Two Photographs by Gabrielle Horrobin of the Interior of St. Petrock's During the Harvest Festival, c. 2010 and 2013
Title
Two Photographs by Gabrielle Horrobin of the Interior of St. Petrock's During the Harvest Festival, c. 2010 and 2013
Subject
Description
Above are two photographs taken by Gabrielle Horrobin of the interior of St. Petrock's Church at the time of the Harvest Festival and which were published respectively in the Timberscombe Calendar of 2010 and the Timberscombe Calendar of 2013. Gabrielle was a leading photographer for all village calendars from 2010 to 2016, assembled and produced by herself and Churchwarden, Mary Holcombe, in aid of St. Petrock's Church. An exception was the 2012 calendar, called "Timberscombe in Bygone Days", which showcased older "historic" photographs. Yet certainly both of the photographs seen here are just as historic.
Gabrielle Horrobin would have stood at the western end of the nave of St. Petrock's to take the upper photograph, looking past the pews and under the barrel roof toward the 16th century Rood Screen, at the entry to the Chancel dating from c. 1450. The photograph also captures the eastern end of the south aisle, added in the 1500s and where a glimpse of the church organ is evident. Actually Gabrielle is in almost exactly the same spot for the second photograph, just stepping forward a bit and turning her camera toward the western end of the south aisle. Both photographs are anchored by the 1400s font with its solid octagonal panels. The font is what is seen upon entering the church and suitably in the foreground of the photographs. In both, the font is decorated with locally grown produce, signifying it is the time of the Harvest Festival.
And so, it is autumn. "Haerfest"was Old English for "autumn" (1). Harvest Festivals, celebrations when the last of the crops for food and animal feed had been gathered, have occurred since pagan times (2). The rush to get the crops in meant all the family, including the children (and in more affluent homes, all of the servants, including those who normally only worked in the house) were in the fields. Once the final cart was loaded, the festival was traditionally held on the Sunday nearest the harvest moon, the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. More often this was between the 21st and 23rd of September but could take place in early October (3).
The tradition of decorating the church for a Harvest Festival is more modern and can even be dated to 13 September 1843 when Rev. Robert Hawker , the Vicar of the Morwenstow Church at Morwenstow on the west coast of Cornwall (about six miles from Bude) encouraged his congregation to bring recently harvested food and floral decorations to the upcoming service to "gather together, in the Chancel of our church and there receive, in the bread of the new corn, that blessed sacrament".
Rev. Hawker was a character. He sometimes dressed as a mermaid, excommunicated his cat for mousing on a Sunday, when not in the church could be found in his driftwood shed writing poetry and smoking opium and on his death bed suddenly converted to the Roman Catholic Church (4). Nevertheless Robert Hawker did establish the Harvest Festival tradition of interior decorative displays and with the church bells ringing (5),observed in modern day churches throughout the world and as seen in Gabrielle's photographs.
Besides being a photographer, Gabrielle (formerly Ridler) Horrobin is a prolific artist and author. Her husband, James (Jim) Horrobin is a Master Blacksmith and sculptor. They arrived at Timberscombe on the 2nd of May 1995 when they moved into Furze View, a house originally built to be a Vicarage, just southwest of St. Petrock's Church. Besides a private location with wonderful views, Gabrielle got two sitting rooms--one that was built for church related business, the other for the vicar's family (6).
On the bottom photograph, baskets of food are placed around the base of the font, with floral arrangements seen in both pictures, in front of the chancel and pulpit and at the windows. Also in the 2013 photograph, sitting quietly and alone in a back pew, is Joyce Smith of Ford Cottage, Timberscombe. In 2005, Joyce had retired from organising the Timberscombe Flower Show, a job she had done for 21 years (7)--but perhaps she was still checking out just how good the displays were this particular year.
