The eagle eyed will probably already have noticed the distinctive beaded pink pointing of #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset. C19 and early C20 renovations more often than not involved scraping and then repointing with varying degrees of taste and aesthetic quality #WallsOnWednesday
Tower #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #WallsOnWednesday
Very finely dressed and laid masonry of the tower, claimed as C12. Continuous courses of varying thickness some of the stones are cut at an angle to bond tower and turret (blue). Note also the sharpness of the turret aris
North elevations #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #WallsOnWednesday
Three very distinct construction methods; chancel (left) in loosely coursed rubble stone, nave (centre) in rubble stone and the tower in dressed coursed stone blocks. A somewhat mysterious timeline
South of nave #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #WindowsOnWednesday
Paired pointed single lights with common label. Victorian pastiche of Early English window that somehow sticks out on like the sorest of sore thumbs
It's a deal! Mouse do series on the evolution of windows from Norman Romanesque through Early English to Early Modern and look at the evolution of tracery patterns. It'll take a few weeks to pull together examples to do it, but watch this space!🐭
A total accident as usual! Mouse only realised later🐭
Chunky mullions🐭
God's own county🐭
Found a hat lying on some quicksand one day. Lifted it and there was a head underneath. I said "You look like you're in a might of trouble there, boy". He said "That may as well be, but it's a lot worse for my horse"🐭
A little residual lime coating to remind us that little of the bare stone we are surrounded by today was exposed🐭
From east #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #TraceryTuesday
A pure C19 construction. Decorated-style at first glance but sadly the designer couldn't help adding a little frisson of #UberGothic. Even the cusps have terminals
It's no wonder that the church of #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset is subsiding, the ground on which it stands is obviously unstable. Even the grave markers and chest tombs are slowly sinking... #TombTuesday
A #TombWithAview...
The church of #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset stands alone on a rise giving the most amazing views in all directions and as far as the sea #TombTuesday
From the north west #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #TowerTuesday
Small polygonal stair turret with single light #TinyWindow to each stage. Both with monolithic heads. The upper light is round headed the lower, square #NorthStokeTower Part IV of IV #TinyWindowTuesday
From the east #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #TowerTuesday
The Norman origin of the tower is supported by the dressing and fit of the masonry and the pilaster buttresses. Two small round headed Norman-style lights can also be seen from the east #NorthStokeTower Part III of IV
There's only one view of #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset from the west and it's the #MouseEyeView, unless you want to step back and fall ten feet into a field. If the tower is Norman then west window, door, parapet and pinnacles were added much later #NorthStokeTower Part II of IV
From south #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #TowerTuesday
Broad, squat 2-stage tower with string courses, clasping pilaster buttresses, parapet and crocketed pinnacles. Taken to be Norman dating to late C12 #NorthStokeTower Part I of IV
It's interesting that the plaque led to an assumption that there was a restoration from that year which gets reproduced as fact in other sources. The Listing just poses the question "does this denote the remodelling of the tower?". Parapet, pinnacles, west door and window could easily fit that date🐭
That struggle is real here too. In the UK there are Scheduled Monuments (like Stonehenge) and buildings are protected through a Grade I or Grade II Listing. The listing process started in the 40s but the first list was not complete until the 70s. Sadly a lot of heritage was lost in the meantime🐭
Mouse can't help feeling that a Victorian might have had a hand or two in the fenestration. The clerestory definitely looks like a simplified C19 copy or replacement of a C14/C15 design🐭
Mouse be posting about that today but here's a preview: The tower is recorded as possibly late C12 which fits with the tower arch, type of masonry, buttresses and upper lights. West door and window are likely C16/Early C17 but seamlessly fit with the masonry. Rebuilt? There's no evidence either way🐭
English Heritage and the National Trust are two large national organisations that own and maintain buildings of significance. There are also quite a few charities that undertake restoration. Sadly there are more buildings in need of repair than there is money. There's a national 'at risk' register🐭
Mouse haven't seen a flint rubble church is ages. It's a beauty🐭
South of tower #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #MemorialMonday
Fine memorial tablet, weeping woman, urn, tree (claimed as a weeping willow... it's not) and obelisk. An urn and the journal above are now lost
South of nave #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset for #MemorialMonday
Large C18 memorial tablets and some rather intrusive white electrical cable. The latter evidence of a broader #ChurchWiringNightmare
Brilliant! Mouse will have a look at that tomorrow. Most of the memorials date to C18 which would fit your theory. Mouse look at the heraldic devices of the families🐭
That all makes sense. All of the other windows in the church are just plain glass so the central light of the east window is the only other stained glass, signed for Lavers, Barraud & Westlake and dated to 1888🐭
Mouse still twitching🐭
The window appears in a catalogue but unlike the east window has no maker or date associated with it. It is possible that the light with the grisaille section was designed round it. It actually looks earlier than the Victorian glass. It is mainly foliate patterns with some heraldic elements🐭
The tiny church of #StMartinNorthStoke #Somerset is packed with oversized C18 memorial tablets. Quite a concentration for such a small space #MemorialMonday