Sanctity
Finding respite within the silence of a simple space
I have a commission to photograph Ripon Cathedral situated in North Yorkshire in England. It was founded in AD672 by St. Wilfrid. On this day I’m tasked with photographing the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. It is fronted by a modern screen designed by Leslie Durbin in 1970. It owns the space and seems to oscillate with its rising chevrons every time I pass it. Amidst the walls steeped in centuries of history it’s a destination in itself.
A few weeks before that I photograph the Anglo Saxon crypt just a few yards away from the Chapel of The Holy Spirit. I light it with candles (just as it would have been when it was first built) and try to capture the sanctity of the space.
For me, the sanctity comes a few minutes after completion. Finding myself on my own, I blow out the candles and sit within the darkness cast by walls built over 1300 years ago. Through the stillness and the silence I feel its presence.
Nourished and feeling rooted, I walk up and out into the Quire, then over to the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. From the hush of the ancient crypt to the vascular, beating heart of the Durbin screen. It is an experience akin to jumping from hot water into an ice-cold plunge pool.
With my day of photography finished and my creative burst sated, I head over to my camper. I’m lodged within the grounds of the cathedral. As the light dims behind the gothic towers of Ripon Cathedral, I find respite once more within the silence of a simple space - a sanctuary of my own within the warmth of my van.
I never take for granted how our places, no matter how simple, have the potential to inspire and invigorate — how they can initiate a thought, a journey, a pilgrimage from narratives set within their walls.
About Andy Marshall
I am a photographer and travel writer based in the UK. I travel through the whole of the British Isles in my camper van. I produce a fresh weekly digest from my travels. Check it out here.
