Dorset way

Stoke sub Hamdon

Each county appears to have its own unique feel and mysterious qualities. We all know Wiltshire is weird, as it has Stonehenge, Avebury, Silbury hill etc and the form of the hills often makes it feel enclosed and slightly mysterious ...but Somerset has a different feeling again and so does Dorset. It was almost as if when we crossed the border the atmosphere changed, but perhaps I am getting too in tune with the land and picking up echoes from times gone past... Certainly Dorset, with its pleasant countryside (sadly bathed in misty cloud for half the day) was rich in top quality romanesque delights.

Navigating from the road map, your favourite navigator made her usual useless effort of "oh yes we should have turned there" as the car sailed past its turning.  Our first stop, once we found it, was St Andrew's Church in Todber, an unusual building, which was supposed to have some Saxon carving outside. Alas, said carving was no longer outside and the church was shut, so we returned through the drizzle and dripping trees to the car.  Next stop, Melbury Bubb. A small distance away but not on any direct main road. We decided to "take the cross country route".   I don't know why as I didn't have an OS map and couldn't see the best way to go, even while I was giving directions. The small white roads got even smaller on the map and even less road-like in reality.  Luckily for me I am always driven with skill and care around the English countryside and just kept the map out of sight so that the ludicrousness of our route couldn't be seen.  Eventually, having been down the tiniest and most hidden of Dorset's backroads, including via a diversion, we found Melbury Bubb (to our great relief). Most of the names around there are equally as remarkable - Piddletrenthide, Glanvilles Wootton and Huish Episcopi. Of all things.

Melbury Bubb church was, thankfully, open. A man was inside the door and evidently slightly surprised to see us. "Are you researchers?" he asked us. Well, yes, we are! Never thought of ourselves like this before but in fact that is exactly what we are and it felt good to be recognised as such! The church is apparently "always open" and no wonder - inside the door is the most amazing font ever! It was made into a font out of an existing carving and so the scene is upside down. Someone has done a drawing of it so you can see what is on there. But in fact it is not hard to see (when you have your head the wrong way round). Around the sides are a menagerie of creatures -some I swear we have never seen carved before - a stag with impressive antlers, a dog type creature, a horse... and some strange creatures in between, perhaps a lizard, perhaps a sea creature - really quite hard to tell. All with the requisite curved tails tucking up under their bodies - but in fact tails reminding me of Saxon knotwork as well, as they became a long and weaving pattern, looping in and out of themselves. I was musing there must have been a crossover between Saxon and Norman styles and so perhaps this was part of it? Lovely animal feet and the ususal characterful faces, with amusing expressions. These creatures are neither serious, or in my opinion, religious - we were debating whether they were symbolic of something religious. Perhaps. But perhaps not. Although they are not - apart from these ones - usually creatures that would have been around day to day. So here the stag and horse were interesting. But in other places - the creatures you'd expect to see would surely be wolves, badgers, hares, etc? All very interesting to think on.  It helped to draw them upside down as you were forced to draw what you saw and on turning your drawing upside down it was quite fun to see the result. A lovely spot with an absolutely amazing font. Find it if you can.

Moving on (the heavens opened, it was absurd), our next stop was Melbury Osmond. Inside the church set into the wall near the altar was a creature again with winding crossing patterns around it, this time a bit like a dragon? And possible plants?

Final stop on the tour was Stoke sub Hamdon. From the notes in our sacred blue book (I say our, but the book is all my sister's hard work) the church promised many things of great excitement and it was not wrong! I may have been tired but I became quite emotional. The first thing to greet our eye was a truly wonderful tympanum. My sister is so kind, she likes the initial discovery to be a kind of gift and will often let me go first as it were, to get the full impact of the surprise. The tympanum is very well preserved (apart from a small part where we believe someone had tried to chip it away! Poor thing!)  It is spacious and airy, beautifully considered and spaced out, with a Sagitarrius, a tree of life, three gorgeous birds, a wolf/lion and a fabulous, jaunty lamb of God!  Who doesn't love a lamb of God and this one had a real way about it. The birds had a very appealing design, straight backs and all seen from different angles. They reminded both of us at once of the ones in Little Langford. Ah, we are fonts of all knowledge now (pun intended).  The other creature was possibly a lion (as in Leo) or possibly a wolf - it had a woolly neck so the lion theory fits. But whatever, it was all very nicely done and fun to draw.

