Fantasy Face, Series II, No 16

6" x 5" x 1" - dinnerware, millefiori, glass cane, and dentillium shells

English text follows (taken from CIA Wikipedia, probably inaccurate but fast)"

 

ан-Витале

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Материал из Википедии — свободной энциклопедии

Перейти к: навигация, поиск Католический храм

Базилика Сан-Витале

Basilica di San Vitale

 

СтранаИталия

ГородРавенна

Конфессиякатолицизм

Тип зданиябазилика

Основательепископ Екклезий

Строительство527—548 годы

Состояниевключен в состав Всемирного наследия ЮНЕСКО

Базилика Сан-Витале на Викискладе

  

Координаты: 44°25′14″ с. ш. 12°11′46″ в. д. (G) (O) (Я)

Показать географическую карту

 

Базилика Сан-Витале (итал. Basilica di San Vitale) — раннехристианская базилика[1] в Равенне (Италия), важнейший памятник византийского искусства в Западной Европе. В 1996 году в составе раннехристианских памятников Равенны была включена в число объектов Всемирного наследия ЮНЕСКО. Выделяется среди восьми раннехристианских памятников Равенны совершенством своих мозаик, которые не имеют себе равных за пределами Константинополя.Содержание [убрать]

1 История базилики

2 Особенности архитектуры

3 Внутреннее убранство

3.1 Мозаики апсиды

3.2 «Триумфальная» и входная арки

3.3 Пресбитерий

3.3.1 Стены

3.3.2 Верхняя галерея и свод

4 Музей

5 Примечания

6 Ссылки

7 Литература

 

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История базилики

 

Базилика была заложена в 527 году равеннским епископом Экклесием после его возвращения из Византии, где он вместе с папой Иоанном I выполнял дипломатическую миссию по поручению Теодориха Великого[2]. Храм был освящён в честь раннехристианского мученика святого Виталия Миланского, чьё изображение помещено в конхе апсиды.[3] Строительство велось на средства греческого ростовщика, Юлиана Аргентария (Серебряника). Освящение храма совершил 19 апреля 548 года епископ Максимиан.[4] Все внутреннее мозаичное убранство церкви было создано одновременно в 546—547 годы, различие стиля академик В. Н. Лазарев объясняет участием в работе разных мастеров.[5]

 

В XIII веке к южной стене церкви была пристроена колокольня и была проведена реконструкция деревянных перекрытий аркад. Масштабная реконструкция храма была проведена в XVI веке: в целях борьбы с поднятием грунтовых вод был поднят на 80 см уровень пола, обновлён пресбитерий, убраны деревянные хоры и перестроен внутренний дворик (1562 год) и южный портал здания. В 1688 году землетрясением была разрушена колокольня XIII века, её восстановили в 1696—1698 годы.[6]

 

В 1780 году купол ротонды и подкупольные ниши, лишённые при строительстве церкви каких-либо украшений, были расписаны фресками работы болонцев Бароцци и Гандольфи и венецианца Гвараны (Jacopo Guarana).

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Особенности архитектуры

 

План базилики

 

Базилика построена в форме восьмиугольного мартирия византийского типа, близкого по архитектуре к церкви Сергия и Вакха в Константинополе.[5] Наружные стены не имеют каких либо декоративных элементов и расчленены вертикальными и горизонтальными контрфорсами. Здание увенчано гранёным барабаном купола. Архитектура Сан-Витале сочетает элементы классического римского зодчества (купол, порталы, ступенчатые башни) с византийскими веяниями (трёхлопастная апсида, узкая форма кирпичей, трапециевидные капители, пульван и т. д.). Низ внутренних стен базилики облицован мрамором, наборный пол храма украшен геометрическим орнаментом.

 

Аркада ротонды

 

Мозаичное украшение капители

 

Конструкцию здания поддерживают восемь центральных опор, на которых держится купол диаметром в 16 метров. Для уменьшения бокового давления куполу придана конусообразная форма. Купол воздвигнут из лёгкого материала — вдетых друг в друга глиняных труб, закреплённых одна над другой в становящихся всё более узкими горизонтальных кольцах[7]. Опорные столбы образуют в центре храма ротонду, на втором ярусе которой расположены хоры. В промежутки между столбами ротонды помещены полукруглые двухэтажные аркады, расположенные по дугам, выгнутым к внешним стенам церкви. Благодаря описанному устройству храма внутренняя часть церкви кажется залитой светом, а окружающие её галереи искусственно погружены в мистическую полутемноту, что сразу же обращает внимание входящего на мозаики апсиды и пресбитерия[8]. Использование данного архитектурного решения привело к достижению следующего пространственного эффекта:

Выступающие за кольцо подкупольных столбов высокие аркады открывают центральное пространство глазам посетителя сразу же, как только он входит в церковь. Ещё находясь во внешнем обходе, он чувствует, что высоко поднятый купол словно вбирает в себя всё внутреннее пространство храма. При взгляде же из центра храма аркады воспринимаются как ещё одно кольцо опор, находящееся между столбами и внешними стенами и зрительно увеличивающее интерьер. Наконец, пространственный эффект усиливается своеобразной формой столбов, объём которых не воспринимается зрителем.[9]

  

Перед апсидой, освещаемой тремя высокими окнами круговой обход ротонды прерывается пресбитерием, окружённым двухэтажными аркадами. Алтарь вынесен за пределы апсиды в пресбитерий, а в ней установлена стационарная мраморная кафедра. Капители аркады пресбитерия выполнены в форме ажурных корзинок и украшены изображением креста, помещённого между двумя агнцами. Такое оформление однако разрушает тектоническую природу ордера.[9]

 

К числу особенностей Сан-Витале следует отнести и необычное устройство нартекса, расположенного здесь под углом к основной оси здания, проходящей через пресбитерий. Причины такого устройства нартекса не установлены: по мнению различных исследователей, архитектор мог таким образом сохранить память о ранее существовавших на месте храма часовнях, теснее включить в основной объём здания две лестничных башни или просто создать, помимо основного входа по оси здания, ещё один в боковой части церкви[8].

 

Базилика в Равенне послужила чтимым образцом для архитектуры Каролингского возрождения в целом и для её центрального произведения — дворцовой капеллы в Ахене. Филиппо Брунеллески изучал конструкцию купола Сан Витале при разработке проекта первого европейского купола Нового времени (флорентийский собор Санта-Мария-дель-Фьоре). Особенно он отметил то, что для облегчения купола равеннской церкви вместо наполнителя использовались полые глиняные сосуды.

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Внутреннее убранство

 

Рабы сквозь римские ворота

Уже не ввозят мозаик.

И догорает позолота

В стенах прохладных базилик.

Александр Блок, «Равенна»

 

Мозаичное убранство базилики

 

Основное пространство базилики украшено мраморной инкрустацией, а вогнутые поверхности апсиды (аркады, своды, конха) стены (вимы) пресбитерия покрыты византийской мозаикой. Мозаики Сан Витале были призваны продемонстрировать западному миру могущество и безупречный вкус византийского императора Юстиниана во время недолгого владычества византийцев в Италии.

 

Мозаики Сан-Витале являются редким для Европы образцом раннехристианской монументальной живописи, созданной в технике византийской мозаики.[10] Особую значимость представляют прижизненные портреты императора Юстиниана и его супруги Феодоры.

 

Мастера с помощью мозаики смогли подчеркнуть архитектурные элементы базилики, сделав акценты на символическую связь элемента конструкции и нанесённого на неё изображения:

Мозаики, которые покрывают весь этот интерьер за исключением цоколя, прекрасно выявляют конструктивный смысл архитектуры. Люнеты, распалубки, стены, арки, ниши и своды эффектно выделены различными типами декора. Так, ребра крестового свода усилены растительными гирляндами, в то время как фигуры ангелов, олицетворяющих мощь несущих конструкций, поддерживают центральный медальон.[11]

 

— Отто Демус. Мозаики византийских храмов

  

В боковых галереях находятся несколько раннехристианских саркофагов. Среди них наиболее примечателен мраморный саркофаг V века, несколько переделанный в середине VI века, в котором, как гласят греческая и латинская надписи на крышке, был погребён равеннский экзарх Исаак. На боковых сторонах саркофага можно видеть барельефы, изображающие поклонение волхвов, воскрешение Лазаря, Даниила в львином рву и крест с двумя павлинами[12].

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Мозаики апсиды

 

Мозаика конхи

Конха апсиды

 

Конха украшена мозаикой изображающей Иисуса Христа в образе юноши с крестчатым нимбом, сидящего на лазоревой небесной сфере, в окружении двух ангелов. Христос в одной руке держит свиток, опечатанный семью печатями (Откр.5:1), а другой протягивает мученический венец славы святому Виталию, которого подводит к нему ангел. Второй ангел представляет Иисусу равеннского епископа Екклезия, подносящего в дар макет основанной им базилики Сан-Витале.

 

Из под ног Иисуса по каменистой почве, поросшей лилиями, вытекают четыре реки Эдема: Фисон, Гихон, Хиддекель и Евфрат. Эта деталь прославляет Иисуса как источник воды живой (Откр.21:6) и роднит равеннское изображение с мозаикой монастыря Латому (Греция), созданной в этот же период.[13]

 

В. Н. Лазарев отмечает, что мозаика конхи является одной из самых тонких по исполнению, отличается подчёркнуто симметричной композицией и торжественным характером. По его мнению, над её созданием работали мозаичисты, знавшие византийское искусство в его столичных вариантах[5]. Вместе с тем, мозаики апсиды обнаруживают и типично византийскую неподвижность фигур, все персонажи изображены анфас, стоя. Даже участники двух процессий будто остановились на мгновение, чтобы показать себя в стационарном положении, чтобы позволить зрителю полюбоваться их особами[14].

Нижний уровень апсиды

 

На боковых стенах апсиды по сторонам от окон расположены мозаичные портреты изображающие императора Юстиниана и его супругу Феодору в окружении вельмож, придворных дам и священнослужителей. Это исторические портреты, созданные лучшими равеннскими мастерами на основе столичных образцов (В. Н. Лазарев считает, что это были «царские портреты, рассылавшиеся в провинции Византийской империи для копирования»[5]). Создание этих композиций было символом триумфа императора, вернувшего Равенну под византийский патронат[15].

Император Юстиниан со свитойИмператрица Феодора со свитой

  

Император с супругой изображены как донаторы, приносящие в дар церкви драгоценные литургические сосуды. Выполненные как фриз изображения отличаются фронтальной композицией и однообразием поз и жестов. При этом мастера смогли изобразить императорскую семью с индивидуальными чертами лиц в образе идеальных правителей, а сама композиция передаёт движение двух процессий по направлению к алтарю.

Юстиниан I

 

Император Юстиниан приносит в дар церкви патену и изображён, как и все другие фигуры, в фронтальной позе. Его голова, увенчанная диадемой, окружена нимбом, что отражает византийскую традицию отмечать таким способом царствующую особу.[16]

 

Император Юстиниан

 

По сторонам от Юстиниана стоят придворные и священнослужители. Среди них выделяются: пожилой человек в одежде сенатора (единственный стоит во втором ряду, по одной из версий, это ростовщик Юлиан Аргентарий, финансировавший строительство базилики, по другой, полководец Велисарий, по третьей, praefectus praetorio (префект претория) — должностное лицо, представлявшее особу императора в день освящения храма[17]), епископ Максимиан с крестом в руке и два диакона (один держит Евангелие, а другой — кадило). На этой мозаике Юстиниан и Максимиан изображены как авторитарные представители светской и церковной власти, поэтому их фигуры занимают доминирующее место, а над головой епископа даже помещена горделивая надпись: Maximianus. Если портрет Юстиниана является, скорее всего, копией с официальных изображений, рассылаемых по всей империи[18], то портреты Максимиана и персонажа, стоящего во втором ряду, выделяются характерными чертами, позволяющими предположить знакомство мозаичиста с оригиналами[17] .

Роскошные одеяния дали возможность мозаичистам развернуть перед зрителем всё ослепительное богатство их палитры — начиная от нежных белых и пурпуровых тонов и кончая ярко-зелёными и оранжево-красными. Особой тонкости исполнения они достигли в лицах четырёх центральных фигур, набранных из более мелких кубиков. Это позволило им создать четыре великолепных по остроте характеристики портрета, в которых, несмотря на ярко выраженные индивидуальные черты, есть и нечто общее: особая строгость выражения и печать глубокой убеждённости.[5]

  

Императрица Феодора

Феодора

 

Императрица изображена стоящей в нарфике, перед ней стоят два телохранителя, один из которых отодвигает завесу перед дверью. В руках Феодоры дар церкви — золотой потир, голова, увенчана диадемой и окружена нимбом, на плечах лежит тяжёлое ожерелье. Подол плаща императрицы украшает сцена поклонения волхвов, что является намёком на подношение самой Феодоры. Фигура царицы (единственная из всех остальных) обрамлена нишей с конхой, которую А. Альфёльди рассматривает как «нишу прославления».[19] Группу придворных дам, идущая за Феодорой, возглавляют две женщины, чьи изображения наделены портретными чертами, (предположительно, Антония и Иоанна — жена и дочь полководца Велисария[17]), лица остальных придворных дам стереотипны.

И здесь роскошные византийские одеяния дали мозаичистам повод блеснуть изысканными колористическими решениями. Особенно красивы краски на трёх центральных женских фигурах. Их лица набраны из более мелких и более разнообразных по форме кубиков, что облегчило передачу портретного сходства. Лица остальных придворных дам, как и лица стражи в мозаике с Юстинианом, носят стереотипный характер и мало выразительны. В них высокое искусство уступает место ремеслу и рутине.[5]

 

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«Триумфальная» и входная арки

 

«Триумфальная арка»

 

Арка, обрамляющая конху апсиды, по причине богатого мозаичного украшения получили название триумфальной. Она украшена мозаикой с изображением семи пар рогов изобилия в окружении цветов и птиц. Около верхней пары рогов помещены изображения императорских орлов, а между ними — монограмма Иисуса Христа. Наружная сторона арки, обращённая в пресбитерий, украшена изображением двух ангелов, возносящих медальон с крестом. Они изображены между двумя центрами христианского паломничества — Иерусалимом и Вифлеемом.

 

«Входная арка»

 

На склонах входной арки пресбитерия помещены 14 медальонов (по 7 на каждой стороне) с полуфигурами апостолов и святых, а в замке арки медальон с ликом Христа. Медальоны разделяются парами дельфинов. Медальоны представлены в следующем порядке (по направлению слева направо, если смотреть из основного пространства храма): мученик Гервасий; апостолы Фаддей, Матфей, Варфоломей, Иоанн Богослов, Андрей Первозванный, Пётр; Христос; апостолы Павел, Иаков, Филипп, Фома, Иаков Алфеев, Симон Кананит, мученик Протасий. Таким образом, кроме двенадцати апостолов на арке изображено двое святых — Гервасий и Протасий, которых традиция называет сыновьями святого Виталия. Помещение этих святых в один ряд с апостолами демонстрирует, с одной стороны, связь Равенны с Миланом, где были обретены их мощи[20], и напоминает, с другой стороны, о мистическом участии этих святых в победе над арианством. Лицам апостолов преданы индивидуальные черты, так апостол Андрей изображён с всклокоченными волосами и широко раскрытыми глазами.

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Пресбитерий

 

Вимы пресбитерия разделены на три мозаичных регистра: стены, верхнюю галерею и свод. Художественное исполнение мозаик пресбитерия гораздо грубее по сравнению с мозаикой апсиды, вероятно, они были созданы другими мозаичистами, работавшими в местной традиции[21]. Вместе с тем, в мозаиках пресбитерия нет статичности мозаик апсиды: персонажи стоят, сидят; к зрителям они обращены анфас, в профиль, пол-оборота; на смену золотому фону апсиды пришли пейзажи[14]. Тематика мозаик посвящена символическому содержанию идеи жертвы Христовой, которая раскрывается через ветхозаветные образы в соответствии с литургической трактовкой таинства евхаристии.

 

Академик В. Н. Лазарев отмечает, что мозаики пресбитерия частично пострадали от грубых реставраций. При этом они отличаются сложной символикой, характерной для убранства константинопольских церквей. Это позволяет ему сделать вывод, что «иконографическая программа этих мозаик восходит к византийским источникам». В мозаиках пресбитерия особо выделяется художественное исполнение пейзажей — скалистые уступы, похожие на обломки кристалла раскрашены яркими тонами (голубой, зелёный, лиловый, пурпурный) и местами украшены золотом. Всё это создаёт иллюзию яркого цветочного ковра.

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Стены

 

Сцены из жизни Авраама

Левая стена

 

Мозаики левой стены посвящены событиям из жизни патриарха Авраама: «Гостеприимство Авраама» (или ветхозаветная Троица) и «Жертвоприношение Авраама». В первой композиции три гостя сидят на столом на котором лежат три хлеба, отмеченные знаком креста, Авраам преподносит заколотого им телёнка, а его жена Сарра наблюдает за этой сценой из хижины. На второй композиции основной акцент перенесён на божественную длань, которая отводит в сторону нож Авраама, занесённый над его сыном Исааком. По сторонам от центральных композиций изображены пророк Иеремия со свитком в руках и Моисей, получающий на Синае Скрижали Завета на глазах двенадцати старейшин Израилевых. Отмечают высокое мастерство мозаичиста, избежавшего однообразия при изображении трёх сидящих ангелов: их головы слегка наклонены, различны положения их рук и ног[22]. Мозаика также детально показывает листья дерева, под которым сидят ангелы, что позволяет сделать вывод, что это именно дуб[23].

Правая стена

 

Жертвоприношение Авеля и Мельхиседека

 

Центр правой стены занимает композиция с изображением жертвоприношений Авеля и Мельхиседека (символический намёк на крестную смерть Христа). Изображение трёх жертвоприношений (Авеля, Мельхиседека и Авраама) на стенах пресбитерия иллюстрирует молитву евхаристического канона римской литургии[24]:

Supra quae propitio ac sereno vultu respicere digneris: et accepta habere, sicuti accepta habere dignatus es munera pueri tui iusti Abel, et sacrificium Patriarcha nostri Abrahae: et quod tibi obtulit summus sacerdos tuus Melchisedech, sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam hostiam.

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Перевод [показать]

  

Слева от центральной мозаики помещены две сцены из жизни Моисея: видение им Неопалимой купины на горе Хорив, и Моисей среди стада его тестя Иофора. В правой части изображён пророк Исаия (его фигура является парной по отношению к пророку Иеремии на противоположной стене). Эти два ветхозаветных пророка были выбраны по причине того, что они предсказали воплощение Сына Божьего, его страдания и крестную смерть. Необычно изображена сцена с Неопалимой купиной: огнём объят не только куст, но вся гора[26].

Иеремия и Иоанн БогословМоисей пасет стада Иофора и Неопалимая купинаМоисей получает откровение на горе Синай на глазах старейшин ИзраилевыхИсайя и Апостол Марк

  

Мозаика свода

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Верхняя галерея и свод

 

Арочные проёмы верхней галереи украшены изображениями четырёх евангелистов и их символами. Из под ног евангелистов вытекают ручьи чистой воды, символизирующей благую весть Евангелия, в этой воде купаются птицы и водные звери, в том числе цапля и черепаха[27]. В основание арок помещены вазы, из которых растут виноградные лозы и, переплетаясь, сходятся в замке арки у изображения креста.

 

Свод украшен медальоном с изображением апокалипсического Агнца (Откр.5:12), поддерживаемого четырьмя ангелами в позе Оранта, символизирующими стороны света. Белоснежный агнец, увенчанный нимбом, изображен на фоне звёздного неба, медальон с ним обрамлён венком. Композиция окружена райскими деревьями, растениями, птицами и животными. Божественный Агнец, взявший на себя грехи мира («Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi» из римской литургии[25]), венчает цикл мозаик пресбитерия, посвященный жертвам, приносимым людьми Богу.

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Музей

 

Рядом с базиликой Сан-Витале расположен Национальный музей Равенны с собранием римских монет, византийской резьбы по кости. В собрании представлен цикл фресок эпохи Треченто, снятых из церкви Санта Кьяра. Имеется коллекция тканей и живописи XVII—XVIII веков. Внутренний двор музея украшен древнеримской и ранехристианской скульптурой: каменные кресты IV—V веков, саркофаги.

 

Basilica of San Vitale

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For the eponymous basilica in Rome, see Basilica of San Vitale (Rome).Church of San Vitale

  

The Church of San Vitale

 

Shown within Italy

Basic information

Location Ravenna, Italy

Geographic coordinates44.42°N 12.196°ECoordinates: 44.42°N 12.196°E

RegionEmilia-Romagna

Year consecrated547

Architectural description

Architectural styleByzantine architecture

Groundbreaking527

Completed548

Construction cost26,000 solidi (gold pieces)

  

The Church of San Vitale — styled an "ecclesiastical basilica" in the penn state, though it is not of architectural basilica form — is a church in Ravenna, Italy, one of the most important examples of early Christian Byzantine Art and architecture in western Europe. The building is one of eight Ravenna structures inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.Contents [hide]

1 History

2 Architecture

3 Mosaic art

3.1 Justinian and Theodora panels

4 Legacy

5 See also

6 Notes

7 Further reading

8 External links

 

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History

 

The church was begun by Bishop Ecclesius in 527, when Ravenna was under the rule of the Ostrogoths, and completed by the 27th Bishop of Ravenna, Maximian in 546 during the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. The architect of this church is unknown.

 

The construction of the church was sponsored by a Greek banker, Julius Argentarius, of whom very little is known, except that he also sponsored the construction of the Basilica of Sant' Apollinare in Classe at around the same time. The final cost amounted to 26,000 solidi (gold pieces).[1]

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Architecture

 

Ground plan of the building

 

The church has an octagonal plan. The building combines Roman elements: the dome, shape of doorways, and stepped towers; with Byzantine elements: polygonal apse, capitals, and narrow bricks. The church is most famous for its wealth of Byzantine mosaics, the largest and best preserved outside of Constantinople. The church is of extreme importance in Byzantine art, as it is the only major church from the period of the Emperor Justinian I to survive virtually intact to the present day. Furthermore, it is thought to reflect the design of the Byzantine Imperial Palace Audience Chamber, of which nothing at all survives. According to legend, the church was erected on the site of the martyrdom of Saint Vitalis.[2] However, there is some confusion as to whether this is the Saint Vitalis of Milan, or the Saint Vitale whose body was discovered together with that of Saint Agricola, by Saint Ambrose in Bologna in 393.

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Mosaic art

 

The presbytery.

 

The central section is surrounded by two superposed ambulatories. The upper one, the matrimoneum, was reserved for married women. A series of mosaics in the lunettes above the triforia depict sacrifices from the Old Testament:[3] the story of Abraham and Melchizedek, and the Sacrifice of Isaac; the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, Jeremiah and Isaiah, representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the story of Abel and Cain. A pair of angels, holding a medallion with a cross, crowns each lunette. On the side walls the corners, next to the mullioned windows, have mosaics of the Four Evangelists, under their symbols (angel, lion, ox and eagle), and dressed in white. Especially the portrayal of the lion is remarkable in its feral ferocity.

 

The cross-ribbed vault in the presbytery is richly ornamented with mosaic festoons of leaves, fruit and flowers, converging on a crown encircling the Lamb of God. The crown is supported by four angels, and every surface is covered with a profusion of flowers, stars, birds and animals, including many peacocks. Above the arch, on both sides, two angels hold a disc and beside them a representation of the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. They symbolize the human race (Jerusalem representing the Jews, and Bethlehem the Gentiles).

 

All these mosaics are executed in the Hellenistic-Roman tradition: lively and imaginative, with rich colors and a certain perspective, and with a vivid depiction of the landscape, plants and birds. They were finished when Ravenna was still under Gothic rule. The apse is flanked by two chapels, the prothesis and the diaconicon, typical for Byzantine architecture.

 

Inside, the intrados of the great triumphal arch is decorated with fifteen mosaic medallions, depicting Jesus Christ, the twelve Apostles and Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius, the sons of Saint Vitale. The theophany was begun in 525 under bishop Ecclesius. It has a great gold fascia with twining flowers, birds, and horns of plenty. Jesus Christ appears, seated on a blue globe in the summit of the vault, robed in purple, with his right hand offering the martyr's crown to Saint Vitale. On the left, Bishop Ecclesius offers a model of the church.

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Justinian and Theodora panels

 

The mosaic of Emperor Justinian and his retinue.

 

At the foot of the apse side walls are two famous mosaic panels, executed in 548. On the right is a mosaic depicting the East Roman Emperor Justinian I, clad in purple with a golden halo, standing next to court officials, Bishop Maximian, palatinae guards and deacons. The halo around his head gives him the same aspect as Christ in the dome of the apse. Justinian himself stands in the middle, with soldiers on his right and clergy on his left, emphasizing that Justinian is the leader of both church and state of his empire.

 

The gold background of the mosaic shows that Justinian and his entourage are inside the church. The figures are placed in a V shape; Justinian is placed in the front and in the middle to show his importance with Bishop Maximian on his left and lesser individuals being placed behind them. This placement can be seen through the overlapping feet of the individuals present in the mosaic.[4]

 

Another panel (not pictured) shows Empress Theodora solemn and formal, with golden halo, crown and jewels, and a train of court ladies. She is almost depicted as a goddess. As opposed to the V formation of the figures in the Justinian mosaic, the mosaic with Empress Theodora shows the figures moving from left to right into the church. Theodora is seen holding the wine.

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Legacy

 

The Church of San Vitale inspired the design of the church of the Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Constantinople, then was the model used by Charlemagne for his Palatine Chapel in Aachen in 805, and centuries later its dome was the inspiration for Filippo Brunelleschi in the design for the dome of the Duomo of Florence.

Foden tipper. Originally an S108 but has been re-cabbed at some point assumably? Has unusually got a rear window in the N/S, but not in the O/S. Snapped at Knowsthorpe Lane, Leeds, and can still be seen grafting around Leeds.

Image c/o M. Broadley, Leeds

Via Aniello Falcone - Vomero- Naples.

  

Vomero is one of the hilly districts of Naples.

It is bordered to the north with the Arenella district , west districts with Soccavo Fuorigrotta and to the south with the Chiaia district and east with the district Montecalvario and , more to the east, but for a few meters , even with the district Advocate.

With the " decentralization reform " declared in 2005 , the Vomero and Arenella form the Municipality V, which , with its 120,000 inhabitants, is the most densely populated part of town .

  

In Roman times , the hill was called Vomero Paturcium (probably from Patulcius , name connected to Janus, the god to whom the hill was dedicated ) and in the Middle Ages , for linguistic corruption , Patruscolo or Patruscio . The current name , attested at the end of the sixteenth century (when it was referring not to the entire hill, but to an old farmhouse ) , presumably derives its origin from the ancient agricultural vocation and to the game of ploughshare , a hobby farmer who sanctioned as a winner who , with the plow plow , had drawn a furrow as straight as possible . However, their activities linked to the fields and the great harvest of vegetables grown for centuries earned him the nickname of the Hill of the broccoli.

Panorama from Posillipo.JPG

  

Magnify - clip.png The classic view of Naples with Vesuvius seen from Via Orazio in Posillipo . On the left the hill of Vomero and the Castel Sant 'Elmo on its top.

History of the hill

  

The Vomero ( specifically the Tavola Strozzi , 1474 )

  

The Vomero in a photo of Giorgio Sommer 1860-70 of approximately

Until the end of the nineteenth century, the Vomero was an almost uninhabited and suburbs far from the city of Naples , its oldest parts of the district as Antignano , residential areas were rural villages since the time of the Romans stood on the " Via Puteolis Neapolim for colles " road before the excavation of the tunnel linking Fuorigrotta and Mergellina was the only overland connection between the Phlegraean area and the city . Around the second century A.D. the road was rearranged and called on Antiniana , hence the name of the ward. Just in the ancient village that today is the district of Antignano is said to have occurred for the first time the miracle of San Gennaro, between 413 and 431 AD

Main article: For more, see Ward Antignano .

Later, after the Norman rule and the Swabian , with Anjou Naples became the capital in 1266 ( it remained so until the unification of Italy in 1860 ) . Began to rise , therefore, the need to climb the slopes of the Vomero hill , mainly for strategic reasons . The area then began to be populated mainly from the construction of the Carthusian cloister in 1325 and almost simultaneously the Angevins replaced the old lookout tower ( of Norman) near which stood the cloister , with the Castle of Belforte , core starting the Castel Sant 'Elmo . The structure of the remaining territory Vomero , however, remained unchanged.

Under the Aragonese and then under the Spanish, Naples underwent a dramatic increase in population , due to the high rate of immigration from the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of the kingdom. The need to expand the territory of the city prompted the viceroy Pedro Alvarez de Toledo to direct the development of the city ( then just flat ) to the foot of the hills , remained so far without significant settlements . However, in 1556 a law prohibited the construction of new buildings around St Elmo and , in 1583 , also on the slopes of the hill.

  

Floridiana

In the period subsequent to the viceroy Don Pedro, the building expansion followed , resulting in the fusion of innumerable villages , even on the hill began to form more homogeneous agglomerations , villages and hamlets . In the seventeenth century in the maps of the city are starting to be the first constructions hills.

During the plague of 1656 , the hill was used as a refuge by the nobility and the clergy had in fact been a tendency in the aristocracy residing in the old town to build a second home in the Vomero , a trend that will become more pronounced during the eighteenth century , especially thanks to the opening of the new "road Infrascata " ( Via Salvator Rosa) . Among the many noble families who settled in the Vomero , the Carafa , the Counts of Acerra , the Ruffo of Sicily, the Cacciottoli , the Cangiani . [2]

In 1817, the Vomero was promoted to the rank of residence is not only noble , but also regal , with the acquisition of a villa by Ferdinand I of Bourbon : the future Floridiana .

In 1809 , the new administrative division of the city made ​​by Joachim Murat , all villages in the Vomero became part of the city proper , in the district dell'Avvocata . Finally, in the mid- nineteenth century , the opening of Corso Maria Teresa (renamed Corso Vittorio Emanuele after 1860 ) , commissioned by Ferdinand II , delimited the bottom border of the future Vomero district.

The foundation of the new District and urbanization of the Vomero [edit | edit source ]

  

Piazza Vanvitelli in the fifties

The development of residential real Vomero began towards the end of the nineteenth century , more precisely in 1885 , with the foundation ( within the law "for the cleansing of Naples" ) of the New District and the design of a road network in grid-like pattern and radial pattern that applied to the dictates rationalistic in vogue throughout the European urban planning of the century , according to the example of the Paris of Baron Haussmann ( similar experiences in urbanism are found in the Italian district of Rome Esquilino and Testaccio ) . From the first moment the Vomero was conceived as a residential area for high -bourgeois classes : the beautiful villas and late Art Nouveau style buildings that were built in large numbers at the beginning of the century around the Floridiana and to the area of ​​Castel Sant ' Elmo and St. Martin's until the mid- twentieth century constituted the hallmark of the new district .

Main article: For more, see the Neapolitan Liberty .

Even before the law of cleansing , moreover, a Piedmontese bank , the bank Tiberina , had purchased the Vomero land between San Martino , Via Belvedere and Antignano , with the intention to build a new neighborhood (formerly Garibaldi, in fact , he had thought the hilly areas as potential new districts , in which, however, he believed you were to host the proletariat ) . The laying of the foundation stone by the sovereigns took place on May 11, 1885 , October 20, 1889 , the New District was inaugurated , with the opening of the funicular of Chiaia, which followed the Funicular Montesanto in 1891.

  

Upper station of the funicular railway station , in Piazza Fuga

Until that date , but for several decades later, the life and then the history of the Vomero hill and the city of Naples have evolved separately. "I go to Naples ", " go down to Naples " were the phrases of vomeresi to indicate the travel to the city. But , after the May 11, 1885 , Vomero slowly begins to weld territorially with the city. A welding , which ended at the end of the twentieth century , will inevitably mean importing all the unresolved problems inherited from the difficult history of the city of Naples.

First example of a type of construction "urban" were the " Four Palaces " in Piazza Vanvitelli , built in the early twentieth century by the Bank Tiberina . After the start of the work, however, the lack of responsiveness of the market ( due to the economic difficulties of the time and still difficult to links between the city and the hill) pushed the bank (owner of the built environment and the two funiculars ) to yield the 1899 his rights to the Bank of Italy . This resulted in the suspension of the works for several years in the plan of urbanization (the result of the agreement signed between the City and the Bank Tiberina) . At the beginning of the twentieth century were said to be made ​​( in addition to the layout of the subdivision ) only a part of the buildings in the center of Vomero ( between Piazza Vanvitelli , and go along Via Scarlatti Morghen ) . All new buildings were in Neo-Renaissance Naples will continue until the first decades of the twentieth century , dragging over the years the projects of the late nineteenth century .

The Bank of Italy , to recover the capital invested , he decided to sell the buildings already constructed and the land, and divide the blocks into smaller lots more sellable . Consequently, in the early years of the twentieth century there was an impetuous urban development, but there arose a housing less intensive , small villas with two, three floors, surrounded by lovely gardens , who, however, had the ability to more emphasis paesistici of places, compared to large buildings umbertini . The architectural taste that characterized the period , until the mid- twenties, was that defined liberty together with the so-called neoeclettico .

  

Villa La Santarella Eduardo Scarpetta

" The construction of small lots , which started at the beginning of the century, continued even after the First World War and continued to call up a new social class , able to acquire single-family villas or a few families made ​​up primarily of professionals, entrepreneurs , people still wealthy who , with their needs and their way of life, defined the character of the new district , where at this time of life began to take their habits , turning around Piazza Vanvitelli , the cable cars , the axes of Via and Via Scarlatti Luca Giordano. (...) continued the development of the areas of Via Aniello Falcone , via Palisades , the " Santarella " opened big prestigious schools (the " Vanvitelli ", the " Sannazaro " ) , entertainment elite , such as the theater "Diana" , opened in 1933 by Prince Umberto , cinemas, restaurants, cafes (...) ; clinics clean and efficient , the elegant early Christian basilica- style church of San Gennaro , the new sports center Littorio , elegant shops. then there were not artists . Vomero of this period is what is described in the books with regret that I recall , the one that created the myth in the collective imagination , that of nostalgia, " Vomero disappeared," the " Paradise Lost " , to a unique and unrepeatable . " [3]

The opening of the new funicular railway station , in 1928 , facilitating travel between the Vomero and the center , led to a significant increase in urbanization , which is re- oriented towards the big buildings are also made according to the different styles then fashionable ( from the liberty to neoeclettismo , the first rationalism ) . The new town expanded to the ancient villages ( Old Vomero , Antignano ) , embedding them .

After World War II to the present [edit | edit source ]

  

Via Morghen before the war and in 2008

After World War II , the ever-increasing demand for housing and the consequent usual speculation of the sixties, which raged throughout Italy and in particular in the South had an easy life, choked it, and often supplanted the sober and elegant architecture vomeresi with huge buildings in reinforced concrete , losing to the neighborhood much of its charm. With the disappearance of almost all the gardens , the destruction of a large part of the complex of Art Nouveau villas ( guilty of " wasting" too much space ) , of many of the most ancient villas , and even some of the older buildings umbertini , Vomero it has been developing as any upper-middle class neighborhood , which now covers the Arenella and pushing up the slopes of the hill of Camaldoli , not without some authentic ruined by construction (such as the infamous Great Wall of China by Mario Ottieri Via Aniello Falcone, or buildings Via Caldieri ) . [4]

The dramatic urban mess that you worked in Naples and in particular to the Vomero and its surrounding areas was masterfully told by Francesco Rosi in his 1963 film Hands Over the City , which is a fierce denunciation of corruption and speculation of Italy those years. The film's final caption reads: " The characters and events are imaginary , but real is the reality that produces them ."

Currently the Vomero is a congested residential and commercial area with a high population density , but the image of which Vomero neighborhood pleasant , rich and wealthy , has remained almost intact in the collective imagination to this day, despite the district has lost much of its charm , as mentioned, because of the strong urbanization.

The district , however, fortunately still retains many original architectural examples , which are an asset for the whole of Italian architecture. Furthermore, it is still possible to observe , in addition to the already mentioned monuments , historical buildings , such as, for example, some of the oldest aristocratic villas ( Villa del Pontanus , Villa Belvedere, Villa Regina , Villa Lucia Villa Haas, Prescot or Villa Diaz, Villa Ricciardi , Villa Leonetti , Villa Salve) and an ancient building of duty Bourbon , in the district Antignano .

Transport and Traffic [edit | edit source ]

  

Main article: For more, see the Naples Metro .

  

Via Alessandro Scarlatti

Line 1 of the Naples metro has contributed - in recent years - to streamline the vehicular traffic ingorgava the access roads to the hill Vomero Vomero quickly connecting to the historic center and the districts of the northern outskirts of Naples .

The Vomero , such as inner city areas not closed to vehicular traffic , being a largely commercial area and at the same time with high population density is one of the busiest districts of the city. Nevertheless , or perhaps to counter this , it maintains a pedestrian round the clock and always full of citizens and tourists , as well as its surroundings (Piazza Vanvitelli , Via Cimarosa ) , thanks to the many venues that attract , especially on weekends , people of all ages. The pedestrian , originally established ( since 1994 ) the only way Alessandro Scarlatti, 11 November 2008, also incorporated by Luca Giordano , a major artery located between the top and bottom Vomero ( ie, within the area of ​​San Martino and Piazza Vanvitelli and the via and via Cilea Belvedere) almost touching the oldest core of the Vomero , the district Antignano .

One of the main outputs of the bypass ( Vomero , exit 9 ) leads in two of the main streets : Via Cilea and so Caldieri ( individual outputs should not be considered because the deviation occurs after the toll ) . The intersection of Via Pigna ( always from the Vomero ) instead brings in neighboring districts and Soccavo Arenella (although the output remains in the immediate vicinity of Vomero district ) .

The district is connected to the metro system and then to the rest of the city , as mentioned, via the Metro Line 1 ( stops Four Days - initially " Cilea - Four Days " - and Vanvitelli ), through three of the four towns funiculars ( Central Funicular , Chiaia funicular funicular and Montesanto) who are born to connect the Vomero to the city center .

In the past few years have been finally opened three new escalators urban [5 ] to move more smoothly (uphill ) citizens and visitors , from the area of ​​Piazza Fuga or Piazza Vanvitelli , directly above the center of Via Scarlatti , in front of the upper station of the Montesanto funicular , a few hundred meters from Castel St. Elmo and the Certosa di San Martino . There are also bus services that connect the Vomero to the rest of the city.

 

But at least he got to enjoy his sleet-sicle on this icy Texas morning.

 

iPhone 5S photo

Austin, Texas

I should have done this a long time ago. This was my version of the yearbook cover last year. It made it to second place. It was pretty close. The teacher of the yearbook class notified everyone that it would be in the table of contents or the title page or elsewhere, but it wasn't. But I have my copy, and I have Flickr here, so up here it goes. Hope my efforts were alright.

But not far enough.

 

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

....but it was a little too wet to sit at the wheel.

... but was shot in Upper Austria ...

Karoonda Pioneer Park.

It is located in what was once the encircling parklands of Karoonda. These parklands, however we resurveyed for building blocks in 1928 but did not sell. It was reinstituted as parklands in 1982 and the Pioneer Park was started. The museum/park concentrates on pioneer farming techniques from 1910 to 1950 and the era when the railway was paramount in the Mallee. Old buildings in the Park include the Wynarka Methodist Church (1913), Bolt’s Bush Shed and Stables (1944), Westover’s Horse Shaft chaff cutter (1920s), Kunlara Post Office (about 1914), the first Hood family farmhouse (1913), and Brown’s blacksmith works (1914.) Structures from the railway era are quite prolific and include: railcar stock- sheep wagons, goods van, louvred van, Y truck for mallee roots, a 75 class railcar; Yurgo Railway Station; a railway siding; Mindarie Railway Pump House (1917); a pull trike; and an American made Brill(Barwell Bull) Railcar from Philadelphia which entered service in 1924. The Philadelphia Company provided chassis and the Islington Railway workshops built the body of the carriage. An improved version entered the service of South Australian Railways in 1927. The petrol running Brill cars were retired from service in 1971 after serving on almost all SAR country rail lines for nearly 50 years. (Henry Barwell was Premier of South Australia from 1920-1924 when the Brill cars first entered service and he was the man who authorised the erection of the current Adelaide Railway station. He also appointed William Webb from Colorado as the Chief Commissioner of the Railways in 1923. It was Webb who modernised SAR, expanded railway operations in Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend and introduced large, faster and heavier railway engines which necessitated rebuilding much of the railway line from Adelaide to Mount Lofty and elsewhere in SA. Webb returned to the USA in 1930 leaving SAR in debt but with good infrastructure which proved to be invaluable with troop and equipment movement during World War Two.

 

Karoonda.

Karoonda is the government town for the Hundred of Marmon-Jabuk which like the Hundred of Hooper was opened for sale in 1911.The town itself is right on the edge of the hundred because of the Brown’s Well railway line alignment which veered to this point because of a deep government well (220 feet) located here. Steam trains always needed good water supplies and so wells and bores were sunk across the Murray Mallee. There are excellent quality water supplies across the region which is why Lameroo and Pinnaroo have become major irrigation areas for vegetables. Beyond Karoonda the next deep government bore for water for steam trains was located at Alawoona. Regular passenger and freight trains started arriving at Karoonda from early 1913 but by then the government had already released plans for more railways in the Murray Mallee to Peebinga( the so-called railway to nowhere) and to Waikerie on the upper Murray.

 

Thus Karoonda was destined to be a major railway junction point from its inception with railway engines and cars and railway employees based in the future town. In fact the refreshment rooms were erected in 1914 as trains stopped in Karoonda for 10 minutes. Major work was done on the railway station in 1916 and from its inception the rail yards always had piles of mallee roots destined for the winter fires of Adelaide. Roots were obtained for the process of clearing the dense mallee and provided farmers with an additional source of income. Karoonda was the base for rail cars used on services to Peebinga, Waikerie, Barmera and Loxton. The rail services were a boon for Karoonda businessmen as Karoonda bakery sent items to stations most of the way to Loxton ; the blacksmith sent metal parts and repairs to sidings etc.

 

But most of the Mallee lines radiating out from Karoonda were closed during the 1980s but the Tookayerta Railway was converted to standard gauge in 1998. It allows standard gauge trains to operate between Tailem Bend and the Viterra Grain Terminal just outside of Loxton. It has grain stops at Karoonda, Mindarie, Wanbi, Alawoona and Loxton (Tookayerta). The only other rail line in the Mallee converted to standard gauge was the Pinnaroo line which also has grain trains in season. It also branches out from Tailem Bend. The railway lines north from Karoonda to Waikerie and east to Peebinga were closed in 1990 and Karoonda is no longer a rail junction.

 

Karoonda grew quickly despite the misgivings some had about the viability of farming in the Mallee. The town was

proclaimed in December 1913 and town lots were sold in January 1914. All the 103 allotments were purchased with prices for blocks opposite the railway line fetching the highest prices. One allotment was set aside by the government for an institute and in September 1914 a fine stone Institute hall had opened. This hall was crucial to the early settlers in Karoonda as the town school started in the hall in January 1915 and the first Anglican, Catholic and Methodist church services were held in this building. (The school was opened in 1917 and added to in 1928.) The first purchasers of town lots included a solicitor, blacksmith, butcher, greengrocer, storekeeper, hotelkeeper, fruiterer, carpenter, saddler, baker etc. Most of the first buildings were galvanised iron or timber framed and one example was the Bank of Adelaide which opened in 1914. The Karoonda Hotel opened in 1914 as the licensee of the hotel in Parrakie near Lameroo transferred his licensee to Karoonda. By the end of 1914 Karoonda had a police station, hotel, institute, four stores, a bakery, blacksmith, saddler, boarding house and some dwellings. Many of the early stone buildings were erected in 1915. Around 1918 Male Brothers from Murray Bridge opened their carriage and blacksmith works. By 1920 it had 40 employees.

 

In the 1920s Karoonda continued to grow and expand. New town subdivisions (1925 and 1928) were created south of the railway line and to the west of the existing town. The stone Post Office was completed in 1925; the Karoonda Hotel was extended in 1927 and 1930 (and again in 1961); the Institute had a movie projection box added to the front; the Masonic Lodge although formed in 1925 had their Temple open in 1930; the first Council Chambers were finished in 1927( before then a wooden prefab room was used); the Methodist church opened in 1925; All Hallows Anglican Church opened in July 1926; and St. Finian of Clonard Catholic Church opened in February 1930 and St. Johns Lutheran Church was completed in 1927. Then the Great Depression hit the town and drought years exacerbated its effects. The main structure built in the thirties was a new Police Station in 1938. Since the thirties a new besser block front has been added to the old Institute building (1962), new Council Chambers opened in 1981, and a new hospital was added to the town in 1970. As mentioned before Karoonda Area School was formed in 1940 with its official opening in January 1941. Its creation meant the closing of five surrounding small schools in 1940 and a further four school closures in 1941. Karoonda Area was the first in the state. New classrooms were built for it in 1963 and 1970. Karoonda is now surviving well as higher prices for wool and lamb and a more diversified range of cereal and legume crops adapted to low winter rainfall avoids low crop yields except in severe drought years.

Karoonda has a claim to fame that no other SA town can match. On 30th November 1930 a ball of fire was seen in the sky near Karoonda. A search by Professor Kerr Grant of the University of Adelaide located the meteorite that had landed near Karoonda two weeks after the sightings. It shattered on landing and 92 fragments of the meteorite were gathered. Professor Douglas Mawson the Professor of Geology analysed and described the meteorite for a 1934 scientific publication. It was an unusual meteorite type known as chondritic asiderite.It mainly consisted of olivine with minor amounts of a range of unusual minerals. A small fragment is kept in the Council Chambers. Its chemical composition was re-analysed in America in the 1950s. The town has a small plaque about the meteorite.

 

Henry McNeal Turner was an organizer of the African Methodist Episcopal Church during Reconstruction. At first he counseled cooperation with the regions whites, but eventually he became disaffected by the racism he encountered, which included the ousting of blacks from the state house and disenfranchisement of blacks (loss of their right to vote). In time he favored resettlement in Africa. But some whom he helped to send there returned disillusioned and criticized him. He died somewhat ostracized by both the white and black communities.

 

Here is what the New Georgia Encyclopedia has to say about him:

www.newgeorgiaencyclopedia.com/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-632&a...

 

Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915)

 

One of the most influential African American leaders in late-nineteenth-century Georgia, Henry McNeal Turner was a pioneering church organizer and missionary for the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in Georgia, later rising to the rank of bishop. Turner was also an active politician and Reconstruction-era state legislator from Macon. Later in life, he became an outspoken advocate of back-to-Africa emigration.

