Armour

Above: after lunch I drove to the south west of the county. In one of the churches was this tremendous monument which seemed to be an example of the "northern renaissance" (the moment when the medieval world became modern). Debased classic pilasters, medieval heraldry, archaic inscriptions.



Above: the Steward let me go into the Sanctuary to look closer at the heraldry. Notice the double helmet above the coat of arms - this arrangement is more usually associated with German heraldry (indicating that the knight held more than one fiefdom). These sorts of "closed helms" are often associated with jousting.

A cup of tea was offered, and then a big slice of home-made raspberry jam sponge cake (the jam home-made as well). We discussed the way the rood staircase was built into the thickness of the north wall. Church finances were a problem ("It costs about four thousand a year to run, which is getting expensive, but some years we can raise up to fourteen thousand so we mustn't grumble...").



Above: at another church they had an actual knight's helmet, kept very high up on a ledge (I had to clamber up on top of a table tomb to take this picture). It was part of a full suit of armour that had been found in one of the tombs about a hundred years ago. The helmet type is known as bascinet.



Above: the various forms of knight's helmets. Wealthy knights would often have several suits of armour - fighting armour, jousting armour, showing-off armour. You had to be physically very fit to function in a complete suit of armour.