It's Lambing time at Coombes Farm. Lots of new-borns there wearing slightly baggy fleeces, which I'm sure they will grow in to

In spring of 2007, the Albertina also received the previously based in Salzburg "Batliner Collection" as unrestricted permanent loan. The collection of Rita and Herbert Batliner includes important works by modern masters, from French impressionism to German expressionism of the "Blue Rider" and the "bridge" to works of the Fauvist or the Russian avant-garde from Chagall to Malevich.

de.wikipedia.org / wiki / Albertina_ (Vienna)

 

 

The Albertina

The architectural history of the Palais

(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Image: The oldest photographic view of the newly designed Palais Archduke Albrecht, 1869

"It is my will that ​​the expansion of the inner city of Vienna with regard to a suitable connection of the same with the suburbs as soon as possible is tackled and at this on Regulirung (regulation) and beautifying of my Residence and Imperial Capital is taken into account. To this end I grant the withdrawal of the ramparts and fortifications of the inner city and the trenches around the same".

This decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I, published on 25 December 1857 in the Wiener Zeitung, formed the basis for the largest the surface concerning and architecturally most significant transformation of the Viennese cityscape. Involving several renowned domestic and foreign architects a "master plan" took form, which included the construction of a boulevard instead of the ramparts between the inner city and its radially upstream suburbs. In the 50-years during implementation phase, an impressive architectural ensemble developed, consisting of imperial and private representational buildings, public administration and cultural buildings, churches and barracks, marking the era under the term "ring-street style". Already in the first year tithe decided a senior member of the Austrian imperial family to decorate the facades of his palace according to the new design principles, and thus certified the aristocratic claim that this also "historicism" said style on the part of the imperial house was attributed.

Image: The Old Albertina after 1920

It was the palace of Archduke Albrecht (1817-1895), the Senior of the Habsburg Family Council, who as Field Marshal held the overall command over the Austro-Hungarian army. The building was incorporated into the imperial residence of the Hofburg complex, forming the south-west corner and extending eleven meters above street level on the so-called Augustinerbastei.

The close proximity of the palace to the imperial residence corresponded not only with Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Albert with a close familial relationship between the owner of the palace and the monarch. Even the former inhabitants were always in close relationship to the imperial family, whether by birth or marriage. An exception here again proves the rule: Don Emanuel Teles da Silva Conde Tarouca (1696-1771), for which Maria Theresa in 1744 the palace had built, was just a close friend and advisor of the monarch. Silva Tarouca underpins the rule with a second exception, because he belonged to the administrative services as Generalhofbaudirektor (general court architect) and President of the Austrian-Dutch administration, while all other him subsequent owners were highest ranking military.

In the annals of Austrian history, especially those of military history, they either went into as commander of the Imperial Army, or the Austrian, later kk Army. In chronological order, this applies to Duke Carl Alexander of Lorraine, the brother-of-law of Maria Theresa, as Imperial Marshal, her son-in-law Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, also field marshal, whos adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, the last imperial field marshal and only Generalissimo of Austria, his son Archduke Albrecht of Austria as Feldmarschalil and army Supreme commander, and most recently his nephew Archduke Friedrich of Austria, who held as field marshal from 1914 to 1916 the command of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Despite their military profession, all five generals conceived themselves as patrons of the arts and promoted large sums of money to build large collections, the construction of magnificent buildings and cultural life. Charles Alexander of Lorraine promoted as governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1741 to 1780 the Academy of Fine Arts, the Théâtre de Ja Monnaie and the companies Bourgeois Concert and Concert Noble, he founded the Academie royale et imperial des Sciences et des Lettres, opened the Bibliotheque Royal for the population and supported artistic talents with high scholarships. World fame got his porcelain collection, which however had to be sold by Emperor Joseph II to pay off his debts. Duke Albert began in 1776 according to the concept of conte Durazzo to set up an encyclopedic collection of prints, which forms the core of the world-famous "Albertina" today.

Image : Duke Albert and Archduchess Marie Christine show in family cercle the from Italy brought along art, 1776. Frederick Henry Füger.

1816 declared to Fideikommiss and thus in future indivisible, inalienable and inseparable, the collection 1822 passed into the possession of Archduke Carl, who, like his descendants, it broadened. Under him, the collection was introduced together with the sumptuously equipped palace on the Augustinerbastei in the so-called "Carl Ludwig'schen fideicommissum in 1826, by which the building and the in it kept collection fused into an indissoluble unity. At this time had from the Palais Tarouca by structural expansion or acquisition a veritable Residenz palace evolved. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was first in 1800 the third floor of the adjacent Augustinian convent wing adapted to house his collection and he had after 1802 by his Belgian architect Louis de Montoyer at the suburban side built a magnificent extension, called the wing of staterooms, it was equipped in the style of Louis XVI. Only two decades later, Archduke Carl the entire palace newly set up. According to scetches of the architect Joseph Kornhäusel the 1822-1825 retreaded premises presented themselves in the Empire style. The interior of the palace testified from now in an impressive way the high rank and the prominent position of its owner. Under Archduke Albrecht the outer appearance also should meet the requirements. He had the facade of the palace in the style of historicism orchestrated and added to the Palais front against the suburbs an offshore covered access. Inside, he limited himself, apart from the redesign of the Rococo room in the manner of the second Blondel style, to the retention of the paternal stock. Archduke Friedrich's plans for an expansion of the palace were omitted, however, because of the outbreak of the First World War so that his contribution to the state rooms, especially, consists in the layout of the Spanish apartment, which he in 1895 for his sister, the Queen of Spain Maria Christina, had set up as a permanent residence.

Picture: The "audience room" after the restoration: Picture: The "balcony room" around 1990

The era of stately representation with handing down their cultural values ​​found its most obvious visualization inside the palace through the design and features of the staterooms. On one hand, by the use of the finest materials and the purchase of masterfully manufactured pieces of equipment, such as on the other hand by the permanent reuse of older equipment parts. This period lasted until 1919, when Archduke Friedrich was expropriated by the newly founded Republic of Austria. With the republicanization of the collection and the building first of all finished the tradition that the owner's name was synonymous with the building name:

After Palais Tarouca or tarokkisches house it was called Lorraine House, afterwards Duke Albert Palais and Palais Archduke Carl. Due to the new construction of an adjacently located administration building it received in 1865 the prefix "Upper" and was referred to as Upper Palais Archduke Albrecht and Upper Palais Archduke Frederick. For the state a special reference to the Habsburg past was certainly politically no longer opportune, which is why was decided to name the building according to the in it kept collection "Albertina".

Picture: The "Wedgwood Cabinet" after the restoration: Picture: the "Wedgwood Cabinet" in the Palais Archduke Friedrich, 1905

This name derives from the term "La Collection Albertina" which had been used by the gallery Inspector Maurice von Thausing in 1870 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts for the former graphics collection of Duke Albert. For this reason, it was the first time since the foundation of the palace that the name of the collection had become synonymous with the room shell. Room shell, hence, because the Republic of Austria Archduke Friedrich had allowed to take along all the movable goods from the palace in his Hungarian exile: crystal chandeliers, curtains and carpets as well as sculptures, vases and clocks. Particularly stressed should be the exquisite furniture, which stems of three facilities phases: the Louis XVI furnitures of Duke Albert, which had been manufactured on the basis of fraternal relations between his wife Archduchess Marie Christine and the French Queen Marie Antoinette after 1780 in the French Hofmanufakturen, also the on behalf of Archduke Charles 1822-1825 in the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory by Joseph Danhauser produced Empire furnitures and thirdly additions of the same style of Archduke Friedrich, which this about 1900 at Portois & Ffix as well as at Friedrich Otto Schmidt had commissioned.

The "swept clean" building got due to the strained financial situation after the First World War initially only a makeshift facility. However, since until 1999 no revision of the emergency equipment took place, but differently designed, primarily the utilitarianism committed office furnitures complementarily had been added, the equipment of the former state rooms presented itself at the end of the 20th century as an inhomogeneous administrative mingle-mangle of insignificant parts, where, however, dwelt a certain quaint charm. From the magnificent state rooms had evolved depots, storage rooms, a library, a study hall and several officed.

Image: The Albertina Graphic Arts Collection and the Philipphof after the American bombing of 12 März 1945.

Image: The palace after the demolition of the entrance facade, 1948-52

Worse it hit the outer appearance of the palace, because in times of continued anti-Habsburg sentiment after the Second World War and inspired by an intolerant destruction will, it came by pickaxe to a ministerial erasure of history. In contrast to the graphic collection possessed the richly decorated facades with the conspicuous insignia of the former owner an object-immanent reference to the Habsburg past and thus exhibited the monarchial traditions and values ​​of the era of Francis Joseph significantly. As part of the remedial measures after a bomb damage, in 1948 the aristocratic, by Archduke Albert initiated, historicist facade structuring along with all decorations was cut off, many facade figures demolished and the Hapsburg crest emblems plunged to the ground. Since in addition the old ramp also had been cancelled and the main entrance of the bastion level had been moved down to the second basement storey at street level, ended the presence of the old Archduke's palace after more than 200 years. At the reopening of the "Albertina Graphic Collection" in 1952, the former Hapsburg Palais of splendour presented itself as one of his identity robbed, formally trivial, soulless room shell, whose successful republicanization an oversized and also unproportional eagle above the new main entrance to the Augustinian road symbolized. The emocratic throw of monuments had wiped out the Hapsburg palace from the urban appeareance, whereby in the perception only existed a nondescript, nameless and ahistorical building that henceforth served the lodging and presentation of world-famous graphic collection of the Albertina. The condition was not changed by the decision to the refurbishment because there were only planned collection specific extensions, but no restoration of the palace.

Image: The palace after the Second World War with simplified facades, the rudiment of the Danubiusbrunnens (well) and the new staircase up to the Augustinerbastei

This paradigm shift corresponded to a blatant reversal of the historical circumstances, as the travel guides and travel books for kk Residence and imperial capital of Vienna dedicated itself primarily with the magnificent, aristocratic palace on the Augustinerbastei with the sumptuously fitted out reception rooms and mentioned the collection kept there - if at all - only in passing. Only with the repositioning of the Albertina in 2000 under the direction of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the palace was within the meaning and in fulfillment of the Fideikommiss of Archduke Charles in 1826 again met with the high regard, from which could result a further inseparable bond between the magnificent mansions and the world-famous collection. In view of the knowing about politically motivated errors and omissions of the past, the facades should get back their noble, historicist designing, the staterooms regain their glamorous, prestigious appearance and culturally unique equippment be repurchased. From this presumption, eventually grew the full commitment to revise the history of redemption and the return of the stately palace in the public consciousness.

Image: The restored suburb facade of the Palais Albertina suburb

The smoothed palace facades were returned to their original condition and present themselves today - with the exception of the not anymore reconstructed Attica figures - again with the historicist decoration and layout elements that Archduke Albrecht had given after the razing of the Augustinerbastei in 1865 in order. The neoclassical interiors, today called after the former inhabitants "Habsburg Staterooms", receiving a meticulous and detailed restoration taking place at the premises of originality and authenticity, got back their venerable and sumptuous appearance. From the world wide scattered historical pieces of equipment have been bought back 70 properties or could be returned through permanent loan to its original location, by which to the visitors is made experiencable again that atmosphere in 1919 the state rooms of the last Habsburg owner Archduke Frederick had owned. The for the first time in 80 years public accessible "Habsburg State Rooms" at the Palais Albertina enable now again as eloquent testimony to our Habsburg past and as a unique cultural heritage fundamental and essential insights into the Austrian cultural history. With the relocation of the main entrance to the level of the Augustinerbastei the recollection to this so valuable Austrian Cultural Heritage formally and functionally came to completion. The vision of the restoration and recovery of the grand palace was a pillar on which the new Albertina should arise again, the other embody the four large newly built exhibition halls, which allow for the first time in the history of the Albertina, to exhibit the collection throughout its encyclopedic breadh under optimal conservation conditions.

Image: The new entrance area of the Albertina

64 meter long shed roof. Hans Hollein.

The palace presents itself now in its appearance in the historicist style of the Ringstrassenära, almost as if nothing had happened in the meantime. But will the wheel of time should not, cannot and must not be turned back, so that the double standards of the "Albertina Palace" said museum - on the one hand Habsburg grandeur palaces and other modern museum for the arts of graphics - should be symbolized by a modern character: The in 2003 by Hans Hollein designed far into the Albertina square cantilevering, elegant floating flying roof. 64 meters long, it symbolizes in the form of a dynamic wedge the accelerated urban spatial connectivity and public access to the palace. It advertises the major changes in the interior as well as the huge underground extensions of the repositioned "Albertina".

 

Christian Benedictine

Art historian with research interests History of Architecture, building industry of the Hapsburgs, Hofburg and Zeremonialwissenschaft (ceremonial sciences). Since 1990 he works in the architecture collection of the Albertina. Since 2000 he supervises as director of the newly founded department "Staterooms" the restoration and furnishing of the state rooms and the restoration of the facades and explores the history of the palace and its inhabitants.

 

www.wien-vienna.at/albertinabaugeschichte.php

The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.

 

The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden under rubble when the numbering was done. Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves.

 

The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; other survivals from the area of modern India are very few, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is highly local, found only at a few nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.

 

HISTORY

Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dignaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.

 

The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.

 

CAVES OF THE FIRST (SATAVAHANA) PERIOD

The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period 300 BCE to 100 BCE, though the grouping of the earlier caves is generally agreed. More early caves may have vanished through later excavations. Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first phase is still often called the Hinayāna phase, as it originated when, using traditional terminology, the Hinayāna or Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism was dominant, when the Buddha was revered symbolically. However the use of the term Hinayana for this period of Buddhism is now deprecated by historians; equally the caves of the second period are now mostly dated too early to be properly called Mahayana, and do not yet show the full expanded cast of supernatural beings characteristic of that phase of Buddhist art. The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead, and in the caves of the second period the overwhelming majority of images represent the Buddha alone, or narrative scenes of his lives.

 

Spink believes that some time after the Satavahana period caves were made the site was abandoned for a considerable period until the mid-5th century, probably because the region had turned mainly Hindu

 

CAVES OF THE LATER OR VAKATAKA PERIOD

The second phase began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. This view has been criticized by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example Huntington and Harle.

 

The second phase is still often called the Mahāyāna or Greater Vehicle phase, but scholars now tend to avoid this nomenclature because of the problems that have surfaced regarding our understanding of Mahāyāna.

 

Some 20 cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some "modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.

 

According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena, in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although the local population were aware of at least some of them.

 

REDISCOVERY

On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date, April 1819. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery, covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until the Nizam of Hyderabad built the modern path between the caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.

 

Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010 showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into 362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.

 

PAINTINGS

Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-led painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".

 

Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.

 

All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life.

 

In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.

 

COPIES

The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. However, the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued by bad fortune. In 1846, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.

 

Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths, then principal of the Bombay School of Art, to work with his students to make new copies, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred paintings that were in storage. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some 3 × 6 metres. A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.

 

A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.

 

Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955).

 

ARCHITECTURE

The monasteries mostly consist of vihara halls for prayer and living, which are typically rectangular with small square dormitory cells cut into the walls, and by the second period a shrine or sanctuary at the rear centred on a large statue of the Buddha, also carved from the living rock. This change reflects the movement from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. The other type of main hall is the narrower and higher chaitya hall with a stupa as the focus at the far end, and a narrow aisle around the walls, behind a range of pillars placed close together. Other plainer rooms were for sleeping and other activities. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave.

 

The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more or less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink in fact places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase.

 

The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.

 

The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs, which have now perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.

 

The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were painted with figures. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.

 

The flood basalt rock of the cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous, is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality, so the excavators had to amend their plans in places, and in places there have been collapses in the intervening centuries, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; the half-built vihara cave 24 shows the method. Spink believes that for the first caves of the second period the excavators had to relearn skills and techniques that had been lost in the centuries since the first period, which were then transmitted to be used at later rock-cut sites in the region, such as Ellora, and the Elephanta, Bagh, Badami and Aurangabad Caves.

 

The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave, but according to Spink the later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites. After the death of Harisena smaller donors got their chance to add small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.

 

A grand gateway to the site, at the apex of the gorge's horsehoe between caves 15 and 16, was approached from the river, and is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective snake deity.

 

ICONOGRAPHY OF THE CAVES

In the pre-Christian era, the Buddha was represented symbolically, in the form of the stupa. Thus, halls were made with stupas to venerate the Buddha. In later periods the images of the Buddha started to be made in coins, relic caskets, relief or loose sculptural forms, etc. However, it took a while for the human representation of the Buddha to appear in Buddhist art. One of the earliest evidences of the Buddha's human representations are found at Buddhist archaeological sites, such as Goli, Nagarjunakonda, and Amaravati. The monasteries of those sites were built in less durable media, such as wood, brick, and stone. As far as the genre of rock-cut architecture is concerned it took many centuries for the Buddha image to be depicted. Nobody knows for sure at which rock-cut cave site the first image of the Buddha was depicted. Current research indicates that Buddha images in a portable form, made of wood or stone, were introduced, for the first time, at Kanheri, to be followed soon at Ajanta Cave 8 (Dhavalikar, Jadhav, Spink, Singh). While the Kanheri example dates to 4th or 5th century CE, the Ajanta example has been dated to c. 462–478 CE (Spink). None of the rock-cut monasteries prior to these dates, and other than these examples, show any Buddha image although hundreds of rock-cut caves were made throughout India during the first few centuries CE. And, in those caves, it is the stupa that is the object of veneration, not the image. Images of the Buddha are not found in Buddhist sailagrhas (rock-cut complexes) until the times of the Kanheri (4th–5th century CE) and Ajanta examples (c. 462–478 CE).

 

The caves of the second period, now all dated to the 5th century, were typically described as "Mahayana", but do not show the features associated with later Mahayana Buddhism. Although the beginnings of Mahāyāna teachings go back to the 1st century there is little art and archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream cult for several centuries. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but the Bodhisattva who is important, including "deity" Bodhisattva like Manjushri and Tara, as well as aspects of the Buddha such as Aksobhya, and Amitabha. Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure. Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine. If a Bodhisattva is shown in isolation, as in the Astabhaya scenes, these were done in the very last years of activities at Ajanta, and are mostly 'intrusive' in nature, meaning that they were not planned by the original patrons, and were added by new donors after the original patrons had suddenly abandoned the region in the wake of Emperor Harisena's death.

 

The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholar rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta shows that the stupa and image coincided together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as the 5th-century phase of Ajanta is concerned. That is why most current scholars tend to avoid the terms 'Hinayana' and 'Mahayana' in the context of Ajanta. They now prefer to call the second phase by the ruling dynasty, as the Vākāţaka phase.

 

CAVES

CAVE 1

Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This would when first made have been a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vākāţaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal.

 

The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably carried away in monsoon torrents.

 

This cave has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.

 

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 12 m long and 6.1 m high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely because James Fegusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received, with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.

 

CAVE 2

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.

 

Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.

 

The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2 show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.

 

The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.

 

Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.

 

CAVE 4

The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives the following detail about cave 4: "This is the largest monastery planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that it was a gift from a person named Mathura and paleographically belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of Litany of Avalokiteśvara".

 

The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above.

 

CAVES 9-10

Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned by individuals.

 

The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible.

 

OTHER CAVES

Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors, that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise unfinished. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but, perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.

 

Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.

 

SPINK´S DETAILED CHRONOLOGY

Walter M. Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries", as the local population had turned mainly Hindu. This changed with the accession of the Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477. Harisena extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south.

 

According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in 462 but was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Work continued on only caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.

 

Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site", and as Hinduism again dominated the region, the site was again abandoned, this time for over a millennium.

 

Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".

 

IMPACT ON MODERN INDIAN PAINTINGS

The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.

 

The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists examples from ancient India to follow. Nandlal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.

 

WIKIPEDIA

INCLUDES:

 

MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (40th Anniversary Edition):

"Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this year?"

Year Released: 1975

"The wønderful telephøne system"

Studio: Sony (Columbia)

"Including the majestik møøse"

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

"A møøse once bit my sister..."

 

♪ We're knights of the round table,

We dance whene'er we're able.

We do routines and chorus scenes

With footwork impeccable.

We dine well here in Camelot;

We eat ham and jam and spam a lot! ♪

 

AUDIO:

- English (DTS-HD 5.1) "Ni!"

- English (Mono) "Ni!"

- French (Dolby 5.1) "Ni!"

- Japanese (Dolby 5.1) "Ni!"

- Portuguese (Brazilian) (Dolby 5.1) "Ni!"

 

♪ We're knights of the round table,

Our shows are formidable.

But many times, we're given rhymes

That are quite unsingable.

We're opera mad in Camelot;

We sing from the diaphragm a lot! ♪

 

SUBTITLES:

English SDH, Chinese (Traditional), French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Subtitles for People Who Do Not Like the Film (From Henry IV, Part II)

 

♪ In war, we're tough and able.

Quite indefatigable.

Between our quests, we sequin vests

And impersonate Clark Gable.

It's a busy life in Camelot;

I have to push the pram a lot! ♪

  

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT:

Year Released: 1998

Studio: DreamWorks

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

 

AUDIO:

- English (DTS-HD 5.1)

- French (European) (DTS 5.1)

- French (Canadian) (DTS 2.0)

- Spanish (DTS 5.1)

- Japanese (DTS 5.1)

- Dutch (DTS 5.1)

- Flemish (DTS 5.1)

- Portuguese (Brazilian) (DTS 5.1)

 

SUBTITLES:

English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese

  

DESPICABLE ME:

Year Released: 2010

Studio: Universal

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

 

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

- English (DTS-HD 5.1)

- French (DTS 5.1)

- Spanish (DTS 5.1)

 

"IT'S SO FLUFFY!"

  

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY:

Year Released: 2013

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 SCOPE

 

AUDIO:

- English (DTS-HD 7.1)

- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)

- French (Dolby 5.1)

 

BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVES:

- Portuguese (Dolby 5.1)

- Russian (DTS 5.1)

- Czech (Dolby 5.1)

- Hungarian (Dolby 5.1)

- Polish (Voiceover) (Dolby 5.1)

- Turkish (Dolby 5.1)

- Ukrainian (Dolby 5.1)

 

SUBTITLES:

English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese (European), Romanian, Serbian, Slovenian, Turkish, Ukrainian

  

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE:

Year Released: 2013

Studio: Warner Bros. / New Line Cinema

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 SCOPE

 

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

- English (DTS-HD 5.1)

- French (Canadian) (Dolby 5.1)

- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)

- Portuguese (Brazilian) (Dolby 5.1)

  

E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (30th Anniversary Steelbook):

Year Released: 1982

Studio: Universal

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

 

"E.T. phone home."

 

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

- English (DTS-HD 7.1)

- Spanish (DTS 5.1)

- French (DTS 5.1)

 

"I'll be right here."

  

MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE:

Year Released: 1983

Studio: Universal

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

 

AUDIO:

- English (DTS-HD 5.1)

- French (Mono)

- Soundtrack for the Lonely (DTS 2.0)

 

SUBTITLES:

English SDH, Spanish

  

THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS:

Year Released: 2018

Studio: STX / Universal

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 SCOPE

 

AUDIO:

- English (DTS-HD 7.1)

 

SUBTITLES:

English SDH, Spanish

  

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (UK Import):

Year Released: 1996

Studio: Disney

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

 

AUDIO:

- English (DTS-HD 5.1)

- French (European) (DTS-HD HR 5.1)

- Dutch (DTS 5.1)

- Flemish (Dolby 5.1)

 

SUBTITLES:

English SDH, French, Dutch

From Sunday's action at the 73rd Member's Meeting at Goodwood - a revival of the meetings held until the mid '60s. Two of several McLaren F1 GTRs in the paddock before their high speed demonstration run

Characteristically Portuguese patterned pavements (Calçada) in the town of Tomar, central Portugal.

An engaging little church with much evidence of Saxon work in its nave walls which are rich in re-used Roman tiles. A double splayed window may be seen over the north door. The chancel was built in the Norman period and there is a good hagioscope from the end of the south aisle to the High Altar. Fittings include Royal Arms of Charles II and a delightfully carved Norman font with a picture of a priest literally `dunking` a baby into it! A parish room built onto the south side of the church in 1970 means that the building is used throughout the week.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Darenth

 

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DARENT.

EASTWARD from Sutton lies Darent, sometimes spelt Darenth, and usually called Darne.

 

The name of this parish is spelt, in some antient writings, Darente and Deorwent; and in Domesday, and some others, Tarent. It takes its name from the river Darent, which runs through it. This place was sometimes called North Darent, to distinguish it from the neighbouring parish or hamlet of South Darent.

 

This parish, as to its soil, is not very fertile; great part of it is light and chalky, and much covered with flint stones, and it may be said to be more healthy than it is pleasant. The river Darent takes its course in its antient and proper channel, along the western boundaries of it, but great part of the waters of it having been turned, for the sake of private interest, along another stream, through the adjoining parish of Sutton, the old river has been neglected, and at the passage across it here, is not only in a most silthy state, but is frequently dangerous to travellers. Near the eastern banks of it is situated the village of Da rent; at the northern part of which is a house, which was for some time possessed and inhabited by the family of Taylor, but it has been for some years occupied calico printers; a little higher up, on the side of a hill, having the church opposite to it, is a seat, which was rebuilt by William Lee, esq. surveyor of the navy in queen Anne's reign. He resided here, and having married Catharine, daughter of William Johnson, esq. died, s. p. in 1757; he devised this seat to his kinsman, rear admiral Ward, of Greenwich, whose daughter, some years ago, sold it to Edward Fowke, esq. and he sold it to Mr. Nathaniel Hodges, in whose assignees it is at present vested. Behind the church, southward, stands the court lodge, being a good old timbered farm house, occupied by the lessee of the manor. Hence, towards the east, the hill rises, extending quite across the parish; on it, southward, is the manor house of St. Margaret's, with the ruins of the chapel belonging to it. In the valley, on the opposite side of the hill, is a long common, called Green-street green, of more than a mile in length, having houses interspersed along the whole of it, especially at the south end, where they form a hamlet, in which there is a mansion, commonly called the Clock-HOUSE, which, at the latter end of the last century, was the property and residence of Edmund Davenport, esq who kept his shrievalty for the county here, in 1694, and was a good benefactor to the church of Darent, where he lies buried. He was succeeded here by a family of the name of Bedford, the last of whom, Joseph Bedford, esq. sold it to Sir Timothy Waldo, of London, since deceased; whose daughter married George Medley, esq. and his heirs are now intitled to it.

 

A little to the northward of the Clock-house, on the green, are the remains of several small barrows or tumuli, and near them the remains of several breastworks thrown up. Perhaps this might be the place where the battle was fought, near the banks of the Darent, by Vortimer and his Britons with his Saxon enemies; and there is a fortification thrown up, in the wood, about three quarters of a mile eastward from this place, where it is probable the Saxons lay, expecting this rencounter.

 

At the opposite or northern end of the green, towards Dartford brent, stands a house, called THE Gore, formerly a gentleman's residence, once belonging to William Lee, esq. above mentioned, who left it to rear admiral Ward, and it is now the property of his son, Edward Vernon Ward, esq. A little beyond is Trundle-down, or, more properly, Tyrling-down, which was formerly the estate of the Cobhams, as appears by the Escheat rolls of the 38th year of king Edward III. (fn. 1)

 

There was a younger branch of the family of Dixon of Hilden, in Tunbridge, for some generations, settled in this parish, as appears by the Heraldic Visitation, anno 1619; they held lands of St. Margaret's manor.

