Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Wednesday 28 July 2021

Herefordshire Again - Part 4: St Bartholomew's Docklow and St Andrew's, Bredenbury

 

Saturday was even hotter and I am afraid I just do not "do" hot weather. I hate anything above about 21/22 degrees centigrade!  B and E weren't bothered about going out but it seemed a waste of day to me to sit around reading all day and all evening so I decided to go and visit two local churches.

To be honest I was only gone for just over an hour - I would have loved to visit a few more churches but, although it was lovely and cool in the car with air conditioning, once I got out and meandered round the churchyards I was just baked!

St Bartholomew, Docklow

The unbuttressed West Tower is probably late 13th century and the nave and chancel North wall probably Norman with two blocked openings.  Otherwise the church dates backs to a re-building by Thomas Nicholson 1880.





There appeared to be bees nesting in the tower! I did not linger!



Stonecrop growing on some of the graves - parts of the churchyard especially by the car park had been allowed to go a little "wild".








The church was well and truly closed. I am not sure if it is due to the current pandemic or whether it has closed closed permanently. If you look at the lych gate a few photos down it does look rather in need of repair! There again the churchyard looks well looked after. I will have to do some research.



















Most of the fittings in the church date from the 1880 rebuilding but I would have liked to have seen the Godwin floor tiles.


St Andrew, Bredenbury

 A few miles further along the Worcester Road is St Andrew's, Bredenbury.  We always drive past the church if we journey via Bromyard and I have often thought it looked an interesting church.

The church was built in 1876/7 by T H Wyatt on a new site replacing a previous church.  The West Tower has a pyramid roof and the porch is made of timber.













Most of the window tracery is in the style of around 1300.



The south side of the churchyard is quite neat, tidy and "manicured" but to the east, west and north it is a beautiful "living churchyard" with grasses and wild flowers.  Herefordshire does seem to have a good record for encouraging wildlife in most of the churchyards - at least from many of the churches I have visited so far.











Stonecrop again - a yellow species this time.







You may wonder why a photo of a Portaloo?!  On Twitter a group of church crawlers have fun trying to discover the most outlandish places where such items as portaloos and traffic cones are placed. Really rather silly perhaps but in current times it is good to be lighthearted, have fun and make people smile.
















This is a font which came from a nearby church at Wacton now being used as a flowerpot!





The church was only open for private prayer.















Timothy enjoying the sunshine but he found it very hot too!





We didn't go anywhere on Sunday as, if possible, it seemed even hotter.  We drove home late afternoon.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera.

Reference: Pevsner Buildings of Herefordshire (new edition)



13 comments:

Edward Evans said...

Yes like you say, I believe Herefordshire is very good at diversity, I think it is the 8th most biodiverse place out of 380. I think the Stonecrops are White Stonecrop and Reflexed Stonecrop. Lovely area, we will be on the opposite side of the county to where I'm guessing you are but a very nice rural place.

Bovey Belle said...

I'm with you on the max comfortable temperature. Above that and it really hits my asthma.

What pretty and unusual churches. What a shame you couldn't see inside though but you certainly did justice to the outside.

Ragged Robin said...

Edward Evans - Thanks so much :) Yes the place is so rural and as you say biodiversity is good. Thanks for help re: stonecrops :) Hope you enjoy your stay there and manage to get family history information. We are mid-way between Bromyard and Leominster near a hamlet called Hatfield. Good location!

Bovey Belle - Thanks so much :) Yes I struggle too with my asthma - used evohaler a lot during that spell :( Humidity is the thing though that really makes it worse.

Glad you enjoyed the churches. I think some in Herefordshire are open - perhaps the more "famous" ones. I now have quite a few to go back to as they were closed or only open for private prayer!

Rustic Pumpkin said...

Country churches always have a certain charm. I would have melted even strolling quietly in that heat, which was not much cooler here on the coast. I must admit to being a little bit in love with the recycled font.
Poor Timothy! They do suffer so in the heat with all their fur.

Ragged Robin said...

Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much. The heat was horrid :( The font does look good full of the flowers :)

Timothy does not enjoy the heat all all - as you say all that fur!!! I need a sun hat for him!! I need a company that sells small teddy bear clothes and accessories!

The Quacks of Life said...

it was way too hot

Never been to either of those churches. I think they are starting to reopen!

Ragged Robin said...

The Quacks of Life - Thanks Pete and yes it was! I must try and get to Berkswell and see if St John the Baptist has re-opened - you will know that church in the Jenkins' book. Normally always open but last time I went closed.

Rosie said...

I can see from your photos how hot it was when you visited thoses churches. Again they both look fascinating especially their unusual towers. Glad to know they had set aside some areas for wildlife. Timothy needs a teddy sized tilly hat:)

Ragged Robin said...

Rosie - Thank you so much. Sun bleached a lot of those photos out! Was glad I had made the effort though. Timothy does! I may have just the thing although I am not sure how he would keep it on. Found a couple of sites via twitter where they make or have small teddy bear clothes! Thankfully Benedict will remain in his habit! :)

Pam said...

I'm with you on the heat - you'll find me inside in front of a fan!! But I know what you mean about feeling like you've wasted a day!

I bet it was nice to explore the churches though, they look quite lovely and peaceful.

Ragged Robin said...

Pam - Thank you and glad I am not alone in hating heat!

Much as I love reading - I couldn't face a day and evening of just reading especially as stuck in a room with a tv constantly on - either music, or you tube or i player!! I know what my son means at times about finding it claustrophobic there!

Millymollymandy said...

I like the second church much more. The wooden porch is very cute and the little tower attached to the main tower is lovely! I've been trying to read what is written on the gravestone of John Lewis but the last two lines after 'Gone but not forgotten, etc' is a bit hard. Love old graves!

Ragged Robin said...

Millymollymandy - Thanks so much. Every time we drive past that church on the journey I used to think one to visit! Sorry words are obscured. Will go again at some stage when church itself is open so will try and get a better photo!