 

Turner was born in 1834 in Newberry Courthouse, South Carolina, to Sarah Greer and Hardy Turner. Turner was never a slave. His paternal grandmother was a white plantation owner. His maternal grandfather, David Greer, arrived in North America aboard a slave ship but, according to family legend, was found to have a tattoo with the Mandingo coat of arms, signifying his royal status. The South Carolinians decided not to sell Greer into slavery and sent him to live with a Quaker family.

 

Against great odds, Turner managed to receive an education. An Abbeville, South Carolina, law firm employed him at age fifteen to do janitorial tasks, and the firm's lawyers, appreciating his high intelligence, helped provide him with a well-rounded education. About a year earlier, Turner had been converted during a Methodist revival and decided he would one day become a preacher. After receiving his preacher's license in 1853, he traveled throughout the South as an itinerant evangelist, going as far as New Orleans, Louisiana. Much of his time was spent in Georgia, where he preached at revivals in Macon, Athens, and Atlanta. In 1856 he married Eliza Peacher, the daughter of a wealthy African American house builder in Columbia, South Carolina. They had fourteen children, only four of whom survived into adulthood.

 

In 1858 he and his family journeyed north to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was accepted as a preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Turner feared southern legislation threatening enslavement of free African Americans. For the next five years, he filled pastorates in Baltimore, Maryland, and in Washington, D.C., and witnessed the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65). During his time in Washington, he befriended Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, and other powerful Republican legislators. In 1863 Turner was instrumental in organizing the First Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops in his own churchyard and was mustered into service as an army chaplain for that regiment. He and his regiment were involved in numerous battles in the Virginia theater.

 

At the war's end, U.S. president Andrew Johnson reassigned Turner to a black regiment in Atlanta, but Turner resigned when he realized it already had a chaplain. He spent much of the next three years traveling throughout Georgia, helping to organize the African Methodist Episcopal Church in what was virgin, but not always friendly, territory. African Americans flocked to the new denomination, but the lack of such essentials as trained pastors and adequate meeting space challenged Turner.

 

In 1867, after Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts, Turner switched his energies to the political sphere. He helped organize Georgia's Republican Party. He served in the state's constitutional convention and then was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, representing Macon. In 1868, when the vast majority of white legislators decided to expel their African American peers on the grounds that officeholding was a privilege denied those from a servile background, Turner delivered an eloquent speech from the floor. Unfortunately, it did little to sway his fellow legislators. Soon afterward Turner received threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

 

In 1869 he was appointed postmaster of Macon by U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant but was forced to resign a few weeks later under fire from allegations that he consorted with prostitutes and had passed defective currency. At the behest of the U.S. Congress, he did reclaim his legislative seat in 1870, but he was denied reelection in a fraud-filled contest a few months later. Turner moved to Savannah, where he worked at the Custom House and served as a pastor of the prestigious St. Philip's AME Church. In 1876 he was elected manager of the publishing house of the church. Four years later, in a hard-fought and controversial contest, he won election as the twelfth bishop of the AME Church.

 

Turner was an extremely vigorous and successful bishop. In 1885 he became the first AME bishop to ordain a woman, Sarah Ann Hughes, to the office of deacon. He wrote The Genius and Theory of Methodist Polity (1885), a learned guide to Methodist policies and practices. He twice entered the political ranks in support of prohibition referenda in Atlanta. After his wife, Eliza, died in 1889, Turner eventually married three more times: Martha Elizabeth DeWitt in 1893; Harriet A. Wayman in 1900; and Laura Pearl Lemon in 1907. Between 1891 and 1898, Turner traveled four times to Africa. He was instrumental in promoting the annual conferences in Liberia and Sierra Leone and in attaining a merger with the Ethiopian Church in South Africa. Turner also sought to promote the growth of the AME Church in Latin America, sending missionaries to Cuba and Mexico.

 

With the support of white businessmen from Alabama, Turner helped organize the International Migration Society to promote the return of African Americans to Africa. To further the emigrationist cause, he established his own newspapers: The Voice of Missions (editor, 1893-1900) and later The Voice of the People (editor, 1901-4). Two ships with a total of 500 or more emigrants sailed to Liberia in 1895 and 1896, but a number returned, complaining about disease and the country's poor economic prospects. Turner remained an advocate of back-to-Africa programs but was unable to make further headway against the negative reactions of returned emigrants. In his later years he felt increasingly estranged from the South.

 

Turner died on May 8, 1915, in Windsor, Canada, while traveling on church business. He is buried in Atlanta. A portrait of Turner hangs in the state capitol.

  

Here is the wikipedia entry on him:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_McNeal_Turner

 

Henry McNeal Turner (February 1, 1834 – May 8, 1915) was a minister, politician, and the first southern bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; he was a pioneer in Georgia in organizing new congregations of the independent black denomination after the American Civil War. Born free in South Carolina, Turner learned to read and write and became a Methodist preacher. He joined the AME Church in St. Louis, Missouri in 1858, where he became a minister; later he had pastorates in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC.

 

In 1863 during the American Civil War, Turner was appointed as the first black chaplain in the United States Colored Troops. Afterward, he was appointed to the Freedman's Bureau in Georgia. He settled in Macon and was elected to the state legislature in 1868 during Reconstruction. He planted many AME churches in Georgia after the war. In 1880 he was elected as the first southern bishop of the AME Church after a fierce battle within the denomination. Angered by the Democrats' regaining power and instituting Jim Crow laws in the late nineteenth century South, Turner began to support black nationalism and emigration of blacks to Africa. He was the chief figure to do so in the late nineteenth century; the movement grew after World War I.

 

Biography

 

Turner was born free in Newberry, South Carolina to Sarah Greer and Hardy Turner, both of African and European ancestry. Some sources say he was born in Abbeville, South Carolina. His father's parents were a white mother, who was a plantation owner, and a black father; according to partus sequitur ventrem, her children were free, as she was. According to family tradition, his maternal grandfather, renamed David Greer, was imported as a slave to South Carolina from Africa. Traders noticed he had royal Mandingo marks and did not sell him into slavery; Greer worked for a Quaker family and married a free woman of color. Turner grew up with his mother and maternal grandmother.

 

South Carolina law at the time of Turner's birth prohibited teaching blacks to read and write. As a youth, he worked as a custodian for a law firm, where his intelligence was noted by sympathetic whites; they taught him to read and write.

 

Career

 

At the age of 14, Turner was inspired by a Methodist revival and swore to become a pastor. He received his preacher's license at the age of 19 from the Methodist Church South in 1853. He traveled through the South for a few years as an evangelist and exhorter.

 

In 1858 he moved with his family to Saint Louis, Missouri. The demand for slaves in the South made him fear that members of his family might be kidnapped and sold into slavery, as has been documented for hundreds of free blacks. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 seemed to increase the boldness of slave traders and people they hired as slavecatchers. In St. Louis, he became ordained as a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and studied the classics, Hebrew and divinity at Trinity College.

 

He also served in pastorates in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC, where he met influential Republicans.

 

Marriage and family

 

In 1856, Turner married Eliza Peacher, daughter of a wealthy black contractor in Columbia, South Carolina. They had 14 children, four of whom lived to adulthood. After her death in 1889, Turner married Martha Elizabeth DeWitt in 1893; Harriet A. Wayman in 1900; and Laura Pearl Lemon in 1907. He outlived three of his four wives.

 

Civil War

 

During the American Civil War, Turner organized one of the first regiments of black troops (Company B of the First United States Colored Troops), and was appointed as chaplain to it. He was the first of the 14 black chaplains to be appointed during the war.

 

After the war, he was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to work with the Freedman's Bureau in Georgia during Reconstruction. White clergy from the North also led some Freedmen's Bureau operations.

 

Political influence

 

Following the Civil War, Turner became politically active with the Republican Party, whose officials had led the war effort and, under Abraham Lincoln, emancipated the slaves throughout the Confederacy. He helped found the Republican Party of Georgia. Turner ran for political office from Macon and was elected to the Georgia Legislature in 1868. At the time, the Democratic Party (United States) still controlled the legislature and refused to seat Turner and 26 other newly elected black legislators, all Republicans. After the federal government protested, the Democrats allowed Turner and his fellow legislators to take their seats during the second session.

 

In 1869, he was appointed by the Republican administration as postmaster of Macon, which was a political plum. Turner was dismayed after the Democrats regained power in the state and throughout the South by the late 1870s. He had seen the rise in violence at the polls, which repressed black voting. In 1883, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1875, forbidding racial discrimination in hotels, trains, and other public places, was unconstitutional. Turner was incensed:

 

"The world has never witnessed such barbarous laws entailed upon a free people as have grown out of the decision of the United States Supreme Court, issued October 15, 1883. For that decision alone authorized and now sustains all the unjust discriminations, proscriptions and robberies perpetrated by public carriers upon millions of the nation's most loyal defenders. It fathers all the 'Jim-Crow cars' into which colored people are huddled and compelled to pay as much as the whites, who are given the finest accommodations. It has made the ballot of the black man a parody, his citizenship a nullity and his freedom a burlesque. It has engendered the bitterest feeling between the whites and blacks, and resulted in the deaths of thousands, who would have been living and enjoying life today."

 

In the late nineteenth century, he witnessed state legislatures in Georgia and across the South passing measures to disfranchise blacks. He became a proponent of black nationalism and supported emigration of American blacks to Africa.He thought it was the only way they could make free and independent lives for themselves. When he traveled to Africa, he was struck by the differences in the attitude of Africans who ruled themselves and had never known the degradation of slavery.

 

He founded the International Migration Society, supported by his own newspapers: The Voice of Missions (he served as editor, 1893-1900) and later The Voice of the People (editor, 1901-4). He organized two ships with a total of 500 or more emigrants, who traveled to Liberia in 1895 and 1896. This was established as an American colony by the American Colonization Society before the Civil War, and settled by free American blacks, who tended to push aside the native African peoples. Disliking the lack of economic opportunity, cultural shock and disease, some of the migrants returned to the United States. After that, Turner did not organize another expedition.

 

Church leadership

 

As a correspondent for The Christian Reporter, the weekly newspaper of the AME Church, he wrote extensively about the Civil War. Later he wrote about the condition of his parishioners in Georgia.

 

When Turner joined the AME Church in 1858, its members lived mostly in the Northern and border states; total members numbered 20,000. His biographer Stephen W. Angell described Turner as "one of the most skillful denominational builders in American history." After the Civil War, he founded many AME congregations in Georgia as part of a missionary effort by the church in the South. It gained more than 250,000 new adherents throughout the South by 1877, and by 1896 had a total of more than 452,000 members nationally.

 

In 1880, Turner was elected as the first bishop from the South in the AME Church, after a hard battle within the denomination. Although one of the last bishops to have struggled up from poverty and a self-made man, he was the first AME Bishop to ordain a woman to the order of Deacon. He discontinued the controversial practice because of threats and discontent among the congregations. During and after the 1880s, Turner supported prohibition and women's suffrage movements. He also served for twelve years as chancellor of Morris Brown College (now Morris Brown University), a historically black college affiliated with the AME Church in Atlanta.

 

During the 1890s, Turner went four times to Liberia and Sierra Leone, United States and British colonies respectively. As bishop, he organized four annual AME conferences in Africa to introduce more American blacks to the continent and organize missions in the colonies.He also worked to establish the AME Church in South Africa, where he negotiated a merger with the Ethiopian Church. Due to his efforts, African students from South Africa began coming to the United States to attend Wilberforce University in Ohio, which the AME church had operated since 1863. His efforts to combine missionary work with encouraging emigration to Africa were divisive in the AME Church.

 

Turner crossed denominational lines in the United States, building connections with black Baptists, for instance.[4] He was known as a fiery orator. He notably preached that God was black, scandalizing some but appealing to his colleagues at the first Black Baptist Convention when he said:

 

"We have as much right biblically and otherwise to believe that God is a Negroe, as you buckra or white people have to believe that God is a fine looking, symmetrical and ornamented white man. For the bulk of you and all the fool Negroes of the country believe that God is white-skinned, blue eyed, straight-haired, projected nosed, compressed lipped and finely robed white gentleman, sitting upon a throne somewhere in the heavens. Every race of people who have attempted to describe their God by words, or by paintings, or by carvings, or any other form or figure, have conveyed the idea that the God who made them and shaped their destinies was symbolized in themselves, and why should not the Negroe believe that he resembles God." -- Voice of Missions, February 1898

 

He died while visiting Windsor, Ontario in 1915. Turner was buried in Atlanta. After his death, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote in The Crisis magazine about him:

  

"Turner was the last of his clan, mighty men mentally and physically, men who started at the bottom and hammered their way to the top by sheer brute strength, they were the spiritual progeny of African chieftains, and they built the African church in America."

 

The Museum of the Moon was still supposed to be on. Or, to be more accurate, I had not checked that it was still on, but would be a good excuse to return to Rochester for the first time in over a decade.

 

Last time here I took seven or so shots, I was hoping to improve on that.

 

But, as I was to find, the Moon moved out on Wednesday, so there was just the cathedral to look at and record, and I pretty much had the cathedral to myself.

 

There was a service in the chancel, so that and the Quire were out of bounds for a while, but once over I was given the nod I could go in.

 

How do you describe a cathedral? Especially one as grand and old as Rochester?

 

From the west, the cathedral doesn't look too big, but there is a viewing place from the High Street that shows the cathedral to be a large and complicated building.

 

Inside the nave is huge, with the organ towering over the altar. Through the doorway into the quire and the sanctuary beyond, and all the while, above the white vaulted ceiling reached from the high walls and columns.

 

All around the walls are memorials to the great and good of Kent, some tombs too. The step leading from the aisles to the sanctuary are worn down by the millions of feet that have climbed them over the centuries.

 

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The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the seat (cathedra) of the Bishop of Rochester, the second oldest bishopric in England after that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The edifice is a Grade I listed building (number 1086423)

 

The Rochester diocese was founded by Justus, one of the missionaries who accompanied Augustine of Canterbury to convert the pagan southern English to Christianity in the early 7th century. As the first Bishop of Rochester, Justus was granted permission by King Æthelberht of Kent to establish a church dedicated to Andrew the Apostle (like the monastery at Rome where Augustine and Justus had set out for England) on the site of the present cathedral, which was made the seat of a bishopric. The cathedral was to be served by a college of secular priests and was endowed with land near the city called Priestfields.[3][a][b]

 

Under the Roman system, a bishop was required to establish a school for the training of priests.[4] To provide the upper parts for music in the services a choir school was required.[5] Together these formed the genesis of the cathedral school which today is represented by the King's School, Rochester. The quality of chorister training was praised by Bede.

 

The original cathedral was 42 feet (13 m) high and 28 feet (8.5 m) wide. The apse is marked in the current cathedral on the floor and setts outside show the line of the walls. Credit for the construction of the building goes to King Æthelberht rather than St Justus. Bede describes St Paulinus' burial as "in the sanctuary of the Blessed Apostle Andrew which Æthelberht founded likewise he built the city of Rochester."[c][7]

 

Æthelberht died in 617 and his successor, Eadbald of Kent, was not a Christian. Justus fled to Francia and remained there for a year before he was recalled by the king.[8]

 

In 644 Ithamar, the first English-born bishop, was consecrated at the cathedral.[d] Ithamar consecrated Deusdedit as the first Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury on 26 March 655.[9]

 

The cathedral suffered much from the ravaging of Kent by King Æthelred of Mercia in 676. So great was the damage that Putta retired from the diocese and his appointed successor, Cwichelm, gave up the see "because of its poverty".[10]

 

In 762, the local overlord, Sigerd, granted land to the bishop, as did his successor Egbert.[e][11] The charter is notable as it is confirmed by Offa of Mercia as overlord of the local kingdom.

 

Following the invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror granted the cathedral and its estates to his half-brother, Odo of Bayeux. Odo misappropriated the resources and reduced the cathedral to near-destitution. The building itself was ancient and decayed. During the episcopate of Siward (1058–1075) it was served by four or five canons "living in squalor and poverty".[12] One of the canons became vicar of Chatham and raised sufficient money to make a gift to the cathedral for the soul and burial of his

 

Gundulf's church

 

Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, amongst others, brought Odo to account at the trial of Penenden Heath c. 1072. Following Odo's final fall, Gundulf was appointed as the first Norman bishop of Rochester in 1077. The cathedral and its lands were restored to the bishop.

 

Gundulf's first undertaking in the construction of the new cathedral seems to have been the construction of the tower which today bears his name. In about 1080 he began construction of a new cathedral to replace Justus' church. He was a talented architect who probably played a major part in the design or the works he commissioned. The original cathedral had a presbytery of six bays with aisles of the same length. The four easternmost bays stood over an undercroft which forms part of the present crypt. To the east was a small projection, probably for the silver shrine of Paulinus which was translated there from the old cathedral.[f] The transepts were 120 feet long, but only 14 feet wide. With such narrow transepts it is thought that the eastern arches of the nave abuted the quire arch.[14] To the south another tower (of which nothing visible remains) was built. There was no crossing tower.[15] The nave was not completed at first. Apparently designed to be nine bays long, most of the south side but only five bays to the north were completed by Gundulf. The quire was required by the priory and the south wall formed part of its buildings. It has been speculated that Gundulf simply left the citizens to complete the parochial part of the building.[16] Gundulf did not stop with the fabric, he also replaced the secular chaplains with Benedictine monks, obtained several royal grants of land and proved a great benefactor to his cathedral city.

 

In 1078 Gudulf founded St Bartholomew's Hospital just outside the city of Rochester. The Priory of St Andrew contributed daily and weekly provisions to the hospital which also received the offerings from the two altars of St James and of St Giles.[17]

 

During the episcopates of Ernulf (1115–1124) and John (I) (1125–1137) the cathedral was completed. The quire was rearranged, the nave partly rebuilt, Gundulf's nave piers were cased and the west end built. Ernulf is also credited with building the refectory, dormitory and chapter house, only portions of which remain. Finally John translated the body of Ithamar from the old Saxon cathedral to the new Norman one, the whole being dedicated in 1130 (or possibly 1133) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by 13 bishops in the presence of Henry I, but the occasion was marred by a great fire which nearly destroyed the whole city and damaged the new cathedral. It was badly damaged by fires again in 1137 and 1179. One or other of these fires was sufficiently severe to badly damage or destroy the eastern arm and the transepts. Ernulf's monastic buildings were also damaged.

 

Probably from about 1190, Gilbert de Glanville (bishop 1185–1214) commenced the rebuilding of the east end and the replacement on the monastic buildings. The north quire transept may have been sufficiently advanced to allow the burial of St William of Perth in 1201, alternatively the coffin may have lain in the north quire aisle until the transept was ready. It was then looted in 1215 by the forces of King John during siege of Rochester Castle. Edmund de Hadenham recounts that there was not a pyx left "in which the body of the Lord might rest upon the altar".[14] However, by 1227, the quire was again in use when the monks made their solemn entry into it. The cathedral was rededicated in 1240 by Richard Wendene (also known as Richard de Wendover) who had been translated from Bangor.[14][18]

 

The shrines of Ss Paulinus and William of Perth, along with the relics of St Ithamar, drew pilgrims to the cathedral. Their offerings were so great that both the work mentioned above and the ensuing work could be funded.

 

Unlike the abbeys of the period (which were led by an abbot) the monastic cathedrals were priories ruled over by a prior with further support from the bishop.[19] Rochester and Carlisle (the other impoverished see) were unusual in securing the promotion of a number of monks to be bishop. Seven bishops of Rochester were originally regular monks between 1215 and the Dissolution.[20] A consequence of the monastic attachment was a lack of patronage at the bishop's disposal. By the early 16th century only 4% of the bishop's patronage came from non-parochial sources.[21] The bishop was therefore chronically limited in funds to spend on the non-monastic part of the cathedral.

 

The next phase of the development was begun by Richard de Eastgate, the sacrist. The two eastern bays of the nave were cleared and the four large piers to support the tower were built. The north nave transept was then constructed. The work was nearly completed by Thomas de Mepeham who became sacrist in 1255. Not long after the south transept was completed and the two bays of the nave nearest the crossing rebuilt to their current form. The intention seems to have been to rebuild the whole nave, but probably lack of funds saved the late Norman work.

 

The cathedral was desecrated in 1264 by the troops of Simon de Montfort, during sieges of the city and castle. It is recorded that armed knights rode into the church and dragged away some refugees. Gold and silver were stolen and documents destroyed. Some of the monastic buildings were turned into stables.[22] Just over a year later De Montfort fell at the Battle of Evesham to the forces of Edward I. Later, in 1300, Edward passed through Rochester on his way to Canterbury and is recorded as having given seven shillings (35p) at the shrine of St William, and the same again the following day. During his return he again visited the cathedral and gave a further seven shillings at each of the shrines of Ss Paulinus and Ithamar.

 

The new century saw the completion of the new Decorated work with the original Norman architecture. The rebuilding of the nave being finally abandoned. Around 1320 the south transept was altered to accommodate the altar of the Virgin Mary.

 

There appears to have been a rood screen thrown between the two western piers of the crossing. A rood loft may have surmounted it.[23] Against this screen was placed the altar of St Nicholas, the parochial altar of the city. The citizens demanded the right of entrance by day or night to what was after all their altar. There were also crowds of strangers passing through the city. The friction broke out as a riot in 1327 after which the strong stone screens and doors which wall off the eastern end of the church from the nave were built.[24] The priory itself was walled off from the town at this period. An oratory was established in angulo navis ("in the corner of the nave") for the reserved sacrament; it is not clear which corner was being referred to, but Dr Palmer[25] argues that the buttress against the north-west tower pier is the most likely setting. He notes the arch filled in with rubble on the aisle side; and on nave side there is a scar line with lower quality stonework below. The buttress is about 4 feet (1.2 m) thick, enough for an oratory. Palmer notes that provision for reservation of consecrated hosts was often made to the north of the altar which would be the case here.

 

The central tower was at last raised by Hamo de Hythe in 1343, thus essentially completing the cathedral. Bells were placed in the central tower (see Bells section below). The chapter room doorway was constructed at around this time. The Black Death struck England in 1347–49. From then on there were probably considerably more than twenty monks in the priory.

 

The modern paintwork of the quire walls is modelled on artwork from the Middle Ages. Gilbert Scott found remains of painting behind the wooden stalls during his restoration work in the 1870s. The painting is therefore part original and part authentic. The alternate lions and fleurs-de-lis reflect Edward III's victories, and assumed sovereignty over the French. In 1356 the Black Prince had defeated John II of France at Poitiers and took him prisoner. On 2 July 1360 John passed through Rochester on his way home and made an offering of 60 crowns (£15) at the Church of St Andrew.[27]

 

The Oratory provided for the citizens of Rochester did not settle the differences between the monks and the city. The eventual solution was the construction of St Nicholas' Church by the north side of the cathedral. A doorway was knocked through the western end of the north aisle (since walled up) to allow processions to pass along the north aisle of the cathedral before leaving by the west door.[27][28]

 

In the mid-15th century the clerestory and vaulting of the north quire aisle was completed and new Perpendicular Period windows inserted into the nave aisles. Possible preparatory work for this is indicated in 1410–11 by the Bridge Wardens of Rochester who recorded a gift of lead from the Lord Prior. The lead was sold on for 41 shillings.[g][29] In 1470 the great west window at the cathedral was completed and finally, in around 1490, what is now the Lady Chapel was built.[27] Rochester Cathedral, although one of England's smaller cathedrals, thus demonstrates all styles of Romanesque and Gothic architecture.[30]

 

In 1504 John Fisher was appointed Bishop of Rochester. Although Rochester was by then an impoverished see, Fisher elected to remain as bishop for the remainder of his life. He had been tutor to the young Prince Henry and on the prince's accession as Henry VIII, Fisher remained his staunch supporter and mentor. He figured in the anti-Lutheran policies of Henry right up until the divorce issue and split from Rome in the early 1530s. Fisher remained true to Rome and for his defence of the Pope was elevated as a cardinal in May 1535. Henry was angered by these moves and, on 22 June 1535, Cardinal Fisher was beheaded on Tower Green.

