Village Churches were often funded by rich residents so are often near where they were living, not the village They generally have ‘VIP’ areas within in them too
I guessed it was the 'Lord of the Manor's' church but it is a bit big and bit in the middle of nowhere, I never remembered any private areas inside at all when we were forced to go there. Of all the churches in the area it is easily the most well-built and biggest and I think it's been there a while. Meanwhile the villagers were living in hovels obviously. More importantly I made unexpected money off it. So my tiny bit of revenge.
Big because it’s showing off and buying a place in heaven Private areas can be upstairs a la Dress Circle Sometimes the only bit that had heating, back in the day
Lockerly church was built 1889 /90 so it modern. There are quite a few Victorian churches locally including in Otterbourne where i live. One of the notable architects in this field was Owen Carter Jones who also designed the churches in Commercial Road and Ampfield. Not a fan of Victorian church architecture but the church at Twyford is a notable exception. The medival churches are more complicated and would have been built by monasteries or abbeys who would have owned the manors. Many lords of the manor were also aristocracy after the Conquest but i think olaces like Bulieau ownwd manors as did places like Mont St Michel in Normandy....hence St Michaels parish in Basingstoke. The churches were built over many centuries and changed to suit the size of populations , delapidation or to match current architectural changes. I am fascinated by the origins of villages as many rarely predate the late Saxon period. The Normans replaced Saxon churches and i have heard the histrlorian Marc Morris be very critical Saxon architecture and comment that the Normans built better quality buildings. The late Middle Ages saw alot change. You find the aristocracy adding chantry chapels after the Black Death. Many steeples were later added through the profits made through the wool trade. I am not religious but find churches and cathedrals fascinating as they are a record of social history. Hope this helps. Ian Rhe best local church in my opinion is the one at St Cross hospital. The same architect was also likely responsible for Romsey Abbey.
The one in East Dean, where I born and lived until I was 11, is in the Domesday Book! I'm not religious either, I mean St John's in Lockerley and Reverand Maclihose and the lay chap Mr Brown put me, and all of my friends, off religion for life, and the headmaster at Primary School was a lay-preacher too. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Gah, I'm getting flashbacks to GCSE history and having to do three sodding pieces of coursework on Botley Church Btw if you're ever in Botley ignore the new fangled All-Saints Church (1830s) and head to St. Bartholomew's (13th C?) up by Manor Farm.
I listen a fair bit too. Mostly whilst walking the dog or cooking. The only thing I don't like about listening is that sometimes the narrator can put you off what is otherwise a good book.
This, if it's the full broadcast, of the BBC'S adaptation of Mervyn Peake's Gormengast with Freddie Jones and Sting came to mind. Well worth a listen.
If anyone is after some summer holiday reading, I cannot recommend enough John Nichols series of books on Spitfire, Lancaster and Tornado. Aside from the fact he's a bit of a personal hero of mine, the books are brilliant. Even if you're not a massive ****ing geek aviation enthusiast, there's enough personal stories in them to be a proper page turner. A cracking series of books
Lincoln I am not a fan of World War 2 history but love old biplanes. A few years i got into reading the Haynes manuals for Fairey Swordfish and Sopwith Camel. I stopped when i bought the book about the Schneider trophy winning Supermarine seaplane which was way above me head technically.
That's funny, I'm the complete opposite! Biplanes and the like aren't my cup of tea, at a push I'll read the ww2 stuff but it's all modern fast jets for me. I've seen the Haynes manuals they even do ones for modern fighters, but given I struggle to assemble IKEA furniture, I give them a swerve!
Lincoln I grew up with tales of biplanes as my paternal grandfather worked for Hawker and built the Fury whose fuselage later evolved into the Hurricane. My maternal grandmother grew up near Basingstoke and told me tales about seeing Captain Cody and how scared kids were to see a plane for the first time. The Supermarine S6A has loads of local connections but the Haynes book was beyond my unserstanding. I also have the Fairy Swordfish book as this plane resonnated with me more rhan any other . I have another Haynes about Hadrian's Wall which if terrific and nicely laid out. I have yet to read the Haynes Mary Rose book. Just finishing last years Bird photographer of the year.
Yeah as you said he was a nav. I was living at RAF Bruggen at the time of GW1, and saw all the tornadoes being painted a weird shade of pink/brown. We were all really worried about the pilots as kids and I was reading absolutely everything I could about the air war. He's a fantastic writer and comes across as a really decent chap.
I've moved on now to reading a new account of hoplite warfare, specifically around the myth of the strength of sparta. The main reason for doing so is to find ammunition to take the piss out of one of our sister units who insist on cutting about with images of the Corinthian helmet on everything. I'll read anything if it gives me the opportunity to be petty
Sadly I don’t know much about my paternal grandfather but he would have spent some time up in the air in the early days of planes, as he was an aerial photographer. My dad was born in Pakistan, if it was called that in 1923, as grandad was stationed there. It took a heck of a long time to get a passport for my dad because of this, as I don’t think his birth was properly registered at the time.
