Brabourne nextes in the shadow of Wye Down, nestling in a fold in the land, and driving through it hardly seems to be a village, more a few houses and a farm. But just visible down a gravel track, which has a sign stating quite clearly that it was not suitable for parking for the church. In which case I woulve to partially block the lane through the village.

 

One approaches the church down a brick path, which is tricky as over the years it has developed quite an arch. You soon see that the trees are hiding a formidable church, and the most impressive of towers, almost castle keep-like.

 

A small porch allows the visitor to leave the chill air outside, and you are met my a sturdy door, which invites you in.

 

St Mary is a large and impressive church, the walls covered with memorials to the local big family, also are several cut out which may indicate where carved figures one laid. High in the north wall of the chancel, is possibly the oldest stained glass still in original position (although reset), which seem to date to the year 1200 AD, which is incredible if true, and I have no reason to diubt that.

 

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St Mary's is a very tall church, more Saxon in its proportions than Norman. The church dates in its present form from the twelfth century, with typical decoration in the form of pilaster buttresses on the outside north wall of the chancel. In the thirteenth century a south aisle was added and the present arch to the tower rebuilt; the remains of the original Norman arch may still be seen. In the chancel is a remarkable survivor - a twelfth-century window with its original glass. It has been reset and restored, but vividly recalls the dusky colours of the period. The pattern is purely geometric, of flowers and semi-circles, and may be compared to the contemporary glass in Canterbury Cathedral. Also in the chancel is one of the two thirteenth-century heart shrines in Kent. This little piece of sculpture consists of a plain shield - originally painted - under decorated and cusped tracery, the whole squeezed between thin pinnacles. It is uncertain whose heart was buried here, but it dates from about 1296 and may be associated with the de Valence family. The other Kent heart shrine is at Leybourne (see separate entry).

 

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

 

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A Church has existed here since Saxon times - mention is made of one at 'Bradeburna' soon after the coming of Archbishop Lanfranc to Canterbury in about 1070.

 

The present St Mary's Church is of Norman design, and dates from the twelfth century.

 

Most of the original Norman nave can be seen on the north side, and the Chancel is pure Norman. Notice the priest's doorway and the twelfth century window in the Chancel - this still has its original glass. It is almost certainly unique in the country as most were smashed during the reign of Henry VIII, or later, during the Civil War. It was also left when other stained glass from the Church was sold in 1774. It is believed to be England's oldest complete Norman window still in its original setting with light falling through.

 

Additions were made in the thirteenth century , including the rebuilt arch to the tower. The staircase in the tower is of great antiquity: halves of an oak tree 31ft long form the sides, with another tree for the base and a forked branch as a support.

 

The Chancel also holds one of only two thirteenth century heart shrines in Kent (the other is in Leybourne). The sculpture consists of a plain shield (the original paint has long since worn away) under fine decorated arches. In the back there is a recess, which would have been used to contain a heart encased in silver or ivory. It is thought that the shrine was built for the heart of John Baliol, founder of Balliol College, Oxford. Whether it served its intended purpose is unknown, but it was found to be empty when opened in the early 1900s.

 

The tomb of Sir John Scott, made of Caen stone, stands in the north wall of the Chancel. Sir John, who died on October 17th 1485, was a Privy Councillor and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Above the tomb hangs a trophy helmet, carried at the funeral of a knight, most probably Sir Thomas Scott, Commander of the Kentish Forces during the reign of Elizabeth I.

 

Another helmet (in the south east corner of the Chancel) is thought to have belonged to Sir William Scott, who died in 1433.

 

The altar is a tomb, topped with a slab of Bethersden Marble, and dates from around 1600. It is decorated with the arms of the Scott family.

 

www.brabournepc.kentparishes.gov.uk/default.cfm?pid=1140

 

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LIES the next parish to Bircholt north-eastward, being written in Domesday both Breburne and Bradeburne, and taking its name from its situation on the broad bourne or rivulet which rises in it.

 

THE PARISH is situated at the foot of the upper range of the chalk or down-hills, which reach from hence to the sea shore at Folkestone, and here take the name of Braborne downs; it is an unfrequented place, and from the soils of it not a pleasant one, for near the downs it is mostly chalk; the middle part, though there are various soils in it, consists mostly of a stiff, though not unfertile clay, and the southern part is a deep red sand. It is about two miles across from north to south, and somewhat more from east to west, stretching itself along a narrow slip beyond Hampton, almost as far as the village of Brooke, and on the other part within a very little of Stowting court-lodge. The village of Braborne, having the church and court-lodge in it, lies at the foot of the Down-hill, on the side of a wide valley, which extends below it southward. At the foot of the hills westward are Combe, Bedlestone, the hamlet of West Braborne-street and Hampton. The parish is well watered by several rivulets, one of them, which rises in and near Braborne-street, runs southward into that branch of the Stour below Scottshall, and so on by Sevington to Ashford; and there are others, which from the foot of the hills, more towards the west, which join the stream which runs by Swatfield bridge towards Ashford likewise.

 

In the southern part of the parish is the heath called Braborne-lees, one half of which only is within the bounds of it; across these lees the high road goes from Ashford towards Hythe. Here is a noted warren for rabbits, belonging to the Scotts-hall estate, they are of a remarkable fine flavor, from which Canterbury, and all the neighbouring towns are plentifully supplied with them. A fair is held in the village on the last day of May, for pedlary and toys.

 

That part of it which is within the borough of Cocklescombe, is in the hundred, and within the liberty of the royal manor of Wye.

 

THE MANOR OF BRABORNE, soon after the dissolution of the Saxon heptarchy, was, according to a very antient record, the inheritance of a lady called Salburga, who is stiled in it Domina de Brabourne, and by her will, in the year 864, ordered that the future possessors of it should give yearly to the monastery of St. Augustine, a quantity of provisions, on condition of their performing certain religious services for the health of her soul; which provisions were forty measures of malt, fifteen rams, twenty loaves of bread, one measure of butter, one measure of cheese, four cart loads of wood, and twenty hens. Who were the possessors of this manor afterwards till the time of the Norman conquest, does not appear; but at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, it was become part of the pos sessions of Hugo de Montfort, on whom that prince had bestowed likewise more than thirty other manors and estates in the neighbourhood of it. Accordingly he is numbered in that record as one of the thirteen, (for there are no more) who held lands in this county at that time, and under the general title of his lands this manor is thus entered in it.

 

In Wivart lath, in Berisout hundred, Hugo himself holds Breburne, Godric de Burnes held it of king Edward, and it was taxed at seven sulings, and now for five sulings and an half and half a yoke, because another part of it is without the division of Hugo, and that the bishop of Baieux holds. The arable land is fifteen carucates. In demesne there are two, and thirty-one villeins, with ten borderers having ten carucates. There is a church, and eight servants, and two mills of seven shillings, and twenty acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of twenty-five bags. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth twenty pounds, and afterwards eight pounds, now sixteen pounds.

 

That part mentioned above, as without the division of Hugo de Montfort, is likewise noticed in the same book, in the description of the adjoining manors of Hastingligh and Aldelows, belonging to the bishop of Baieux, as may be seen hereafter, in the account of them.

 

On the voluntary exile of Robert de Montfort, grandson of Hugh above-mentioned, in the reign of king Henry I. this manor, among the rest of his possessions, came into the king's hands, whence it was soon afterwards granted to Robert, son of Bernard de Ver, constable of England, who had married Adeliza, daughter of Hugh de Montfort, and was the founder of the priory of Horton, in the next adjoining parish. (fn. 1) After which it appears to have come into the possession of Henry de Essex, who was constable likewise of Eng land, from his succession to which, as well as from other circumstances, it should seem that he became entitled to this manor by inheritance Henry de Essex, before-mentioned, was baron of Raleigh, in Essex, his chief seat, and hereditary standard-bearer of England; but by his misbehaviour in a battle against the Welsh, in the 10th year of that reign, he forfeited all his possessions to the crown. (fn. 2) Before which he had confirmed to the priory of Horton all the former grants of his ancestors. And by another charter he granted to it, in free and perpetual alms, the pasture of twelve oxen in his park of Braborne, with his own oxen, for so long as they should be at feed, whether within his park or without; and all tithe of his hay, to be taken wholly and fully with his carriages to the barns of the monks. After which this manor appears to have been held by Baldwin de Betun, earl of Albermarle, who, in the 5th year of king John, granted it to William Mareschal, earl of Pembroke, with Alice his daughter in frank marriage, to hold to them and their heirs. William, earl of Pembroke, in the 10th year of king Henry III. his first wife being deceased, married Alianore, the king's sister, and in the 14th year of that reign had a confirmation of this manor, on condition that Alianore his wife, if she survived him, should enjoy it for life. He died in the 15th year of that reign, and she became possessed of it, and afterwards remarried Simon, earl of Leicester, who was slain fighting on the part of the discontented barons at the battle of Evesham. After which the countess and her children were forced to forsake the realm, and she died abroad in great poverty. In the mean time the four brothers of William, earl of Pembroke, successively earls of Pembroke, being dead s. p. their inheritance became divided between their five sisters and their heirs, and upon the division of it, the manor of Braborne, among others, was allotted to Joane, the second sister, then the widow of Warine de Montchensie, by whom she had one son William, and a daughter Joane, married to William de Valence, the king's half brother, who afterwards, through the king's favour, on William de Montchensie's taking part with the discontented barons, and his estates being confiscated, became possessed of this manor, of which he died possessed in the 23d year of king Edward I. leaving Joane his widow surviving, who had it assigned to her as part of her dower. She died in the 1st year of king Edward II. holding it in capite by knight's service, as of the king's marechalsy, and leaving one son Adomar or Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, and three daughters; Anne, married to Maurice Fitzgerald, secondly to Hugh Baliol, and lastly to John de Avennes; Isabel, to John de Hastings, of Bergavenny; and Joane, to John Comyn, of Badenagh. (fn. 3) Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, on her death, succeeded to this manor, and in the 6th year of that reign, obtained a charter of privileges for it, among which were those of a market, fair, and free-warren. He was a nobleman greatly favoured by king Edward I. and II. but in the 17th year of the latter reign, attending the queen into France, he was murdered there that year. He died possessed of this manor, and without issue; so that John de Hastings, son of Isabel, one of the earl's sisters, and John Comyn, of Badenagh, in Scotland, son of Joane, another of the earl's sisters, were found to be his coheirs and next of kin; and the latter of them, on the division of their inheritance, had this manor, in his mother's right, allotted to him. He died s. p. in the 19th year of king Edward II. leaving his two sisters his coheirs, of whom the eldest, Joane, married to David de Strabolgie, earl of Athol, possessed this manor as part of his wife's inheritance, and died next year. His descendant David de Strabolgie, earl of Athol, died in the 49th year of that reign, possessed of this manor, (fn. 4) leaving by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Henry, lord Ferrers, who died the same year, anno 1375, and was buried in the high chancel of Ashford church, two daughters his coheirs, the youngest of whom Philippa, married to John Halsham, of Halsham, in Sussex, by her father's will, became entitled to this manor. The Halshams bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron engrailed, between three leopards heads, gules. Their grandson Sir Hugh Halsham, died anno 21 Henry VI. leaving Joane, his only daughter and heir, who entitled her husband John Lewknor, esq. of Sussex, to the possession of it; in whose descendants it continued till the latter end of king Henry VII.'s reign, when Sybilla, daughter of Sir Thomas Lewknor, carried it in marriage to Sir William Scott, K. B. and in his descendants, resident at Scotts-hall, this manor, with the rents, services, courtlodge, and demesne lands, remained, till at length George Scott, esq. about the year 1700, sold the manor-house, called Braborne court-lodge, with the demesne lands belonging to it, being enabled so to do by an act passed anno 10 and 11 William III. to Tho. Denne, of Patricksborne, whose grandsons Daniel and Thomas Denne, of Sittingborne, in 1768, conveyed this estate to William Deedes, esq. of St. Stephen's, (who was before possessed of an estate in this parish, which had been purchased of George Scott, esq. by his grandfather William Deedes, M. D. of Canterbury) and his eldest son of the same name, now of Hythe, esq. is the present owner of it.

