View allAll Photos Tagged Existence
Sometimes, in the humdrum of existence, we are compelled to confront the liminal spaces, those thresholds between what is seen and what is obscured. The window, in all its utilitarian transparency, serves not merely as an architectural fixture but as a metaphysical portal. It frames our view of the world, a selective lens that mediates our interaction with the exterior. The image captured here—distorted, ethereal—speaks to the inherent tension between clarity and ambiguity, between the tangible and the ephemeral.
The blinds, introduce a play of light and shadow, invoking the ancient dichotomy of Apollonian order versus Dionysian chaos. They suggest a controlled revelation, a deliberate modulation of perception. The external world, glimpsed through these slats, is rendered in streaks and blurs, an abstract mosaic of verdant greens and sky blues, disrupted by the errant intrusion of an indeterminate orange hue. This interplay mirrors our cognitive processes—how memory distorts, how emotions color our experiences, how reality is often but a kaleidoscopic interpretation rather than an absolute truth.
Consider the act of looking through a window as an existential metaphor. The glass, ostensibly clear, is never truly unblemished; it is a barrier as much as it is a conduit. It separates the observer from the observed, confining us to our subjective interiors while offering a curated glimpse of the objective exterior. The window thus embodies the paradox of connection and isolation, transparency and opacity. It is through this portal that we project our yearnings, our desires for connection, and our fears of exposure.
In the transient streaks of light, we find a reminder of impermanence. The moment captured is fleeting, a temporal snapshot of a constantly shifting tableau. It is a visual ode to the Heraclitean notion that one cannot step into the same river twice. The world outside continues to evolve, to transform, while we, the observers, remain bound by the constancy of our gaze.
The photograph encourages contemplation of the nature of perception, the construction of reality, and the inevitable interplay between order and chaos. It invites us to pause, to reflect, and perhaps, to find beauty in the fragmented and the transient, in the spaces between what is and what might be.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
"The very existence of national groupsâtheir history, their memory and their futureârests on their members right to life, but scholars sometimes pay too little attention to assaults on the cultural identities of such groups which often precede physical attacks.
âPlundered Cultures, Stolen Heritageââ Concordia Universityâs contribution to Canadaâs year of Holocaust Remembrance leadershipâ begins the task of filling that gap and integrating our knowledge. Leading experts on the experiences of cultural destruction and mass atrocities suffered by the First Nations, Armenian and Jewish peoples are assembling to discuss the motives of the perpetrators of these assaults, their impact,
and the significance these attacks pose for restitution and reconciliation today.
âPlundered Cultures, Stolen Heritageâ opens a key chapter in multidisciplinary human rights studies integrating research on history, cultural studies and the memory of atrocity. Rather than a competition of suffering between groups, it signifies the determination of scholars to learn from the shared experiences of First Nations, Armenian and Jewish groups for the sake of
all groups confronting crimes against humanity and genocides intended to destroy their national existence."
"Our existence is finite. The self that we have created through so many years of effort and suffering will die. And sustained though we may be by the idea, the hope, the certainty that some portion of us will eternally endure, we also must acknowledge that this "I" who breathes and loves and works and knows itself will be forever and ever and ever . . . obliterated.
So, whether or not we live with images of continuity - of immortality - we also will have to live with a sense of transience, aware that no matter how passionately we love whatever we love, we don't have the power to make either it, or us, stay."
- Judith Viorst
Necessary Losses
psychobabble
On a side note I hate all trains that aren't the TGV. Spoiled? Maybe.
Chartres photos thanks to Allison. I visited pre-writing the 6-8pg paper that has now become the bane of my existence. However, the cathedral was incredible. Obviously.
Interwoven Existence by the Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University faculty immerses you in the interplay of cultures and nature through an innovative installation. Experience a sensory reed space sourced directly from the Tai Lake in Suzhou, China. Explore VR narratives on the coexistence of multispecies. Challenging perceptions, Interwoven Existence promotes the recognition of humanity’s intricate connection with the natural world.
