The south aisle of St. John the Baptist differs fundamentally from the nave and north aisle because, unlike them, it formed no part of the medieval church described by Stebbing Shaw in the 1790s. It was added during Henry Ward’s rebuilding between 1844 and 1847, when increasing congregation numbers required additional seating and circulation space.… Continue reading A Closer Examination of the South Aisle
Tag: Gothic
A closer look at the chancel
The chancel of St. John the Baptist forms a marked contrast with the heavy Romanesque character of the nave beyond. Although much of the present fabric dates from Henry Ward’s rebuilding of the 1840s, the space still preserves the impression of a later medieval Gothic chancel developing eastward from an earlier Norman church. The… Continue reading A closer look at the chancel
A House of Two Gothics: Hawkesyard Explained
Hawkesyard did not arrive fully formed. It grew by addition and adaptation, shaped by changing taste, belief, and circumstance. From Lister’s ordered Georgian Gothick to Spode’s confident Victorian Gothic, the house records how architecture, like family history, is built in layers rather than moments, across generations and acts of ambition