GOD'S ACRE

I’d just settled to make a sketch of the church and a lady past by us on the path. Exchanging "good mornings" she added “I'm just going to see my dad". A moment later, looking over my shoulder I saw her standing quietly by one of the graves.

 

We were in the churchyard of The Church of St Peter, Clyffe Pypard, a lovely sunny morning, the chatter of wood pigeons, breezes playing the trees and one officious Robin, the avian church warden. The church was locked; however we'd come to see the grave of the grave of Nikolaus Pevsner and his wife Lola. 

 

Pevsner conceived the idea of, wrote and co-edited ‘The Buildings Of England’ his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides.  In remarkable undertaking He did much of the research work with his wife. I will return soon to this in another post.

 

Mooching around, exploring churchyards and gravestones and their incumbents is a favourite past time. A graveyard, churchyard, is often referred to as 'God’s Acre'. The word comes from the Gottesacker (Field of God). By the end of the 17th century it was accepted as an English term. 

 

There is a national movement, The Gods Acre Project which recognises that churchyards oh significant habitats for nature advice and provides guidance for their management.

These are places are important just to be in and enjoy.  And perhaps reflect on the words and dates on each gravestone or family vault. A few miles from us is the churchyard of Saint Mary's Purton. We often walk through here and admire the gravestones. Some of which are very grand, giving some indication of the prosperity of the area long before the industrial revolution.  One stone, which must be at least 6 feet high nestles under an ancient you, impatient to expand its girth. The inscription reads

 

 

I feel this inscription reads like an affectionate poem.

 

 There are according to the National Burial Ground Survey more than 18,000 church and municipal burial grounds in England and Wales as of August 2022 so there are plenty of opportunities to explore God’s Acre.

 

Spoiler Alert!

Clyffe Pypard and Saint Peter’s is another lovely Wiltshire wonder. We keep stubbing our toes on these delights. Here is its entry in Pevsner’s  Buildings of England for Wiltshire. Nicholas Pevsner and Bridget Cherry.  Copyright detail ISBN detail

 

The Buildings Of England, don't leave home without it*

 

* Don't leave home without it was an advertising line created by the ad shop Ogilvy and Mather, for American Express in 1975.

 

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God's_Acre

 

WILTSHIRE WONDERS 52 FORTS

 

Five miles along the busy A419 is much-loved destination: Castle Hill. It quietly waits the end of a straggly road (Burytown Lane) on the edge of Broad Blunsdon village. Siân and I discovered it soon after our arrival in Wilts. It has been a leitmotif, the inspiration for a number of my paintings and drawings. 

 

This  Iron Age hillfort is something of a conundrum. It is on private land, though apparently frequented by local dog walkers. Although privately owned it is under the dominion of English Heritage.  Look  north to relish some magnificent views across the Thames valley into Gloucestershire.

 

There is a story about this place being built by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell’s men were also supposed to have had a shot at the Highworth church from here, with the cannonball that made the hole in the tower*. A crack shot sir!  (from 4 miles away). 

 

How many Hillforts are there in Wiltshire I wondered?  Wiltshire farmer Mr. Timothy Daw. He has visited and written about all fifty two. Each is celebrated on  his web site https://www.sarsen.org/2022/10/the-52-hillforts-of-wiltshire.html.

 

Tim also has another blog, about Stonehenge Replicas, yes, you guessed it called Clonehenge. 

Barrow Boy* 

In 2013 Tim was given planning permission for a project for a 50 metre-long barrow where families would be able to lease a space inside to deposit six to eight urns containing the ashes of the dead. This is within sight of the ancient Silbury Hill and, on the skyline ridge, the West Kennet Long Barrow built slightly earlier 3650 BC.

 

Oh! The wonders of Wiltshire!

Tim also writes about the joys of life on Substack https://timbaynespainterandwriter.substack.com

 

 

SAND AND SHRAPNEL BETWEEN YOUR TOES

Ginst Point, the end of the known world.  

Name: Ginst Point, Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin) ; X/Y co-ords: 232825, 207811 ; Region: Wales ; Country: Wales ; Place type: Other Landform. Source: Ordinance Survey

 

A stretch of sand, grass and debris that is wide and broad and looks to the estuary of the River Taff and across to Llansteffan Castle and the never to missed holiday homes of Carmarthen Bay.  

 

Ginst Point the blunt end of a six mile beach.

 

High sun, a small breeze.

 

Rosie the dog,

Jacky the wonder dog,

Jacky collects sticks and will steal a sandal.

He will return it later.

Sian and Miss Megan,

And Barney, a merman*,

 

We walk, sit and get our feet wet,

Again we plonk ourselves down on a midday warm sand.

And on the walk back we found treasure, per usual.

 

 

Shrapnel Everywhere

A toilet chain thrown overboard from a passing ship? 

 

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merman

 

 

Ginst Point is accessible through Brill Gate (SN 28902 07980) when the Range is not operational. Public access is permitted if the automatic gate is open. Please DO NOT attempt to enter if the gate is closed. Anyone wishing to gain access to the residential tenant farms must contact the Main Gate using the intercom system situated at Brill Gate. https://www.qinetiq.com/en/pendine/public-access/brill-gate-and-ginst-point

 

 

 

 

 

TREASURE TWO MINUTES FROM THE THAMES

The mid-morning light streams in illuminating the gentle flecks of dust and remarkable wall paintings of St John the Baptist church Inglesham. We can see 

St Christopher as he was portrayed in the 1200’s and make out some of The Ten Commandments above the nave arch.