 

BUT THE MANOR RENTS AND SERVICES remained in the family of Scott for some time afterwards, and till Edward Scott, esq. some few years ago, alienated the quit-rents of this manor, together with the Park and Pound farms, in this parish, to Thomas Whorwood, esq. of Denton, who by will devised them for life to Mrs. Cecilia Scott, of Canterbury, daughter of George Scott, esq. before-mentioned, on whose death in 1785 the property of them became vested in lady Markham, widow of Sir James Markham, bart. of Lincolnshire, who was Mr. Whorwood's heir-at-law, and she sold them in 1787 to Sir Edward Knatchbull, bart. the present owner of them.

 

BUT THE MANOR OF BRABORNE ITSELF, with the court baron and other manerial rights belonging to it, remained in the descendants of George Scott, esq. down to Francis Talbot Scott, esq. whose trustees, about the year 1784, conveyed it, with his other estates in this neighbourhood, to Sir John Honywood, bart. of Evington, who is the present proprietor of it.

 

HEMINGE is a manor, lying at the south-east corner of this parish, next to Horton, which in antient time gave both surname and residence to a family so called, as the deeds without date belonging to it plainly shew. At length, after this manor had been in the possession of this name, as might be traced out fully by these evidences for almost three hundred years, it was conveyed by William Heminge, in the 2d year of Edward VI.'s reign, to Peter Nott, in whose descendants it continued till the 16th year of Charles II. when one of them alienated it to Avery Hills, by whose daughter and heir it went in marriage to Hobday, whose descendant sold it, in the year 1713, to Mr. John Nethersole, who left three sons surviving, John, who was of Barham; Stephen, who was of Wimlinswold; and William, who was of Canterbury, in whose three daughters, or their representatives, this manor at length became vested. They agreed on a partition of their inheritance, on which the whole of this manor was allotted to Jacob Sharpe, esq. of Canterbury, the surviving son of Mr. Jacob Sharpe, by Elizabeth, the eldest of the three daughters, who in 1796 sold it to Mr. Thomas Ken nett, of Brabourn, who is the present possessor of it. A court baron is held for this manor.

 

COMBE is another manor, in the northern part of this parish, close at the foot of the downs, which name it had from its situation, cumbe signifying in the Saxon a bottom or valley, and to distinguish it from other manors of the same name in this neighbourhood, it was called Braborne Combe. About the year 990, one Edward de Cumbe, whose son Leofard was a monk in St. Augustine's monastery, by his will bequeatned the land of Cumbe to that monastery. Whether the abbot and convent ever gained the possession of it, or if they did, how long it staid with them, I do not find; but at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in the Conqueror's reign, it was parcel of the possessions of the bishop of Baieux, under the general title of whose lands it is entered in it as follows:

 

The same Wadard holds of the bishop, Cumbe. It was taxed at one suling. The arable land is two carucates. In demesne there is one, and nine villeins, with five borderers having one carucate and an half. There are fourteen acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of five hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth sixty shillings, and afterwards fifty shillings, now four pounds, and the service of one knight. Leuret de rochinge held it of king Edward.

 

After this, on the bishop of Baieux's disgrace, this manor was held of the crown, by a family who took their name from their residence at it; of whom Richard de Combe, and Simon his son, served the office of sheriff, as assistants to Sir John de Northwood, in the 20th year of king Edward I. and bore for their arms, Sable, three lions passant-guar dant, in pale, gules. At length by a female heir of this name, it went by marriage, in the reign of king Richard II. to John Scott, who afterwards resided at it, as did his descendants till Sir William Scott removed to Scotts-hall at the latter end of king Henry IV.'s reign; and in his descendants, of Scotts-hall, this manor continued down to George Scott, esq. of Scotts-hall, who procured an act anno 10 and 11 king William, to vest this manor, among his other estates, in trustees, to be sold for payment of his debts, in pursuance of which it was soon afterwards sold to Brook Bridges, esq. of Goodnestone, afterwards created a baronet, whose great-grandson Sir Brook Bridges, bart. of Goodnestone, is the present possessor of it.

 

HAMPTON is the last manor to be described in this parish, being situated in the north-west corner of it, adjoining to Brooke. It has the name in antient deeds of Hampton Cocklescombe, and sometimes is described by the name of the manor of Cocklescombe only, being so called from its situation in the borough of that name, and within the hundred of Wye. This manor was given by Robert de Ver, constable of England, and lord of Braborne, to Osbert his marshal, and Emeline his wife, who gave it again to the priory in the adjoining parish of Horton, by the description of the land of Hanetone; which gift was confirmed to the priory by the same Robert de Ver, and Adeliza de Montfort his wife, and afterwards by Henry de Essex, (fn. 5) as appears by the register of it; of the priory of Horton this manor was afterwards again held, at the rent of forty shillings in perpetual fee farm, by a family who took their name of Hampton from their residence at it, as appears not only by the above register, but by antient deeds and court-rolls, and that they remained here till the reign of king Henry VI. when John Hampton pasted it away to one of the name of Shelley, by whose heir general it became the property of John May, of Bibroke, in Kennington, whose son of the same name leaving an only daughter Alice, the carried it in marriage to John Edolph, of Brenset, and his daughter Elizabeth entitled her husband William Wil cocks, esq. of New Romney, to it, who died possessed of this manor in the 16th year of queen Elizabeth, holding it in free socage. His widow survived him, and afterwards married Ralph Radcliffe, esq. of Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, who survived her. She died in the 39th year of that reign, and by her last will devised this manor to her only son by her first husband, John Wilcocks, who dying s. p. his two sisters became his coheirs, of whom Martha married Sir Edward Radcliffe, of Sevington, in this county, and physician to king James I. and Elizabeth married William Andrews; and on the partition of their inheritance, Sir Edward Radcliffe became entitled to the sole possession of it, in whose descendants it continued down to John Radcliffe, esq. of Hitchin priory, who dying in 1783, s. p. this manor, among his other estates, came to Sir Charles Farnaby, bart. of Sevenoke, in right of his wife Penelope, sister and heir-at-law of the above mentioned John Radcliffe. Sir Charles Farnaby afterwards took the name of Radcliffe, (fn. 6) and removed to Hitchin, where he died in 1798, and his heirs are now entitled to it.

 

Charities.

 

WILLIAM FORDRED, by will in 1550, gave to this parish, among others, a proportion of the rents of 25 acres of land in St. Mary's parish, in Romney Marsh; which portion to this parish is of the annual produce of 4l. 12s. 4¾d. to be distributed annually to the poor, and vested in trustees.

 

MR. KNOTT gave for the use of the poor, a sum of money, vested in Robert Goddard, of Mersham, now of the annual produce of 8s.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about fifty-five, casually twenty-five.

 

BRABORNE is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Elham.

 

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large handsome building, consisting of two isles and two chancels, having a square tower steeple at the west end, in which are five bells. The northern isle is much lostier than the other, having an upper story, choir-like, with the three upper windows to the south; below which is the roof of the north isle. Both chancels are full of the interments of the Scott family; but the brasses and inscriptions are almost all gone. Against the north wall is a tomb, with an arch and recess over it; against the back have been two figures, with inscriptions, and two shields of brass, now gone; on the side of the tomb are two shields carved in stone, one Pympe, the other Scott. Against the opposite wall is a kind of altar, the form of which is given before, P. I. At the east end, within the rails, is a large altar-tomb against the wall, of Bethersden marble; on it the marks of a figure, the brass gone; on the front five shields, with the arms of Scott, and their several impalements. Over the tomb is a kind of altar-piece, ornamented with stone carve-work, and three shields of arms; I. Scott impaling oblit. over it the date 1290; 2, being the middle shield, Scott and the following quarterings, Beaufitz, Pympe, Pashley, Normanville, Warren, Sergeaux, Gower, and Cogan In which arms of Scott it is noted, all the bordures are plain. In the south chancel belonging likewise to the Scott family, the brasses on the gravestones, with which the pavement is covered, are all gone. In the south wall is a very antient tomb with an arch over it; underneath this tomb the late Edward Scott, esq. was buried. Against this wall is a monument for Arthur Scott, commissioner of the navy, third son of Geo. Scott, of Scotts-hall. Against the north wall a monument for lieutenant-colonel Cholmeley Scott, esq. youngest son of George Scott, esq. of Scotts-hall. Weever mentions several memorials of this family in the body of the church remaining in his time, all which have been long since obliterated, and their brasses destoryed. In the south isle is a stone, with the figure of a man in brass, habited in armour, with sword and spurs on, the latter having the rowels much like the figure of a catherine wheel; a greyhound under his feet; the inscription gone, excepting the words of Brabourne, armigr. and anno Dni mil. Against the north wall, a monument for William Richards, put up by Gabriel Richards, gent. of Rowling, in 1672; arms, Sable, a chevron between three fleurs de lis, argent; a crescent for difference. Another for John Richards, vicar, obt. 1727. In the south scite of the body of the church, is a memorial for Dionisia, daughter of Vincent Fynche, alias Harbert, esq. obt. 1458; arms, Finch impaling Cralle; and in the same isle is a stone, robbed of the figure on it, but the brass inscription remains, for Joane, daughter of Sir Gervas Cliston, married to John Diggs; arms, Clifton impaling Fineh, and Diggs impaling Clifton. The tower at the west end is of a large size, but flat at top, and only of equal height with the roof of the north isle.

