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.
Like nearby Corby Glen church, there are some examples of medieval wall art.
There is an explanation for the symbols incorporated into the wall art.
Lincolnshire in the east of England has some wonderful, often underrated medieval churches.
One such is in the south west of the county, in the lovely village of Corby Glen. Here on many of the walls of the church you can see paintings and illustrations of religious and spiritual imagery, representing stories from the Bible and the faith and beliefs in general of the later medieval period.
If you look carefully, you can make out several layers of art, where older ones have been superseded with new work.
During the Reformation in the 1500s, all of this art was whitewashed over, part of the process of removing all imagery, which also meant stripping out idols and even rood screens which separated the nave from the chancel.
It was only in more recent times that this treasure trove of art was rediscovered through church restoration.
Today this art represents some of the most important medieval imagery not only in the county of Lincolnshire, but also in the whole of England.
Devil in the detail.Explanation of the imagery inside the church.The beautiful setting of the church of Saint John the Evangelist, Corby Glen, Lincolnshire.
Black eyes of the deep south
simmer through cigarette smoke,
windows on the tortuous corridors
where the minotaur lurks.
There can be no control:
He is the crucible of all possibility;
the raging bull and the wild horse.
And the bearer of light.
His mesmeric stare fixes
on the stigmata of raised hands.
Goya-like, he senses life’s transitory
spell, this bridge of tragedy,
the lifeblood of creativity.
He paints in a trance, in full
knowledge that there is no
thread for Theseus to find.
Another Monet inspired work, oils on stretched canvas. I love the way many of the impressionists played with light and shade and the various techniques they employed to achieve it.
Ciscography 