 

ATHELSTANE, king of England, gave the perpetual inheritance of Darent to duke Eadulf, who, in the year 940, with the king's consent, gave it to Christ church, Canterbury, in the presence of archbishop Wlselm, free from all secular service and regal tribute, excepting the trinoda necessitas, of repelling invasions, and the repair of castles and highways. (fn. 2) Soon after this, whilst Ælsstane was bishop of Rochester, who came to the see in 945, and died in 984, one Birtrick, a rich and potent man, who then resided at Meophum, devised his land at Darent, with the consent of Ælfswithe his wife, by his will and testament (a most curious record of the customs of those times,) to one Byrware, for his life, and afterwards to the priory of St. Andrew, in Rochester, for the good of himself and his ancestors. This estate seems to have been wrested from the church of Rochester, in the troublesome times which followed soon after. (fn. 3) But the manor of Darent remained, according to duke Eadulf's gift, among the possessions of Christ church at the consecration of archbishop Lanfranc, in the 4th year of the Conqueror's reign; who, among many other regulations which he made, after the custom of foreign churches, for the benefit of his monastery, separated the manors of his church (for before this, the archbishop and his monks lived together, as one family, and had their revenues in common) allotting one part for himself and his successors in the archbishopric, and the other to the monks, for their subsistance, cloathing, and other necessary uses of the monastery.

 

In this partition, Darent fell to the share of the archbishop, and it is accordingly thus entered in the record of Domesday, under the title of, Terra Archiepi' Cantuariensis, i.e. land of the archbishop of Canterbury.

 

In Achestan hundred the archbishop of Canterbury holds Tarent in demesne. It was taxed at two sulings. The arable land is In demesne there is one carucate, and 22 villeins, with 7 cottagers, having 7 carucates. There are six servants, and two mills of 50 shillings. To this manor belong five burgesses in Rochester, paying six shillings and eight-pence. There are eight acres of meadow, wood for the pannage of 20 hogs. In the whole value, in the time of king Edward the Consessor, it was worth 14 pounds, when he received it, 10 pounds, now 15 pounds, and 10 shillings, nevertheless, he that holds this manor pays 18 pounds.

 

Archbishop Hubert, in the year 1195, anno 7th king Richard I. with that king's consent, and for the mutual benefit of the churches of Canterbury and Rochester, exchanged, for the manor of Lambeth, with its appurtenances there, in Southwark and in London, then belonging to the monks of St. Andrew's priory, in Rochester, his manor of Darent, with the church and the chapel of Helles, with all liberties and free customs, and all other things belonging to the manor, saving to the archbishop, and his successors, all spiritual jurisdiction in the church of Darent, until he or they should, of their mere bounty, grant it to the bishop of Rochester, so that the monks should possess it to the use of their refectory, in the same manner as they before had the manor and church of Lambeth, saving to the bishop of Rochester, in this exchange, the right he before had within the manor of Lambeth. And it was declared, that the manor of Lambeth should continue unalienable from the archbishopric, as well as the manor of Darent, and other premises so exchanged, from the church of Rochester. (fn. 4)

 

The manor of Darent after this appears to have been part of the possessions of the priory of Rochester; but bishop Gilbert de Glanvill, who came to the see in 1185, disputing with his monks for the recovery of several manors and possessions, formerly belonging to the see of Rochester, which bishop Gundulp, his predecessor, had given them, claimed this manor and church, with its appurtenances, as having been given in exchange for Lambeth; notwithstanding which, the prior and convent still continued in possession of them.

 

In the 15th year of king Edward I. this manor was valued at 16l. 8s. In the 21st year of king Edward I. a Quo warranto was brought against the prior, on account of certain liberties which he claimed, when he was allowed to have, in this manor, view of frank pledge, and all of right belonging to it; infangthefe; and in consequence of that, gallows, chattels of condemned persons and fugitives, and amerciaments of his tenants, a fair and toll, and weif, as appurtenances to it; he also claimed to have free warren here, but the jury did not allow it him.

 

King Edward I. in his 23d year, granted them free warren in their demesne lands of this manor, among others. (fn. 5)

 

The manor continued part of the possessions of the priory and convent of Rochester, till the dissolution of the priory, in the 32d year of king Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, and was two years afterwards settled by that king on his new erected dean and chapter of Rochester, part of whose possessions it remains at this time.

 

A court leet and court baron is held yearly for this manor.

 

In 1649, there was a survey taken, by order of the state of the manor of Darenth, with the rectory or parsonage appendant to it, belonging to the late dean and chapter; which latter, with the scite and demesnes of the manor, had been let, anno 16 king Charles I. by the dean and chapter, to Elizabeth and Helen Harvey, daughters of William lord Harvey, at the yearly rent of 20l. 8s. but were returned to be worth together, over and above that rent, 169l. 13s. 6d. per annum. (fn. 6) They continued many years in the family of Harvey, till George earl of Bristol, about thirty-five years ago, sold his interest in them to the occupier, Mr. William Farrant, since the death of whose son of the same name in 1788, Mr.Christopher Chapman is become the present lessee of them.

 

Jeffry Haddenham, about the year 1300, bought lands in Darent, and gave the rents of them to the use of the altar of St. Edmund in Criptis, which he had lately made in the church of Rochester. (fn. 7)

 

About a mile south-eastward from Darent church is the HAMLET of Helles St. Margaret, commonly called St. MARGARET HILLS. This appears by the court-rolls of it, to have been once a parish of itself, to which belonged the hamlets of Gills, Greensted-green, and South Darent. How it came to be annexed to Darent, will be mentioned in the ecclesiastical state of this parish. St. Margaret's, with the above mentioned hamlets appendant to it, are thus described in the general survey of Domesday, under the title of the lands of the bishop of Baieux, who was at that time owner of them.

 

Anschil de Ros holds Tarent of the bishop (of Baieux). It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate and a half. In demesne there is one, and four villeins, with four borderers having one carucate. There are three acres of meadow, and two mills of 18 shillings. Wood for the pannage of three hogs. The king has from this manor, lately given him by the bishop, as much as is worth 10d. The whole manor was, and is worth 100 shillings. Aluric held it of king Edward.

 

And a little farther, in the same record, under the like title:

 

In the same parish, the same A. (viz. Anschitill de Ros) holds one manor of the bishop (of Baieux). It was taxed at half a suling. The arable land is one carucate and an half. There are 5 villeins, and 5 borderers, and one mill of 20 shillings. There are 3 acres of meadow, and 1 servant. The whole manor was worth 60 shillings, and now 70. Osurt held it of king Edward the Consessor.

 

This manor afterwards came into the possession of a family called Hells, who had much land besides at Dartford and Ash, near Sandwich; and from them this place acquired the additional name of Hells, or more vulgarly called Hilles. One of these, Thomas de Helles, had a charter of free warren granted to him and his heirs, for his lands here, and at Dartford, in the 17th year of king Edward I. (fn. 8) One of his descendants, Richard Hills, (fn. 9) for so the name was then spelt, about the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, was possessed of this manor. He left one sole daughter and heir, Anne, who carried it in marriage to Henry Melhard, and he left two daughters and coheirs, Alice and Joane, who divided it between them.

 

These moieties having afterwards continued separated in the hands of different owners, for some length of time, became at last united in the person of Mr. Thomas Rolt, who was become possessed of the entire manor a few years before the restoration of king Charles II. He married Catharine, daughter of Thomas Perye, gent. and died in 1661, leaving her surviving, who sold the manor of St. Margaret's to George Gifford, of Fawkham, esq. on whose death, in 1704, it came to his son, Thomas Gifford, esq. whose three daughters and coheirs, viz. Margaret, married to Thomas Petley, esq. Mary to John Selby, esq. and Jane married first to Finch Umfrey, gent. and afterwards to Francis Leigh, esq. of Hawley, possessed this manor in undivided thirds, till 1718, when they agreed to a partition of this estate. About the year 1722, Francis Leigh and Jane his wife joined in the conveyance of their interest in it, in which was included the mansion house, to John Hayward, esq. of Woolwich, who next year purchased a second third part of Thomas Petley, and Ralph his only son.

 

In 1725, John Hayward, who was then possessed of two-thirds of this manor, and John Selby, and Mary his wife, who were the possessors of the other third part of it, joined in the conveyance of the whole of it to John Lane, leatherseller, of London, who resided here for several years; he left two sons, John and Richard, and a daughter, married to Richard Hamman, and at his death devised this manor, with the mansion and part of the demesne lands, to his two sons, and a small portion of the latter to his daughter and her husband; the former part became again divided, so that three fourths of it became vested in Mr. Richard Lane, son of Richard above mentioned, who in 1788, alienated his interest in it to Mr. Christopher Chapman, who having purchased the other fourth part, now possesses the whole of it, and resides in the manor house.

 

A court baron is held for this manor, and several lands in the hamlets of Hills, Greensted, Gills, and South Darent, are held of it. The manor is held of the manor of Darent, by the yearly rent of 1l. 18s.

 

There is an estate in Darent, which, though now of little account, was once reputed a manor, called Cleyndon; which, in early times, had proprietors of its own name, but in the reign of Edward III. (fn. 10) was owned by the family of Hastings. John de Hastings, earl of Pembroke, died possessed of it in the 49th of that reign, and was succeeded by John de Hastings, his son, who was unfortunately killed at a tournament at Woodstock, in the 13th of king Richard II. On his death, without issue, his wife, Philippa, daughter of Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, possessed Cleyndon, as she did at the time of her decease, which happened in the 2d year of king Henry IV. In the 11th year of king Edward IV. Roger Rothele, of Dartford, owned this estate; (fn. 11) who sold it to Thomas Crephedge, in the 22d year of that reign; and his grandson, John Crephege, conveyed it by sale to Sir Robert Blage, one of the barons of the exchequer; his widow carried it again in marriage to Sir Richard Walden; at her death, in the 35th of Henry VIII. her son, by her former husband, Robert Blage, esq. possessed it, as he did land in Darent and Dartford, late parcel of the chantry of Stampitts, and late in the tenure of John Rogers, of Dartford, holding it of the king, in capite, by knights service. (fn. 12) On his death, in the 5th year of king Edward VI. his son, Henry Blage, possessed both these estates, and sold them, in the 24th year of queen Elizabeth, to Richard Burden, yeoman; who, the next year, parted with the land, late belonging to Stampitt's chantry, to Thomas and Andrew Ashley, and afterwards conveyed Cleyndon to Robert Filmer, esq. who left it at his death, in 1585, to his son, Sir Edward Filmer, and he gave it to his second son, Edward Filmer, who possessed it in the reign of king Charles I. His heirs sold it to Mr. Leigh, (fn. 13) who was the owner of it in 1691; but I can find nothing of it since, who owns it, or where it is situated.

 

Charities.

SIR THOMAS SMITH, by will, in 1621, gave 4l. 6s. 8d. per annum, payable out of several tenements in London, devised to the Skinners company for divers charitable uses, to be distributed weekly in bread, by the minister and churchwardens, unto five poor resident housekeepers, and in the last clause of his will, he directed, that on the expiration of the leases and the increase of the revenues, the distribution among the poor should be increased likewise among the poor of those parishes so named, or of any other parish wherein he should have lands at the time of his death. Darent is one of those parishes expressly named in it.

 

..........Ellis gave by will 12s. per annum to the poor; and BERNARD ELLIS, esq. by his will, in 1713, confirmed his father's gift above mentioned, to be paid out of a messuage, called the Cock, in Dartford, and he added to it a further gift of 12s. to be annually paid to the vicar and churchwardens, for the benefit of the poor of this parish, in like manner as his father had directed his gift to be paid; the above messuage having since been converted into three private tenements belongs to the heirs of John Mumford, esq. who distribute in bread yearly both the above sums.

 

DARENT is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICION of the diocese of Rochester. It is a peculiar, of the archbishop of Canterbury, and as such is in the deanry of Shoreham.

 

The church, which is a small building, is dedicated to St. Margaret. It consists of two isles and a chancel, both which seem very antient, especially the latter, which terminates with three small lancet windows, and is with respect to its construction perhaps unique in this diocese. The steeple, which is pointed, stands at the west end of the south isle; there are three bells in it. The chancel is divided into two parts of different widths, by steps, the upper one is vaulted, and is paved with black marble of the gift of Mr. Edmund Davenport, in 1680, who gave some silver plate likewise for the altar. The lower chancel is not, but the two isles are ceiled, the church was new pewed in 1737. The font bears high marks of antiquity, it is a single stone rounded and excavated, composed of eight compartments, with columns alternately circular and angular, and semicircular arches, the figures and objects on the compartments are in high relief, and are rudely carved; some of the figures appear to be chimerical, and others symbols of the sacraments and other religious offices. (fn. 14)

 

Among other monuments and inscriptions in this church, are the following: On the south side, a monument and inscription, shewing, that in a vault underneath, lies Catherine, late wife of John Elliston, of London, merchant, obt. 1729; arms, per pale gules and azure, an eagle displayed argent, impaling gules, three salmons naiant, argent. In the chancel, on the south side, a small monument and inscription, shewing that in the church yard lies John Weaver, esq. of North Lussenham, in Rutlandshire, obt. 1728; on the north side, a mural monument for Catharine, wife of Wm. Lee, esq. ob. 1746, she was daughter of Wm. Johnson, esq. M. P. for Aldborough, in Suffolk; above the arms of Lee, Gules, a cross or, between four unicorns heads, erased of the se cond, impaling Johnson or, a water bouget sable, on a chief sable three torteauxes or. A memorial for Humphry Taylor, rector of Ifield and Nutsted, son of the Rev. Rich. Taylor, vicar of this parish, obt. Dec. 12, 1732, and for others of this family. A memorial for Mrs. Dorothy Johnson, one of the daughters of Wm. Johnson, esq. M.P. obt. 1763, æt. 78. Another for Mrs. Catharine Lee, for whom the monument mentioned above is erected; another for Wm. Lee, esq. of this parish, husband to Catharine above mentioned, surveyor of the navy, in the reign of queen Anne, ob. 1757, æt. 87, s.p. A stone within the rails for Rich. Taylor, vicar of this parish, obt. Aug. 29, 1712, æt. 57. On the upper stone step, next the rails, before the altar, which, together with the pavement, was the gift of Mr. Davenport, are these words, Ex dono Edmund Davenport, 1680. On the south wall is a brass plate and inscription for Mary, the wife of Andrew Bridges, parson of Nutsted fifteen years; sometime the wife of Henry Farbrace, vicar of Farmingham, and parson of Halsted, and first parson of Ightham, daughter of Simon Clarke, sometime parson of Murston, and one of the six preachers of the church of Canterbury, obt. 1617; another very antient brass plate, placed in the south isle against the wall, but formerly over the remains of John Crepehege, and Jane his wife, of this parish, who lived in the reign of king Edward III. (fn. 15)

 

The church of Darent was exchanged with the manor, as has been mentioned before, by Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, with the monks of Rochester, for the manor of Lambeth, in 1195. and was soon afterwards, by the archbishop, appropriated to their use, Nicholas, then parson of it, resigning it into the archbishop's hands for that purpose.

 

In the 15th year of king Edward I. the church of Darent was valued at ten marcs, and in the reign of king Richard II. at the same.

 

The prior and convent of Rochester, in the year 1290, augmented this vicarage by the donation of half an acre of land, called Muriel Land, formerly belonging to John, son of Edward le Bedle; eighteen days work of land, formerly Ancell de Snodland's; one rood of land, formerly Stacy the cook's; and five days work of land, called Cottland, which had escheated to the prior and convent on the death of Bartholomew Fitz Eastrilde, lying according to the bounds described in the instrument. After a long dispute between Elias, vicar of this church, and the prior and convent, concerning the portions with which this vicarage was endowed, and the burthens to be borne by it, both parties agreed to leave the decision of it to John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury; who, in 1292, decreed, that the prior and convent should take for the future the tythe of all sheaves, as well of land dug with the spade, as ploughed, within this parish, and also the tythe of hay as their portion, and the tythe of lambs, pigs, calves, cheese, pidgeons, mills, fisheries, rushes, herbage, cheese, milk, flax, hemp, and all other tythes whatsoever, great and small, arising from their own de mesne lands, because they had possessed peaceably, and without interruption, all tythes of this kind in their demesnes in Derenth, and elsewhere, where they had lands in demesne for sixty years and more, as had legally been made to appear by the diligent enquiries of creditable persons, examined for that purpose, in the archbishop's visitations.

 

The archbishop decreed likewise, that the burthen of procurations due to the dean of Shoreham, and also the finding of ornaments, vestments, and books, which were not found by the parish, and the reparation of them, if it exceeded in one year the sum of two shillings, and the building and repairing of the chancel of the church, when necessary, should belong to the said religious, and that the tythes of lambs, calves, pigs, geese, pidgeons, fisheries, mills, rushes, herbage, cheese, milk, flax, hemp, and all other small tythes, except in the demesnes of the religious, the oblations and obventions belonging, or accruing in any kind whatsoever, to the said church, and not assigned as above to the religious, should belong to the vicar and his successors in future, and he decreed, that the small pieces of land, and the mansion, which then or before had been assigned by the religious to the use of the vicarage, and the whole burthen of the repair and maintenance of the houses and mansion of the vicarage, and of the books, vestments, and ornaments, to be maintained by the religious, so far as the repairing and maintaining them did not exceed the sum of two shillings, and also the providing bread and wine, and other necessaries for divine rites, such as were not provided by the parishioners of the church, or mentioned before, should belong to the vicar and his successors, and that the vicar for the time being should find two chaplains to celebrate, one in the church of Darent, and the other in the chapel of Helles,

 

In this state the church and vicarage of Darent continued, till the general dissolution of monasteries, in the reign of king Henry VIII. in the 32d year of which the priory of Rochester, and the possessions of it, were surrendered into the king's hands; who, two years after, settled the church with the vicarage of Darent on his new-erected dean and chapter of Rochester, whose inheritance it now remains.

 

¶In the reign of queen Elizabeth, the dean and chapter of Rochester, having refused the payment of the old accustomed stipend payable yearly by them to the vicar of this parish, he commenced a suit against them in the archbishop's consistorial court, in 1564, and had a decree prouounced in his favor. The dean and chapter made a pretence of appealing from this sentence, but did not prosecute it; on which the decree was confirmed two years afterwards, with 8l. 10s. costs, and the archbishop granted his letters testimonial of the same. (fn. 16)

 

The survey of this parsonage, by order of the state in 1649, has been already mentioned in the account of the manor of Darent. There was one made likewise of the vicarage, by virtue of the commission of enquiry, in 1650, out of chancery, in which it was returned, that Darenth was a vicarage, having an old house, and two acres of glebe land, worth thirty pounds per annum; that master Cockett then enjoyed it, who preached and taught every Lord's day, but to little edisication. (fn. 17)

 

Darent is a discharged living, of the clear yearly value, as returned, of forty-five pounds. The yearly tenths were 19s. 104d. (fn. 18)

 

THE HAMLET OF ST. MARGARET HILLES seems, from several antient evidences and court rolls, as to its temporal jurisdiction, to have been once a parish of itself, distinct from that of Darent, having, within its bounds, the several hamlets of Hilles, Grensted, South Darent, and Gills. However, as to its ecclesiastical jurisdiction, it was always accounted but as a chapel to Darent, having the above hamlets within its precinct. (fn. 19)

 

By the decree of archbishop Peckham, mentioned before, the vicar of Darent was to find one chaplain to celebrate divine offices in this chapel of Helles. In the reign of king Henry VIII. there was a composition entered into between the vicar of Darent, and the inhabitants of the precinct of this chapel, which was confirmed by archbishop Warham in 1522, in which it was decreed, that the vicar of Darent should celebrate divine offices, either himself or by substitute in it, at certain times, and in manner as is therein mentioned, the inhabitants nevertheless resorting to the parish church of Darent on certain days therein specified; that he should administer extreme unction, and the holy sacrament if desired, to the sick inhabitants of this precinct within it; that he should bury the bodies of the deceased inhabitants either in this chapel, or the yard belonging to it, and baptize the children, and church the mothers of them within the chapel, and to prevent the inconveniencies that might arise from carrying the sacrament so far to the sick, the archbishop decreed, that it should be kept for the future in a decent pyx, to be provided by the inhabitants for that purpose in this chapel; who should bear and sustain all the burthens of the chapel; and also the payment of the reparation and maintenance of the parish church of Darent, and all other burthens, ordinary and extraordinary, in common with the rest of the parishioners of Darent, according to their abilities; and lastly, that all the inhabitants of the precinct of this chapel should pay yearly to the vicar of Darent, for the time being, all tythes accruing, and howsoever arising, within the precinct of it, as well real as personal, and all oblations whatsoever due of right or of custom, and should acknowledge the parish church of Darent as their own parish church. (fn. 20)

 

Notwithstanding this decree, the chapel of St. Margaret soon afterwards became neglected, and fell to decay; insomuch, that cardinal Pole, archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 1557, united the precinct of St. Margaret to the parish of Darent. And the chapel of it being thus desecreated, fell into immediate ruin, the only remains of it at this time being part of the tower of the steeple, which stands amidst a large heap of rubbish and stones, on an eminence in a field a small distance south-westward from the mansion of the manor: in the remains of this building there are many Roman bricks, and part of an arch is turned entirely with them.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol2/pp367-383

The Dalí Theatre and Museum Figueres Catalonia Spain

 

(Catalan: Teatre-Museu Dalí, IPA: [teˈatɾə muˈzɛw ðəˈɫi], Spanish: Teatro Museo Dalí), is a museum of the artist Salvador Dalí in his home town of Figueres, in Catalonia, Spain.

 

Building

The heart of the museum is the building that housed the town's theater when Dalí was a child, where one of the first public exhibitions of young Dalí's art was shown. The old theater was burned during the Spanish Civil War and remained in a state of ruin for decades. In 1960, Dalí and the mayor of Figueres decided to rebuild it as a museum dedicated to the town's most famous son.

In 1968, the city council approved the plan, and construction began the following year. The architects were Joaquim de Ros i Ramis and Alexandre Bonaterra. The museum opened on September 28, 1974,with continuing expansion through the mid-1980s. The museum now includes buildings and courtyards adjacent to the old theater building.

 

The museum displays the single largest and most diverse collection of works by Salvador Dalí, the core of which was from the artist's personal collection. In addition to Dalí paintings from all decades of his career, there are Dalí sculptures, 3-dimensional collages, mechanical devices, and other curiosities from Dalí's imagination. A highlight is a 3-dimensional anamorphic living-room installation with custom furniture that looks like the face of Mae West when viewed from a certain spot.

 

The museum also houses a small selection of works by other artists collected by Dalí, ranging from El Greco and Bougereau to Marcel Duchamp and John de Andrea, In accordance with Dalí's specific request, a second-floor gallery is devoted to the work of his friend and fellow Catalan artist Antoni Pitxot, who also became director of the museum after Dalí's death.

 

A glass geodesic dome cupola crowns the stage of the old theater, and Dalí himself is buried in a crypt below the stage floor. The space formerly occupied by the audience has been transformed into a courtyard open to the sky, with Dionysian nude figurines standing in the old balcony windows.

 

A Dalí installation inside a full-sized automobile, inspired by Rainy Taxi (1938), is parked near the center of the space.

 

Art collection

 

The Dalí Theatre and Museum holds the largest collection of major works by Dalí in a single location. Some of the most important exhibited works are Port Alguer (1924), The Spectre of Sex-appeal (1932), Soft self-portrait with grilled bacon (1941), Poetry of America—the Cosmic Athletes (1943), Galarina (1944–45), Basket of Bread (1945), Leda Atomica (1949), Galatea of the Spheres (1952) and Crist de la Tramuntana (1968).

There is also a set of works created by the artist expressly for the Theater-Museum, including the Mae West room, the Palace of the Windroom, the Monument to Francesc Pujols, and the Cadillac plujós.

 

A collection of holographic art by Dalí, and a collection of jewelry he designed are on display. Another room contains a bathtub and a side table with an open drawer and a lamp, all of which Dalí had installed upside-down on the ceiling.

 

An extension to the museum building contains a room dedicated to optical illusions, stereographs, and anamorphic art created by Dalí. The artist's final works, including his last oil painting, The Swallow's Tail (1983), are on display here.

THE DALINIAN SYMBOLS

  

A study of the work of Dalí, reveals some systematically present symbols in all his work. It's fetish objects that apparently have little in common: crutches, sea urchins, ants, bread...

 

Dalí uses these symbols so as to make it more meaningful to the message of his painting. The contrast of a hard shell and a soft interior is at the heart of his thinking and his art. This contrast outside-(hard/soft) is consistent with psychological design whereby individuals produce (hard) defenses around the vulnerable psyche (flexible). Dalí knew very well the work of Freud and his followers, even if its iconography derives absolutely no psychoanalytic thought.

 

ANGELS

 

They have the power to enter the celestial vault, communicating with God and thus achieve mystical union that concerns both the painter. Figures of angels painted by Dalí often borrow traits of Gala, incarnation, for Dali, purity and nobility.

 

CRUTCHES

 

It may be the only support of a figure or the necessary support of a form unable to stand alone. Dalí the view child, in the attic of his father's House. It should take and will never part. This subject gave him an assurance and an arrogance which he had never yet been able. In the short dictionary of Surrealism (1938), Dalí gives the following definition: "wooden Support deriving from the Cartesian philosophy. Generally used to serve as a support to the tenderness of the soft structures."

 

ELEPHANTS

 

The dalinian elephants are usually represented with the long legs of desire invisible to many bearings, bearing on their Obelisk back symbol of power and domination. The weight supported by the frail legs of the animal evokes weightlessness.

 

SNAILS

 

The snail is related to an important milestone in the life of Dalí: his encounter with Sigmund Freud. Dalí believed that nothing happens just by accident, he was captivated by the vision of a snail on a bicycle outside the home of Freud. The link is then made him between a human head and the snail, he associated specifically with the head of Freud. As for the egg, the outer part of the (hard) shell and the inner (soft) body of the snail site and the geometry of its curves it enchantèrent.

 

ANTS

 

Symbol of decay and decomposition. Dalí ants first met in his childhood, observing the remains decomposed small animals devoured by them. He observed with fascination and repulsion, and continued to use them in his work, as a symbol of decadence and ephemeral.

 

SOFT WATCHES

 

Dalí has often said, "the materialization of the flexibility of time and the indivisibility of space... It is a fluid." The unexpected softness of the watch also represents the psychological aspect by which the speed of time, although accurate in its scientific definition, can greatly vary in its human perception. The idea came to him after a meal while he contemplated the remains of a runny camembert. He decided to paint over the landscape that served as backdrop for two soft watches which one hung miserably to an olive branch.

 

EGG

 

Christian symbol of the resurrection of Christ and the emblem of purity and perfection. The egg evokes by its appearance and its minerality dear symbolism to Dali, earlier, intrauterine life and re-birth.

 

SEA URCHIN

 

His "exoskeleton" (the shell sits outside), Harris of thorns, can make you very unpleasant a first contact with the animal. The shell on the other hand contains soft body (one of the favorite dishes of Dali, who was known to eat a dozen at each meal). The Sea Urchin shell, stripped of its spines, appears in many of his paintings.

 

BREAD

 

Is it fear of Miss, Dalí represents it in his paintings and also begins to make surrealist objects with bread. In his paintings, loaves more often have something 'hard' and phallic, opposed to the "soft" watches. Dali has always been a great admirer of the bread. It tapissera of Catalan round loaves Figueras Museum walls.

 

LANDSCAPES

 

Traditional space (based on the perspective and the paintings of the Renaissance). Realistic landscape strewn with strange and unreal objects located in a natural environment. The background and how to use landscapes are one of the strengths of the art of Dali. They contribute to create the atmosphere of unreality of his paintings (landscape of his native Catalonia and vast plain of Ampurdan surrounding Figueras).

 

DRAWERS

 

Human bodies that open by drawers are found repeatedly in paintings and objects from Dali. They symbolize the memory and the unconscious and refer to "thought to be drawers", a concept inherited from the reading of Freud. They express the mystery of hidden secrets. Most of the children explore each drawer, cabinet and wardrobe of their home.

 

VENUS OF MILO

 

It is part long's personal mythology of the painter. She is the first woman he model child in clay from a reproduction adorning the family dining room. It is also that he discovered on a box of crayons in New York. He finds stupid expression on his face that he nevertheless considered own to perfect but inadequate female beauty in an elegant woman whose gaze should be or seem intelligent. Dalí made several transformations of Venus: the space Venus, Venus with drawers...