 

Mr. Evelyn, in his Discourse on Forest Trees, mentions a superannuated yew-tree growing in this churchyard, which being 58 feet 11 inches in circumference, bore near 20 feet diameter; and besides which there were goodly planks, and other considerable pieces of square and clear timber, which he observed to lie about it, which had been hewed and sawn out of some of the arms only, torn from it by impetuous winds. This tree has been many years since gone, and a fine stately young one now flourishes in the room of it.

 

The church was formerly appendant to the manor, and continued so till it was given, in the beginning of king Henry II.'s reign, by Robert de Ver, lord of the manor of Braborne, to the priory of Horton, at his first foundation of it; and it was appropriated to the priory before the 8th year of king Richard II. the priory being bound to pay the tenth of the vicarage. But there does not seem to have been any endowment made till anno 1445, when there was one assigned by the prior to Thomas de Banstede, the vicar of it. (fn. 7) In which state this church, with the advowson of the vicarage, continued till the dissolution of the priory in the reign of king Henry VIII. when it came into the king's hands, and remained there till it was granted in exchange to the archbishop, where it still continues, the parsonage being at this time parcel of the see of Canterbury, and his grace the archbishop the present parton of the vicarage.

 

The parsonage is a very handsome brick house, standing at a small distance from the church-yard, to which the vicarage adjoins likewise, being a neat small brick building. The family of Kennet have been lessees for many years, Mr. Claude Kennet being the present lessee of it, who resides at it.

 

¶The vicarage of Braborne is valued in the king's books at 11l. 12s. 6d. and the yearly tenths at 1l. 3s. 3d. And there is annually, by the endowment of it, paid out of the parsonage to the vicar, one seam or quarter of wheat, and the like of barley; and archbishop Juxon, anno 15 Charles II. augmented it sixteen pounds per annum, to be paid by the lessee of the parsonage. In 1640 this vicarage was valued at sixty-four pounds, communicants one hundred and six. In 1733 it was valued at one hundred pounds. There is one acre of glebe land belonging to it.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol8/pp14-27

The Grand Staircase inside the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. Designed by George Gilbert Scott for the Midland Railway Company, the building opened in 1873 as the Midland Grand Hotel. Later becoming too costly to maintain and regarded as outdated due to a lack of ensuite facilities, the hotel closed in 1935. Renamed St Pancras Chambers, the building was used as railway offices until the 1980s and then lay empty for two decades before the redevelopment which has restored the hotel to its former glory.

The finest of the surviving 15th century glass at Ludlow can be found in the north chapel, where all four of the windows retain their medieval form (albeit somewhat restored in many places). The Golden Window is the westernmost of the three on the north side and depicts Christ and the Annunciation on it's upper tier with Saints Catherine, John the Baptist and Christopher below, all executed with a particularly lavish use of yellow stain. There has been some significant restoration by Hardman's including several replaced heads but this does little to diminish the window's overall impact.

 

St Lawrence's in Ludlow could easily claim to be the grandest parish church in Shropshire but also one of the very finest and most rewarding medieval churches in the country. It is a very large cruciform building dating mostly to the 14th & 15th centuries crowned by a soaring central tower that is a major landmark of the town. The red sandstone exterior however is otherwise somewhat elusive, being hemmed in by buildings in close proximity and thus difficult to get an overall shot of as a complete building.

 

The church is entered via an unusual hexagonal porch on the south side which admits access to the spacious nave and aisles. The crossing beyond is tall and narrow and adds a cathedral-like dimension to the interior, with views into the lower lantern-stage of the tower above. The chancel beyond is similarly impressive in scale and adornment with a fine 15th century wooden roof and much more.

 

St Lawrence's is especially famous for its interior fittings, most of all the superb medieval choir stalls with one of the best collections of misericord carvings anywhere. Less well known but equally important is the extensive collection of medieval stained glass in the eastern half of the church. Most of the glass in the chancel has either been very heavily restored or replaced entirely in replica by early 19th century restorers, but the glass in the north chapel is much more complete and despite some restoration largely retains its original appearance.

 

There are several notable tombs and monuments here also, including the heart burial of Henry VIII's older brother Prince Arthur (whose untimely death in Ludlow dramatically changed our history forever).

 

St Lawrence's is normally open to visitors on a daily basis and shouldn't be missed. The tower may also be ascended for some fine views over the town of Ludlow and beyond.

Restored

The former SAL depot in Gainesville, until recently a white colored dilapidated structure, has been restored but the signage indicates it was still vacant in February 2015. The oldest part of this depot (at right in picture, later used only for freight) was built by the Florida Railroad when it reached Gainesville from Fernandina in 1859. The newer passenger portion (foreground) was added in 1910. Located at 203 SE Depot Avenue, the structure once had tracks along the loading platform and a small rail yard behind the building. A recreational trail is now out back. Courtesy Google street

LENS: Pentax Lumix 14mm f/2.5

 

CAMERA: Olympus E-PM1

restore cafe

17 may 2011

Vitória - ES

Brasil

The Knockdow Estate boasts a magnificently restored country house in sensational Scottish setting.

 

Knockdow Estate lies in an oft-forgotten corner of Argyll, among the lochs and rounded hills of the Cowal peninsula – part of Argyll’s so-called ‘Secret Coast’. The estate runs northward between Loch Striven and Ardyne Burn, taking in the beautiful Inverchaolain Glen rising up to the 2000ft summits of Cruach nan Capull and Leacann nan Gall west of Dunoon.

 

At the heart of the 250 acre Knockdow Estate is Knockdow House – a very attractive and comprehensively upgraded 12-bedroom mansion just one hour from Glasgow. If you have a cool £2m to spend, then you could have the lot… including two lakes, a former mill pond, outbuildings, pasture and a forest.

 

This magnificent Highland seat was originally owned by a sept of Clan Lamont, one of the oldest of the Scottish clans, for around 600 years.

 

The Lamonts of Knockdow descended from Godfrey (Gorrie) Lamont who is believed to have been the grandson Lamont Clan Chief John III.

 

Knockdow House was built in 1760 and was further altered and extended in 1920 by the laird at the time Sir Norman Lamont, one time Permanent Private Secretary to Sir Winston Churchill.

 

Built of stone under a slate roof, the house itself has been the subject of an extensive restoration and refurbishment project since it was purchased by the current owners in 2010. They have transformed it from being virtually uninhabitable into one of the most outstanding houses on the west coast of Scotland.

 

The renovation and refurbishment of Knockdow House has seen the installation of a state of the art biomass heating system, a new water filtration system, and comprehensive renewal of the electrical, plumbing and heating systems, whilst ensuring that the unique heritage of the house was retained including most of its original features.

 

Laid out over three floors, accommodation includes six main reception rooms, three additional reception rooms and 12 bedrooms (11 of which are en-suite including 3 self-contained suites).

 

A bedroom in the ‘School House’ suite, which used to be the school room, still features a frieze depicting the Monarchs of Scotland.

 

The stunning centrepiece of Knockdow House is a glorious domed cupola over the Great Hall which is galleried at first floor level and supported by Ionic columns.

 

The Lamonts also owned significant estates in Trinidad and Tobago; decorated with mahogany, sandalwood and other exotic woods, Knockdow House bears testament to the family’s Caribbean legacy. For example, the main stairwell is lined with timber panelling from Palmiste in Trinidad.

 

Knockdow House is surrounded by several acres of beautifully kept lawns, parkland and wooded policies, beds of herbaceous shrubs and a variety of mature ornamental deciduous and coniferous trees. Due to the Gulf Stream climate, specialist trees such as eucalyptus, bamboo and palm thrive at Knockdow.

 

On the south side of the house is an enclosed paved terrace and lawn with a gate leading to the south lawn which can serve as a croquet lawn, cricket pitch and playing field for a variety of games and sports.

 

And the sporting opportunities don’t end there – the combination of woods and topography at Knockdow provide the basis for an informal and enjoyable shoot for mixed game including pheasants, partridges, woodcock and snipe.

 

The lakes and mill pond also provide fishing for trout and carp, there is a duck flight pond up the hill towards the northern end of the estate, and the forestry and woodland provide the opportunity for roe deer stalking. The occasional red stag or hind has also been accounted for during a dawn or dusk stalking expedition.

 

Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020). The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current council leader is Robin Currie, a councillor for Kintyre and the Islands.

 

Argyll and Bute covers the second-largest administrative area of any Scottish council. The council area adjoins those of Highland, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

History

 

Buteshire and Argyll were two of the historic counties of Scotland, having originated as shires (the area controlled by a sheriff) in the Middle Ages. From 1890 until 1975 both counties had an elected county council.

 

In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts were abolished and replaced with upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. The Strathclyde region was created covering a large part of western Scotland. Strathclyde was divided into nineteen districts, one of which the 1973 Act called "Argyll", covering most of the former county of Argyll, but also including the Isle of Bute from Buteshire. The shadow authority elected in 1974 requested a change of name to "Argyll and Bute", which was agreed by the government before the new district came into being on 16 May 1975.

