#St Mary the Virgin Hardwick

[suevincent]

Stuart Templeton at Ratmobile Adventures recently wrote about an impromptu stop and a battle by a bridge. It reminded me of a battle that took place locally…

For some reason or another, I’ve been thinking about the church at Hardwick a fair bit lately, and thinking I needed to revisit. It is not far from home and I run past it every week when I  go out to the farm to collect my son’s milk. I went through the photos from two previous visits, trying to find out what was bugging me about the place.

The first time I had visited, on my own, I had thought the place rather bland and uninteresting, even though it technically ticked all ‘our’ boxes… not realising that the missing ingredient was my companion on these adventures. A second visit, in his company, revealed all the details I had managed, on that first visit, to see, photograph… and dismiss. It wasn’t the church that was missing something, it was me.

St Mary the Virgin, Hardwick, is a rather grand church for such a small village, but as with many of these little hamlets, its history was tied to the families and events of a different era. It is thought that the first Saxon church was built here by Saxi, who was a thane… a landholder…under Edward the Confessor. Edward, the last king of the House of Wessex, was born not far away in Islip, just over the border into Oxfordshire, around AD1003.

The current church, though, was built around eight hundred years ago. Part of the nave dates from that time, but most of the church was added over the next two hundred years, with a major redesign and refurbishment by George Edwin Street in 1872.

A plaque on the wall states that the work was completed thanks to the efforts of the Rev. Bigg-Wither, in whose memory the reredos was installed, showing angels holding the instruments of the Crucifixion.

There are a number of memorial plaques on the walls, though the  most striking memorial is that of Sir Robert Lee and his lady, Luce Piggott. Sir Robert died in 1616, aged seventy-three, and after fifty-five years of marriage. The couple face each other in prayer, and ranged about them are their eight sons and six daughters.

Little survives to show how the church might have looked in Sir Robert’s day, but there are clues. In one corner, where the banner of the Mother’s Union stands against the wall, are the remains of the stairway that probably once led to the rood loft… which means there would have been a rood screen, separating the chancel from the nave and surmounted by a depiction of the Crucifixion.

There are a couple of piscinae in the walls… little ‘sinks’ where holy water was disposed of, so that it would return to the building. In one corner, now behind glass, is a tiny cruet… a little jug, dating from the fourteenth century and found hidden in a secret chamber in the east wall, during the 1872 restorations.

You have to wonder why it was so carefully hidden… what it contained or what was its significance… and whether it was hidden to preserve it during the Reformation, when Cromwell’s troops destroyed so many sacred objects and art.

The magnificent windows were, for the most part, installed during Street’s re-ordering of the church. Only a few fragments of medieval glass survive, set in a small, circular window in the side chapel… all that is left of the early glass after such ‘idolatrous images’ were smashed by Cromwell’s Parliamentarian troops.

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It was Cromwell and the English Civil War that had called me back to Hardwick. The one photograph I did not have from the church was of a memorial, tucked away beneath the corner of the tower. The simple tomb bears a plaque telling how the bones of two hundred and forty-seven men were found in a field by Holman’s Bridge, not far away, in 1818. Given the history of the site and the appearance of the bones, they were thought to be the officers and men who had died in the Battle of Aylesbury, between Cromwell’s Roundheads and King Charles’ Cavaliers in 1642.

The royal forces, under Prince Rupert of the Rhine, had taken and occupied the town. On hearing of the approach of the Parliamentary forces, they sallied out, meeting the enemy forces by the ford where Holman’s Bridge now stands. Rupert’s forces charged the fifteen hundred enemy troops, but was driven back and forced to retreat, leaving five hundred of his men dead on the field. Cromwell’s forces are reported to have lost only ninety.

