Never judge a book by its cover.
If you drove past St Nicholas, in the tiny village of Hurst in Berkshire, you might be forgiven for thinking it was a Victorian conversion with all the usual pompous crenelations and preposterous improvements.
Because on the outside, it does look very Victorian. But if you ever find yourselves in this corner of the world, get the church warden to bring a key, and step around it. Inside, there are parts of it that remain as reminders of the 13th century.
Men of power and influence lived in places like this, close to London, and I’ll tell their stories another day; but the walls are covered with their memory; Richard Kippax, a member of Elizabeth’s Star Chamber; the court which was founded to enforce the laws of the land against prominent and powerful people when ordinary courts would never dream of convicting the influential. Thomas Dundas: the commander of the Naiad, the ship which reported the movement of the combined fleet back to Nelson during the Battle of Trafalgar. Sir Henry Saville, Queen Elizabeth’s tutor in Greek.
And it has moments of utter splendour, couched in the language of a little village church.
I came to see the hour-glass. The sand timer, which sits by the pulpit, was instigated to limit the time a clergyman could spend preaching to his congregation. Hurst’s vicar would not have been allowed to ramble on, not with important men in the pews. The hour-glass is extravagantly marked with the year of its iron stand: 1636.
BUt the hour glass is a tiny fragment of the story of St Nicholas, told in stone and wood and glorious flamboyant colour, tucked away behind a flint facade.
Gems can be hidden, can’t they? Dusty, or tarnished, lost under a piece of furniture or packed away in an attic.
This church, hidden down a winding road beneath a Victorian cloak of flint, is just such a gem.
Kate Shrewsday 
Beautiful. So glad you were able to get in and get these pictures. I can think of so many places where such an hourglass is needed …
Indeed 🙂 Though this is such a very beautiful one…
It is amazing! Thank you!
Pleasure 🙂
Oh, yes, a gem indeed and from your pictures, full of stories I’m dying to learn more about! All this in 15 minutes, Kate, or did the Vicar give you a little more time?
No, just 15 minutes, Wanderlust. It’s amazing what one can do with that time and a camera to record things to remember.
I know a few places where an hour glass with this intention, is needed!
I would love such a beautiful one, Tandy 🙂
what an amazing place, all still intact
It is, And such a surprise; I thought they would have obliterated all the history, but not a bit of it.
Interesting that the little timer, and the rest of the fabric of this lovely church, survived the depredations of Cromwell’s troops
Almost all, Roger. Did you catch the picture of the headless effigies?
Beautiful place.
Stunning, Jas. So rich in colour and detail 🙂
I love this, the hourglass, colourful pulpit, it is a beautiful little church.
Hi Stephanie! Thank you for coming along to look. It is an enchanting little place. And you can have a pub lunch afterwards 🙂
wonderful
🙂
Love Hour Glasses, just fun watching them and thinking about life’s hour glass and how to slow down the sand.
They are fun. I got tingles down my spine when the church warden set this one going for me, Lou.
Wonderful captures and share, Kate. Hidden treasures indeed.
A must-visit should you ever find yourself on this side of the pond, Nancy.
So lovely, what beautiful colours!
They are unusually vivid for a church like this, Laura 🙂 Thanks for coming along to read today.
And so? How long did the clock run?
Lori, would you believe I didn’t ask? I must get in touch. I did see it running – I’d estimate about 20 minutes at the most. Nice and brief 🙂
Are services still performed here?
Yes, it’s still a thriving village church, Virginia. Strange places, these, stretching back for centuries, made of stone and faced with gargoyles, but there’s still the box of Fisher Price toys for the kids on Sunday.
So very cool. I need to take a trip again ….
You should. I never run out of things to see or think about. Place is one big floating museum, Michael.
Spectacular Kate – you have a skill for finding the hidden magic 🙂
Fluke 🙂 Pure fluke…
Kate . . . here’s a story you might enjoy:
http://deborahbrasket.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/true-ghost-stories-part-one-growing-up-in-a-haunted-house/
From what I have read our long winded Puritan ministers should have brought these hour glasses with them when they came over.
It’s bad enough the vicar had a visible cue to remind him to keep his sermons short, but that placard is a hoot: “As this glass runneth, so man’s life passeth.” (or words to that effect). Thanks for this gem, Kate. Old churches have such character.
I have no idea the hourglass would be that elaborate! It’s funny how I underestimated the size. I pictured something more discreet, possibly only for the vicar to see. I love this! Sitting in the pews one could estimate how much longer they’d be held captive! The ornamentation is very special and I think you really found a gem in St. Nicholas. And to think you almost missed it! 🙂
Lovely! Thank you, Kate, for including so many close-up photos.
A gem, indeed, Kate. I’m so glad you were allowed inside and shared. Some of the icons remind me of the Eastern Orthodox church – except for the gargoyles. ha
Certainly much that shines.
Seems sad that the key has to be produced, these days. So many churches used to be open at all hours. Vandals and thieves daring to target churches hadn’t been invented yet?
So man’s life passeth. Lovely find Kate.
A gem, indeed, and that timer is such a simple and effective visual control of something we cannot control and have a limited ever fully grasp.
Marvellous photos of all the interesting details, Kate. Any idea where the heads on those cloaked figures went?