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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Let there be light! The fabulous clerestory at Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Northleach, Gloucestershire. The church was built from the wealth of the wool industry, involving trade with merchants as far away as Italy. No expense was spared, clearly!

Nave of a church showing magnificent clerestory windows above large aisles. A fine fifteenth century ceiling can be seen above. The pitch of an earlier roof can be seen through the eastern clerestory windows above the chancel.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The devils in the detail! At the foot of the fifteenth century font at the church of St Peter and Paul, Northleach, Gloucestershire, is a much eroded series of devils seemingly being crushed by the power of the holy water above; you can just make out their claws and faces. Unusual! #FontsOnFriday

Pedestal of a fifteenth century font showing grimacing devils carved at the base. Though much eroded, their claws and faces may be made out. The devils are looked down upon by angels above. Sun casts a shadow from left to right.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

And al watʒ holʒ inwith, nobot an olde caue Or a crevisse of an olde cragge… The dark and forbidding entrance to the cave at Wetton Mill, Dovedale, Derbyshire - a potential candidate for the Green Chapel in the medieval masterpiece Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. #AdoorableThursday #SGGK

Entrance to a cave in a limestone cliff showing vegetation hanging down from the top with grass and bushes surrounding the entrance.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A glimpse into a distant time when this isle was a land of giants. Castell Henllys Iron Age Village, Pembrokeshire, Wales, is beautifully situated in fine wooded countryside; from a distance, it gives the impression that ancient folk still live here and that we’re somehow intruding on their privacy.

Reconstruction of an Iron Age camp of large thatched round houses situated amid trees on a hillside. A field is seen in the foreground while the sky is grey above. One of the thatched round houses is bigger than the others.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The face of battle stares upwards now, all faded and forlorn; a figure fit for fighting here lies fast in endless sleep. The effigy to the Lancastrian Sir Thomas Wendesley (or Wensley) who died at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 is one of several at All Saints, Bakewell, Derbyshire. #TombTuesday

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Taking on the week ahead with shield and sword on horseback! Edward III, as depicted in the magnificent 12-foot long fourteenth century Waterford Charter Roll, is one of 17 figures which decorate this remarkable medieval artefact. Well worth seeing if you are visiting the city.

Medieval image of a king riding a white horse. Depicted below an arch, he rides against a backdrop of flowers. In one hand he bears a sword, in the other a shield depicting the lions of England and the Fleur de lys of France.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A medieval figure in the Yorkshire Museum, York, interpreted as a stroke victim, from the shrine of St William once at York Minster. The shrine, dating to ca. 1330, suffered in the Reformation but fragments of it were fortuitously buried nearby, to be rediscovered in later centuries.

Stone sculpture of a medieval man with a distorted face. He leans forward towards the viewer and wears a hood typical of the fourteenth century.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Pointing the way to other worlds within the northern Shire. The Tolkien Trail near Clitheroe, Lancashire offers a relaxed (if somewhat popular) amble by the Hodder and Ribble in the shadow of Pendle Hill - and there’s not an Orc to be seen to spoil the walk! #FingerpostFriday

Wooden finger post signpost with each finger pointing the way along the Tolkien Trail footpath. Trees and a fence line this part of the route

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Eaten alive by the acid of ages, the old arch at Bakewell bares its scars bravely. All Saints church, Bakewell, Derbyshire is a truly fascinating building with relics stretching as far back as the Anglo Saxon period. #medieval #AdoorableThursday

Double leafed brown door with rich Celtic-style ironwork hinges set within a badly eroded Norman archway. Limestone walls are also soot blackened in places.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Rood gesture! A lion sticks his tongue out as he perches on the magnificent 14th century stone rood screen at Stebbing, Essex - one of three such screens known (the others at Great Bardfield, Essex and Trondheim, Norway). #Medieval #lion #animals

A carved stone lion clinging to a pillar and the base of an arch forming part of a church rood screen. The lion is sticking out his tongue. Parts of the screen and the roof structure are visible in the background.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The great uncalled witness to wrongful witch trials; old Pendle hill looms large in the landscape. #Lancashire

View of a landscape showing hedges and fields in the foreground with a vast looming flat-topped hill in the distance standing darkly against a cloudy sky.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Slow corrodes the ancient stone through damp and dusty years. The hands and feet that rubbed and trudged, the air that flowed and coughed; all took their timeless toll right here in this old country church. St. George’s, Anstey, Hertfordshire. #AdoorableThursday

