The ‘Cambridge Core’ is a street corner sculpture representing layers of archaeology and history

The ‘Cambridge Core’ by Michael Fairfax at the corner of Magdalene Street and Chesterton Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

I was standing at the corner of Magdalene Street and Chesterton Road in Cambridge one afternoon recently, wating for the lights to change and the traffic to stop so that I could cross the street and visit Saint Giles Church. Had they changed with greater speed, I might not have noticed the ‘Cambridge Core’ or thoughtlessly mistaken it for another pole among the street lights, traffic lights and telephone poles.

But the ‘Cambridge Core’ is a modern sculpture by Michael Fairfax representing layers of Cambridge history dating back to Roman times. The 11.5 ft bronze column on this busy street corner is a totem pole-like sculpture that commemorates a treasure trove of 1,800 gold and silver mediaeval coins found by Anglian Water workers and now in the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The column opposite Saint Giles Church marks the end of a trail of bronze flowers embedded in pavements and forming rather a trail through the city. The trail begins with a few metal flowers at the corner of Saint John’s Street and Bridge Street, close to the chapel of Saint John’s College and the Round Church.

As you walk along the trail, 600 bronze and brassy flowers are embedded in the pavement, waiting to be seen or noticed by the unsuspecting pedestrian and visitor alike. The flowers have charming designs and they fit seamlessly into the streetscape. Yet they have a much deeper meaning that may be unfamiliar to some.

The trail leads up Bridge Street, passing Saint Clement’s Church and crossing the River Cam, continuing past Magdalene College and up to the corner of Magdalene Street and Chesterton Lane with the tall bronze column opposite Saint Giles Church.

The ‘Cambridge Core’ represents layers of Cambridge history dating back to Roman times (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

The column is across the road from the Museum of Cambridge – previously known as the Cambridge Folk Museum – and a plaque in the wall on the street corner behind the sculpture explains its story.

Both the column and the flowers were designed by the artist Michael Fairfax. They are inspired by an archaeological dig at this site in the year 2000, when a hoard of mediaeval coins known as ‘the Magdalene Hoard’ was excavated. The trove of 1,800 gold and silver mediaeval coins is on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum.

The ‘Cambridge Core’ represents layers of Cambridge history and archaeology dating back to Roman times. The excavation also uncovered the remnants of a Roman street, first-millennium burial sites, Saxon and mediaeval buildings and a 19th century public house.

Michael Fairfax made his sculpture using oak tree chunks from Wimpole Hall, about 14 km south-west of Cambridge, carved and cast in bronze. He is a sculptor, environmental artist and sound artist who lives in deepest rural Somerset, where he is surrounded by trees, woods, valleys, rivers, owls and ravens – a location that he says is ‘the driving motivation that touches my creativity, an essence of sensitivity to the violence and beauty of nature and my surrounding’.

Michael Fairfax was born in Windsor, Berkshire, in 1953, the son of the poet John Fairfax. He studied at Portsmouth College of Art and then at Gwent College of Higher Education. He then worked as an artist, sculptor and public arts sound sculptor, with commissions throughout the UK and abroad and residencies in many countries.

His main practice has been public art in cities, towns, villages and sculpture trails. He also works with sound, creating instruments from live trees and roots, making instruments to play with sounds that are amplified and distorted.

Recently Michael Fairfax has been creating living sculptures, manipulating and grafting live trees around his surroundings exploring the nature in art, and he has also been working in bronze.

The wooden model made by Michael Fairfax for the ‘Cambridge Core’ is on display in the Museum of Cambridge. The public art project, which also includes street-side bollards, was sponsored by Cambridge City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council.

The ‘Cambridge Core’ commemorates a treasure trove of 1,800 gold and silver mediaeval coins unearthed in 2000 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 77, Thursday 25 July 2024, Saint James the Apostle

Saint James the Apostle, or Saint James the Great … his statue in the shrine in the cathedral in Santago de Compostella (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and the week began with the Eighth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VIII). Today, the Church Calendar today celebrates the Feast of Saint James the Apostle (25 July).

Saint James the Apostle is often known as Saint James the Great. He was called with his brother John as one of the first apostles. The two brothers were with Christ at the Transfiguration, they were with him again in Gethsemane, and were present for his resurrection appearances. He was put to death by the sword on the order of Herod Agrippa, said to have been in the year 44 CE.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

Peter (left), John (centre) and James (right) … a detail in the icon of the Transfiguration in the iconostasis in the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Matthew 20: 20-28 (NRSVA):

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him [Jesus] with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. 21 And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ 22 But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’ 23 He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’

24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

The silver reliquary in the crypt in Santago de Compostela is said to hold the relics of Saint James and two of his disciples (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

This morning’s reflection:

The English name James comes from Italian Giacomo, a variant of Giacobo, which is derived from Iacobus in Latin and Ἰάκωβος in Greek. It is the same name as Jacob in the Hebrew Bible. In French, the name is Jacques, in Spanish it is Jaime, and in Catalan it is Jaume. Variations include Diego in Spanish, giving us San Diego and Santiago, and Diogo in Portuguese.