 

Box Pews, overseen by an equally grand pulpit, all faded and polished by time. Worship from wonderful Book of Common Prayer (1662) was given and received by all who sat in this wonderful church.

 

Sit, think, absorb the walls, roof and furniture of this special place now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust and loved by many, judging from the visitor’s book by the door.

 

Miss not the Saxon stone Madonna and Child in the south wall.

 

All within striking distance of Lechlade and Faringdon.

 

Peaceful interior 

An excellent more measured story of this church by Churches Conservation Trust is here. https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-john-inglesham.html

by John Piper who visited Inglesham in 1948

THE HIDDEN WELL

A couple of miles south of us is the hamlet of Stoke Purton a few miles further is  Purton village. 

 

Seeking a new route for a Rosie walk we headed to Stoke Purton and walked along a No Through Road road. The OS map indicated something called a Salts Hole. We came upon it. There was a low gate in a thick hedge secured by a stout combination lock. About a hundred metres beyond stood a Victorian gothic hexagonal building with a stout door, elegant gabled roof.  Around this summerhouse-like building undergrowth, trees and bushes battled for supremacy.

 

This was Salts Hole, a Victorian spa, written about by Katharine M. Jordan in Seven Wiltshire Wells and their Folklore.

 

We saw the stone plaque over the door of what was the pump room.

THE ANCIENT SALTS HOLE. SULPHATED AND BROMO-IODATED SALINE WATER ANALYZED BY D.VOELCKER 1880

 

For local people around here used saline water from the spring to cure many ills.

 

In 1850s its owner drained the area and fenced off the spring. People soon broke the railings anxious for the heating waters, for there was no Boots in Cricklade or Lloyds in Purton at that time.

 

In her text © Katharine M. Jordan (1998) she tells 

“It is curious, by the way, that the only structural part of the pump-house to have disappeared should be the doors. It is well-known in Wiltshire that they have no doors in Purton: so much so that, should you forget to close the door behind you, the cry goes up: ‘D’you come from Purton?’

 

I can testify to this having met two lovely local ladies in Purton village churchyard this morning; they corroborated the saying ‘D’you come from Purton?’. However curiously enough they had not heard of the Salts Hole a few miles away. 

 

Complete source for Jordan’s text: https://insearchofholywellsandhealingsprings.com/the-source-new-series-contents/seven-wiltshire-wells-and-their-folklore/

 

I have ordered a copy of Folklore of Ancient Wiltshire, 1990

by Katharine M. Jordan and eagerly await more discoveries hereabouts.

ALL SAINTS AT THE END OF HOSPITAL ROAD

Built by the Knights Templars - All Saints Down Ampney

Almost asleep, in spite of being so close to the A419 Cirencester to Swindon superhighway, is Down Ampney Village. It is best known as the birthplace of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. 

 

During WWII Down Ampney was home to the Royal Airforce 1944 until 1947. From here the 3^rd Parachute Brigade were dropped in Normandy. And forces who flew from here were active in Arnhem and the Rhine Crossing. 

The same squadrons flew the wounded, tended by RAF nurses, home. The busy road, a straight line from the tarmac to where the wounded were taken became known as ‘hospital road’ by all stationed there. Now it is a lovely walk between to large fields of sheep and bears right to am RAF Memorial.

 

And close by is All Saints Church with its striking C14 spire. In this treasure ladened church, built by the Templers is a memorial window to the men and women of the Royal Air Force who took part in operations originating from RAF Down Ampney during WWII. A commemorative service is held each year.

More on RAF Down Ampney here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Down_Ampney

RETURN TO GARN FAWR

It had momentarily stopped raining in West Wales. Sian and I were casting around for a jaunting destination. We decided on Garn Fawr where John Piper’s Cottage is still to be found. 

 

About 10 minutes west out of Fishguard, Garn Fawr nestles into a high outcrop of hard volcanic rock, an iron age hill fort, which perilously looks out to see. We walked down paths bordered by high stone walls. Bracken and thorn spills across these tracks, evidence of sheep. Boulder stone with lichen of whites, greens and blues.

 

On the landward side there is slightly less wind, only slightly. Across to the East stone walls, winding roads, fields quartered by hedgerows. And landscape punctured by farms and the hard white outline of the Harmony Chapel immediately below us. In the far distance are the Preseli Mountains.

 

Writer Richard Ingrams recalls his visit to see John and Myfanwy Piper:

 

I was lucky enough to pay a visit to Garn Fawr, driving with the Pipers from Cardiff on a clear cold day and reaching the cottage at noon. It is a tiny single-storey building made of stone whitewashed with a pinkish tinge and roofed with slurry, a mixture of slate and cement. There is only one real room which acts as sitting and dining-room and the right half is roofed over with a platform, reached by a step-ladder, on the Pipers sleep. A kitchen and bathroom have been added to the rear. There is no electricity and no telephone. As dusk fall, Piper busies himself trimming and lighting calor gas and tilly lamps.

 

From Piper’s Places: John Piper in England and Wales by Richard Ingrams & John Piper   Chatto and Windus   1983

 

 

The walk: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wales/strumble-head-to-cardigan/garn-fawr-viewpoint-walk