In 1818, workmen found the graves on the battlefield, including many that seemed to be those of officers. The bodies were collected and buried together in a mass grave at Hardwick, where the late Lord Nugent raised their memorial, where…

“…enemies through their attachment to opposite leaders and opposite standards in the sanguinary conflicts of that Civil War, they were together victims to its fury, united in one common slaughter, they were buried in one common grave, close to that spot where they had lately stood in arms against each other.After a lapse of more than a century and a half, their bones were collected and deposited, together still, in consecrated ground. may the memory of brave men be respected and may our country never again be called to take part in a contest such as that which this tablet records.”

Finding death together in battle, these men had finally found a place of peace. I admit that there were tears in my eyes as I read the tablet. More so, knowing what had happened over the last few years…

There is some controversy surrounding the battle, bolstered by a dearth of documentary evidence. The only document that survives to mention the battle is a Roundhead pamphlet that some now dismiss as propaganda. Prince Rupert is recorded as being elsewhere on that date… though that would not preclude troops nominally under his command from engaging the enemy. The battle that is said to have cost so many their lives has been reduced to ‘possibly’ a skirmish… and that in spite of the Civil War gun emplacements in a neighbouring field and the martial relics found in the area.

The gun emplacements have been called into question… it has been suggested that they may simply be a medieval rabbit warren. If so, they must be the biggest ruddy rabbits ever to have evolved. It has also been suggested that the bodies, in spite of being so carefully interred that they appeared to differentiate between the graves of officers and men, were ‘just’ plague graves. Or even Saxon…

In fact, the only thing anyone can agree on is that an awfully large residential development was built on the site around the time that the hitherto accepted story came into question. This development is twinned with another, a couple of fields across. It abuts the once-great Manor of Quarrendon that belonged to Sir Henry Lee, the Champion of Queen Elizabeth I, of which only an earthen ghost remains. The village of Quarrendon was part of the lands where only the melancholy remains of St Peter’s church still stand, marking the place where St Edburga and St Edith, daughters of King Penda of Mercia, and their niece St Osyth, were born.

While the memory of the dead must indeed make way for the needs of the living, I do have to wonder sometimes at the casual way our history and heritage can be dismissed… especially when money is concerned. Many important sites are under threat from unsympathetic developments…including Stonehenge, that most iconic ancient site.

As to the bodies found by Holman’s Bridge, no matter who they were, at least they now rest far from the bustle of a fast-growing town. I wonder, though, if the new residents know… or care… that so many died and were buried, with their stories, in their back yard?

The mystery in ‘my back yard…’ Stuart Templeton at Ratmobile Adventures recently wrote about an impromptu stop and a battle by a bridge.

[tuseriesdetv]

Noticias de series de la semana: 'Russian Doll', renovada

Renovaciones

Netflix ha renovado Russian Doll por una segunda temporada

Comedy Central ha renovado Corporate por una tercera y última temporada

Netflix ha renovado Love, Death + Robots por una segunda temporada

Spectrum ha renovado L.A.'s Finest por una segunda temporada

Noticias cortas

Paul Wesley volverá a Tell Me a Story para su segunda temporada, esta vez interpretando a Tucker, un novelista que pasa las noches en vela en una cabaña en el bosque tratando de demostrar que es suficientemente bueno para su bella prometida. Esta temporada adaptará La Bella y la Bestia, La bella durmiente y Cenicienta.

Erica Gimpel (Trish) será regular en la segunda temporada de God Friended Me.

Steven Ogg (Pike) será regular en la segunda temporada de Snowpiercer.

La cuarta y última temporada de The Good Place tendrá catorce episodios.

Incorporaciones y fichajes

Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise, The Accidental Tourist) será recurrente en la tercera temporada de GLOW como Sandy Devereaux St. Clair, antigua showgirl y ahora directora de entretenimiento del hotel y casino Fan-Tan en Las Vegas.

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, Swiss Army Man) se une al episodio musical de Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Elizabeth Banks (30 Rock, Wet Hot American Summer) será Jill Ruckelshaus, una republicana que fue elegida por el presidente Ford para avanzar en los derechos de las mujeres, en Mrs. America.

Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical) sustituye a Bonnie Dennison como Jenny, hija de Carol (Patricia Heaton), en Carol's Second Act.

