Which is probs obvious given my lack of updates and delayed posts.
One of the reasons: I was super-fortunate to receive a research grant to continue the project I was working on for the museum this summer. This has allowed me to visit Fawsley Hall, a rural Northamptonshire manor house, amongst other things. A beautiful series of sixteenth-century stained glass heraldic panels originally from the house are now in the Burrell Collection.
I won't write about the stained glass research end of things, because there will hopefully be another output for that at some point, but I will show some pictures of the estate (now a luxury hotel) and its medieval parish church.
Fawsley Hall is quintessentially and beautifully Eng.
South front in Northamptonshire October sun.
The older parts of the building are sixteenth-century.
Indian summer, I need some return.
Why they let people park in front is beyond me.
Fawsley was the seat of the Knightley family.
Sixteenth-century Great Hall exterior.
And interior.
This stuff is almost entirely reproduction.
The last Knightley heir gambled away his fortune in the early
twentieth century, and the house became derelict.
It wasn't salvaged until the 1980s, when it was purchased
and made into a hotel and restaurant.
Afternoon tea at Fawsley, nbd.
Oh hey Katherine Parr.
The stunning Great Oriel window.
The stained glass panels here are replicas of
the originals at the Burrell.
The amazing Tudor fireplace.
Now for the gardens and grounds.
What are you waiting for, a certain shade of green ?
The emblem of the Knightley family, the stag.
Knightley stag with Northamptonshire green beyond.
It is a beautiful county.
Looking towards St. Mary's Church, Fawsley.
It's a small thirteenth-century parish church.
Sheep graze around it.
I have never seen so many sheep in my life as at Fawsley.
Although they freaked out and ran every time
I tried to take pictures of them.
So yes, thirteenth-century church. Built 1209 !
And mausoleum of the Knightley fam.
Let's go inside.
From entrance.
Looking towards the altar.
Looking from the altar. Brasses galore.
The oldest brass in the church, of Thomas Knightley.
It dates to 1516 and features this amazing depiction of
his heart with inscription scrolls.
This is the brass of Sir Edmund Knightley, who built
the Great Hall, and his wife, Lady Ursula de Vere.
Sir Edmund with the Knightley stag on his pillow.
Lady Ursula with her hands in prayer in front of a heart necklace.
They had no sons and heirs, only six daughters,
who all died in childhood.
And what is that amazingness in the corner ?
Well, in this little church in the middle of nowhere is
one of the finest English alabaster tomb monuments in existence.
It retains its polychromy and is virtually entirely intact.
It is the tomb of Sir Richard Knightley and his wife, Jane Skenard,
circa 1530s.
Their coat of arms.
And now for a series of a million tomb pictures.
Jane Skenard was a Northamptonshire heiress.
The details are incredible.
In shadow.
Sir Richard.
Knightley stag on his armour.
And wearing the Lancastrian SS collar.
Knyghtley.
Along the sides of the tomb are pleurants, or mourners,
in the form of the couple's twelve children.
Four girls on one side.
Two.
Three.
Four.
And eight sons on the other side.
In groups of two.
You can identify their professions by their dress.
The detail is incredible.
Stained glass shining.
Some medieval glass remains.
Medieval church pews too.
From time to time, I appreciate the Baroque.
Yes there was an Elizabeth Dent who lived at Fawsley.
I think I am going to start Latinizing my name like her.
Elizabethae Dentt.
And that's it for the church.
View from outside the church ha-ha.
Sheep in church shadow.
Fawsley Hall in the distance.
Fall.
This green and pleasant land.
The water glitters in Northamptonshire.
Otherworldly.
But I know my way to greener pastures.
And may sunshine and happiness surround you
when you're far from home...
xx
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