 

Includes teams from O'Gorman, Yankton, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Huron. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

©2021 SDPB

 

Set include both - bikini top and panties. It is size Medium ( top will fit perfectly for full B, C or D cup). Top and bottom are adjustable.

 

It is made from mercerized 100 % cotton yarn. It is very comfortable.

Stanford sits beside the junction on the M20 for Hythe and the junction with the bottom of the old Roman Road of Stone Street, and is the chosen location for the massive lorry park for any Brexit-related delays/jams. Only the DoT seemed to have forgotten to include an environmental impact assessment with the application, and was withdrawn.

 

Could still happen I guess, and the fine fellow in mustard coloured cords seemed to think it was still a possibility.

 

But for the time being, Stanford is quiet enough, with a fine looking pub, The Drum, and this mostly Victorian church, which I was rather taken with.

 

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What a delightful church! It is almost completely Victorian with the nave and chancel being rebuilt 30 years apart. The nave is severely plain, but the west windows may be part of the medieval church re-used. The font is a most unusual piece and is either Victorian or seventeenth century. It ahs certainly been recut over the years and has no Christian iconography. The chancel is well proportioned and entered via a well carved chancel arch. The east windows are shafted and have rere-arches. The stonework over the organ is typical late nineteenth century with castellations and niches, all probably designed by Carpenter. All in all this is a lovely church with a warm feeling and magnificent proportions. It deserves to be better known.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Stanford

 

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THE next parish south-eastward from Horton is that of Stanford, which takes its name both from its soil and situation, slane in Saxon signifying a stone, and ford, a rivulet. The parish of Stanford itself lies in the hundred of Stowring, but that of Westenhanger, now united to it, is within the hundred of Street.

 

It is, the greatest part of it, a low unpleasant situation, lying at a small distance below the down hills. The greatest part of it is pasture ground, and very wet. The soil is very clity and poor near the hill, where the ground lies higher, but lower down it becomes richer, and has some good fertile meadows in it. There is but little wood, only two small coppices in the northern part of it; the rents are about 900l. per annum. The high road along the Stone-street way from Canterbury, and over Hampton hill, leads through this parish towards Newinn-green, whence it continues strait forward to Limne, the Portus Lemanis of the Romans, and to the right and left to Ashford and Hythe. Stanford-street is built on this road, in which there is a neat modern-built house, belonging to Mr. Jones, who lives in it; the church stands on a gentle rise eastward from it. The parish is watered by the stream which rises above Postling church, being the head of that branch of the river called the Old Stour, which running from thence hither, having been joined by several smaller streams from the north-west, crosses the high road westward below Stanford-street towards Ashford. The bridge under which it runs here, being broken down anno 7 Edward I. the jury found, that it ought to be repaired by Nicholas de Criol, and not by the adjacent hundreds. At a small distance westward from this bridge, and not far from the stream, stands the antient mansion of Westenhanger, having a gloomy appearance, in a low unpleasant situation, having an extent of flat country and pasture grounds in front of it, the above stream supplying the broad deep moat which surrounds it.

 

The ruins of this mansion, though very small, shew it to have been formerly a very large and magnificent pile of building. The antiquity of this mansion was, no doubt, very high, and if not originally built by one of the family of Criol, was afterwards much enlarged and strengthened by them. From one of the towers still retaining the name of Rosamond's tower, where the tradition is, that fair mistress of king Henry II. was kept for some time, it should seem to have been built before his reign, or perhaps even belonging to him. Which seems the more probable from there having been found among the ruins the left hand of a well carved statue, with the end of a sceptre grasped in it; a position peculiar to this prince, one of whose seals was so made in the life time of his father. (fn. 1) The scite of the house, moated round, had a drawbridge, a gatehouse and portal, the arch of which was large and strong, springing from six polygonal pillars, with a portcullis to it. The walls were very high, and of great thickness, the whole of them embattled, and fortified with nine great towers, alternately square and round, and a gallery reaching throughout the whole from one to the other. One of these, with the gallery adjoining to it on the north side, was called, as has been already mentioned, Fair Rosamond's; and it is suppoted she was kept here some time before her removal to Woodstock. The room called her prison, was a long upper one, of 160 feet in length, which was likewise called her gallery. Over the door of entrance into the house was carved in stone, the figure of St. George on horseback, and under it four shields of arms; one of which was the arms of England, and another a key and crown, supported by two angels. On the right hand was a slight of freestone steps, which led into a chapel, now a stable, curiously vaulted with stone, being erected by Sir Edward Poynings, in the reign of king Henry VIII. At each corner of the window of this chapel was curiously carved in stone, a canopy. There were likewise in it several pedestals for statues, and over the window stood a statue of St. Anthony, with a pig at his feet, and a bell hanging to one of its ears. At the west end were the statues of St. Christopher and king Herod. The great hall was fifty feet long, with a music gallery at one end of it, and at the other a range of cloisters which led to the chapel, and other apartments of the house. There were one hundred and twenty-six rooms in it, and, by report, three hundred and sixty-five windows. In the year 1701, more than three parts of it was pulled down, for the sake of the sale of the materials, which were then sold for 1000l. After this Mr. Champneis, the purchaser of it, converted the remainder into a small neat edifice for his residence; which house, within these few years, has been again pulled down, and a yet smaller modern one built on the scite of it. All that now remains therefore of this great mansion and its extensive surrounding buildings, are the walls and two towers on the north and east sides of it, which being undermined by length of time, are yearly falling in huge masses into the adjoining moat; and the remaining ruins being covered with ivy and trees, growing spontaneously on and through the sides of every part of them, exhibit an awful scene, and a melancholy remembrance of its antient grandeur; the under part of the great entrance yet remains, the arch over it having been taken down but lately; and there are numberless fragments of carved stone-work lying scattered about. The whole was built of quarry-stone, said to have been dug in the quarries of the adjoining manor of Otterpoole, in Limne, ornamented with sculptured stone brought from Caen. The park which belonged to this mansion, extended over the east and south parts of this parish, rather on rising ground, formerly comprehending the whole parochial district of Ostenhanger, at the southern boundary of which is New-Inn-green, so called from a new inn built there in king Henry the VIIIth's time, near which there is a small hamlet built on the road leading from Hythe to Ashford. Near the western boundary of the parish is a small green, built round with houses, called Gibbins brook, situated in the borough of Gimminge, its proper name, in a very wet and swampy country.

 

There was an annual fair instituted in 1758, to be holden in Stanford-street on June 7, for all sorts of cattle, but it was soon left off, and there has not been any held for near twenty years past.

 

THE MANOR OP STANFORD was antiently part of the possessions of the family of De Morinis, whose descendants the Derings continued afterwards to possess it. Sir Richard Dering, of Hayton, was owner of it anno 22 Richard II. and then quitted the possession of it to Sir Arnald St. Leger. (fn. 2) How it passed afterwards, I have not found; but in 1659 it was the property of Richard Busbridge, of Nottinghamshire, one of whose descendants sold it in 1699 to George Hamond, of Stanford, and he in 1733 alienated it to Michael Lade, of Canterbury, who parted with it again two years afterwards to Wile, of Sandwich, from which name it came to Mr. Odiarne Coates, of New Romney, whose heirs now possess it.

 

THE MANOR OF BEKEHURST, alias SHORNECOURT, lay somewhere in, or near this parish; for by the Book of Aid, levied anno 20 Edward III. it appears, that the heirs of Walter de Shorne paid aid for it, as the eighth part of a knight's see, which the said Walter before held in Bokehurst of John de Criell, as of his manor of Westenhanger. In king Henry VIII.'s reign, this manor was in the possession of Humphry Gay, gent. but in 1613 it was become the property of Sir Thomas Hardres, who that year levied a fine of it; but where it is situated, or who have possessed it since, I have not, with all my eldeavours, been able to discover.

 

HEYTON is another manor, lying at the north-west corner of this parish, next to Horton, being frequently mentioned in antient deeds by the name of Hayte. It was in very early times possessed by a family which took its surname from it, and bore for their cognizance in antient armorials, Gules, three piles, argent. Alanus de Heyton was owner of this manor in the reign of king Henry II. in which reign he held by knight's service of Gilbert de Magminot, but dying s.p. Elveva his sister, married to Deringus de Morinis, became his heir, and entitled her husband to it, and wrote himself, as appears by several dateless deeds, Dominus de Heyton. Their son Deringus Fitz Dering, was the first who deserted the name of Morinis, whose son Richard Fitz Dering, who likewise wrote himself Dominus de Heyton, died possessed of it at the latter end of the reign of king Henry III. and left it to his son Peter Dering, whose grandson Sir Richard Dering appears to have possessed it in the 22d year of king Richard II. and that year to have quitted the possession of it to Sir Arnald Seyntleger. After which it passed into the family of Scott, of Braborne, in which it continued till the reign of queen Elizabeth, when it was alienated by one of them to Mr. William Smith, of Stanford, yeoman, in whose descendants, resident at it, this manor continued down to Mr. William Smith, gent, of Heyton, who dying s.p. by will devised it to his widow Anne, daughter of Mr. John Drake, of London, and she having in 1769 remarried with the Rev. George Lynch, he in her right became possessed of it, and for some time resided here, till on the death of his brother Robert Lynch, M. D. he removed to Ripple, where he died in 1789, s.p. and by his will devised it to his two surviving sisters, who are the present possessors of it. (fn. 3) A court baron is held for this manor.

 

WESTENHANGER is an eminent manor here, which was once a parish of itself, though now united to Stanford: Its antient and more proper name, as appears by the register of the monastery of St. Angustine, was Le Hangre, yet I find it called likewise in records as high as the reign of Richard I. by the names both of Ostenhanger and Westenhanger, which certainly arose from its having been divided, and in the hands of separate owners, being possessed by the two eminent families of Criol and Auberville. Bertram de Criol, who was constable of Dover castle, lord warden of the five ports, and sheriff of Kent, for several years in the reign of king Henry III. who from his great possessions in this country, was usually stiled the great lord of Kent, is written in the pipe-rolls of the 27th year of that reign, of Ostenhanger, where it is said he rebuilt great part of the then antient mansion. He left two sons, Nicholas and John, the former of whom marrying with Joane, daughter and heir of Sir William de Aubervilse, inherited in her right the other part of this manor, called Westenhanger, as will be further mentioned hereafter. John, the younger son, seems to have inherited his father's share of this manor, called Ostenhanger, of which he died possessed in the 48th year of king Henry III. as did his son Bertram de Criol in the 23d year of Edward I. leaving two sons, John and Bertram, who both died s.p. and a daughter Joane, who upon the death of the latter became his heir, and carried Ostenhanger, among the rest of her inheritance, in marriage to Sir Richard de Rokesle, seneschal and governor of Poictu and Montreul in Picardy, a man of eminent character in that time, having been created a knight-banneret by king Edward I. at the siege of Carlaverock, in Scotland. He died without issue male, leaving his two daughters his coheirs, of whom Agnes, the eldest, married Thomas de Poynings; and Joane, the youngest, first Hugh de Pateshall, and secondly Sir William le Baud, and upon the division of their inheritance, Ostenhanger was wholly allotted to Thomas de Poynings, who died anno 13 Edward III. bearing for his arms, Barry of six, or, and vert, over all a bend, gules. He left three sons, Nicholas, Michael, and Lucas de Poynings, all three summoned at different times to parliament, among the barons of this realm. The descendants of the latter being summoned as barons Poynings de St. John, which barony became vested in the late duke of Bolton. Upon the division of their inheritance, this manor was allotted to the second son Michael, who died anno 43 king Edward III. and left two sons, Thomas and Richard. Thomas de Poynings, the eldest son, possessed it on his father's death, but he died anno 49 Edward III. s.p. having bequeathed his body to be buried in the midst of the choir of St. Radigund's, of his own patronage, before the high altar, appointing that a fair tomb should be placed over his grave, with the image of a knight made thereon. Upon his death, Richard de Poynings, his youngest brother, succeeded to it, and died possessed of it in the IIth year of king Richard II. as did his son Robert anno 25 Henry VI. having had two sons, Richard de Poynings, who died in his life-time, leaving a sole daughter and heir Alianore, who married Sir Henry Percy, afterwards earl of Northumberland, and brought him a large inheritance, together with the baronies of Poynings, Bryan, and Fitzpain, now enjoyed by the present duke of Northumberland; and a second son Robert, who succeeded his father in Ostenhanger, of which he died possessed anno 9 Edward IV. (fn. 4) who, as well as his several ancestors above-mentioned, were summoned among the barons to parliament, and his son Sir Edward Poynings, who having purchased the other part of this great manor, called Westenhanger, became possessed of the whole property of it, as will be further mentioned hereafter.

 

To return now to that part of this eminent manor, distinguished from its situation by the name of Westenhanger, which was in the reign of king Richard I. in the possession of the family of Auberville, one of whom, Sir William de Auberville, descended from William de Ogburville, mentioned in the survey of Domesday, being one of those who attended the Conqueror in his expedition hither, resided in that reign in the borough of Westenhanger, and was founder of the abbey of West Langdon, and a benefactor to the priory of Christ church, and as appears by his seal appendant to a deed in the Surrenden library, dated 29 Henry III. bore for his arms, Parted per dancette, two annulets in chief, and one in base. His grandson, of the same name, left an only daughter and heir Joane, who marrying with Nicholas de Criol, brought him this estate as part of her inheritance. His descendant Sir John de Criol, in the 19th year of Edward III. obtained a licence to found and endow a chantry in the chapel of St. John, in Westenhanger,; and before, in the 17th year of that reign, he had a grant to embattle and make loop-holes in his mansion-house of Westenhanger. His descendant Sir Nicholas de Criol, or Keriel, died possessed of it in the 3d year of king Richard II. and from him it devolved at length by succession to Sir Thomas Keriel, for so their name was then in general spelt, who was slain in the second battle of St. Albans, in the 38th year of Henry VI. in asserting the cause of the house of York. On his death without male issue, his two daughters became his coheirs, (fn. 5) viz. Elizabeth, married to John Bourchier, esq. and Alice, to John Fogge, esq. of Repton, afterwards knighted, whose second wife she was; and on the division of their inheritance, Westenhanger was allotted to the latter. He had by her one son, Sir Thomas Fogge, sergeant-porter of Calais in the reigns of king Henry VII. and VIII. who sold his interest in it to his elder brother, (by his father's first wise Alice Haut) Sir John Fogge, of Repton, and he, about the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, alienated it to Sir Edward Poynings, the possessor of the other part of this manor, who thereupon became possessed of both Ostenhanger and Westenhanger, being the entire property of the whole manor. He was a man of much eminence of that time, and greatly in favour both with king Henry VII. and VIII. being governor of Dover castle, lord warden of the five ports, and knight of the garter. He resided at Westenhanger, where he began building magnificently, but he died before his stately mansion here was finished, anno 14 Henry VIII. having married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Scott, of Scotts-hall, by whom he had one only child John, who died in his life time; so that thus deceasing without legitimate issue, and even without any collateral kindred, who could make claim to his estates, this manor, among the rest of them, escheated to the crown. Although Sir Edward Poynings died without legitimate issue, yet he left by four different concubines three sons, Sir Thomas, who afterwards died s. p. Sir Adrian Poynings, who died without male issue; and Edward, slain at Bologne in the 38th year of Henry VIII. and likewise four daughters.

 

This manor thus becoming vested in the crown, was by the king's bounty soon afterwards conferred on his eldest natural son Sir Thomas Poynings abovementioned, who was a gentleman noted for the beauty and elegance of his person, and was of equal merit; and being of remarkable strength and courage, greatly signalized himself at the justs and tournaments of those times of which the king being himself exceedingly fond, it recommended him still more to the royal favour, and he was made K. B. and was summoned to parliament as baron Poynings, of Ostenhanger. But in the 32d year of the same reign, he, with dame Catherine his wife, exchanged this manor, park, and sundry premises belonging to it, with the king, for other estates in Dorsetshire and Wiltshire. (fn. 6) Soon after which, the king seems to have intended this manor as a mansion fit for his royal residence; for he not only expended much on the completing of the unfinished state of it, but two years afterwards laid into the park a large circuit of land, inclosing many mansions, houses, and buildings of the inhabitants within the pale of it; at which time this manor seems to have been indiscriminately called by both the names of Ostenhanger and Westenhanger. After which, the manor, together with the mansion, park, and other appurtenances belonging to it, continued in the hands of the crown till the reign of Edward VI. when that prince, in his first year, granted it with its appurtenances, to John Dudley, earl of Warwick, to hold in capite by knight's service; but in the 3d year of that reign, the earl joined with dame Joane his wife, in the reconveyance of it to the king, in exchange for premises in other counties. The next year after which the king granted it, among other premises, to Edward Fynes, lord Clinton, son of Thomas, lord Clinton, by Mary, one of the four daughters of Sir Edward Poynings before-mentioned, to hold in capite by knight's service, and in the 6th year of his reign, he made a new grant to him and Henry Herdson, his trustee of it, together with the advowson of the rectory, to hold by the like service; and they not long afterwards alienated the manor of Westenhanger with its appurtenances, to Richard Sackville, esq. who died possessed of it in the 8th year of queen Elizabeth; but it should seem that he had it only for his life, or perhaps might not be in possession of the mansion of Westenhanger itself; for that queen, in the progress which she made through this county, at the latter end of the summer in the year 1573, is said in the course of it to have stayed at her own house of Westenhanger, the keeper of which was then Thomas, lord Buckhurst, son of Richard Sackville, before-mentioned, And further, for that the queen, in her 27th year, granted the manor of Eastenhanger with its appurtenances, in see to Thomas Smith, esq. He was commonly called the Customer, from his farming the customs of the port of London, and he having greatly increased the beauty of this mansion, which had been impaired and defaced by fire, with magnificent additions, resided here; and when Lambarde wrote his Perambulation in 1570, there were here two parks, which continued till one of the family of Smith disparked them both. He died in 1591, and was succeeded by his eldest son Sir John Smythe, who was of Ostenhanger, where he kept his shrievalty in the 42d year of queen Elizabeth, and died in 1609. His son Sir Thomas Smythe, K. B. resided likewise at Westenhanger, (for by both these names this place was yet at times differently called) and was in 1628 created viscount Strangford, of the kingdom of Ireland. His son Philip, viscount Strangford, conveyed it to trustees, (fn. 7) and they, at the latter end of king Charles II.'s reign, alienated this manor, with its mansion, lands, and appurtenances, to Finch, who having in 1701 pulled down by far the greatest part of this stately mansion, then passed it away by sale to Justinian Champneis, esq. The family of Champneis are descended from Sir Amyan Champneis, who flourished in king Henry the IId's reign, whose descendants settled in Somersershire; one of whom, Robt. Champneis, of Chew, in that county, was father of Sir John Champneis, lord mayor of London anno 26 king Henry VIII. who was possessed of Hall-place, in Bexley, where he resided, and in which he was succeeded by his son, the youngest and only surviving son of seven, Justinian. One of his descendants, Walter Champneis, son of William, appears by the parish register of Boxley to have lived in that parish in queen Elizabeth's reign, anno 1582. After which there is continued mention in it of them down to the burial of Justinian Champneis, esq in 1712. Justinian Champneis, the purchaser of this estate, bore for his arms, Parted per pale, argent and sable, a lion rampant, gules, within a bordure, engrailed and counterchanged, of the field. He afterwards resided here, having built a smaller house on the same scite, out of the ruins remaining of it. He was one of the five Kentish gentlemen, who in 1701, delivered the noted petition from this county to the house of commons. He died possessed of this manor and estate, far advanced in years, in 1748, leaving three sons, Justinian, William, and Henry. On his death, by the settlement made on his marriage, one sixth part of this estate devolved to the two younger sons, and the rest of it on the eldest son Justinian Champneis, esq. who dying abroad, s. p. in 1754, gave by will his interest in it to his younger brother Henry; and the remaining sixth part came by compromise wholly to the then eldest surviving brother William Champneis, esq. who resided at Vintners, in Boxley. He left by his first wife two daughters his coheirs, Frances, now unmarried, and Harrior, who married John Burt, esq. of Rochester, by whom she had two sons, WilliamHenry and Thomas, and a daughter Harriot, as will be further mentioned hereafter. On his death in 1762, his sixth part of this estate came to his two daughters and coheirs before-mentioned, the eldest of whom, in her own right, and the two sons of John Burt, esq. deceased, in right of the youngest, is at this time entitled to it. The remaining part of this estate was by Henry Champneis, esq. of Vintners, in Boxley, who died unmarried in 1781, devised to his great nephew William-Henry Burt, the eldest son of John Burt, esq. by his wife Harriot before-mentioned, for whom he had in his life-time obtained a privy seal, to take the surname and bear the arms of Champneis. Which William-Henry Champneis, esq. is now entitled to the inheritance of it.

 

¶The parish of Ostenbanger stood, as to its ecclesiastical jurisdiction, in the deanry of Limne and diocese of Canterbury. The church, which was a rectory, was formerly in the patronage of the owners of the manor, and came to the crown on the death of Sir Edward Poynings, in the 14th year of king Henry VIII. whence it was granted, as appurtenant to the manor, to Sir Thomas Poynings, who in the 34th year of that reign, granted it to the crown in exchange; in which year the king having laid a large circuit of land into his park here, of which the rector had received the yearly tithes, and having likewise inclosed and imparked in it many houses, barns, and glebe-lands belonging to the rectory, and injoined the parishioners and inhabitants to resort to the parish to which they lay nearest, by which means the rector was destitute of a maintenance, granted to him for life, a yearly pension of six pounds, to be had of his treasurer of the Augmentation-office. Thus this parish became, as to its ecclesiastical juridiction, united to Stanford, to which church the owners of this estate, in whom the tithes of the whole of it are vested, pay a composition of eleven shillings as an acknowledgment for the privilege the inhabitants within it enjoy of the rites of the church there.

 

The rectory of Eastenhanger is valued in the king's books at 7l. 12s. 6d. and the yearly tenths at 15s. 3d. which are paid to the crown receiver, and not to the archbishop.

 

The church of Westenhanger has been entirely pulled down, and the materials removed, several years ago. It stood at a small distance westward of the house, and of the drawbridge at the entrance to it, between the latter and the great barn, which report says, was partly built out of the ruins of it. Several skeletons have from time to time been dug up within the scite of it and adjoining to it; and in some of the graves, several sculls in one grave; and some years ago a stone coffin was dug up. The font, which was in this church, was removed to, the church of Stanford, where it now remains.

 

I find the names of only two of the rectors of this parish, viz. William Lambard, in the 34th year of king Henry VIII. (fn. 8) and Thomas Eaton, A. M. presented by the crown in 1636. (fn. 9)

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol8/pp63-78

British Real Photograph postcard, no. 214.

 

Handsome, suave English-American actor Cary Grant (1904-1986) became one of Hollywood's definitive classic leading men, known for his debonair demeanour. Grant’s best-known films include Bringing Up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), His Girl Friday (1940), Notorious (1946), An Affair to Remember (1957), North by Northwest (1959), and Charade (1963).

 

Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach in Horfield, Bristol, England, in 1904. His parents were Elsie Maria (Kingdon) and Elias James Leach, who worked in a factory. Grant considered himself to have been partly Jewish. He had an unhappy upbringing in Bristol. At age nine, he came home from school one day and was told his mother had gone off to a seaside resort. The real truth, however, was that she had been placed in a mental institution, where she would remain for years, and he was never told about it. Grant did not learn that his mother was still alive until he was 31, when his father confessed to the lie, shortly before his own death. At age 14, Archibald dropped out of school. He lied about his age and forged his father's signature on a letter to join Bob Pender's troupe of knockabout comedians. He learned pantomime as well as acrobatics as he toured with the Pender troupe in the English provinces. Then in 1920, he was one of the eight Pender boys selected to go to the US. Their show on Broadway, Good Times, ran for 456 performances at the New York Hippodrome (the largest theatre in the world at the time with a capacity of 5,697), giving Grant time to acclimatise. He would stay in America. Grant spent the next couple of years touring the United States with The Walking Stanleys. He visited Los Angeles for the first time in 1924, which left a lasting impression upon him. After the group split up he returned to New York, where he began living and performing at the National Vaudeville Artists Club. In 1927, he was cast as an Australian in Reggie Hammerstein's musical, Golden Dawn. In the following years he gained a reputation as a romantic leading man. After a successful screen-test, Paramount producer Bud Schulberg signed a contract with the 27-year-old Grant in 1931 for five years. He made his feature film debut with the comedy This is the Night (Frank Tuttle, 1932), playing an Olympic javelin thrower opposite Thelma Todd and Lili Damita. Grant played a wealthy playboy opposite Marlene Dietrich in Blonde Venus (1932), directed by Josef von Sternberg. Mae West wanted Grant for She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933) because she saw his combination of virility, sexuality and the aura and bearing of a gentleman. The film was a box office hit, earning more than $2 million in the United States. For their next pairing, I'm No Angel (Wesley Ruggles, 1934), Grant's salary was increased from $450 to $750 a week. The film was even more successful than She Done Him Wrong, and saved Paramount from bankruptcy.

 

When the Paramount contract was up Cary Grant made an unusual decision for the time: he decided to freelance. Because his films were so successful at the box office, he was able to work at any studio he chose for the majority of his career. For Hal Roach's studio he made the screwball comedy Topper (Norman Z. McLeod, 1937), which became his first major comedy success. The following year, he starred opposite Katharine Hepburn in the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938), featuring a leopard and frequent bickering and verbal jousting between Grant and Hepburn. He played a British army sergeant opposite Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in the adventure film Gunga Din (George Stevens, 1939), set at a military station in India, and a pilot opposite Jean Arthur and Rita Hayworth in the drama Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, 1939). Grant gained even more success for his appearances in the romantic comedies His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) with Rosalind Russell, and The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940) with Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. Along with Arsenic and Old Lace (Frank Capra, 1944) and I Was a Male War Bride (Howard Hawks, 1949); these films are among the all-time great comedy films. Having established himself as a major Hollywood star, he was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for Penny Serenade (George Stevens, 1941) and None but the Lonely Heart (Clifford Odets, 1944). In the 1940s, Grant also started a working relationship with director Alfred Hitchcock, appearing in films such as Suspicion (1941) opposite Joan Fontaine, and Notorious (1946) opposite Ingrid Bergman. Hitchcock admired Grant and considered him to have been the only actor that he had ever loved working with. In To Catch a Thief (1955), he and Grace Kelly were allowed to improvise some of the dialogue. They knew what Hitchcock wanted to do with a scene, they rehearsed it, put in some clever double entendres that got past the censors, and then the scene was filmed. His biggest box-office success was Hitchcock’s North by Northwest (1959) made with Eva Marie Saint since Kelly was by that time Princess of Monaco.

 

Cary Grant was young enough to begin the new career of fatherhood when he stopped making movies at age 62. Grant retired from the screen at 62, when his daughter Jennifer was born, to focus on bringing her up and to provide a sense of permanency and stability in her life. Although Grant had retired from the screen, he remained active. In 1966, he accepted a position on the board of directors at Fabergé. By all accounts this position was not honorary, as some had assumed; Grant regularly attended meetings and travelled internationally to support them. The position also permitted use of a private plane, which Grant could use to fly to see his daughter wherever her mother, Dyan Cannon, was working. He later joined the boards of Hollywood Park, the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle, Hollywood, California), Western Airlines (acquired by Delta Air Lines in 1987), and MGM. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Grant the second greatest male star of Golden Age Hollywood cinema (after Humphrey Bogart). He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor and five times for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. After his retirement from film in 1966, Grant was presented with an Honorary Oscar in 1970. He expressed no interest in making a career comeback. He was in good health until almost the end of his life, when he suffered a mild stroke in October 1984. His final appearance at the Academy Awards was in 1985 to present James Stewart with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. In the last few years of his life, Grant undertook tours of the United States in a one-man show, A Conversation with Cary Grant, in which he would show clips from his films and answer audience questions. In 1986, Grant suffered a major stroke prior to performing in his one man show in Davenport, Iowa. He died later that night at St. Luke's Hospital. Grant had been married five times. His wives were actress Virginia Cherrill (1934-1935), Barbara Hutton (1942-1945), actress Betsy Drake (1949-1962), actress Dyan Cannon (1965-1968), and Barbara Harris (1981-1986). From 1932 till 1944 he shared a house with Randolph Scott, whom he met on Hot Saturday (1932). Studio heads threatened not to employ them together, unless they lived separately. Grant's marriage to Barbara Hutton permanently dissolved his living arrangement with Scott. Grant later fell in love with Sophia Loren while filming The Pride and the Passion (1957) when he was 53 and she was 22. At the time, Grant was still married to actress Betsy Drake, and Loren was involved with 45-year-old producer Carlo Ponti, who was also married. Both men eventually separated from their wives and proposed to Loren at the same time; she chose Ponti.

