Exploring Building History

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Exploring Building History

I am passionate about architectural history.
(2)

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!!

13/11/2021

At St John the Baptist Church in Bere Regis, Dorset, there are some stone carvings on capitals that give an insight into preoccupations of the 12th/13th C. Headaches and toothache for instance! The one I find difficult to imagine is the enjoyment people had of watching a chained bear being baited by dogs. From the 12th C up until the 19th C this cruel sport was popular in England. There is possibly the head of monkey on the bear-baiting capital. The church has Anglo-Saxon origins, rebuilt in the Norman period and further building work at different times in the medieval period. It has a wonderful ‘mock’ hammerbeam roof of the late 15th C.

06/11/2021

The English love of a lost chivalric ideal comes across in this type of architecture. John Steinbeck – US author and Nobel laureate (d. 1968) who wrote the Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men – spent 9 months near Redlynch in 1959. He wanted to research Avalon and Arthurian Legend. Somerset is the place to feel the ‘romance’ of the Arthurian Age. He surely passed and admired The Towers. A Gothik-style sham castle gateway built in the late 18th C by Lord Ilchester (Henry-Thomas Fox) as the main entrance to Redlynch Park. George III, a frequent visitor to Weymouth, often stopped off at Redlynch on his way from London. The Somerset countryside on a beautiful, autumn day is magical.

30/10/2021

A feature that occurs on many churches in Somerset is the Hunky Punk. The grotesque carvings are particularly numerous in the county and the term comes from Somerset dialect.
The term derives from 2 old English words – ‘hunkers’, which is squatting on haunches, and ‘punchy’ describing short, squat legs and a thick body. They are different from gargoyles as they don’t have the function of draining water away from the building. These ones at Isle Abbots Church tower and Castle Cary Church remind me of the terror dogs from the 1984 Ghostbuster’s film. If they came to life Halloween, what would be like!!!

16/10/2021

Jennings Tomb at St Andrew’s Parish Church, Curry Rival. Faces and fashions of the 1620/30s. The tomb is of the Jennings family, who resided at what became Burton Pynsant House. The children and babies have been carved with a tenderness and care, be it a naive style. The babies probably didn’t survive infancy and are shown in their beds. The youngsters kneel earnestly for their dead relatives - Marmaduke (d. 1625) & his son, Robert (d. 1630). Marmaduke is the elder with the Jacobean ruff. Robert has more of a ‘Charles the First’ style (Charles I ascended to the throne in 1625).

09/10/2021

The Parish Church of St Mary at Mudford, just outside of Yeovil has early-17th century (Jacobean) wooden pews. Halfway down the nave is some curious graffiti. I find that I tend to look for graffiti in historic buildings. It is so interesting! In Mudford Church there are initials with dates. The earliest date is 1637 and the latest 1860. Makes one wonder what was going on when these folk made their carvings!!

02/10/2021

Symbols of the Evangelists - The 4 Evangelists who wrote the Gospels have their own symbols: St Matthew’s is the Man, St Mark’s is the Winged Lion (think of all those winged lions in Venice), St Luke’s is the Winged Ox, and St John’s is the Eagle. In church art and sculpture these symbols are a common theme – in stained glass, roof bosses, doors, fonts, frescoes, and carvings in stone or wood. They are known as the Tetramorphic symbols. The symbols also represent aspects of the life of Christ – The Angel – Christ as a man, The Winged Bull – Christ sacrificed, The Winged Lion – Christ resurrected, The Eagle – Christ’s ascension.

The photos show the symbols on nave roof bosses at Tewkesbury Abbey (c. 1320-50), on the west door in Beverley Minster (early 18th C), on the font at Bath Abbey (19th C).

25/09/2021

I am reminded, as I drink my coffee, of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket (apparently these days the name Thomas a Becket, as I was taught, is not used). Last year was 850 years since his martyrdom. I bought my coffee cup (I have a liking for Emma Bridgewater!), in commemoration. I recently took these pictures of Pylle church, near Shepton Mallet, which is dedicated to Thomas Becket. The tower is 15th C, but the main body of the church was rebuilt in 1868. His coat of arms is of 3 Cornish Choughs.

19/09/2021

I recently visited Tewkesbury Abbey to photograph the bosses that run down the spine of the vault in the nave. They are themed on the life of Christ. Some of these images, carved in the 14th century, show remarkable imagery and tenderness. I was particularly struck by the one of Mary finding Jesus in the Temple. She kneels, holds his hands, and looks into his eyes. An anguished mother finding a child that had been missing for 3 days.

There are others too that capture the scenes of Jesus’s life in a unique way. I particularly like the 3 wise men being pushed along on their journey by an angel.

With the Ascension, the Apostles are grouped to fill much of the boss. They are split into groups of 6, either side of the central figure, Mary. Some can be identified by what they hold – e.g., St Peter holds the large key. Fingers point upwards and their heads are tilted in wonder. We can see the feet and bottom of Jesus’s robes just below possibly what is meant to be clouds as he ascends to Heaven.

