Kilpeck Church Sculptures Beautiful Historic Place Prints 1

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Stone Bestiary – Kilpeck Church Sculptures Beautiful Historic Place Prints – Gallery 1 – Photos of the wonderfully preserved Norman Romanesque sculpture of mythical beasts and people. Black & white art photos by photographer Paul E Williams

Buy Kilpeck Sculpture Photos Art Prints From This Series

Photos of Kilpeck Church Sculptures – Norman Romanesque Corbels

THE STONE BESTIARY – Photos of the Medieval Norman Kilpeck Church Sculpture. Art photos by Photographer Paul E Williams. Taken on the 9th & 10th of September 2014.

” The small Church of St Mary and St David at Kilpeck in the English county of Herefordshire is one of the architectural gems of England. It has one of the finest collections of Romanesque Norman sculpture left in England. The church was built around 1140, and almost certainly before 1143 when it was given to the Abbey of Gloucester. The carvings in the local red sandstone are remarkable for their number and their fine state of preservation, particularly round the south door, the west window, and along a row of corbels which run right around the exterior of the church under the eaves.

Hereford School of Stonemasons

The carvings are all original and in their original positions. They have been attributed to a Herefordshire School of stonemasons, probably local but who may have been instructed by master masons recruited in France by Oliver de Merlimond. It is thought that thei state of fine preservation of Kilpeck’s sculpture is due to the facts that the remote location of Kilpeck spared it from the ravages of Cromwells puritans who destroyed most of Romanesque religious art in England.

Bestiary

Many of the corbel sculptures lack any meaning to modern eyes. fantastic creatures adorn the outer eves of the church that seem to come straight out of a fairy story. Medieval eyes would have been able to interpret what the sculpture meant though by referring to a A bestiary which is a medieval compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks.

The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson. The sculptures at Kilpeck then would have given its Norman congregation moral guidance. I hope you enjoy the photos”.

Paul E Williams 2023