Church doorway inside a porch showing considerable erosion to the walls around it. Above the arch are two floral motifs to either side. One of the two wooden doors is ajar; the stones of the threshold show much wear from centuries of parishioner use. A porch window is visible to the right and below is a tiled floor and doormat.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A portal to a darker world beneath the living ground. The haunting presence of Cuween Hill Chambered Cairn, Orkney. #TombTuesday

Small entranceway leading into a chambered cairn. A worn path leads to the entrance through grass while the ground above is covered in grass and flowers. Blue sky above.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Sometimes simply looking up offers such wondrous pleasure. Fifteenth century roof at St John’s, Duxford, in the county of Cambridge. You could stare up at it forever!

Wooden roof structure of a medieval church including details of beams, trusses and bosses.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Out towards the Mulberries as if made so by Monet. Peace through pain depicted now from the cliffs near Arromanches. Photo from a few years back.

View towards the sea from a footpath below two trees. The sea and sky are bright blue; in the distance out to sea can be seen the concrete remains of Mulberry harbours erected following D-day, 1944.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Feel the spirits passing through from southward to the north, where many souls before have gone and many will again. St Mary’s, Sawston - restored, but still a special church with many interesting medieval features of different periods. #AdoorableThursday

Open church door showing a view into the church and out the other side, whose door is also open, giving a view to the street beyond. The church walls around the door are made from flint and clerestory windows are visible above. Gravestones set in grass are in the foreground.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Fluid forms finely fashioned frame the views of others. Exquisite workmanship on show at St James’s Church, Somerton. #WoodenWednesday

Finely carved wooden screen in a church comprising central filigree work cut in large wheel shapes and encased within heavily moulded rails top and bottom. Other examples of similar workmanship can be seen in the background.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Victorian heavy metal meets earlier water music.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Behold the beacon, bright and bold, reshaped to tell of battles! Unfletched, this arrow, fallen dart, now stands alone forlornly.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Waxing the stones to let skin speak… Truly fascinating post and thread (see the article linked to one of these posts) about new research into the source site for the Devil’s Arrows.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Wayland’s Smithy, late Autumn, from a linocut a couple of years back. #TombTuesday #Printmaking

Linocut print in two colours showing the stones of Wayland’s Smithy in Oxfordshire. Fallen leaves are shown all around and trees and bushes are seen in the background.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Never mind the arrow storm, start the week as you mean to go on! This linocut is from my translation of the Middle English masterpiece the Alliterative Morte Arthure (King Arthur’s Death, published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social ). One of many similar images in the book; banners advance!

Black and white linocut image of a knight charging into a storm of arrows while swinging his sword.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Three saints for Saturday at Jerpoint Abbey, Ireland. In this remarkable tomb chest, Saints Peter, Andrew and Thomas (with a lance?) are finely cut from stone.

End of a stone tomb chest showing carvings of three saints in a row, surrounded at the top by other carvings. The saints are: Peter (bearing keys); Andrew (with the cross on which he was martyred) and Thomas (possibly) showing him bearing what looks like a spear or lance (the weapon of his martyrdom).

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

A portal to another place at pretty Jervaulx Abbey. #AdoorableThursday

A round arched doorway in an abbey wall leading to a lawned area with trees. Plants surround the arch.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Crosses and swords and slowly fading faces. Two badly eroded grave slabs from St Cuthbert’s church at Elsdon, Northumberland offer a haunting glimpse of life long ago, slowly slipping away. #TombTuesday

Two stone grave slabs propped against a church wall. The slab on the left shows a carved cross and a sword side by side. The slab on the right shows a very faded image of a man; possibly the work was never finished; either that or it is badly eroded.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The way ahead is lit by lights as yet unknown. What, I wonder, will be wrought by this new week?

View down a footpath with sunlight emerging from behind a bend to cast dappled light across the route. The path itself is shaded by high trees and hedges on both sides.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Juxtaposition of the day: Peters & Lee meet King Crimson in memorable seventies v sixties culture clash! A new level of discordance for @sidsmith.bsky.social

Two LP records side by side Peters & Lee’s We Can Make It next to King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Gawain away for the bank holiday weekend? Perhaps a journey through the land of Logres? Here’s hoping the rain stays off for some of it! #SGGK #Linocut #Printmaking #SirGawainAndTheGreenKnight