 

Henry VIII visited Rochester on 1 January 1540 when he met Ann of Cleves for the first time and was "greatly disappointed".[31] Whether connected or not, the old Priory of St Andrew was dissolved by royal command later in the year, one of the last monasteries to be dissolved.

 

The west front is dominated by the central perpendicular great west window. Above the window the dripstone terminates in a small carved head at each side. The line of the nave roof is delineated by a string course above which rises the crenelated parapet. Below the window is a blind arcade interrupted by the top of the Great West Door. Some of the niches in the arcade are filled with statuary. Below the arcade the door is flanked with Norman recesses. The door itself is of Norman work with concentric patterned arches. The semicircular tympanum depicts Christ sitting in glory in the centre, with Saints Justus and Ethelbert flanking him on either side of the doorway. Supporting the saints are angels and surrounding them are the symbols of the Four Evangelists: Ss Matthew (a winged man), Mark (a lion), Luke (an ox) and John (an eagle).[52] On the lintel below are the Twelve Apostles and on the shafts supporting it King Soloman and the Queen of Sheba.[53] Within the Great West Door there is a glass porch which allows the doors themselves to be kept open throughout the day.

 

Either side of the nave end rises a tower which forms the junction of the front and the nave walls. The towers are decorated with blind arcading and are carried up a further two stories above the roof and surmounted with pyramidal spires. The aisle ends are Norman. Each has a large round headed arch containing a window and in the northern recess is a small door. Above each arch is plain wall surmounted by a blind arcade, string course at the roof line and plain parapet. The flanking towers are Norman in the lower part with the style being maintained in the later work. Above the plain bases there are four stories of blind arcading topped with an octagonal spire.[54]

 

The outside of the nave and its aisles is undistinguished, apart from the walled up north-west door which allowed access from the cathedral to the adjacent St Nicholas' Church.[28] The north transept is reached from the High Street via Black Boy Alley, a medieval pilgrimage route. The decoration is Early English, but reworked by Gilbert Scott. Scott rebuilt the gable ends to the original high pitch from the lower one adopted at the start of the 19th century. The gable itself is set back from the main wall behind a parapet with walkway. He also restored the pilgrim entrance and opened up the blind arcade in the northern end of the west wall.[55]

 

To the east of the north transept is the Sextry Gate. It dates from Edward III's reign and has wooden domestic premises above. The area beyond was originally enclosed, but is now open to the High Street through the memorial garden and gates. Beyond the Sextry Gate is the entrance to Gundulf's Tower, used as a private back door to the cathedral.

 

The north quire transept and east end are all executed in Early English style, the lower windows light the crypt which is earlier. Adjoining the east end of the cathedral is the east end of the Chapter Room which is in the same style. The exact form of the east end is more modern than it appears, being largely due to the work of Scott in the 19th century. Scott raised the gable ends to the original high pitch, but for lack of funds the roofs have not been raised; writing in 1897 Palmer noted: "they still require roofs of corresponding pitch, a need both great and conspicuous".[56]

 

On the south side of the cathedral the nave reaches the main transept and beyond a modern porch. The aisle between the transepts is itself a buttress to the older wall behind and supported by a flying buttress. The unusual position of this wall is best explained when considering the interior, below. The southern wall of the presbytery is hidden by the chapter room, an 18th-century structure.

 

he western part of the nave is substantially as Gundulf designed it. According to George H. Palmer (who substantially follows St John Hope) "Rochester and Peterborough possess probably the best examples of the Norman nave in the country".[60] The main arcade is topped by a string course below a triforium. The triforium is Norman with a further string course above. The clerestory above is of perpendicular style. From the capitals pilasters rise to the first string course but appear to have been removed from the triforium stage. Originally they might have supported the roof timbers, or even been the springing of a vault.[61]

 

The easternmost bay of the triforium appears to be Norman, but is the work of 14th-century masons. The final bay of the nave is Decorated in style and leads to the tower piers. Of note is the north pier which possibly contains the Oratory Chapel mentioned above.[62]

 

The aisles are plain with flat pilasters. The eastern two bays are Decorated with springing for vaulting. Whether the vault was ever constructed is unknown, the present wooden roof extends the full length of the aisles.

 

The crossing is bounded to the east by the quire screen with the organ above. This is of 19th-century work and shows figures associated with the early cathedral. Above the crossing is the central tower, housing the bells and above that the spire. The ceiling of the crossing is notable for the four Green Men carved on the bosses. Visible from the ground is the outline of the trapdoor through which bells can be raised and lowered when required. The floor is stepped up to the pulpitum and gives access to the quire through the organ screen.

 

The north transept is from 1235 in Early English style. The Victorian insertion of windows has been mentioned above in the external description. Dominating the transept is the baptistery fresco. The fresco by Russian artist Sergei Fyodorov is displayed on the eastern wall. It is located within an arched recess. The recess may have been a former site of the altar of St Nicholas from the time of its construction in 1235 until it was moved to the screen before the pulpitum in 1322. A will suggests that "an altar of Jesu" also stood here at some point, an altar of some sort must have existed as evidenced by the piscina to the right of the recess.[64] The vaulting is unusual in being octpartite, a development of the more common sexpartite. The Pilgrim Door is now the main visitor entrance and is level for disabled access.

 

he original Lady Chapel was formed in the south transept by screening it off from the crossing. The altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary was housed in the eastern arch of the transept. There are traces of painting both on the east wall and under the arch. The painting delineates the location of the mediaeval north screen of the Lady Chapel. Around 1490 this chapel was extended westwards by piercing the western wall with a large arch and building the chapel's nave against the existing south aisle of cathedral. From within the Lady Chapel the upper parts of two smaller clerestory windows may be seen above the chapel's chancel arch. Subsequently, a screen was placed under the arch and the modern Lady Chapel formed in the 1490 extension.

 

The south transept is of early Decorated style. The eastern wall of it is a single wide arch at the arcade level. There are two doorways in the arch, neither of which is used, the northern one being hidden by the memorial to Dr William Franklin. The south wall starts plain but part way up is a notable monument to Richard Watts, a "coloured bust, with long gray beard".[65] According to Palmer there used to be a brass plaque to Charles Dickens below this but only the outline exists, the plaque having been moved to the east wall of the quire transept.[66] The west wall is filled by the large arch mentioned above with the screen below dividing it from the present Lady Chapel.

 

The Lady Chapel as it now exists is of Decorated style with three lights along southern wall and two in the west wall. The style is a light and airy counterpart to the stolid Norman work of the nave. The altar has been placed against the southern wall resulting in a chapel where the congregation wraps around the altar. The window stained glass is modern and tells the gospel story.

 

The first, easternmost, window has the Annunciation in the upper light: Gabriel speaking to Mary (both crowned) with the Holy Spirit as a dove descending. The lower light shows the Nativity with the Holy Family, three angels and shepherds. The next window shows St Elizabeth in the upper light surrounded by stars and the sun in splendour device. The lower light shows the Adoration of the Magi with Mary enthroned with the Infant. The final window of the south wall has St Mary Magdelene with her ointment surrounded by Tudor roses and fleurs-de-lis in the upper light with the lower light showing the Presentation in the Temple. The west wall continues with St. Margaret of Scotland in the upper light surrounded by fouled anchor and thistle roundels. The reference is to the original dedication of the cathedral as the Priory of St Andrew. The lower light shows the Crucifixion with Mary and St Peter. The final window is unusual, the upper light is divided in three and shows King Arthur with the royal arms flanked by St George on the left and St Michael on the right. The lower light shows the Ascension: two disciples to the left, three women with unguents to the right and three bare crosses top right.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Cathedral

C. Reichert was one of the very few lens manufacturers that ever existed in Austria. They were overall better known for their macro- and microscope-equipment but in earlier years they also offered some regular taking lenses. The company was sold a long time ago and if I remember correctly C. Reichert is part of Leica Microsystems nowadays.

 

There‘s not too much data on them online but as far as I know the „Neupolar“ lenses in 50 mm and 100 mm focal lengths are well regarded among the apparently few who have used them. I have used both of them for a bit and while it’s not enough to make a definitive statement I would say that they still hold up surprisingly well apart from maybe being a bit low contrast.

 

The Combinar is supposedly quite a bit older than the other two (it should be more than 100 years old!) and it‘s not too bad either if you keep that in mind... however you have to stop it down quite a bit to get something useful.

 

Shot with A. Schacht Ulm "S-Travegon 35 mm F 2.8 R" on a Canon EOS R5

I tried to avoid the morning glare for this pic, but that’s kinda tough when your easel faces windows. I still have quite a bit of work to go, but this one is coming together.

 

I’ve only tried painting a landscape once before, but nowhere near the size and complexity of this one. I’m having a blast figuring out this puzzle though, plus I’m able to use the color arsenal of the abstract pieces. In essence, I’m capturing the abstractness of nature.

"On a clear day you can see past the abandoned buildings all the way to the casino".

 

The funny thing is, the abandoned buildings don't bother me as much as the casinos do. The abandoned buildings represent history to me, and a hope of renewal in the future ( at leats most of them do). The casinos don't represent a future to me, pinning the hopes of the city to become the casino mecca of the midwest has gotten the city some tax dollars, but not much else.

Thursday morning, and all I had to do was get back to Kent. Hopefully before five so I could hand the hire car back, but getting back safe and sound would do, really.

 

I woke at six so I could be dressed for breakfast at half six when it started, and as usual when in a hotel, I had fruit followed by sausage and bacon sarnies. And lots of coffee.

 

Outside it had snowed. OK, it might only be an inch of the stuff, but that's more than an inch needed to cause chaos on the roads.

 

Back to the room to pack, one last look round and back to reception to check out, then out into the dawn to find that about a quarter of the cars were having snow and ice cleared off them before being able to be driven.

 

I joined them, scraping the soft snow then the ice. Bracing stuff at seven in the morning.

 

Now able to see out, I inched out of the car park and out to the exit and onto the untreated roads.

 

It was a picturesque scene, but not one I wanted to stop to snap. My first road south had only been gritted on one side, thankfully the side I was travelling down, but was still just compacted snow.

 

After negotiating two roundabouts, I was on the on ramp to the M6, and a 60 mile or so drive south. The motorway was clear of snow, but huge amounts of spray was thrown up, and the traffic was only doing 45mph, or the inside lane was, and that was quite fast and safe enough for me.

 

More snow fell as I neared Stoke, just to add to the danger of the journey, and then the rising sun glinted off the road, something which I had most of the drive home.

 

I went down the toll road, it costs eight quid, but is quick and easy. And safe too with so little traffic on it. I think for the first time, I didn't stop at the services, as it was only about half nine, and only three hours since breakfast.

 

And by the time I was on the old M6, there was just about no snow on the ground, and the road was beginning to dry out.

 

My phone played the tunes from my apple music store. Loudly. So the miles slipped by.

 

After posting some shots from Fotheringhay online, a friend, Simon, suggested others nearby that were worth a visit, and I also realised that I hadn't taken wide angle shots looking east and west, so I could drop in there, then go to the others suggested.

 

And stopping here was about the half way point in the journey so was a good break in the drive, and by then the clouds had thinned and a weak sin shone down.

 

Fotheringhay is as wonderful as always, it really is a fine church, easy to stop there first, where I had it to myself, and this time even climbed into the richly decorated pulpit to snap the details.

 

A short drive away was Apethorpe, where there was no monkey business. The village was built of all the same buttery yellow sandstone, looking fine in the weak sunshine.

 

Churches in this part of Northamptonshire are always open, Simon said.

 

Not at Apethorpe. So I made do with snapping the church and the village stocks and whipping post opposite.

 

A short drive up the hill was King's Cliffe. Another buttery yellow village and a fine church, which I guessed would be open.

 

Though it took some finding, as driving up the narrow high street I failed to find the church. I checked the sat nav and I had driven right past it, but being down a short lane it was partially hidden behind a row of houses.

 

The church was open, and was surrounded by hundreds of fine stone gravestones, some of designs I have not seen before, but it was the huge numbers of them that was impressive.

 

Inside the church was fine, if cold. I record what I could, but my compact camera's batter had died the day before, and I had no charger, so just with the nifty fifty and the wide angle, still did a good job of recording it.

 

There was time for one more church. Just.

 

For those of us who remember the seventies, Warmington means Dad's Army, or rather Warmington on Sea did. THat there is a real Warmington was a surprise to me, and it lay just a couple of miles the other side of Fotheringhay.

 

The church is large, mostly Victorian after it fell out of use and became derelict, if the leaflet I read inside was accurate. But the renovation was excellent, none more so than the wooden vaulted roof with bosses dating to either the 15th or 16th centuries.

 

Another stunning item was the pulpit, which looks as though it is decorated with panels taken from the Rood Screen. Very effective.

 

Back to the car, I program the sat nav for home, and set off back to Fotheringhay and the A14 beyond.

 

No messing around now, just press on trying to make good time so to be home before dark, and time to go home, drop my bags, feed the cats before returning the car.

 

No real pleasure, but I made good time, despite encountering several bad drivers, who were clearly out only to ruin my mood.

 

Even the M25 was clear, I raced to the bridge, over the river and into Kent.

 

Nearly home.

 

I drive back down the A2, stopping at Medway services for a sandwich and a huge coffee on the company's credit card.

 

And that was that, just a blast down to Faversham, round onto the A2 and past Canterbury and to home, getting back at just after three, time to fill up the bird feeders, feed the cats, unpack and have a brew before going out at just gone four to return the car.

 

Jools would rescue me from the White Horse on her way home, so after being told the car was fine, walked to the pub and ordered two pints of Harvey's Best.

 

There was a guy from Essex and his American girlfriend, who were asking about all sorts of questions about Dover's history, and I was the right person to answer them.

 

I was told by a guide from the Castle I did a good job.

 

Yay me.

 

Jools arrived, so I went out and she took me home. Where the cats insisted they had not been fed.

 

Lies, all lies.

 

Dinner was teriyaki coated salmon, roasted sprouts and back, defrosted from before Christmas, and noodles.

 

Yummy.

 

Not much else to tell, just lighting the fire, so Scully and I would be toast warm watch the exciting Citeh v Spurs game, where Spurs were very Spursy indeed.

 

-------------------------------------------------

 

I was exploring the churches of north-east Northamptonshire, and on my way back to Peterborough station how could I resist a visit to lovely Warmington church? The village is rather a suburban one but, the solid little entirely Early English church sits at its heart. Entirely a Huntingdonshire church in style, with a stubby spire and big dormer-style lucarnes.

   

I had previously visited almost exactly a year ago, and as before I left my bike in the Early English porch, which is vaulted in blocks of stone, handsome yet familiar. I remembered in 2015 stepping into what turned out to be then the most interesting interior of the day, although rather overshadowed by Apethorpe and Blatherwycke on my current trip. The most striking feature, and rather a surprising one, is that the roof of the nave is vaulted in wood. This was done in the 13th Century, and the bosses survive from that time - even more surprising, they all depict green men, nine of them. Why was this not done elsewhere?

   

The rood screen is one of the best in the area, and the medieval pulpit appears to be constructed of rood screen panels (can that be right? Did they come from the rood loft? Surely it is pre-Reformation, in which case perhaps they came from somewhere else). Lots to think about. A good church, it would be considered so in any county.

   

So I got back on my bike and headed on towards Peterborough, but not without a memory of the last time I had done the same thing, because in 2015, as I was about to leave the church, three young women came in. They were walking the Nene Way, and were attired as you might expect attractive young women to be on such a sunny day. I didn't want them to be made nervous by the presence of a middle-aged man with a camera, so I nodded a greeting as I left, but in the event they engaged me in conversation, asking me where I'd come from, telling me what they were doing, where they were going, and so on.

   

In the end I had to make my apologies and leave as they didn't seem to want to let me go, not an experience I have very often these days, I can tell you. It rather put me in mind of the Sirens episode in the Odyssey.

   

And so I headed on, wary now of any wandering rocks and one-eyed giants.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/norfolkodyssey/27033140016/in/photo...

 

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St Michael’s Parish Church, Warmington

 

Warmington was already an established farming community when its assets were recorded in Domesday Book. Shortly afterwards, its Norman owner, the Earl of Warwick, gave the manor of Warmington to the Benedictine Abbey which his father had endowed in Normandy, St.Peter’s at Preaux. Warmington was to remain in monastic hands, with one short break, for about 450 years. Monks were sent over from Preaux who built a small Priory. Its foundations were discovered when houses were built in Court Close in the 1950s. The Priory has disappeared, but the splendid church built under the monks’ supervision, mainly in the early medieval period, remains.

 

The church stands high above the village, close to the summit of Warmington Hill. Tradition tells us that the stone for building it was dug close by, in the area known as Catpits, or Churchpits. The stone for the tower was brought from a field known as Turpits, or Towerpits, a quarter of a mile away along the Hornton road. The churchyard is entered either by the lych-gate from the main road, or from the village by two long flights of steps. A diagonal line of pine trees marks the former boundary of the churchyard which was extended in the 1850s. In the older part, and especially near the south porch, are gravestones of exceptionally fine workmanship dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. About eighty of these are ‘listed’ by the Department of the Environment. All the inscribed memorials were recorded in 1981.

 

An admirable and detailed architectural description of the church is available in the Victoria County History. These notes are intended rather as a ‘layman’s conducted tour’. The church was purpose-built and used for the first half of its long life for forms of worship very different from our own. It was also the village meeting place for many secular purposes The church comprises north and south porches, nave with north and south aisles, a west tower and chancel with two-storey vestry adjoining.

 

As you enter the church by the south porch you walk forward into the nave. This area, with the first three pillars on each side, is where Warmington people have met and worshipped since the twelfth century. The area was extended by the addition of the aisles a century later. Today the overwhelming impression is a sense of simplicity, of space and of strength. Imagine the scene in the medieval period: no pews but white-washed walls covered with paintings, images of the saints in stone, on wood and painted cloths, the whole lit by the sunlight through stained glass and by candles and lamps burning before every image. On Sundays before Mass, at special festivals and for some fifty saints’ days in the year, a procession would form, with banners and hand bells, winding its way around the church and churchyard, and stopping at various points for particular acts of worship. The north and west doors, so rarely used today, had significance in these processions.

 

Before leaving this area of the church, notice the variety of windows, almost all of early date, but now mostly with clear glass. The ones at the east ends of the aisles, where the stone plate is pierced with roundels and a five-pointed star, are unusual. Considerable work has been undertaken in recent years in renewing the stone mullions, worn by the weather over time. The early Norman tub font of simple design is large enough for infant immersion. The aisles both taper by a foot, one to the east, and one to the west. The nave and chancel are slightly out of alignment, perhaps symbolic of Christ’s drooping head on the cross.

 

Before stepping down into the chancel, run your hand along the wooden screen under the chancel arch. This is all that remains of the great rood-screen which would have dominated the medieval church. The screen was hacked through quite roughly when the church was stripped of its ‘idolatrous’ treasures at the Reformation. Just to the right of the chancel arch is the doorway and stair which used to lead to the rood-screen loft.

 

The stained glass and memorial tablets in the chancel all commemorate the family of the Victorian rector during whose incumbency the church was restored. On the south wall are a richly decorated triple sedilia and piscina, dating from the fifteenth century when Warmington manor had newly passed to the Carthusian monks of Wytham in Somerset.

 

A door from the chancel leads into the vestry, built about 1340. The lower room was a chapel, dedicated to St Thomas. The stone altar shows four of its five original crosses cut in the top. An altar would have a piscina nearby for washing the vessels used at Mass. The piscina here has a trefoiled ogee-head and quartrefoil basin. On the opposite wall is a blocked fireplace.

 

The oak doors and stairway are delightful and a testament to the skills of local carpenters, smiths and masons. The upper room was the priest’s home complete with windows, commanding extensive views, fireplace, lavatory and a shuttered opening for keeping watch over the main alter. The exterior walls of the vestry are extraordinarily thick. One Warmington tradition was that it was used as a prison for recalcitrant monks!

 

A more credible and interesting suggestion is that the walls were so constructed to carry the weight of a tower. If this was indeed the plan, it was quickly abandoned, for soon after the vestry was built work started on the tower in the usual Warwickshire position at the west end of the nave.

 

The slightly different stonework on the exterior indicates the stages of its building. The tower is recessed slightly into the nave, presumably to accommodate it in the very limited land there was available for extending the church at the west end. A stair within the thickness of the wall gives access to the bell chamber and the roof. The flight is steep and the treads are worn down to the bottom of the risers. The present bells are dated 1602, 1613 and 1811.

 

There are many interesting gravestones in the churchyard, which were recorded by members of Warmington WI in a 1981 survey.

 

VICTORIA COUNTY HISTORY

 

WARMINGTON

 

This extract from the Victoria County History gives a very detailed description of the parish church.

 

The church stands directly on the east side of the main road from Banbury to Warwick at the top of a steep gradient and the village lies mostly to the northeast of it at a lower level. The parish church of ST. MICHAEL, or ST. NICHOLAS, consists of a chancel, north chapel with a priest’s chamber above it, nave, north and south aisles and porches and a west tower.

 

The nave dates from the 12th century; no detail is left to indicate its original date but it was of the proportion of two squares, common in the early 12th century. A north aisle was added first, about the middle of the 12th century, with an arcade of three bays; a south aisle followed, near the end of the 12th century, also with a three-bay arcade. After about a century a considerable enlargement was begun and continued over a period of half a century or more; the nave was lengthened eastwards about 10 ft. and a new chancel built. The extra length of the side walls added to the nave perhaps remained unpierced at first.

 

Although there is a general sameness in the Hornton stone ashlar walling throughout, all the various parts—chancel, chapel, aisles, and tower—have different plinths, &c., and there is a great variation in the elevations and details of the windows, showing constant changes from the 14th century, when there was much activity, onwards, probably because of decay and need for repair caused by the church’s exposed position on the brow of a hill.

 

The south aisle was widened to its present limits about 1290, on the evidence of the wide splays and other details of its windows; but an early-13th-century doorway was re-used. It is possible that the east part of the north aisle followed soon afterwards, c. 1300, as a kind of transeptal chapel, on the evidence of its east window, which differs from the other aisle windows. From c. 1330–40 much was done. The chancel arch was widened, new bays to match were inserted in the east lengths of the nave walls, making both arcades now of four bays, the widening of the whole of the north aisle was completed with the addition of the north porch. The 12th-century north arcade, which seems to have lost its inner order, was probably rebuilt. There is a curious distortion about both aisles, perhaps only explained by the widenings being made in more than one period; the north aisle tapers from west to east and the south aisle tapers from east to west, about a foot each, as compared with the lines of the arcades. The south porch was probably added about 1330.

 

About 1340 came also the addition of the chapel with the priest’s chamber above it. The north wall of the chancel, probably of the 13th century and thinner than any of the other walls, was kept to form the south wall of the chapel, but the other walls were made unusually thick, as though it was at first intended to raise a higher superstructure than was actually carried out, perhaps even a tower. If such was the intention it was quickly abandoned and the west tower was begun about 1340–5 and carried up to some two-thirds of its present height. There was not much room above the road-side and it had to encroach 2 or 3 ft. into the west end of the nave. The top stage was added or completed in the 15th century.

