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Burton Agnes
Burton Agnes Hall
When Burton Agnes Hall was built libraries did not exist, this room was described as ‘Gentlemen’s Lodgings’. Following a collapse of the ceiling in the Long Gallery, the room was not used and became derelict. It was restored in 1951 along with the first section of the Long Gallery, by an architect called Francis Johnson.
The furniture in the room is all 18th century.
Thank you for your visit and your comments, they are greatly appreciated.
Canons Ashby House (previously known as Canons Ashby Hall) is a Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house located in the village of Canons Ashby, about 11 miles south of Daventry, Northamptonshire. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse and the gardens had turned into a meadow.
The house had been the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century; the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710. The interior of Canons Ashby House is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork. It has remained essentially unchanged since 1710 and is presented as it was during the time of Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden (1818–1899), a Victorian antiquary with an interest in history.
The house sits in the midst of a formal garden with colourful herbaceous borders, an orchard featuring varieties of fruit trees from the 16th century, terraces, walls and gate piers from 1710. There is also the remains of a medieval priory church (from which the house gets its name).
Listed Building Grade II*
List Entry Number : 1280615
Date First Listed : 26 January 1972
Built in 1893/4, the Grand Theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and built over seven months, opening in 1894. It is constructed in the Baroque style of brick and stone, with a copper-covered fish scale dome, which is topped with a cupola. The auditorium has an ornate semicircular proscenium with frilly plasterwork and the ceiling contains six large panels radiating from an elaborate centrepiece with plasterwork and portraits of composers. In 1973, a group called the Friends of the Grand saved the building from demolition.
Sudbury Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Sudbury, Derbyshire, and one of the country's finest Restoration mansions. The present house at Sudbury was built shortly after the restoration of King Charles II, between 1660 and 1680 by George Vernon, grandfather of George Venables-Vernon the 1st Baron Vernon. George Vernon used his new-found wealth from marrying Northamptonshire heiress Margaret Onley to build a grand new mansion on the site of a smaller house. He kept meticulous accounts of the building project, and because there is no record of any payment to an architect, historians surmise that George designed Sudbury Hall himself.
The Great Staircase, designed by Edward Pierce, dates from c.1676 and is considered to be one of the finest Restoration staircases in Britain. It is noted for its white-painted balustrade with luxuriant, carved foliage. The landing ceiling is adorned with ornate plasterwork by Robert Bradbury and James Pettifer (1675) and ceiling paintings of mythological scenes by Louis Laguerre. Other plasterwork within the house was designed by Pettifer, Bradbury and Samuel Mansfield of Derby. Of particular note in the drawing room is an ornately carved overmantel by Grinling Gibbons.
dTHIS ELIZABETHAN HALL STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER CALDER IN PADIHAM IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE. THE HALL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1600 AND 1605 GAWTHORPE HALL WAS THE FAMILY HOME OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH FAMILY FOR OVER 300 YEARS. INSIDE THE HOUSE YOU WILL FIND PERIOD ROOMS ON DISPLAY FROM THE 1850 REMODELLING BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT SIR CHARLES BARRY AND PUGIN AS WELL AS ORIGINAL PLASTERWORK CEILINGS, PANELLING AND THE IMPRESSIVE LONG GALLERY. ALSO ON DISPLAY ARE OVER 200 PIECES FROM THE NATIONALLY IMPORTANT GAWTHORPE TEXTILE COLLECTION.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY HAS LOANED OVER 20 PAINTINGS TO THE HALL ALL OF WHICH ILLUSTRATE ITS FASCINATING CONNECTIONS AND HISTORY, PARTICULARLY WITH THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. GAWTHORPE HALL IS AN ARTISTIC AND HISTORIC TREASURE TROVE IN THE MIDDLE OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE.
Listed Building Grade II*
List Entry Number : 1025280
Date First Listed : 07 October 1977
Built in 1897, a theatre by Magnall and Littlewood, with a front of red Ruabon brick and terracotta, and rendering at the rear. Along the ground floor are shop fronts and a canopy. There are three-storey towers at the corners with lunettes and shaped gables with finials. Between the towers is a first-floor arcade, a balustrade, and a central projection, above which is stepped coping with volutes and finials. Inside is a richly-decorated entrance hall and an auditorium with two tiers of balconies and elaborate plasterwork.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morecambe_Winter_Gardens
La villa de Sahagún (León), cuna y panteón de Reyes y Santos, alcanza su máximo esplendor con el Rey de Castilla y León Alfonso VI, que decidió ser enterrado en Sahagún en el siglo XII.
La iglesia de San Lorenzo en Sahagún (León) – Spain; es una iglesia totalmente construida en ladrillo y conserva estilos mezclados, como el románico-mudéjar, gótico e islámico.
Este edificio consta de tres naves, tres ábsides, además de torre, arcos apuntados en su interior y techos originalmente de madera, en las paredes podemos contemplar restos de yesería policromada con esbelta decoración.
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The town of Sahagún (León), cradle and pantheon of Kings and Saints, reaches its maximum splendor with the King of Castile and Leon Alfonso VI, who decided to be buried in Sahagún in the 12th century.
The church of San Lorenzo in Sahagún (León) - Spain; itt is a church entirely built in brick and retains mixed styles, such as Romanesque-Mudejar, Gothic and Islamic.
This building consists of three naves, three apses, as well as a tower, pointed arches inside and originally wood ceilings, on the walls we can see remains of polychrome plasterwork with slender decoration.
The Patio de las Muñecas is the main courtyard of the private area in the Mudejar Palace, of which the first floor is preserved. In the seventeenth-century, the upper floor was completed, which was modified by Queen Elizabeth II in the middle of the nineteenth-century to adapt it to a royal residence, a function that continues being fulfilled today.
Several hypotheses support this courtyard name. On the one hand, there are experts who think that the name “Dolls” is given because it was the place where infants were raised, while others believe that it is because of its reduced dimensions. However, the most widespread explanation is that the name comes from some small faces reliefs that are sculpted at the arches base and look like children or “dolls”.
The courtyard is a great little jewel of Mudejar art with plasterwork inspired by the Alhambra of Granada based on atauriques, laceries, arabesques and sebka cloth. Despite the anachronism of its elements, columns supporting the galleries arches from Medina Azahara and the upper floor balustrade or the muqarnas cornice from the nineteenth-century, the set maintains the inspiration and exoticism of the Al-Ándalus buildings.
Also known as the Museum of Confluences, and originally an 18th century palace.
This palace was built for Pacha Thami El Glaoui, also known as the Lord of the Atlas, who ruled over Marrakesh from 1912 to 1956. It is one of the medina's finest examples of riad architecture, dripping with zellige (colourful geometric tilework), intricate white plasterwork and heavy carved cedar-wood lintels, and opened to the public in 2015 as the Museum of Confluences.
Canons Ashby House (previously known as Canons Ashby Hall) is a Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house located in the village of Canons Ashby, about 11 miles south of Daventry, Northamptonshire. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse and the gardens had turned into a meadow.
The house had been the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century; the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710. The interior of Canons Ashby House is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork. It has remained essentially unchanged since 1710 and is presented as it was during the time of Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden (1818–1899), a Victorian antiquary with an interest in history.
The house sits in the midst of a formal garden with colourful herbaceous borders, an orchard featuring varieties of fruit trees from the 16th century, terraces, walls and gate piers from 1710. There is also the remains of a medieval priory church (from which the house gets its name).
IMGP6351 - The Old Sun Inn, established in the fourteenth century, is one of the most illustrious inns in England. The diarist Samuel Pepys and the writer John Evelyn both recorded visits, and Oliver Cromwell is said to have stayed there during the Civil War. It is especially renowned for the ornate plasterwork, or 'pargetting', on its facade, depicting the legendary figures of Tom Hickathrift and the Wisbech Giant. Although the Sun is no longer an inn, the building survives today.
Dornoch Cathedral is a parish church in the Church of Scotland, serving the small Sutherland town of Dornoch, in the Scottish Highlands. It was built in the 13th century, in the reign of King Alexander II (1214-49) and the episcopate of Gilbert de Moravia (died 1245) (later Saint Gilbert of Dornoch) as the cathedral church of the diocese of Caithness (moved to Dornoch from Halkirk).
In 1570 the Cathedral was burnt down during local feuding. Full 'repairs' (amounting to one of the most drastic over-restorations on any important Scottish medieval building) were not carried out until the early 19th century, by the Countess of Sutherland. Among the 'improvements' carried out, the ruined but still largely intact aisled medieval nave was demolished and a new narrow nave without pillars built on its site. The interior was reordered in the 1920s by Rev. Charles Donald Bentinck, with the removal of Victorian plasterwork to reveal the stonework (although the medieval church would have been plastered throughout). The site of the medieval high altar was raised and converted into a burial area for the Sutherland family, who introduced large marble memorials alien to the original appearance of the building.
The previous minister was the Very Rev Dr James Simpson, who was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1994. The current minister (since 1998) is the Rev Susan Brown, who officiated at the wedding of Madonna and Guy Ritchie at nearby Skibo Castle in December 2000. (Wikepedia)
For Marty Kleva -Best viewed large
ISFAHAN-in progress
The unique blue tiles of Isfahan's Islamic buildings, and the city's majestic bridges, contrast perfectly with the hot, dry Iranian countryside around it, Isfahan is a sight you won't forget. Not only is the architecture superb and the climate pleasant, but there's a fairly relaxed atmosphere here, compared with many other Iranian towns. It's a city for walking, getting lost in the bazaar, walking in beautiful gardens and meeting people.
