Hexham

[poliphilo]

Wilfred, Archbishop of York, founded a Benedictine Abbey at Hexham in the 670s, using stone salvaged from Roman sites. The Abbey has disappeared under later buildings but its poky little crypt survives. A Saxon crypt- this is not something one comes across every day! Some of the stone had carving on it, but Wilfred's masons didn't try to make any sense or pattern out of it but just bunged it into the wall as it came to hand. I guess if they were planning a plaster finish- as they probably were- it didn't matter what lay underneath.

The crypt held relics of St Andrew. There are two entrances: one, used by the monks, which is now blocked off, and a second, for the use of pilgrims, accessed by a trapdoor in the floor of the present church, which is only opened when there's an attendant on hand to warm visitors about the steps- which are treacherously steep and deep.

Here's Ruth, my sister-in-law, admiring some recycled Roman fancywork.



The present church is spectacular but, if you're a medieval nut like me, a bit of a disappointment. The 19th century restoration was so thorough that it was more like a rebuild- and there's hardly any stonework showing that isn't crisp and machine-cut .  By way of compensation the building houses so many antiquities and curiosities and ancient artworks that it's virtually a museum. There are Roman altars and tombstones, sections of Saxon crosses, a set of misericords, a collection of fifteenth century paintings on wood- including several panels of the Dance of Death and- most splendid of all- a group of medieval grotesques in high relief, including these critters.







The town is very pretty. There's an old gaol we didn't visit. I recommend the Chinese takeaway in the town centre.

Comments

[currawong.livejournal.com]

I love the mediaeval grotesques and I can never resist a good Dance of Death. What do you think about relics today? ... I think the reliquaries and some of the relics are interesting, but I must admit that when I met poor St.Clare, she looked rather ill standing there, and in need of a rest and a bit of dignity, I thought.

The Vatican is dragging out one of it's winter range of dessicated saints for he forthcoming so-called World Youth Day in Sydney. The particular not-quite saint on display was known principally for having been very handsome in life and not quite as ugly as the average corpse in death.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I remember going into some continental church when I was a kid and seeing this dead nun laid out in a glass case like Snow White- perfectly preserved- or coated in wax- and thinking, "Is that what I think it is?"

It's all in terribly bad taste, but quite, quite fascinating. Everybody loves dessicated human remains, don't they?

[mummm.livejournal.com]

The artists were sure an odd bunch back then were they not? Very, very interesting!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew what the carvings meant. Some I understand, but others I can only guess at.

[mummm.livejournal.com]

Has anyone worked at documenting them?

[currawong.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to admit to being a spoilsport who'd like to see them all buried or cremated ...not a great fan of morbid christianity, as you know.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I recommend the Chinese takeaway in the town centre.


:)