 

With the addition of the chapel, alterations were made to the chancel windows, but its south wall had to be rebuilt in the 15th century, when new and larger windows were inserted and the piscina and sedilia constructed.

 

There have been many repairs and renovations, notably in 1867 to the chancel and 1871 for the rest of the church, and others since then. The roofs have been entirely renewed, though probably more or less of the original forms of the 14th or 15th centuries.

 

The chancel (about 30½ft. by 16½ft.) has an east window of four trefoiled pointed lights and modern tracery of 14th-century character in a two-centred head with an external hood-mould having head-stops. The jambs and arch, of two moulded orders, and the hood-mould are early-14th-century. In the north wall is a 14th-century doorway into the chapel with jambs and ogee head of three moulded orders and a hoodmould with head-stops, the eastern a cowled man’s, the western a woman’s. It contains an ancient oak door, with stout diagonal framing at the back and hung with plain strap-hinges. At the west end of the wall are two windows close together; the eastern, of c. 1340, of two trefoiled ogee-headed lights and cusped piercings in a square head with an external label having decayed head-stops. It has a shouldered internal lintel which is carved with grotesque faces. The western is a narrower and earlier 14th-century window of two trefoiled ogee-headed lights and a quatrefoil, &c., in a square head with an external label.

 

The window at the west end of the south wall is similar. The other two are 15th-century insertions, each of two wide cinquefoiled three-centred lights under a square head with head-stops, one a cowled human head, the other beast-heads. The jambs and lintel of two sunk-chamfered orders are old, the rest restored. The rear lintel is also sunk-chamfered and is supported in the middle by a shaped stone bracket from the mullion.

 

The 14th-century priest’s doorway has jambs and two-centred ogee head of two ovolo-moulded orders and a cambered internal lintel; it has no hood-mould.

 

Below the south-east window is a 15th-century piscina with small side pilasters that have embattled heads, and a trefoiled ogee head enriched with crockets. The sill, which projects partly as a moulded corbel, has a round basin. West of it are three sedilia of the same character with cinquefoiled ogee heads also crocketed and with finials. At the springing level are carved human-head corbels: the cusp-points are variously carved, an acorn, a snake’s head, a skull, and foliage. The two outer are surmounted by crocketed and finialled gables and all are flanked and divided by pilasters with embattled heads and crocketed pinnacles.

 

The east wall is built of yellow-grey ashlar with a projecting splayed plinth; the gable-head has been rebuilt. At the south-east angle is a pair of square buttresses of two stages, probably later additions, as the plinth is not carried round them. Another at the former north-east angle has been restored. The south wall is of yellow ashlar but has a moulded plinth of the 15th century. The eaves have a hollow-moulded course with which the uprights of the 15th-century window-labels are mitred.

 

The 14th-century chancel arch has responds and pointed head of two ovolo-moulded orders interrupted at the springing line by the abacus.

 

The roof with arched trusses is modern and is covered with tiles.

 

The north chapel (about 12 ft. east to west by 17 ft. deep) is now used as the vestry, and dates from c. 1340. In its south wall, the thin north wall of the chancel, is a straight joint 3¼ft. from the east wall probably marking the east jamb of a former 13th-century window, and below it is the remnant of an early stringcourse that is chamfered on its upper edge. The east wall is 3 ft. 10 in. thick and the north wall 4 ft. 6 in. In the middle of each is a rectangular one-light window with moulded jambs and head of two orders and an external label; the internal reveals are half splayed and part squared at the inner edges and have a flat stone lintel. The lights were probably cusped originally. In the west wall is a filled-in square-headed fire-place, perhaps original. Partly in the recess of the east window and partly projecting is an ancient thick stone altarslab showing four of the original five crosses cut in the top. It has a hollow-chamfered lower edge and is supported by moulded stone corbels. South of it in the east wall is a piscina with a trefoiled ogee-head and hood-mould and a quatrefoil basin.

 

The stair-vice that leads up to the story above is in the south-west angle, its doorway being splayed westwards to avoid the doorway to the chancel. In it is an ancient oak door with one-way diagonal framing on the back. The turret projects externally to the west in the angle with the chancel wall; it is square in the lower part but higher is broadened northwards with a splay that is corbelled out below in three courses, the lowest corbel having a trefoiled ogee or blind arch cut in it. The top is tabled back up to the eaves of the chapel west wall. A moulded string-course passes round the projection and there is another half-way up the tabling. The doorway at the top of the spiral stair leading into the upper chamber has an ancient oak door hung with three strap-hinges.

 

The upper priest’s chamber has an east window of two plain square-headed lights, probably altered. In the north wall is a rectangular window that was of two lights but has lost its mullion. Outside it has a false pointed head of two trefoiled ogee-headed lights and leaf tracery, all of it blank, and a hood-mould with human-head stops, one cowled. Apparently this treatment was purely for decorative purposes, like the square-headed windows at Shotteswell and elsewhere. The south wall is pierced by a watching-hole into the chancel, which is fitted with an iron grill and oak shutter: it has been reduced from a larger opening that had an ogee head and hood-mould. There is a square-headed fire-place in the west wall and in the splayed north-west angle is the entrance to a garderobe or latrine, which is lighted by a north loop.

 

The walls are of yellow ashlar and have a plinth of two courses, the upper moulded, a moulded stringcourse at first-floor level, and moulded eaves-courses at the sides. The north wall is gabled and has a parapet with string-course and coping. At the angles are diagonal buttresses of two stages; the lower stage is 2½ft. broad up to the first-floor level, above this the upper stage is reduced to about half the breadth. They support square diagonal pinnacles with restored crocketed finials. The west wall is unpierced but above it is a plain square chimney-shaft with an open-side hood on top. Internally the walls are faced with whitish-brown ashlar. The gabled roof is modern and of two bays.

 

The nave (about 41½ft. by 16½ft.) has north and south arcades of four bays. The easternmost bay on each side, with the first pillar, is of the same detail and date as the chancel arch. They vary in span, the north being about 9 ft. and the south about 10 ft., and in both cases the span is less than those of the older bays. Those on the north side are of 11–12 ft. span and date from the middle of the 12th century. The pillars are circular, the west respond a half-circle, with scalloped capitals, 6 in. high and square in the deep-browed upper part and with a 4½in. grooved and hollowchamfered abacus. The bases are chamfered and stand on square sub-bases. The arches are pointed and of one square order with a plain square hood-mould, The voussoirs are small. The middle parts of the soffits are plastered between the flush inner ends of the voussoirs, suggesting a former inner order, abolished perhaps in a rebuilding of the heads.

 

The same three bays of the south side are of 11 ft. span and of late-12th-century date. The round pillars are rather more slender than the northern, and the capitals are taller, 12 in. high, with long and shallow scallops, and have 4 in. abaci like the northern. The bases are taller and moulded in forms approaching those of the 13th century, on chamfered square sub-bases.

 

The pointed arches are of one chamfered order and their hood-moulds are now flush with the plastered wall-faces above.

 

The half-round west responds of both arcades have been overlapped on the nave side by the east wall of the tower.

 

High above the 14th-century south-east respond is a 15th-century four-centred doorway to the former rood-loft. The stair-vice leading up to it is entered by a four-centred doorway in the east wall of the south aisle.

 

The north aisle (11½ft. wide at the east end and 12½ft. at the west) has an uncommon east window of c. 1300. It is of three plain-pointed rather narrow lights; above the middle light, which has a shorter pointed head than the others, is a circle enclosing a pierced five-pointed star, all in a two-centred head with an external hood-mould having defaced head-stops, and with a chamfered rear-arch.

 

Set fairly close together at the east end of the north wall are two tall windows of c. 1340, each of two trefoiled round-headed lights and foiled leaf-tracery below a segmental-pointed head with an ogee apex, the tracery coming well below the arch. The jambs are of two orders, the outer sunk-chamfered. The lights are wider and the splays of ashlar are more acute than those of the east window.

 

The third window near the west end is narrower and shorter and of two plain-pointed lights and an uncusped spandrel in a two-centred head: it is of much the same date as the east window. The jambs and head are of two hollow-chamfered orders and the fairly obtuse plastered splays have old angle-dressings. The segmental-pointed rear-arch is chamfered.

 

The north doorway, also of c. 1340, has jambs and two-centred head without a hood-mould; the segmental rear-arch is of square section. In it is an 18th-century oak door.

 

The three-light window in the west wall has jambs and splays like those of the north-west but its head has been altered; it is now of three trefoiled ogee-headed lights below a four-centred arch. The chamfered reararch is elliptical.

 

The walls are yellow ashlar with a chamfered plinth and parapets with moulded string-courses and copings that are continued over the east and west gables. Below the sills of the two north-east windows is a plain stringcourse. At the east angle is a pair of shallow square buttresses and a diagonal buttress at the west, all ancient. White ashlar facing is exposed inside between the two north-east windows only, the remainder being plastered. The gabled roof of trussed-rafter type is modern and covered with tiles.

 

The south aisle (13 ft. wide at the east end and 12 ft. at the west) has an east window of three plain-pointed lights, and three plain circles in plate tracery form, in a two-centred head with an external hood-mould having mask stops. The yellow stone jambs and head of two chamfered orders and the wide ashlar splays are probably of the late 13th century; the grey stone mullions and tracery are apparently old restorations but are probably reproductions of the original forms.

 

There are two south windows: the eastern is of two wide cinquefoiled elliptical-headed lights under a square main head with an external label with return stops. The jambs are of two moulded orders, the inner (and the mullion) with small roll-moulds, probably of the 13th century re-used when the window was refashioned in the 15th century. The wide splays are of rubble-work and there is a chamfered segmental reararch. The western is a narrower opening of two trefoiled-pointed lights, with the early form of soffit cusping, and early-14th-century tracery in a twocentred head: the jambs are of two chamfered orders and the wide splays are plastered, with ashlar dressings: the chamfered rear-arch is segmental pointed.

 

The reset south doorway has jambs and pointed head of two moulded orders with filleted rolls and undercut hollows of the early 13th century, divided by a three-quarter hollow more typical of a later period, and all are stopped on a single splayed base. The hoodmould has defaced shield-shaped head-stops. There are four steps down into the church through this doorway.

 

The window in the west wall is like that in the east but the three lights are trefoiled and the three circles in the two-centred head are quatrefoiled: the head is all restored work. The jambs are ancient and precisely like those of the square-headed south window, and the wide splays are of rubble-work.

 

The walls are of yellow fine-jointed ashlar and have plinths of two splayed courses, the upper projecting like that of the east chancel-wall, and plain parapets with restored copings. At the angles are old and rather shallow diagonal buttresses. There are three scratched sundials on the south wall, one, a complete circle, being on a west jambstone of the south-east window.

 

The gabled roof is modern like that of the north aisle.

 

The south porch is built of ashlar like that of the aisle but the courses do not tally and it has a different plinth, a plain hollow-chamfer. The gabled south wall has a parapet with a restored coping. The pointed entrance is of two orders, the inner ovolo-moulded, the outer hollow-chamfered, and has a hood-mould of 13thcentury form. There are side benches. The roof is modern but on the wall of the aisle are cemented lines marking the position of an earlier high-pitched roof at a lower level than the present one.

 

The north porch is of shallower projection. It has a gabled front with diagonal buttresses and coped parapet and a pointed entrance with jambs and head of two chamfered orders, the inner hollow, and a hood-mould with head-stops.

 

The west tower (about 9½ft. square) is of three stages divided by projecting splayed string-courses: it has a high plinth, with a moulded upper member and chamfered lower course, and a plain parapet. The walls are of yellow ashlar, that of the two upper stages being of rather rougher facing and in smaller courses than the lowest stage. At the west angles are diagonal buttresses reaching to the top of the second stage. There are no east buttresses but in the angle of the north wall with the end of the nave is a shallow buttress against the nave-wall. In the south-west angle, but not projecting, is a stair-vice with a pointed doorway in a splay, and lighted by a west loop. The archway to the nave has a two-centred head of two chamfered orders, the inner dying on the reveals, the outer mitring with the single chamfered order of the responds. It has large voussoirs. The wall on either side of the archway is of squared rough-tooled ashlar.

 

The 14th-century west doorway has jambs and pointed head of two wave-moulded orders divided by a three-quarter hollow, and a hood-mould with return stops. The head of the tall and narrow 14th-century west window is carried up into the second stage, its hood-mould springing from the string-course. It is of two trefoiled ogee-headed lights and a quatrefoil in a two-centred head: the jambs are of two chamfered orders.

 

There are no piercings in the second stage, but on the north side is a modern clock face.

 

The bell-chamber has 15th-century windows, each of two lights with depressed trefoiled ogee heads and uncusped tracery in which the mullion line is continued up to the apex of the two-centred head. The jambs are of two chamfered orders and there is no hood-mould.

 

The font is circular and dates probably from the 13th century. It has a plain tapering bowl, a short stem with a comparatively large 13th-century moulding at the top: a short base is also moulded.

 

In the vestry is an ancient iron-bound chest.

 

There are three bells, the first of 1811, the second of 1616, and the tenor of 1602 by Edward Newcombe.

 

The registers begin in 1636.

 

Advowson

 

The church was valued at £8 6s. 8d. in 1291, and at £16 3s. 10d., in addition to a pension of 13s. 4d. payable to Witham Priory, in 1535. The advowson passed with the manor until 1602, when the patron was Richard Cooper. In 1628 William Hall and Edward Wotton, by concession of — Hill, the patron, presented Richard Wotton, who at the time of his wife’s death in 1637 was ‘rector and patron, of the church’. In 1681 and 1694 presentations were made by Thomas Farrer, and from 1726 till his death in 1764 the patronage was held by his son Thomas Farrer. His widow Alice held it in 1766, but by 1773 it had been divided between their two daughters, Mary wife of John Adams, and Elizabeth Farrer (1782) who afterwards married Hamlyn Harris. In 1802 Henry Bagshaw Harrison was patron and rector. He died in 1830, and by 1850 the advowson had been acquired by Hulme’s Trustees, in whose hands it has continued, so that they now present on two out of three turns to the combined living of Warmington and Shotteswell, which was annexed to it in 1927.

 

For a list of rectors and clergy of Warmington see the ‘trades and occupations’ section of the site.

 

www.warmingtonheritage.com/village-history/significant-bu....

But not on this train

today's update:

 

- it's the holidays; which means bokeh with quotes on them.. so please, don't be overwhelmed with my over-obessive bokeh-ing ;)

 

- once again, i found that stupid mini paper airplane from this guy i had a thing with in grade school.. and damn, i miss him .<

 

that's all i can think of for now :)

 

buh-bye ♥

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours - always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

 

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.

 

Excerpt of Sullivan Ballou's Letter to his Wife

July the 14th, 1861

Camp Clark, Washington DC

Ballou died one week later at the Battle of Bull Run

    

I could help but capture some history while being in Philly.

 

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I was in Philadelphia, “The City of Brotherly Love”, recently for business. In the short time that I was there my scheduled only allowed me a few hours of light in the evening. I was limited to walking a 5 mile radius around my hotel and was fortunate to find that it was located in the center of town giving me access to many historical monuments and museums. Because it was about 5PM when I got started on my way, many of the museums were already closed for the day for the exception of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. As an American and this being my first time to Philadelphia it was eye opening and in some cases jaw dropping. You could not walk around without having a great sense of patriotism. I loved the American Flags against many of the historic buildings throughout the city. The city hall building in Philadelphia is one of the most magnificent buildings I have ever seen. Because it was literally right across the street from my hotel gave me more time to examine closer. It’s no wonder that the Mason’s building is the second largest building next to it in the center of the city. The masonry work is amazing.

This album is a representation of capturing what I could in a very limited amount of time and light. I did not have a tripod so evening shots was not in the cards. I am however very pleased I brought my camera with me as I had contemplated not lugging it around with me.

The guest room in this place is kinda like the rooms in Wayne Manor, but they have their own....style? I mean, they're just as big and fancy, but they look different. Older, I guess. I mean. the walls have these weird shapes and animals all over them. For some reason the servant people here asked for my costume and gave me new cloths. Well, my costume was dirty, maybe they're washing it! After two days of waiting, one of the hooded guys wakes me up early. Earlier than I wake up for school! And the hooded guy was rude. I think it was the same jerk who kicked me back at Ra's hall while I was still unconscious. Wouldn't be so rude if he knew I could drop a skyscraper on him... He takes me down alot of stairs until I'm in front of a big wooden door, with Tim, Steph, and Ra's waiting. Tim and Steph are out of costume too, and are wearing cloths kinda like what the hooded guys wear.

 

"Finally, Jackson joins us! Now we can began with our trials. These trials will decide rather or not I share a secret I've kept well-guarded for centuries, and have only been willing to share with one man. You all should know this man very well. These trials are nothing to simply scoff at. These are the types of trials that can cost even the most trained individuals their life. Are you sure you wish to face them?"

 

"Yes!"

 

"Yep!"

 

"Bring it! I'm not afraid!"

 

"Save your bravery, Jackson. The first trial is not for you. It is for Timothy."

 

"Alright, what'cha got for me? I can handle it."

 

"Don't be so sure. Like I have with the detective, I have observed you, Timothy. Your skills in hand-to-hand combat are unmatched. There are few in my league who would be able to handle such skills as yours. But this skill ends when your opponent is away from you, and hidden in the vast areas of mother earth."

 

"So what, ranged opponent?"

 

"Smart boy. I will unleash you in the mountains where you shall be hunted by a skilled archer, one trained by the great assassin Merlyn. Your objective is to defeat him and bring back his helm and bow to me."

 

"Wait, Merlyn? hasn't that guy mopped the floor with Green Arrow a few times? And you're not even giving Tim his staff?"

 

"Precisely, Stephanie. This will be quite the taxing challenge for Tim's survival skills."

 

Wait, Tim's going OUTSIDE? But he doesn't even have any sleeves! He'll freeze out there! And if this archer guy is good enough to kick Green Arrow's butt even when he has all his gadgets, Tim can't do better! This is suicide! I think Steph knew this, too. Tim walked up to the big door to leave, but Steph grabbed his shoulder and tried to stop him.

 

"Tim, this is stupid! You can't last out there!"

 

"I don't really have a choice, Steph. None of us do."

 

"Please, Tim! I don't wanna lose you again..."

 

"Steph, we both know I've survived worse. I can handle myself. I'll come back to you. I swear, alright?"

 

"I know, but-"

 

"Look, you're not gonna lose me again because some jackass archer puts an arrow through me. I love you too much to see you suffer like that again. If this archer wants to take me down, he's gonna need more than cold weather and some sharp sticks."

 

"...just please come back okay..."

 

"I will. Ra's! I'm ready."

 

"Very well! Let the first trial commence!"

 

Good luck, Tim...

 

The days drag and the weeks fly by.

 

It has been a grim week at work, and yet the weekend is here once again.

 

The cold snap is still here; thick frosts and icy patches, but Sunday afternoon storms will sweep in from the west and temperatures will soar by day to 13 degrees.

 

But for now it is cold, and colder at nights, the wood burner makes the living room toasty warm, though the rest of the house seems like a fridge in comparison.

 

Even though we went to bed at nine, we slept to nearly half seven, which meant we were already later than usual going to Tesco.

 

We had a coffee first, then got dressed and went out into the winter wonderland.

 

Tesco was more crowded mainly because we were an hour later. There were no crackers for cheese, a whole aisle empty of cream crackers and butter wafers.

 

There is only so much food you can eat even over Christmas, so the cracker-shortage won't affect us, we have two Dundee cakes, filling for two lots of mince pies and pastry for five lots of sausage rolls.

 

We won't starve.

 

We buy another bag of stuff for the food bank, try to get two weeks of stuff so we wont need to go next weekend, just to a farm shop for vegetables, and the butcher for the Christmas order, though on the 25th we are going out for dinner to the Lantern.

 

Back home for fruit, then bacon butties and another huge brew. Yes, smoked bacon is again in short supply, with just the basic streaky smoked available, but we're not fussy, so that does the trick.

 

Also, Jools picked up her inhalers for her cough, and so, we hope, the road to recovery begins.

 

What to do with the day?

 

Although a walk would have been good, Jools can do no more than ten minutes in freezing conditions before a coughing fits starts, so a couple of churches to revisit and take more shots of.

 

First on the list was St Leonard in Upper Deal. A church I have only have been inside once. As it was just half ten, there should have been a chance it was open, but no. We parked up and I walked over the road to try the porch door, but it was locked.

 

No worries, as the next two would certainly be open.

 

Just up the road towards Canterbury is Ash.

 

Ash is a large village that the main roads now bypass its narrow streets, and buses call not so frequently.

 

The church towers over the village, its spire piercing the grey sky. We park beside the old curry hours than burned down a decade ago, is now a house and no sign of damage.

 

indeed the church was open, though the porch door was closed, it opened with use of the latch, and the inner glass door swung inwards, revealing an interior I had forgotten about, rich Victorian glass let in the weak sunlight, allowing me to take detailed shots. It was far better and more enjoyable than I remembered.

 

Once I took 200 or so shots, we went back to the car, drove back to the main road, and on to Wingham, where the church there, a twin of Wingham, would also be open too.

 

And it was.

 

The wardens were just finishing trimming the church up, and putting out new flowers, it was a bustle of activity, then one by one they left.

 

got my shots, and we left, back to the car and to home, though we did stop at he farm shop at Aylsham, and all we wanted was some sweet peppers for hash.

 

We went in and there was the bakery: I bought two sausage rolls, four small pork pies and two Cajun flavours scotch eggs. We got cider, beer, healthy snacks (we told ourselves) and finally found the peppers.

 

Three peppers cost £50!

 

Then back home, along the A2.

 

And arriving back home at one. We feasted on the scotch eggs and two of the pork pies.

 

Yummy.

 

There was the third place play off game to watch on the tellybox, the Football league to follow on the radio. We lit the woodburner and it was soon toasty warm.

 

At half five, Norwich kicked off, and hopes were high as Blackburn had not beaten us in over a decade.

 

And, yes you guessed it, Norwich lost. Played poorly, and in Dad's words, were lucky to get nil.

 

Oh dear.

 

Oh dear indeed.

 

We have Christmas cake for supper, and apart from the football, as was well with the world.

 

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A large and impressive church of mainly thirteenth century date over restored in 1847 by the irrepressible William Butterfield. The scale of the interior is amazing - particularly in the tower crossing arches which support the enormous spire. They are an obvious insertion into an earlier structure. The best furnishing at Ash is the eighteenth century font which stands on an inscribed base. For the visitor interested in memorials, Ash ahs more than most ranging from the fourteenth century effigy of a knight to two excellent alabaster memorials to Sir Thomas Harfleet (d 1612) and Christopher Toldervy (d 1618). Mrs Toldervy appears twice in the church for she accompanies her husband on his memorial and may also be seen as a `weeper` on her parents` memorial! On that she is one of two survivors of what was once a group of seven daughters - all her weeping brothers have long since disappeared.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ash+2

 

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ASH

LIES adjoining to the last-described parish of Staple northward. It is written in Domesday, Ece, and in other antient records, Aisse, and is usually called Ash, near Sandwich, to distinguish it from Ash, near Wrotham.

