A field trip to Flax Bourton

The advent of the Corona Man each Friday, with all his lovely bottles of lovely fizzy pop, was one of the highlights of the week when I was a kid. These days, in his new incarnation, he's not so welcome. And given he seems to have his feet firmly under the table, it might seem counter-intuitive to set out on a field trip for a gig in May that might not happen, but the IsamBards are intrepid, and always travel in hope. (Plus, performances can always be rescheduled for happier, healthier times if necessary.)

It was in this mindset that we drove to Flax Bourton yesterday for a meeting with my old school chum, Adrienne. I'd been to the fascinating Church of St Michael's and All Angels a few years earlier, but for my fellow 'Bards, this was their first visit. 

I enjoyed watching their delight as they discovered the Saxon carvings, and couldn't resist re-photographing them myself.  

St Michael slaying that poor old dragon

An early byrd getting the wyrms

A fox - or wolf - and a fern

And in fact I spotted a few things I'd missed first time round.

No, not the lead-lined Norman font ...

... rather, the cork from a bottle of port plugging it ... 

... and the clutter Ade rues, but which every church has behind the scenes. 

 The typically Saxon proportions of the nave

Pameli appreciating the Saxon doorway

Other things I missed during my previous visit were the 15th century carved hares on the exterior of one of the chancel windows, and which are now badly eroded ...

... and this scratch sundial to the side of the porch. 

In the churchyard there's mistletoe ... 

... the base of the preaching cross ...

... and a discarded skull and antlers ...

... while in the lane nearby, a clematis montana was in full blossom, a sight I always associate with my son's birth in May. But then a lot of things are topsy-turvy this spring.

Here Be Saxon Dragons!

Well, one anyway - up there - quick, look!  And a St Michael busy vanquishing him.  

Tell you what, let's zoom in a bit.

Although the saint could be a very rare wingèd Christ, apparently, but as the Church is called St Michael and All Angels, and is on high land as St Michaelses tend to be, we'll go with the former.   

And it's Saxon, dating from the mid-11th century, and thus considerably earlier than the newfangled Norman stonework surrounding the door below it, which is not even an integral part of the building, I mean, look how those dastardly invaders bodged it at the top. 

I know all this because whilst I was in St Michael's in Flax Bourton this weekend for the arts exhibition (which was impeccably run and well attended), I was taken on a guided tour of its treasures by local expert, Brian Mayled.  

And with him pointing out the typically Saxon features of the building, I could see its provenance for myself.  Look past that fancy carved stonework at the narrow, tall doorway, so reminiscent of those at the Saxon Church in Bradford-on-Avon.  

And, ignoring the Victorian north aisle, the internal dimensions - walls twice as high as their width - are also typically Saxon though I couldn't get a clear photo of this because of all the art. 

Here's some more Saxon stonework - a bird and a wyrm, although obviously not the sort of worm a bird might peck out of the ground - this is a serpent and so probably not at great risk from its neighbour. 

Some have decided this is a wolf though it definitely looks like a fox to me. Plus, the only Saxon carving of ferns in the country, which might mean that the thane of Flax Bourton brought over a French mason to carve this stonework.  

Outside, the walls up as far as the bottom of the windows are Saxon also ...   

... and over the road, the Angel pub is mediaeval (but for ever closed, sadly).  

Art in the Church of St Michael, Flax Bourton

Outside St Michael's Church in Flax Bourton my eye was caught by pink and green maple keys ... 

... and a delicate spray of oak carved on this altar tomb which was splashed with lichen and sunlight.

Inside ... 

 ... it was even sunnier ...

This piece is called Out of the Forest (Under the Same Sun) and it is by Adrienne Hughes, with whom I was at school - ooh, longer ago than I care to recall ...

I was there to set up my part of the art exhibition. 

Here's some of my stuff that will be on show (and also for sale).   

Finding myself alone in the church, I had a wander around the rest of the exhibition.  Here is some more of Adrienne's work. 

Here's just some of the artists who are represented.  

Alex Davis ...

     ... Debbie Smith ...




  

   ... Debi Holland ...

    ... and Candida Corcoran

I loved these stylised avocets by Stephen Lisney of Damson Tree Press .  (Apologies re reflections on glass.)  

There was also some stunning feltwork by Jo Heinrich, which, for some reason, I didn't manage to photograph very well, and more ...