A day at RSPB Minsmere

This is one of our favourite places to visit and so we were looking forward to today. After all, spring is here, and we should see something of interest? We did - and here are some of my efforts!

In among the gorse, we were entertained by the family of Stonechats. Apparently, On heathland in the south of England, Dartford Warblers can often be seen following Stonechats around, perhaps catching the small insects that the larger bird disturbs. We were lucky / unlucky enough to see a Dartford Warbler flit past while we were photographing the Stonechats, but were not quick enough to get the picture!

Two youngsters deciding who was to have the worm.

Dunnock sitting on the gorse

A Whitethroat, but the quality is rather poor due to the distance it was away from me.

Although a common bird with a dubious reputation, the Magpie is a rather good looking bird, especially if you catch one in sunlight.

A Redshank walking the edge of the Scrape

The Sand Martins were fascinating to watch as they wheeled overhead and dived at their burrows in the cliff side. Well worth standing here for some while.

Having caught his lunch, the Heron gave a performance as he tried to get it down his long throat. I believe it was a sand eel and it tried to wind itself around the Herons` beak!

Eventually, after some more shaking about and dipping in water?, it slips reluctantly down the Herons` throat.

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A walk to picturesque Dedham

Set by the River Stour, Dedham is in the heart of Constable Country. It was here that Britain's greatest landscape artist John Constable went to school. The attractive high street is lined with Georgian-fronted houses, old inns and a large art and crafts centre. The magnificent 15th C. church was built from the wealth of the medieval cloth industry.

Dedham is frequently rated as containing some of England's most beautiful Lowland landscapes, particularly the Water Meadows of the River Stour, which passes along the northern boundary of the village forming the boundary between the counties of Essex and Suffolk. 

So today we walked from Flatford, across these same meadows to Dedham.

The view we had from just outside Dedham on this beautiful sunny, but cold, morning.

Village signs always make me turn my head as they vary considerable, and some are just plain intriguing. I usually have to take the picture!

As we approached the main street we walked past this magnificent old building. It is 16th century, Grade II* listed building, sitting proudly at the centre of Dedham, and has been an inn since 1704. 

It was named after the Duke of Marlborough who had enjoyed a famous victory over the French at the Battle of Blenheim in that year. And while landlords have come and gone, the name, and much of the pub, has stayed the same for more than 300 years.

John Constable attended the Grammar School in Dedham in the 1780s, after his initial education in Lavenham. The grammar school is now two private houses.

The present parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Dedham was built in the 15th century. Building work started in 1492, the year that Columbus discovered America, and St Mary's was completed 30 years later, before King Henry VIII made himself head of the Church in England. 

The tower, completed in 1519, is actually an independent structure and is particularly imposing for a church of this size. It is said that Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, paid for the tower to be built. The tower is 131 feet high and is the most striking feature in this part of the Stour Valley.

Galilee Porch under St Mary Church tower. A Galilee is a chapel or porch at the west end of some churches where penitents waited before admission to the body of the church and where clergy received women who had business with them. 

Many medieval Cistercian churches were entered through something called a Galilee or ‘paradise’. It was a porch situated on the west front of the church. It was an important starting point for religious processions into the church. It was also a popular place for patrons to be buried. In Rievaulx there are the remains of eight graves in the Galilee. There was often also a smaller altar. The Galilee porch at Tintern Abbey was said to house a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary. 

These days it isn’t just monasteries and cathedrals that have Galilee porches. A number of parish churches have them as well, and this church is one such. 

In Cistercian monasteries there was initially no place for lay visitors in the church during canonical hours and mass but it was recognised that visitors should be admitted on very holy days such as Easter, though historians are unclear where the guests sat once they were inside the church. The other thing to be remembered is that these guests were largely male as Cistercians took a dim view of women entering their precincts although they did provide hospitality to noble guests outside the abbey. How times change - thankfully! 

The door allowing a view of the church interior from the Galilee Porch

Interior of Dedham Church looking toward the east end and the high altar.

Pew end - The American Connection with Dedham, Massachusetts

Many residents of Dedham and surrounding villages emigrated to the United States of America, some settling in Massachusetts. In 1636, the town of Dedham, Massachusetts was founded, taking its name from Dedham, Essex. From that time the links between Dedham, Essex, and descendants of early settlers in the USA have remained strong.

