Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Fünfzig Jahre nach dem Bau von Lanhydrock House wurde im Jahr 1690 der erste geometrische Garten neben dem Haus angelegt, er wird erstmals im Lanhydrock-Atlas von 1694 bis 1697 erwähnt. Der Garten bestand aus einer Rasenfläche für Kegel- oder Ballspiele, dem Bowling Green, einem Blumengarten, der von einem Weg entlang der Baumlinie umsäumt war, einer Fasanerie, einem Küchengarten, einem Birnen- und Obstgarten sowie einem an der Nordseite des Hauses angrenzenden Natur- oder Wildgarten. Mit dem Abriss des Ostflügels des Hauses 1780 durch George Hunt wurde auch diese Gartenanlage beseitigt, so dass das Parkgelände bis an das Gebäude reichte.

Um das Jahr 1860 legte man oberhalb des Hauses einen Staudengarten an, den „Oberen Garten“ oder „Hochgarten“. Nach 1858 erstellte Richard Coad basierend auf Plänen des Architekten George Truefitt, die dieser ab 1854 entworfen hatte, einen neuen, heute noch zu besichtigenden geometrischen Garten an der Ost- und Nordseite von Lanhydrock House. Er ist umgeben von niedrigen zinnenbewehrten Brüstungen und Obelisken im Stil des Hauses. Truefitt sah für Lanhydrock Wasserspiele, Terrassen, Kieswege und eine Promenade zum Torhaus vor, die Coad um eigene Ideen, wie die Granitstufen zur Kirche und eine Sitzgelegenheit, ergänzte. Etwa 1933 erfolgte eine Vereinfachung der viktorianischen Beetaufteilung und die Anpflanzung erster Magnolien.

Lanhydrock Gardens besteht heute aus mehreren, unterschiedlich stark voneinander abgetrennten Bereichen. Im Innenenhof oder Vorhof von Lanhydrock House ist eine durch einen Kiesweg begrenzte runde Rasenfläche angelegt. An den Hauswänden neben dem Weg stehen Immergrüne Magnolien (Magnolia grandiflora) und im Juli und August blühende Hortensiengewächse der Sorte Schizophragma integrifolium. Östlich in Richtung Torhaus schließt sich der „Geometrische Garten“ an, der durch 23 beschnittene Säuleneiben (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) dominiert wird. Zwischen ihnen sind Rosenbeete angelegt, die vornehmlich mit den Sorten ‘Octavia Hill’, ‘Bright Smile’, ‘Escapade’, ‘Wheelhorse Classic’ und ‘Margaret Merril’ bepflanzt sind.

Im Norden des geometrischen Gartens, und hinter der niedrigen Nordmauer außerhalb der eigentlichen Gartenanlage gelegen, befindet sich eine bepflanzte Freifläche, die vormals als Krocket- und Tennisplatz genutzt wurde. Der Tennisplatz nahm dabei die östliche Seite der Freifläche ein. Neben einigen Büschen, wie Gwillimia (Magnolia delavayi), stehen hier zwei Blutbuchen und eine jüngere Korkeiche. Die Blutbuchen wurden von prominenter Seite gepflanzt, die größere 1889 durch den ehemaligen britischen Premierminister William Ewart Gladstone, die kleinere 1905 durch Archibald Philip Primrose, dem 5. Earl of Rosebery. Auf dem westlich angrenzenden ehemaligen Krocketrasen stehen Rhododendren der Sorten ‘Mother of Pearl’, ‘Hugh Koster’ und ‘Pink Pearl’.

Nordwestlich des geometrischen Gartens, nördlich der Gebäude von Lanhydrock House, geht die Gartenanlage ins „Parterre“ über. Hier werden im Frühling und im Sommer verschiedene Blumen innerhalb von Buchsbaumhecken gepflanzt, die in einem komplizierten Muster auf ebener Fläche angelegt sind. Südlich und östlich davon stehen sechs den Bäumen im geometrischen Garten im Schnitt gleiche Säuleneiben. Eine Terrassenstufe höher in Richtung der kleinen Kirche sind die Blumenrabatten als Muster direkt in die Rasenfläche gesetzt.

Beide Bereiche, deren Höhenunterschied keinen Meter ausmacht, haben je eine Bronze-Urne als Mittelpunkt. Diese Urnen, von denen auch einige den geometrischen Garten schmücken, sind Erwerbungen Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes’, des 7. Viscount Clifden, aus der Sammlung von Lord Hertford im Pariser Château de Bagatelle. Sie wurden vom Goldschmied Ludwigs des XIV., Louis Ballin, geschaffen. Nach Westen wird das „Parterre“ durch die Umfassungsmauer begrenzt, in der zwei Durchgänge ausgespart sind. Neben dem Herrenhaus erreicht man über eine Treppe die Kirche St Hydroc, daneben führt ein Weg an der Kirche vorbei in Richtung „Hochgarten“. Unterhalb der Mauer ist ein erhobenes Beet mit Schmucklilien-Hybriden der Sorte ‘Headbourne’, Fuchsien und Waldreben angelegt.

Der Weg zum Hochgarten kreuzt den in Nord-Süd-Richtung verlaufenden Kirchweg, neben dem Fächer-Ahorn (Sorte ‘Sango-kaku’) und laubabwerfende Hybriden der Westlichen Azalee stehen. Direkt vor der Kirche sind verschiedene Kamelien-Sorten, Rhododendren (Rhododendron arboreum var. roseum) und Stern-Magnolien-Hybriden (Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’) gepflanzt, in der Ecke des Kirchhofs eine baumartige Magnolia hypoleuca (obovata). Den nördlichen Abschnitt des Kirchwegs flankieren einige Hortensien, dahinter Magnolia campbellii ‘Charles Raffill’, Rhododendron fictolacteum und Rhododendron rex.

Den Eingang zum Hochgarten markiert ein durch eine Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ verdecktes gewölbtes Tor. Der hinter dem Tor liegende Gartenbereich wurde ab 1933 durch den 7. Viscount Clifden mit verschiedensten Arten von Magnolien bepflanzt, die heute eine Höhe bis zu 25 Metern erreichen. Durch den Hochgarten fließt der Borlase stream („Bach von Borlase“), der die Wasserversorgung für Lanhydrock House sichert. In und an ihm gedeihen Kandelaberprimeln, Astelia, Aronstab, Schaublatt und Kirengeshoma

Im Norden des Hochgartens gelangt man über die „Magnolienlichtung“ zum „Staudenkreis“. Dieser bildet erst seit 1972 einen Vollkreis, nachdem auf der nördlichen Hälfte die Ruinen eines Gewächshauses und eines Schuppens abgerissen wurden. Den südlichen Halbkreis hatte Lady Clifden schon vor 1914 gestaltet. Die hier gepflanzten Stauden blühen vom Ende des Sommers bis in den Herbst. An der Nordwestecke des Hochgartens wurden nach dem zerstörerischen Sturm von 1979 zum Schutz des Gartens Eichen und Edelkastanien angepflanzt.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)

Erected between 1769 and 1779, and formerly the Royal Exchange. It is a square building in Corinthian style, with three fronts of Portland stone. Since 1852, however it has been the centre of the municipal government. The interior is designed as a circle within a square, with fluted columns supporting a dome shaped roof over the central hall. The building contains many items of interest, including 102 royal charters and the mace and sword of the city.

IMG_8837 350D

Adding to the endless rustic beauties of Meybod, Yazd, the Pigeon Tower (dovecote), kabutar khaneh in Persian, is a splendid functioning structure left over from the Qajar Dynasty.

These pigeon towers, or dovecotes, have been used in Iran for centuries. Although they provided a safe home and shelter for the pigeons, this wasn’t their only function.

In the past, pigeon towers were built all over Iran for the purpose of collecting the birds’ droppings. The farmers of the past knew how pigeon droppings were a very rich and effective fertilizer for growing plants and crops.

Unfortunately, due to the modern-day global culture of industrial farming and agriculture, where quantity highly outshines quality, many of these methods have been forgotten.

The building of the kabutar khaneh (translating to ‘pigeon house’) has a very calculated design. The architect has managed to cram-in a plethora of functionalities alongside beautiful aesthetics. The architecture of the dovecote is very artistic, as well as practical.

Standing 3 stories tall, the castle-turret shaped structure features uniquely beautiful brick and plasterwork all the while providing 4,000 spots for pigeons.

The main attraction and entryway for the birds is, of course, the roof. A giant bowl of water on the roof attracts birds to land and explore on the top of the structure. Carefully designed entry holes stopped bigger birds such as crows and hawks from forcing their way into the tower.

The foundation and base of the building is made from pure stone, preventing rats from burrowing in. The cylindrical walls all around, inside and out, are covered in smooth plaster making it impossible for snakes to climb and find a way in.

On top of all that, the architect knew that startled pigeons all fly away at once, and so even took the vibrations caused by their simultaneous flapping into consideration!

The floor established in the center of the tower, alongside the arches connecting the balconies act as a reinforcement for the tower structure. This way, the vibrations are dispersed evenly among the entire building.

Very cool!

A fragment of the original stone opus sectile floor. The 2 synagogues of Toledo, both of them gorgeous, are among the handful remaining in Spain and were a highlight of our trip. This one was built in 1357 by Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia, treasurer to King Pedro I of Spain. This was while the Jews were rebuilding from the pograms of 1348 -- the Jews of Toledo were, as usual, blamed for the Black Death, and the attacks on them seem to have done double duty as a way for the king's bastard brother Enrique of Trastámara to whip up support and seize royal assets. Ha-Levi, having the ear of the king, was apparently exempted from the usual requirement that any synagogues be more modest than the city's churches; this may also have been a form of compensation from the king for the pograms. The result was a Mudejar gem, richly decorated with Moorish-style plasterwork and an artesonado wood ceiling.

"A visit to Sloans should be made during the daytime so you can see its exceptional opulent Art Nouveau interior from 1900 situated on the first and second floors. The ground floor island-style bar with its quality fittings only dates from the 1980s. Built 1827-8 probably as part of the Argyll Arcade in 1827-8 by John Baird, this is a three-storey tenement-style building. The interior was remodelled in 1900 by Charles Robinson, who specialised in ornate bar interiors. He was commissioned by David Sloan, a prominent Glasgow publican of the era. Known then as the Arcade Café, it was described at the time as 'consisted of richly furnished dining rooms, coffee rooms and bars, in addition to a "cigar and tobacco divan" to which businessmen could retire'.

There are two entrances – from Argyll Street there is what looks like a tunnel under a building called Cranston House leading to the pub set back on the right. A small flight of terrazzo steps has ‘Sloan’s’ on one and ‘Lounge Bar’ on another. However head for Argyle Arcade to find what Historic Scotland describes as a tiled entrance ‘of exceptional quality’. It has a segmental-arched columned timber entrance with deeply recessed glazed timber two-leaf doors leading to marble staircase. The walls of the highly decorative passageway into the pub are completely covered in tiling – a dado of blue, green, yellow and brown patterned tiles with regularly spaced floriate tiled columns and cream tiles above. At the top of the stairs is a lobby with a mosaic floor having leaf symbols.

The ground floor originally consisted of a main bar with a large mahogany circular counter with three booths and ample seating accommodation. The island gantry included spirit casks and a leaded glass canopy attached to the ceiling ran around the top of the counter. Research has identified that these fittings were in place up to the 1980s. Also, there was a small cocktail bar on the ground floor. Nowadays, the ground floor bar has a wood laminate floor, an island-style servery with a U-shaped counter front that is panelled in the same style as that on the wall panelling with a mirror panel at the top all the way around. The island gantry has square columns topped with capitals holding up the top section, which has semi circular pediments at the top on both sides. Less than half of the lower shelving has been lost to fridges. Around the walls are seating bays – two on the left and three on the right, The bays have bench ends incorporating newell posts but whilst quality work all of it only dates from the 1980s. The oldest fittings are the etched panels in the toilets doors. There are doorways lined with similar panelling leading to another smaller room at the rear. It has 1980s panelling and fixed seating also a ‘Turners Brewery Pale Ale Ayr’ mirror on the far wall. This presumably is where the original cocktail bar was situated.

On the Argyll Arcade end of the ground floor bar there is an ornate arcaded glazed timber screen with etched glass and a two-leaf door leads to impressive panelled stairwell. There is an ornate heavy dark timber staircase to the upper floors with decorative newel posts and a large wall painting at first floor landing. At the top of the impressive staircase on the first floor there is the former cash office. There is an impressive corridor consisting of arcaded glazed timber screens with etched glass, Art Nouveau stained glass windows at the top, strapwork plasterwork to ceiling picked out in gold, and rooms leading off. To left of corridor a two leaf door leads to the large dining room with a panelled dado and bell pushes, deep frieze to cornice with low relief plasterwork with putti. More strapwork plasterwork to ceiling. Note one door has ‘Powder Room’ on it. Further down the corridor on the left is a ladies toilet in what was originally a small dining room. The former Smoking Room at the rear left has a panelled dado, deep frieze to cornice with low relief plasterwork with putti. More strapwork plasterwork to ceiling which with the frieze is painted a deep green colour and detail picked out in gold. There is an ornate wood surround chimneypiece with overmantle mirror almost reaching the ceiling. On the right of the corridor a two-leaf door leads to the former Ladies Dining Room is now a small bar with strapwork plasterwork to ceiling picked out in gold but modern seating. On the wall is a ‘Campbell & Co’s Edinburgh Ales’ mirror. What was the original ladies toilet is now a store room. Another former small dining room has been amalgamated with the lift service room and is now a kitchen with no old fittings surviving. At the far end of the corridor on the right what was a bar is now an office and the bar removed. (Various other small rooms still exist but they now have alternate uses.) Note there are letters above the doors – ‘C’ on the Dining Room, ‘F’ on what is now the bar, ‘D’ on a cloakroom, and ‘E’ on the smoking room.

