(no subject)

[endlessrarities]

Gah!  Still no sign of either Elbow album.  I'm beginning to feel like Bart Simpson.  Except, instead of 'Where's my spy camera?', my pathetic refrain is going to be 'Where's my Cast of Thousands?'

Today, I had a rude awakening.  March has come in not like a lion, but more like a sabre-toothed tiger.  Or a cave bear.  The weather today was absolutely FREEZING!!!!  We went out early to make the most of the good (!) weather, and came scuttling in soon after, frozen to the core.

And now to Grasmere, and St Oswald's Church.  When I first set foot in this place, I thought, "Ooh!  That's nice!"  Ten years later, my immediate response was 'Huh???  What on earth's going on here?'

This is why:-

 

In case you can't see it properly in this view down the nave, here's a better view:-

 

What we have is not one but two naves, subdivided by this peculiar arched wall, which has been helpfully whitewashed to conceal the mangled masonry beneath. 

What we're looking at here is the early 13th century nave.  The arched wall would originally have been the external N wall, only it's been well and truly butchered in the following centuries.  The church's earlier form can still be seen in the roof beams - you can see a recess where the beam used to sit as part of the pitched roof.

If you look carefully, you can also see some projecting stone corbels which would have supported the cross-beams.  Verdict?  The configuration of the roof has changed radically in the last 800 years.  Why?  Well, as you can probably see, this church has not one but two naves, sitting side by side.  The nave featured here forms the original high medieval core of the church, with the second nave, the Langdale Nave, added in the 1490s to accomodate the worshippers from neighbouring Langdale parish.

Who would have had to have hiked over the inhospitable tracts of fell that I featured previously just to get to church.

Poor souls...

You can just glimpse the Langdale Nave in these photographs - while it's interesting in its own right, it's the roof timbers which are particularly fascinating in this particular church building, and I'll tell you more about that in a later post.  In the meantime, here's another view of this very peculiar wall:-
 

Goodnight, all!!

Comments

[treenahasthaal.livejournal.com]

You could have downloaded the album! You get instant gratification! That's what I do now.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know me. I'm still an old-fashioned luddite at heart. I'd have to download it, and buy the album so I could get a proper CD I can play on my stereo system.

And they seem to arrange the playlist on the download albums differently...

[a-d-medievalist.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering whether to buy the new one!

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I shall review it as soon as I get hold of it!!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I see the stone corbels! It's fascinating when an exterior wall ends up on the interior...

[technophobe1975.livejournal.com]

How big a job would it have been to change all that round back then when it was done?

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

They made quite a major job of reworking that wall - none of its original windows and doorways can be identified.

[kishenehn.livejournal.com]

That is the most beautifully odd building!

[clairehawthorn.livejournal.com]

If the external North wall had been "well and truly butchered" in the last 150 years I'd be muttering darkly.....but as it was done so long ago somehow it is woven into the story of the church for me, I actually think it's a unique and quirky aspect of the church.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I'm still impressed by the scale of the changes...