Views with spires - take two

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For quite a while my blog statistics have shown a photograph that I posted in May 2011 called "Views with spires" as the one that receives most hits each month. I often try to work out why such things happen because, on the whole, the most frequently viewed post in a particular month is one published early in that same month. However, for reasons that are usually unfathomable, posts reasonably frequently depart from this pattern. Sometimes it's because I can see a particular website has referenced it and readers have looked at a link to it. But mostly I simply can't account for it. Why, I often wonder, is "Tree shadows and architectural drawings" my blog post with by far the most hits, fifty percent more than the second most visited? Who knows? It certainly can't be down to the quality of the image!

"Views with spires", to return to the current favourite, does I suppose, describe a subject that appeals to those of a traditional and Romantic mindset, and that title may in fact explain its popularity. Today's photograph of the church of St Denys at Aswarby, Lincolnshire, is another photograph on the same theme. More than that, it shares compositional similarities, with the road curving away to the prominent church tower with its tall spire. When I look through my landscapes I find that I frequently use church spires as strong compositional elements. And why not? Is there anything to beat the strong vertical accent of a medieval tower and spire set against the flat or rolling English countryside? Lincolnshire abounds with convenient examples. Churches such as Sempringham, Gosberton and Donington grab the eye and grace any photograph in which they appear, even if they are shrouded in mist or fog, as is Swineshead in this winter photograph.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 55mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Reflecting on Aswarby church

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I visit and photograph Aswarby church every year when we walk in the vicinity of Osbournby. Sometimes it's autumn or winter when we pass by, at other times it may be spring or summer. Whatever the time of year I never fail to admire both the building and its setting. On our recent visit it struck me that in many respects St Denys is a very typical English church. The earliest parts are twelfth century with the nave showing evidence of rebuilding in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and the tower is a fine example of the fifteenth century, the last phase of Gothic. Much of the external ornament shows the inventiveness and wit of the minds of the medieval masons and sculptors who carved it.

A west tower is characteristic of English parish churches, as is a four-bay arcade and a lower, shorter chancel (this one was rebuilt in the Victorian period). The main entrance is typically through the south porch, though here, as is sometimes the case, the north door is favoured for convenience. The photograph above shows the view from the south, consequently the north aisle that projects from the nave and has its own lean-to roof can't be seen. However, such an addition is also very common. The north side was favoured for such an extension because the south side was usually chosen for burial before any other part of the churchyard.

Inside Aswarby church what we see is also very typical of what an English church offers. The view in my smaller photograph is one I took from the pulpit. It shows the bright west window seen through the tower arch. The area railed off in the corner by the north door holds the local landowner's tombs, in this case the Whichcote family. One less commonly found feature is the box pews. The Georgian period liked these for their comfort, privacy and freedom from draughts, but the Victorians often got rid of them, installing sturdy and uncomfortable pews. The rightmost box pews with the pierced, decorative woodwork are raised above the main blocks of seating and have a good view of the pulpit. This is the area reserved for the Whichcote family. Its elevated position reflects their elevated status. It also has its own fireplace!

The two boards above the tower arch are hatchments, paintings of coats of arms that were hung on the house of a deceased member of the well-to-do and often removed to the church after the burial. The Australian flag hangs in Aswarby church. This isn't unique but is unusual. It commemorates George Bass, a man who was raised in the locality, baptised at this church, and who discovered and mapped parts of Australia. The Bass Strait that separates the Australian mainland from Tasmania is named after him. It comes as no surprise to find that quite a few of the visitors to the church hail from Victoria and Tasmania.

photographs and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Smithies and forges

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Today's photograph is posted in response to an email I have received from "down under", Australia to be more specific. It was from someone doing family history research. One of her ancestors lived in the parish of Aswarby and in her researches she'd come across my photographs of the church, the local landscape and in particular, the old smithy. In 2008 I posted a sepia coloured photograph of this building and wrote something of its history. She wondered whether I had a colour photograph of the building. As luck would have it her email came shortly after we'd had a walk in the area and I'd taken another photograph of the building. Here it is.