Photo: flap
A hyperrealistic surreal portrait of a young woman standing among shelves of colorful yarn balls. Her entire body and outfit are seamlessly made of flowing, three-dimensional strands of yarn in vivid rainbow hues—red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and violet. The yarn wraps tightly around her form, creating mesmerizing patterns that emphasize her elegance and symmetry. Her hair transforms into a radiant crown of coiled yarn, resembling both a headdress and a halo of creativity. Her piercing turquoise eyes contrast with the explosion of color surrounding her. The atmosphere radiates artistry, craftsmanship, and surreal fashion. Ultra-detailed, high-definition textures, cinematic lighting, 4K photography aesthetic.
Fomapan 400
35mm film
Exposed April 2019
~EI 160-250
Minolta SRT 101 with MC Rokkor-X PF 50/1.7
Caffenol-C-L (semi-stand, 43 minutes, ~22C)
Art for the Soul by RICHARD LAZZARA
www.shankar-gallery.com/contact.html
www.myspace.com/richardlazzara
blog.myspace.com/richardlazzara
flickr.com/photos/shankargallery/
www.absolutearts.com/portfolios/s/shankargallery/
paik.absolutearts.com/cgi-bin/portfolio/art/blogs/view_ar...
art.la-passerelle.net/art_pages/richard_lazzara/links.htm
www.artmajeur.com/shankargallery/
www.picturetrail.com/homepage/shankargallery
www.supersociety.com/shankargallery
beta.zooomr.com/photos/shankargallery
www.richardlazzara.shutterchance.com/
www.fotolog.com/shankargallery
shankargallery.livejournal.com/
richardlazzara.spaces.live.com/
www.myartplot.com/users/richardlazzara/plot.mhtml
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Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan Republic, which was also the capital of Shirvan (during the reigns of Akhsitan I and Khalilullah I), Baku Khanate, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Azerbaijan SSR and the administrative center of Russian Baku governorate. Baku is derived from the old Persian Bagavan, which translates to "City of God". A folk etymology explains the name Baku as derived from the Persian Bādkube (بادکوبه ), meaning "city where the wind blows", due to frequent winds blowing in Baku. However, the word Bādkube was invented only in the 16th or 17th century, whereas Baku was founded at least before the 5th century AD.
Starting from the 13th century AD the name of Baku begins to appear in mediaeval European Sources. Spelling of the name varies from Vahcüh (Pietro Della Valle), to Bakhow, Baca, Bakuie and Backu.
On the coins minted by Shirvanshahs name appears as Bakuya.
Various different hypotheses have been proposed to explain the etymology of the word Baku. According to L.G.Lopatinski[3] and Ali Huseynzade "Baku" is derived from Turkic word for "hill". K.P. Patkanov, a specialist in Caucasian history, also explains the name as "hill" but in Lak language.
Around 1000 years ago, the territory of modern Baku and Absheron was savanna with rich flora and fauna. Traces of human settlement go back to the Stone Age. From the Bronze Age there have been rock carvings discovered near Bayil, and a bronze figure of a small fish discovered in the territory of the Old City. This have led some to suggest the existence of a Bronze Age settlement within the city's territory. Near Nardaran in a place called Umid Gaya, a prehistoric observatory was discovered, where on the rock the images of sun and various constellations are carved together with a primitive astronomic table. Further archeological excavations revealed various prehistoric settlements, native temples, statues and other artifacts within the territory of the modern city and around it.
In the 1st century, Romans organized two Caucasian campaigns and reached Baku. Near Baku, in Gobustan, Roman inscriptions dating from 84–96 AD were discovered. The remnant of this period is the village of Ramana in the Sabunchu district of Baku.
In the Life of the Apostle Bartholomew, Baku is identified as Armenian albanus. Some historians assume that during the existence of Caucasian Albania Baku was called Albanopolis. Local church traditions record the belief that Bartholomew's martyrdom occurred at the bottom of the Maiden Tower within the Old City, where according to historical data, a Christian church was built on the site of the pagan temple of Arta.
A record from the 5th-century historian Priscus of Panium was the first to mention the famous Bakuvian fires (ex petra maritima flamma ardet – from the maritime stone flame emerges). Owing to these eternal fires Baku became a major center of ancient Zoroastrianism. Sassanid shah Ardashir I gave orders "to keep an inextinguishable fire of the god Ormazd" in the city temples.
