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The Whistler Room
Just before war broke out in 1939, Maud Russell transformed the original entrance hall into a large saloon. Rex Whistler was commissioned to create a unique backdrop for Mottisfont’s glamorous guests. The results were his spectacular trompe l’oeil murals, light-heartedly reflecting Mottisfont’s medieval origins.
Despite appearances, there are no columns, ledges or moulded plasterwork in this room, the walls of which are so cunningly painted that they appear to have all these gothic decorations. Take time to look closely at these finely detailed paintings and see what you can spot.
This extraordinary room was his last and finest piece before he was killed in active service in France. Tucked high in one wall is a poignant, secret message from the artist, painted just before he left – ask one of our room guides to show you when you visit. National Trust
Mottisfont Abbey is a historical priory and country estate in Hampshire, England. Sheltered in the valley of the River Test, the property is now operated by the National Trust. About 350,000 people visit each year. The site includes the historic house museum, regular changing art exhibitions, gardens (including a walled rose garden) and a river walk.
Fertile land and a plentiful water supply attracted the first settlers. The site's name comes from a spring ("font") that is still producing water in the grounds. It was the font around which the local community held its moots or meetings. An Augustinian priory was founded here in 1201 by William Briwere, a businessman, administrator and courtier to four Plantagenet kings who chose to make a public demonstration of his wealth and piety. The canons welcomed pilgrims en route to Winchester, who came to worship Mottisfont's relic, said to be the finger of St John the Baptist. (The word "Abbey" was added to the name "Mottisfont" by a future owner, several centuries later, but is a misnomer. The National Trust speculate that the name was considered more romantic than the historically-correct "Priory".)
Struck by the Black Death, the initially prosperous priory suffered from the mid-14th century onwards. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, the priory was dissolved and the king gave Mottisfont to a favoured statesman, Sir William Sandys, who turned it into a country home, but rather unusually, chose not to demolish the existing priory. Sandys instead turned the church nave into the main body of the new mansion, building additional wings on either side. Sections of the original medieval church may still be seen, with the later additions built around them. The 13th-century cellarium also remains present today.
In the 18th century, the old monastic cloisters and Tudor courtyard were demolished by the Mill family, creating the modern appearance of the estate's facade. It was at this time that the owners added "Abbey" to the name of the house. Then, under Sir John Barker Mill, in the early 19th century, the estate became a centre for hunting, shooting and fishing, and a new stable block was built.
The last decades of the 19th century saw Mottisfont let to wealthy banker Daniel Meinertzhagen under eccentric terms that forbade the installation of electric light or central heating. The ten Meinertzhagen children included Daniel and Richard, who built aviaries for their collection of eagles, hawks, owls and ravens. Richard wrote detailed diaries about his childhood and growing interest in the natural world.
The arrival of Maud and Gilbert Russell in 1934 made Mottisfont the centre of a fashionable artistic and political circle. Maud was a wealthy patron of the arts, and she created a substantial country house where she entertained artists and writers including Ben Nicholson and Ian Fleming. She commissioned some of her artist and designer friends to embellish Mottisfont, always with an eye on its history, which fascinated her. Rex Whistler created the illusion of Gothic architecture in her salon (now known as the Whistler Room), a piece of trompe-l'œil painting that recalls the medieval architecture of the priory. Boris Anrep contributed mosaics both inside and outside the house, including one of an angel featuring Maud’s face – the couple had a long love affair.
Maud Russell gifted the house and grounds to the National Trust in 1957, although continuing to live there until 1972.[2] One of the artists who had visited regularly was Derek Hill, a society portrait painter who had a private passion for landscape painting, and who collected work by his contemporaries. He donated a substantial collection of early 20th-century art to the National Trust to be shown at Mottisfont, in memory of his long friendship with Maud Russell. Today, these works are joined by a changing programme of temporary exhibitions of 20th-century and contemporary art.
wikipedia
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.
The house was used by the BBC to film "Pride & Prejudice".
This Italianate plasterwork is breath-taking and in fact its distressed look is very on trend...this is rare and elaborate "Imperial" plasterwork in a Northern version of the Italian style in the Assembly House, Newcastle (see notes below)
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This stunning building is not usually open to the public (yet....)
But you can see inside during the The Northern Design Festival, which I will be opening (what an honour) on Tuesday October 20. The Festival then runs from 21-25 October 2015; at Assembly House, 55 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1SG
More details from
Thanks to John Mears, Susan Maughan and Mike Tilley at www.newcastle-arts-centre.co.uk/ for the following notes - do visit their site to see fascinating photographs of the restoraration.
Westgate Street itself has been occupied from the 15th Century.
The Assembly House building has been rebuilt at least once and 'recased' twice. The early cellars are built from stone were the foundations for a timber framed building with brick infill.
The house was recased in brick in the late 17th Century and recased in stone in the 1770's. The front wall is three walls thick faced with a grey millstone grit that is much harder than the local dune sandstone. By contrast the delicate doorway is made from a very fine sandstone which suggests that it may have been a special commission or salvaged from another building.
In the 1680's, it was the home of an Irish Roman Catholic, Sir William Creagh. (He was made Mayor and Freeman of the City by Royal Mandate, this being part of James II's efforts to assert the power of the Crown - at the expense of Newcastle's privileges and independence. The King removed the incumbent Mayor and officials, ordering the electors to choose Creagh and other Royal nominees. The electors refused, on the grounds that they were "papists and persons not qualified". This action had no effect, Creagh and his cronies simply assumed office. However, his period of power was short lived. Resentment at royal interference in the city's politics, Creagh's religious sympathies and factional rivalry among the ruling elite combined to remove him. Thus, when William of Orange landed in England in October 1688, Creagh was removed from office and his political career came to an end.)
From 1716 to 1736 the building was known as the Assembly House (at the same time playing host to a school, for young ladies!). These public assemblies for dancing and card playing were a new feature of northern society and at first appear to have encountered considerable opposition - as objectionable on moral grounds. The Newcastle Courant advertised "Plays, Masquerades and Assemblies - every night during the races" and "a raffle for 12 fine fans... at half a crown a ticket". These were, no doubt, occasions when the habitual peace and tranquillity of the street were somewhat disturbed..." a fit of dissipation seized it, and instead of the usual sleepy repose, there was a clattering of carriages, and flaring on links and sounds of music and revelry upon the midnight air" (Charlton).
In 1735 the celebrated Newcastle Composer Charles Avison performed his first subscription concert here and the building now has a City plaque to commemorate this event.
Soon 55 had returned to a more conventional role as the home of leaders of the community. It was owned for a while by Lady Winsor ( daughter of Lady Clavering who had lived next door) and used to oversee her coal enterprises, and was the home of Geoffrey Fawcett Recorder of Newcastle. The house was considerably rebuilt twice before 1780 . Most of this still remains above and behind the Victorian shop front and is reflected in the fact that it is a Grade II Star listed building. The interior in particular contains some rare and elaborate "Imperial" plasterwork in a Northern version of the Italian style.
During this time the historian John Brand and the eminent Newcastle architect William Newton, lived in this section of Westgate Street for a time but we do not know in which house.
It is possible that this house continued to be used occasionally as an assembly house up to the opening of the Assembly Rooms in 1776 that were designed by William Newton and stand opposite 55 & 57 Westgate Road. Newton was also responsible for Charlotte Square and later lived there.
The house became the home of William Peters, an eminent lawyer active at the time of the 'Great Reform Bill', and the last man but one in Newcastle to wear a "pigtail". A copy of the Magna Carta once owned by him is now in Harvard University Law Library.
Subsequently, the Misses Clayton, sisters of the celebrated John Clayton, lived here. In the 1870's it housed the Northumberland Club, but No 57 reverted to a private home and became the birthplace of Sir William Hume ( July 1879), a leading heart specialist and father of Cardinal Basil Hume.
In 1885 Henry Walker & Son converted the ground floor of 55 Westgate Road into a shop, and this was followed by the addition of workshops over the garden to the rear, which have since been demolished to reveal the original elevation (1987).
Walker & Son were Hardware Manufacturers and inventors of the pneumatic cash transit system used extensively in early department stores. A photograph shows this company was still trading in 1956 at this location while Westgate Road was still a busy street. In 1957 the ground floor of 55 suffered a 'make over' by the Northern Gas Board with chimneys cut through and suspended ceilings installed.
The attempt to modernise Newcastle in the 1960's with a massive redevelopment plan that stalled with the property crash of 1974, placed much of Westgate Road under severe planning blight which, together with the building of Eldon Square Shopping Centre, moved the focus of the City north.
The result was a period of rapid decline and the accidental preservation of many historic buildings which are now regarded as a valuable heritage.
Today the building is in a sound condition awaiting internal restoration of the revealed historic fabric and careful conversion to bring the building alive.
Newcastle Arts Centre Trust are launching a fundraising campaign this Autumn to coincide with the Northern Design Festival on show here during October 2015.
Architects - GWK -David Cansfield. Consultant - Cyril Winskell; Archaeologists - Northern Counties Archaeological Services - John Nolan; Main Contractor - Quadriga; Main Roof Timber repairs and treatment - Peter Cox; Plasterwork - Decorative Plaster Co Newcastle; Restoration Carpentry and decoration - Newcastle Arts Centre; Stone Mason - Phil Mason.
* for design updates and original photographs, follow me on twitter
and on instagram @sunnygran
The two-storeyed tomb of Safdarjang was the very last of India’s great Mughal garden tombs. Built between 1753 and 1774, it dates from the period after Nadir Shah’s sacking of the city, by which time the empire was reduced to a fraction of its former size and most of the capital’s grander buildings lay in ruins. Safdarjang was the Mughal nawab (governor) of Avadh who briefly became vizier before being overthrown for his Shi’ite beliefs. Emblematic of the decadence and degeneracy that characterized the twilight of the Mughal era, the mausoleum sports an elongated, tapered dome and absurdly ornate interior filled with swirling plasterwork. In City of Djinns, William Dalrymple aptly describes its quirky design as “blowzy Mughal rococo” typifying an age “not so much decaying into impoverished anonymity as one whoring and drinking itself into extinction”
Read more: www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/india/delhi/new-del...
More of the fine plasterwork on the domed ceiling of the saloon, designed by Sir John Soane. The two family crests - of a fire-breathing panther, and the archer ancestor said to have killed it - alternate.
Detail of a spandrel in the Yellow Drawing Room at Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire, designed by John Soane for Philip Yorke, 3rd earl of Hardwicke, in 1793. The dome has a glazed lantern carried on segmental arches, with fluted spandrels. The plasterwork is by John Papworth. Wimpole Hall is largely the creation of Edward Harley, earl of Oxford (1689-1741), and Charles Yorke, first earl of Hardwicke and Lord Chancellor (1690-1764).
The roof, plasterwork ceiling and 28 limestone support columns have been faithfully reproduced using Irish sourced materials and craftsmanship. A new concrete floor was laid and finished with a marble overlay. The nave areas present a bright and open ambiance.
St Mel’s of Longford town is the cathedral church for the diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. Ambitious plans for a fine church building in Longford began to take form after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 and became a reality when sufficient funds had been collected. Construction began in 1840 with the laying of the foundation stone which was taken from the original cathedral of St. Mel at Ardagh, only a few miles from Longford. The main body of the new cathedral was completed in 1856 to a neo-classical design by the architect Joseph Benjamin Keane, work having been delayed during the period of the Great Famine (1846 and recommenced 1853). After Joseph’s death in 1849, work was continued after by his assistant John Bourke (d.1871) who was also responsible for the belfry tower completed in 1860, but with major alterations to its original design. The neo-classical portico was designed by George Coppinger Ashlin (1837-1921) and completed in 1889 with its pediment and sculpted tympanum depicting the enthronement of St. Mel as Bishop of Ardagh along with three statues above the pediment. By this time, the cathedral building has taken on its definitive form with no further major alterations until its refurbishment after the devastating fire of 2009.
On 25th December 2009, the entire building was gutted by a fire which accidently started within the boiler chimney flue at the rear and quickly spread. The alarm was raised just after 5am but fire-fighting attempts were hampered by frozen pipes as the country was in the grip of one of its worst and prolonged periods of freezing temperatures for decades. By daylight, the entire building had been reduced to a burnt-out shell with the loss of all its furnishing, fittings and diocesan museum. The museum contained many priceless artefacts that included the Crozier of Saint Mel and the book-shrine of St. Caillin (1536), the latter damaged beyond restoration but it may be possible to conserve some of the remnants. The 28 supporting columns were also damaged beyond repair and had to replaced anew. Very little was recoverable that survived the worst of the 1,000 deg.C fire and even these suffered some degree of fire damage such as The Bell of Fenagh which is undergoing conservation treatment at the National Museum of Ireland and the original baptismal font with its brass fittings and surrounding mosaic floor. But the most puzzling of all and described by many as nothing short of a miracle was the survival of the Holy Family painting in the northern transept and the undamaged Eucharistic Host still inside the fire damaged tabernacle. The Holy Family oil painting on a cotton-based canvas should have readily gone up in flames due to its highly combustible materials but somehow survived relatively unscathed despite the intense fire around it. This painting was of Italian origins by an unknown artist and is now back on display requiring little more than a cleaning!
After five years of work by many expert disciplines using traditional methods, the cathedral building has been totally refurbished and which included quarried blue-limestone for 28 columns with hand-carved capitals that support the roof. Both Harry Clarke Studio windows were salvaged from the transepts and restored to their former glory by Abbey Stained Glass Ltd of Dublin, a company with much experience in the restoration of stained glass windows. Other replacements such as the wooden pews, alter, stained glass, Stations of the Cross tablets, pipe-organ, fixtures and fitting were all made in a modern style to the best materials and craftsmanship available. It is also planned to open a diocesan museum in the cathedral’s new crypts. The total cost of refurbishment and fitting out came to around €30 million, funded mostly from the insurance cover and after five years of hard work the cathedral was reopened for services at Christmas 2014.
Photos taken Thursday 22nd January 2015.
References:
www.facebook.com/StMelsRestoration (St Mel’s Cathedral restoration – Facebook page).
www.rte.ie/news/special-reports/2014/1215/667007-longford... (RTE News article about TV program The Longford Phoenix).
www.longfordtourism.ie/event/st-mels-cathedral-rise-from-...
irishcatholic.ie/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/... (Sculptor Ken Thompson working on one of his Stations of the Cross panels).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mel%27s_cathedral,_Longford
l7.alamy.com/zooms/5e9904767cdb4317b39e15ee189488c3/shrin... (Image of St. Caillin book shrine created in 1536 before it was damaged beyond repair in the 2009 fire at St. Mel’s cathedral).
www.alamy.com/stock-photo-st-mels-crozier-longford-cathed... (Image of the 10th century St. Mel’s Crozier and sadly, completely destroyed in the cathedral fire of 2009).
