photography | Mercury Ascends

England’s Heritage: The Collegiate Church of Holy Trinity, Tattershall, Lincolnshire

The incredibly beautiful 15th century Collegiate Church of Holy Trinity in the village of Tattershall in central Lincolnshire.

To my mind it is one of the best examples of English Perpendicular architecture anywhere.

At various times in history, the church has fallen into disrepair but has been restored, even preserving a colony of three species of bats within its structure!

The major advantage of the massive Perpendicular windows is the great amount of light let in.

words and photographs copyright Francis Barker 2019

Poem: The Empty Naves

Posted on 4 Days Ago by Leofwine Tanner

The voice and song remind me
of why I don’t come.
The words and the platitudes wash over me,
echo and reverberate around this sacred space,
crying for heaven
though never finding any home.
The bats are nearer but unaware
of their advantage,
leaving me staring high into this perpendicular sky.
Is this all that is left?
Listening to Betjeman and Vaughan Williams
to stir us up,
to remind us of what once was.
This is me and you coming here,
cultural appreciators
though never spiritual partakers
in a creed we can’t believe.
Give me the fire and brimstone,
a faith which disturbs me
into knowing I’m not already saved.
It is better than this – looking up in awe
into a world that is lost.

words and photographs copyright Francis Barker 2019

England’s Heritage in Photos: Pinchbeck Church of Saint Mary, Lincolnshire

Posted on 9 Days Ago by Leofwine Tanner

Pinchbeck is a large village in the south of Lincolnshire, which has a very impressive church.

Pinchbeck church lychgate.

Older gravestones moved to the side of the graveyard.

copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019

England’s Heritage in Photos: Crowland Abbey Flower Festival, Lincolnshire

Posted on 10 Days Ago by Leofwine Tanner

Recently, there was a flower festival in Crowland Abbey church in the extreme south of the county of Lincolnshire. The theme was decades over the past one hundred years.

Poppies are a special symbol for the British losses during World War One.

World Cup 1966 – England 4 West Germany 2.

copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019

England’s Heritage in Photos: Crowland Abbey, Lincolnshire – Medieval Survival, Vandalised by Oliver Cromwell

Posted on 11 Days Ago by Leofwine Tanner

Crowland Abbey was dissolved in the 1530s during the Reformation, part of Henry VIII’s restructuring of the England church. However, unlike many monasteries at that time, significant parts of the buildings did remain.

However, during the English Civil War of the 1640s, the rebellious forces of Oliver Cromwell finally took the what remained of the abbey in a siege against the Royalists in 1643. It was at this time that the structure appears to have sustained much more serious damage, as some of the remaining architecture testifies.

England’s Heritage in Photos: Castle Bytham church of Saint James, Lincolnshire.

Posted on 12 Days Ago by Leofwine Tanner

England’s Heritage in Photos: Swinstead Church of Saint Mary, Lincolnshire – More Medieval Wall Art

Posted on 13 Days Ago by Leofwine Tanner

Swinstead lies in the beautiful south west Lincolnshire in the east of England.

Interestingly, in Shakespeare’s play King John, Swinstead is mentioned several times, maybe in mistake for Swineshead, where King John is thought to have visited on his last journey, before he died at Newark in Nottinghamshire.