There is little or no information regarding Baku in medieval sources until the 10th century. The earliest numismatic evidence found in the city is an Abbasid coin dating from the 8th century AD. At that time Baku was a domain of the Arab Caliphate and later of Shirvanshahs. During this period, they frequently came under assault of the Khazars and (starting from the 10th century) the Rus. Shirvanshah Akhsitan I built a navy in Baku and successfully repelled another Rus assault in 1170. After a devastating earthquake struck Shamakhy, the capital of Shirvan, Shirvanshah's court moved to Baku in 1191. A mint was put into operation.
Between the 12th and 14th centuries, a massive fortification was undertaken in the city and around it. The Maiden Tower, castles of Ramana, Nardaran, Shagan and Mardakan, and also famous Sabayel castle on the island of the Baku bay was built during this period. The city walls were also rebuilt and strengthened.
The biggest problem of Baku during this time was the transgression of the Caspian Sea. The rising levels of the water from time to time engulfed much of the city and the famous castle of Sabayel went completely into the sea in the 14th century. These led to several legends about submerged cities such as Shahriyunan ("Greek city").
Hulagu Khan occupied Baku under the domain of the Shirvan state during the third Mongol campaign in Azerbaijan (1231–1239) and it became a winter residence for Ilkhanids. In the 14th century, the city prospered under Muhammad Oljeitu who relieved it from some of the heavy taxes. Bakuvian poet Nasir Bakui wrote a panegyric to Oljeitu thus creating the first piece of poetry in Azerbaijani language.
Marco Polo had written of Baku oil exports to Near Eastern countries. The city also traded with the Golden Horde, the Moscow Princedom, and European countries.
In 1501, Safavid shah Ismail I laid siege to Baku. The besieged inhabitants resisted, relying for defense on their fortifications. Due to the resistance, Ismail ordered part of the fortification's wall to be undermined. The fortress's defense was destroyed and many inhabitants were slaughtered. In 1538, the Safavid Shah Tahmasp I put an end to the Shirvanshahs' reign and in 1540, Baku was recaptured by Safavid troops again.
Between 1568 and 1574 there is a record of six English missions to Baku. English men named Thomas Bannister and Jeffrey Duckett described Baku in their correspondence. They wrote that the "...town is a strange thing to behold, for there issueth out of the ground a marvelous quantity of oil, which serveth all the country to burn in their houses. This oil is black and is called nefte. There is also by the town of Baku, another kind of oil which is white and very precious, and it is called petroleum." The first oil well outside of Baku was drilled in 1594 by a craftsman named A. Mamednur oglu. This man finished the construction of a high-efficiency oil well in the Balakhany settlement. This area was historically outside city territory.
In 1636, German diplomat and traveler Adam Olearius described Baku's 30 oil fields, noting that there was a great quantity of brown oil.[citation needed] In 1647, famous Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Baku. In April 1660, Cossacks under Stepan Razin attacked the Baku coast and plundered the village of Mashtaga. In 1683, Baku was visited by the ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden, Engelbert Kaempfer. In the following year, Baku was temporarily recaptured by the Ottoman Empire.
Baku is noted for being a focal point for traders from all across the world during the Early modern period, commerce was active and the area was prosperous. Notably, traders from the Indian subcontinent established themselves in the region. These Indian traders built the Ateshgah of Baku during 17th–18th centuries; the temple was used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Parsi place of worship.
The fall of the Safavid dynasty in 1722 caused widespread chaos.[citation needed] Baku was invaded by the Russian and Ottoman empires.
On 26 June 1723, after a long siege, Baku surrendered to the Russians and the Safavids were forced to cede the city alongside many other of their Caucasian territories. In accordance with Peter the Great's decree, the soldiers of two regiments (2,382 people) were left in the Baku garrison under the command of Prince Baryatyanski, the commandant of the city. Peter the Great, while equipping a new military expedition commanded by General Mikhail Matyushkin, charged him with sending more oil from Baku to St. Petersburg, "which is a basis of an eternal and sacred flame"—Old Russian: "коя является основой вечного и священного пламени". However, due to Peter's death, this order was not carried out.