17:19, Saturday 10th September 2011 ·
Fetcham Park House, Fetcham, Surrey, England ·
Pentax LX (35mm SLR camera) ·
Kodak Portra 160NC (colour negative film - ISO 160) ·
Belomo (Peleng) f3.5 8mm 180° circular fisheye lens · f8 · 1/2 sec ·
(found this older Portra 160NC film in the fridge)
The Shell Room
The Shell Room (opposite the main entrance) has a ceiling mural (by Louis Laguerre - more on him and Fetcham Park under the neighbouring photo: www.flickr.com/photos/paulmdt/17121962000 ) depicting the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, performed by Zeus, after he had ordered Cupid's mother, Venus, to stop persecuting Psyche because of her jealousy of her beauty.
The elaborate plasterwork framing the mural, which includes shells (hence the room's name) was added in the 19th century.
The estate's more recent history:
Badingham College - 1927-1939 and 1949-1965
The house and 30 acres of land were bought by the Rev. J.G. Wilkie for Badingham College, a school he had set up in the grounds of his rectory in Badingham, Suffolk. In 1950 there were 70 fee-paying boys; by 1957 this had risen to 100. In 1965 the school moved to Norwich.
University College 1940-1946
The house was leased to the departments of anatomy and physiology of University College, London, after its London buildings were bombed. About half the staff and students lived in.
In 1965 the Ideal Development Company Ltd. (asset-stripping property developers, by the sound of it) bought the house and park from the College trustees, turned most of the park into an estate of 100 new properties and left the house to go to ruin. In 1971 another company bought the house and remaining grounds to convert it into offices, but by 1979 it was once again derelict.
Fortunately some foreigners then bought the place, the Middle Eastern (Qatari?) UTG (United Trading Group), which carried out a huge, thorough, lavish and costly restoration and made "UTG House" the headquarters of its UK subsidiary. The Laguerre murals were uncovered beneath panelling and false ceilings, probably installed in 1971 and new ceiling paintings commissioned for the old ballroom (now called The Salon). Panelling was added to two ground floor rooms and a new timber floor laid in the entrance hall.
Since 1986 the house has been owned by various property investors, used as office space and, most recently, for weddings.
info from fetchampark.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Fetcham-Park...
[2011-33-02] · neg 1
TALK ABOUT A NIGHTMARE – I misguidedly decided that the best way of finding this abbey would be with a GPS. It left me about ten miles from the site but was adamant that I was in Gola. None of the locals had heard of the place. I drove along every side road of beautiful rural Fermanagh for over an hour hoping to see something akin to an old church but found almost nothing and certainly nothing that could be described as the ruin of an abbey.
The kindly owner of the Garage at the entrance to Tamlacht gave good directions and a local farmer was very hospitable and helpful with the rest of the search. He owns the field where the church was situated and couldn’t plough it because, he thinks, there are so many large stones buried in the field that it would destroy any ploughshare.
The Abbey itself has passed from Ms. Wilson, mentioned in Ambrose Coleman’s account below, and is now the property of a Mr. G. Johnson. The house was built in the 18th century with extensions in the 20th and little remains to indicate that it was an older building. Apparently there is a fine fireplace contained in the almost dilapidated building. Some of the plasterwork on the outer walls has come away and you can see the stones of the original building underneath. Mrs Johnson gave me a most cordial reception considering I had arrived unannounced; “hi, I’m a Dominican and we used to own your house...”
Here follows what history I can muster on the forgotten Dominican foundation of Gola!
FRIARY OF GOLA
Ambrose Coleman, in his appendix to O’Heyne’s Irish Dominicans, writes:
THE account of the foundation of this convent, as given by O'Heyne, may be accepted as perfectly correct. The site, which is seven miles south-east of Enniskillen, near Lough Erne, was obtained shortly before the War of the Confederation, but the erection of the house was not commenced till after 1660. About this time a great controversy arose between the Dominicans and the Franciscans, as to the right of the former to quest for alms in the dioceses of Armagh, Down, Dromore and Clogher. For some years the Dominicans had not been seen in Ulster, but on the Restoration of Charles II., the provincial sent Fr. John O' Conor, of Sligo, with some other friars, to establish themselves in the places where they formerly had possessed convents.
The Ven. Oliver Plunket, the primate, was commissioned by the Holy See to decide the controversy, and his decision in every case was favourable to the claims of the Dominicans. There was not much difficulty in deciding the claims of the Dominicans to the abbeys of Carlingford and Newtownards, but as regards Gola, the primate says, in a letter dated July 29, 1676 : " But the existence of their convent in Gaula is only attested by an old parchment book, written many years ago, which contains the annals of that diocese ; and some old persons attest that before the war of Cromwell, there were Dominicans in that diocese who went about to quest, in consequence of this convent ; the Franciscans, however, always opposed them." In another letter, dated Sept. 8th, the following year, he says : "I went to the diocese of Clogher, and near Enniskillen, in the convent of the Franciscan Friars, called the contending parties ; the Dominicans adduced the authority of the ancient annals of that town, written in the Irish language, which give the name of the convent of Gaula, the year in which it was founded, the Pope in whose pontificate it was founded for the Dominicans. They also brought forward the testimony of an old priest, who swore that he heard from his father that the convent of Gaula belonged to the Dominicans; they also produced other witnesses who gave like evidence."
The decision of the primate regarding Gola would incline one to believe that it was an ancient foundation like Carlingford and Newtownards, and he seems himself to have been of this opinion. But the negative arguments are irresistible. There is not the slightest reference to the convent of Gola at the time of the Suppression or not even in the inquisition held at Enniskillen, in 1609. There is no Bull of foundation extant such as we find for convents erected in the fifteenth century. The name is not to be found in the list of convents, drawn up by Ross Mageoghegan in 1627, nor in another list made in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, preserved in Trinity College Library. The reference to the ancient manuscript would carry great weight, if it were more defined, but Dr. Fitzsimons, vicar-general of Kilmore, who was one of the commissioners helping the primate, speaks of it as annales patriae pervetustos, quos ipsemet vidi in antiqua membrana exscriptos et apud antiquarium dicti comitatus Fermaniae custoditos. This can be no other than the Annals of Ulster, and it is sufficient to say that there is not the slightest reference in them to a Dominican convent in Gola. The reader .may judge the evidence for himself.
In the very year in which the controversy was decided, the primate reports that in Gola convent there are "eight friars, two of whom are good preachers, Father Thomas Mac Mahon and Father Charles Mac Manus. Here again they have a noviciate."
In the middle of the eighteenth century, there were three fathers in community, of whom one was parish priest. The Dominicans left Gola before 1800, and the convent became a private residence. When the grandfather of the present (1907) occupier, Miss Wilson, came to reside there, the walls only were standing. There is still a very fine old mantelpiece in the kitchen, but the most cursory inspection of the building shows it cannot be placed in the category of the ancient abbeys of the Order in Ireland.
FROM BURKE’S HIBERNIA DOMINICANA (1772)
“Golan” in MS – “Gola,” the “river forks.” “Gaulae adhuc videre est aliqua antique Caenobii Rudera, Modernus Fundi Dominus est Jacobus King, Armiger.”
In 1837, Lewis’ Topological Dictionary of Ireland mentions the abbey : Adjoining Lough Erne, a monastery for Dominican Friars was founded and dedicated to (the Nativity) of the Blessed Virgin, by MacManus, lord of the place, of which there are still some remains, also traces of the village of Gola in which it was situated.
Any remains of the ancient monastery are most probably to be found in the farm-house belonging to the daughters of the late Mr. Robert Wilson, who died in 1890. Wilson was the purchaser from the landlord, Sir Charles S. King, of his farms, under Lord Ashbourne’s Act), this was an act that allowed tenants to purchase lands and was to prohibit forced sales and purchases from both parties. The purchasing tenant could avail of government loans to affect the purchase.
The date of this Abbey’s foundation is not recorded. Aldfred, King of the Northumbrian Saxons, is stated to have learned here to speak and write in the Gaelic tongue; and his poem in praise of Erin is still extant.
Gola Abbey is not returned in the great survey of Fermanagh, made at Devenish, 7 July, 1603; nor in the Inquisition at Enniskillen, 18 September, 1609, to enquire into ecclesiastical lands, the only mention of the place is that it was then part of the herinagh lands of Derrybrusk. I cannot ascertain exactly what a heinagh is but I understand it to be a seventeenth century townland in the Church of Ireland. Heinaghs were listed on maps and required the bishop’s consent to erect indicating that they might well be old ecclesiastical divisons. On the 1609 map of the “Barony of Magherysteffanah,” it appears as an ecclesiastical edifice on the townland “eclamre,” next “tategould” (Gola), and “farranouollan” (Farnamullan). In the Down Survey Map, 1665, the townland is recorded as “Givola.”
Dr. Burke describes the convents as suppressed in 1649, and restored at the Restoration. Subsequently to the latter event, Fathers Cathal MacManus and Thomas MacMahon erected a new house at Gola, near the ancient abbey, under the patronage of MacManus, probably a descendant of the original founder. This accounts for the existence of a monastery here so late as the eighteenth century, while the old abbey was the residence of the King family. According to Archdall in his Monasticum Hibernia; in 1756 John Maguire, O.P., aged 55, was prior and Thomas Nolan, O.P., and Anthony Maguire, O.P., were the priests of the community.
The King family were certainly in possession of Gola Abbey as far back as the late seventeenth century. John King of Gola, Esq., took part in the defence of Enniskillen in 1689, and his name also appears in the list of signatories to the address to King William and Queen Mary written in that town in 1690. He died somewhere between 1720 and 1726 and his son James took possession of the estate. This is the James King who appointed Sherriff of Fermanagh in 1728 and presented the communion plate to Derryvolane Church. He died in 1756 and Gola passed to his eldest son also called James. This James married Elizabeth Coote of Limerick a cousin of his but died childless in London in 1823. His sister Hannah Honora married Edward Sneyd, Esq., M.P., Carrick, 1777-1781, Their son Nathanial Sneyd, married twice but died without children in 1833, having been shot in Westmoreland Street, Dublin, by, Mr. John Mason, a lunatic.
In 1815 Gola was purchased by Abraham Bradley King, another cousin. It passed after his death to his son Charles Simeon King. Although Chales listed Gola as his address he moved into the rebuilt house at Corrad nearby. His new lands included a small island called Inishbeg. One of the promontories of this island was called Friar’s Point and part of the island was referred to as the Friar’s Field. Charles was somewhat a historian and edited the Rev. William Henry’s manuscript, “Upper Lough Erne in 1739” from his home at Corrad. The local rector, Rev. J. W. Kaye, LL.D., penned the following verses which make reference to the friars fishing in the lake at that point:
CARRY BRIDGE
One summer eve I wander’d on
By lough, and mead, and ferry,
Until I came and stoodalone
Upon the bridge of Carry.
Of waters rolling under:
My thoughts ran fast upon the past,
And fill’d my mind with wonder.
I thought of deeds in years gone by,
When brothers fought with brothers;
When kings waged war with chieftain lords-
O’Neills, Maguires, and others;
And if they fought near here, I thought,
‘Midst all their flight and flurry,
Where would they go? – for then you know
There was no bridge at Carry.
I thought of good St. Patrick too,
Who oft, in Innismore,
Would preach to crowds assembled round
From hill, and dale, and shore;
And there’s the stone, ‘worn to the bone,’
Where oft all night he’d tarry
In earnest prayer, in Arda there,
Whene’er he pass’d through Carry.
I look’d across to Gola then,
Where once the Abbey stood;
I thought of monks who counted beads
In prayerful, solemn mood;
I could not name how oft they came
With net and “cot” or wherry,
As Fridays pass’d and Lenten fast,
To catch their fish at Carry.
But twilight falls, and seems to hide
The visions of the past;
The ancient feudal times are gone-
‘Tis well they could not last;
And chief’s ne’er wield the sword and shield,
Nor desperate spear-thrusts parry;
‘Tis well ‘tis so. Flow, waters, flow
Beneath the bridge of Carry
Somewhere in the nineteenth century Charles sold Gola Abbey to Robert Wilson who died in possession in 1890 and his daughters remained on after that. Ambrose Coleman, O.P., wrote that the priory had only become a residence at the time that Robert Wilson purchased it. The evidence from the King family indicates that they lived in the priory as far back as 1689 and had remained in residence until Charles King moved to Corrad. The Kings were resident in Gola Abbey at the time of the siege of Enniskillen and were still there in the time that Thomas Burke was writing in 1772; the restoration happened in 1660.
It is possible that the house was abandoned for some years as the Kings had renovated Corrad as early as 1825. Archdall’s account indicates that there were three friars living here in 1756 but the records indicate clearly that the Kings were firmly in possession of the old priory at that stage.
Maybe the friars lived elsewhere after the restoration?
There is a very fine house at the fork on the road that could be the site of the friars’ new home – I’ll have to go back and have another look. Thank God I marked the place on the GPS!
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".
A mix up between here and Allhallows meant that shots from here were edited and posted as coming from Allhallows. Those have now been deleted, and will be reposted as being from Snodalnd.
I feel better disposed towards Snodland after this visit, as I received a warm welcome on Heritage day, and despite some major renovations going on, the wardens were clearly very proud of their church, and very happy the work to the tower and plasterwork was being carried out. And extolling me to return later in the year when the work is completed.
I intend to.
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In an awkward position, cut off from its village by the railway and bypass and somewhat compromised by the adjoining paper mill. The present church has been extended from its thirteenth century origins, most noticeably by the addition of a tall tower in the fifteenth century. There is a rood loft staircase in the south wall and on a pillar nearby can still be seen an unusual fourteenth-century Crucifixion painted on the stonework within an incised outline. The church was over-restored by Blomfield in 1870 and suffered damage in the Second World War when the medieval glass was destroyed. Fragments that survived have been assembled where possible. New windows were installed, including the thirty-six symbols of the saints in the east window by Hugh Easton (1953), and the Becket Pilgrim window by Moira Forsyth (1966). A large memorial in the south aisle commemorates Thomas Waghorn (d. 1850), who pioneered the overland route to India.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Snodland
NORTHWARD from Ditton, on the western side of the Medway, a small part of Aylesford at New Hyth intervening, is Snodland, called in Domesday, ESNOILAND, and in the Textus Roffensis, SNODDINGLAND and SNODILAND.
