Heritage Photography Issue 1 Autumn 1989

The Royal PhotographicSocietyof Great Britain Archaeologicaland HeritageGroup

Heritage Photography

RPS

I AUTUMN

1989

ISSUE Nol

I

ISSN0058-0565

1

Contents Editorial .......•....•.....................

Nigel Neil

2

The Recording of St Michaels Micldeham ........

Sir George F Pollock

3 ·

The Standing Stones of the Ilfracombe Area .....

Steve Eva

13

The UNESCOWorldHeritage Convention ......

Dr MR Apted

20

Front cover photograph:St MichaelsChurch, Mickleham (Sir George F Pollock, Hon FRPS)

2

Editorial Nigel Neil At Chrisbnas last year it was ten years since I joined the Royal Photographic Society am,with it, the then Archaeological Group. I have to admit that it was the existence of the Group thatpersuaded me to join the RPS. As a professional archaeologist trying to specialise in photography, but with no qualifications in media, I saw the Group's stated aim of improving the standards of archaeological photography as very laudable. Then, as now, the problem lay in convincing my fellow archaeologists thatthere is more to good site, building, finds and every other kind of photography than 'point andshoot'.

In my experience, archaeologists generally expect quality articles with qu~ty illustrations even though they seem slow to improve their own photographic techniques. Toe trouble is that printing costs have escalatedover the past few years. Barely a year after I joined the Royal, our excellent Group journal Archaeolog bit the dust after just fifteen issues and less than four years in circulation. For those of you who don't remember it, it often had as many as nine articles, some by non-members prominent in either archaeology or photography, covering a wide range of topics. It was published regularly enough to have announcements and a letters page. Our past chairman, Dr Mike Apted, was the last of a string of active editors.

Victor Hepplethwaite kept the boat afloat with the cheap and cheerful Proof but he and we all wished we could rise to something more in keeping with the Royal's image.

In a way we may now have come full circle. For Heritage Photography to succeed your editor needs to receive copy and photographs on any archaeological or heritage topic; the more the merrier!

Group members, we want you to feel proud of this journal; the committee need to know your views on the style andcontent of both it amthe Newsletter. Don't let them suffer the fate of Archaeolog!

3

The Recordingof St Michaels· Mickleham Sir GeorgeF Pollock,Hon FRPS In 1971the Victoria and Albert Museum held an Exhibition of VictorianCllurch Art. During the research for this Exhibition, it was found that many objects of great interest and value were lying around unrecognised in our parish churches, and, worse still, were being lost or stolen. Frequently church records were incomplete. As a result, in 1972 the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts - NADFAS - offered to undertake, with the help of the V & A, the mammoth task of making records in description, measurement, drawings and photographs, of all the parish churches in England. The Association was able to contemplate this great work because its members are all volunteers, often with useful skills in this field. Copies of each completed record are being lodged with the V & A and the Council for the Care for Churches, and also with the individual Incumbents and the Diocesan Records Offices. I agreed to do the ,.,..,,

•••• .t;

-~:"?-'• :j,/

.1

.-' /':' )'

Plate 1 The navelookingcut

4

photographyof St Michaels ChurchinMicldeham,at least partly for its personal associations as my wife and I were married in the church and her parents are buried in its cemetery.

Originally Saxon, Micldeham church was largely rebuilt in Nonnan style in about 1180.There remains of this buildingthe font, the entrance to thechancel, including two lancet windows, and the entrance to the side chapel which is dated c 1300. But the whole church was massively 'improved' and 'reconstructed' in 1824, a restoration described in the guide sheet as 'disastrous'. Nevertheless, the impression made on the modem visitor as he enters is very pleasant. 1be chancel is out of line with the nave, said to be a feature of some early churches, describedas a 'weeping chancel' and intended to suggest the inclined head of Jesus as he hung on the Cross. The pulpit is Flemish, brought over in 1840. Four wooden panels on each side of the altar are Bohemian.1bere are numerous brass plaques, including one recordingthe marriage of Fanny Burney in the church.

I must admitthat I approachedtheproject with considerablemisgivings,having only a limited experience in this strictly recording field. So I found it very helpful when Stephen Crawley came to give a lecture to all the photographers in the various recording groups in Surrey on the techniques required. His demonstration of 'painting with light' using one 500w bulb was particularly valuable. Since the final record was to consist of small prints, mostly 5" x 3.5", bound up in a book also containing the text, drawings etc, it was not felt necessary to go to the extremes of definition and fine grain, nor, in view of the enonnous number of things that had to be recorded,was it thought practical to use a large format camera: each shot takes too long! In fact it was in a way a relief to be able to settle on 35mm and Ilford FP4 with my usual development in Acutol, using my Olympus OM-4 with its great range of lenses. 1be other pieces of equipment which turned out to be essential were: 1) a strong tripod; 2) a very tall pair of steps; 3) tungsten lighting: several 500w long-life bulbs in reflectors, with stands; 4) a strong assistant!

