David Crouch 🏳️🌈
@dbcrouch.bsky.social
Medieval social history. VCH Editor East Yorkshire. Academician. Cardiffian exile. Hwntw Falch. Cymro yn Sir Efrog.
On Thursday, the remarkable north porch door of Kilnwick Percy church. The dilapidated church was reconstructed in an elaborate neo-Romanesque style in 1864–5 to designs by J.B. & W. Atkinson for Arthur Duncombe, and this door was shifted from the south side to the new north porch facing the Hall.
September 18, 2025 at 12:24 PM
On Thursday, the remarkable north porch door of Kilnwick Percy church. The dilapidated church was reconstructed in an elaborate neo-Romanesque style in 1864–5 to designs by J.B. & W. Atkinson for Arthur Duncombe, and this door was shifted from the south side to the new north porch facing the Hall.
Not great but here are a couple of pics of the chancel arch against which it's been parked since the beginning of the 20th century (I think)
September 7, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Not great but here are a couple of pics of the chancel arch against which it's been parked since the beginning of the 20th century (I think)
Coming out this week, Lindy Grant's definitive revisionist biography of a Queen all too often obscured by literary and cultural myth.
August 11, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Coming out this week, Lindy Grant's definitive revisionist biography of a Queen all too often obscured by literary and cultural myth.
The Treasurer also had a fine moated Manor House at Bishop Wilton, next to the church of St Edith. It was quadrangular set in gardens. Only two arms of the moat now survives
March 28, 2025 at 10:44 AM
The Treasurer also had a fine moated Manor House at Bishop Wilton, next to the church of St Edith. It was quadrangular set in gardens. Only two arms of the moat now survives
St Peter’s church Woodmansey. Pass it most days and this weekend the door was open. Neat little church of around 1896 built by the local manorial lord. The font’s the surprise. Genuinely 14thC. Pevsner says ‘where is it from?’. Good question Sir Nikolas
March 10, 2025 at 8:31 AM
St Peter’s church Woodmansey. Pass it most days and this weekend the door was open. Neat little church of around 1896 built by the local manorial lord. The font’s the surprise. Genuinely 14thC. Pevsner says ‘where is it from?’. Good question Sir Nikolas
Takes me back ...
February 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Takes me back ...
One result of Methodism's great age in 19th-century Yorkshire was the number of Wesleyan schools founded in its towns. Methodist children could thus escape the compulsory catechism and church attendance enforced by Anglican National Society Schools. This is the Pocklington Wesleyan School (1852)
January 19, 2025 at 10:59 AM
One result of Methodism's great age in 19th-century Yorkshire was the number of Wesleyan schools founded in its towns. Methodist children could thus escape the compulsory catechism and church attendance enforced by Anglican National Society Schools. This is the Pocklington Wesleyan School (1852)
Graham Loud's new biography of Frederick is published on 1 February by Reaktion, and at the bargain price of £16.95. It's designed as an accessible teaching book rather than an academic 'door-stopper' as he puts it, which sets it apart from previous volumes.
reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/frederi...
reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/frederi...
January 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Graham Loud's new biography of Frederick is published on 1 February by Reaktion, and at the bargain price of £16.95. It's designed as an accessible teaching book rather than an academic 'door-stopper' as he puts it, which sets it apart from previous volumes.
reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/frederi...
reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/frederi...
I do love seals. This is Earl William's great seal, one of only two impressions (Wiltshire & Swindon HC, 9/15/6), now he too apologised for the 'wrong' seal on a letter (to Henry III) which he got his cousin and seneschal to seal *quoniam sigillum meum mecum non habui* (TNA, SC1/4/67)
January 17, 2025 at 10:29 AM
I do love seals. This is Earl William's great seal, one of only two impressions (Wiltshire & Swindon HC, 9/15/6), now he too apologised for the 'wrong' seal on a letter (to Henry III) which he got his cousin and seneschal to seal *quoniam sigillum meum mecum non habui* (TNA, SC1/4/67)
But does that mean that John had been born in Gillingham? Not really likely. In 1167-8 Queen Eleanor was in England, and resident from Michaelmas onwards in Winchester, while her husband was in Normandy. A designated wet nurse some fifty miles away makes the city the likely birth site. 7/9
December 28, 2024 at 7:54 AM
But does that mean that John had been born in Gillingham? Not really likely. In 1167-8 Queen Eleanor was in England, and resident from Michaelmas onwards in Winchester, while her husband was in Normandy. A designated wet nurse some fifty miles away makes the city the likely birth site. 7/9
However that's the wrong Christmas. Now a 1212 inquest reports a certain William Baillebien held land at the gift of King John’s father ‘because he tended him [John] in his cradle’. Baillebien was keeper of Gillingham in Dorset and its forest, what ,ight this indicate about the birth? 5/9
December 28, 2024 at 7:54 AM
However that's the wrong Christmas. Now a 1212 inquest reports a certain William Baillebien held land at the gift of King John’s father ‘because he tended him [John] in his cradle’. Baillebien was keeper of Gillingham in Dorset and its forest, what ,ight this indicate about the birth? 5/9
If we believe the passing comment of a canon of Laon in NW France that John was born ‘around the feast of St John’ and was given the name of the saint and evangelist as his quasi-godparent, then he was born around the 27 December, though that might have been his baptismal date not his birth. 3/9
December 28, 2024 at 7:54 AM
If we believe the passing comment of a canon of Laon in NW France that John was born ‘around the feast of St John’ and was given the name of the saint and evangelist as his quasi-godparent, then he was born around the 27 December, though that might have been his baptismal date not his birth. 3/9
But one other source, John’s own clerk, Gerald of Wales, tells us that when he arrived in Ireland in April 1185 John was 17 years old. That would indicate 1167 is the correct date, and it would also match his known knighting in 1166, for which the customary age was 16. 2/9
December 28, 2024 at 7:54 AM
But one other source, John’s own clerk, Gerald of Wales, tells us that when he arrived in Ireland in April 1185 John was 17 years old. That would indicate 1167 is the correct date, and it would also match his known knighting in 1166, for which the customary age was 16. 2/9
When and where was King John born? When is more easy to say than where. The year was either 1166 or 1167, according to which Angevin historian you read. Ralph Diceto, Dean of London, said baldly it was 1166, but one copy of the work of the annalist Robert de Torigny, listed it under 1167. 1/9
December 28, 2024 at 7:54 AM
When and where was King John born? When is more easy to say than where. The year was either 1166 or 1167, according to which Angevin historian you read. Ralph Diceto, Dean of London, said baldly it was 1166, but one copy of the work of the annalist Robert de Torigny, listed it under 1167. 1/9
How my city has changed in my absence. The old Customs House a footstool for a hotel chain. All in all though I don’t dislike the new streetscapes. And the preservation of the old shopping arcades is praiseworthy. Caerdydd am byth.
