St. Mary’s Church
The iconic view of Hitchin is of this one above; The great eastern window of the chancel of the Church of St. Mary’s built in c1450. When the High Altar was moved against the wall of the chancel in the 19th century, 4 feet of the great eastern window was lost. Imagine just how much more impressive this perpendicular style stainded glass window would have been with that extra length added!
Rooftop Hitchin
For a change, I thought I would include a more ‘aerial’ view of Hitchin by showing it from a much higher level. This was taken from St. Mary’s Church bell tower roof looking across the roof tops of properties in churchyard towards Market Place. This is a view most people won’t see as they won’t go up the bell tower of the church or just never look up at the buildings that surround them.
You can see the old Corn Exchange (now Que Pasa) and to its right, the building that houses Waterstones’ bookshop and the snooker hall above it. Immediately to the right of those is the building that contains Merricks (the sweetshop) and the dentist L. Granhed above that.
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?
Green Space
Looking around Hitchin from the top of the church tower, one can just how much greenery there is in the town. This particlular shot is looking south across the churchyard, over Churchgate, past The Sun Hotel, past Bridge Street and on to Priory Park in Hitchin Hill; Also encompassing a few buildings on Queen Street too.
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.
National Westminster House
Just for a change, I thought to upload a photograph of the back of a building. (not normally seen and photographed all the less). This was called the National Westminster House and is on Hermitage Road. It used to contain The Yorkshire Bank amongst other businesses such as The Motor Agents Association. I find this side of the building rather more interesting than the front just by the fact of having a set of stairs tacked on to its outside rather than being incorporated inside the building.
Hitchin Race Circuit
Hitchin Race Circuit is a photo-realistic 3D model of the town centre and some of the other streets that can be played as a computer racing game. (Like Formula 1 racing at Monaco, Silverstone etc) Download it and race against friends or against others online. It’s absolute fun to play a computer game and see Hitchin also. Some buildings are now gone and others have changed hands, so added local history too. Find it here http://www.hitchin-circuit.co.uk/ and enjoy.