In 1733, Baku was visited by physician Ioann Lerkh, an employee of the Russian embassy and, like many others before him, described the city oil fields. By 1730, the situation had deteriorated for the Russians as Nadir Shah's successes in Shirvan forced the Russians to make an agreement near Ganja on 10 March 1735, ceding the city and all other conquered territories in the Caucasus back to Persia.
After the disintegration of the Safavid Empire and after the death of Nader Shah, the semi-independent principality of Baku Khanate was formed in 1747 following the power vacuum which had been created. It was ruled by Mirza Muhammed Khan and soon became a dependency of the much stronger Quba Khanate. The population of Baku was small (approximately 5,000), and the economy was ruined as a result of constant warfare, banditry, and inflation. The khans benefited, however, from the sea trade with the rest of Iran. Feudal infighting in the 1790s resulted in the dominance of an anti-Russian faction in the city resulting in the Russian-leaning brother of the Khan being exiled to Quba.
By the end of the 18th century, Tsarist Russia now began a more firm policy with the intent to conquer all of the Caucasus at the expense of Persia and Ottoman Turkey. In the spring of 1796, by Yekaterina II's order, General Valerian Zubov's troops started a large campaign against Qajar Persia following the sack of Tbilisi and Persia's aim to restore its suzerainty over Georgia and Dagestan. Zubov had sent 13,000 men to capture Baku, and it was overrun subsequently without any resistance. On 13 June 1796, a Russian flotilla entered Baku Bay, and a garrison of Russian troops was placed inside the city. Later, however, Pavel I ordered the cessation of the campaign and the withdrawal of Russian forces following the death of his predecessor, Yekatarina II. In March 1797, the tsarist troops left Baku.
Prince Pavel Tsitsianov was shot to death when he tried to make Baku surrender during the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813).
Coat of arms of Baku Governorate
Tsar Alexander I set out to conquer Baku once again during the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) during which Pavel Tsitsianov tried to capture Baku in January 1806. But aide-de-camp and cousin of Huseyngulu Khan suddenly shot Tsitsianov to death during the presentation of the city's keys to him. Left without a commander, the Russian Army left Baku and the occupation of Baku Khanate was delayed for a year. Baku was captured on October of the same year and eventually absorbed into the Russian Empire after formal ceding of the city amongst other integral territories in the North Caucasus and South Caucasus by Persia in the Treaty of Gulistan, in 1813. However, it was not until the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay that Baku came under nominal Russian rule, as the city was retaken by Persia during the war.
When Baku was occupied by the Russian troops during the war of 1804–1813, nearly the entire population of some 8,000 people was ethnic Tat.
In 1809, at the time of the Russian conquest, the Muslim population grew to become 95% of the city's population.
On 10 July 1840, the Russian Duma approved "The Principles of Ruling of the Transcaucasian Region", and Baku uyezd was turned into an administrative region of the Russian Empire.
Fortstadt, a new suburb, grew from the dispersed buildings scattered within the city's fortifications. Medieval seaside fortifications were demolished in 1861 to allow for the creation of the port and a customs house in the quay.
Baku became a center of the eponymous province after the devastating earthquake of 1859 in Shamakha. The population of Baku Governorate began to increase steadily. It is recorded that the number of police stations increased. The first Baku stock exchange had ten brokers, all of Russian nationality.
In 1823, the world's first paraffin factory was built in the city, and in 1846, the world's first oil well was drilled in Bibi-Heybat. Javad Melikov from Baku had built the first kerosene factory in 1863. In 1873, the Russian government offered competition for free land, and Baku caught the eye of the Nobel brothers. In 1882, Ludvig Nobel invited technical staff to Baku from Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Germany and founded a colony that he called Villa Petrolea. This colony was located in the "Black City". Bullock-cart drivers used wineskins and flasks to transport oil until the 1870s. In 1883, a Rothschild's plenipotentiary arrived from Paris and created the "Caspian-Black Sea Joint-Stock Company". Famous Baku oil magnates of the era included Musa Nagiyev, Murtuza Mukhtarov, Shamsi Asadullayev, Seid Mirbabayev, and many others.