That was me drawn out really, so I just had to admire the other treats inside  - the chunkiest font you ever saw with a double band of carving which meant the rest of it would have had to have been chipped out for a year and a day. The most amazing triple arches inside with different pleasing patterns, all very well preserved. Far too much for one person to take in.  On the outside wall as well there was a super-cute dragon being attacked by some stupid person (why did people treat dragons so badly?) with not just a spear but a lance as well.  I loved its curving body and amusing expression. They really knew how to draw character.

I believe Dorset could be a great place to spend more time fonting, it had a nice feel, it certainly had many hidden wonders and it is not too far to go. We have been enjoying a wealth of fonting opportunities recently so long may the good weather continue.

Bank holiday bonanza

As it was a Bank Holiday it somehow begged to be spent on a bit of a mega-trip seeking more Norman excitement - and despite the weather we did just that. It rained from the minute we set out to half an hour after we got in - but we did not let that put us off.

We decided to go to what is known by us as a "pink area" - which means that there is a cluster of churches in one area which have been rated (by us, via Pevsner) to have top quality carvings. Our ratings are based on what has been said in the book rather than our appraisal of it post-visit, and so they do not always prove accurate, but pinks usually have more than one thing of interest. It is amazing that this particular area, north of Swindon, is jam-packed full of churches with pink status, so much so that we could barely drive in any direction without encountering a pink village. Talk about being spoilt for choice.

Kencot

We drove to the furthest one north so that we could work our way back (probably wise, given that otherwise we could have been "just having a look at the next village" all day long).  Kencot in Oxfordshire (near to the wonderful Cotswold Wildlife Park) had a delightful little church and an equally delightful tympanum set over the main doorway. It featured Sagittarius with a bow and arrow drawn on a poor dragon's head. I loved the dragon's head, it was big and bold with a comical look and a pleasing eye and ear. Sagittarius had well observed legs and hooves and his name "Sagittarius" across the picture, which I was stupid enough to begin to write in the wrong place on my drawing!

Our next stop, on the road back south, was Langford, Oxfordshire. As soon as we approached we were amazed to see a large Saxon figure of Jesus (minus his head, poor chap) on the side of the porch. It looked very similar to the wonderful carvings at Daglingworth, Gloucestershire, because of the proportions of the figure, quite thin, with a long tunic and a rope tie around the tunic. We would have loved to draw Saxon Jesus but the rain just would not stop and it was not possible. Inside the church (accompanied by a faintly unpleasant smell) was a nice window of St Francis of Assisi and lots of birds.

Heading south again, we stopped at Inglesham, back inside the border of Wiltshire. We were not expecting what we found: the church is not one in active use but is preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust. It has escaped the sometimes ghastly make-overs done by the Victorians and as such you could see what churches used to be like before those times. Of Anglo Saxon origin, it has traces of wall paintings, wooden box pews and ancient memorials. There in the corner was an Anglo Saxon carving of Jesus and Mary, looking for all the world like some weird creepy alien face from modern times. I am not being sacrilegious, but simply describing what I saw. The features of Mary's face were rather strange, and although Jesus's facial features were a bit worn, we both thought he looked like he was an adult form on her knee, rather than a baby.

Our next stop was at the larger Highworth, where we glad to get out of the rain and find a re-positioned tympanum, over the entrance but inside the church. It was a touch too high up to see well and I did a most unsatisfactory drawing of it, but it was an interesting subject: Samson and the lion. Samson, in cloak and dress, had both hands on the lion's mouth. I feel he should have left him alone really. 

Disappointingly, Stanton Fitzwarren church was locked, despite proclamations on the notice board that we were welcome to come in and look at its history. I had been looking forward to seeing a font with detailed carvings of figures, but there are times when you are just not in the mood for ringing the church warden, especially when it was still raining and there were simply loads of other "pinks" to choose from along the way.

So we back-tracked north a little to visit Castle Eaton, and I was pleased to actually navigate accurately to the church for once. We were greeted by a pleasingly chunky font in the belltower, with a swirly foliage band around the centre, and also two more of the beautiful dragon head carvings on either side of the main entrance. These were smaller versions to the ones we have seen, but for me, equally appealing with their big toothy grins. And indeed we had had plenty to smile about in such a packed day and who cares that it rained all day, that is traditional.