Hartpury Church

SO 71778 76731

ILLUSTRATIONS

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1. Hartpury Church

2. Hartpury Church

3. Green Man?

4. Green Man?

5. Green Man?

6. Chest

7. Church Interior

8. Church Interior

9. Bee Shelter

10. Bee Shelter

11. Bee Shelter

12. Tombstone

13. Hale's Grave

14. Mason's Marks

15. Tithe Barn

16. Tithe Barn

17. Hartpury Mill

18. Hartpury Mill

19. Acorns

It's Friday which is a good start, but alas it's the day before the August Bank Holiday which means avoid the motorways at all costs. The radio was announcing delays before 8.30am which sounded dire. Therefore I went into the wilds of Gloucestershire where things hopefully would be a trifle less congested. As it happens all was quiet on the western front, the sun was shining and God was in his heaven. It was about lunchtime when I finished a call at Hartpury and I spotted a sign which read, "Church and Bee Boles", enough said. As I had already done a page on Dartmoor Bee Boles it would be interesting to see what Hartpury had to offer. I must admit, having found the church see ill. 1 here, I was more attracted by the massive tithe barn which stood opposite but then one shouldn't judge ... The first thing that you notice about the church is the amount of information displayed outside - very impressive. It got even more impressive when on reading the display board I realised that not only were there bee boles but a treasure house of goodies inside the church. Right, have camera, will xplore, as always the first thing to locate is where the guides have been stashed. At Hartpury this is no problem because just inside the door is a multitude of guides and booklets. The actual church guide explains that I had just entered through a magnificent 15th carved oak porch and there is no argument with that - see ill. 2 here. Then high up in the roof of the nave quietly sits a medieval carved oak 'Green Man' who also acts as a corbel under the central tie beam. Here we go, try and hold the camera steady enough to get a picture in the murky light of the roof. No way, every picture preview reveals a brown blur which could easily be a passing shot of a fox with its brush on fire. Then I notice a small spot light neatly placed beside the carving, obviously this church is really geared up for visitors, sad thing is there is nowhere that indicates the location of the light switch. After cautiously flicking every switch visible a shaft of light from the heavens miraculously lights up the carving in all its splendour. Very thoughtful, and sod it, I have just remembered I forgot to switch the light back off (sorry vicar, apparently it is a major failing of mine as the home electricity bill shows), maybe that's why it's not made obvious where the switch is? But the extra illumination of the green man did enable me to take a half-decent picture - see ill. 3 here. Turn around and there on the opposite wall is another figure at the other end of the beam. He too has his own spotlight but this poor fellow merits not a mention in the guide book other than he is the green man's, "companion" - see ill. 4 here. The actual figure looks as if he has a bad case of belly ache and is about to projectile vomit and sorry, I can't think of any better description. Having returned home I have trawled through my green man books as noted in the reading list and not one of them mentions Hartpury. But I did find a 15th century painting depicting the green man, as you can see, apart from the long hair (and the belly ache) the figure does very much resemble the 'companion' - see ill. 5 here.

In the chancel is a fine example of a chest see ill. 6 here, this one is reported to be the result of the 1287 Synod of Exeter where it was ordered that every church should have a chest in which books and vestments could be securely kept. The chest measures 2.4 m long by 0.67 m wide and is thought to date to the late 1200's. The interior of the church is obviously well cared for as the floral decorations tastefully show - see ill. 7 here, and - see ill. 8 here.  There are many interesting architectural features in the church but I am eager to see the bee boles so I make a timely exit into the bright summer's sunshine.

Wow, I know I am always totally biased towards Dartmoor but this was a case of step back gracefully and tug one's forelock. Bee boles, if these were bee boles then they were the epitome of apiarian opulence - see ill. 9 here, see ill. 10 here, and see ill. 11 here. See what I mean? Bee Keeping has been a tradition of Hartpury for centuries as it is known that in 1260, the tenants of Hartpury Manor, which was owned by Gloucester Abbey, paid their rents in honey. The actual 'Bee Shelter' measures 7.3 m long, 2.5m high, 75cm wide, and contains 28 separate boles and 5 lower shelves. The straw skeps would have been housed in the boles which would have afforded the bees shelter. Having seen the old tithe barn and then read about the 1260 'honey rents' I must admit it was a bit disappointing to learn that the shelter was built in the mid 1800's by a local stone mason and quarry master called Paul Tuffley. Originally the shelter sat in Tuffley's garden in Nailsworth, his house then became part of the local police station and when it was closed in the 1960's volunteers from the Gloucestershire Beekeeping Society rescued the structure. The shelter was dismantled and moved to Hartpury Agricultural College to adorn their grounds. The vagaries of the English weather began to take their toll and the shelter began to deteriorate to such a state that English Heritage put it on the schedule of 'Listed Buildings at Risk'. The Hartpury Historic Land and Buildings Trust then acquired the shelter along with funds from various charities and lottery funding which allowed them to restore and re-erect it the churchyard. Isn't is nice to actually see lottery funds going towards a worthwhile project for a change!

