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  • Writer's pictureTim
    • Oct 18, 2023

Lacock Abbey


A photograph of the exterior of Lacock Abbey looking at one of its corners where a three-storey tower sits. In the foreground there is a wide gravel path and a sun dial sits to one side of the path.

We went to Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire recently, home of one of the fathers of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot. It was here that Fox Talbot began to investigate the properties of chemicals sensitive to light and their potential to record an image on paper. Crucially, he developed a method to stop the exposure process so that the paper did not blacken completely (something previous experimenters had failed to do). His image of a window in the abbey is one of the first photographic negatives ever developed. His achievements co-incided with those of the Frenchman Louis Daguerre, so both are generally recognised to be pioneers of the photographic processes that dominated well into the 20th Century until those pesky digital cameras and smartphones began to appear.


A photograph of a large old window with 10 vertical lattice-work panes.
The very window Fox Talbot managed to photograph. But this photo was taken with my phone (sorry Henry).

So, it seemed fitting that I should try to take some 'proper' photos with a 'proper' camera at Lacock. But unfortunately, all that meant was using a digital mirrorless camera with an interchangeable lens and, shock, using full manual mode (setting ISO, aperture and shutter speed myself). But still all amazingly easy; long gone are my school days where I sometimes wandered about with the school SLR, taking random photos of trees and buildings before returning to school and developing them in near darkness, hoping that something worthwhile appeared while the vinegary stench of developing chemicals hung in the air. I'm not sure I really want to return to those days, but the sense of achievement when a photo came out well after quite a bit of manual labour, was very satisfying (only in black and white, of course - possibly why I still have an affection for nice grainy monochrome photos). Connecting a digital camera to the computer and browsing through the photos to pick the best ones isn't quite the same. A lot cheaper and quicker, though. What Fox Talbot would think of my efforts, I really don't know, but it was a very nice day to be wandering about his home (also actually an abbey founded in the 13th Century) and learning about the origins of our modern photo-flooded world.


A bee nestles on a large bright pink flower with a bright orange centre. In the background are other plants and a large greenhouse.
Shallow depth of field achieved optically, rather than with digital jiggery pokery!

A photograph of the cloisters at Lacock Abbey. Light floods in through the paneless windows while people stand admiring the stonework and taking photos.
These cloisters have appeared in numerous movies and TV shows.

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