On the second floor on the left is a stuning large ballroom with a vaulted coffered ceiling with detail picked out in gold, a number of small skylights, and stained glass exterior windows with a wreath motif. It has a parquet floor, and on the wall are timber dado supports and regularly spaced pilasters with plaster heads painted gold. All around the room there is a deep cornice with open pediments, egg and dart moulding and festoons with detail painted gold. At the south end of the room is a classical marble chimneypiece with horseshoe tiled insert, overmantle mirror, and above a broken pediment. At the north end is a bar behind shutters but as the right hand part has a different dado the bar may be a later insertion. Modernised toilets on second floor. Its listed category was changed from B to A in November 1996 and the listing descriptions states “Sloans is a rare example of a bar, dining room and coffee house complex with an exceptional opulent Art Nouveau interior. The upper floors contain dining rooms, smoking rooms and an impressive ballroom. The tiled entrance from the Argyll Arcade is of exceptional quality. Also of particular note is the quality of the timberwork, such as the arcaded glazed screens and impressive staircase. The decorative plasterwork is of some quality and completes the rich decorative scheme.”

As the quality interior-work is situated on the first and second floors visitors are recommended to ring ahead to ensure the rooms can be visited (or to pre-arrange a guided tour).

Very helpful research including a first floor plan and old photos from John Gorevan, author of Glasgow’s Pubs and Publicans (2002) Tempus Publishing ISBN 9780752427591 to whom we are most grateful. "

Information: pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/299

Canons Ashby House is an Elizabethan manor house located in Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire, England. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981, although "The Tower" is in the care of the Landmark Trust and available for holiday lets.

It has been the home of the Dryden family since the 16th century. The main part of the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710; it has remained essentially unchanged since the 1710s.

John Dryden had married Elizabeth Cope in 1551 and inherited, through his wife, a 15th century 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.

The interior of the house is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork.

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).

This period two story building is rented by the Bank but has recently been sold. It's a protected building . It retains some of its original period features including cornicing and plasterwork .

Plas Mawr a Grade I Listed Elizabethan townhouse dating from the 16th Century, which is now open as a museum managed by Cadw, in Conwy, County Conwy, North Wales.

The property was built by Robert Wynn, a member of the local gentry, following his marriage to his first wife, Dorothy Griffith. Plas Mawr occupied a plot of land off Conwy's High Street and was constructed in three phases between 1576 and 1585 at a total cost of around £800. Wynn was known for his hospitality, and the household was supported by Wynn's local dairy herds, orchards, and gardens. On his death he laid out complex instructions for dividing his estate; the resulting law-case took years to resolve, effectively preventing the redevelopment of the house and preserving it in its original condition.

After 1683 it passed into the hands of the Mostyn family and ceased to be used as a family home. It was rented out for various purposes during the 18th and 19th centuries, including for use as a school, cheap lodgings and finally as the headquarters of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art.

In the 20th century the house became increasingly well known for its preserved Elizabethan architecture, but the costs of maintenance grew considerably, and its condition deteriorated. The Welsh heritage agency Cadw took over the management of the property in 1993, with many of its rooms redecorated to resemble their condition in 1665.

Architecturally, Plas Mawr is almost unchanged from the 16th century, and the historian Rick Turner considers the house to be "the finest surviving town house of the Elizabethan era". Plas Mawr shows a blend of continental Renaissance and local North Wales influences, with an innovative floorplan and architectural detailing.

The house still retains much of its original plasterwork, which incorporates symbols, badges, and heraldry, which the historian Peter Smith has described as "the most perfect and the most complete memorial to Elizabethan Wales."

Information Source:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plas_Mawr

Levens Hall is a magnificent Elizabethan mansion that was built around 1350 by the Redman family as a pele (or peel) tower and was later expanded and rebuilt towards the end of the 16th Century. It is the family home of the Bagots, and contains a collection of Jacobean furniture, fine paintings, the earliest English patchwork and many other beautiful objects. (No photos from inside the house as photography is not allowed)

The world-famous award winning gardens were laid out in 1694. The topiary beech hedges and colourful seasonal beds create a stunning visual impact. The topiary garden has huge abstract shapes, pyramids and columns reminiscent of monstrous chess men.

These photographs remind me of my many days visiting stately homes during the summer months, hope you enjoy.

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Fünfzig Jahre nach dem Bau von Lanhydrock House wurde im Jahr 1690 der erste geometrische Garten neben dem Haus angelegt, er wird erstmals im Lanhydrock-Atlas von 1694 bis 1697 erwähnt. Der Garten bestand aus einer Rasenfläche für Kegel- oder Ballspiele, dem Bowling Green, einem Blumengarten, der von einem Weg entlang der Baumlinie umsäumt war, einer Fasanerie, einem Küchengarten, einem Birnen- und Obstgarten sowie einem an der Nordseite des Hauses angrenzenden Natur- oder Wildgarten. Mit dem Abriss des Ostflügels des Hauses 1780 durch George Hunt wurde auch diese Gartenanlage beseitigt, so dass das Parkgelände bis an das Gebäude reichte.

Um das Jahr 1860 legte man oberhalb des Hauses einen Staudengarten an, den „Oberen Garten“ oder „Hochgarten“. Nach 1858 erstellte Richard Coad basierend auf Plänen des Architekten George Truefitt, die dieser ab 1854 entworfen hatte, einen neuen, heute noch zu besichtigenden geometrischen Garten an der Ost- und Nordseite von Lanhydrock House. Er ist umgeben von niedrigen zinnenbewehrten Brüstungen und Obelisken im Stil des Hauses. Truefitt sah für Lanhydrock Wasserspiele, Terrassen, Kieswege und eine Promenade zum Torhaus vor, die Coad um eigene Ideen, wie die Granitstufen zur Kirche und eine Sitzgelegenheit, ergänzte. Etwa 1933 erfolgte eine Vereinfachung der viktorianischen Beetaufteilung und die Anpflanzung erster Magnolien.

Lanhydrock Gardens besteht heute aus mehreren, unterschiedlich stark voneinander abgetrennten Bereichen. Im Innenenhof oder Vorhof von Lanhydrock House ist eine durch einen Kiesweg begrenzte runde Rasenfläche angelegt. An den Hauswänden neben dem Weg stehen Immergrüne Magnolien (Magnolia grandiflora) und im Juli und August blühende Hortensiengewächse der Sorte Schizophragma integrifolium. Östlich in Richtung Torhaus schließt sich der „Geometrische Garten“ an, der durch 23 beschnittene Säuleneiben (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) dominiert wird. Zwischen ihnen sind Rosenbeete angelegt, die vornehmlich mit den Sorten ‘Octavia Hill’, ‘Bright Smile’, ‘Escapade’, ‘Wheelhorse Classic’ und ‘Margaret Merril’ bepflanzt sind.

Im Norden des geometrischen Gartens, und hinter der niedrigen Nordmauer außerhalb der eigentlichen Gartenanlage gelegen, befindet sich eine bepflanzte Freifläche, die vormals als Krocket- und Tennisplatz genutzt wurde. Der Tennisplatz nahm dabei die östliche Seite der Freifläche ein. Neben einigen Büschen, wie Gwillimia (Magnolia delavayi), stehen hier zwei Blutbuchen und eine jüngere Korkeiche. Die Blutbuchen wurden von prominenter Seite gepflanzt, die größere 1889 durch den ehemaligen britischen Premierminister William Ewart Gladstone, die kleinere 1905 durch Archibald Philip Primrose, dem 5. Earl of Rosebery. Auf dem westlich angrenzenden ehemaligen Krocketrasen stehen Rhododendren der Sorten ‘Mother of Pearl’, ‘Hugh Koster’ und ‘Pink Pearl’.

Nordwestlich des geometrischen Gartens, nördlich der Gebäude von Lanhydrock House, geht die Gartenanlage ins „Parterre“ über. Hier werden im Frühling und im Sommer verschiedene Blumen innerhalb von Buchsbaumhecken gepflanzt, die in einem komplizierten Muster auf ebener Fläche angelegt sind. Südlich und östlich davon stehen sechs den Bäumen im geometrischen Garten im Schnitt gleiche Säuleneiben. Eine Terrassenstufe höher in Richtung der kleinen Kirche sind die Blumenrabatten als Muster direkt in die Rasenfläche gesetzt.

Beide Bereiche, deren Höhenunterschied keinen Meter ausmacht, haben je eine Bronze-Urne als Mittelpunkt. Diese Urnen, von denen auch einige den geometrischen Garten schmücken, sind Erwerbungen Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes’, des 7. Viscount Clifden, aus der Sammlung von Lord Hertford im Pariser Château de Bagatelle. Sie wurden vom Goldschmied Ludwigs des XIV., Louis Ballin, geschaffen. Nach Westen wird das „Parterre“ durch die Umfassungsmauer begrenzt, in der zwei Durchgänge ausgespart sind. Neben dem Herrenhaus erreicht man über eine Treppe die Kirche St Hydroc, daneben führt ein Weg an der Kirche vorbei in Richtung „Hochgarten“. Unterhalb der Mauer ist ein erhobenes Beet mit Schmucklilien-Hybriden der Sorte ‘Headbourne’, Fuchsien und Waldreben angelegt.

Der Weg zum Hochgarten kreuzt den in Nord-Süd-Richtung verlaufenden Kirchweg, neben dem Fächer-Ahorn (Sorte ‘Sango-kaku’) und laubabwerfende Hybriden der Westlichen Azalee stehen. Direkt vor der Kirche sind verschiedene Kamelien-Sorten, Rhododendren (Rhododendron arboreum var. roseum) und Stern-Magnolien-Hybriden (Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’) gepflanzt, in der Ecke des Kirchhofs eine baumartige Magnolia hypoleuca (obovata). Den nördlichen Abschnitt des Kirchwegs flankieren einige Hortensien, dahinter Magnolia campbellii ‘Charles Raffill’, Rhododendron fictolacteum und Rhododendron rex.

Den Eingang zum Hochgarten markiert ein durch eine Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ verdecktes gewölbtes Tor. Der hinter dem Tor liegende Gartenbereich wurde ab 1933 durch den 7. Viscount Clifden mit verschiedensten Arten von Magnolien bepflanzt, die heute eine Höhe bis zu 25 Metern erreichen. Durch den Hochgarten fließt der Borlase stream („Bach von Borlase“), der die Wasserversorgung für Lanhydrock House sichert. In und an ihm gedeihen Kandelaberprimeln, Astelia, Aronstab, Schaublatt und Kirengeshoma

Im Norden des Hochgartens gelangt man über die „Magnolienlichtung“ zum „Staudenkreis“. Dieser bildet erst seit 1972 einen Vollkreis, nachdem auf der nördlichen Hälfte die Ruinen eines Gewächshauses und eines Schuppens abgerissen wurden. Den südlichen Halbkreis hatte Lady Clifden schon vor 1914 gestaltet. Die hier gepflanzten Stauden blühen vom Ende des Sommers bis in den Herbst. An der Nordwestecke des Hochgartens wurden nach dem zerstörerischen Sturm von 1979 zum Schutz des Gartens Eichen und Edelkastanien angepflanzt.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)

Stockport Town Hall captured in the reflection of a traffic mirror.

The building, designed by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas– who also designed Belfast City Hall – was opened Prince and Princess of Wales (Later King George V and Queen Mary) in 1908. It is built in the Baroque style.

It is known locally as the Wedding Cake because of its white appearance and columns.

The building’s main facade is 70 metres long and the clock tower rises to almost 40 metres.

The famous ballroom has magnificent plasterwork and is now home to the Wurlitzer organ that once graced Manchester’s Free Trade Hall.

An image from the personal portfolio of one of Greater Manchester Police’s photographers.

View our Gallery set below for more non-police related images taken by the Force's photographers.

All the work has been produced in the photographers’ own time and has been uploaded outside of working hours. We hope you enjoy your visit. The Gallery

For more information about Policing in Greater Manchester please visit our website. www.gmp.police.uk

To report crime call police on 101 the national non-emergency number.

You can also call anonymously with information about crime to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crimestoppers is an independent charity who will not want your name, just your information. Your call will not be traced or recorded and you do not have to go to court or give a statement.

Image by Chris Oldham : Greater Manchester Police

View On Black

"All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh." -- Doris Lessing

Stowe, one of the largest houses in Britain, is surrounded by the most historically important of all English landscape gardens.

In the 16th century the Stowe estate came into the hands of the Temple family, whose wealth had been acquired through sheep farming.

Sir Richard Temple, the 3rd Baronet constructed a new house in 1678 - 83. In 1715 his son, created Viscount Cobham in 1718, married the heiress of a rich London brewer and used his new wealth to expand the garden to designs of Charles Bridgeman.

Between 1719 - 26 Lord Cobham engaged Sir John Vanbrugh to make additions to the house and design some of the garden buildings. Further additions were made to the house on the garden side in 1733 - 50. In the 1730s William Kent was commissioned to continue the eastward extension of the gardens and he created 'The Elysian Fields', an arcadian landscape with ornamental buildings.