 

The parish of Ash is very large, extending over a variety of soil and country, of hill, dale, and marsh lands, near four miles across each way, and containing more than six thousand acres of land, of which about one half is marsh, the river Stour being its northern bounday, where it is very wet and unwholesone, but the southern or upland part of the parish is very dary, pleasant and healthy. The soil in general is fertile, and lets on an average at about one pound an acre; notwithstanding, there is a part of it about Ash-street and Gilton town, where it is a deep sand. The village of Ash, commonly called Ash-street, situated in this part of it, on high ground, mostly on the western declivity of a hill, having the church on the brow of it, is built on each side of the road from Canterbury to Sandwich, and contains about fifty houses. On the south side of this road, about half a mile westward, is a Roman burial ground, of which further mention will be taken hereaster, and adjoining to it the hamlet of Gilton town, formerly written Guildanton, in which is Gilton parsonage, a neat stuccoed house, lately inhabited by Mr. Robert Legrand, and now by Mrs. Becker. In the valley southward stands Mote farm, alias Brooke house, formerly the habitation of the Stoughtons, then of the Ptoroude's and now the property of Edward Solly, esq. of London.

 

There are dispersed throughout this large parish many small hamlets and farms, which have been formerly of more consequence, from the respective owners and in habitants of them, all which, excepting East and New Street, and Great Pedding, (the latter of which was the antient residence of the family of solly, who lie buried in Ash church-yard, and bore for their arms, Vert, a chevron, per pale, or, and gules, between three soles naiant, argent, and being sold by one of them to dean Lynch, is now in the possession of lady Lynch, the widow of Sir William Lynch, K. B.) are situated in the northern part of the parish, and contain together about two hundred and fifty houses, among them is Hoden, formerly the residence of the family of St. Nicholas; Paramour-street, which for many years was the residence of those of that name, and Brook-street, in which is Brook-house, the residence of the Brooke's, one of whom John Brooke, esq. in queen Elizabeth's reign, resided here, and bore for his arms, Per bend, vert and sable, two eagles, counterchanged.

 

William, lord Latimer, anno 38 Edward III. obtained a market to be held at Ash, on a Thursday; and a fair yearly on Lady-day, and the two following ones. A fair is now held in Ash-street on Lady and Michaelmas days yearly.

 

In 1473 there was a lazar house for the infirm of the leprosy, at Eche, near Sandwich.

 

¶The manor of Wingham claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which there were several manors in it, held of the archbishop, to whom that manor belonged, the mansions of which, being inhabited by families of reputation and of good rank in life, made this parish of much greater account than it has been for many years past, the mansions of them having been converted for a length of time into farmhouses to the lands to which they belong.

 

f this manor, (viz. Wingham) William de Acris holds one suling in Fletes, and there he has in demesne one carucate and four villeins, and one knight with one carucate, and one fisbery, with a saltpit of thirty pence. The whole is worth forty shillings.

 

This district or manor was granted by archbishop Lanfranc, soon after this, to one Osberne, (fn. 7) of whom I find no further mention, nor of this place, till king Henry III.'s reign, when it seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which, now known by the name of the manor of Gurson Fleet, though till of late time by that of Fleet only, was held afterwards of the archbishop by knight's service, by the family of Sandwich, and afterwards by the Veres, earls of Oxford, one of whom, Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, who died anno 3 Edward III. was found by the escheat-rolls of that year, to have died possessed of this manor of Fleet, which continued in his descendants down to John de Vere, earl of Oxford, who for his attachment to the house of Lancaster, was attainted in the first year of king Edward IV. upon which this manor came into the hands of the crown, and was granted the next year to Richard, duke of Gloucester, the king's brother, with whom it staid after his succession to the crown, as king Richard III. on whose death, and the accession of king Henry VII. this manor returned to the possession of John, earl of Oxford, who had been attainted, but was by parliament anno I Henry VII. restored in blood, titles and possessions. After which this manor continued in his name and family till about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign, when Edward Vere, earl of Oxford, alienated it to Hammond, in whose descendants it continued till one of them, in the middle of king Charles II.'s reign, sold it to Thomas Turner, D. D. who died possessed of it in 1672, and in his name and descendants it continued till the year 1748, when it was sold to John Lynch, D. D. dean of Canterbury, whose son Sir William Lynch, K. B. died possessed of it in 1785, and by his will devised it, with the rest of his estates, to his widow lady Lynch, who is the present possessor of it. A court baron is held for this manor.

 

Archbishop Lanfranc, on his founding the priory of St. Gregory, in the reign of the Conqueror, gave to it the tithe of the manor of Fleet; which gift was confirmed by archbishop Hubert in Richard I.'s reign. This portion of tithes, which arose principally from Gurson Fleet manor, remained with the priory at its dissolution, and is now part of Goldston parsonage, parcel of the see of Canterbury, of which further mention has been made before.

 

The other part of the district of Fleet was called, to distinguish it, and from the possessors of it, the manor of Nevills Fleet, though now known by the name of Fleet only, is situated between Gurson and Richborough, adjoining to the former. This manor was held in king John's reign of the archbishop, by knight's service, by Thomas Pincerna, so called probably from his office of chief butler to that prince, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, or Boteler. His descendant was Robert le Boteler, who possessed this manor in king Ed ward I.'s reign, and from their possession of it, this manor acquired for some time the name of Butlers Fleet; but in the 20th year of king Edward III. William, lord Latimer of Corbie, appears to have been in the possession of it, and from him it acquired the name of Latimers Fleet. He bore for his arms, Gules, a cross flory, or. After having had summons to parliament, (fn. 8) he died in the begening of king Richard II.'s reign, leaving Elizabeth his sole daughter and heir, married to John, lord Nevill, of Raby, whose son John bore the title of lord Latimer, and was summoned to parliament as lord Latimer, till the 9th year of king Henry VI. in which he died, so that the greatest part of his inheritance, among which was this manor, came by an entail made, to Ralph, lord Nevill, and first earl of Westmoreland, his eldest, but half brother, to whom he had sold, after his life, the barony of Latimer, and he, by seoffment, vested it, with this manor and much of the inheritance above-mentioned, in his younger son Sir George Nevill, who was accordingly summoned to parliament as lord Latimer, anno 10 Henry VI. and his grandson Richard, lord Latimer, in the next regin of Edward IV. alienated this manor, which from their length of possession of it, had acquired the name of Nevill's Fleet, to Sir James Cromer, and his son Sir William Cromer, in the 11th year of king Henry VII, sold it to John Isaak, who passed it away to Kendall, and he, in the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, sold it to Sir John Fogge, of Repton, in Ashford, who died possessed of it in 1533, and his son, of the same name, before the end of it, passed it away to Mr. Thomas Rolfe, and he sold it, within a few years afterwards, to Stephen Hougham, gent. of this parish, who by his will in 1555, devised it to his youngest son Rich. Hougham, of Eastry, from one of whose descendants it was alienated to Sir Adam Spracklin, who sold it to one of the family of Septvans, alias Harflete, in which name it continued till within a few years after the death of king Charles I. when by a female heir Elizabeth it went in marriage to Thomas Kitchell, esq. in whose heirs it continued till it was at length, about the year 1720, alienated by one of them to Mr. Thomas Bambridge, warden of the Fleet prison, upon whose death it became vested in his heirs-at-law, Mr. James Bambridge, of the Temple, attorney at-law, and Thomas Bambridge, and they divided this estate, and that part of it allotted to the latter was soon afterwards alienated by him to Mr. Peter Moulson, of London, whose only daughter and heir carried it in marriage to Mr. Geo. Vaughan, of London, and he and the assignees of Mr. James Bambridge last mentioned, have lately joined in the conveyance of the whole fee of this manor to Mr. Joseph Solly, gent. of Sandwich, the present owner of it. There is not any court held for this manor.

 

In this district, and within this manor of Fleet lastmentioned, there was formerly a chapel of cose to the church of Ash, as that was to the church of Wingham, to which college, on its foundation by archbishop Peckham in 1286, the tithes, rents, obventions, &c of this chapel and district was granted by him, for the support in common of the provost and canons of it, with whom it remained till the suppression of it, anno I king Edward VI. The tithes, arising from this manor of Fleet, and the hamlet of Richborough, are now a part of the rectory of Ash, and of that particular part of it called Gilton parsonage, parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, of which further mention will be made hereafter. There have not been any remains left of it for a long time part.

 

Richborough is a hamlet and district of land, in the south-east part of this parish, rendered famous from the Roman fort and town built there, and more so formerly, from the port or haven close adjoining to it.

 

It was in general called by the Romans by the plural name of Rutupiæ; for it must be observed that the æstuary, which at that time separated the Isle of Thanet from the main land of Kent, and was the general passage for shipping,had at each mouth of it, towards the sea, a fort and haven, called jointly Rutupiæ. That at the northern part and of it being now called Reculver, and that at the eastern, being the principal one, this of Richborough.

 

The name of it is variously spelt in different authors. By Ptolemy it is written [Patapiaia (?)] urbem; by Tacitus, according to the best reading, Portus, Rutupensis; by Antonine, in his Itinerary, Ritupas, and Ritupis Portum; by Ammianus, Ritupiæ statio; afterwards by the Saxons, Reptacester, and now Richborough.

 

The haven, or Portus Rutupinus, or Richborough, was very eminent in the time of the Romans, and much celebrated in antient history, being a safe and commodious harbour, stationem ex adverso tranquillam, as Ammianus calls it, situated at the entrance of the passage towards then Thamas, and becoming the general place of setting sail from Britain to the continent, and where the Roman fleets arrived, and so large and extensive was the bay of it, that it is supposed to have extended far beyond Sandwich on the one side, almost to Ramsgate cliffs on the other, near five miles in width, covering the whole of that flat of land on which Stonar and Sandwich were afterwards built, and extending from thence up the æstuary between the Isle of Thanet and the main land. So that Antonine might well name it the Port, in his Itinerary, [Kat exochin], from there being no other of like consequence, and from this circumstance the shore for some distance on each side acquired the general name of Littus Rutupinum, the Rutupian shore. (fn. 9) Some have contended that Julius Cæsar landed at Richborough, in his expeditions into Britain; but this opinion is refuted by Dr. Hasley in Phil, Trans. No. 193, who plainly proves his place of landing to have been in the Downs. The fort of Richborough, from the similarity of the remains of it to those of Reculver, seems to have been built about the same time, and by the same emperer, Serveris, about the year 205. It stands on the high hill, close to a deep precipice eastward, at the soot of which was the haven. In this fortress, so peculiarly strengthened by its situation, the Romans had afterwards a stationary garrison, and here they had likewise a pharos, of watch tower, the like as at Reculver and other places on this coast, as well to guide the shipping into the haven, as to give notice of the approach of enemies. It is by most supposed that there was, in the time of the Romans, near the fort, in like manner as at Reculver, a city or town, on the decline of the hill, south-westward from it, according to custom, at which a colony was settled by them. Prolemy, in his geography, reckons the city Rutpia as one of the three principal cities of Kent. (fn. 10) Orosius. and Bede too, expressly mention it as such; but when the haven decayed, and there was no longer a traffic and resort to this place, the town decayed likewise, and there have not been, for many ages since, any remains whatever of it left; though quantities of coins and Roman antiquities have been sound on the spot where it is supposed to have once stood.

 

During the latter part of the Roman empire, when the Saxons prevented all trade by sea, and insefted these coasts by frequent robberies, the second Roman legion, called Augusta, and likewise Britannica, which had been brought out of Germany by the emperor Claudius, and had resided for many years at the Isca Silurum, in Wales, was removed and stationed here, under a president or commander, præpositus, of its own, who was subordinate to the count of the Saxon shore, and continued so till the final departure of the Romans from Britain, in the year 410, when this fortress was left in the hands of the Britons, who were afterwards dispossessed of it by the Saxons, during whose time the harbour seems to have began to decay and to swerve up, the sea by degrees entirely deserting it at this place, but still leaving one large and commodious at Sandwich, which in process of time became the usual resort for shipping, and arose a flourishing harbour in its stead, as plainly appears by the histories of those times, by all of which, both the royal Saxon fleets, as well as those of the Danes, are said to sail for the port of Sandwich, and there to lie at different times; (fn. 11) and no further mention is made by any of them of this of Rutupiæ, Reptachester, or Richborough; so that the port being thus destroyed, the town became neglected and desolate, and with the castle sunk into a heap of ruins. Leland's description of it in king Henry VIII.'s reign, is very accurate, and gives an exceeding good idea of the progressive state of its decay to that time. He says, "Ratesburg otherwyse Richeboro was, of ever the ryver of Sture dyd turn his botom or old canale, withyn the Isle of the Thanet, and by Iykelyhod the mayn se came to the very foote of the castel. The mayn se ys now of yt a myle by reason of wose, that has there swollen up. The scite of the town or castel ys wonderful fair apon an hille. The walles the wich remayn ther yet be in cumpase almost as much as the tower of London. They have bene very hye thykke stronge and wel embateled. The mater of them is flynt mervelus and long brykes both white and redde after the Britons fascion. The sement was made of se sand and smaul pible. Ther is a great lykelyhod that the goodly hil abowte the castel and especially to Sandwich ward hath bene wel inhabited. Corne groweth on the hille yn bene mervelous plenty and yn going to plowgh ther hath owt of mynde fownd and now is mo antiquities of Romayne money than yn any place els of England surely reason speketh that this should be Rutupinum. For byside that the name sumwhat toucheth, the very near passage fro Cales Clyves or Cales was to Ratesburgh and now is to Sandwich, the which is about a myle of; though now Sandwich be not celebrated by cawse of Goodwine sandes and the decay of the haven. Ther is a good flyte shot of fro Ratesburg toward Sandwich a great dyke caste in a rownd cumpas as yt had bene for sens of menne of warre. The cumpase of the grownd withyn is not much above an acre and yt is very holo by casting up the yerth. They cawle the place there Lytleborough. Withyn the castel is a lytle paroche chirch of St. Augustine and an heremitage. I had antiquities of the heremite the which is an industrious man. Not far fro the hermitage is a cave wher men have sowt and digged for treasure. I saw it by candel withyn, and ther were conys. Yt was so straite that I had no mynd to crepe far yn. In the north side of the castel ys a hedde yn the walle, now fore defaced with wether. They call it queen Bertha hedde. Nere to that place hard by the wal was a pot of Romayne mony sownd."

 

The ruins of this antient castle stand upon the point of a hill or promontory, about a mile north-west from Sandwich, overlooking on each side, excepting towards the west, a great flat which appears by the lowness of it, and the banks of beach still shewing themselves in different places, to have been all once covered by the sea. The east side of this hill is great part of it so high and perpendicular from the flat at the foot of it, where the river Stour now runs, that ships with the greatest burthen might have lain close to it, and there are no signs of any wall having been there; but at the north end, where the ground rises into a natural terrace, so as to render one necessary, there is about 190 feet of wall left. Those on the other three sides are for the most part standing, and much more entire than could be expected, considering the number of years since they were built, and the most so of any in the kingdom, except Silchester. It is in shape an oblong square, containing within it a space of somewhat less than five acres. They are in general about ten feet high within, but their broken tops shew them to have been still higher. The north wall, on the outside, is about twice as high as it is within, or the other two, having been carried up from the very bottom of the hill, and it seems to have been somewhat longer than it is at present, by some pieces of it sallen down at the east end. The walls are about eleven feet thick. In the middle of the west side is the aperture of an entrance, which probably led to the city or town, and on the north side is another, being an entrance obliquely into the castle. Near the middle of the area are the ruins of some walls, full of bushes and briars, which seem as if some one had dug under ground among them, probably where once stood the prætorium of the Roman general, and where a church or chapel was afterwards erected, dedicated to St. Augustine, and taken notice of by Leland as such in his time. It appears to have been a chapel of ease to the church of Ash, for the few remaining inhabitants of this district, and is mentioned as such in the grant of the rectory of that church, anno 3 Edward VI. at which time it appears to have existed. About a furlong to the south, in a ploughed field, is a large circular work, with a hollow in the middle, the banks of unequal heights, which is supposed to have been an amphitheatre, built of turf, for the use of the garrison, the different heights of the banks having been occasioned by cultivation, and the usual decay, which must have happened from so great a length of time. These stations of the Romans, of which Richborough was one, were strong fortifications, for the most part of no great compass or extent, wherein were barracks for the loding of the soldiers, who had their usual winter quarters in them. Adjoining, or at no great distance from them, there were usually other, buildings forming a town; and such a one was here at Richborough, as has been already mentioned before, to which the station or fort was in the nature of a citadel, where the soldiers kept garrison. To this Tacitus seems to allude, when he says, "the works that in time of peace had been built, like a free town, not far from the camp, were destroyed, left they should be of any service to the enemy." (fn. 12) Which in great measure accounts for there being no kind of trace or remains left, to point out where this town once stood, which had not only the Romans, according to the above observation, but the Saxons and Danes afterwards, to carry forward at different æras the total destruction of it.

 

The burial ground for this Roman colony and station of Richborough, appears to have been on the hill at the end of Gilton town, in this parish, about two miles south-west from the castle, and the many graves which have been continually dug up there, in different parts of it, shew it to have been of general use for that purpose for several ages.

 

The scite of the castle at Richborough was part of the antient inheritance of the family of the Veres, earls of Oxford, from which it was alienated in queen Elizabeth's reign to Gaunt; after which it passed, in like manner as Wingham Barton before-described, to Thurbarne, and thence by marriage to Rivett, who sold it to Farrer, from whom it was alienated to Peter Fector, esq. of Dover, the present possessor of it. In the deed of conveyance it is thus described: And also all those the walls and ruins of the antient castle of Rutupium, now known by the name of Richborough castle, with the scite of the antient port and city of Rutupinum, being on and near the lands before-mentioned. About the walls of Richborough grows Fæniculum valgare, common fennel, in great plenty.

 

It may be learned from the second iter of Antonine's Itinerary, that there was once a Roman road, or highway from Canterbury to the port of Richborough, in which iter the two laft stations are, from Durovernum, Canterbury, to Richborough, ad portum Rutupis, xii miles; in which distance all the different copies of the Itinerary agree. Some parts of this road can be tracted at places at this time with certainty; and by the Roman burial-ground, usually placed near the side of a high road, at Gilton town, and several other Roman vestigia thereabouts, it may well be supposed to have led from Canterbury through that place to Richborough, and there is at this time from Goldston, in Ash, across the low-grounds to it, a road much harder and broader than usual for the apparent use of it, which might perhaps be some part of it.

 

Charities.

A person unknown gave four acres and an half of land, in Chapman-street, of the annual produce of 5l. towards the church assessments.

 

Thomas St. Nicholas, esq. of this parish, by deed about the year 1626, gave an annuity of 11. 5s. to be paid from his estate of Hoden, now belonging to the heirs of Nathaniel Elgar, esq. to be distributed yearly, 10s. to the repairing and keeping clean the Toldervey monument in this church, and 15s. on Christmas-day to the poor.

 

John Proude, the elder, of Ash, yeoman, by his will in 1626, ordered that his executor should erect upon his land adjoining to the church-yard, a house, which should be disposed of in future by the churchwardens and overseers, for a school-house, and for a storehouse, to lay in provision for the church and poor. This house is now let at 1l. per annum, and the produce applied to the use of the poor.

 

Richard Camden, in 1642, gave by will forty perches of land, for the use of the poor, and of the annual produce of 15s. now vested in the minister and churchwardens.

 

Gervas Cartwright, esq. and his two sisters, in 1710 and 1721, gave by deed an estate, now of the yearly value of 50l. for teaching fifty poor children to read, write, &c. vested in the minister, churchwardens, and other trustees.

 

The above two sisters, Eleanor and Anne Cartwright, gave besides 100l. for beautifying the chancel, and for providing two large pieces of plate for the communion service; and Mrs. Susan Robetts added two other pieces of plate for the same purpose.

 

There is a large and commodious workhouse lately built, for the use of the poor, to discharge the expence of which, 100l. is taken yearly out of the poor's rate, till the whole is discharged. In 1604, the charges of the poor were 29l. 15s. 11d. In 1779. 1000l.

 

There is a charity school for boys and girls, who are educated, but not cloathed.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about seventy-five, casually fifty-five.

 

This parish is within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the dioceseof Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a handsome building, of the form of a cross, consisting of two isles and two chancels, and a cross sept, having a tall spire steeple in the middle, in which are eight bells and a clock. It is very neat and handsome in the inside. In the high or south chancel is a monument for the Roberts's, arms, Argent, three pheons, sable, on a chief of the second, a greybound current of the first; another for the Cartwrights, arms, Or, a fess embattled, between three catherine wheels, sable. In the north wall is a monument for one of the family of Leverick, with his effigies, in armour, lying cross-legged on it; and in the same wall, westward, is another like monument for Sir John Goshall, with his effigies on it, in like manner, and in a hollow underneath, the effigies of his wife, in her head-dress, and wimple under her chin. A gravestone, with an inscription, and figure of a woman with a remarkable high high-dress, the middle part like a horseshoe inverted, for Jane Keriell, daughter of Roger Clitherow. A stone for Benjamin Longley, LL. B. minister of Ash twenty-nine years, vicar of Eynsford and Tonge, obt. 1783. A monument for William Brett, esq. and Frances his wife. The north chancel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, belongs to the manor of Molland. Against the north wall is a tomb, having on it the effigies of a man and woman, lying at full length, the former in armour, and sword by his side, but his head bare, a collar of SS about his neck, both seemingly under the middle age, but neither arms nor inscription, but it was for one of the family of Harflete, alias Septvans; and there are monuments and several memorials and brasses likewise for that family. A memorial for Thomas Singleton, M. D. of Molland, obt. 1710. One for John Brooke, of Brookestreet, obt. 1582, s. p. arms, Per bend, two eagles.—Several memorials for the Pekes, of Hills-court, and for Masters, of Goldstone. A monument for Christopher Toldervy, of Chartham, obt. 1618. A memorial for Daniel Hole, who, as well as his ancestors, had lived upwards of one hundred years at Goshall, as occupiers of it. In the north cross, which was called the chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, was buried the family of St. Nicholas. The brass plates of whom, with their arms, are still to be seen. A tablet for Whittingham Wood, gent. obt. 1656. In the south cross, a monument for Richard Hougham, gent. of Weddington, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Edward Sanders, gent. of Norborne. An elegant monument for Mary, wife of Henry Lowman, esq. of Dortnued, in Germany. She died in 1737, and he died in 1743. And for lieutenant colonel Christopher Ernest Kien, obt. 1744, and Jane his wife, their sole daughter and heir, obt. 1762, and for Evert George Cousemaker, esq. obt. 1763, all buried in a vault underneath, arms, Or, on a mount vert, a naked man, bolding a branch in his hand, proper, impaling per bend sinister, argent and gules, a knight armed on borjeback, holding a tilting spear erect, the point downwards, all counterchanged. On the font is inscribed, Robert Minchard, arms, A crescent, between the points of it a mullet. Several of the Harfletes lie buried in the church-yard, near the porch, but their tombs are gone. On each side of the porch are two compartments of stone work, which were once ornamented with brasses, most probably in remembrance of the Harfleets, buried near them. At the corner of the church-yard are two old tombs, supposed for the family of Alday.

 

In the windows of the church were formerly several coats of arms, and among others, of Septvans, alias Harflete, Notbeame, who married Constance, widow of John Septvans; Brooke, Ellis, Clitherow, Oldcastle, Keriell, and Hougham; and the figures of St. Nicholas, Keriell, and Hougham, kneeling, in their respective surcoats of arms, but there is not any painted glass left in any part of the church or chancels.