The famous half-rhyme Isfahan nesf-e-jahan (Esfahan is half the world) was coined in the 16th century to express the city's grandeur. There's so much to see that you'll probably have to ration your time and concentrate on must-sees such as the Imam Mosque, a magnificent building completely covered in Isfahan's trademark pale blue tiles; This mosque is situated to the south of Naqsh-e-Jahan sq. built in the reign of shah Abbas, tile work and architecture of this Mosque is amazingly superb. Its minarets Are 48 meters high. Naghsh-e-Jahan (world picture) Square, one of the largest town square in the world. The Chehel Sotun Museum & Palace, a marvellous 17th century pavilion and a great place for a picnic; this palace is another building dating back to the Safavid period, built amidst a vast garden covering an area of 67000 sq m. The building has a veranda with 18 pillars and a large pool in front of it. Being mirrored in the still water of the pool, the pillars create a beautiful view. The wall painting in the interior of the building is superlative in their kind.Ali Qapoo Palace Situated to the west of Naghsh-e-Jahan Sq. belongs to the Safavid period. It was used for the reception of the Ambassadors and envoys from other Countries. Ali Qapoo is a six-storied plasterwork and paintings of which are extremely impressive. and the Vank Cathedral, the historic focal point of the Armenian church in Iran. Taking tea in one of the teahouses under the bridges is also an essential part of the Isfahan experience.
Isfahan is about 400km (250ml) south of Tehran.
"All Saints' Church, Northampton situated in the centre of Northampton, is a Church of England parish church. It is a Grade I listed building.
After the fire, Charles II gave a thousand tons of timber for the rebuilding of All Hallows' Church, and one tenth of the money collected for the rebuilding of the town was allocated to the rebuilding of All Hallows', under the management of the King's Lynn architect, Henry Bell. Bell was resident in Northampton at the time, and he set to rebuild the church in a manner similar to Sir Christopher Wren's designs.
The central medieval tower survived the fire, as did the crypt. The new church of All Saints' was built east of the tower in an almost square plan, with a chancel to the east and a north and south narthex flanking the tower.
Visitors enter the church through the existing tower into a barrel vaulted nave. At the centre is a dome, supported on four Ionic columns, which is lit by a lantern above. The barrel vault extends into the aisles from the dome in a Greek-cross form, leaving four flat ceilings in the corners of the church. The church is well lit by plain glass windows in the aisles and originally there was a large east window in the chancel, that is now covered by a reredos. The plasterwork ceiling is finely decorated, and the barrel vaults are lit by elliptical windows.
Built in the style of Christopher Wren's London churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, it has in the past been mistakenly attributed to him. The rebuilding of the city churches was initiated by financing of the Rebuilding of London Act 1670. Wren, as Surveyor General of the King's Works, undertook the operation, and one of his first churches was St Mary-at-Hill.
The rebuilt church of All Saints' was consecrated and opened in 1680. In 1701, a large portico was added to the west end, in front of the narthex, very much in the style of the Inigo Jones portico added to Old St Paul's Cathedral in the 1630s.
Northampton is a minster and market town in the East Midlands of England. It is also the county town of wider county of Northamptonshire. Northampton lies on the River Nene, 60 miles (97 km) north-west of London and 45 miles (72 km) south-east of Birmingham. One of the largest towns in England, it had a population of 212,100 at the 2011 census (223,000 est. 2019).
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In the Middle Ages, the town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle, an occasional royal residence which regularly hosted the Parliament of England. Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton, all enclosed by the town walls. It was granted a town charter by Richard I in 1189 and a mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town was also the site of two medieval battles, in 1264 and 1460.
Northampton supported the Parliamentary Roundheads in the English Civil War, and Charles II ordered the destruction of the town walls and most of the castle. The Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 destroyed much of the town. It was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of the 18th century. Northampton continued to grow with the arrival of the Grand Union Canal and the railways in the 19th century, becoming a centre for footwear and leather manufacture.
Northampton's growth was limited until it was designated as a New Town in 1968, accelerating development in the town. It unsuccessfully applied for city status in 2000." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taymouth_Castle
aymouth Castle is situated to the north-east of the village of Kenmore, Perth and Kinross in the Highlands of Scotland, in an estate which encompasses 450 acres.[1] It lies on the south bank of the River Tay, about a mile from Loch Tay, in the heartland of the Grampian Mountains. Taymouth is bordered on two sides by mountain ranges, by Loch Tay on the third and by the confluence of the rivers Lyon and Tay on the fourth.[2]
Taymouth Castle stands on the site of the much older Balloch Castle, which was built in 1552, as the seat of the Campbell clan. In the early 19th century, Balloch Castle was demolished by the Campbells of Breadalbane, so that the new, much larger castle could be rebuilt on the site. The new castle's blue-grey stone was taken from the quarry at Bolfracks.[3]
Built in a neo-Gothic style and on a lavish scale, Taymouth Castle is regarded as the most important Scottish castle in private ownership. Its public rooms are outstanding examples of the workmanship of the finest craftsmen of the 19th century. No expense was spared on the castle's interior, which was decorated with extravagant carvings, plasterwork and murals. Panels of medieval stained glass and Renaissance woodwork were incorporated into the scheme. Much of this decor still survives.[4]
Francis Bernasconi, acknowledged as the greatest designer of fine plasterwork of the era, created the magnificent central staircase, that connects all four storeys of the central tower. Many of the ceilings were painted by Cornelius Dixon.[4]
The castle is a Category A listed building,[5] and the grounds, which include parklands and woodlands, are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, the national listing of significant gardens.[6] Historic Environment Scotland have graded the castle as 'outstanding' in all of the following categories; 'Work of Art', 'Historical', 'Architectural' and 'Scenic'. They also acknowledged that due to the remnants of its pinetum and the outstanding size of its remaining trees, it also has horticultural value.[2] It is said that some of the first larches brought to Scotland from the Tyrol were planted on the estate.[3]
Twelve of Taymouth Castle's buildings/structures are currently recorded on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.[7] Due to its severely deteriorating condition, Taymouth Castle has been empty since approximately 1982. However, its new owners are currently restoring and redeveloping the castle, as a luxury hotel resort.
The castle is currently open as an events centre for weddings, conferences and banquets. The refurbished castle is due to open as a fully functioning luxury hotel in the summer of 2018. As of April 2017, the golf course is currently closed until further notice, whilst it is being extended and re-modelled.
ASTLEY HALL IS A MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY HOUSED WITHIN A GRADE I LISTED HISTORIC HOUSE. THE HALL IS SET WITHIN THE BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS OF ASTLEY PARK WHICH INCLUDE HISTORIC WOODLAND, A LAKE, AND A FULLY RENOVATED VICTORIAN WALLED GARDEN ALONGSIDE CLEAN AND MODERN FACILITIES FOR VISITORS TO ENJOY.
THE HALL IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR ITS STUNNING JACOBEAN PLASTERWORK CEILINGS AND THE HOUSE IS BUILT AROUND AN INTERNAL ELIZABETHAN COURTYARD. THE FOUR WINGS OF THE HOUSE WERE EXTENDED BY THE FAMILIES WHO LIVED HERE AND MOST OF THE ORIGINAL FEATURES ARE RETAINED TO THIS DAY. THE HOUSE CONTAINS MUCH OAK FURNITURE FROM THE 1600S, INCLUDING THE SIRLOIN CHAIR AND A 27FT LONG SHOVEL BOARD TABLE.
Boroujerdi Historical House, Kashan, Iran.
The house was built in 1857 by architect Ostad Ali Maryam, for the bride of Haji Mehdi Borujerdi, a wealthy merchant. The bride came from the affluent Tabatabaei family, for whom Ali Maryam had built the Tabatabaei House some years earlier. It consists of a rectangular beautiful courtyard, delightful wall paintings by the royal painter Kamal-ol-molk, and three 40 meter tall wind towers which help cool the house to unusually cool temperatures. It has 3 entrances, and all the classic signatures of traditional Persian residential architecture, such as biruni and daruni (andarun). The house took eighteen years to build using 150 craftsmen. It has three entrances and all the classic signatures of Persian architecture. The main entrance is in the form of an octagonal vestibule with multilateral skylights in the ceiling. Near the entrance is a five-door chamber with intricate plasterwork. Walking through a narrow corridor, one reaches a vast rectangular courtyard that has a pool and is flanked by trees and flowerbeds. The house is famous for its unusual wind towers, which are made of stone, brick, sun-baked bricks and a composition of clay, straw and mortar. Three 40-meter-tall wind towers help cool the house to unusually cool temperatures. Even the basements consistently benefit from the flow of cool air from the wind towers. Since exceptional attention has been paid to minute architectural details demanded by the geographical and climatic conditions of the area, the house has attracted considerable attention of architects as well as Iranian and foreign scientific and technical teams. While Boroujerdi House used to be a private home, it is now open to the public as a museum. The museum is divided into four sections, namely reception, ceremonies, residential halls and rooms.
As excavation of the rubble in the building got down to the great hall floor level, they started to find pieces of plasterwork from the hall ceiling, which included initials and parts of coats of arms. As Peter wanted to restore the building as closely as possible to the original, the pieces were kept, but trying to work out the design from the pieces they had was problematic.
As they got down close to the floor at the west end of the hall, they began to find a layer of roof slates. Apparently, when the mansion burned down in 1868, the fire raged so intensely that the roof had collapsed right down through the upper floors and onto the great hall floor.
Eventually, under the roof slates they found well-preserved plasterwork that had been protected from the fire by the slates. To their complete surprise they found a complete section of plaster ceiling, lying face-up on the floor, from which they were able to work out the complete design of the original plaster ceiling. Once the rest of the building had been restored, they were able to take moulds from what they had uncovered to faithfully reproduce the original.
The beautiful dining room at Saltram House in Plympton, Plymouth, is one of a suite of neo-classical rooms created by Robert Adam in the early 1770s. Complete with all of the original decor, plasterwork and furnishings, Saltram is one of Britain's best preserved examples of an early Georgian house. Originally home to the Parker family and Earls of Morley, Saltram House changed hands when, in 1957, it became the property of the National Trust.
Canons Ashby House is an Elizabethan manor house located in Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire, England. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981. The interior of the house is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork.