Gabrielle Horrobin would have stood at the western end of the nave of St. Petrock's to take the upper photograph, looking past the pews and under the barrel roof toward the 16th century Rood Screen, at the entry to the Chancel dating from c. 1450. The photograph also captures the eastern end of the south aisle, added in the 1500s and where a glimpse of the church organ is evident. Actually Gabrielle is in almost exactly the same spot for the second photograph, just stepping forward a bit and turning her camera toward the western end of the south aisle. Both photographs are anchored by the 1400s font with its solid octagonal panels. The font is what is seen upon entering the church and suitably in the foreground of the photographs. In both, the font is decorated with locally grown produce, signifying it is the time of the Harvest Festival.
And so, it is autumn. "Haerfest"was Old English for "autumn" (1). Harvest Festivals, celebrations when the last of the crops for food and animal feed had been gathered, have occurred since pagan times (2). The rush to get the crops in meant all the family, including the children (and in more affluent homes, all of the servants, including those who normally only worked in the house) were in the fields. Once the final cart was loaded, the festival was traditionally held on the Sunday nearest the harvest moon, the full moon closest to the autumn equinox. More often this was between the 21st and 23rd of September but could take place in early October (3).
The tradition of decorating the church for a Harvest Festival is more modern and can even be dated to 13 September 1843 when Rev. Robert Hawker , the Vicar of the Morwenstow Church at Morwenstow on the west coast of Cornwall (about six miles from Bude) encouraged his congregation to bring recently harvested food and floral decorations to the upcoming service to "gather together, in the Chancel of our church and there receive, in the bread of the new corn, that blessed sacrament".
Rev. Hawker was a character. He sometimes dressed as a mermaid, excommunicated his cat for mousing on a Sunday, when not in the church could be found in his driftwood shed writing poetry and smoking opium and on his death bed suddenly converted to the Roman Catholic Church (4). Nevertheless Robert Hawker did establish the Harvest Festival tradition of interior decorative displays and with the church bells ringing (5),observed in modern day churches throughout the world and as seen in Gabrielle's photographs.
Besides being a photographer, Gabrielle (formerly Ridler) Horrobin is a prolific artist and author. Her husband, James (Jim) Horrobin is a Master Blacksmith and sculptor. They arrived at Timberscombe on the 2nd of May 1995 when they moved into Furze View, a house originally built to be a Vicarage, just southwest of St. Petrock's Church. Besides a private location with wonderful views, Gabrielle got two sitting rooms--one that was built for church related business, the other for the vicar's family (6).
On the bottom photograph, baskets of food are placed around the base of the font, with floral arrangements seen in both pictures, in front of the chancel and pulpit and at the windows. Also in the 2013 photograph, sitting quietly and alone in a back pew, is Joyce Smith of Ford Cottage, Timberscombe. In 2005, Joyce had retired from organising the Timberscombe Flower Show, a job she had done for 21 years (7)--but perhaps she was still checking out just how good the displays were this particular year.
Creator
Gabrielle Horrobin /
Gabrielle Horrobin
Gabrielle Horrobin
Publisher
produced by Mary Holcombe
printed by Caxtons Printing & Stationary, Bampton, Devon
printed by Caxtons Printing & Stationary, Bampton, Devon
Date
c. 2010
c. 2013
c. 2013
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
two photographs of the interior of St. Petrock's Church at the time of the Harvest Festival, c. 2010 and c. 2013 / Timberscombe / village centre
Acquisition Date
2019
2019
2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PLACES: Churches and Chapels / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2023
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
to be entered
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) countryfile.com (2) activityvillage.co.uk (3) twinkl.co.uk and countryfile,com (4) cornwall-calling.co.uk (5) dexum.co.uk (6) as recalled by Gabrielle Horrobin in 2020 (7) Joyce Smith, also a keen photographer donated to the St. Petrock's History Group a photograph of her retirement from the Timberscombe Flower Show in 2005, with the information she had held her position for the previous 21 years handwritten on the reverse.
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2023
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-337
Technique
Copies
Citation
Gabrielle Horrobin /
Gabrielle Horrobin, “Two Photographs by Gabrielle Horrobin of the Interior of St. Petrock's During the Harvest Festival, c. 2010 and 2013,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 1, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3605.
Comments