'land and freedom' - cogs and wheatsheaves and pitchforks (peasants and workers unite)

just by the decommissioned catholic church of st. john kemble  in ewyas harold (the sign you can see is now gone) is a small concrete obelisk. 

st. john kemble was one of the forty catholic martyr's in england and wales 

august 22nd (the day of his execution on widemarsh common in hereford) is the day that people go to john kemble's grave in  the (Cof E) churchyard of st mary the virgin at welsh newton, some local catholics make an annual pilgrimage to it.

one of kemble's hands is still preserved at st francis xavier church in hereford. 

the decorations on the obelisk are all a bit 'land and freedom' - cogs and wheatsheaves and pitchworks 'peasants and workers unite'. horsemouth presumes that when they came to build the modern church in ewyas harold these sorts of sentiments were more common.

kemble was canonised 25th october 1970 by pope paul VI - the church was designed by nigel dees and opened in 1972. it closed in 2011 and is now in 'community use' (that's to say the car park gets good use). the saying is kemble pipe and kemble cup for the last drink and smoke of the evening in herefordshire. 

horsemouth is sure he has seen more of this sort of thing on his travels and will look up the architectural work of nigel dees. he has seen other photos of the obelisk itself (ah. here they are). 

today a bright sunny day (and possibly a visit to hay).