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Medieval stained glass in the north nave aisle of York Minster. Most of the nave windows preserve their original 14th century glass, though some scenes are patched and confused visually by the many repairs that have been required over the centuries. Most windows follow the format of two rows of three scenes set within plainer areas of quarries and rich borders.
York Minster is England's largest medieval cathedral and almost impossible to do justice to. It has an awesome presence that cannot fail to impress.
Uniquely the cathedral was spared the ravages of the Civil War that decimated the medieval art of most English cathedrals and churches, and it thus possesses the largest collection of medieval glass in Britain throughout most of it's vast windows.
Sadly this fortune was not matched by the Minster's vulnerability to fire which has ravaged the building in 3 major outbreaks, the worst in 1829 when a madman set fire to the precious medieval furniture of the choir, which was destroyed along with the organ and the high vaulted ceiling of the eastern half of the church. Only 11 years after this tragedy a careless workman accidentally set fire to the nave roof, which also lost it's vault. Both roofs were rebuilt in replica, but a further fire caused by lightning strike in 1984 destroyed the south transept roof (rebuilt 4 years later).
Most medieval cathedrals were provided with stone vaulted ceilings precisely to avoid the problems suffered here, but York's builders found that building on such an unprecedentedly large scale brought limitations, thus all the Minster's high ceilings had to be built of wood in imitation of stone. An Achilles' Heel, but a beautiful one!
(Danish: Dannebrogsvindue) Windows with pulldown behind. Artwork by Hesselholdt & Mejlvang in 2011. Photo from an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art Aalborg.
One of three windows in the north aisle by Powells, 1917 (these fine windows are particularly badly afflicted by the darkening wash applied to them yeasrs later and would be hugely enhanced if it could be removed).
St Mary's is the parish church of the town of Kidderminster and a grand affair it is too, still mostly an early 16th century building of impressive proportions, its extraordinary length in particular. The tower is a major landmark on the northern edge of the town centre, though sadly the construction of the modern ring-road effectively cuts the church off completely from the rest of the town and it can only be reached via a rather uninviting subway beneath the dual-carriageway, thus it doesn't get the footfall it deserves.
The church is usually approached from the south and it is this aspect that makes the biggest impression, most noticeably for its handsome south-west tower and the richly glazed clerestories of the nave (which appears to be composed more of glass than wall), all fine examples of the late medieval Perpendicular style. The length of the building is remarkable as beyond the nave is not only a decent sized chancel but a further chapel to the east as well (an early 16th century chantry chapel, formerly detached but now more integrated and in use as a parish room). There has however been much restoration owing to the fragility of the grey and red sandstones used in the construction, and thus much of the external stonework was renewed in the Victorian period (when the south chapel and vestries connecting to the chantry chapel were added). On the north side of the chancel is a handsome memorial chapel added in the early decades of the 20th century.
Entry is via the porch in the base of the tower at the south-west corner, where the visitor is greeted by a vast interior space whose lighting is somewhat subdued (especially the chancel). the nave is a classic example of the Perpendicular style and of considerable width, culminating above in the bright clerestories and a flat wooden ceiling. There is much of interest to discover here, particularly the monuments which date from the 15th-17th centuries and include several fine tombs, the earliest being a graceful canopied tomb to a noblewoman in the south aisle and a large brass on the north side. The chancel has three more large tombs with recumbent effiges to members of the Cokesey and Blount families, the latter being of post-Reformation date.
Every window of the church is filled with stained glass, mostly of the Victorian period but much of it rather good. The most handsome window is the early 20th century window by Powell's over the main entrance and there is more glass by the same studio in the nave aisles whilst the nave clerestorey has an attractive sequence of angels holding symbols of the Benedicite by Hardmans' installed at the very end of the 19th century. My first encounter with this church was in the late 1990s when working as part of the team that releaded the entire scheme of windows in the nave clerestorey, thus I got to know these angels very well. Sadly however the glass throughout this church suffers from a disfiguring layer of varnish or shellac (applied as 'blackout' at the beginning of World War II and a substance known as 'speltek' according to someone I spoke to at the church). This was smeared over most windows with a rag (the impressions of which were apparent when we worked on the clerestorey windows) and is not easily removed, but small areas where it has detached show how much brightness has been lost while the windows suffocate under this darkening layer. I hope some day the right solvent can be found to remove this stuff with minimal risk to the glass.