The companies owned by Musa Nagiyev and Shamsi Asadullayev were the largest of Baku's oil producers. Established respectively in 1887 and 1893, they produced between 7 million and 12 million poods (110 to 200 Gg) of oil annually. The companies owned oil fields, refineries, and tankers. By the beginning of the next century, more than a hundred oil firms operated in Baku.
The oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries contributed to massive growth of Baku. Between 1856 and 1910 Baku's population grew at a faster rate than that of London, Paris or New York.
The second half of the 19th century was notable for its advancement in communication. In 1868, the first telegraph line to Tiflis was established, and in 1879, an under-sea telegraph line connected Baku with Krasnovodsk. In the same year, the Baku-Sabunchi-Surakhany was in operation. The tracks were 520 versts (555 kilometres) from Tiflis and was completed in a relatively short time on 8 May 1883. The first telephone line was in operation in 1886. In 1899, the first horse tramway appeared.
In 1870, a Lutheran-Evangelical community was established in Baku. However, in 1937, the clerics as well as the representatives of other religious communities were banished or shot. The Lutheran community was not revived until 1994, after the fall of the Soviet Union.
In the 1870s, the number of administrative and public institutions had grown, among them a provincial court and arbitration. In the first years of the 20th century, a case considered in the district court won great popularity and lawyers from Petersburg, Moscow, Tiflis, and Kiev became involved because of fabulous fees often received there.[clarification needed] The loudest litigations passed with the participation of a certain Karabek, who knew by heart the extensive code of laws of the Russian Empire and remembered all decrees of the Sacred Synod with exact reference numbers and dates.
In the beginning of October 1883, tsar Alexander III with his wife and two sons, accompanied by a huge retinue, arrived to Baku from Tiflis. The railway station had been prepared for the solemn ceremony. The city authorized Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev to welcome Alexander. The visitors examined the oil storage of Nobel brothers, the pump station, and three powerful oil wells of Shamsi Asadullayev. Beginning from the 1890s, Baku provided 95% of the oil production in the Russian Empire and approximately half of world oil production. Within ten years, the city had become the foremost producer of oil overtaking the United States.
In 1914–1917, Baku produced 7 million tons of oil each year, totaling 28,683,000 tons of oil , which constituted 15% of world production at the time. Germany did not trust Turkey in oil matters and transferred General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein from the Middle Eastern front with his troops to Georgia in order to enter Baku, through Ukraine, the Black Sea and Georgia. Great Britain, in February 1918, urgently sent General Lionel Dunsterville with troops to Baku through Anzali to block the German troops. Having studied the Caucasus from the strategic point of view, Dunsterville concluded: "Those who capture Baku, will control the sea. That's why it was necessary for us to invade this city." On 23 August 1918, Lenin in his telegram to Tashkent wrote: "Germans agree to attack Baku provided that we would kick the British out of Baku".
Having been defeated in World War I, Turkey had to withdraw its forces from the borders of Azerbaijan in the middle of November 1918. Led by General William Thomson, British troops of 5,000 soldiers arrived in Baku on 17 November, and martial law was implemented on the capital of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic until "the civil power would be strong enough to release the forces from the responsibility to maintain the public order".
In the same year, Thompson was faced with an enormous challenge to recreate confidence in the economy. His fundamental requirement was to recreate a sound and reliable banking system. He wrote, however: "the political situation in Baku does not permit the opening of a British Bank because this would have increased suspicion and jealousy as to British intentions".
In the spring of 1918, Armenian interests in Baku were protected by the Baku Soviet of People's Commissars, who became known as the 26 Baku Commissars.
In February 1920, the 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan legally took place in Baku and made a decision about preparation of the armed revolt. On 27 April of the same year, units of the Russian 11th Red Army crossed the border of Azerbaijan and began to march towards Baku. Soviet Russia presented the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with an ultimatum to surrender, and the troops entered Baku the next day, accompanied by Grigory Ordzhonikidze and Sergey Kirov of the Bolshevik Kavbiuro. The city became a capital of the Azerbaijan SSR and underwent many major changes. As a result, Baku played a great role in many branches of the Soviet life. Since about 1921, the city was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as Bakgorispolkom. Together with the Baku Party Committee (known as the Baksovet), it developed the economic significance of the Caspian metropolis. From 1922 to 1930, Baku was the venue for one of the major Trade fairs of the Soviet Union, serving as a commercial bridgehead to Iran and the Middle East.