 

John Septvans, about king Henry VII.'s reign, founded a chantry, called the chantry of the upper Hall, as appears by the will of Katherine Martin, of Faversham, sometime his wife, in 1497. There was a chantry of our blessed Lady, and another of St. Stephen likewise, in it; both suppressed in the 1st year of king Edward VI. when the former of them was returned to be of the clear yearly certified value of 15l. 11s. 1½d. (fn. 13)

 

The church of Ash was antiently a chapel of east to that of Wingham, and was, on the foundation of the college there in 1286, separated from it, and made a distinct parish church of itself, and then given to the college, with the chapels likewise of Overland and Fleet, in this parish, appurtenant to this church; which becoming thus appropriated to the college, continued with it till the suppression of it in king Edward VI.'s reign, when this part of the rectory or parsonage appropriate, called Overland parsonage, with the advowson of the church, came, with the rest of the possessions of the college, into the hands of the crown, where the advowson of the vicarage, or perpetual curacy of it did not remain long, for in the year 1558, queen Mary granted it, among others, to the archbishop. But the above-mentioned part of the rectory, or parsonage appropriate of Ash, with those chapels, remained in the crown, till queen Elizabeth, in her 3d year, granted it in exchange to archbishop Parker, who was before possessed of that part called Goldston parsonage, parcel of the late dissolved priory of St. Gregory, by grant from king Henry VIII. so that now this parish is divided into two distinct parsonages, viz. of Overland and of Goldston, which are demised on separate beneficial leases by the archbishop, the former to the heirs of Parker, and the latter, called Gilton parsonage, from the house and barns of it being situated in that hamlet, to George Gipps, esq. M. P. for Canterbury. The patronage of the perpetual curacy remains parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury.

 

¶At the time this church was appropriated to the college of Wingham, a vicarage was endowed in it, which after the suppression of the college came to be esteemed as a perpetual curacy. It is not valued in the king's books. The antient stipend paid by the provost, &c. to the curate being 16l. 13s. 4d. was in 1660, augmented by archbishop Juxon with the addition of 33l. 6s. 8d. per annum; and it was afterwards further augmented by archbishop Sheldon, anno 28 Charles II. with twenty pounds per annum more, the whole to be paid by the several lessees of these parsonages. Which sum of seventy pounds is now the clear yearly certified value of it. In 1588 here were communicants five hundred; in 1640, eight hundred and fifty. So far as appears by the registers, the increase of births in this parish is almost double to what they were two hundred years ago.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp191-224

31.10.2016 | Sala But | Madrid

Yesterday, we celebrated Earth Day - perhaps for the first time in our lives but it dwindled up and open many questions in my mind. It made me wonder how commercial we all have become, in order to create or pass such a message - Thousands of currency from different corners of the world was spend to save energy for just an hour.

 

Is this because we lack the information on climate change? Is it because we are not educated about the dreadful impact we are incurring on the mother nature and it's resources? Is it because we are aware of all this? But then when I don't have to think even for a millisecond and the answer are yes - we know all this but we have generated a habit of close your eyes to things that you don't want to believe. This could be even clearly visible yesterday when few of those educated bunch actually went on to the streets with their vehicle and few of them even lighting up the whole house because they think it was a political move. They are educated but still they are uneducated about the ethics or the difference they could do.

 

I agree with this initiative but I believe it would have been more effective if this activity had a longer time period rather than just one hour of a 24hours of a day. Now I feel like this is also another day found out in the calender to sight out as a reason to celebrate and infact use as a commercial purpose. But here we are not talking about valentines, diwali, Halloween etc but here we are talking about the place were we celebrate all this. If Earth is not there then where would we celebrate all this? in space? under water?

 

"Protect Earth not for yourself but the generation that would follow us" -

It is not our duty but it is our responsibility,

It is not by saying but it is by doing and

it is not by wishing but it is by making a change.

 

I might be one individual but I know one Individual could make a difference and I would protect the Earth where I am living now so that the generation ahead won't look at me and say "He is the culprit, if he had opened his eyes way too early then we could have changed this happening from where they have left but now they have left us no option and nowhere to live".

 

Earth Day is not just one day out of the 365 +/- days in a year , it comes out through every day of every week of every month of every year and it is called the life span of every single being in this world.

 

Picture Details:

Camera: Sony DSC-H7

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)

Aperture: f/3.2

Focal Length: 5.2 mm

ISO Speed: 800

 

but I wish I were.

our love was lost but now we've found it.

and if you flash your heart I want it now

I promise. I promise.

 

The Temper Trap

 

I love this book so so so much.

- But I don't want to go home!

 

- Look honey, I know you love this place, but they're closing now. You get to come back tomorrow again.

The first sunrise over Tokyo for 2010. Happy New Year!!

 

Managed to oversleep but still get my myself over to the Takeshiba area of Tokyo in time for the sunrise. I think I went from bed to taxi to shooting in about 20 min. Not bad for operating on about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. Skipped trying to do a HDR as, predictably since I was late, couldn't get a good angle to setup the tripod and decided to handhold everything. Actually quite pleased with how my non-HDR shots turned out. This image was touched up just a little in Lightroom. No fancy Photoshop or Photomatix for me to start this year ;-)

 

We've (Alfie and I) shot from this location 2 years straight now so I think for 2011 we'll have to find something new. Still, the boat and cool glass building across the water do make for a good backdrop for the sunrise. Always good to start the year behind the lens.

 

Best wishes to everyone for 2010!

 

See where this picture was taken. [?]

But it is still beautiful!

Veta tells her lawyer about the incidents at the insane asylum. She was there to hospitalize her brother Elwood, who has a 1 meter 96 big rabbit as friend. But they thought she is insane, hospitalized her and let her brother go.

 

Part of "res noscenda" / "Empty Padded ~ LeerGefüllt - Time at Work" - Left handed drawings and writings on the empty left pages of my prompter`s book: Soufflierbuch "Mein Freund Harvey" (Mary Chase "Harvey") Page 35

 

Drawing: 16.5., 24.5., 25.5. Photo: DMC-G2 - P1620445 - 2013-05-26

Oh but it feels weird not to put numbers after the title of this shot!

The kids wanted to ride their bikes today so we went around the block - which also included the field behind the house and yes, the giant puddle in said field. Shoes, socks and trousers now in the washing machine :) Good fun though.

 

ODC - Cover (as in helmets and coats and gloves and scarves - well you get the idea)

 

1/50

Another, but later Bedford / Duple combination, this time an SB rather than an OB. However, that's perhaps where the comparison realistically ends as this old girl's seen better days. It's doubtful now whether salvation will come for this deflated Duple or whether it will merely yield a few spare parts for sisters less far gone.

The rather sad looking coach resides in the undergrowth at wonderful Winkleigh, North Devon. It's a graphic illustration of what happens to timber framed (and some lesser metal framed) buses when water ingress takes it's toll. Still, even between us, we can't save 'em all.

"I would not creep along the coast but steer out in mid-sea, by guidance of the stars."

 

Last night I went to the midnight premiere of Toy Story 3. It was incredible. I cried.

Not because the story was incredibly mushy (although it could have brought a few tears on its own..) or anything like that.. But because the story fits so perfectly right now. In the story, (no spoilers, don't worry) Andy is going off to college, and it's a huge deal for him and he has to make some decisions along the way. In a sense, I grew up with Andy, alongside him. I'm at the same point in my life, and in a few short weeks, I'm going to be doing the same thing he did.

Now, there is also a little girl in the movie. She is that type of little girl with the wildest imagination you have ever seen, and such a joy for life. I feel like I can really identify with this little girl..

I'm really not getting my thoughts out well at all. But the last scene just brought tears to my eyes, because I started thinking about my future, and how I'm that big kid now... something I never pictured myself being. It's really hard for me to believe that I'm not that little girl anymore. I don't have any of my Barbie dolls, my stuffed animals are all in the garage (thanks to my mom, not me =P) and I would rather spend my days on facebook than reliving my childhood. I wish we didn't have to grow up. It's so frustrating.

I want to be little again.

 

This picture is inspired by so many things. I really feel like I've got my creative juices flowing a lot lately. First of all, I spent almost the whole morning yesterday looking through her photostream, and let me tell you, it's incredible. So many inspirations are coming from what I've seen from her. Of course second of all is this.

I love flickr so much. I don't care if I only have one photo that made explore, and if I had 50 in explore, I would feel the same. This website is so amazing to me. I won't elaborate right now. But I just want to say thanks to all of you who do look at my photos, and support me. You are what keep me going.

 

=] Sorry to be such a mushball today. I just have a lot going through my head right now.

  

Obviously the picture of the ocean is not mine. Because I live where there is no ocean. So I got it off of photobucket. And I used a texture from les brumes. But everything else was me. The end.

 

if you'd like.

But somehow we found a way. Can't lime and orange just get along?

Another week is over but I can't really say something about it. On Tuesday we had sunshine but then the cloudy weather came back. I'm sure I mentioned it before but these grey cold days aren't the best thing for my mood. It seems that all these days pass by and I don't realize anything. It's like a dream, like an endless dream. I want to wake up and enjoy the life again.

I hope it doesn't sound too depressing, it wasn't meant this way. I just want to say that I'm ready for spring, I'm ready for some warmth and I'm ready for some colours in the nature...

I wish you all a great weekend!

 

Saturday, 16.02.2013

..... but misses the point.

 

And added for the delectable Madame Fish's musically challenged week of sex songs...

I think Dirty Song is the most appropriate..... even though it mentions every sexual act except phone sex!

 

21/365:2011 - 21st Jan

100 Words: Word #37 - Experimenting.

FGR - Huggies - Well..... it's sort of like hugging ;-)

TOTW - Props......

Jim Shields Photography

The days drag and the weeks fly by.

 

It has been a grim week at work, and yet the weekend is here once again.

 

The cold snap is still here; thick frosts and icy patches, but Sunday afternoon storms will sweep in from the west and temperatures will soar by day to 13 degrees.

 

But for now it is cold, and colder at nights, the wood burner makes the living room toasty warm, though the rest of the house seems like a fridge in comparison.

 

Even though we went to bed at nine, we slept to nearly half seven, which meant we were already later than usual going to Tesco.

 

We had a coffee first, then got dressed and went out into the winter wonderland.

 

Tesco was more crowded mainly because we were an hour later. There were no crackers for cheese, a whole aisle empty of cream crackers and butter wafers.

 

There is only so much food you can eat even over Christmas, so the cracker-shortage won't affect us, we have two Dundee cakes, filling for two lots of mince pies and pastry for five lots of sausage rolls.

 

We won't starve.

 

We buy another bag of stuff for the food bank, try to get two weeks of stuff so we wont need to go next weekend, just to a farm shop for vegetables, and the butcher for the Christmas order, though on the 25th we are going out for dinner to the Lantern.

 

Back home for fruit, then bacon butties and another huge brew. Yes, smoked bacon is again in short supply, with just the basic streaky smoked available, but we're not fussy, so that does the trick.

 

Also, Jools picked up her inhalers for her cough, and so, we hope, the road to recovery begins.

 

What to do with the day?

 

Although a walk would have been good, Jools can do no more than ten minutes in freezing conditions before a coughing fits starts, so a couple of churches to revisit and take more shots of.

 

First on the list was St Leonard in Upper Deal. A church I have only have been inside once. As it was just half ten, there should have been a chance it was open, but no. We parked up and I walked over the road to try the porch door, but it was locked.

 

No worries, as the next two would certainly be open.

 

Just up the road towards Canterbury is Ash.

 

Ash is a large village that the main roads now bypass its narrow streets, and buses call not so frequently.

 

The church towers over the village, its spire piercing the grey sky. We park beside the old curry hours than burned down a decade ago, is now a house and no sign of damage.

 

indeed the church was open, though the porch door was closed, it opened with use of the latch, and the inner glass door swung inwards, revealing an interior I had forgotten about, rich Victorian glass let in the weak sunlight, allowing me to take detailed shots. It was far better and more enjoyable than I remembered.

 

Once I took 200 or so shots, we went back to the car, drove back to the main road, and on to Wingham, where the church there, a twin of Wingham, would also be open too.

 

And it was.

 

The wardens were just finishing trimming the church up, and putting out new flowers, it was a bustle of activity, then one by one they left.

 

got my shots, and we left, back to the car and to home, though we did stop at he farm shop at Aylsham, and all we wanted was some sweet peppers for hash.

 

We went in and there was the bakery: I bought two sausage rolls, four small pork pies and two Cajun flavours scotch eggs. We got cider, beer, healthy snacks (we told ourselves) and finally found the peppers.

 

Three peppers cost £50!

 

Then back home, along the A2.

 

And arriving back home at one. We feasted on the scotch eggs and two of the pork pies.

 

Yummy.

 

There was the third place play off game to watch on the tellybox, the Football league to follow on the radio. We lit the woodburner and it was soon toasty warm.

 

At half five, Norwich kicked off, and hopes were high as Blackburn had not beaten us in over a decade.

 

And, yes you guessed it, Norwich lost. Played poorly, and in Dad's words, were lucky to get nil.

 

Oh dear.

 

Oh dear indeed.

 

We have Christmas cake for supper, and apart from the football, as was well with the world.

 

------------------------------------------------

 

A large and impressive church of mainly thirteenth century date over restored in 1847 by the irrepressible William Butterfield. The scale of the interior is amazing - particularly in the tower crossing arches which support the enormous spire. They are an obvious insertion into an earlier structure. The best furnishing at Ash is the eighteenth century font which stands on an inscribed base. For the visitor interested in memorials, Ash ahs more than most ranging from the fourteenth century effigy of a knight to two excellent alabaster memorials to Sir Thomas Harfleet (d 1612) and Christopher Toldervy (d 1618). Mrs Toldervy appears twice in the church for she accompanies her husband on his memorial and may also be seen as a `weeper` on her parents` memorial! On that she is one of two survivors of what was once a group of seven daughters - all her weeping brothers have long since disappeared.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Ash+2

 

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ASH

LIES adjoining to the last-described parish of Staple northward. It is written in Domesday, Ece, and in other antient records, Aisse, and is usually called Ash, near Sandwich, to distinguish it from Ash, near Wrotham.

 

The parish of Ash is very large, extending over a variety of soil and country, of hill, dale, and marsh lands, near four miles across each way, and containing more than six thousand acres of land, of which about one half is marsh, the river Stour being its northern bounday, where it is very wet and unwholesone, but the southern or upland part of the parish is very dary, pleasant and healthy. The soil in general is fertile, and lets on an average at about one pound an acre; notwithstanding, there is a part of it about Ash-street and Gilton town, where it is a deep sand. The village of Ash, commonly called Ash-street, situated in this part of it, on high ground, mostly on the western declivity of a hill, having the church on the brow of it, is built on each side of the road from Canterbury to Sandwich, and contains about fifty houses. On the south side of this road, about half a mile westward, is a Roman burial ground, of which further mention will be taken hereaster, and adjoining to it the hamlet of Gilton town, formerly written Guildanton, in which is Gilton parsonage, a neat stuccoed house, lately inhabited by Mr. Robert Legrand, and now by Mrs. Becker. In the valley southward stands Mote farm, alias Brooke house, formerly the habitation of the Stoughtons, then of the Ptoroude's and now the property of Edward Solly, esq. of London.

 

There are dispersed throughout this large parish many small hamlets and farms, which have been formerly of more consequence, from the respective owners and in habitants of them, all which, excepting East and New Street, and Great Pedding, (the latter of which was the antient residence of the family of solly, who lie buried in Ash church-yard, and bore for their arms, Vert, a chevron, per pale, or, and gules, between three soles naiant, argent, and being sold by one of them to dean Lynch, is now in the possession of lady Lynch, the widow of Sir William Lynch, K. B.) are situated in the northern part of the parish, and contain together about two hundred and fifty houses, among them is Hoden, formerly the residence of the family of St. Nicholas; Paramour-street, which for many years was the residence of those of that name, and Brook-street, in which is Brook-house, the residence of the Brooke's, one of whom John Brooke, esq. in queen Elizabeth's reign, resided here, and bore for his arms, Per bend, vert and sable, two eagles, counterchanged.

 

William, lord Latimer, anno 38 Edward III. obtained a market to be held at Ash, on a Thursday; and a fair yearly on Lady-day, and the two following ones. A fair is now held in Ash-street on Lady and Michaelmas days yearly.

 

In 1473 there was a lazar house for the infirm of the leprosy, at Eche, near Sandwich.

 

¶The manor of Wingham claims paramount over this parish, subordinate to which there were several manors in it, held of the archbishop, to whom that manor belonged, the mansions of which, being inhabited by families of reputation and of good rank in life, made this parish of much greater account than it has been for many years past, the mansions of them having been converted for a length of time into farmhouses to the lands to which they belong.

 

f this manor, (viz. Wingham) William de Acris holds one suling in Fletes, and there he has in demesne one carucate and four villeins, and one knight with one carucate, and one fisbery, with a saltpit of thirty pence. The whole is worth forty shillings.

 

This district or manor was granted by archbishop Lanfranc, soon after this, to one Osberne, (fn. 7) of whom I find no further mention, nor of this place, till king Henry III.'s reign, when it seems to have been separated into two manors, one of which, now known by the name of the manor of Gurson Fleet, though till of late time by that of Fleet only, was held afterwards of the archbishop by knight's service, by the family of Sandwich, and afterwards by the Veres, earls of Oxford, one of whom, Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, who died anno 3 Edward III. was found by the escheat-rolls of that year, to have died possessed of this manor of Fleet, which continued in his descendants down to John de Vere, earl of Oxford, who for his attachment to the house of Lancaster, was attainted in the first year of king Edward IV. upon which this manor came into the hands of the crown, and was granted the next year to Richard, duke of Gloucester, the king's brother, with whom it staid after his succession to the crown, as king Richard III. on whose death, and the accession of king Henry VII. this manor returned to the possession of John, earl of Oxford, who had been attainted, but was by parliament anno I Henry VII. restored in blood, titles and possessions. After which this manor continued in his name and family till about the middle of queen Elizabeth's reign, when Edward Vere, earl of Oxford, alienated it to Hammond, in whose descendants it continued till one of them, in the middle of king Charles II.'s reign, sold it to Thomas Turner, D. D. who died possessed of it in 1672, and in his name and descendants it continued till the year 1748, when it was sold to John Lynch, D. D. dean of Canterbury, whose son Sir William Lynch, K. B. died possessed of it in 1785, and by his will devised it, with the rest of his estates, to his widow lady Lynch, who is the present possessor of it. A court baron is held for this manor.

 

Archbishop Lanfranc, on his founding the priory of St. Gregory, in the reign of the Conqueror, gave to it the tithe of the manor of Fleet; which gift was confirmed by archbishop Hubert in Richard I.'s reign. This portion of tithes, which arose principally from Gurson Fleet manor, remained with the priory at its dissolution, and is now part of Goldston parsonage, parcel of the see of Canterbury, of which further mention has been made before.

 

The other part of the district of Fleet was called, to distinguish it, and from the possessors of it, the manor of Nevills Fleet, though now known by the name of Fleet only, is situated between Gurson and Richborough, adjoining to the former. This manor was held in king John's reign of the archbishop, by knight's service, by Thomas Pincerna, so called probably from his office of chief butler to that prince, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, or Boteler. His descendant was Robert le Boteler, who possessed this manor in king Ed ward I.'s reign, and from their possession of it, this manor acquired for some time the name of Butlers Fleet; but in the 20th year of king Edward III. William, lord Latimer of Corbie, appears to have been in the possession of it, and from him it acquired the name of Latimers Fleet. He bore for his arms, Gules, a cross flory, or. After having had summons to parliament, (fn. 8) he died in the begening of king Richard II.'s reign, leaving Elizabeth his sole daughter and heir, married to John, lord Nevill, of Raby, whose son John bore the title of lord Latimer, and was summoned to parliament as lord Latimer, till the 9th year of king Henry VI. in which he died, so that the greatest part of his inheritance, among which was this manor, came by an entail made, to Ralph, lord Nevill, and first earl of Westmoreland, his eldest, but half brother, to whom he had sold, after his life, the barony of Latimer, and he, by seoffment, vested it, with this manor and much of the inheritance above-mentioned, in his younger son Sir George Nevill, who was accordingly summoned to parliament as lord Latimer, anno 10 Henry VI. and his grandson Richard, lord Latimer, in the next regin of Edward IV. alienated this manor, which from their length of possession of it, had acquired the name of Nevill's Fleet, to Sir James Cromer, and his son Sir William Cromer, in the 11th year of king Henry VII, sold it to John Isaak, who passed it away to Kendall, and he, in the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, sold it to Sir John Fogge, of Repton, in Ashford, who died possessed of it in 1533, and his son, of the same name, before the end of it, passed it away to Mr. Thomas Rolfe, and he sold it, within a few years afterwards, to Stephen Hougham, gent. of this parish, who by his will in 1555, devised it to his youngest son Rich. Hougham, of Eastry, from one of whose descendants it was alienated to Sir Adam Spracklin, who sold it to one of the family of Septvans, alias Harflete, in which name it continued till within a few years after the death of king Charles I. when by a female heir Elizabeth it went in marriage to Thomas Kitchell, esq. in whose heirs it continued till it was at length, about the year 1720, alienated by one of them to Mr. Thomas Bambridge, warden of the Fleet prison, upon whose death it became vested in his heirs-at-law, Mr. James Bambridge, of the Temple, attorney at-law, and Thomas Bambridge, and they divided this estate, and that part of it allotted to the latter was soon afterwards alienated by him to Mr. Peter Moulson, of London, whose only daughter and heir carried it in marriage to Mr. Geo. Vaughan, of London, and he and the assignees of Mr. James Bambridge last mentioned, have lately joined in the conveyance of the whole fee of this manor to Mr. Joseph Solly, gent. of Sandwich, the present owner of it. There is not any court held for this manor.

 

In this district, and within this manor of Fleet lastmentioned, there was formerly a chapel of cose to the church of Ash, as that was to the church of Wingham, to which college, on its foundation by archbishop Peckham in 1286, the tithes, rents, obventions, &c of this chapel and district was granted by him, for the support in common of the provost and canons of it, with whom it remained till the suppression of it, anno I king Edward VI. The tithes, arising from this manor of Fleet, and the hamlet of Richborough, are now a part of the rectory of Ash, and of that particular part of it called Gilton parsonage, parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, of which further mention will be made hereafter. There have not been any remains left of it for a long time part.

 

Richborough is a hamlet and district of land, in the south-east part of this parish, rendered famous from the Roman fort and town built there, and more so formerly, from the port or haven close adjoining to it.

 

It was in general called by the Romans by the plural name of Rutupiæ; for it must be observed that the æstuary, which at that time separated the Isle of Thanet from the main land of Kent, and was the general passage for shipping,had at each mouth of it, towards the sea, a fort and haven, called jointly Rutupiæ. That at the northern part and of it being now called Reculver, and that at the eastern, being the principal one, this of Richborough.

 

The name of it is variously spelt in different authors. By Ptolemy it is written [Patapiaia (?)] urbem; by Tacitus, according to the best reading, Portus, Rutupensis; by Antonine, in his Itinerary, Ritupas, and Ritupis Portum; by Ammianus, Ritupiæ statio; afterwards by the Saxons, Reptacester, and now Richborough.