I wouldn't have posted this photograph had it not been for the email and, more particularly, the fact that it reminded me of another smithy I'd photographed last year. The former forge/smithy and bakehouse at Tinwell, Rutland is altogether grander and more ornate than the example at Aswarby. It too is a consciously picturesque building in an"estate village", the product of a rich and paternalistic landowner. But, whereas Aswarby's smithy is on a track off the main road in a small, somewhat scattered settlement, the one in Tinwell is in the centre of a larger village near the church, and this probably influenced its scale and decorative qualities. Aswarby has a datestone showing 1846, the year of its construction. Tinwell was built only two years later in 1848. Is it down to fashion that both have horseshoes carved on their facades to indicate their purpose? Tinwell's is massive enclosing a door. Was this a shoeing bay? If so it's certainly a grander entrance than the double doors on the left at Aswarby. The funds available at Tinwell, and the vision of the landowner and his architect also allowed for the incorporation of a water supply under the arch in the wall at the centre of the composition. Today Tinwell's smithy/forge is a post office.

click photo to enlarge

Main Photo
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f4
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photographing Aswarby church

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The church of St Denis (also known as St Denys) at Aswarby in Lincolnshire is a favourite of mine. There are many churches that are more beautifully arranged and proportioned, and it doesn't have the wealth of small architectural details and fine tombs that some churches can boast, but it is certainly both handsome and interesting. However, what makes it stand out for me is the way it sits in its setting.

It's a building that looks like an estate church because the village of Aswarby is nothing more than a collection of a few houses and farms strung along a bend in the road: and most of those houses are in a Tudor style and were erected around 1850 by the lord of the manor at the time, one Sir Thomas Whichcote. However, parts of the church date from around 1200 A.D., and much else is of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, so it pre-dates by a long time, the remains of the hall's estate. And it is this that, for me, that marks it out from other churches in this part of Lincolnshire; the sheep-filled pastures dotted with trees, the arching avenues with branches that reach over the road, and the remains of walls, ponds and sculptures that dot the fields. They make a pleasing backdrop to this fine church, and one that changes delightfully with the seasons. Other blog photographs of Aswarby church can be seen here, here, here and here.

My most recent visit to the church was on a cold day at the end of January when the sky was the clearest, deepest blue and the sun was throwing long, dark shadows. In theory the light was perfect for photographing the church, except that from my favoured position, using the road as a leading line, the sun was directly behind me and hence flood-lighting rather than modelling the architecture. So, I circled the building like a sculptor eyeing up his block of marble, and was pleased to find an image at this position towards the east end. At this point not only did the branches of the trees add interest to the boring blue of the sky, but I got a shot of the church that is very three dimensional, especially when contrasted with the relatively flat gravestones. It was a photograph that in colour was mainly green, blue and buff and I knew it would be better in black and white. And so it proved.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Sunset woods

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When I lived in the north west of England woodland was not hard to find. Deciduous woodland was common on the slopes of the Pennines, most of it the result of planting, and today managed for timber or shooting to a greater or lesser extent. However, there was some vestigial woodland, a natural continuation of that which grew there thousands of years ago. On the uplands conifer plantations were fairly common on thin, acidic soil, dense green swathes of woodland with brown scars where felling or new planting was taking place. Where I live now, in Lincolnshire, there is significantly less woodland, and what there is is largely the result of deliberate planting. On the Fens trees are most common around villages, and around farms as wind-breaks, with the odd plantation and copse to be found among the vegetable and cereal fields. However, if one goes on to the low hills or the higher Wolds of the county you find that woodland established for timber or sporting reasons is fairly common.

Todays' photograph shows a view at the edge of a small wood near Aswarby, Lincolnshire. On the particular estate where these trees grow there is a sawmill, and timber is cropped for the wood it produces. But, pheasant are a lucrative crop in this area too, and the woods are dotted with the pens and feeders that support the rearing of this "game bird". I took this shot towards sunset, and deliberately chose these three trees to be in the image. It would have been perfectly easy to have included a lot of trees, but I felt the composition and the imapct of the shot would be better served by a small number. Incidentally, this is another photograph taken with the 16:9 aspect ratio of the LX3, a format that I particularly like for landscapes.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.2mm (48mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Plumbing the medieval mind

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The gargoyles on a medieval church, such as this one at Aswarby in Lincolnshire (see yesterday's post), are pieces of sculpture that form part of the medieval plumbing system. They are designed to carry rainwater off the roof and other coverings, then out from the walls, and deposit it on the ground below. However, despite this rather prosaic purpose it sometimes doesn't pay to look too closely at them. Why? Because amongst the grimacing, devilish faces, weird beasts and elephants you might spot something a little more earthy.

