Posted on 03/23/2009 6:50:18 AM PDT by NYer
It is an unforgettable moment. As the sun traverses the sky its light is suddenly focused into an intense beam which illuminates a carving of Christ on the Cross.
This is not a scene from an Indiana Jones film, however, but a stirring piece of visual synchronicity that dates from medieval times.
At the spring and autumn equinox, the setting sun hits a window at Holy Trinity Church in Barsham, Suffolk, and illuminates the 5ft carving for four spellbinding minutes.
The spectacle dates back to the 1300s, when the narrow window was built in the church tower, but it was lost for centuries.
It was only rediscovered recently by the village church's assistant curate, the Reverend John Buchanan, who spotted it by chance.
On Friday, the church was packed with visitors to witness the phenomenon on this year's spring equinox.
Mr Buchanan, 77, said: 'It is just incredible to see this brilliant shaft of sunlight illuminate Christ on the Cross. It is a magical moment and very uplifting.
'The church is in gloom as it is dusk and then all of a sudden the setting sun is in exactly the right position to shine this brilliant beam of light through the window.
'It is like a searchlight. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.'
The carving of Christ is on the top of a traditional rood screen, made of wood, which crosses the centre of the church.
The original screen was torn down in the 16th century following Henry VIII's split with the Roman Catholic Church.
Although the screen was rebuilt in 1870 with an identical figure of Christ in the same position, the window was obscured when the vicar at the time hung a painting over it.
The painting was only taken down in 1979 when a fire destroyed the nave roof.
Even then, the light show went unnoticed for several more years until Mr Buchanan spotted it.
He said: 'It only happens for a few minutes so it is very easy to miss and obviously if the weather is cloudy, it doesn't happen at all.
'I began to plot the dates and realised that Christ was only lit up on the equinox. I've often wondered whether this spectacle was the work of a cunning priest trying to do a bit of magic to impress the locals.'
In 1981's Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, discovers the Ark of the Covenant - which carries the tablets of the Ten Commandments - by placing a golden disk on the top of a staff and putting it beside a model of Tanis, an ancient Egyptian city.
When the sun passes overhead, it creates a beam of light which reveals that the Ark is hidden in the Well of Souls.
HOW COOL!!!!
Beautiful concept bump!
Darn impressive.
Jack Jackson bump
pinging for the GGG list
I am not a Catholic, but this is simply breathtaking.
Thank you!
I have seen this in videos taken in ancient tombs also. I would love to see it in person at one of these sites. I have been to Stonehenge but I think I was there in August 1960, even so, it was pretty impressive.
Folks in the old days were very much more attuned to the sun, the moon and the seasons of the year.
They were mostly farmers after all, and they didn't have much artificial light and certainly no TV, radio, or weather forecasts . . . .
bump.
One of the most famous solar architecture creations -
They moved Abu Simbel up out of the way of Lake Nasser, but they made sure they lined it up the same way.
Our ancestors had time to enjoy the finer points of life.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
Yep — assuming you survived the hard labor, bad food, lack of medical care, and the usual constellation of communicable diseases!
Barham Holy Trinity Church
And why it actually built its houses of worship as astronomical observatories:
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| Meridian Line. S. Petronio, Bologna, Calter Photo | Analemma at S. Petronio, Bologna | Solar eclipse at the Meridian line at S.Maria degli Angeli in Rome by Mario Catamo |
The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories by J.L. Heilbron is an extremely interesting book. Unfortunately, it is not easy to read. It contains both serious mathematics and serious history. The purpose of this page is to assist people who want to read it.
For a quick summary, start with either How the Church Aided 'Heretical' Astronomy (with graphics) or Churches as scientific instruments by J. L. Heilbron, Annual Invitation Lecture to the Scientific Instrument Society, Royal Institution, London, 6 December 1995, published in Universitas, Newsletter of the International Centre for The History of Universities and Science, no. 9, April 1996.
For help with the astronomy, please consult my student NG Yoke Leng's undergraduate research project A Mathematical Supplement to “The Sun in the Church, Cathedrals as Solar Observatories” by J.L. Heilbron. The project is a web page, but here is a printer friendly PDF version. Yoke Leng also did a project with me on Easter computations.