The Hospital was founded in 1692 by Charles 11 for the 'succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war'. The Chapel is a rare example of Christopher Wren's ecclesiastical work with original panelling, pews and plasterwork. The curtains add to the theatricality of the Baroque
The Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as ' a mole on the cheek of Lahore'. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634-1635 A.D., during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and later, the Governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan. (The word wazir means 'minister' in Urdu language.) The mosque is located inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate.
In his published notes, F H Andrews, former Principal of the Mayo School of Arts, describes the mosque thus: 'The material used in the construction of the Mosque is a small tile-like brick universally used by the Mughals when stone was unusable or too costly. The only stone used in the building is used for brackets and some of the fretwork (pinjra). The walls were coated with plaster (chunam) and faced with a finely-soft quality of the same material tooled to a marble-like surface and coloured. All the external plasterwork was richly coloured a rich Indian red, in true fresco, and the surface afterwards picked out with white lines in the similitude of the small bricks beneath. The extreme severity of the lines of the building is relieved by the division of the surfaces into slightly sunk rectangular panels, alternatively vertical and horizontal, the vertical panels having usually an inner panel with arched head or the more florid cusped mihrab. These panels, where they are exposed to weather, are generally filled with a peculiar inlaid faience pottery called kashi, the effect of which must have been very fine when the setting of deep red plaster of the walls was intact.'
'The facade of the sanctuary is practically covered with kashi and is divided into the usual oblong panels. A beautiful border is carried rectangularly round the centre archway, and inscriptions in Persian characters occur in an outer border, in a long panel over the archway, and in horizontal panels along the upper portions of the lower walls to right and left. The spandrels are filled in with extremely fine designs.'
'With the minars, however, the facade of the sanctuary, and the entrance gateway, where a small portion of the surface was left for plaster, the effect of the gorgeous colours against the soft blue of a Punjabi sky, and saturated with brilliant sunlight and glowing purple shadow is indescribably rich and jewel-like.'
'Right and left of the sanctuary are two stately octagonal minars 100 feet in height. On the long sides of the quadrangle are ranged small khanas or cells, each closed by the usual Indian two-leaved door set in a slightly recessed pointed arch, of which there are thirteen on each side by a pavilion rising above the general level, containing larger apartments and an upper story reached by two flights of steps, which also give access to the roof of the arcading and pavilions...these pavilions occur, in the centre of the north and south sides of the lower level of the pavement. In the pavilion on the south side is a fountain set in a circular scalloped basin, and served from the main which supplies the tank in the quadrangle.'
Within the inner courtyard of the mosque lies the subterranean tomb of Syed Muhammad Ishaq, known as Miran Badshah, a divine from Iran who settled in Lahore during the time of the Tughluq dynasty. The tomb, therefore, predates the mosque.
Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex
Grade l listed.
List Entry Number: 1272785
Listing NGR: TQ6463810388
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24/04/2020
TQ 61SW 13/406
HERSTMONCEUX HERSTMONCEUX PARK Herstmonceux Castle, with attached bridges to north and south and causeway with moat retaining walls to west.
GV I Castle/country house. c1441 (when licence to crenellate was granted) for Sir Roger Fiennes; further embellished mid C16 for Baroness and Lord Dacre; altered mid-late C17 for Lord Dacre; part demolished 1776-1777 for Robert Hare; restored and rebuilt early C20, mostly 1911-1912, for Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lowther and 1930s for Sir Paul Latham.
Red brick in English bond with some blue header diaper work; stone dressings; plain tile roofs. Square on plan with inner courtyard, this originally divided into four courts and containing Great Hall, but these and the internal walls of the castle demolished C18; south range and south ends of east and west ranges restored by Lowther, the remainder restored by Latham. Two storeys with attic and basement in parts; five x four wide bays with tapering polygonal towers at corners and between bays, taller at angles and centre. Built and restored in C15 style: exterior has one-light or two-light windows, some transomed; courtyard has more wider windows and some with cusped or round-headed lights; four-centred-arched or segmental-arched moulded or chamfered doorways with C20 studded board doors; tall plinth with moulded offset; moulded string below embattled parapet with roll moulded coping; rainwater pipes with decorative initialled heads; stacks with ribbed and corniced clustered flues; steeply-pitched roofs with roll-moulded coping, some with hipped ends.
South (entrance) elevation: three-storey central gate tower has tall recess containing wide, panelled door, window of two cusped, transomed lights above, and grooves for former drawbridge arms; on second floor two transomed windows of two round-headed lights flank coat of arms of Sir Roger Fiennes; flanking towers have gun ports at base, looped arrow slits, machicolated parapets with arrow slits to merlons, and towers rising above as drums. Projecting from gate tower is long bridge (mostly C20) of eight arches, that to centre wider and shallower, with cutwaters, stone parapet, and central corbelled embrasure with flanking tower buttresses.
North side: central gate towers formerly had rooms on lower floors, of which truncated walls and first-floor fireplace fragment remain; machicolated parapet; at left end of range C17 window openings with later eighteen-pane sashes. West side: attached causeway containing basement room and with three half-arched bridge on south side, walling returning as moat retaining walls; main range has a basement doorway with side-lights in chamfered embrasure.
East side: the second tower has C16 first-floor bow window; tall windows to central tower (which contains chapel); right half of range has older windows blocked and larger C17 replacement openings with later eighteen-pane sashes.
Courtyard: seven-bay arcade to north side and central corbelled stack with clock; three-bay 1930s Great Hall (now library) on west side with decorative tracery to windows and offset buttress; gable of former chapel on east side, has perpendicular tracery to window, a two-storey bay window and two crow-stepped gabled attic windows to its left; several doorways and a two-storey bay window to south side; hipped-roofed dormers; brick-lined well in south-west corner.
Interior: some original features survive, including fireplaces, privies, doorways, dungeon and brick-lined dovecote in south-east tower; other old features were brought in from elsewhere, including doors, fireplaces, panelling. In south range: porter's room has old fireplace and relocated linenfold door (found in cellar); reused traceried wood panelling in rebuilt dining room fireplace; stair hall has fine early C17 wooden stair (brought from Theobalds, Herts) with strapwork roundels between square vase balusters, elaborate relief decoration, and lion finials holding shields; at head of stair; elaborate doorcase of same period ribbed ceiling with pendant finials. Drummers Room has reused panelling, part dated 1697, with fluted pilasters and frieze and elaborately arcaded and fluted-pilastered overmantel. Green Room, on second floor, has restored fireplace with crests and beasts on hood; moulded beams and bosses; and reused traceried panel below courtyard window.
North range: very fine late C17 stair (brought from Wheatley Hall, Doncaster; possibly from the workshop of Grinling Gibbons) with baskets-of-flowers and pendant finials to newels, balustrades of open, leafy, scrollwork with flower roundels, and at head of stair two elaborately carved doorcases in similar style with shields in broken pediments. Former ball room has arched ceiling with decorative plasterwork; C17-style panelling; reused elaborately-decorated C17 wooden fireplace overmantel (from Madingley Hall, Cambs.) with two orders of caryatids and embossed panels.
East range: former chapel has reused C15 wooden screen (from France) set in west wall; former Drawing room has elaborate stone fireplace, 1930s in C16 style, and in ante room a reused richly decorated fireplace with griffins and portrait roundels. The C15 castle was well restored in the early C20 and the many fine features which were brought in at that time add to its importance.
Listing NGR: TQ6463810388
Sources
Books and journals
Calvert, D , The History of Herstmonceux Castle
Pevsner, N, Nairn, I, The Buildings of England: Sussex, (1965), 534-6
'Country Life' in 18 May, (1929), 702-709
'Country Life' in 7 December, (1935), 606-612
'Country Life' in 14 December, (1935)
Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 14 East Sussex,
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1272785
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Before 1066 Herst (meaning forest or wood) was the name of a prominent local Anglo-Saxon family and ownership of the family's estate passed into the hands of the victorious Normans. In 1131 the manor and estates were transferred to Drogo de Monceux, a great grandson of William the Conqueror . Drogo's son Ingleram married Idonea de Herst, thus founding the Herstmonceux line.
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Herstmonceux Castle Gardens and Grounds is a 300 acre estate including woodland, formal themed gardens and of course a 15th century moated castle.
Made from red brick Herstmonceux Castle is one of the earliest examples of a brick built building in England.
Read more about the history here:-
Canons Ashby House (previously known as Canons Ashby Hall) is a Grade I[1] listed Elizabethan manor house located in the village of Canons Ashby, about 11 miles (17.7 km) south of the town of Daventry in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse and the gardens had turned into a meadow.[2] "The Tower" of the building is in the care of the Landmark Trust and available for holiday lets.
Design
Kitchen range at Canons Ashby House
The interior of Canons Ashby House is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork. It has remained ssentially unchanged since 1710 and is presented as it was during the time of Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden (1818–1899), a Victorian antiquary with an interest in history.
The house sits in the midst of a formal garden with colourful herbaceous borders, an orchard featuring varieties of fruit trees from the 16th century, terraces, walls and gate piers from 1710. There is also the remains of a medieval priory church (from which the house gets its name).
History
The house had been the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century; the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710.
One John Dryden had married Elizabeth Cope in 1551 and inherited, through his wife, an L-shaped farmhouse which he gradually extended. In the 1590s his son, Sir Erasmus Dryden completed the final north range of the house which enclosed the Pebble Courtyard.
