Andy Marshall
@fotofacade.bsky.social
6K followers 1.1K following 2.7K posts
Architectural Photographer on a camper-van-camino. 📸🚐🏛️ 🎨 Architecture, Art, Travel, History, Place, Material Culture, Genius Loci Digest. #amwriting #amsketching Links: Linktree: linktr.ee/andymarshall Genius Loci Digest: digest.andymarshall.co
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I thought I’d share the story behind my Genius Loci Digest, which is more than just a travel diary. After a breakdown in my 30s, it became a salve—helping me untangle anxiety, find solace, and move forward by connecting deeply with the places around me. 🌿 #Thread
fotofacade.bsky.social
Or dissolve the monasteries....
fotofacade.bsky.social
It’s a niche thing, but if the quirky tales hidden in walls like Waltham Abbey’s speak to you, join me on my camper-van-camino. Each Friday I share a digest of discoveries from my time-travelling van. Subscribe for free: www.digest.andymarshall.co
A blocked medieval window at Waltham Abbey, its brick infill framed by original stonework, revealing layers of change and adaptation over centuries of architectural evolution.
fotofacade.bsky.social
And sometimes its voice is unmistakable. These circular forms are the ghosted bases of Purbeck marble columns — echoes of the abbey’s former presence and power.
A section of wall at Waltham Abbey showing circular bases of Purbeck marble columns, ghostly remnants that reveal the footprint of the former abbey.
fotofacade.bsky.social
Look closer and the wall becomes a kind of architectural Morse code — traces of vanished arches, blocked openings and subtle scars signalling stories long forgotten.
An old brick wall at Waltham Abbey with filled voids and scars, resembling a coded pattern that hints at vanished openings and structural changes.
fotofacade.bsky.social
Ever get the sense that a wall is trying to speak? At Waltham Abbey, this battered surface tells of remarkable survival — latent with memory. #thread
A weathered wall at Waltham Abbey built from mixed stone and brick, showing centuries of repairs, textures, and layers revealing its long architectural history.
fotofacade.bsky.social
Thanks for sharing, Margaret - such a lovely door
fotofacade.bsky.social
I imagine all those things, Steve
fotofacade.bsky.social
If places like King's Manor and St Mary’s Abbey stir something in you - join me on my camper-van-camino. 📸 I share photography, sketches, and reflections on Britain’s historic places in my weekly Genius Loci Digest. Out every Friday, free to all: 👉 digest.andymarshall.co
Ruined gothic arches of St Mary’s Abbey in York silhouetted against a vivid pink and orange sunset sky, trees framing the historic remains.
fotofacade.bsky.social
✨ If doors could speak, this one tells a tale of monks, kings and queens and scholars. Built into the abbot's house of St. Mary's Abbey. It saw Henry VIII and Catherine Howard, became a portal for the King's Council, then a place of learning.

The door is full of latent memory.
An ornate doorway at King’s Manor, York, with a carved stone surround and Stuart coat of arms above, set into weathered red brick walls.
fotofacade.bsky.social
🌿⏳Some doors never open, yet they lead us deeper into the past. Join me on my camper-van-camino as I uncover our material culture like this ‘ghost door’ in Conistone. Out weekly - check it out here: digest.andymarshall.co
Close-up of a blocked ‘ghost door’ in Conistone, Yorkshire Dales, with carved date 1697, rosette motifs, and initials deeply incised into the weathered stone.
fotofacade.bsky.social
✨Delightful 👻 ‘ghost-door’, dated 1627 in the spandrel - at Conistone in the Yorkshire Dales. The patterns reminiscent of the protective daisy wheels🛞 that are often seen around openings.
A blocked stone doorway on a historic building in Conistone, Yorkshire Dales, dated 1697 in the spandrel, with carved rosettes and initials above.
Reposted by Andy Marshall
fotofacade.bsky.social
Sunday read: "And so I stand beside the latch, comforted by the collective thumbprint. Through the imperceptible hollowing of its burnished curve, it cradles an immortality defined through touch" www.digest.andymarshall.co/andy-marshal...
fotofacade.bsky.social
Sunday read: "And so I stand beside the latch, comforted by the collective thumbprint. Through the imperceptible hollowing of its burnished curve, it cradles an immortality defined through touch" www.digest.andymarshall.co/andy-marshal...
Reposted by Andy Marshall
fotofacade.bsky.social
The striking form of Howden Minster, Yorkshire. Dating mostly from the 14th century, the building suffered the loss of its choir roof in the C17th. Its grandeur is a lasting reminder of the Minster’s historic ties to the powerful bishops of Durham.
The ruined east end of Howden Minster in Yorkshire, framed by a clear blue sky. A vast Gothic arch dominates the view, with tracery fragments clinging to weathered stone. Gravestones scatter the green churchyard, while the intact tower rises beyond. A modern stone sculpture stands to the right.
fotofacade.bsky.social
Not heard it called that. It is Norman, Romanesque..
fotofacade.bsky.social
Look up The Bestiary - some stories in there.