Tintern, the Abbey, where I go Goth

I decided to do this as a separate post because my thoughts on the Abbey are different than on the town. Trip date was February 2022. As always if you wish to view the photos without the commentary, click on any of them for a slide show presentation.

NOTE: I am trying a new posting technique. There is technology out there to do some nice presentation. However they are hiding it from me as best they can. I am sure you have noticed that the flow of the text, the shape of the photos, and such is not very regular. This is because the computers often have different ideas about what they should control, and what I should. We argue often. They usually win.

The entrance to the warming room.
One of two rooms that were heated.
The rooms above were where precious things like
books and scrolls were stored.

Look at the different generations of building.
What we see is the end product of centuries of building, improving, repairing, and rethinking of the original abbey.

Vaulted ceilings.
Historians are not exactly sure how these were done.
Perhaps several different ways at different time periods.
One thought is that they built up the pillars, then filled the room with dirt.
The arches were installed, then filled with brick and stone.

The Abbey is old, and the feeling here is about an older time. It is about dedication to one's faith.

It is also about men of means and choices. They could opt to live cloistered, with no responsibility to family, children, elders. Living in the abbey was something one bought into. When one took a vow of obedience, one got in return a promise of a roof, and meals. If you think with the mind of an 11th century man with enough money to buy, not a modern mind, it starts to look different, more secure and safe. Also about being an exclusive club, out of bounds for men without money, or women.

Made primarily of red sandstone, which is not necessarily red nor sand.

Once the lead roof was removed, thanks to Henry VIII, the sand stone started degrading. When the iron works opened nearby, the air pollution ate into the stone at a ferocious pace.

These are not random stone shapes and size. Each reflects the masons that worked at that time. Why, what, who are all questions that my mind wants to know.

Here you see a push log. One pushed a log into these slots to create a cross beam. Look at how the masons that laid these stones with the grain up and down. The usual pattern is cross wise. I touch these stones and I am aware that artisans cut these stones. Their hands, their tools.

The Abbey itself is magnificent. The gothic way was about drawing your eyes, and therefore your heart, up towards the heavens. Standing at the base of the columns, or at the front door, I can only look skyward with a gasp. But there are lots of photos and videos of the grandeur. So I will focus on the odd details, the back story, and of course all of the little questions that come to me.

This was the chapter house. Imagine it as a roofed room, with two rows of pillars that ran down the room. There were stone benches along the sides. The brothers sat here and heard a chapter from St Benedict every morning before starting work.

The massive doors to the front. These are not the original doors, but ones added by the Victorians. Their preservation works often included changes to add to the romance of the buildings.

A roof was added to this side of the main cathedral. This roof has preserved much of the stone work and allowed us to see inside.

Up, always up to the heavens.

This was the interior of the main part of the church.

You must allow your imagination to see the roof, the statues, and the painting inside. Hear the echoes of the hushed voices

This stone lacework once held stained glass. Early anti Catholics smashed the glass.

This sculpture was done by Phillip Chatfield in 2007. Using shards of bits left from the destruction, he created if not a copy, at least an inspired sculpture.

A later addition, this lintel was pressed into service as a bench which sat in front of the hearth (to the left) to create one of the few places to warm oneself. In the background is the Infirmary. Not just a place for the ill and injured, but also place for the elderly, no longer able to contribute useful work.

A trough. There are drain holes in the far side, and notches for the intake pipes. A water source? A trough for laundry. Probably many different uses over time