SNODLAND lies on the western bank of the river, which is its eastern boundary opposite to Burham. The high road from Stroud to Larkfield goes through the village, which is situated about half a mile, and the church about midway from the river. It lies low, and being near the salt marshes, is not either very pleasant or very wholesome. In the southern part of the parish the stream which flows from Birling turns a pa per mill here, and thence flows into the Medway, not far from which is Snodland and New-Hyth common. In the northern part of the parish next to Lower Halling, is the hamlet of Holborough, usually called Hoborow, no doubt for Old Borough, a name implying the antiquity of this place. Many are inclined to believe, that the usual passage across the river in the time of the Romans, was from hence to Scarborough on the opposite shore. However that may be, Holborow was certainly known to them, for in queen Elizabeth's reign, an urn filled with ashes was discovered in digging for chalk on the hill above this place, a sure token of the Romans having frequented it. (fn. 1) In this hamlet Mr. John May resides in a handsome new-built house, near it there rises a small brook, which flows from hence into the Medway, at about half a mile distance. From this low and flat country, on the bank of the river, the ground rises westward up to the range of high chalk hills, where the land becomes poor and much covered with flints. Upon these hills among the woods is an estate, corruptly called Punish, for it takes its name from the family of Pouenesse, or Pevenashe, written by contraction Poneshe, who were possessed of it as high as king Henry the IIId's. reign, in queen Elizabeth's reign it was called Poynyshe, and was then in possession of the name of Brown, who held it of the bishop of Rochester as of his manor of Halling. (fn. 2) About a mile eastward from the above is a farm called Lads, which in king Edward I's. reign, and some generations afterwards, was in the possession of a family of that name, written in deeds of those times, Lad, and Le Lad.
This parish ought antiently to have contributed to the repair of the ninth pier of Rochester bridge.
Sir John Marsham, bart. and Sir Charles Bickerstaff, had a design of supplying the towns of Stroud, Rochester, and Chatham, with fresh water, by bringing it from the spring rising at the foot of Holborough hill, and others thereabouts, by a cut or channel through Halling and Cuxton thither, four miles of which was through Sir John Marsham's own lands, but after they had proceeded two miles, finding some obstructions, which could not be removed, but by an act, one was procured for the purpose in the 1st year of James II. but nothing further was afterwards done in it, for what reason does not appear.
In the year 838, king Egbert, with the consent of his son king Æthelwulf, gave to Beormod, bishop of Rochester, four plough lands at Snoddinglond and Holanbeorge, with the privilege of leaving them to whomever he pleased; and he granted that the lands should be free from all service, to which he added one mill on the stream, named Holanbeorges bourne, and on the hill belonging to the king fifty loads of wood, and likewife four denberies in the Weald. And in the year 841, Ethelwulf, king of the West Saxons, with the advice of his bishops and great men, gave to the bishop two ploughlands at Holanbeorges, in perpetual inheritance, with the like privilege, and that they should be free from all regal service.
Whilst Ælfstane was bishop of Rochester, who came to the see in 945, and died in 984, one Birtrick, a rich man, who lived at Meopham, with the consent of Elfswithe, his wife, made his testament, and gave, after their deaths, his lands at Snodland to St. Andrew's church at Rochester. (fn. 3)
The bishop of Rochester continued in the possession of this place at the time of taking the general survey of Domesday, about the 15th year of the Conqueror's reign, anno 1080, in which record it is thus entered, under the general title of that bishop's lands:
The same bishop (of Rochester) holds Esnoiland. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was taxed at six sulings, and now at three. The arable land is six carucates. In demesne there are two carucates and ten villeins, with six borderers, having six carucates. There is a church and five servants, and three mills of forty shillings, and thirty acres of meadow, wood for the pannage of four hogs. In the time of king Edward and afterwards, it was worth six pounds, and now nine pounds.
When bishop Gundulph, soon after this, following archbishop Lanfranc's example, separated his revenue from that of his priory, this manor, together with Holborough, continued part of the bishop's possessions, and was confirmed to the church of Rochester by archbishops Anselm and Boniface.
On a taxation of the bishop's manors next year, it appeared that Holeberge was a member of the manor of Halling, and had in it one hundred and ninety-seven acres of arable land, valued at four-pence per acre at the most, as there was no marle there. That there were here fourteen acres of meadow, six acres of pasture, which were salt, and three lately made fresh, each acre at eight-pence, and the mill at twenty shillings per annum.
Hamo, bishop of Rochester, in the year 1323, new built the mill at Holbergh, with timber from Perstede, at the expence of ten pounds. (fn. 4) At which time the bishop seems to have had a park here.
The estate of Snodland with Holborow, still continue part of the possessions of the right reverend the lord bishop of Rochester. William Dalyson, esq. of West Peckham, is the present lessee of the bishop's estate in this parish.
THE FAMILY of Palmer, who bore for their arms, Argent, a chevron between three palmers scrips, sable, tasselled and buckled, or resided for some time in this parish, at a seat they possessed in it, called The courtlodge. Several of them lie buried in the church of Snodland, particularly Thomas Palmer, who married the daughter of Fitzsimond, and died anno 1407. Weaver recites his epitaph thus, now obliterated:
Palmers al our faders were
I, a Palmer, livyd here
And travylled till worne wythe age
I endyd this worlds pylgramage
On the blyst Assention day
In the cherful month of May
A thowsand wyth fowre hundryd seven
And took my jorney hense to Heuen
From him descended the Palmers, of Tottington, in Aylesford, and of Howlets, in Bekesborne, now extinct.
The Palmers were succeeded here by the Leeds's, one of whom, William Leeds, lay interred in this church, whose arms, A fess between three eagles, were engraved in brass on his tomb, but they are now torn away; to whom, in the reign of king Charles I. succeeded the Whitfields, of Canterbury. It afterwards passed into the name of Crow, and from thence to the Mays, and it is now the estate of Mr. John May, of Holborough.
VELES, alias SNODLAND, is a manor in this parish, which in the reign of king Edward I. was held as half a knight's fee, of the bishop of Rochester, by John de Pevenashe, John Harange, and Walter Lad, as coparceners, and in the 20th year of king Edward III. Richard Pevenashe, John de Melford, John Lade, and Richard le Veel, paid aid for it.
This manor seems afterwards to have been wholly vested in the family of Veel, called in deeds likewise Le Vitele, and in Latin Vitulus. After they were extinct here, it passed into the name of Blunt, and from that to Turvye, of whose heirs it was held in the latter end of the reign of king Henry VIII. by Richard Harvey. (fn. 5) It passed, after some intermediate owners, by sale to Crow, and from thence in like manner to Mr. John May, whose two sons, Mr. John and William May, of this parish, afterwards possessed it. The latter died in 1777, on which the entire fee of it became vested in his brother Mr. John May, of Holborough, the present possessor of it.
HOLLOWAY COURT is a seat in this parish, which gave name to a family that resided at it. Henry de Holeweye paid aid for it in the beginning of the reign of king Henry III. (fn. 6) His descendant, William de Holeweye possessed it in the 30th year of king Edward I. from which name it passed into that of Tilghman, who were owners of it in the reign of king Edward III. Many of whom lie buried in this church, bearing for their arms, Per fess sable and argent, a lion rampant regardant, doubled queved counterchanged, crowned, as they were painted in very old glass in the windows of this house. Their pedigree is in Vistn. co. of Kent, anno 1619.
Richard Tilghman possessed it in the reign of king Henry IV. and in his descendants it continued down to Edward Tilghman, esq. who was of Snodland, and was twice married; by his first wife he had a son, Francis, and by his second, two sons, the eldest of whom, Whetenhall Tilghman, had part of his father's lands in this parish, which continued in his descendants till about the year 1680, when they were alienated to Sir John Marsham, bart. whose descendant, the right honorable Charles, lord Romney, is the present possessor of them.
¶Francis Tilghman, only son of Edward, by his first wife, was of Snodland, and possessed Holoway-court, where he resided in the reign of king James I. but died without surviving issue. He passed away this estate by sale to Clotworthy, descended from those of that name in Devonshire, and he by will gave it to his sister's son, Mr. Thomas Williams, who alienated it to Richard Manley, esq. who resided here, and dying in 1684, was buried in this church, leaving by Martha, daughter of John Baynard, of Shorne, widow of Bonham Faunce, of St. Margaret's, Rochester one son, Charles, and a daughter, Frances, married to Dr. Robert Conny, hereafter-mentioned. He sold Holloway court to Mr. John Conny, of Rochester, surgeon, son of Robert Conny, gent. of Godmanchester, in Huntingdonshire, and bore for his arms, Sable, a fess argent, cotized or, between three conies of the second. On whose decease his eldest son, Robert Conny, of Rochester, M. D. succeeded to it, and he sold it to Thomas Pearce, esq. a commissioner of the navy, whose three sons and coheirs, Thomas, Best, and Vincent Pearce, conveyed it by sale to Mr. John May, and his eldest son, Mr John May, of Holborough, in this parish, now possesses it.
The church is dedicated to All Saints. It is a small mean building with a low pointed steeple.
The church of Snodland has ever been appendant to the manor. It has never been appropriated, but con tinues a rectory in the patronage of the right reverend the lord bishop of Rochester.
¶Much dispute having arisen between the rector of this parish, and the rector of Woldham, on the opposite side of the river Medway, concerning the tithe of fish caught within the bounds of the parish of Woldham by the parishioners of Snodland, the same was settled, with the consent of both parties, by the bishop of Rochester, 1402, as may be seen more at large in the account of the rectory of Woldham. (fn. 7)
This rectory is valued in the king's books at twenty pounds, and the yearly tenths at two pounds.
More of the fine plasterwork on the domed ceiling of the saloon, designed by Sir John Soane. The two family crests - of a fire-breathing panther, and the archer ancestor said to have killed it - alternate.
Traditional carved plasterwork took many varied forms in swahili houses. Around doorways and entrances there were archway friezes - in larger archways these often incorporated rows of vertical niches too. On the east and west end walls of galleries there were panelled-end niches - often in an elaborate and highly-stylised nyota (star) or casa (turtle) design with a display niche at their centre.
Lamu is a small town on Lamu Island, in kenya, near the Somalia border.
Lamu town is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site as it was one of the original Swahili settlements along coastal East Africa.
The town's history is marked by a Portuguese invasion then the Omani domination, like in Zanzibar. The streets of Lamu are very narrow, so there are no cars, only donkeys to carry everything!
© Eric Lafforgue
Lanhydrock is the perfect country house and estate, with the feel of a wealthy but unpretentious family home. 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. Boasting the best in country-house design and planning, 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
Rex Cinema, Berkhamsted. The gorgeous plasterwork, concealed lighting and spaciousness have all been restored - it had been sub-divided to form a bingo hall in the stalls and two mini-cinemas in the balcony. Opened in May 1938, the Rex was designed by David Evelyn Nye for the Shipman & King circuit. It seated 1,100 with more seats in the circle than the stalls due to the location of the café on the ground floor. The circle was twinned - badly - in 1976, and the stalls became a bingo hall. It was closed in 1988 and also listed grade 2 the same year. It was left in a vandalised and derelict state, with calls for its demolition. Almost miraculously, it was restored and reopened in 2004, with enormous success - the majority of performances are sold-out. The large foyer is separated as a restaurant, and the former car park used for flats, but the glorious auditorium renovated as a single screen is once more, now seating 350 in luxurious comfort. The day before these images were taken was a celebratory evening marking the 21st anniversary of the reopening.
An album of images of the cinema across the years can be seen here:-
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England - Rex (Studio) Cinema, High Street
December 2025
TALK ABOUT A NIGHTMARE – I misguidedly decided that the best way of finding this abbey would be with a GPS. It left me about ten miles from the site but was adamant that I was in Gola. None of the locals had heard of the place. I drove along every side road of beautiful rural Fermanagh for over an hour hoping to see something akin to an old church but found almost nothing and certainly nothing that could be described as the ruin of an abbey.
The kindly owner of the Garage at the entrance to Tamlacht gave good directions and a local farmer was very hospitable and helpful with the rest of the search. He owns the field where the church was situated and couldn’t plough it because, he thinks, there are so many large stones buried in the field that it would destroy any ploughshare.
The Abbey itself has passed from Ms. Wilson, mentioned in Ambrose Coleman’s account below, and is now the property of a Mr. G. Johnson. The house was built in the 18th century with extensions in the 20th and little remains to indicate that it was an older building. Apparently there is a fine fireplace contained in the almost dilapidated building. Some of the plasterwork on the outer walls has come away and you can see the stones of the original building underneath. Mrs Johnson gave me a most cordial reception considering I had arrived unannounced; “hi, I’m a Dominican and we used to own your house...”
Here follows what history I can muster on the forgotten Dominican foundation of Gola!
FRIARY OF GOLA
Ambrose Coleman, in his appendix to O’Heyne’s Irish Dominicans, writes:
THE account of the foundation of this convent, as given by O'Heyne, may be accepted as perfectly correct. The site, which is seven miles south-east of Enniskillen, near Lough Erne, was obtained shortly before the War of the Confederation, but the erection of the house was not commenced till after 1660. About this time a great controversy arose between the Dominicans and the Franciscans, as to the right of the former to quest for alms in the dioceses of Armagh, Down, Dromore and Clogher. For some years the Dominicans had not been seen in Ulster, but on the Restoration of Charles II., the provincial sent Fr. John O' Conor, of Sligo, with some other friars, to establish themselves in the places where they formerly had possessed convents.
The Ven. Oliver Plunket, the primate, was commissioned by the Holy See to decide the controversy, and his decision in every case was favourable to the claims of the Dominicans. There was not much difficulty in deciding the claims of the Dominicans to the abbeys of Carlingford and Newtownards, but as regards Gola, the primate says, in a letter dated July 29, 1676 : " But the existence of their convent in Gaula is only attested by an old parchment book, written many years ago, which contains the annals of that diocese ; and some old persons attest that before the war of Cromwell, there were Dominicans in that diocese who went about to quest, in consequence of this convent ; the Franciscans, however, always opposed them." In another letter, dated Sept. 8th, the following year, he says : "I went to the diocese of Clogher, and near Enniskillen, in the convent of the Franciscan Friars, called the contending parties ; the Dominicans adduced the authority of the ancient annals of that town, written in the Irish language, which give the name of the convent of Gaula, the year in which it was founded, the Pope in whose pontificate it was founded for the Dominicans. They also brought forward the testimony of an old priest, who swore that he heard from his father that the convent of Gaula belonged to the Dominicans; they also produced other witnesses who gave like evidence."
The decision of the primate regarding Gola would incline one to believe that it was an ancient foundation like Carlingford and Newtownards, and he seems himself to have been of this opinion. But the negative arguments are irresistible. There is not the slightest reference to the convent of Gola at the time of the Suppression or not even in the inquisition held at Enniskillen, in 1609. There is no Bull of foundation extant such as we find for convents erected in the fifteenth century. The name is not to be found in the list of convents, drawn up by Ross Mageoghegan in 1627, nor in another list made in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, preserved in Trinity College Library. The reference to the ancient manuscript would carry great weight, if it were more defined, but Dr. Fitzsimons, vicar-general of Kilmore, who was one of the commissioners helping the primate, speaks of it as annales patriae pervetustos, quos ipsemet vidi in antiqua membrana exscriptos et apud antiquarium dicti comitatus Fermaniae custoditos. This can be no other than the Annals of Ulster, and it is sufficient to say that there is not the slightest reference in them to a Dominican convent in Gola. The reader .may judge the evidence for himself.
