Romsey

When asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, the answer was simple. Yes, animals are always a good option but fonts (or rather, Romanesque carving) won. As a special treat we went that bit further to Romsey Abbey, near Southampton. And it really proved to be the sort of special treat you want for a special birthday, as mine was.

Before we even got inside, we were delighted to find wonderful Norman corbels high up around the outside walls. Most were of faces of people or animals and some distinctly different to those we have seen before; some faces had things inside their wide open mouths such as figures of people. There were also a number of pairs of heads. The garden outside was a lovely spot to stuff our faces so we admired the corbels as we ate.

Around the corner from the main entrance was a figure of Jesus, on his cross, not unlike the one at Langford. Over this one was a hand of God. The Jesus was next to a rather fine door, I'm not sure how much of it had been touched up as it seemed in remarkably good nick.  Then more corbels (it was a bit overwhelming) and then we finally made it to the front entrance.

Inside you are struck by the high walls and lofty ceilings of the building. It has many treasures and they are keen for you not to miss any of them, as a detailed map was given to us by an interested guide (although this was once we had been round the abbey already). We were both soon going from one thing to another, doing the usual thing of "look!" and then finding something even more exciting around the next corner. In terms of Norman carvings, the place is a real gem. Towards the back of the abbey, every column seems to be topped with a carved capital - and all seem different. You have the foliage design, reminiscent of Knook, and some more unusual ones of people and animals. The abbey had provided a drawing of some of the more complicated ones, suggesting what was being depicted, but cynical and questioning as we are, we did not take everything as gospel (despite being in a church). The only problem was that all the capitals were hard to see for two reasons: the main one being the height - it was impossible to crane your neck back and to see anything in detail with them being so high above your head. And secondly, each was lit with a bulb that shone down into your eyes so you could not see very well anyway. It was a real shame and we considered writing to the abbey to see if we could get a ladder or platform from which to view them all close up, under the guise of wanting to produce a book on them.

see how high they are

The back of the abbey is just one carved capital after another and then you come across the far right hand corner, where there is a Saxon rood. Thankfully you can have a proper look at this one. The figure of Jesus on the cross and the people around him stood out from a darker coloured backgro
und... which on closer inspection appeared to have been painted in bronze enamel paint, which had been applied quite carelessly. We almost began hyperventilating at this - clearly someone had done this in the recent history of this ancient carving. I just hope the offending paint can be removed without any damage.

Luckily there were plenty more carved capitals around the corner to distract us, including a rather cute one of animals biting each other. It is just a shame we could not draw anything because we could not see it in enough detail at that distance.  Unsurprisingly, many people going round were not looking up and so were walking past, in our opinions, the best bits.

So to fully appreciate the abbey we need to return with ladders and permission to shin up them, although even then I don't think I'd be able to draw at such heady heights. But even without drawing it was the perfect place for a birthday.

Who did this!?

Dinder, Doulting, Chesterblade, Holcombe, Leigh on Mendip

Back on the road and this time we ventured into Somerset, out towards Shepton Mallet area. First stop was Dinder, where we found some creatures who were possibly dragon heads, like we have seen before, but on closer inspection seemed more like dogs. They definitely had dog noses, and no dragons' teeth, and pointy ears. So dogs they were. A knowledgeable and interested woman who was helping out in the church took the time to talk to us about them and seemed genuinely interested in art. Not one of these people who can't understand why we are drawing them. Which was a nice change.  The dogs had been rescued from somewhere and had been placed end to end over a window, so that they were not in the usual dragon door arch position. They were quite pleasing, as was the pretty and hidden village of Dinder (despite "no turning" notices where there was really no need. We turned anyway, at speed).

St Aldhelm's well

When we finally got to Doulting (because I was once again too slow to signal the turning), we investigated the church (some unusual capitals in the foyer) and then made our way down a slope to a spring, St Aldhem's well.  Surprisingly it was a busy spot as two cars came to fill up a variety of vessels with the holy water while we were there.  I learned to recognise a liverwort (there were some fine examples) and there was some moss as well. The water was (although it is a cliche) crystal clear, quite remarkably so, and being a holy well I had to sample the water. It tasted slightly minerally but not unpleasant. The water poured out from a hidden and peaceful channel at the back, through into a deep animal trough, which I thought was nice. It was pleasing to think of cattle and horses drinking from the holy spring.

