The medieval churches of England are an endangered species. Our forebears bequeathed large, beautiful, magnificent and very expensive to maintain buildings upon us, and many parishes are finding the cost to be unaffordable. These churches were built at a time when labour and materials were cheap and the church was exceedingly wealthy. Today skilled labour is expensive, in some crafts it is in short supply, and the church has far less money than formerly. Moreover, the congregation of many of the churches today is tiny (in medieval times an element of compulsion governed attendance) and their money-raising powers consequently quite limited.
A few years ago I read of the possibility of the fine church in today's photograph closing for the very reasons cited above. An unforeseen cost arose at the time too, namely the theft of lead from a large area of the roof. I believe that action and sufficient funds have averted the closure. On our recent visit to the building the roofs had been restored, a car-parking space created and the churchyard was well-maintained with some new fencing on its perimeter. Today the church continues to take its place in the community as it has done for almost a thousand years.
My black and white photograph of the building was taken from the corner of the churchyard near where I took an earlier colour shot. In that blog post I wrote of the significance of the architectural crowning glory of the building - its very early broach spire.
photograph and text © Tony Boughen
Photo Title: Frampton Church, Lincolnshire
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 12mm (24mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
