Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: slab

St Illtyd's Church is a church complex on the site of the oldest college in the United Kingdom. Today it is generally believed to have been founded around 508 AD by St Illtud. The present church building was constructed by the Normans in the 11th century, with parts rebuilt in the 13th and 15th centuries. The college is said to have been attacked by the Danes in 987. In the 11th century, the area was conquered by the Norman nobleman Robert Fitzhamon. During the conquest, the wooden college and church were destroyed and the foundations transferred to the newly founded Tewkesbury Abbey, Fitzhamon's personal project. The Normans eventually rebuilt a parish church on the ruins of the old college around 1100, but the college greatly diminished in size and importance. In the 13th century, a low tower was added at the east end and a second chapel was built next to the first. The old west chapel continued to be used as a parish church, but the new east chapel was used by the monastic community. Around 1400, side aisles were added to the eastern monastery church and the roof and tower were raised to their current height. In the 16th century, during the dissolution of the monasteries, the monastic community was dissolved and the east chapel was taken over as a parish church. During the dissolution and the later Puritan period, the interior of the church fell into disrepair and many of the murals and statues were destroyed. The oldest stone slab here has a head added later. The slab is from the 11th century, the cleric´s head is about a century younger.

Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, is situated on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is only 80 kilometres south of Helsinki. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century Tallinn was known as Reval. The first recorded claim over the place was laid by Denmark after a raid in 1219 led by Valdemar II. In 1227, the Order of the Brothers of the Sword conquered Reval and three years later recruited 200 Westphalian and Lower Saxon merchants from Gotland, who settled below the castle and were granted freedom of customs and land. In 1238 Reval fell back to Denmark, Under renewed Danish rule, the city rapidly grew in size and economic importance. In 1248, the Danish king granted it the Lübische Stadtrecht (town charter). Due to the strategic location, its port became a significant trade hub, especially in the 14–16th centuries when Tallinn grew in importance as the northernmost member city of the Hanseatic League. The king of Denmark sold Reval along with other land possessions in northern Estonia to the Teutonic Knights in 1346. The "Niguliste kirik" (St. Nicholas Church) was founded and built around 1230–1275 by Westphalian merchants. In 1405–1420 the church obtained its current late Gothic appearance. In 1515 the tower was built higher and in late 17th century, it got a Baroque spire with airy galleries, which was raised higher stage by stage through several centuries. The tower is now 105 metres (344.5 ft) high. Saint Nicholas was the only church in Tallinn that remained untouched by iconoclasm brought by the Protestant Reformation in 1523. The church was converted to a Lutheran congregation in the 16th century. In 1944, the church was severely damaged by bombing. The resulting fire turned the church into ruins and destroyed most of its interior. Most art treasures survived thanks to their timely evacuation from the church. The renovation of the church started in 1953 and was completely finished in 1981. The church tower was again damaged by a fire in October 1982. The tower was burnt out. After a restoration the church was inaugurated in 1984 as a museum and concert hall. There are about a hundred tombstones in the church. On one of them is the "logo" of the Brotherhood of Blackheads. The deceased was therefore unmarried, as only unmarried men could be a member. The Brotherhood of Blackheads (Bruderschaft der Schwarzhäupte) was an association of local unmarried male merchants, ship owners, and foreigners that was active in Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) from the mid-14th century on.