Tales from the abbey part 2.

 Where can you go and zoom between Saxon and 21st Century in a single building? Romsey Abbey that's where. I've heard about this place over and over again and it did not disappoint once I finally made a pilgrimage across earlier this year.

The abbey itself is still pretty huge even by religious building standards, but its original footprint was much bigger. It seems that the church of SS Mary and Ethelflaeda may have started out as a nunnery in 907AD. Founded by King Edward [son of Alfred the Great], his daughter Elfaeda was put in charge. By 967AD the place had been refounded by King Edgar and a stone one put up to replace the original. By 1000AD Ethelflaeda was the abbess and she became canonised after various miracles were attributed to her. I like the story of her candle on her lectern blowing out when she was reading the night lessons, but it didn't present a problem for her as light started streaming from her fingers instead. The abbey continued to expand to the point where it incorporated the parish church of St Lawrence for the local people. This fact alone is probably what saved it from being asset stripped during the dissolution and the townsfolk were able to buy it as their church in 1544 for £100. Some parts of the abbey went on to be demolished simply because it was too large and beyond the needs of the townsfolk.

For starters the exterior is pretty good with all its whacky corbels and the Romsey Rood which dates from 11th century. How these things survive in all weathers is beyond me sometimes.

Inside the treats continue. Below is St Anne's Rood which is even older than the example outside. This one dates from the 10th century and sits behind an altar from 2015....that's more than a thousand years between the two objects.

Romanesque column capital carvings [the one shown has the name of the stone mason on it] jostle for your attention with Medieval wall paintings, the Romsey Rederos with Christ and all the saints and a painting of a kneeling priest in prayer.

This one is rather an oddity. In 1839 a lead coffin was discovered when the ground was being dug up for another grave. Usually lead preserves the contents well, but the lid had disintegrated to the point where no bones survived. Within it though lay this plaited hair resting upon a carved oak pillow. There's no indication as to whom it belonged, but modern tests have established that the deceased was a young woman who died between 964-1045 AD. Her diet contained a lot of fish so it's surmised that she was one of the ones living under the religious rule of St Benedict from the abbey's early days. It's slightly gruesome, but also fascinating for what it can tell us.

The church is awash with colour so I will leave you with a few shots of the stunning Florence Nightingale window and that marvellously groovy saints curtain dating from 1961.

I am delighted to have finally made it over for a visit.

Arilx

The Art Deco Moth

I can't help but feeling that this moth would have made the perfect Art Deco muse. It has a tangerine orange underwing and is called the Jersey Tiger moth. And hands up who thought moths were boring🤣...this one is a true glamour puss.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Arilx

What's at Petersfield?

I don't know if this ever happens to you, but there are some places that I have been going past for years yet never stopped to see what's there. Petersfield, just over the border in Hampshire, is one I drove past many times when I was studying over that way and at that time the route took me round the outskirts. Nowadays there's a bypass so no opportunity to even peek. I asked my friend Jane what she knew of the town and as it turns out she is well acquainted with it. It's pretty with a big lake and a free physic garden to see. It sounded the perfect place to while away a lunchbreak whilst we travelled across the county for a short break earlier this year.

Forftied with a cup of coffee from the Plump Duck cafe we started off by stretching our legs and taking a stroll around the perimeter of the Heath Pond. It is teeming with wildlife and it wasn't long before I turned up that fairy house hiding in the tree stump and the outlet pipe painted to look like a wendy house [named after Wendy Darling from Peter Pan apparently]. Initially that stubby little duck had us foxed, but it's the result of a mallard cross breeding with a white domestic duck and isn't uncommon.

The Physic Garden is sited just off the High Street and is the perfect place to get away from the hubbub for a few minutes [yes that's tulips you can see. This was in the Spring]. It was donated by Major John Bowen in 1988 after he had learnt of rare wild flowers being destroyed in the building of a housing estate. His response was to donate his garden to the town where it is cared for by the group of Friends. It's been developed as a 17th century example following the discovery of the connection to John Goodyer and John Worlidge who were both heavily involved in botany and horticulture at the time and were both locals. There's a herb garden, orchard, topiary garden and the knot garden where we sat and watched the world go by. When I stumbled across the plaque for Goodyer I was intrigued to see his is terracotta to blend in with the brick house it is affixed to rather than the standard blue ones you usually see.

