The tower ceiling in St Alban’s Abbey, Hertfordshire, December 2018
The wonderfully decorated wooden ceiling positioned at the second stage of the cathedral’s tower is believed to date back to around the last quarter of the fifteenth century. This flat and square work ofart consist of 16 square panels, with the central 4 consisting of shields of arms, whilst the outer 12 feature alternating red and white florals.
in 1951, the ceiling was inspected during restoration of the tower and found to be in very poor condition, with damaged wood and flaking paint. In fact, it was determined that the ceiling and probably already been repainted at least 6 times in its history. Much care was taken in repairing and repainting the panels, and it is now one of my favourite parts of the Cathedral. If you have the opportunity to visit, be sure to head into the choir and look up at the ceilings, and take a tower tour if you can. You get to walk around a balcony just beneath this wonderful ceiling.
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Copyright Debbie Smyth, 23 December 2018
Posted as part of #timesquare
Travel with Intent 
I was fortunate to work for awhile in St Albans and visited the Abbey in my lunchtimes. It is a lovely town and I must revisit sometime.
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This is truly beautiful. I was born in Hertfordshire – in Royston. Now that was a few weeks ago!
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Wonderful work 🙂
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Beautiful. And I bet there is intricate details that we can not see at this distance.
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Simply gorgeous.
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Beautiful ceiling, amazing work to build it and repair it even in modern times.
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It certainly is – even gazing at it from floor level is inspiring.
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Wonderful! I feel like this would be a fantastic quilt idea!
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Oh yes, a perfect inspiration.
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Must do that!
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Wow this is stunning. Definitely have to visit St Albans now! And what a wonderful #timesquare interpretation 😀
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And do shout if you do – I’m an expert on the coffee shops! 🙂
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I will!
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