Richard Baxter's House, Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

Born in Rowton, Shropshire, Richard Baxter (1615-1691) has been described as the “chief of English Protestant Schoolmen”. A Puritan theologian, church leader, poet, hymn writer, he lived in Bridgnorth for almost two years from 1640 – 1641. 

By 1638 Baxter became a master at a free grammar school in Dudley were he started his ministry, after being ordained and licensed by the bishop of Worcester (anybody else notice how often I crowbar Dudley references into my posts?). He moved to Bridgnorth shortly before the outbreak of the English Civil War (ECW). During the war Baxter was a chaplain for Colonel Edward Whalley’s Regiment. He later turned down an offer from Cromwell to become the chaplain for the NMA Ironsides.

Much later in life he had a rather unpleasant encounter with George Jefferies, now better known as the Hanging Judge after his suppression of the supporters of the Duke of Monmouth after the Battle of Sedgemoor.

Richard Baxter's House in St. Leonard’s Close.

The model detailed below is based on the home of Baxter in St. Leonard’s Close, Bridgnorth.

I don't know how this is possible but my photographs are actually getting worse. These images were taken straight after each other.

The simple frame work for this model was particularly easy to make but the gable window proved to be tricky. Having previously drawn the plans helped a great deal, however it was still a matter to fudging the final pieces together using far too much glue. I also had problems with my wooden coffee stirrers. It appears that ADSA changed their supplier or spec. The latest batch was noticeably thinner than previous ones I had procured. The only solution involved a great deal of sanding down to match the stirrers sourced (I’m running out of euphemisms for stealing here) in Starbucks which are generally longer and thicker and yes, I do need to get out more.

Perhaps I should do a full report on the different available coffee stirrers with comparison shots and prices (of a standard cappuccino) and post it on TMP....perhaps not.

I added green stuff to look like lead lining where the chimney stack meets the roof and and the gable roof. It also helps hide any dodgy joint lines

Warlord Games Puritan preacher (unfinished) shown for scale.

The model was painted using Citadel Foundation and Vallejo colours. As the house was the home of a famous Puritan I decided to keep the colour scheme very simple.

As the model, unlike the real house, is free standing I had free reign over the design of side walls. The unusual looking chimney feature on the side wall was taken from the Elizabethan gatehouse on Leicester’s castle grounds. This detail had caught my eye on a previous day trip so I decided to recreate something similar here. The brickwork runs flush with the wall and appears to have been skimmed over at some point.

Gate House, Castle Yard, Leicester

There are only a few more buildings/structures I would like to complete but I really need to concentrate on reducing the amount of forlorn figures waiting to be painted.