This Saint James, traditionally regarded as the first apostle to be martyred, is said to have been a son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of Saint John the Evangelist. He is also called Saint James the Great to distinguish him from Saint James, son of Alphaeus, and Saint James, the Brother of the Lord, or Saint James the Just.

His father Zebedee was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and probably lived in or near Bethsaida in present Galilee, perhaps in Capernaum. His mother Salome was one of the pious women who followed Christ and ‘ministered unto him of their substance.’ But James and John are also known as ‘the Sons of Thunder’ (see Mark 3: 17).

This Saint James is one of the first disciples. The Synoptic Gospels say James and John were with their father by the seashore when Christ called them to follow him (see Matthew 4: 21-22; Mark 1: 19-20). James was one of the three disciples, along with Saint Peter and Saint John, who witnesses to the Transfiguration, which we celebrate on Saturday 6 August.

Saint James and Saint John, or their mother, ask Christ to be seated on his right and left in his glory. They also want to call down fire on a Samaritan town, but they are rebuked for this (see Luke 9: 51-6).

The Acts of the Apostles records that Herod (probably Herod Agrippa) had Saint James executed by sword, making him the only apostle whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament (see Acts 12: 1-2).

Saint James is linked with the Camino, a mediaeval pilgrimage that has become popular in recent decades with people seeking spiritual rootings that are relevant to the demands of modern life. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain is the reputed burial place of Saint James the Great.

According to Spanish legends, Saint James spent time preaching in Iberia, but returned to Jerusalem after seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary on the bank of the Ebro River. One version says that after his death, his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula, to be buried in what is now Santiago. Off the coast of Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship, and the body was lost in the ocean. After some time, however, it washed ashore undamaged, covered in scallops.

A second version of the legend says that after Saint James died his body was transported by a ship piloted by an angel, back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in Santiago. As the ship approached land, a wedding was taking place on the shore. The young groom was on horseback, and on seeing the ship approaching, his horse took fright and horse and rider were plunged into the sea. Through miraculous intervention, both horse and rider emerged from the water alive, covered in seashells.

Saint James became the patron saint of Spain, and Santiago de Compostela became the end point of the popular pilgrim route known as the Camino. The emblem of Saint James is the scallop, which has become a general symbol of pilgrims and pilgrimage. The name Santiago is a local Galician form of the late Latin name Sancti Iacobi, Saint James.

The history of the Camino de Santiago dates back to the early ninth century and the discovery of the tomb of Saint James in the year 814. Since then, Santiago de Compostela has been a destination for pilgrims from throughout Europe.

The Way of Saint James became one of the most important pilgrimages in the Middle Ages, alongside those to Rome and Jerusalem. With the Muslim occupation of Jerusalem and later during the Crusades, the Camino became a safe and popular alternative to pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

The flow of people along the Camino brought about a growth in the number of hostels and hospitals, churches, monasteries and abbeys along the pilgrim route.

The scallop shell has long been the symbol of the Camino de Santiago. Along the Camino, the shell is seen frequently on posts and signs to guide pilgrims, and the shell is commonly worn by pilgrims too. Most pilgrims receive a shell at the beginning of the journey and either sew it onto their clothes, wear it around their necks or keep it in their backpacks.

I am reflecting this morning on where I am in my own pilgrimage in life, asking questions about the role am I playing in the Kingdom of God, and wondering how I might truly serve God’s kingdom rather than serving my own interests in life.

The west façade of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, facing onto the Praza do Obradoiro (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 25 July 2024, Saint James the Apostle):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Someone called my name – Mary Magdalene Reflection.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by the Revd Cathrine Ngangira, Priest-in-Charge, Benefice of Boughton-under-Blean with Durnkirk, Graveney with Goodnestone and Hernhill.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 25 July 2024) invites us to pray:

Grant, O merciful God, that as thine holy Apostle St James, leaving his Father and all that he had, without delay was obedient unto the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him; so we, forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be evermore ready to follow thy holy commandments (Book of Common Prayer).

The Collect:

Merciful God,
whose holy apostle Saint James,
leaving his father and all that he had,
was obedient to the calling of your Son Jesus Christ
and followed him even to death:
help us, forsaking the false attractions of the world,
to be ready at all times to answer your call without delay;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
who on the day of Pentecost
sent your Holy Spirit to the apostles
with the wind from heaven and in tongues of flame,
filling them with joy and boldness to preach the gospel:
by the power of the same Spirit
strengthen us to witness to your truth
and to draw everyone to the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

A pilgrim marker, with a pilgrim shell and a bright arrow, on the streets near the cathedral in Porto (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The ‘Botafumeiro’, the large thurible above the crossing in Santiago, is the largest censer in the world (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)