Monday, January 20, 2014

Stoke Dry, Rutland


On looking the other way, or, Odd things in churches (1)

When Mr A and I push open the church door, we're immediately aware of a man with a large tripod, taking pictures near the chancel arch. We exchange 'Good afternoon's. 'You know what you should be looking at?' says the man. Mr A (we're near his home patch) nods, and gestures towards the Romanesque carvings that the man is photographing. And then I tiptoe away.

Typical, you will say. When I should be looking at Romanesque carvings and an extraordinary wall painting of the martyrdom of St Edmund, what do I find? An old trunk. Some remains of a flower arrangement in an earthenware jug. And Milner's Patent Fire-resistant Safe. Rather the worse for wear but complete with Gothic moulding on the door (to show that it's at home in a church) and sunlight from a nearby window catching the gold roundel. There really is no end to the odd things you see in churches, especially when, for a moment or two, you turn your back on the obvious.

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Mr A's own blog contains a similar post about a church on my patch that I took him to some years ago. For connoisseurs of the quotidian, it's here.

9 comments:

  1. Ah yes. Somewhere in the mists of time I went to look at some exquisite carvings or medieval wall paintings in a church, but ended up photographing a superbly conical Miramax fire extinguisher instead.

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  2. [Adopts Robert Robinson voice:] Ah, indeed, Mr Ashley, indeed. It is likely, nay, inevitable, that you will find some impressive old ironmongery behind a curtain in a church. Give yourself an extra point, and a round of applause...

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  3. Ah, holy neglect! Because so much church maintenance, etc. is voluntary, where better to find the things that nobody's got round to getting rid of? I myself can easily be distracted by Heraldry, and find out when I get home and look at the guidebook that the most interesting things I simply didn't notice.

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  4. I agree Mike. I love what I see when I'm not looking.

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  5. I might have said this before, but I often think that churches are the only public buildings left that give us an impression of age and the fact that centuries really do pass. I feel the SPAB etc. ought to be worrying a bit more about historic interiors which are so often ripped out.
    The safe is magnificent!

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  6. Jenny: Yes, church interiors are a constant source of fascination in the way they reflect passing ages. I plan to do more 'odd things in churches' posts that will pick up this theme.

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  7. There is always something interesting if you look in the right places! Love this shot and your description of finding it.

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  8. Finding oddities and missing out on the obvious seems to be the story of my life! If I'm able to make return visits I'm always finding things that I missed the first time around. There's so much to see, even in the tiniest and plainest of churches I reckon.
    I love that photo, Philip. Such a lovely collection of interesting things.

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  9. Thanks for your comments Bettyl and Eileen: more posts on unusual things soon, I hope.

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