Shields in the Nave Roof, a dedicated Nave Pew and a Sealed Resolution in the Vicar's Vestry all mark the connection between Dedham, Essex and Dedham, Massachusetts

Here is the Nave pew mentioned above. 

The Nave roof with its shields. 

Wandering through the village, I was drawn to this rather small door. I could knock my head every time I entered I am sure!

To finish, a reflection on the source of the wealth that once made this pretty village - wool. Sheep browsing in a field on the edge of the village.

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St Mary-at-Elms, Ipswich

Following Ipswich`s Artethon trail in 2011, I came across No 4 in my list, which was TAM. Honoria Surie, the artist who made Tam, was born in Hertfordshire in 1944. She trained at Watford School of Art and is now a painter and potter. The bronze of Tam, the artist's daughter, is Surie's first work in the field of sculpture and is sited on a short plinth on the grass triangle between Black Horse Lane and St Mary Elms Church. The statue is made of bronze and has a calm and serene feel to it in keeping with its location

Sculpture of a teenage girl sitting cross-legged in dungarees molding a ball of clay. 

Then, as if by magic, I found another piece of art nearby on the porch of the small church, St Mary Elms, popularly known by Ipswich people as simply the Elms. A return visit to the church had to the wait until 2019!

The three small niches above the porch door of the Church, furnished with contemporary relief sculptures by Charles Gurrey in 2006. The three modern sculptures worked in Ancaster hard white limestone replaced those which would have been in place until the 16th century Anglican Reformation. The sculptures depict The Blessed Virgin, depicted as Stella Maris, Our Lady Star of the Sea because of the importance of this dedication for the ancient port of Ipswich (left), St John the Evangelist holding the gospel inscribed with his symbol, an eagle (right) and in the centre Christ as the Saviour of the World with the lettering: 'SALVATOR MUNDI' - Latin for Saviour of the World.

Another one of the Artethon Trail to register! 

Fast forward to today (2019) and a visit to the church itself. It is a rather cute, little Anglo-catholic shrine.

To quote from an internet source: "until the early 1990s, the Elms maintained a militantly Anglo-catholic tradition, and a fairly steady congregation of people who liked that kind of thing. But the decision of the Church of England to go its own way on the issue of women priests had consequences here, and a number of the congregation were received into the Catholic Church. The surviving parish members might have just soldiered on in that martyred fashion beloved of Forward in Faith members in the mid-1990s, but instead the church renewed itself as a welcoming and sacramental space for pilgrims, strangers and passers-by, not just for Mass and the devotions of the Anglo-Catholic faithful, but simply as a peaceful place." Quotation from http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/

Situated, logically, in Elm Street this ancient church has its own significance in the history of Ipswich. There was an earlier church near this site, dedicated to St Saviour, but St Mary-at-Elms is known to have existed by 1204 and may be older. In a charter of 1204, both St Mary-At-Elms and St Saviour's are named among the possessions of the Austin Priory of the Holy Trinity, which was situated on the site of Christchurch Mansion. St Mary-at-Elms is again named as a possession of Holy Trinity in 1291, and it remained so until the priory was dissolved in 1536. It was rebuilt in the early 14th century and it had a nave and chancel, together occupying the length of the present nave, with north and south transepts, and presumably a tower. The north aisle and the west tower, both of brick, were added in the 15th century. In 1848 the south porch was repaired and the 12th century doorway restored. There was a restoration by R. M. Phipson in 1860, with the major rebuilding of the chancel by E. F. Bisshopp in 1883.

The Norman doorway is by no means Suffolk's finest. But there is considerable evidence to show that the door, and its decorative ironwork, is as old. It is probably the original 11th century door. This would make it one of the earliest structures still in use for its original purpose in the county.

Our Lady Grace of Ipswich

The High Alter

Around the walls of the church are Stations Of The Cross. 

To quote from Catholic Online: The Stations of the Cross are a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ's last day on Earth as a man. The 14 devotions, or stations, focus on specific events of His last day, beginning with His condemnation. The stations are commonly used as a mini pilgrimage as the individual moves from station to station. At each station, the individual recalls and meditates on a specific event from Christ's last day. Specific prayers are recited, then the individual moves to the next station until all 14 are complete.

I photographed all of them around the interior wall of the church, and they can be seen HERE. You will notice that there are 15 stations in this church.

