A Thaxted view

click photo to enlarge
The walk from the main streets of Thaxted, Essex - Town Street and Watling Street - up Stony Lane, through the churchyard gates and along the gravel track to the west tower of the medieval church is as architecturally eventful as any in England.

Leaving the shopping streets you immediately pass the Guildhall of 1450, a lime-washed, three-storey, timber-framed building that includes an eighteenth century "lock-up" (gaol). Across from it are three, three-storeyed houses that are jettied at each floor, buildings that date from the early 1400s and still show walls, timber and windows of that period, as well as sixteenth and seventeenth century additions. Behind the Guildhall is an even older house that was built in the early 1300s, heavily modified in the 1800s, and given the local, moulded plaster "pargetting" in the twentieth century. Other houses up the lane date from subsequent centuries, and nestle into their location with great charm. The church of St John the Baptist, with its tall spire, stands in its graveyard at the highpoint of the town. Its earliest parts date from around 1340, but these were remodelled in the 1400s and 1500s. Further work was added in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the rebuilding of the spire which was blown down in 1814. The exterior of the church is lavishly decorated and it makes a fine landmark that competes with the nearby windmill.

In the churchyard are two further beautiful old buildings. The single-storey thatched building known as "The Chantry" is timber-framed, plastered and painted dark pink. It was formerly almshouses and dates from the 1600s. Next to it is a row of early eighteenth century almshouses, also timber-framed and plastered, but with tiled roofs and this time painted cream. These were restored in the nineteenth century when the decorative bargeboards as well as the pointed window and the rectangular window, each with the hoodmoulds, were added. When I stood and looked at this interesting pair of buildings a couple of weeks ago, the fog that had been a nuisance all morning helpfully lifted sufficiently for me see the distant windmill between them, and I quickly took this shot. It's a pity that the more elaborate fronts of neither building can be seen. But, if I had included either, then the windmill wouldn't have been so conveniently placed!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 7.9mm (37mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Thaxted windmill

click photo to enlarge
There was a time when it seemed that windmills would all but disappear from Britain, perhaps remembered only by a few restored, museum-like examples or those that were turned into desirable country dwellings. A few struggled on as working buildings into the 1950s, but their time had long passed, new methods of milling superseding the old ways. Being tall structures, erected in exposed positions where they would catch the wind, many soon fell into disrepair once regular maintenance ceased. Gales removed sails, fantails and roofs. Penetrating rain and frost did the rest of the damage, and many were reduced to sad, beheaded stumps. But, as is often the way, just as it seemed that windmills were on their way out people started to realise what was happening, to mourn what was being lost, and in localities up and down the country individuals, groups of civic-minded people and enthusiasts turned their attention to restoring these fascinating relics that are half building, half machine. Today they are a reasonably common sight in central, eastern and southern England, and quite a few have been restored to working condition.

The example shown in today's photograph is at Thaxted in Essex. It is a red brick, tower mill that was built for John Webb in 1804. He was a local landowner and innkeeper whose brickworks supplied the bricks for the building. It stands in a commanding position in a field by the edge of the small town, one of two beacons, with the medieval church, that are immediately visible to the visitor as he approaches this ancient and attractive settlement. Thaxted's mill was one of those that fell into disrepair in the mid-twentieth century. But, in 1972 the process of restoration began, and today it is fully restored with machinery inside, and is open to the public.

My photograph has been converted to black and white with the digital version of a red filter to darken the sky, emphasise the clouds and vapour trails, and make the lighter building stand out more strongly from its background.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 25mm (50mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/1000
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Stony Lane, Thaxted, Essex

click photo to enlarge

During my recent travels I went to Thaxted in Essex. Before my visit I knew little about the place apart from what I'd read about the church and its windmill. I also had a vague memory that there was a connection with the composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934).

Towards the end of an October afternoon I wandered through its streets, had a look at the main buildings, and came upon the well-named Stony Lane. The narrow cobbled surface of the road leading up the hill to the church and the picturesque mixture of ancient buildings attracted my attention. A look at The Buildings of England: Essex revealed that the half-timbered buildings on the left date from the early 1400s, and have many original features.

Further digging enlarged my knowledge of the Holst connection. Apparently the main theme of Jupiter from his suite, The Planets, which he adapted to fit Sir Cecil Spring-Rice's poem for the hymn "I vow to thee my country", is called Thaxted after the place Holst lived from 1914 until the 1920s. An article written for the Foxearth and District Local History Society, I Ring for the General Dance: Gustav Holst and Thaxted, gives an interesting account of Holst's time in the Essex market town. Moreover it includes fanciful alternatives for the source of inspiration for each of the movements of "The Planets". The author suggests that Jupiter, perhaps for its association with the hymn name, represents market day in Thaxted. The market was packing up as I left so I can't vouch for whether or not it exudes a Jovian jollity, but the description that the author gives of the music representing a walk from the market place, up Stony Lane, through the church and around the town, is quite alluring.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On