Simple beauty
Two more medieval churches – St George’s at Edworth, and a longstanding favourite, St Mary Magdalene at Caldecote. Both are isolated and long bereft of parishioners, maintained by charitable bodies but open to visitors. Each is a minor jewel. Edworth is particularly fine with its remaining stained windows and carved pews while Caldecote’s charm is…
3+3+3+1
Minsden Chapel 1 Minsden Chapel 2 Minsden Chapel 3 Tree 1 Tree 2 Tree 3 Iron 1 Iron 2 Iron 3 Perspective (Hexton)
St. Mary the Virgin – Letchworth
The oldest church in Letchworth, St. Mary’s has traces of its Saxon origins but is mostly of early Norman construction. It’s a tiny and delightful building on Letchworth Lane with some interesting 19th and 20th gravestones, including one of a Belgian soldier of the First World War, paid for by work mates from the factory…
Churches #13
My thanks to the creator of the Hertfordshire Churches website for encouraging me to re-visit Clothall church in the hills above Baldock. I’d poked around it once before and entirely missed its treasure. Behind the altar are three late medieval stained glass windows containing dozens of beautifully rendered birds, some of familiar species, some of…
Churches #11
Graffiti This series of posts has already included some examples of graffiti carved into the fabric of local churches: the sword at St. Paul’s Walden and the three-weddings engraving at the same church, the evocative plague memorial and rendering of the old St. Paul’s cathedral at Ashwell, for example. Below are some more instances. The…
Churches #10
The church at Bygrave has been closed every time I have walked through. Parts of it date from the 12th century but there was a Saxon church there before and Romano-British pottery has been found around the site. It is tiny, unusual in its simplicity, and rather beautiful for that. The bell is located in…
Churches #7
More photographs than usual for this post. It’s one of my favourite churches – St. Mary’s at Ashwell, a beautiful village where two rivers rise. The graffiti in the church is touching, sobering, an emotive bridge to distant forbears. In this year 2020, it is particularly redolent, an obvious link between past and present and…
Churches #5
The church at St. Paul’s Walden dates from the 13th or 14th century and retains some early features. Ancient graves discovered close by indicate much earlier religious activity of some ilk. The church was refurbished in Georgian times. While much may have been lost then, the result is still pleasing. The soft Hertfordshire stone used…
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