 

As created in 1975 the Argyll and Bute district covered the whole area of fourteen of Argyll's sixteen districts and part of a fifteenth, plus two of Buteshire's five districts, which were all abolished at the same time:

 

From Argyll:

Campbeltown Burgh

Cowal District

Dunoon Burgh

Inveraray Burgh

Islay District

Jura and Colonsay District

Kintyre District

Lochgilphead Burgh

Mid Argyll District

Mull District

 

North Lorn District: the Lismore and Appin, and Ardchattan electoral divisions only, rest (Ballachulish and Kinlochleven electoral divisions) went to Lochaber district of Highland

Oban Burgh

South Lorn District

Tiree and Coll District

Tobermory Burgh

 

From Buteshire:

Bute District

Rothesay Burgh

 

The two Buteshire districts together corresponded to the whole Isle of Bute. The rest of Buteshire, being the Isle of Arran and The Cumbraes went to Cunninghame district. The Ardnamurchan district from Argyll went to the Lochaber district of Highland. The new district was made a single Argyll and Bute lieutenancy area.

 

Local government was reformed again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. Argyll and Bute became one of the new council areas, but had its territory enlarged to include the town of Helensburgh and surrounding rural areas which had been in the Dumbarton district prior to 1996, and had formed part of the county of Dunbartonshire prior to 1975. The Helensburgh area had voted in a referendum in 1994 to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.

 

Transport

Railways

The main railway line in Argyll and Bute is the West Highland Line, which links Oban to Glasgow, passing through much of the eastern and northern parts of the area. From the south the line enters Argyll and Bute just to the west of Dumbarton, continuing north via Helensburgh Upper to the eastern shores of the Gare Loch and Loch Long. The line comes inland at Arrochar and Tarbet to meet the western shore of Loch Lomond. At the northern end of the loch the lines leaves Argyll and Bute to enter Stirling council area. The Oban branch of the West Highland Line re-enters the area just west of Tyndrum, and heads west to Oban: stations on this section of the line include Dalmally and Taynuilt railway station. The majority of services on the line are operated by ScotRail: as of 2019 the summer service has six trains a day to Oban, with four on Sundays. In addition to the ScotRail service is the nightly Caledonian Sleeper, although this does not run on the Oban branch.

 

Helensburgh also has a much more frequent service into Glasgow and beyond via the North Clyde Line, which has its western terminus at the town's central railway station.

 

Roads

The main trunk roads in Argyll and Bute are:

The A82, which runs along the western shore of Loch Lomond, providing the main route between Glasgow and Fort William.

The A83, which leaves the A82 at Tarbet, heading west and then south to eventually reach Campbeltown by way of Inveraray and Lochgilphead.

The A85, which leaves the A82 at Tyndrum (just outside Argyll and Bute) and heads west to Oban via Dalmally.

The A828, which leaves the A85 at Connel and north through Appin to join the A82 at Ballachulish.

The A815, which leaves the A83 in Glen Kinglas near Cairndow, heading south through Strachur and Dunoon and ends at Toward 40 miles later, on the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula. The A815 is the main road through Cowal.

The A886, which leaves the A815 at Strachur, passing through Glendaruel, the route includes a ferry link to the Isle of Bute, Colintraive - Rhubodach terminating at Port Bannatyne to the north of Rothesay.

 

Ferry services

Due to its heavily indented coastline and many islands, ferries form an important part of the council area's transport system. The main ferry operator in Argyll and Bute is Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), which operates services from the mainland to most of the inhabited islands. Several other routes are operated by commercial operators, usually on contract to the council, although the Western Ferries service across the Firth of Clyde is run on a commercial basis.

Bute is served by a route across the Kyles of Bute between Rhubodach and Colintraive in Cowal, as well as a route between Rothesay to Wemyss Bay in Inverclyde. Both routes are operated by CalMac.

Coll and Tiree are each served from Oban, via a CalMac service that also provides links between the two islands, and a once-weekly link to Barra.

Gigha is served by a CalMac route from Tayinloan in Kintyre.

Islay is served by a CalMac route from Kennacraig in Kintyre. The service is timetabled to utilise either one of two ports on the island, with both Port Askaig and Port Ellen having a service to the mainland.

Feolin on Jura is linked to Port Askaig on Islay via a vehicle ferry run by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council. There is also a passenger-only service between the island's main centre, Craighouse, and Tayvallich on the mainland that is operated by Islay Sea Safaris.

Kerrera is linked to Gallanach (about 3 km (1.9 mi) southwest of Oban) by a passenger-only service operated by CalMac.

Lismore is served by two ferries, a vehicle and passenger service operated by CalMac that runs from Oban, and a passenger-only service from Port Appin that is operated by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.

Mull is served by a route between Oban and Craignure on the island's east coast, as well as routes across the Sound of Mull (between Lochaline and Fishnish, and Tobermory and Kilchoan). All three routes are operated by CalMac.

Iona is linked to Mull via a CalMac service from Fionnphort at Mull's southwest tip.

The island of Seil, which itself is linked to the mainland via the Clachan Bridge, has links to two further islands: Easdale and Luing. Both services are operated by ASP Ship Management on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council.

 

There are also routes connecting some mainland locations in Argyll and Bute to other parts of the mainland:

There is a CalMac service across Loch Fyne which provides a link between Portavadie in Cowal and Tarbert in Kintyre.

The Cowal peninsula route is a passenger-only service from the Dunoon Breakwater to Gourock pier, giving easy access to ScotRail services at Gourock railway station with onward transport to Glasgow Central station. This route was for a period run by a CalMac subsidiary company, Argyll Ferries, but has since January 2019 been operated directly by CalMac.

CalMac provide a limited (3 ferry each way per week) service between Cambeltown in Kintyre and Ardrosssan in North Aryshire during the summer months.

Western Ferries, a commercial operator, runs a vehicle and passenger service between Hunters Quay to McInroy's Point that also provides a link between Cowal and Inverclyde in (partial) competition with the subsidised CalMac service.

A service operated by Clyde Marine Services on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport runs between Kilcreggan and Gourock pier, providing a link from the Rosneath peninsula to the rail network at Gourock.

 

Argyll and Bute also has ferry services linking it to islands in neighbouring council areas:

Oban is the mainland terminal for services to Barra in Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides).

Lochranza on Arran, in North Ayrshire, has a year-round service to Kintyre: during the summer the mainland port used is Claonaig, however in winter the service is reduced to a single daily return crossing from Tarbert.

 

There is also a passenger-only ferry service linking Campbeltown and Port Ellen on Islay with Ballycastle in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, running seasonally from April to September, operated by West Coast Tours as the Kintyre Express.

 

Cultural references

The later scenes of the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love were filmed around the lochs and hills of Argyll and Bute.

 

The area has also been indirectly immortalised in popular culture by the 1977 hit song "Mull of Kintyre" by Kintyre resident Paul McCartney's band of the time, Wings.

Leyland Leopard (93) RCM 493 of Birkenhead Corporation Transport visiting the Hooton Park Heritage Open Day Cheshire. In service from 1964 with bodywork by Massey Brothers of Wigan with two doors for one man operation, transferred to the Merseyside Passenger Transport Exexcutive in 1969 but continued in service until 1977. Later used as a safety show bus for Wirral Borough Council? and donated to the Wirral Transport Museum in 1993.

During the campaign, President Obama argued that his election would help restore the image the rest of the world has of United States.

 

In the six months since his election, his approval ratings at home have slipped, though they remain high. Around the rest of the world, opinion is mixed. A recent study by WorldPublicOpinion.org asked people in 21 countries whether they had confidence that Obama would “do the right thing” when it came to world affairs. Our latest Transparency is a look at their responses.

 

A collaboration between GOOD and Newhouse Design.

 

Click here to view the full transparency.

Roger emailed me these photos of my brunette pt 3. He rerooted her and touched up her paint just a bit. Her bangs are original. Looking forward to having her home and back on a body.

Almost a quarter of a million glazed tiles cover the Cathedral's roof. They were restored following damage at the end of WW2

The Northbound Washington Court House turn passes the newly repainted sb fixed approach CPL in Madisonville. 9/15/23

Ben restores small European cars in his garage in my hometown of Manchester, Michigan. Ben previously purchased a VW panel van from my nephew Grant, which he restored and has now sold. Grant and I stopped by his garage on June 18, 2020 to look at this 1956 VW Beetle which he is currently restoring.

 

View my collections on flickr here: Collections

 

Press L for a larger image on black.

Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director, Greenpeace International, Netherlands speaking during the Session: Restoring Ocean Resources at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary

THExpo, Mystery Creek 4th March 2017

Rollins College students travel to Moab, Utah for an alternative spring break camping experience. They worked with Plateau Restoration, Inc. to remove invasive plant species and help restore native desert habitats. 2016. "Photos: Scott Cook"

All this time I've wandered around searching for the things I'll never know

I've been searching for this answer that only will be found in your love

And I feel it

My heart is being mended by your touch

And I hear it

Your voice that's shown my purpose in this world

 

You have restored me from my feeble and broken soul

You have restored me

 

I've only come to realize my strength will be made perfect at your throne

Laying all reflections down to see the precious beauty that you've shown

And I feel it

My heart is being mended by your touch

And I hear it

Your voice thats shown my purpose in this world.

 

Laying all these questions down you've answered what I need

You've given more than I deserve your making me complete

You give me all these open doors I'm humbled at your feet

To show me what you've done for me.

 

All this time I've wandered around searching for the things I'll never know.

 

Jeremy Camp

 

restore cafe

17 may 2011

The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris, France.

 

The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. About 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

 

Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623. With his death came Louis XIV who expanded the château into the beginnings of a palace that went through several changes and phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and capital of France returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents, and the population of the surrounding city plummeted.

 

Napoleon, following his coronation as Emperor, used Versailles as a summer residence from 1810 to 1814, but did not restore it. Following the Bourbon Restoration, when the king was returned to the throne, he resided in Paris and it was not until the 1830s that meaningful repairs were made to the palace. A museum of French history was installed within it, replacing the apartments of the southern wing.

 

The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its importance as the center of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. The French Ministry of Culture has placed the palace, its gardens, and some of its subsidiary structures on its list of culturally significant monuments.

