Chilling in the sun

As part of an extremely relaxing week off, we fitted in some visits to some old favourites and a few new delights. First up was nearby Lullington, of beakhead fame. The church is kept locked (as are many we have come across in Somerset) and so to save a wasted trip I went to get the key from a nearby house. The man who came out, lovely barking dog in tow, reminded me of the man with the dog from Detectorists. The church key was pleasingly huge and opened the door to some wonderful gems inside. The cool interior was a welcome change from the burning sun that we have been having for so long now.

 Lullington's font is elaborately decorated with some nice arches, flower shapes and faces. More unusually it has writing around it and on the top. There are some pleasing capitals above the columns, with patterns, faces and creatures, including a very fetching pair of birds who reminded me of dinosaurs because they had scaly tails. Some relaxing drawing was enjoyed.


The beakheads were baking in the sunshine and I had forgotten that they are less well defined than many we have seen. Unfortunately they have been more exposed to the elements. But each creature has appeal and there is an amusing variety of creatures and faces.

At the end of the week, a return trip to the idyllic spot of Little Langford beckoned, and luckily there was a triangle of shade in which to stand to draw the marvellous tympanum. I checked the visitors' book and it was a surprising 4 years since we first visited. My sister did an impressive drawing of the hounds beneath the main picture and I tried to draw the man and the birds. The font there, although simple, is pleasingly wonky and as such definitely Norman.

After a rather hot and slow trip through Salisbury we found Pitton. Here the font had a deceptively simple band around it, which on closer observation was not quite as simplistic as you might first think. The chevron pattern reminded me of plaited material or two lines of bread dough wrapped over each other - the carver had smoothed off each separate shape and the overall effect was of plump material or something soft. All such designs would transfer nicely to another medium such as fabric. It is time to get on with something artistic and create something using these carvings as inspiration.

It was too hot to drive looking for other places so we came back via Wood Henge, a very interesting and atmospheric spot, marred slightly by the couple who chose to set up their deckchairs and have a drink at the far side of it, as if it were a picnic area. Very odd. Perhaps the heat was getting to them. Luckily we did not wander around Amesbury (having seen recent news) and actually went past the mysterious Porton Down and Boscombe Down (no photos allowed) on the way back through the weirdness of Wiltshire.

Teffont Magna, Stapleford and Codford St Peter (and Britford)

We had one day before I headed off to sunnier climes and so it was with some feeling of urgency that we set off to squeeze in some last minute drawing and visiting. Well, you have to take the opportunities. First stop was another of seemingly countless delightful "English" villages that I thought only existed in Midsomer Murders, one Teffont Magna, off the beaten track in Wiltshire. Inside a simple church building was some Saxon knotwork, set firmly into the wall, thankfully. There was a hole in one part of it, not sure why, and a complicated knotwork pattern. It is absorbing to set about trying to draw the interlacing lines and invariably I go wrong, but it's not really a problem; it's my interpretation. Some of it was quite worn so that part always needs a little imagination, unless you can see that the pattern was repeating and try to recreate it.

If my memory serves me correctly we went on to Britford near Salisbury next. And ended up wishing we had never been. In fact the less said about it the better, but there were some fabulous examples of knotwork there and other patterns. They were sort of hidden in a corner in the dankest, darkest, vilest smelling place I have ever been. It was not, I don't think, just damp. It felt wrong in there. Just a weird, unwelcoming feeling. It was dark: we searched on every wall for light switches, but there were none. There were high pews on the side: I peeked in gingerly and then ran away as there were strange jars all along them. I can't explain it but neither of us felt right and we simply had the strongest urge to leave. It wasn't the baby's grave in the graveyard, it wasn't just the smell, there was something not conducive to staying and certainly not to drawing. Both of us were disappointed because the carvings were fine examples, but I could not even bring myself to keep my photos of them and we spent the rest of the trip trying to rid ourselves of the taste/smell and put it out of our minds. At Stapleford we tried to focus on what was there to get back into the groove - a sweet little church with some rather amusing faces on the inside columns. I tried to draw them but my heart wasn't in it.

Things improved measurably when we decided to stop at Codford St Peter as our final stop - we have been before but not done drawing. It has a truly wonderful Saxon carving of a figure, who looks like he is dancing and holding a branch. It is done in beautiful detail and I love how light of foot he is! It seems like something that might be celebrating fertility or the harvest, with the branch. On each side of it is more carving and we have long laughed at something that described it as having "dace" and "an otter" when proper (and even brief) examination will tell you there is no fish nor otter anywhere! I thought my imagination saw things that were unlikely but really, there is nothing shaped like either creature. Codford St Peter is a calm and restful place to draw and I enjoyed having a go at drawing the carving and also the rather charming font.