A Somerset church , Nynehead on the first day of Autum. For over 600 years , wedding , baptism and funeral gatherings have passed through this porch
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ArishMell · 70-79, M
I recall once visiting a tiny village church in the French Pyrenees.
The transept's supporting stone columns stand on low plinths whosae flat tops are decorated with stone balls about the size of tangerines. I noticed those on the side facing into the nave are nearly black and glossy whereas the others, like the building's limestone generally, retain their yellowy-cream colour.
It puzzled me for a while, then I realised the balls' patina was from thousands of hands. Generations must have used them as hand-holds when kneeling for Communion, for the 700 years of the church's existence.
Generations... maybe 4 per century.
So around 26 in that mid-13C French church, more than 24 in Nynehead.
The transept's supporting stone columns stand on low plinths whosae flat tops are decorated with stone balls about the size of tangerines. I noticed those on the side facing into the nave are nearly black and glossy whereas the others, like the building's limestone generally, retain their yellowy-cream colour.
It puzzled me for a while, then I realised the balls' patina was from thousands of hands. Generations must have used them as hand-holds when kneeling for Communion, for the 700 years of the church's existence.
Generations... maybe 4 per century.
So around 26 in that mid-13C French church, more than 24 in Nynehead.