On 8 February 1924, the first tram line and two years later the electric railway Baku-Surakhany—the first in the USSR—started to operate.
While being in Baku in May 1925 Russian poet Sergei Yesenin wrote a verse "Farewell to Baku":
Farewell to Baku! I'll see you no more
A sorrow and fright are now in the soul
And a heart under the hand is more painful and closer
And I feel the simple word "friend" more distinctly.
However Yesenin returned to the city on 28 July of the same year.
Maxim Gorkiy wrote after visiting Baku: "The oil fields remained in my memory as a perfect picture of the grave hell. This picture suppressed all the fantastic ideas of depressed mind, I was aware of." Well-known—at that time—industrialist V. Rogozin noted, in relation with the Baku oil fields, that everything there was done "without counting and calculating". In 1940, 22.2 million tons of oil were extracted in Baku which comprised nearly 72% of all the oil extracted in the entire USSR.
In 1941, the trolley bus line started to operate in the city, meanwhile the first buses appeared in Baku in 1928.
The US Ambassador to France, W. Bullitt, dispatched a telegram to Washington concerning "the possibilities of bombing and demolition of Baku" which were being discussed in Paris at the time. Charles de Gaulle was extremely critical of the plan according to both his wartime and postwar statements. Such ideas, he believed, were made by some "crazy heads that were thinking more of how to destroy Baku than of resisting Berlin". In his report submitted on 22 February 1940, to French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier, General Maurice Gamelin believed the Soviets would fall into crisis if those resources were lost. However, during the Soviet-German War, ten defense zones were built around the city to prevent possible German invasion, planned within the Operation Edelweiss.
Even a cake for Hitler was adorned by a map of the Caspian Sea with the letters B-A-K-U spelled out in chocolate cream. After eating the cake, Hitler said: "Unless we get Baku oil, the war is lost".
The first offshore oil platform in the world, originally called "The Black Rocks", was built in 1947 within the city's metropolitan area. In 1960, the first Caucasus house-building plant was built in Baku, and on 25 December 1975, the only plant producing air-conditioners in the Soviet Union was turned over for operation.
In 1964–1968, the level of oil extraction rose to the stable level and comprised about 21 million tons per year. By the 1970s, Azerbaijan became one of the largest producers of grapes, and a champagne factory was subsequently constructed in Baku. In 1981, a record quantity of 15 billion m³ of gas was extracted in Baku.
In 1990, Shaumyan rayon of Baku was renamed to Khatai and Ordzhonikidze rayon to Narimanov. In 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Bakgorispolkom as a result, the first independent city mayor Rafael Allahverdiyev was appointed. On 29 April 1992, the names of some more city rayons were changed:
With the initiatives for saving the city in the 2000s, Baku embarked on a process of restructuring on a scale unseen in its history. Thousands of buildings from Soviet Period were demolished to make way for a green belt on its shores; parks and gardens were built on the land claimed by filling up the beaches of the Baku Bay. Improvements were made in the general cleaning, maintenance, garbage collection fields and these services are now at Western European standards. The city is growing dynamically and developing at full speed on an east-west axis along the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Most Soviet era street names have been replaced after the collapse of the Soviet Union. More than 225 streets have been renamed since 1988; however, some people still use the old names. Namely, the first street ever to be built outside the Inner City, originally called Nikolayevskaya after Nicolas I, was renamed to Parlaman Kuchesi, because the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic held its meeting in a building located at that street, then during soviet era it became Kommunisticheskaya Ulitsa and now is called İstiqlaliyyet Kuchesi (Azeri: "independence").
i ask them to tell me their folk tales. there is always a witch, a prince or a beautiful girl – yet they do not just end up living happily ever after. in Laos, for instance, the girl dies and turns into a tree or, say, a fish. as i feel sorry for her “what a pity she couldn’t marry the prince – i say”. “why? – they stare back at me in wonder – can't you see it? she turned into a colourful fish...”
that is just wonderful to them.