When you've worked out just what today's photograph shows you might wonder, as I did, precisely what was going on in the mind of this particular sculptor, what the priest was thinking of sanctioning the design, and why in the middle ages people thought toilet humour appropriate for the decoration of a church!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 110mm (220mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/800
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Making pictures

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I'm not particularly interested in photography! Correction. I'm not particularly interested in photography as it is currently conceived, especially cameras or the technical side of it. Discussions about the relative high ISO performance of different models and brands, the minutiae of Imatest result or, the relative virtues of CMOS versus CCD leave me cold. So too does "pixel peeping", endless debates about the quality of colours produced by each manufacturer's cameras or the problem of photographic "noise." I believe (and so do more than a few of the saner commentators on photography) that every DSLR available today is capable of producing commercial quality images in the sizes demanded by the vast majority of publishers. Moreover, we've now arrived at the point where this is possible with today's better digital compact cameras. So, I'm firmly of the opinion that whilst an intelligent interest in the hardware is fine, agonising over technicalia is a waste of time that could be more profitably spent taking photographs. To anyone who says that they need a camera that produces the highest pixel count and the best possible output for large scale prints or cropping, I say fine, but remember that print is a dying medium, and that the increasingly prevalent display of images on screens and projectors needs fewer rather than more pixels! A new 5 megapixel camera anyone?

So what is it about photography that does interest me? Well, that really begins and ends with the pictures. Having said that, I'm also not wildly interested in the body of "theory" that has grown up about composition and the general business of putting together an image. I'm familiar with it, but, just as my post processing tends towards the "intuitive", rather than a regimented "work flow", so too does this aspect of my picture making. However, I have to say that my image construction does lean very heavily on a lifelong interest in the history of art.

Despite the remarks above, every now and then I take a photograph that illustrates one of the maxims of photographic composition. Today's image of the medieval church of St Denys, Aswarby, in Lincolnshire, will say "leading lines" to many phographers, as they follow the curving contour of the fence from the bottom right corner to the base of the church tower. I took this shot on an early autumn walk, and tried to find a new take on a building I've photographed a couple of times before.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

English parkland

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Both of today's photographs were taken in the area immediately around the village of Aswarby in Lincolnshire. They are views of the parkland that was created in the eighteenth and nineteenth century around Aswarby Hall, the home of the Tudor Carres and later the Whichcotes.

"Parkland" in this sense is a very English term, meaning not the play and recreation area laid out by municipalities for the enjoyment of an urban population, but rather the landscaped pastures and woodlands in the immediate vicinity of a large country house. It became the fashion, during the period when the English landscape garden was at its peak of popularity to plant formally near to such a house, to have "natural" looking lawns and gardens with lakes, statues, "eyecatchers" and scenic planting beyond this, and for the farmland past the garden boundary to be "enhanced" with solitary trees in pastures, "rides" through wooods and planted avenues, and screens of trees to confound prying eyes: the very vision of pastoral beauty and tranquility. Often, to give the impression of beautiful nature continuing in an unbroken sweep from the gardens through into the parkland there would be a hidden ha-ha (a wall and ditch) to prevent cattle and sheep encroaching on the tended grounds near the house.

Parkland of this sort is still being created today, but more often that which we see dates from this earlier period. It has a quite distinctive appearance, and is often signalled by large, specimen trees in the middle of pastures, or big, non-native, often evergreen, trees in small groups. Near where I took these photographs a former pasture that exhibits both these characteristic tree plantings has been turned into a cereal field. We passed it on our walk, bare soil with enormous trees dotted here and there - an odd sight. Nearby were the expected woods with pheasant rearing pens and feeders, and an adjoining area of maize left for both cover and feed for the "sportsmen's" targets.

photographs & text (c) T.Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.66 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photo 2
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm (80mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Whichcote Memorial, Aswarby

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The church of St Denys at Aswarby, Lincolnshire, has this fine memorial on the south wall of its nave. It records the death of Marian, Lady Whichcote, daughter of Henry Beckett Esq., and wife of Sir Thomas Whichcote, Bart. It notes that she was born on 27th April 1820, married on 10th July 1839, and died on 10th May 1849. The inscription ends with a verse from the Od Testament's Book of Micah. Aswarby Hall, the grand house in which she lived her short life is no more: but the Victorian stables remain, and were converted into a house in 1969. Also evident, though perhaps less well tended than in her day, is the park in which the Hall was situated. The small village of Aswarby has a number of stone-built "estate houses" in the Tudor style. They would have been for people who worked on the Hall's large estate, and were under construction around the time of Lady Whichcote's death.

