Church Sainte-Marie-et-Saint-David de KSPECK-Wikipedia

L’ Church Sainte-Marie-et-Saint-David is an Anglican parish church-attached to the Church of England-in Norman style, located in Kilpeck in the county of Hereford in England, nation of the United Kingdom.

This church famous for its Norman sculptures is located about eight kilometers from the border with Wales. It was built around 1140, and almost certainly before 1143 when it was given to the abbey of Gloucester. It perhaps replaces a Saxon church previously located on the same site, because the high oval shape of the cemetery is typical of the older Celtic foundations.

Around WE ^{It is} And VII ^{It is} A centuries, Kilpeck was part of the kingdom of Ergyng, which retained Christian traditions dating from the end of the Roman period. The possibility of the existence of a Roman, even megalithic site, has been put forward, but is not proven ^{[ first ]} .

The church plan, with Nef, choir, and a hanger apse, is typical of the time of the Norman period to which it was built. Initially dedicated to a Saint David, probably a local Saint Celtic, it was then rediscovered to the Virgin Mary after being acquired by the chapel of the Château de kilpeck following the dilapidation in which she had fallen.

At the time when the current church was built, the area around Kilpeck, then called “Archenfield”, was relatively prosperous and strategically important in the heart of Welsh steps. The economic decline of the region after XIV ^{It is} century, may have contributed to the preservation of elements that have been removed elsewhere. It is nevertheless difficult to understand why the Puritans have not damaged the sculptures at XVII ^{It is} century.

The unique characteristics of Sainte-Marie-et-Saint-David were protected and maintained during the restorations of 1864, 1898 and 1962.

after-content-x4

The southern door.

The local red sandstone sculptures are remarkable both by their number and their preservation, in particular around the southern door, the west window, and a row of crows under the attic all around the exterior of the church. The sculptures, all of origin and in their initial position, were allocated to a school, probably local, of stone tailors of the Herefordshire, who may have been trained by master masons recruited in France by Olivier de Merlimond, delegate From Hugh Mortimer, lord of Wigmore who, back from a pilgrimage to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, had a church built with similar Romanesque sculptures-now largely lost-in Shobdon, at 48 km north of Kilpeck. Hugues de kilpeck, parent of Count Mortimer, employed the same manufacturers in Kilpectk, and their work is also known to Iminster, Rowlestone and elsewhere ^{[ first ] , [ 2 ]} .

The south door has two columns. The exterior columns are decorated with sculptures from a series of snakes that bite the tail. Just like most other sculptures, the meaning of these is not clear; They may represent the Renaissance through the moult of the snake. The right inner column shows birds in the foliage; At the top of the right column is a green man. The left inner column has two warriors, exceptionally dressed in loose pants. The exterior sections of the arch above the gate show creatures which can be interpreted as a manticore and a basil, as well as various other animals and birds, both mythological and real. The curved eardrum represents a tree of life.

• 

  Angel in the center of the ark above the southern door.

• 

  Other details of the ark including snakes and dragons that bite the tail.

• 

  “Green man” on the marquee of the columns on the east side of the southern door.

For many years, the southern door was hidden by a wooden porch removed in 1868, to allow visitors to see the sculptures, as originally planned. Although this left the door exposed to the elements, the sandstone is exceptionally robust, and its condition is carefully controlled. In 1968, a narrow protruding strip of lead was inserted into the mortar over the arc to protect the sculptures from the water flowing on the wall.

On the ninety-one original, ninety-five Corbeaux survive at present, that is to say one less than had taken on Lewis when he had illustrated them in 1842. The meaning of the Statues adorning these crows, among which is the exceptional presence of a sheela na gig, is, for the most part, obscure, but some probably come from a bestiary.

• 

  Raven with a dog and a hare.

• 

  Two crows representing a ram and a lion.

• 

  The célèbre sheet na gig.

• 

  Carved font brought from WORMBRIGEGE.

Two green men serve as capitals for columns richly decorated with the west window. Large heads of dragons with a rolled tongue salt in the center of the cantilevered table under the window and at each corner of the western wall of the nave. Each of the three mouths kées at a different angle, a bit like a sequence animated regularly spaced on the west facade. A fourth dragon head, at the southeast corner of the nave, is broken.

Inside the church, the triumphant arch is also richly carved, but much less spectacular than the southern door, the sculpted characters of which were inspired by those of the “Puerta de Las Platerías” in Saint-Jacques -de-compostela ^{[ first ]} . The boss or keystone of the apse has four heads of lions. There are huge baptismal fonts of conglomerate, a curious hose in the shape of a closely belted torso, which comes from a chapel near Wormbridge, and a rare Romanesque blow.

Although the design of the very simple belfry which is now rising from the roof, conforms to that of the rest of the church, it is an addition of XIX ^{It is} century. Also, the necessary restoration and modernization of the Church have preserved it.

• James Bailey et al., The parish church of St Mary and St David at Kilpeck , Hereford, Berrington Press, 2000, 31  p. (OCLC 203104656 )
• Reg Boulton, The sculptures of Kilpeck : a folio of engravings and text describing the sculpture of the Parish Church at Kilpeck, Herefordshire , Hereford, Barton Press, 1987.*
• Selma Jónsdóttir, The portal of Kilpeck church : its place in English Romanesque sculpture Chicago, 1950.
• George R. Lewis ; Guillaume Durand, “Illustrations of Kilpeck Church, Herefordshire: in a series of drawings made on the spot. With an essay on ecclesiastical design, and a descriptive interpretation”, London, G.R. Lewis [etc.] 1842.
• Frederick Charles Morgan, The Herefordshire school of sculpture and Kilpeck Church , Hereford, The Author, 1958.