11/03/2014, Little Bardfield, Braintree CM7 4TZ.
"Resting". Unknown mausoleum.
By 1046, St Katharine's church tower in existence.
The parish church in Little Bardfield is dedicated to St Katharine of Alexandria. According to tradition, Katharine was a virgin who was martyred at Alexandria in the early fourth century A.D. during the persecution of Christians by the pagan Roman emperor Maxentius. At the time the church was being built in Little Bardfield, St Katharine was one of the most venerated women saints in Europe after the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The foundation of St Katharine’s Church is uncertain but is believed to date from circa 1040 A.D. This beautiful church is built of flint and rubble dressing, partly of clunch, together with occasional Roman tiles and bricks, adding colour to the walls and structure of the tower.
The Tower and Nave are pre-Conquest. The chancel was added in the fourteenth century and the porch in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. The Vestry was built c.1820 and Organ Chamber in 1866.
The Tower:
The Tower was built in five stages divided by rubble string courses. The ground storey of the tower has late sixteenth or early seventeenth century moulded ceiling beams with curved braces. The second stage is included in the internal ground storey and has one blocked opening. The North, South, and West walls of the third stage have each two-narrow round-headed windows all without dressing. It also has two seventeenth century ceiling beams with curved braces. The fourth stage has in each wall a window of two round headed lights with a rubble division between them. The fifth stage has two round headed windows in each wall but those in the north and east are blocked. The embattled parapet and the small spire were added in the eighteenth century.
Muilman's History of Essex (1769) states: "In the tower which hath a little cupola at the top are only two bells". The clock was given by Sir John Sutton, in 1865-6 during the restoration of the Church. Sir John was organist at Jesus College, Cambridge and was also responsible for removal of the organ from All Saints Church, Cambridge.
The Bells:
There are two bells although the frame was built to take four. The smaller one is dated 1624 and was cast by William Land of London who was working between 1612 and 1637. The larger bell was cast by John Bird also of London who was working between 1408 and 1418 and has been dated c1410. It is inscribed SUM ROSA PULSATA MUNDI KATERINA VOCATA (’I am the battered rose of the world called Katharine’). In 1899 the bells were re-hung, and the frame strengthened. There is also a clock bell dated 1848 which is unusual in that it is hemispherical.
It was cast by Robert Edward Taylor of Loughborough who was only 18 years old at the time and died at the age of 26; only six bells have been credited to him.
The ladder leading to the tower was made by Mr. S. Sturgeon of Hawkspur Green in 1884-1887. On the south wall of the tower the following can be seen: Benefactors of this parish - a farm called Charity Farm containing 136 acres, situated in this and the Parish of Great Bardfield settled by Sarah Bernard relic of the Rev. Thomas Bernard Late Vicar of this Parish in deed enrolled in the High Court of Chancery bearing date 12th November 1774 upon certain trustees therein named, and for such charitable uses and purposes as the said- deed are fully specified and recited.
Also, a rent charged of £1.10s. upon the farm called Wainsford situated in the Parish founded by Geoffrey Wale by deed in 1730 for the poor of the parish annuity of £1.0s.0d. upon the Rector of Little Bardfield founded by an unknown donor for the poor of this Parish".
The Nave:
This was built at the same time as the Tower and measures 332 ft. by 20 ft. In the North Wall are two windows.
The second of these is 14th century and is of two trefoiled ogee lights with tracery under a segmented pointed head and a moulded label, the rear arch is moulded and the glass is Victorian.
The outline of a third window can be seen near the pulpit. It is blocked now but is pre-Conquest and round headed.
In the South wall are two windows. The larger is fourteenth century and is similar to the second window in the North wall but has moulded internal splays and the label has a disc stop. The smaller pre-Conquest window can be seen over the church door.
The South Porch has a late fourteenth or early fifteenth century outer entrance with moulded jambs and a two centred arch traceried internal and external spandrels and a moulded label.
The monument on the South wall dates from the seventeenth century and depicts the arms of the Wale family.
The roof of the Nave has moulded and cambered tie-beams and moulded wall plates possibly of late fourteenth century.