Sophia Lillis (Sharp Objects, It), Kathleen Rose Perkins (Episodes), Wyatt Olef (Guardians of the Galaxy), Sofria Bryant (The Good Wife), Aidan Wojtak-Hissong (Falling Water) y Richard Ellis (Veronica Mars) protagonizarán I Am Not Okay With This.

Imelda Staunton (Pride, Harry Potter), Russell Tovey (Looking, Years and Years), Stephen Rea (The Honourable Woman, Counterpart), Francesca Annis (Dune, Lillie), Claudie Blakley (Lark Rise to Candleford, Grantchester) y Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack, Absentia) protagonizarán Flesh and Blood, sobre tres hermanos adultos (Tovey, Blakley y Leonard) cuya madre Vivien (Annis), de setenta años y recién enviudada, confiesa estar enamorada de un nuevo hombre (Rea). Staunton dará vida a Mary, la vecina de Vivien. Completan el reparto Sharon Small (Trust Me), Lara Rossi (Crossing Lines), Keir Charles (Love Actually), Vincent Regan (Victoria), David Bamber (The Bourne Identity), Stephanie Langston (Ransom) y Clara Indrani (Vera).

Kim Dickens (Treme, Fear The Walking Dead) se une como regular a Briarpatch. Será Eve Raytek, jefa de policía que deberá averiguar quién mató a la hermana de Allegra (Rosario Dawson).

Goran Visnjic (Timeless, ER) será recurrente en Dollface como el doctor Colin Brooks.

Ana Ortiz (Devious Maids, Ugly Betty) será Isabel, la madre de Simon, en Love, Simon.

Melanie Field (Heathers, Shrill) se une como regular a The Angel of Darkness, la secuela de The Alienist. Será Bitsy Sussman, protegida y ayudante de Sara (Dakota Fanning). Matt Letscher (The Flash, Narcos: Mexico) y Rosy McEwen serán recurrentes como el poderoso y adinerado Hearst y la enfermera Libby Hatch.

Judith Light (Transparent, American Crime Story), Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones, Aquarius), Jay O. Sanders (Sneaky Pete, The Sinner), Desmond Harrington (Elementary, Dexter), Arliss Howard (Moneyball), Kelly Jenrette (The Handmaid's Tale, Pitch) y Ness Bautista (Sense8) se unen como regulares a Manhunt: Lone Wolf.

Laura Haddock (Guardians of the Galaxy, Da Vinci's Demons), Marta Milans (El embarcadero, Shazam!), Juan Diego Botto (Good Behaviour, Plenilunio), Nuno Lopes (São Jorge), Daniel Mays (Good Omens, Rogue One), Laurence Fox (Lewis, Victoria) y Angela Griffin (Turn Up Charlie, Ordinary Lies) protagonizarán White Lines.

Josie Totah (Champions, Glee) protagonizará el piloto de Good People junto a Whitney Cummings y Lisa Kudrow.

Natalie Gumede (Jekyl & Hyde, Doctor Who) será Mercy Graves, guardaespaldas de Lex Luthor, en la segunda temporada de Titans. Participará como recurrente.

Amir Wilson será Will Parry en His Dark Materials.

Julissa Bermudez (106 & Park), Becky Ann Parker (Men in Black), Josh Mostel (Big Daddy), Miles G. Jackson (The Last O.G.) y Jonno Davies (Spotless) se unen como recurrentes a The Hunt. Serán una enfermera, la secretaria de comercio, un rabino, un periodista y un guardaespaldas.

Huang Lu (She, a Chinese), Geoff Stults (Grace and Frankie, The Odd Couple) y Paul Yen (Magnum P.I., Young Sheldon) serán recurrentes en Little Fires Everywhere como Bebe Chow, residente ilegal; Mark McCullough, el marido de Linda (DeWitt); y Scott, dueño del restaurante chino en el que trabaja Mia (Kerry Washington).

