St Catherine's Church, Hoarwithy

“What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.”
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Arrived about 9.45 for breakfast at Pencraig with BobsBlips, before heading off to visit a couple of churches in his neck of the woods, recommended to me by E last weekend. And what a couple of crackers they are! First stop Hoarwithy, a real gem of a nineteenth century Italianate Romanesque and Byzantine church, looking every inch an Italian hilltop palace with its beautiful wooden carved choir stall figures, marble altar and columns…and those floor mosaics! Next stop All Saints at Brockhampton, an equally stunning piece of Arts and Crafts…manship. Described by architectural historian Pevsner as “one of the most impressive … churches of its date in any country.” No argument with that. Brilliant day out thanks Bob.