 

The haven, or Portus Rutupinus, or Richborough, was very eminent in the time of the Romans, and much celebrated in antient history, being a safe and commodious harbour, stationem ex adverso tranquillam, as Ammianus calls it, situated at the entrance of the passage towards then Thamas, and becoming the general place of setting sail from Britain to the continent, and where the Roman fleets arrived, and so large and extensive was the bay of it, that it is supposed to have extended far beyond Sandwich on the one side, almost to Ramsgate cliffs on the other, near five miles in width, covering the whole of that flat of land on which Stonar and Sandwich were afterwards built, and extending from thence up the æstuary between the Isle of Thanet and the main land. So that Antonine might well name it the Port, in his Itinerary, [Kat exochin], from there being no other of like consequence, and from this circumstance the shore for some distance on each side acquired the general name of Littus Rutupinum, the Rutupian shore. (fn. 9) Some have contended that Julius Cæsar landed at Richborough, in his expeditions into Britain; but this opinion is refuted by Dr. Hasley in Phil, Trans. No. 193, who plainly proves his place of landing to have been in the Downs. The fort of Richborough, from the similarity of the remains of it to those of Reculver, seems to have been built about the same time, and by the same emperer, Serveris, about the year 205. It stands on the high hill, close to a deep precipice eastward, at the soot of which was the haven. In this fortress, so peculiarly strengthened by its situation, the Romans had afterwards a stationary garrison, and here they had likewise a pharos, of watch tower, the like as at Reculver and other places on this coast, as well to guide the shipping into the haven, as to give notice of the approach of enemies. It is by most supposed that there was, in the time of the Romans, near the fort, in like manner as at Reculver, a city or town, on the decline of the hill, south-westward from it, according to custom, at which a colony was settled by them. Prolemy, in his geography, reckons the city Rutpia as one of the three principal cities of Kent. (fn. 10) Orosius. and Bede too, expressly mention it as such; but when the haven decayed, and there was no longer a traffic and resort to this place, the town decayed likewise, and there have not been, for many ages since, any remains whatever of it left; though quantities of coins and Roman antiquities have been sound on the spot where it is supposed to have once stood.

 

During the latter part of the Roman empire, when the Saxons prevented all trade by sea, and insefted these coasts by frequent robberies, the second Roman legion, called Augusta, and likewise Britannica, which had been brought out of Germany by the emperor Claudius, and had resided for many years at the Isca Silurum, in Wales, was removed and stationed here, under a president or commander, præpositus, of its own, who was subordinate to the count of the Saxon shore, and continued so till the final departure of the Romans from Britain, in the year 410, when this fortress was left in the hands of the Britons, who were afterwards dispossessed of it by the Saxons, during whose time the harbour seems to have began to decay and to swerve up, the sea by degrees entirely deserting it at this place, but still leaving one large and commodious at Sandwich, which in process of time became the usual resort for shipping, and arose a flourishing harbour in its stead, as plainly appears by the histories of those times, by all of which, both the royal Saxon fleets, as well as those of the Danes, are said to sail for the port of Sandwich, and there to lie at different times; (fn. 11) and no further mention is made by any of them of this of Rutupiæ, Reptachester, or Richborough; so that the port being thus destroyed, the town became neglected and desolate, and with the castle sunk into a heap of ruins. Leland's description of it in king Henry VIII.'s reign, is very accurate, and gives an exceeding good idea of the progressive state of its decay to that time. He says, "Ratesburg otherwyse Richeboro was, of ever the ryver of Sture dyd turn his botom or old canale, withyn the Isle of the Thanet, and by Iykelyhod the mayn se came to the very foote of the castel. The mayn se ys now of yt a myle by reason of wose, that has there swollen up. The scite of the town or castel ys wonderful fair apon an hille. The walles the wich remayn ther yet be in cumpase almost as much as the tower of London. They have bene very hye thykke stronge and wel embateled. The mater of them is flynt mervelus and long brykes both white and redde after the Britons fascion. The sement was made of se sand and smaul pible. Ther is a great lykelyhod that the goodly hil abowte the castel and especially to Sandwich ward hath bene wel inhabited. Corne groweth on the hille yn bene mervelous plenty and yn going to plowgh ther hath owt of mynde fownd and now is mo antiquities of Romayne money than yn any place els of England surely reason speketh that this should be Rutupinum. For byside that the name sumwhat toucheth, the very near passage fro Cales Clyves or Cales was to Ratesburgh and now is to Sandwich, the which is about a myle of; though now Sandwich be not celebrated by cawse of Goodwine sandes and the decay of the haven. Ther is a good flyte shot of fro Ratesburg toward Sandwich a great dyke caste in a rownd cumpas as yt had bene for sens of menne of warre. The cumpase of the grownd withyn is not much above an acre and yt is very holo by casting up the yerth. They cawle the place there Lytleborough. Withyn the castel is a lytle paroche chirch of St. Augustine and an heremitage. I had antiquities of the heremite the which is an industrious man. Not far fro the hermitage is a cave wher men have sowt and digged for treasure. I saw it by candel withyn, and ther were conys. Yt was so straite that I had no mynd to crepe far yn. In the north side of the castel ys a hedde yn the walle, now fore defaced with wether. They call it queen Bertha hedde. Nere to that place hard by the wal was a pot of Romayne mony sownd."

 

The ruins of this antient castle stand upon the point of a hill or promontory, about a mile north-west from Sandwich, overlooking on each side, excepting towards the west, a great flat which appears by the lowness of it, and the banks of beach still shewing themselves in different places, to have been all once covered by the sea. The east side of this hill is great part of it so high and perpendicular from the flat at the foot of it, where the river Stour now runs, that ships with the greatest burthen might have lain close to it, and there are no signs of any wall having been there; but at the north end, where the ground rises into a natural terrace, so as to render one necessary, there is about 190 feet of wall left. Those on the other three sides are for the most part standing, and much more entire than could be expected, considering the number of years since they were built, and the most so of any in the kingdom, except Silchester. It is in shape an oblong square, containing within it a space of somewhat less than five acres. They are in general about ten feet high within, but their broken tops shew them to have been still higher. The north wall, on the outside, is about twice as high as it is within, or the other two, having been carried up from the very bottom of the hill, and it seems to have been somewhat longer than it is at present, by some pieces of it sallen down at the east end. The walls are about eleven feet thick. In the middle of the west side is the aperture of an entrance, which probably led to the city or town, and on the north side is another, being an entrance obliquely into the castle. Near the middle of the area are the ruins of some walls, full of bushes and briars, which seem as if some one had dug under ground among them, probably where once stood the prætorium of the Roman general, and where a church or chapel was afterwards erected, dedicated to St. Augustine, and taken notice of by Leland as such in his time. It appears to have been a chapel of ease to the church of Ash, for the few remaining inhabitants of this district, and is mentioned as such in the grant of the rectory of that church, anno 3 Edward VI. at which time it appears to have existed. About a furlong to the south, in a ploughed field, is a large circular work, with a hollow in the middle, the banks of unequal heights, which is supposed to have been an amphitheatre, built of turf, for the use of the garrison, the different heights of the banks having been occasioned by cultivation, and the usual decay, which must have happened from so great a length of time. These stations of the Romans, of which Richborough was one, were strong fortifications, for the most part of no great compass or extent, wherein were barracks for the loding of the soldiers, who had their usual winter quarters in them. Adjoining, or at no great distance from them, there were usually other, buildings forming a town; and such a one was here at Richborough, as has been already mentioned before, to which the station or fort was in the nature of a citadel, where the soldiers kept garrison. To this Tacitus seems to allude, when he says, "the works that in time of peace had been built, like a free town, not far from the camp, were destroyed, left they should be of any service to the enemy." (fn. 12) Which in great measure accounts for there being no kind of trace or remains left, to point out where this town once stood, which had not only the Romans, according to the above observation, but the Saxons and Danes afterwards, to carry forward at different æras the total destruction of it.

 

The burial ground for this Roman colony and station of Richborough, appears to have been on the hill at the end of Gilton town, in this parish, about two miles south-west from the castle, and the many graves which have been continually dug up there, in different parts of it, shew it to have been of general use for that purpose for several ages.

 

The scite of the castle at Richborough was part of the antient inheritance of the family of the Veres, earls of Oxford, from which it was alienated in queen Elizabeth's reign to Gaunt; after which it passed, in like manner as Wingham Barton before-described, to Thurbarne, and thence by marriage to Rivett, who sold it to Farrer, from whom it was alienated to Peter Fector, esq. of Dover, the present possessor of it. In the deed of conveyance it is thus described: And also all those the walls and ruins of the antient castle of Rutupium, now known by the name of Richborough castle, with the scite of the antient port and city of Rutupinum, being on and near the lands before-mentioned. About the walls of Richborough grows Fæniculum valgare, common fennel, in great plenty.

 

It may be learned from the second iter of Antonine's Itinerary, that there was once a Roman road, or highway from Canterbury to the port of Richborough, in which iter the two laft stations are, from Durovernum, Canterbury, to Richborough, ad portum Rutupis, xii miles; in which distance all the different copies of the Itinerary agree. Some parts of this road can be tracted at places at this time with certainty; and by the Roman burial-ground, usually placed near the side of a high road, at Gilton town, and several other Roman vestigia thereabouts, it may well be supposed to have led from Canterbury through that place to Richborough, and there is at this time from Goldston, in Ash, across the low-grounds to it, a road much harder and broader than usual for the apparent use of it, which might perhaps be some part of it.

 

Charities.

A person unknown gave four acres and an half of land, in Chapman-street, of the annual produce of 5l. towards the church assessments.

 

Thomas St. Nicholas, esq. of this parish, by deed about the year 1626, gave an annuity of 11. 5s. to be paid from his estate of Hoden, now belonging to the heirs of Nathaniel Elgar, esq. to be distributed yearly, 10s. to the repairing and keeping clean the Toldervey monument in this church, and 15s. on Christmas-day to the poor.

 

John Proude, the elder, of Ash, yeoman, by his will in 1626, ordered that his executor should erect upon his land adjoining to the church-yard, a house, which should be disposed of in future by the churchwardens and overseers, for a school-house, and for a storehouse, to lay in provision for the church and poor. This house is now let at 1l. per annum, and the produce applied to the use of the poor.

 

Richard Camden, in 1642, gave by will forty perches of land, for the use of the poor, and of the annual produce of 15s. now vested in the minister and churchwardens.

 

Gervas Cartwright, esq. and his two sisters, in 1710 and 1721, gave by deed an estate, now of the yearly value of 50l. for teaching fifty poor children to read, write, &c. vested in the minister, churchwardens, and other trustees.

 

The above two sisters, Eleanor and Anne Cartwright, gave besides 100l. for beautifying the chancel, and for providing two large pieces of plate for the communion service; and Mrs. Susan Robetts added two other pieces of plate for the same purpose.

 

There is a large and commodious workhouse lately built, for the use of the poor, to discharge the expence of which, 100l. is taken yearly out of the poor's rate, till the whole is discharged. In 1604, the charges of the poor were 29l. 15s. 11d. In 1779. 1000l.

 

There is a charity school for boys and girls, who are educated, but not cloathed.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about seventy-five, casually fifty-five.

 

This parish is within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the dioceseof Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a handsome building, of the form of a cross, consisting of two isles and two chancels, and a cross sept, having a tall spire steeple in the middle, in which are eight bells and a clock. It is very neat and handsome in the inside. In the high or south chancel is a monument for the Roberts's, arms, Argent, three pheons, sable, on a chief of the second, a greybound current of the first; another for the Cartwrights, arms, Or, a fess embattled, between three catherine wheels, sable. In the north wall is a monument for one of the family of Leverick, with his effigies, in armour, lying cross-legged on it; and in the same wall, westward, is another like monument for Sir John Goshall, with his effigies on it, in like manner, and in a hollow underneath, the effigies of his wife, in her head-dress, and wimple under her chin. A gravestone, with an inscription, and figure of a woman with a remarkable high high-dress, the middle part like a horseshoe inverted, for Jane Keriell, daughter of Roger Clitherow. A stone for Benjamin Longley, LL. B. minister of Ash twenty-nine years, vicar of Eynsford and Tonge, obt. 1783. A monument for William Brett, esq. and Frances his wife. The north chancel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, belongs to the manor of Molland. Against the north wall is a tomb, having on it the effigies of a man and woman, lying at full length, the former in armour, and sword by his side, but his head bare, a collar of SS about his neck, both seemingly under the middle age, but neither arms nor inscription, but it was for one of the family of Harflete, alias Septvans; and there are monuments and several memorials and brasses likewise for that family. A memorial for Thomas Singleton, M. D. of Molland, obt. 1710. One for John Brooke, of Brookestreet, obt. 1582, s. p. arms, Per bend, two eagles.—Several memorials for the Pekes, of Hills-court, and for Masters, of Goldstone. A monument for Christopher Toldervy, of Chartham, obt. 1618. A memorial for Daniel Hole, who, as well as his ancestors, had lived upwards of one hundred years at Goshall, as occupiers of it. In the north cross, which was called the chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, was buried the family of St. Nicholas. The brass plates of whom, with their arms, are still to be seen. A tablet for Whittingham Wood, gent. obt. 1656. In the south cross, a monument for Richard Hougham, gent. of Weddington, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Edward Sanders, gent. of Norborne. An elegant monument for Mary, wife of Henry Lowman, esq. of Dortnued, in Germany. She died in 1737, and he died in 1743. And for lieutenant colonel Christopher Ernest Kien, obt. 1744, and Jane his wife, their sole daughter and heir, obt. 1762, and for Evert George Cousemaker, esq. obt. 1763, all buried in a vault underneath, arms, Or, on a mount vert, a naked man, bolding a branch in his hand, proper, impaling per bend sinister, argent and gules, a knight armed on borjeback, holding a tilting spear erect, the point downwards, all counterchanged. On the font is inscribed, Robert Minchard, arms, A crescent, between the points of it a mullet. Several of the Harfletes lie buried in the church-yard, near the porch, but their tombs are gone. On each side of the porch are two compartments of stone work, which were once ornamented with brasses, most probably in remembrance of the Harfleets, buried near them. At the corner of the church-yard are two old tombs, supposed for the family of Alday.

 

In the windows of the church were formerly several coats of arms, and among others, of Septvans, alias Harflete, Notbeame, who married Constance, widow of John Septvans; Brooke, Ellis, Clitherow, Oldcastle, Keriell, and Hougham; and the figures of St. Nicholas, Keriell, and Hougham, kneeling, in their respective surcoats of arms, but there is not any painted glass left in any part of the church or chancels.

 

John Septvans, about king Henry VII.'s reign, founded a chantry, called the chantry of the upper Hall, as appears by the will of Katherine Martin, of Faversham, sometime his wife, in 1497. There was a chantry of our blessed Lady, and another of St. Stephen likewise, in it; both suppressed in the 1st year of king Edward VI. when the former of them was returned to be of the clear yearly certified value of 15l. 11s. 1½d. (fn. 13)

 

The church of Ash was antiently a chapel of east to that of Wingham, and was, on the foundation of the college there in 1286, separated from it, and made a distinct parish church of itself, and then given to the college, with the chapels likewise of Overland and Fleet, in this parish, appurtenant to this church; which becoming thus appropriated to the college, continued with it till the suppression of it in king Edward VI.'s reign, when this part of the rectory or parsonage appropriate, called Overland parsonage, with the advowson of the church, came, with the rest of the possessions of the college, into the hands of the crown, where the advowson of the vicarage, or perpetual curacy of it did not remain long, for in the year 1558, queen Mary granted it, among others, to the archbishop. But the above-mentioned part of the rectory, or parsonage appropriate of Ash, with those chapels, remained in the crown, till queen Elizabeth, in her 3d year, granted it in exchange to archbishop Parker, who was before possessed of that part called Goldston parsonage, parcel of the late dissolved priory of St. Gregory, by grant from king Henry VIII. so that now this parish is divided into two distinct parsonages, viz. of Overland and of Goldston, which are demised on separate beneficial leases by the archbishop, the former to the heirs of Parker, and the latter, called Gilton parsonage, from the house and barns of it being situated in that hamlet, to George Gipps, esq. M. P. for Canterbury. The patronage of the perpetual curacy remains parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury.

 

¶At the time this church was appropriated to the college of Wingham, a vicarage was endowed in it, which after the suppression of the college came to be esteemed as a perpetual curacy. It is not valued in the king's books. The antient stipend paid by the provost, &c. to the curate being 16l. 13s. 4d. was in 1660, augmented by archbishop Juxon with the addition of 33l. 6s. 8d. per annum; and it was afterwards further augmented by archbishop Sheldon, anno 28 Charles II. with twenty pounds per annum more, the whole to be paid by the several lessees of these parsonages. Which sum of seventy pounds is now the clear yearly certified value of it. In 1588 here were communicants five hundred; in 1640, eight hundred and fifty. So far as appears by the registers, the increase of births in this parish is almost double to what they were two hundred years ago.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp191-224

but smiling :)

Welcome to the next episode of "Stuff I Bought in Vancouver". Tonight, I bring you something that is, as always exotic, but more importantly, something that again, I probably wouldn't have run into while in Toronto. The subject of tonights review is the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure, First Edition.

 

So, Sailor Moon. The Figuarts releases I've picked up two of them up to this point - Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Venus, so clearly they exist here in Toronto. I had gotten lucky so far with regards to pricing thus far, finding the right person at the right time who was willing to make a deal just to get rid of it. It was a similar situation for this particular figure, which I ended up paying $60 CAD for, making it the most expensive figure I purchased during my time out West. For those paying attention, that's pretty much MSRP - why did I do that??? Well, the answer lies in the second part of the title - First Edition. First Edition releases of Sailor Moon came with two additional face plates that were not available later on, and to be honest they're ones that should have been standard, but I digress. The point is, if one were to take into account the First Edition perks, and the fact the figure had never been opened, $60 CAD ends up being a pretty good buy.

 

Sailor Moon is, of course, the titular character from the Sailor Moon series. The superhero guise of Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the US dub), Sailor Moon starts off, like all many other anime heroes, kind of clumsy, childlike, but eventually matures into a competent leader of her fellow Sailor Senshi in their battle against the forces of evil and enemies of the Moon Kingdom, from whence she originated from. In superhero form, Usagi maintains her trademark twin pigtails, gets a few more pieces of jewelery, and is generally decked out in the now legendary ensemble of high school girl outfit combined with some bows and a kickass pair of boots. Being Sailor Moon, however, her outfit has a few extra bells and whistles not present on the other Sailor Senshi, like the moon on her choker, a jewel encrusted pendant on her chest ribbon, moons on her boots, and jewels in the buns of her hair.

 

Sailor Moon comes with the most accessories I've seen in a Sailor Moon Figuarts thus far (I admittedly haven't seen that many). There's the figure, of course, with five additional faces (winking and crying faces being the exclusives... FINALLY, a winking face), Moon Crescent Wand, Moon Crescent Wand with the Imperium Silver Crystal installed, seven additional hands with one dedicated for holding her wand, two for her trademark pose, and additional hand/effect piece for her Moon Tiara Action, a mini Luna, and a stand. To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Luna and Artemis are effectively repaints of one another, though I found that Luna stood very easily, whereas Artemis was required some futzing to get him to pose for photos. Points of articulation on Luna are her head and tail, both on ball joints.

 

The figure of course, looks very faithful to the the animation model. General silhouette is there, and compared to Sailor Venus, slightly more accurate body proportions, mostly with the legs, which seem to have a shorter lower leg as compared to the statuesque Sailor Venus. Otherwise, you have the same general slender high school girl physique. Sailor Moon, to me, has a more accurate facial structure as well.. in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they adapted Sailor Moons base face plates for use on Venus. Both are, IMO, a bit too narrow and could stand to be a bit wider at the temples. Sailor Moon fares much better at actually being able to use the included stand properly, as she does not have a giant mound of hair getting in the way of the dynamic arm of the stand. Speaking of hair, good recreation of the hair on the character, with the added "bonus" of being made from translucent plastic that is painted yellow so she has the shimmering effect on her head. The down side is tolerances, as evidences by the fact her right pigtail keeps popping out of the socket. Otherwise, you get some good sculpting in terms of detailing of the outfit and hair, both of which has been pretty consistent in terms of quality across the three characters that I have.

 

As mentioned above, this First Edition release comes with two additional face plates that are very much essential to Sailor Moon as a character. I can sort of get the crying face as an exclusive, as its usage is relatively limited (unless you're willing to be a bit creative, like me) but for magical girl figures to not come with winking faces ought to be made a crime punishable by public ridicule. The other faces are your typical smiling, neutral, attacking, and one face with no tiara painted on it with the intent of use with the Moon Tiara Action hand effect.

 

Articulation.. boy, is it nice coming back to something that is not maddening to make use. Points of articulation, again, are consistent with the other Sailor Senshi - ankles, single jointed knees, hips with pull down action to improve range of motion, waist, upper torso swivel, shoulders with some chest collapse, single jointed eblows, wirsts, and head. As stated above, there is one point of articulation on each of the pigtails to allow for some dynamic posing of the pigtails, though it mainly allows for side to side displays of hair rather than dashing forward displays. I found that perhaps due to a more pliable rubber (or maybe I just tried harder), Sailor Moon, while unable to kick high, was able to at least maintain a proper seated position. Hands come off the wrist pegs easily.. perhaps a bit TOO easily. I've read that subsequent releases of the figure (most notable being the anime coloured edition), the wrist pegs have been changed such that they have balls on the end of them to improve the grip.

 

Paintwork is again that lovely combination of good and meh that is present on Venus and Chibi moon. One again, the outfit itself is painted with pearl based paints on the whites, which makes for a lovely shimmering effect, if a bit thick in terms of application. Coloured sections of the outfit, along with various metal pieces are painted with metallic paints. These metallic paint apps can get a bit messy, especially on detailed areas like the small lines on her hair bun jewels, her pendant on the chest, the tiaras on her foreheads, and her earrings. The hair appears be partially solid plastic with some translucent plastics (bangs, pigtails), all of which is painted, which does make for an effective glowing effect at the cost of some less than stellar tolerances. Paint work on the hair itself is surprisingly smooth, with no splotches of colour that not only would look bad, but would also interfere with the translucent quality of the hair. Fleshy bits appear to be the base plastic colours, which are slightly different from Sailor Venus (more tan). In terms of paint masking, some weakness was observed at most transition points, with the most notable being between her outfit and her blue skirt.

 

Decals are applied well, with no bubbles observed, and no misalignment issues to report. In general, fit and tolerances are pretty good, with the only real issue I can mention is the one with that one pigtail that likes to fall out. Otherwise, there aren't any issues with tolerances or poorly mating parts to report. Some improvements on the parts finish side would have been nice, as mould lines and various seams were more prevalent on Sailor Moon than Venus or Chibi Moon. It's not like the latter two were perfect, and neither is Sailor Moon the worst figure ever made, it's just that by comparison to the other two, Sailor Moon does exhibit significantly weaker traits from this perspective, so I know a better product is technically possible. Build quality is the typical Figuarts level of excellence, with tight joints and a generally solid toy that can withstand some typical handling by a collector.

 

This is undeniably a great Sailor Moon figure, though one that is for... reasons, worse off from a parts finish perspective than her peers that I own. The base figure doesn't really offer anything that the other Sailor Senshi don't have (other than perhaps a slightly more appropriate face), but that's no surprise (or an issue) when they're all based off a pretty decent platform, though keep in mind I was able to get her seated when I couldn't get Sailor Venus or Chibi Moon to do so. While the base accessory set is pretty good (considering all the main Senshi cost the same), the First Edition faces truly make this figure shine. So while the figure is clearly a recommend for fans of the series, I'm going to do something I normally don't do, and recommend that you hunt down a First Edition version. While you may not benefit from the improved wrist pegs, the crying and winking expressions are a HUGE part of the character, and are worth going the extra mile for. If you're gonna hunt this figure down, I'd strongly recommend finding a First Edition and hassling the seller until a price that is agreeable to you can be reached.

I took this shot while we where in Monaco. I saw the car, three guys talking and noticed the back pack against the wall. What came to my mind was an argument about the luggage space in this Ferrari and how they wanted to be upgraded to a Fiat 500!?!

camera: mamiya RB analog, model: annika, photo: me

But does not look like a minibus.

but I took a longer way to position and the self-timer was counting down fast!