 

Sources: Dale O'Connor (IMDb), Pedro Borges (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

In spring of 2007, the Albertina also received the previously based in Salzburg "Batliner Collection" as unrestricted permanent loan. The collection of Rita and Herbert Batliner includes important works by modern masters, from French impressionism to German expressionism of the "Blue Rider" and the "bridge" to works of the Fauvist or the Russian avant-garde from Chagall to Malevich.

de.wikipedia.org / wiki / Albertina_ (Vienna)

 

 

The Albertina

The architectural history of the Palais

(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Image: The oldest photographic view of the newly designed Palais Archduke Albrecht, 1869

"It is my will that ​​the expansion of the inner city of Vienna with regard to a suitable connection of the same with the suburbs as soon as possible is tackled and at this on Regulirung (regulation) and beautifying of my Residence and Imperial Capital is taken into account. To this end I grant the withdrawal of the ramparts and fortifications of the inner city and the trenches around the same".

This decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I, published on 25 December 1857 in the Wiener Zeitung, formed the basis for the largest the surface concerning and architecturally most significant transformation of the Viennese cityscape. Involving several renowned domestic and foreign architects a "master plan" took form, which included the construction of a boulevard instead of the ramparts between the inner city and its radially upstream suburbs. In the 50-years during implementation phase, an impressive architectural ensemble developed, consisting of imperial and private representational buildings, public administration and cultural buildings, churches and barracks, marking the era under the term "ring-street style". Already in the first year tithe decided a senior member of the Austrian imperial family to decorate the facades of his palace according to the new design principles, and thus certified the aristocratic claim that this also "historicism" said style on the part of the imperial house was attributed.

Image: The Old Albertina after 1920

It was the palace of Archduke Albrecht (1817-1895), the Senior of the Habsburg Family Council, who as Field Marshal held the overall command over the Austro-Hungarian army. The building was incorporated into the imperial residence of the Hofburg complex, forming the south-west corner and extending eleven meters above street level on the so-called Augustinerbastei.

The close proximity of the palace to the imperial residence corresponded not only with Emperor Franz Joseph I and Archduke Albert with a close familial relationship between the owner of the palace and the monarch. Even the former inhabitants were always in close relationship to the imperial family, whether by birth or marriage. An exception here again proves the rule: Don Emanuel Teles da Silva Conde Tarouca (1696-1771), for which Maria Theresa in 1744 the palace had built, was just a close friend and advisor of the monarch. Silva Tarouca underpins the rule with a second exception, because he belonged to the administrative services as Generalhofbaudirektor (general court architect) and President of the Austrian-Dutch administration, while all other him subsequent owners were highest ranking military.

In the annals of Austrian history, especially those of military history, they either went into as commander of the Imperial Army, or the Austrian, later kk Army. In chronological order, this applies to Duke Carl Alexander of Lorraine, the brother-of-law of Maria Theresa, as Imperial Marshal, her son-in-law Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, also field marshal, whos adopted son, Archduke Charles of Austria, the last imperial field marshal and only Generalissimo of Austria, his son Archduke Albrecht of Austria as Feldmarschalil and army Supreme commander, and most recently his nephew Archduke Friedrich of Austria, who held as field marshal from 1914 to 1916 the command of the Austro-Hungarian troops. Despite their military profession, all five generals conceived themselves as patrons of the arts and promoted large sums of money to build large collections, the construction of magnificent buildings and cultural life. Charles Alexander of Lorraine promoted as governor of the Austrian Netherlands from 1741 to 1780 the Academy of Fine Arts, the Théâtre de Ja Monnaie and the companies Bourgeois Concert and Concert Noble, he founded the Academie royale et imperial des Sciences et des Lettres, opened the Bibliotheque Royal for the population and supported artistic talents with high scholarships. World fame got his porcelain collection, which however had to be sold by Emperor Joseph II to pay off his debts. Duke Albert began in 1776 according to the concept of conte Durazzo to set up an encyclopedic collection of prints, which forms the core of the world-famous "Albertina" today.

Image : Duke Albert and Archduchess Marie Christine show in family cercle the from Italy brought along art, 1776. Frederick Henry Füger.

1816 declared to Fideikommiss and thus in future indivisible, inalienable and inseparable, the collection 1822 passed into the possession of Archduke Carl, who, like his descendants, it broadened. Under him, the collection was introduced together with the sumptuously equipped palace on the Augustinerbastei in the so-called "Carl Ludwig'schen fideicommissum in 1826, by which the building and the in it kept collection fused into an indissoluble unity. At this time had from the Palais Tarouca by structural expansion or acquisition a veritable Residenz palace evolved. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen was first in 1800 the third floor of the adjacent Augustinian convent wing adapted to house his collection and he had after 1802 by his Belgian architect Louis de Montoyer at the suburban side built a magnificent extension, called the wing of staterooms, it was equipped in the style of Louis XVI. Only two decades later, Archduke Carl the entire palace newly set up. According to scetches of the architect Joseph Kornhäusel the 1822-1825 retreaded premises presented themselves in the Empire style. The interior of the palace testified from now in an impressive way the high rank and the prominent position of its owner. Under Archduke Albrecht the outer appearance also should meet the requirements. He had the facade of the palace in the style of historicism orchestrated and added to the Palais front against the suburbs an offshore covered access. Inside, he limited himself, apart from the redesign of the Rococo room in the manner of the second Blondel style, to the retention of the paternal stock. Archduke Friedrich's plans for an expansion of the palace were omitted, however, because of the outbreak of the First World War so that his contribution to the state rooms, especially, consists in the layout of the Spanish apartment, which he in 1895 for his sister, the Queen of Spain Maria Christina, had set up as a permanent residence.

Picture: The "audience room" after the restoration: Picture: The "balcony room" around 1990

The era of stately representation with handing down their cultural values ​​found its most obvious visualization inside the palace through the design and features of the staterooms. On one hand, by the use of the finest materials and the purchase of masterfully manufactured pieces of equipment, such as on the other hand by the permanent reuse of older equipment parts. This period lasted until 1919, when Archduke Friedrich was expropriated by the newly founded Republic of Austria. With the republicanization of the collection and the building first of all finished the tradition that the owner's name was synonymous with the building name:

After Palais Tarouca or tarokkisches house it was called Lorraine House, afterwards Duke Albert Palais and Palais Archduke Carl. Due to the new construction of an adjacently located administration building it received in 1865 the prefix "Upper" and was referred to as Upper Palais Archduke Albrecht and Upper Palais Archduke Frederick. For the state a special reference to the Habsburg past was certainly politically no longer opportune, which is why was decided to name the building according to the in it kept collection "Albertina".

Picture: The "Wedgwood Cabinet" after the restoration: Picture: the "Wedgwood Cabinet" in the Palais Archduke Friedrich, 1905

This name derives from the term "La Collection Albertina" which had been used by the gallery Inspector Maurice von Thausing in 1870 in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts for the former graphics collection of Duke Albert. For this reason, it was the first time since the foundation of the palace that the name of the collection had become synonymous with the room shell. Room shell, hence, because the Republic of Austria Archduke Friedrich had allowed to take along all the movable goods from the palace in his Hungarian exile: crystal chandeliers, curtains and carpets as well as sculptures, vases and clocks. Particularly stressed should be the exquisite furniture, which stems of three facilities phases: the Louis XVI furnitures of Duke Albert, which had been manufactured on the basis of fraternal relations between his wife Archduchess Marie Christine and the French Queen Marie Antoinette after 1780 in the French Hofmanufakturen, also the on behalf of Archduke Charles 1822-1825 in the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory by Joseph Danhauser produced Empire furnitures and thirdly additions of the same style of Archduke Friedrich, which this about 1900 at Portois & Ffix as well as at Friedrich Otto Schmidt had commissioned.

The "swept clean" building got due to the strained financial situation after the First World War initially only a makeshift facility. However, since until 1999 no revision of the emergency equipment took place, but differently designed, primarily the utilitarianism committed office furnitures complementarily had been added, the equipment of the former state rooms presented itself at the end of the 20th century as an inhomogeneous administrative mingle-mangle of insignificant parts, where, however, dwelt a certain quaint charm. From the magnificent state rooms had evolved depots, storage rooms, a library, a study hall and several officed.

Image: The Albertina Graphic Arts Collection and the Philipphof after the American bombing of 12 März 1945.

Image: The palace after the demolition of the entrance facade, 1948-52

Worse it hit the outer appearance of the palace, because in times of continued anti-Habsburg sentiment after the Second World War and inspired by an intolerant destruction will, it came by pickaxe to a ministerial erasure of history. In contrast to the graphic collection possessed the richly decorated facades with the conspicuous insignia of the former owner an object-immanent reference to the Habsburg past and thus exhibited the monarchial traditions and values ​​of the era of Francis Joseph significantly. As part of the remedial measures after a bomb damage, in 1948 the aristocratic, by Archduke Albert initiated, historicist facade structuring along with all decorations was cut off, many facade figures demolished and the Hapsburg crest emblems plunged to the ground. Since in addition the old ramp also had been cancelled and the main entrance of the bastion level had been moved down to the second basement storey at street level, ended the presence of the old Archduke's palace after more than 200 years. At the reopening of the "Albertina Graphic Collection" in 1952, the former Hapsburg Palais of splendour presented itself as one of his identity robbed, formally trivial, soulless room shell, whose successful republicanization an oversized and also unproportional eagle above the new main entrance to the Augustinian road symbolized. The emocratic throw of monuments had wiped out the Hapsburg palace from the urban appeareance, whereby in the perception only existed a nondescript, nameless and ahistorical building that henceforth served the lodging and presentation of world-famous graphic collection of the Albertina. The condition was not changed by the decision to the refurbishment because there were only planned collection specific extensions, but no restoration of the palace.

Image: The palace after the Second World War with simplified facades, the rudiment of the Danubiusbrunnens (well) and the new staircase up to the Augustinerbastei

This paradigm shift corresponded to a blatant reversal of the historical circumstances, as the travel guides and travel books for kk Residence and imperial capital of Vienna dedicated itself primarily with the magnificent, aristocratic palace on the Augustinerbastei with the sumptuously fitted out reception rooms and mentioned the collection kept there - if at all - only in passing. Only with the repositioning of the Albertina in 2000 under the direction of Klaus Albrecht Schröder, the palace was within the meaning and in fulfillment of the Fideikommiss of Archduke Charles in 1826 again met with the high regard, from which could result a further inseparable bond between the magnificent mansions and the world-famous collection. In view of the knowing about politically motivated errors and omissions of the past, the facades should get back their noble, historicist designing, the staterooms regain their glamorous, prestigious appearance and culturally unique equippment be repurchased. From this presumption, eventually grew the full commitment to revise the history of redemption and the return of the stately palace in the public consciousness.

Image: The restored suburb facade of the Palais Albertina suburb

The smoothed palace facades were returned to their original condition and present themselves today - with the exception of the not anymore reconstructed Attica figures - again with the historicist decoration and layout elements that Archduke Albrecht had given after the razing of the Augustinerbastei in 1865 in order. The neoclassical interiors, today called after the former inhabitants "Habsburg Staterooms", receiving a meticulous and detailed restoration taking place at the premises of originality and authenticity, got back their venerable and sumptuous appearance. From the world wide scattered historical pieces of equipment have been bought back 70 properties or could be returned through permanent loan to its original location, by which to the visitors is made experiencable again that atmosphere in 1919 the state rooms of the last Habsburg owner Archduke Frederick had owned. The for the first time in 80 years public accessible "Habsburg State Rooms" at the Palais Albertina enable now again as eloquent testimony to our Habsburg past and as a unique cultural heritage fundamental and essential insights into the Austrian cultural history. With the relocation of the main entrance to the level of the Augustinerbastei the recollection to this so valuable Austrian Cultural Heritage formally and functionally came to completion. The vision of the restoration and recovery of the grand palace was a pillar on which the new Albertina should arise again, the other embody the four large newly built exhibition halls, which allow for the first time in the history of the Albertina, to exhibit the collection throughout its encyclopedic breadh under optimal conservation conditions.

Image: The new entrance area of the Albertina

64 meter long shed roof. Hans Hollein.

The palace presents itself now in its appearance in the historicist style of the Ringstrassenära, almost as if nothing had happened in the meantime. But will the wheel of time should not, cannot and must not be turned back, so that the double standards of the "Albertina Palace" said museum - on the one hand Habsburg grandeur palaces and other modern museum for the arts of graphics - should be symbolized by a modern character: The in 2003 by Hans Hollein designed far into the Albertina square cantilevering, elegant floating flying roof. 64 meters long, it symbolizes in the form of a dynamic wedge the accelerated urban spatial connectivity and public access to the palace. It advertises the major changes in the interior as well as the huge underground extensions of the repositioned "Albertina".

 

Christian Benedictine

Art historian with research interests History of Architecture, building industry of the Hapsburgs, Hofburg and Zeremonialwissenschaft (ceremonial sciences). Since 1990 he works in the architecture collection of the Albertina. Since 2000 he supervises as director of the newly founded department "Staterooms" the restoration and furnishing of the state rooms and the restoration of the facades and explores the history of the palace and its inhabitants.

 

www.wien-vienna.at/albertinabaugeschichte.php

Includes all Winter Village sets.

The cows on Truleigh Hill were gathered late this afternoon, presumably waiting for the farmer to open the gate.

From a walk along the River Adur from Beeding Brooks

From a wander around Woods Mill after a bit of gardening, a trip to the dump and car some tinkering.

From Wikipedia;

 

Tenby (Welsh: Dinbych-y-Pysgod, meaning little town of the fishes or little fortress of the fish) is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, on the west side of Carmarthen Bay.

 

Notable features of Tenby include 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of sandy beaches; the 13th century medieval town walls, including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse ; 15th century St. Mary's Church; the Tudor Merchant's House (National Trust); a museum with art gallery; and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, part of Wales' only coastal National Park. Boats sail from Tenby's harbour to the offshore monastic Caldey Island, while St Catherine's Island is linked to the town at low tide. The town is served by Tenby railway station.

 

With its strategic position on the far west coast of the British Isles, and a natural sheltered harbour from both the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, Tenby was a natural settlement point.

 

The earliest reference to a settlement at Tenby is in Etmic Dinbych, a poem probably of 9th century date, preserved in the 14th century Book of Taliesin. At this point the settlement was likely a hill fort, the mercantile nature of the settlement possibly developing under Hiberno-Norse influence.

 

After the Norman Conquest, the lands came under the control of the Earls of Pembroke, who strengthened the easy to defend but hard to attack hill fort on Castle Hill, by building the first stone walled castle. This enabled the town to grow as a seaport. But the need for additional defences was shown, when attacked by Welsh forces in 1187 and again in 1260 by Llewelyn the Great.[1] The town walls were built by William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in the late 13th century.

 

[edit] Medieval walled town, trading port

 

This spurred the landowners to develop extensive city walls, enclosing a large part of the settlement into what is now termed the "old town." Although the actual wooden gates into Tenby no longer exist, the Five Arches at the edge of old town give an insight into what the merchants would have marvelled at as they entered.

 

During the Wars of the Roses, the future King Henry VII sheltered within Tenby before sailing into exile in 1471. Resultantly, in late medieval times through the 14th and 15th centuries, Tenby was awarded various royal grants which financed the maintenance and improvement of the town walls and the enclosure of Tenby harbour. The harbour during this period became a busy and important national port. Originally based on fish trading, traders sailing along the coast to Bristol and Ireland, and further afield to France, Spain and Portugal. Exports from Tenby included wool, skins, canvas, coal, iron and oil; while in 1566 Portuguese seamen landed the first oranges to be brought to Wales.

 

However, two events caused the town to quickly and permanently decline in importance. Firstly, in the English Civil War, the town declared for Parliament, and resisted two attempts by Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, to capture it for the King, Charles I. In 1648, the Royalists captured the castle for ten weeks before surrendering to Colonel Thomas Horton,[1] who welcomed Oliver Cromwell to the town shortly afterwards.[2] In the following year, 1650, a plague epidemic killed half its population.

 

Resultantly bereft of trade, the town was abandoned by the merchants, and slid inexorably into decay and ruin. By the end of the eighteenth century, the visiting John Wesley noted how: "Two-thirds of the old town is in ruins or has entirely vanished. Pigs roam among the abandoned houses and Tenby presents a dismal spectacle."

 

With the Napoleonic wars restricting rich tourists from visiting the spa resorts in Europe, the need for home-based sea bathing grew. In 1802, locally resident merchant banker and politician Sir William Paxton bought his first property in the old town. From this point onwards he invested heavily in the town, with the full approval of the town council. Engaging the team who had built his home at Middleton Hall, engineer James Grier and architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell were briefed to ceate a "fashionable bathing establishment suitable for the highest society." His baths came into operation in July 1806, and after acquiring the Globe Inn transformed it into "a most lofty, elegant and convenient style" to lodge the more elegant visitors to his baths. Cottages were erected adjoining the baths, and livery stables with an adjoining coach house. In 1814 a road built on arches overlooking the harbour was built at Paxton's full expense. However, although he later got passed a Bill in Parliament to enable fresh water to be piped through the town, his 1809 theatre was closed in 1818 due to lack of patronage.

 

Paxton also took in "tour" developments in the area, as required by rich Victorian tourists. This included the discovery of a chalybeate spring in his own park at Middleton Hall, and coaching inns from Swansea to Narberth. He also built Paxton's Tower, in memorial to Lord Nelson whom he had met in 1802 when mayor of Carmarthen. Paxton's efforts to revive the town succeeded, and even when victory at the Battle of Trafalgar reopened Europe, the growth of Victorian Tenby was inevitable. Through both the Georgian and Victorian eras Tenby was renowned as a health resort and centre for botanical and geological study. With many features of the town being constructed to provide areas for healthy seaside walks, due to the walkways being built to accommodate Victorian nannies pushing prams, many of the beaches today still retain good disabled access. In 1856 writer Mary Ann Evans (pen-name George Eliot) accompanied George Henry Lewes to Tenby to gather materials for his work Seaside Studies published in 1858.

 

In 1852, The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society deployed a lifeboat to the town, taken over in 1854 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. This led in 1905 to the building of the first slip-way equipped Lifeboat Station, which was replaced in 2008.

 

Tenby railway station was opened by the Pembroke and Tenby Railway as the terminus of the branch from the Pembroke direction in 1863, with the section eastwards to join the main line at Whitland following three years later.

 

In 1867, the construction of the Palmerston Fort on St Catherine's Island began. It was built to protect the coastline from a potential landing force.

 

Modern Tenby provides many items and activities for both the local resident and out of season tourists to enjoy.

 

The old town castle walls still survive, as does the Victorian revival architecture which has been retained and maintained, often in a high-light orientated pastel colour scheme, making the town more French Riviera-esque in nature and feel.

 

The economy is still highly based around tourism, supported by the provision of a range of craft, art and local goods stores, which has been created by a thriving artist community.

Cheddar is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It is situated on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Wells, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Weston-super-Mare and 18 miles (29 km) south-west of Bristol. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Nyland and Bradley Cross. The parish had a population of 5,755 in 2011 and an acreage of 8,592 acres (3,477 ha) as of 1961.

 

Cheddar Gorge, on the northern edge of the village, is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom and includes several show caves, including Gough's Cave. The gorge has been a centre of human settlement since Neolithic times, including a Saxon palace. It has a temperate climate and provides a unique geological and biological environment that has been recognised by the designation of several Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It is also the site of several limestone quarries. The village gave its name to Cheddar cheese and has been a centre for strawberry growing. The crop was formerly transported on the Cheddar Valley rail line, which closed in the late 1960s and is now a cycle path. The village is now a major tourist destination with several cultural and community facilities, including the Cheddar Show Caves Museum.

 

The village supports a variety of community groups including religious, sporting and cultural organisations. Several of these are based on the site of the Kings of Wessex Academy, which is the largest educational establishment.

 

The name Cheddar comes from the Old English word ceodor, meaning deep dark cavity or pouch.

 

There is evidence of occupation from the Neolithic period in Cheddar. Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in Cheddar Gorge in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found. There is some evidence of a Bronze Age field system at the Batts Combe quarry site. There is also evidence of Bronze Age barrows at the mound in the Longwood valley, which if man-made it is likely to be a field system. The remains of a Roman villa have been excavated in the grounds of the current vicarage.

 

The village of Cheddar had been important during the Roman and Saxon eras. There was a royal palace at Cheddar during the Saxon period, which was used on three occasions in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot. The ruins of the palace were excavated in the 1960s. They are located on the grounds of the Kings of Wessex Academy, together with a 14th-century chapel dedicated to St. Columbanus. Roman remains have also been uncovered at the site. Cheddar was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ceder, meaning "Shear Water", from the Old English scear and Old Welsh dŵr. An alternative spelling in earlier documents, common through the 1850s is Chedder.

 

As early as 1130 AD, the Cheddar Gorge was recognised as one of the "Four wonders of England". Historically, Cheddar's source of wealth was farming and cheese making for which it was famous as early as 1170 AD. The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred.

 

The manor of Cheddar was deforested in 1337 and Bishop Ralph was granted a licence by the King to create a hunting forest.

 

As early as 1527 there are records of watermills on the river. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were several watermills which ground corn and made paper, with 13 mills on the Yeo at the peak, declining to seven by 1791 and just three by 1915. In the Victorian era it also became a centre for the production of clothing. The last mill, used as a shirt factory, closed in the early 1950s.

 

William Wilberforce saw the poor conditions of the locals when he visited Cheddar in 1789. He inspired Hannah More in her work to improve the conditions of the Mendip miners and agricultural workers. In 1801, 4,400 acres (18 km2) of common land were enclosed under the Inclosure Acts.

 

Tourism of the Cheddar gorge and caves began with the opening of the Cheddar Valley Railway in 1869.

 

Cheddar, its surrounding villages and specifically the gorge has been subject to flooding. In the Chew Stoke flood of 1968 the flow of water washed large boulders down the gorge, washed away cars, and damaged the cafe and the entrance to Gough's Cave.

 

Cheddar is recognised as a village. The adjacent settlement of Axbridge, although only about a third the population of Cheddar, is a town. This apparently illogical situation is explained by the relative importance of the two places in historic times. While Axbridge grew in importance as a centre for cloth manufacturing in the Tudor period and gained a charter from King John, Cheddar remained a more dispersed mining and dairy-farming village. Its population grew with the arrival of the railways in the Victorian era and the advent of tourism.

 

The parish council, which has 15 members who are elected for four years, is responsible for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

 

The village is in the 'Cheddar and Shipham' electoral ward. After including Shipham the total population of the ward taken at the 2011 census is 6,842.

 

For local government purposes, since 1 April 2023, the village comes under the unitary authority of Somerset Council. Prior to this, it was part of the non-metropolitan district of Sedgemoor, which was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, having previously been part of Axbridge Rural District. Fire, police and ambulance services are provided jointly with other authorities through the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, Avon and Somerset Constabulary and the South Western Ambulance Service.

 

It is also part of the Wells county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was part of the South West England constituency of the European Parliament.

 

Cheddar is twinned with Felsberg, Germany and Vernouillet, France, and it has an active programme of exchange visits. Initially, Cheddar twinned with Felsberg in 1984. In 2000, Cheddar twinned with Vernouillet, which had also been twinned with Felsberg. Cheddar also has a friendship link with Ocho Rios in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.

 

It is also twinned with the commune of Descartes in the Indre-et-Loire department.

 

The area is underlain by Black Rock slate, Burrington Oolite and Clifton Down Limestone of the Carboniferous Limestone Series, which contain ooliths and fossil debris on top of Old Red Sandstone, and by Dolomitic Conglomerate of the Keuper. Evidence for Variscan orogeny is seen in the sheared rock and cleaved shales. In many places weathering of these strata has resulted in the formation of immature calcareous soils.

 

Cheddar Gorge, which is located on the edge of the village, is the largest gorge in the United Kingdom. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar Caves, where Cheddar Man was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found. The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites. Gough's Cave, which was discovered in 1903, leads around 400 m (437 yd) into the rock-face, and contains a variety of large rock chambers and formations. Cox's Cave, discovered in 1837, is smaller but contains many intricate formations. A further cave houses a children's entertainment walk known as the "Crystal Quest".

 

Cheddar Gorge, including Cox's Cave, Gough's Cave and other attractions, has become a tourist destination, attracting about 500,000 visitors per year. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, following its appearance on the 2005 television programme Seven Natural Wonders, Cheddar Gorge was named as the second greatest natural wonder in Britain, surpassed only by the Dan yr Ogof caves.

 

There are several large and unique Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) around the village.

 

Cheddar Reservoir is a near-circular artificial reservoir operated by Bristol Water. Dating from the 1930s, it has a capacity of 135 million gallons (614,000 cubic metres). The reservoir is supplied with water taken from the Cheddar Yeo, which rises in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge and is a tributary of the River Axe. The inlet grate for the 54-inch (1.4 m) water pipe that is used to transport the water can be seen next to the sensory garden in Cheddar Gorge. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its wintering waterfowl populations.

 

Cheddar Wood and the smaller Macall's Wood form a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest from what remains of the wood of the Bishops of Bath and Wells in the 13th century and of King Edmund the Magnificent's wood in the 10th. During the 19th century, its lower fringes were grubbed out to make strawberry fields. Most of these have been allowed to revert to woodland. The wood was coppiced until 1917. This site compromises a wide range of habitats which include ancient and secondary semi-natural broadleaved woodland, unimproved neutral grassland, and a complex mosaic of calcareous grassland and acidic dry dwarf-shrub heath. Cheddar Wood is one of only a few English stations for starved wood-sedge (Carex depauperata). Purple gromwell (Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum), a nationally rare plant, also grows in the wood. Butterflies include silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia), dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja), pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), holly blue (Celastrina argiolus) and brown argus (Aricia agestis). The slug Arion fasciatus, which has a restricted distribution in the south of England, and the soldier beetle Cantharis fusca also occur.

 

By far the largest of the SSSIs is called Cheddar Complex and covers 441.3 hectares (1,090.5 acres) of the gorge, caves and the surrounding area. It is important because of both biological and geological features. It includes four SSSIs, formerly known as Cheddar Gorge SSSI, August Hole/Longwood Swallet SSSI, GB Cavern Charterhouse SSSI and Charterhouse on-Mendip SSSI. It is partly owned by the National Trust who acquired it in 1910 and partly managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust.

 

Close to the village and gorge are Batts Combe quarry and Callow Rock quarry, two of the active Quarries of the Mendip Hills where limestone is still extracted. Operating since the early 20th century, Batts Combe is owned and operated by Hanson Aggregates. The output in 2005 was around 4,000 tonnes of limestone per day, one third of which was supplied to an on-site lime kiln, which closed in 2009; the remainder was sold as coated or dusted aggregates. The limestone at this site is close to 99 percent carbonate of calcium and magnesium (dolomite).

 

The Chelmscombe Quarry finished its work as a limestone quarry in the 1950s and was then used by the Central Electricity Generating Board as a tower testing station. During the 1970s and 1980s it was also used to test the ability of containers of radioactive material to withstand impacts and other accidents.