The somewhat bizarre memorial on the north Chancel wall - not sure for whom, as it is all in Latin.

The "Chi-Rho" symbol ☧, a christogram formed from the first two Greek letters of the word "Christ" (A Christogram being a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a religious symbol within the Christian Church.)

This one was on the banner on the wall of the church. The story goes that this symbol was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great. That`s just one of the stories.

This Millennium Wall hanging was decorated by members of the congregation, here in St Marys. From top, and moving clockwise, each segment represents a century since Jesus time, and from a christian point of view. Very clever I thought. To see the list of what they represent, click HERE.

All the glass work in the windows is 19 Century, as in many churches. Originals, no doubt trashed by the Puritans!

A gateway to the north of the St Mary-at-Elms tower takes you through to the St Mary-at-Elms cottage of 1487, named by many as the oldest inhabited building in Ipswich. It once stood in the grounds of Thomas Seckford's estate and housed those who looked after his stables. Thomas Seckford (1515-1587), M.P. for the borough, founder of Woodbridge School and courtier of Elizabeth I, built a mansion, Great Place, at the north of the estate fronting Westgate Street. In 1846 the dilapidated mansion was partially demolished to cut through Museum Street. (Incidentally the bulbous bannisters – and perhaps the staircase – in Arlington's Restaurant, Museum Street come from Great Place although I have not seen them myself). The cottage was restored in 1984-5 and now houses a Parish Room on the ground floor with a flat above.

So an interesting couple of visits to an area I had not visited before. Despite being within 2-300 meters of it many, many, times!

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Llangollen: The Two Ladies

We had read about the "Two Ladies" of Llangollen, and our interest raised. So, today we visited their house in Llangollen. To start with, we believed they were just eccentric ladies, but the story that began to fall into place was far more than that! An abridged version of their life appears HERE and its worth reading before looking at the images. However, below are the first two paragraphs to wet the appetite!

This is the story of two aristocratic ladies who eloped together to Wales in 1778 and lived happily ever after in a cottage ornée,(decorated cottage) surrounded by gardens full of Gothic follies. Their names were Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, but they were better known as the Ladies of Llangollen, "the two most celebrated virgins in Europe".Although the Ladies wished to live in "delightful retirement" - reading, writing, drawing and gardening - the fashionable world soon beat a path to their cottage door. Their visitors included the Duke of Wellington, Lady Caroline Lamb, Josiah Wedgwood, William Wordsworth, Thomas de Quincey, Prince Paul Esterhazy and the Duke of Gloucester; their pen-friends included Queen Charlotte, Lord Byron and Louis XVI's aunt. There were many days when the Ladies had up to 20 visitors in relays, entertaining literally morning, noon and night.

Why did two country spinsters become so famous? It is hard to imagine today how sensational it was in the 18th century for unmarried ladies to live independently, whether singly or together. In addition, the circumstances of Eleanor and Sarah's elopement were positively melodramatic.

So, here is my first view of the house. A rather dull, drizzly day, but it shows off the frontage and the formal gardens. These are kept beautifully, even if they are awaiting funds to renovate the rest of the gardens.

The front door - not the usual front door seen today! 

The rear of the property

And one of the ends of the property, but it is the interior which is really magical!. As it is forbidden to take photos inside, I hope these exterior images, plus the text, will give you some idea of amazing interior. 

Unfortunately, the garden has not been fully restored as yet. Awaiting funds I believe. To the left you can see, just inside the grotto they had built, you can see the font from Crucis Abbey. The Summer house is at the top of the picture. On a damp, miserable day like today it rather shows its unkempt nature. No doubt it will be revived to its 1800s splendor sometime. 

The ornate gate on another small summer house? 

An unusual pagoda-like garden tower. A really entertaining morning wandering through this quirky house and listening to the story. Well worth a visit if you are in the area. 

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Corwen and onto Rug Chapel

We left the Two Ladies and drove a short distance along the A5 to Corwen for lunch, where we were confronted by this magnificent statue, as we left the carpark - apparently The last Welsh Prince of Wales.

Owain Glyndŵr was probably born in the 1350s (the plinth gives 1349). The young Owain was a typical nobleman, his etiquette honed at the Inns of Court in London.

