The floor of St. Mary’s

Back to the local. St. Mary’s in Hitchin is a magnificent Wool Church but its interior, at first glance, is less impressive than its exterior. Hitchin was firmly Puritan during the civil war so much of the decoration was destroyed while the carved figures on the tombs have eroded due to the softness of the stone used. Fine rood screens remain but what captured my eye was elegant, ageless simplicity of some of the brasses in the floor of a side chapel.

So few incisions yet so much expression in the faces and hands; the implied luciousness of the hair. Devotional but decidedly sensual.