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Bowood is a grade I listed Georgian country house with interiors by Robert Adam and a garden designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. It is adjacent to the village of Derry Hill, halfway between Calne and Chippenham in Wiltshire, England. The greater part of the house was demolished in 1956.
Having made a tight turn near Drake's Island (seen on the left) in Plymouth Sound, HMS Somerset, a Type 23 frigate, heads for her home port of Devonport.
In February the warship was recognised for helping seize the largest haul of illegal drugs - some £500 million-worth of cocaine - in the UK when she worked with the National Crime Agency and UK Border Agency to track down, search and detain a boat and personnel on board off Scotland.
Type 23 frigates displace 4,900 tons and have a top speed of 28 knots. Their armament includes a rapid-firing 4.5 inch gun with a range of up to 18 miles. This is intended mainly for shore targets. They have the Sea Wolf anti-aircraft short range missile system and the Harpoon anti-shipping missile system which has a range of 80 miles. The ships are also being equipped with the new Lynx Wildcat helicopter, which has a substantial strike capability.
Blenheim Palace's famous bridge seen across the lake, created by the great landscape designer Capability Brown.
The lake is the flooded river Glyme, a small tributary of the Thames. A long exposure blurs the movement of the water and clouds, drawing attention to the static elements of the shot.
The gem of Berrington Hall is the unique walled garden. One segment, the kitchen garden has featured several modern art installations over the past few years and consists of Georgian-inspired herb beds, orchards, vegetable and flower beds. Attached to the kitchen garden is an impressive curved-wall section which is currently being restored by the National Trust after housing a farmyard for the past century. Visitors are welcome to view this space and follow the journey of ‘Capability’ Brown’s final vision brought to light.
Croome, Worcestershire. The Adam Staircase. Both house and gardens at Croome Court were designed by Capability Brown between 1751-2, rebuilding an earlier house from the 1640s. The estate was requisitioned in WW2, but was not used for troops, being offered to the Dutch Royal family, but nearby, and partly within the grounds, RAF Defford was established, an important location for the Telecommunications Research Establishment. They left in 1957 as the runways were too short. The house was sold by the Croome Estate Trust in 1948, and became St Josephs Special School until 1979. Taken over by the Hare Krishna movement, it became known as Chaitanya College with involvement from George Harrison, who created recording studios within the house. They left in 1984 and the house was used for several short-term activities, including a training centre; apartments; a restaurant and conference centre; a hotel and golf course, and a private family home. In 2007, it was purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust, who leased it to the National Trust. Croome Court is grade 1 listed.
Croome D'Abitot, near Pershore, Worcestershire, West Midlands, England - Croome Court, High Green
June 2025
Detail in Compton Verney chapel, built by Capability Brown in 1776. Brown demolished the medieval chapel beside the lake in 1772 as part of his landscape garden designs, but erected a new chapel in neo-classical style, bringing many of the older family monuments to the new building.
The 'Saxon' tower was the brainchild of Capability Brown and designed by James Wyatt in 1794 in the form of a castle, and built for Lady Coventry in 1798–1799. The tower was built on a beacon hill, where beacons were lit on special occasions. Lady Coventry wondered whether a beacon on this hill could be seen from her house in Worcester — about 22 miles (35 km) away — and sponsored the construction of the folly to find out. Indeed, the beacon could be seen clearly.
For some years, the tower became home to the printing press of Sir Thomas Phillipps. By the mid-1870s, it was being rented by C J Stone and Cormell Price, the latter being headmaster of the United Services College at Westward Ho!, and a close friend and confidant of artists William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.....William Morris started his campaign for the preservation of historic monuments whilst staying at the Tower.
One last shot of Fredriksborg Castle, uploaded mostly because I think this panoramic image captures the epic proportions of the Great Hall better than the portrait format shot I uploaded a few days ago.
On a technical note, a lot of these shots were taken at 1600 ISO due to the low light levels. Whilst not terrible quality I think it's fair to say my Nikon D300s is starting to show it's age particularly in relation to it's low light capability. Starting to think it's time to consider an upgrade, either that or buy a faster lens so that I can get a bigger aperture than f4.8 at these super-wide angle focal lengths.
