Bolton Priory, like so many of England's once proud monasteries, met a sad end as a result of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, when he decided to break from Rome and establish himself as Supreme Head of the Church in England. However, the Augustinian monks were priests with pastoral responsibilities for the surrounding area and because there was no other church they were allowed to keep the western half of the nave of the Priory as a parish church. Most of the rest of the abbey was stripped for its useable stone and the only part left standing is the eastern nave, roofless but with its walls still largely intact. Like so many of our other ruined abbeys, the gothic ruin in a lush, green valley beside the river has a rather romantic appeal.
Although the mellow stone of Bolton Priory is a beautiful honeyed colour, I quite like this mono conversion.
I like the monochrome rendition too. At first I thought it was an old postcard; it has that same carefully considered composition that big, old cameras used to favour.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny - certainly monochrome has its place, I have quite a lot of B&W 'art' on my walls ... If Henry VIII hadn't lived the life he lived or made the decisions he did .. we'd be living in a very different world. However I'd have loved to have been able to see the magnificence of the ancient Abbeys, Cathedrals and art works ... and their lands, well tended and loved ...
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of the ruin, and enclosed churchyard .. cheers Hilary
Perfectly suited to mono. An absolutely fabulous picture. Well done. History story his good too.
ReplyDeleteSome shots just demand being black and white. Well done!
ReplyDeleteAn old country like England has so many more gorgeous ruins like this than we do. Beautiful. The black and white conversion definitely works.
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