On the edge
Border country: Wales a short distance beyond the nearby ridge. Thick pasture. Black and white villages. Castles on hills. And also, here at Richard’s Castle, a church on a hill, with a solid square tower a few feet away. Herefordshire has a number of detached church towers like this one of around 1300. Their plain architecture – here there’s just that Y-traceried window to suggest a date and a style – quite different from what we normally expect of a church tower, different too from the carved and pewed church next door. It’s a bell tower but also a lookout and a refuge – no doubt the priest needed somewhere safe to go when the tensions between English and Welsh broke into violence. It’s a small building that looks as if it means business. No doubt the Welsh and their English opponents meant business too.
7 comments:
Hello- I just wanted to write and thank you for your blog and regular posts. I live in the U.S. & have my MA in art/architectural history. I had the privilege of studying in London and once lived in Exning, near Newmarket for a glorious 6 months. I adore British architecture! It is such a pleasure arriving home from a busy day at work and learning about something interesting out in the countryside (or in a town)from your travels. I really appreciate your efforts and work and wanted to thank you.
Warm regards, Elizabeth Hickman, Nashville, TN
Quite a formidible little building...is/was there a bell in there?
Elizabeth: Thank you so much for your lovely, appreciative comment. It means a lot to me to learn that there are people who read this blog regularly and enjoy my architectural finds.
Vinogirl: Yes this tower certainly would have had bells in it. I am not sure, actually, whether the bells still hang there - they probably do.
What a great find! You've reminded me of the tremendous fortified farmhouse you can see from the bottom end of the M50 (on your left as you travel south).
Gaw: Do you mean quite near the Ross end of the M50? - I think I know the place you mean, although there's an interesting looking farm on the other side of the motorway a few miles north too.
Yes, I probably do. I think it's quite near the Wye. I always feel a bit guilty that I'm able to see it as their view must be spoilt by the motorway!
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