After lunch a drive to the north of the county and a village once dominated by a great mansion, pulled down in the 1930s. The day was generally sunny, but while I was in the village the clouds rolled over and it became gloomy. Very slight shower of rain, lasting about four minutes and hardly making the ground wet.
Above: all that remains of the great estate is this avenue of lime trees that used to lead from the road up to the Hall. Although the air was warm, a terrific wind was blowing which created an alarming racket as I walked the length of the drive. Intense fresh smell from the trees, although the blossom will not be out for some weeks.
Above: all the farmhouses in the area are large and substantial. I have noticed that in areas once belonging to a former estate, after the house and family have gone the local farming families seem to inherit (or perhaps imbibe would be a better word) the squirearchical manners of the landed gentry. Not in a pretentious or deliberate way - it's more as if they have been involuntarily moved forward to fill the social vacuum.
Above: in the church was this interesting tablet demonstrating that even quite ordinary families thought of themselves in dynastic terms. Note the quotation from Exodus that relates both honour and land to the reverence of ancestors. Why was this emphasis upon continuity in one place so important?
Above: looking up into the murky shadows by the chancel arch I saw this hatchment. The arms include three sprigs of vegetation - I think they are oak leaves. I am fascinated by the origins of heraldry, particularly the way in which individuals and families choose to symbolise themselves.
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