Thaxted, 2025
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Mavis Staples - Sad And Beautiful World.
Showing posts with label thaxted. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thaxted. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Tuesday, 21 October 2025
Mars: Thaxted and Chelmsford Cathedral
Today began with a DAC visit to Thaxted where Gustav Holst wrote much of 'The Planets' Suite and ended at Chelmsford Cathedral beneath Luke Jerram's Mars: War & Peace installation, a reminder of 'Mars, Bringer of War' from 'The Planets' Suite. Beneath the Mars installation, Francis Spufford gave a lecture entitled 'War (What Is It Good For?)'.
Gustav Holst first visited Thaxted in 1913 when on a walking holiday in north-west Essex. He decided he must return. The next year he and his wife rented a cottage in Monk Street, a small hamlet south of Thaxted. It was here that he composed much of his suite “The Planets.”
Conrad Noel, the vicar of Thaxted, and Holst soon became friends with Holst taking a great interest in the church choir. In 1916 Gustav organised a Whitsun Festival in the church. He taught music at Saint Paul’s Girls School, James Allen’s Girls School and was Director of Music at Morley College and some students from all those institutions came to Thaxted to be part of the festival. The Festival in this form was repeated in 1917 and 1918.
In 1917 the family moved into Thaxted to live in “The Steps”, 19 Town Street. A blue plaque is beside the front door. In those days it was a quiet place to work. Holst wrote several pieces specially for Thaxted including “Tomorrow shall be my dancing day.”
The Whitsuntide festival ceased after 1918. Holst was abroad for much of the year working for the YMCA, undertaking the role of Musical Organiser for troops of the Army of the Black Sea. From 1920 the Whitsuntide Festivals continued in various London Churches, Canterbury Cathedral and finally Chichester Cathedral. Yet, in Thaxted the tradition of great music in the church continued. Many nationally famous orchestras and musicians came to play. Eventually a music festival in the months of June and July was restarted in 1980 and flourishes still today as the Thaxted Festival Foundation.
Holst continued to take an important part in the music in the Parish Church in many ways. This included playing the Lincoln organ which has now been restored.
After a head-injury in February 1923, Holst began to show the signs of overwork and, on strict medical advice, retired back to his beloved Thaxted for a long holiday, spending only one day a week in London. He continued to be involved with the Parish Church and its choir up until 1925 when he left Thaxted to live in at Brook End, a large Elizabethan house, some distance from Thaxted.
Thaxted Church is one of the grandest in the county of Essex, 183 feet long and 87 feet wide, and so beautiful that it may well claim to be the Cathedral of Essex. The Church stands on a hill and dominates the town. From whichever direction the visitor approaches, the splendid spire can be seen many miles away. It has been described as the finest parish church in the country, and has both beauty and grandeur.
The building began in 1340, and its growth continued through our great building centuries till the Reformation, and the result is a proud example of English architecture. It was completed in 1510. Perfect balance is achieved with the aisles and transepts, chapels and the two porches, the King's and the Duke's, for Edward the Fourth gave the one with his arms on it (North porch), and Lionel, Duke of Clarence gave the other marked with his coronet (South porch). Both porches are vaulted, and both have a spiral stair leading to a room above and ending in a turret. The Church was built in the form of a cathedral, with a fine crossing between the main body and the chancel. The hexagonal pulpit, with canopy and ogee-shaped base, dates from c.1680. The roof is early 16th century and comprises six bays.
The chancel is flanked by two side chapels. The left or North side is dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury, and is generally called 'the Becket chapel'. The right or South side is dedicated to Jesus' mother, Mary, and his maternal grandmother, Ann. Formally known as the chapel of 'Our Lady and Our Lady Anne, it is generally called 'the Lady chapel'.
The chapel in the south transept is dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria, who was condemned to death in 800AD nailed to a cart wheel. This area is now used as the Vestry but the statue to St Catherine can still be seen above the screen. The chapel in the north transept is dedicated to St Laurence, deacon of Rome, but has also been known as Trinity Aisle, and the Singers' Chapel. Since 1858 the chapel has been the home of the Lincoln Organ.
There are three organs: the largest was built by Henry Lincoln in 1820 and came here from St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, London, in 1858. The smallest 'Conrad Noel Memorial Organ' beneath the tower arch was built in 1952 by Cedric Arnold with money raised on the death of the late Fr Conrad Noel, vicar of Thaxted 1910-42. The Thaxted Music Festival has a Makin electronic organ which is located in front of the Tower and is used by the church for most of its music.
The organ built by Henry Lincoln around 1820 was rarely played due to its failing condition and its need of restoration. It was originally built for St. John's Chapel, Bedford Row, London but moved to Thaxted in 1858, and was in active use here until the 1960s. Over the 150 years in Thaxted, the instrument was not repaired or altered. The Organ was finally restored fully in 2013/2014 and returned to its place in the church during 2014. It will become an important musical resource for scholars around the country.
