Marvel justoff theA6 SITE
SEEN RECENTWORK
Who would have thought it. Tucked away in unremarkable farmland in one of England’smost anonymous corners is a small,multi-faceted gemof a building. Placed in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, St Margaret’s, in the Bedfordshire hamlet of Knotting, has recently been conserved. Architect for repairs Ptolemy Dean looks back on the project, and delights in the efforts of an unsung saviour of old buildings
T
he small village church at Knotting is situated in the generally flat and intensively farmed landscape just off the A6 to the north ofBedford. Twinnedwith its somewhat dispiritingly named neighbour, Souldrop, this potentially
unprepossessing place turns out to retain amagical church in a forgotten hamlet in a part of the country not generally celebrated for such hidden delights. The church, StMargaret’s, first comes into view
at the end of awinding lane,with a great spread of wellweathered clay peg roof tiles andwarm, cream
limestonewalls.This is the south side of the church and it positively glows in the afternoon sunlight at the end of a tunnel of lane-side trees. (We always had our sitemeetings outside as the churchwas always somuch colder inside).The village centre – such as it is – consists of a small cluster of post-war council houses, a Festival ofBritain village sign and a large group of redundant andmostly post-war farmbuildings. Immediately one is transported back to the 1960s.Only theHillman Imp and the MorrisMinor are conspicuous by their absence. At first glance, the church is of the usual variety
of
dates.Thewest tower ismodest.Timber shutters to the belfry are carvedwith the date 1715,with the initials of the churchwardens cut out of themwith rather charming heart shapes
beneath.The South Transept is 13th century,with attractively arranged 18th-centurywallmonuments and a sun dial. TheChancel incorporates a 15th-centurywindow formed in the dark brown ironstonemore familiar toNorthamptonshire, and presumably imported fromthere. It is immediately clear that this has never been a rich parish. The first clue that this church had benefited froman inspired pattern of repairs in the past is
Facing page, the ancient pulpit and tester at Knotting church,made fromrecycled Jacobean panelling. Above, the church after conservation. The church is remarkable for its historical survivals Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011 37
offered by the unusual boiler flue, constructed entirely of red clay roofing tiles carefully bonded and cut to forman octagonal shape. It looks to be somethingmore of the European School of early 20th-century
design.Although prominently sited on the south slope of the roof and immediately above the entrance porch, it catches the sun and casts an attractive shadow, transforming something of potential ugliness into an addition of interest. The repairs carried out atKnottingwere aminor
work of SirAlbertRichardson (1880-1964), that still insufficiently appreciated architect of good modern buildings (such asBrackenHouse, in the
photographs johnlawrence
City of London), author of hand-illustrated books on traditional buildings and the last Professor of Architecture at theBartlett School,who taught in theBeauxArtsmanner.Richardson’s postwar rebuildingwork on a number of churches in London, such as St James’s Piccadilly and St AlphegeGreenwich arewell known. But formost of his life he lived andworked inBedfordshire, where he knewand understood the local building traditions of this county intimately. As a skilled design architect,Richardson
certainly did notmerely “conserve as found”. He needed no “international charters” to guide his
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112