This was one of the first 'natural' landscapes and initiated the style known as the 'English Garden'. Shortly before his death in 1749 Lord Cobham expanded the garden further to create the 'Grecian Valley'. He was probably aided in this by his head gardener, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, who was just beginning his great career. Brown worked at Stowe for ten years and in 1744 was married at the little medieval church.

Lord Cobham was succeeded by his nephew, Sir Richard Grenville who became Lord Temple. He 'naturalised' Bridgeman's gardens to the west and then set about remodelling the interior and exterior of the house, the work being completed in 1777.

The new south front (and probably the north) was created by Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford. He was greatly influenced by the neo-classical style but the design of the south front owes much to an earlier scheme produced by Robert Adam.

Lord Temple's nephew and successor became Marquess of Buckingham in 1784. He completed the interior decoration and then set about amassing a great collection of paintings and manuscripts. The family reached the height of their prestige when the Marquess's son was made Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. However, in 1848 the 2nd Duke fell massively into debt. This resulted in the great art collection being dispersed but fortunately lead to the house and garden remaining almost unchanged.

Further losses occurred after the agricultural depression of the late-19th century and in 1921 Lady Kinloss, the daughter of the 3rd Duke, sold the property as the site of a public school.

Stowe School still owns the building but in 1989 the gardens were given to the National Trust.

An approach to the house from Buckingham, culminating in a great triumphal arch, was laid out in the 1770s or 1780s but the present route is from the west to the north or entrance front. This is the massive main block dating from 1720 with a portico designed by Vanbrugh. From here curved colonnades, dating from the early 1770s, stretch away to conceal the service courtyards.

The visitor enters by the north portico into an interior now denuded of the original lavish furnishings. The interior is well maintained by Stowe School and all the main reception rooms are open to the public. The first room to be viewed is the neo-Palladian North Hall, dating from the 1730s, which has a coved ceiling embellished with 'grotesques' by Kent. From here the visitor passes into the state rooms on the south or garden front. The vast, mostly empty, rooms were decorated by the 1st Marquess of Buckingham in the neo-classical taste he acquired on his Grand Tour in 1774.

The Library of 1801 is still used for its original purpose. The Music Room was decorated in Pompeian-style by the Italian architect Vincenzo Valdre. The magnificent Saloon is the most impressive room at Stowe and is one of the finest neo-classical rooms in England. The room is elliptical with a domed roof, scagliola columns and a frieze depicting a Roman triumph. The Temple Room, the original drawing room, has a splendid plasterwork ceiling dating from 1776. The final room on the tour is the State Dining Room which was built as a gallery in 1740s and still has some of its neo-Palladian decoration.

On leaving the house the visitor passes through the vast Corinthian portico on the south front and descends the broad flight of stairs, created in 1754 by Borra, to the gardens. From here the whole of the imposing south front can be viewed; one of the most impressive, neo-classical facades in England.

The 325 acres of landscaped gardens have six lakes and contain many magnificent 18th century buildings. Pitt's Corinthian Arch can be seen on the horizon from the south front.

On a lawn to the west of the vista is Vanbrugh's Rotondo. Kent's Temple of Venus and Gibb's ruined Temple of Friendship are on the south side of the lake just inside the ha-ha. To the east are the Elysian Fields in a valley overlooked by the medieval church. The church is all that remains of a vanished village.

Further south is a Palladian bridge built in imitation of the bridge at Wilton. To the north and east of the Elysian Fields is the Grecian Valley with its splendid Temple of Concord.

www.stowe.co.uk/Stowe-House.aspx

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/...

Compton Verney, Warwickshire

A plaster screen at the other end of the Great Hall, which depicts a medieval woman expelling her drunken husband, to the amusement of his friends, who bear him away. Pevsner dismissed it as a poor piece of domestic art - he may have been right.

"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.

Museo Universitario Casa de los Muñecos (House of Dolls University Museum).at Calle 2 Nte 2, Centro Puebla de Zaragoza.

Casa de los Muñecos is a three-story Baroque-style building, typical of 18th-century Puebla architecture, distinguished by the intriguing figures on its façade, images from which its nickname "muñecos" (dolls) derives.

In 1983 the Autonomous University of Puebla acquired the property to convert it into a University Museum. After renovations the museum opened 10 December, 1987.

More than four thousand pieces make up the museum collection of scientific instruments, furniture, photographs, plasterwork, paintings, prints, and watercolours.

The building compliments the 1987 Puebla UNESCO World Heritage Site designation.

Main rooms[edit]

The gatehouse is of 1406, and the block to its left, now the shop and cafe, has Gothic windows facing the moat. The main facade is medieval to the left, but in Elizabethan prodigy house style at the centre and right. The chapel is 14th-century Decorated Gothic, the other main rooms that are opened mainly Elizabethan. The great hall runs along the facade. Upstairs there is a long gallery overlooking the gardens at the rear.[4]

The best bedrooms have two very elaborate chimneypieces, in the Queen's Bedroom (used by Anne of Denmark) a stone one heavily decorated with ornament in a style "proclaiming the Renaissance but simultaneously revealing a still very imperfect comprehension of what it was all about". This was presumably the result of a local carver with access to an ornament pattern book such as those by Hans Vredeman de Vries; the two human heads still look distinctly medieval. The other chimneypiece, in the bedroom James I used, is at another stylistic extreme; a very polished and spacious stucco piece in a style comparable to that of the First School of Fontainebleau, and probably not made by English artists. The central medallion, with a mythological scene, is designed by Rosso Fiorentino, and also appears in the Palace of Fontainebleau. This is flanked by two large nude boys. The Italian artists of the Tudor court Henry VIII used at Nonsuch Palace have been suggested; the pieces were almost certainly made elsewhere and taken to Broughton.[5]

There are several fine plasterwork ceilings, the most spectacular in the Great Parlour on the first floor, and the Oak Room below it. There is 18th-century painted Chinese wallpaper of different tree, bird and flower designs in three bedrooms, in very good condition. At roof level there is a room believed to be that "with no ears", where the 1st viscount plotted with Parliamentary leaders in the years before the Civil War.[6] The gardens have long herbacious borders, at their best in summer.

Films and TVs[edit]

Parts of the films The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), Oxford Blues (1984), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), The Madness of King George (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and Jane Eyre (2011) were shot in the castle. TV filming for parts of Elizabeth The Virgin Queen, Friends and Crocodiles, 1975 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, and the titles of Noel's House Party also took place there. The castle has been used as the location for several other films and TV programmes[7] including an adaptation of Jane Eyre and

Concerts[edit]

In August 1981, the electric folk band Fairport Convention held their annual reunion concert at Broughton Castle, rather than the usual Cropredy location.[8] The concert was recorded, and released on the album Moat on the Ledge (1982).

Fiction[edit]

Published in April 2009, The Music Room is a novel by William Fiennes. This fictionalized memoir of his childhood and his epileptic brother is set in (the never identified) Broughton Castle. It has been described as "a beautiful poem of a tribute to his family, his parents, the magical, moated castle that was his home"

Wikipedia

Winter Gardens Theatre, Morecambe. Added to the Winter Gardens Ballroom in 1897, designed by Mangnall & Littlewood with fibrous plaster by Dean & Co. and tiling by Burmantoft's. It has also been known as the Victoria Pavillion, King's Pavilion and the People's Palace. Seating 2,500 on three levels, with standing room for many more, the auditorium is vast, with excellent acoustics. It was a dual-purpose concert hall and music hall/theatre, catering for classical music festivals (Elgar premiered works here, and the Halle Orchestra were frequent visitors) together with big name variety (Julie Andrews, Chung Ling Soo). Its fortunes declined with the resort, and it closed in 1977, the Ballroom was demolished in 1982 - as the theatre was built as an extension to this, many of its key services depended on the ballroom and were lost). A preservation group was established and eventually ownership of the building passed to them, allowing a restoration to begin. The structure is now sound, water-tight (mostly) and more recent works have begun to improve the auditorium, with the repair of damaged plasterwork undertaken by Hayles & Howe. The original seating, sold off in the 1980s, has been bought back and will soon be installed in the dress circle.

Grade 2* listed. Photographed on a Frank Matcham Society Visit.

Morecambe, Lancashire, North West England - Winter Gardens Theatre, Marine Road Central

September 2022

For years I've wondered where you could see Warwick Castle with the River Avon from. Always thought it was only from the castle grounds.

But then I found the Castle Bridge on Banbury Road, and it has some nice views of the castle from there!

Seen from the Castle Bridge on Banbury Road.

In the middle of the river was a Swan paddle boat, from Warwick Boats (boat hire from St Nicholas Park). A rowing boat was seen further back near the weir. There is no entry at the weir, so people in boats will have to turn back!

Warwick Castle is a Grade I listed building.

Warwick Castle, Warwick - British Listed Buildings

1.

1781 Warwick Castle

SP 2864 NW 1/301 10.1.53.

I GV

2.

Early site, probably dating from pre-Norman times. Much mediaeval work

remains. Good C18 and later additions. In 1871 a fire gutted the Great

Hall and East Wing, these being restored by Anthony Salvin. This castle,

(containing a fine collection of antiques and works of art) is considered

of very great national interest. Main block with C14 walls and vaulted

undercroft. Caesan's tower and Guy's tower, the Gatehouse and its Barbican

also C14. The curtain walls may date from this period. Bear and Clarence

towers C15, left incomplete 1485 and later given battlements; probably

intended as a stronghold within the castle similar to that at Raglan.

Late C17 internal features include exceptional plasterwork and wood carvings

to the Cedar Room by Roger and William Hurlbut, completed 1678. Altered

1753-5 by Lancelot Brown, who rebuilt the porch and stairway to the Great

Hall. Porch extended forward and additional rooms built beside it, 1763-9,

by Timothy Lightoler. Watergate tower restored by A Salvin 1861-3. AM.

VCH, viii, pp.454-64.

Warwick Castle, with its Boundary Walls, Stables, Conservatory, Mill

and Lodge form a group.

Listing NGR: SP2842464656

This text is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building.

Source: English Heritage

Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence.

Published in the Birmingham Mail - Your Flickr photos on Tuesday 7th June 2016.

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Fünfzig Jahre nach dem Bau von Lanhydrock House wurde im Jahr 1690 der erste geometrische Garten neben dem Haus angelegt, er wird erstmals im Lanhydrock-Atlas von 1694 bis 1697 erwähnt. Der Garten bestand aus einer Rasenfläche für Kegel- oder Ballspiele, dem Bowling Green, einem Blumengarten, der von einem Weg entlang der Baumlinie umsäumt war, einer Fasanerie, einem Küchengarten, einem Birnen- und Obstgarten sowie einem an der Nordseite des Hauses angrenzenden Natur- oder Wildgarten. Mit dem Abriss des Ostflügels des Hauses 1780 durch George Hunt wurde auch diese Gartenanlage beseitigt, so dass das Parkgelände bis an das Gebäude reichte.

Um das Jahr 1860 legte man oberhalb des Hauses einen Staudengarten an, den „Oberen Garten“ oder „Hochgarten“. Nach 1858 erstellte Richard Coad basierend auf Plänen des Architekten George Truefitt, die dieser ab 1854 entworfen hatte, einen neuen, heute noch zu besichtigenden geometrischen Garten an der Ost- und Nordseite von Lanhydrock House. Er ist umgeben von niedrigen zinnenbewehrten Brüstungen und Obelisken im Stil des Hauses. Truefitt sah für Lanhydrock Wasserspiele, Terrassen, Kieswege und eine Promenade zum Torhaus vor, die Coad um eigene Ideen, wie die Granitstufen zur Kirche und eine Sitzgelegenheit, ergänzte. Etwa 1933 erfolgte eine Vereinfachung der viktorianischen Beetaufteilung und die Anpflanzung erster Magnolien.

Lanhydrock Gardens besteht heute aus mehreren, unterschiedlich stark voneinander abgetrennten Bereichen. Im Innenenhof oder Vorhof von Lanhydrock House ist eine durch einen Kiesweg begrenzte runde Rasenfläche angelegt. An den Hauswänden neben dem Weg stehen Immergrüne Magnolien (Magnolia grandiflora) und im Juli und August blühende Hortensiengewächse der Sorte Schizophragma integrifolium. Östlich in Richtung Torhaus schließt sich der „Geometrische Garten“ an, der durch 23 beschnittene Säuleneiben (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) dominiert wird. Zwischen ihnen sind Rosenbeete angelegt, die vornehmlich mit den Sorten ‘Octavia Hill’, ‘Bright Smile’, ‘Escapade’, ‘Wheelhorse Classic’ und ‘Margaret Merril’ bepflanzt sind.

Im Norden des geometrischen Gartens, und hinter der niedrigen Nordmauer außerhalb der eigentlichen Gartenanlage gelegen, befindet sich eine bepflanzte Freifläche, die vormals als Krocket- und Tennisplatz genutzt wurde. Der Tennisplatz nahm dabei die östliche Seite der Freifläche ein. Neben einigen Büschen, wie Gwillimia (Magnolia delavayi), stehen hier zwei Blutbuchen und eine jüngere Korkeiche. Die Blutbuchen wurden von prominenter Seite gepflanzt, die größere 1889 durch den ehemaligen britischen Premierminister William Ewart Gladstone, die kleinere 1905 durch Archibald Philip Primrose, dem 5. Earl of Rosebery. Auf dem westlich angrenzenden ehemaligen Krocketrasen stehen Rhododendren der Sorten ‘Mother of Pearl’, ‘Hugh Koster’ und ‘Pink Pearl’.

Nordwestlich des geometrischen Gartens, nördlich der Gebäude von Lanhydrock House, geht die Gartenanlage ins „Parterre“ über. Hier werden im Frühling und im Sommer verschiedene Blumen innerhalb von Buchsbaumhecken gepflanzt, die in einem komplizierten Muster auf ebener Fläche angelegt sind. Südlich und östlich davon stehen sechs den Bäumen im geometrischen Garten im Schnitt gleiche Säuleneiben. Eine Terrassenstufe höher in Richtung der kleinen Kirche sind die Blumenrabatten als Muster direkt in die Rasenfläche gesetzt.

Beide Bereiche, deren Höhenunterschied keinen Meter ausmacht, haben je eine Bronze-Urne als Mittelpunkt. Diese Urnen, von denen auch einige den geometrischen Garten schmücken, sind Erwerbungen Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes’, des 7. Viscount Clifden, aus der Sammlung von Lord Hertford im Pariser Château de Bagatelle. Sie wurden vom Goldschmied Ludwigs des XIV., Louis Ballin, geschaffen. Nach Westen wird das „Parterre“ durch die Umfassungsmauer begrenzt, in der zwei Durchgänge ausgespart sind. Neben dem Herrenhaus erreicht man über eine Treppe die Kirche St Hydroc, daneben führt ein Weg an der Kirche vorbei in Richtung „Hochgarten“. Unterhalb der Mauer ist ein erhobenes Beet mit Schmucklilien-Hybriden der Sorte ‘Headbourne’, Fuchsien und Waldreben angelegt.

Der Weg zum Hochgarten kreuzt den in Nord-Süd-Richtung verlaufenden Kirchweg, neben dem Fächer-Ahorn (Sorte ‘Sango-kaku’) und laubabwerfende Hybriden der Westlichen Azalee stehen. Direkt vor der Kirche sind verschiedene Kamelien-Sorten, Rhododendren (Rhododendron arboreum var. roseum) und Stern-Magnolien-Hybriden (Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’) gepflanzt, in der Ecke des Kirchhofs eine baumartige Magnolia hypoleuca (obovata). Den nördlichen Abschnitt des Kirchwegs flankieren einige Hortensien, dahinter Magnolia campbellii ‘Charles Raffill’, Rhododendron fictolacteum und Rhododendron rex.

Den Eingang zum Hochgarten markiert ein durch eine Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ verdecktes gewölbtes Tor. Der hinter dem Tor liegende Gartenbereich wurde ab 1933 durch den 7. Viscount Clifden mit verschiedensten Arten von Magnolien bepflanzt, die heute eine Höhe bis zu 25 Metern erreichen. Durch den Hochgarten fließt der Borlase stream („Bach von Borlase“), der die Wasserversorgung für Lanhydrock House sichert. In und an ihm gedeihen Kandelaberprimeln, Astelia, Aronstab, Schaublatt und Kirengeshoma

Im Norden des Hochgartens gelangt man über die „Magnolienlichtung“ zum „Staudenkreis“. Dieser bildet erst seit 1972 einen Vollkreis, nachdem auf der nördlichen Hälfte die Ruinen eines Gewächshauses und eines Schuppens abgerissen wurden. Den südlichen Halbkreis hatte Lady Clifden schon vor 1914 gestaltet. Die hier gepflanzten Stauden blühen vom Ende des Sommers bis in den Herbst. An der Nordwestecke des Hochgartens wurden nach dem zerstörerischen Sturm von 1979 zum Schutz des Gartens Eichen und Edelkastanien angepflanzt.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)

Inside Templo de Santo Domingo is the Capilla del Rosario, an example of New Spanish Baroque. The gold gilding is prolific.

Located inside Templo Sanot Doming de Guzmán, the chapel is considered the greatest jewel of Mexican baroque thanks to the exquisite decoration. Its construction dates from the seventeenth century and is the first in Mexico dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.

The sumptuous decoration based on onyx, gilded plasterwork, paintings and tiles covered with 22 carat gold plates, make the chapel a unique building of its kind. It has been referred to as the eighth wonder of the new world and named as "reliquary of America" by Pope John Paul II in 1979.

The sides of the nave contain 6 canvases by José Rodríguez Carnero, with the scenes of the joyful mysteries of the Rosary.

It was the first Chapel dedicated to the Virgin of the Rosary built in Mexico, as a sign of the great devotion to the rosary by the Dominicans who professed to teach the faithful to pray and promoting visual art to educate the people. What?

Permission to use photo.

.

24 Sep 2019

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Dear Ted McGrath,

I am currently redacting my compiled course notes into a book named "History of Interior Design and Furniture” which will be in turkish language and will be distributed in Turkey. It is a cultural and educational reference book. I would like to use your image which belongs to your copyrights and I reach from the link below,

image.png

www.flickr.com/photos/time-to-look/46586026224/

image.png

I would like to use the photo as perpendicular, because it fits my design in the book if it is ok with you?

I will appreciate if you let me know your terms and conditions for the image's usage permission. Your name will be indicated at the end of the book in the photo credits part. And how do you prefer to use your name in the credits part?

Yours Sincerely

Prof. Arch. Mustafa Demirkan

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.

44 - 45 High Street

Canterbury

Kent

Originally the Crown Inn, Elizabeth I entertained the Duc d'Alencon here in 1573. Late C16. 3 storeys and dormers with hipped tiled roof having 3 C18 hipped tiled dormers. The 2nd floor is pargetted to represent rusticated masonry and has 3 sashes with glazing bars intact set in moulded architrave. Flanking these are 2 plastered panels dating from 1663 with blank shields surmounted by crowns and roses and thistles, There are 2 central panels depicting a putto astride a barrel drinking wine, and bunches of grapes. The 1st floor is partly plastered and partly timber-framed with herringbone brick infill. This floor has continuous segmental-headed mullioned windows with leaded lights and also 2 plastered bays with round-arched leaded lights. The ground floor has later shop fronts. The interior has a fine plastered ceiling on the lst floor with various motifs. This room was the Solar of the Crown Inn in tile C16. Part of the staircase is original.

historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/126087...

www.castletownhouse.ie/About/

IMG_6368b24-105

#AB_FAV_FREE_

To stand there is AMAZING!

"Honeycomb," "stalactite," or "mocárabe" vaulting in the Hall of the Abencerrajes.

The Hall of the Abencerrajes (Sala de los ,) is located in front of the Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas).

The walls have plasterwork covers and a tile skirting board from the 16th century, of Renaissance style. A wonderful dome of mocarabes rests on eight pendentives of mocarabes.

The following inscription is written on the pendentives: «There is no other help than the help that comes from God, the clement and merciful One».

The windows that are where the dome starts let a faint light filter through and illuminate the mocarabes creating a magic

The Nasrid dynasty of Granada used mocárabe extensively and used it around the capitals of its columns thereby making a new order of column.

Mocárabe was constructed in a variety of materials including wood and plaster.

Under the Nasrid, mocárabe was originally carved into its medium.

Later on, moulds were made to cast the designs with clay or plaster.

Thank you and have a peaceful day, M, (*_*)

For more: www.indigo2photography.com

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

#Alhambra #Andalusia #Granada #Architecture #Mocárabe #plaster #blue #white #colour #natural light #horizontal #NikonD90 #Magda-indigo

ID

3634

britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300003634-plas-mawr-conwy#.Y...

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

The Edinburgh Festival Theatre (formerly Empire Palace Theatre) is a performing arts venue located on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh, Scotland used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, large-scale musical events, and touring groups. After its most recent renovation in 1994, it seats 1,915. It is one of the major venues of the annual summer Edinburgh International Festival and is the Edinburgh venue for the Scottish Opera and the Scottish Ballet.

The present theatre’s location is Edinburgh’s longest continuous theatre site, for there has been a theatre in that location since 1830. From being Dunedin Hall, the Royal Amphitheatre, Alhambra Music Hall, the Queen’s Theatre, Pablo Fanque's Amphitheatre, and Newsome’s Circus, the site became the Empire Palace Theatre, the first of the famous Moss Empires’ chain, opening on 7 November 1892. Designed by the great British theatre architect, Frank Matcham, (who built the London Coliseum, among others) its décor was lavish, with elephants with Nubian riders, nymphs and cherubs in abundance on the plasterwork, and it seated 3000 people on four levels.

For the following twenty years all the top artists of the day played at the Empire Palace until, on 9 May 1911, there was a disastrous fire on stage. While all 3000 theatre goers escaped safely (there were eleven backstage deaths and the death of a lion), the theatre reopened three months later. However, given the long term competition from the growth of film as a popular medium, the theatre was re-equipped to present bigger and more spectacular shows. Reusing some of Matcham’s original design concepts, the theatre reopened on 1 October 1928 with the musical Show Boat.

Between 1928 and 1963 the Empire was a variety, musical and opera house, often including ice shows. Big names like Harry Lauder, Charles Laughton, Fats Waller, Joe Loss, and Laurel and Hardy appeared, while English comedians Max Wall, Morecambe and Wise and Harry Worth established themselves at the Empire.

In addition to the music hall and popular entertainers who appeared at the Empire, the theatre became a principal venue of the Edinburgh International Festival between 1947 and 1963. It was particularly associated with international ballet and, during the first Festival in 1947, Margot Fonteyn danced in The Sleeping Beauty, while in subsequent years, performances by the Old Vic theatre company, the Royal Ballet and the Royal Opera were presented.

However, for nearly thirty years after 1963 the theatre became a bingo hall, only temporarily serving as a Festival venue. Finally, after its third major remodeling, the Empire Palace Theatre reopened in June 1994 with a glass-fronted structure for the new entrance (created by Law & Dunbar-Nasmith Architects), as the now-renamed Edinburgh Festival Theatre. In 1997, the distinguished theatre manager and artistic director Stephen Barry was appointed to shape the rejuvenated venue's future. With the restoration of the Empire Theatre’s former 1928 glory, plus a dramatic mix of art nouveau, beaux arts and neo-classicism, and including adequate acoustics, the new theatre serves all the artistic needs of the community.

The theatre is said to be haunted by a tall, dark stranger rumoured to be the famous illusionist Sigmund Neuberger, aka The Great Lafayette, who was one of those who burned to death in the fire at the Empire in 1911. [Wikipedia]

………………………………………………………

There were a series of circuses and performance halls on this site from the 1820s (Ducrow’s, etc) and a music hall from about 1860 (Alhambra, Queen’s etc). Frank Matcham built the very first Moss Empire (the Empire Palace) here in 1892 and also carried out its reinstatement after a destructive fire in 1910. The 1892 theatre had a circus-theatre interior of almost barbaric magnificence. In 1928 the Matcham house was demolished and a new theatre built by W & T R Milburn, who were amongst the most competent theatre designers of their time (see e.g. London Dominion, Liverpool Empire and Southampton Mayflower). The Edinburgh auditorium is arguably their best surviving work. The subsequent transformation of the Empire into the Edinburgh Festival Theatre by Law & Dunbar-Nasmith (Colin Ross) completed in 1994 was (until the Royal Opera House reopening) perhaps the most radical make-over of an old theatre undertaken in Britain in modern times. Edinburgh’s long drawn-out quest for an opera house, which spawned a number of abortive new-build projects over the years, had become a standing joke by the 1980s. Theatre Projects Consultants with Law & Dunbar-Nasmith identified the Empire as a prime candidate for conversion for this purpose as early as 1975, but it was to be nearly twenty years before their sensible idea was followed up. When it was eventually done, there was no penny-pinching. The undistinguished façe and front of house were demolished and, with the acquisition of additional space, rebuilt on spacious modern lines, with a curved, transparent façe, visible distantly as a glowing landmark in Nicolson Street. The back of house, too, was totally demolished and a new stage house built, together with dressing rooms and a generous staircase, described as a ‘vertical green room’. The stage itself is immense at 25m x 18m (82ft x 59ft), plus huge wing space on stage left and a rear scene dock which can be opened up for deep vistas. The retained Milburn auditorium has become the splendid filling in a modern sandwich. Like most of the Milburns’ designs, it owes more to contemporary North American models than to the Matcham school. Two balconies with slips meeting a deep-splayed ante-proscenium with pairs of boxes stepping down on either side. Rectangular enriched proscenium frame with a flaming urn at the centre. Ceiling divided into panels with a central dome. Three forestage lifts. Sighting throughout is excellent. The stalls (altered for bingo) have been re-raked to work with the now flattened stage which has thereby been raised at the front edge and thus improved sightlines from the unaltered circles. Necessary changes of this kind have been easily absorbed. The architects did not lose their nerve (as so often happens with so-called restorations) over matters of detail. The seats, for example, are either 1928 originals or careful reproductions. The decorations are not an exact recreation of the Milburn scheme, which was rather skimped, but a convincing essay in the manner of the period with sensitively applied patina glazes to avoid an over-bright appearance. [Theatres Trust ]

The imposing shell of a grandiose Georgian mansion built in 1724-29, with an immensely columned exterior. Roofless since 1919, when its interiors were dismantled and some exported to America: but there is still much to discover within, including traces of sumptuous plasterwork. Set amid contemporary garden remains, including ha-ha ditch and parish church.

Sutton Scarsdale Hall was built in the Baroque style on the site of an existing house between 1724 and 1729 for the fourth Earl of Scarsdale.

The architect for the new hall was Francis Smith of Warwick, who skilfully incorporated the earlier building of about 1469 within his design.

