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Animating the Archive – Locust Swarm Simulation
This project is an installation in collaboration with a fine artist – Amanda Thomson, involved in The War of the Locust research project. The project’s installation works as a creative response to the archival material of the Anti-Locust Research Centre, 1940-45. The visualisation is displayed in a 3-sided pyramid for Pepper’s Ghost projection. Basic autonomous behavior is ascribed to the locust using Unity3D and the principles of flocking behavior defined by Reynolds (1987). This prototype focuses on evoking feelings of locust swarms and their behavior in comparison to solidity or truthful biological representation of the insects. Additionally, it tests the ability of autonomous behavior to achieve this outcome. The finalised installation will aim to explore how artistic material can engage exhibition visitors.
Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany
German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.
The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.
The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.
Part of the complete sequence of seven early 14th century windows preserving most of their original glass in the choir clerestorey.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Calibration of the video projects is an ongoing maintenance issue.
The registration of the video overlays needs to stay within sub millimeter tolerances.
If it isn't perfect, the visual solidity (continuity of perceptual illusion) rapidly breaks down.
What is Maya ?
That which truly is not, but appears to be, is Maya.
That which causes infatuation or Moha is Maya.
Maya is an appearance.
It is semblance (a situation in which sth seems to exist although this may not, in fact, be the case).
Maya is the illusory power of God.
She (Maya) is the creatrix of this universe.
She projects this world for His Lila (sport).
Mind, intellect, body, and senses are her forms.
She is the energy or mother-aspect of the Lord.
Just as heat is inseparable from fire, coldness from ice, Maya is inseparable from Brahman (God). It is dependent on Brahman.
Maya has countless potencies.
Solidity of stone is a power of Maya.
Fluidity of water is another power of Maya.
Fire is a third burning power.
Air is the moving power of Maya.
Ether (the upper part of the sky) is the void or space power of Maya.
You know you will die, and yet you think you will live forever.
This is Maya.
You know that the world is full of miseries, and yet you take delight in the perishable objects and will not leave them.
This is Maya.
You know that the human body is made up of all sorts of impurities, flesh, bone, urine and faecal matter, and yet you rejoice in embracing it under the sway of lust.
This is Maya.
Maya causes false glittering and entraps the deluded Jivas (individual souls).
She does a little electroplating work.
Man is entrapped.
He is caught in the wheel of birth and death.
Maya is neither true nor false.
It is truly false and falsely true.
It is neither real nor unreal.
It is not real like Brahman, because it disappears when one gets Knowledge.
It is not unreal like a barren woman's son or the horn of hare, because its presence is felt.
This Maya is a sort of jugglery.
You are astonished so long as the juggler is not seen.
As soon as the juggler is known, the results are known to be unreal; the wonder ceases at once.
When you realize Brahman, the wonder of Maya's working vanishes.
When the mesmerist hypnotizes the whole audience, all people believe that the man is ascending the rope in the air. All people see that the mesmerist devours a big sword and cuts the body of a lad in the box. Even so, you are all hypnotized by Maya and Avidya (ignorance) and you take this unreal world as a solid reality.
De-hypnotize yourself by getting Knowledge of Brahman.
Then alone you will understand the grand jugglery of Maya.
(From Swami Sivananda's Book, "May I Answer That?")
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Conundrum" by Bill Perrin.
Erected at the Grange Community Centre in Hogans Road, Hoppers Crossing.
It is approx 5 metres high, and suggests a tension between the solidity of the bronze sphere and the fluid confligurations made from the twisted stainless steel rods which suspend the sphere in a buoyant state.
AUS$46,700
The Lafayette Building and former First Presbyterian Church in South Bend are new on Indiana Landmarks' 10 Most Endangered in 2015. Learn more at www.indianalandmarks.org.
Two South Bend landmarks on the 10 Most Endangered list sit next door to one another, across the street from the city’s historic courthouses. The city ordered both structures sealed until multiple code violations are cured.
Last fall, when slate began cascading from the roof of the long-vacant former First Presbyterian, the out-of-state owner replaced the slate with a tar paper roof. This year, finally, installation of a new imitation slate roof began on the vacant, damaged landmark.
Pittsburgh architect J. P. Bailey—creator of courthouses and schools from the Midwest to Maine—designed the 1888 sandstone and limestone church in the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style. Local industrialists J. M Studebaker and J.D. Oliver, who each covered a third of the cost, favored the style’s expression of solidity and permanence.
The Lafayette Building dates from 1901 and 1903, when it went from three to five stories. The understated Neoclassical exterior gives no hint of the graceful interior, lit by a five-story skylighted atrium. In addition to its deteriorated condition, the property’s delinquent tax bill tops $1 million.
“Indiana Landmarks linked the two sites as a 10 Most Endangered entry because we think each affects the fate of the other, and because we believe the solution may be a redevelopment that unites them,” says Todd Zeiger, director of the organization’s northern office.
Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany
German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.
The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.
The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.
With warmest thanks and well wishes to the congregation of Holy Rosary for their kindness in allowing these pictures to be taken. James
Special thanks to JohnnyG1955 also for sharing the below info
www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyg1955/sets/72157604152348131/...
The parish of the Holy Rosary is the seventh oldest mission in the City of Leeds, with the first Church and School of the Holy Rosary built in Barrack Street in 1886 as a Chapel-of-Ease to St Anne’s Cathedral.