I was glad to see that a new and improved location has been found for their painting by Stanley Clifford-Smith, the most mystical of the Great Bardfield artists.
Clifford-Smith was an active member of the Great Bardfield Artists community during the mid to late 1950s and became the Honorary Secretary of the group. Clifford-Smith and the other Bardfield artists exhibited in the large 'open house' shows in the rural village in 1954, 1955 and 1958 as well as several one-off exhibitions and touring shows in the late 1950s. These exhibitions attracted thousands of visitors and made the art community famous thanks to press, radio and TV coverage.
Clifford-Smith's work in the 1950s was diverse and included Irish and Italian landscapes, images of ships, as well as hypnotic 'mother and child' portraits. He received many positive press reviews for his work while at Great Bardfield. In 1958 he moved to the Old Bakehouse in Great Bardfield with his family., and during the late 1950s he began to teach art in Cambridge. In the early 1960s the Great Bardfield art community fragmented and Clifford-Smith and his family (which now included four sons) moved to Little Baddow Hall near Chelmsford. During his time at Little Baddow he painted mainly thickly textured monochrome moon portraits, works inspired by the 1960s interest in space.
Following his death, several exhibitions were organised; a retrospective at the Minories, Colchester (1969), Little Baddow Hall Arts Centre (1979) and at the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden (1998). His work is included in several collections including the University of Cambridge, Benjamin Britten Foundation, Aldeburgh, Suffolk; the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend, Essex; and Thaxted Church, Essex.
Clifford-Smith was an active member of the Great Bardfield Artists community during the mid to late 1950s and became the Honorary Secretary of the group. Clifford-Smith and the other Bardfield artists exhibited in the large 'open house' shows in the rural village in 1954, 1955 and 1958 as well as several one-off exhibitions and touring shows in the late 1950s. These exhibitions attracted thousands of visitors and made the art community famous thanks to press, radio and TV coverage.
Clifford-Smith's work in the 1950s was diverse and included Irish and Italian landscapes, images of ships, as well as hypnotic 'mother and child' portraits. He received many positive press reviews for his work while at Great Bardfield. In 1958 he moved to the Old Bakehouse in Great Bardfield with his family., and during the late 1950s he began to teach art in Cambridge. In the early 1960s the Great Bardfield art community fragmented and Clifford-Smith and his family (which now included four sons) moved to Little Baddow Hall near Chelmsford. During his time at Little Baddow he painted mainly thickly textured monochrome moon portraits, works inspired by the 1960s interest in space.
Following his death, several exhibitions were organised; a retrospective at the Minories, Colchester (1969), Little Baddow Hall Arts Centre (1979) and at the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden (1998). His work is included in several collections including the University of Cambridge, Benjamin Britten Foundation, Aldeburgh, Suffolk; the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend, Essex; and Thaxted Church, Essex.
Clifford-Smith's moon portraits connect with another of Jerram's installations, Museum of the Moon which was at St Martin of Tours Church in Basildon last year.
Another interesting work that I saw for the first time today as part of the DAC tour was 'The Vine Window' by Lewis Foreman Day, which is at St Mary's Great Dunmow. This window, which was designed by Day, was made by Walter Pearce in 1909. The window shows Christ the King in rich robes against a background of vines and grapes growing out of a green vase. Nine cherubs surround the head of Christ.
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Gustav Holst - Mars, Bringer Of War.
Thursday, 25 April 2019
Conrad Noel: Paycocke's House & Thaxted
Paycocke's House and Gardens is a stunning Tudor merchant's house in Coggeshall. Visiting Paycocke's and Thaxted forms a mini Conrad Noel pilgrimage.
In 1904 Paycocke’s was bought by Lord Noel Buxton, a direct descendant of the previous Buxton owners, who oversaw the restoration making the house as one again and returning it to what he believed was its original state.
This was an ambitious task that took 20 years to complete and during the restoration, Noel Buxton’s cousin Conrad Noel and his wife Miriam lived in the building rent free. Noel was born in Kew and as a boy was "incarcerated in two public schools", as he later wrote. He went as a student to Cambridge but only stayed for one year in which time he acquired the Socialist beliefs that shaped the whole of his subsequent career. His early career was chequered; he was initially refused ordination because of his political beliefs and in 1906, with Reverend Percy Widdrington and others, formed the Church Socialist League.