There is also a 'Churchyard Trail' which picks out the more interesting graves that sit in the peaceful 'God's Acre'. One old tombstone is supposed to have the eyes of a green man staring out from its surface which is a very tenuous observation - see ill. 12 here. There is also a lot of fuss about apple trees and cider and I wonder if they have any connection with the 'eyes' in-so-much as they are only visible whilst Cydered up! Another tombstone - see ill. 13 here, marks the grave of John Hale who died in 1692 when he was crushed by a bell? "For whom the bells tolls, it tolls for thee", and the next thing the poor bloke is flattened by it. I really do think it's a rather cruel claim to fame as I am sure there are others that have died in similar unfortunate circumstances. Over the doorway of the Priest's doorway on the eastern side of the church are some mason's marks - see ill. 14 here. These are deeply cut triangles similar to which are some others on one of the north windows in the nave. As with most churchyards, Hartpury is full of wildlife with pigeons cooing from the trees, swallows darting in and out of the gravestones, all accompanied by the song of a robin and the screeling of an buzzard soaring above - very tranquil.

Directly opposite the church is the huge tithe barn with its obligatory doves fluttering across the roof, it is a splendid example which dates back to the 14th century. The structure  measures an impressive 49m in length and 10.9m wide - see ill. 15 here and see ill. 16 here. The building was built to house the dreaded tithes paid to Gloucester Abbey which judging by its size were very profitable. Bond, 2001, p.60, considers that monastic barns fall into three categories, large (those in excess of 40m x 9m), medium (between 25 - 40m in length and 8 - 9m wide) and small ( less than 25m x 8m).  He also postulates that the large barns are an indication that the grain from numerous manors was stored centrally. In which case this would apply to Hartpury as it definately falls into the 'large' category. As I stood admiring the edifice a gentle breeze blew down the lane and it was as if you could smell the newly harvested grain sat in the barn, the harshly exacted tax of the mighty church.

A few hundred yards down the road is the old water mill - see ill. 17 here and see ill. 18 here, this is built on the site of the original abbey mill and dates from the late 1700 - early 1800's. The 4.3m waterwheel was driven by  a race leading from the river Leadon and is thought to have worked right up until the 1940's. In 1982 it saw a come-back as an engineer from Gloucester restored it to what you see today. But what an idyllic scene, the old mill, the river flowing sedately by and the horses grazing contentedly in the field. This is Britain at its best, hardly a soul around, just the landscape and its history. The hedgerows, along with the rest of the countryside, were laden with berries of all descriptions, It has been many years since I have seen such a abundance of nature's harvest. It always used to be said that this was a sure sign of a harsh winter ahead which would be nice if it was. Just past the mill is a stately looking oak tree and every bough seemed to be dipping under the weight of acorns - see ill. 19 here, I wonder if the old miller let his pigs browse amongst its leafy litter in days of yore?

Sadly, I had places to go and people to see but there was still plenty to find and xplore such as the nearby Dominican Nun's chapel, and since looking at the map the nearby village of  Ashelworth looks full of interest - I will be back!

For a lot more information on Hartpury I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the website of

The Hartpury Historic Land & Buildings Trust.

Reading List.

Anderson, W. & Hicks, C. 1988 Green Man, COMPASSbooks, Fakenham.

Bond, J. 2001 Monastic Archaeology, Oxbow Books, Oxford.

Batsford, K, 1998 The Green Man, D. S. Brewer, Cambridge.

Doel, F. & G. 2001 The Green Man in Britain, Tempus Publishing, Stroud.

Hartpury Historic Land & Building Trust,  Churchyard Trail - Leaflet, Hartpury Church.

Hartpury Historic Land & Building Trust,  St. Mary the Virgin Church - Leaflet, Hartpury Church.

Hartpury Historic Land & Building Trust,  The Bee Shelter  - Leaflet, Hartpury Church.

Hartpury Historic Land & Building Trust,  The Manor at Hartpury - Leaflet, Hartpury Church.

Hicks, C. 2000 The Green Man - A Field Guide, COMPASSbooks, Fakenham.

Matthews, J. 2001 The Quest for the Green Man, Godsfield Press, Newton Abbot.

Millar, R. 1997 The Green Man Companion & Gazetteer, S. B. Pub. Seaford.