 

History

Main article: History of the Palace of Versailles

An engraving of Louis XIII's château as it appeared in 1652

Versailles around 1652, engraving by Jacques Gomboust [fr]

In 1623, Louis XIII, King of France, built a hunting lodge on a hill in a favorite hunting ground, 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris and 16 kilometers (10 mi) from his primary residence, the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The site, near a village named Versailles, was a wooded wetland that Louis XIII's court scorned as being generally unworthy of a king; one of his courtiers, François de Bassompierre, wrote that the lodge "would not inspire vanity in even the simplest gentleman". From 1631 to 1634, architect Philibert Le Roy replaced the lodge with a château for Louis XIII, who forbade his queen, Anne of Austria, from staying there overnight, even when an outbreak of smallpox at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1641 forced Louis XIII to relocate to Versailles with his three-year-old heir, the future Louis XIV.

 

When Louis XIII died in 1643, Anne became Louis XIV's regent, and Louis XIII's château was abandoned for the next decade. She moved the court back to Paris, where Anne and her chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, continued Louis XIII's unpopular monetary practices. This led to the Fronde, a series of revolts against royal authority from 1648 to 1653 that masked a struggle between Mazarin and the princes of the blood, Louis XIV's extended family, for influence over him. In the aftermath of the Fronde, Louis XIV became determined to rule alone. Following Mazarin's death in 1661, Louis XIV reformed his government to exclude his mother and the princes of the blood, moved the court back to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and ordered the expansion of his father's château at Versailles into a palace.

 

Louis XIV had hunted at Versailles in the 1650s, but did not take any special interest in Versailles until 1661. On 17 August 1661, Louis XIV was a guest at a sumptuous festival hosted by Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances, at his palatial residence, the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Louis XIV was impressed by the château and its gardens, which were the work of Louis Le Vau, the court architect since 1654, André Le Nôtre, the royal gardener since 1657, and Charles Le Brun, a painter in royal service since 1647. Vaux-le-Vicomte's scale and opulence inspired Louis XIV's aesthetic sense, but also led him to imprison Fouquet that September, as he had also built an island fortress and a private army. Louis XIV was also inspired by Vaux-le-Vicomte, and he recruited its authors for his own projects. Louis XIV replaced Fouquet with Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a protégé of Mazarin and enemy of Fouquet, and charged him with managing the corps of artisans in royal employment. Colbert acted as the intermediary between them and Louis XIV, who personally directed and inspected the planning and construction of Versailles.

 

Construction

Work at Versailles was at first concentrated on gardens, and through the 1660s, Le Vau only added two detached service wings and a forecourt to the château. But in 1668–69, as a response to the growth of the gardens, and victory over Spain in the War of Devolution, Louis XIV decided to turn Versailles into a full-scale royal residence. He vacillated between replacing or incorporating his father's château, but settled on the latter by the end of the decade, and from 1668 to 1671, Louis XIII's château was encased on three sides in a feature dubbed the enveloppe. This gave the château a new, Italianate façade overlooking the gardens, but preserved the courtyard façade, resulting in a mix of styles and materials that dismayed Louis XIV and that Colbert described as a "patchwork". Attempts to homogenize the two façades failed, and in 1670 Le Vau died, leaving the post of First Architect to the King vacant for the next seven years.

 

Le Vau was succeeded at Versailles by his assistant, architect François d'Orbay. Work at the palace during the 1670s focused on its interiors, as the palace was then nearing completion, though d'Orbay expanded Le Vau's service wings and connected them to the château, and built a pair of pavilions for government employees in the forecourt. In 1670, d'Orbay was tasked by Louis XIV with designing a city, also called Versailles, to house and service Louis XIV's growing government and court. The granting of land to courtiers for the construction of townhouses that resembled the palace began in 1671. The next year, the Franco-Dutch War began and funding for Versailles was cut until 1674, when Louis XIV had work begun on the Ambassadors' Staircase , a grand staircase for the reception of guests, and demolished the last of the village of Versailles.

 

Following the end of the Franco-Dutch War with French victory in 1678, Louis XIV appointed as First Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, an experienced architect in Louis XIV's confidence, who would benefit from a restored budget and large workforce of former soldiers. Mansart began his tenure with the addition from 1678 to 1681 of the Hall of Mirrors, a renovation of the courtyard façade of Louis XIII's château, and the expansion of d'Orbay's pavilions to create the Ministers' Wings in 1678–79. Adjacent to the palace, Mansart built a pair of stables called the Grande and Petite Écuries from 1679 to 1682 and the Grand Commun, which housed the palace's servants and general kitchens, from 1682 to 1684. Mansart also added two entirely new wings in Le Vau's Italianate style to house the court, first at the south end of the palace from 1679 to 1681 and then at its north end from 1685 to 1689.

 

War and the resulting diminished funding slowed construction at Versailles for the rest of the 17th century. The Nine Years' War, which began in 1688, stopped work altogether until 1698. Three years later, however, the even more expensive War of the Spanish Succession began and, combined with poor harvests in 1693–94 and 1709–10, plunged France into crisis. Louis XIV thus slashed funding and canceled some of the work Mansart had planned in the 1680s, such as the remodeling of the courtyard façade in the Italianate style. Louis XIV and Mansart focused on a permanent palace chapel, the construction of which lasted from 1699 to 1710.

 

Louis XIV's successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, largely left Versailles as they inherited it and focused on the palace's interiors. Louis XV's modifications began in the 1730s, with the completion of the Salon d'Hercule, a ballroom in the north wing, and the expansion of the king's private apartment, which required the demolition of the Ambassadors' Staircase In 1748, Louis XV began construction of a palace theater, the Royal Opera of Versailles at the northernmost end of the palace, but completion was delayed until 1770; construction was interrupted in the 1740s by the War of the Austrian Succession and then again in 1756 with the start of the Seven Years' War. These wars emptied the royal treasury and thereafter construction was mostly funded by Madame du Barry, Louis XV's favorite mistress. In 1771, Louis XV had the northern Ministers' Wing rebuilt in Neoclassical style by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, his court architect, as it was in the process of falling down. That work was also stopped by financial constraints, and it remained incomplete when Louis XV died in 1774. In 1784, Louis XVI briefly moved the royal family to the Château de Saint-Cloud ahead of more renovations to the Palace of Versailles, but construction could not begin because of financial difficulty and political crisis. In 1789, the French Revolution swept the royal family and government out of Versailles forever.

 

Role in politics and culture

The Palace of Versailles was key to Louis XIV's politics, as an expression and concentration of French art and culture, and for the centralization of royal power. Louis XIV first used Versailles to promote himself with a series of nighttime festivals in its gardens in 1664, 1668, and 1674, the events of which were disseminated throughout Europe by print and engravings. As early as 1669, but especially from 1678, Louis XIV sought to make Versailles his seat of government, and he expanded the palace so as to fit the court within it. The moving of the court to Versailles did not come until 1682, however, and not officially, as opinion on Versailles was mixed among the nobility of France.

 

By 1687, however, it was evident to all that Versailles was the de facto capital of France, and Louis XIV succeeded in attracting the nobility to Versailles to pursue prestige and royal patronage within a strict court etiquette, thus eroding their traditional provincial power bases. It was at the Palace of Versailles that Louis XIV received the Doge of Genoa, Francesco Maria Imperiale Lercari in 1685, an embassy from the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1686, and an embassy from Safavid Iran in 1715.[

 

Louis XIV died at Versailles on 1 September 1715 and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV, then the duke of Anjou, who was moved to Vincennes and then to Paris by Louis XV's regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. Versailles was neglected until 1722, when Philippe II removed the court to Versailles to escape the unpopularity of his regency, and when Louis XV began his majority. The 1722 move, however, broke the cultural power of Versailles, and during the reign of Louis XVI, courtiers spent their leisure in Paris, not Versailles.

 

During Christmas 1763, Mozart and his family visited Versailles and dined with the kings. The 7-year-old Mozart played several works during his stay and later dedicated his first two harpsichord sonatas, published in 1764 in Paris, to Madame Victoria, daughter of Louis XV.

 

In 1783, the palace was the site of the signing of the last two of the three treaties of the Peace of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War. On September 3, British and American delegates, led by Benjamin Franklin, signed the Treaty of Paris at the Hôtel d'York (now 56 Rue Jacob) in Paris, granting the United States independence. On September 4, Spain and France signed separate treaties with England at the Palace of Versailles, formally ending the war.

 

The King and Queen learned of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris on 14 July 1789, while they were at the palace, and remained isolated there as the Revolution in Paris spread. The growing anger in Paris led to the Women's March on Versailles on 5 October 1789. A crowd of several thousand men and women, protesting the high price and scarcity of bread, marched from the markets of Paris to Versailles. They took weapons from the city armory, besieged the palace, and compelled the King and royal family and the members of the National Assembly to return with them to Paris the following day.

 

As soon as the royal family departed, the palace was closed. In 1792, the National Convention, the new revolutionary government, ordered the transfer of all the paintings and sculptures from the palace to the Louvre. In 1793, the Convention declared the abolition of the monarchy and ordered all of the royal property in the palace to be sold at auction. The auction took place between 25 August 1793 and 11 August 1794. The furnishings and art of the palace, including the furniture, mirrors, baths, and kitchen equipment, were sold in seventeen thousand lots. All fleurs-de-lys and royal emblems on the buildings were chambered or chiseled off. The empty buildings were turned into a storehouse for furnishings, art and libraries confiscated from the nobility. The empty grand apartments were opened for tours beginning in 1793, and a small museum of French paintings and art school was opened in some of the empty rooms.

 

By virtue of an order issued by the Versailles district directorate in August 1794, the Royal Gate was destroyed, the Cour Royale was cleared and the Cour de Marbre lost its precious floor.

 

19th century – history museum and government venue

When Napoleon became Emperor of the French in 1804, he considered making Versailles his residence but abandoned the idea because of the cost of the renovation. Prior to his marriage with Marie-Louise in 1810, he had the Grand Trianon restored and refurnished as a springtime residence for himself and his family, in the style of furnishing that it is seen today.

 

In 1815, with the final downfall of Napoleon, Louis XVIII, the younger brother of Louis XVI, became King, and considered returning the royal residence to Versailles, where he had been born. He ordered the restoration of the royal apartments, but the task and cost was too great. Louis XVIII had the far end of the south wing of the Cour Royale demolished and rebuilt (1814–1824) to match the Gabriel wing of 1780 opposite, which gave greater uniformity of appearance to the front entrance. Neither he nor his successor Charles X lived at Versailles.