John Dryden and Elizabeth Cope had a daughter, Bridget Dryden (1563-1645),born at Canons Ashby. She became the second wife of cleric and teacher Francis Marbury; their daughter Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634. Anne's strong religious convictions were at odds with the established Puritan clergy in the Boston area, and her popularity and charisma helped create a theological schism that threatened to destroy the Puritans' religious community in New England. She was eventually tried and convicted, then banished from the colony with many of her supporters. To 19th century America, she was a crusader for religious liberty; in the 20th century, she became viewed as a feminist leader for her staunch defence of individual freedom of thought. Today, a statue of Anne Hutchinson stands in front of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden's daughter, the historian and photographer Alice Dryden (1866–1956) was born in the house and lived there for 33 years. She moved away after her father died, since a woman could not inherit the estate and it went to her uncle, Sir Alfred Erasmus Dryden (1821–1912).[3]
Louis Osman (1914–1996), an architect and accomplished British goldsmith lived at Canons Ashby from 1969/70 to 1979. Whilst there, Osman made the crown, with his enamellist wife, Dilys Roberts, which was used at the investiture of Charles, Prince of Wales in 1969. They also made the gold enamelled casket that held the Magna Carta which was on view in the United States Capitol, Washington, DC in 1976 for the United States Bicentennial.[4]
During World War II, the London offices of 20th Century Fox films were evacuated to Canons Ashby House; the evacuee staff lived in the nearby village of Moreton Pinkney.
Gervase Jackson-Stops, who was the Architectural Adviser to the National Trust for over twenty years, broke fresh ground when he fought for the rescue of the then decaying manor-house in the 1980s. This was the first time that the Trust used its charitable funds rather than the traditional family endowment to save a historic house.Wikipedia
Built in 1818, with single-bay three-stage tower to entrance (south-west) front on a square plan. Closed, 1992. Now disused. Interior including vestibule to tower; pointed-arch door opening into nave with timber panelled double doors having overlight; full-height interior to nave stripped, 1992, retaining tessellated terracotta-tiled central aisle between raised timber boarded floors supporting remains of timber panelled box pews, cut-white marble wall monuments) with pair of polished brass wall monuments, trefoil-perforated Gothic-style timber pulpit on an octagonal plan, timber boarded stepped dais to chancel (east) with wrought iron-detailed barley twist balusters supporting carved timber communion railing, and coved ceiling on timber construction on moulded plasterwork cornice centred on moulded plasterwork frame. Set in own grounds on an elevated site including graveyard with collection of cut-stone markers
Described as a church of modest size identified as an important component of the early nineteenth-century architectural heritage of Saltmills having been erected by Caesar Colclough (1766-1842) with financial support from the Board of First Fruits.
Some amazing agricultural machinery on display in this bustling market scene.
Upcycled this one from our Munsterset by replacing with higher res image - it really hasn't received the attention it deserves...
Date: Circa 1900??
NLI Ref.: L_CAB_08528
Rex Cinema, Berkhamsted. The gorgeous plasterwork, concealed lighting and spaciousness have all been restored - it had been sub-divided to form a bingo hall in the stalls and two mini-cinemas in the balcony. Opened in May 1938, the Rex was designed by David Evelyn Nye for the Shipman & King circuit. It seated 1,100 with more seats in the circle than the stalls due to the location of the café on the ground floor. The circle was twinned - badly - in 1976, and the stalls became a bingo hall. It was closed in 1988 and also listed grade 2 the same year. It was left in a vandalised and derelict state, with calls for its demolition. Almost miraculously, it was restored and reopened in 2004, with enormous success - the majority of performances are sold-out. The large foyer is separated as a restaurant, and the former car park used for flats (left side of photo), but the glorious auditorium renovated as a single screen is once more, now seating 350 in luxurious comfort. The day before these images were taken was a celebratory evening marking the 21st anniversary of the reopening.
An album of images of the cinema across the years can be seen here:-
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England - Rex (Studio) Cinema, High Street
December 2025
THE FIRST DWELLING AT LEVENS WAS A MEDIEVAL PELE TOWER, BUILT BY THE DE REDMAN FAMILY OF YEALAND REDMAYNE. THE BELLINGHAM FAMILY, WHO WERE WEALTHY LANDOWNERS, CHOSE LEVENS AS THEIR MAIN RESIDENCE IN THE 1590S AND INCORPORATED THE FORTIFIED TOWER INTO A GENTLEMAN’S RESIDENCE. THEY EMPLOYED LOCAL CRAFTSMEN TO CARVE THE OAK PANELLING, INCORPORATED ELABORATE ITALIAN PLASTERWORK, INCLUDING ELIZABETH THE FIRST’S COAT OF ARMS AND STAINED GLASS - ALL OF WHICH CAN BE SEEN TODAY.
THE HISTORIC HOUSE BECAME THE PROPERTY OF COLONEL JAMES GRAHME IN 1688 AFTER HIS CAREER AT COURT IN THE SERVICE OF KING JAMES II. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A YOUNG FRENCH GARDENER, GUILLAUME BEAUMONT, A PUPIL OF LE NOTRE AT VERSAILLES, TO PLAN A FASHIONABLE GARDEN AT LEVENS. THIS FAMILY HOME CONTAINS FINE FURNITURE, PAINTINGS, ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES IN EUROPE OF SPANISH LEATHER WALL COVERINGS, THE EARLIEST ENGLISH PATCHWORK, WELLINGTONIANA, CLOCKS AND MINIATURES, AND HAS BECOME ONE OF THE FINEST STATELY HOMES IN SOUTH CUMBRIA.
THERE ARE TEN WONDERFUL ACRES OF GARDENS AT LEVENS HALL. THEY INCLUDE THE UNIQUE COLLECTION OF ANCIENT AND EXTRAORDINARY TOPIARY CHARACTERS SCULPTED FROM BOX AND YEW. THEY RISE UP FROM A SPECTACULAR SEASONAL UNDERPLANTING POPULATED WITH AN EVER-CHANGING RANGE OF OVER THIRTY THOUSAND FLOWERS. FURTHER ON, BEYOND THE ROMANTIC OLD ORCHARD AND SEPARATED BY THE GREAT BEECH HEDGES, LIE THE MAGNIFICENT HERBACEOUS BORDERS. THESE ARE TRADITIONALLY DOUBLE IN FORMAT AND ARE AMONGST THE FINEST TO BE FOUND IN ENGLAND. THERE ARE ALSO WALL BORDERS, VEGETABLE AND HERB GARDENS, A ROSE GARDEN, FOUNTAIN GARDEN, FINE LAWNS, WILDFLOWER MEADOWS & WILLOW LABYRINTH ETC.
GHOSTS AT LEVENS HALL
THE MOST FAMOUS GHOST AT LEVENS HALL IS ABOUT A GYPSY WOMAN WHO IS SAID TO HAVE DIED CURSING THE HOUSE, CLAIMING THAT NO MALE HEIR WOULD INHERIT UNTIL THE RIVER KENT CEASED TO FLOW AND A WHITE FAWN WAS BORN IN THE PARK. STRANGELY, THE ESTATE PASSED THROUGH THE FEMALE LINE FOR FOUR GENERATIONS UNTIL THE BIRTH OF ALAN DESMOND BAGOT IN 1896 WHEN THE RIVER DID INDEED FREEZE OVER AND A WHITE FAWN WAS BORN IN THE PARK. THE THREE MALE HEIRS SINCE HAVE ALL BEEN BORN ON FREEZING WINTER DAYS.
AN EPISODE FILMED BY THE TELEVISION PROGRAMME ‘MOST HAUNTED’ IN 2002 DISCOVERED SOME LIGHTS, SOUNDS AND DISTURBING ATMOSPHERES NOT PREVIOUSLY EXPERIENCED BY VISITORS.
Long Gallery, Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire, 11 Jul 2024
At either end of the Long Gallery are plasterwork depictions of Destiny and Fortune. The designs are from the title page of the book "The Castle of Knowledge" written in 1556 by mathematician Robert Recorde.
It is likely that these were copied from Recorde's book and the plasterer wasn't able the read. Note the backwards "N" in several of the words, and the "speare" of destiny when it should be "sphere" of destiny.
THE OLD HALL AT HARDWICK SURVIVES ONLY AS A SHELL, WITH REMNANTS OF ITS PLASTER DECORATION. THE BUILDING PROBABLY INCORPORATES THE MANOR HOUSE BEGUN BY JAMES HARDWICK (1525-1580), TO WHICH HIS SISTER BESS MADE RADICAL ALTERATIONS IN THE 1580S. BESS DID NOT ABANDON THE OLD HALL IN FAVOUR OF HER NEW HALL, WHICH WAS MOSTLY COMPLETE BY 1597. SHE USED BOTH AND SOME ROOMS REMAINED HABITABLE UNTIL THE END OF THE 18TH CENTURY. GRADUALLY THOUGH, AS NO MAJOR BUILDING WORK WAS CARRIED OUT, MUCH OF THE STRUCTURE BECAME UNSTABLE AND EVENTUALLY RUINOUS. IN THE 1960S THE STRUCTURE OF THE OLD HALL WAS CONSOLIDATED MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR THE FIRST TIME FOR VISITORS TO WALK THROUGH THE RUINS. ENGLISH HERITAGE CONTINUES TO OPEN THEM TO THE PUBLIC.
EVIDENCE ABOUT THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE OLD HALL IS SCANT BUT RECENT EXAMINATION OF THE RUINS HAS CONCLUDED THAT ITS SOUTH AND WEST WALLS PREDATE BESS'S CAMPAIGN OF BUILDING IN THE 1580S AND MAY BELONG TO THE PREVIOUS HOUSE. BESS'S REBUILDING INVOLVED ADDING TWO TOWERING WINGS, WHICH FLANK THE HALL. THE TOPMOST FLOORS OF THE WINGS CONTAINED STATE ROOMS FOR FORMAL ENTERTAINING, LIT BY TALL WINDOWS WHICH COMMAND VIEWS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE. EACH SUITE OF STATE ROOMS HAD ITS OWN GREAT CHAMBER, AN UNUSUAL AND UNEXPLAINED FEATURE. THE WEST WING HAD THE THE HILL GREAT CHAMBER AND THE EAST ONE THE FOREST GREAT CHAMBER. THE REMAINS OF LAVISH PLASTERWORK DECORATIOIN CAN STILL BE SEEN TODAY.
"The Paramount was completed in 1932 just as the Depression was leaving its mark on Amarillo, which had feasted on the fruits of the 1920s oil boom until the global crash caught up with it.
The Paramount was Amarillo's premier first-run movie theater for decades, but fell behind the multiple screen suburban complexes in the 1970s, and closed in the mid 1970s.
It was gutted and converted to office space, but the pueblo deco exterior is still as beautiful as ever. A hint of its grandeur can be seen in the second level of the parking garage that fills the old auditorium. The painted starburst ceiling is still intact, as is golden plasterwork that framed the top of the stage. The original chandelier and the giant blade sign from the facade have been preserved in a now-closed disco in the city's warehouse district.
A movement is under way to restore the sign and place it back in its original location".
Wes Reeves
The Italian Gardens and South Wing of Towneley Hall, Burnley, Lancashire
The hall was the home of the Towneley family for more than 500 years (the Towneley family were an important Catholic family and once owned extensive estates in and around Burnley, the West Riding of Yorkshire and County Durham). The male line of the family died out in 1878 and in 1901 one of the daughters, Lady O'Hagan, sold the house together with 62 acres of land to Burnley Corporation. The family departed in March 1902, leaving behind a building almost completely empty except for a couple of tables and a few pictures in the chapel. The park was opened to the public in June 1902, and in May 1903 the Great Hall and the south wing of the house were opened for a temporary art exhibition.
The Hall has been closed for extensive renovation since November 2022 The restoration work included significant repairs to the historic Great Hall plasterwork, re-roofing, window replacements, and addressing structural issues. The hall was temporarily closed for the repairs, which also involved the careful removal and storage of over 30,000 museum objects.
The Hall is once again open to visitors
Burnley, Lancashire, UK
©SWJuk (2025)
All rights reserved
"All Saints' Church, Northampton situated in the centre of Northampton, is a Church of England parish church. It is a Grade I listed building.
After the fire, Charles II gave a thousand tons of timber for the rebuilding of All Hallows' Church, and one tenth of the money collected for the rebuilding of the town was allocated to the rebuilding of All Hallows', under the management of the King's Lynn architect, Henry Bell. Bell was resident in Northampton at the time, and he set to rebuild the church in a manner similar to Sir Christopher Wren's designs.
The central medieval tower survived the fire, as did the crypt. The new church of All Saints' was built east of the tower in an almost square plan, with a chancel to the east and a north and south narthex flanking the tower.
Visitors enter the church through the existing tower into a barrel vaulted nave. At the centre is a dome, supported on four Ionic columns, which is lit by a lantern above. The barrel vault extends into the aisles from the dome in a Greek-cross form, leaving four flat ceilings in the corners of the church. The church is well lit by plain glass windows in the aisles and originally there was a large east window in the chancel, that is now covered by a reredos. The plasterwork ceiling is finely decorated, and the barrel vaults are lit by elliptical windows.
Built in the style of Christopher Wren's London churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, it has in the past been mistakenly attributed to him. The rebuilding of the city churches was initiated by financing of the Rebuilding of London Act 1670. Wren, as Surveyor General of the King's Works, undertook the operation, and one of his first churches was St Mary-at-Hill.
The rebuilt church of All Saints' was consecrated and opened in 1680. In 1701, a large portico was added to the west end, in front of the narthex, very much in the style of the Inigo Jones portico added to Old St Paul's Cathedral in the 1630s.
Northampton is a minster and market town in the East Midlands of England. It is also the county town of wider county of Northamptonshire. Northampton lies on the River Nene, 60 miles (97 km) north-west of London and 45 miles (72 km) south-east of Birmingham. One of the largest towns in England, it had a population of 212,100 at the 2011 census (223,000 est. 2019).
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In the Middle Ages, the town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle, an occasional royal residence which regularly hosted the Parliament of England. Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton, all enclosed by the town walls. It was granted a town charter by Richard I in 1189 and a mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town was also the site of two medieval battles, in 1264 and 1460.
Northampton supported the Parliamentary Roundheads in the English Civil War, and Charles II ordered the destruction of the town walls and most of the castle. The Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 destroyed much of the town. It was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of the 18th century. Northampton continued to grow with the arrival of the Grand Union Canal and the railways in the 19th century, becoming a centre for footwear and leather manufacture.
Northampton's growth was limited until it was designated as a New Town in 1968, accelerating development in the town. It unsuccessfully applied for city status in 2000." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
The Grade II Listed Bodnant House, located in the nantional Trust's Bodnant Gardens, in Conwy Valley, North Wales.
The structure of Bodnant house was built by Colonel Forbes between 1770 and 1821 at a small distance from the original house called Old Bodnod. The late Georgian house, with 7-bay symmetrical S facade including outer wings, was bought in January 1875 by Henry Pochin, a wealthy industrial chemist and china clay magnate from Lancashire.
The house was progressively rebuilt from 1875-6 in Old English style by W J Green of London who refaced the house with hard blue local stone, used Talacre sandstone for window dressings and quoins and replaced the sash windows with stone mullions and casements. An architectural drawing of 1880 by G Richards Julian (in estate office) shows the remodelled exterior before the Drawing-Room wing and conservatories were added.
The conservatory attached to the SE corner was built for Pochin by Messenger & Co in 1881-2 (contract dated Nov 1881) and the adjoining fernery was in place and planted by 1883. The conservatory originally had a gabled porch to the S side and there were double doors to the fernery.
Henry Pochin's daughter married the first Lord Aberconway and she and her son and grandson have further developed the house and hugely improved the gardens. The large Drawing-Room wing was added in 1898 to the NW tower of the house to designs by Ould of Grayson and Ould, architects of Chester. The Dining-Room was extended in 1911 including the bay towards the terraces, and the upper room over the porch (chimney-piece dated 1911) was added at that time. Other dates appear in the Drawing Room plasterwork - 1935 when the Shobdon panelling was inserted - and the Turret Room of 1936 which has panelling from Wheatley Hall, Doncaster.
Information gained from britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300025063-bodnant-eglwysbach...
The Partal Palace- Alhambra
As is customary in these buildings, it is situated, like the Palace of Comares, on the premises wall. The portico, with its five arches, overlooks a large pool in the centre of the garden. Behind the portico is the main room, located inside the tower known as Las Damas.
The wall decoration typically consists of a tile socle and wide stretches of plasterwork that originally were polychromatic friezes with wooden frameworks. Its decorative style suggests that it was built during the reign of sultan Muhammad III (1302-1309), making it the oldest—if only partially standing—palace in the Alhambra.
Adjacent to the Tower of the Ladies and above the portico, is a lovely small balcony built in Nasrid style, just like the balconies of other palaces, such as the Comares and the Generalife, often referred to in this day and age as observatories for the superb views they provide.
One of the reasons why the Palace of the Partal stands out from its neighbouring Comares and the Lions, which have maintained their overall structure since the days of the Nasrid, is that the Partal was only included in the Alhambra a little more than a century ago.
On 12 March 1891, its owner, Arthur Von Gwinner, handed ownership over to the State. At that time the building was little more than a simple house with a few plants. Its interior walls were covered over so that much of the structure and its original decoration were hidden from view.
The Music Hall is located on six flor of Ali Qapu palace. It is decorated with plaster-work, representing pots and vessels. it is famous for it ornament and stucco-work decoration. Isfahan / Iran
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This house was built as a pair with No. 12, possibly to the designs of Edward Lovett Pearce. The house was leased to William Stewart, 3rd Viscount Mountjoy. Recently restored, the interior retains a Portland stone stair with wrought-iron balustrade and timber wainscoting throughout, in addition to some notable Rococo plasterwork. Now in office use, the house forms an important part of what has been described as 'Dublin's Street of Palaces' and greatly contributes to the improving fortunes of this remarkable streetscape.
Soho Theatre (Granada), Walthamstow. Opened on the 15 September 1930, designed by Cecil Masey with interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky, and built on the enlarged site of the earlier Victoria Cinema. The Granada had 2,697 seats in stalls and balcony, with a strongly Moorish influence to the spectacular foyers and auditorium. It was tripled in 1974, with two mini cinemas under the balcony - the front stalls were removed and the stage lost live usage. The theatre was grade 2 listed in 1987 (upped to Grade 2* in 2000). Later known as ABC, MGM and EMD Cinemas, the venue closed in 2003 and was sold to a church, who were refused planning consent for change of use on several occasions. It was sold again, in a derelict state, in 2014 and parts of the building were reopened as a bar and live entertainment venue known as Mirth. In 2019 it was bought by Waltham Forest Borough Council and, in conjunction with the Soho Theatre, they began a restoration process. This saw the main auditorium restored as a 1,000 theatre, the rear stalls had the original plasterwork restored to become a unique bar, the rear of the circle, again with original features, is now a community / rehearsal room, the circle foyer is a stylish bar, and the foyers restored (with full disabled access adaptations) to original splendour. The architects for the scheme were Pilbrow & Partners, and the main contractor was Wilmott Dixon. Soho Walthamstow, as the theatre is now known, reopened in May 2025 and the theatre is now very comfortable and looks stunning, there is some of the best front-of-house space existing in a theatre, with brand-new artiste rooms and a widened stage. What it lacks is the original organs, now in storage, awaiting sufficient money (£1million+) to be restored and reinstated.
sohotheatre.com/walthamstow/
London Borough of Waltham Forest, Walthamstow, London, UK - former Granada Cinema, Hoe Street
July 2025
The Cheshire Cottage A half-timbered Cheshire Cottage was built in the garden in 1856. James and Maria Bateman's initials are engraved alongside the date in the maroon plasterwork of the upper storey. Perhaps this was a nod to the Swiss Cottage, built in 1853 for Queen Victoria’s nine children at her Italianate private home, Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight? Or is it in honour of Bateman’s wife Maria who was from Cheshire? Like many of Biddulph’s buildings, there was a considerable input from Edward Cooke, who made several drawings for it.
