
Tintern%20Abbey%20is%20a%20national%20icon%20%u2014%20still%20standing%20in%20roofless%20splendour%20on%20the%20banks%20of%20the%20River%20Wye%20nearly%20500%20years%20since%20its%20tragic%20fall%20from%20grace.%0A%0AIt%20was%20founded%20in%201131%20by%20Cistercian%20monks%2C%20who%20were%20happy%20to%20make%20do%20with%20timber%20buildings%20at%20first.%20Abbot%20Henry%2C%20a%20reformed%20robber%2C%20was%20better%20known%20for%20his%20habit%20of%20crying%20at%20the%20altar%20than%20for%20his%20architectural%20ambitions.%0A%0AA%20simple%20stone%20church%20and%20cloisters%20came%20later.%20But%20then%2C%20thanks%20to%20the%20patronage%20of%20wealthy%20Marcher%20lords%2C%20the%20white-robed%20monks%20began%20to%20think%20bigger.%0A%0AIn%201269%20they%20began%20to%20build%20a%20new%20abbey%20church%20and%20didn%u2019t%20stop%20until%20they%u2019d%20created%20one%20of%20the%20masterpieces%20of%20British%20Gothic%20architecture.%20The%20great%20west%20front%20with%20its%20seven-lancet%20window%20and%20the%20soaring%20arches%20of%20the%20nave%20still%20take%20the%20breath%20away.%0A%0ASo%20grateful%20were%20the%20monks%20to%20their%20powerful%20patron%20Roger%20Bigod%20that%20they%20were%20still%20handing%20out%20alms%20on%20his%20behalf%20in%201535.%20But%20by%20then%20King%20Henry%20VIII%u2019s%20English%20Reformation%20was%20well%20underway.%0A%0AOnly%20a%20year%20later%20Tintern%20surrendered%20in%20the%20first%20round%20of%20the%20dissolution%20of%20the%20monasteries%20%u2014%20and%20the%20great%20abbey%20began%20slowly%20to%20turn%20into%20a%20majestic%20ruin.%0A%0A%0AThe%20abbey%20ruins%20lay%20forgotten%20until%20the%2018th%20century.%20Then%20something%20wild%20and%20romantic%20began%20to%20stir%20in%20British%20hearts.%0A%0ATintern%20was%20about%20to%20experience%20a%20second%20heyday%20%u2013%20this%20time%20as%20a%20major%20tourist%20destination.%20A%20popular%20engraving%20by%20the%20Buck%20brothers%2C%20published%20in%201732%2C%20started%20the%20ball%20rolling.%20It%20was%20followed%20by%20the%20Reverend%20William%20Gilpin%u2019s%20bestselling%20account%20of%20his%20Wye%20River%20voyage%20in%201770.%0A%0AHe%20described%20Tintern%20as%20%u2018the%20most%20beautiful%u2019%20scene%20of%20all%20%u2013%20although%20he%20felt%20there%20was%20room%20for%20improvement.%20%u2018A%20number%20of%20gable-ends%20hurt%20the%20eye%20with%20their%20regularity%20and%20disgust%20it%20by%20the%20vulgarity%20of%20their%20shape%2C%u2019%20he%20wrote%2C%20suggesting%20a%20mallet%20might%20come%20in%20handy.%0A%0ANevertheless%20the%20ivy-covered%20ruins%20of%20Tintern%20were%20caught%20up%20in%20a%20surge%20of%20romantic%20interest%20in%20the%20%u2018Sublime%u2019%20and%20the%20%u2018Picturesque%u2019.%20Travellers%20kept%20out%20of%20Europe%20by%20the%20French%20Revolution%20and%20Napoleonic%20Wars%20were%20roaming%20the%20wild%20landscapes%20of%20Britain%20instead.%0A%0AThey%20flocked%20to%20the%20Wye%20Valley%2C%20arriving%20on%20small%20boats%20laden%20with%20picnic%20hampers.%20In%201792%20they%20were%20joined%20by%20none%20other%20than%20JMW%20Turner%20%u2013%20barely%2017%20years%20of%20age%20and%20full%20of%20expectation%20on%20his%20first%20proper%20trip%20to%20Wales.%0A%0AThe%20pencil%20sketches%20he%20made%20at%20Tintern%20provided%20the%20raw%20material%20for%20the%20magnificent%20watercolours%20exhibited%20at%20the%20Royal%20Academy%20in%201794-95.%0A%0ABy%20then%20the%20poet%20William%20Wordsworth%20%u2013%20young%2C%20troubled%20and%20alone%20%u2013%20had%20already%20seen%20Tintern%20for%20himself.%20In%20July%201798%20he%20returned%20in%20happier%20times%20with%20his%20sister%20Dorothy%20and%20wrote%20his%20famous%20poem%20%u2018Lines%20Composed%20a%20Few%20Miles%20Above%20Tintern%20Abbey%u2019.%0A%0ABy%20now%20the%20abbey%2C%20beneath%20Wordsworth%u2019s%20%u2018steep%20and%20lofty%20cliffs%u2019%20on%20the%20banks%20of%20his%20%u2018sylvan%20Wye%u2019%2C%20wasn%u2019t%20only%20a%20romantic%20vision.%20It%20was%20a%20bustling%20tourist%20attraction%20surrounded%20by%20beggars%20and%20would-be%20guides%20loudly%20touting%20for%20business.%0A%0AThings%20are%20quieter%20now.%20But%20the%20great%20walls%20and%20arches%20in%20their%20setting%20of%20wild%20natural%20beauty%20haven%u2019t%20lost%20their%20magic.%20They%20remain%20a%20vision%20of%20the%20sublime%20.%0A%28text%20taken%20from%20CADW%20webpage%20-%20the%20Welsh%20equivalent%20of%20English%20Heritage%20%29%20.%0A%0A%0A%20In%20the%20first%20comment%20box%20is%20a%20closer%20view%20of%20the%20old%20church%20remains%20seen%20in%20the%20note%20box%20in%20the%20main%20photo%20.%0A%0AWhen%20I%20took%20this%20shot%20there%20was%20another%20photographer%20nearby%20taking%20a%20similar%20view%20-%20BUT%20he%20was%20working%20with%20what%20looked%20like%20a%20very%20large%20plate%20camera%20with%20the%20curtain%20at%20the%20back%20to%20view%20the%20image%20from%20underneath%20m%20all%20mounted%20on%20a%20very%20sturdy%20wooden%20tripod%20%21%21
source https://www.flickr.com/photo.gne?id=51129510633
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét