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| St. Martins church, Wharram Percy. Deserted Medieval Village |
You can find some extra photos here and a blog. Feeling lazy today and rather love going over old blogs. This one was stimulated by Yorkshire Pudding's visit to Rudston Monument. This site is also in East Yorkshire not far from the tallest stone in the land. The Wharram Percy DMV had been excavated for many years and is a fine example of a DMV, fairly unscathed by later development. It sits in the countryside, a mile or so away from the road and was gloriously peaceful.
The finer details of carved stone remains for many centuries. but this church had five restorations during it's lifetime. I wonder who stole the roof? The 18th empty farmhouse is complete, Pat/Weaver said no one would live in it for all the ghosts that inhabited the place. Again stories lurk in the old church and farmhouse. I would have liked to go back to find the atmosphere of the place. This first photo is of Paul meditating? in the sun and always reminds me of the riddle he gave me. 'What is the sound of one hand clapping?'
I think you've changed your header photo. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI think it was taken round Avebury somewhere Andrew. I like the golden evening light on the bark of the trees.
DeleteWharram Percy is such a wonderful name. It looks very peaceful and the ruins of the church are quite splendid.
ReplyDeletePercy I think was an old Norman family Janice. The church's tower had fallen by 1954, there is a photo of it before this happened. There is no road to the church, you would have had to walk through the fields.
DeleteIs the sound of one hand clapping, Silence?
ReplyDeleteWharram Percy - I studied it at Uni, and visited it with Keith and our offspring many years ago now (30 I suspect). I cannot remember an atmosphere, but the church was featured in a programme where it was mooted that some Medieval burials featured skeletons with their heads removed and evidence of burning to stop them returning as revenants or walking dead . . .
Yes I have just been reading about it, revenants or restless corpses or even zombies. Okay that is going a shade too far. Though the evidence is from 10 corpses in a pit, there maybe other explanations.
ReplyDeleteThe link is here should anyone one want to read it. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wharram-percy-deserted-medieval-village/history/
I'm always amazed at the beauty of those old buildings and the time and talent it must have taken to construct them. What talented stone workers they were!
ReplyDeleteMany of the homes were made of timber and plaster and did not survive the centuries Ellen but some are still hidden under more modern exteriors.
DeleteI was amazed by Wharram Percy. Even more amazed to read it is one of approximately 3000 medieval villages in your country. What a rich, rich history to explore.
ReplyDeleteBut most of it not written about Debby sadly. The great broad brush strokes of history, for instance 'The Black Plague' were not written about by the locals, so those medieval villages have no history, except perhaps their appearance in the Domes Day book. An account done for William the Conqueror of all the land holdings in England.
DeleteMost DMVs I encounter through maps and walking are little more than mounds and dips in the landscape but Wharram Percy gives you a much better picture of what was once there and consequently seems sadder.
ReplyDeleteYes you can still feel the presence of the village. Thinking about how it revealed itself in the landscape, reminded me of all those aerial photographs that are taken and especially a pioneer one O.S.G. Crawford, and on looking through the net I note there is a record of his work.
ReplyDeleteThe roof was most likely removed by the landlord to escape property tax and to use the material. I always feel sad seeing old churches left like that like it has lost part of it's soul
ReplyDeleteYes it is rather sad, though the roof must have been on to the 1950s. The Victorians made rather a cult over romantic 'ruined' buildings though. Ivy clad walls would stoke many a ghost story.
ReplyDelete