Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Ruins of Trinity Church



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Backlight from a low sun through a stormy cloudbank creates a highly atmospheric backdrop to this burned-out church. It was a creepy experience to get this batch of photos on an afternoon in November, 2006, in Stockton-on-Tees, Yorkshire, UK. This is Trinity Church, burned by vandals in 1987 and left standing as a reminder of senseless destruction. A local icon hundreds of years old, it has gone from a community focus to one of England's ecclesiastical ruins, featured in the folklore of the North-east for the tree which stands by its door, reputed to be the mortal body of a witch who shape-shifted to escape a mob who had chased her to a sanctuary she was denied. They tried to burn the tree, but found it would not burn. Ironically, hundreds of years later, though the church went up in smoke, the tree still refused to burn! The light level was low, to expose the stonework the sky has burned out, creating a sense of Gothic unease which pervades the ruin on all but the sunniest days. Enhancements were mild as always, colour and sharpness, preserving the sense of the original. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

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