What are friends for if you can’t wind them up a bit? Sometimes it seem the western world is obsessed with its own doom, when to outsiders it’s a beacon of hope. But let’s not get political, religion is a much safer topic.
I had visited a wide range of churches on the trip: Gothic and Classical, Large and small. But they had all been urban. in context and mood. So it was great to see 3 Village churches within walking distance of each other during a weekend retreat with my family.
They are all slightly different in age and detailing, but simple and rustic, white inside, flint cob with limestone trim outdoors. Wide splayed reveals soften the diffusion of light into the space from narrow pointed windows. All three churches have stubby little wooden spires at the West End, but quite different in size and proportions. It strikes me that “ordinary village builders” knew how to take very simple forms and vary them to bestow unique identity on each building. And it’s clear that…