Rugby

I had to visit Rugby today and had a chance to walk round the town to look at the architecture.

First we have Crown House – a fine example of the delights of 1960’s building.



Luckily Rugby has a lot more to offer – starting with Rugby School. I didn’t really see much but the Edwardian Grade II listed Temple Speech Room was unusual. It is named after former Head Master of Rugby and Archbishop of Canterbury Frederick Temple (1858–69) and is now used for whole-School assemblies and Speech Days.



The chapel was impressive. It was designed by the well-known Victorian Gothic revival architect William Butterfield in 1875. The style is described as polychromatic Gothic.



Just along from the chapel is a statue commemorating William Webb Ellis (1806 – 72) the English Anglican clergyman who has gone down in folklore as the founder of the game of Rugby Football while a pupil at Rugby School.
The bronze plaque says: 'THE LOCAL BOY WHO INSPIRED / THE GAME OF RUGBY FOOTBALL / ON THE CLOSE AT RUGBY SCHOOL IN / 1823. / SCULPTOR: GRAHAM IBBSEON / 1997'



The Parish church of St Andrew’s is famous (and unique ?) for having two towers each with a peel of bells - The older set of five bells are hung in the West Tower which dates from about 1350.These bells were cast in 1711 by Joseph Smith of Edgbaston. They are hung in a frame which dates from about 1620. In 1929 they were rehung by John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough. The church was rebuilt in its present form by William Butterfield in 1877–9. The North East Tower was built in 1895-6 as the final stage of the rebuilding. It contains 8 bells.



The most impressive building I visited in company with my excellent guide (JPHF) was The Merchant’s Inn. According to their website since opening at Easter 2002 they have sold over 2000 different Ales! This has led to numerous awards including Warwickshire Pub of The Year (2003 & 2007), Rugby CAMRA Pub Of The Year (2003, 2006 & 2007). Well worth a visit. http://www.merchantsinn.co.uk/



On the corner of Henry Street and Regent Street is an owl – I would be interested in its history.

Churches along the Stour near Stratford

Another trip to the Midlands and the chance to look at a few churches along the Stour just south of Stratford upon Avon.

First ; St David’s Church, Newbold on Stour. Unfortunately the church wasn’t open so I just had a quick wander around outside. The church was built and consecrated in 1833. It was restored in 1884. The spire was removed in 1948.



Just down the road was St Mary and Holy Cross Church, Alderminster. The church had just been opened!

The earliest part of the church dates back to the 12th century, with the chancel and tower dating from the 13th century. Work was also carried out in the 14th century. Then in 1873 and 1884 a major restoration was carried out with significant re-building although old materials and features were re-used. The church is actually two churches in one with the Church of the Holy Cross with an alter in the nave under the tower and the Conventual Church (a church attached or belonging to a convent or monastery) of Our Lady in the chancel.



Finally, St Mary’s Church, Preston on Stour.

Preston on Stour is actually off the main road but well worth the visit. It has a collection of old houses including this black and white one on the green. It still retains a village shop and post office.



The church has medieval origins but the oldest part now is the late 15th century tower. The remainder of the church from that period was subject to major restoration and in the case of the chancel, rebuilding, in 1753-57.


This church was also open and looked very impressive with sunlight shining though the clear glass of he nave windows making it bright inside. The 15th century panelled timber roof with its carved bosses stood out.



Wandering back to the car I looked over a garden wall to see a collection of fancy chickens – it will need someone more expert than me to identify them.

Haddenham in Buckinghamshire

Travelling back from Oxford on Monday I stopped off at Haddenham, a large village north of Thame in Buckinghamshire. Aylesbury ducks were bred on ponds around the village and have been re-introduced on the pond by the village green.



St Mary’s Church stands beside the duck pond and village green – you can’t get more English than that!



The tower has early Gothic blind arcading around the belfry and the porch on the north side is two storey.



Inside the church is one of the famous Norman fonts (12th century) which are found in the Aylesbury area.There are some 22 'Aylesbury' fonts, named after one of the best examples in St. Mary's Church, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The fonts are cup or chalice-shaped with vertical fluting on the lower part of the bowl.They were mostly made at the end of the 12th century, of stone from the Totternhoe quarry in Bedfordshire. The fluting on the bowl at Haddenham differs from the others as it consists of a series of triangles.There are dragons in the frieze.

