While I hesitate to promote AI slop, this is hysterically funny. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4bH... I especially like Elizabeth I with Wren's St Paul's Cathedral in the background, the way that each building is completely different in each scene & the way warships move at speed with no sails.

"He wanted it big. He wanted lots of gold, lots of marble. He wanted visitors awestruck by his architectural expansion of the country’s symbolic seat of power." {gift link} www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Read about Two Bodley Churches: a study in contrast www.ecclsoc.org.uk/news/two-bod...

This.

Might be the greatest opening paragraph of anything ever.

Fears for future of church organs amid neglect Pipe Up for Pipe Organs has published a disturbing report: Silencing the King? The future of Britain's pipe organs. Download the report here: www.ecclsoc.org.uk/news/fears-f...

DWP have written to me to tell when my birthday is and that I will turn 67 in 5 years time. I can't help feeling there are better ways to spend public money.

Our public services aren’t for a secretive profit-hungry US tech firm. Sign the petition to tell the Government to scrap all contracts with secretive US tech firm Palantir. you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

Superb.

My first visit to the revamped Battersea Power Station. Quite liked it. Preserves sense of its absurd grandeur and the quality of its craftsmanship. A bit hemmed in by new developments, though I liked the one reminiscent of Gaudi's La Pedrera.

I visited the Rameses II exhibition at Battersea Power Station today. Outstanding & fascinating exhibits nicely displayed and lit. Slightly marred by occasional History Channel-esque presentation and sloppy typos in labels & video captions, but still well worth visiting.

@ecclsoc.bsky.social's two big publications have just hit members' doormats. The journal has a European flavour with articles on Anglican churches in Europe & one in particular in Switzerland. An article by Janet Gough on St George's Chapel Windsor with fab photos by @fotofacade.bsky.social & ...

Guided our of London Wren churches! Do it, do it 🤩🤩🤩

There're a few tickets still available for our Wren Watching: Wren Churches Walk in the City of London on Wednesday, 15th April 2026. Please book here: www.tickettailor.com/events/theec...

This company is increasingly embedded in UK Government, especially in defence. This needs to stop.

I’m starting to understand how one might go bankrupt running a casino.

From my latest Digest: 🤔 “I order an oat latte and a Danish from the barista - and she says, “Sure!” with a smile. Then her smile diminishes as she looks down again towards my hands. “Are you ok?” she says.” www.digest.andymarsh...

Just ordering some teak cleaner for my garden bench. Very tempted by the free delivery option.

This made me snort tea through my nose.

UK: Prince Andrew arrested. South Korea: Former President Yoon sentenced for life. Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro serving a 27-year sentence. USA: President Trump demands $10 billion payout from taxpayers.

Delighted to receive copies of my new book published by Amberley. I’ll be speaking and launching it at the Lincolnshire Churches Conference in Heckington on Saturday April 18th.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 27. Yesterday's photos were the last of the figurative windows I was able to photograph at this truly spectacular and fascinating church. There are more windows in the clerestory (typological in the nave, Apostles in the choir/presbytery) but not ones I could photograph.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 26, window 28a. Designed & made by Charles Eyck, 1947. Given by the citizens of Gouda. The Liberation Window. This pulls no punches & is a powerful piece of modern glass.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 25, window 28. Designed & made by Claes Jansz Wytmans, 1601. Given by the City of Rotterdam. Jesus & the Woman Taken in Adultery (John 8).

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 24, window 27. Design attrib. Hendrick de Keyser & made by unknown glazier, 1596-98. Given by the city of Amsterdam. Parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector (Luke 18).

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 23, window 26. Designed by Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg & made by Cornelis Cornelisz. Clock, 1598-1601. Given by the city of Leiden. The Relief of Samaria takes the relief of Samaria from Aramean attack in 2 Kings 6-7 as a type for the relief of Leiden in 1574.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 22, window 25. Designed by Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg & made by Dirck Jansz Verheyden & Dirck Reyniersz, 1600-04. Given by the City of Delft. The Relief of Leiden in 1574. Leiden was besieged by a Spanish army for 4 months during the early years of the Dutch Revolt.

Superb. Every garden centre everywhere.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 22, window 24. Designed by Dirck Crabeth & made by his workshop, 1559-61. Given by Philippe de Ligne, count of Fauquemberg. St Philip Preaching, Healing & Baptising. Another nice but overcrowded composition by Dirck Crabeth.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 21, window 23. Designed and made by Wouter Crabeth, 1561-63. Given by Margaret of Parma, half-sister of Philip II of Spain, & Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. South transept window, 20m tall. 2 parts: Jesus Washing the Disciples' Feet; & Elijah & the Prophets of Baal.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 20, window 22. Top part designed and made by Dirck Crabeth, 1565-69, given by William the Silent, Prince of Orange. Bottom part by Daniel Tomberg, 1657, given by assorted Gouda civic dignitaries. Jesus Cleansing the Temple (Matthew 21, John 2 et al).