When photographing architectureusing wide angle lenses on 35mm cameras, it is essential to keep the horizon in the middle of the picture, or the verticals will not remain vertical. This can be avoidedby using a shift lens, but I do not have one. True, some tilting of the enlarging easel can be done to straighten

s

Plates2 and 3 'Painting withlight'

---

6

Plate 4 The pulpit

-=.,.....,,-,c---==--

7

Plate S Bohemianpanel at the east end of the church

8

Plate 6 Nineteenth-century statue of St Andrew

9

Plates7 and 8 The altar cloth,candlesticks and~

12 beginning to wilt under the strain of holding the lampson a stand. high above her head! On the other hand, two completely symmetrically placed lights standing on the ground were found very satisfactory for the beautiful altar clotm which the church possesses (Plate 7).

In the April 1987 issue of the Society's journal, dedicated to architectural and heritage photography,Mr Terry Buchanan points out that when photographing silver it is desirable to have a portable light tent, and he describes how one can be made inexpensively. Unfortunately,no such device was available to me at the time, but a nearly acceptable result was obtained quite simply, with two carefully placed lights and a black cloth behind the candlesticksand cross (Plate 8). Mr Buchanan also mentions the difficulty of photographing Victorian stained glass with its careful drawing and shading, and this was certainly shown to be the case at Mickleham (Plate 9). I now realise that I should have taken the glass on a completely separate roll of film, which could then be over-exposed and under-developed to reduce the contrast. However, this was not done, and in the event some very careful printing had to be done to preserve the detail in every part of the glass. For the interest of members, the printing details are as follows:

First exposure: whole negative - 10 seconds - hold back top for 3 seconds.

Second exposure: glass only above haloes - 10 seconds.

Third, fourth and fifth exposures: burning-in heads-15 seconds each.

Whole baseboard tilted slightly to straighten verticals.

In all, over 150 photographs were taken, and this is surely a worthwhile record to have in the National Archives. And personally,I learnt a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the work.

13

ITheStandingStonesofthellfracombeArea I SteveEva Almost everyone has heard of Stonehengeand Aveburyand other well known standing stones, but there are many stones and stone circles that lie hidden in some obscure field and known only to the local i$abitants. Toe WestCountry has many of these sites, againsome well known, others not I recently completed field wolk in Ilfracombe, North Devon and the surroundingareas for IlfracombeMuseumon the standing stones of the area.

It was carried out in the springs of 1981 and 1988. As my family are West Countrypeople I quite often visit relationsthere.

MattocksDown

16

A 'megalithic' gate post?

17 must have been placed where they are now by human hands for some reason or effect For some reason he also recorded outcrops of quartz masses in the area and believed they were significantin one way or another.On seeing them I would tend to agree with him.

Some of the stones were easy to find and in fact could not be missed, others were more difficult but the local people were always helpful. Of those not found, not even the locals had seen or heard of them, but on more than one. occasion I detected a twinkle in the eye of the landowner.

One stoneshouldhave been found in thecomer of a fieldbut thoroughsearching on the spot revealed nothing except that the gates to the fields were fairly new and the gate posts had been tastefully constructed and decorated from quartz blocks. On another occasion I enquired of an old man, probably in his 70s, about a stone that should have been fairly obvious and was told that he could not recall in his lifetime a stone ever having been there. He then hastily pulled a bike out of a barn and rode off. One amusing incident occurred when I was looking for a stone which was supposed to be in a wall. I knew I was in the right place but there was no wall. A man wodcingin the garden which would have been behind the wall appeared very friendly but could not give any assistance. I eventually found the remaim of'the stone, just the base sticking up through the grass. The man had been watching me and after photographing it I moved towards him to tell of my find only to see him drop his tools, go in and shut the door. The wall had obviously been removed as the old line of it could still be made out The house had recently been decoratedon the outside and opened as a guest house. Round the comer in the drive leadingto the house was a lovely rockery.

One stone (Long Stone, Pilton) had been 'cared for' by the local council. The small site that it occupied at the junction of a staggered crossroads had been laid to lawn and a bench set there for the weary to rest 'The stone had been set in concrete topped with local coloured slate. Unfortunatelyit has lost 2 feet in height. Palmer says that it was about 8 feet tall when he recorded it but now it's just on 6 feet Itiseasytoseethatsomeofthesestonesmusthavebeenplacedintheirpositions for obvious reasons. Many of them are visible from each other and others are sited where they can be seen from a long way off. One site in panicular is most

18

Long Stone,Pilton

interestingand this is the one at KentisburyDown. Palmer recordsfour stones here but I actuallyfound five, but as he statesin his book the wholesite should be extensivelyinvestigated.The area aboundswith pits, earthworks,trenches and ancient walls.

-Some of the stones appear to sit on 'Ley Lines', again further investigation would probably reveal more. There are also many place names which have stone or stones in them that also shouldbe looked into.

I am cun-entlyworking on revision notes to go with Palmer's book but, for those interested, copies of his book can now be obtained from Ilfracombe Museum.Because of the state of the original and because there seemedto be no other copy, I transcribed the whole of it onto computer disk and printed copies for the museum to give away (for a small donation).This was done to

19

assistthe museumwith any enquiriesmade in connectionwith a displayof the photos which I tookandthey kindly showed.

