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| St Margaret's Church Wolstanton |
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, often a skyscraper or a church tower, similar to a steep tented roof. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass.[
Spires are generally seen amongst the urban landscape topping church steeples, giving the impression of strength, symbolising a churches connection with heaven. The Encyclopedia Britannica states it is a "steeply pointed pyramidal or conical termination to a tower". Originating in the 12th century, they are often integrated within the church tower. Not accepted by the renaissance, development continued in England, France, and Germany, with spires becoming more extravagant in the nineteenth century.
I have a thing about spires on skylines, in particular on urban skylines, for me, they are incredibly evocative. For some reason I think they are rural in nature especially if pictured from a distance, popping out of the trees, or reaching into the steely winter sky. The above picture is St. Margaret's Church spire in Wolstanton (a district of Newcastle-Under-Lyme) from a distance, popping up behind Wolstanton High. If you pan out from the small green in the foreground, which is off Milehouse Road in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, you will find an attractive social housing estate off the very busy A34 thoroughfare. I think if you asked a person who was not familiar with the area, where they thought the picture was taken they might say an English village, in fact, it reminded me of Dulwich Village in London when I took the picture.
A spire has a somewhat calming presence when juxtaposed by modernist structures and sometimes may look better remotely than close up. They can be quite subtle in their positioning but if they were no longer there the loss would eventually be seen and felt. A church tower, for me, is not as emotive and we have many great church towers in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire, possibly because the blockiness and squareness is a common feature of many buildings, unlike the upright pointiness of a church spire. It might also be because subliminally for me a spire is reminiscent of an English countryside scene, where possibly urbanites sometimes try to find solace.
Of course, the way a spire is photographed can add to the deception of the location of the church spire, especially within the urban landscape. For some reason I get great delight confusing the viewer through photography when picturing the urban, a spire can add to this disorientation, is it in a village, is it in a market town, no it's in a suburb.
Spires are also under threat. In 2015 the BBC reported that 40 English spires were considered at risk, so maybe we should make the most of their ethereal beauty before they slowly disappear from our familiar urban skyline.
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| Holy Trinity Church Hartshill |
Spot a spire in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme