A brief visit to Broughton in Hampshire
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Broughton, Hampshire.
I have an interiors photoshoot near Andover and am lodging nearby. I post out a link about my whereabouts on my LinkedIn profile and one of my connections tells me of a dovecote nearby at Broughton.
On the day of the shoot I set off extra early so that I can visit the Dovecote but get hopelessly lost. One of the roads has been closed and my sat-nav can't seem to re-direct me. I spot a dog walker and pull over. "You're heading to Broughton?" she says, looking my camper van up and down. " There's not much there, no shops or touristy things." she adds.
"I'm looking for the dovecote."
"Oh that thing...it isn't open."
Twenty minutes later, I arrive in Broughton and it's full of life, but not in the way that the dog walker thinks.
What I'm struck by at Broughton is the layering up of the ages via the diversity and juxtaposition of materials. Everything has been thrown into the melting pot which reveals a pattern of human occupation that thrives on mend and make do.
The buildings of Broughton - pure scroll - no words.
Check out the lean on the door to the right!
The village might not have any shops, but it is alive! Full of telling - full of the pattern of human endeavour.
I walk through the high street and glimpse the church tower - before I visit the church I walk into the churchyard and spot the dovecote.
It has a delightful conical roof covered in plain (Rosemary) hand made clay tiles, each one cut to size as they diminish to the cupola.
Built in 1689 the brick coursing is of Flemish bond - stretcher then header, stretcher then header - a popular bond of the day. The eaves cornice has been finished in a dog-tooth pattern.
From the dovecote I spy the church.
..and I've never seen such a ragged church in all of my days - and it's beautiful.
We should call it a building's 'overall patina': the way a building's aesthetics is impacted by the diversity of its pattern and materials.
And then I spy the tower door - and am spun into its web.
From the macro to the micro - a universe in the particular. It's all so bloody beautiful.
And the dog walker told me there was nothing to see.
Walking and cycling around Broughton
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