Rotherwick Church, visited today with two of my dearest
friends. It dates back 800 years, with alterations and improvements at regular
intervals ever since. Not spectacularly beautiful, but full of character,
craftsmanship and texture.
There is wonderful, warm red brickwork. There is magnificent structural oak
framing. There are areas of flint cobble facing with limestone ashlar trim. I
love the scissor-trusses with the subtle curves at the end, supporting the nave
roof.
So much beauty accumulated over centuries. It must reflect something valuable
in the culture that spawned it. We can't just go back. Secular modernity has
brought many wonderful gifts. But when I visit these churches, atheist that I
am, I feel a sadness for something we have lost, but also great pride in my
British cultural heritage.
It was splendid sunny day, ending at a country pub in Rotherwick. Typical
old-style English country pub with good food and a picture of Winston Churchill
over a rustic fireplace. Cliché perhaps, flawed character (like me) But that's
not the point. Travelling through the villages and farms to see three old
churches, take photos, discuss the experience with two dear friends. What a
privelege.
Hartley Wespall. What wonderful names. Inside it's a Saxon Barn but with a wild flourish of artistic flair. Lavish curves playing with the tension between negative and positive space. On the outside it has been careful curated by GG Scott, the architect of St Pancras Station Hotel.
I am left to marvel at the fact that one of the first large commercial
practices in Britain could blend respect for tradition/craft with bold
intervention, on such a tiny project. It's a beautiful little church and I
couldn't care less that the tower was altered dramatically in Victorian times.
It holds together as an integrated whole and maintains a chain of connection to
the distant past.
Etymology. Parish. Para-wick. Near the clan. Village lands. Saxon settlements
walked their boundaries in a ceremonial procession.
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