Simon Knott
@simonknott.bsky.social
'dust in the air suspended, marks the place where a story ended' Find me at http://www.simonknott.co.uk Also available on X/Twitter. All 📷 by me unless otherwise stated.
Whitby's a good example of the typical protestant practice of the pre-Victorian Church of England. The entire church was focused on the pulpit rather than on an altar. Communion was only celebrated twice a year in most C of E churches, and even then most parishioners did not receive communion. 🧵
Simon Knott@simonknott.bsky.social · 22h agoSt Mary, Whitby, North Yorkshire. The setting is memorable, high on a bluff looking out over the sea, above the pretty town shoehorned in on both sides of the estuary of the River Esk. The building huddles the cliff top, as if hunkered down against the gales, as wide as it is long.
St Mary, Whitby, North Yorkshire. The setting is memorable, high on a bluff looking out over the sea, above the pretty town shoehorned in on both sides of the estuary of the River Esk. The building huddles the cliff top, as if hunkered down against the gales, as wide as it is long.
Simon Knott@simonknott.bsky.social · yesterdayThe triple decker pulpit of 1778 at St Mary, Whitby rising above a sea of box pews for #SundaySermons. Behind it, the Cholmley family pew, raised on white barley sugar columns, with its own entrance beside the south transept. The chancel beyond seems almost an afterthought now.
The triple decker pulpit of 1778 at St Mary, Whitby rising above a sea of box pews for #SundaySermons. Behind it, the Cholmley family pew, raised on white barley sugar columns, with its own entrance beside the south transept. The chancel beyond seems almost an afterthought now.
The Caedmon memorial cross in the churchyard of St Mary, Whitby, North Yorkshire, by Charles Clement Hodges and Robert Beall, 1898. Caedmon was a 7th Century Northumbrian Benedictine monk and cowherd at the adjacent Abbey. Thanks to St Bede he's the earliest English poet whose name is known.
'Ash on an old man's sleeve Is all the ash the burnt roses leave. Dust in the air suspended Marks the place where a story ended. Dust inbreathed was a house The walls, the wainscot and the mouse The death of hope and despair This is the death of air' TS Eliot, born #OTD 1888, from 'Little Gidding'.
In these days of the 'reparations' controversy, it's interesting to note the extent to which the fortunes of MR James's family came from the slave trade. They were not traders or merchants, but actual owners of enslaved people in Jamaica. 🧵1/5
Simon Knott@simonknott.bsky.social · 5d agoI've resisted starting this until I finish the book I'm currently reading, but at last I think that moment may be impending, and creeping inexorably towards me...
'Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many. ' From 'The Waste Land' by TS Eliot, born #OTD 26 September 1888. The photograph is from 'Wonderful London' by St John Adcock, 1927.
Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire. 'If you came by day not knowing what you came for, It would be the same, when you leave the rough road And turn behind the pig-sty to the dull facade And the tombstone.' from 'Little Gidding' by TS Eliot, who was born #OTD 26 September 1888. #SteepleSaturday
Looks like Jarndyce and Jarndyce may be coming to an end. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Man City charges latest: City found guilty of majority of 115 financial rule breaches
Reaction as sources tell BBC Sport that Man City have been found guilty of breaking the majority of financial rules they were accused of breaching.
bbc.co.uk
Ceolfrith was the Abbot of Monkwearmouth when the sister priory at Jarrow, County Durham was founded. A replica of the dedication stone in St Paul, Jarrow tells us that the church was dedicated on 23 April 685 by Abbot Ceolfrith. Today's the feast of St Ceolfrith.
Simon Knott@simonknott.bsky.social · 3d agoToday's the feast of St Ceolfrith, 7th/8th Century Abbot of Monkwearmouth Priory. He was the warden of St Bede until his death in AD 715. Here he is in glass by Leonard Evetts, 1969 at St Peter, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland.
Today's the feast of St Ceolfrith, 7th/8th Century Abbot of Monkwearmouth Priory. He was the warden of St Bede until his death in AD 715. Here he is in glass by Leonard Evetts, 1969 at St Peter, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland.
In case anyone is interested, there's a short video on You Tube of me rambling on about Walsingham: www.youtube.com/watch?v=heCo...