David Costabile (Billions, Breaking Bad), Amy Landecker (Transparent, Doctor Strange) y Matt Lauria (Kingdom, Parenthood) se unen a Little Birds. Serán el padre de Lucy (Juno Temple) y su esposa y Bill, un camarero del club nocturno El Sirocco y artista bohemio.

Aasif Mandvi (A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Brink), Tobias Menzies (Outlander, The Terror), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Luther), Sorcha Cusack (A Discovery of Witches, Father Brown), Chris Geere (You're the Worst, Modern Family), Kadiff Kirwan (Chewing Gum, Strike), Ricky Grover (Zapped, Getting On), Ekow Quartey, Pik-Sen Lim, Todor Jordanov, Jassem Mougari (Legends) y Daniela Spataru protagonizarán This Way Up junto a Aisling Bea y Sharon Horgan.

Danny Vasquez (Ant-Man) será recurrente en la segunda temporada de You como Fincher, un policía quemado con su trabajo.

Pósters

  Nuevas series

Syfy prepara Lobo, un spin-off protagonizado por Emmett J. Scanlan (The Fall, Butterfly), que interpretará al personaje en la segunda temporada de Krypton.

Don Cheadle (Avengers, Black Monday), Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns, La librería) y Helena Howard (Madeline's Madeline) protagonizarán Don´t Look Deeper, en desarrollo para Quibi. Ambientada en Merced, California, quince minutos en el futuro, se centra en una alumna de último curso de instituto que no puede evitar sentir que algo va mal. No es humana, no es una de nosotros. Esto pone en marcha una serie de acontecimientos que de pronto ponen su vida en peligro. Dirigida por Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Miss You Already) y escrita por Jeffrey Lieber (Lost, NCIS: New Orleans).

Sky y HBO producirán The Third Day, creada y escrita por Dennis Kelly (Utopia), sobre un hombre que es arrastrado a una misteriosa isla británica cuyos reservados habitantes y sus rituales comienzan a abrumarlo y le obligan a enfrentarse a un trauma de su pasado. Protagonizada por Jude Law (The Young Pope, Cold Mountain). Dirigida por Marc Munden (National Treasure). Seis episodios. 

El servicio de streaming de Warner encarga Tokyo Vice, que cuenta la historia de Jake Adelstein, el periodista americano que se infiltró en la policía metropolitana de Tokyo para destapar su corrupción. Protagonizada por Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver, The Fault in Our Stars).

Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect, Shrill) producirá y dirigirá la adaptación de Over My Dead Body para el servicio de streaming de Warner. Es un podcast que sigue a Dan y Wendi, dos abogados cuya boda apareció en el New York Times pero que tendrán una ruptura que provocará un asesinato que involucrará a abogados muy valorados y conspiradores inesperados.

El servicio de streaming de Warner encarga Dune: The Sisterhood, visión femenina de la novela de Frank Herbert (1965). Escrita por Jon Spaihts. Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Prisoners) dirigirá el piloto.

La próxima adaptación de Agatha Christie para BBC será The Pale Horse. Sarah Phelps repite como guionista.

Morena Baccarin (Homeland, Deadpool), John Noble (Fringe, Sleepy Hollow) y Johan Glans (Swedish Dicks) protagonizarán Home Invasion, comedia de ciencia ficción que emitirá Viaplay en los países nórdicos y trata sobre una familia alienígena que debe invadir la Tierra. Seis episodios.

Dave encarga Meet the Richardsons, comedia sobre un matrimonio frustrado inspirada en Jon Richardson y Lucy Beaumont, protagonizada por ellos mismos y escrita por Beaumont.

Sandra Bullock desarrolla para Amazon una dramedia musical ambientada en los años 80 e inspirada vagamente en su vida en la universidad. La serie tratará temas como el SIDA, la salud mental o la cultura drag. Escrita por K.C. Perry (The Originals, Damien) y producida por Akiva Goldsman (Fringe, Titans) y John Legend (Underground, La La Land).

