Clerestory to crypt

St. Margaret's Hinton Waldrist
#MonumentsMonday #MomentoMoriMonday

Airey Neave —soldier, Colditz escapee & local MP— reputedly helped prevent the bombing of Chartres Cathedral in 1944, preserving its medieval stained glass. Fittingly, he’s remembered at St Margaret's Church, Hinton Waldrist in glass of medieval style.
#StainedGlassSunday #MomentoMoriMonday

Mary de Bohun (1369–1394) was the wife of Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV. Her Book of Hours and psalter still survive.

Mary's family held Hinton Manor and she lived here in the 1380s. Her son, Henry V, commemorated her memory by donating this window bearing his Royal arms.
#StainedGlassSunday

St Margaret's Church, Hinton Waldrist began as a mid-C13 church (c.1250), with nave, chancel & tower surviving from that phase. Late C13 and early C14 enlargements added transepts and remodelled the tower, shaping its cruciform plan. The porch, pulpit, and font are C19 additions.
#SteepleSaturday

I'm very interested!

#stainedglasssunday

The seventh Duke of Devonshire provided the land whilst two local benefactors Harriet Manby and George Whelpton provided the finances. The latters' stipulation being that Whelpton's son became the first vicar.

St. Saviour and St Peter, Eastbourne.
#SteepleSaturday

Designed by G. E. Street and completed in 1867.

Haworth Church of Brontë fame photographed earlier today.
#SteepleSaturday

A chapel has stood here since at least 1488, with records of worship on the site from 1317. The 18th‑century tower still rises above the church, which was largely rebuilt in the Victorian era between 1879 and 1881.

St. Mary, Thatcham
#TilesonTuesday

Two different Victorian encaustic tile patterns

#StainedGlassSunday

Designed by Brangwyn and executed by Sparrow (1917). It was commissioned by Lady Webley-Parry-Pryse in her mother's memory, Mrs Webley-Parry. It depicts a Nativity scene with Mary, Joseph and Christ, flanked by shepherds and set against a distant landscape of Bethlehem.

St. Mary, Bucklebury.
#StainedGlassSunday

Chancel east window designed by Frank Brangwyn and made by James Sylvester Sparrow. It is notable for its lifelike depictions of the thieves and soldiers, and for the unusual portrayal of Christ as clean-shaven, gazing heavenward.

St. Mary, Thatcham
#stainedglasssunday

St. Mary, Thatcham, Berkshire.

Mainly 13th century but heavily restored in the 19 century.
Interestingly, the church was once known as St. Luke's but is commonly believed to have been originally known as St Mary's which it had reverted back to by the 1880s.

#SteepleSaturday

#FontsonFriday

St. Mary, Bucklebury
#AdoorableThursday

Dated 1150-1170 in the Decorated Norman style with several carved faces, chevrons, pellets, rosette and interestingly a Celtic symbol as well.

Above the headstone is a face surrounded by a beaded band surmounted by a carved orb and Maltese cross.

I read that the banded old parish chest, hollowed from a single piece of wood, supposedly came from Reading Abbey who previously owned the manor of Bucklebury.
#Woodensday

St. Mary's church, Bucklebury
#TilesonTuesday

The west tower dates to around 1450 and displays classic medieval features: diagonal buttresses, a coped parapet, carved gargoyles, and four obelisks capped with ball finials and weathervanes. Its two-stage design also includes a newel turret and striking carved symbols.
#MedievalMonday

St. Mary, Bucklebury, Berkshire.
#SteepleSaturday

Created from flint, tile, rubble and Ferricrete, the church showcases mainly 12th- and 15th-century work, with 19th-century additions. The roof is tiled, with separate covers for nave and aisle, and dormer windows on the nave’s south side.

#MosaicMonday

Watts Cemetery features peaceful cloisters, an Italian-style well, all creating a serene setting. The grave of famed writer Aldous Huxley lies here alongside memorials to George and Mary Watts.

Over 70 villagers helped build Watts Chapel, learning pottery and terracotta modeling in evening classes led by Mary Watts. They crafted many of the symbolic tiles seen on the chapel and in surrounding graves, showcasing community craftsmanship central to the Arts and Crafts ethos.
#MemorialsMonday

There are trees of life rising behind and beside the mensa, intertwined with symbols of the Trinity, light, love and hope. The effect turns the altar into a focus for consolation in bereavement, echoing Mary’s dedication to the memory of all who rest nearby and to the comfort of those who mourn them

At the East, the altar forms the spiritual and visual climax of the chapel, framed by dense symbolism and glowing colour. G F Watts contributed a version of his painting The All‑Pervading for above the altar only a few months before his death adding his own symbolist vision to Mary's scheme.

The design features symbolic zones of seraphim, angels, a golden girdle, and trees of life, blending Christian and Celtic imagery alongside references to multiple faiths. This creates a visual meditation on life, death, and renewal, distinct from typical Victorian decoration.
#MosaicsMonday

Inside, Mary Watts created one of England's most experimental decorative schemes using painted gesso reliefs, low-relief modeling, and gilding instead of traditional fresco. Villagers, taught by Mary, built up textured panels painted in rich reds, blues, and greens with gold leaf.
#MosaicsMonday

The terracotta-clad chapel fuses Arts and Crafts ideals with Celtic interlace, stylised foliage, and symbolic creatures—motifs inspired by ancient traditions that Mary Watts studied and reinterpreted to promote craftsmanship and spiritual expression.

Watts Chapel was designed and built by Mary Watts (1895-1904) as a joint memorial to her and G.F. Watts, reflecting their partnership and both were prominent artists. The chapel’s near-circular cruciform design and symbolic terracotta surface express Mary’s artistic vision and both their ideals.

#MonumentsMonday #MomentoMoriMonday

When from the dust of death I rise,
To take my mansion in the skies,
This all my hope, this all my plea
That Jesus lived and died for me