The town was founded in the 12th century by William Fitzrobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and much of its wealth came from the wool trade. There are several references to this dotted around the centre including the woolbale sculpture by Richard Perry and the shepherd by Andy Cheese. 

I found there to be many beautiful buildings to stop and admire as we trundled back to the car. One John Small lived in the brick town house in 1802. He was a noted batsman and maker of cricket balls no less. Contrasting was the care worn patina of the corrugated metal forge. Am always a sucker for a bit of peeling paint.

Was definitely worth making that detour even if it has taken me forty years to get round to it! 

Arilx

Titivillus

Had you asked me as recently as yesterday whether I knew what the word 'titivillus' meant I would have said no. Had you asked me whether I had ever seen one again I would have answered in the negative. However, it's a funny old world and although I would be quite right in saying that I had never seen one...that would be because I've actually seen two and here's the proof!

These are not just your average demon as I had thought. That scroll they're holding gives it away that they are both a titivillus. This type of demon was said to collect all the errors made by the scribes and the idle gossip during the church services and put them into a sack. To increase his hit rate he was even said to deliberately add errors to written docouments. He'd then hurtle down to hell with his bag of goodies and these transgressions would count against you forever more. I am not sure that he's not still fully operational even in our increasingly secular world....surely somebody or something has to be responsible for all those wretched typos I frequently make😈Even though I have technically proof read every post I write before I hit publish there is nearly always a boo-boo hiding in plain sight when I read the final version the next day!

Every day's a school day.

Arilx

Dad's Pavlova

We celebrated my Mum's 80th birthday this week. She didn't want a big do so my sister and I organised a bbq with their very dear neighbours. It was a wonderful evening with a lot of Pimms and Prosecco. I made her a coffee and walnut cake as requested and my Dad, at the tender age of 82, made his first ever pavlova. In the words of the late Bruce Forsyth, didn't he do well! It was delicious and disappeared rapidly.

That's my final glimmer for the week. Hope you have a good weekend.

Arilx

 

David's been busy.

For as long as I've known David he's either been making things, adapting things or mending things. He tells me that he's always been the same and it's come straight from his father who was another academic but equally practical man who could pretty much turn his hand to anything. My husbanf is at his happiest when he's being a busy bee. With all the warmer weather we've been staying at home in the afternoons. Whilst I reach for a book he's got started on the dollshouse bathroom. Am delighted with what he's done so far💚

Today's glimmer.

Arilx

Perspex perspective

I have admired the brightly coloured perspex details set against the stark white of the building every time I've gone past in tne car. Saturday's dancing in Broadwater, Worthing gave me the chance to walk by it on foot. I find the facade very cheering.

Wednesday's glimmer.

Arilx

 

The big one.

We had the pleasure of going on a free local butterfly walk last Sunday. Twenty plus years ago a group of volunteers in a nearby village were given permission by the landowner to restore the wildlife in a couple of scrubby unused fields. This is an ongoing project and they have now recorded 33 species of butterflies amongst many other insects. This in turn has brought back red listed birds including nightingales. We were there when they saw their first Spotted Flycatcher which caused great excitement. I was further back in the group, but was already happy with a Blood Veined moth sighting.

The walk leader warned us that with climate change we were well past the butterfly peak and that we shouldn't expect to see many varieties. That prediction seemed to be borne out by there mainly being Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns on the wing with a Purple Hairstreak flitting about high above our heads. The Purple Emperor is our biggest native butterfly and the big hitter. They aren't that common though and require a special habitat to thrive. The males like to hang around the tops of oaks.and the females lay their eggs in willows. They must be special as the Knepp Rewilding Project up the road from here leads three hour long Purple Emperor safaris costing £75. The season is over by now or so we thought until one lady with us thought she saw one flying up in the branches. Again I missed it which seemed to becoming the theme of the afternoon for me. Imagine my surprise then when I saw a whopping great butterfly pass by me at head level and land on a hedge. My hopes were fulfilled as it was a female. When you factor in that these usually stay above the tree line and aren't attracted to nectar we were incredibly lucky. They will land to feed, but despite their magnificence, their eating habits are revolting....this lot like to feast on dog faeces and rotting carcases. Thankfully this one was just resting. Photo quality not the best as she didn't stay long, but what a glimmer eh💜

Arilx

Reflections

 A moment captured on a Monday morning...sunlight streaming through the open door and catching my iridescent glass lamp. For a few seconds it looked like a comet, before it disappeared.

