A SEAT WITH A VIEW

After watching our online church service this morning, we popped in to see the Patterson family to take them some of our garden produce - but we didn’t stay long as we were on the hunt for dereliction.  

As we were on the north side of Swindon, Mr. HCB decided to carry on along the A419 but turned off towards Latton - he told me afterwards he had intended going to Ampney Crucis, but we ended up at Down Ampney, a small Cotswold village.  Those of you who are music buffs might know that the tune to the hymn "Come Down, O Love Divine was written by the English composer, Ralph (pronounced Rafe - simply because it is a typically middle/upper-class English pronunciation of the name) Vaughan Williams, and was named after his birthplace, Down Ampney.

When we got to the village, I spotted a sign to All Saints’ Church, so we went down a No Through road, which eventually led there.  There was a beautiful lych gate, which was repaired to mark the Queen’s Jubilee, and just inside was a seat - so I asked my wonderful model if he would mind sitting there - and of course, because the fees are so good, he was happy to do so.  There was only one other car in the parking area in front of the lych gate, so we were pleased about that, because obviously we still wanted to practise physical distancing and there was plenty of room in the church grounds.

After I had taken a couple of shots, we walked through the graves in the churchyard towards the church, which is a 13th Century Grade 1 Listed building.  I was just about to take a shot of the doorway of the church, when I saw a man’s head bob out and then back in.  I took my photograph and the man walked out and said “I didn’t think you would want me in your shot” and I then realised that it was David, a friend of ours, with his parents, Diana and Pete, whom we hadn’t seen for about five years -  what a bonus!  We stood chatting for a while and then decided that we would sit on a couple of the large gravestones and carry on chatting - we had a lot to catch up on.  I actually used to work for their daughter-in-law, Cynthia, when she was a Solicitor in Swindon, which was how we got to know them.

After chatting with them for about half an hour, and of course, taking several shots of them and of us all together - still physically distanced - we parted company and went into the Church.  I hadn’t realised that there was an airfield at Down Ampney until I saw a plaque on the seat on which Mr. HCB had been sitting, which confirmed that Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem played an important part in the Second World War, with many men from the village not returning.  Inside the church, and you can see this in my collage, is the Arnhem Window, middle right in my collage, which was placed there in the 1970s to commemorate those who never returned and outside the church, there is a small Memorial Garden with all the names of those who died. 

When we first got into the church, we could see that on many of the archways red flowers were painted - and these can also be found in other churches in the area.  Apparently, each flower is said to represent a person who died during the Black Death in 1347-8, but they are missing in a drawing of the interior of the church dated 1842 - so perhaps the artist couldn’t be bothered to draw them all!

The carvings in the church, both in and around the pulpit and the rood screen were amazing and I would have liked to have climbed the steps of the pulpit, but there was a notice saying “Please do not enter” so on this occasion, I didn’t.  The stained glass windows were all quite beautiful, including the one above the font - at the bottom left - and it was a pleasure to be walking around this village church, knowing that a famous English composer had been born in the nearby Vicarage and had spent the first two years of his life here. 

There was an exhibition in the church telling us much more about Ralph Vaughan Williams - and his life and works.  He was born in The Vicarage in Down Ampney on 12th October 1872, the third child of Arthur and Margaret Vaughan Williams, where Arthur had been ordained vicar of the church in 1868 and Ralph was baptised at the church.  Interestingly, Ralph’s mother, Margaret, was one of three daughters of Josiah Wedgwood, a grandson of the English potter, of Wedgwood pottery fame.  The family moved back to Surrey in early 1875 after Arthur died suddenly, when Ralph was just over 2 years old.  

Ralph Vaughan Williams had great affection for the village of Down Ampney and as I said above, named one of his hymn tunes after it.  He brought his wife, Ursula, to visit the village and church and after his death in 1958, she gave a number of mementos to the church.

Ralph’s works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over sixty years.  The three most famous compositions known to me are Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis written in 1910, The Lark Ascending composed in 1914 and Fantasia on Greensleeves composed in 1928.  In this link, if you are interested, you can hear some of RVW’s best orchestral works.  He continued composing through his seventies and eighties, producing his last symphony months before his death at the age of 85.  

This village church is only about 15 miles from where we live, and I’m surprised we have never visited before, but I’m sure we will be back.  There is obviously a circular walk that can be done around the village and we also spotted some dereliction, but that’s for another Sunday.

“The art of music 
     above all the other arts 
          is the expression of the soul of a nation.”
Ralph Vaughan Williams