 

Along with the rest of South West England, Cheddar has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea, which moderates temperature. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are common. In the summer the Azores high-pressure system affects the south-west of England. Convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine; annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which are most active during those seasons. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall per year is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.

 

The parish has a population in 2011 of 5,093, with a mean age of 43 years. Residents lived in 2,209 households. The vast majority of households (2,183) gave their ethnic status at the 2001 census as white.

 

The village gave its name to Cheddar cheese, which is the most popular type of cheese in the United Kingdom. The cheese is now made and consumed worldwide, and only one producer remains in the village.

 

Since the 1880s, Cheddar's other main produce has been the strawberry, which is grown on the south-facing lower slopes of the Mendip hills. As a consequence of its use for transporting strawberries to market, the since-closed Cheddar Valley line became known as The Strawberry Line after it opened in 1869. The line ran from Yatton to Wells. When the rest of the line was closed and all passenger services ceased, the section of the line between Cheddar and Yatton remained open for goods traffic. It provided a fast link with the main markets for the strawberries in Birmingham and London, but finally closed in 1964, becoming part of the Cheddar Valley Railway Nature Reserve.

 

Cheddar Ales is a small brewery based in the village, producing beer for local public houses.

 

Tourism is a significant source of employment. Around 15 percent of employment in Sedgemoor is provided by tourism, but within Cheddar it is estimated to employ as many as 1,000 people. The village also has a youth hostel, and a number of camping and caravan sites.

 

Cheddar has a number of active service clubs including Cheddar Vale Lions Club, Mendip Rotary and Mendip Inner Wheel Club. The clubs raise money for projects in the local community and hold annual events such as a fireworks display, duck races in the Gorge, a dragon boat race on the reservoir and concerts on the grounds of the nearby St Michael's Cheshire Home.

 

Several notable people have been born or lived in Cheddar. Musician Jack Bessant, the bass guitarist with the band Reef grew up on his parents' strawberry farm, and Matt Goss and Luke Goss, former members of Bros, lived in Cheddar for nine months as children. Trina Gulliver, ten-time World Professional Darts Champion, previously lived in Cheddar until 2017. The comedian Richard Herring grew up in Cheddar. His 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, The Headmaster's Son is based on his time at The Kings of Wessex School, where his father Keith was the headmaster. The final performance of this show was held at the school in November 2009. He also visited the school in March 2010 to perform his show Hitler Moustache. In May 2013, a community radio station called Pulse was launched.

 

The market cross in Bath Street dates from the 15th century, with the shelter having been rebuilt in 1834. It has a central octagonal pier, a socket raised on four steps, a hexagonal shelter with six arched four-centred openings, shallow two-stage buttresses at each angle, and an embattled parapet. The shaft is crowned by an abacus with figures in niches, probably from the late 19th century, although the cross is now missing. It was rebuilt by Thomas, Marquess of Bath. It is a scheduled monument (Somerset County No 21) and Grade II* listed building.

 

In January 2000, the cross was seriously damaged in a traffic accident. By 2002, the cross had been rebuilt and the area around it was redesigned to protect and enhance its appearance. The cross was badly damaged again in March 2012, when a taxi crashed into it late at night demolishing two sides. Repair work, which included the addition of wooden-clad steel posts to protect against future crashes, was completed in November 2012 at a cost of £60,000.

 

Hannah More, a philanthropist and educator, founded a school in the village in the late 18th century for the children of miners. Her first school was located in a 17th-century house. Now named "Hannah More's Cottage", the Grade II-listed building is used by the local community as a meeting place.

 

The village is situated on the A371 road which runs from Wincanton, to Weston-super-Mare. It is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from the route of the M5 motorway with around a 10 miles (16 km) drive to junction 22.

 

It was on the Cheddar Valley line, a railway line that was opened in 1869 and closed in 1963. It became known as The Strawberry Line because of the large volume of locally-grown strawberries that it carried. It ran from Yatton railway station through Cheddar to Wells (Tucker Street) railway station and joined the East Somerset Railway to make a through route via Shepton Mallet (High Street) railway station to Witham. Sections of the now-disused railway have been opened as the Strawberry Line Trail, which currently runs from Yatton to Cheddar. The Cheddar Valley line survived until the "Beeching Axe". Towards the end of its life there were so few passengers that diesel railcars were sometimes used. The Cheddar branch closed to passengers on 9 September 1963 and to goods in 1964. The line closed in the 1960s, when it became part of the Cheddar Valley Railway Nature Reserve, and part of the National Cycle Network route 26. The cycle route also intersects with the West Mendip Way and various other footpaths.

 

The principal bus route is hourly service 126 between Weston-super-Mare and Wells operated by First West of England. Other bus routes include the service 668 from Shipham to Street which runs every couple of hours operated by Libra Travel, as well as the college bus service 66 which runs from Axbridge to the Bridgwater Campus of Bridgwater and Taunton College in the mornings and evenings of college term times and is operated by Bakers Dolphin.

 

The first school in Cheddar was set up by Hannah More during the 18th Century, however now Cheddar has three schools belonging to the Cheddar Valley Group of Schools, twelve schools that provide Cheddar Valley's three-tier education system. Cheddar First School has ten classes for children between 4 and 9 years. Fairlands Middle School, a middle school categorised as a middle-deemed-secondary school, has 510 pupils between 9 and 13. Fairlands takes children moving up from Cheddar First School as well as other first schools in the Cheddar Valley. The Kings of Wessex Academy, a coeducational comprehensive school, has been rated as "good" by Ofsted. It has 1,176 students aged 13 to 18, including 333 in the sixth form. Kings is a faith school linked to the Church of England. It was awarded the specialist status of Technology College in 2001, enabling it to develop its Information Technology (IT) facilities and improve courses in science, mathematics and design technology. In 2007 it became a foundation school, giving it more control over its own finances. The academy owns and runs a sports centre and swimming pool, Kings Fitness & Leisure, with facilities that are used by students as well as residents. It has since November 2016 been a part of the Wessex Learning Trust which incorporates eight academies from the surrounding area.

 

The Church of St Andrew dates from the 14th century. It was restored in 1873 by William Butterfield. It is a Grade I listed building and contains some 15th-century stained glass and an altar table of 1631. The chest tomb in the chancel is believed to contain the remains of Sir Thomas Cheddar and is dated 1442. The tower, which rises to 100 feet (30 m), contains a bell dating from 1759 made by Thomas Bilbie of the Bilbie family. The graveyard contains the grave of the hymn writer William Chatterton Dix.

 

There are also churches for Roman Catholic, Methodist and other denominations, including Cheddar Valley Community Church, who not only meet at the Kings of Wessex School on Sunday, but also have their own site on Tweentown for meeting during the week. The Baptist chapel was built in 1831.

 

Kings Fitness & Leisure, situated on the grounds of the Kings of Wessex School, provides a venue for various sports and includes a 20-metre swimming pool, racket sport courts, a sports hall, dance studios and a gym. A youth sports festival was held on Sharpham Road Playing Fields in 2009. In 2010 a skatepark was built in the village, funded by the Cheddar Local Action Team.

 

Cheddar A.F.C., founded in 1892 and nicknamed "The Cheesemen",[111] play in the Western Football League Division One. In 2009 plans were revealed to move the club from its present home at Bowdens Park on Draycott Road to a new larger site.

 

Cheddar Cricket Club was formed in the late 19th century and moved to Sharpham Road Playing Fields in 1964. They now play in the West of England Premier League Somerset Division. Cheddar Rugby Club, who own part of the Sharpham playing fields, was formed in 1836. The club organises an annual Cheddar Rugby Tournament. Cheddar Lawn Tennis Club, was formed in 1924, and play in the North Somerset League and also has social tennis and coaching. Cheddar Running Club organised an annual half marathon until 2009.

 

The village is both on the route of the West Mendip Way and Samaritans Way South West.

 

Somerset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east and the north-east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath, and the county town is Taunton.

 

Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km2 (1,610 sq mi) and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557), the largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), and Yeovil (49,698). Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset.

 

The centre of Somerset is dominated by the Levels, a coastal plain and wetland, and the north-east and west of the county are hilly. The north-east contains part of the Cotswolds AONB, all of the Mendip Hills AONB, and a small part of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB; the west contains the Quantock Hills AONB, a majority of Exmoor National Park, and part of the Blackdown Hills AONB. The main rivers in the county are the Avon, which flows through Bath and then Bristol, and the Axe, Brue, and Parrett, which drain the Levels.

 

There is evidence of Paleolithic human occupation in Somerset, and the area was subsequently settled by the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great's rise to power, and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. In the later medieval period its wealth allowed its monasteries and parish churches to be rebuilt in grand style; Glastonbury Abbey was particularly important, and claimed to house the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere. The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The county is also the location of Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's major music festivals.

 

Somerset is a historic county in the south west of England. There is evidence of human occupation since prehistoric times with hand axes and flint points from the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras, and a range of burial mounds, hill forts and other artefacts dating from the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The oldest dated human road work in Great Britain is the Sweet Track, constructed across the Somerset Levels with wooden planks in the 39th century BCE.

 

Following the Roman Empire's invasion of southern Britain, the mining of lead and silver in the Mendip Hills provided a basis for local industry and commerce. Bath became the site of a major Roman fort and city, the remains of which can still be seen. During the Early Medieval period Somerset was the scene of battles between the Anglo-Saxons and first the Britons and later the Danes. In this period it was ruled first by various kings of Wessex, and later by kings of England. Following the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy by the Normans in 1066, castles were built in Somerset.

 

Expansion of the population and settlements in the county continued during the Tudor and more recent periods. Agriculture and coal mining expanded until the 18th century, although other industries declined during the industrial revolution. In modern times the population has grown, particularly in the seaside towns, notably Weston-super-Mare. Agriculture continues to be a major business, if no longer a major employer because of mechanisation. Light industries are based in towns such as Bridgwater and Yeovil. The towns of Taunton and Shepton Mallet manufacture cider, although the acreage of apple orchards is less than it once was.

 

The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods saw hunter-gatherers move into the region of Somerset. There is evidence from flint artefacts in a quarry at Westbury that an ancestor of modern man, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, was present in the area from around 500,000 years ago. There is still some doubt about whether the artefacts are of human origin but they have been dated within Oxygen Isotope Stage 13 (524,000 – 478,000 BP). Other experts suggest that "many of the bone-rich Middle Pleistocene deposits belong to a single but climatically variable interglacial that succeeded the Cromerian, perhaps about 500,000 years ago. Detailed analysis of the origin and modification of the flint artefacts leads to the conclusion that the assemblage was probably a product of geomorphological processes rather than human work, but a single cut-marked bone suggests a human presence." Animal bones and artefacts unearthed in the 1980s at Westbury-sub-Mendip, in Somerset, have shown evidence of early human activity approximately 700,000 years ago.

 

Homo sapiens sapiens, or modern man, came to Somerset during the Early Upper Palaeolithic. There is evidence of occupation of four Mendip caves 35,000 to 30,000 years ago. During the Last Glacial Maximum, about 25,000 to 15,000 years ago, it is probable that Somerset was deserted as the area experienced tundra conditions. Evidence was found in Gough's Cave of deposits of human bone dating from around 12,500 years ago. The bones were defleshed and probably ritually buried though perhaps related to cannibalism being practised in the area at the time or making skull cups or storage containers. Somerset was one of the first areas of future England settled following the end of Younger Dryas phase of the last ice age c. 8000 BC. Cheddar Man is the name given to the remains of a human male found in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge. He is Britain's oldest complete human skeleton. The remains date from about 7150 BC, and it appears that he died a violent death. Somerset is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from about 6000 BCE; Mesolithic artefacts have been found in more than 70 locations. Mendip caves were used as burial places, with between 50 and 100 skeletons being found in Aveline's Hole. In the Neolithic era, from about 3500 BCE, there is evidence of farming.

 

At the end of the last ice age the Bristol Channel was dry land, but later the sea level rose, particularly between 1220 and 900 BC and between 800 and 470 BCE, resulting in major coastal changes. The Somerset Levels became flooded, but the dry points such as Glastonbury and Brent Knoll have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunters. The county has prehistoric burial mounds (such as Stoney Littleton Long Barrow), stone rows (such as the circles at Stanton Drew and Priddy) and settlement sites. Evidence of Mesolithic occupation has come both from the upland areas, such as in Mendip caves, and from the low land areas such as the Somerset Levels. Dry points in the latter such as Glastonbury Tor and Brent Knoll, have a long history of settlement with wooden trackways between them. There were also "lake villages" in the marsh such as those at Glastonbury Lake Village and Meare. One of the oldest dated human road work in Britain is the Sweet Track, constructed across the Somerset Levels with wooden planks in the 39th century BC, partially on the route of the even earlier Post Track.

 

There is evidence of Exmoor's human occupation from Mesolithic times onwards. In the Neolithic period people started to manage animals and grow crops on farms cleared from the woodland, rather than act purely as hunter gatherers. It is also likely that extraction and smelting of mineral ores to make tools, weapons, containers and ornaments in bronze and then iron started in the late Neolithic and into the Bronze and Iron Ages.

 

The caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Neolithic period and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. There are numerous Iron Age Hill Forts, which were later reused in the Dark Ages, such as Cadbury Castle, Worlebury Camp and Ham Hill. The age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but is believed to be from the Neolithic period. There is evidence of mining on the Mendip Hills back into the late Bronze Age when there were technological changes in metal working indicated by the use of lead. There are numerous "hill forts", such as Small Down Knoll, Solsbury Hill, Dolebury Warren and Burledge Hill, which seem to have had domestic purposes, not just a defensive role. They generally seem to have been occupied intermittently from the Bronze Age onward, some, such as Cadbury Camp at South Cadbury, being refurbished during different eras. Battlegore Burial Chamber is a Bronze Age burial chamber at Williton which is composed of three round barrows and possibly a long, chambered barrow.

 

The Iron Age tribes of later Somerset were the Dobunni in north Somerset, Durotriges in south Somerset and Dumnonii in west Somerset. The first and second produced coins, the finds of which allows their tribal areas to be suggested, but the latter did not. All three had a Celtic culture and language. However, Ptolemy stated that Bath was in the territory of the Belgae, but this may be a mistake. The Celtic gods were worshipped at the temple of Sulis at Bath and possibly the temple on Brean Down. Iron Age sites on the Quantock Hills, include major hill forts at Dowsborough and Ruborough, as well as smaller earthwork enclosures, such as Trendle Ring, Elworthy Barrows and Plainsfield Camp.

 

Somerset was part of the Roman Empire from 47 AD to about 409 AD. However, the end was not abrupt and elements of Romanitas lingered on for perhaps a century.

 

Somerset was invaded from the south-east by the Second Legion Augusta, under the future emperor Vespasian. The hillforts of the Durotriges at Ham Hill and Cadbury Castle were captured. Ham Hill probably had a temporary Roman occupation. The massacre at Cadbury Castle seems to have been associated with the later Boudiccan Revolt of 60–61 AD. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around 409 AD.

 

The Roman invasion, and possibly the preceding period of involvement in the internal affairs of the south of England, was inspired in part by the potential of the Mendip Hills. A great deal of the attraction of the lead mines may have been the potential for the extraction of silver.

 

Forts were set up at Bath and Ilchester. The lead and silver mines at Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills were run by the military. The Romans established a defensive boundary along the new military road known the Fosse Way (from the Latin fossa meaning ditch). The Fosse Way ran through Bath, Shepton Mallet, Ilchester and south-west towards Axminster. The road from Dorchester ran through Yeovil to meet the Fosse Way at Ilchester. Small towns and trading ports were set up, such as Camerton and Combwich. The larger towns decayed in the latter part of the period, though the smaller ones appear to have decayed less. In the latter part of the period, Ilchester seems to have been a "civitas" capital and Bath may also have been one. Particularly to the east of the River Parrett, villas were constructed. However, only a few Roman sites have been found to the west of the river. The villas have produced important mosaics and artifacts. Cemeteries have been found outside the Roman towns of Somerset and by Roman temples such as that at Lamyatt. Romano-British farming settlements, such as those at Catsgore and Sigwells, have been found in Somerset. There was salt production on the Somerset Levels near Highbridge and quarrying took place near Bath, where the Roman Baths gave their name to Bath.

 

Excavations carried out before the flooding of Chew Valley Lake also uncovered Roman remains, indicating agricultural and industrial activity from the second half of the 1st century until the 3rd century AD. The finds included a moderately large villa at Chew Park, where wooden writing tablets (the first in the UK) with ink writing were found. There is also evidence from the Pagans Hill Roman Temple at Chew Stoke. In October 2001 the West Bagborough Hoard of 4th century Roman silver was discovered in West Bagborough. The 681 coins included two denarii from the early 2nd century and 8 Miliarense and 671 Siliqua all dating to the period AD 337 – 367. The majority were struck in the reigns of emperors Constantius II and Julian and derive from a range of mints including Arles and Lyons in France, Trier in Germany and Rome.

 

In April 2010, the Frome Hoard, one of the largest-ever hoards of Roman coins discovered in Britain, was found by a metal detectorist. The hoard of 52,500 coins dated from the 3rd century AD and was found buried in a field near Frome, in a jar 14 inches (36 cm) below the surface. The coins were excavated by archaeologists from the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

 

This is the period from about 409 AD to the start of Saxon political control, which was mainly in the late 7th century, though they are said to have captured the Bath area in 577 AD. Initially the Britons of Somerset seem to have continued much as under the Romans but without the imperial taxation and markets. There was then a period of civil war in Britain though it is not known how this affected Somerset. The Western Wandsdyke may have been constructed in this period but archaeological data shows that it was probably built during the 5th or 6th century. This area became the border between the Romano-British Celts and the West Saxons following the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD. The ditch is on the north side, so presumably it was used by the Celts as a defence against Saxons encroaching from the upper Thames Valley. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Saxon Cenwalh achieved a breakthrough against the British Celtic tribes, with victories at Bradford-on-Avon (in the Avon Gap in the Wansdyke) in 652 AD, and further south at the Battle of Peonnum (at Penselwood) in 658 AD, followed by an advance west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett.

 

The Saxon advance from the east seems to have been halted by battles between the British and Saxons, for example; at the siege of Badon Mons Badonicus (which may have been in the Bath region e.g. at Solsbury Hill), or Bathampton Down. During the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, Somerset was probably partly in the Kingdom of Dumnonia, partly in the land of the Durotriges and partly in that of the Dobunni. The boundaries between these is largely unknown, but may have been similar to those in the Iron Age. Various "tyrants" seem to have controlled territories from reoccupied hill forts. There is evidence of an elite at hill forts such as Cadbury Castle and Cadbury Camp; for example, there is imported pottery. Cemeteries are an important source of evidence for the period and large ones have been found in Somerset, such as that at Cannington, which was used from the Roman to the Saxon period. The towns of Somerset seem to have been little used during that period but there continued to be farming on the villa sites and at the Romano-British villages.

 

There may have been effects from plague and volcanic eruption during this period as well as marine transgression into the Levels.

 

The language spoken during this period is thought to be Southwestern Brythonic, but only one or two inscribed stones survive in Somerset from this period. However, a couple of curse tablets found in the baths at Bath may be in this language. Some place names in Somerset seem to be Celtic in origin and may be from this period or earlier, e.g. Tarnock. Some river names, such as Parrett, may be Celtic or pre-Celtic. The religion of the people of Somerset in this period is thought to be Christian but it was isolated from Rome until after the Council of Hertford in 673 AD when Aldhelm was asked to write a letter to Geraint of Dumnonia and his bishops. Some church sites in Somerset are thought to date from this period, e.g., Llantokay Street.

 

Most of what is known of the history of this period comes from Gildas's On the Ruin of Britain, which is thought to have been written in Durotrigan territory, possibly at Glastonbury.

 

The earliest fortification of Taunton started for King Ine of Wessex and Æthelburg, in or about the year 710 AD. However, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle this was destroyed 12 years later.

 

This is the period from the late 7th century (for most of Somerset) to 1066, though for part of the 10th and 11th centuries England was under Danish control. Somerset, like Dorset to the south, held the West Saxon advance from Wiltshire/Hampshire back for over a century, remaining a frontier between the Saxons and the Romano-British Celts.

 

The Saxons conquered Bath following the Battle of Deorham in 577, and the border was probably established along the line of the Wansdyke to the north of the Mendip Hills. Then Cenwalh of Wessex broke through at Bradford-on-Avon in 652, and the Battle of Peonnum possibly at Penselwood in 658, advancing west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett. In 661 the Saxons may have advanced into what is now Devon as a result of a battle fought at Postesburh, possibly Posbury near Crediton.

 

Then in the period 681–85 Centwine of Wessex conquered King Cadwaladr and "advanced as far as the sea", but it is not clear where this was. It is assumed that the Saxons occupied the rest of Somerset about this time. The Saxon rule was consolidated under King Ine, who established a fort at Taunton, demolished by his wife in 722. It is sometimes said that he built palaces at Somerton and South Petherton but this does not seem to be the case. He fought against Geraint in 710. In 705 the diocese of Sherborne was formed, taking in Wessex west of Selwood. Saxon kings granted land in Somerset by charter from the 7th century onward. The way and extent to which the Britons survived under the Saxons is a debatable matter. However, King Ine's laws make provision for Britons. Somerset originally formed part of Wessex and latter became a separate "shire". Somersetshire seems to have been formed within Wessex during the 8th century though it is not recorded as a name until later. Mints were set up at times in various places in Somerset in the Saxon period, e.g., Watchet.

 

Somerset played an important part in defeating the spread of the Danes in the 9th century. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 845 Alderman Eanwulf, with the men of Somersetshire (Sumorsǣte), and Bishop Ealstan, and Alderman Osric, with the men of Dorsetshire, conquered the Danish army at the mouth of the Parret. This was the first known use of the name Somersæte. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that in January 878 the King Alfred the Great fled into the marshes of Somerset from the Viking's invasion and made a fort at Athelney. From the fort Alfred was able to organize a resistance using the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

 

Viking raids took place for instance in 987 and 997 at Watchet and the Battle of Cynwit. King Alfred was driven to seek refuge from the Danes at Athelney before defeating them at the Battle of Ethandun in 878, usually considered to be near Edington, Wiltshire, but possibly the village of Edington in Somerset. Alfred established a series of forts and lookout posts linked by a military road, or Herepath, so his army could cover Viking movements at sea. The Herepath has a characteristic form which is familiar on the Quantocks: a regulation 20 m wide track between avenues of trees growing from hedge laying embankments. The Herepath ran from the ford on the River Parrett at Combwich, past Cannington hill fort to Over Stowey, where it climbed the Quantocks along the line of the current Stowey road, to Crowcombe Park Gate. Then it went south along the ridge, to Triscombe Stone. One branch may have led past Lydeard Hill and Buncombe Hill, back to Alfred's base at Athelney. The main branch descended the hills at Triscombe, then along the avenue to Red Post Cross, and west to the Brendon Hills and Exmoor. A peace treaty with the Danes was signed at Wedmore and the Danish king Guthrum the Old was baptised at Aller. Burhs (fortified places) had been set up by 919, such as Lyng. The Alfred Jewel, an object about 2.5 inch long, made of filigree gold, cloisonné-enamelled and with a rock crystal covering, was found in 1693 at Petherton Park, North Petherton. Believed to have been owned by Alfred the Great it is thought to have been the handle for a pointer that would have fit into the hole at its base and been used while reading a book.

 

Monasteries and minster churches were set up all over Somerset, with daughter churches from the minsters in manors. There was a royal palace at Cheddar, which was used at times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot, and there is likely to have been a "central place" at Somerton, Bath, Glastonbury and Frome since the kings visited them. The towns of Somerset seem to have been in occupation in this period though evidence for this is limited because of subsequent buildings on top of remains from this period. Agriculture flourished in this period, with a re-organisation into centralised villages in the latter part in the east of the county.

 

In the period before the Norman Conquest, Somerset came under the control of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and his family. There seems to have been some Danish settlement at Thurloxton and Spaxton, judging from the place-names. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, and large areas were owned by the crown, with fortifications such as Dunster Castle used for control and defence.

 

This period of Somerset's history is well documented, for example in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser's Life of Alfred.

 

This is the period from 1066 to around 1500. Following the defeat of the Saxons by the Normans in 1066, various castles were set up in Somerset by the new lords such as that at Dunster, and the manors was awarded to followers of William the Conqueror such as William de Moyon and Walter of Douai. Somerset does not seem to have played much part in the civil war in King Stephen's time, but Somerset lords were main players in the murder of Thomas Becket.

 

A good picture of the county in 1086 is given by Domesday Book, though there is some difficulty in identifying the various places since the hundreds are not specified. The total population given for the county, which had different boundaries to those today, was 13,399, however this only included the heads of households, so with their families this may have been around 67,000. Farming seems to have prospered for the next three centuries but was severely hit by the Black Death which in 1348 arrived in Dorset and quickly spread through Somerset, causing widespread mortality, perhaps as much as 50% in places. It re-occurred, resulting in a change in feudal practices since the manpower was no longer so available.

 

Reclamation of land from marsh in the Somerset Levels increased, largely under monastic influence. Crafts and industries also flourished, the Somerset woollen industry being one of the largest in England at this time. "New towns" were founded in this period in Somerset, i.e. Newport, but were not successful. Coal mining on the Mendips was an important source of wealth while quarrying also took place, an example is near Bath.

 

The towns grew, again often by monastic instigation, during this period and fairs were started. The church was very powerful at this period, particularly Glastonbury Abbey. After their church burnt down, the monks there "discovered" the tomb of "King Arthur" and were able rebuild their church. There were over 20 monasteries in Somerset at this period including the priory at Hinton Charterhouse which was founded in 1232 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury who also founded Lacock Abbey. Many parish churches were re-built in this period. Between 1107 and 1129 William Giffard the Chancellor of King Henry I, converted the bishop's hall in Taunton into Taunton Castle. Bridgwater Castle was built in 1202 by William Brewer. It passed to the king in 1233 and in 1245 repairs were ordered to its motte and towers. During the 11th century Second Barons' War against Henry III, Bridgwater was held by the barons against the King. In the English Civil War the town and the castle were held by the Royalists under Colonel Sir Francis Wyndham. Eventually, with many buildings destroyed in the town, the castle and its valuable contents were surrendered to the Parliamentarians. The castle itself was deliberately destroyed in 1645.

 

During the Middle Ages sheep farming for the wool trade came to dominate the economy of Exmoor. The wool was spun into thread on isolated farms and collected by merchants to be woven, fulled, dyed and finished in thriving towns such as Dunster. The land started to be enclosed and from the 17th century onwards larger estates developed, leading to establishment of areas of large regular shaped fields. During this period a Royal Forest and hunting ground was established, administered by the Warden. The Royal Forest was sold off in 1818.

 

In the medieval period the River Parrett was used to transport Hamstone from the quarry at Ham Hill, Bridgwater was part of the Port of Bristol until the Port of Bridgwater was created in 1348, covering 80 miles (130 km) of the Somerset coast line, from the Devon border to the mouth of the River Axe. Historically, the main port on the river was at Bridgwater; the river being bridged at this point, with the first bridge being constructed in 1200 AD. Quays were built in 1424; with another quay, the Langport slip, being built in 1488 upstream of the Town Bridge. A Customs House was sited at Bridgwater, on West Quay; and a dry dock, launching slips and a boat yard on East Quay. The river was navigable, with care, to Bridgwater Town Bridge by 400 to 500 tonnes (440 to 550 tons) vessels. By trans-shipping into barges at the Town Bridge the Parrett was navigable as far as Langport and (via the River Yeo) to Ilchester.

 

This is the period from around 1500 to 1800. In the 1530s, the monasteries were dissolved and their lands bought from the king by various important families in Somerset. By 1539, Glastonbury Abbey was the only monastery left, its abbot Richard Whiting was then arrested and executed on the orders of Thomas Cromwell. From the Tudor to the Georgian times, farming specialised and techniques improved, leading to increases in population, although no new towns seem to have been founded. Large country houses such as at Hinton St George and Montacute House were built at this time.

