Elswyth

Photographs and Stories by Kate Coldrick | Woodbury, Devon

Elswyth by Kate Coldrick
Kate Coldrick — photographer and writer based in Woodbury, Devon

  • All Saints Church in Bristol

    From Elswyth, a collection tracing how history folds into the everyday.

    All Saints Church, Bristol, stands quietly behind the bustle of Corn Street – its carved angels and darkened stone holding centuries of memory. There’s a stillness to places like this, where the sacred and the ordinary coexist, and where each worn threshold seems to breathe with the presence of those who once passed through.

    All Saints Church in Bristol by Kate Coldrick
    All Saints Church in Bristol by Kate Coldrick
    All Saints Church in Bristol by Kate Coldrick
    All Saints Church in Bristol by Kate Coldrick
    All Saints Church in Bristol by Kate Coldrick

    Nestled down a narrow passageway, this entrance hides a former church from the 12th-century and is the site of the first public library in the country.

    Words and images © Kate Coldrick – part of the Elswyth collection.

  • Tick Tock, Tick Tock

    From Elswyth, a collection attentive to the mechanisms of time and memory.

    In the church at Beer, Devon, the old clock’s gears and ropes still hold the pulse of centuries – iron worn smooth by motion, echoing through the tower with each measured turn. I’m fascinated by the poetry of function here – how the work of keeping time becomes a kind of music, steady and unspoken.  

    Counting down time in the church at Beer, Devon by Kate Coldrick

    Hickory dickory dock, the mouse ran up the clock – the clock struck one …. the mouse ran down. Hickory dickory dock – tick tock, tick tock …….

    Words and images © Kate Coldrick – part of the Elswyth collection.

  • St Nicholas in Truro Cathedral

    From Elswyth, a series exploring the ways stories are carved into stone.

    In Truro Cathedral, the figure of St Nicholas stands watch – patron of sailors, children, and travellers, his legend retold here in sculptured folds and careful detail. I’m drawn to how devotion becomes material – how the sculptor’s hand transforms a miracle into texture, shadow, and line, holding faith still across the centuries.

    St Nicholas in Truro Cathedral by Kate Coldrick
    St Nicholas in Truro Cathedral by Kate Coldrick

    Stories in stone – a tale from the 14th century of three boys restored to life by St Nicholas.

    Words and images © Kate Coldrick – part of the Elswyth collection.