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 19. After the cycle of windows on the life of John the Baptist, things get complicated. The nearby Emmaus Monastery was closed in 1572 & 7 of its 11 windows (new, probably by Dirck Crabeth) were transferred to Sint Janskerk. Here is the Betrayal at Gethsemane.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 18, window 19. Designed and made by Willem Tybaut of Haarlem, 1570. Given by Henrick van Swol, commander of the Knights Hospitaller in Haarlem. The final & gruesome episode in the cycle of John the Baptist windows - his beheading.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 17, window 18. Designed and made by Dirck Crabeth, 1556. Given by the descendants of Gerrit Heye Gerritz, mayor of Gouda. The theme continues the narrative of the life of John the Baptist, whose disciples question Jesus about his identity.

This excellent thing is free online from 29th January 2026 - 12th February 2026. @rogueclassicist.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 16, window 17. Designed and made by Jan van Zijl, 1556-57. Given by Wolter van Byler, commander of the Knights Hospitaller of St John, Utrecht. John the Baptist Rebukes King Herod & Herodias.

@markculham.bsky.social, Anthony Wells-Cole gave a very interesting paper at the New Insights conference last Saturday about the sources used in the windows in Wadham College, Oxford.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 15, window 16. Designed and made by Dirck Crabeth, 1556. Given by Cornelis van Mierop, dean of the Oudmunster, Utrecht. Jesus Witnessing to Himself. One of the oldest and best preserved of the Gouda windows. Not a great photo. Apologies.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 14, window 15. Designed and made by Dirck Crabeth, 1555-56. Given by Joris van Egmond, bishop of Utrecht. This is the centre window in the apse - The Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. It was the 1st window to be installed after the fire of 1522.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 13, window 14. Designed and made by Dirck Crabeth, 1559-62. Given by Robert van Bergen, bishop of Liege. John the Baptist preaching on the banks of the River Jordan. Quite a busy composition, with a large number of figures both in the main scene and the donor panel.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 13, window 13. Jesus as a boy in the Temple, designed by Lambert van Noort, made by Digman Meynaert & Hans Scrivers, 1559-61. Commissioned by Petrus van Suyren, abbot of Marienwaard, but he never paid for it & the cost was borne by the churchwardens.

Wren Watching: Wren Churches Walk: Wednesday 15 April The City of London rose like a phoenix from the ashes of the Great Fire and one man rose with it – Christopher Wren. Alexandra Epps and Jill Finch will introduce three of his churches. Book here: www.ecclsoc.org.uk/events/wren-...

Extraordinary depiction of shot silk in the costume of the gentleman on the right here. Worth downloading and zooming in if painterly technique is your thing. (Image: Palace of Versailles via Wikimedia)

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 11, window 12. The Nativity, designed & made by Wouter Crabeth, 1563-64. Given by the canons of Oudmunster, Utrecht. Mostly, only the pot metal glass elements are original. Much restored in 1932 to an exceptionally high standard.

So lovely to see my friend Louise Durning talking about the little known wall paintings in @lincoln.ox.ac.uk . Do take a look. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPay...

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 10, window 10. The Annunciation, designed and made by Daniel Tomberg, 1656. Given by the churchwardens of Sint Janskerk & replacing one of 1559 with the same theme, given by the Abbot of Berne, Theodurus van Well. The inscription implies the old window had not lasted well.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 9, window 9. Annunciation of the Birth of John the Baptist, designed by Lambert van Noort, made by Digman Meynaert, 1561. Given by Dirck Cornelisz van Hensbeeck. Not as accomplished as the Crabeth windows. John the Baptist is the patron saint of Sint Janskerk.

Here is Mark Carney's Davos speech in full, if you haven't already seen it. It really is outstanding. Also interesting that it got a standing ovation from the sort of audience you might imagine would be happy to go along with the new world order. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9EF...

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 8, window 8. The Punishment of Heliodorus, made by Wouter Crabeth, 1566. Given by Eric II, Duke of Brunswick & Luneburg. The theme is historical & from the Apocrypha.

Gouda, Sint Janskerk, Day 7, window 7, The King's Window, given by Philip II of Spain. Made by Dirck Crabeth, 1557-59. Placed in the north transept, the window is 20m tall. Badly damaged by storm, almost all the OT half is a 1910-11 restoration. Much of NT half too. But still outstanding.