St Peter's Church, Tickencote

By Peter Rollings - 10/03/2008

 Tucked away in a little valley in those mysterious hills in the north-eastern corner of Rutland, and a few miles west of Stamford, Tickencote Church is literally one of the hidden gems of British architecture. Small, somewhat veiled by trees & buildings, its extraordinary wealth of carved monsters & characters & archways might elude the tourist & explorer. What was need was a pioneer to bring its wonders to the attention of the wider public.

 

Rutland admirer Peter K. Rollings became interested in ancient stonework in 1987, when on an unemployed scheme he was set to work drawing & describing church features & fittings. Gargoyles & stone labyrinths perfectly led on from his childhood interest in dinosaurs & astronomy. Many books about churches give pride of place to the amazing stonework of Tickencote, & Peter made his first visit there in 1989. As his drawing skills improved, it became clear that Tickencote was THE place to draw. The greatest challenge.

 

This booklet contains the series of drawings that Peter commenced in 1996. Contains them just, for their profusion of incredible detail seems about to break out of the 32 A5 pages he has managed to squeeze them into. Many historic buildings have a guide book, but few can boast the intense attention to detail that swarms across these pages. Peter set out to draw & describe all of Tickencote Church's ancient stonework, and he has emphatically succeeded. Anyone wanting to understand ancient stonework will likely find more understanding in these 32 pages than in 320 pages of any other architecture book.

 

Peter does not set out to de-mystify the place. The stony ideas & architectural experiments that contort around Tickencote's archways are its greatest ingredient. To try to put names & dates, & make it into yet another tidy, intrigueless history would take away much of its tourist pulling power. Each visitor can come up with their own theories, just as valid as those of the 'experts'.

 

 

'St Peter's Church, Tickencote, Drawings 1996-7' is available for a £3.14 cheque to Peter K. Rollings,

PO Box 318, Peterborough,PE1 2YG

 

 Email pkrollings@yahoo.co.uk, website www.geocities.com/pkrollings.