In the very year in which the controversy was decided, the primate reports that in Gola convent there are "eight friars, two of whom are good preachers, Father Thomas Mac Mahon and Father Charles Mac Manus. Here again they have a noviciate."
In the middle of the eighteenth century, there were three fathers in community, of whom one was parish priest. The Dominicans left Gola before 1800, and the convent became a private residence. When the grandfather of the present (1907) occupier, Miss Wilson, came to reside there, the walls only were standing. There is still a very fine old mantelpiece in the kitchen, but the most cursory inspection of the building shows it cannot be placed in the category of the ancient abbeys of the Order in Ireland.
FROM BURKE’S HIBERNIA DOMINICANA (1772)
“Golan” in MS – “Gola,” the “river forks.” “Gaulae adhuc videre est aliqua antique Caenobii Rudera, Modernus Fundi Dominus est Jacobus King, Armiger.”
In 1837, Lewis’ Topological Dictionary of Ireland mentions the abbey : Adjoining Lough Erne, a monastery for Dominican Friars was founded and dedicated to (the Nativity) of the Blessed Virgin, by MacManus, lord of the place, of which there are still some remains, also traces of the village of Gola in which it was situated.
Any remains of the ancient monastery are most probably to be found in the farm-house belonging to the daughters of the late Mr. Robert Wilson, who died in 1890. Wilson was the purchaser from the landlord, Sir Charles S. King, of his farms, under Lord Ashbourne’s Act), this was an act that allowed tenants to purchase lands and was to prohibit forced sales and purchases from both parties. The purchasing tenant could avail of government loans to affect the purchase.
The date of this Abbey’s foundation is not recorded. Aldfred, King of the Northumbrian Saxons, is stated to have learned here to speak and write in the Gaelic tongue; and his poem in praise of Erin is still extant.
Gola Abbey is not returned in the great survey of Fermanagh, made at Devenish, 7 July, 1603; nor in the Inquisition at Enniskillen, 18 September, 1609, to enquire into ecclesiastical lands, the only mention of the place is that it was then part of the herinagh lands of Derrybrusk. I cannot ascertain exactly what a heinagh is but I understand it to be a seventeenth century townland in the Church of Ireland. Heinaghs were listed on maps and required the bishop’s consent to erect indicating that they might well be old ecclesiastical divisons. On the 1609 map of the “Barony of Magherysteffanah,” it appears as an ecclesiastical edifice on the townland “eclamre,” next “tategould” (Gola), and “farranouollan” (Farnamullan). In the Down Survey Map, 1665, the townland is recorded as “Givola.”
Dr. Burke describes the convents as suppressed in 1649, and restored at the Restoration. Subsequently to the latter event, Fathers Cathal MacManus and Thomas MacMahon erected a new house at Gola, near the ancient abbey, under the patronage of MacManus, probably a descendant of the original founder. This accounts for the existence of a monastery here so late as the eighteenth century, while the old abbey was the residence of the King family. According to Archdall in his Monasticum Hibernia; in 1756 John Maguire, O.P., aged 55, was prior and Thomas Nolan, O.P., and Anthony Maguire, O.P., were the priests of the community.
The King family were certainly in possession of Gola Abbey as far back as the late seventeenth century. John King of Gola, Esq., took part in the defence of Enniskillen in 1689, and his name also appears in the list of signatories to the address to King William and Queen Mary written in that town in 1690. He died somewhere between 1720 and 1726 and his son James took possession of the estate. This is the James King who appointed Sherriff of Fermanagh in 1728 and presented the communion plate to Derryvolane Church. He died in 1756 and Gola passed to his eldest son also called James. This James married Elizabeth Coote of Limerick a cousin of his but died childless in London in 1823. His sister Hannah Honora married Edward Sneyd, Esq., M.P., Carrick, 1777-1781, Their son Nathanial Sneyd, married twice but died without children in 1833, having been shot in Westmoreland Street, Dublin, by, Mr. John Mason, a lunatic.
In 1815 Gola was purchased by Abraham Bradley King, another cousin. It passed after his death to his son Charles Simeon King. Although Chales listed Gola as his address he moved into the rebuilt house at Corrad nearby. His new lands included a small island called Inishbeg. One of the promontories of this island was called Friar’s Point and part of the island was referred to as the Friar’s Field. Charles was somewhat a historian and edited the Rev. William Henry’s manuscript, “Upper Lough Erne in 1739” from his home at Corrad. The local rector, Rev. J. W. Kaye, LL.D., penned the following verses which make reference to the friars fishing in the lake at that point:
CARRY BRIDGE
One summer eve I wander’d on
By lough, and mead, and ferry,
Until I came and stoodalone
Upon the bridge of Carry.
Of waters rolling under:
My thoughts ran fast upon the past,
And fill’d my mind with wonder.
I thought of deeds in years gone by,
When brothers fought with brothers;
When kings waged war with chieftain lords-
O’Neills, Maguires, and others;
And if they fought near here, I thought,
‘Midst all their flight and flurry,
Where would they go? – for then you know
There was no bridge at Carry.
I thought of good St. Patrick too,
Who oft, in Innismore,
Would preach to crowds assembled round
From hill, and dale, and shore;
And there’s the stone, ‘worn to the bone,’
Where oft all night he’d tarry
In earnest prayer, in Arda there,
Whene’er he pass’d through Carry.
I look’d across to Gola then,
Where once the Abbey stood;
I thought of monks who counted beads
In prayerful, solemn mood;
I could not name how oft they came
With net and “cot” or wherry,
As Fridays pass’d and Lenten fast,
To catch their fish at Carry.
But twilight falls, and seems to hide
The visions of the past;
The ancient feudal times are gone-
‘Tis well they could not last;
And chief’s ne’er wield the sword and shield,
Nor desperate spear-thrusts parry;
‘Tis well ‘tis so. Flow, waters, flow
Beneath the bridge of Carry
Somewhere in the nineteenth century Charles sold Gola Abbey to Robert Wilson who died in possession in 1890 and his daughters remained on after that. Ambrose Coleman, O.P., wrote that the priory had only become a residence at the time that Robert Wilson purchased it. The evidence from the King family indicates that they lived in the priory as far back as 1689 and had remained in residence until Charles King moved to Corrad. The Kings were resident in Gola Abbey at the time of the siege of Enniskillen and were still there in the time that Thomas Burke was writing in 1772; the restoration happened in 1660.
It is possible that the house was abandoned for some years as the Kings had renovated Corrad as early as 1825. Archdall’s account indicates that there were three friars living here in 1756 but the records indicate clearly that the Kings were firmly in possession of the old priory at that stage.
Maybe the friars lived elsewhere after the restoration?
There is a very fine house at the fork on the road that could be the site of the friars’ new home – I’ll have to go back and have another look. Thank God I marked the place on the GPS!
This is the Staircase Hall, famous for its superb stuccowork (plasterwork) by the Francini brothers.
Granada Theatre, Walthamstow. Screen 3, now with the partition to the front stalls removed - will become half of the Zigurat Bar, with all plasterwork restored.
Opened on the 15 September 1930, designed by Cecil Masey with interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky, and built on the enlarged site of the earlier Victoria Cinema. The Granada had 2,697 seats in stalls and balcony, with a stongly Moorish influence to the spectacular foyers and auditorium. It was tripled in 1974, with two mini cinemas under the balcony - the front stalls were removed and the stage lost live usage. The theatre was grade 2 listed in 1987 (upped to Grade 2* in 2000). Later known as ABC, MGM and EMD Cinemas, the venue closed in 2003 and was sold to a church, who were refused planning consent for change of use on several occasions. It was sold again, in a derelict state, in 2014 and parts of the building were reopened as a bar and live entertainment venue known as Mirth. In 2019 it was bought by Waltham Forest Borough Council and, in conjunction with the Soho Theatre, they have begun a restoration process. This will see the main auditorium restored as a 1,000 theatre, the rear stalls will, with original plasterwork restored, become a unique bar, the rear of the circle, again with original features, will become a community room, the circle foyer will be converted to a stylish restaurant, and the foyers restored (with full disabled access adaptations) to original splendour. The architects for the scheme are Pilbrow & Partners, and the main contractor is Wilmott Dixon.
London Borough of Waltham Forest, Walthamstow, London, UK - former Granada Cinema, Hoe Street
August 2020
The entire roof, ceiling and plasterwork were replicated in their entirety to replace that lost in the fire. The new roof is an all-timber construction based on traditional mortise and tenon joints using queen post-trusses for its basic structure and finished with Blue-Bangor slates each measuring 600mm x 900mm. Below that, a barrel vault ceiling was also installed, constructed of timber and overlaid with riven chestnut lathes to which the base plaster was applied. Plastering was carried out by George O’Malley Plastering Ltd and the work supervised by master-plasterer George O’Malley, who has many years expertise in restoring and creating decorative plasterwork. Traditional methods using lime plaster mixed with goat-hair/horsehair to reproduce as far as possible the original designs as well as new moulds. There were also the 28 plaster angels originally produced by local plasterer Terence Farrell (1787-1876) for the sum of £150. All were damaged in the fire and 26 angels were recoverable which were restored by George O’Malley, the remaining two were reproduced. These were hung back in their original positions above the free-standing limestone columns.
This photo shows the northern part of the nave and above are semicircular Diocletian windows containing leaded stained glass by James Scanlon. Those opposite on the southern side have art-glass windows by Kim en Joong, a Dominican priest based in Paris.
St Mel’s of Longford town is the cathedral church for the diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise. Ambitious plans for a fine church building in Longford began to take form after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 and became a reality when sufficient funds had been collected. Construction began in 1840 with the laying of the foundation stone which was taken from the original cathedral of St. Mel at Ardagh, only a few miles from Longford. The main body of the new cathedral was completed in 1856 to a neo-classical design by the architect Joseph Benjamin Keane, work having been delayed during the period of the Great Famine (1846 and recommenced 1853). After Joseph’s death in 1849, work was continued after by his assistant John Bourke (d.1871) who was also responsible for the belfry tower completed in 1860, but with major alterations to its original design. The neo-classical portico was designed by George Coppinger Ashlin (1837-1921) and completed in 1889 with its pediment and sculpted tympanum depicting the enthronement of St. Mel as Bishop of Ardagh along with three statues above the pediment. By this time, the cathedral building has taken on its definitive form with no further major alterations until its refurbishment after the devastating fire of 2009.
On 25th December 2009, the entire building was gutted by a fire which accidently started within the boiler chimney flue at the rear and quickly spread. The alarm was raised just after 5am but fire-fighting attempts were hampered by frozen pipes as the country was in the grip of one of its worst and prolonged periods of freezing temperatures for decades. By daylight, the entire building had been reduced to a burnt-out shell with the loss of all its furnishing, fittings and diocesan museum. The museum contained many priceless artefacts that included the Crozier of Saint Mel and the book-shrine of St. Caillin (1536), the latter damaged beyond restoration but it may be possible to conserve some of the remnants. The 28 supporting columns were also damaged beyond repair and had to replaced anew. Very little was recoverable that survived the worst of the 1,000 deg.C fire and even these suffered some degree of fire damage such as The Bell of Fenagh which is undergoing conservation treatment at the National Museum of Ireland and the original baptismal font with its brass fittings and surrounding mosaic floor. But the most puzzling of all and described by many as nothing short of a miracle was the survival of the Holy Family painting in the northern transept and the undamaged Eucharistic Host still inside the fire damaged tabernacle. The Holy Family oil painting on a cotton-based canvas should have readily gone up in flames due to its highly combustible materials but somehow survived relatively unscathed despite the intense fire around it. This painting was of Italian origins by an unknown artist and is now back on display requiring little more than a cleaning!
After five years of work by many expert disciplines using traditional methods, the cathedral building has been totally refurbished and which included quarried blue-limestone for 28 columns with hand-carved capitals that support the roof. Both Harry Clarke Studio windows were salvaged from the transepts and restored to their former glory by Abbey Stained Glass Ltd of Dublin, a company with much experience in the restoration of stained glass windows. Other replacements such as the wooden pews, alter, stained glass, Stations of the Cross tablets, pipe-organ, fixtures and fitting were all made in a modern style to the best materials and craftsmanship available. It is also planned to open a diocesan museum in the cathedral’s new crypts. The total cost of refurbishment and fitting out came to around €30 million, funded mostly from the insurance cover and after five years of hard work the cathedral was reopened for services at Christmas 2014.
Photos taken Thursday 22nd January 2015.
References:
www.facebook.com/StMelsRestoration (St Mel’s Cathedral restoration – Facebook page).
www.rte.ie/news/special-reports/2014/1215/667007-longford... (RTE News article about TV program The Longford Phoenix).
www.longfordtourism.ie/event/st-mels-cathedral-rise-from-...
irishcatholic.ie/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/... (Sculptor Ken Thompson working on one of his Stations of the Cross panels).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mel%27s_cathedral,_Longford
l7.alamy.com/zooms/5e9904767cdb4317b39e15ee189488c3/shrin... (Image of St. Caillin book shrine created in 1536 before it was damaged beyond repair in the 2009 fire at St. Mel’s cathedral).
www.alamy.com/stock-photo-st-mels-crozier-longford-cathed... (Image of the 10th century St. Mel’s Crozier and sadly, completely destroyed in the cathedral fire of 2009).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVb7TQy4QAM (Engineers Ireland presentation titled Recreating the Historical Roof of St. Mel's Cathedral).
The four churches of STANTA have had no congregations since 1943, and in the intervening years, have just sat there letting time and the occasional bored squaddie do their worst.
Over the past ten years, work has been undertaken to ensure the churches are dried out, with long an elaborate guttering and down pipes to get rain water away from the foundations of the the buildings.
It was almost too late for All Saints, as the plasterwork added to the church by a Victorian Vicar on the Chancel arch began to sag and break.
The Norfolk Churches Trust paid to have a scaffold frame put in the nave to support the plasterwork, and it has been like that for the best part of the decade.
Most of the nave is fenced off for safety reasons, meaning we all were squeezed into a small part of the west end as we were told the history of the building and plans for the future.
All Saints is the only round-towered church in the STANTA area. Te nave and ailses seem wider than the nave and chancel is long. A striking combination.
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Stanford is at the very heart of the training area, and so far from civilisation that the silence in the air is stunning. I had not heard such a silence in England before. The sheep were fearless, inquisitive as we let ourselves into the churchyard; their lambs hid behind, chins tilted upwards as they watched. As at Tottington, the roofs are blast-proof panels rather than tiles, but this is so well done that you wouldn't know unless you looked carefully.