Main rooms[edit]

The gatehouse is of 1406, and the block to its left, now the shop and cafe, has Gothic windows facing the moat. The main facade is medieval to the left, but in Elizabethan prodigy house style at the centre and right. The chapel is 14th-century Decorated Gothic, the other main rooms that are opened mainly Elizabethan. The great hall runs along the facade. Upstairs there is a long gallery overlooking the gardens at the rear.[4]

The best bedrooms have two very elaborate chimneypieces, in the Queen's Bedroom (used by Anne of Denmark) a stone one heavily decorated with ornament in a style "proclaiming the Renaissance but simultaneously revealing a still very imperfect comprehension of what it was all about". This was presumably the result of a local carver with access to an ornament pattern book such as those by Hans Vredeman de Vries; the two human heads still look distinctly medieval. The other chimneypiece, in the bedroom James I used, is at another stylistic extreme; a very polished and spacious stucco piece in a style comparable to that of the First School of Fontainebleau, and probably not made by English artists. The central medallion, with a mythological scene, is designed by Rosso Fiorentino, and also appears in the Palace of Fontainebleau. This is flanked by two large nude boys. The Italian artists of the Tudor court Henry VIII used at Nonsuch Palace have been suggested; the pieces were almost certainly made elsewhere and taken to Broughton.[5]

There are several fine plasterwork ceilings, the most spectacular in the Great Parlour on the first floor, and the Oak Room below it. There is 18th-century painted Chinese wallpaper of different tree, bird and flower designs in three bedrooms, in very good condition. At roof level there is a room believed to be that "with no ears", where the 1st viscount plotted with Parliamentary leaders in the years before the Civil War.[6] The gardens have long herbacious borders, at their best in summer.

Films and TVs[edit]

Parts of the films The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), Oxford Blues (1984), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), The Madness of King George (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and Jane Eyre (2011) were shot in the castle. TV filming for parts of Elizabeth The Virgin Queen, Friends and Crocodiles, 1975 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, and the titles of Noel's House Party also took place there. The castle has been used as the location for several other films and TV programmes[7] including an adaptation of Jane Eyre and

Concerts[edit]

In August 1981, the electric folk band Fairport Convention held their annual reunion concert at Broughton Castle, rather than the usual Cropredy location.[8] The concert was recorded, and released on the album Moat on the Ledge (1982).

Fiction[edit]

Published in April 2009, The Music Room is a novel by William Fiennes. This fictionalized memoir of his childhood and his epileptic brother is set in (the never identified) Broughton Castle. It has been described as "a beautiful poem of a tribute to his family, his parents, the magical, moated castle that was his home"

Wikipedia

Tiles and complex plasterwork decorate the Ambassadors' Hall. The hall opens out into Courtyard of the Maidens.

Azulejos y yeserías complejo decorar la Salón de Embajadores. La sala se abre al Patio de las Doncellas.

The Ambassadors' Hall, Reales Alcázares de Sevilla (Royal Palace of Seville), Santa Cruz, Seville, Spain (Tuesday 26 Jul 2011 @ 12:33pm).

Full report and more photos here: www.proj3ctm4yh3m.com/urbex/2016/02/29/urbex-villa-sberto...

Villa Sbertolli is an abandoned Asylum complex in Italy and comprises of several buildings arranged along a winding road. The whole place has been derelict for quite some time and some of the buildings are completely bricked up. We were however lucky enough to find a way into this amazing Villa building which I understand was once a private residence but later incorporated within the new use of the site as it became an Asylum catering for the insane. The place still had a few bits of contents remaining, a few beds in medical treatment rooms and some other medical equipment but the main feature has to be a large hall which is in the middle of the building and has balconies flanking either side above which is a lovely decorated ceiling with beautiful plasterwork. A stunning building really glad we got to see it

Browns of Chester one of the former Debenham stores now in disrepair.

Browns was a department store in Chester established in 1780 by Susannah Brown. The store traded from its site on Chester's Eastgate Street from 1791 until 2021. Once regarded as the "Harrods of the North",the building interior contains many ornate features such as glass-domed roofs and elaborate plasterwork surrounding small chandeliers in the main entrance area.

The oldest part of the store is housed in the Grade I listed Crypt Chambers, designed by T. M. Penson incorporating Georgian, Tudor and Gothic facades. Construction was completed in 1858. The building incorporates part of the Chester Rows. On the front of the tower at Row level is a blank scroll, on the east face is a recessed panel containing the initials W. B. (for William Brown), on the west face the initials are C. B. (for Charles Brown) and on the rear face is a scroll inscribed AD 1858: Crypt Chambers. The Gothic facade frontage is built over a medieval undercroft dating from the twelfth century. The undercroft most recently contained 'The Tea Press' tea room.

A stunning, vertical shot capturing the grandeur of a historic staircase, likely within a luxury hotel or palace in Lisbon. The staircase features a deeply rich magenta/crimson velvet carpet runner lined with gold and white striping, anchored by polished wooden treads. The most striking element is the intricate wrought iron balustrade, featuring complex, gilded scrollwork against a dark handrail, highlighting neoclassical design elements. The composition is crowned by a magnificent stained glass window at the landing, which casts dramatic red and yellow light patterns, illuminating the detailed plasterwork and creating a rich, opulent atmosphere that speaks to turn-of-the-century European elegance.

The National Trust's Sudbury Hall is a country house in Sudbury, Derbyshire, England. One of the country's finest Restoration mansions. It has Grade I Listed Building status.

Amazing 17th-century craftsmanship and a feast for the eyes with wood carvings and amazingly intricate plasterwork in the long gallery. It’s just over 167 feet (51m) long and includes many family portraits. Fans of the 1996 BBC Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, adaptation will recall the room being used as the place where Elizabeth sets eyes on Darcy’s painting.

The Holy Trinity Church of England at Woolloongabba was constructed in 1930 to the design of Brisbane architect Eric Ford of the partnership, Chambers and Ford. The building was the third church on the site and replaced a timber church constructed in 1875.

Woolloongabba grew from a small settlement in the early 1860s to a major centre in the late nineteenth century. In the early 1860s Woolloongabba was known as One-Mile Swamp and was developing following diversion of the Toowoomba mail from South Brisbane to Kangaroo Point, the formation of the New Ipswich Road and the opening of Brisbane's first cross river bridge at South Brisbane in June 1865. These developments stimulated land investment at One-mile Swamp, and in 1864 the Clarence Town Estate was offered for sale. This parcel of land was sold to publican Thomas Hayselden in 1863, and the first Clarence Hotel, at the corner of Stanley Street and Boggo Road, was opened by him in January 1864. When Hayselden's Clarence Estate and neighbouring One-mile Swamp or Woolloongabba allotments were being advertised for auction or sale in 1864 - 1865, the potential of the area for both small business and residential purposes was emphasised. Suddenly, in the mid-1860s, an area which previously had been defined by little other than hotels acquired a string of small businesses fronting the new Ipswich Road beyond Boggo Road.

The population of Woolloongabba, which had grown steadily between the 1860s and 1880s, increased rapidly following the expansion of the railway line to Woolloongabba in 1884, and the extension of the electric tramway to Woolloongabba/East Brisbane in 1897. During the 1880s and 1890s Woolloongabba developed as Brisbane's fourth major shopping centre, the others being central Brisbane, Fortitude Valley and Stanley Street at South Brisbane. By the turn of the century, most of the allotments facing Stanley Street, Logan Road and Ipswich Road at the Fiveways were fully developed commercial sites.

As the population grew, a Church of England congregation was formed and a church was constructed on land in Hawthorne Street, Woolloongabba. This land was acquired in March 1864 by Robert Creyke from Mary Ann Peterson who was granted the original Deed in 1861. Robert Creyke was the son of a Church of England Minister and following Robert's death in 1869, Reverend Creyke donated the land to the Diocese for the newly formed Holy Trinity congregation for construction of a church. The congregation was formed in 1869 and meetings and services were held in local buildings. In 1870 a simple church was designed by prolific architect, Richard Gailey and this remained the parish church for about four years before being destroyed in a wind storm in October 1874. Another church was dedicated for service on the 23rd of May 1875 and photographs of this second building indicate that it was a rudimentary timber framed and clad structure with a rectangular plan and a steeply pitched gabled roof clad with shingles.

At the construction of their first church the Holy Trinity congregation were part of the South Brisbane parish, and after 1886 when Reverend HT Molesworth was appointed Curate-in-charge of the church a movement started toward the formation of a separate Holy Trinity parish. The parish was constituted by the Diocesan Council on the 19th of January 1888 and Reverend D Ruddock was appointed as the first Rector. In the following year, Brisbane architect, John Henry Burley designed a substantial church hall for the Parish which remained in use until 1998 when it was demolished. By 1890 a rectory also was constructed on the site to the design of diocesan architect, John Hingestone Buckeridge. This was in use until destroyed by fire in 1956.

In 1915 the rector of Holy Trinity Parish, CH Edwards, temporarily left the parish to serve in World War I and after a brief return in 1916 did not return to the parish until 1920, where he remained until 1925. It is thought that he instigated a movement to construct another church because the timber church, despite the premier hilltop site, remained relatively inconspicuous, particularly compared with those Roman Catholic churches being constructed on elevated Brisbane sites by Archbishop Duhig. In about 1916 a subscription scheme was devised to allow parishioners to donate a sum of money over a lengthy period which finally contributed to the construction of a substantial church in 1930. The 1920s was a period of expansion for the Church of England in Queensland and during this time many older churches were rebuilt and new churches constructed. Typically these new buildings were unpretentious, retaining influence from the nineteenth century Gothic revival but with more awareness of the Queensland sub tropical climate. In the late 1920s experimentation with derivatives of a hybrid of Romanesque and Spanish Mission architecture are apparent in both the Holy Trinity Church at Woolloongabba and at another Holy Trinity Church in Mackay designed by Lange Powell. Earlier in 1924, a Roman Catholic Church at Bowen Hills was constructed using Spanish Mission influences but few other churches display the hybrid style developed by the architect Eric Ford at Woolloongabba.

The architectural firm, Chambers and Ford who designed the Woolloongabba Church of England, was a partnership of Claude William Chambers and Eric Marshall Ford. Chambers and Ford remained in practise in Brisbane from 1920 until 1951, although Chambers was largely not involved and moved permanently to Sydney in about 1935. Chambers was a highly experienced and notable architect, who worked for a number of prominent Brisbane firms during the nineteenth century and formed several partnerships in the twentieth century, including Chambers and Powell (where EM Ford was office manager); Chambers and Ford and Chambers and Hutton. The partnership of Chambers and Ford designed several Brisbane churches notably Saint Margaret's Church of England, Sandgate (1927) and Saint James' Church, Kelvin Grove (1943).

Plans, prepared by Ford, for the erection of a new church at Woolloongabba were ready by the end of the 1920s and it is thought that the design was chosen from a limited competition. The parish was saved the expense of the demolition of the earlier church which was blazed to the ground in a fire on the 11th of December 1929.

The foundation stone was laid on the 3rd of March 1930 by Archbishop Gerald Sharp. A description rendered by the Buildings and Real Estate writer of the Brisbane Courier, talked of the building designed in the Italian Romanesque style of the eleventh century, "slightly modified to suit local conditions". The plan comprised a prominent tower, vestry, entrance porch and nave with side aisles and octagonal chancel. A basement was to provide access for a further two vestries. Finishes throughout the church included face brick internal walls with black tuckpointing, timber panelled ceilings and external roughcast render. A red tiled roof was to provide a contrast with the whitewashed external walls.

Tenders were called by Chambers and Ford for the Holy Trinity Church in the February edition of the Architects and Builder's Journal of Queensland and in the May edition of the journal the tender of JH Davis was accepted. The final cost of the church was about £9800.

The Holy Trinity Church was dedicated on the 4th of October 1930 by the Coadjutor Bishop of Brisbane, the Right Reverend Francis de Witt Batty. Most of the descriptions of the building on the day of its dedication focussed on its extraordinary site which crowned the highest part of Hawthorne Street and commanded a view of the entire parish. The completed building housed an organ by Messrs Whitehouse costing £560, electric lighting installed by Mr Dudley Winterford, plasterwork by James Bain & Son, glazing by Decorative Art Company and leadlights by Exton & Company. The garden and landscaping was set out by Mr H Stokes. Many of the internal fittings were donated by parishioners and much of the fitted and loose furniture, including the altar furniture and pews was designed by the architect, Eric Ford.

The church has remained as it was constructed with very few apparent alterations. The organ pipes have been painted, carpet runners and squares have been laid, commemorative stained glass windows have been added to the side aisles and work appears to have been undertaken on the reredos screen which is now concealed by a heavy curtain. The exterior of the church has been painted but retains a whitewashed appearance.

Alterations to the site include the 1938 renovation of an sub-basement area in the church for a Columbarium, or a place to hold funerary vases and the erection of a freestanding bell tower in 1949 to commemorate those soldiers who were killed during WWII. Landscaping around the building has been continually upgraded and many established trees remain on the site. In 1956 after the original rectory was destroyed the church acquired an adjoining property with an early house from the Sawyer family. This building became the rectory. In 1971 a freestanding crucifix was erected on the southern side of the church commemorating Eric Johnstone. The most substantial changes to the church complex occurred in late 1997 to early 1998 when the church hall and rectory were demolished.

Source: Queensland Heritage Register.

Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse (Hammam-e Sultan Amir Ahmad), also known as the Qasemi Bathhouse, is a traditional Iranian public bathhouse in Kashan, Iran. It was constructed in the 16th century, during the Safavid era; however, the bathhouse was damaged in 1778 as a result of an earthquake and was renovated during the Qajar era. The bathhouse is named after Imamzadeh Sultan Amir Ahmad, whose mausoleum is nearby.

Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse, with an area of around 1000 square meters, consists of two main parts, Sarbineh (the dressing hall) and Garmkhaneh (the hot bathing hall). Sarbineh is a large octagonal hall, which has an octagonal pool in the middle separated by 8 pillars from the outer section. There are four pillars in Garmkhaneh, which make smaller bathing rooms all around as well as the entrance section to Khazineh (final bathing room) in the middle. The interior of the bathhouse is decorated with turquoise and gold tilework, plasterwork, brickwork as well as artistic paintings. The roof of the bathhouse is made of multiple domes that contain convex glasses to provide sufficient lighting to the bathhouse while concealing it from the outside.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Amir_Ahmad_Bathhouse

Antecapilla or so called Salón de Descanso de los Jueces

Casa de Pilatos

Seville

The ceiling and the plasterwork date from the time of the first owners of the house- the end of the 15th century.

Over the years people started applying the name "Pilate's House" and "Room where the Sanhedrin Judges retired' (loosely) to the structure; It was never meant as a copy of any architecture seen by the owner in the Holy Land

IMG_7949

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Lanhydrock war bis 1539 ein klösterlicher Bauernhof im Besitz des Priorats von St Petroc in Bodmin. Nach der Auflösung der Klöster unter Heinrich VIII. erwarb im Jahr 1543 die benachbarte Familie Glynn das Landgut. Durch Heirat ging es später an die Familie Lyttelton, ebenfalls durch Heirat 1577 an die Familie Trenance über.

Im Jahr 1621 erwarb der Kaufmann und Geldverleiher Richard Robartes aus Truro das Landgut und begann Lanhydrock House zu erbauen. Unter ihm entstand der heutige Nordflügel des Herrenhauses aus grauem Granit. Schon 1626 lebte der 1621 zum Baronet, of Truro, und 1625 zum Baron Robartes aufgestiegene Richard Robartes auf Lanhydrock. Sein Sohn, John Robartes, 2. Baron Robartes, trat 1634 das Erbe des Vaters an. John Robartes, 2. Baron Robartes, der spätere 1. Earl of Radnor, war zu diesem Zeitpunkt Vorsitzender der Cornish Parliamentary Party („Kornische Parlamentspartei“) im britischen Oberhaus. Zu Repräsentationszwecken ließ er bis 1651 Lanhydrock House um drei weitere Flügel zu einem Karree um einen Innenhof erweitern und das Torhaus errichten. Der Baustil des Hauses entsprach anderen Landsitzen in der Umgebung wie Penheale House in Egloskerry oder Trewan nahe St Columb Major.

m Einzelnen ließ John Robartes ab 1634 zunächst einen Eingang im Haus seines Vaters einfügen, der heute zum Ladenbereich führt und über dem die Inschrift „1636: ILR: L“ (für „1636: John Lord Robartes: Lanhydrock“) angebracht ist. Von 1636 bis 1640 dauerten die Bauarbeiten am Westflügel, der Südflügel stammt aus dem Jahr 1642. Die Erweiterungsmaßnahmen endeten 1651 mit der Errichtung des Torhauses, das ursprünglich als Jagdhaus gedacht war. John Robartes hatte sich in den 1650er Jahren, der Regierungszeit des Lordprotektors Oliver Cromwell, nach Cornwall zurückgezogen, wo er 1664 die Genehmigung zur Einzäunung eines 340 Hektar großen Wildparks erhielt. Seit 1657 gab es Rotwild im Park von Lanhydrock. Nach Wiedererrichtung der Königsherrschaft 1660 wurde John Robartes unter Karl II. in den Privy Council (Kronrat) erhoben, im Jahr 1661 Lordsiegelbewahrer, ein Amt, das er bis 1673 innehatte, sowie 1679 Earl of Radnor und Lord President of the Council. 1684 schied er aus allen Ämtern aus.

Die Erben John Robartes’, Charles Robartes, 2. Earl of Radnor (1660–1723), und Henry Robartes, 3. Earl of Radnor (1695–1741), zogen andere Wohnorte Lanhydrock vor, so dass der Reisende John Loveday der Ältere (1711–1789), Philologe und Antiquar, im Jahr 1736 ein „äußerst baufälliges und absolut unmöbliertes“ Haus vorfand. Beide Robartes wurden jedoch wie schon John Robartes in der Familiengruft auf Lanhydrock beigesetzt. Der Antiquitätensammler und Naturforscher William Borlase schrieb 1758 über Lanhydrock, dass „alles im Haus verwahrlost und verfallen ist“. Die Urenkelin von John Robartes und Erbin von Lanhydrock, Mary Vere Robartes († 1758), hatte zuvor erwogen, das Haus abreißen zu lassen. Doch ihr ältester Sohn George Hunt (um 1720–1798) ließ bis 1788 nur Teile des Gebäudes wie die Hauskapelle und den Ostflügel abtragen, wodurch das heutige U-förmige Bauschema von Lanhydrock House entstand. Er ließ die Fassade rot streichen, um das Haus dem modischen Ziegelmauerwerk anzupassen, und das Innere unter anderem mit Chippendale-Tischen und Axminster-Teppichen neu einrichten.

George Hunt vermachte Lanhydrock 1798 seiner Nichte Anna Maria Hunt (1771–1861). Schon 1788 hatte sie das Herrenhaus und die zerstreuten Ländereien übernommen. Unterstützt wurde sie durch ihre Verwalter William und Alfred Jenkins. Anna Maria Hunt heiratete den Londoner Anwalt Charles Bagenal-Agar (1769–1811), aus deren Ehe drei Söhne hervorgingen, von denen nur Thomas James (1808–1882) nicht schon im Kindesalter verstarb. In der Zeit der Anna Maria Hunt, die sich oft auf Lanhydrock aufhielt, wurden zum Schutz der Bilder in der Galerie Rollos und Öfen eingebaut.

Auf Anraten seiner Mutter übernahm Thomas James Agar 1822 die Bestallung und das Wappen der Robartes und wurde 1869 als 1. Baron Robartes geadelt. Nach seiner Volljährigkeit 1829 übernahm er einen Teil der Verantwortung für Lanhydrock. Im Jahr 1858 erhielt der Architekt George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) den Auftrag, Lanhydrock House instand zu setzen. Scott übertrug diese Aufgabe seinem ersten Assistenten Richard Coad (1825–1900). Die Reparaturarbeiten am Haus, die von 1857 bis 1864 andauerten, sollten 1407 Pfund, 4 Schilling und 6 Pence kosten. Neben der Instandsetzung wurden das Brauhaus in ein Billardzimmer umgebaut, Glasscheiben in die Fenster eingesetzt, eine neue Remise erbaut und neue Gartenanlagen nach Plänen von George Truefitt (1824–1902) angelegt.

Am 4. April 1881 zerstörte ein Großbrand den Südflügel und einen Teil des Westflügels von Lanhydrock House. Gegen 13 Uhr hatte ein frei liegender Holzbalken im Küchenschornstein Feuer gefangen. Der Einbruch des Westflügeldaches führte zum Verlust der historischen Stuckdecke. Nur der Nordflügel mit seiner 29 Meter langen Long Gallery aus dem 17. Jahrhundert und das Frontportal blieben intakt. Lord und Lady Robartes, die seit 1839 mit Thomas James verheiratete Juliana Pole-Carew (1812–1881), blieben unverletzt. Ihr Sohn Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes (1844–1930), am 5. April aus London angereist, telegrafierte noch am selben Tag seiner Frau Mary, geborene Dickinson (1853–1921): „Galerie gerettet. Nicht ganz so schlimm wie befürchtet.“

Nach dem Ableben seiner Mutter nur wenige Tage nach dem Großbrand ließ Thomas Charles das Herrenhaus von Lanhydrock wieder aufbauen. Die äußeren und inneren Mauern der zerstörten Gebäudeteile hatten dem Brand standgehalten. Für die Sanierung des Hauses wurde der inzwischen selbstständige Architekt Richard Coad beauftragt, der für den Wiederaufbau der Innenräume den schottischen Architekten James MacLaren (1853–1890) aus Glasgow als seinen Assistenten heranzog. Die Ausschreibung der Bauarbeiten gewann die Firma Thomas Lang & Sons aus Liskeard, der Kostenvoranschlag belief sich auf 19.406 Pfund. Während sich Coad der Außenarbeiten und technischen Angelegenheiten annahm, entwarf MacLaren unter anderem den Esssaal im Stil des Ästhetizismus, die elisabethanische Teak-Treppe und den Rokoko-Kamin im Gebetsraum.

Da die Kosten der Instandsetzung den Voranschlag bei weitem überschritten, sie beliefen sich schließlich auf 73.000 Pfund, entstanden Spannungen zwischen dem Auftraggeber und dem leitenden Architekten. Thomas Charles, nach dem Tod seines Vaters Thomas James 1882 der 2. Baron Robartes, hinterfragte bei Richard Coad Zahlungen in Höhe von 10.000 Pfund für die Heißwasserzufuhr, die Bleiverglasung und die brandsicheren Zimmerdecken. Auch zwischen Coad und MacLaren gab es 1884 Differenzen. Das führte dazu, dass der Auftrag für die Renovierung der kleinen Kirche neben dem Haus durch Lady Robartes 1886 an George Vialls und nicht an Richard Coad vergeben wurde.

Im Jahr 1885 wurde das Haus durch die Familie Agar-Robartes wieder bezogen. Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Mary hatte der 2. Baron Robartes zwischen 1879 und 1895 zehn Kinder, von denen nur eines 1884 im Säuglingsalter starb. Durch das Fehlen männlicher Nachkommenschaft in der Familie Agar erbte Thomas Charles 1899 den Titel Viscount Clifden von Leopold Agar-Ellis (1829–1899), dem 5. Viscount Clifden. Die neun verbliebenen Kinder der Agar-Robartes’ wuchsen auf Lanhydrock auf. Der älteste Sohn, Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes (1880–1915), genannt Tommy, war in der Politik tätig, wo er durch die Liberale Partei unterstützt wurde. Er starb 1915 im Ersten Weltkrieg an einer Schussverletzung in der Schlacht bei Loos und Hulluch (Teil der Herbstschlacht bei La Bassée und Arras), an der er als Captain des I. Battalion Coldstream Guards (Infanterie) teilnahm. Als zweitältester Sohn von Thomas Charles erbte deshalb Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes (1883–1966) im Jahr 1930 die Titel Lord Robartes und Viscount Clifden sowie das Anwesen von Lanhydrock.

Francis Gerald, der 7. Viscount Clifden, blieb ebenso wie sechs seiner Geschwister kinderlos. Einzige Enkelin von Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes, dem 6. Viscount Clifden, war Rachel, Tochter von Arthur Victor Agar-Robartes (1887–1974), die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg in Afrika lebte. Mit dem Tod Arthur Victors 1974, ab dem Jahr 1966 der 8. Viscount Clifden, erlosch dieser Titel. Schon in den 1920er Jahren führte die unsichere Zukunft der Landwirtschaft zum Verkauf großer Landflächen der Familie. 1953 entschloss sich Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes, Lanhydrock House mitsamt 160 Hektar Land an den National Trust zu übereignen. Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett (1881–1963), 3. Viscount Esher und Vorsitzender des National Trust Historic Building Committee (Ausschuss des National Trust für historische Bauten), bezeichnete 1953 das Haus als „Nebensächlichkeit“ im Vergleich zu den übernommenen umliegenden Landschaften.

Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes lebte gemeinsam mit seinen beiden unverheirateten Schwestern Everilda (1880–1969) und Violet (1888–1965) bis zu ihrem jeweiligen Tode auf Lanhydrock. Schon 1954 wurden die ersten sechs Räume des Hauses der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht. Die Besucherzahl stieg mittlerweile von alljährlich 85.000 Mitte der 1980er Jahre auf mehr als 200.000 Besucher zwanzig Jahre später.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Fünfzig Jahre nach dem Bau von Lanhydrock House wurde im Jahr 1690 der erste geometrische Garten neben dem Haus angelegt, er wird erstmals im Lanhydrock-Atlas von 1694 bis 1697 erwähnt. Der Garten bestand aus einer Rasenfläche für Kegel- oder Ballspiele, dem Bowling Green, einem Blumengarten, der von einem Weg entlang der Baumlinie umsäumt war, einer Fasanerie, einem Küchengarten, einem Birnen- und Obstgarten sowie einem an der Nordseite des Hauses angrenzenden Natur- oder Wildgarten. Mit dem Abriss des Ostflügels des Hauses 1780 durch George Hunt wurde auch diese Gartenanlage beseitigt, so dass das Parkgelände bis an das Gebäude reichte.

Um das Jahr 1860 legte man oberhalb des Hauses einen Staudengarten an, den „Oberen Garten“ oder „Hochgarten“. Nach 1858 erstellte Richard Coad basierend auf Plänen des Architekten George Truefitt, die dieser ab 1854 entworfen hatte, einen neuen, heute noch zu besichtigenden geometrischen Garten an der Ost- und Nordseite von Lanhydrock House. Er ist umgeben von niedrigen zinnenbewehrten Brüstungen und Obelisken im Stil des Hauses. Truefitt sah für Lanhydrock Wasserspiele, Terrassen, Kieswege und eine Promenade zum Torhaus vor, die Coad um eigene Ideen, wie die Granitstufen zur Kirche und eine Sitzgelegenheit, ergänzte. Etwa 1933 erfolgte eine Vereinfachung der viktorianischen Beetaufteilung und die Anpflanzung erster Magnolien.