 

The French Revolution of 1830 brought a new monarch, Louis-Philippe to power, and a new ambition for Versailles. He did not reside at Versailles but began the creation of the Museum of the History of France, dedicated to "all the glories of France", which had been used to house some members of the royal family. The museum was begun in 1833 and inaugurated on 30 June 1837. Its most famous room is the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles), which lies on most of the length of the second floor of the south wing. The museum project largely came to a halt when Louis Philippe was overthrown in 1848, though the paintings of French heroes and great battles still remain in the south wing.

 

Emperor Napoleon III used the palace on occasion as a stage for grand ceremonies. One of the most lavish was the banquet that he hosted for Queen Victoria in the Royal Opera of Versailles on 25 August 1855.

 

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the palace was occupied by the general staff of the victorious German Army. Parts of the château, including the Gallery of Mirrors, were turned into a military hospital. The creation of the German Empire, combining Prussia and the surrounding German states under William I, was formally proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors on 18 January 1871. The Germans remained in the palace until the signing of the armistice in March 1871. In that month, the government of the new Third French Republic, which had departed Paris during the War for Tours and then Bordeaux, moved into the palace. The National Assembly held its meetings in the Opera House.

 

The uprising of the Paris Commune in March 1871, prevented the French government, under Adolphe Thiers, from returning immediately to Paris. The military operation which suppressed the Commune at the end of May was directed from Versailles, and the prisoners of the Commune were marched there and put on trial in military courts. In 1875 a second parliamentary body, the French Senate, was created and held its meetings for the election of a President of the Republic in a new hall created in 1876 in the south wing of the palace. The French Senate continues to meet in the palace on special occasions, such as the amendment of the French Constitution.

 

20th century

The end of the 19th and the early 20th century saw the beginning of restoration efforts at the palace, first led by Pierre de Nolhac, poet and scholar and the first conservator, who began his work in 1892. The conservation and restoration were interrupted by two world wars but have continued until the present day.

 

The palace returned to the world stage in June 1919, when, after six months of negotiations, the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the First World War, was signed in the Hall of Mirrors. Between 1925 and 1928, the American philanthropist and multi-millionaire John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $2,166,000, the equivalent of about thirty million dollars today, to restore and refurbish the palace.

 

More work took place after World War II, with the restoration of the Royal Opera of Versailles. The theater was reopened in 1957, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

 

In 1978, parts of the palace were heavily damaged in a bombing committed by Breton terrorists.

 

Starting in the 1950s, when the museum of Versailles was under the directorship of Gérald van der Kemp, the objective was to restore the palace to its state – or as close to it as possible – in 1789 when the royal family left the palace. Among the early projects was the repair of the roof over the Hall of Mirrors; the publicity campaign brought international attention to the plight of post-war Versailles and garnered much foreign money including a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

 

One of the more costly endeavors for the museum and France's Fifth Republic has been to repurchase as much of the original furnishings as possible. Consequently, because furniture with a royal provenance – and especially furniture that was made for Versailles – is a highly sought-after commodity on the international market, the museum has spent considerable funds on retrieving much of the palace's original furnishings.

 

21st century

In 2003, a new restoration initiative – the "Grand Versailles" project – was started, which began with the replanting of the gardens, which had lost over 10,000 trees during Cyclone Lothar on 26 December 1999. One part of the initiative, the restoration of the Hall of Mirrors, was completed in 2006. Another major project was the further restoration of the backstage areas of the Royal Opera of Versailles in 2007 to 2009.

 

The Palace of Versailles is currently owned by the French state. Its formal title is the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. Since 1995, it has been run as a Public Establishment, with an independent administration and management supervised by the French Ministry of Culture.

 

The grounds of the palace will host the equestrian competition during the 2024 Summer Olympics.

 

Architecture and plan

The Palace of Versailles is a visual history of French architecture from the 1630s to the 1780s. Its earliest portion, the corps de logis, was built for Louis XIII in the style of his reign with brick, marble, and slate, which Le Vau surrounded in the 1660s with Enveloppe, an edifice that was inspired by Renaissance-era Italian villas. When Mansart made further expansions to the palace in the 1680s, he used the Enveloppe as the model for his work. Neoclassical additions were made to the palace with the remodeling of the Ministers' Wings in the 1770s, by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, and after the Bourbon Restoration.

 

The palace was largely completed by the death of Louis XIV in 1715. The eastern facing palace has a U-shaped layout, with the corps de logis and symmetrical advancing secondary wings terminating with the Dufour Pavilion on the south and the Gabriel Pavilion to the north, creating an expansive cour d'honneur known as the Royal Court (Cour Royale). Flanking the Royal Court are two enormous asymmetrical wings that result in a façade of 402 metres (1,319 ft) in length. Covered by around a million square feet (10 hectares) of roof, the palace has 2,143 windows, 1,252 chimneys, and 67 staircases.[

 

The palace and its grounds have had a great influence on architecture and horticulture from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th century. Examples of works influenced by Versailles include Christopher Wren's work at Hampton Court Palace, Berlin Palace, the Palace of La Granja, Stockholm Palace, Ludwigsburg Palace, Karlsruhe Palace, Rastatt Palace, Nymphenburg Palace, Schleissheim Palace, and Esterházy Palace.

 

Royal Apartments

The construction in 1668–1671 of Le Vau's enveloppe around the outside of Louis XIII's red brick and white stone château added state apartments for the king and the queen. The addition was known at the time as the château neuf (new château). The grands appartements (Grand Apartments, also referred to as the State Apartments[141][142]) include the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine. They occupied the main or principal floor of the château neuf, with three rooms in each apartment facing the garden to the west and four facing the garden parterres to the north and south, respectively. The private apartments of the king (the appartement du roi and the petit appartement du roi) and those of the queen (the petit appartement de la reine) remained in the château vieux (old château). Le Vau's design for the state apartments closely followed Italian models of the day, including the placement of the apartments on the main floor (the piano nobile, the next floor up from the ground level), a convention the architect borrowed from Italian palace design.

 

The king's State Apartment consisted of an enfilade of seven rooms, each dedicated to one of the known planets and their associated titular Roman deity. The queen's apartment formed a parallel enfilade with that of the grand appartement du roi. After the addition of the Hall of Mirrors (1678–1684) the king's apartment was reduced to five rooms (until the reign of Louis XV, when two more rooms were added) and the queen's to four.

 

The queen's apartments served as the residence of three queens of France – Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche, wife of Louis XIV, Marie Leczinska, wife of Louis XV, and Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI. Additionally, Louis XIV's granddaughter-in-law, Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, duchesse de Bourgogne, wife of the Petit Dauphin, occupied these rooms from 1697 (the year of her marriage) to her death in 1712.

 

Ambassador's Staircase

The Ambassadors' Staircase (Escalier des Ambassadeurs) was an imperial staircase built from 1674 to 1680 by d'Orbay. Until Louis XV had it demolished in 1752 to create a courtyard for his private apartments, the staircase was the primary entrance into the Palace of Versailles and the royal apartments especially. It was entered from the courtyard via a vestibule that, cramped and dark, contrasted greatly with the tall, open space of the staircase – famously lit naturally with a skylight – so as to overawe visitors.

 

The staircase and walls of the room that contained it were clad in polychrome marble and gilded bronze, with decor in the Ionic order. Le Brun and painted the walls and ceiling of the room according to a festive theme to celebrate Louis XIV's victory in the Franco-Dutch War. On the wall immediately above the staircase were trompe-l'œil paintings of people from the Four Parts of the World looking into the staircase over a balustrade, a motif repeated on the ceiling fresco. There they were joined by allegorical figures for the twelve months of the year and various Classical Greek figures such as the Muses. A marble bust of Louis XIV, sculpted by Jean Warin in 1665–66, was placed in a niche above the first landing of the staircase.

 

The State Apartments of the King

The construction of the Hall of Mirrors between 1678 and 1686 coincided with a major alteration to the State Apartments. They were originally intended as his residence, but the King transformed them into galleries for his finest paintings, and venues for his many receptions for courtiers. During the season from All-Saints Day in November until Easter, these were usually held three times a week, from six to ten in the evening, with various entertainments.

 

The Salon of Hercules

This was originally a chapel. It was rebuilt beginning in 1712 under the supervision of the First Architect of the King, Robert de Cotte, to showcase two paintings by Paolo Veronese, Eleazar and Rebecca and Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee, which was a gift to Louis XIV from the Republic of Venice in 1664. The painting on the ceiling, The Apotheosis of Hercules, by François Lemoyne, was completed in 1736, and gave the room its name.

 

The Salon of Abundance

The Salon of Abundance was the antechamber to the Cabinet of Curios (now the Games Room), which displayed Louis XIV's collection of precious jewels and rare objects. Some of the objects in the collection are depicted in René-Antoine Houasse's painting Abundance and Liberality (1683), located on the ceiling over the door opposite the windows.

 

The Salon of Venus

This salon was used for serving light meals during evening receptions. The principal feature in this room is Jean Warin's life-size statue of Louis XIV in the costume of a Roman emperor. On the ceiling in a gilded oval frame is another painting by Houasse, Venus subjugating the Gods and Powers (1672–1681). Trompe-l'œil paintings and sculpture around the ceiling illustrate mythological themes.

 

The Salon of Mercury

The Salon of Mercury was the original State Bedchamber when Louis XIV officially moved the court and government to the palace in 1682. The bed is a replica of the original commissioned by King Louis-Philippe in the 19th century when he turned the palace into a museum. The ceiling paintings by the Flemish artist Jean Baptiste de Champaigne depict the god Mercury in his chariot, drawn by a rooster, and Alexander the Great and Ptolemy surrounded by scholars and philosophers. The Automaton Clock was made for the King by the royal clockmaker Antoine Morand in 1706. When it chimes the hour, figures of Louis XIV and Fame descend from a cloud.

 

The Salon of Mars

The Salon of Mars was used by the royal guards until 1782, and was decorated on a military theme with helmets and trophies. It was turned into a concert room between 1684 and 1750, with galleries for musicians on either side. Portraits of Louis XV and his Queen, Marie Leszczinska, by the Flemish artist Carle Van Loo decorate the room today.