Kidderminster's grand parish church rewards a visit and deserves more visitors than it currently receives. It isn't always open but in recent years prior to the pandemic was generally open for a few hours on most days during the summer months (though best to check times before planning a trip). Don't be put off by the seemingly impenetrable barrier of the ringroad, St Mary's is worth seeking out and the nice people who steward their church would I'm sure like to be able to welcome more people to this fine building.
www.worcesteranddudleyhistoricchurches.org.uk/index.php?p...
An angel's wing beats at every window, but only the listening hear and rise. ~Muriel Strode (1875–1964), My Little Book of Life, 1912
(there's an inscription in the middle of the frame of the upper windows - I only realized it when I looked at this photo, and I couldn't find out what it says or why it is there)
The spot in the lower left corner of the brick moulding was the first visible sign of rot damage on this exterior door. This exterior garage "people" door faces south on a two-story high side of the house so it takes a lot of weather abuse with no overhang to provide protection from the elements. The door was about 23 years old at the time this rot was repaired.
The mortar/concrete below the door sill also has cup-like spots at the base of the brick mould which might allow water to pool and wick up the brick mould.
Source Wikipédia :
La cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres est le monument emblématique de la préfecture du département d'Eure-et-Loir, située à quatre-vingts kilomètres au Sud-Ouest de Paris. Elle est considérée comme la cathédrale gothique la plus représentative, la plus complète ainsi que la mieux conservée de par ses sculptures, vitraux et dallage pour la plupart d'origine, bien qu'elle soit construite avec les techniques de l'architecture romane montrant ainsi la continuité et non la rupture entre ces deux types d'architecture 1.
L'actuelle cathédrale, de style gothique dit « lancéolé », a été construite au début du xiiie siècle, pour la majeure partie en trente ans, sur les ruines d'une précédente cathédrale romane, détruite lors d'un incendie en 1194. Grand lieu de pèlerinage, elle domine la ville de Chartres et la plaine de la Beauce, se dévoilant au regard à plus de dix kilomètres de distance.
L’édifice fait l’objet d’un classement au titre des monuments historiques de par son recensement sur la liste de 18622. Par ailleurs, il a été parmi les premiers monuments classés au patrimoine mondial par l'UNESCO en 1979.
Chartres Cathedral, also known as Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres (French: Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a medieval Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church located in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of Paris. It is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1250, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century.
The cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. The building's exterior is dominated by heavy flying buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by two contrasting spires – a 105-metre (349 ft) plain pyramid completed around 1160 and a 113-metre (377 ft) early 16th-century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives.
Since at least the 12th century the cathedral has been an important destination for travellers – and remains so to this day, attracting large numbers of Christian pilgrims, many of whom come to venerate its famous relic, the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at Christ's birth, as well as large numbers of secular tourists who come to admire the cathedral's architecture and historical merit.
La Catedral de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora (en francés: Cathédrale de l'Assomption de Notre-Dame), es una iglesia catedralicia de culto católico bajo la advocación de Nuestra Señora en la ciudad de Chartres, en el departamento de Eure y Loir, en Francia, a unos 80 km al suroeste de la capital, París. Asimismo es la sede de la Diócesis de Chartres, en la Archidiócesis de Tours.
Esta catedral marcó un hito en el desarrollo del gótico e inició una fase de plenitud en el dominio de la técnica y el estilo gótico, estableciendo un equilibrio entre ambos. Es sumamente influyente en muchas construcciones posteriores que se basaron en su estilo y sus numerosas innovaciones, como las catedrales de Reims y Amiens a las que sirvió de modelo directo.
La figura más importante en la historia de esta diócesis fue el obispo Fulberto de Chartres, teólogo escolástico reconocido en toda Europa.
En 1979 fue declarada, por la Unesco, "Patrimonio cultural de la Humanidad".