This is the only round-towered church in the training area, although there are several more just outside, including Threxton and Merton. Here, the Norman round part is surmounted by an octagonal belfry stage, as at nearby Breckles. It probably dates from the 15th century.
As I wandered about the graveyard, tiny spring rabbits bolted from beneath my feet. At first, this was startling, and then comical; they had never seen a human before, and so they waited until I was right on top of them before running for the scrub. I became wary lest I step on one, but I don't think they were ever in any real danger.
As at West Tofts, this church underwent a considerable 19th century restoration, but the difference here is that it seems to have been carried out by the Rector. You might even say that it was an amateur restoration. His is the chancel with its pastel murals, his the great rood, his even the painted glass in the north aisle window, which Pevsner thought worthy of mention, but which is mostly now lost. The arcades rest on elegant, fluted columns, and something very odd has happened at the east end of the south aisle, where a fomer archway appears to have been truncated by the eastern wall. Or was it begun and never finished? Curious.
Again, the roof tiles are stored here, but the benches are gone, the bells have gone. And yet this still feels as if it must have been a very warm and welcoming building, busy in the years of its restoration, and still a touchstone for generations.
Outside, Quantrills and Clarks, Rudds and Gathercoles. One Quantrill memorial has a very curious inset relief which must have been the height of fashion in the early 19th century. A badly eroded Gathercole memorial is profoundly evangelical: Weep not for us our children dear, because we die and leave you here. But look to Christ the crucified, that you may feel his blood applied.
Another for a Quantrill wife hopes that God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes. All about, the silence continues.
Simon Knott, May 2004
TALK ABOUT A NIGHTMARE – I misguidedly decided that the best way of finding this abbey would be with a GPS. It left me about ten miles from the site but was adamant that I was in Gola. None of the locals had heard of the place. I drove along every side road of beautiful rural Fermanagh for over an hour hoping to see something akin to an old church but found almost nothing and certainly nothing that could be described as the ruin of an abbey.
The kindly owner of the Garage at the entrance to Tamlacht gave good directions and a local farmer was very hospitable and helpful with the rest of the search. He owns the field where the church was situated and couldn’t plough it because, he thinks, there are so many large stones buried in the field that it would destroy any ploughshare.
The Abbey itself has passed from Ms. Wilson, mentioned in Ambrose Coleman’s account below, and is now the property of a Mr. G. Johnson. The house was built in the 18th century with extensions in the 20th and little remains to indicate that it was an older building. Apparently there is a fine fireplace contained in the almost dilapidated building. Some of the plasterwork on the outer walls has come away and you can see the stones of the original building underneath. Mrs Johnson gave me a most cordial reception considering I had arrived unannounced; “hi, I’m a Dominican and we used to own your house...”
Here follows what history I can muster on the forgotten Dominican foundation of Gola!
FRIARY OF GOLA
Ambrose Coleman, in his appendix to O’Heyne’s Irish Dominicans, writes:
THE account of the foundation of this convent, as given by O'Heyne, may be accepted as perfectly correct. The site, which is seven miles south-east of Enniskillen, near Lough Erne, was obtained shortly before the War of the Confederation, but the erection of the house was not commenced till after 1660. About this time a great controversy arose between the Dominicans and the Franciscans, as to the right of the former to quest for alms in the dioceses of Armagh, Down, Dromore and Clogher. For some years the Dominicans had not been seen in Ulster, but on the Restoration of Charles II., the provincial sent Fr. John O' Conor, of Sligo, with some other friars, to establish themselves in the places where they formerly had possessed convents.
The Ven. Oliver Plunket, the primate, was commissioned by the Holy See to decide the controversy, and his decision in every case was favourable to the claims of the Dominicans. There was not much difficulty in deciding the claims of the Dominicans to the abbeys of Carlingford and Newtownards, but as regards Gola, the primate says, in a letter dated July 29, 1676 : " But the existence of their convent in Gaula is only attested by an old parchment book, written many years ago, which contains the annals of that diocese ; and some old persons attest that before the war of Cromwell, there were Dominicans in that diocese who went about to quest, in consequence of this convent ; the Franciscans, however, always opposed them." In another letter, dated Sept. 8th, the following year, he says : "I went to the diocese of Clogher, and near Enniskillen, in the convent of the Franciscan Friars, called the contending parties ; the Dominicans adduced the authority of the ancient annals of that town, written in the Irish language, which give the name of the convent of Gaula, the year in which it was founded, the Pope in whose pontificate it was founded for the Dominicans. They also brought forward the testimony of an old priest, who swore that he heard from his father that the convent of Gaula belonged to the Dominicans; they also produced other witnesses who gave like evidence."
The decision of the primate regarding Gola would incline one to believe that it was an ancient foundation like Carlingford and Newtownards, and he seems himself to have been of this opinion. But the negative arguments are irresistible. There is not the slightest reference to the convent of Gola at the time of the Suppression or not even in the inquisition held at Enniskillen, in 1609. There is no Bull of foundation extant such as we find for convents erected in the fifteenth century. The name is not to be found in the list of convents, drawn up by Ross Mageoghegan in 1627, nor in another list made in the sixteenth or seventeenth century, preserved in Trinity College Library. The reference to the ancient manuscript would carry great weight, if it were more defined, but Dr. Fitzsimons, vicar-general of Kilmore, who was one of the commissioners helping the primate, speaks of it as annales patriae pervetustos, quos ipsemet vidi in antiqua membrana exscriptos et apud antiquarium dicti comitatus Fermaniae custoditos. This can be no other than the Annals of Ulster, and it is sufficient to say that there is not the slightest reference in them to a Dominican convent in Gola. The reader .may judge the evidence for himself.
In the very year in which the controversy was decided, the primate reports that in Gola convent there are "eight friars, two of whom are good preachers, Father Thomas Mac Mahon and Father Charles Mac Manus. Here again they have a noviciate."
In the middle of the eighteenth century, there were three fathers in community, of whom one was parish priest. The Dominicans left Gola before 1800, and the convent became a private residence. When the grandfather of the present (1907) occupier, Miss Wilson, came to reside there, the walls only were standing. There is still a very fine old mantelpiece in the kitchen, but the most cursory inspection of the building shows it cannot be placed in the category of the ancient abbeys of the Order in Ireland.
FROM BURKE’S HIBERNIA DOMINICANA (1772)
“Golan” in MS – “Gola,” the “river forks.” “Gaulae adhuc videre est aliqua antique Caenobii Rudera, Modernus Fundi Dominus est Jacobus King, Armiger.”
In 1837, Lewis’ Topological Dictionary of Ireland mentions the abbey : Adjoining Lough Erne, a monastery for Dominican Friars was founded and dedicated to (the Nativity) of the Blessed Virgin, by MacManus, lord of the place, of which there are still some remains, also traces of the village of Gola in which it was situated.
Any remains of the ancient monastery are most probably to be found in the farm-house belonging to the daughters of the late Mr. Robert Wilson, who died in 1890. Wilson was the purchaser from the landlord, Sir Charles S. King, of his farms, under Lord Ashbourne’s Act), this was an act that allowed tenants to purchase lands and was to prohibit forced sales and purchases from both parties. The purchasing tenant could avail of government loans to affect the purchase.
The date of this Abbey’s foundation is not recorded. Aldfred, King of the Northumbrian Saxons, is stated to have learned here to speak and write in the Gaelic tongue; and his poem in praise of Erin is still extant.
Gola Abbey is not returned in the great survey of Fermanagh, made at Devenish, 7 July, 1603; nor in the Inquisition at Enniskillen, 18 September, 1609, to enquire into ecclesiastical lands, the only mention of the place is that it was then part of the herinagh lands of Derrybrusk. I cannot ascertain exactly what a heinagh is but I understand it to be a seventeenth century townland in the Church of Ireland. Heinaghs were listed on maps and required the bishop’s consent to erect indicating that they might well be old ecclesiastical divisons. On the 1609 map of the “Barony of Magherysteffanah,” it appears as an ecclesiastical edifice on the townland “eclamre,” next “tategould” (Gola), and “farranouollan” (Farnamullan). In the Down Survey Map, 1665, the townland is recorded as “Givola.”
Dr. Burke describes the convents as suppressed in 1649, and restored at the Restoration. Subsequently to the latter event, Fathers Cathal MacManus and Thomas MacMahon erected a new house at Gola, near the ancient abbey, under the patronage of MacManus, probably a descendant of the original founder. This accounts for the existence of a monastery here so late as the eighteenth century, while the old abbey was the residence of the King family. According to Archdall in his Monasticum Hibernia; in 1756 John Maguire, O.P., aged 55, was prior and Thomas Nolan, O.P., and Anthony Maguire, O.P., were the priests of the community.
The King family were certainly in possession of Gola Abbey as far back as the late seventeenth century. John King of Gola, Esq., took part in the defence of Enniskillen in 1689, and his name also appears in the list of signatories to the address to King William and Queen Mary written in that town in 1690. He died somewhere between 1720 and 1726 and his son James took possession of the estate. This is the James King who appointed Sherriff of Fermanagh in 1728 and presented the communion plate to Derryvolane Church. He died in 1756 and Gola passed to his eldest son also called James. This James married Elizabeth Coote of Limerick a cousin of his but died childless in London in 1823. His sister Hannah Honora married Edward Sneyd, Esq., M.P., Carrick, 1777-1781, Their son Nathanial Sneyd, married twice but died without children in 1833, having been shot in Westmoreland Street, Dublin, by, Mr. John Mason, a lunatic.
In 1815 Gola was purchased by Abraham Bradley King, another cousin. It passed after his death to his son Charles Simeon King. Although Chales listed Gola as his address he moved into the rebuilt house at Corrad nearby. His new lands included a small island called Inishbeg. One of the promontories of this island was called Friar’s Point and part of the island was referred to as the Friar’s Field. Charles was somewhat a historian and edited the Rev. William Henry’s manuscript, “Upper Lough Erne in 1739” from his home at Corrad. The local rector, Rev. J. W. Kaye, LL.D., penned the following verses which make reference to the friars fishing in the lake at that point:
CARRY BRIDGE
One summer eve I wander’d on
By lough, and mead, and ferry,
Until I came and stoodalone
Upon the bridge of Carry.
Of waters rolling under:
My thoughts ran fast upon the past,
And fill’d my mind with wonder.
I thought of deeds in years gone by,
When brothers fought with brothers;
When kings waged war with chieftain lords-
O’Neills, Maguires, and others;
And if they fought near here, I thought,
‘Midst all their flight and flurry,
Where would they go? – for then you know
There was no bridge at Carry.
I thought of good St. Patrick too,
Who oft, in Innismore,
Would preach to crowds assembled round
From hill, and dale, and shore;
And there’s the stone, ‘worn to the bone,’
Where oft all night he’d tarry
In earnest prayer, in Arda there,
Whene’er he pass’d through Carry.
I look’d across to Gola then,
Where once the Abbey stood;
I thought of monks who counted beads
In prayerful, solemn mood;
I could not name how oft they came
With net and “cot” or wherry,
As Fridays pass’d and Lenten fast,
To catch their fish at Carry.
But twilight falls, and seems to hide
The visions of the past;
The ancient feudal times are gone-
‘Tis well they could not last;
And chief’s ne’er wield the sword and shield,
Nor desperate spear-thrusts parry;
‘Tis well ‘tis so. Flow, waters, flow
Beneath the bridge of Carry
Somewhere in the nineteenth century Charles sold Gola Abbey to Robert Wilson who died in possession in 1890 and his daughters remained on after that. Ambrose Coleman, O.P., wrote that the priory had only become a residence at the time that Robert Wilson purchased it. The evidence from the King family indicates that they lived in the priory as far back as 1689 and had remained in residence until Charles King moved to Corrad. The Kings were resident in Gola Abbey at the time of the siege of Enniskillen and were still there in the time that Thomas Burke was writing in 1772; the restoration happened in 1660.
It is possible that the house was abandoned for some years as the Kings had renovated Corrad as early as 1825. Archdall’s account indicates that there were three friars living here in 1756 but the records indicate clearly that the Kings were firmly in possession of the old priory at that stage.
Maybe the friars lived elsewhere after the restoration?
There is a very fine house at the fork on the road that could be the site of the friars’ new home – I’ll have to go back and have another look. Thank God I marked the place on the GPS!
Sudbury Hall is one the country's finest Restoration mansions and has Grade I listed building status.
The Vernon family came to Sudbury as a result of the 16th-century marriage of Sir John Vernon to Ellen Montgomery the Sudbury heiress. The house was built between 1660 and 1680 by George Vernon, grandfather of George Venables-Vernon the 1st Baron Vernon and is notable for its superb Great Staircase, fine Long Gallery, and portraits by John Michael Wright, and of Charles II's mistresses. Inside there is a mixture of architectural styles with carvings by Grinling Gibbons and Edward Pearce, murals by Louis Laguerre and elaborate plasterwork by Samuel Mansfield, James Pettifer and Robert Bradbury. The carvings above the main entrance porch were sculpted by William Wilson. There are formal gardens with a tree-fringed lake.
A visit to the National Trust property that is Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, in the form of a Norman castle. It was originally a medieval fortified manor house, founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In 1438, Ioan ap Gruffudd was granted a licence to crenellate and he founded the stone castle and added a tower house. Samuel Wyatt reconstructed the property in the 1780s.
The present building was created between about 1822 and 1837 to designs by Thomas Hopper, who expanded and transformed the building beyond recognition. However a spiral staircase from the original property can still be seen, and a vaulted basement and other masonry were incorporated into the new structure. Hopper's client was George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, who had inherited the Penrhyn estate on the death of his second cousin, Richard Pennant, who had made his fortune from slavery in Jamaica and local slate quarries. The eldest of George's two daughters, Juliana, married Grenadier Guard, Edward Gordon Douglas, who, on inheriting the estate on George's death in 1845, adopted the hyphenated surname of Douglas-Pennant. The cost of the construction of this vast 'castle' is disputed, and very difficult to work out accurately, as much of the timber came from the family's own forestry, and much of the labour was acquired from within their own workforce at the slate quarry. It cost the Pennant family an estimated £150,000. This is the current equivalent to about £49,500,000.
Penrhyn is one of the most admired of the numerous mock castles built in the United Kingdom in the 19th century; Christopher Hussey called it, "the outstanding instance of Norman revival." The castle is a picturesque composition that stretches over 600 feet from a tall donjon containing family rooms, through the main block built around the earlier house, to the service wing and the stables.
It is built in a sombre style which allows it to possess something of the medieval fortress air despite the ground-level drawing room windows. Hopper designed all the principal interiors in a rich but restrained Norman style, with much fine plasterwork and wood and stone carving. The castle also has some specially designed Norman-style furniture, including a one-ton slate bed made for Queen Victoria when she visited in 1859.