Here's to a beautiful day. Am going to do a glimmer a day this week to kickstart a much needed personal reset💗💙💚💜💛

Arilx

Floral Friday

We dropped into the parish church yesterday as we were passing to see their annual flower show. The theme this year is  'For the joy of music'. There were some wonderfully creative pieces on display. This one is Swan Lake.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Arilx 

Tales from the abbey part 1

I have been a bit remiss in keeping up to date on here, but this one is from earlier this week. After a toasty and hectic fabulous weekend of dancing in Tewkesbury for this year's medieval festival, it was a great relief to break our homeward journey in Malmesbury and enjoy an hour or so of peace in the abbey. These are the tales it had to tell.

Hannah Twynnoy is believed to be the first person killed by a tiger in England. She was either a servant or a barmaid at the White Lion Inn [now a private house] and for reasons that aren't apparent there was a wild menagerie being kept on the premises. Despite several warnings from its keeper to not antagonise the tiger Hannah wouldn't leave it alone. Eventually she managed to provoke the poor beast so much so that it broke free from where it was being held and attacked her. Little is known about the victim, but the circumstances of her demise live on.

This fellow is King Athelestan [grandson of King Alfred] and in 937AD he became the first king of England. He was known to be a deeply religious man aswell as a successful diplomat. Following his death in Gloucester, his body was brought to Malmesbury to be buried as were his wishes. Many came to visit his remains and venerate him. The tomb you see is not contemporary. Instead it's a 15th century one built to commemorate him. Not only that, but it's also empty as his bones have been lost. It seems likely that they went missing after the dissolution of the monasteries, but may well still be buried there in a forgotten place.

That chap holding a pair of wings is Elmer who was one of the Benedictine monks from the original abbey which stood here. He was said to have seen Halley's Comet and have written about astrology. It's not clear why he climbed to the top of the abbey tower with wings attached to his arms and legs, but he did just that in about 1005AD and then jumped off the top. He managed to fly for several metres before crash landing and breaking both legs which left him lame for the rest of his life.

The abbey remains a large church, but it's easy to see where bits have been demolished. Whilst it has the most stunning Romanesque details around the doors, it's quite a plain white washed affair inside. It was so calm with a welcoming cafe. Just a few details this time. There are several old medieval books in display cabinets and I felt the need to capture and share the maginalia which made me smile.

Although we didn't have time to do the town justice, I can see that it will be worth stopping again when we are next over that way.

Arilx

 

If you're a carpet fitter

 

When you're a carpet fitter by trade and even the van reg is on brand.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Arilx

The Badlands

If I said that I had been to the Badlands over the weekend you might imagine that I had been hanging out in an arid and rocky terrain....I am sorry to disappoint you, but the West Sussex version is a verdant meadow full of butterflies and dotted with the yellow and purple spires of Common Agrimony and Betony.

It was David's birthday and when I quizzed him about how he might like to celebrate his suggestion was somewhere in the countryside and not too far away. That foxed me initially, but then I remembered The Mens [from the Anglo-Saxon ge-maennes meaning common ground] nature reserve which is only a few miles from here and one we've never visited. A gentle 5k walk meandering along by streams and under the canopy of ancient woodland was perfect. It's owned by Sussex Wildlife Trust who monitor the site yet operate a non intervention policy. When a big tree falls it is left in situ and over time it becomes another habitat for a whole host of plants and creatures. It has over 600 fungi species and I can't tell you how much I'm dying to come across the ones with names such as Jellybabies, Sulpher Knights or Powdery Pigbacks. I don't expect to find much that's new at this time of year, but it was a pleasure to meet the ever so teeny blue Water Pimpernel growing in a damp area of the wood and discover the long fronds of the Beech flowers.

Although we are very much in the middle of summer here, the signs of the Autumn are beginning to show themselves. There will be ripe blackberries ready in a few weeks and the other berries are putting in an appearance. At the moment the Lords and Ladies looks for all the world like a set of traffic lights with its different stages of ripening all on the one stalk.

One never knows what one might happen across when wandering. Old tumble down buildings are not such a great surprise, but a ruined bridge turned out to be one that was built by the Canadian soldiers stationed nearby in WWII. It was never finished and it seems might have been put up for training purposes.

The perfect walk ended with a fabulous cup of coffee and shared slice of cake in the independently run cafe just up the road. Husband tells me it was just how he wanted to spend his special day.

Arilx