THIS ELIZABETHAN HALL AND STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER CALDER IN PADIHAM IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE. THE HALL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1600 AND 1605 GAWTHORPE HALL WAS THE FAMILY HOME OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH FAMILY FOR OVER 300 YEARS. INSIDE THE HOUSE YOU WILL FIND PERIOD ROOMS ON DISPLAY FROM THE 1850 REMODELLING BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT SIR CHARLES BARRY AND PUGIN AS WELL AS ORIGINAL PLASTERWORK CEILINGS, PANELLING AND THE IMPRESSIVE LONG GALLERY. ALSO ON DISPLAY ARE OVER 200 PIECES FROM THE NATIONALLY IMPORTANT GAWTHORPE TEXTILE COLLECTION.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY HAS LOANED OVER 20 PAINTINGS TO THE HALL ALL OF WHICH ILLUSTRATE ITS FASCINATING CONNECTIONS AND HISTORY, PARTICULARLY WITH THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. GAWTHORPE HALL IS AN ARTISTIC AND HISTORIC TREASURE TROVE IN THE MIDDLE OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE.
GAWTHORPE HALL IS CLOSED COMPLETELY FOR THE REST OF 2015. THIS IS DUE TO MAJOR BUILDING CONSERVATION WORK TO THE HALL, AND IS EXPECTED BE OPEN FULLY FOR 2016.
Sometimes you talk to other explorers who give you hints how to ge in somewhere. I thought I had it all figured out when we arrived here. Until I saw where we should go in. I clearly should have mentioned that I am almost 2 meters long and 120 kilograms.... Luckily it all worked out!
This castle dates back to the 13th century. It was built on a crossing of two very important trade routes and therefor interesting area for people to settle. It has been owned by various aristocrats during the centuries.
The beautiful plaster on the several ceilings was built in the end of the 17th century already. In one room called the 'Bacchus Room' the ceiling is decorated with angels and wine barrels.
Although the decorations inside are some you don't see very often, the rest of the castle is rather empty. They have been working on renovation, but guess this is at a standstill for several years already....
Please visit www.preciousdecay.com for more pictures and follow me on Facebook on www.facebook.com/Preciousdecay
If you like my work and you would like a piece of me on your wall, please contact me for various materials and prices!
The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Located at 282 Hope Street, its front door was originally round the corner in Cowcaddens Street. It currently accommodates 1,541 people and is owned by Scottish Opera. The theatre opened in 1867, adopting the name Theatre Royal two years later. It is also the birthplace of Howard & Wyndham Ltd, owners and managers of theatres in Scotland and England until the 1970s, created by its chairman Baillie Michael Simons in 1895. It was Simons who as a cultural entrepreneur of his day also promoted the building of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and Glasgow's International Exhibitions of 1888 (the International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry) and 1901.
The theatre was opened in 1867 as the Royal Colosseum and Opera House by James Baylis. Baylis also ran the Milton Colosseum Music Hall at Cowcaddens Cross, and had opened the Scotia Music Hall, later known as the Metropole, in Stockwell Street in 1862. The Royal, and its shops and adjoining Alexandra Music Hall, were designed by George Bell of Clarke & Bell, who became the founding President of the Glasgow Institute of Architects.
Baylis presented a range of performance activity in its auditorium: pantomimes, plays, comedies, harlequinades and opera. This early mention of opera seems significant given the theatre’s later role since 1975 as the home of Scottish Opera. Despite the financial importance of pantomime, then as now, opera in the time of Baylis was still viable as a commercial venture. The Mitchell Library`s archives record that other venues in Glasgow performed opera – in 1868 there were 76 performances of 23 different operas; and recent research increasingly underlines its presence down the years. Many operas, both famous and forgotten, had their Scottish premiere at the Theatre Royal. Certainly among surviving Scottish theatres, in this respect the Theatre Royal is head and shoulders above others even on the basis of a selective listing.
In 1869 Baylis leased the theatre to Glover & Francis who previously ran the old Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street, which had been demolished to make way for St Enoch railway station.
William Glover brought the name Theatre Royal with him and its company of artistes, orchestra and stage staff, presenting drama, opera, revues and pantomime.
In 1879 the auditorium was destroyed by fire and was rebuilt to the classical French Renaissance design seen today of the renowned theatre architect Charles J. Phipps, creating three galleries instead of two and making the front door face Hope Street instead of Cowcaddens Road. It continued to accommodate about 3,000 people. It is now the largest surviving example of Charles Phipp's theatre work in Britain.
In the early 1880s a number of managers ran it until Baillie Michael Simons arranged for it to be made available to two actor managers, James Howard and Fred Wyndham, in 1888. They announced that in addition to plays, opera, musicals and summer revues it would be known above all as a pantomime house, their first being The Forty Thieves. The new company, Howard & Wyndham, went on to produce pantomimes across Britain for almost 80 years. Howard & Wyndham also presented from the 1930s onwards the famous Half Past Eight Shows which later became the record-breaking Five Past Eight Shows. They were not operators of music-halls nor presented variety, which was the forte of Moss Empires.
In 1895 the company became Howard & Wyndham Ltd, quoted on Stock Exchanges, and growing to own and operate the largest group of quality theatres in Scotland and England, with the Royal as its flagship. In the same year a fire destroyed the auditorium again, but was rebuilt six months later under the attention of Charles Phipps with few visible changes. Howard & Wyndham Ltd soon added to their stock of theatres by building the Frank Matcham designed King’s Theatre across the city centre in 1904.
In 1957, the theatre was sold to Scottish Television in a joint venture with Howard & Wyndham Ltd (who moved their own shows to their new flagship the Alhambra Theatre in Waterloo Street) for conversion of the Royal into a Scottish Television Theatre, studios and offices, becoming the main home for the commercial ITV network in central Scotland. Live performances in music, dance and comedy were transmitted across Scotland and networked to ITV areas south of the border. STV also transmitted concerts and operas from other venues and became the first and largest sponsors of Scottish Opera started by Sir Alexander Gibson in 1962
In 1974, Scottish Television moved to custom-built premises next door and offered the Theatre Royal to Scottish Opera who bought it with public support, converting it to become its home theatre and Scotland's first national opera house. A major rebuild and refurbishment ensued, involving the creation of an enlarged foyer, new main staircase, orchestra pit enlarged to accommodate 100 players, extended backstage areas and modernised dressing rooms. The auditorium was restored to its full glory and plasterwork once more in its original cream and gold and colour highlights, with the ornate ceiling picked out in its original colours of gold, cream and pale blue. William Morris wallpaper was added to the principal walls. It re-opened in October 1975 with a gala performance of Die Fledermaus, televised live.
The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the refurbished Theatre Royal in October 1975, the Queen was not in attendance. The Duke spent the day on walkabout with the Opera House management and ARUP Associates engineers. He even took the time to speak with construction management, tradesmen and supervisors before opening the bars to toast the construction personnel on a job well done.
A few months later the Theatre Royal also became the home theatre of Scottish Ballet started in 1969, and became the main home of the Scottish Theatre Company during its existence in the 1980s. It became a principal venue of the city's Mayfest Festival each year, and continues to attract visiting companies. Since 1977 it has been protected as a category A listed building of architectural and historic importance. It is the largest example of Charles Phipps' architecture in Britain.
In 1997 a lottery-funded refurbishment allowed for extensive rewiring and redecoration. Cherry red walls, turquoise seating, and red and turquoise carpeting replaced the 1975 scheme. In 2005 Scottish Opera leased the theatre management to the Ambassador Theatre Group, although the building continues to be the performance home of Scottish Opera, and of Scottish Ballet.
Funding from the Scottish Government, Heritage Lottery and others from 2012 onwards enabled Scottish Opera to build new foyers at the corner of Hope Street and Cowcaddens, partly on the site of the former Alexandra Music Hall. Costing £14m, it opened in December 2014 and is a largely elliptical building, containing new entrances, foyers, bars, cafe, hospitality areas, education space and heritage exhibition areas together with lifts to all levels, including an open roof terrace, and centred by an open spiral staircase.
When winning the design competition, the architects Page & Park observed:
One of the challenges of the design team has been to make a special and memorable corner at the junction of Hope Street and Cowcaddens Road. It will be as if a little bit of the splendid interior has escaped and flourished on the street edge, the auditorium and the lantern crowning the busy junction, working together to celebrate performance in the city. It will be a fun building to visit (and open all day); to climb through the levels will be exhilarating, guiding the visitor to the entrance to the auditoriums but at the same time framing the city around.
[Wikipedia]
The Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, is famous for its extensive faience tile work. It has been described as ' a mole on the cheek of Lahore'. It was built in seven years, starting around 1634-1635 A.D., during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan. It was built by Shaikh Ilm-ud-din Ansari, a native of Chiniot, who rose to be the court physician to Shah Jahan and later, the Governor of Lahore. He was commonly known as Wazir Khan. (The word wazir means 'minister' in Urdu language.) The mosque is located inside the Inner City and is easiest accessed from Delhi Gate.
In his published notes, F H Andrews, former Principal of the Mayo School of Arts, describes the mosque thus: 'The material used in the construction of the Mosque is a small tile-like brick universally used by the Mughals when stone was unusable or too costly. The only stone used in the building is used for brackets and some of the fretwork (pinjra). The walls were coated with plaster (chunam) and faced with a finely-soft quality of the same material tooled to a marble-like surface and coloured. All the external plasterwork was richly coloured a rich Indian red, in true fresco, and the surface afterwards picked out with white lines in the similitude of the small bricks beneath. The extreme severity of the lines of the building is relieved by the division of the surfaces into slightly sunk rectangular panels, alternatively vertical and horizontal, the vertical panels having usually an inner panel with arched head or the more florid cusped mihrab. These panels, where they are exposed to weather, are generally filled with a peculiar inlaid faience pottery called kashi, the effect of which must have been very fine when the setting of deep red plaster of the walls was intact.'
'The facade of the sanctuary is practically covered with kashi and is divided into the usual oblong panels. A beautiful border is carried rectangularly round the centre archway, and inscriptions in Persian characters occur in an outer border, in a long panel over the archway, and in horizontal panels along the upper portions of the lower walls to right and left. The spandrels are filled in with extremely fine designs.'
