mayfield school wedding

So the wettest April since 1910 – not hard to believe if you were at Thea & Tom’s wedding at Mayfield school in East Sussex. Perched above The Weald, just south of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Mayfield is famous for the legend of St Dunstan – see the first photo and a detail of the village sign. ( The legend is  “ the Devil disguised himself as a beautiful young woman and visited Dunstan in his forge. As a girl, he laughed and joked with the saint and used all his charms in an attempt to seduce him; but Dunstan did not even look up from his blacksmithing. Eventually, the Devil’s prancing around the room revealed his hooves beneath the billowing skirts. Unmasked, Old Nick was no match for St. Dunstan who calmly took a large pair of red-hot tongs from the blazing fire and clamped them hard on the Devil’s nose. His screams could be heard from three miles away as his wings unfurled and he shot into the sky in uncontrollable agony.” )

Thea’s old school was built around the dramatic ruins of the Mayfield Old Palace – a lodging place for the Archbishops of Canterbury – with the spectacular chapel built from the roofless ruin of The Great Hall. Early fourteenth century stone arches stretching across 12 metres provide a fantastic backdrop to any wedding ceremony. I liked the fact you could step out of the chapel and use the arch of the doorway to frame, echoing the roof curves. Unfortunately it wasn’t the day to hold a reception on the lawns outside – it was day of umbrellas and pillow cases as headscarves – so the cloisters provided an alternative, if a slightly dark one. But it was a day to definitely stay inside!

Here are a few images from Thea & Tom’s day at Mayfield school…..from a very wet day!