For the first time all 4 of us went together to the caravan for a couple of nights last weekend. We picked up E en route Friday tea-time as B had given her a lift to work in the morning. Sadly, the journey was a complete nightmare and what should have taken 90 minutes took 4.5 hours! There was a huge traffic jam on the M5 between the M42 and the Droitwich exit due to a multiple pile up between Droitwich and Worcester. 2.5 hours later we were eventually able to get off at Droitwich and arrived at the caravan at 9.40 a.m. feeling somewhat hungry and frazzled! While stuck in the queue I just had to keep reminding myself that at least we hadn't been involved in the pile up.
Timothy wanting to know "how much longer it will take us to get there!"
On Saturday afternoon we visited two churches at Edvin Loach. They were very hard to find and on an unclassified road I think! We eventually found them more by luck than anything else.
The ruins of the earlier church and the current 19th century church (both St Mary) are located on the bailey of a motte and bailey with the motte being just to the the north west of the newer church).
Views from the churchyard and car park were lovely.
As you enter the churchyard you can see the ruins of the old church which is now in the care of English Heritage. The nave and chancel are Norman and the west tower was probably built in the 16th/17th centuries. It has a two light mullioned west window made of timber. A lot of tufa was used in the construction and there are especially large blocks in the 11th century parts of the ruins.
The simple south doorway with a plain tympanum and a rather large lintel!
There is a lot of herringbone Norman masonry in the nave.
There were several ancient yews in the churchyard.
Tomb of Samuel Drew who died in the 19th century.
Views toward the Clee Hill in Shropshire
To be honest I was rather sad that the Norman church had been replaced by the Victorian St Mary built by GG Scott in 1859/60. I'm not sure why the old church was replaced. The chancel of the new church is located in a 3-sided apse and much of the church is in a late 13th century style.
Although the church looked locked it was actually open and even D came inside albeit briefly!
West steeple with tower and stone broach spire and the banded fish scale roof covered in lichen.
I loved these stained glass roundels in the porch.
The fittings all date from Scott's building of the church with a plain octagonal font on 8 shafts and a polygonal stone pulpit.
These bells were a lot older than the church. The one on the right is dated 1674 and the one on the left is from the 1340's. Both came from nearby Tedstone Wafre.
Chancel - the altar rails have an open notched lattice pattern.
The 3 apse windows are by Hardman, 1871.
The motte just to the north west of the churchyard. I called to D to go and explore but he had already gone back to the car :(
The final photos below were all taken by D. The mistle thrush in the final picture was foraging in grass near the caravan.
I hope everyone is staying safe and well.
Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera and those taken by D with the Canon SX50 bridge camera.
Reference: Pevsner Buildings of Herefordshire (latest edition)
10 comments:
Well, never heard of Edvin Loach or Tedstone Wafre. Such strange place-names. What an interesting pair of churches though and a shame they let the early one go into decline, as it is so early.
Sorry you had such an awful journey getting there though, because of the accident.
Bovey Belle - thanks so much. Believe me Edvin Loach in middle of nowhere! Lane was bad OH managed to hit bottom of car down a pothole. I was sad too about early church as I can see it would have been so interesting. Font and a piscina from Norman church are in storage.
Thanks for kind words re: journey. The bit on M5 between M42 and Droitwich normally takes 5 minutes not 2.5 hours!!! Annoying thing was that all lanes marked closed except inside lane so we got over like good little people and there were hundreds of cars just zooming past in outside lanes presumably cutting across at last minute and avoiding jam more or less completely!!!!
Interesting village names, I've never heard them before. The old church ruins and the views from them are lovely but as you say it's a shame the old church ha to be replaced by the new one. Perhaps it was cheaper in the long run to build a new one than to rebuild the old. I too love the roundels in the 19th century church, simple and beautiful. It sounds as if your outward journey wasn't very pleasant I hope your return one was much better:)
Rosie - Thank you so much. You are probably right about the cost. When I get chance I will try and do some more research about the building of the new church. I rather liked the roundels too :) Yes thanks journey home much better - M42 a bit congested in places but at least it took just over 90 minutes!
As you say, the best way to look at things is to be thankful it wasn't you! I wonder if our RTA's will increase with the number of stay in the UK holidays on the up?
The landscapes now look so gorgeously summery, at last!
I've seen herringbone work in Iceland, only there it's crafted out of turves not stone. It's quite a laborious task to lay, I would think.
As for the mistle thrush, I haven't seen one in years. Good catch indeed.
p.s. forgot to say, lovely stained glass!
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks and yes agreed. They called in the air ambulance so it must have been nasty and M5 closed both directions :( It does make you wander re: increase in accidents. Motorways are certainly now the busiest they have been since March 2020.
Herringbone turves sound interesting!!! Don't see mistle thrushes very often at home or song thrushes either :(
Wasn't keen on the Hardman stained glass but those roundels were just beautiful :) No idea who made them.
What a nightmare the journey sounds :/ Worth it in the end with being able to visit the churches, i've never seen a Herringbone wall before, how clever and it looks brilliant!
Wonderful set of photos and two great churches to tick of your list, shame the first church was in ruin as I think it would have been lovely when built. As I said not seen walls like that before (herringbone).
Hope the next time you visit you get to stay longer at the caravan and not on the motorway!
Amanda xx
Pam - Thanks so much. Worst traffic jam I've ever been stuck in! It was good to return if only for a day or two!
Amanda Peters - Thanks so much. I've seen bits of herringbone walls before but never that much in one place.
I too hope we can stay longer next time!
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