'With the minars, however, the facade of the sanctuary, and the entrance gateway, where a small portion of the surface was left for plaster, the effect of the gorgeous colours against the soft blue of a Punjabi sky, and saturated with brilliant sunlight and glowing purple shadow is indescribably rich and jewel-like.'
'Right and left of the sanctuary are two stately octagonal minars 100 feet in height. On the long sides of the quadrangle are ranged small khanas or cells, each closed by the usual Indian two-leaved door set in a slightly recessed pointed arch, of which there are thirteen on each side by a pavilion rising above the general level, containing larger apartments and an upper story reached by two flights of steps, which also give access to the roof of the arcading and pavilions...these pavilions occur, in the centre of the north and south sides of the lower level of the pavement. In the pavilion on the south side is a fountain set in a circular scalloped basin, and served from the main which supplies the tank in the quadrangle.'
Within the inner courtyard of the mosque lies the subterranean tomb of Syed Muhammad Ishaq, known as Miran Badshah, a divine from Iran who settled in Lahore during the time of the Tughluq dynasty. The tomb, therefore, predates the mosque.
I thought I'd refresh my memory before posting this and, on You Tube, watched Alec Clifton-Taylor's programme about Saffron Walden in his BBC series "Six More English Towns" ..."more" because this was a follow-up series. Jolly interesting too: the programmes went out in the early '80s, I think, and did much to stimulate my interest in buildings. I would agree with the old boy that limewashing the timbers of timber-framed buildings is preferable to the former practice of painting them black. As he points out, this was a Victorian faux-pas and, to the extent that it was authentic at all, mostly a West Country phenomenon. The fad is a long time dying though, and may still be seen in old towns the length and breadth of England. Also to be seen here are some examples of pargeting, the practice of ornamenting plasterwork with patterns, either impressed or in relief. Essex and neighbouring parts of Suffolk are the the headquarters of this vernacular. "No one would pretend that this is anything more than a folk art", remarks Clifton-Taylor in one of his ex cathedra pronouncements, "but as such it is rather delightful". Quite so.
This was taken on or about Sunday 6th August 2017 with my Fuji GW690 II. You can't whack these lovely 6X9cm negatives for sharpness, unless you want to go large format of course.
The Bara Gumbad, or "big dome," is a large domed structure grouped together with the Friday mosque of Sikander Lodi and a mehman khana (guesthouse), located in New Delhi's Lodi Gardens. The buildings were constructed at different times during the Lodi era and occupy a common raised platform. Formerly an outlying area of Delhi, the Lodi Gardens are a British-planned landscaped garden which includes a number of monuments (primarily tombs) from the Sayyid and the Lodi dynasties. Originally called Willingdon Park, the gardens were located in the former village of Khairpur, now on the edge of Lutyen's Delhi, the colonial capital built by the British in the early 20th century. The gardens, which cover approx. 70 acres, have come to be surrounded by institutional buildings and some of contemporary Delhi's most expensive real estate.
Although they were built under the same dynasty, each of the three structures was undertaken separately. The Bara Gumbad, completed in 1490, is considered to have the first full dome constructed in Delhi. Its original purpose is contested; although it appears to be a freestanding tomb, it contains no tombstone. This causes the speculation that the building might have been intended as a gateway for the Friday mosque; however, their respective placements, stylistic differences, and construction dates do not support this theory. The Friday mosque, completed in 1494, is the first example of the new mosque type that developed during the Lodi era. Characterized by a relatively simple five bay prayer hall building adjacent to a simple open courtyard, this type was an important precedent for mosque architecture in the Lodi and Mughal eras.
The complex can be accessed from various points along the roads bordering the Lodi Gardens, with the access from the Lodi road towards the south most prominent. The buildings are situated at a distance of about 300 meters from Muhammad Shah's tomb towards the south and about 380 meters from Sikander Lodi's tomb towards the north. Another prominent structure, the Shish Gumbad, is located facing the Bara Gumbad at a distance of about seventy-five meters towards the north. The area surrounding the buildings is landscaped with manicured grass lawns. Few trees are planted in the immediate vicinity, leaving the view of the structures unobscured. The path winding through the Lodi Gardens approaches the buildings axially from the north, although the building plinth is accessible all from all sides.
The buildings are sited on a three-meter-high platform, measuring approximately 30 meters (east-west) by 25 meters (north-south). The Friday mosque is located along the western edge of the platform; the guesthouse is sited opposite it, occupying the eastern edge, while the Bara Gumbad is located along the southern edge. Stone masonry walls, about six meters high, connect the three structures along the southern edge. The northern edge is provided with staircases for accessing the platform. A centrally located straight flight comprising of eight steps, about ten meters wide, connects the ground to a generous mid landing. Another 'C' shaped flight of eight steps wraps around the landing, creating an amphitheatre-like space and reaching the top of the platform. The current arrangement of steps appears to be more recent, and the remains of walls adjoining the southern face of the guesthouse and the mosque indicate that the northern edge might have originally been walled. In the center of the raised court, with its southern edge along the staircase, are the remains of a square shaped platform, 8 meters wide, which appears to be a grave.
Friday mosque:
The Friday mosque is a single aisled, rectangular building, approx. 30 meters (north-south) by 8 meters (east-west). The mosque is organized in five unequal bays, which correspond to the five arched doorways on the eastern (entry) elevation. The width of the arched doorways decreases from the center towards the sides. The arches span across grey granite piers. The central arch is framed within a projecting rectangular portal, measuring about 8 meters in height by 6 meters wide. The piers of the rectangular frame are cased in dressed granite and have three shallow arched niches in red sandstone, occurring vertically above the springing point of the arch, on either side. The doorway itself is described by four receding planes of ogee arches, the outermost one being in line with the external face of the rectangular portal. The doorways immediately to the side of the central portal are about 5 meters wide, while those at the two ends are approx. 1.5 meters wide with two receding planes of ogee arches, adding to the prominence of the central doorway. The apex of each innermost arch is constant, measuring approx. 5 meters from the top of the platform. Each arch is finished in plaster and embellished with intricate carved Arabic inscriptions. The spandrels are also heavily carved with geometric motifs, and their the corners are adorned with round inscribed plaster medallions. Red sandstone eaves (chajjas) on stone brackets top the arches, interrupted only by the central projecting portal that extends above them. There is a blank plastered frieze above the eaves, followed by the projecting horizontal bands of the cornice that is topped by a blind masonry parapet adorned with petal shaped crenellations with inscribed plaster medallions.
The interior of the prayer hall reflects the five bay division of the eastern elevation. It is a rectangular space, measuring about 27 meters (north-south) by about 7 meters (east-west). Additional arches spanning between the piers on the eastern elevation and the engaged piers of the western wall emphasize the demarcation of the interior space into bays. These internal ogee arches reach a height of about five meters. They are finished in plaster and profusely decorated with carvings of Arabic inscriptions. The piers are unornamented, dressed gray granite.
The qibla (western) wall of the prayer hall is a blind wall divided into five unequal bays expressed as recessed ogee arched niches, reflecting the arched openings on the eastern wall. The two bays adjacent to the central bay have three equal niches carved out from the portion below the springing line of the main arch. These niches are separated by granite piers, which have smaller arched niches in the top third of their elevation. The three niches are made of two layers of ogee arches framed by the piers. The external layer is in gray-yellow granite, while the interior arch is made of red sandstone. The central niche is mildly distinguishable from the others because its arched portion is curved and the imposts are engraved, while those of the adjacent arches are plain. The innermost rectangular portion of the central niche is blank, while that of the adjoining niches has the carving of a vase and flora inscribed in it. The tympanum of the main outer arch is finished in plaster and has an additional niche directly above the central niche which is embellished heavily with plaster carvings of Arabic inscriptions. A band of similar inscriptions runs along the interior perimeter of the arch and around the upper niche in a closed loop. The voussoirs of the outer arch are plastered and embellished with another layer of carvings. The central bay of the western wall also has three niches, each made of four recessed planes of alternating rectangular and arched profiles. The central mihrab niche is taller and wider. It is also shallower and the innermost plane is blank, while the other two niches are deeper set with relief work. A stone minbar with three steps has been provided abutting the northern pier of the central niche.
Hemispherical domes cover the three central bays, while the terminal bays are covered by low flat vaulted ceilings. The square plan of the three central bays transitions into an octagonal drum through the application of corbelled pendentives at the corners. The corbelling occurs in four layers, which increases in width from the bottom up. The layers are further embellished with curved niches set into rectangular frames, which also increase in number, the lowest corbel having one and the last corbel having five such niches. The last layers of the pendentives form alternate edges of the octagonal drum; the remaining edges being formed by the extension of the walls and are also provided with similar curved niches. The octagonal drum transitions into a hexadecagon, followed by a thirty-two-sided polygon by the provisions of small struts. Each face of the hexadecagon is provided with shallow niches, while the thirty-two-sided polygon is described by a projecting band of red sandstone, followed by a band of inscriptions finally topped by the hemispherical dome. The dome is finished in plain plaster. The voussoirs of the arches, the pendentives and the tympanum are all covered by intricate stucco Arabic inscriptions. The central dome is relatively higher that the other two domes.
The northern and southern walls of the mosque are punctured by ogee arch doorways below the springline of the main arch. Each opening leads to a projecting balcony, comprising of red sandstone posts supporting a tiered roof. The balconies protrude out from the faade and are supported on red sandstone brackets, whose profiles and carvings are characteristic of Hindu architecture. An elaborately carved arched niche is provided above each opening on the interior wall. It is set into a rectangular frame embossed with Arabic text.