Hulu ha encargado ocho episodios de Fertile Crescent, sobre la guerra en Siria a través de los ojos de Antoine, un joven francés que busca a su hermana. Protagonizada por James Purefoy (The Following, Rome), Félix Moati (The French Dispatch), Mélanie Thierry (La Douleur), Souheila Yacoub, Joe Ben Ayed, James Floyd, Dean Ridge, Julia Faure, François Caron y Céline Samie.

Cinemax encarga Trackers, thriller basado en la novela de Deon Meyer (2010) que cruza tres historias en Cape Town en una violenta conspiración que une crimen organizado, diamantes de contrabando, seguridad estatal, rinocerontes negros, la CIA y un plan terrorista internacional. Protagonizado por James Gracie (Madiga, The Wrong Mans), Rolanda Marais (High Rollers) y Ed Stoppard (Knightfall, The Frankenstein Chronicles). Dirigida por Jyri Kähönen.

Bridget Regan (Jane the Virgin), Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful), Barbara Hershey (Once Upon a Time), Nick Nolte (Graves), Gail Bean (Snowfall), Danielle Deadwyler (The Haves and the Have Nots) y Shane McRae (Sneaky Pete) protagonizarán Paradise Lost, una serie de misterio estilo Southern Gothic que emitirán Spectrum y Paramount. Escrita por Rodes Fishburne (Blood & Oil) y Arika Lisanne Mittman (Dexter), trata sobre una psiquiatra (Regan) que se muda con su familia desde California al pueblo natal de su marido (Hartnett) en Mississippi, donde descubrirán vergonzosos secretos que cambiarán para siempre las vidas de todos los involucrados.

Netflix encarga la comedia alemana The Last Word, sobre una oradora de elegías en funerales (Anke Engelke) que pierde la fe en su trabajo y trata de sabotear el funeral de su marido. Seis episodios. Escrita por Aron Lehmann y Carlos V. Irmscher.

Fechas

Beecham House se estrena en ITV el 23 de junio

Human Discoveries se estrena en Facebook el 16 de julio

La segunda temporada de Five Points se estrena en Facebook el 5 de agosto

La segunda temporada de The Neighborhood se estrena en CBS el 23 de septiembre

Bob Hearts Abishola se estrena en CBS el 23 de septiembre

All Rise se estrena en CBS el 23 de septiembre

La cuarta temporada de Bull se estrena en CBS el 23 de septiembre

La decimoséptima temporada de NCIS se estrrena en CBS el 24 de septiembre

La segunda temporada de FBI se estrena en CBS el 24 de septiembre

La sexta temporada de NCIS: New Orleans se estrena en CBS el 24 de septiembre

La tercera temporada de Young Sheldon se estrena en CBS el 26 de septiembre

The Unicorn se estrena en CBS el 26 de septiembre

La séptima temporada de Mom se estrena en CBS el 26 de septiembre

Carol's Second Act se estrena en CBS el 26 de septiembre

Evil se estrena en CBS el 26 de septiembre

La décima temporada de Hawaii Five-0 se estrena en CBS el 27 de septiembre

La segunda temporada de Magnum P.I. se estrena en CBS el 27 de septiembre

La décima temporada de Blue Bloods se estrena en CBS el 27 de septiembre

La segunda temporada de God Friended Me se estrena en CBS el 29 de septiembre

La undécima temporada de NCIS: LA se estrena en CBS el 29 de septiembre

La segunda temporada de Sorry For Your Loss se estrena en Facebook el 1 de octubre

La tercera temporada de SEAL Team se estrena en CBS el 2 de octubre

La tercera temporada de SWAT se estrena en CBS el 2 de octubre

La sexta y última temporada de Madam Secretary se estrena en CBS el 6 de octubre

The Birch se estrena en Facebook el 11 de octubre

Limetown se estrena en Facebook el 16 de octubre

Tráilers y promos

Succession - Temporada 2

Undone

Pennyworth

Divorce - Temporada 3

Harlots - Temporada 3

Godfather of Harlem