Exploring Building History

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Exploring Building History

I am passionate about architectural history.

Exploring Building History is about providing a platform for my adventures investigating the built heritage of England and in particular southwest England, where I am based.

20/02/2022

One of the poshest bathrooms in England. At Holkham Hall, Norfolk (built between 1734 and 1764). I don't think I would ever get out of the bath in this room - one can meditate on the ornament of the room, be heated by an open fire and admire the art work! Although I think I would prefer the bath to be elevated and on a swivel so I could choose to look out of the window across the estate!

13/02/2022

This coming week I am doing a talk to Martock History group on the Shell House at Jordans. A fascinating building on a private estate. Dates from 1828 and in cottage orne style. 3 bays and a single storey. The 2 side bays were aviaries for canaries. Family and visitors from the house would travel out on the ornamental lake (now long gone - both lake and Jordans House) to take tea at the Shell House. John Hanning Speke (he who discovered the source of the Nile) lived at Jordans. He was born in 1827, a year before the construction of the Shell House. Any local history group who would like to book me to give the talk to them - please just contact me!

06/02/2022

Old Wardour Castle near Tisbury in Wiltshire is a very interesting building. With 3 incarnations (1) the original medieval castle built by Baron Lovell in the 1390s, (2) the updated Tudor, classical building of the 1570s by Sir Matthew Arundell (architect probably Robert Symthson), and (3) the Civil War sieges and subsequent destruction of 1644, making most of it ruined. The original castle was a hexagonal plan (unique in Britain at the time - although fashionable in parts of Europe), with a rectangular part at the entrance, which housed the Great Hall on the first floor. It was the first castle to apply fan vaulting in a domestic setting (remains can be seen in the entrance porch). It was also the first castle to include self-contained guest suites. this is a time when the castle as a building type was moving from the military defended fortress to the country house. It is now managed by English Heritage and there are some lovely walks around, giving different views of the castle and surrounding countryside.

30/01/2022

2020 was the 850th anniversary of Thomas Becket's death and the 800th anniversary of the translation of his body to a new shrine in Canterbury Cathedral. In Somerset there are few churches dedicated to him. I recently visited South Cadbury where there is a wall painting that is possibly the archbishop himself. I also dropped in on Lovington a few miles away - although the church was closed for renovation work. Becket challenged Royal authority over the Church and was martyred for his steadfastness. 3 of the 4 nights that were complicit in his murder at Canterbury Cathedral were from Devon & Somerset - Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, Richard de Brito. They were exiled to the Holy Land by the Pope as part of their penance. There is a myth that their bones were brought back after they died there and buried at Brean Down, near Weston-Super-Mare.

23/01/2022

The shops in Salisbury can have fascinating features in them. Try Cotswold Clothing or Crew Clothing in Queen Street and look beyond the merchandise at the fabric of 14th C merchant houses.

16/01/2022

A while ago I was in Salisbury. I went to the Boston Tea Party cafe which was The Old George Inn. It possibly dates from the 14th C. There are a couple of carvings - a king and a queen. The king is supposed to be Edward II (d. 1327) and the queen, his wife, Isabella of France. There is also some wonderful carved over mantels on the fireplaces. Definitely worth a visit!

08/01/2022

A miserable Saturday in January today! On my way to the dentist I passed through the churchyard of St Bartholomew's Church at Crewkerne and couldn't resist a snap or two in the rain. The church is a wonderful example of the Perpendicular style - the windows really show this, and are consistent (often churches have earlier windows mixed in from early times such as when the Early English style or Decorated Gothic was prevalent). The church was almost completely built in the 15th C/early 16th C.

01/01/2022

An interesting feature that appeared in the 18th C is the shell hood porch. Some were put in later in the 19th C in a Neo-classical revival. Here are 3 I spotted in recent time. The first is from Corsham in Wiltshire and is dated 1714 (although just a porch hood - no shell). The second is on the Swan Hotel in Bibury in Gloucestershire and the third is on Hotel du Vin in Bristol (which was previously a sugar refinery).

12/12/2021

This is a replica boss at Exeter Cathedral. It is made from papier mâché, adhered to a wire and wood frame. It was made to replicate a boss in the centre of the crossing between the transepts. It approximately the same size and the demonstrates the original painted colours (egg tempera paint) of the boss. It is the work of Rowan Kerek.

The subject is a knight fighting off 3 dragons. The knight is the Christian soul, and the dragons represent the world, the flesh & the devil. The original boss dates to circa 1300. The drama of the subject is shown through the knight riding, sword and shield held up as the 3 dragons bite at him and his horse from different directions. His cloak flows outwards & upwards in folds to give the idea of movement. There is the detail of his stirrup and knee protector as well as his horse’s bridle and rein (which the knight clings to).The boss gives a great idea of the size and density of a boss (stone bosses can weight over 2 tons). Then there is the design to fit a drama into a circle and bring out the detail with colour. They would have been carved in a workshop and then there would have been a tremendous effort to put them in position high up in the vault.

05/12/2021

The Holnicote estate is in West Somerset. Holnicote is pronounced ‘hunnicutt’. I recently went to photograph the 15th C gatehouse (with permission of the National Trust). Now the gatehouse chamber above the gate passage has a new function – a bat roost. The floorboards meant the chamber was unsafe to enter but I was able to take photos from the top of the stone winding stair. The estate is home to 16 of the 18 species of bat found in the UK. (incidentally, the woods across the field are host to a family of beavers). What particularly fascinated me was the wooden window frame facing on the side away from the original house (the original house is gone). Expanding my photos of it I noticed some interesting detail in the spandrels of the cinquefoil headers. Was this gatehouse chamber a chapel originally or a room for an elite visitor? The porter would have lived in the cottage next door – there is direct access via door to the chamber. The gatehouse also has 3 pairs of jointed crucks. Fascinating to a gatehouse nerd like myself!

27/11/2021

Visited the Queen’s House, Lyndhurst this week (not open to the public - but can be seen from the outside). Fascinating building – it changes name according to when a king or a queen is on the throne. It is owned by the Crown and is currently the headquarters of the Forestry Commission in the New Forest. There still a Verderers Court attached where individuals can come and address the court with local New Forest matters. The house is medieval in origin but looking Queen Anne style from the late-17th C. The Verderer’s Court is 18th C. The rainwater hopper heads give dates when the Queen’s House received restoration or upgrades.

20/11/2021

The iconic Art Deco Burgh Island Hotel, Bigbury-on-Sea, Devon. In 1925 Archibold Nettleford inherited a large sum from the engineering and munitions firm Guest, Keen & Nettlefold which enabled him to to buy Burgh Island and have built an Art Deco country house, which he later turned into a hotel. It is constructed of rendered reinforced concrete and steel-framed windows. The Palm Court has a ‘peacock dome’ with radial glazing bars. Many of the rooms & suites have names after famous folk who stayed there – for example, Agatha Christie, Oscar Deutsche, Noel Coward, Malcolm Campbell, Amy Johnson & Josephine Baker. And, of course, I had to have a ride in the sea tractor!!

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