My student THAM Peck Fun did an honours project on Bisection Of The Eccentricity. We went a bit further (and corrected some minor errors in Yoke Leng's thesis). At least one error remains. On page 32 and 34 she says that "the smaller circle should be 1/15 that of the bigger circle." It should be sine of 23.5.
If you have a hard time keeping track of the different meridiana mentioned in the book, this table may be useful. Remember to check out the links to the web pages about the meridiana of some of the individual churches.
| City | Church | Designer | Year | Page | Figure and Plate |
| Florence | S. M. Novella | Danti | 1674 | P. 68 | Fig. 2.28, 2.29 |
| Santa Maria del Fiore (additional link) | Toscanelli | 1475 | P. 70 | Plate 1 (p. 70), 6 | |
| Ximenes | 1755 | P. 226 | Fig. 2.30 | ||
| Bologna | San Petronio | Danti | 1576 | P. 72 | Fig. 2.31 |
| Cassini | 1655 | P. 89 | Fig. 3.4, 3.5, Plate 2 (p. 72), 4 | ||
| Cassini | 1695 | P. 137 | |||
| Zanotti | 1776 | P. 138 | |||
| The Vatican | Torre dei Venti | Danti | 1576 | P. 79 | Plate 3 (p. 79) |
| Rome | Santa Maria degli Angeli | Bianchini | 1703 | P. 147 | Plate 5 (p. 156) |
| Paris | Observatory | Giovanni Domenico (Jean Dominique) Cassini | 1671 | P. 143 | Fig. 3.1 |
| Jacques Cassini | 1729 | P. 173 | |||
| Saint Sulpice | Lemonnier | 1742 | P. 220 | Fig. 7.1, 7.3 | |
| Milan | Duomo | Cesaris | 1786 | P. 266 | |
| Palermo | Duomo | Piazzi | 1801 | P. 272 | Plate 7 (p. 273) |
Other links of interest.
Book reviews.
You may also enjoy the page for my course Heavenly Mathematics & Cultural Astronomy and Myths about the Copernican Revolution.
Web Server Statistics for Helmer Aslaksen, produced by Analog.
I use the W3C MarkUp Validation Service and the W3C Link Checker.
When my mother in law and I visited Stonehenge in 1960 we were the only people there. I have seen pictures of it since and there are fences and walkways, roads and hundreds of tourist. I feel very fortunate to have seen it the way I did.
The next night, "Do they step to the right 3 inches and take another picture?"
The church was Catholic at one time, but is now part of the Church of England.
http://www.achurchnearyou.com/barsham-holy-trinity/
It has connections to the English hero, Nelson - whose mother was born in the rectory, and has an unusual round tower. Lots of pictures on this site, with a good shots showing the cross in the center of the church.
http://www.roundtowerchurches.de/Suffolk/Barsham_Holy_Trinity/barsham_holy_trinity.html
Thank you for posting the pictures. I have read about it, but never seen it. It is wonderful!
There is more cool stuff in England than any of us will ever have time to see . . . .
Wow! Thanks for posting that photo. The tree alone is amazing.
Most interesting! Thank you so much for the contribution to this thread.
Oh, my GOD, I’ve BEEN in that church!!!!! I’ve SUNG A RECITAL THERE with my choir, in 2002, after we traveled from Houston. That is ASTONISHING! I am freaking out, quite frankly, because it is just a little country parish, pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. A man I used to work for is from there and he and his father helped run electricity in back in the 60s. They still have no plumbing, as far as I know. I can understand how this was missed, because even in summer there are a lot of grey skies, as in the photo.
AMAZING!
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Thanks for the pings NYer and RedStateRocker. |
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I have the same thing happen in the hallway of my house only it illuminates a Grandma Moses (print) picture.
(It isn't THAT far out in the country - it's just outside Beccles and not far from Bungay)
O.K., just kidding, but I've BEEN in Beccles!
Oh, I am sure that they had weather forcasts - who knows, they might even have been more accurate...
Stunningly beautiful and awesome.
Simply beautiful.
Thank you so much for posting.
There's actually a guy in my husband's home town who does a better job than the weathermen, by watching cloud patterns.
The Weather Wizard's Cloud Book.
Seems from the book site that he's deceased, shame, but he was a pretty old guy when my hubby knew him, and neither of us are exactly spring chickens any more . . . .
May more light shine on the churches in England as they emerge from the horrors of the Reformation.
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