Three Sussex Churches and a pub.

Last Monday I re-visited the church at Worth for a closer look around inside.

St Nicholas Church at Worth is one of the oldest in the country dating back to Saxon times. Parts of the church probably date to between 950 and 1050 AD, including nearly all the walls of the Nave and three magnificent arches within the church.



The central arch at the east end of the nave is thought to be one of the largest Saxon arches in existence, at 22 feet high and 14 feet wide.



This view shows the arch to the north transept.



The two Saxon windows on the north side are unique in that there are no other known examples in the nave of any church... According to the Worth Church website (http://www.worthchurch.co.uk/) ‘They were set at a great height for a purpose. In the troublesome times through which the church has lived, especially pre-conquest, almost every church was used as a place of safety to which people could flee for sanctuary afforded by solid walls of probably the only stone building in the district. Such high windows offered further protection making it difficult for marauders to gain access’



The archways of the north and south doorways are characteristic of late Saxon work. Some say that the arches were created in this form so that a horseman could ride into the building, make obeisance to the altar or pray, without dismounting, and then ride straight out of the opposite door without turning his mount. The north (or devil's) door was filled in many years ago (see picture above), but the south contains a smaller door.



This picture shows the south doorway from the outside with the third high level Saxon window (on the left) similar to the two in the north wall.



St Peter's Church, Ardingly. The present building dates from the 14th century (1330-1350) and was restored during the Victorian era. The church is built in the Decorated Gothic-style and has been listed at Grade I. The porch dates from about 1500. Unfortunately it was locked when we visited.



St Mary's Church, Balcombe. The oldest part of the church (what is now the south aisle) dates back to the 13th Century whilst the tower was built later in the 15th Century. St. Mary’s was restored The church including the nave and chancel were enlarged in the mid-19th century. It is Grade 1 listed.



The Half Moon in Balcombe where I had a very nice bacon and brie baguette spoilt only by the aroma of bleach from some very enthusiastic cleaning.



On the wall hung a poster which caught our eye.

Cree Indian Prophecy:

"Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

Plumtree

Fudge, Graphite and Granite and Freddie, resident guard alpacas in a field near the church in Plumtree.

...and what are they guarding.... chickens.


Further down in the village there are more chickens in the garden of the Rectory.



The Rectory is a fine Art Deco style building with room for more chickens if need be..



St Mary’s Church was founded around the year 837, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Nothing remains of the earliest church, which was probably built of wood, but the underlying stonework dates from Saxon times. The tower is largely Norman and the rest of the church mostly dates from the fourteenth century, although substantial rebuilding and redecoration was carried out between 1873 and 1875 by the well known Victorian architects G F Bodley and Thomas Garner. Major restoration of the Victorian workmanship was carried out during the 1980s. http://www.plumtreechurch-notts.org/






The organ was built for Plumtree by Wordsworth and Maskell in 1879-80 and was the gift of William Elliott Burnside.The organ case was designed by Canon Frederick Sutton.












The organ is unusual in that it has reverse coloured keys.







Redundant church clock mechanism removwed in 1997 when the clock was converted to electric winding.




View towards the Chancel. the chancel screen was installed in the 1873-75 restoration and reguilded in the 1980's.



On the south wall of the chancel there are three stone sedilia with ogee moulding above.



This view shows the Oak altar table with carved front face. Behind is the Reredos of pine painted with shields showing the instruments of the crucifixion. The east window is in late medieval German idiom. it was commissioned by and commemorates the Burnside family. 1872-3. It is by the firm of Burlison & Grylls, a Victorian stained glass studio working in neo-Gothic style.

Journey to Pluntree, Notts

First Stop Loughborough.

The Signaler (2003), a sculptue by John Atkin, stands in the centre of the Rushes Retail Park.

A plaque notes ‘The overall form of the sculpture is of the figure and the materials used reflect the past industries of the region and the future. The sculpture is made from a combination of cor ten steel and stainless steel. The base is made from concrete in addition to stainless steel details. Cor ten steel has distinct weathering characteristics that allow the surface skin of the metal to weather to a particular colour.’


