ROUND AND ROUND (BUS TRIP)

 Not sure what to think about yesterday. Resuming my explorations by bus was a huge positive. The fact that I only visited one church less so. A bit worrying that I felt exhausted by the time I got home. Let's see how the next outing goes.

St Leonards (Sherfield on Loddon) is an old church, but "improved" almost beyond recognition by the Victorian architects Woodman (1865) & Hugall (1870) It would be inconceivable to commit such sacrilege today, but I rather like it. Why is it that we can only build in the Gothic manner with the strictest of conservationist hats on? Is a century old approach (modernism) morally superior to the Gothic revival of a century and a half ago

 

Local materials and craftsmanship that has stood the test of time. There are memorials from the eighteenth century inside and a very nice old organ on the north side of the choir. The altar piece and east window also impressive. Will future generations look back at our humble village structures with such admiration? Not just for the skill and artistic value, but also for the invocation of a time of confident achievement? 

 

 

Sherfield Church End is the location of St Leonards church. Sherfield Court is the manor house, right next door. Pevsner dates it at 1700 with wings from 1922. Private house? There is a moat with island backing on to both church and house. Could be a picturesque gesture? No indication of medieval origins.

The wall between house and church is a tall affair in English Garden Wall Bond. Looking quite battered. I'm looking forward to tackling that round window in Revit. Will I model the stepped edges in the void cut of the window family? That would allow the the host wall to be flint on the outside. Complicates things and leads on to similar treatment for other windows. The perennial LOD dilemma.

The bus ride from Basingstoke is pleasant enough. Winding through private housing developments. Sherfield Park is the last of these, in a classical style, vaguely reminiscent of the schemes promoted by the King when he was still a prince. No information about the architects.

 

Next day I got up quite early and did my "standard long walk" through the park (about 45 minutes) before the temperature got up too much. Most of this walk can be done keeping to the shadows.

Chill out for a while. Received a fruit bowl from my daughter in Florida (via M&S) Had a nibble, then decided to tackle the round window from my most recent church visit. I made the mistake of starting with a drafting view within a project. Then I had to rebuild this as a modelling in place. Errors creep in.

A detail family could have been nested into a generic/window family. No need to repeat the setting out. Maybe I will try again tomorrow. Maybe I will tackle a different tracery pattern. Maybe I will nest the tracery into a wall hosted window family.

I continue to represent the "infill" family as 3 extrusions of different thickness. Glass, Ribs and an intermediate layer that elaborates the basic rib layout. It's a gross simplification but saves a lot of grief with geometry that refuses to form in Revit.