Wednesday 26 January 2022

Walking on History

 


Yesterday we needed to go to Brecon for bird food, some DMC threads (my nearest shop stocking them),and bits and pieces elsewhere, including a quick visit to Morrisons to check what plants they had - not much yet, but I did get a good pot of blue Scabious for just £3.  The pink one I planted last year has been bravely putting out flowers all winter too.  I managed to get some Voltarol at Boots for my tight IT band on my hip and that has already eased the pain, thank heavens.  It's been going on for about 6 weeks now.


The first Snowdrops in the Cathedral grounds, just putting out buds.  Such a delight to see them.


An early Piscina just inside the door.


The stunning font with its (horned? again!) Green Man with Beasties.  There was another one the same, and a Tree of Life, and some dog Latin inscription around the top - the latte engraved by someone for whom Latin was a foreign language, according to the gentleman volunteering yesterday.  At the back of the font it was all scored and broken from when Cromwell's troops took up residence in the church with their horses.

The first of two wonderful 17th C? Flemish cupboards.


The stained glass windows were beautiful.


This stunning carving was at the "modern" restored end of the Cathedral, which was derelict by the late 18th C.  Gilbert-Scott was the architect employed in the restoration and I think this dates from that time.


This is the other wonderfully carved Flemish cupboard.  What a shame I missed taking a photo of the lovely painting of the young Christ above it.


Apparently many of the gravestones within the Cathedral were once outside in the graveyard, but when the Cathedral was restored in the Victorian period, Gilbert-Scott had the ground level altered and these were all brought inside to level it.


A rather splendid effigy of Lathan Bevan dating to 1861.





Because of his connection with Titchfield in Hampshire (we used to drive through here on our way to Lee-on-Solent beach), I looked up Edward Otto Ives when we got home.  He worked for the H.E.I. Co (Honourable East India Company, as did his father who had been a Naval Surgeon).  Interestingly he lived at Ferryside in Carmarthenshire for some time too - also a little village (in Carmarthenshire) which we know well.  


This was absolutely fascinating and SUCH a link to our history. Details as below - it's where the archers from Brecon who went to Agincourt in 1415, sharpened their arrows.  How amazing is that? Cordwainers were leather workers.



Another absolutely amazing survivor is the Cresset Stone.  Never heard of one before, let alone seen one.



Here are some associated sites worth visiting:

THE COFLEIN PAGE - lots of photos of the interior - far better than mine!

WELSH TOMBS IN BRECON CATHEDRAL - a blog by Madeleine Gray which gives details about the tombstones laid into the floor.

CROSS SLABS - Interesting reading.

BRECON CATHEDRAL HISTORY - some good link here, especially the Agincourt one.  Many of the Welsh Archers came from the Brecon area.

12 comments:

  1. Fascinating history Jennie, like the Cresset stone, I suppose they would have taken their individual candles to go into the service.

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  2. Indeed, saved them tripping up along the way as that was probably the only lighting until they got into the Cathedral itself. Gosh, bet it was blardy cold at 2 a.m. on a winter's night . . .

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  3. Wow, such an interesting church. I love the carvings, and the stained glass is so beautiful. I have never heard of a Cresset stone. So interesting.

    God bless.

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    1. That Cresset stone is a real one-off survivor I think. We can't wait to go back there again - earlier this time - and really take our time to explore.

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  4. Wow! What a great post! I loved all the photographs. Thank you! Your trip sent me off on a couple fascinating side trips via google. I love when a blog post does that.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it, and the side trips via Mr Google. Life can be so interesting but I know there are people out there who have no truck with history. Their loss.

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  5. A wonderful post - so much history in the Cathedral. So much to like but THAT font!!! :) I'd never heard of a Cresset Stone either - I don't think such items were mentioned in the Medieval Monastery book I have just read!

    I so miss church crawling but a lot of churches round here are not open.

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    1. There you are RR, another place to visit!! but it will be worth it.

      A shame that your local churches are still closed.

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  6. So much history in just one building...the sharpening stone really captures my imagination thinking of Henry V's archers using it to prepare for battle.

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    1. Just what I thought. That sharpening stone was just AMAZING - history from 600 years ago encapsulated in that.

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  7. Sometimes I feel like there is more history, more stunning beauty, in one of Europe's old churches than in many of our entire States here! Amazing.

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    1. We are very fortunate with the immense depth of history in our isles. We will be visiting Brecon again soon, that's for sure.

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