Chesterblade

On to Chesterblade, a tiny, quiet spot with nice views over the hills. The church was small and cute and had a pleasingly tub shaped font. Very appealing. We examined it in detail, as a church leaflet made out it had once had a carved band around the middle. There was a slight discolouration in the stone there at about that spot, but neither of us could see evidence that it had been chipped away or bring ourselves to believe that anyone would have gone to such trouble. Now, convinced we are like experts on the Antiques Roadshow who have seen enough examples of something to recognise things by sight, we did not know of any example of anyone defacing a font in this way and for no obvious reason. So we concluded the chap who drew the font with the band on it had either embellished it himself or got confused with another font (as it is easy to do if you do not write down where you have been). Either way it was rather bizarre and my sister was right to question. Do not believe everything just because it is written down. If we have learnt one thing, it is surely that.   The doorway had two lovely capitals, one a face, with unusually prominent ears, and the other a very pleasing swirly design which on reflection reminds me of a Walnut Whip.  There were also two tiny faces, which proved harder to draw than bigger ones.  Oh and apparently we missed a lamb of god, outside. Our favourite. But sometimes you just get overloaded.

Holcombe Old Church

Next stop (it is remarkable afterwards how long we keep going for), in the quiet spot of Holcombe Old Church, down a lane out of the way and a really peaceful place if you are going to be buried somewhere.  A load of ducks were nearby as we could hear raucous quacking from somewhere. They always sound like they're laughing at something.  Holcombe had a rather appealing porch archway, with a two twirly columns and a really nice interwoven design which could be good for inspiration for making something one day.  I liked how we are now so confident in our churchyard environment we just moved a bench and sat in front of it to draw - well it is tiring to stand all the time - and of course no one came and said, what are you doing, anyway. It was too out the way.

On the way back we squeezed in one final stop (well, it seems worth it when you still have some energy) at Leigh on Mendip. The font here was a simple two-scallop design that reminded both of us of a bottom - it had that pleasing shape about it, it has to be said. There was a little bit of embellishment on the curved corners, but overall it was quite a chunky and cheeky font.

Avening and Cherington

Avening and Cherington are both in Gloucestershire and provided some key drawing opportunities. We hadn't been out drawing for a month, so we took our usual provisions and art things and set out to get back into it. Avening had quite a large church with many things to see - it was a little bit dark inside (it was a rainy day) and so we stuck to drawing what was outside the church. As you go in there is a porch and in the porchway two lovely columns with spirals. At the top of one, an unusual and interesting carved figure, which has two bodies and one head - or is it one figure but seen from both sides, as it were - slightly Picasso-esque? It had the recognisable Norman style tail heading up from underneath its body and over its back and jaunty feet. Behind its head was something indistinct like a tree.

On the other side of the door above a second column was a complex carving of foliage - with appealing chunky central shapes that looked a bit like a raspberry. It reminded us both of Rodbourne and the tree of life - similar lines and two leaves that looked almost like wings. There is a repeating theme we have seen at Whaddon where lines are joined together by a horizontal band. Like an idiot I forgot to take the photos off the temporary phone I was using so I do not have them. Inside the church were many different things including some Saxon work set in the wall and some very appealing capitals that were based on nature - there was one that had shapes which looked like ears of corn or wheat. And another a bit like grass or feathers. All very appealing but again we could not find light switches to illuminate them adequately for drawing. We managed to find a red light that turned some of the church an eerie colour, and quickly turned that off again.

Cherington just 5 minutes away, promised a Norman tympanum of two lions. We braved it through a downpour to have a look. They were quite simple figures facing each other, over the church entrance, with tails aloft (but not curved under the bodies) and surprisingly small heads. No doubt carvers had not seen many lions and these had small round faces - not quite lions - with solid stumpy legs. My sister was not totally convinced of their age but I felt they looked that old.