1bere is stillmuch worlcwhich could be done in the areajust as thereis in so many other pansof the country.At least as photographers we can make some contributionto these sites even if we cannot save them from oblivion.

Address of IlfracombeMuseum:

Mrs J Slocombe(Curator) IlfracombeMuseum WtlderRoad Ilfracombe NonhDevon EX348AF

20

The latrine at Hoosesteadsfort, Hadrian•sWall

21

I The UNESCOWor1dHeritageConventionI DrMRApted 'I

(Photographsby N R J Neil) Toe Conventionfor the Protectionof the WorldCulturaland Natural Heritage_, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972, aims to promote co-operation among all nations in order to achieve such protection.'Thisis to be achieved in the countries signing the Conventionwhich are considered to be of such exceptionalimportancethat protectingthem is a matter for mankind as a whole, and secondly by establishing a World Heritage Fund to support conservation projects at threatened sites on the list Although Britain is no

Stonehenge

22

longer a member of UNESCO it is one of the 92 countries which had signed the Conventionby December 1986, and a number of UK sites and monuments are now included in the list The acceptance of any nomination by UNESCO for such inclusion is by no means an automatic process. The first step is the preparationby each country signing the Convention of a tentative list of sites worthy of considerationfor nomination. Cultural (ie man-made) Properties, which are the concern of the RPS Archaeological and Heritage Group, are divided into three classes, Monuments (Dark Age and Medieval, and Post-Medieval), Groups of Buildings and Sites. The criteria for inclusion in the list are laid down by UNESCO: for example, sites nominated must bear exceptionaltestimonyto a civilisation which had disappeared, or have exerted great influence on developments in architecture or town planning or be directly associated with

Standing stonesat Avebury

23 events or ideas of universal significance,and so on, and all must meet thetest of authenticityin design; reconstructionis only acceptablein very exceptional circumstances.

In the UK the tentative list was prepared and recommendationsare made by the Secretaries of State for the Environment,Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the advice of their professional advisers such as English Heritage or their counterparts in other parts of the UK. Once a site from the tentative_ list has been accepted for nomination, the next step is the preparation of a dossier which will be laid before the UNESCOCommittee in Paris. This can take a number of forms, but for the UK consists of a substantialphotocopied booklet A4 size including text, plans and photographs as well as a sheet of colour slides and a duplicate copy of the introductory summary which is translated as requiredfor all the member countries.

Hadrian'sWall

24 As far as the text is concerned UNESCO has laid down a number of specific questions which have to be answered, covering location, ownership and legal · status, description, history, state of preservation, plans for conservation and finallyjustification for inclusionin the list 1bese questionshave to be answered in meticulous detail which is not always easy as, for example, in the case of a town where multiple ownership is involved.

Another problem can be deciding on the area to be included within the nominated area, which has to be clearly shown ori the dossier maps. There is no such problem in the case of asingle property such as Blenbeim where this can correspond to the estate boundary or for a town such as Bath where it can be the boundary of the ConservationArea; however the problem does arise in a case such as Hadrian's Wall, which is not just a wall but a frontier zone extending from coast to coast, with extensions at each end and a networlcof roads and fortifications both behind and in front What can make things more difficult is that while the site or monument concerned may well be selected early in the year, fonnal approvalto approachthe ownersto olxain the necessary details may be delayed until the Autumn. Owners too, may have doubts about inclusion within the list, if they believe that this may lead to an increase in the number of visitors which is something they do not necessarily want All this can leave very little time to collect the infonnation required which is not a matter for original research,but of visiting sites, meeting the owners and knowledgeable specialists to discuss the details of the submission, editing material from existing publications, and collecting photographs, slides and plans. This involves a great deal of leg-worlcandeven so it is difficult to get everything exactly right. At the end of the day it can sometimes be personal contact with knowledgeable people that is of the greatest value. A chance encounter in the photocopyingroom, for example, may reveal that a particular feature is legally protected under the Town and Country Planning Acts, which is not what one was told on the site.

Once the dossier has been signed by the Minister concerned it is sent to Paris where it is laid before the World Heritage Committee responsible for recommending whether a site should or should not be added to the list It is at this stage thatthe photographsandin particularthe slides couldbe all-important Although the legal details and descriptionmust be absolutely right, it may well be the visual impact of the photographs and in particular of the slides which

25

CoalportChina Museum

28

UK sites and monuments included on the World Heritage list by

1 January1988: Blenheim Palace and Park.

The castles and town walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd (Beaumaris,Caemarfon.Conwyand Harlech).

The Giant's Causewayand its coast Durltam Castle and Cathedral.

. City of Bath..

Hadrian's Wall.

Ironbridge Goige.

The island of St Kilda.

Palace of Westminster,the Abbey and St Maigarets Church.

Stonehenge, Avebury and related megalithic sites.

Studley Royal Parle and the ruins of Fountains Abbey.