Friday, December 16, 2011

Isle Abbots, Somerset


Rubble rouser

Back at the beginning of the year I did a post about the church at Isle Abbots, which has one of the graceful late-medieval Gothic towers for which Somerset’s parish churches are justly famous. Around the side of the church I was fascinated to find a few masonry fragments that had been removed from the building at some stage, probably during a restoration. One of them is the part of a pinnacle shown in my photograph, and what’s particularly interesting about it is that it has a piece of metal sticking out of the top. This is a rod, probably made of lead, that was used to help hold this piece and another, now vanished, stone together.

Medieval masons used lead in their joints quite often, especially when building intricate, willowy structures such as window tracery, narrow shafts (mini-columns), and pinnacles. They did this by drilling vertical holes through the pieces of stone and lining them up. Then they called in the plumber – the man who worked with lead – and he undertook the painstaking task of pouring the molten lead in from the top. When the lead set, the pinnacle had a solid armature, adding greatly to its strength.

Working with molten lead in this way must have been a perilous business, especially if you were at the top of a 200-foot tower at the time. But it seems to have been a common occurrence in the Middle Ages, and helped architectural details such as this pinnacle survive from the 15th to the 20th or 21st century. Now some of these parts of the building have been renewed, it’s good to find some bits of the originals near ground level, so that one can look at them closely. Another medieval pinnacle seems to have found a new role in the garden of a nearby cottage.


Displaced pinnacle, Isle Abbots, Somerset

8 comments:

James Russell said...

I love Isle Abbots - my parents live not too far away and it is one of the loveliest, quietest places I know. The churches of Somerset deserve far more recognition than they have - I imagine you've posted on Dundry, just above and to the north of Bristol - the church there is world class

Vinogirl said...

Love your pun!

Philip Wilkinson said...

James: Yes, Isle Abbots is wonderful. I like the approach to the place - the way you keep seeing this tower over hedges and then when you arrive the church is at the end of this quiet village street.

I've not posted about Dundry. One day...

Philip Wilkinson said...

Vinogirl: Thank you. I love to pun. In fact I live to pun...

bazza said...

A wealth of fascinating information as usual, Philip.
I know that many medieval masonry skills have been lost and I often marvel at just how some church and cathedral architecture was accomplished.
Incidentally the actor/comedian Tim Vine does a great stand up routine almost entire consisting of puns, wordplay and double-entendres.
Eg: "So I went into this video shop, and the man asked if I'd like to rent Batman Forever - I said 'No...just for 2 hours!" and "I went to the butchers the other day and the butcher said 'I bet you £5 you can't guess the weight of that meat on the top shelf'. 'I'm not gambling!' I said, 'The steaks are too high."

Philip Wilkinson said...

Baza: Ah, doubles-entendres.

A man went into a bar and asked for a double entendre.

So the barman gave him one.

Peter Ashley said...

As you know. there are some very interesting remnants built into the north wall of Stanway churchyard, near you. Including part of a stone coffin I believe.

Philip Wilkinson said...

Peter. Yes. One of the great walls! Anyone reading this who doesn't know it, see: http://englishbuildings.blogspot.com/2008/02/stanway-gloucestershire.html