Linocut print showing Sir Gawain in a red surcoat and carrying a red shield bearing his yellow star motif. He rides a white horse. In the background is an abstract landscape of trees and hills.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Simple in the silence but with presence in its soul, the thirteenth century font at St John’s, Duxford, in the county of Cambridge. #FontsOnFriday

Plain octagonal font on pedestal set against plain walls with a church window beyond. The font stands on large flagstones amid large quarry tiles. Pamphlets are placed on the wooden font cover.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

BREAKING NEWS! Scottish pride shattered and Royal and Ancient in turmoil as fossilised golf ball found on beach proves the sport was invented by dinosaurs. Exclusive.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

There’s chaos in the studio! I can’t find what I’m looking for and Sir Gawain’s expression says it all! #linocut #printmaking

Mixture of linocut prints strewn around with one of Sir Gawain looking straight at the camera startled.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This is a fun chapter; I know I enjoyed it. It brings home so much that is true about how British communities behave and the things they obsess about.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Pencil thin but simply perfect. Classic entranceway to St Kevin’s Church at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. I love the combination of inclined jambs and the lintel with simple, but powerful, relieving arch above. 11th Century perhaps? #AdoorableThursday

Slender doorway piercing a thick stone wall of a church. The door is wider at the bottom than the top and above the lintel is a relieving arch to help bear the weight of the church roof above.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

From Warrington and St Wilfred’s to wander far beyond! RIP Tim Curry, one of Grappenhall’s finest (even if he only lived here a year!). #TimCurry #Cheshire

Sandstone Cheshire church set in a cobbled street with a graveyard at the front and village stocks to the left. Set against a clear wintry sky.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

A rural view through a different lens deep in the heart of Essex. Isaac may be now long gone but through this glass we see him. #WindowsOnWednesday

Close up view through a leaded pane window looking out towards a country village scene of a graveyard and houses. The panes of glass are barely three inches across but one bears the name of Isaac Sanvard or T/Janvard and a date of June 1757.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Oh No! It’s Monday! A medieval gargoyle at St Mary’s, Stebbing, laments the lost weekend.

Gargoyle set above a waterspout high on a church wall. Resembles a shouting man in a cowl. The wall is made of flints; above, the sky is an intense blue.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Herne bay’s high reminders of homes upon the shore; the two towers of Reculver, old markers to the Thames.

Gable end of a ruined church showing two towers beside an end wall pierced by two lancet windows and a rose window. The edifice is perched on the top of raised grassy ground with a clear blue sky beyond.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Well, the Notice Board (2012) chapter of Villager by @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social had me chuckling to myself reading it in bed last night! Lovely and gentle evocation of how folk in a community relate to each other in chat groups - inanities and all!

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Come across and cross a dog and you’ll only make him crosser! This grumpy growler is one of the many delights to be seen at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. He might be bad tempered but who wouldn’t love to fondle his ears? #Dogs #Medieval #Tudor

Wall painting of a grumpy looking dog set in a panel divided vertically with a black background on the left and red on the right. The whole panel is surrounded by a ropework motif and set against surrounding decoration of black and white squares.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Pass through the portal to enter the past, where time slips to sleep in the silence. Delightful early doorway at St John’s, Duxford, including interesting tympanum bearing a cross, and chevron features surrounding the arch. Hauntingly special! #AdoorableThursday #Medieval

Norman church doorway in a porch showing simple shafts and capitals supporting a tympanum carved with a cross and chevron motif above. Old church roof timbers to the the porch can also be seen. The porch itself has a floor of old tiles to add to the charm.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

A room with a view! Some castles have such a way of calming the soul and soothing the mind. Llansteffan in Carmarthenshire, Wales, is one such place. #WindowsOnWednesday

View through a ruined castle window looking towards a flat, calm sea with peninsulas and hills in the distance. Weeds and grass are in the foreground; clouds and a blue sky complete the scene.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The writing’s on the wall, its scriveners long gone. Centuries of statements still speak with silent presence at Duxford, Cambridgeshire.

Graffiti cut into a stone pillar in a church showing different writing styles including fifteenth century writing, possibly showing 1516, and much later writing giving a date of 1938.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Ryedale. Where cultures merged and strange words flowed in Yorkshire long ago.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Welcome to the week ahead! The church is full of water spouts, gargoyles and strange creatures that give delight, and hurt not... Here, at St John’s Duxford, in the county of Cambridge, one such beastie yowls through all eternity as it looks down from above.

Water spout high on a church wall in the form of a four legged creature with a gaping mouth and wings to each side. To left and right is guttering above a moulded frieze.

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