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Churches Project no.13 – A return to Up Marden

The church of St Michael in Up Marden is rather special, so I decided it was worthy of a return journey. I particularly wanted to take a shot from the field to the west of the church, which for some reason I didn’t include first time round. I knew this would give me the best view of the whole building but it also gave me the chance to take one or two others, and review some of the unprocessed images from the original visit.

I see little point repeating what I wrote about the church last time, but if you are interested you can read that post here. This entry includes a selection of images which did not appear in the previous entry. All of the images can be viewed in the Gallery of West Sussex Churches.

South Porch

South Door

North Door

Altar Table

St Michael, Up Marden

Churches Project no.12 – St Mary the Virgin, Upwaltham, West Sussex

The church of St Mary the Virgin is very often called ‘The Church in the Field’ and it’s very easy to see why it has adopted this name. Situated on a hillside with the South Downs for company, this lovely countryside church has fields and footpaths as its neighbours. At this time of year the graveyard is full of white daises and when they catch the wind the scene becomes quite enchanting.

The interior has hardly changed since its origins in the 12th Century. Plain, simple and largely lit by candles; which is just how I like it. This is one of a handful of churches in the whole country with a semi circular or apsidal chancel. I visited another church recently with a similar feature in North Marden, also in West Sussex.

There are very few properties in Upwaltham but I have read that at one time the church served a medieval village. In times gone by it would have been a very tranquil place to live, but today the valley floor plays host to the main road between Chichester and Petworth – the A285. It is perhaps the only thing which detracts from this delightful church; as cars rush by, the drivers probably fail to notice ‘The Church in the Field’. If only they stopped to enjoy the delights of this truly charming Sussex countryside church, it would take them back to quieter and possibly less stressful times.

The Church Defender

Church Defender

In time to come it might be quite hard to put a date against this photograph.

The Church in the background, which is dedicated to St Margaret, is in Cley Next the Sea on the North Norfolk coast and was built in the early to mid 1300’s. The vehicle parked on the grass verge is of course a Land Rover, built much later but many are still going strong today. I would guess this is a Series 1 model – which first came into production in 1948 and later became the Land Rover Defender. I am no expert and if anyone can confirm whether or not this is the case then do please comment. An iconic vehicle which went out of production after 68 years, the last one rolled off the line on the 29th January 2016.

I like the timeless quality to this shot. Both the subject and the treatment evoke memories of days past even though it was taken less than two years ago in October 2014.

Cley Next the Sea is arguably best known for its windmill, which can be seen for miles around and overlooks the salt marches of this beautiful but wild part of the English coast. There are links to a couple of earlier posts featuring Cley windmill below.

Last light of the day on Cley Windmill

Cley Windmill – Decisions, decisions

Churches Project no.11 – St Nicholas, Moreton in Dorset

The church of St Nicholas, Moreton in Dorset

According to Christopher Winn in his book ‘I never knew that about England’s Country Churches’, St Nicholas in Moreton Dorset is the only church in the whole world to have all its windows in engraved glass. I have no reason to doubt this fact but whether it is true or not, this building is a true gem. It also happens to be the burial place of St Lawrence of Arabia, so has quite a claim to fame.

The west window

Parts of the church and the original stained glass windows were all destroyed by a German bomber in 1940. It took ten years to rebuild the church and the windows were originally replaced with green glass. The parishioners of this tiny village didn’t warm to this new look and the architect overseeing the work suggested consulting Laurence Whistler, a renowned glass engraver as well as a poet and writer. As a result he was commissioned to redesign the windows.

One of the five windows in the curved apse

The first five engraved windows to be installed were in the curved apse and this work was carried out in 1958. These were designed by Whistler but produced by a commercial firm. All the remaining windows were personally engraved by Whistler and fitted over a period of 30 years between 1955 and 1985. The commissioned work must have cost the church and its donors an absolute fortune but the results are truly spectacular. Many of the windows are engraved on both sides which gives a 3D effect.

The south facing window shown below, is a thing of great beauty whether viewed internally or externally.

A south facing window

The same south facing window from the outside

Detail from the bottom left hand corner of the south facing window

The most controversial engraving is that of a man hanging from a tree with coins spilling from his hand. It depicts Judas, the betrayer of Christ and is only visible from the outside. This section of the window is obscured from the inside by a wall monument. This engraving was not well received by the parishioners initially and was only installed in 2014, some fourteen years after Whisler’s death in 2000. This particular window was donated to the church by Whistler himself so he must have felt rather betrayed that it was not accepted by the church at the time of its presentation. I can quite understand why its macabre depiction of Judas would have caused a very mixed reaction.

Judas – donated by Whistler himself

The church is filled with light and each and every window is full of the most remarkable detail, unlike anything else you will see elsewhere, let alone in a small country church in the lovely county of Dorset.

More detail from the south facing window

Again more detail from the south window

One window is dedicated to Noel Findlay and the words in the right hand pane ‘and his gift of happiness’ have so many meanings in this rather wonderful place of worship.

The lower half of a north facing window in memory of Noel Findlay

To fully appreciate the superb glass engravings do click on any image to open a larger version.

Churches Project no.10 – St Mary, North Marden, West Sussex

Nave and chancel of North Marden Church

St Mary’s in North Marden is a tiny Norman country church thought to date from the late 12th Century. Approached through a farmyard the nave and chancel are undivided. The chancel has an unusual semi circular or apsidal end, a feature which is only to be found in five other small english churches. There is very little light inside the church, and first impressions are of a dark and almost mysterious interior. To this day there is no electricity, so when in use the interior is still lit by candles. The church is Grade 1 Listed and can seat up to about 70 people.

The church has a superb Norman south doorway made of Caen stone which was probably shipped from France across the English Channel to Chichester Harbour and then transported by pack horse to the site of the church. It is the same stone that was used to build Chichester Cathedral.

North Marden Porch and Norman doorway.

Standing in the porch and looking through the doorway into the nave with the vestry opposite, I just try to imagine all the characters who have walked into this humble little place of worship in the 900 or so years since the church was built. It’s not possible of course but the thought itself is quite remarkable.

St Mary North Marden

This church is one eight churches which make up the Octagon Parish. A group of churches serving the villages of Stoughton, Racton, Forestside, Stansted, Compton, Esat Marden, Up Marden and of course North Marden. They are all set in beautiful and largely unspoilt downland countryside, which makes these churches so very appealing.

I have already featured two of these churches and the links can be found below. I am sure I will be visiting the other five in due course.

St Michael’s, Up Marden

St Mary’s Stoughton