Hugh Napier Douglas-Pennant, 4th Lord Penrhyn, died in 1949, and the castle and estate passed to his niece, Lady Janet Pelham, who, on inheritance, adopted the surname of Douglas-Pennant. In 1951, the castle and 40,000 acres (160 km²) of land were accepted by the treasury in lieu of death duties from Lady Janet. It now belongs to the National Trust and is open to the public. The site received 109,395 visitors in 2017.
Grade I Listed Building
History
The present house, built in the form of a vast Norman castle, was constructed to the design of Thomas Hopper for George Hay Dawkins-Pennant between 1820 and 1837. It has been very little altered since.
The original house on the site was a medieval manor house of C14 origin, for which a licence to crenellate was given at an unknown date between 1410 and 1431. This house survived until c1782 when it was remodelled in castellated Gothick style, replete with yellow mathematical tiles, by Samuel Wyatt for Richard Pennant. This house, the great hall of which is incorporated in the present drawing room, was remodelled in c1800, but the vast profits from the Penrhyn slate quarries enabled all the rest to be completely swept away by Hopper's vast neo-Norman fantasy, sited and built so that it could be seen not only from the quarries, but most parts of the surrounding estate, thereby emphasizing the local dominance of the Dawkins-Pennant family. The total cost is unknown but it cannot have been less than the £123,000 claimed by Catherine Sinclair in 1839.
Since 1951 the house has belonged to the National Trust, together with over 40,000 acres of the family estates around Ysbyty Ifan and the Ogwen valley.
Exterior
Country house built in the style of a vast Norman castle with other later medieval influences, so huge (its 70 roofs cover an area of over an acre (0.4ha)) that it almost defies meaningful description. The main components of the house, which is built on a north-south axis with the main elevations to east and west, are the 124ft (37.8m) high keep, based on Castle Hedingham (Essex) containing the family quarters on the south, the central range, protected by a 'barbican' terrace on the east, housing the state apartments, and the rectangular-shaped staff/service buildings and stables to the north. The whole is constructed of local rubblestone with internal brick lining, but all elevations are faced in tooled Anglesey limestone ashlar of the finest quality jointing; flat lead roofs concealed by castellated parapets. Close to, the extreme length of the building (it is about 200 yards (182.88m) long) and the fact that the ground slopes away on all sides mean that almost no complete elevation can be seen. That the most frequent views of the exterior are oblique also offered Hopper the opportunity to deploy his towers for picturesque effect, the relationship between the keep and the other towers and turrets frequently obscuring the distances between them. Another significant external feature of the castle is that it actually looks defensible making it secure at least from Pugin's famous slur of 1841 on contemporary "castles" - "Who would hammer against nailed portals, when he could kick his way through the greenhouse?" Certainly, this could never be achieved at Penrhyn and it looks every inch the impregnable fortress both architect and patron intended it to be.
East elevation: to the left is the loosely attached 4-storey keep on battered plinth with 4 tiers of deeply splayed Norman windows, 2 to each face, with chevron decoration and nook-shafts, topped by 4 square corner turrets. The dining room (distinguished by the intersecting tracery above the windows) and breakfast room to the right of the entrance gallery are protected by the long sweep of the machicolated 'barbican' terrace (carriage forecourt), curved in front of the 2 rooms and then running northwards before returning at right-angles to the west to include the gatehouse, which formed the original main entrance to the castle, and ending in a tall rectangular tower with machicolated parapet. To the right of the gatehouse are the recessed buildings of the kitchen court and to the right again the long, largely unbroken outer wall of the stable court, terminated by the square footmen's tower to the left and the rather more exuberant projecting circular dung tower with its spectacularly cantilevered bartizan on the right. From here the wall runs at right-angles to the west incorporating the impressive gatehouse to the stable court.
West elevation: beginning at the left is the hexagonal smithy tower, followed by the long run of the stable court, well provided with windows on this side as the stables lie directly behind. At the end of this the wall turns at right-angles to the west, incorporating the narrow circular-turreted gatehouse to the outer court and terminating in the machicolated circular ice tower. From here the wall runs again at a lower height enclosing the remainder of the outer court. It is, of course, the state apartments which make up the chief architectural display on the central part of this elevation, beginning with a strongly articulated but essentially rectangular tower to the left, while both the drawing room and the library have Norman windows leading directly onto the lawns, the latter terminating in a slender machicolated circular corner tower. To the right is the keep, considerably set back on this side.
Interior
Only those parts of the castle generally accessible to visitors are recorded in this description. Although not described here much of the furniture and many of the paintings (including family portraits) are also original to the house. Similarly, it should be noted that in the interests of brevity and clarity, not all significant architectural features are itemised in the following description.
Entrance gallery: one of the last parts of the castle to be built, this narrow cloister-like passage was added to the main block to heighten the sensation of entering the vast Grand Hall, which is made only partly visible by the deliberate offsetting of the intervening doorways; bronze lamp standards with wolf-heads on stone bases. Grand Hall: entering the columned aisle of this huge space, the visitor stands at a cross-roads between the 3 principal areas of the castle's plan; to the left the passage leads up to the family's private apartments on the 4 floors of the keep, to the right the door at the end leads to the extensive service quarters while ahead lies the sequence of state rooms used for entertaining guests and displayed to the public ever since the castle was built. The hall itself resembles in form, style and scale the transept of a great Norman cathedral, the great clustered columns extending upwards to a "triforium" formed on 2 sides of extraordinary compound arches; stained glass with signs of the zodiac and months of the year as in a book of hours by Thomas Willement (completed 1835). Library: has very much the atmosphere of a gentlemen’s London club with walls, columned arches and ceilings covered in the most lavish ornamentation; superb architectural bookcases and panelled walls are of oak but the arches are plaster grained to match; ornamental bosses and other devices to the rich plaster ceiling refer to the ancestry of the Dawkins and Pennant families, as do the stained glass lunettes above the windows, possibly by David Evans of Shrewsbury; 4 chimneypieces of polished Anglesey "marble", one with a frieze of fantastical carved mummers in the capitals. Drawing room (great hall of the late C18 house and its medieval predecessor): again in a neo-Norman style but the decoration is lighter and the columns more slender, the spirit of the room reflected in the 2000 delicate Maltese gilt crosses to the vaulted ceiling. Ebony room: so called on account of its furniture and "ebonised" chimneypiece and plasterwork, has at its entrance a spiral staircase from the medieval house. Grand Staircase hall: in many ways the greatest architectural achievement at Penrhyn, taking 10 years to complete, the carving in 2 contrasting stones of the highest quality; repeating abstract decorative motifs contrast with the infinitely inventive figurative carving in the newels and capitals; to the top the intricate plaster panels of the domed lantern are formed in exceptionally high relief and display both Norse and Celtic influences. Next to the grand stair is the secondary stair, itself a magnificent structure in grey sandstone with lantern, built immediately next to the grand stair so that family or guests should not meet staff on the same staircase. Reached from the columned aisle of the grand hall are the 2 remaining principal ground-floor rooms, the dining room and the breakfast room, among the last parts of the castle to be completed and clearly intended to be picture galleries as much as dining areas, the stencilled treatment of the walls in the dining room allowing both the provision of an appropriately elaborate "Norman" scheme and a large flat surface for the hanging of paintings; black marble fireplace carved by Richard Westmacott and extremely ornate ceiling with leaf bosses encircled by bands of figurative mouldings derived from the Romanesque church of Kilpeck, Herefordshire. Breakfast room has cambered beam ceiling with oak-grained finish.
Grand hall gallery: at the top of the grand staircase is vaulted and continues around the grand hall below to link with the passage to the keep, which at this level (as on the other floors) contains a suite of rooms comprising a sitting room, dressing room, bedroom and small ante-chamber, the room containing the famous slate bed also with a red Mona marble chimneypiece, one of the most spectacular in the castle. Returning to the grand hall gallery and continuing straight on rather than returning to the grand staircase the Lower India room is reached to the right: this contains an Anglesey limestone chimneypiece painted to match the ground colour of the room's Chinese wallpaper. Coming out of this room, the chapel corridor leads to the chapel gallery (used by the family) and the chapel proper below (used by staff), the latter with encaustic tiles probably reused from the old medieval chapel; stained and painted glass by David Evans (c1833).
The domestic quarters of the castle are reached along the passage from the breakfast room, which turns at right-angles to the right at the foot of the secondary staircase, the most important areas being the butler's pantry, steward's office, servants' hall, housekeeper's room, still room, housekeeper's store and housemaids' tower, while the kitchen (with its cast-iron range flanked by large and hygienic vertical slabs of Penrhyn slate) is housed on the lower ground floor. From this kitchen court, which also includes a coal store, oil vaults, brushing room, lamp room, pastry room, larder, scullery and laundry are reached the outer court with its soup kitchen, brewhouse and 2-storey ice tower and the much larger stables court which, along with the stables themselves containing their extensive slate-partitioned stalls and loose boxes, incorporates the coach house, covered ride, smithy tower, dung tower with gardeners' messroom above and footmen's tower.
Reasons for Listing
Included at Grade I as one of the most important large country houses in Wales; a superb example of the relatively short-lived Norman Revival of the early C19 and generally regarded as the masterpiece of its architect, Thomas Hopper.
Ice Tower - you can go up it to the first floor.
sign
Detail of a swag of fruit by Giuseppe Artari (1740s) from the Great Staircase designed in the 1720s by James Gibbs at Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire. This staircase replaced an earlier, seventeenth-century one. Wimpole is largely the creation of Edward Harley, earl of Oxford (1689-1741) who expanded the core of an earlier house. This phase of work was undertaken circa 1719-21 by Gibbs. After the house was bought by Charles Yorke, first earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764) in 1740, a new phase of work was initiated under Henry Flitcroft between 1742 and 1745. He refaced the exterior and did much additional work in the interior. Flitcroft inserted a round-headed window on the east wall of the Great Staircase. However, in the 1790s Joan Soane made changes for Philip Yorke, third earl of Hardwicke, adding a domed skylight with four large therme windows and blocking up Flitcroft's window so as to create a service stair behind.
A visit to the National Trust property that is Penrhyn Castle
Penrhyn Castle is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, in the form of a Norman castle. It was originally a medieval fortified manor house, founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In 1438, Ioan ap Gruffudd was granted a licence to crenellate and he founded the stone castle and added a tower house. Samuel Wyatt reconstructed the property in the 1780s.
The present building was created between about 1822 and 1837 to designs by Thomas Hopper, who expanded and transformed the building beyond recognition. However a spiral staircase from the original property can still be seen, and a vaulted basement and other masonry were incorporated into the new structure. Hopper's client was George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, who had inherited the Penrhyn estate on the death of his second cousin, Richard Pennant, who had made his fortune from slavery in Jamaica and local slate quarries. The eldest of George's two daughters, Juliana, married Grenadier Guard, Edward Gordon Douglas, who, on inheriting the estate on George's death in 1845, adopted the hyphenated surname of Douglas-Pennant. The cost of the construction of this vast 'castle' is disputed, and very difficult to work out accurately, as much of the timber came from the family's own forestry, and much of the labour was acquired from within their own workforce at the slate quarry. It cost the Pennant family an estimated £150,000. This is the current equivalent to about £49,500,000.
Penrhyn is one of the most admired of the numerous mock castles built in the United Kingdom in the 19th century; Christopher Hussey called it, "the outstanding instance of Norman revival." The castle is a picturesque composition that stretches over 600 feet from a tall donjon containing family rooms, through the main block built around the earlier house, to the service wing and the stables.
It is built in a sombre style which allows it to possess something of the medieval fortress air despite the ground-level drawing room windows. Hopper designed all the principal interiors in a rich but restrained Norman style, with much fine plasterwork and wood and stone carving. The castle also has some specially designed Norman-style furniture, including a one-ton slate bed made for Queen Victoria when she visited in 1859.
Hugh Napier Douglas-Pennant, 4th Lord Penrhyn, died in 1949, and the castle and estate passed to his niece, Lady Janet Pelham, who, on inheritance, adopted the surname of Douglas-Pennant. In 1951, the castle and 40,000 acres (160 km²) of land were accepted by the treasury in lieu of death duties from Lady Janet. It now belongs to the National Trust and is open to the public. The site received 109,395 visitors in 2017.
Grade I Listed Building
History
The present house, built in the form of a vast Norman castle, was constructed to the design of Thomas Hopper for George Hay Dawkins-Pennant between 1820 and 1837. It has been very little altered since.
The original house on the site was a medieval manor house of C14 origin, for which a licence to crenellate was given at an unknown date between 1410 and 1431. This house survived until c1782 when it was remodelled in castellated Gothick style, replete with yellow mathematical tiles, by Samuel Wyatt for Richard Pennant. This house, the great hall of which is incorporated in the present drawing room, was remodelled in c1800, but the vast profits from the Penrhyn slate quarries enabled all the rest to be completely swept away by Hopper's vast neo-Norman fantasy, sited and built so that it could be seen not only from the quarries, but most parts of the surrounding estate, thereby emphasizing the local dominance of the Dawkins-Pennant family. The total cost is unknown but it cannot have been less than the £123,000 claimed by Catherine Sinclair in 1839.
Since 1951 the house has belonged to the National Trust, together with over 40,000 acres of the family estates around Ysbyty Ifan and the Ogwen valley.
Exterior
Country house built in the style of a vast Norman castle with other later medieval influences, so huge (its 70 roofs cover an area of over an acre (0.4ha)) that it almost defies meaningful description. The main components of the house, which is built on a north-south axis with the main elevations to east and west, are the 124ft (37.8m) high keep, based on Castle Hedingham (Essex) containing the family quarters on the south, the central range, protected by a 'barbican' terrace on the east, housing the state apartments, and the rectangular-shaped staff/service buildings and stables to the north. The whole is constructed of local rubblestone with internal brick lining, but all elevations are faced in tooled Anglesey limestone ashlar of the finest quality jointing; flat lead roofs concealed by castellated parapets. Close to, the extreme length of the building (it is about 200 yards (182.88m) long) and the fact that the ground slopes away on all sides mean that almost no complete elevation can be seen. That the most frequent views of the exterior are oblique also offered Hopper the opportunity to deploy his towers for picturesque effect, the relationship between the keep and the other towers and turrets frequently obscuring the distances between them. Another significant external feature of the castle is that it actually looks defensible making it secure at least from Pugin's famous slur of 1841 on contemporary "castles" - "Who would hammer against nailed portals, when he could kick his way through the greenhouse?" Certainly, this could never be achieved at Penrhyn and it looks every inch the impregnable fortress both architect and patron intended it to be.