Lanhydrock Gardens besteht heute aus mehreren, unterschiedlich stark voneinander abgetrennten Bereichen. Im Innenenhof oder Vorhof von Lanhydrock House ist eine durch einen Kiesweg begrenzte runde Rasenfläche angelegt. An den Hauswänden neben dem Weg stehen Immergrüne Magnolien (Magnolia grandiflora) und im Juli und August blühende Hortensiengewächse der Sorte Schizophragma integrifolium. Östlich in Richtung Torhaus schließt sich der „Geometrische Garten“ an, der durch 23 beschnittene Säuleneiben (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) dominiert wird. Zwischen ihnen sind Rosenbeete angelegt, die vornehmlich mit den Sorten ‘Octavia Hill’, ‘Bright Smile’, ‘Escapade’, ‘Wheelhorse Classic’ und ‘Margaret Merril’ bepflanzt sind.

Im Norden des geometrischen Gartens, und hinter der niedrigen Nordmauer außerhalb der eigentlichen Gartenanlage gelegen, befindet sich eine bepflanzte Freifläche, die vormals als Krocket- und Tennisplatz genutzt wurde. Der Tennisplatz nahm dabei die östliche Seite der Freifläche ein. Neben einigen Büschen, wie Gwillimia (Magnolia delavayi), stehen hier zwei Blutbuchen und eine jüngere Korkeiche. Die Blutbuchen wurden von prominenter Seite gepflanzt, die größere 1889 durch den ehemaligen britischen Premierminister William Ewart Gladstone, die kleinere 1905 durch Archibald Philip Primrose, dem 5. Earl of Rosebery. Auf dem westlich angrenzenden ehemaligen Krocketrasen stehen Rhododendren der Sorten ‘Mother of Pearl’, ‘Hugh Koster’ und ‘Pink Pearl’.

Nordwestlich des geometrischen Gartens, nördlich der Gebäude von Lanhydrock House, geht die Gartenanlage ins „Parterre“ über. Hier werden im Frühling und im Sommer verschiedene Blumen innerhalb von Buchsbaumhecken gepflanzt, die in einem komplizierten Muster auf ebener Fläche angelegt sind. Südlich und östlich davon stehen sechs den Bäumen im geometrischen Garten im Schnitt gleiche Säuleneiben. Eine Terrassenstufe höher in Richtung der kleinen Kirche sind die Blumenrabatten als Muster direkt in die Rasenfläche gesetzt.

Beide Bereiche, deren Höhenunterschied keinen Meter ausmacht, haben je eine Bronze-Urne als Mittelpunkt. Diese Urnen, von denen auch einige den geometrischen Garten schmücken, sind Erwerbungen Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes’, des 7. Viscount Clifden, aus der Sammlung von Lord Hertford im Pariser Château de Bagatelle. Sie wurden vom Goldschmied Ludwigs des XIV., Louis Ballin, geschaffen. Nach Westen wird das „Parterre“ durch die Umfassungsmauer begrenzt, in der zwei Durchgänge ausgespart sind. Neben dem Herrenhaus erreicht man über eine Treppe die Kirche St Hydroc, daneben führt ein Weg an der Kirche vorbei in Richtung „Hochgarten“. Unterhalb der Mauer ist ein erhobenes Beet mit Schmucklilien-Hybriden der Sorte ‘Headbourne’, Fuchsien und Waldreben angelegt.

Der Weg zum Hochgarten kreuzt den in Nord-Süd-Richtung verlaufenden Kirchweg, neben dem Fächer-Ahorn (Sorte ‘Sango-kaku’) und laubabwerfende Hybriden der Westlichen Azalee stehen. Direkt vor der Kirche sind verschiedene Kamelien-Sorten, Rhododendren (Rhododendron arboreum var. roseum) und Stern-Magnolien-Hybriden (Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’) gepflanzt, in der Ecke des Kirchhofs eine baumartige Magnolia hypoleuca (obovata). Den nördlichen Abschnitt des Kirchwegs flankieren einige Hortensien, dahinter Magnolia campbellii ‘Charles Raffill’, Rhododendron fictolacteum und Rhododendron rex.

Den Eingang zum Hochgarten markiert ein durch eine Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ verdecktes gewölbtes Tor. Der hinter dem Tor liegende Gartenbereich wurde ab 1933 durch den 7. Viscount Clifden mit verschiedensten Arten von Magnolien bepflanzt, die heute eine Höhe bis zu 25 Metern erreichen. Durch den Hochgarten fließt der Borlase stream („Bach von Borlase“), der die Wasserversorgung für Lanhydrock House sichert. In und an ihm gedeihen Kandelaberprimeln, Astelia, Aronstab, Schaublatt und Kirengeshoma

Im Norden des Hochgartens gelangt man über die „Magnolienlichtung“ zum „Staudenkreis“. Dieser bildet erst seit 1972 einen Vollkreis, nachdem auf der nördlichen Hälfte die Ruinen eines Gewächshauses und eines Schuppens abgerissen wurden. Den südlichen Halbkreis hatte Lady Clifden schon vor 1914 gestaltet. Die hier gepflanzten Stauden blühen vom Ende des Sommers bis in den Herbst. An der Nordwestecke des Hochgartens wurden nach dem zerstörerischen Sturm von 1979 zum Schutz des Gartens Eichen und Edelkastanien angepflanzt.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)

Model railway project: tunnel - fun with plaster & newspaper today!

Sudbury Hall, was the country home of the Lords Vernon, containing 17th-century craftsmanship, featuring plasterwork, wood carvings and classical story-based murals.

The Museum of Childhood within the Hall is a delight for all ages with something for everyone. Watch your children discovering something new, or relive nostalgic memories by exploring the childhoods of times gone by.

The Parish Church of All Saints,which is adjacent to the house, was restored for the 6th Lord Vernon by George Devey.

It was used by the BBC to film "Pride & Prejudice".

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Fünfzig Jahre nach dem Bau von Lanhydrock House wurde im Jahr 1690 der erste geometrische Garten neben dem Haus angelegt, er wird erstmals im Lanhydrock-Atlas von 1694 bis 1697 erwähnt. Der Garten bestand aus einer Rasenfläche für Kegel- oder Ballspiele, dem Bowling Green, einem Blumengarten, der von einem Weg entlang der Baumlinie umsäumt war, einer Fasanerie, einem Küchengarten, einem Birnen- und Obstgarten sowie einem an der Nordseite des Hauses angrenzenden Natur- oder Wildgarten. Mit dem Abriss des Ostflügels des Hauses 1780 durch George Hunt wurde auch diese Gartenanlage beseitigt, so dass das Parkgelände bis an das Gebäude reichte.

Um das Jahr 1860 legte man oberhalb des Hauses einen Staudengarten an, den „Oberen Garten“ oder „Hochgarten“. Nach 1858 erstellte Richard Coad basierend auf Plänen des Architekten George Truefitt, die dieser ab 1854 entworfen hatte, einen neuen, heute noch zu besichtigenden geometrischen Garten an der Ost- und Nordseite von Lanhydrock House. Er ist umgeben von niedrigen zinnenbewehrten Brüstungen und Obelisken im Stil des Hauses. Truefitt sah für Lanhydrock Wasserspiele, Terrassen, Kieswege und eine Promenade zum Torhaus vor, die Coad um eigene Ideen, wie die Granitstufen zur Kirche und eine Sitzgelegenheit, ergänzte. Etwa 1933 erfolgte eine Vereinfachung der viktorianischen Beetaufteilung und die Anpflanzung erster Magnolien.

Lanhydrock Gardens besteht heute aus mehreren, unterschiedlich stark voneinander abgetrennten Bereichen. Im Innenenhof oder Vorhof von Lanhydrock House ist eine durch einen Kiesweg begrenzte runde Rasenfläche angelegt. An den Hauswänden neben dem Weg stehen Immergrüne Magnolien (Magnolia grandiflora) und im Juli und August blühende Hortensiengewächse der Sorte Schizophragma integrifolium. Östlich in Richtung Torhaus schließt sich der „Geometrische Garten“ an, der durch 23 beschnittene Säuleneiben (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’) dominiert wird. Zwischen ihnen sind Rosenbeete angelegt, die vornehmlich mit den Sorten ‘Octavia Hill’, ‘Bright Smile’, ‘Escapade’, ‘Wheelhorse Classic’ und ‘Margaret Merril’ bepflanzt sind.

Im Norden des geometrischen Gartens, und hinter der niedrigen Nordmauer außerhalb der eigentlichen Gartenanlage gelegen, befindet sich eine bepflanzte Freifläche, die vormals als Krocket- und Tennisplatz genutzt wurde. Der Tennisplatz nahm dabei die östliche Seite der Freifläche ein. Neben einigen Büschen, wie Gwillimia (Magnolia delavayi), stehen hier zwei Blutbuchen und eine jüngere Korkeiche. Die Blutbuchen wurden von prominenter Seite gepflanzt, die größere 1889 durch den ehemaligen britischen Premierminister William Ewart Gladstone, die kleinere 1905 durch Archibald Philip Primrose, dem 5. Earl of Rosebery. Auf dem westlich angrenzenden ehemaligen Krocketrasen stehen Rhododendren der Sorten ‘Mother of Pearl’, ‘Hugh Koster’ und ‘Pink Pearl’.

Nordwestlich des geometrischen Gartens, nördlich der Gebäude von Lanhydrock House, geht die Gartenanlage ins „Parterre“ über. Hier werden im Frühling und im Sommer verschiedene Blumen innerhalb von Buchsbaumhecken gepflanzt, die in einem komplizierten Muster auf ebener Fläche angelegt sind. Südlich und östlich davon stehen sechs den Bäumen im geometrischen Garten im Schnitt gleiche Säuleneiben. Eine Terrassenstufe höher in Richtung der kleinen Kirche sind die Blumenrabatten als Muster direkt in die Rasenfläche gesetzt.

Beide Bereiche, deren Höhenunterschied keinen Meter ausmacht, haben je eine Bronze-Urne als Mittelpunkt. Diese Urnen, von denen auch einige den geometrischen Garten schmücken, sind Erwerbungen Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes’, des 7. Viscount Clifden, aus der Sammlung von Lord Hertford im Pariser Château de Bagatelle. Sie wurden vom Goldschmied Ludwigs des XIV., Louis Ballin, geschaffen. Nach Westen wird das „Parterre“ durch die Umfassungsmauer begrenzt, in der zwei Durchgänge ausgespart sind. Neben dem Herrenhaus erreicht man über eine Treppe die Kirche St Hydroc, daneben führt ein Weg an der Kirche vorbei in Richtung „Hochgarten“. Unterhalb der Mauer ist ein erhobenes Beet mit Schmucklilien-Hybriden der Sorte ‘Headbourne’, Fuchsien und Waldreben angelegt.

Der Weg zum Hochgarten kreuzt den in Nord-Süd-Richtung verlaufenden Kirchweg, neben dem Fächer-Ahorn (Sorte ‘Sango-kaku’) und laubabwerfende Hybriden der Westlichen Azalee stehen. Direkt vor der Kirche sind verschiedene Kamelien-Sorten, Rhododendren (Rhododendron arboreum var. roseum) und Stern-Magnolien-Hybriden (Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’) gepflanzt, in der Ecke des Kirchhofs eine baumartige Magnolia hypoleuca (obovata). Den nördlichen Abschnitt des Kirchwegs flankieren einige Hortensien, dahinter Magnolia campbellii ‘Charles Raffill’, Rhododendron fictolacteum und Rhododendron rex.

Den Eingang zum Hochgarten markiert ein durch eine Magnolia kobus × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ verdecktes gewölbtes Tor. Der hinter dem Tor liegende Gartenbereich wurde ab 1933 durch den 7. Viscount Clifden mit verschiedensten Arten von Magnolien bepflanzt, die heute eine Höhe bis zu 25 Metern erreichen. Durch den Hochgarten fließt der Borlase stream („Bach von Borlase“), der die Wasserversorgung für Lanhydrock House sichert. In und an ihm gedeihen Kandelaberprimeln, Astelia, Aronstab, Schaublatt und Kirengeshoma

Im Norden des Hochgartens gelangt man über die „Magnolienlichtung“ zum „Staudenkreis“. Dieser bildet erst seit 1972 einen Vollkreis, nachdem auf der nördlichen Hälfte die Ruinen eines Gewächshauses und eines Schuppens abgerissen wurden. Den südlichen Halbkreis hatte Lady Clifden schon vor 1914 gestaltet. Die hier gepflanzten Stauden blühen vom Ende des Sommers bis in den Herbst. An der Nordwestecke des Hochgartens wurden nach dem zerstörerischen Sturm von 1979 zum Schutz des Gartens Eichen und Edelkastanien angepflanzt.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)

Lanhydrock, near Bodmin, is a magnificent late Victorian country house with extensive servants quarters, gardens and a wooded estate.

It is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. The kitchens, nurseries and servants' quarters offer a thrilling glimpse into life 'below stairs', while the spacious dining room and bedrooms are truly and deeply elegant.

The house is set in wooded parkland of 1,000 acres and encircled by a garden of rare shrubs and trees.

Follow in the footsteps of generations of the Robartes family, walking in the 17th-century Long Gallery among the rare book collection under the remarkable plasterwork ceiling. After a devastating fire in 1881 the house was refurbished in the high-Victorian style, with the latest mod cons.

Don't miss

* There are 50 rooms to explore – allow plenty of time!

