User Reviews
Hodgeston Parish Church nave is thought to date from the 13th century, while the chancel was added during the following century. The tower was built at a later date. The present windows were added as part of this restoration, but many of the internal features were preserved in the mid-19th century.Â
The church is constructed in local limestone with slate roofs. Its plan consists of a nave with a south porch, a chancel, and a west tower. The massive tower was unusually slender for the era, and is in four stages. On the north face of the tower is a stair turret. In its lowest stage is a 19th-century double west window over the remains of a former narrow window. There are double round-headed bell openings in the top stage, and at the summit of the tower is a parapet supported by corbels. In the north wall of the nave is a blocked doorway.
The chancel measures 9 metres by 5 metres. It has a cornice decorated with ballflowers. Along its south wall is a bench, a double piscina dating from the 14th century, and a triple sedilia; these are decorated with ballflowers, crockets and leaf finials. The carving is of high quality, and was probably paid for by Henry de Gower, Bishop of St David's. The chancel is floored with encaustic tiles. The restored east window is in Decorated Gothic style; the other windows in the chancel are in simpler style. The nave measures about 12 metres by 5 metres and it contains a Norman font. The ground floor of the tower is used as a vestry. The bells date from the 15th and 16th centuries.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.