Powdered arches

Down Ampney, Gloucestershire is the birthplace of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The beautiful village church has a transitional north arcade, c.1200, with very early stiff leaf capitals. The arches are delightfully stencilled with a rather erratic powdering of ochre roses. This decoration is so wonderfully rustic and haphazard, notice the stencilling of the centre arch hasn't even been completed!

Email Post

Comments

The Religious Pícaro said…
Any idea as to when the stenciling dates?
5 May 2010 at 03:38
Davis d'Ambly said…
Notably it's also present on the north (later) arcade.
5 May 2010 at 21:01
Allan Barton said…
Indeed it is Davis, they really went to town with it. To hazard a guess I suspect it's late 13th or early 14th century.
6 May 2010 at 09:15
Minnie said…
Despite loving Ralph Vaughan Williams's music, have never visited his birthplace. What a fascinating and enlightening introduction to his father's chuch. The stencilling looks rather timeless: beautiful.
7 May 2010 at 19:53
Daniel Graves said…
Thanks for the photos. Down Ampney is my favourite tune. Nice to have some visuals associated with it now.
Fr. Dan
10 May 2010 at 13:00
Post a Comment

Popular Posts