 

The Salon of Apollo

The Salon of Apollo was the royal throne room under Louis XIV, and was the setting for formal audiences. The eight-foot-high silver throne was melted down in 1689 to help pay the costs of an expensive war, and was replaced by a more modest throne of gilded wood. The central painting on the ceiling, by Charles de la Fosse, depicts the Sun Chariot of Apollo, the King's favorite emblem, pulled by four horses and surrounded by the four seasons.

 

The Salon of Diana

The Salon of Diana was used by Louis XIV as a billiards room, and had galleries from which courtiers could watch him play. The decoration of the walls and ceiling depicts scenes from the life of the goddess Diana. The celebrated bust of Louis XIV by Bernini made during the famous sculptor's visit to France in 1665 is on display here.

 

Private apartments of the King and Queen

The apartments of the King were the heart of the château; they were in the same location as the rooms of Louis XIII, the creator of the château, on the first floor (second floor US style). They were set aside for the personal use of Louis XIV in 1683. He and his successors Louis XV and Louis XVI used these rooms for official functions, such as the ceremonial lever ("waking up") and the coucher ("going to bed") of the monarch, which was attended by a crowd of courtiers.

 

The King's apartment was accessed from the Hall of Mirrors from the Oeil de Boeuf antechamber or from the Guardroom and the Grand Couvert, the ceremonial room where Louis XIV often took his evening meals, seated alone at a table in front of the fireplace. His spoon, fork, and knife were brought to him in a golden box. The courtiers could watch as he dined.

 

The King's bedchamber had originally been a Drawing Room before Louis XIV transformed it into his own bedroom in 1701. He died there on 1 September 1715. Both Louis XV and Louis XVI continued to use the bedroom for their official awakening and going to bed. On 6 October 1789, from the balcony of this room Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, joined by the Marquis de Lafayette, looked down on the hostile crowd in the courtyard, shortly before the King was forced to return to Paris.

 

The bed of the King is placed beneath a carved relief by Nicolas Coustou entitled France watching over the sleeping King. The decoration includes several paintings set into the paneling, including a self-portrait of Antony van Dyck.

 

Private apartments of The Queen

The petit appartement de la reine is a suite of rooms that were reserved for the personal use of the queen. Originally arranged for the use of the Marie-Thérèse, consort of Louis XIV, the rooms were later modified for use by Marie Leszczyńska and finally for Marie-Antoinette. The Queen's apartments and the King's Apartments were laid out on the same design, each suite having seven rooms. Both suites had ceilings painted with scenes from mythology; the King's ceilings featured male figures, the Queen's featured females.

 

Hall of Mirrors

The Hall of Mirrors is a long gallery at the westernmost part of the palace that looks out onto the gardens. The hall was built from 1678 to 1681 on the site of a terrace Le Vau built between the king and queen's suites. The hall is clad in marble and decorated in a modified version of the Corinthian order, with 578 mirrors facing 17 windows and reflecting the light provided by them. The ceiling fresco, painted by Le Brun over the next four years, embellishes the first 18 years of Louis XIV's reign in 30 scenes, 17 of which are military victories over the Dutch. The fresco depicts Louis XIV himself alongside Classical figures in the scenes celebrating moments in his reign such as the beginning of personal rule in 1661, breaking from earlier frescoes at Versailles that used allegories derived from Classical and mythological scenes.

 

The Salon of War and the Salon of Peace bookend the Hall of Mirrors on its northern and southern ends respectively. The Salon of War, constructed and decorated from 1678 to 1686, celebrates French victories in the Franco-Dutch War with marble panels, gilded bronze trophies of arms, and a stucco bas-relief of Louis XIV on horsebask riding over his enemies. The Salon of Peace is decorated in the same fashion but according to its eponymous theme.

 

Royal Chapel

The Royal Chapel of Versailles is located at the southern end of the north wing. The building stands 40-meter (130 ft) high, and measures 42 meters (138 ft) long and 24 meters (79 ft) wide. The chapel is rectangular with a semicircular apse, combining traditional, Gothic royal French church architecture with the French Baroque style of Versailles. The ceiling of the chapel is constituted by an unbroken vault, divided into three frescos by Antoine Coypel, Charles de La Fosse, and Jean Jouvenet. The palette of motifs beneath the frescoes glorify the deeds of Louis IX, and include images of David, Constantine, Charlemagne, and Louis IX, fleur de lis, and Louis XIV's monogram. The organ of the chapel was built by Robert Clicquot and Julien Tribuot in 1709–1710.

 

Louis XIV commissioned the chapel, its sixth, from Mansart and Le Brun in 1683–84. It was the last building constructed at Versailles during Louis XIV's reign. Construction was delayed until 1699, however, and it was not completed until 1710. The only major modification to the chapel since its completion was the removal of a lantern from its roof in 1765. A full restoration of the chapel began in late 2017 and lasted into early 2021.

 

Royal Opera

The Royal Opera of Versailles was originally commissioned by Louis XIV in 1682 and was to be built at the end of the North Wing with a design by Mansart and Vigarani. However, due to the expense of the King's continental wars, the project was put aside. The idea was revived by Louis XV with a new design by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1748, but this was also temporarily put aside. The project was revived and rushed ahead for the planned celebration of the marriage of the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and Marie-Antoinette. For economy and speed, the new opera was built almost entirely of wood, which also gave it very high quality acoustics. The wood was painted to resemble marble, and the ceiling was decorated with a painting of the Apollo, the god of the arts, preparing crowns for illustrious artists, by Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau. The sculptor Augustin Pajou added statuary and reliefs to complete the decoration. The new Opera was inaugurated on 16 May 1770, as part of the celebration of the royal wedding.

 

In October 1789, early in the French Revolution, the last banquet for the royal guardsmen was hosted by the King in the opera, before he departed for Paris. Following the Franco-German War in 1871 and then the Paris Commune until 1875, the French National Assembly met in the opera, until the proclamation of the Third French Republic and the return of the government to Paris.

 

Museum of the History of France

Shortly after becoming King in 1830, Louis Philippe I decided to transform the palace into a museum devoted to "All the Glories of France," with paintings and sculpture depicting famous French victories and heroes. Most of the apartments of the palace were entirely demolished (in the main building, practically all of the apartments were annihilated, with only the apartments of the king and queen remaining almost intact), and turned into a series of several large rooms and galleries: the Coronation Room (whose original volume was left untouched by Louis-Philippe), which displays the celebrated painting of the coronation of Napoleon I by Jacques-Louis David; the Hall of Battles; commemorating French victories with large-scale paintings; and the 1830 room, which celebrated Louis-Philippe's own coming to power in the French Revolution of 1830. Some paintings were brought from the Louvre, including works depicting events in French history by Philippe de Champaigne, Pierre Mignard, Laurent de La Hyre, Charles Le Brun, Adam Frans van der Meulen, Nicolas de Largillière, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Jean-Marc Nattier, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Hubert Robert, Thomas Lawrence, Jacques-Louis David, and Antoine-Jean Gros. Others were commissioned especially for the museum by prominent artists of the early 19th century, including Eugène Delacroix, who painted Saint Louis at the French victory over the British in the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242. Other painters featured include Horace Vernet and François Gérard. A monumental painting by Vernet features Louis Philippe himself, with his sons, posing in front of the gates of the palace.

 

The overthrow of Louis Philippe in 1848 put an end to his grand plans for the museum, but the Gallery of Battles is still as it was, and is passed through by many visitors to the royal apartments and grand salons. Another set of rooms on the first floor has been made into galleries on Louis XIV and his court, displaying furniture, paintings, and sculptures. In recent years, eleven rooms on the ground floor between the Chapel and the Opera have been turned into a history of the palace, with audiovisual displays and models.

 

Estate of Versailles

The estate of Versailles consists of the palace, the subsidiary buildings around it, and its park and gardens. As of June 2021, the estate altogether covers an area of 800 hectares (8.0 km2; 2,000 acres), with the park and gardens laid out to the south, west, and north of the palace. The palace is approached from the east by the Avenue de Paris, measuring 17 miles (27 km) from Paris to a gate between the Grande and Petite Écuries. Beyond these stables is the Place d'Armes, where the Avenue de Paris meets the Avenue de Sceaux and Avenue de Saint-Cloud (see map), the three roads that formed the main arteries of the city of Versailles. Exactly where the three roads meet is a gate leading into the cour d'honneur. hemmed in by the Ministers' Wings. Beyond is the Royal Gate and the main palace, which wraps around the Royal and finally Marble Courts

 

The estate was established by Louis XIII as a hunting retreat, with a park just to the west of his château. From 1661, Louis XIV expanded the estate until, at its greatest extent, the estate was made up by the Grand Parc , a hunting ground of 15,000 hectares (150 km2; 37,000 acres), and the gardens, called the Petit Parc, which covered 1,700 hectares (17 km2; 4,200 acres). A 25-mile (40 km) long, 10-foot (3.0 m) high wall with 24 gateways enclosed the estate.

 

The landscape of the estate had to be created from the bog that surrounded Louis XIII's château using landscape architecture usually employed in fortress building. The approach to the palace and the gardens were carefully laid out via the moving of earth and construction of terraces. The water from the marsh was marshalled into a series of lakes and ponds around Versailles, but these reservoirs were not sufficient for the palace, city, or gardens. Great lengths were taken to supply Versailles with water, such as the damming of the river Bièvre to create an inflow in the 1660s, the construction of an enormous pumping station at the river Seine near Marly-le-Roi in 1681, and an attempt to divert water from the river Eure with a canal in the later 1680s.

 

Gardens

The gardens of Versailles, as they have existed since the reign of Louis XIV, are the work of André Le Nôtre. Le Nôtre's gardens were preceded by a simple garden laid out in the 1630s by landscape architects Jacques Boyceau and Jacques de Nemours, which he rearranged along an east–west axis that, because of Louis XIV's land purchases and the clearing of woodland, were expanded literally as far as could be seen. The resulting gardens were a collaboration between Le Nôtre, Le Brun, Colbert, and Louis XIV, marked by rigid order, discipline, and open space, with axial paths, flowerbeds, hedges, and ponds and lakes as motifs. They became the epitome of the French formal garden style, and have been very influential and widely imitated or reproduced.