December 19, 2024 at 8:03 AM
How my city has changed in my absence. The old Customs House a footstool for a hotel chain. All in all though I don’t dislike the new streetscapes. And the preservation of the old shopping arcades is praiseworthy. Caerdydd am byth.
Heading west up the Humber for London and Wales, and thinking about Roger of Howden’s 1194 voyage down the same stretch of water to pick up his transport for Marseille to seek out King Richard. He was carrying a small barrel of silver as a bribe. Me, just carrying Xmas presents for family
December 17, 2024 at 8:38 AM
Heading west up the Humber for London and Wales, and thinking about Roger of Howden’s 1194 voyage down the same stretch of water to pick up his transport for Marseille to seek out King Richard. He was carrying a small barrel of silver as a bribe. Me, just carrying Xmas presents for family
Nancy. The Place Royale or Place Stanislas. Amazing city, like one giant Bridgerton set. That day there was a noisy anti-Front Nationale demo. The police were out in force.
December 13, 2024 at 8:54 PM
Nancy. The Place Royale or Place Stanislas. Amazing city, like one giant Bridgerton set. That day there was a noisy anti-Front Nationale demo. The police were out in force.
A wonderful piece of Yorkshire eccentricity at Beverley Beck lock. Its owner (and builder) tells me it has kitchen bedroom and shower below. Sadly, it does not submerge, which disappoints a lot of local kids.
December 4, 2024 at 7:18 AM
A wonderful piece of Yorkshire eccentricity at Beverley Beck lock. Its owner (and builder) tells me it has kitchen bedroom and shower below. Sadly, it does not submerge, which disappoints a lot of local kids.
Aw, stuff modesty. Available from YAHS..
December 2, 2024 at 10:25 AM
Aw, stuff modesty. Available from YAHS..
A puzzle at Howden Minster
This limestone structure up against the SE pier of the crossing long puzzled ecclesiologists. The heraldic decor is 14thC, so the period at least is clear. An altar? But it faces diagonally into the transept and has no incised crosses.
This limestone structure up against the SE pier of the crossing long puzzled ecclesiologists. The heraldic decor is 14thC, so the period at least is clear. An altar? But it faces diagonally into the transept and has no incised crosses.
November 22, 2024 at 6:56 PM
A puzzle at Howden Minster
This limestone structure up against the SE pier of the crossing long puzzled ecclesiologists. The heraldic decor is 14thC, so the period at least is clear. An altar? But it faces diagonally into the transept and has no incised crosses.
This limestone structure up against the SE pier of the crossing long puzzled ecclesiologists. The heraldic decor is 14thC, so the period at least is clear. An altar? But it faces diagonally into the transept and has no incised crosses.
The « Swallow’s Nest » organ at Metz cathedral (1529), meant to support the sung daily office in collegiate churches. Large English parish churches had something similar, though few if any survive other than in random documentary references
November 20, 2024 at 9:51 AM
The « Swallow’s Nest » organ at Metz cathedral (1529), meant to support the sung daily office in collegiate churches. Large English parish churches had something similar, though few if any survive other than in random documentary references
The old bread shelf in St Anne’s Church in Dublin, a rare example of a surviving dole cabinet. The displayed loaves are now dummies, of wood.
November 18, 2024 at 11:00 PM
The old bread shelf in St Anne’s Church in Dublin, a rare example of a surviving dole cabinet. The displayed loaves are now dummies, of wood.
The world turns
Martinmas at Beverley. The horse herd taken off medieval Figham Common to go into barns till their return at Ellenmas. Will miss them. A rhythm uninterrupted since the 14th century
Martinmas at Beverley. The horse herd taken off medieval Figham Common to go into barns till their return at Ellenmas. Will miss them. A rhythm uninterrupted since the 14th century
November 15, 2024 at 12:58 PM
The world turns
Martinmas at Beverley. The horse herd taken off medieval Figham Common to go into barns till their return at Ellenmas. Will miss them. A rhythm uninterrupted since the 14th century
Martinmas at Beverley. The horse herd taken off medieval Figham Common to go into barns till their return at Ellenmas. Will miss them. A rhythm uninterrupted since the 14th century
Sixty years after first crossing the River Ogmore by these stones, I tried it with septuagenarian vintage balance. Those jeans will never be the same. There is in fact a bridge only 400m north. Recommended.
November 10, 2024 at 11:26 AM
Sixty years after first crossing the River Ogmore by these stones, I tried it with septuagenarian vintage balance. Those jeans will never be the same. There is in fact a bridge only 400m north. Recommended.