A major event in Noel's life for which he is well-remembered was the "Battle of the Flags". As he later wrote, in Thaxted "we date everything from before or after the Battle of the Flags". Towards the end of the First World War he displayed in Thaxted Church the Sinn Fein flag, the Red Flag and the flag of St George, each of which was provocative and anti-establishment. Noel looked upon the Union Jack as the emblem of Britain’s "cruel exploitation" of the peoples of its Empire. With the rise of post-war Irish and labour troubles feelings polarised, and in 1921 a "battle" broke out, bringing Thaxted and its "Red Vicar" national notoriety. Cambridge students journeyed to Thaxted and ceremoniously pulled down the flags. Fighting broke out inside the Church and there were other disturbances. Questions were asked in Parliament and Noel was accused of sedition. Eventually, a Church of England consistory court was convened and Noel complied with its order to remove the flags.
Noel was a man of enormous charisma, energy and talent, all of which he brought to bear in making Thaxted a centre of religious, political and cultural activity, the last in particular for the English Arts and Crafts movement. His insistence that Christianity was about beauty and ritual attracted well-known artists and musicians to Thaxted, which became a place where folk traditions were encouraged. Noel was a strong influence on Gustav Holst during the years that the composer lived in Thaxted.
In 1923 Holst spent a summer at Paycocke’s House with his family. Having suffered a personal injury, Gustav saw Paycocke’s as the perfect retreat to recuperate in the country. His daughter, 16-year-old Imogen, spoke of her stay in letters to her school friend: 'This house is absolutely too wonderful for words...it is a dream. And it is great fun living in a dream...The house is supped to be the best example of the period in the whole of England, and artists and architects make pilgrimages from all over the country to see it. We are tremendously proud of it, and as it isn’t our own we can swank about it to our heart’s content.'
Under the influence of Noel and his wife Miriam, musical festivals, folkloric gatherings, maypole and Morris dancing all became part of local life. The Noels were experts in these traditions and encouraged everyone to be part of these activities. A folk revival was happening across Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, and the Morris Ring, the national organisation, was founded at a meeting in the town in 1934. English Morris Dancing still sees Thaxted as its home and the town boasts the country's oldest continuous existing 'side'.
This was an ambitious task that took 20 years to complete and during the restoration, Noel Buxton’s cousin Conrad Noel and his wife Miriam lived in the building rent free. Noel was born in Kew and as a boy was "incarcerated in two public schools", as he later wrote. He went as a student to Cambridge but only stayed for one year in which time he acquired the Socialist beliefs that shaped the whole of his subsequent career. His early career was chequered; he was initially refused ordination because of his political beliefs and in 1906, with Reverend Percy Widdrington and others, formed the Church Socialist League.
Noel described living on a building site yet being enthralled by the new discoveries that were continually being made: "We lived in an atmosphere of dust and white-wash and broken plaster." Miriam was an extremely keen gardener and whiled away many hours in the little garden which stretched down to the river. Inspired by the contemporary Arts & Crafts movement, she set out the entire garden in that style, installing a central path, a circular feature, stepped terraces, a writing shelter and a dovecote. The site even included a tennis court.
By 1910 the main restoration work on the house had been completed and that year Noel was appointed by the Countess of Warwick to the living of Thaxted, remaining its vicar until his death in 1942. In this rather remote corner of Essex, Noel preached his own version of Socialism and the Anglo-Catholic gospel. He brought life and controversy to the town though his outspoken political views and his enthusiastic encouragement of music and traditional rural customs.
Despite his patron's hope that he would use Thaxted as a base from which to propagate their shared socialist beliefs to a countrywide audience, Noel remained stubbornly faithful to and diligent in his work for the people of his parish, refusing her wishes that he should preach the gospel at large by "careering up and down the country giving Socialist lectures" as he later described it. In 1911 he was a founding member of the British Socialist Party but left it in 1918 to found the Catholic Crusade. He was also a member of the Independent Labour Party. But, for Noel, the parish was always the focal point of the priest's work, though his Catholic Crusade did carry his ideas to a wider public.
By 1910 the main restoration work on the house had been completed and that year Noel was appointed by the Countess of Warwick to the living of Thaxted, remaining its vicar until his death in 1942. In this rather remote corner of Essex, Noel preached his own version of Socialism and the Anglo-Catholic gospel. He brought life and controversy to the town though his outspoken political views and his enthusiastic encouragement of music and traditional rural customs.
Despite his patron's hope that he would use Thaxted as a base from which to propagate their shared socialist beliefs to a countrywide audience, Noel remained stubbornly faithful to and diligent in his work for the people of his parish, refusing her wishes that he should preach the gospel at large by "careering up and down the country giving Socialist lectures" as he later described it. In 1911 he was a founding member of the British Socialist Party but left it in 1918 to found the Catholic Crusade. He was also a member of the Independent Labour Party. But, for Noel, the parish was always the focal point of the priest's work, though his Catholic Crusade did carry his ideas to a wider public.
