Knook and Berwick St Leonard

While I am living in Wiltshire, I have been exploring the area with my sister. We have been going to churches which have interesting historical carvings from hundreds of years ago, including Norman and Saxon times. Neither of us are religious but we are interested in the carvings and we both like to draw them. My sister has compiled a list of churches which have interesting features, so we have spent many a happy weekend visiting a few at a time. The carvings are often very impressive and it must be because they are part of the church that they have survived so well.

Today we went to the village of Knook, in Wiltshire, to the small church of St Margaret. On the back wall of the church, outside, is a carved tympanum, over what is now a blocked up doorway. This is thought to be pre-Norman carving, and although it has weathered, you can see something which looks like curving foliage, or a pattern, and perhaps figures of animals. I find I can see figures of animals in most carvings, but that is because animals are a source of great pleasure to me. My sister could see two animals' heads near the top and we both thought there appeared to be two creatures facing each other in the middle, at least one had a tail and a foot showing.  Drawing them was very absorbing and good fun. I am not excellent at drawing but as with all creative things, it is good to practise. I find it therapeutic and satisfying. While you are concentrating on seeing the shapes and interpreting this on paper, you are not thinking about anything else. It is a welcome break from day to day issues. We were being observed by a couple of churchyard rats, from time to time.

Inside the church, (a welcome respite from the cold wind), there were two Norman carvings at the tops of pillars. One was more detailed than the other and had two images of flowers/plants (pictured). The other was more asymmetrical with a less well defined but more organic, like interlacing stems or plants. I thought I could even see snakes, or a dolphin shape.

After a brief look at the nearby River Wylye, we drove on further south to Berwick St Leonard. Above the door into the church is an "agnes dei" or Lamb of God. It is of Norman origin and high over the door.  I liked it as it had quite a jaunty figure and I was pleased with my drawing. It looked to me like it was holding a handbag between its front legs. I don't suppose it was, but I could only see it in that way and so that is how I drew it. As we drew, two lovely partridges hopped over the churchyard wall. On the outside of the church there was another Norman tympanum, with flower shapes. My sister drew this but I chose to say hello to the real lambs in a nearby field.

As we left the churchyard, we came across a rather beautiful beetle, who was quite large and had a lovely blueish purple tinge. We think it is a black oil beetle.

There is something refreshing about going to see these carvings and drawing them. How strange it would be for the person who carved them to imagine that in 1000 years' time, some people would be looking at them and drawing them in multi-coloured crayons. When you look at them and then try to create an impression of them on paper, you are really seeing what is there, rather than just glancing at things as we do every day. It takes time to observe them and I feel that it makes a connection across time to the craftsman, when we stop and consider how much time and skill he put into it originally. Thinking about the centuries between us somehow gives me perspective on things today and it positions me in time; centuries of people have gone before us and centuries of people will follow. What will people be drawing in 1000 years from our time? And will there still be drawing then?