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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 22h

A view to calm the troubled mind across the Pembroke waters. It’s not hard to see why the sixth century St Govan chose this place for his cliff-bound chapel in Pembrokeshire all those centuries ago. Though the medieval chapel is later, you really feel his presence alongside you. #WindowsOnWednesday

View towards a calm sea and a blue sky from a square window set in the wall of a chapel. In the foreground through the window rocks can also be seen on the shore.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Have a Monday morning motte to mark the coming week! Here, Amroth, Pembrokeshire, classified by Cathcart King as *Motte, badly damaged, E3*. Certainly little left of this early medieval castle and hard to find (a farmer helped me!). But there’s always something wonderful about an old earthwork!

A mound covered in brambles and trees against a grey, wet cloudy background.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I agree, it resembles MCC but in fact the CC is a lower case A. The opening word is Margiteut (ie Maredudd). Hope that helps.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

The stunning 11th Century wheel-headed composite cross at Carew, Pembrokeshire. Thought to have been erected to commemorate Maredudd ab Edwin of Deheubarth following his death in 1035, it is said to have been moved here in the distant past from an unknown location elsewhere. #StandingStoneSunday

Large wheel-headed cross on a richly decorated shaft cut in the Celtic fashion. The cross stands on a crazy-paved stone surface with a road running in the background. Houses and a blue sky can be seen in the background as well. The upper part of the cross is made from sandstone while the lower part is of igneous stone.

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

Smiling while he dumps his load on the common folk below. A fifteenth century corbel of a fat man on his toilet at Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s, Northleach, seems strangely prescient in today’s most difficult world. I wonder who the stonemason had in mind when he was carving this contemptuous soul?

Corbel on a stone wall in a church showing a man sitting and clutching his knees with his shirt/smock raised. He is shown clearly on the toilet while either smiling or straining. On his back is a polygonal slab which bears a roof beam above.

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

The Romanesque font at st. Peter’s, Newnham-on-Severn is one of the few remaining medieval features in this Victorian church, but what a feature it is! The Virgin Mary and 11 apostles decorate the font, including St Peter himself. Dating to ca. 1150 (?), it is a stunning survival. #FontsOnFriday

Early medieval font standing on a Victorian tiled floor with various Victorian church features in the background. The font takes the form of a large stone bowl with twelve figures carved around it, each between two columns bearing a rounded arch. All the figures are sculpted in the Romanesque style; three of the figures can be seen in the photograph. The font is about 3 feet tall and mounted on an octagonal Victorian plinth.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This is delightful- I love the stag at his feet!

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

A doorway to a distant time held clasped by cliff and crevice. The 13th century St. Govan’s church, Pembrokeshire, Wales, has origins dating to the 6th century. It is reached from the cliff top by steps cut into the rock; the grave of St Govan is said to lie beneath the altar. #AdoorableThursday

Doorway, roof and small bell tower of a chapel built into the cliffs. Steps lead down to the doorway while cliffs can be seen rising above. Grass covered rocks are in the foreground.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

My translation of the poem is published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social and available through all good bookshops. It’s the only translation of the poem in print and fills the gaps in the Middle English original by translating from the Old French source and rendering that into modern alliterative verse.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The romance is seen as one of the earliest in the Alliterative Revival of the fourteenth century (alongside the incomplete political debate poem Winner and Waster). Some have argued that it was transcribed by William Langland, but the evidence is inconclusive…

An open copy of The Romance of William and the Werewolf translated by Michael Smith, showing linocut prints produced by the author to illustrate the work. A tea towel featuring more linocuts is shown in the background.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

In the narrative, the scribe (also called William) references Humphrey de Bohun twice as the patron of the work and mentions the tomb of Edward II at Gloucester. The decision to transcribe into alliterative verse is strongly suggestive of an audience demand for such poetry…

A copy of The Romance of William and the Werewolf translated by Michael Smith. Two greetings cards are also partially seen.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Looking over to lands beyond the Severn which were held by the lordly de Bohuns. It is thought that The Romance of William and the Werewolf (William of Palerne) may have been transcribed into alliterative verse for the Gloucestershire tenants of the Humphrey de Bohun in the 1350s…

Image of a wide, silted river (the Severn), swinging round in a wide meander containing flat fields and trees beneath a cloudy, drizzling sky. Trees and bushes are seen in the foreground.

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Mythical Britain @mythicalbritain.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

When the quality of a beer plays second fiddle to its marketing, you know it’s time to move on. I used to enjoy Ridley’s mild (a dark, light and dry worker’s mild rare in the south). Then the company was taken over by Greene King. You can guess the rest.

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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

May be fourteenth century, looking more closely!

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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

I understand that the shrine’s fragments are currently on loan to York Minster and can now be seen as part of a display running there throughout 2026.

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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

Both Stebbing and Gt Bardfield are super places notwithstanding!

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

I wonder if Dr Alec Harvey doubles up as a vet? In which case, should Bridget get something in her eye, he could get that out and then conduct an illicit affair with her too. The script might be a bit poor and one-sided though.

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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 · 18/09/2026

Stunning as always. Probably the bridge (only because it reminds of somewhere) but all are great!

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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

It really is a truly special place. Beautiful, lush and haunting. And just so green!

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

You couldn’t escape if you wanted to…

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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 · 06/09/2026

I remember years ago being in a meeting where just such a person closed her commissioning presentation with the justification, quote, *we must be seen to be publishing this*. Eyes rolled, coughs were made but, you’ve guessed it, the book was published. It was a book of legal essays which never sold.

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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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