A couple of weeks ago, I visited the church of St Nicholas near the village of Lower Oddington with friend Judith on the way to a sale of plants and pots at Whichford Pottery.
The church is about half a mile from the village, approached along a country lane which abruptly turns into a footpath, there's space for a few cars to park and turn round, and the church is situated on a slight hill on your left. From the outside, the church looks neat and orderly, but there's nothing to indicate that inside the church, there's one of the best doom paintings in the country. Painted in around 1340, the doom would have been brightly painted with colourful images used to communicate religious ideas to a largely illiterate population.
There's an artist's impression of the how the doom painting might have looked when it was newly painted. The artist who isn't named on the postcard I bought, used the same colours that would have been used in 1340, here's a photo of the painting produced in 2018:
As you can see, it's an impressive and helpful interpretation of the original painting which stretches over 32 feet. The figure in the centre of the painting is Jesus, flanked by apostles and saints, and below this, two angels sounding a trumpet to wake the dead. The bottom of the image shows the dead rising from their graves to be judged. Those on Christ's right hand are awaiting admittance at the gates of heaven, while those on his left hand are being dragged into hell, where a frightening figure of Satan surrounded by his imps awaits them.
This is what the doom painting looks like on the north wall of the church:
Because it's so large, it's hard to get a good photograph, and makes one appreciate the artist's impression which is rich in detail.
I was also very impressed with the flower arrangements in the church:
From Lower Oddington, we traveled the few miles to Whichford Pottery where we discovered that although the plant sale was continuing, the best buys had already gone, but I wouldn't have missed the Doom painting and we did manage to have a good look round the fabulous displays.
The arrangement above gives an idea of the thought that goes into the displays, they are so inspiring, I came home keen to work out how to make the most of the plants in my pots.
This is what I bought, from the left of the picture,a small terracotta pot containing coriander with a delightful wooden label, next a foxglove panel on a glazed plant pot, a small pot and a magnificent plant pot containing a sort of Salvia which is now planted in the pot with a Naughty Marietta marigold and some delphiniums.
After buying these delightful things, we went to the Straw Cafe on site and had a delicious lunch. What a great day out.
The church is about half a mile from the village, approached along a country lane which abruptly turns into a footpath, there's space for a few cars to park and turn round, and the church is situated on a slight hill on your left. From the outside, the church looks neat and orderly, but there's nothing to indicate that inside the church, there's one of the best doom paintings in the country. Painted in around 1340, the doom would have been brightly painted with colourful images used to communicate religious ideas to a largely illiterate population.
There's an artist's impression of the how the doom painting might have looked when it was newly painted. The artist who isn't named on the postcard I bought, used the same colours that would have been used in 1340, here's a photo of the painting produced in 2018:
This is what the doom painting looks like on the north wall of the church:
I was also very impressed with the flower arrangements in the church:
This is what I bought, from the left of the picture,a small terracotta pot containing coriander with a delightful wooden label, next a foxglove panel on a glazed plant pot, a small pot and a magnificent plant pot containing a sort of Salvia which is now planted in the pot with a Naughty Marietta marigold and some delphiniums.
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