He had homes in Carrog, near Corwen, and Sycharth in Powys (near Oswestry). He fought with the English against the Scots and Dutch before King Richard II was abducted in Colwyn Bay in 1399 and dethroned by supporters of Henry Bolingbroke, who then became Henry IV.

It’s unclear whether the change of monarch affected the outlook of middle-aged Glyndŵr. At around this time he began to argue with a neighbour, Baron Reginald Grey of Ruthin. In September 1400 he attacked Ruthin, and followed up with raids on other local boroughs. This quickly escalated into full-scale rebellion, as Welsh people saw a chance to hit back at English settlers and the privileges they received

The rebellion received military aid from France and powerful English allies. In 1404, envoys from overseas and Scotland watched his coronation as Prince of Wales, at a parliament held in Machynlleth. 

With most of Wales under his control, in 1405 Glyndŵr and his allies drew up an agreement to overthrow the king and divide the country in three, with a considerable chunk of England added to Wales. However, French support dwindled, the rebels lost ground in Wales and in 1409 the English recaptured Harlech Castle – which had been Glyndŵr’s stronghold. 

Glyndŵr was never captured, and it’s presumed that he died in hiding c.1415.

This life-size bronze statue of Owain Glyndŵr on his horse was installed in the square at Corwen in 2007. It stands on an eight-ton plinth of polished granite.

Commissioned as a workhouse in 1837, and originally housing 150 paupers. The building was partly remodelled c1900, when many of the original windows, considered out of keeping with the more enlightened approach of the time, were replaced with larger ones. It closed in 1941, and was subsequently used as a factory. It is now a craft centre and guest house.

The parish church of Corwen has two saints - St Sulien & St Mael. A bit unusual I thought. 

It has a few interesting things about it, as have many churches, having seen centuries of history unfold around and in them. 

Corwen churchyard may have been in religious use since before Christianity came to Wales. A prehistoric standing stone is incorporated into the porch. Early Christian missionaries, in the 6th or 7th century, may have been attracted to the site by its established religious use (a ploy used a lot by early christians) and by the spring, just above the churchyard, which would have provided water for baptising converts. 

By 1222 there were 16 clerics at Corvaen, reflecting its regional importance. The church building in the 13th century was unusually large, as was the parish – covering 13 townships. The church tower was probably added in Tudor times. The church windows were described in 1730 as “lamentable” for admitting too little light, and by 1777 money had been raised to provide more and bigger apertures. 

The font dates from the 11th century and features Norman “cable pattern” around the base

Under the yew tree west of the church is the grave of a GWR locomotive driver called Owen Owen, who died on 5 April 1872 aged 29 (a newspaper family notice at the time recorded him as Owen Owens, and his date of death as 4 April). His epitaph includes shunting, whistling, signals and other railway terms. It was worth visiting just to see this!

The prehistoric standing stone Incorporated into the building.

Foot-stones with twin, and sometimes triple depressions on their tops, were allegedly used by descendants to awkwardly kneel and pray at the graves of their ancestors. There are others who have suggested they were simply shaped foot-stones and couldn’t have practically been used in this way: perhaps it is folklore?

Our last stop today in our busy itinerary, was to Rug Chapel. `Not another one`! I hear you say, but hold on, this one is unique - almost.

The chapel’s plain exterior gives little hint of the riches within! Never judge a chapel, or a church for that matter, by its exterior. Step inside 17th-century Rug Chapel and prepare to be wowed by its decorative flourishes. If you’re a fan of minimalism, you may want to take a deep breath before entering. Its founder, the arch-Royalist Colonel William Salesbury, created a private chapel complete with high church pretensions and a zany style to counter puritanical notions of the time. Being a private chapel it escaped, unscathed into the 21st century.

You can never have enough wood carvings or rose motifs. Colonel Salesbury was mad for them, whether it was on the altar rails, family pews, painted gallery or bench ends. A real show off in wood.

The balcony and lights, complete with candles!

Pew ends, have you ever seen the like? Beautiful workmanship.

The font. Not sure, but possible original.

Wall painting with skeleton, skull and hour glass reminds viewers (In Welsh verse) that time flies and life is short.

One of the four angel carvings adorning the base of roof trusses.

A band of these colourful panels line the chapel at the top of the walls and also some lower down, amazing. A remarkable building which escaped the puritanical ravages - thanks to its being hidden away on an estate.

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