As the area from Sheepscar up to Moortown was developed, the population of the parish increased until in 1927 the first steps were taken to build a new church. Rev Canon Mitchell invited architects to submit plans for a new church with Marten & Burnett chosen as the architects for the building. A site was bought on Chapeltown Road in 1930 and then in 1935 test holes were dug in what was then the garden of Ashbourne House on Chapeltown Road. The foundation stone was laid on May 3rd 1936 by Canon Hawkswell. The church was completed at a cost of over £13,000, with Ashbourne House becoming the Presbytery of the new church.
The first mass was celebrated on September 30th 1937 by The Bishop of Leeds, Bishop Henry John Poskitt with Bishop Shine of Middlesbrough. Father Ward was the first priest in the parish.
Among the priests at the first mass in the new church in 1937 was a young priest who had been ordained in Ireland for the Leeds Diocese the previous year. In 1951, this priest, Canon P. O’Meara, became the first Parish Priest of the Holy Rosary, a position he held until his death in 1985. There is a commemorative plaque to Canon O’Meara in the church.
The first priest to be ordained from the Holy Rosary Parish was Father Gerald Creasey who was ordained in 1961.
In 1987 Father James Leavy instigated renovations to the church including: the relocation of the altar, removal of the communion rails, the font being moved to the chancel steps and the shortening of the nave creating a community room between the narthex and the main body of the church. The front of the original organ was retained above the community room and a new altar of Yorkshire Stone was created in the side chapel.
In 1989 the Presbytery, occupying what had been Ashbourne House, was split in two. The part nearest the church became the new presbytery and the House of Light took over the other half. At this time the presbytery was refurbished. The hall underneath the church was leased out to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance at this time.
The parish feast day is on October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
William Marshall, the last abbot of Kirkstall Abbey to die in office, came from what is now the Holy Rosary parish. He built the tower of Kirkstall Abbey in 1527, just twelve years before his successor, John Ripley, the 27th and last Abbot, had the sad duty of surrendering the Abbey to King Henry VIII. That the remains of the tower are still visible after 430 years is proof of the solidity of its construction, and a memorial to one who might be considered an early parishioner.
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
Another that could be seen as an early parishioner is William Scott of Scott Hall. Scott Hall was situated in Potternewton, just about where Scott Hall Place is now. This had been the home of the Scott family who had originated from Scotland. When the last of the family line died, the hall was demolished and the land was quarried, with the stone used for many Leeds buildings. When the quarry was worked out it was filled in and is now the playing fields on Scott Hall Road. When the A61 was built in the 1930s, it was named Scott Hall as a reminder of the former land use.
William Scott left a “parcel of land” on the corner of Vicar Lane and Kirkgate to the Parish Priest of Leeds Parish Church in 1470, on which a modest mansion was built. The site existed for almost 400 years and was known as Vicar’s Croft, until it was bought in 1857 by the Leeds Corporation and is now the home of the Leeds Markets.
An aerial view of the Church its surroundings can be found at:
www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=20021127_4...
Sources:
Silver Jubilee brochure for Holy Rosary Church, Leeds 1937-1962, can be downloaded from here.
www.movinghere.org.uk/search/catalogue.asp?catphase=short...
Gilleghan J (1990) Worship North and East of Leeds, Kingsway Press
The Diocese of Leeds
Leeds in The Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913:
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Leeds
The Diocese of Leeds on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Leeds
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
clinical waste / institutionalisation
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior.
Enoch Powell, when Minister for Health in the early 1960s, was a later opponent who was appalled by what he witnessed on his visits to the asylums, and his famous "water tower" speech in 1961 called for the closure of all NHS asylums and their replacement by wards in general hospitals:
"There they stand, isolated, majestic, imperious, brooded over by the gigantic water-tower and chimney combined, rising unmistakable and daunting out of the countryside - the asylums which our forefathers built with such immense solidity to express the notions of their day. Do not for a moment underestimate their powers of resistance to our assault. Let me describe some of the defences which we have to storm."
scandal after scandal followed, with many high profile public inquiries. These involved the exposure of abuses such as unscientific surgical techniques such as lobotomy and the widespread neglect and abuse of vulnerable patients in the USA and Europe. The growing anti-psychiatry movement in the 1960s and 1970s led in Italy to the first successful legislative challenge to the authority of the mental institutions, culminating in their closure.
During the 1980 s and 1990s the hospital population started to fall rapidly, mainly because of the deaths of long-term inmates. Significant efforts were made to re-house large numbers of former residents in a variety of suitable or otherwise alternative accommodation. The first 1,000+ bed hospital to close was Darenth Park in Kent, swiftly followed by many more across the UK. The haste of these closures, driven by the Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher and John Major, led to considerable criticism in the press, as some individuals slipped through the net into homelessness or were discharged to poor quality private sector mini-institutions. The resistance of many institutions to change, predicted by Enoch Powell, has continued into the 21st century, and there are still several thousand people permanently resident in the dwindling asylums and long stay hospital replacement campuses scattered across the UK.
Part of the complete sequence of seven early 14th century windows preserving most of their original glass in the choir clerestorey.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Alexander Calder American, 1898-1976
Sphérique I, 1931
Wire, brass, wood, and paint
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, purchase, with funds from the Howard and Jean Lipman Foundation, Inc., 1970, 70.12
In Sphérique I, Alexander Calder investigates the nature of matter and volume. The solidity and density of the small solid sphere is contrasted with the volume of air that the circular and semicircular wires only partially encompass. Similarly, the painted black border on the base frames only two sides of the white square. Calder seems to encourage viewers to complete these forms in their imagination. Both Sphérique I and Croisière were included in Calder's first exhibition of abstract sculptures in 1931.
design Alberto Meda
The teak collection returns to the essence of the setes bench with its chairs, tables
and chaise-longue models. Manufactured with teak wood slats on a die-cast aluminium
frame, the products of the teak collection are resistant over time and pleasant
to the touch. Suitable for outdoor areas, they add solidity and attention to detail
to the outdoor collections.
La collezione teak restituisce nei progetti di sedute, con e senza braccioli, lettini e tavoli
l’anima materica e formale della panchina setes. Realizzati con doghe di legno teak su
struttura in pressofusione di alluminio, i pezzi della collezione teak sono resistenti nel
tempo e piacevoli al tatto. Adatti agli spazi aperti dei giardini, aggiungono solidità
e cura dei dettagli al paesaggio outdoor.
Back row: S (Simon) Fone 6T2, GM (Geoff) Seale 6B2, CF (Colin) Pass 6T2, RHE ("Bone") Ham 6S2, MJ (Mike) Mason 6T1, R (Robert) Fountain 6S2, MJ (Martin) Malec 6B1, IRW (Ian) Whitwham 6M3.
Front row: CJ (Chris) Packman 6M2, RE (Dick) Hickman 6T2, IM (Ian) Macwhinnie 6M3, MF (Mark) Forrester 6M3, M (Mike, "Taff") Harris 6M2, RA (Ron) Fewtrell 6M2, DG (David) Horley 6S2.
All the players are identified in the May 1963 Wycombiensian.
From the Wycombiensian, May 1963:
1st XV
Played 16, Won 7, Drawn 1, Lost 8, Points for 127, against 158.
Much has been said and written about this winter with regard to its effect on sport, so I will just mention that it curtailed nearly all attempts to play rugby in the second half of the season . Thus most of our games against club and college sides were cancelled, the exceptions being one game against Wycombe Rugby Club “A” side and of course the usual seven-a-side tournaments played at the end of term. [The winter of 1962/63 is famous for being one of the coldest and snowiest on record - JS]
The team started off in fine form against Windsor G.S . and showed ability to play football, which did not make itself apparent for many more matches. After playing well in the first game, the school three-quarter line completely lost cohesion both in attack and defence, and only when Horley moved from full-back into the centre did any semblance of a real defence show in their play. After many experiments to find a suitable combination in the centre, the arrival back in the team of Fone after injury seemed to bring back some of the drive in attack and solidity in defence.
On the right wing Forrester showed glimpses of pace when given room to move, but seemed to have lost the fire and dash of last year. Malec on the other wing lacked pace, but made up for this by determined running and sound defence.
If any strength showed in the backs it was because of the ability of Fewtrell and Whitwham to combine well as half-backs. Whitwham, lacking in stature, gave a good service and his kicking from the base of the scrum and from the line-out showed a maturity beyond his years. Fewtrell started the season very quietly and it wasn’t until later when he gained confidence in his own ability that he showed his true worth. Perhaps his best game was the last of the season against Wycombe “A”, when he virtually dictated the pattern. of play throughout the game.
No player could possibly dictate the pattern of play without having possession of the ball, and thus the hooking of Mason must be mentioned. He, ably supported by Hickman and Macwhinnie, have proved a formidable trio in the front row. These three have formed the basis of a pack which has gradually improved throughout the season.
In the second row, Ham and Pass have proved an able combination. Ham in the line-out has been quite outstanding, especially towards the end of the season. Pass, on the other hand, has proved to be a very mobile second-row forward.
In the back row, Harris, Fountain and Davies have worked hard and shown the ability to produce intelligent back row play.
[unattributed]
Ardersier Road, Victoria BC. "The Home Lumber Office is valued for its association with leading Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. By the time of construction of this building in 1972, Erickson had already achieved national and international prominence for his designs of Simon Fraser University and for his numerous Modern houses. Widely renowned as Canada's most brilliant architect, Erickson's reputation is important to the growth of post-Second World War modern architecture in Canada and North America.
The Home Lumber Office is valued architecturally as one of Erickson's most successful small-scale designs. A cohesive expression of simple lines and ultimate transparency, this structure reduces the idea of post-and-beam West Coast Modernism to its most simplistic and refined elements. Based on a square floor plan and a .9 metre (three foot) module throughout, the elegant pavillion structure is an exploration of simple geometry. The large pyramidal glass skylight hovers above the cantilevered timber roof structure, illuminating the open-plan interior space. The structure is formally sited upon an elevated terrazzo podium, which provides a visual and spatial balance with the overhanging eaves. Erickson expressed the function of the building as an office that is comfortable, light and efficient. The Home Lumber Office is also of significance for its position with the development of Erickson's larger body of work. He was originally acquainted with a member of the Jawl family through his involvement with the design of the Sikh Temple in Vancouver (Erickson/Massey Architects, 1969-70). In this later commission, he further abstracted the formal geometry of Indian religious symbols down to their simplest form. Many of Erickson's buildings, especially his residences, are conceived as free-standing pavilions, and this is one of his most successful translations of this concept into a commercial building. Subtle uplighting at night dissolves the solidity of the structure and gives the roof an apparent weightlessness. The structure is also significant for the refinement of detail displayed in its design and construction. The columns were milled to taper as they rose, and sheets of tinted glass are set into channels in the terrazzo and the wood without visible trim. Although simple in appearance, the roof was complicated to construct, and was built first on the ground, and then raised by crane so that the rest of the building could be constructed beneath. The office building is further valued for its connection to the Jawl family, who have strong community connections as entrepreneurs and benefactors in Saanich. Jawl Industries was formed in 1964 by four brothers, Robert, Karnel, Sohan and Mohan Jawl, and this building has served since 1972 as their head office." from Canada's Historic Places
Special thanks to JohnnyG1955 for sharing the below info
www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyg1955/sets/72157604152348131/...
The parish of the Holy Rosary is the seventh oldest mission in the City of Leeds, with the first Church and School of the Holy Rosary built in Barrack Street in 1886 as a Chapel-of-Ease to St Anne’s Cathedral.
As the area from Sheepscar up to Moortown was developed, the population of the parish increased until in 1927 the first steps were taken to build a new church. Rev Canon Mitchell invited architects to submit plans for a new church with Marten & Burnett chosen as the architects for the building. A site was bought on Chapeltown Road in 1930 and then in 1935 test holes were dug in what was then the garden of Ashbourne House on Chapeltown Road. The foundation stone was laid on May 3rd 1936 by Canon Hawkswell. The church was completed at a cost of over £13,000, with Ashbourne House becoming the Presbytery of the new church.
The first mass was celebrated on September 30th 1937 by The Bishop of Leeds, Bishop Henry John Poskitt with Bishop Shine of Middlesbrough. Father Ward was the first priest in the parish.
Among the priests at the first mass in the new church in 1937 was a young priest who had been ordained in Ireland for the Leeds Diocese the previous year. In 1951, this priest, Canon P. O’Meara, became the first Parish Priest of the Holy Rosary, a position he held until his death in 1985. There is a commemorative plaque to Canon O’Meara in the church.
The first priest to be ordained from the Holy Rosary Parish was Father Gerald Creasey who was ordained in 1961.
In 1987 Father James Leavy instigated renovations to the church including: the relocation of the altar, removal of the communion rails, the font being moved to the chancel steps and the shortening of the nave creating a community room between the narthex and the main body of the church. The front of the original organ was retained above the community room and a new altar of Yorkshire Stone was created in the side chapel.
In 1989 the Presbytery, occupying what had been Ashbourne House, was split in two. The part nearest the church became the new presbytery and the House of Light took over the other half. At this time the presbytery was refurbished. The hall underneath the church was leased out to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance at this time.
The parish feast day is on October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
William Marshall, the last abbot of Kirkstall Abbey to die in office, came from what is now the Holy Rosary parish. He built the tower of Kirkstall Abbey in 1527, just twelve years before his successor, John Ripley, the 27th and last Abbot, had the sad duty of surrendering the Abbey to King Henry VIII. That the remains of the tower are still visible after 430 years is proof of the solidity of its construction, and a memorial to one who might be considered an early parishioner.
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
Another that could be seen as an early parishioner is William Scott of Scott Hall. Scott Hall was situated in Potternewton, just about where Scott Hall Place is now. This had been the home of the Scott family who had originated from Scotland. When the last of the family line died, the hall was demolished and the land was quarried, with the stone used for many Leeds buildings. When the quarry was worked out it was filled in and is now the playing fields on Scott Hall Road. When the A61 was built in the 1930s, it was named Scott Hall as a reminder of the former land use.
William Scott left a “parcel of land” on the corner of Vicar Lane and Kirkgate to the Parish Priest of Leeds Parish Church in 1470, on which a modest mansion was built. The site existed for almost 400 years and was known as Vicar’s Croft, until it was bought in 1857 by the Leeds Corporation and is now the home of the Leeds Markets.
An aerial view of the Church its surroundings can be found at:
www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=20021127_4...
Sources:
Silver Jubilee brochure for Holy Rosary Church, Leeds 1937-1962, can be downloaded from here.
www.movinghere.org.uk/search/catalogue.asp?catphase=short...
Gilleghan J (1990) Worship North and East of Leeds, Kingsway Press
The Diocese of Leeds
Leeds in The Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913:
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Leeds
The Diocese of Leeds on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Leeds
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and the massive scale gives it a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the shape of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century (mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration an sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
My wife likes the solidity of this shot and feels it conveys the weight of the object. I think I prefer this shot.
With warmest thanks and well wishes to the congregation of Holy Rosary for their kindness in allowing these pictures to be taken. James
Special thanks to JohnnyG1955 also for sharing the below info
www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyg1955/sets/72157604152348131/...
The parish of the Holy Rosary is the seventh oldest mission in the City of Leeds, with the first Church and School of the Holy Rosary built in Barrack Street in 1886 as a Chapel-of-Ease to St Anne’s Cathedral.
As the area from Sheepscar up to Moortown was developed, the population of the parish increased until in 1927 the first steps were taken to build a new church. Rev Canon Mitchell invited architects to submit plans for a new church with Marten & Burnett chosen as the architects for the building. A site was bought on Chapeltown Road in 1930 and then in 1935 test holes were dug in what was then the garden of Ashbourne House on Chapeltown Road. The foundation stone was laid on May 3rd 1936 by Canon Hawkswell. The church was completed at a cost of over £13,000, with Ashbourne House becoming the Presbytery of the new church.
The first mass was celebrated on September 30th 1937 by The Bishop of Leeds, Bishop Henry John Poskitt with Bishop Shine of Middlesbrough. Father Ward was the first priest in the parish.
Among the priests at the first mass in the new church in 1937 was a young priest who had been ordained in Ireland for the Leeds Diocese the previous year. In 1951, this priest, Canon P. O’Meara, became the first Parish Priest of the Holy Rosary, a position he held until his death in 1985. There is a commemorative plaque to Canon O’Meara in the church.
The first priest to be ordained from the Holy Rosary Parish was Father Gerald Creasey who was ordained in 1961.
In 1987 Father James Leavy instigated renovations to the church including: the relocation of the altar, removal of the communion rails, the font being moved to the chancel steps and the shortening of the nave creating a community room between the narthex and the main body of the church. The front of the original organ was retained above the community room and a new altar of Yorkshire Stone was created in the side chapel.
In 1989 the Presbytery, occupying what had been Ashbourne House, was split in two. The part nearest the church became the new presbytery and the House of Light took over the other half. At this time the presbytery was refurbished. The hall underneath the church was leased out to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance at this time.
The parish feast day is on October 7th, the feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
William Marshall, the last abbot of Kirkstall Abbey to die in office, came from what is now the Holy Rosary parish. He built the tower of Kirkstall Abbey in 1527, just twelve years before his successor, John Ripley, the 27th and last Abbot, had the sad duty of surrendering the Abbey to King Henry VIII. That the remains of the tower are still visible after 430 years is proof of the solidity of its construction, and a memorial to one who might be considered an early parishioner.
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
Another that could be seen as an early parishioner is William Scott of Scott Hall. Scott Hall was situated in Potternewton, just about where Scott Hall Place is now. This had been the home of the Scott family who had originated from Scotland. When the last of the family line died, the hall was demolished and the land was quarried, with the stone used for many Leeds buildings. When the quarry was worked out it was filled in and is now the playing fields on Scott Hall Road. When the A61 was built in the 1930s, it was named Scott Hall as a reminder of the former land use.
William Scott left a “parcel of land” on the corner of Vicar Lane and Kirkgate to the Parish Priest of Leeds Parish Church in 1470, on which a modest mansion was built. The site existed for almost 400 years and was known as Vicar’s Croft, until it was bought in 1857 by the Leeds Corporation and is now the home of the Leeds Markets.
An aerial view of the Church its surroundings can be found at:
www.leodis.net/display.aspx?resourceIdentifier=20021127_4...
Sources:
Silver Jubilee brochure for Holy Rosary Church, Leeds 1937-1962, can be downloaded from here.
www.movinghere.org.uk/search/catalogue.asp?catphase=short...
Gilleghan J (1990) Worship North and East of Leeds, Kingsway Press
The Diocese of Leeds
Leeds in The Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913:
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Leeds
The Diocese of Leeds on Wikipedia:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocese_of_Leeds
For more about the history of Kirkstall Abbey see:
www.leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey/Kirkstall_Abbey/History.aspx
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
St Mary, Walpole, Suffolk
Walpole is a fairly large village on the outskirts of Halesworth. I've been cycling through it long enough to remember when it still had a shop and a pub, and what felt like a life of its own, but these are gone now. However, St Mary survives, set back from the road in a large graveyard up the hill on the way to Halesworth. At first sight, it appears to be a fairly run-of-the-mill Victorian village church, but a Norman doorway has been preserved within the south porch. Otherwise, what you see today is largely the work of the 19th century architect HM Eyton.
To be honest, It is easy to moan about churches like this. But here it is, at the heart of its village, open to visitors, reasonably friendly inside - honestly, it is hard to criticize. From the outside, it puts me in mind of Catholic churches in northern France, rebuilt in this style after the destruction of the First World War. This design is also familiar from a thousand municipal cemetery chapels, with its funny little spire and restrained mock-decorated windows.
There are some medieval survivals here. But not many. The base of the tower was retained, and footings of the nave walls suggest it was originally Saxon. The Norman doorway is remarkably well-preserved, suggesting the previous porch had survived for many centuries. It has had an electric light fitting driven through it, presumably by someone who thought it was a good idea.
Even on a sunny day the church seems dark inside, but as your eyes become accustomed to the gloom your first surprise is the rather odd medieval font. It is not originally from this church but from St Andrew, in the centre of Norwich, which may explain its urban solidity. It must be said that it is much more attractive than the vulgar 19th century one that replaced it in Norwich.
The parish have been busy here over the last few years, and one of the most striking aspects of the interior is that the long chancel has been cleared of all its furnishings, exposing a fine Victorian tiled floor. It does perhaps accentuate the gloom of the nave, and modern chairs would look much better in that space than clumpy old Victorian pews.
The village of Walpole is a mecca for church explorers, but they are on their way to visit Walpole Old Chapel up the hill, rather than the homely charms of St Mary. I was headed there next, as I understood it was open on Saturday afternoons, and I hadn't seen inside since recording a programme about it for BBC Radio Suffolk a year or so previously. I came out of St Mary into the rain. It was that horrible seeping drizzle, and so I sped as fast as I could up to the Old Chapel. I got there to find that it didn't open until 2pm. There was no shelter, and waiting an hour in the rain wasn't really an option, so I hurried back to Halesworth and took shelter in the Angel Hotel instead.
St Mary, Walpole, Suffolk
Walpole is a fairly large village on the outskirts of Halesworth. I've been cycling through it long enough to remember when it still had a shop and a pub, and what felt like a life of its own, but these are gone now. However, St Mary survives, set back from the road in a large graveyard up the hill on the way to Halesworth. At first sight, it appears to be a fairly run-of-the-mill Victorian village church, but a Norman doorway has been preserved within the south porch. Otherwise, what you see today is largely the work of the 19th century architect HM Eyton.
To be honest, It is easy to moan about churches like this. But here it is, at the heart of its village, open to visitors, reasonably friendly inside - honestly, it is hard to criticize. From the outside, it puts me in mind of Catholic churches in northern France, rebuilt in this style after the destruction of the First World War. This design is also familiar from a thousand municipal cemetery chapels, with its funny little spire and restrained mock-decorated windows.
There are some medieval survivals here. But not many. The base of the tower was retained, and footings of the nave walls suggest it was originally Saxon. The Norman doorway is remarkably well-preserved, suggesting the previous porch had survived for many centuries. It has had an electric light fitting driven through it, presumably by someone who thought it was a good idea.
Even on a sunny day the church seems dark inside, but as your eyes become accustomed to the gloom your first surprise is the rather odd medieval font. It is not originally from this church but from St Andrew, in the centre of Norwich, which may explain its urban solidity. It must be said that it is much more attractive than the vulgar 19th century one that replaced it in Norwich.
The parish have been busy here over the last few years, and one of the most striking aspects of the interior is that the long chancel has been cleared of all its furnishings, exposing a fine Victorian tiled floor. It does perhaps accentuate the gloom of the nave, and modern chairs would look much better in that space than clumpy old Victorian pews.
The village of Walpole is a mecca for church explorers, but they are on their way to visit Walpole Old Chapel up the hill, rather than the homely charms of St Mary. I was headed there next, as I understood it was open on Saturday afternoons, and I hadn't seen inside since recording a programme about it for BBC Radio Suffolk a year or so previously. I came out of St Mary into the rain. It was that horrible seeping drizzle, and so I sped as fast as I could up to the Old Chapel. I got there to find that it didn't open until 2pm. There was no shelter, and waiting an hour in the rain wasn't really an option, so I hurried back to Halesworth and took shelter in the Angel Hotel instead.
Conçu par la firme d’architectes torontoise, Darling & Pearson, et inauguré en février 1918.
Conceived by the Darling & Pearson architect firm and inaugurated in February 1918, the Sun-Life
head office is the largest building in the british empire built of Beebee granite, which was quarried and worked in and around Beebee, Quebec.
It was built in several stages. The first lower section of the office tower began in 1914. The main section was constructed between 1927 and 1933. When complete, Sun Life's 26 storeys and 400 feet (122 meters) would accommodate 3,000 employees.
Construction required an astonishing 60,000 pieces of granite, including two blocks weighing 17 tons each, and 900 blocks weighing over five tons each! Sun Life was so massive that it occupied one entire side of Dorchester Square in downtown Montreal. When it opened, it breathed life into Montreal’s business district, which was beginning to shift from Old Montreal to the new city.
Built in a layered, almost pyramidical shape, and fronted with an imposing row of four-storey-high Corinthian columns, the building conveys a strong impression. Even today, all who look upon it are struck by the strength, solidity, even confidence it conveys – and what appropriate impressions for what was after all the head office of one of the world’s largest insurance companies!
Legend has it that Sun Life was so secure that during World War II, the British government stashed its gold reserves and even the crown jewels in specially-built, heavily guarded vaults in the building’s third basement. As the story goes, Winston Churchill was so worried about his country’s treasures falling into German hands in an invasion that he had them transported to Canada by boat, in containers labelled “fish.”
Telephone calls to Sun Life could confirm only that the British did store five billion dollars worth of paper securities, shipped across the ocean in absolute secrecy in 1940 – and that the subterranean vaults at Sun Life were guarded around the clock by a 24-man RCMP detachment. (©Townshipsheritage.com)
© All rights reserved. The use without written permission is illegal.
© Tous droits réservés. L'utilisation sans permission écrite est illégale.
© Ronald Santerre
In our contemporary time, people are constantly moving from a place to another.
By moving from Paris to San Francisco five years ago, I felt from this experience that humans are becoming more and more nomads in their way of living and have to regularly adapt to all sorts of new contexts and situations.
Settling into a new location also represents an important challenge in the adaptation process. In our materialist societies, people develop a relatively affective relationship to the objects and furniture with which they are living. It’s because the adaptation to a new place can certainly be made easier if the furniture can itself move and adapt to the new living environment.
For this project, my desire was to elaborate a flexible furniture concept that could fit to any kind of interior environment, from tiny spaces to big ones and vice versa.
I was inspired by the Lego bricks with which I used to play a lot when I was a child. Like other kids of my age I was enjoying Lego bricks very much because I could create an unlimited variety of environments for my small toy characters.
The concept of Lego is definitely a genius idea and I think that it would be relevant to adapt it to the real life.
My project consists of bricks inspired by the Lego’s bricks design. However, BRICKX will be adapted to the human environment and usage.
BRICKX are human-scale sized bricks manufactured from diverse materials featuring different properties such as comfort or solidity.
BRICKX are made of wool, aluminum, plastic, etc. and can hence be used as to create tables, chairs, containers, sofas, bed structures, bookshelves, etc.
BRICKX will be sold in separately pieces.
The very positive aspect allowed by this project is that BRICKX users will not have to sell and buy new furniture in case of moving into a new living space. But above all, they will be able to create anything they need as furniture. It will be easy for them to adapt BRICKX to their new space. In this sense too, BRICKX users will become their own designers in being able of conceiving and creating in a unlimited way their ideal daily environment.
©Kim Hou
Roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
"The Tannersville Cranberry Bog or Cranberry Swamp, is a sphagnum bog on the Cranberry Creek in Tannersville, Pennsylvania. It is the southernmost boreal bog east of the Mississippi River, containing many black spruce and tamarack trees at the southern limit of their ranges. Technically, it can be classed as an acid fen, as it receives some groundwater flow. The site was designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1974. It was purchased by The Nature Conservancy and the Conservation and Research Foundation in 1957. Like many bogs, its terrain presents an image of solidity, but a liquid mass of decaying peat lies beneath a six-inch (152 mm) layer of sphagnum and a network of supporting tree roots. However, this bog may be viewed from a floating walkway." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannersville_Cranberry_Bog
This sundial was unveiled by Baroness Dean, chairman of the Housing Corporation on 13th March 2002 on the official re-opening of the Almshouses after their renovation.
Statue of Justice in Courtyard of Sir William Turners Hospital, Redcar
Description: Statue of Justice in Courtyard of Sir William Turners Hospital
Grade: II*
Date Listed: 29 April 1988
English Heritage Building ID: 60321
OS Grid Reference: NZ5930521580
OS Grid Coordinates: 459305, 521580
Latitude/Longitude: 54.5859, -1.0838
Location: A174, Redcar, Redcar and Cleveland TS10 5NW
Locality: Redcar
Local Authority: Redcar and Cleveland
County: North Yorkshire
Country: England
Postcode: TS10 5NW
Incorrect location/postcode? Submit a correction!
Listing TextGoogle Map/Street ViewOS MapBing Map/Birds Eye ViewCommentsPhotos
Listing Text
REDCAR KIRKLEATHAM
NZ 52 SE
4/65 Statue of Justice in
courtyard of Sir William
Turner's Hospital.
G.V. II*
Statue and pedestal, c.1720, probably by James Gibbs. Lead statue on Portland stone base and sandstone pedestal. Lifesize figure of Justice, holding sword with renewed blade, and renewed scales, standing on plain baseand pedestal with panelled dado. Probably made for Canon Edgeware, London, 1716 - 1720, by James Gibbs for James Brydges, first Duke of Chandos, demolished 1747. Several items were acquired at the sale of Canons and incorporated in Sir William Turner's Hospital. Listing NGR: NZ5930421580. Source: English Heritage
Words of Peter Sotheran MBE JP, Chairman of Trustees of Sir Wm Turner’s Almshouses 1996 – 2014
"The statue of Justicia (Justice) is NOT by James Gibbs. My own researches of catalogues and sales/purchase invoices suggest that it may have been created by Henry Scheere of London.
It is believed to have come from Canons in Edgware (London) but there is no documentary evidence to support that. I have studied the architects drawings for Canons but Justicia is not shown amongst the many statutes that once lined the roof-top parapet of the building. I have examined the auction sale catalogues for the dispersal of Canons artefacts in 1745 and this statue is not listed.
There is no documentary evidence in the almshouses’ archives (at NRYCC Record Office in Northallerton) of its acquisition or installation. So it remains something of a mystery although the smart money backs the chance that it did come from Canons.
Over the centuries the statue had had 14 different coats of paint. Paint analysis made it possible to determine the original finish and the present stone colour is how it originally appeared. She leans forward because this statue originally stood on a roof parapet, high above the ground. Tilting her torso forward corrects the effect of perspective which, otherwise, would make her head and shoulders appear to be too small when viewed from ground level. The restoration of the statue involved removing almost quarter of a ton of cement, plaster and rubble that had been poured inside to stiffen the statue (no wonder the plinth tilted over!). The original wrought iron armature (internal frame) that supported the shell was replaced with a new stainless steel armature. The internal void was filled with a plastic resin to give solidity; should ever it need to be removed, it can be dissolved with a specific chemical solution and removed without harming the shell."
The repairs were funded by the Paul Getty and the Wolfson Foundations, Tees Valley Community Foundation and the Pizza Express Foundation.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The figures are initially only etched into the stone, but as the people become younger and more vigorous, they have more depth and solidity, until eventually they penetrate the stone completely and acquire three dimensions.
This is one of my favourite sculptures. I'd seen a drawing of it several years ago, but never went to see it. One evening, walking home after work, I decided to go out of my way and finally saw it.
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The multi storey car park at the Cambridge cattle market which these days is known as Cambridge Leisure. I'm not sure about this image, but I liked the rhythm of lines and planes at the time, plus the solidity of the gloom and the contrast between the old slate roofed railway buildings with the modernist car park beyond.
A closer look at the dome on the the Fourth Onondaga County Courthouse. The ribbed dome is surmounted by a cupola and is anchored by four small domed towers thus forming a square for the circle of the larger dome. The rusticated base , conveying a sense of solidity, a combination of round-arched and rectangular windows, some covered with pediments, and pilasters framing window bays are features used in Renaissance architecture. The Fourth County Courthouse was designed by Archimedes Russell and Melvin King in the Beaux Arts style. The steel frame structure was faced with Indiana buff limestone. Located at 401 Montgomery Street, at Columbus Circle, in Syracuse, NY. (42)
After leaving Hartland Quay I was expecting more solid granite to appear as I neared Cornwall. But it is still mudstone and shale baked into slates of various solidity.
Roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The bazaar, buildt during the reign of Karim Khan, is unique in Iran for its size, solidity and the beauty of its brickwork. The bazaar is located in the city center of the town and has always been the business quarter.
Royal Academy of Arts in London:
The dominating figure in the center of the courtyard is a 35-foot tall statue revealing the insides of the pregnant Virgin Mother. Her skin is removed on one side to reveal the foetus and the mother's skull, tissues, and muscles.
Though it is a very grafic and somewhat bizarre depiction of the Virgin Mother, it is also a beautiful representation of the solidity and strength of femininity as she carries her son in her womb. In addition, the actual size of the bronze is imense (literally and figuratively as it weighs 13 1/2 tons) and dominates the courtyard as it rises above the surrounding buildings.
How I found it:
Walking by the Royal Academy of Arts in London I noticed the making of an exhibition or event. I snuck my way past security and walked opposite the various artistic directors of the Academy to find out what was happening.
It turns out that the Academy of Arts' Summer Exhibition would begin the following week on the 12th of June. Luckily I enjoyed a sneak-peak of the courtyard.
Roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
The fresco was hidden by a thick layer of black, dust and dirt, to be seen from only one very precise point of view, where the Sun could preferencially hit the golden ropes of the two forbidden loving figures - fugitive or elusive, regardless of the Saint holding the baby next to them. A contrast between the elusiveness or mystery of the first and the purity of the second; a contrast between passionality and adventure against composture and solidity.
You can hardly see a hand grabbing one of the lovers: unwillingly parting?
Monument to Archdeacon Hemming Robeson (d.1912) in St Faith's Chapel.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.
Yes I really did buy three of the new Hot Wheels 1966 Vespa 90 SS Super Sprints despite having no interest in motorbikes, scooters or mopeds. Looking like a red hairdryer on wheels and probably possesses the same power too its not hard to fall in love with this little cuties.
Oozing Italian chic despite its tiny size and one which Hot Wheels have wisely given a mainly metal construction for solidity and lots of detailing too.
Part of 2024 Case D found at Lidl.
Mint and boxed.
Recently, lot of progress has been made in food technology such as 3D printed food to innovative kitchen robots that program some of the routine aspects of cooking. But one thing that thrilled the food technology is edible packaging. Imagine completely removing the waste that’s the byproducts of food packaging.
Edible packaging is basically a thin continuous layer of edible material which is placed on or between the foods or food components. The idea behind this technology is that it takes away the plastic and paper waste from packaging foods and wraps it in something which can be eaten as a part of the whole food product. Edible packaging provides numerous benefits such as it helps in reducing waste, provides safety to the product, creates product solidity, provides convenience to the consumers and there is no concession to the product's quality as well. It is expected that the global market for edible packaging will showcase a positive growth over the forecasted period.
READ THIS REPORT www.researchnester.com/reports/edible-packaging-market/1165
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Not the prettiest of buildings but it has a certain solidity that seems entirely appropriate for a building housing the law courts. The contrast with the adjacent Sainte Chapelle makes the latter seem even more amazing.
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Albi Cathedral is one of the most unique, awe-inspiring churches ever concieved, quite simply one of the wonders of the medieval world.
Although contemporary with the great gothic cathedrals of Northern France, this largely 13th century structure is radically different, being constructed almost entirely of brick and built like a mighty fortress; mostly unadorned walls rise uninterrupted from the ground like sheer cliff-faces of brick. The simplicity of the design gives it an almost modern appearance, and it's massive scale exudes a quite overpowering presence.
The cathedral's powerful fortified appearance is largely down to two factors, the form of the building is consistent with local forms of gothic churches in southern France and northern Spain, whilst thr fortified solidity can be associated with the supression of the Cathars in this area during the Albigensian Crusades, the building serving as a lesson in strength and permanence as a warning to any rebellious locals.
The plain exterior was relieved in the more stable climate of the 16th century by the huge flamboyant porch on the south side of the nave, more like an enormous spikey canopy open on three sides. It remains the main entrance to the cathedral, the base of the enormous tower being so massively constructed as to leave no room for a traditional west entrance.
On entering this vast edifice one's senses are overwhelmed yet again, this time by the profusion of decoration in the cavernous interior. The walls and ceilings are entirely covered by frescoes dating from the early 16th century, mostly in Renaissance style, much of it colourful geometric patterns. The most memorable sections are the earliest frescoes at the west end from an enormous Last Judgement; the central section was sadly removed in the 18th century but the extensive and graphic depiction of the torments of Hell remains.
In addition this cathedral is rare in preserving it's 'jube' or choir screen), a late medieval masterpiece of decoration and sculpture which extends into a lavishly sculpted choir enclosure adorned with a riot of angels and saints.
All in all this unforgettable cathedral is a monument that defies description alone and bombards the senses!
Part of the complete sequence of seven early 14th century windows preserving most of their original glass in the choir clerestorey.
The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).
Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).
The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.
There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.
Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.
Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.