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.
copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019
copyright pictures Francis Barker 2019
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.
copyright words and photos Francis Barker 2019
My grandfather was born and brought up in a nearby hamlet.
Within the grounds are some wonderful tombs of local aristocratic families.
copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019
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If you look carefully, you can make out several layers of art, where older ones have been superseded with new work.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.
copyright words and pictures Francis Barker 2019
Ciscography 