A major event in Noel's life for which he is well-remembered was the "Battle of the Flags". As he later wrote, in Thaxted "we date everything from before or after the Battle of the Flags". Towards the end of the First World War he displayed in Thaxted Church the Sinn Fein flag, the Red Flag and the flag of St George, each of which was provocative and anti-establishment. Noel looked upon the Union Jack as the emblem of Britain’s "cruel exploitation" of the peoples of its Empire. With the rise of post-war Irish and labour troubles feelings polarised, and in 1921 a "battle" broke out, bringing Thaxted and its "Red Vicar" national notoriety. Cambridge students journeyed to Thaxted and ceremoniously pulled down the flags. Fighting broke out inside the Church and there were other disturbances. Questions were asked in Parliament and Noel was accused of sedition. Eventually, a Church of England consistory court was convened and Noel complied with its order to remove the flags.
Noel was a man of enormous charisma, energy and talent, all of which he brought to bear in making Thaxted a centre of religious, political and cultural activity, the last in particular for the English Arts and Crafts movement. His insistence that Christianity was about beauty and ritual attracted well-known artists and musicians to Thaxted, which became a place where folk traditions were encouraged. Noel was a strong influence on Gustav Holst during the years that the composer lived in Thaxted.
In 1923 Holst spent a summer at Paycocke’s House with his family. Having suffered a personal injury, Gustav saw Paycocke’s as the perfect retreat to recuperate in the country. His daughter, 16-year-old Imogen, spoke of her stay in letters to her school friend: 'This house is absolutely too wonderful for words...it is a dream. And it is great fun living in a dream...The house is supped to be the best example of the period in the whole of England, and artists and architects make pilgrimages from all over the country to see it. We are tremendously proud of it, and as it isn’t our own we can swank about it to our heart’s content.'
Under the influence of Noel and his wife Miriam, musical festivals, folkloric gatherings, maypole and Morris dancing all became part of local life. The Noels were experts in these traditions and encouraged everyone to be part of these activities. A folk revival was happening across Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, and the Morris Ring, the national organisation, was founded at a meeting in the town in 1934. English Morris Dancing still sees Thaxted as its home and the town boasts the country's oldest continuous existing 'side'.
Noel loved the medieval poem ‘The General Dance’, also known as ‘Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day’,
and sometimes read it from the pulpit instead of giving a sermon. The poem describes the ministry of Christ as a dance, to which will
call his ‘true love’, Christian believers who will dance with him in joy. Holst composed a new setting for Noel, dedicated to him as a birthday gift.
A version of The General Dance can be found in the church in coloured manuscript, framed in carved wood. It hangs over the chest by the
entrance door. This chest was carved by Arthur Brown, with
panels, beginning with the preaching of the Gospel from
Thaxted pulpit, resulting in the treading down of dynasties
and crowns; the hammer and sickle adorn the third panel, the
symbol of artisans and labourers coming into their own, and
the fourth panel represents the music of the spheres, which
will be the music of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. On this hutch rest the delicately shaped “Praying Hands” by Eric Kennington, flanked by two shapely candles in black.
When Noel died in July 1942, he was buried in the churchyard, close to the high altar inside the church. Inside, he is remembered by a bronze head in the crossing, facing the high altar. His tombstone carries the words "He loved justice and hated oppression".
When Noel died in July 1942, he was buried in the churchyard, close to the high altar inside the church. Inside, he is remembered by a bronze head in the crossing, facing the high altar. His tombstone carries the words "He loved justice and hated oppression".
Noel's legacy continues with Thaxted Morris and the Thaxted Festival. In 1951 his legacy also led to Thaxted being part of the fortnight-long Three Villages Festival for the Festival of Britain. The Essex Rural Community Council chose the three Festival villages in Essex with care. Great Bardfield had been an artists’ colony since Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden fell on it in the early 1930s; Finchingfield, with its archetypal village green, was full of ‘theatrical settlers’ such as Val Gielgud (and Dodie Smith); Thaxted prided itself on its musical life, since Holst had lived there and Noel held concerts in his luminous, lofty medieval wool church.
Today Thaxted Church has a thickly textured monochrome moon portrait by Stanley Clifford-Smith who painted many religious works and was greatly influenced by the French expressionist Georges Rouault. Clifford-Smith was an active member of the Great Bardfield Artists community during the mid to late 1950s and became the Honorary Secretary of the group.
Today Thaxted Church has a thickly textured monochrome moon portrait by Stanley Clifford-Smith who painted many religious works and was greatly influenced by the French expressionist Georges Rouault. Clifford-Smith was an active member of the Great Bardfield Artists community during the mid to late 1950s and became the Honorary Secretary of the group.
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Gustav Holst - Thaxted.
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