* Play the Steinway piano in the Long Gallery

* Look out for the museum and second-hand bookshop

The gardens

The historical garden with its 30-acres of woodland was laid out back in 1857, but its present format was actually established later on in the Victorian period, and many of the plants are no more than 70 years old. However, a grand atmosphere permeates the entire setting and compliments the brilliant planting of more modern times.

Explore formal parterres of dazzling bedding plants and wander along paths that wind through a woodland landscape planted in a semi-formal Cornish fashion - rhododendrons and Himalayan magnolias lurching to their full-size in the fresh Cornish air. Because the grounds lie inland and rise up to 130-metres above sea level, the plants have to cope with harsher climates than the lush valley gardens of the south coast. In spite of this, Lanhydrock still puts on one of the county's most colourful spring shows, with over 120 species of cream and white magnolias featuring amongst a flurry of wild blooms that carpet the woodland.

Learn more about the history and the work involved to keep the magnificent gardens maintained via the new interpretation on permanent display in the garden's thatched cottage.

Take-in the sweeping views over the gardens and the valley landscape, and it's pretty obvious that this is prime garden for walkers. Not only is there 30-acres of formal and informal woodland to explore, but the garden opens onto an extensive network of footpaths zig-zagging through 900-acres of beautiful countryside.

And with so much space to roam, Lanhydrock makes a very family friendly day out. Whilst the fresh air and colourful surroundings will captivate the kids' imaginations and wear them out, the restaurant has a fantastic children's menu and there are excellent baby-changing facilities on-site.

(visitcornwall.com)

Lanhydrock House (kornisch Lannhydrek) ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der englischen Stadt Bodmin in Cornwall. Es liegt fast 13 Kilometer von der Südküste Cornwalls entfernt im waldreichen Tal des Flusses River Fowey, inmitten eines 367 Hektar großen Anwesens, das bis zu 130 Metern Höhe ansteigt.

Lanhydrock House ist von einem attraktiven formalen Garten und einem Landschaftspark umgeben. Der angrenzende Hügel ist mit ausgewählten Bäumen und Sträuchern bepflanzt. Viele Teile des heutigen Hauses sind viktorianischen Ursprungs, einige sind jedoch mehr als 200 Jahre älter, sie datieren etwa um das Jahr 1620.

Lanhydrock war bis 1539 ein klösterlicher Bauernhof im Besitz des Priorats von St Petroc in Bodmin. Nach der Auflösung der Klöster unter Heinrich VIII. erwarb im Jahr 1543 die benachbarte Familie Glynn das Landgut. Durch Heirat ging es später an die Familie Lyttelton, ebenfalls durch Heirat 1577 an die Familie Trenance über.

Im Jahr 1621 erwarb der Kaufmann und Geldverleiher Richard Robartes aus Truro das Landgut und begann Lanhydrock House zu erbauen. Unter ihm entstand der heutige Nordflügel des Herrenhauses aus grauem Granit. Schon 1626 lebte der 1621 zum Baronet, of Truro, und 1625 zum Baron Robartes aufgestiegene Richard Robartes auf Lanhydrock. Sein Sohn, John Robartes, 2. Baron Robartes, trat 1634 das Erbe des Vaters an. John Robartes, 2. Baron Robartes, der spätere 1. Earl of Radnor, war zu diesem Zeitpunkt Vorsitzender der Cornish Parliamentary Party („Kornische Parlamentspartei“) im britischen Oberhaus. Zu Repräsentationszwecken ließ er bis 1651 Lanhydrock House um drei weitere Flügel zu einem Karree um einen Innenhof erweitern und das Torhaus errichten. Der Baustil des Hauses entsprach anderen Landsitzen in der Umgebung wie Penheale House in Egloskerry oder Trewan nahe St Columb Major.

m Einzelnen ließ John Robartes ab 1634 zunächst einen Eingang im Haus seines Vaters einfügen, der heute zum Ladenbereich führt und über dem die Inschrift „1636: ILR: L“ (für „1636: John Lord Robartes: Lanhydrock“) angebracht ist. Von 1636 bis 1640 dauerten die Bauarbeiten am Westflügel, der Südflügel stammt aus dem Jahr 1642. Die Erweiterungsmaßnahmen endeten 1651 mit der Errichtung des Torhauses, das ursprünglich als Jagdhaus gedacht war. John Robartes hatte sich in den 1650er Jahren, der Regierungszeit des Lordprotektors Oliver Cromwell, nach Cornwall zurückgezogen, wo er 1664 die Genehmigung zur Einzäunung eines 340 Hektar großen Wildparks erhielt. Seit 1657 gab es Rotwild im Park von Lanhydrock. Nach Wiedererrichtung der Königsherrschaft 1660 wurde John Robartes unter Karl II. in den Privy Council (Kronrat) erhoben, im Jahr 1661 Lordsiegelbewahrer, ein Amt, das er bis 1673 innehatte, sowie 1679 Earl of Radnor und Lord President of the Council. 1684 schied er aus allen Ämtern aus.

Die Erben John Robartes’, Charles Robartes, 2. Earl of Radnor (1660–1723), und Henry Robartes, 3. Earl of Radnor (1695–1741), zogen andere Wohnorte Lanhydrock vor, so dass der Reisende John Loveday der Ältere (1711–1789), Philologe und Antiquar, im Jahr 1736 ein „äußerst baufälliges und absolut unmöbliertes“ Haus vorfand. Beide Robartes wurden jedoch wie schon John Robartes in der Familiengruft auf Lanhydrock beigesetzt. Der Antiquitätensammler und Naturforscher William Borlase schrieb 1758 über Lanhydrock, dass „alles im Haus verwahrlost und verfallen ist“. Die Urenkelin von John Robartes und Erbin von Lanhydrock, Mary Vere Robartes († 1758), hatte zuvor erwogen, das Haus abreißen zu lassen. Doch ihr ältester Sohn George Hunt (um 1720–1798) ließ bis 1788 nur Teile des Gebäudes wie die Hauskapelle und den Ostflügel abtragen, wodurch das heutige U-förmige Bauschema von Lanhydrock House entstand. Er ließ die Fassade rot streichen, um das Haus dem modischen Ziegelmauerwerk anzupassen, und das Innere unter anderem mit Chippendale-Tischen und Axminster-Teppichen neu einrichten.

George Hunt vermachte Lanhydrock 1798 seiner Nichte Anna Maria Hunt (1771–1861). Schon 1788 hatte sie das Herrenhaus und die zerstreuten Ländereien übernommen. Unterstützt wurde sie durch ihre Verwalter William und Alfred Jenkins. Anna Maria Hunt heiratete den Londoner Anwalt Charles Bagenal-Agar (1769–1811), aus deren Ehe drei Söhne hervorgingen, von denen nur Thomas James (1808–1882) nicht schon im Kindesalter verstarb. In der Zeit der Anna Maria Hunt, die sich oft auf Lanhydrock aufhielt, wurden zum Schutz der Bilder in der Galerie Rollos und Öfen eingebaut.

Auf Anraten seiner Mutter übernahm Thomas James Agar 1822 die Bestallung und das Wappen der Robartes und wurde 1869 als 1. Baron Robartes geadelt. Nach seiner Volljährigkeit 1829 übernahm er einen Teil der Verantwortung für Lanhydrock. Im Jahr 1858 erhielt der Architekt George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) den Auftrag, Lanhydrock House instand zu setzen. Scott übertrug diese Aufgabe seinem ersten Assistenten Richard Coad (1825–1900). Die Reparaturarbeiten am Haus, die von 1857 bis 1864 andauerten, sollten 1407 Pfund, 4 Schilling und 6 Pence kosten. Neben der Instandsetzung wurden das Brauhaus in ein Billardzimmer umgebaut, Glasscheiben in die Fenster eingesetzt, eine neue Remise erbaut und neue Gartenanlagen nach Plänen von George Truefitt (1824–1902) angelegt.

Am 4. April 1881 zerstörte ein Großbrand den Südflügel und einen Teil des Westflügels von Lanhydrock House. Gegen 13 Uhr hatte ein frei liegender Holzbalken im Küchenschornstein Feuer gefangen. Der Einbruch des Westflügeldaches führte zum Verlust der historischen Stuckdecke. Nur der Nordflügel mit seiner 29 Meter langen Long Gallery aus dem 17. Jahrhundert und das Frontportal blieben intakt. Lord und Lady Robartes, die seit 1839 mit Thomas James verheiratete Juliana Pole-Carew (1812–1881), blieben unverletzt. Ihr Sohn Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes (1844–1930), am 5. April aus London angereist, telegrafierte noch am selben Tag seiner Frau Mary, geborene Dickinson (1853–1921): „Galerie gerettet. Nicht ganz so schlimm wie befürchtet.“

Nach dem Ableben seiner Mutter nur wenige Tage nach dem Großbrand ließ Thomas Charles das Herrenhaus von Lanhydrock wieder aufbauen. Die äußeren und inneren Mauern der zerstörten Gebäudeteile hatten dem Brand standgehalten. Für die Sanierung des Hauses wurde der inzwischen selbstständige Architekt Richard Coad beauftragt, der für den Wiederaufbau der Innenräume den schottischen Architekten James MacLaren (1853–1890) aus Glasgow als seinen Assistenten heranzog. Die Ausschreibung der Bauarbeiten gewann die Firma Thomas Lang & Sons aus Liskeard, der Kostenvoranschlag belief sich auf 19.406 Pfund. Während sich Coad der Außenarbeiten und technischen Angelegenheiten annahm, entwarf MacLaren unter anderem den Esssaal im Stil des Ästhetizismus, die elisabethanische Teak-Treppe und den Rokoko-Kamin im Gebetsraum.

Da die Kosten der Instandsetzung den Voranschlag bei weitem überschritten, sie beliefen sich schließlich auf 73.000 Pfund, entstanden Spannungen zwischen dem Auftraggeber und dem leitenden Architekten. Thomas Charles, nach dem Tod seines Vaters Thomas James 1882 der 2. Baron Robartes, hinterfragte bei Richard Coad Zahlungen in Höhe von 10.000 Pfund für die Heißwasserzufuhr, die Bleiverglasung und die brandsicheren Zimmerdecken. Auch zwischen Coad und MacLaren gab es 1884 Differenzen. Das führte dazu, dass der Auftrag für die Renovierung der kleinen Kirche neben dem Haus durch Lady Robartes 1886 an George Vialls und nicht an Richard Coad vergeben wurde.

Im Jahr 1885 wurde das Haus durch die Familie Agar-Robartes wieder bezogen. Gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Mary hatte der 2. Baron Robartes zwischen 1879 und 1895 zehn Kinder, von denen nur eines 1884 im Säuglingsalter starb. Durch das Fehlen männlicher Nachkommenschaft in der Familie Agar erbte Thomas Charles 1899 den Titel Viscount Clifden von Leopold Agar-Ellis (1829–1899), dem 5. Viscount Clifden. Die neun verbliebenen Kinder der Agar-Robartes’ wuchsen auf Lanhydrock auf. Der älteste Sohn, Thomas Charles Reginald Agar-Robartes (1880–1915), genannt Tommy, war in der Politik tätig, wo er durch die Liberale Partei unterstützt wurde. Er starb 1915 im Ersten Weltkrieg an einer Schussverletzung in der Schlacht bei Loos und Hulluch (Teil der Herbstschlacht bei La Bassée und Arras), an der er als Captain des I. Battalion Coldstream Guards (Infanterie) teilnahm. Als zweitältester Sohn von Thomas Charles erbte deshalb Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes (1883–1966) im Jahr 1930 die Titel Lord Robartes und Viscount Clifden sowie das Anwesen von Lanhydrock.

Francis Gerald, der 7. Viscount Clifden, blieb ebenso wie sechs seiner Geschwister kinderlos. Einzige Enkelin von Thomas Charles Agar-Robartes, dem 6. Viscount Clifden, war Rachel, Tochter von Arthur Victor Agar-Robartes (1887–1974), die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg in Afrika lebte. Mit dem Tod Arthur Victors 1974, ab dem Jahr 1966 der 8. Viscount Clifden, erlosch dieser Titel. Schon in den 1920er Jahren führte die unsichere Zukunft der Landwirtschaft zum Verkauf großer Landflächen der Familie. 1953 entschloss sich Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes, Lanhydrock House mitsamt 160 Hektar Land an den National Trust zu übereignen. Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett (1881–1963), 3. Viscount Esher und Vorsitzender des National Trust Historic Building Committee (Ausschuss des National Trust für historische Bauten), bezeichnete 1953 das Haus als „Nebensächlichkeit“ im Vergleich zu den übernommenen umliegenden Landschaften.

Francis Gerald Agar-Robartes lebte gemeinsam mit seinen beiden unverheirateten Schwestern Everilda (1880–1969) und Violet (1888–1965) bis zu ihrem jeweiligen Tode auf Lanhydrock. Schon 1954 wurden die ersten sechs Räume des Hauses der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht. Die Besucherzahl stieg mittlerweile von alljährlich 85.000 Mitte der 1980er Jahre auf mehr als 200.000 Besucher zwanzig Jahre später.

Lanhydrock war 1996 der Hauptdrehort für den Film Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Regie führte Trevor Nunn, Hauptdarstellerin war Helena Bonham Carter als Olivia. Weiterhin dienten Haus und Garten als Drehort für die Rosamunde-Pilcher-Verfilmungen Klippen der Liebe (1999) und Im Zweifel für die Liebe (2009).

(Wikipedia)