All Saints with Holy Trinity Church, Loughborough. The current church was first built in the fourteenth century, round about 1330 which was during the decorated gothic period. The height of the tower was increased and a clerestory was added in the perpendicular period, about 1450. http://www.aswht.org/history.htm





The base of the tower is dedicated to the memory of the Taylor family of bellfounders.









Bunny is a village between Loughborough and Nottingham. The most significant building in the village is Bunny Hall, probably built in the 1570s and occupied by the Parkyns family for three hundred years. Sir Thomas Parkyns (1662-1741), known as the Wrestling Baronet. Unfortunatly this is now in private hands and we could not get close to it.

Sir Thomas Parkyns was responsible for several buildings, in particular the old school house and almhouses close to the church. They were designed and built in 1700.The almshouse was for four poor widows of Bunny and Bradmore.




Sir Thomas Parkyns’ coat of arms can be seen on the end elevation.















The church of St Mary’s has a 13th Century nave and aisles were built of loosely-coursed rubble, quite different from the hewn, squared stone of the later 14th Century chancel and tower. Inside there is an oak screen, also dated as 14th Century and the Vestry has a medieval aumbry - a cupboard where the sacred vessels were kept. The south porch, with its stone seats, was added in the 15th Century.



Bradmore is a small village just north of Bunny. Bradmore is famous for a fire in 1705 when a great part of the village was destroyed. The square tower of the Church was built in the thirteenth century and an octagonal spire added in the fourteenth century. Building was halted until the Black Death had abated. The church then suffered badly in the fire and remained unused for a considerable time. A small hall was erected next to the tower in 1881, where services are now held once a month.

















The long and undulating road from the A60 to Plumtree.

Dorking : Landmarks and Curiosities

Sunday afternoon and a chance to look around Dorking.

The statue of the Dorking cockerel on the Deepdene roundabout was created by sculptor Peter Parkinson of Leatherhead’s Fire & Iron Gallery and unleashed on the somewhat dubious townsfolk of Dorking in February 2007. (The Dorking Cockerel was introduced into England by the Romans. What distinguishes this species from others is the presence of a fifth claw at the back of the foot. it is the oldest surviving 5 toed variety.)



Thomas Cubitt, Master Builder (1788-1855). He was a Master Builder who died nearby at Denbies.



Ralph Vaughn Williams, composer (1872-1958) and a resident of Dorking from 1929 to 1953. The lark in his well known "The Lark Ascending" is known to have been heard in the Mole Valley to the north of the town.



Dorking Halls were designed by Percy W Meredith in 1931 and refurbished in 1997.



Between 1838 and 1869 a collection of large Italianate and Tudor style villas was built around a paddock in the grounds of Rose Hill house and the brick arch was built as an entranceway.



The pump at Pump corner was installed in 1790 to draw water from a well which had been the centre of the town in the middle ages. This is the end of the High Street; to the left is South street and to the right is East street. The sign above the pump still correctly points to Horsham, but thanks to the one way system you also need to head left to go to Guildford!



The 'Old King's Head' is a brick Jacobean building, standing at the west end of the High Street, on the north side. It used to be called the 'Chequers,' and received its later name in 1660. It is usually said to be the original of Dickens' 'Marquis of Granby,' but at the time when the Pickwick Papers were written it was not an inn at all. It is now occupied by a variety of small shops and offices including The Courtyard Cafe.



Dorking has the last remaining Pilgrim Father's house which stands in West Street. It belonged to William Mullins who sailed to New Foundland on 16 september 1620.It is now an antiques shop.



The spire of St Martins forms a landmark that can be seen from far and wide. The Foundation stone to the tower was laid in 1873 by Dr Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Winchester who unfortunately died two months later when he fell from a horse. The tower and spire were built as the Wilberforce Memorial. The top stone was put in place on 25 April 1877. The height to the top of the weathervane (a Dorking cockerel) is 210 feet.



St Martins Church, Dorking. There is a church in the Manor of Dorking mentioned in the Domesday Book but the present church, St Martins was built between 1866 and 1874, designed by the Surrey architect Henry Woodyer.



And now the star turn in Dorking on a Sunday afternoon, Dorking Ladies Football Team (aka Horley Town) sporting their delightful new strip. Follow their progress in the South East Counties Women’s Football League, Division One (West) – where after two games they are top! http://www.secwfl.org.uk/stats.html