Art
Celestial Messenger
To the south of the Chancel in St. Mary’s Church in Hitchin, is the Guild Chapel and its ceiling has beautifully carved wooden medieval Angels: Some with gold leaf on their wings, others without. This might have been due to prohibitive cost, so the rest couldn’t be done or their gold leaf has fallen away. For whatever reason, they are still beautiful to look at. It is worth noting that each Angel has a different symbol associated with it. This one has a lute, others have a harp or viol, keys or shields or symbols of the guild who funded their making.
To the north of the Chancel is the Trinity Chapel, and it too has Angels on its ceiling. These seem to be of a different style and none have the gilded wings that the others have in the Guild Chapel. However, they are still beautiful and full of character, with individual hairstyles and worth taking note of. So the next time you are in St. Mary’s Church, Look up!
Grove Road Bridge Graffiti
Walking along the far end of Grove Road up towards the crossroads, one could see some graffiti (sadly now painted over again) done by a local artist. It might not have been be to everyone’s taste but it livened up a dark and dank walk along the River Hiz under the rail bridge with colour and style. There have been other more complex pieces previously, but hopefully some new ones will be done again soon.
Chinese Tree
There has appeared in Bancroft Gardens, on Bancroft, (opposite the Victoria Pub) a tree that has had pieces of paper tied to it. They are covered in a chinese script. They look pretty, but I have no idea who put them there and why? Are they for the Chinese New Year? Are they for good luck?
Mosaic Frieze
Continuing the church theme this month, is the central part of the frieze behind the altar in the central nave of St. Mary’s Church. More of this frieze will be posted at a later date; as will the beautiful stained glass windows in the southern aisle and chapel
Angelic Host
St Mary’s Church in Hitchin is full of little gems such as this angel. I’m not sure if it’s an original or a Victorian reproduction. If it is an original, then I’m surprised it survived the iconoclasts’ destruction; But as Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews pointed out, they only pulled down statues of saints that people prayed to and not angels to which people didn’t pray.
Sainsbury’s Graffiti
Outside Sainsbury’s shop behind Bancroft in Hitchin, is a sign that has had a ‘Love Heart’ graffiti/stencil applied to it. I think it looks quite nice there and has improved a bland and dull sign. There are others dotted around town in usually dull locations and so adds a certain ‘urban’ charm to otherwise unnoticed areas.
Love Hearts Graffiti (Part 2)
Around Hitchin appeared some wonderful graffiti such as this one on the wall that forms part of the car park opposite St. Mary’s Church and the River Hiz. I would much rather have this sort of graffiti than the usual crass ‘scribble your name’ type that seems to dominate anywhere that teenagers hang around. Perahps we have a Banksy of our very own.
Moss’s Corner
In 1899, The Trooper inn or public house was pulled down to make way for W.B. Moss grocery shop (Probably built and completed in 1900) Vodafone shop now inhabits the building and has a huge garish shop front and signs. What is wonderful though is the rest of the building, with its very early usage of Art Nouveau tiles; Quite thrilling to have in a small market town at that time and for to it survive now.
This area used to be known as Guilden Square, (Because of The Brotherhood building opposite on High Street) Sheep Market, Cattle Market, Church Passage and now High Street. But after W.B. Moss built its shop, it has been known as Moss’s Corner. Up until the 1970s, this was where most of the town’s bus services started and finished and was known as Moss’s Corner on the bus timetables, although Moss’s shop had long since departed.
