CHURCH VISITS CATCHUP

More images of St Bartholomew's, Arborfield. I'm actually back in Dubai as I write this. Slowly coming round from jetlag and general exhaustion. It's always interesting to make that sudden transition between different climates and cultures.

In my last post I suggested that the chimney served a fireplace in the Vestry, but checking more carefully it could be from a boiler in the basement accessed by external steps. There is no evidence of pipework and radiators, but that could have been removed long ago. There are overhead radiant heaters now at the junction of wall and ceiling.

Mostly carpeted now, but the original floor tiling is still visible in the chancel. Typical geometric patterns and colours. We used to call these quarry tiles and they were commonly found in the kitchens of old terraced housing, laid directly on a bed of coarse sand or blast-furnace slag.

 

I like to find areas where the construction is revealed. Timber lathe providing kek for lime plaster. Like the floor tiles this is very familiar to me from my days as a jobbing builder in Sheffield in my twenties.

The north wall of the vestry is moving away at one corner. Could be the thrust of the rafters or maybe water-related settlement from the downpipe at that corner. A crack measuring device has been placed to record change over time. "Watchful waiting" as my oncologist might say.

 

 

Church no 3 from last Saturday in UK. All Saints Swallowfield. This one is medieval with a complex history of alterations & additions (par for the course.)  There is a Norman core, including a splendid North doorway, no longer in use and superseded by a timber-framed south porch. I take this to signify a change from the main entrance facing the lord of the Manor to one that faces the village.

 

The bell tower is also a later edition and timber framed with brick infill. Quite distinctive in its form and to my eye attractive in its idiosyncrasy. The rest of the church is flint faced with stone trim. Plain tile roof, typically Hampshire. Some delightful carved stone detail ranging from the chevrons around the old door, to modestly voluptuous window tracery, and a sun dial projecting out at an angle.  Attempting to come closer to a true south-facing orientation I guess. Not sure why the original church was almost 30 degrees off the traditional East-West alignment. Maybe a reason will emerge over time.  It’s almost at right angles to the river and to the road, but why would that matter?

 

There is a floor grille running down the central aisle (heating pipes, defunct?) which will please my friend David Wood. Not easy to spot on these images. One puzzle though. I didn’t spot a chimney, or any access down to a basement boiler. The grill is Victorian looking, so surely coal-fired.  Maybe the flue was capped off? Seems a bit odd.

Anyway another successful image-gathering session for an intriguing old church. One more to come from that day with my long-time friends from Reading.  A hearty thanks to them.