Tag Archives: Gargoyles

Gargoyles

Gargoyles were originally designed in 13th century French architecture as a means of disposing of water. Think of them as the precursor to the gutter. Typically, a trough was cut into the back of the gargoyle and the rainwater was able to run off of the roof and through the gargoyle’s mouth.

And that’s the story I’m sticking to in showing all the gargoyles I took photos of while we were in England in September of 2022. This will be a photo heavy post.

If you would like to read more about gargoyles and grotesques in Oxford click here. You’ll see what I missed and what I’ll keep a lookout for Lord willing we ever are able to return to Oxford.

Back to the present in Colville at our Country Bungalow. It’s been raining and the temps are above freezing. Things are getting very soggy around here. We’ll call this the drip and puddle season that will soon turn to the mud season before we see the green of Spring. Dear is driving again and we managed to snow shovel the way for our truck to get out of the shop and on to the dump to make our winter dump run. Romantic, isn’t it? We did stop for lunch on the way home from the dump so that’s a thing. 🙂 Happy New week to you.

Oxford Archives ~ Magdalene College Cloisters

The 15th Century Cloisters construction commenced in 1474 which makes this medieval square of stone among the oldest parts of Magdalen.

Oxford Day 6 156Balancing on the buttresses that jut from the Cloister walls are the figures later known as ‘hieroglyphics’, the ‘GARGELS”, Magdalen’s very own gargoyles. Some are biblical, some heraldic, all symbolic. Since they entered the College in 1508-9 they have been keeping their emblematic eyes on the comings and goings in the Cloisters and the quad.

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Oxford Day 6 155Wanted to let you all see that we did “keep off the grass”.

From the Cloisters we headed out to Addison’s walk and the New Building following the footsteps of Tolkien and Lewis along one of the paths that leads to  the famous meetings of the “Inklings”.

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Back to the present day Saturday August 6, 2022. This evening we are hosting a raclette meal for 6 in our home. We offered the meal as an auction item for our Church Missionary fundraiser back in May. Hopefully I’ll remember to take photos of the event.

University of Washington Gargoyles

The University of Washington in Seattle was established in 1861. The gargoyles I zoomed in on are located on buildings in the Liberal Arts Quadrangle, commonly known as the Quad. The Quad is also where multitudes come to see the cherry blossoms in Spring. Our DIL Laura and I were in the Quad last Monday and I took some new photos of some of the gargoyles. If you want to see the Cherry Blossoms click here.

Gargoyles are figures often carved into the architecture of old churches, usually in the form of a grotesque animal or human. Many times gargoyles in Gothic churches were attached to the gutter system of the roof, with the mouth of the gargoyle acting as a spout for rainwater, helping keep the masonry from being destroyed.

I have a another post about the gargoyles on the buildings in the Quad here.

I’m linking up with Angie for Mosaic Monday.

We are enjoying any sunshine that peeks through the clouds these fickle Spring days. We worked on our front planters until we both needed a few good doses of Ibuprofen. They are mostly cleared and now staked out for new borders and shape before we replant anything in them. We have many projects to complete at our Country Bungalow. We’ll have to pace ourselves and spread things out in the next 5 years!

Gargoyles on the Quad

The University of Washington in Seattle was established in 1861. The gargoyles I zoomed in on are located on buildings in the Liberal Arts Quadrangle, commonly known as the Quad.

While we were admiring the Cherry blossoms and the Magnolia blossoms at the University of Washington I enjoyed zooming in to get a closer look at the gargoyles on the different buildings on the quad. I also took some close ups of the School of Art and Music buildings.

Gargoyles are figures often carved into the architecture of old churches, usually in the form of a grotesque animal or human. Many times gargoyles in Gothic churches were attached to the gutter system of the roof, with the mouth of the gargoyle acting as a spout for rainwater, helping keep the masonry from being destroyed.

The University of Washington is a real treasure for the state and city of Seattle. We have two graduates of the University in our family and one more who will graduate in 2018.

Enjoying lots of cuddle time with our new granddaughter. We had an exciting wind and thunderstorm event today. Haven’t had time to upload new photos but will soon. Saturday we are headed to a junk show. We have some items we are on the lookout for. I’ll let you know how it goes. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and we enter Holy Week. I’m so glad Jesus came to earth to save us. Have a wonderful weekend.

Good Golly…

We are already on the letter G for ABC Wednesday! Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and the ABC team!

I’m going with Green and Gargoyle for the letter G. Green moss is something that we have quite an abundance of here in the great Northwest.

Our apple tree is covered in moss.

On our trips to Great Britain we enjoy looking up to see the Gargoyles that are here and there.

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We have gargoyles here in the U.S.A., too. My daughter and I toured the Biltmore House and Gardens and these creatures looked down on us.