 

The Bristol Channel floods of 1607 are believed to have affected large parts of the Somerset Levels with flooding up to 8 feet (2 m) above sea level. In 1625, a House of Correction was established in Shepton Mallet and, today, HMP Shepton Mallet is England's oldest prison still in use.

 

During the English Civil War, Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, although Dunster was a Royalist stronghold. The county was the site of important battles between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, notably the Battle of Lansdowne in 1643 and the Battle of Langport in 1645. The castle changed hands several times during 1642–45 along with the town. During the Siege of Taunton it was defended by Robert Blake, from July 1644 to July 1645. This war resulted in castles being destroyed to prevent their re-use.

 

In 1685, the Duke of Monmouth led the Monmouth Rebellion in which Somerset people fought against James II. The rebels landed at Lyme Regis and travelled north hoping to capture Bristol and Bath, puritan soldiers damaged the west front of Wells Cathedral, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and the furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave. They were defeated in the Battle of Sedgemoor at Westonzoyland, the last battle fought on English soil. The Bloody Assizes which followed saw the losers being sentenced to death or transportation.

 

The Society of Friends established itself in Street in the mid-17th century, and among the close-knit group of Quaker families were the Clarks: Cyrus started a business in sheepskin rugs, later joined by his brother James, who introduced the production of woollen slippers and, later, boots and shoes. C&J Clark still has its headquarters in Street, but shoes are no longer manufactured there. Instead, in 1993, redundant factory buildings were converted to form Clarks Village, the first purpose-built factory outlet in the United Kingdom.

 

The 18th century was largely one of peace and declining industrial prosperity in Somerset. The Industrial Revolution in the Midlands and Northern England spelt the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. However, farming continued to flourish, with the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society being founded in 1777 to improve methods. John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 but found that methods could still be improved.

 

Arthur Wellesley took his title, Duke of Wellington from the town of Wellington. He is commemorated on a nearby hill with a large, spotlit obelisk, known as the Wellington Monument.

 

In north Somerset, mining in the Somerset coalfield was an important industry, and in an effort to reduce the cost of transporting the coal the Somerset Coal Canal was built; part of it was later converted into a railway. Other canals included the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, Westport Canal, Grand Western Canal, Glastonbury Canal and Chard Canal.[9] The Dorset and Somerset Canal was proposed, but very little of it was ever constructed.

 

The 19th century saw improvements to Somerset's roads with the introduction of turnpikes and the building of canals and railways. The usefulness of the canals was short-lived, though they have now been restored for recreation. The railways were nationalised after the Second World War, but continued until 1965, when smaller lines were scrapped; two were transferred back to private ownership as "heritage" lines.

 

In 1889, Somerset County Council was created, replacing the administrative functions of the Quarter Sessions.

 

The population of Somerset has continued to grow since 1800, when it was 274,000, particularly in the seaside towns such as Weston-super-Mare. Some population decline occurred earlier in the period in the villages, but this has now been reversed, and by 1951 the population of Somerset was 551,000.

 

Chard claims to be the birthplace of powered flight, as it was here in 1848 that the Victorian aeronautical pioneer John Stringfellow first demonstrated that engine-powered flight was possible through his work on the Aerial Steam Carriage. North Petherton was the first town in England (and one of the few ever) to be lit by acetylene gas lighting, supplied by the North Petherton Rosco Acetylene Company. Street lights were provided in 1906. Acetylene was replaced in 1931 by coal gas produced in Bridgwater, as well as by the provision of an electricity supply.

 

Around the 1860s, at the height of the iron and steel era, a pier and a deep-water dock were built, at Portishead, by the Bristol & Portishead Pier and Railway to accommodate the large ships that had difficulty in reaching Bristol Harbour. The Portishead power stations were coal-fed power stations built next to the dock. Construction work started on Portishead "A" power station in 1926. It began generating electricity in 1929 for the Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department. In 1951, Albright and Wilson built a chemical works on the opposite side of the dock from the power stations. The chemical works produced white phosphorus from phosphate rock imported, through the docks, into the UK. The onset of new generating capacity at Pembroke (oil-fired) and Didcot (coal-fired) in the mid-1970s brought about the closure of the older, less efficient "A" Station. The newer of the two power stations ("B" Station) was converted to burn oil when the Somerset coalfields closed. Industrial activities ceased in the dock with the closure of the power stations. The Port of Bristol Authority finally closed the dock in 1992, and it has now been developed into a marina and residential area.

 

During the First World War hundreds of Somerset soldiers were killed, and war memorials were put up in most of the towns and villages; only a few villages escaped casualties. There were also casualties – though much fewer – during the Second World War, who were added to the memorials. The county was a base for troops preparing for the 1944 D-Day landings, and some Somerset hospitals still date partly from that time. The Royal Ordnance Factory ROF Bridgwater was constructed early in World War II for the Ministry of Supply. It was designed as an Explosive ROF, to produce RDX, which was then a new experimental high-explosive. It obtained water supplies from two sources via the Somerset Levels: the artificial Huntspill River which was dug during the construction of the factory and also from the King's Sedgemoor Drain, which was widened at the same time. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to resist a potential German invasion, and the remains of its pill boxes can still be seen, as well as others along the coast. A decoy town was constructed on Black Down, intended to represent the blazing lights of a town which had neglected to follow the black-out regulations. Sites in the county housed Prisoner of War camps including: Norton Fitzwarren, Barwick, Brockley, Goathurst and Wells. Various airfields were built or converted from civilian use including: RNAS Charlton Horethorne (HMS Heron II), RAF Weston-super-Mare, RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), Yeovil/Westland Airport, RAF Weston Zoyland, RAF Merryfield, RAF Culmhead and RAF Charmy Down.

 

Exmoor was one of the first British National Parks, designated in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. and is named after its main river. It was expanded in 1991 and in 1993 Exmoor was designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area. The Quantock Hills were designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1956, the first such designation in England under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. The Mendip Hills followed with AONB designation in 1972.

 

Hinkley Point A nuclear power station was a Magnox power station constructed between 1957 and 1962 and operating until ceasing generation in 2000. Hinkley Point B is an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) which was designed to generate 1250 MW of electricity (MWe). Construction of Hinkley Point B started in 1967. In September 2008 it was announced, by Électricité de France (EDF), that a third, twin-unit European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) power station known as Hinkley Point C is planned, to replace Hinkley Point B which was due for closure in 2016, but has now has its life extended until 2022.

 

Somerset today has only two small cities, Bath and Wells, and only small towns in comparison with other areas of England. Tourism is a major source of employment along the coast, and in Bath and Cheddar for example. Other attractions include Exmoor, West Somerset Railway, Haynes Motor Museum and the Fleet Air Arm Museum as well as the churches and the various National Trust and English Heritage properties in Somerset.

 

Agriculture continues to be a major business, if no longer a major employer because of mechanisation. Light industries take place in towns such as Bridgwater and Yeovil. The towns of Taunton and Shepton Mallet manufacture cider, although the number of apple orchards has reduced.

 

In the late 19th century the boundaries of Somerset were slightly altered, but the main change came in 1974 when the county of Avon was set up. The northern part of Somerset was removed from the administrative control of Somerset County Council. On abolition of the county of Avon in 1996, these areas became separate administrative authorities, "North Somerset" and "Bath and North East Somerset". The Department for Communities and Local Government was considering a proposal by Somerset County Council to change Somerset's administrative structure by abolishing the five districts to create a Somerset unitary authority. The changes were planned to be implemented no later than 1 April 2009. However, support for the county council's bid was not guaranteed and opposition among the district council and local population was strong; 82% of people responding to a referendum organised by the five district councils rejected the proposals. It was confirmed in July 2007 that the government had rejected the proposals for unitary authorities in Somerset, and that the present two-tier arrangements of Somerset County Council and the district councils will remain.

This is an image from my collection. Although predominantly slide scans, it includes other types of media as well. All have been collected over the past 40+ years of shooting Kodachrome and digital images, slide purchases and many years of exchanging. I was fortunate enough to trade with some of the best airliner photographers around the world.

 

Created in 2017, this is a curated archive that serves to share what otherwise would be kept in binders and boxes, not being enjoyed by anyone, myself included.

 

REGISTRATION : 5N-ARQ

MFR TYPE & SERIES : Boeing 707-338C

MSN : 18809

OPERATOR : GAS Air Cargo

AIRPORT (WHEN KNOWN) :

DATE (WHEN KNOWN) :

PHOTOGRAPHER (WHEN KNOWN) :

REMARKS:

 

 

Memorials to Charles Sturt.

There are many across South Australia and New South Wales. The NSW memorials include the wonderful carved statue of Sturt (and other explorers) on the corner niches of the old sandstone Treasury Building in Sydney. There is also a fine memorials to Sturt along the Murrumbidgee River in Gundagai, Narrandera and another in Wagga which was erected in 1929 to mark the centenary of his voyage down and up the River Murray and Murrumbidgee. Other memorials are located in Tibooburra (near Sturt national Park) and Mulwala, opposite Yarrawonga on the River Murray.) NSW has the Charles Sturt University. Charles Sturt University was formed in 1989 with the merging of serval colleges of advanced education in Bathurst, Albury and Wagga Wagga. It now has more campuses across NSW and Queensland. It is based in Wagga with campuses in Bathurst, Orange, and Albury etc. There are also memorials to Captain Charles Sturt in Broken Hill where there is a Sturt Park Reserve as he discovered the Barrier Ranges. In Victoria there are memorials to Sturt along the River Murray in Merbein near Swan Hill and in Mildura. The memorial in Narrandera is particularly important as that is the site from which the party set forth along the Murrumbidgee to the Murray and South Australia ad also the site to which they returned. It was also the site where they made the whaleboat.

 

In South Australia there are many memorials to Captain Charles Sturt mainly along the River Murray at Hindmarsh Island, Milang, Point McLeay (shown left -it was unveiled by Jim Johnston an Aboriginal man from Oodnadatta in 1930), Murray Bridge, Mannum, Barmera, Kingston-on-Murray, Berri, Loxton and Renmark. Away from the River Murray there are memorials in Truro, Lights Pass, Angaston, Gawler, Koonunga (homestead owned by Charles Bagot near Kapunda), and Innamincka ( erected 1944). Quite a few South Australian and interstate towns have a Sturt Street or Road. They include Adelaide, Glenelg North, Victor Harbor, Wagga, Cobram on the Murray, Melbourne, Essendon, Kyneton etc. The streets named Sturt in Mount Gambier and Ballarat are named after his brother Evelyn Pitfield Sturt who migrated to NSW in 1836. He overlanded cattle from Bathurst with his brother Charles in 1838 to South Australia and then he settled at Willunga before taking up Compton station at Mount Gambier in 1844. In 1849 he moved to Melbourne as a magistrate and conducted an inquiry in Ballarat in 1854 hence the naming of the main street of Ballarat after him.

 

One of the early paddle steamers on the River Murray was named the PS Captain Sturt. It was built in America in 1912 and reassembled in Mannum and Blanchetown. It was in service from 1915 to 1935 and used for work in the construction of the locks along the River Murray with the first one being built at Blanchetown. Sturt Highway runs from Wagga Wagga on the Murrumbidgee River to Adelaide. It basically follows the River Murrumbidgee to Mildura and then the River Murray to Blanchetown before it crosses the Murray Flats and the Barossa Valley. But Captain Charles Sturt’s name is used by many organisations including the Sturt Football club, the Sturt Tennis Club, the Sturt Cricket Club, Sturt Bowling Club, Sturt house at Whyalla High School etc. But SA also has the City of Charles Sturt. This city which encompasses the original Grange estate of Captain Charles Sturt was only created in 1997 by the amalgamation of the City of Hindmarsh (1853) Woodville (1874) and the City of Henley and Grange (formed in 1915.) It has a population of over 110,000 people in the north western suburbs of Adelaide.

 

Environmental features connected to Charles Sturt.

•The Sturt Desert Pea, Swainsona formosa. In 1845, Charles Sturt recorded spotting lots of the ‘desert peas’ – a beautiful red flower – on his journey in northern SA. However, specimens of Sturt’s Desert Pea were first collected by William Dampier who recorded his first sighting on 22 August 1699. The flower was later named ‘Sturt’s Desert Pea’ to honour the explorer. Another flower the Sturt’s Desert Rose was also named after him. It is the floral emblem of the Northern Territory. It is related to cotton and produces a pretty purple rose like flower. It thrives in desert areas. Its botanical name is Gossypium sturtianum. Sturt was the first to record this flower in 1845 and it was named after him in 1847.

•Sturts Stony Desert. The region was named by Charles Sturt on his northern explorations in 1844. It lies near the SA-QLD border and along the NSW border. To the west of it is the sandy Simpson Desert. Sturts Stony Desert is gibber country which was formed from sandstone plateaus. The small sharp stones lamed and injured Sturt’s horses and cattle on his explorations. The desert is basically uninhabited by fauna but a few areas provide an environment for wedge-tailed eagles, yellow-footed rock wallabies and Western grey kangaroos. Apart from the gibber stone plains the area has flat topped sandstone ridges and hills. A few low bushes and shrubs grow in parts of the desert and on the ridges. There are no water courses or lakes.

•Sturt Creek and Sturt Valley near Crafers which is the source of the river. Below Crafers is Upper Sturt village. Upon exiting the Mount Lofty Ranges below Sturt Gorge the River Sturt crosses the Adelaide Plains from near Flinders University and the suburb of Sturt to enter the Patawalonga at Glenelg. It is crossed by Sturt Road a main arterial road. Sturt College of Advanced Education was located in the suburb of Sturt but it is now part of Flinders University.

•Sturt National Park in the north west corner of New South Wales. It is 24 kms south of Cameron Corner and it contains Lake Pinaroo When it is filled with water it becomes a major wetlands area home to thousands of birds. It is the only area of red sand dunes in NSW. It is 350 kms north of Broken Hill. The park was established in 1972 and named after Charles Sturt. It contains his Depot Tree used as a base camp in 1845. It covers over 800,000 acres and it was formerly Mount Wood cattle station. Charles Sturt spent a year in this area in the 1840s looking for the inland sea.

•Sturt Park in central Broken Hill. The park was established in 1895 as Central Reserve. It was a hub of social activity and a meeting place for some of the four brass bands in Broken Hill. It contains a fine band stand or rotunda which was erected in 1895. In 1944 to mark the centenary of Sturt’s inland exploration expedition and his discovery of the Barrier Ranges the park was renamed Sturt Park.

 

Out of Chaos - further information from the Laing Art Gallery website:-

 

"Introduction

Out of Chaos showcases outstanding sculpture, paintings and prints by artists such as Frank Auerbach, David Bomberg, Marc Chagall, Edith Kiss, Chaïm Soutine and Alfred Wolmark. Together, they demonstrate the contribution of artists from around the world to Britain’s cultural heritage. The artworks span more than a century, and include examples of important movements and styles ranging from figuration to abstraction.

 

The exhibition themes encompass issues of identity and belonging connected with migration. Many of the artists or their families had to make forced journeys as the result of upheavals in their homelands.

 

The artworks have been selected from the collection of the Ben Uri Gallery, London, featuring artists primarily of Jewish descent. They are augmented by works by contemporary artists from migrant communities who have exhibited with Ben Uri. Some paintings from the Laing and Hatton Gallery collections are also included.

 

Identity and Migration

A wave of emigration to Britain from Eastern Europe took place over several decades from the 1880s, especially following increasing persecution of Jews. The main destination was London, and the new arrivals continued their distinct traditions in their new host cities. In contrast, longer established Jewish communities often mirrored the aspirations of mainstream British society. These differences in identity were reflected by artists of the time.

 

In the early Victorian period, Solomon Hart achieved success with scripture subjects, painted in a style entirely in tune with establishment taste. In contrast, Alfred Wolmark’s pictures focussed on the daily lives of the immigrant Polish-Jewish community in London at the beginning of the 20th century. His pictures differed considerably from Solomon J Solomon’s choice of subjects, which mirrored his family’s integration into Edwardian middle-class society. For Simeon Solomon, however, personal identity led to disaster as he was rejected by society for his homosexual lifestyle, despite considerable earlier success as a Pre-Raphaelite artist.

 

The Whitechapel Boys

These artists’ innovative approach to colour and form made an important contribution to British modernism in the period just before and after the First World War. All were from migrant Jewish backgrounds, with shared feelings of cultural identity. They were open to influences from Europe as well as new artistic developments in Britain. The group was closely associated with the Whitechapel area of London, and included experimental writers.

 

The artists’ friendships and interests developed from the overlapping periods they spent at the Slade School of Art, London. They were also encouraged by Alfred Wolmark (pictures also on display). Two of the leading figures in the group of artists were David Bomberg and Jacob Epstein. In 1914, they curated the ‘Jewish section’ of the Whitechapel Art Gallery’s important exhibition ‘Twentieth Century Art: A Review of Modern Movements’, featuring artwork by members of the group.

 

Modernism and Turmoil

Paris was also a magnet for Jewish artists who left Russia and neighbouring countries in the early twentieth century, escaping oppression and poverty. Many artists, including Marc Chagall and Chaïm Soutine, lived and worked in the collection of studios known as La Ruche (the Beehive), in Montparnasse. These painters had a powerful influence on modernist figurative art.

 

Other Jewish artists, such as Ludwig Meidner, Martin Bloch and Arthur Segal, contributed to experimental art developments in Germany, including Expressionism and optical-effect painting.

 

Following the rise of Nazism in the 1930s, modernist art was denounced as degenerate. Jewish artists in Europe were particularly at risk. Soutine lived in hiding in France, while Chagall fled to America. Meidner, Bloch, and Segal escaped to Britain.

 

Many artists were among the German-speaking émigrés who were interned in Britain in 1940-41, during the Second World War. Making art, sometimes using improvised materials, provided an escape for many from the depressing experience of internment.

 

Fleeing Destruction

Polish artist Josef Herman’s painting of refugees captures the universal plight of all those who had to flee destruction or persecution in their homeland. A scene with the backdrop of a traditional village represents the settled life that many lost through devastating events.

 

The artworks in this section are related to the terrible destruction of the Holocaust unleashed in Nazi-controlled Europe during the Second World War. Jews were targeted for annihilation, and millions of other people also lost their lives because of their nationality, ethnic group, skin colour, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation or disability.

 

Both Marc Chagall and Emmanuel Levy used traditional Christian imagery of crucifixion as a powerful symbol of the massacre of Jewish people. German-American satirist George Grosz showed the violent persecution of individuals. Art came out of tragic circumstances, and Leo Haas risked his life to make sketches of life in a concentration camp. Edith Kiss’s later sculpture was influenced by her experience of forced labour and imprisonment.

 

Post-War Britain

Artists who fled Nazism in Germany introduced new styles to Britain. However, some, like Erich Kahn and Else Meidner, suffered considerably from the traumatic disruption to their lives. Clara Klinghoffer fled to London from Amsterdam, having previously established a successful career painting striking portraits. From a younger generation, Eva Frankfurther and Frank Auerbach came to Britain as child refugees in 1939. Despite very different styles, they both identified with individual areas of London in their art.

 

Pictures by Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff and Ronald B Kitaj show how they adopted expressive styles to represent the identity and emotional character of a person, a place, or an experience. Contemporary painter Ansel Krut, from South Africa, also adopted an expressive style for his symbolic scene of impending sacrifice.

 

Recent Art

In these works, artists explore issues of group and individual identity through film, installation, photography and paintings. The artworks reflect the wide variety of the artists’ backgrounds and experiences. Coming right up to date, a specially commissioned film confronts the issue of migrant workers in London.

 

The themes include the clashing viewpoints of different communities and the conflict that can arise from passionate beliefs. The disorientation of refugee experience is strikingly illustrated in an image of a robed figure dragging a symbolic house in a Brazilian city. Similarly, massive portraits of asylum seekers in a style mimicking identity cards raise issues of self and individuality.

 

Aspects of female identity are also explored, while a photographic work celebrates the individual affirmation of a happy gay relationship. The concept of religion as an aspect of personal identity also features.

 

Ben Uri Gallery

The Ben Uri Art Society was founded in 1915 in London’s East End. Its original aim was to encourage Jewish artists who were struggling to gain acceptance by the art establishment of the time. Today, the Ben Uri Gallery has a wider focus, concentrating on art with the themes of migration and identity. It works with varied immigrant communities and artists of diverse backgrounds.

 

From its early days, Ben Uri purchased works of art, and held art classes, exhibitions, lectures, and concerts. Even during the Second World War, activities carried on, though the collection was stored in a basement for safety. Since then, Ben Uri has added innovative learning, well-being and outreach programmes, publications and a website to its exhibitions and acquisitions. During its history, Ben Uri Gallery has occupied a variety of tiny premises. In 2015, it began a major project to move to a new home.

 

In all its activities, Ben Uri Gallery explores the ways in which Britain’s rich cultural life has been enhanced and broadened by outsiders. It promotes the visual arts as a universal language that can encourage understanding in difficult and troubled times.

 

Watch a series of films with Chairman and Chief Executive David Glasser discussing the history of Ben Uri

 

Watch video about Ben Uri created for the 2015 Centenary celebrations

 

Visit the Ben Uri collection website

 

Blogs for further reading

Read about David Bomberg, Picasso and the Whitechapel boys in this informative blog by curator Sarah Richardson.

 

Another blog by Sarah tells the story of Chaïm Soutine, misfit artistic genius in 1930s Paris.

 

Out of Chaos - art that makes you think is Sarah's third blog, revealing background stories to some of the impressive contemporary and historical art in the exhibition.

 

Read about Marc Chagall’s ‘Apocalypse in Lilac’ with reference to Holocaust Memorial Day."

Turnkey Vanity Fair entry: Price includes both the HORSE & his special tack set. This is a turnkey Vanity Fair package; the horse has 100 passion so breed him and show him.

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The Horse: St Patricks Day Carousel Clydesdale with Malachite eye, long/straight long hair

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The 8-piece Tack Set includes all pieces shown.

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This turnkey package, just $5,000L. Tack matches horse's eye and coat. Because it's being sold as a custom, I will lock in this breed + this tack set till after the October show, meaning you will be the only one with this tack set for the month of October. I had planned to show this horse myself in this tack set, but things conspired. You can view horsie here: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Notthund/61/72/1809

 

Contact me in world (H0neyheart) to purchase.

A selection from Friday at the Goodwood Revival. A grassy moment for this Alfa driver

 

Part of a large street mural in Worthing - the UK's largest, apparently.

The Portfolio pattern doesn't include any instructions for reinforcing or finishing the underarm/side seam. The curve has to be clipped quite thoroughly to get the top to sit right on the body, but it also takes quite a bit of strain and needs to be really strong. My white Portfolio blouse has developed a little hole in one underarm so I knew something extra was needed this time around.

 

Googling brought up a tutorial that I adapted slightly. Notching, as shown in the blog post, is unnecessary because of the direction of the curve, so you only need to clip (i.e. make a single cut, not a V-shape); I chose to alternate the clips on each side instead of cutting though both seam allowances in the same places - hopefully that reduces the likelihood of holes. After clipping I folded back the seam allowances and then topstitched the whole seam rather than just the underarm portion.

 

FYI, I made a similar top a little while ago and tried to French all my seams, and it didn't work. It was a fine lawn fabric and I went with a pretty narrow French seam but it was no good. On a curve like this [concave? convex? I never know whether we mean as sewn or when it's turned right side out...] the seam allowance is a lot shorter than the seam and it really has to be clipped.

Includes the Swift Industries bug-out bag for the front rack. All questions answered. Contact capricornworkshop@gmail.com.

Arizona CBP Operations; to include aerials of CBP locations; canine inspections; ports of entry and exit; border patrols; OFO operations and inspections; apprehensions; drug seizures; and check points.

Photographer: Donna Burton

Holzer belongs to the feminist branch of a generation of artists that emerged around 1980, looking for new ways to make narrative or commentary an implicit part of visual objects. Her contemporaries include Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Sarah Charlesworth, and Louise Lawler.

Holzer is mostly known for her large-scale public displays that include billboard advertisements, projections on buildings and other architectural structures, as well as illuminated electronic displays. The main focus of her work is the use of words and ideas in public space. Originally utilizing street posters, LED signs became her most visible medium, though her diverse practice incorporates a wide array of media including bronze plaques, painted signs, stone benches and footstools, stickers, T-shirts, condoms, paintings, photographs, sound, video, light projection, the Internet, and a Le Mans race car.

Holzer's first public works, Truisms (1977–9), appeared in the form of anonymous broadsheets that she printed anonymously in black italic script on white paper and wheat-pasted to buildings, walls and fences in and around Manhattan. These one-liners are a distillation of an erudite reading list from the Whitney Independent Study Program, where Holzer was a student. She printed other Truisms on posters, t-shirts and stickers, then carved them in the stone of public benches. In 1981, Holzer initiated the Living series, which she printed on aluminum and bronze plaques, the presentation format used by medical and government buildings. In 1982, the artist installed for the first time a large electronic sign on the Spectacolor board at Times Square, New York.[5] Sponsored by the Public Art Fund program, the use of L.E.D. (light emitting diode) allowed Holzer to reach a larger audience. The texts in her subsequent Survival series, compiled in 1983-85, speak to the great pain, delight, and ridiculousness of living in contemporary society. Holzer began working with stone in 1986. In her 1986 exhibition at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York, she introduced a total environment, where viewers were confronted with the relentless visual buzz of a horizontal LED sign and stone benches leading up to an electronic altar. This practice culminated in the installation at the Guggenheim Museum in 1989 of a 163 meter-long sign, forming a continuous circle spiraling up the parapet wall.

For the Venice Biennale in 1990, Holzer designed posters, hats, and t-shirts to be sold in the streets of Venice, while her LED signboards and marble benches occupied the solemn and austere exhibition space (the original installation is retained in its entirety in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, the organizing institution for the American Pavilion at the 1990 Venice Biennale). Text-based light projections have been central to Holzer’s practice since 1996.

Holzer wrote texts herself for a long time between 1977 and 2001. However since 1993, she has been mainly working with texts written by others. Some of these are literary texts by great authors such as the Polish Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska, Henri Cole (USA), Elfriede Jelinek (Austria), Fadhil Al-Azawi (Iraq), Yehuda Amichai (Israel) and Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine). She also uses texts from different contexts, such as passages from de-classified US Army documents from the war in Iraq. For example, a large LED work presents excerpts from the minutes of interrogations of American soldiers who had committed human rights violations and war crimes in Abu Ghraib, making what was once secret public. Holzer's works often speak of violence, oppression, sexuality, feminism, power, war and death. Her main concern is to enlighten, bringing to light something thought in silence and meant to remain hidden.

Magnis is the location of the Magnis is the location of the Roman Army Museum run by the Vindolanda Trust. Like the museum at Vindolanda, the Roman Army Museum was modernised and reopened in 2011. The museum illustrates frontier life on the northern edge of the Roman Empire. The museum displays genuine Roman artifacts including weapons and tools; life-size replicas; a 3D film showing Hadrian's Wall past and present, and a large timeline of Hadrian's Wall. There is a gallery devoted to the emperor Hadrian himself. A large gallery describes daily life in the Roman army as seen through the eyes of a team of eight auxiliary soldiers, complete with a film showing their activities. Notable exhibits include a rare surviving helmet crest. run by the Vindolanda Trust. Like the museum at Vindolanda, the Roman Army Museum was modernised and reopened in 2011. The museum illustrates frontier life on the northern edge of the Roman Empire. The museum displays genuine Roman artifacts including weapons and tools; life-size replicas; a 3D film showing Hadrian's Wall past and present, and a large timeline of Hadrian's Wall. There is a gallery devoted to the emperor Hadrian himself. A large gallery describes daily life in the Roman army as seen through the eyes of a team of eight auxiliary soldiers, complete with a film showing their activities. Notable exhibits include a rare surviving helmet crest.

 

Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.

 

Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.

 

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.

 

Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.

 

Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.

 

History

Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.

 

The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.