East elevation: to the left is the loosely attached 4-storey keep on battered plinth with 4 tiers of deeply splayed Norman windows, 2 to each face, with chevron decoration and nook-shafts, topped by 4 square corner turrets. The dining room (distinguished by the intersecting tracery above the windows) and breakfast room to the right of the entrance gallery are protected by the long sweep of the machicolated 'barbican' terrace (carriage forecourt), curved in front of the 2 rooms and then running northwards before returning at right-angles to the west to include the gatehouse, which formed the original main entrance to the castle, and ending in a tall rectangular tower with machicolated parapet. To the right of the gatehouse are the recessed buildings of the kitchen court and to the right again the long, largely unbroken outer wall of the stable court, terminated by the square footmen's tower to the left and the rather more exuberant projecting circular dung tower with its spectacularly cantilevered bartizan on the right. From here the wall runs at right-angles to the west incorporating the impressive gatehouse to the stable court.
West elevation: beginning at the left is the hexagonal smithy tower, followed by the long run of the stable court, well provided with windows on this side as the stables lie directly behind. At the end of this the wall turns at right-angles to the west, incorporating the narrow circular-turreted gatehouse to the outer court and terminating in the machicolated circular ice tower. From here the wall runs again at a lower height enclosing the remainder of the outer court. It is, of course, the state apartments which make up the chief architectural display on the central part of this elevation, beginning with a strongly articulated but essentially rectangular tower to the left, while both the drawing room and the library have Norman windows leading directly onto the lawns, the latter terminating in a slender machicolated circular corner tower. To the right is the keep, considerably set back on this side.
Interior
Only those parts of the castle generally accessible to visitors are recorded in this description. Although not described here much of the furniture and many of the paintings (including family portraits) are also original to the house. Similarly, it should be noted that in the interests of brevity and clarity, not all significant architectural features are itemised in the following description.
Entrance gallery: one of the last parts of the castle to be built, this narrow cloister-like passage was added to the main block to heighten the sensation of entering the vast Grand Hall, which is made only partly visible by the deliberate offsetting of the intervening doorways; bronze lamp standards with wolf-heads on stone bases. Grand Hall: entering the columned aisle of this huge space, the visitor stands at a cross-roads between the 3 principal areas of the castle's plan; to the left the passage leads up to the family's private apartments on the 4 floors of the keep, to the right the door at the end leads to the extensive service quarters while ahead lies the sequence of state rooms used for entertaining guests and displayed to the public ever since the castle was built. The hall itself resembles in form, style and scale the transept of a great Norman cathedral, the great clustered columns extending upwards to a "triforium" formed on 2 sides of extraordinary compound arches; stained glass with signs of the zodiac and months of the year as in a book of hours by Thomas Willement (completed 1835). Library: has very much the atmosphere of a gentlemen’s London club with walls, columned arches and ceilings covered in the most lavish ornamentation; superb architectural bookcases and panelled walls are of oak but the arches are plaster grained to match; ornamental bosses and other devices to the rich plaster ceiling refer to the ancestry of the Dawkins and Pennant families, as do the stained glass lunettes above the windows, possibly by David Evans of Shrewsbury; 4 chimneypieces of polished Anglesey "marble", one with a frieze of fantastical carved mummers in the capitals. Drawing room (great hall of the late C18 house and its medieval predecessor): again in a neo-Norman style but the decoration is lighter and the columns more slender, the spirit of the room reflected in the 2000 delicate Maltese gilt crosses to the vaulted ceiling. Ebony room: so called on account of its furniture and "ebonised" chimneypiece and plasterwork, has at its entrance a spiral staircase from the medieval house. Grand Staircase hall: in many ways the greatest architectural achievement at Penrhyn, taking 10 years to complete, the carving in 2 contrasting stones of the highest quality; repeating abstract decorative motifs contrast with the infinitely inventive figurative carving in the newels and capitals; to the top the intricate plaster panels of the domed lantern are formed in exceptionally high relief and display both Norse and Celtic influences. Next to the grand stair is the secondary stair, itself a magnificent structure in grey sandstone with lantern, built immediately next to the grand stair so that family or guests should not meet staff on the same staircase. Reached from the columned aisle of the grand hall are the 2 remaining principal ground-floor rooms, the dining room and the breakfast room, among the last parts of the castle to be completed and clearly intended to be picture galleries as much as dining areas, the stencilled treatment of the walls in the dining room allowing both the provision of an appropriately elaborate "Norman" scheme and a large flat surface for the hanging of paintings; black marble fireplace carved by Richard Westmacott and extremely ornate ceiling with leaf bosses encircled by bands of figurative mouldings derived from the Romanesque church of Kilpeck, Herefordshire. Breakfast room has cambered beam ceiling with oak-grained finish.
Grand hall gallery: at the top of the grand staircase is vaulted and continues around the grand hall below to link with the passage to the keep, which at this level (as on the other floors) contains a suite of rooms comprising a sitting room, dressing room, bedroom and small ante-chamber, the room containing the famous slate bed also with a red Mona marble chimneypiece, one of the most spectacular in the castle. Returning to the grand hall gallery and continuing straight on rather than returning to the grand staircase the Lower India room is reached to the right: this contains an Anglesey limestone chimneypiece painted to match the ground colour of the room's Chinese wallpaper. Coming out of this room, the chapel corridor leads to the chapel gallery (used by the family) and the chapel proper below (used by staff), the latter with encaustic tiles probably reused from the old medieval chapel; stained and painted glass by David Evans (c1833).
The domestic quarters of the castle are reached along the passage from the breakfast room, which turns at right-angles to the right at the foot of the secondary staircase, the most important areas being the butler's pantry, steward's office, servants' hall, housekeeper's room, still room, housekeeper's store and housemaids' tower, while the kitchen (with its cast-iron range flanked by large and hygienic vertical slabs of Penrhyn slate) is housed on the lower ground floor. From this kitchen court, which also includes a coal store, oil vaults, brushing room, lamp room, pastry room, larder, scullery and laundry are reached the outer court with its soup kitchen, brewhouse and 2-storey ice tower and the much larger stables court which, along with the stables themselves containing their extensive slate-partitioned stalls and loose boxes, incorporates the coach house, covered ride, smithy tower, dung tower with gardeners' messroom above and footmen's tower.
Reasons for Listing
Included at Grade I as one of the most important large country houses in Wales; a superb example of the relatively short-lived Norman Revival of the early C19 and generally regarded as the masterpiece of its architect, Thomas Hopper.
Railway Museum
Charles
Penrhyn Quarries Limited 0.4.0 Saddle Tank Locomotive.
Built 1882 by Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd., Leeds, No. 283.
The 18th Century State House
Facts About the 18th Century State House
•Construction: 1772-1779
•Architect: Joseph Horatio Anderson
•Cornerstone: laid by Governor Robert Eden, March 28, 1772
•Roof Replacement and Construction of Dome by Joseph Clark, Architect: Begun 1785
•Number of Stories: Two
•Height:
oInterior of Dome, from Floor to Ceiling: 113'
oExterior, to the Weather Vane: 181'
•Oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use
•Served as U.S. capitol from November 1783 – August 1784 when Continental
•Congress met in Old Senate Chamber
Brief History of the 18th Century State House
The present Maryland State House is actually the third one to stand on State Circle in Annapolis. The first state house was built soon after the capital of Maryland was moved from St. Mary’s City to Annapolis in 1695. This first state house burned down in 1704. The second state house on State Circle was completed in 1709 and, within 60 years, had become much too small for the colony’s growing government and was too dilapidated to warrant renovation. It was torn down and construction on the new state house was begun in 1772, with Joseph Horatio Anderson as architect and Charles Wallace as the “undertaker.”
Work on the third state house was begun in 1772 and first occupied in 1779. However, by 1784 the building was already in need of work: the roof leaked and the cupola was described as inadequate, unimpressive and too small for the building. By 1788, the roof had been replaced, the old cupola had been taken off and the exterior of the dome we see today had been completed. The interior, with its beautiful plasterwork, was finished by 1795. The architect of the dome was Joseph Clark.
The jewel of this new State House was the Old Senate Chamber, featuring a gallery, described as “more elegant than required,” balanced on the opposite wall by an ornately carved niche, the Old Senate Chamber was the embodiment of Annapolis-style design and craftsmanship.
Detailed History of the 18th Century State House
On March 28, 1772, Governor Robert Eden laid the cornerstone for what would be the third State House built on State Circle in Annapolis. The first, built soon after the capital was moved from St. Mary’s City to Annapolis in 1695, burned down in 1704. The second was completed by 1709 and, 60 years later, had become far too small for the growing business of government and was too dilapidated to warrant enlarging it. The decision was made to raze it and Charles Wallace undertook the work when no one else submitted “plans and estimates” for the project.
With Mr. Wallace as the “undertaker” and Joseph Horatio Anderson as the architect, work was begun on the new State House in early 1772. While work progressed well for the first year and a half, at least one hurricane and the Revolutionary War intervened to cause enormous delays and difficulties. By the end of 1779, the building was still not completed, and Mr. Wallace’s finances and patience with the project were exhausted.
When the Continental Congress came to Annapolis to meet in the Old Senate Chamber from November 1783 – August 1784, they found a State House which was still unfinished. Although the Old Senate Chamber was complete, the roof was not and it had leaked during the last few winters, damaging the upstairs rooms. The dome—or cupola—atop the State House was variously described as inadequate, unimpressive, and too small for the building and, it, too, leaked.
In order to rectify the situation, Joseph Clark, an Annapolis architect and builder, was asked to repair the roof and the dome. Clark first raised the pitch of the roof to facilitate the runoff of water and covered it with cypress shingles. The crowning achievement of Clark’s work on the State House was, of course, the extraordinary dome which he designed and built. It is not known where Clark’s inspiration for the unusual design of the dome came from, but it is very similar to one in Karlsruhe, Germany called the Schloßturm.
By the summer of 1788, the exterior of the new dome was complete. It was constructed of timber and no metal nails were used in its construction and, to this day, it is held together by wooden pegs reinforced by iron straps forged by an Annapolis ironmonger.
Although the exterior of the dome was completed by 1788, the interior was not completed until 1797. Tragedy struck the project in 1793 when a plasterer named Thomas Dance fell to his death from the inside of the dome. By 1794, Joseph Clark was completely disillusioned with the project and left it to John Shaw, the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, to oversee completion. Over the years, John Shaw did much of the maintenance work on the State House, built various items for it and, in 1797, made the desks and chairs which furnished the Old Senate Chamber.
The State House Annex
Facts About the State House Annex
•Construction (Replacing Annexes built in1858 and 1886): 1902-1905
•Architects: Baldwin and Pennington of Baltimore
•Number of Stories: Three
About the State House Annex
The “new” annex to the State House was built between 1902-1906 to replace two 19th century annexes that were poorly built and inadequate in size. The Baltimore architects Baldwin & Pennington designed and supervised the construction of the new annex, which houses both the Senate and the House of Delegates.
Both chambers feature unusual black and gold marble in tribute to the colors of the Maryland flag, as well as skylights by the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany. The doors of this annex that lead out to State Circle are actually the back doors of the State House but are now the main entrance for visitors. The doors are of cast bronze and the Maryland seal is featured in the roundels.
Another feature of the annex is the grand staircase to the second floor. On the landing is the monumental painting of Washington Resigning His Commission painted in 1859 by Edwin White.
The walls in the Annex are lined with Italian marble. The black and white alternating tile floors in the new annex were selected to match the 1881 tiles in the original portion. The fossils in the black marble date back 450 million years.
Noteworthy plaques and memorials in the State House Annex include:
•The State House Building Commission
•The American’s Creed by William Tyler Page, December 23, 1919
The Dome and the Lightning Rod
Facts About the Dome
•Height, from base to weather vane: 121'
•Diameter at base: 40'
•Construction begun: 1785
•Interior work completed: 1797
•Wood used in dome construction: Timber from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, supplied by Dashiell family of Cypress Swamp, Somerset County.
•Architect of the dome: Joseph Clark
•Possible model for design of the dome: Schloßturm, the dome of the free-standing tower next to the palace of Karl-Wilhelm, Markgraf of Baden, in Karlsruhe, Germany
History of the State House Dome
When the Continental Congress came to Annapolis to meet in the Old Senate Chamber from November 1783 – August 1784, they found a State House which was still unfinished. Although the Old Senate Chamber was complete, the roof was not and it had leaked during the last few winters, damaging the upstairs rooms. The dome—or cupola—atop the State House was variously described as inadequate, unimpressive, and too small for the building and, it, too, leaked.
In order to rectify the situation, Joseph Clark, an Annapolis architect and builder, was asked to repair the roof and the dome. Clark first raised the pitch of the roof to facilitate the runoff of water and covered it with cypress shingles. The crowning achievement of Clark’s work on the State House was, of course, the extraordinary dome which he designed and built. It is not known where Clark’s inspiration for the unusual design of the dome came from, but it is very similar to one in Karlsruhe, Germany called the Schloßturm.
By the summer of 1788, the exterior of the new dome was complete. It was constructed of timber and no metal nails were used in its construction and, to this day, it is held together by wooden pegs reinforced by iron straps forged by an Annapolis ironmonger.
Although the exterior of the dome was completed by 1788, the interior was not completed until 1797. Tragedy struck the project in 1793 when a plasterer named Thomas Dance fell to his death from the inside of the dome. By 1794, Joseph Clark was completely disillusioned with the project and left it to John Shaw, the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, to oversee completion. Over the years, John Shaw did much of the maintenance work on the State House, built various items for it and, in 1797, made the desks and chairs which furnished the Old Senate Chamber.
The First Dome: 1769-1774
Just as the Articles of Confederation did not effectively govern the country, the first dome of the State House at Annapolis did not survive more than a decade of Maryland weather. In 1769, the General Assembly of Maryland passed an act to erect a new state house, securely covered with slate tile or lead. The architect was Joseph Horatio Anderson, and the undertaker or builder of the project was Charles Wallace. According to William Eddis in 1773, the work was carried on with great dispatch and when completed would “be equal to any public edifice on the American continent.”
The exact date of the completion of the first dome or cupola is not known but evidence suggests that it was completed by the year 1774. In a 1773 Act of Assembly, Charles Wallace was instructed to fix an iron rod pointed with silver or gold at least six feet above the cupola. The General Assembly also recommended that the roof be covered with copper because the slate originally specified would require frequent repairs and cause other inconveniences. According to Charles E. Peterson’s “Notes on Copper Roofing in America to 1802”, it was more than likely that local copper was put on the roof to advertise the new industry of Maryland.
The Second Dome: 1785-1794
According to the Intendent of Revenue, Daniel St. Thomas Jenifer, the first dome of the State House was a contradiction of architectural design. A survey of the timbers in 1784 revealed that they were so decayed by water damage that a new dome would be required.