One last addition to the letter G is my Bible verse card for the week. Timely indeed because of the letter G and because of present circumstances!

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Hope you are enjoying the last week of February. So many of you are enduring some harsh winter conditions and I hope things settle down to a more mild clime. We have some rain in the forecast again here in the Northwest after enjoying several dry sunny days.

 

InSPIREd Sunday ~ Washington National Cathedral

This cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, had its beginning in 1893. The foundation stone was laid in 1907 in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt, and the Cathedral was completed in 1990 – 83 years later – when the “final finial” was placed in the presence of President George H.W. Bush.

Built of Indiana limestone, the Cathedral is the sixth largest in the world. Its design is unique and not copied from any earlier building. The building is shaped like a cross, with a long nave – a tenth of a mile- and two shorter transepts.

The Cathedral’s architectural style is Gothic, characterized by great height and the use of pointed arches, boss stones, ribbed vaulting,  large windows, and flying buttresses.

When visiting these wonderful historical sites there’s always something you miss or at least I miss. I tend to learn more about the site when I finally get ready to post about it on my blog. Although I did notice these Gargoyles, I totally missed the fact that Darth Vader was one of the Gargoyles on the Cathedral! Here’s an explanation.

In the 1980s, while the west towers were under construction, Washington National Cathedral held a decorative sculpture competition for children. Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

You would need binoculars to see it so I don’t feel too bad about totally missing it!

I guess I’ll have to visit this marvelous cathedral again. I have posts on the interior of the cathedral and the Bishop’s Garden here, here, and here.

Thank you to Beth and Sally for hosting InSPIREd Sunday.

Magdalen College ~ Cloisters

The 15th Century Cloisters construction commenced in 1474 which makes this medieval square of stone among the oldest parts of Magdalen.

Oxford Day 6 156Balancing on the buttresses that jut from the Cloister walls are the figures later known as ‘hieroglyphics’, the ‘GARGELS”, Magdalen’s very own gargoyles. Some are biblical, some heraldic, all symbolic. Since they entered the College in 1508-9 they have been keeping their emblematic eyes on the comings and goings in the Cloisters and the quad.

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Oxford Day 6 153

Oxford Day 6 154

Oxford Day 6 155Wanted to let you all see that we did “keep off the grass”.

From the Cloisters we headed out to Addison’s walk and the New Building following the footsteps of Tolkien and Lewis along one of the paths that leads to  the famous meetings of the “Inklings”.

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Oxford Day 6 170As you can tell from my posts from Oxford there is a lot to see in this city. I still haven’t shown you photos from Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera or the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. These places have been seen in many Masterpiece Mystery series and scenes from Harry Potter movies, too. My last post of Oxford will be photo heavy.

Back at this old house the renovations continue. We were hoping for things to be wrapped up today but that’s not happening. Maybe by Tuesday…

We have Fleet week and SeaFair and Hydro races and the Blue Angels in Seattle this weekend. What does the first weekend in August hold for you?

Exaggerate ~

Represent (something) as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it really is:

We arrived early for our flight from Heathrow due to all the hype that was put out in the news about the batteries in electronic devices being checked. We were told and alerted by our airline to make sure all our batteries were fully charged as they would be subject to confiscation if the device did not turn on properly.

The reality for Dear and me was that none of our devices were checked to see if they would turn on. We made it through security lickity split and had a relaxing wait for our flight.

P1050516Here’s a little travel tip for you when traveling to and from Heathrow airport. Souvenir type items can be bought at the terminal and they seem to be priced lower than the street vendors and stores in London. There are several shops to choose from. We came in and out of terminal 3. I’m pretty sure terminals 4 and 5 had more shops than teminal 3. The Harrods shop you see in this photo had items clearly marked as less than their store in Kensington. The Starbucks at the airport had mugs from several locations in England, Scotland and Wales and the mugs were just under seven pounds each. Her’s the one I chose this year.

P1050519Since we were in Wales on this trip and once before I thought it a good choice. The mug on the left I purchased at England’s version of  T.J. Maxx called T.K. Maxx!

The Thames 107Here’s something we can’t overdo or exaggerate, being thankful to God. We are thankful for His watch care over us during our whole trip and everyday of our lives. This sign was on the doorpost of The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, on High Street in Windsor. We walked around this church on our last full day in England.The Thames 106The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8

When you travel abroad you really should make sure and walk into the magnificent old churches. I will be doing a post in the future with the surprise that we were treated to by visiting this church.

So we are home and enjoyed a good rest in our own bed last night. Our son Josh picked us up from the airport where going through customs was a breeze. He took us to our favorite Mexican haunt on the way home for a little taste of Mexico that we had missed while in England. Today we are working on getting a little organized, washing up some clothes, and getting over jet lag. Hopefully by tomorrow we won’t resemble this…

To Windsor 146Gargoyles are so interesting and creepy.  More from England coming soon when my thoughts are more coherent. Have a wonderful weekend.

