Ancestral home for medieval pigs
Terry Baker
printed on Giclée Epson Semi-Gloss
This image is of medieval pigsties as found in their natural state of decay before recent conservation took place. Had they been left to deteriorate much further this piece of history might have been lost to us forever. Situated at One Ash Grange near Monyash in the Peak National Park, Derbyshire, UK, they are part of a complex of twelfth century semi-derelict buildings on an ancient farm worked by monks from Roche Abbey in Yorkshire. The story goes that they were dispatched there as a punishment for misbehaviour, whatever that might mean (?). The original black and white film stock, dating from the 90's, was converted to a digital file and toned to mimic traditional gold toning. Though conservation was a necessity considering their fragile state, the appearance of concrete has robbed them of at least some of their charm.
This image, then, is doubly precious. for as well as being charming in itself it is a record of how the buildings looked in their natural state, before any recent work was done to them. Contrast that 'olde world' look with the modern tractor tyre marks in the mud.