 

Subsidiary structures

The first of the subsidiary structures of the Palace of Versailles was the Versailles Menagerie [fr],[199][200] built by Le Vau between the years 1662 and 1664, at the southern end of the Grand Canal. The apartments, overlooking the pens, were renovated by Mansart from 1698 to 1700, but the Menagerie fell into disuse in 1712. After a long period of decay, it was demolished in 1801. The Versailles Orangery, just to the south of the palace, was first built by Le Vau in 1663, originally as part of the general moving of earth to create the Estate.[191] It was also modified by Mansart, who, from 1681 to 1685, totally rebuilt it and doubled its size.

 

In late 1679, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to build the Château de Marly, a retreat at the edge of Versailles's estate, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the palace. The château consisted of a primary residential building and twelve pavilions, in Palladian style placed in two rows on either side of the main building. Construction was completed in 1686, when Louis XIV spent his first night there. The château was nationalized and sold in 1799, and subsequently demolished and replaced with industrial buildings. These were themselves demolished in 1805, and then in 1811 the estate was purchased by Napoleon. On 1 June 2009, the grounds of the Château de Marly were ceded to the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles.

 

La Lanterne, is a hunting lodge named after the lantern that topped the nearby Menagerie that was built in 1787 by Philippe Louis de Noailles, then the palace governor. It has since 1960 been a state residence.

 

Petit Trianon

The Petit Trianon, whose construction from 1762 to 1768 led to the advent of the names "Grand" and "Petit Trianon", was constructed for Louis XV and the Madame du Barry in the Neoclassical style by Gabriel. The building has a piano nobile, basement, and attic, with five windows on each floor. On becoming king, Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon to Marie Antoinette, who remodeled it, relaid its gardens in the then-current English and Oriental styles, and formed her own court there.

 

In 1668, Louis XIV purchased and demolished the hamlet of Trianon, near the northern tip of the Grand Canal, and in its place, he commissioned Le Vau to construct a retreat from court, remembered as the Porcelain Trianon. Designed and built by Le Vau in 1670, it was the first example of Chinoiserie (faux Chinese) architecture in Europe, though it was largely designed in French style. The roof was clad not with porcelain but with delftware, and was thus prone to leaks, so in 1687 Louis XIV ordered it demolished. Nevertheless, the Porcelain Trianon was itself influential and copycats were built across Europe.

 

The Grand Trianon

The Grand Trianon with courtyard and gardens. The wing at left is a residence of the President of France.

The Grand Trianon with courtyard and gardens. The wing at left is a residence of the President of France.

 

To replace the Porcelain Trianon, Louis XIV tasked Mansart with the construction in 1687 of the Grand Trianon, built from marble in three months. The Grand Trianon has a single story, except for its attached service wing, which was modified by Mansart in 1705–06. The east façade has a courtyard while the west faces the gardens of the Grand Trianon, and between them a peristyle. The interiors are mostly original,[214] and housed Louis XIV, the Madame de Maintenon, Marie Leszczynska, and Napoleon, who ordered restorations to the building. Under de Gaulle, the north wing of the Grand Trianon became a residence of the President of France.

 

The Queen's hamlet and Theater

Near the Trianons are the French pavilion, built by Gabriel in 1750 between the two residences, and the Queen's Theater and Queen's Hamlet, built by architect Richard Mique in 1780 and from 1783 to 1785 respectively. These were both built at the behest of Marie Antoinette; the theater, hidden in the gardens, indulged her appreciation of opera and is absolutely original, and the hamlet to extend her gardens with rustic amenities. The building scheme of the Queen's Hamlet includes a farmhouse (the farm was to produce milk and eggs for the queen), a dairy, a dovecote, a boudoir, a barn that burned down during the French Revolution, a mill and a tower in the form of a lighthouse.

 

Modern political and ceremonial functions

The palace still serves political functions. Heads of state are regaled in the Hall of Mirrors; the bicameral French Parliament—consisting of the Senate (Sénat) and the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale)—meet in joint session (a congress of the French Parliament) in Versailles to revise or otherwise amend the French Constitution, a tradition that came into effect with the promulgation of the 1875 Constitution. For example, the Parliament met in joint session at Versailles to pass constitutional amendments in June 1999 (for domestic applicability of International Criminal Court decisions and for gender equality in candidate lists), in January 2000 (ratifying the Treaty of Amsterdam), and in March 2003 (specifying the "decentralized organization" of the French Republic).

 

In 2009, President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the global financial crisis before a congress in Versailles, the first time that this had been done since 1848, when Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte gave an address before the French Second Republic. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, President François Hollande gave a speech before a rare joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles. This was the third time since 1848 that a French president addressed a joint session of the French Parliament at Versailles. The president of the National Assembly has an official apartment at the Palace of Versailles. In 2023 a state visit by Charles III to France included a state banquet at the Palace.

Temple Church of St Mary, Fleet Street, London

 

I'm nearing the end of my journey around the City of London churches, and I'd been saving a couple of the more significant ones until nearly last. Temple Church is a royal peculiar rather than a parish church, like Westminster Abbey. It is set among the Inns of Court off of Fleet Street, and is jointly owned by the Inner Temple and Middle Temple. It is best known for being one of England's few surviving round churches, built in that style by the Knights Templar. More significantly, the 12th Century interior shows some of the very earliest evidence in England of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic architecture. The huge chancel, by far the biggest in the city, was added fifty years later and is fully in the Early English style.

 

The church escaped the Great Fire (just) but was still refitted by Sir Christopher Wren with furnishings more suitable for protestant worship. The church is famous for its 13th Century effigies of knights and replicas of those of kings. In fact, everything you see is completely restored, as is the church around it - the building was gutted during the Blitz of 11th May 1941, and the late 1950s restoration required the complete refacing of the building both inside and out. Happily, many of Wren's furnishings, including the spectacular reredos commissioned from William Rounthwaite, had been removed to storage by the Victorians, and were put back in the church. The effigies were severely damaged that night, but they had in any case been heavily restored on several occasions in the 19th Century. For me, they were not the most interesting thing about the interior, for that was the terrific scheme of stained glass at the east end by Carl Edwards of 1957-58.

 

Temple Church is one of two city churches you have to pay to get into, the other being St Bartholomew the Great. Temple church is by no means as spectacular as St Barts, but it is still worth a visit even if you weren't being trainspotterish and completist like me. Unlike St Barts, opening days are not regular or predictable, but are shown for the month ahead on the church website.

Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director, Greenpeace International, Netherlands speaking during the Session: Restoring Ocean Resources at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary

It's such a cute little thing!

A blocked drainage ditch running across the shallow slope of an area of degraded Purple Moor-grass (Molinia caerulea)-dominated, now re-wetted, blanket bog which has shown good recovery of mire vegetation including of Sphagnum bog-mosses, at Aclands, Exmoor, Somerset, England.

Restore data shredding

FJ66 UNK

DAF LF 250 FA

Weymouth Esplanade.

Restored

Restored

Spotted outside Union Station.

The grand opening of the Habitat LA ReStore in Norwalk (now located in Bellflower and Torrance.)

 

Various staff and volunteers pose with locomotive 3526 after returning from a 5-year restoration.

 

Thirlmere, NSW.

 

Saturday 3 March 2018.

 

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Dominic Kailash Nath Waughray, Head of Public-Private Partnership, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, Greg Stone, Executive Vice-President and Chief Scientist for Oceans, Conservation International, USA , Nishan Degnarain, Member, Monetary Policy Committee Central Bank of Mauritius, Mauritius, Mari Ella Pangestu, Professor of International Economics University of Indonesia, Indonesia, Peter Thomson, President of the United Nations General Assembly, New York, Wu Hougang, Chairman and President, Zoneco Group, People's Republic of China capture during the Session: Restoring Ocean Resources at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary

Impression from the Session: Cyber War at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary the Session: Cyber War at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary the Session: Restoring Ocean Resources at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary

"Privilege has its membership," banner at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

 

The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear was a quasi-political rally held on October 30, 2010 in Washington DC featuring comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and sponsored by Comedy Central. With both comedians’ shows being distinctly political, having a rally in Washington DC seemed a logical extension of the concept. The rally was initially announced as two (intentionally) competing events – the Rally to Restore Sanity with Jon Stewart, and the Rally to Keep Fear Alive with Stephen Colbert. Ultimately, these two events were combined into one single event on the National Mall, about four blocks west of the Capitol.

 

More at The Schumin Web:

www.schuminweb.com/photography/restoring-sanity-fear/

 

Ben Schumin is a professional photographer who captures the intricacies of daily life. This image may be used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0. Please provide artist attribution, as well as a link to the original photo and to the license terms.

Holiday in Wales 1989.

 

Minolta X300 Camera

Kodachrome colour slide film

Kodak mini digital film scanner

Colour restored with Photoshop

Pentax K-x, 35mm lens

 

This picture is a record, an update of Disused House 14 which was taken well over 40 years ago. www.flickr.com/photos/ricboyd/16413129922

A biologist from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary uses a glue gun to reattach a piece of living coral broken lose when a boat went aground on the shallow coral reef.

 

To learn more about coral reefs and marine sanctuaries, visit:

NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries

Corals Tutorial, (National Ocean Service Education)

What is a National Marine Sanctuary?, (Diving Deeper audio podcast)

Coral Reef Conservation

 

(Original source: National Ocean Service Image Gallery)

One of the most spectacular spaces in the newly restored Minnesota State Capitol is the Supreme Court chambers with John La Farge's mural depicting Moses receiving the Law. The brilliant restored painting hangs over the justices as they hear cases. This was my first tour of the building since the restoration was completed this year. The project cost $300 million and, in fact, has its own Flickr account.

My father-in-law, Lewis Keller and my son Chase (12) restored a Ford Ferguson tractor a few years ago. My son Chase was finally able to drive it in the Weston, MI Memorial Day Parade. Aeron Baker.

Inger Andersen, Director-General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland speaking during the Session: Restoring Ocean Resources at the Annual Meeting 2017 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 20, 2017

Copyright by World Economic Forum / Sikarin Thanachaiary