 

The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.

 

Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.

 

Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.

 

Roman invasion

The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.

 

The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.

 

The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.

 

Establishment of Roman rule

After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.

 

On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.

 

While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.

 

There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.

 

In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

 

For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.

 

Roman military organisation in the north

In 84 AD

In 84 AD

 

In 155 AD

In 155 AD

 

Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall

There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.

 

Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.

 

A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.

 

In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.

 

The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.

 

During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.

 

In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.

 

The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.

 

3rd century

The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.

 

Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.

 

The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.

 

Northern campaigns, 208–211

An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.

 

As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.

 

During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.

 

Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.

 

The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.

 

Diocletian's reforms

As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).

 

The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.

 

Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.

 

The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.

 

The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.

 

Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.

 

In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.

 

A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.

 

4th century

Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.

 

In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.

 

As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.

 

Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.

 

End of Roman rule

The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.

 

The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.

 

Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.

 

Sub-Roman Britain

Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.

 

In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.

 

Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.

 

Trade

During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.

 

Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.

 

These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.

 

It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.

 

From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.

 

Economy

Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.

 

The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.

 

By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.

 

Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.

 

Government

Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain

Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.

 

To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.

 

Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.

 

Demographics

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.

 

Town and country

During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.

 

Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.

 

Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C

 

Alcester (Alauna)

Alchester

Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C

Bath (Aquae Sulis) C

Brough (Petuaria) C

Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)

Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C

Caernarfon (Segontium) C

Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C

Caister-on-Sea C

Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C

Carlisle (Luguvalium) C

Carmarthen (Moridunum) C

Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)

Chester (Deva Victrix) C

Chester-le-Street (Concangis)

Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C

Cirencester (Corinium) C

Colchester (Camulodunum) C

Corbridge (Coria) C

Dorchester (Durnovaria) C

Dover (Portus Dubris)

Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C

Gloucester (Glevum) C

Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)

Ilchester (Lindinis) C

Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C

Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C

London (Londinium) C

Manchester (Mamucium) C

Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)

Northwich (Condate)

St Albans (Verulamium) C

Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C

Towcester (Lactodurum)

Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C

Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C

York (Eboracum) C

 

Religion

The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.

 

The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.

 

Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.

 

Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).

 

Christianity

It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.

 

The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.

 

A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.

 

Environmental changes

The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas

 

Legacy

During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.

 

Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe

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The rain adding some extra texture to an ERA racer in the paddock

It was late afternoon on the first Saturday of the Heritage weekends, and if truth be told, I was getting churched out.

 

I was sure I had been to Biddenden before, but as it was open and welcoming, and right beside the main road, i stopped for a quick visit.

 

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Set at the end of the High Street the asymmetry of the building is most pleasing. The thirteenth century original was much alerted in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - the latter being the date of the nave with its crown post roof. The font, sedilia and piscina are all designed to show off the local `Bethersden Marble`, the only local stone that can take a polish. A good selection of memorial brasses includes one to Margaret Godwell who died in 1499. The last lines of its inscription has been obliterated - a common occurrence when prayers for the souls of the departed later caused offence.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Biddenden

 

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BIDDENDEN

IS the next parish eastward from Frittenden. That part of it which is in the boroughs of Ibornden, Wosenden, Hevenden, Omenden, Stepherst, and Wachenden, is in the hundred of Barkley; and the residue of it, being in the borough of the Outbounds of Smithsditch, is in the hundred of Cranbrooke. The borsholder of the above-mentioned borough of Wosenden, is chosen at the court-leet held at Burham, in this county; and the borough of Wachenden has a court-leet of itself, holden in this parish, at which the borsholder of that borough is chosen; so that neither of these two borsholders last-mentioned are chosen at the court-leet held for this hundred, nor do the inhabitants of them attend at that court; but at it there may be chosen a constable for the hundred out of either of these boroughs.

 

The denns of Biddenden and Spelhurst, in this parish, are held of the manor of Shurland, in Pluckley; the liberty of the manor of Wye claims over the borough of Wachenden; and the manor of Godmersham extends into this parish, which is in the division of West Kent.

 

THE PARISH is much the same, as to the appearance of the country, as those in this neighbourhood last-described, having some gentle rises in it; the soil too is much the same, having plently of marle throughout it, the southern and western parts are covered with coppice woods, the large oak trees are numerous throughout it, as well there, as in the hedge rows. It is populous, containing about 2000 inhabitants, of which about a fifth part are dissenters, there are no clothiers remaining in it, though the trade formerly flourished in this equally with the adjoining parishes. The village, usually called in like manner as most others in the Weald, the town of Biddenden, having the church and parsonage on the western side of it, stands rather towards the southern part of the parish, on the high road from Tenterden to Ashford, which is here joined by that from Cranbrooke. There are three principal hamlets, which are dispersed at different parts of the parish, called Wosenden-green, Stroud-quarter, and Standen.

 

There is a fair, formerly held on the day of St. Simon and St. Jude, now on Nov. 8, for Welsh cattle chiefly, and another on Old Lady day.

 

BIDDENDEN PLACE, or, as it was afterwards usually called, THE PLACE-HOUSE, stands at the south and of the town, and was antiently the residence of an old family, who took their surname from it; after which the Mayneys were the next who succeeded to the possession of it, and resided here likewise, being, as well as that great man Sir Walter de Mayney, so noted in history both for his valour and piety, descended from Walter de Meduana, or Mayney, who came into England with the Conqueror, and, as appears by the red book, in the exchequer, held twenty knights fees in this county, and appears by his arms, Or, three chevronels, sable, to have been the elder branch of this family; those of Biddenden and Linton bearing, Per pale, argent and sable, three chevronels, between as many cinquesoils, all counterchanged. Sir John de Mayney resided here in the beginning of king Edward III.'s reign, as did his son, of the same name, who died possessed of this seat, with other lands continguous to it, in the 50th year of that reign; and from him it descended down to John Mayney, esq. of Biddenden, who left two sons, John, who succeeded him here, and Walter, who was of Staplehurst, and sheriff anno 13 Elizabeth, the lands of both whom were disgavelled by the act of 2 and 3 king Edward VI. John Mayney, the eldest son, resided here, and was sheriff anno 7 Elizabeth, 1566, in which year he died, leaving two sons, Anthony and Walter; the former of whom was father of Sir Anthony Mayney, who, in that reign, having purchased a seat at Linton, removed thither. (fn. 1) and alienated this seat to Sir Edward Henden, one of the barons of the exchequer in the reign of Charles I. (fn. 2) whose arms are in the semicircular window of GraysInn hall, of which he was a member, being Azure, a lion passant, between three escallop shells, or; who dying s. p. in 1662, was buried in the chancel of this church, having given it by will to his nephew Sir John Henden, sheriff in the 22d year of that reign, who resided here, as did his descendants down to William Henden; but he having, in the reign of king George I. dissipated his patrimony, pulled down the greatest part of this seat, and left the poor remains of it, consisting of only three or four rooms, and a very few acres of the old garden and park, to his son William, and he sold it to the trustees of Sir Horace Mann, bart. the present proprietor of it.

 

ALMOST opposite the Place-house is A Mansion, formerly the seat of the Taylors, from whom it passed to Mr. Jenkin Hague, whose nephew, of the same name, now owns it. And at the north end of the town is another, called BIDDENDEN-HOUSE, formerly the estate of the Pattensons, who bore for their arms, Argent, on a fess, sable, three fleurs de lis, or; in which name it continued down to Mr. Josias Pattenson, who devised it to his eldest son of the same name. He married Elizabeth, the eldest of the two daughters and coheirs of Felix Kadwell, esq. of Rolvenden, by whom he had Kadwell Pattenson, of the Gate-house, in Rolvenden, who died s. p. Margaret, Ellen, Josias Pattenson, esq. now of Brooke-place, in Ashford, and Mary, who married Samuel Muna, of Hastings, by whom she had Samuel, late of Ashford, gent. and Ellen, married to William Jemmett, gent. of Ashford. The Pattensons bear for their arms, Argent, on a fess, sable, three fleurs de lis, or. After his death his heirs alienated it to Mr. Peter Berry, who afterwards sold it to Mr. Stephen Elmstone, the present owner of it.

 

THE FAMILY OF POMFRET was for several generations possessed of a good estate in this parish. The mansion in which they resided is a large old house, near the town. It formerly belonged to Edmund Steed, gent. who died in 1664, and afterwards to Vincent Quilter, by whose daughter and heir is came by marriage to Pomfret, in one of whose descendants it continues at this time. Many of them lie buried in the south part of the church-yard, where their tombs are yet remaining, with their arms on them, being Quarterly, argent, and gules, a bend, sable; a branch of the family of Seyliard, who intermarried with the Boddenhams, likewise resided here during the last century, bearing for their arms, Gules, a chief, ermine.

 

ALLARDS is an estate in this parish, which had on it an antient seat, which for many generations was the mansion of a family of the same name, one of whom was Gervas Allard, who was admiral of the western seas in the 34th year of Edward I. and in his descendants it continued till the reign of Charles I. when Francis Allard, gent. of this place, leaving an only daughter Elizabeth, she carried it in marriage to Terry Aldersey, gent. of Swanton-court, in Bredgar, who died possessed of it in 1678, and bequeathed this estate to his second son Mr. Henry Aldersey, of Maidstone, whose descendant sold it to Thomas Tong, surgeon, of Milton, from whom it passed by sale to Mr. John Hooker, gent. of Brenchley, and his descendant John Hooker, esq. now of Broadoak, in that parish, is the present owner of it.

 

CASTWISELL is an estate here, situated at the boundary of this parish, next to Cranbrooke, which was once accounted a manor, and had in very early times owners of the same name, as appears by some antient deeds without date, relating to it, in which John de Castwisell is a witness at the teste of them. But before the reign of Edward IV. the Moiles were become possessed of it; in the 6th year of which Sir Walter Moile, of Eastwell, granted to Reginald and William Sands, all those lands, tenements, rents, and services, which Simon Gidenden lately held of him, as of his manor of Castwisell. His grandson Mr. Thomas Moyle (afterwards knighted in the 29th year of Henry VIII.) conveyed it to Stephen Rogers, gent. whose descendant Mr. Jonathan Rogers owned it at the restoration of Charles II. At length, after it had continued for some time in his descendants, it became the property of Sir Henry Fermor, bart. who died possessed of it in 1734, without lawful issue. Since which it has remained vested in the trustees of his will, for the uses mentioned in it.

 

LESSENDEN is an estate here, about a mile and a half northward from the church, which was formerly the residence of a family of the name of Boddenden, or Boddenham, one of whom, William Boddenden, died possessed of it in 1579, leaving by his first wife a son William, who was afterwards knighted. He bore for his arms, Azure, a fess, between three chess rooks, or, and lies buried in the chancel of this church. His sister Jane having married Bernard Randolph, of this parish, Clothier, he by that alliance became afterwards possessed of this estate, of which he died possessed in 1628, and was buried by his wife in the chancel of this church. His eldest son William was of Burton, in Kennington, where his posterity afterwards remained John, the third son, went to Virginia, where his descendants still continue; and Edmund, the fifth son, travelled into Italy, and took the degree of M. D. at Padua, and on his return was incorporated into the university of Oxford in 1628; afterwards he practised physic at Canterbury, and dying in 1649, was buried in St. George's church there, leaving a numerous issue, one of whom was Bernard, author of the account of the Archipelage. Herbert, the fourth son, succeeded him in this estate, whose grandson Herbert Randolph, esq. was recorder of the city of Canterbury, and died possessed of Lessenden in 1724, leaving a numerous issue by his two wives. By the first he left only two surviving children, Herbert; and Mary, who married Christopher Packe, M. D. By his second wife he had eight children, Thomas, D. D. late president of Corpus Christi college, Oxford; George, M. D. of Bristol; Francis, D. D. principal of Alban hall, Oxford; and Charles, bred to the law; and four daughters, of whom a further account may be seen under Aldington. They bear for their arms, Gules, on a cross, argent, five mullets pierced, sable.

 

Herbert Randolph, clerk, the only son by his first wife, succeeded him here. He died in 1755, leaving issue only by Catherine his first wife, daughter of Edward Wake, D. D. prebendary of Canterbury, one son Herbert, and a daughter Mary. Herbert Randolph, the son, is of Wiltshire, and is in holy orders, and married Elizabeth Adcock, of Ashford; he is the present possessor of this estate.

 

ON THE NORTH SIDE of the parish is a seat, called Ibornden-HOUSE, which, with the greatest part of the denne in which it is situated, has been, from the very beginning of the last century, the estate and residence of the family of Pattenson. Roger Pattenson, clothier, came out of Yorkshire, and purchased this estate, with several others in this and the adjoining parishes, and built three several houses in Biddenden. He died about 1638. His descendant Josias Pattenson, left two sons, Josias, late of Biddenden house, and William, the latter of whom inherited Ibornden, in which he was succeeded by his only son Mr. William Pattenson, the present proprietor of it.

 

The denne of Ibornden, or Iberden, as it is sometimes spelt, is held of the manor of Ashford. It lies in the western part of this parish, a little more than a mile north-west from the church.

 

AT ABOUT HALF A MILE northward from the village, is THE BOROUGH OF STANDEN, in which is a hamlet of houses, on the high road; this has formerly been a place of some note, and now beiongs to Mrs. Knight, the widow of Thomas Knight, esq. of Godmersham, for her life; remainder to Edward Austen, esq. now of Godmersham park.

 

RIVER-HALL is a seat in the south-east part of this parish, near Stroud Quarter, which has been for more than a century in the possession of the Beales, formerly clothiers here. Richard Beale, clothier, of Biddenden, resided here in the beginning of Charles II.'s reign, and his grandson Mr. Richard Beale is the present owner of it, and resides in it. They bear for their arms, Sable, on a chevron, or, between three griffin's heads erased, argent, as many estoiles, gules.

 

WHITFIELD-HOUSE is near the above, taking its name from the owners of it. Thomas, second son of Clement, Whitfield, the second son of John Whitfield, of Tenterden, (fn. 3) possessed it in king James I.'s reign, and was succeeded in it by his son John, who was of Biddenden, gent. and died in 1695, and in his descendants it continued till it was sold, not many years since, to Mr. Jenkin Hague, whose nephew, of the same name, now possesses it.

 

AT THE corner of this parish, among the woods, lies THE MANOR OF WACHENDEN, in the borough of its own name, which belonged to the abbot and convent of Battel, most probably at its first foundation in the reign of the Conqueror, at least they were owners of it in the reign of Edward II. as appears by the patent rolls of the 7th year of that reign; and in the church chest here, there is an antient deed, dated anno 3 king Henry IV. wherein the abbot and convent acknowledge to have received four pounds of Thomas Brickenden, for his ferme of their manor of Wachendenne, which continued part of their revenues at the time of their dissolution, in the 30th year of Henry VIII. when it came, among the rest of their possessions, into the hands of the crown; whence it was granted to Sir John Baker, of Siffinghurst, one of whose descendants sold it to Henden; from which name it passed to Sir John Norris, of Hemsted, at whose death in 1767, it came to his son John Norris, esq. whose trustees alienated it to Thomas Hallet Hodges, esq. of Hemsted, in Benenden, who is the present possessor of it.

 

A court leet is held for this manor.

 

Charities.

TWENTY ACRES OF LAND, called the Bread and Cheese Land, lying in five pieces, were given by persons unknown, the yearly rents to be distributed among the poor of this parish. This is yearly done on Easter Sunday in the afternoon, in 600 cakes, each of which have the figures of two women impressed on them, and are given to all such as attend the church; and 270 loaves, weighing three pounds and an half a-piece; to which latter is added one pound and an half of cheese, are given to the parishioners only, at the same time.

 

There is a vulgar tradition in these parts, that the figures on the cakes represent the donors of this gift, being two women, twins, who were joined together in their bodies, and lived together so till they were between twenty and thirty years of age.—But this seems without foundation. The truth seems to be, that it was the gift of two maidens, of the name of Preston; and that the print of the women on the cakes has taken place only within these fifty years, and was made to represent two poor widows, as the general objects of a charitable benefaction. William Horner, rector of this parish in 1656, brought a suit in the Exchequer, for the recovery of these lands, as having been given for an augmentation of his glebe land; but he was nonsuited. They are altogether of the yearly value of about 31l. 10s.

 

THOMAS TAYLOR, of Cranbrooke, by his will in 1569, gave a parcel of woodland in this parish, upon the denne of Etilte, containing by estimation seven acres, which he purchased of John Pattynden, and ordered, that the profit that should come of it, whether it be wood or otherwise, should always be employed to the use of the poor people of this parish; to be distributed to them by the churchwardens, at their discretion, from time to time for ever.

 

A sum of money, arising from the sale of the timber on the above-mentioned land in 1733, was laid out in the purchase of a house and farm in Bredgar, of the yearly rent of 8l. per annum, by deed of feossment.

 

MRS. HOOPER, of Cranbrooke, widow, in 1682, gave 20l. with which was purchased Tripe-lane house, and one field adjoining, of the yearly rent of one guinea, to be distributed among twenty-one widows. The house is now made into two dwellings for poor people.

 

JAMES STONE, of Cranbrooke, in 1722 gave by will 2l. per annum, payable out of Highpoles-farm, in this parish, to be distributed among sixteen poor widows, or decayed housekeepers, on the 1st of November for ever, by the overseers of the poor.

 

DR. JOHN BANCROFT, rector of this parish, and in 1732 bishop of Oxford, gave a set of communion-plate to this church.

 

A new workhouse has been built for the use of the poor within these few years.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about ninety; casually 36.

 

WILLIAM, or JOHN MAYNE, esq. of this parish, by a deed of feoffment in 1522, founded A FREE Latin grammer school in it, and endowed it with a school-house, garden, and certain payments out of lands in this parish, Tenterden and Bethersden, of the yearly value of 20l. 3s. 4d. (fn. 4) The management of it, and the appointment of the master, is under the direction of Mr. Richard Beale, of this parish, with other feoffees. The Rev. Mr. Pitman is master of it. The archbishop of Canterbury is visitor of this school; which jurisdiction has not been exercised for many years. For want of this interposition, this endowment has been much abused, and the whole of it is now made a sinecure. There is a deputy, who is a decayed tradesman, put in by the master, who lives in the school house, and with whom he shares half the salary. There have been no children taught in it for some time past.

 

BIDDENDEM is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Charing.

 

¶The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, stands on an eminence, close at the west end of the village, with the parsonage-house on the north side of it. It is large and well-built, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a handsome square tower at the west end, with a beacon turret at one corner. In it are six bells, and a set of chimes. There is a small vestry-room on the north side of the great chancel, in which lies buried Sir Edward Henden, baron of the exchequer, anno 1662, and several of the family of Randolph and Everden; in it is a memorial for Richard Allard, alderman of Rochester, 1593. In the north chancel there is a brass plate, fixed to the wall, for Sir William Boddenden and his wife, having the figures of them and their children, and an inscription to their memories. This chancel belonged to the Mayneys, of whom there are monuments in it, and does now to Sir Horace Mann. The south chancel is ceiled with wainscot, in pannels, at the corners of each of which are carved and painted different devices and arms; among others are the arms of the see of Canterbury, impaling Warham, Argent, three birds volant, sable, and portcullis, &c. Alice Bedlyngston, by her will in 1463, ordered her feoffees, out of the money arising from the sale of a piece of land in this parish, to make a new window on the south side of this church; and it appears that in the beginning of king Henry VIII.'s reign, there was a new isle building to this church, by the several legacies left towards it.

 

On the outside of the steeple are three shields of arms, carved in the stone-work, viz. first, A saltier; second, A bend, sinister; and third, A fret. In the church-yard are buried several of the family of Beale.

 

This church is a rectory, and was part of the antient possessions of the see of Canterbury, where it still continues, the archbishop being the present patron of it.

 

It is valued in the king's books at thirty-five pounds, and the yearly tenths at 3l. 10s.

 

In 1578 there were five hundred and forty-five communicants here, in 1640 there were four hundred, and it was then valued at one hundred and twenty pounds per annum. It is now of the annual value of about two hundred and forty pounds.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp130-141

The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.

 

The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden under rubble when the numbering was done. Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves.

 

The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; other survivals from the area of modern India are very few, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is highly local, found only at a few nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.

 

HISTORY

Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dignaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.

 

The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.

 

CAVES OF THE FIRST (SATAVAHANA) PERIOD

The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period 300 BCE to 100 BCE, though the grouping of the earlier caves is generally agreed. More early caves may have vanished through later excavations. Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first phase is still often called the Hinayāna phase, as it originated when, using traditional terminology, the Hinayāna or Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism was dominant, when the Buddha was revered symbolically. However the use of the term Hinayana for this period of Buddhism is now deprecated by historians; equally the caves of the second period are now mostly dated too early to be properly called Mahayana, and do not yet show the full expanded cast of supernatural beings characteristic of that phase of Buddhist art. The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead, and in the caves of the second period the overwhelming majority of images represent the Buddha alone, or narrative scenes of his lives.

 

Spink believes that some time after the Satavahana period caves were made the site was abandoned for a considerable period until the mid-5th century, probably because the region had turned mainly Hindu

 

CAVES OF THE LATER OR VAKATAKA PERIOD

The second phase began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. This view has been criticized by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example Huntington and Harle.

 

The second phase is still often called the Mahāyāna or Greater Vehicle phase, but scholars now tend to avoid this nomenclature because of the problems that have surfaced regarding our understanding of Mahāyāna.

 

Some 20 cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some "modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.

 

According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena, in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although the local population were aware of at least some of them.

 

REDISCOVERY

On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date, April 1819. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery, covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until the Nizam of Hyderabad built the modern path between the caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.

 

Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010 showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into 362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.

 

PAINTINGS

Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-led painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".

 

Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.

 

All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life.

 

In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.

 

COPIES

The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. However, the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued by bad fortune. In 1846, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.

 

Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths, then principal of the Bombay School of Art, to work with his students to make new copies, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred paintings that were in storage. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some 3 × 6 metres. A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.

 

A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.

 

Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955).

 

ARCHITECTURE

The monasteries mostly consist of vihara halls for prayer and living, which are typically rectangular with small square dormitory cells cut into the walls, and by the second period a shrine or sanctuary at the rear centred on a large statue of the Buddha, also carved from the living rock. This change reflects the movement from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. The other type of main hall is the narrower and higher chaitya hall with a stupa as the focus at the far end, and a narrow aisle around the walls, behind a range of pillars placed close together. Other plainer rooms were for sleeping and other activities. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave.

 

The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more or less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink in fact places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase.

 

The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.

 

The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs, which have now perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.

 

The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were painted with figures. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.

 

The flood basalt rock of the cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous, is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality, so the excavators had to amend their plans in places, and in places there have been collapses in the intervening centuries, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; the half-built vihara cave 24 shows the method. Spink believes that for the first caves of the second period the excavators had to relearn skills and techniques that had been lost in the centuries since the first period, which were then transmitted to be used at later rock-cut sites in the region, such as Ellora, and the Elephanta, Bagh, Badami and Aurangabad Caves.

 

The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave, but according to Spink the later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites. After the death of Harisena smaller donors got their chance to add small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.

 

A grand gateway to the site, at the apex of the gorge's horsehoe between caves 15 and 16, was approached from the river, and is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective snake deity.

 

ICONOGRAPHY OF THE CAVES

In the pre-Christian era, the Buddha was represented symbolically, in the form of the stupa. Thus, halls were made with stupas to venerate the Buddha. In later periods the images of the Buddha started to be made in coins, relic caskets, relief or loose sculptural forms, etc. However, it took a while for the human representation of the Buddha to appear in Buddhist art. One of the earliest evidences of the Buddha's human representations are found at Buddhist archaeological sites, such as Goli, Nagarjunakonda, and Amaravati. The monasteries of those sites were built in less durable media, such as wood, brick, and stone. As far as the genre of rock-cut architecture is concerned it took many centuries for the Buddha image to be depicted. Nobody knows for sure at which rock-cut cave site the first image of the Buddha was depicted. Current research indicates that Buddha images in a portable form, made of wood or stone, were introduced, for the first time, at Kanheri, to be followed soon at Ajanta Cave 8 (Dhavalikar, Jadhav, Spink, Singh). While the Kanheri example dates to 4th or 5th century CE, the Ajanta example has been dated to c. 462–478 CE (Spink). None of the rock-cut monasteries prior to these dates, and other than these examples, show any Buddha image although hundreds of rock-cut caves were made throughout India during the first few centuries CE. And, in those caves, it is the stupa that is the object of veneration, not the image. Images of the Buddha are not found in Buddhist sailagrhas (rock-cut complexes) until the times of the Kanheri (4th–5th century CE) and Ajanta examples (c. 462–478 CE).

 

The caves of the second period, now all dated to the 5th century, were typically described as "Mahayana", but do not show the features associated with later Mahayana Buddhism. Although the beginnings of Mahāyāna teachings go back to the 1st century there is little art and archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream cult for several centuries. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but the Bodhisattva who is important, including "deity" Bodhisattva like Manjushri and Tara, as well as aspects of the Buddha such as Aksobhya, and Amitabha. Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure. Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine. If a Bodhisattva is shown in isolation, as in the Astabhaya scenes, these were done in the very last years of activities at Ajanta, and are mostly 'intrusive' in nature, meaning that they were not planned by the original patrons, and were added by new donors after the original patrons had suddenly abandoned the region in the wake of Emperor Harisena's death.

 

The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholar rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta shows that the stupa and image coincided together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as the 5th-century phase of Ajanta is concerned. That is why most current scholars tend to avoid the terms 'Hinayana' and 'Mahayana' in the context of Ajanta. They now prefer to call the second phase by the ruling dynasty, as the Vākāţaka phase.

 

CAVES

CAVE 1

Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This would when first made have been a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vākāţaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal.

 

The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably carried away in monsoon torrents.

 

This cave has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.

 

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 12 m long and 6.1 m high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely because James Fegusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received, with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.

 

CAVE 2

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.

 

Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.

 

The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2 show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.

 

The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.

 

Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.

 

CAVE 4

The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives the following detail about cave 4: "This is the largest monastery planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that it was a gift from a person named Mathura and paleographically belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of Litany of Avalokiteśvara".

 

The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above.

 

CAVES 9-10

Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned by individuals.

 

The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible.

 

OTHER CAVES

Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors, that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise unfinished. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but, perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.

 

Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.

 

SPINK´S DETAILED CHRONOLOGY

Walter M. Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries", as the local population had turned mainly Hindu. This changed with the accession of the Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477. Harisena extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south.

 

According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in 462 but was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Work continued on only caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.

 

Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site", and as Hinduism again dominated the region, the site was again abandoned, this time for over a millennium.

 

Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".

 

IMPACT ON MODERN INDIAN PAINTINGS

The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.

 

The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists examples from ancient India to follow. Nandlal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.

 

WIKIPEDIA

More from the 2015 Goodwood Revival

Jasper-quartz pebble conglomerate in the Precambrian of Ontario, Canada.

 

Southeastern Canada's ~2.3 billion year old Lorrain Formation includes some beautiful rocks that rockhounds have nicknamed "puddingstone". This refers to whitish-gray quartzites having common pebbles of red jasper.

 

The Lorrain Formation is somewhat heterolithic. Published studies mention that the unit has arkoses, subarkoses, quartzites, and jasper-pebble conglomerates. The latter two lithologies are present at the glacially-eroded outcrop seen here. The quartzites were originally sandstones. They have been well cemented and somewhat metamorphosed into very hard rocks. The jasper-pebble conglomerates, or "puddingstones", include clasts of white quartz and reddish jaspilites. Pebble shapes range from rounded to angular. Ordinarily, a sedimentary rock having rounded pebbles is called "conglomerate", and a rock having angular pebbles is called "breccia". This material has both shape categories, but is referred to as "conglomerate" here.

