Fascinating and multifaceted but sadly defaced; a fabulous fifteenth century font at Denston in Suffolk. #FontsOnFriday

Practising archery at the butts? Crikey!

What delights dwell within, behind the door at Denston? #AdoorableThursday

Dreams dusted by sand at the height of the day, up where Sir Gawain once wandered. Sunbathing as it should be done, in macs and flat caps by the sea!

Moss-dipped Devon, delicious in green.

Like some old cinema show! Nature lit large in the lightest of tracery at Great Tew with its medieval magic. #WindowsOnWednesday

Is there such a thing as #MisericordMonday? Here’s a delight from Denston, Suffolk, a bird with spread wings beautifully depicted.

Castles in the landscape

It’s November! Zet Quayle al-hal-day with Arþer he lenges, And he made a fare on þat fest, for þe frekez sake, With much reuel and riche of þe Round Table… (He stays with Arthur for All Hallows Day, Who had provided a feast for his own sake, Laid out as befits the wealth of the Round Table…)

Ah, the circle to suppress all surquedry! The higher they rise the harder they fall; Lady fortune lurks for all those pricked by pride!

Testament to a former time before the church was built. Twelfth century font at St Peter’s, Little Thurlow in Suffolk; now somewhat incongruous in its later setting, it is probably one of the few elements left of the original church on this site. #FontsOnFriday

Early rock music inspiration for Alan Price perhaps?

Sumwhyle wyth wormez he werrez, and with wolues also, Sumwhyle wyth wodwos þat woned in þe knarrez (Sometimes he fights with dragons and wolves, sometimes with wild men who dwelled in the rocky crags) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ll. 720-721.

Lovely corbel of a cat with a moustache at St Peter’s, Little Thurlow in Suffolk. Not so much on a hot tin roof but on a cold stone wall!

Castles in the landscape

Fascinating altar tomb at St Nicholas’s church, Denston, with two shrouded figures below a table featuring two (missing) brasses; possibly late 15th century? Fascinating contrast between worldly wealth and the reality of death. An unusual offering for #TombTuesday

Look to the skies to light the listless day! Delightful fifteenth century carving at Denston in Suffolk; one of many such splendours here.

One of York’s such lovely spaces, down some little alley.

#otd opening lines from the poem in Michael Drayton’s The Bataille of Agincourt (1893 edition) and so redolent of Shakespeare in its zealotry. The years have passed since muddy soils once filled the lungs of men, crushed to death in blood-slimed piles and stripped of all their joys. Linocut my own.

Old roads hold silent secrets lit by darkened skies.

Well this reads like an author biog to aspire to! Just add Vincent Price, a dash of Lavenham and a touch of late 1960s film lighting and it’s perfect!

Was this seen by Gawain himself on his journey across North Wales in Sir Gawain and the Green Cnicht?!!

The fourteenth century is alive again! I'm delighted to announce that my books are now published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. They should once again be available through all good trade outlets in the coming days; please do support your local bookshop. Events and signings soon - please bear with me!

An ancient way to a distant time through the narrowest of doorways; the delightfully intimate entrance to the remote church at Little Hormead, Hertfordshire. #AdoorableThursday

When a fort melts in the landscape like some ice cream in the sun; so the ages pass away, their fighting days all done.

I wonder what this looked like once, so many years ago? A palace in a landscape plain, a house of power and standing.

An extra-special tomb for #TombTuesday - and what a special monument indeed. The effigy to Sir Hugh Calveley at Bunbury in Cheshire is redolent of the artistic splendour of the fourteenth century as so exemplified by Sir Gawain and the Green Knight!

Another week begins its way, unwinding as it wishes; where will each day now lead us?

A different kind of commune as stone bring peace to mind. A contemplative visitor to #Avebury from a couple of years ago. My own. #StandingStoneSunday

Saints at All Saints in solemn procession; some of the wonderful carved panels on the fourteenth century font at Bakewell, Derbyshire for #FontsOnFriday

A doorway of delights for duty every day for #AdoorableThursday at Gwydyr castle in the Conwy valley. Special!

He died, in sleep dismembered, but still he shapes our dreams.

Forgotten treasures found again in some Norfolk stairway.

Where feet once walked and then was washed, cast from the German Ocean.

Fabulous fifteenth century pierced frieze on the chancel screen at St James’s, Somerton, in the county of Oxford. Incredible the patience and skill involved in a work of such open fragility. #Woodensday #Oxfordshire

Hidden highlights of a Herefordshire church; an incised effigy of a knight, sandwiched between a pew and a wall at St Peter’s, Bromyard for #TombTuesday

Caped Collection? I reckon it was The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table which most likely tipped the balance in favour of this… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Finishing touches now made to the key block for the 2025 Mythical Britain Christmas Card! Next step, the colour blocks before printing begins. More Christmas ideas at www.mythicalbritain.co.uk/shop

Square pegs in a round whole? Dovecote-tastic!

Retracing steps - a couple of early linocuts from over a decade ago. The one of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is what started me on the long journey of translating, editing and illustrating medieval literature. What a journey it’s been!

Gawain as imagined by creatives through time - an assessment of different artists’ approaches to the magnificence of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. An excellent resource!

These are nice!

A door beneath a window below a table of grotesques. Some of the many fascinating features which make St Michael’s, Stanton Harcourt, so worthy of a visit. #AdoorableThursday

Strapping workmanship!

A view towards The Bongs, from Crosfield Bridge above Lymm Dam, Cheshire. Bongs is thought to be a corruption of the Middle English “bonks” (slopes or hill/valley sides; possibly wooded), a word which appears in a number of northern Middle English texts including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Today’s lesson: talk to people. An NHS carer was chatting to me today and spotted one of my Middle English texts on the settee. Turns out he was an admirer of Eric Ravilious and a collector of rare books. The world is a richer place when we see, talk and listen. Nothing is what it might seem.

Damaged but still delightful in all its well-cut detail; the face of Sir Philip Thornbury (d.1456) at Little Munden, Herts. You can almost feel the curling locks of his hair and see the jewels of his circlet, sparkling in the autumn light. Wonderful!

Calming cowscape after a night of crashing storms.

This is lovely; I particularly like the castle’s slight resemblance to Bodiam. We need peace right now and an end to barbarism.

Different ages and a door down in Herefordshire. A Norman doorway at St Peter’s at Bromyard with what seems to be a tympanum cut away in later years. The figure of St Peter above the door may pre-date the arch itself. #AdoorableThursday