Heavenly gems (From Worcester News)

Heavenly gems

11:13am Monday 12th September 2011 in Country News latest By Mike Pryce

POSSIBLY more so than the local pub, the village church has long been a cornerstone of rural life in Worcestershire.

You might not go there very often but at least you know where it is and when you do step inside, the echo of footsteps on flagstone floors and the high arched timbers in the roof inspire a feeling that maybe one day you may need this place.

It’s said that in times of trouble we all turn to religion.

In which case a new book by Richard Surman, who was one of the founders and artistic director of Ledbury Poetry Festival, will give plenty of food for thought. Strictly speaking, Betjeman’s Best British Churches (Collins, £35) is not a ‘new’ book, because it was originally published more than half a century ago by poet laureate Sir John Betjeman and rapidly became a classic.

However, it has now been completely revised and updated by Richard, who has previously written several other publications about churches and their occupants, notably cats.

The new version – which includes 350 new colour photographs and includes 2,500 “hidden gems and national treasures – covers Britain county by county and takes a trip down the highways and byways to some of Worcestershire’s prettiest and most unusual churches.

Richard says: “The tower of Martley church is of a brilliant scarlet sandstone, which has to be seen to be believed. While the church at Shelsley Walsh is of limestone tufa, a pale pink stone, which was also used in ancient Rome.”

In the fruit growing districts around Pershore and Evesham, where building stone was not so easily obtained, some of the churches were built like the old cottages, partly of timber, often with timber framed towers or bellcotes.

Typical of these is St Peter’s at Besford, a 14th-century church the only one of its kind in the county, which retains its character despite being heavily restored in 1880.

In the east of the county, where the Cotswold hills rise, churches such as Broadway are of a local golden sandstone.

However, St Eadburgha, which overlooks a quiet valley a short distance from the centre of the village, has an almost stark interior, devoid of adornment.

Richard says: “The effect is of a devout and quiet space, almost monastic.”

At the other end of the scale is St Michael’s at Great Witley, one of the finest Baroque churches in the country with an interior “exceedingly rich and of great beauty”. Despite being immediately adjacent, the church escaped the fire of 1937 which severely damaged Witley Court and remains a tribute to the wealth of the Foley and Dudley families, who ploughed millions of pounds into this corner of Worcestershire.

Richard Surman’s tour of Worcestershire takes in 37 churches, their interiors and exteriors, but this time there’s not a cat in sight.