Andy Marshall's Genius Loci Digest: 19 July 2024

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PHOTO-HOARD

Sea of steps: a real hidden gem: the Norman crypt at St. Mary’s, Warwick.

WORDS

“The specific existence of the vital qualities of different spaces becomes evident and tangible mostly in the moments of passage from a space to another..”

Tonino Griffero

OBSERVATIONS

Aurora

From the cloister at Norwich Cathedral, I walk through the Prior’s Door and into the cathedral.

I say hello to the greeter and then seek a view of the nave in its entirety. Instantly, I’m drawn towards a splash of colour that breaks up the syncopation of the north arcade. I walk across to the east end of the north aisle, look west, and see a pocket of golden light in the distance.

The cathedral is almost empty, and the space seems to hover within the light. I think to myself: "If anybody tried to build an earthly representation of heaven’s gate, then surely this is it?" I dive into the glimmer and immerse myself. It feels otherworldly, painterly.

The kaleidoscope of light is being orchestrated by John Mclean’s Trinity windows.

Inside the nave, the vaulting is a vast geometry caught in Medusa’s gaze, but here the softened, soapy Caen unfurls fern-like. I stand surrounded by the foliate, the cusping, and the trefoil. The heavy Romanesque and faint trappings of Gothic, set within this bounteous glow, feel seamless, natural, and organic. This is architectural shinrin-yoku.

After ten minutes I feel rejuvenated and balanced. I become what is around me: light particulate, emotion.

I get the same feeling when I come across certain spots in a forest. A transition, a particular quality of light, the bend of a tree, the canopy density, the sound of the leaves. But, in this case it is orchestrated, it stems from human minds and hands. These places are repositories that embody the lives of our forebears, and they aren’t passive. Through the material culture - decorations, graffiti, inscriptions, typography, insertions and deletions, the grammar of architecture and archaeology - they are vocal. And because they’re deeply rooted in the past we can absorb the nutrients there-in.

For me, it’s not the past per se, but the ‘accumulated intensity of the past upon the present'.* Standing here silently, in the luminescence of the north aisle at Norwich, I feel an overwhelming sense of continuity.

Sometimes entering a certain space or room aligns with a state of mind. Some places have a combination of ingredients that allow us to unhook from the terrestrial plane and simply dwell. And it’s in that sense that we use architecture to try to ‘break through the bounds of our bodies’ to counteract ‘the ordinary trappings of space and time.’ *1

But there's something more to these places for me. They allow us to connect with our loved ones, sparking memories and moments of union and correspondence. Often referred to as 'Thin Places,' these locations are where the boundary between heaven and earth, between the present and the past, between those separated by time and space, is at its thinnest.

Some words by Rob Cowen come to mind. In his book, Common Ground, Rob engages with the landscape around his home and comes across a particularly beautiful spot:

“It’s moments like these that make you think places have a memory all of their own…It’s hardly a theory, more a feeling born of so long spent outside, but what if landscapes somehow become repositories of personal and collective memory? What if traces are imprinted or stored in an imperceptible or intangible way, and the land itself retains the culture of a place? Then what if, when a certain set of stimuli is triggered, a kind of molecular union occurs between that place and a person whereby memories and experiences are passed on like the sting of a nettle?”

*Mafanwy Evans in Axis magazine winter 1937

*1 Colin Ellard in Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life.

I'ld love to hear of your 'thin places.' Do you have a place that sparks a correspondence with another person, another time, a past memory? Why not make a pilgrimage and observe your emotions as you arrive and enter the place?

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HOTSPOTS

Ferry Lane, The Close and Hooks Walk, Norwich.

I walk in towards the cathedral alongside the River Wensum and via Pull's Ferry. The Watergate was the entrance to the route for Caen stone used to build the cathedral. A canal was built by the monks and ran underneath the archway.

The Buildings of Ferry Lane

Ferry Lane takes the line of the Monk's canal.

I pause and gaze back down Ferry Lane, peeling away the layers of time that have settled over the years. I try to picture the canal in its prime: barges laden with Caen stone, moving towards the ascending east end. The rhythmic clink of masons' hammers while rooks caw overhead, their cries mingling with plainsong drifting from a makeshift wooden chapel, cockled against the burgeoning chancel.

I think back to the Treasurer's House in York where people have reported seeing a legion of Roman soldiers walking at waste height in the cellar - at the original ground level. I imagine the same here - the boats masts just visible, moving up the road with the tops of the monks heads cutting through the tarmac.

Without the Watergate building at Pull's Ferry the memory of those times might be forgotten. It's presence acts as a memory bank for the canal, the monks and their trials and tribulations.

The Close

This feels like a village within a city, largely because it is cut off from the rest of Norwich by the Precinct Wall and the River Wensum. This has lead to a sense of place unlike most other cities.

Hook's Walk (within The Close)

Hook's walk is a small street full of delightful vernacular buildings originating in medieval and late medieval times.

Back along The Close and into the Cathedral

There are signs of change, makeshift and make-do along the walls and boundaries.

Norwich Cathedral.

This is a place of light and of continuity. That's not a bad combination. I don't have a lot of time to spend here - so I conjure up my photographer's mind and allow myself to be drawn into the spaces that are pleasing to the eye.

I'd like to share with you where my lens took me, with no fuss or explanation - pure scroll.

Compare the above Pelican in its Piety with others that I've photographed all over the country - Comperandum for Members

Like Norwich Cathedral? This Digest is about the remarkable Cloister:

VAN LIFE

I use the Just Park app to find a spot for the van on somebody's driveway. That means that lunch in the van is out of the question - so I head out of the Cathedral and into the city in search of a sandwich.

The search for a cheese butty takes me through the C15th Erpingham Gate and past some remarkable buildings:

I walk along Princes Street and onto Elm Hill and a vision opens up before me. My hunt for a sandwich is over.

The Briton Arms with its origins in the C15th is a delight and it has a cosmos of butty options. I'm so taken up with ordering my sandwich that I fail to see the view from the window.

Elm Hill is a remarkable survival - saved from demolition by the council in the early C20th. It hosts a number of independent shops. Most buildings are still owned by the council.

ON MY COFFEE TABLE

BOOKMARKED

FILM AND SOUND

FROM THE ARCHIVE

This time last year:

'Perhaps, collectively, we should devote more time to seeking out and experiencing awe. It seems that we might find it at the churchyard down the lane.'

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