16/01/2021

I have been research medieval inns in Somerset and Wiltshire. We have some fine examples in this part of the world. One of my favourites is The George Inn at Norton St Philip. The building dates from 14th/15th C. Cannot wait for our hostelries to reopen! Here is dreaming...

19/12/2020

As a member of the aristocracy one way to demonstration your wealth, taste and status was in your state bed. You may have a visit from royalty, so you need a bed fit for a king or queen. Luxurious damask silk, gold threads, fine needlework and flowing velvets were used to create a unique design. Decoration may include your family’s coat of arms. At Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire a number of such luxurious beds are on display. One of them has a headboard with a double velvet scallop shell and a ducal coronet (the ‘Cut Velvet’ bed, circa 1750). The scallop shell may be linked to the idea of Venus, who arrived into the world fully formed on a scallop shell (think of Botticelli’s painting – The Birth of Venus, now in the Uffizi). The shell is a symbol of love. Which bed would you like to sleep in tonight?!!

15/12/2020

I am obviously missing my tripettes around Britain looking at the wonderful array of architectural delights we have! I have been dwelving into my treasure trove of photographs. Today I bring to you Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, built between 1587 and 1596. It was built by the remarkable Bess of Hardwick (c. 1572-1608) and her architect, Robert Symthson (1535-1614). This is a stunning example of an Elizabethan prodigy house. A palace fit for a countess, which indeed Bess was - the ES carved on the roof line refers to Elizabeth Shrewsbury (Countess of Shrewsbury). She married 4 times and became fabulously wealthy. The windows, an extravagance when glass was so expensive, gave rise the saying 'Harwick Hall, more glass than wall'.

12/12/2020

A tomb from the early-Jacobean period to reassert noble lineage and authority. This ornate tomb - carved and painted alabaster lies in Framlingham Church in Suffolk. It is for Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and his wife Frances (nee de Vere - daughter of the Earl of Oxford). Henry was executed on Tower Hill in 1547. He was known as the 'Poet Earl' and along with Thomas Wyatt, developed the English Sonnet. His rash temper was his downfall. It was in 1614 that the tomb was created at the bequest of his youngest son, Henry, who fared rather better (unlike his elder brother, who also lost his head on Tower Hill). The tomb projects the status of the family - the blue boar of the de Veres, the coroneted lion, coats of arms. The weepers are the 3 daughters and the 2 sons. Note though that the coronet of the Earl of Surrey lies besides him and not on his head.

08/12/2020

Henry IX that never was. At Framlingham Church in Suffolk is the tomb of Henry Fitzroy. He was the illegitimate son of Henry VIII. His mother was Bessie Blount, a lady-in-waiting of Catherine of Aragon. He died as at the age of 17 (d. 1536). Henry VIII did recognise this son by ennobling him with the titles of Duke of Richmond and Somerset. He was married to the Duke of Norfolk's daughter, Mary. His tomb has English Renaissance details and scenes from the Old Testament. If he had lived, he may have become Henry IX. Another history 'what if'.

05/12/2020

Tudor Chimney Stacks at Framlingham Castle, Suffolk. Most the of chimney stacks were built before 1524 by Thomas Howard, and are purely decorative, unconnected to a fireplace. Two of them do top 12th-C cylindrical stone flues - believed to be the earliest in England. Fancy, carved brickwork to show off your status and wealth. Having a fireplace was the 'must have' of the early Tudor period!

01/12/2020

Framlingham Castle, Suffolk. This castle has been significant in the history of England. It was here that Mary I of England was declared Queen in 1553. The castle dates from the 12th C. The first record of the castle is from 1148, but it is still debated when the castle was actually built. The faces in the photos are carvings reset into a building within the castle walls. They remind us of those that lived before, long ago.

12/10/2020

Church of St Alhelm & St Eadburgha at Broadway in Somerset. The building dates from the 13th C. The tower is 15th C. The church is not in the village - which is about half a mile away. The village was likely moved due to a plague in the 17th C. Often when churches are separate from the village the reason is plague!

29/09/2020

Lovely lunch yesterday with friends at the Devonshire Arms, Long Sutton. I was taken by the arms of the Dukes of Devonshire on the porch - they had the estates in the area until 1919. This was a former hunting lodge. The arms have 2 Bucks proper and 3 bucks heads. All missing their antlers! One wonders how they came to be missing. Also missing is the Cavendish serpent - but his may not have been put there in first place.

28/09/2020

Montacute House (circa 1601). Build for Sir Edward Phelips (Speaker of the House of Commons in 1604 and Master of the Rolls in 1604). He was the opening prosecuter at the Gunpowder Plot trial. The master mason of the building was William Arnold. This is a video from the north garden in August 2020. Wonderful example of a late Tudor house.

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Montacute House

Closworth Church, South Somerset

Notice the stair turret and how it changes from a square plan to a octagonal one as it rises. The 15th C tower has battlements, pinnacles, fine traceried bell windows and topped with a cock and weathervane!

Closworth Church, South Somerset

13th C origins - the lancet window in the chancel wall on the north help to date it. Restored 1875. Tower is 15th C. Note that when I mention a 'south porch' I should have said a north porch! Closworth Church is part of the Coker Ridge Benefice.