Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: hippo

There were at least two earlier churches on or near the site of the present one, of which fragments remain in the exterior walls or elsewhere in the building. The church which we see today was begun around 1380, almost certainly to the designs of celebrated architects Henry Yeveley and William Wynford, whose work may be seen in the naves of Canterbury and Winchester Cathedrals. Built in flint and local stone, the church consists of two separate though integral parts, a chancel and nave. The church's chancel was originally used by a small College of Canons. However, at the Reformation it was seized along with the Priory buildings by the 12th Duke of Arundel, Henry Fitzalan, and subsequently became the private property of the Earl and his descendants. Today it serves as the burial place for the Dukes of Norfolk. Over the years the fabric of the church has suffered little alteration, but the interior arrangements have been frequently altered following religious upheavals and changes in architectural and liturgical fashion. I've seen a lot of elephants and even crocodiles in churches. This is the very first time I've seen a rhino and a hippo. Unfortunately, I don't know the story behind this carving.

In Laon, placed on a ridge and overlooking the flat Picardy plain, St. Remi founded a bishopric in 487. Laon was a very important place in the kingdom of the Franks. A Carolingian cathedral, consecrated in 800 in the presence of Charlemagne, existed here. The Carolingian structure got replaced two centuries later by a Romanesque structure, consecrated in 1071. This cathedral was torched by the citizens during the Easter Insurrection on 25 April 1112. Bishop Waldric (aka "Gaudry"), who had served as Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England, from 1103 to 1107 (and described as greedy and very violent) was killed during the uproar. The cathedral got repaired, but in the end demolished to give room for the present cathedral. The construction began about 1160. The nave was completed after 1205. The "Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon", towering over the town, is a wonderful, early example of the Gothic style that developed in Northern France. Strange animals can often be found on Gothic cathedral. Here is beast, that looks like a winged hippopotamus. Below a small human, milking the hippo! IN the background two grotesque masks.