The Other Side…

I wanted to finish sharing my photos from the Duomo (Milan Cathedral). These shots are taken of the back and some from the sides.

This shot captures the lift that is used by construction crew to get to the top of the Duomo where restoration work is being done.

There are 2245 statues on the exterior of the Duomo, 96 gargoyles, and 135 Spires.

This is the one figure that I recognized on the outside of the Duomo. Have you read the account of David and Goliath from the Bible? Here are excerpts from 1 Samuel 17…

4 The Philistine army had a hero named Goliath who was from the town of Gath and was over nine feet tall. 5-6 He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back, 7 and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed more than fifteen pounds. A soldier always walked in front of Goliath to carry his shield.

8 Goliath went out and shouted to the army of Israel:

Why are you lining up for battle? I’m the best soldier in our army, and all of you are in Saul’s army. Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me! 9 If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves. But if I kill him, your people will be our slaves. 10 Here and now I challenge Israel’s whole army! Choose someone to fight me!…

…11 Saul and his men heard what Goliath said, but they were so frightened of Goliath that they couldn’t do a thing…

…16 Goliath came out and gave his challenge every morning and every evening for forty days…

…26 David asked some soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He’s making fun of the army of the living God!”…

…31 Some soldiers overheard David talking, so they told Saul what David had said. Saul sent for David, and David came. 32 “Your Majesty,” he said, “this Philistine shouldn’t turn us into cowards. I’ll go out and fight him myself!”

33 “You don’t have a chance against him,” Saul replied. “You’re only a boy, and he’s been a soldier all his life.”

34 But David told him:

Your Majesty, I take care of my father’s sheep. And when one of them is dragged off by a lion or a bear, 35 I go after it and beat the wild animal until it lets the sheep go. If the wild animal turns and attacks me, I grab it by the throat and kill it.

36 Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this worthless Philistine. He shouldn’t have made fun of the army of the living God! 37 The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine.

“All right,” Saul answered, “go ahead and fight him. And I hope the Lord will help you.”…

…David took off the armor 40 and picked up his shepherd’s stick. He went out to a stream and picked up five smooth rocks and put them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he went straight toward Goliath.

41 Goliath came toward David, walking behind the soldier who was carrying his shield. 42 When Goliath saw that David was just a healthy, good-looking boy, he made fun of him. 43 “Do you think I’m a dog?” Goliath asked. “Is that why you’ve come after me with a stick?” He cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods 44 and shouted, “Come on! When I’m finished with you, I’ll feed you to the birds and wild animals!”

45 David answered:

You’ve come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I’ve come out to fight you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel’s army, and you have insulted him too!

46 Today the Lord will help me defeat you. I’ll knock you down and cut off your head, and I’ll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. 47 Everybody here will see that the Lord doesn’t need swords or spears to save his people. The Lord always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you.

48 When Goliath started forward, David ran toward him. 49 He put a rock in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the rock flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 David defeated Goliath with a sling and a rock. He killed him without even using a sword.

51 David ran over and pulled out Goliath’s sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath’s head.

Hope you made it through my longer than usual post. There’s more and you can read the whole account in the Old Testament in the book of First Samuel. Reading this again makes me want to sing “Only a Boy Named David”. Did you ever sing that song?

Tuesday got away from me. Now I’m doing some scrambling today to get reconnected to my brain. Our glorious sunshine from the weekend is hiding away for now and hopefully will return soon. What are you enjoying this week?

Outside the Washington National Cathedral

 

This cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, had its beginning in 1893. The foundation stone was laid in 1907 in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt, and the Cathedral was completed in 1990 – 83 years later – when the “final finial” was placed in the presence of President George H.W. Bush.

 

Built of Indiana limestone, the Cathedral is the sixth largest in the world. Its design is unique and not copied from any earlier building. The building is shaped like a cross, with a long nave – a tenth of a mile- and two shorter transepts.

 

 

 

The Cathedral’s architectural style is Gothic, characterized by great height and the use of pointed arches, boss stones, ribbed vaulting,  large windows, and flying buttresses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When visiting these wonderful historical sites there’s always something you miss or at least I miss. I tend to learn more about the site when I finally get ready to post about it on my blog. Although I did notice these Gargoyles, I totally missed the fact that Darth Vader was one of the Gargoyles on the Cathedral! Here’s an explanation.

In the 1980s, while the west towers were under construction, Washington National Cathedral held a decorative sculpture competition for children. Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

You would need binoculars to see it so I don’t feel too bad about totally missing it!

My thoughts and prayers are with the people in the areas of our country hit by devastating tornadoes and other weather related tragedies. Praying that God would sustain them while they work to recover.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.