 

Jaspilite is a type of BIF (banded iron formation). BIFs only formed on Earth during the Precambrian - most are Paleoproterozoic in age. They are the # 1 source of iron ore for the world's steel industry. Numerous specific types of BIFs are known. Jaspilite consists of alternating laters of red and silvery-gray, iron-rich minerals. The red layers are hematite or jasper (= hematitic chert). The silver-gray layers are usually rich in magnetite and/or specular hematite. Jaspilite BIFs outcrop in many areas around Lake Superior, for example in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Minnesota, and Ontario.

 

During the Paleoproterozoic, BIFs were subaerially exposed as paleo-outcrops and eroded, producing BIF sediments, including many red jasper pebbles. These mixed with quartz-rich sediments.

 

Regional studies indicate that the Lorrain Formation was deposited in ancient shallow ocean, lake, delta, and shoreline environments.

 

Stratigraphy: Lorrain Formation, upper Cobalt Group, Huronian Supergroup, Paleoproterozoic, ~2.3 Ga

 

Locality: Ottertail Lake Northeast Roadcut - glacial knob on the eastern side of Rt. 638, northeast of Ottertail Lake & southeast of Rock Lake, north-northeast of the town of Bruce Mines, southern Ontario, southeastern Canada (46° 23' 30.59" North latitude, 83° 43’ 10.94" West longitude)

------------------------------

Some info. synthesized from:

 

Hadley (1970) - Paleocurrents and origin of Huronian Lorrain Formation, Ontario and Quebec. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 54: 850.

 

The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.

 

The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden under rubble when the numbering was done. Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves.

 

The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; other survivals from the area of modern India are very few, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is highly local, found only at a few nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.

 

HISTORY

Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dignaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.

 

The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.

 

CAVES OF THE FIRST (SATAVAHANA) PERIOD

The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period 300 BCE to 100 BCE, though the grouping of the earlier caves is generally agreed. More early caves may have vanished through later excavations. Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first phase is still often called the Hinayāna phase, as it originated when, using traditional terminology, the Hinayāna or Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism was dominant, when the Buddha was revered symbolically. However the use of the term Hinayana for this period of Buddhism is now deprecated by historians; equally the caves of the second period are now mostly dated too early to be properly called Mahayana, and do not yet show the full expanded cast of supernatural beings characteristic of that phase of Buddhist art. The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead, and in the caves of the second period the overwhelming majority of images represent the Buddha alone, or narrative scenes of his lives.

 

Spink believes that some time after the Satavahana period caves were made the site was abandoned for a considerable period until the mid-5th century, probably because the region had turned mainly Hindu

 

CAVES OF THE LATER OR VAKATAKA PERIOD

The second phase began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. This view has been criticized by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example Huntington and Harle.

 

The second phase is still often called the Mahāyāna or Greater Vehicle phase, but scholars now tend to avoid this nomenclature because of the problems that have surfaced regarding our understanding of Mahāyāna.

 

Some 20 cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some "modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.

 

According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena, in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although the local population were aware of at least some of them.

 

REDISCOVERY

On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date, April 1819. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery, covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until the Nizam of Hyderabad built the modern path between the caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.

 

Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010 showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into 362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.

 

PAINTINGS

Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-led painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".

 

Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.

 

All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life.

 

In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.

 

COPIES

The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. However, the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued by bad fortune. In 1846, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.

 

Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths, then principal of the Bombay School of Art, to work with his students to make new copies, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred paintings that were in storage. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some 3 × 6 metres. A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.

 

A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.

 

Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955).

 

ARCHITECTURE

The monasteries mostly consist of vihara halls for prayer and living, which are typically rectangular with small square dormitory cells cut into the walls, and by the second period a shrine or sanctuary at the rear centred on a large statue of the Buddha, also carved from the living rock. This change reflects the movement from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. The other type of main hall is the narrower and higher chaitya hall with a stupa as the focus at the far end, and a narrow aisle around the walls, behind a range of pillars placed close together. Other plainer rooms were for sleeping and other activities. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave.

 

The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more or less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink in fact places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase.

 

The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.

 

The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs, which have now perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.

 

The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were painted with figures. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.

 

The flood basalt rock of the cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous, is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality, so the excavators had to amend their plans in places, and in places there have been collapses in the intervening centuries, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; the half-built vihara cave 24 shows the method. Spink believes that for the first caves of the second period the excavators had to relearn skills and techniques that had been lost in the centuries since the first period, which were then transmitted to be used at later rock-cut sites in the region, such as Ellora, and the Elephanta, Bagh, Badami and Aurangabad Caves.

 

The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave, but according to Spink the later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites. After the death of Harisena smaller donors got their chance to add small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.

 

A grand gateway to the site, at the apex of the gorge's horsehoe between caves 15 and 16, was approached from the river, and is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective snake deity.

 

ICONOGRAPHY OF THE CAVES

In the pre-Christian era, the Buddha was represented symbolically, in the form of the stupa. Thus, halls were made with stupas to venerate the Buddha. In later periods the images of the Buddha started to be made in coins, relic caskets, relief or loose sculptural forms, etc. However, it took a while for the human representation of the Buddha to appear in Buddhist art. One of the earliest evidences of the Buddha's human representations are found at Buddhist archaeological sites, such as Goli, Nagarjunakonda, and Amaravati. The monasteries of those sites were built in less durable media, such as wood, brick, and stone. As far as the genre of rock-cut architecture is concerned it took many centuries for the Buddha image to be depicted. Nobody knows for sure at which rock-cut cave site the first image of the Buddha was depicted. Current research indicates that Buddha images in a portable form, made of wood or stone, were introduced, for the first time, at Kanheri, to be followed soon at Ajanta Cave 8 (Dhavalikar, Jadhav, Spink, Singh). While the Kanheri example dates to 4th or 5th century CE, the Ajanta example has been dated to c. 462–478 CE (Spink). None of the rock-cut monasteries prior to these dates, and other than these examples, show any Buddha image although hundreds of rock-cut caves were made throughout India during the first few centuries CE. And, in those caves, it is the stupa that is the object of veneration, not the image. Images of the Buddha are not found in Buddhist sailagrhas (rock-cut complexes) until the times of the Kanheri (4th–5th century CE) and Ajanta examples (c. 462–478 CE).

 

The caves of the second period, now all dated to the 5th century, were typically described as "Mahayana", but do not show the features associated with later Mahayana Buddhism. Although the beginnings of Mahāyāna teachings go back to the 1st century there is little art and archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream cult for several centuries. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but the Bodhisattva who is important, including "deity" Bodhisattva like Manjushri and Tara, as well as aspects of the Buddha such as Aksobhya, and Amitabha. Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure. Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine. If a Bodhisattva is shown in isolation, as in the Astabhaya scenes, these were done in the very last years of activities at Ajanta, and are mostly 'intrusive' in nature, meaning that they were not planned by the original patrons, and were added by new donors after the original patrons had suddenly abandoned the region in the wake of Emperor Harisena's death.

 

The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholar rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta shows that the stupa and image coincided together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as the 5th-century phase of Ajanta is concerned. That is why most current scholars tend to avoid the terms 'Hinayana' and 'Mahayana' in the context of Ajanta. They now prefer to call the second phase by the ruling dynasty, as the Vākāţaka phase.

 

CAVES

CAVE 1

Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This would when first made have been a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vākāţaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal.

 

The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably carried away in monsoon torrents.

 

This cave has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.

 

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 12 m long and 6.1 m high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely because James Fegusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received, with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.

 

CAVE 2

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.

 

Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.

 

The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2 show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.

 

The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.

 

Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.

 

CAVE 4

The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives the following detail about cave 4: "This is the largest monastery planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that it was a gift from a person named Mathura and paleographically belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of Litany of Avalokiteśvara".

 

The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above.

 

CAVES 9-10

Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned by individuals.

 

The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible.

 

OTHER CAVES

Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors, that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise unfinished. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but, perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.

 

Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.

 

SPINK´S DETAILED CHRONOLOGY

Walter M. Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries", as the local population had turned mainly Hindu. This changed with the accession of the Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477. Harisena extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south.

 

According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in 462 but was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Work continued on only caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.

 

Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site", and as Hinduism again dominated the region, the site was again abandoned, this time for over a millennium.

 

Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".

 

IMPACT ON MODERN INDIAN PAINTINGS

The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.

 

The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists examples from ancient India to follow. Nandlal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.

 

WIKIPEDIA

07/02/16 #1133. The Blackthorns ? are in full blossom at Wood Mill now - out at the same time as the Daffs, Crocuses and Snowdrops

 

Blossom #18 for the treasure hunt

Includes teams from Deuel, Hot Springs, Madison, Parkston/Ethan/Hanson/Mt. Vernon. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

©2021 SDPB

 

INCLUDES:

- The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season

- The Simpsons: The Complete Fifteenth Season

- The Simpsons: The Complete Sixteenth Season

- The Simpsons: The Complete Seventeenth Season

- South Park: The Complete First Season

- South Park: The Complete Second Season

- South Park: The Complete Third Season

- South Park: The Complete Fourth Season

- South Park: The Complete Fifth Season

- South Park: The Complete Sixth Season

- South Park: The Complete Seventh Season

- South Park: The Complete Tenth Season

- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season

- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Second Season

- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Third Season

- SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Volume 1

- SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Volume 2

- SpongeBob SquarePants: Sea Stories

- SpongeBob SquarePants: Tide and Seek

- SpongeBob SquarePants: Christmas

- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Seascape Capers

- SpongeBob SquarePants: SpongeBob Goes Prehistoric

- SpongeBob SquarePants: Absorbing Favorites

- Tiny Toon Adventures: Season 1, Volume 1

- Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection Volume 1

- Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection Volume 2

- Tom and Jerry: Spotlight Collection Volume 3

- Woody Woodpecker Cartoons

Japanese food is so neatly presented - from a lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai

Includes teams from Deuel, Hot Springs, Madison, Parkston/Ethan/Hanson/Mt. Vernon. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

©2021 SDPB

 

Into the pits for a driver change during the Kinrara Trophy

The Miao is an ethnic group recognized by the government of China as one of the 55 official minority groups. Miao is a Chinese term and does not reflect the self-designations of the component groups of people, which include (with some variant spellings) Hmong, Hmub, Xong (Qo-Xiong), and A-Hmao.

 

The Chinese government has grouped these people and other non-Miao peoples together as one group, whose members may not necessarily be either linguistically or culturally related, though the majority are members of Miao-Yao language family, which includes the Hmong, Hmub, Xong, and A-Hmao and the majority do share cultural similarities. Because of the previous given reasons, many Miao peoples cannot communicate with each other in their mother tongues, and have different histories and cultures. A few groups designated as Miao by the PRC do not even agree that they belong to the ethnic group, though most Miao groups, such as the Hmong and Hmub, do agree with the collective grouping as a single ethnic group – Miao.

 

The Miao live primarily in southern China's mountains, in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, and Hubei. Some members of the Miao sub-groups, most notably the Hmong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia (northern Vietnam, Laos, Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand). Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations, mainly in the United States, France, and Australia. There has been a recent tendency by Hmong Americans to group all Miao peoples together under the term Hmong because of their disdain for the Chinese term Miao. This however fails to recognize that the Hmong are only a subgroup within the broader linguistic and cultural family of Miao people and the vast majority of Miao people do not classify themselves as Hmong and have their own names for themselves.

 

NOMENCLATURE: MIAO AND HMONG

The term "Miao" gained official status in 1949 as a minzu (ethnic group) encompassing a group of linguistically-related ethnic minorities in Southwest China. This was part of a larger effort to identify and classify minority groups to clarify their role in the national government, including establishing autonomous administrative divisions and allocating the seats for representatives in provincial and national government.

 

Historically, the term "Miao" had been applied inconsistently to a variety of non-Han peoples. Early Western writers used Chinese-based names in various transcriptions: Miao, Miao-tse, Miao-tsze, Meau, Meo, mo, miao-tseu etc. In Southeast Asian contexts words derived from the Chinese "Miao" took on a sense which was perceived as derogatory by the Hmong subgroup living in that region. In China, however, the term has no such context and is used by the Miao people themselves, of every group.

 

The later prominence of Hmong people in the West has led to a situation where the entire Miao linguistic/cultural family is sometimes referred to as Hmong in English language sources. Following the recent increased interaction of Hmong in the West with Miao in China it is reported that some upwardly aspiring non-Hmong Miao have even begun to identify themselves as Hmong. However, most non-Hmong Miao in China are unfamiliar with the term as referring to their entire group and continue to use "Miao", or their own separate ethnic self-designations.

 

Though the Miao themselves use various self-designations, the Chinese traditionally classify them according to the most characteristic colour of the women's clothes. The list below contains some of these self-designations, the colour designations, and the main regions inhabited by the four major groups of Miao in China:

 

Ghao Xong/Qo Xiong; Xong; Red Miao; Qo Xiong Miao: west Hunan

Gha Ne/Ka Nao; Hmub; Black Miao; Mhub Miao: southeast Guizhou

A-Hmao; Big Flowery Miao: west Guizhou and northeast Yunnan

Gha-Mu; Hmong, Mong; White Miao, Green/Blue Miao, Small Flowery Miao; south and east Yunnan, south Sichuan and west Guizhou

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

According to the 2000 census, the number of Miao in China was estimated to be about 9.6 million. Outside of China, members of the Miao linguistic/cultural family sub-group or nations of the Hmong live in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Burma due to outward migrations starting in the 18th century. As a result of recent migrations in the aftermath of the Indochina and Vietnam Wars from 1949–75, many Hmong people now live in the United States, French Guiana, France and Australia. Altogether, there are approximately 8 million speakers in the Miao language family. This language family, which consists of 6 languages and around 35 dialects (some of which are mutually intelligible) belongs to the Hmong/Miao branch of the Hmong–Mien (Miao–Yao) language family.

 

The Hmong live primarily in the northern mountainous reaches of Southeast Asia including Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, and in far Southwest China mostly in the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, and to a very limited extent in Guizhou. There are about 1.5–2 million Hmong in China.

 

Note: The Miao areas of Sichuan province became part of the newly created Chongqing Municipality in 1997.

 

Most Miao currently live in China. Miao population growth in China:

 

1953: 2,510,000

1964: 2,780,000

1982: 5,030,000

1990: 7,390,000

 

3,600,000 Miao, about half of the entire Chinese Miao population, were in Guizhou in 1990. The Guizhou Miao and those in the following six provinces make up over 98% of all Chinese Miao:

 

Hunan: 1,550,000

Yunnan: 890,000

Sichuan: 530,000

Guangxi: 420,000

Hubei: 200,000

Hainan: 50,000 (known as Miao but ethnically Yao and Li)

 

In the above provinces, there are 6 Miao autonomous prefectures (shared officially with one other ethnic minority):

 

Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (黔东南 : Qiándōngnán), Guizhou

Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔南 : Qiánnán), Guizhou

Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔西南 : Qiánxīnán), Guizhou

Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (湘西 : Xiāngxī), Hunan

Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (Hmong) (文山 : Wénshān), Yunnan

Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (恩施 : Ēnshī), Hubei

 

There are in addition 23 Miao autonomous counties:

 

Hunan:Mayang (麻阳 : Máyáng), Jingzhou (靖州 : Jīngzhōu), and Chengbu (城步 : Chéngbù)

Guizhou: Songtao (松桃 : Sōngtáo), Yingjiang (印江 : Yìnjiāng), Wuchuan (务川 : Wùchuān), Daozhen (道真 : Dǎozhēn), Zhenning (镇宁 : Zhènníng), Ziyun (紫云 : Zǐyún), Guanling (关岭 : Guānlíng), and Weining (威宁 : Wēiníng)

Yunnan: Pingbian (屏边 : Píngbiān), Jinping (金平 : Jīnpíng), and Luquan (禄劝 : Lùquàn)

Chongqing: Xiushan (秀山 : Xiùshān), Youyang (酉阳 : Yǒuyáng), Qianjiang (黔江 : Qiánjiāng), and Pengshui (彭水 : Péngshuǐ)

Guangxi: Rongshui (融水 : Róngshuǐ), Longsheng (龙胜 : Lóngshēng), and Longlin (隆林 : Lōnglín) (including Hmong)

Hainan Province: Qiong (琼中 : Qióngzhōng) and Baoting (保亭 : Bǎotíng)

 

Most Miao reside in hills or on mountains, such as

 

Wuling Mountain by the Qianxiang River (湘黔川边的武陵山 : Xiāngqián Chuān Biān Dí Wǔlíng Shān)

Miao Mountain (苗岭 : Miáo Líng), Qiandongnan

Yueliang Mountain (月亮山 : Yuèliàng Shān), Qiandongnan

Greater and Lesser Ma Mountain (大小麻山 : Dà Xiǎo Má Shān), Qiannan

Greater Miao Mountain (大苗山 : Dà Miáo Shān), Guangxi

Wumeng Mountain by the Tianqian River (滇黔川边的乌蒙山 : Tiánqián Chuān Biān Dí Wūmēng Shān)

 

Several thousands of Miao left their homeland to move to larger cities like Guangzhou and Beijing. There are 2,000,000 Hmong spread throughout northern Vietnam, Laos, Burma, and on other continents. 174,000 live in Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes.

 

HISTORY

History according to Chinese legend and other considerations

According to Chinese legend, the Miao who descended from the Jiuli tribe led by Chiyou (Chinese: 蚩尤 pinyin: Chīyóu) were defeated at the Battle of Zhuolu (Chinese: 涿鹿 pinyin: Zhuōlù, a defunct prefecture on the border of present provinces of Hebei and Liaoning) by the military coalition of Huang Di (Chinese: 黃帝 pinyin: Huángdì) and Yan Di, leaders of the Huaxia (Chinese: 華夏 pinyin: Huáxià) tribe as the two tribes struggled for supremacy of the Yellow River valley.

 

ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

According to André-Georges Haudricourt and David Strecker's claims based on limited secondary data, the Miao were among the first people to settle in present-day China. They claim that the Han borrowed a lot of words from the Miao in regard to rice farming. This indicated that the Miao were among the first rice farmers in China. In addition, some have connected the Miao to the Daxi Culture (5,300 – 6,000 years ago) in the middle Yangtze River region. The Daxi Culture has been credited with being amongst the first cultivators of rice in the Far East by Western scholars. However, in 2006 rice cultivation was found to have existed in the Shandong province even earlier than the Daxi Culture.

 

A western study mention that the Miao (especially the Miao-Hunan) have some DNA from the Northeast people of China, but has origins in southern china. Recent DNA samples of Miao males contradict this theory. The White Hmong have 25% C, 8% D, & 6% N(Tat) yet they have the least contact with the Han population.

 

CHU

In 2002, the Chu language has been identified as perhaps having influence from Tai–Kam and Miao–Yao languages by researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

 

QIN AND HAN DYNASTIES

The term Miao was first used by the Han Chinese in pre-Qin times (in other words, before 221 BC) for designating non-Han Chinese groups in the south. It was often used in combination: "nanmiao", "miaomin", "youmiao" and "sanmiao" (三苗; pinyin: Sānmiáo)

 

MING AND QING DYNASTIES

During the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368–1911) 'miao' and 'man' were both used, the second possibly to designate the Yao (傜 Yáo) people. The Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties could neither fully assimilate nor control the indigenous people.

 

During the Miao Rebellions, when Miao tribes rebelled, Ming troops, including Han Chinese, Hui people, and Uyghurs crushed the rebels, killing thousands of them. Mass castrations of Miao boys also took place.

 

During the Qing Dynasty the Miao fought three wars against the empire. In 1735 in the southeastern province of Guizhou, the Miao rose up against the government's forced assimilation. Eight counties involving 1,224 villages fought until 1738 when the revolt ended. According to Xiangtan University Professor Wu half the Miao population were affected by the war.

 

The second war (1795–1806) involved the provinces of Guizhou and Hunan. Shi Sanbao and Shi Liudeng led this second revolt. Again, it ended in failure, but it took 11 years to quell the uprising.

 

The greatest of the three wars occurred from 1854 to 1873. Zhang Xiu-mei led this revolt in Guizhou until his capture and death in Changsha, Hunan. This revolt affected over one million people and all the neighbouring provinces. By the time the war ended Professor Wu said only 30 percent of the Miao were left in their home regions. This defeat led to the Hmong people migrating out of China.

 

During Qing times, more military garrisons were established in southwest China. Han Chinese soldiers moved into the Taijiang region of Guizhou, married Miao women, and the children were brough up as Miao. In spite of rebellion against the Han, Hmong leaders made allies with Han merchants.

 

Politically and militarily, the Miao continued to be a stone in the shoe of the Chinese empire. The imperial government had to rely on political means to ensnare Hmong people, they created multiple competing positions of substantial prestige for Miao people to participate and assimilate into the Qing government system. During the Ming and Qing times, the official position of Kiatong was created in Indochina. The Miao would employ the use of the Kiatong government structure until the 1900s when they entered into French colonial politics in Indochina.

 

20th CENTURY

During the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Miao played an important role in its birth when they helped Mao Zedong to escape the Kuomintang in the Long March with supplies and guides through their territory.

 

In Vietnam, a powerful Hmong named Vuong Chinh Duc, dubbed the king of the Hmong, aided Ho Chi Minh's nationalist move against the French, and thus secured the Hmong's position in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, Miao fought on both sides, the Hmong in Laos primarily for the US, across the border in Vietnam for the North-Vietnam coalition, the Chinese-Miao for the Communists. However, after the war the Vietnamese were very aggressive towards the Hmong who suffered many years of reprisals and genocide. Most Hmong in Thailand also supported a brief Communist uprising during the war.

 

HAN CHINESE ORIGIN MIAO CLANS

A great number of Hmong lineage clans were founded by Chinese men who married Hmong women, these distinct Chinese descended clans practice Chinese burial customs instead of Hmong style burials.

 

The Hmong children of Hmong women who married Chinese men was the origin of numerous China and South East Asia based Hmong lineages and clans, these were called "Chinese Hmong" ("Hmong Sua") in Sichuan, the Hmong were instructed in military tactics by fugitive Chinese rebels.

 

Marriages between Hmong women and Han Chinese men is the origin of a lot of Hmong lineages and clans.

 

Hmong women married Han Chinese men to found new Hmong lineages which use Chinese names.

 

Chinese men who married into Hmong clans have established more Hmong clans than the ritual twelve, Chinese "surname groups" are comparable to the Hmong clans which are patrilineal, and practice exogamy.

 

Hmong women married Han Chinese men who pacified Ah rebels who were fighting against the Ming dynasty, and founded the Wang clan among the Hmong in Gongxian county, of Sichuan's Yibin district.

 

Hmong women who married Chinese men founded a new Xem clan in a Hmong village (among Northern Thailand's Hmong), fifty years later in Chiangmai two of their Hmong boy descendants were Catholics. A Hmong woman and a Chinese man married and founded the Lauj clan in Northern Thailand.

 

A marriage between a Hmong woman and a Chinese man resulted in northern Thailand's Lau2 clan being founded, another Han Chinese with the family name Deng founded another Hmong clan, Han Chinese men's marriages with Hmong women has led some ethnographers to conclude that Hmong clans in the modern era have possible all or partly have been founded in this matter.

 

Jiangxi Han Chinese are claimed by some as the forefathers of the southeast Guizhou Miao, and Miao children were born to the many Miao women married Han Chinese soldiers in Taijiang in Guizhou before the second half of the 19th century.

 

Imperially commissioned Han Chinese chieftancies "gon native", with the Miao and were the ancestors of a part of the Miao population in Guizhou.

 

The Hmong Tian clan in Sizhou began in the seventh century as a migrant Han Chinese clan.

 

Non-han women such as Miao women became wives of Han Chinese male soldiers who fought against the Miao rebellions during the Qing and Ming dynasties since Han women were not available.

 

The Ming dynasty Hongwu Emperor sent troops to Guizhou whose descendants became the Tunbao. The origin of the Tunbao people traces back to when the Ming dynasty sent 300,000 Han Chinese male soldiers in 1381 to conquer Yunnan and the men married Yao and Miao women.

 

The presence of women presiding over weddings was a feature noted in "Southeast Asian" marriages, such as in 1667 when a Miao woman in Yunnan married a Chinese official.

Some Sinicization occurred, in Yunnan a Miao chief's daughter married a scholar in the 1600s who wrote that she could read, write, and listen in Chinese and read Chinese classics.

 

The Sichuan Hmong village of Wangwu was visited by Nicholas Tapp who wrote that the "clan ancestral origin legend" of the Wang Hmong clan, had said that several times they were married into the Han Chinese and possibly one of these was their ancestor Wang Wu, there were two tpes of Hmong, "cooked" who sided with Chinese and "raw" who rebelled against the Chinese, the Chinese were supported by the Wang Hmong clan. A Hmong woman was married by the non-Hmong Wang Wu according to The Story of the Ha Kings in Wangwu village.

 

DISTRIBUTION

The 2000 Chinese census recorded 8,940,116 Miao in mainland China.

 

CUISINE

Miao Fish (苗鱼 miáo yǘ)

Miao fish is a special way of cooking a fish by Miao people. It has been recognized as a local featured cuisine with its tasty flavor: the mixture of fish, green peppers, ginger slices and garlic provided people with great eating experience.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Cockpit details of a Maserati 250F in the paddock at the Goodwood Revival

The whole set

This set include seven pieces...

- A blouse, fully lined, sewn in a cotton batiste dyed with bright pink color, edged with lace on the bottom sleeves and with pale pink rayon cord around de neckline. Embroidered roses adorn this piece witch closes in the back with beads and loops.

- A pancake tutu sewn with a gradient in different tulle overlays: gold at the top, on dotted cream, on pale pink, and ending below with mauve pink. I used the traditional technique, that is to say, with lots of layers fixed together and with a metal circle inside to maintain a certain rigidity.

- A corseted over-skirt sew in a lovely yellow-cream jacquard silk satin, fully embroidered and edged with lace and burgundy rayon cord. A fake lacing, a knotted rose on the front panel and a real lacing on the back...

- A cream pantyhose, hand painted with acrylic painting, decorated with tiny flowers and leaves rising from the ankle to the knee.

- A short cape, sewn with lace on satin with tiny embroidered roses, edged with fur and closed with a cordon ended with small pompoms. Because I couldn't make up my mind about the color, I I decide to make it reversible: pink or green depending on the mood of the day.

- Hair accessory: some millinery flowers... mounted on hair clips.

- A pair of ballerina shoes.

Chancellor Michael Harris IU Kokomo with Freshmen students who received laptop computers as part of IU Kokomo merit scholarship programs. Students include, front from left, Lyndsay Christensen, Shayla Elmore, Rebekah Hochstedler and Marlee Sumpter; and back row C

 

www.flickr.com/photos/40123674@N08/7784685712

 

www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=51072

 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Harris_%28academic%29

 

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homepages.indiana.edu/web/page/normal/22030.html

 

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The Big Move, Visioned, Initiated and Implemented by Chancellor Michael Harris IU Kokomo:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJIe0t6aDEU

 

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IU Notable Alumni

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indiana_University_(Bloomington)_people

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD3exIJ-hGs

   

The Goondiwindi War Memorial includes a 'Digger' statue erected in 1922 and a set of gates erected in 1949, as memorials to the First and Second World Wars respectively.

 

The Soldiers' Monument was originally erected in Herbert Street, with an iron fence surrounding the monument. The monument cost £1 800 and was unveiled in September 1922, by Sir Matthew Nathan, Governor of Queensland, who was in Goondiwindi to observe an eclipse of the sun. It is likely that the monument was erected by a public committee. Although the designer of the monument is unknown, it is possible that it was manufactured in New South Wales.

 

In 1949 the monument was re-sited, presumably at the time the World War 2 Memorial Gates were constructed. More than £2 844 was spent on transferring the monument to the park site and erecting the gates. The gates were erected by the Goondiwindi War Memorial Committee, and were unveiled in April 1949 by Sir Thomas William Glasgow. At the completion of the ceremony the keys of the gates were handed to Alderman F Vetter, symbolic of the town accepting responsibility and custody of the memorial. The designer of the gates is also unknown.

 

Description source:

Queensland Heritage Register

 

View the original record at the Queensland State Archives:

Digital Image ID 27079