During our wanderings in the beautiful valley of the River Wye, we were treated to an inside view of an old stone chapel. England is full of small, old churches, but Brockhampton is special because of its tapestries, designed by Edward Burne-Jones and woven in the William Morris studios.
These were mentioned in the tourist maps of the Wye Valley sights, but the church also contains lesser known textile delights.
Each pew has a stack of little hymnals, no more than five inches long, and each hymnal has a hand-embroidered linen cover depicting local flora, with the name of the plant and "Brockhampton Church" written with thread. I was so charmed by these hymnal covers, so understated and uniform, but with such loving detail work in the realistic images.
The intimate sense of place conveyed by this creative act, giving to the local church and parishioners by illustrating the local flowering plants: so tender and unexpected.
Our English friend said it's common for the women of the parish to decorate the church in this way - they had also embroidered covers for the pew cushions, with larger botanical motifs and written memorial messages.
Trying to identify the local breed of sheep... Romney? Or Cheviot? I could not get any closer than this without startling them all into a run.