More photos from my trip : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157656314165922
From Wikipedia : "Frederiksborg Castle (Danish: Frederiksborg Slot) is a palatial complex in Hillerød, Denmark. It was built as a royal residence for King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway in the early 17th century, replacing an older castle acquired by Frederick II and becoming the largest Renaissance residence in Scandinavia. Situated on three islets in the Slotssøen (castle lake), it is adjoined by a large formal garden in the Baroque style.
After a serious fire in 1859, the castle was rebuilt on the basis of old plans and paintings. Thanks to public support and the brewer J. C. Jacobsen, the building and its apartments were fully restored by 1882 when it was reopened to the public as the Danish Museum of National History. Open throughout the year, the museum contains the largest collection of portrait paintings in Denmark. It also provides visitors with an opportunity to visit several of the castle's state rooms including the restored Valdemar Room and Great Hall as well as the Chapel and the Audience Chamber which were both largely spared by the fire and contain sumptuous decorations."
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© D.Godliman
A winter view of the Claremont Landscape Garden lake, an integral part of the breathtaking Lancelot 'Capability' Brown vista near Esher in Surrey.
Work on the gardens began around 1715 and within a few years they were described as "the noblest of any in Europe". They were much enjoyed by Queen Victoria, who stayed with her Uncle Leopold at his nearby Claremont mansion, where she delighted in being away from the public eye.
Since 1949 this glorious setting has been owned and administered by the National Trust.
This is the first time that I have visited the house and gardens of Compton Verney. Whilst the art galleries are impressive, it was the gardens that leant themselves to the camera. Here is a picture of the lake with the Bridge from Lancelot "Capability" Brown's landscaping in the background.
View from near the south door of St Mary the Virgin Church. There are two other lakes and together they surround on three sides the hilltop the church stands on. Together they make two of the sources of the River Nene.
In the 1760s and 70s Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, the landscape gardener transformed the park by damming one of the lakes and creating sweeping vistas, planting trees and laying lawns. Many of the trees can still be seen today. Diarist Horace Walpole noted that Brown was at Fawsley in 1763. His account books show that he was paid £700 (almost the equivalent of £1.2 million in 2015) in 1765-66. There was a second contract in 1767-68 for £550 (or the equivalent of £938,400 in 2015).
From the website firle.com/a-short-history-of-fawsley-northamptonshire/
I walked about seven miles that day, and apart from an elderly dog walker who stopped to say hello and have a chat near the church, I never saw another person.
Bowood is a grade I listed Georgian country house with interiors by Robert Adam and a garden designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. It is adjacent to the village of Derry Hill, halfway between Calne and Chippenham in Wiltshire, England. The greater part of the house was demolished in 1956.
Here's one I took a couple of summers ago - nice to hark back to warmer days even if there are clouds in the skies.
Lancelot "Capability" Brown was the on-trend garden designer of the day.
The Duke of Northumberland's Estate and the whole of Capability Brown's beautifully landscaped lake to myself!
The National Trust’s Berrington Hall, a fine Georgian mansion near Leominster in Herefordshire, stands proud and strong with ‘Capability’ Brown’s final garden and landscape. It is a neoclassical country house that Henry Holland designed in 1778-81 for Thomas Harley.
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (1716-1783) was the UK's most famous landscape architects, and he changed the face of Britain forever. He worked on some 250 sites.
47757 'Capability Brown' drags 87010 ‘King Arthur’ past Ordsall Lane with 1P57 10:20 Northampton - Preston diversion on Sunday 7th December 2003.
Last few minutes of a deep golden sunset across the Croome Court House & Estate made famous by 'Capability Brown' now an National Trust site located in the heart of rural Worcestershire.
Lancelot Brown, more commonly known with the byname Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English 18th century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener"
This is perhaps my favourite shot of the mini series, the light was so soft and warm you easily and comfortably look in the direction of the setting sun without hurting your eyes. Really just magical moment and I had it all to myself!
Savernake Forest in Autumn. Running right through the middle of the Forest is Capability Brown's 'Grand Avenue'. This avenue of beech trees - now a Private Road - was laid out in the late 1790's, and at just over 4 miles long it stands in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest Avenue in Britain.
Beruwala Harbour, in Beruwala, Sri Lanka, is one of the main fishery harbours on the western coast of Sri Lanka.
It is situated in the southern edge of the Kalutara district, which is about 60 km south of Colombo.
It has the capability of supplying berthing, refrigeration and fuel facilities which are often needed by fishing boats.
Clumber Park is a country park, in part designed by Capability Brown, in the Dukeries near Worksop in Nottinghamshire, England. It was formerly the park of a country house called "Clumber House", which was the principal seat of the Pelham-Clinton Dukes of Newcastle from the early 18th century onwards. It is owned by the National Trust and open to the public.
When, in March 1879 a serious fire destroyed much of Clumber House, the 7th Duke of Newcastle had it magnificently rebuilt to designs by the younger Charles Barry.
This house was demolished in 1938. Charles Boot of Henry Boot Construction, was contracted to do the demolition and he removed a vast array of statues, facades and fountains to his Derbyshire home, Thornbridge Hall, although the bulk were lost to private buyers through auction. However, many features remain, including an outstanding Gothic Revival Chapel built by the 7th Duke of Newcastle, and walled kitchen garden with glass houses.
Clumber Park is over 3,800 acres (15 km²) in extent, including woods, open heath and rolling farmland. It contains a superb, 87 acre (352,000 m²), serpentine lake, and the longest double avenue of lime trees in Europe . The avenue extends over three miles (5 km), and was created by the 5th Duke of Newcastle in the 19th Century.
Castle Ashby aerial image - Northamptonshire. Built around 1574 to 1600. Landscaped by Capability Brown #CastleAshby #aerial #image #Northamptonshire #AerialPhotography
60002 "Capability Brown" starts the process of forming up 6D40, the 14:28 Hendon to Lindsey Petrofina at 13:53 on 2nd August 1995. This flow had run for many years but came to an end sometime in 1997. Looking at Google Earth the terminal has been flattened but the tracks remain. The docks lines on the right are shown as lifted. In recent months a new scrap flow has started running from Sunderland docks to Cardiff Tidal using MBA wagons. This flow is loaded on the entrance line to the docks further back than this location.
35mm Slide Scan
© Neil Higson
SAC 01 NATO Strategic Airlift Capability Boeing C-17A Globemaster III - Eindhoven Airport (EIN / EHEH)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wentworth_Castle
Wentworth Castle is a grade I listed country house, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, at Stainborough, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is now home to the Northern College for Residential and Community Education.
An older house existed on the estate, then called Stainborough, when it was purchased by Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (later Earl of Strafford), in 1711. It was still called Stainborough in Jan Kip's engraved bird's-eye view of parterres and avenues, 1714, and in the first edition of Vitruvius Britannicus, 1715 (illustration, left). The name was changed in 1731. The original name survives in the form of Stainborough Castle, a sham ruin constructed as a garden folly (illustration below) on the estate.
The Estate has been in the care of the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust since 2001 and is open to the public year round 7 days a week. The castle's gardens were restored in the early 21st century, and are also open to visitors.
History
The original house, known as the Cutler house, was constructed for Sir Gervase Cutler (born 1640) in 1670. Sir Gervase then sold the estate to Thomas Wentworth, later the 1st Earl of Strafford. The house was remodelled in two great campaigns, by two earls, in remarkably different styles, each time under unusual circumstances.
The first building campaign
The first building campaign to upgrade the original structure was initiated c.1711 by Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (1672-1739). He was the grandson of Sir William Wentworth, father of Thomas Wentworth, the attainted 1st Earl. Raby was himself created 1st Earl of Strafford (second creation) in 1711.
The estate of Wentworth Woodhouse, which he believed was his birthright, was scarcely six miles distant and was a constant bitter sting, for the Strafford fortune had passed from William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford, the childless son of the great earl, to his wife's nephew, Thomas Watson; only the barony of Raby had gone to a blood-relation. M.J. Charlesworth surmises that it was a feeling that what by right should have been his that motivated Wentworth's purchase of Stainborough Castle nearby and that his efforts to surpass the Watsons at Wentworth Woodhouse in splendour and taste motivated the man whom Jonathan Swift called "proud as Hell".[1]
Wentworth had been a soldier in the service of William III, who made him a colonel of dragoons. He was sent by Queen Anne as ambassador to Prussia in 1706-11 and on his return to Britain, the earldom was revived when he was created Viscount Wentworth and Earl of Strafford in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was then sent as a representative in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Utrecht, and was brought before a commission of Parliament in the aftermath. With the death of Queen Anne, he and the Tories were permanently out of power. Wentworth, representing a clannish old family of Yorkshire, required a grand house consonant with the revived Wentworth fortunes, he spent his years of retirement completing it and enriching his landscape.
He had broken his tour of duty at Berlin to conclude the purchase of Stainborough in the summer of 1708, and returned to Berlin, armed with sufficient specifications of the site to engage the services of a military architect who had spent some years recently in England, Johann von Bodt. who provided the designs.[2] Wentworth was in Italy in 1709, buying paintings for the future house: "I have great credit by my pictures," he reported with satisfaction: "They are all designed for Yorkshire, and I hope to have a better collection there than Mr. Watson."[3] To display them a grand gallery would be required, for which James Gibbs must have provided the designs, since a contract for wainscoting "as desined by Mr Gibbs" survives among Wentworth papers in the British Library (Add. Mss 22329, folio 128). The Gallery was completed in 1724.[4] There are designs, probably by Bodt, for an elevation and a section showing the gallery at Wentworth Castle in the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.307-1937), in an album of mixed drawings which belonged to William Talman's son John.[5] the gallery extends one hundred and eighty feet, twenty-four feet wide, and thirty high, screened into three divisions by veined marble Corinthian columns with gilded capitals, and with corresponding pilasters against projecting piers: in the intervening spaces four marble copies of Roman sculptures on block plinths survived until the twentieth century.[6] Construction was sufficiently advanced by March–April 1714 that surviving correspondence between Strafford and William Thornton concerned the disposition of panes in the window sashes: the options were for windows four panes wide, as done in the best houses Thornton assured the earl, for which crown glass would do, or for larger panes, three panes across, which might requite plate glass: Strafford opted for the latter.[7] The results, directed largely by letter from a distance,[8] are unique in Britain. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner found the east range "of a palatial splendour uncommon in England."[9] The grand suite of parade rooms on the ground floor extended from the room at the north end with a ceiling allegory of Plenty to the south end, with one of a Fame.
Bodt's use of a giant order of pilasters on the front and other features, suggested to John Harris that Bodt, who had been in England in the 1690s, had had access to drawings by William Talman. Talman was the architect of Chatsworth, considered to be England's first truly Baroque house. Indeed there are similarities of design between Wentworth's east front and Chatsworth. Both have a distinctly Continental Baroque frontage. Wentworth has been described as "a remarkable and almost unique example of Franco-Prussian architecture in Georgian England".[10] The east front was built upon a raised terrace that descended to sweeps of gravelled ramps that flanked a grotto and extended in an axial vista framed by double allées of trees to a formal wrought iron gate, all seen in Jan Kip's view of 1714, which if it is not more plan than reality, includes patterned parterres to the west of the house and an exedra on rising ground behind, all features that appear again in Britannia Illustrata, (1730).[11] An engraving by Thomas Badeslade from about 1750 still shows the formal features centred on Bodt's façade, enclosed in gravel drives wide enough for a coach-and-four. The regular plantations of trees planted bosquet-fashion have matured: their edges are clipped, and straight rides pierce them.[12] All these were swept away by the second earl after mid-century, in favour of an open, rolling "naturalistic" landscape in the manner of Capability Brown.[13]
The first earl's landscape
Strafford planted avenues of trees in great quantity in this open countryside, and the sham castle folly (built from 1726 and inscribed "Rebuilt in 1730", now more ruinous than it was at first) that he placed at the highest site, "like an endorsement from the past"[14] and kept free of trees (illustration, left) missed by only a few years being the first sham castle in an English landscape garden.[15] For its central court where the four original towers were named for his four children, the earl commissioned his portrait statue in 1730 from Michael Rysbrack, whom James Gibbs had been the first to employ when he came to England;[16] the statue has been moved closer to the house.
A staunch Tory,[17] Lord Strafford remained in political obscurity during Walpole's Whig supremacy, for the remainder of his life. An obelisk was erected to the memory of Queen Anne in 1736, and a sitting room in the house was named "Queen Anne's Sitting Room" until modern times. Other landscape features were added, one after the other, with the result that today there are twenty-six listed structures in what remains of the parkland.
The second earl at Wentworth Castle
The first earl died in 1739 and his son succeeded him. William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722-1791) rates an entry in Colvin's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects as the designer of the fine neo-Palladian range, built in 1759-64 (illustration, upper right). He married a daughter of the Duke of Argyll[18] and spent a year on the Grand Tour to improve his taste; he eschewed political life. At Wentworth Castle he had John Platt (1728–1810)[19] on the site as master mason and Charles Ross ( -1770/75) to draft the final drawings and act as "superintendent"; Ross was a carpenter and joiner of London who had worked under the Palladian architect and practiced architectural ammanuensis, Matthew Brettingham, at Strafford's London house, 5, St James's Square, in 1748-49. Ross's proven competency in London in London doubtless recommended him to the Earl for the building campaign in Yorkshire.[20] At Wentworth Castle it was generally understood, as Lord Verulam remarked in 1768, "'Lord Strafford himself is his own architect and contriver in everything."[21] Even in the London house, Walpole tells us, "he chose all the ornaments himself".
Horace Walpole singled out Wentworth Castle as a paragon for the perfect integration of the site, the landscape, even the harmony of the stone:
"If a model is sought of the most perfect taste in architecture, where grace softens dignity, and lightness attempers magnificence... where the position is the most happy, and even the colour of the stone the most harmonious; the virtuoso should be directed to the new front of Wentworth-castle:[22] the result of the same judgement that had before distributed so many beauties over that domain and called from wood, water, hills, prospects, and buildings, a compendium of picturesque nature, improved by the chastity of art."[23]
Later history
With the extinction of the earldom with the third earl in 1799, the huge family estates were divided into three, one third going to the descendants of each daughter of the 1st Earl. Wentworth Castle was left in trust for Lady Henrietta Vernon's grandson Frederick Vernon, (of Hilton Hall, Staffordshire) whose trustees were William, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, and Walter Spencer Stanhope. Frederick Vernon added Wentworth to his surname and took charge of the estate in 1816. Between 1820 and 1840 the old chapel of St. James was replaced with the current building and the windows of the Baroque Wing were lowered on either side of the entrance hall. Frederick Vernon Wentworth also amalgamated two ground floor rooms to make what is now the blue room. In July of 1838 a freak hail storm badly damaged the cupola and windows of the house as well as all the greenhouses within the walled gardens, yet this pales into insignificance when compared with the nearby Huskar Colliery disaster where 26 child miners lost there lives due to flooding following the hail storm. In May of 1853 a freak snow storm also caused severe damage, particularly to the mature trees within the gardens, some of them rare species from America planted by the 1st and 2nd earls. Frederick Vernon Wentworth was succeeded by his son Thomas in 1885 who added the iron framed Conservatory and electric lighting by March of the following year. The Victorian Wing also dates from this decade and its construction allowed the Vernon-Wentworths to entertain the young Duke of Clarence and his entourage during the winters of 1887 and 1889. The estate was inherited by Thomas' eldest son Captain Bruce Canning Vernon Wentworth, M.P. for Brighton, in 1902. Preferring his Suffolk estates, the Captain put the most valuable of his Wentworth Castle house contents up for sale at auction with Christies after the First World War. The paintings sold at Christie's on 13 November 1919.[24] Bruce Vernon-Wentworth, who had no direct heirs, sold the house and its gardens to Barnsley Corporation in 1948, while the rest of his estates, in Yorkshire, Suffolk and Scotland were left to a distant cousin.[25] The remaining contents of Wentworth Castle were emptied at a house sale,[26] and the house became a teacher training college, the Wentworth Castle College of Education, until 1978. It was then used by Northern College.[27] It was featured in the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition "The Country House in Danger". The great landscape that Walpole praised in 1780 was described in 1986 as now "disturbed and ruinous", the second earl's sinuous river excavated in the 1730s reduced to a series of silty ponds,.[28]
Wentworth Castle is the only Grade I Listed Gardens and Parkland in South Yorkshire. The Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust was formed in 2002 as a charity with the aim “To undertake a phased programme of restoration and development works which will provide benefit to the general public by providing extensive access to the parkland and gardens and the built heritage, conserving these important heritage assets for future generations”. Today, the landscape is gradually being restored by the Trust. The restoration of the Rotunda was completed in 2010, the parkland has been returned to deer park. The restoration of the Serpentine will form a future project as funding allows.
The estate opened fully to visitors in 2007, following the completion of the first phase of restoration, which cost £15.2m.[29] The Gardens at Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park are open 7 days a week year round (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Information for visitors, groups and schools and the latest information on restoration progress is available from the Trust's website. Tours of the house are available by arrangement.
Wentworth Castle was featured on the BBC TV show Restoration in 2003, when a bid was made to restore the Grade II* Listed Victorian conservatory to its former glory, though it[30] did not win in the viewers' response. Subsequently, the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust took the decision in 2005 to support the fragile structure further with a scaffold in order to prevent its total collapse. The Trust succeeded in raising the £3.7 million needed to restore the conservatory in 2011 and work began in 2012, with grants from English Heritage, the Country Houses Foundation, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. The Trust completed the restoration of its fragile Victorian glasshouse in October 2013 – 10 years after its first TV appearance the Restoration series. It was opened by the Mayor of Barnsley on 7 November 2013 and opened to the general public the following day.
Amazing visitor in Paris CDG today, as this C-17 came for a fuel stop. Unfortunately it was parked on a far away stand (Romeo 6), but I could save this picture.
By combining the power of a "natural lens" in space with the capability of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers made a surprising discovery—the first example of a compact yet massive, fast-spinning, disk-shaped galaxy that stopped making stars only a few billion years after the big bang.
Finding such a galaxy early in the history of the universe challenges the current understanding of how massive galaxies form and evolve, say researchers.
Read more: go.nasa.gov/2sWwKkc
caption: Acting as a “natural telescope” in space, the gravity of the extremely massive foreground galaxy cluster MACS J2129-0741 magnifies, brightens, and distorts the far-distant background galaxy MACS2129-1, shown in the top box. The middle box is a blown-up view of the gravitationally lensed galaxy. In the bottom box is a reconstructed image, based on modeling that shows what the galaxy would look like if the galaxy cluster were not present. The galaxy appears red because it is so distant that its light is shifted into the red part of the spectrum.
Credits: NASA, ESA, M. Postman (STScI), and the CLASH team
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Claremont estate
The first house on the Claremont estate was built in 1708 by Sir John Vanbrugh, the Restoration playwright and architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, for his own use. This "very small box", as he described it, stood on the level ground in front of the present mansion. At the same time, he built the stables and the walled gardens, also probably White Cottage, which is now the Sixth Form Centre of Claremont Fan Court School.
In 1714, he sold the house to the wealthy Whig politician Thomas Pelham-Holles, Earl of Clare, who later became Duke of Newcastle and served twice as Prime Minister. The earl commissioned Vanbrugh to add two great wings to the house and to build a fortress-like turret on an adjoining knoll. From this so-called "prospect-house", or belvedere, he and his guests could admire the views of the Surrey countryside as they took refreshments and played hazard, a popular dice game.
In the clear eighteenth-century air it was apparently possible to see Windsor Castle and St Paul's Cathedral. The Earl of Clare named his country seat Clare-mount, later contracted to Claremont. The two lodges at the Copsem Lane entrance were added at this time.
Landscape garden
Main article: Claremont Landscape Garden
Claremont landscape garden is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind of landscape design, the English Landscape Garden — still featuring its original 18th century layout. The extensive landscaped grounds of Claremont represents the work of some of the best known landscape gardeners, Charles Bridgeman, Capability Brown, William Kent (with Thomas Greening) and Sir John Vanbrugh.[2]
Work on the gardens began around 1715 and, by 1727, they were described as "the noblest of any in Europe". Within the grounds, overlooking the lake, is an unusual turfed amphitheatre.
A feature in the grounds is the Belvedere Tower, designed by Vanbrugh for the Duke of Newcastle. The tower is unusual in that, what appear to be windows, are actually bricks painted black and white. It is now owned by Claremont Fan Court School, which is situated alongside the gardens.
In 1949, the landscape garden was donated to the National Trust for stewardship and protection. A restoration programme was launched in 1975 following a significant donation by the Slater Foundation. The garden is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[3]
Capability Brown's mansion, built for Lord Clive of India
The Duke of Newcastle died in 1768 and, in 1769, his widow sold the estate to Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, founder of Britain's Indian Empire. Although the great house was then little more than fifty years old, it was aesthetically and politically out of fashion. Lord Clive decided to demolish the house and commissioned Capability Brown to build the present Palladian mansion on higher and dryer ground. Brown, more accomplished as a landscape designer than an architect, took on his future son-in-law Henry Holland as a junior partner owing to the scale of the project. John Soane (later Sir John Soane) was employed in Holland's office at this time and worked on the project as a draftsman and junior designer.[4] Holland's interiors for Claremont owe much to the contemporary work of Robert Adam.
Lord Clive, by now a rich Nabob, is reputed to have spent over £100,000 on rebuilding the house and the complete remodelling of the celebrated pleasure ground. However, Lord Clive ended up never living at the property, as he died in 1774—the year that the house was completed. The estate then passed through a rapid succession of owners; first being sold "for not more than one third of what the house and alterations had cost"[5] to Robert Monckton-Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, and then to George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, and finally to Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford.[6]
A large map entitled "Claremont Palace", situated in what is called "Clive's room" inside the mansion, shows the mansion and its surrounding grounds; giving a detailed overview of the campus. The map likely dates back to the 1860s, when the mansion was frequently occupied by Queen Victoria (thus it having been christened "palace"). However, the exact date is still unknown. The relief in Claremont's front pediment is of Clive's coat of arms impaled with that of Maskelyne, his wife's family.
Back in time again this was the second NT property visited whilst in Herefordshire. Two the same day in fact and it's now Mid Afternoon, whereas the first was Mid Morning. It's also much brighter now.
Berrington Hall is a fine Georgian Mansion sitting within the final garden and landscape 'Capability' Brown completed before his death in 1783.
During the 20th Century it was the seat of the Cawley family. It is a Neoclassical Country House designed in 1778-81 by Henry Holland for its original owner Thomas Harley.
Along with nearby Croft Castle - two very interesting places well worth visiting - this one especially for its the lake and beautiful garden.
A hybrid computing system developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the enabling technology behind an ambitious experiment testing a relative navigation and autonomous docking capability known as Raven.
Developed by the Satellite Servicing Projects Division, or SSPD, the carry-on luggage-sized module was launched February 19 aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, along with other experiments deployed outside the International Space Station on an experiment pallet. Raven is testing and maturing visible, infrared and lidar sensors and machine-vision algorithms; the module will bring NASA one step closer to realizing the groundbreaking autopilot capability that can be applied to many NASA missions for decades to come.
Image credit: NASA
Ickworth House, Horringer, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
The House was built between the years of 1795 and 1829 to the designs of the Italian Architect Mario Asprucci, his most noted work being the Villa Borghese. It was this work that Frederick Hervey, the then 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry had seen.
Asprucci’s plans were then taken up by the brothers Francis & Joseph Sandys, English architects.
The Parkland, of which there is 1,800 acres in total, was designed by Capability Brown and was Italianate in style. This style much loved by the 4th Earl.
Most of the friezes running around the rotunda were based upon John Flaxman’s illustrations of The Iliad and The Odyssey although, within the entrance portico there are some panels designed by Lady Caroline, the Earl’s Granddaughter and are based upon the Roman Olympic Games.
There are many works of art inside the house and very much well worth the visit.
Art of Capability, Lancelot Brown ...
ich mag es
wenn ich dich mit
meiner Liebe bestrahle
ein leichtes Erröten
hier und dort
auf deinem Antlitz
erscheint
wenn ich dich mit
meinem Wind
noch streichle
dir
Worte zuflüstere
du die Stirn runzelst
dein warmes Blut
noch mehr
hervortritt
du zu kichern beginnst
sodass sich deine Wasser
kräuseln
deine Blätter rascheln
deine Rosenknospen
schaukeln
und manchmal
wenn ich allzu forsch bin
dein ganzer Grund bebt
und du dann
dein Gesicht
verlegen
in ein Wolkenkissen
drückst
um dich
vor dir selbst
zu verstecken
aber ich höre
dich
Glucksen
und freue mich …
;-) ...
_MG_6570_79_pa2
I've got wild staring eyes
And I've got a strong urge to fly
But I've got nowhere to fly to
Ooh, babe, when I pick up the phone
("Surprise, surprise, surprise")
There's still nobody home
©R Waters
Capability Walled Garden at Markeaton Park, Derby. It’s a dementia friendly space which seemed to resonate with the empty bird boxes.
One of NATO's Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) C-17 Globemasters arriving at Glasgow for a fuel stop. It arrived from Pápa Air Base, Hungary, and departed to Charleston (CHS), SC.
Sheffield Park Garden is an informal landscape garden five miles east of Haywards Heath, in East Sussex, England. It was originally laid out in the 18th century by Capability Brown, and further developed in the early years of the 20th century's by its then owner, Arthur Gilstrap Soames. It is now owned by the National Trust.
History[edit]
The gardens originally formed part of the estate of the adjacent Sheffield Park House, a gothic country house, which is still in private ownership. It was also firstly owned by the West Family and later by the Soames family until in 1925 the estate was sold by Arthur Granville Soames, who had inherited it from his childless uncle, Arthur Gilstrap Soames.
Sheffield Park as an estate is mentioned in the Domesday Book. In August 1538, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, entertained Henry VIII here. By 1700, the Deer Park had been partially formalised by Lord De La Warr who planted avenues of trees radiating from the house and cleared areas to establish lawns. In the late 1700s, James Wyatt remodelled the house in the fashionable Gothic style and Capability Brown was commissioned to landscape the garden. The original four lakes form the centrepiece. Humphry Repton followed Brown in 1789–1790. In 1796, the estate was sold to John Holroyd, created Baron Sheffield in 1781. It is particularly noted for its plantings of trees selected for autumn colour, including many Black Tupelos.
Rhododendron in Sheffield Park Garden
By 1885, an arboretum was being established, consisting of both exotic and native trees. After Arthur Gilstrap Soames purchased the estate in 1910, he continued large-scale planting. During World War II the house and garden became the headquarters for a Canadian armoured division, and Nissen huts were sited in the garden and woods. The estate was split up and sold in lots in 1953. The National Trust purchased approximately 40 ha in 1954, now up to 80 ha with subsequent additions. It is home to the National Collection of Ghent azaleas.
In 1876 the third Earl of Sheffield laid out a cricket pitch. It was used on 12 May 1884 for the first cricket match between England and Australia.[1] The Australian team won by an innings and 6 runs
wikipedia
Thick fog this morning new It would be worth getting out early before it vanished........
Looking at the rear of Syon House, my back to the Thames, this tree is believed to be a Capability Brown remnant.
Syon House, and its 200-acre (80 hectare) park, Syon Park, is in west London, historically within the parish of Isleworth, in the county of Middlesex. It belongs to the Duke of Northumberland and is now his family's London residence.
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The nuclear capability of the Empire of Shiryoku is displayed here with its SS-NX-38 Ballistic Missile Submarine. A small model of the submarine displays best all the engineering details of the inside and outside design.
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This particular model is a GEN Shiryoku specialty submarine, manned by approximately fifty elite nuclear warfare agents. The mission is to avoid war at all cost.
Made for Decisive Action 4!