The plasterwork on the external northern and southern walls of the mosque has fallen off, exposing the stone masonry, while that on the western wall has survived. The central bay of the western wall projects out and is marked by two solid towers at the corners. These towers are divided vertically into four layers; the first two layers from the bottom are orthogonal, while the third layer has alternating curved and angular fluting; the top layer, extending over the parapet of the mosque, has a circular section. The corners of the mosque are marked by similar tapering towers, which are divided into four layers. Each layer is circular in plan except the third layer, which is described by alternating curved and angular fluting. All the towers have the remains of finials at their apex. The central projecting wall has four red sandstone brackets in its upper third portion, which may have supported a projecting balcony similar to those on the north and south elevations.
The plasterwork on the walls of the plinth is now gone, exposing the rubble masonry construction below. The western face of the plinth is punctured by five ogee arch openings set into rectangular frames, one in the center and two each on the sides. These openings provide access to the basement within the plinth.
The roof has three domes corresponding to the three central bays of the prayer hall and the three central arches on the eastern elevation. The extrados of the domes are finished in plaster. The octagonal drums supporting the domes protrude out over the roof level, above which the circular bases of the domes are decorated with blind crestings having floral motifs. The central dome is marginally larger than the adjacent domes and all three have the remains of lotus finials at their apex.
Bara Gumbad:
Square in plan, the Bara Gumbad measures approx. 20 meters per side. Set on a plinth 3 meters high, it joins the common plinth on the north and projects beyond it to the south. Its plinth is decorated on the east, south, and west with ogee arch openings set into rectangular frames. These provide access to a basement.The walls of the Bara Gumbad are approx. 12 meters tall, above which a hemispherical dome on a hexadecagonal drum extends another 14 meters from the roof level, for a total building height of 29 meters above ground level.
Each of its elevations is nearly identical and divided into 2 horizontal sections. A projecting portal composed of an ogee arch set in a rectangular frame (approx. 8 meters wide), is centered in each elevation and rises approximately 75 cm above the parapet line of the building. The 1.5 meter wide frame is made of dressed gray granite. Each vertical pier of the frame has six shallow red sandstone niches arranged atop one another at varying heights; nine niches continue in a line along the horizontal portion of the frame. The portal is described by two receding planes of grey granite ogee arches; the spandrels are cased with black granite with a thin projecting edge of red sandstone. Two round plaster medallions adorn the spandrels. The lower layer of the portal has a central doorway, spanned by two red sandstone brackets that form a trabeated arch supporting a black granite lintel. These brackets are supported on grey granite posts. An intricately carved red sandstone frame adorns the brackets and the lintel; it starts at the springing point of the arch and frames the lintel of the doorway. The entire composition is set in a rectangular yellow sandstone frame. An ogee arch window has been provided above the trabeated entrance. The portal is crowned by the arched crenellations of the blind parapet. Solid turrets mark the projecting corners of the portal.
The remainder of the elevation, that flanking the central portal on either side and recessed behind it, is divided vertically into two equivalent parts by projecting horizontal bands of stone. Each part is described by two equal arched panels set into rectangular frames. Both the panels of the upper part on either side of the portal are blind and filled with granite masonry. The lower panels located adjacent to the portal are windows, while the lower panels at the edges are filled in. The parapet, like the portal, is decorated with arched crenellations, and the roof has solid turrets at each corner.
A single hemispherical dome surmounted on a sixteen-sided drum crowns the building. Each face of the drum is described by an ogee arched niche set in a rectangular frame. The voussoirs of the arches are gray granite, while the spandrels are clad with red sandstone. The top edge of the drum is decorated with a band of arched crenellations, similar to those on the roof parapets, running above a projecting band of stone that surrounds the drum. Below this projection is band of leaves carved in relief. The extrados of the dome are finished in smooth plaster. The lotus base, possibly for a vanished calyx finial, is still extant.
The structure can be entered either from the raised courtyard via the north elevation or from a double flight of steps located on the western elevation. Inside, the square building measures about seven meters per side. An 80 cm high, 45 cm wide solid seat runs continuously along the interior perimeter of the building. Light streams in from all four walls, which are punctured by the openings of the doorway at the ground level and the ogee arch window above. The interior surfaces of the Gumbad are unornamented and finished in dressed granite. The square plan of the room transitions into an octagon via squinches, which then support the thirty-two-sided drum and the dome. The apex of the dome has two bands of floral inscriptions; otherwise, the dome is finished in plaster. The absence of historical inscriptions has contributed to the confusion over the original purpose of the Bara Gumbad.
Mehman Khana:
The third structure in the group is rectangular in plan, measuring about 27 meters (north-south) by 7 seven meters (east-west). Located along the eastern edge of the common plinth, it faces the mosque and is connected to the Bara Gumbad by a masonry wall along its northern face. The structure is believed to have either been a mehman khana, (guesthouse) or a majlis khana (assembly hall).
The building is accessed from the common plinth through its western wall, which is divided into five bays, mirroring the eastern elevation of the mosque opposite it. The three central bays are considerably larger and have ogee arch doorways, giving access to the interior, while windows puncture the smaller end bays. The arches are set in rectangular frames, which are recessed from the face of the elevation. Each opening is composed of two recessed planes of arches. The spandrels are clad in red sandstone, contrasting with the gray granite of the elevation, and are decorated with round plaster medallions with lotus motifs. The window openings have an additional tie beam or lintel at the springline. The tympanum of the window towards the south has been filled with stone, while that of the window towards the north has been left open. A continuous chajja, supported on equidistant stone brackets, projects from the western wall above the rectangular frame. The cornice is unornamented and is topped by the projecting horizontal band of the parapet, which reaches a height of approximately five meters from the top of the raised plinth. The roof of the structure is flat. The exterior of the building lacks decoration and is finished in dressed granite.
The interior is divided into seven chambers occurring from north to south; the central chamber is the largest, measuring about 5 meters (north-south) long. It is abutted by relatively narrow chambers (approx. 2.5 meters long). The outside chambers which flank the 2.5 meter wide chambers on either side are approximately the size of the central chamber, and correspond to the arched openings in the western wall. The chambers are separated from each other by gray granite walls, punctured by simple ogee arched doorways set in rectangular frames. Square in plan, the outer rooms are separated from the adjacent chambers by stone walls with rectangular door openings with blind ogee arches and rectangular frames. Each doorway has shallow rectangular recesses on either side, as well as a small arched window set into a rectangular recess and a stone jali screen set above the doorway within the tympanum of the main arch. The eastern wall of the building has blind ogee arches, occurring as two successive planes, reflecting the arched openings of the western elevation.
The roof of the central chamber is flat and supported on arches located on four sides; flat stone brackets appear at the corners. The two adjacent rooms are covered by shallow domes supported on squinches. The interior domes are finished in plaster with carved concave fluting. The exterior of the domes has been filled to blend with the flat roof of the central room.
Certain stylistic continuities are recognizable in the three buildings; each was constructed with (local) gray granite and lime mortar. However, the degree and type of embellishment, both interior and exterior, on the mosque differs substantially from that found on the other two, relatively unadorned, buildings.
Apart from the grouping of the three structures and their stylistic similarities, the buildings do not appear to have been planned as a complex. The Friday mosque is the first example of the panchmukhi building type, where "panch" (five) and "mukhi " (facade) characterize a five-bay prayer hall. This approach was influential in both the Lodi and the Mughal periods. The Bara Gumbad is significant for having the first complete hemispherical dome in Delhi.
The differences in the surface ornament of the buildings suggest that the buildings were constructed at different times, with the Bara Gumbad and the guesthouse being similar in style and decoration, without the multilayered arches of the Friday mosque. The function of the Bara Gumbad is still unknown; its geometry and form aligns with the predominant tomb architecture of the period (like the neighboring Shish Gumbad). However, there is no grave or cenotaph in the building, and rather than being blank, its qibla wall (like its other walls) is punctured by an entrance. While the continuous stone bench in the interior is also found in gateway architecture, (as in the Alai Darwaza at the Quwat-ul-Islam Mosque in Mehrauli), the size of the Bara Gumbad vis-a-vis the Friday mosque does not support this conjecture. Some scholars surmise that the structure might have been a gateway to the larger complex of tombs within the Lodi Gardens.
Lodi Dynasty
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The Lodi dynasty in India arose around 1451 after the Sayyid dynasty. The Lodhi Empire was established by the Ghizlai tribe of the Afghans. They formed the last phase of the Delhi Sultanate. There were three main rulers in the history of Lodi dynasty. All three of them have been discussed in detail in the following lines. So read on about the Lodi dynasty history.
Buhlul Khan Lodi
Buhlul Khan Lodi (1451-1489) was the founder of the Lodi dynasty in India and the first Afghan ruler of Delhi. He was an Afghan noble who was a very brave soldier. Buhlul Khan seized the throne without much resistance from the then ruler, Alam Shah. His territory was spread across Jaunpur, Gwalior and northern Uttar Pradesh. During his reign in 1486, he appointed his eldest son Barbak Shah as the Viceroy of Jaunpur. Though he was an able ruler, he really couldn't decide as to which son of his should succeed him as the heir to the throne.
Sikandar Lodi
After the death of Buhlul Khan, his second son succeeded him as the king. He was given the title of Sultan Sikander Shah. He was a dedicated ruler and made all efforts to expand his territories and strengthen his empire. His empire extended from Punjab to Bihar and he also signed a treaty with the ruler of Bengal, Alauddin Hussain Shah. He was the one who founded a new town where the modern day Agra stands. He was known to be a kind and generous ruler who cared for his subjects.
Ibrahim Lodhi
Ibrahim Lodhi was the son of Sikander who succeeded him after his death. Due to the demands of the nobles, his younger brother Jalal Khan was given a small share of the kingdom and was crowned the ruler of Jaunpur. However, Ibrahim's men assassinated him soon and the kingdom came back to Ibrahim Lodhi. Ibrahim was known to be a very stern ruler and was not liked much by his subjects. In order to take revenge of the insults done by Ibrahim, the governor of Lahore Daulat Khan Lodhi asked the ruler of Kabul, Babur to invade his kingdom. Ibrahim Lodhi was thus killed in a battle with Babur who was the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India. With the death of Ibrahim Lodhi, the Lodhi dynasty also came to an end.