It’s been a long time since I last made a 360° panorama of a Cornish church, but last week I photographed St Wyllow’s Church at Lanteglos-by-Fowey, a largely 14th century church, sensitively restored in 1904-6 by EH Sedding, with wood carving by Violet Pinwill.

The Watts Gallery, Artists’ Village and Chapel lies on the edge of the village of Compton, just a couple of miles outside Guildford. The gallery is a celebration of the work of George Frederick Watts and his wife Mary. They married when he was 69 and she just 36. They moved to their house in Compton in 1891.

In 1895 Mary started teaching local people to model in clay and established a pottery business which became the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild. Between 1895 and 1904 Mary and the villagers worked on building the Watts Chapel. The chapel is a strange mix of Art Nouveau, Celtic revival and Romanesque. The exterior of the chapel is decorated with terracotta reliefs while the interior is a riot of painted stucco decoration. George Watts lived just long enough to see the chapel completed.

On private land just to the south of Hawk’s Tor on Bodmin Moor stands the Stripple Stones, the only stone circle in Cornwall to be in a henge (a bank and ditch). The circle dates to the late neolithic (2800-2000bce) and is about 45m in diameter. Originally there were thought to have been between 28 and 37 stones of which 15 remain. Some of these had fallen, but most were re-erected during a recent restoration.

At some time in the past the circle had been cut through by a boundary wall. This wall was moved outside of the monument as part of the restoration.

Last month I added a three panorama tour of St Cuby’s Church, Duloe.

The church was built between the 13th and 15th centuries and the north aisle added in the 16th. It was restored in 1860 by J P St Aubyn. The Coleshull chantry chapel has some fine examples of 15th and 16th century slate tomb memorials.

While I was there I also photographed and made a panorama of the Duloe Stone Circle.

I’ve just added another eight churches to my collection of 360° panoramas of the interiors of Cornish parish churches. On my first foray I photographed Launcells, Week St Mary, North Tamerton and Treneglos. I did visit another four, but they were all locked with only two giving details of a keyholder. Of the two that did, one was out and the other slammed their window shut when I rang the doorbell and wouldn’t come to the door. Not much point in them having the key!

Later that week I contacted the rector of St Conan’s, Washaway to see if I could gain entry there as I know that church is normally kept locked. I was really pleased when he got back to me saying that the church has a key safe to which he gave me the combination. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if more churches that feel the need to stay locked took up this idea. St Conan’s is a very small chapel attached to the parish of Wadebridge – the two main churches are Egloshayle and St Breock. It was built in 1883 but it contains a Saxon font, one of the oldest in the country. It also has a 16th century carved wooden pulpit brought from Germany from which Martin Luther is thought to have preached.

While my car was being serviced during a recent trip to Cornwall I took the opportunity to do the photography for a 360° panoramic tour of Truro Cathedral. The cathedral has a policy of allowing photography, but ask for a fee of £5 to use a tripod – which seems very reasonable to me. I made six panoramas for the tour, the west front, the nave, crossing, chancel, St Mary’s aisle and the All Saints chapel behind the high altar.

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St Peter’s Church, at Hascombe in Surrey was described by Betjeman as ‘a Tractarian Work of Art’. Built on a site of Saxon origins, by 1862 the medieval church which was then over 600 years old had become so dilapidated that rebuilding was considered the only option. Led by the Rector, Canon Musgrave, Henry Woodyer (a pupil of Butterfield) was commissioned to design a new church. The simple plan of nave and apsidal chancel became a canvas for a richly decorated interior. The walls of the nave are painted with the 153 fishes of the second miraculous catch of fish, all tangled in a net which is being dragged in by seven of the disciples. Above the chancel arch is Christ in Majesty flanked by the 12 apostles. The rood screen (a survivor from the previous church) was restored and repainted. Read more…

I’ve just completed a 360° panoramic tour of St Matthew’s Church, Winchester. The church is quite small so only needs four views: Nave, Chancel, Vestry and Gallery. The earliest parts of the church date to about 1200, but like so many English churches it probably stands on the site of an earlier Saxon building. The church has recently been lovingly restored and is certainly worth a visit. Read more…

All Saints’ Church at Tudeley in Kent is famous worldwide for its stained glass windows by Russian artist Marc Chagall. The first of these was made in 1967 to commemorate the death of Sarah d’Avigdor-Goldsmid who drowned at the age of 21. When Chagall arrived for the installation of the east window and saw the church, he said, “It’s magnificent. I will do them all.” The last window was installed in 1985, the year of his death. Read more…

Possibly the earliest depiction of St George in England is in the wall paintings at St Botolph’s Church, Hardham in West Sussex which date from the 12th century. Unusually, these paintings don’t show St George and the Dragon, (unless it was once in the space now taken up by the later window in the east wall of the nave). Those that do exist are of St George at the Battle of Antioch, St George before Datian (Diocletian) and St George on the Wheel.