Last Monday, on our return from Worcestershire, we stopped briefly in Weobley - a large, remarkable village rich in half-timbered buildings even by the standards of Herefordshire. our destination was, however, the parish church, St Peter & Paul.
The setting is quite perfect, standing slightly removed on the northern edge of the village and reached by a narrow lane - no footpaths but grass verges rich in foxgloves and cow parsley. Ahead is the remarkable steeple. A landmark, visible for miles, an exclamation mark in the border country, prominent rather in the manner of a tower in East Anglia. The success lies not only in its height - when all the neighbouring churches are rather lowly affairs, but in the contrast of elegant spire, with, in the Herefordshire manner, lucarnes at its base, and large spiky pinnacles, and the austere, windowless tower. The combined effect is very monumental, even aloof, and quite extraordinary. I can't think of anything that comes close.
The church itself is large and complex. Rather impressive. Somewhat picturesque. Impressive w front with Geometric Decorated w window w door. The latter enriched with ball flower. All very Herefordshire. Quite a bit of Victorian work too. The interior is also complex, but to be honest, a disappointment. Whatever the merits of the architecture, all I can now recall is the way the building is being treated. Like the City of Rome after the fall of the Western Empire. Clutter everywhere. Sadly none of the liturgical furnishings, whether Victorian or contemporary, are commensurate with the architecture. The monuments, happily, are better, the best being the worldly Baroque monument to Colonel John Birch.
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