indies and e.g. Virginia date from the earlier 17th century? How "Gothic" are they? Judging from the pictures, the big house (not church) St Nicholas Abbey in Barbados looks very medieval, with its massive chimneys and thick walls and irregular plan. Joseph Biddulph (Publisher)https://www.blogger.com/profile/08655472675410890012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-62981898351948344412016-11-01T12:10:57.997+00:002016-11-01T12:10:57.997+00:00Thanks, Eileen. Good to have some local knowledge!...Thanks, Eileen. Good to have some local knowledge! But it's not a simple story about these vaults as, looking online, the church seems to have vaults of several different styles. I'll obviously have to go to Ottery St Mary and have a look for myself! Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-37944020383497809622016-11-01T12:05:49.281+00:002016-11-01T12:05:49.281+00:00The Axbridge ceiling is absolutely stunning, Phili...The Axbridge ceiling is absolutely stunning, Philip. About St Mary's at Ottery St Mary (the town partly named after the church), it was built in the 14th century by John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter (1327-69), and was a scaled down model of Exeter Cathedral. Some more info can be found at the link below (a shameless plug for my own website, lol). <br /><br />http://www.freewebs.com/foxydevonlady/otterychurch.htmEileen Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13807348224003585870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-45786458665647705372016-11-01T09:05:49.885+00:002016-11-01T09:05:49.885+00:00David: Absolutely – it can mean lots of things. Th...David: Absolutely – it can mean lots of things. There's something very ceremonial and, yes, Catholic, about Staunton Harold; there's a clearly Puritan simplicity about Guyhirn (which I've not seen except in pictures). And there are also churches where, irrespective of the particular shade of religion, local craftsmen have just built in the Gothic way there forefathers did, because that's the way they did it, or because people just like it that way. Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-80836687408132962782016-11-01T08:52:55.726+00:002016-11-01T08:52:55.726+00:00Per Apse: Thank you. I don't know the Lady Cha...Per Apse: Thank you. I don't know the Lady Chapel at Ottery St Mary, but looking online I see it does have similar cusping. However, the rib pattern is different and I presume it is earlier - I'm not sure. Fascinating.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-90485033880307985632016-11-01T08:51:16.024+00:002016-11-01T08:51:16.024+00:00On the question of the motives of the builders of ...On the question of the motives of the builders of Gothic Survival (as we might agree to call them) structures, two examples from a little later than Axbridge are interesting. The well-known Staunton Harold (Leics) of 1653-63 (i.e. during and immediately after the Protectorate) - it's owned by the National Trust now - was built as an expression of determined Roman Catholicism, and Gothic was chosen as a visible expression of this allegiance. On the other hand, the less well-known Guyhirn (Cambs) was built at the same time (c1660) but by a Puritan community. Yet the church, while a lot less ambitious than Staunton Harold, is still Gothic. So Gothic could represent two more or less contradictory viewpoints.David Gouldstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01446150522362785974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-71298278933973893392016-11-01T07:33:38.139+00:002016-11-01T07:33:38.139+00:00Lady Chapel at Ottery St Mary over the border in D...Lady Chapel at Ottery St Mary over the border in Devon has panelled ceiling - can't find a date quickly! - of some splendour. Axbridge reminds me of Addison's <br />"The spacious firmament on high,<br />with all the blue ethereal sky,<br />and spangled heavens, a shining frame,<br />their great Original proclaim."<br />Thank you once more.per apsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18269755913501559944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-60547505933400527542016-10-31T23:13:47.363+00:002016-10-31T23:13:47.363+00:00Shui Long: Quite. A lot of ceilings were removed b...Shui Long: Quite. A lot of ceilings were removed by the Victorians, along with the box pews and other post-Reformation woodwork.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-64339317352903456002016-10-31T23:12:49.194+00:002016-10-31T23:12:49.194+00:00Inigo J: Thank you. Yes, I'd forgotten about t...Inigo J: Thank you. Yes, I'd forgotten about that Durham woodwork. Part of a larger trend, clearly. Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-90455197004945730562016-10-31T22:45:11.987+00:002016-10-31T22:45:11.987+00:00Many parish churches did, in fact, have ceilings -...Many parish churches did, in fact, have ceilings - albeit of a plain white plaster, though this may have been installed by a C17 or C18 churchwarden to seal a draughty roof, rather than being original. In accounts of Victorian restorations you will frequently find a note that "the roof was opened and repaired", meaning that the ceiling was removed to expose the woodwork.<br /><br />Shui_LongAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-37227774557336133572016-10-31T22:38:47.971+00:002016-10-31T22:38:47.971+00:00It is very much a product of the time I think. It ...It is very much a product of the time I think. It reminds me of the Neo-gothic woodwork of Bishop Cosin in Durham churches. It seems things were turning around a century after the reformation. The country was in flux in many ways, but men were also looking back, perhaps as you say, for comfort and because of distaste for the current time. Inigo jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04025047516400716512noreply@blogger.com