> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 📍Loci: Feeling like an imposter in Wheathampstead - URL: https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/loci-feeling-like-an-imposter-in-wheathampstead/ - Published: 2026-08-21T08:17:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-21T08:17:18.000Z - Description: I feel so guilty because being here doesn’t feel like work. It’s a joy to be in such a special place watching dedicated and talented people take care of something that means so much to the local community. - Author: Andy Marshall - Tags: loci, st. helen's wheathampstead, wheathampstead, hertfordshire, building conservation, chroma conservation, church monuments, traditional skills, craft, human touch and craft, continuity and memory, Community *Each week I send out a short, fresh reflection from the road – photographs, sketches, and observations from old places that still have something to teach us. What follows is a moment from those travels.* --- ## The Imposter. **Once again I’m stood in an ancient place amongst people that I regard as friends, and I have imposter syndrome.** I’ve been commissioned by Marta Sledz from [Chroma Conservation](https://chroma-conservation.co.uk/?ref=digest.andymarshall.co) to photograph Marta and her team conserving a C17th monument at St. Helen’s in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-17.jpg) I feel so guilty because being here doesn’t feel like work. It’s a joy to be in such a special place watching dedicated and talented people take care of something that means so much to the local community. The Garrard Monument is an exceptional piece of craftsmanship which has suffered the ravages of time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/554bb63d-8a77-4083-b74b-3f565cefac6d.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/29e5852a-259c-4d2d-95ab-c6031e3d45d6.jpeg) Photos courtesy of Marta Sledz It is a memorial to John and Elizabeth Garrard. Below them are depictions of their fourteen children. Those who died whilst their parents were alive are holding skulls. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-1.jpg) These monuments are telling, reflecting the privilege and societal norms of their day. Their survival is key, for they provide the yardstick by which we assess our collective journey, measure our progress, and confront contemporary challenges. I am reminded of the words of [Lemn Sissay](https://storiesfromthemuseumfloor.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/belong/?ref=digest.andymarshall.co): Hold me while spirits of the past & Rivers of blood run through me All this past feeds this present And brings the truth into me As well as the Garrard family, I see another memorial hidden in plain sight. This is also a monument to the artists who made it - from those behind the [pattern books](https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/various-forms-of-architecture-1636/?ref=digest.andymarshall.co) that influenced the design, to the artisans that brought about, through their skill and guile, a majestic whole. In spite of their hardship - they created a work of art that lights up our emotions: from the angelic spandrels to the poor little mites in the frieze. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-59-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-39.jpg) I’ve photographed hundreds of monuments over my career, and the accumulative imbibing of their epithets and styles has impacted me enormously. For me, there’s nothing macabre or sad about them. They reveal generations of people who are actively re-imagining who they are and what they represent. As time moves on, the memorials reveal a constant desire for change through the latest styles, colours and typography. The Garrard monument tells us of the iconography and fashions of the early C17th - and reminds us of the striking changes that the Northern Renaissance brought about, through the pattern books that were so prevalent. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-28.jpg) This and the other church monuments at St. Helen’s, including the building and its churchyard, are part of the local communities history and cohesive identity. Conservation of the monument is helping keep all of this alive. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/D3E8B675-EF38-4A14-BF14-5620AB0DA97B_1_105_c.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/688F54B5-539A-4ADE-902F-F9706A183734_1_105_c.jpg) And then there’s Marta herself, and Ryan and Deb. At times, when I was photographing them, I lowered my lens and forgot my work for a while, in awe at the respect, reverence and devotion they had for the monument; for they know, that it is far greater than the sum of its parts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-8.jpg) These conservators, these minimal interventionists, aren’t simply curators of the paint pot and infill, but also guardians of a rich cultural tapestry that teaches us what it means to be human. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-16.jpg) I once believed that we possessed our heritage, only to realise that it possesses us in more ways than we realise. We are but stewards and our legacy will be measured, and our offspring nourished, by the treasures we cherish and the stories we pass on. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2024/02/Marta-Wheathamstead-41.jpg) Alongside blood banks and seed banks we also have monuments that are memory banks - just as critical to our future and wellbeing. --- ****FILM AND SOUND** I made a short film of Marta and Ryan and Deb conserving the Garrard Monument. If you know of a monument that needs help and conservation, do it now, raise the funds, shout it from the rooftops - as if your life depends upon it, because, far more than we realise, it probably does. --- Readers of the Genius Loci Digest ## What stays with readers > “ > > That aura, those echoes - the muted light is transporting. What a space to feel rooted in history. I'd love to make that journey myself; you've stirred the opera lover and architectural dreamer in me. > > @sonatasips via X > “ > > Genius Loci has rapidly become the highlight of my Friday morning mailboxes, Andy! > > David via Linkedin > “ > > In reading & seeing Andy's work I always struggle to know which is more impactful - his writing or photos. In truth, the two combined are greater than their parts, he allows you to explore the importance of place and time from the comfort of home. > > Peter from Bluesky > “ > > Andy your work is becoming wonderful, remarkable. A so-called breakdown has been milled into its constituent parts, becoming profound construction: through perception, architecture, the lens and the pen. > > Stephen via Email 1 2 3 4 ← Ⅱ → ![The vaulted nave of York Minster glowing with filtered light](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2025/07/GjFbo3aXoAAgtYU.jpeg) York Minster - light through the nave01 / 04 ![Ancient carved stones and timber roof at Durham Cathedral's Open Treasure](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/rt4ccpqm0nalr9e9vv5oxo8invcfxar6wbvq/original.jpg) Durham Cathedral - Open Treasure02 / 04 ![A family approaching the restored cloister at Exeter Cathedral](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2025/06/Clews-Exeter-April-2025-134.jpg) Exeter Cathedral - new life beside the old03 / 04 ![The Iron Bridge reflected in calm water at dusk](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/production/photos/aii66p605mkuajmgvjdqnt9325o42kjghcac/original.jpg) The Iron Bridge - reflected at dusk04 / 04 From the heritage portfolio Three Ways to Come With Me ## Choose how to join, share or support Andy Marshall's work [ ↗ Join Free Travel with me each Friday Receive the free weekly Genius Loci Digest in your inbox - photography, place-writing and overlooked stories from the road. 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