The Chancel:
The chancel was added in the fourteenth century and was extensively refurbished by G.F. Bodley in 1866.The internal chancel roof, rood beam, choir stalls (which incorporate some earlier sixteenth century carved wooden poppy heads) and alabaster reredos all date from this period and include many of Bodley’s trademark features such as ‘barber pole’ decoration, crenellations, quatrefoil flowers and gothic window shapes.
The Cross on the rood beam bears the emblems of the four evangelists at the four corners and the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God in the centre. The Agnus Dei can also be seen at the top of the stained glass in the East Windon and carved on the door of the tabernacle on the altar: another example of Bodley’s integrated design scheme.
The Organ Chamber:
The Organ Chamber dates from 1865-66 and was built to house the organ.
The small window depicting Saint Katharine paid for by contributions from the children of the parish.
The chest in the Organ Chamber is of panelled oak inlaid and is early 17th century.
Organ and Organ Case:
The case is of oak with semi-circular end towers and central flats beneath a curved moulded cornice.
Both towers and flats are fitted with richly carved upper and lower pipe shades.
The tower impost brackets are enriched by supporting cherub heads late 16th century. The console with its reverse, colour keys has turned wooden stop knobs to the right and left, each stop designated by a printed label pasted onto the jamb.
The organ had an interesting history before it came to Little Bardfield in the year 1865-66. It was built by Renatus Harris for Jesus College, Cambridge.
On the 18th December 1693 an agreement was made between William Saywell, DD., Master of Jesus College, that the latter would come to Cambridge whenever required to put the College organ to rights and would in any case attend "once every year without notice" to inspect the instrument and this all for £3 per annum.
The entry in the audit book for 1688-1689 “wine at ye opening of ye organ £00.07.00". So, it would seem reasonable to suppose that the organ is 1688. In 1764 the organ was laid aside and it is said that it became the custom of "a certain element within the Undergraduate Body to sing dubious songs to its accompaniment as a diversion before dinner"; graffiti from this period can be seen on the treble end of the case.
By 1776 it was being described as ‘a useless piece of lumber’, and in January 1790 the College agreed to make a present of ‘the remains of our organ’ to the Parish of All Saints, Cambridge. The word ‘remains’ has been conjectured as ‘the case, chest and some decaying action work and little else’.
In 1824 twelve guineas were spent on repairs and in 1830 John Gray, a London organ builder, fitted ‘a new inside’ for £149.
The organ remained at All Saints until a new church was built in 1863/64 and the contents of the old church were disposed of or sold.
The organ was not transferred, and the next proven documentation was a letter dated May 21st, 1865, which is still in the archives at All Saints. This letter Is from R. H. White, who was then Rector of Little Bardfield and it says: "I am in a position to say that my neighbour at Great Bardfield will be glad to give £55 for the organ in the old church. I shall be glad to hear from you that you can accept the offer".
Sir John Sutton, organist at Jesus College, Cambridge was the neighbour although the allusion to Great Bardfield is confusing as by 1865 he was living permanently in Germany, only coming to England for visits.
There is no doubt that the organ is the one that came from Jesus College, Cambridge, as the Sperling note books (now in the Royal College of Organists) include a sketch of the organ as it stood in old All Saints Church and it clearly shows the case is the one which is now at Saint Katharine’s, Little Bardfield.
A.T. Miller of Cambridge was employed to move and rebuild the organ in the new organ chamber in 1866. He provided new soundboards and replaced most of the action but retained the Gray pipework and brought the Harris front pipes back into use which Gray had left silent in his 1830 rebuild. He also provided three new stops and possibly the Trumpet. It is just possible that the keyboard, which was extended up by one note by Gray and fitted with a bottom G sharp by Miller, is the original one by Harris but this cannot be confirmed.
In 2006 the organ was dismantled for restoration while the interior of the church was being restored. Upon its return in 2010 it was moved forward from its original position to allow the pedal pipes to be placed behind and enclosed in new solid oak casework. The restoration was skilfully and sympathetically carried out by Michael Young of Duton Hill. For a one manual instrument it is very versatile and is noted for its distinctive sound.