I see a lot of Victorian memorials during my visits to churches. Most are fairly formulaic, some are deliberately innovative (with varying degrees of success), and others are fine compositions, often in expensive materials. And then there is a group that is distinguished by the high quality of its figure sculpture. This piece at Aswarby is such an example. It is by the Scottish sculptor, Thomas Campbell (1790-1858), a man who was apprenticed to a marble cutter in Edinburgh, who went on to study at the Royal Academy Schools in London, and who opened a studio in Rome in 1819. There he made portrait busts of English visitors to that city, as well as of Pope Pius VII. In 1829 he relocated to London producing marble busts and reliefs. His subjects included members of the aristocracy, poets, politicians and others. His relief of the actress Sarah Siddons (d.1831), has similarities with that of Lady Whichcote: the figure is in vaguely classical dress, in a classical pose, below an arch in a pedimented frame.

I've admired the sculpture shown in today's photograph since I first saw it about seven years ago. The pose, the handling of drapery, the composition with stool, book (displaying the Lord's Prayer) and lamp, all work wonderfully well. However, there is one thing that has always puzzled me - the snake. Pevsner says it is there as a symbol of eternity. But I think he is wrong. Where a snake is used for that purpose it invariably has its own tail in its mouth making an endless loop or sinuous shape. Snakes (serpents) usually represent the Devil, but I can't believe that is the case here. A grasped or downtrodden snake symbolises triumph over sin, but isn't applicable here either. Mounted on a staff a snake can be used to represent Christ, and God's authority. This idea comes from Moses saving the Israelites from a plague of snakes by raising a bronze snake on a pole, and is the reason for the use of a snake on a pole to represent healing. It seems to me that these are more likely explanations for its presence, particularly since the flame probably signifies the Holy Spirit.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 58mm (116mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO: 200
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The Old Smithy, Aswarby

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This charming former smithy in the village of Aswarby, Lincolnshire is now a store. There is much less call for the services of a blacksmith today than when the building was erected in 1846. At that time horses powered the rural economy and this building was the "garage" of its day, servicing not only horses but carriages, carts, waggons, and sundry agricultural machines as well as providing a wide range of metal working services.

It was built by Sir Thomas Whichcote of Aswarby Hall, the local landowner and squire, and is constructed of coursed, squared limestone rubble with ashlar quoins and dressings, and is roofed with slate. To the left, out of shot is, a shoeing bay. The decorative style of the building sits well with the Tudor-style cottages that comprise most of the dwellings in Aswarby. Like the smithy these were also built by the Whichcotes for the estate workers, as was the "Tally Ho!" pub, the lodge gatehouses at the entry to the park, and the estate office. Interestingly, all these buildings remain, but Aswarby Hall itself is gone, demolished in 1951. The stables of 1836 remain and have been converted into the main house of the estate. Of the older buildings and landscaping only two Georgian columns with boar's heads stand forlorn in a field.

When I was a child, growing up in Yorkshire, I was told that if you hang a horseshoe on a door or wall for good luck, you must always hang it with the open side upwards. If it's hung the other way (like the stone example in the photograph) all the luck will run out. Perhaps that accounts for the demise of Aswarby Hall!

For more information on the idea of the "lucky" horseshoe see the "Folklore" entry towards the bottom of this page. I felt that sepia was the obvious choice for this image.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 15mm (30mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

To the ends of the earth

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Lincolnshire is the second largest English county (by area), encompassing that swathe of Eastern England between the Humber estuary and The Wash. The county has relatively little industry, no large cities, and only a short section of motorway. For many it is England's sparsely populated, sleepy backwater, and those who give it any thought at all think of it as flat and fecund. Both of these words have elements of truth: the Fens and the coastal areas are flat, but the Wolds and the hills of the Stone Belt are certainly not. And, whilst some of the most productive arable land in the country is to be found here, so too are marshes and pastures.

Consequently many are surprised to find that Lincolnshire produced more than its fair share of explorers who left the green fields and ancient churches of their home county to travel to the ends of the earth. Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), a Spilsby man, explored the Arctic and mapped two thirds of the northern coastline of North America. Matthew Flinders (1774-1814), who discovered and mapped much of Australia's coast was born in Donington. George Bass (1771-1803), who sailed with Flinders, mapped some of south Australia, and predicted the strait that separates that continent from Tasmania. Flinders named it the Bass Strait after his friend and companion who was christened in the church shown above.

This building of twelfth century foundation, is dedicated to St Denis, and is in the small, picturesque, "estate village" of Aswarby. George Bass was born on a nearby farm, and became a naval surgeon before undertaking his explorations. The church has a memorial and information about Bass, and an Australian flag hangs near the west end of the nave in memory of the village's famous son. I took this shot, one of several I have of this particularly lovely church and setting, on a late March morning when the light said spring, but the wind said winter's not quite gone!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off