Whitcombe Church – The church whose dedication has been lost in time Part II

 

Welcome back and thank you once again for your patience.  I wanted to gather not only my thoughts on this next part, but I also needed to explore the subject in a bit more depth.  It is important for me to try to bring my subjects alive for you so that you wish to visit them.  I don’t want to get technical, as I have said before I am not an expert on churches or architecture, but I try my best to look deeper because sometimes a little more information makes the experience more enjoyable.

I purposely did not mention anything of the painting when I described the interior in the previous post because I felt it deserved more attention than just a paragraph.

In this case I needed to dig into the subject of art during the Middle Ages which meant picking up a few more books.  I have many books I use as resources and my library (as is my understanding) is growing it seems with each post. 

That said I will give you my thoughts on the wonderful wall painting I found inside Whitcombe.

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As I opened the ancient misshapen door the very first thing my eyes fell upon was an amazing wall painting.  St Christopher is depicted giving safe passage across the river to the Christ Child.  It blew me away.  Although it is not complete, what remains is endearing. 

St Christopher is gazing back at the Christ child on his shoulder, perhaps at the moment when he says to the child how heavy he is.  The Christ child holds an orb in his left hand, representative of the world, and the right held in a Benediction pose.  In the background the river runs beneath the saint’s feet, to his right the hermit who trained Christopher, below is a mermaid sitting in the water. The saint holds his staff with his right hand.  Both heads are surrounded by a nimbus – a symbol of sanctity or holiness. 

The Christ Child’s garment has gracefully folded drapery and its blue colour is special as lapis lazuli, the main ingredient, was an expensive import in the Middle Ages.  Yellow and red are the predominant colours which would have been easily made and found locally by the artist.

St Christopher is portrayed as the giant he was and the Christ child has fairly normal proportions. Some of the other detail is hard to make out, but if you change position in the light, you can see the faint outlines of other subjects which now appear as mere sketches.

I really love that the Christ Child actually looks like a child.  In some way the faces of both seem to convey emotion, one of curiosity and the other serenity. I think the painter is making a real effort to show a sense of movement within the scene;The hermit kneeling at the water's edge, the mermaid gazes into her mirror as the Saint navigates the water carefully balancing the child on his shoulder,much like a parent would carry their own child.  

The Hermit

The mermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closer detail the saint's left hand

 

The saint's hand grasping the palm staff

*The wall painting is dated 1425-1450 and was discovered in 1912, as most wonderful finds are, during a restoration project. Conservation credit has been given to Ann Ballantyne

for her careful work in 1968 and 1987.

There are no notes as to the condition they found the painting in and it leaves me curious as to whether, like many iconic items at the time of King Henry VIII dissolution, it had been hidden from sight with the use of lime wash.

The application technique is most likely tempura which means that the paint was applied to dried plaster. Instead of blank staring eyes, the painter has added pupils and uses lines to show texture in the hair and beard. So much to see and it is a privilege to be able to examine it so closely.  Something that I did wonder about however is the dampness and hope that this does not cause further damage.

The village can be seen just over the wall

It’s placement opposite the entrance is very Middle Ages.  St Christopher is known to many as the patron saint of travelers but he was more than that.  He is the protector against sudden death, which was always on the minds of the people who worshiped here at this time.  His image was placed opposite the entrance so that anyone passing could gaze on him, and this alone was thought to be enough to guard against sudden death. The doorway also faces the village which it served across the field protecting it with his presence. A great comfort to travelers. It might not be a stretch to say some may have sought out the church on their journey so that they could feel a 'blessing' from the Saint as they sat in the church. In addition, the painting might have served as a reminder to the parishioners to live a life in Christian service by doing good things for others.

This is the dominating feature of the church, however it is not alone.  Where this adds life to the interior, other objects are more decorative or symbolic in nature.

 

 

 To the left of St Christopher are a seemingly random group of peaked arches which reminded me of the decoration I had seen on rood screens in larger cathedrals.  Since the church has little in the way of furnishings it is hard to work out what this might have been used for.  If you look closely in the center of the design there is a consecration cross.  These crosses are found on interior/ exterior walls of a church and are a physical reminder of it’s consecration by a Bishop with holy water.  

 

  

There are two plain crosses; one just to the right of St Christopher and another located to the side of a window on the north wall. This second location also has just the hint of decorative edging beneath.

It would appear that at one time the interior would have had a great deal of colour and decoration. 

 

 

 

 

 

The more I looked for it the more I found....

including a line of obscure detailing along the edge of the wall above the arches. 

 

and just a touch of stained glass to these two windows

 

Taking one last moment, I stood at the east window and looked out onto the fields beyond. The scene reminded me of a portrait which hangs above the altar in my church back home of Jesus cradling a lamb walking through a field.  

It is perfect setting for a church.

 

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I finish here and leave it to you take time to explore it yourself. As you can see there is so much to what seems from the road an ordinary field church, but open it’s door, walk it’s yard and you’ll discover a whole lot more.  I found a wealth of history, art, architecture and a glimpse into the lives of the people who once worshiped here, what will you discover?

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Information on the restoration was sourced from the Churches Conservation Trust - see link on links page. Their website as well as the book 'Mural Paintings in English Churches...' by Frank H Kendon were a great help with this blog entry.

Here are a few more photos ...

 

 

Barn from the adjoining village seen from the footpath at the road
 

I love magnificent trees

The wall that separates the field from the village on the other side

'He maketh me lie down in green pastures...'

Herring bone flooring

Very narrow door that leads to the bell tower steps

a couple more carved bosses

 

The road calls again but this time it will bring me back to Plymouth in Devon where I meet up with Maggie.  We begin our travels together from there with a start in her 'backyard' and another walk in Dartmoor. See you shortly! and thank you for reading.