Welcome to Walsinghamland
YouTube video by Waterland Films
youtube.com
Simon Knott@simonknott.bsky.social · 4d agoAlmost all that remains of Walsingham Priory, Norfolk on a winter's day in 2023. An Augustinian Priory established in the 12th Century, it was a significant site of pilgrimage because of a tradition that in 1061 an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman had a vision of the Holy House at Nazareth here.
Almost all that remains of Walsingham Priory, Norfolk on a winter's day in 2023. An Augustinian Priory established in the 12th Century, it was a significant site of pilgrimage because of a tradition that in 1061 an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman had a vision of the Holy House at Nazareth here.
St Hilda, Hartlepool. A fascinating church, advertised opening hours 11 to 1.30 on a Wednesday. Everyone inside was really lovely, but when I left just before 12 the doors were already closed and the sign taken in. It seems a shame, for I'm sure it would have plenty of visitors. #ADoorableThursday
Today's the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. 'There once the penitents took off their shoes And then walked barefoot the remaining mile And the small trees, a stream and hedgerows file Slowly along the munching English lane.' - Robert Lowell The National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Norfolk.
It's such a beautiful day here in east Suffolk that it's hard to believe we're in Autumn now, since the equinox crept up on us in the night. We're certainly not ready for bonfires yet, but here's 'Autumn Leaves' by John Everett Millais photographed in Manchester City Art Gallery.
I've resisted starting this until I finish the book I'm currently reading, but at last I think that moment may be impending, and creeping inexorably towards me...
Clergy Stalls by Ernest Gimson, 1907 at Roker, Sunderland for #Woodensday. Sober, simple, beautiful. Pevsner thought Gimson the greatest of all the Arts and Crafts architect-designers.
Today's the feast of St Padre Pio, 20th Century Italian friar, mystic and stigmatist. His shrine at St Pancras, Ipswich. Canonised in 2002, Padre Pio has become perhaps the most popular of all 20th Century saints, particularly among the traditionalist wing of the Church.
Ceramic wall plates made by the Linthorpe Art Pottery, Midddlesbrough, 1880s, on display in the Museum of Hartlepool. The pottery only existed for 12 years, but in that time it built up a considerable reputation. It closed in 1890 after a local bank collapse led to the bankruptcy of its owner.
An early 18th Century hourglass from the wreck of HMS Invincible in the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool. A French ship, she was captured by the British in 1747. She revolutionised thinking about design of British warships. She sank in the Solent in 1758, her wreck rediscovered in 1979.
An Ave Maria tile, c1300 from the floor of Whitby Abbey church, North Yorkshire. Now on display in Whitby Abbey Museum. #TilesonTuesday
'Supper at Emma's' by Stanley Davison, 2021. I went to Hartlepool Art Gallery for the retrospective of local artist Stanley Davison's work. I liked best his paintings inspired by well-known works of the past. Can you see which one this is? Answers at the end of the thread! 1/3
'Half church of God, Half castle 'gainst the Scot' Lines from 'Harold the Dauntless' by Sir Walter Scott who died #OTD in 1832. The verse is set in stone on Prebends Bridge, Durham, the cathedral it describes towering beyond. Public poetry is fairly common nowadays, less so a century or more ago.
Today's the feast of St Matthew, apostle mentioned in three of the canonical gospels and by tradition author of the first of them. At Cawston, Norfolk on the 1480s rood screen his glasses and baldness suggest wisdom, a man conversant with Jewish Law, a bridging role between Old and New Testaments.
'Death, like an overflowing stream Sweeps us away; our life's a dream, An empty tale, a morning flower, Cut down and withered in an hour.' Ann and Benjamin Harrold, 1853/5 at St Hilda, Hartlepool. The words are from Isaac Watts' metrical version of Psalm 90. #MemorialsMonday
Sir William Bulmer, 1531 at St Hilda's, Hartlepool. He stands above fragmentary Saxon and Norman stonework unearthed when Walter Caroe extended the chancel in the 1920s. He was long thought to be one of the Brus or Bruce family, who had a mausoleum on this site. #MemorialsMonday #MonumentsMonday
A 7th Century pillow name stone in St Hilda's church, Hartlepool, an Alpha and Omega above the name Hildithryth. It's one of a number from the cemeteries of the Anglo-Saxon monastery that stood on Hartlepool Headland and which are occasionally unearthed under streets and in peoples gardens. 1/2