“It was originally constructed contrary to all rules of architecture; it ought to have been built double instead of single, and a staircase between the two domes, leading up to the lanthorn. The water should have been carried off by eaves, instead of being drawn to the center of the building, to two small conductors, which are liableto be choked by ice, and overflowed by rains. That it was next to impossible, under present construction, that it could have been made tight”.
On February 24, 1785 Jenifer placed a notice in the Maryland Gazette for carpenters work to be made to the dome and roof under the execution of Joseph Clark
“The work We are a Doing is to put a Roof on the Governor’s House and we are going to take the Roof of the State house and it is a going to Raise it one story higher and the Doom is to be Sixty foot higher then the old one”.
Clark raised the pitch of the dome to facilitate the runoff of excess water, the chief reason the timbers rotted in the original dome.
“The Annapolis dome is in its proportions like the original Karlsruhe tower. Possibly its more classical feeling is a result of the universal trend of architectural styles rather than the influence of the altered Schloßturm. Yet the arched windows below the architrave in Annapolis, one with the lower part closed, are like the windows below the Architrave in Karlsruhe in all of which the lower parts are closed. The horizontal oval windows below the main curving section of the dome in Annapolis resemble the vertical ovals in the equivalent part of the Karlsruhe tower. The small square windows above the balustrades and the architraves themselves in both buildings are similarly placed.”
The Acorn and the Lightning Rod
Facts About the Acorn
•Material: Original cypress from ca. 1785-1788, covered with copper panels Pedestal covered with sheet lead, probably from 1837
•Original colors (from Charles Willson Peale drawing):
•Top: gilt
•Bottom: green
•Pedestal: white
•Purpose: To provide stability to the “Franklin” lightning rod which goes through its center. Acorns were common decorative elements in the late 18th century. In the language of the day, “sound as an acorn” meant to be without a flaw, free from imperfection, clearly something the architect of the dome, Joseph Clark, and the General Assembly, intended his creation to be.
•Replacement of the Acorn, September 1996: During restoration work on the State House dome, it was discovered that the 208-year-old acorn had become rotten because of water seepage. As it too damaged to be repaired, it was decided to replace it by having 32 craftspeople from around the state make “slices” that would be used to assemble a new acorn. The new acorn was then clad in copper and gilded and painted according to the original drawings of Charles Willson Peale. In 2011, the acorn was regilded.
Facts About the Lightning Rod
•Size: 28' tall; 2.5" square at maximum thickness
•Material: Original wrought iron
•History: A prime example of lightning rod designed according to the theories of Benjamin Franklin who argued that the most effective protection from lightning was a pointed rod, preferably grounded into a deep well.
Protecting the State House from Lighting
The lightning rod on the dome of the State House is the largest ‘Franklin’ lightning rod ever attached to a public or private building in Benjamin Franklin’s lifetime. It was constructed in accord with Franklin’s recommendations and has served the State House and the dome well for more than two centuries, with only one recorded instance of damage caused by lightning. The lightning rod is of wrought iron painted to protect it from corrosion. It is 28' tall and 2.5" square at its maximum thickness.
Restoration Work
The acorn has been replaced by a new one constructed of sections made by 31 Maryland craftspeople from specification supplied by the Department of General Services. The new acorn is made of cypress wood, as was the original. The original lightning rod has been left in place and a metal sleeve placed around it for protection. In 1997, the State House Trust and the Department of General Services were awarded the Calvert Prize by the Maryland Historical Trust for their roles in the restoration and preservation of the State House dome.
The lightening rod which tops the dome is a story in itself. It is a “Franklin” rod, constructed and grounded to Benjamin Franklin’s specifications. In some respects, the useof this type of lightning rod was also a political statement, expressing support for Franklin’s theories on protection of public buildings from lightning strikes and the rejection of the opposing theories supported by King George III. The pointed lightning rod atop such an important new public building was a powerful symbol of the independence and ingenuity of the young nation.
As an architect trained in London and with a brother who had a bookshop in Annapolis, Clark would have been familiar with the writings of Benjamin Franklin. In addition, Charles Willson Peale confirmed Clark’s design. On July 14, 1788, he and his brother went to Philadelphia to see His Excellency Doctor Franklin to ask his opinion on the efficacy of lightning rods on the State House. They were unable to see Franklin, but did see Robert Patterson and David Rittenhouse, both eminent authorities on the physical sciences. Peale reported that Mr. Rittenhouse was of the opinion that “if the points are good and near anough the Building and the part going into the ground so deep as to get into soft earth no danger is to be apprehended, but if the end could be put in water of a Well it would be best.”
The engineering of the lightning rod and the acorn which holds it in place represents an astonishing achievement. Protruding 28' into the air, the rod is anchored at its bottom to the top of the dome. It then runs through the pedestal and the acorn and is surmounted by a copper weather vane. The acorn and pedestal have served to stabilize the Franklin rod and hold it in place for more than two centuries of extremes of Maryland weather.
The dome which Clark designed and built for the State House has been the defining landmark of the Annapolis skyline for more than 225 years. It was also, for many years, a popular spot from which to observe the city and the Chesapeake Bay beyond. Charles Willson Peale planned a dramatic cyclorama of Annapolis with eight views from the dome and a centerpiece drawing of State Circle from Cornhill Street. Only the drawing of the State House was completed and published in 1789. Thomas Jefferson spent some most enjoyable three hours in September 1790 on the balcony of the dome with James Madison, Thomas Lee Shippen and an Annapolis friend who entertained them with the gossip related to each of the houses they could see from their perch above the town.
In 1996, an examination of the dome and the acorn revealed that almost all of the material in the acorn, its pedestal and the lightning rod was original from the 18th century. During the summer and fall of 1996, the acorn was removed and replaced by a new one. The new acorn is constructed of 31 pieces of cypress made by craftspeople from around the state and is clad in copper and gilded on the top, like the original. The original lightning rod has remained intact and continues to serve as it has for more than 225 years, although a steel sleeve has been placed around it inside the new acorn to strengthen it.
The State House Lightning Rod: A Timeline
•1773
Chapter 32 Laws of 1773:
“… to guard the said Stadt House as far as may be against any Accident from Lightning. Be it further enacted that the said Undertaker shall fix place and secure in the best manner an Iron Rod pointed with Silver or Gold of six feet at least above the Height of the Cupola of the said building and conducted at least six feet in the Ground …”
•1775/09/07
Maryland Gazette, September 7, 1775:
“On Saturday night last we had a most violent storm from the north-east, which for several hours blew a mere hurricane, with heavy rain; the water rose three feet perpendicular above the common tide; a great quantity of the copper on the state-house was torn up, and the market-house blown down; the damage sustained in different parts of the province, we are told, is very considerable.”
•1775/09/07
Charles Wallace to Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, ca. November 1784:
“The September Storm of 1775 blew off the roof, the building unavoidably lay open near the whole Winter, in consequence of which, the work of the upper Rooms which was entirely finished, was Totally destroyed.– At another time lightning very much damaged the Dom, repairing of which cost much expense & loss of Time.” When the lightning struck is not clear, but the next sentence describes events in 1777 which suggests that the lightning may have struck sometime between September of 1775 and 1777 when the British fleet appeared in the Bay.
•1786/03/10
The General Assembly gave its implicit approval to commencing work on Joseph Clark’s dome which was ‘to be ‘sixty foot Higer’ then the old one.
•1787/08-1788/06/05
Simon Retalick, is engaged in ironwork on the State House. While there is no account extant for the lightning rod, there are sufficient accounting entries for Retalick to encompass his forging and installing the rod. From one surviving account, it is clear that Retalick worked for 32 days beginning in July 1787 and ending on or about August 25, 1787 on “iron work” for the windows of the State House. Similar sums are paid him in January and June of 1788. Assuming the windows were secured while the dome, cupola, and acorn were under construction, it would seem likely that Retalick completed the lightning rod by the time of the January entry in the accounts, or by June at the latest.
•1788/06/09
Charles Willson Peale’s diary:
“begun a Drawing of the Stadt-House from the entrance of Cornhill Street for the Circle before Breakfast, before 11 O Clock I made another outline of the Stadt-House from the NN/E back view.”
•1788/07/14
“Went with my Brother to his Ex:y doctor Franklins, my Intention was to enquire his opinion abut the effecacy of the Rods on the Stadt House at Annapolis, the Doctr was Ill & could not be seen – then Visit Mr. Patterson & David Rittenhouse on same enquiry abut lighning rods. Mr. Rittenhouse being of oppinion that if the points are good and near anough the Building and part going into the ground so deep as to get into soft earth no danger is to be apprehended, but if the end could be put in water of a Well it would be best. Afternoon I wrote to Mr. Richmond Coll. Ramsey & Nicholas Brewer. …
•1788/07/23
George Washington’s Diary:
“Wednesday … [Mount Vernon] the most violent storm ever known commenced at 1700 and continued for 9 hours. “The Maryland Gazette at Annapolis noted the greatest tide in memory with northeast winds which gradually veered to southeast, but no abrupt shift to southerly took place, to put the Maryland capital east of the track of the center. At Baltimore a violent storm from the east-northeast raged for 12 hours ….”
This is the fine Hall fireplace in the west gable of the main block, at first floor level. The lintel is beautifully built as a 'straight arch' with the stones joggled or angled so as to prevent them from slipping. The fireplace opening has been built up to help prevent collapse. The key stone in the centre is ornamented with the arms of the Dunbars, and the date "1602 zeirs". Tranter identified the initials A.D. K.R. and R.D. as well as a defaced motto. The arch above the fireplace would have been hidden behind the plasterwork and is a relieving arch, designed to transfer the weight of the wall above to either side of the fireplace.
The 18th Century State House
Facts About the 18th Century State House
•Construction: 1772-1779
•Architect: Joseph Horatio Anderson
•Cornerstone: laid by Governor Robert Eden, March 28, 1772
•Roof Replacement and Construction of Dome by Joseph Clark, Architect: Begun 1785
•Number of Stories: Two
•Height:
oInterior of Dome, from Floor to Ceiling: 113'
oExterior, to the Weather Vane: 181'
•Oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use
•Served as U.S. capitol from November 1783 – August 1784 when Continental
•Congress met in Old Senate Chamber
Brief History of the 18th Century State House
The present Maryland State House is actually the third one to stand on State Circle in Annapolis. The first state house was built soon after the capital of Maryland was moved from St. Mary’s City to Annapolis in 1695. This first state house burned down in 1704. The second state house on State Circle was completed in 1709 and, within 60 years, had become much too small for the colony’s growing government and was too dilapidated to warrant renovation. It was torn down and construction on the new state house was begun in 1772, with Joseph Horatio Anderson as architect and Charles Wallace as the “undertaker.”
Work on the third state house was begun in 1772 and first occupied in 1779. However, by 1784 the building was already in need of work: the roof leaked and the cupola was described as inadequate, unimpressive and too small for the building. By 1788, the roof had been replaced, the old cupola had been taken off and the exterior of the dome we see today had been completed. The interior, with its beautiful plasterwork, was finished by 1795. The architect of the dome was Joseph Clark.
The jewel of this new State House was the Old Senate Chamber, featuring a gallery, described as “more elegant than required,” balanced on the opposite wall by an ornately carved niche, the Old Senate Chamber was the embodiment of Annapolis-style design and craftsmanship.
Detailed History of the 18th Century State House
On March 28, 1772, Governor Robert Eden laid the cornerstone for what would be the third State House built on State Circle in Annapolis. The first, built soon after the capital was moved from St. Mary’s City to Annapolis in 1695, burned down in 1704. The second was completed by 1709 and, 60 years later, had become far too small for the growing business of government and was too dilapidated to warrant enlarging it. The decision was made to raze it and Charles Wallace undertook the work when no one else submitted “plans and estimates” for the project.
With Mr. Wallace as the “undertaker” and Joseph Horatio Anderson as the architect, work was begun on the new State House in early 1772. While work progressed well for the first year and a half, at least one hurricane and the Revolutionary War intervened to cause enormous delays and difficulties. By the end of 1779, the building was still not completed, and Mr. Wallace’s finances and patience with the project were exhausted.
When the Continental Congress came to Annapolis to meet in the Old Senate Chamber from November 1783 – August 1784, they found a State House which was still unfinished. Although the Old Senate Chamber was complete, the roof was not and it had leaked during the last few winters, damaging the upstairs rooms. The dome—or cupola—atop the State House was variously described as inadequate, unimpressive, and too small for the building and, it, too, leaked.
In order to rectify the situation, Joseph Clark, an Annapolis architect and builder, was asked to repair the roof and the dome. Clark first raised the pitch of the roof to facilitate the runoff of water and covered it with cypress shingles. The crowning achievement of Clark’s work on the State House was, of course, the extraordinary dome which he designed and built. It is not known where Clark’s inspiration for the unusual design of the dome came from, but it is very similar to one in Karlsruhe, Germany called the Schloßturm.
By the summer of 1788, the exterior of the new dome was complete. It was constructed of timber and no metal nails were used in its construction and, to this day, it is held together by wooden pegs reinforced by iron straps forged by an Annapolis ironmonger.
Although the exterior of the dome was completed by 1788, the interior was not completed until 1797. Tragedy struck the project in 1793 when a plasterer named Thomas Dance fell to his death from the inside of the dome. By 1794, Joseph Clark was completely disillusioned with the project and left it to John Shaw, the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, to oversee completion. Over the years, John Shaw did much of the maintenance work on the State House, built various items for it and, in 1797, made the desks and chairs which furnished the Old Senate Chamber.
The State House Annex
Facts About the State House Annex
•Construction (Replacing Annexes built in1858 and 1886): 1902-1905
•Architects: Baldwin and Pennington of Baltimore
•Number of Stories: Three
About the State House Annex
The “new” annex to the State House was built between 1902-1906 to replace two 19th century annexes that were poorly built and inadequate in size. The Baltimore architects Baldwin & Pennington designed and supervised the construction of the new annex, which houses both the Senate and the House of Delegates.
Both chambers feature unusual black and gold marble in tribute to the colors of the Maryland flag, as well as skylights by the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany. The doors of this annex that lead out to State Circle are actually the back doors of the State House but are now the main entrance for visitors. The doors are of cast bronze and the Maryland seal is featured in the roundels.
Another feature of the annex is the grand staircase to the second floor. On the landing is the monumental painting of Washington Resigning His Commission painted in 1859 by Edwin White.
The walls in the Annex are lined with Italian marble. The black and white alternating tile floors in the new annex were selected to match the 1881 tiles in the original portion. The fossils in the black marble date back 450 million years.
Noteworthy plaques and memorials in the State House Annex include:
•The State House Building Commission
•The American’s Creed by William Tyler Page, December 23, 1919
The Dome and the Lightning Rod
Facts About the Dome
•Height, from base to weather vane: 121'
•Diameter at base: 40'
•Construction begun: 1785
•Interior work completed: 1797
•Wood used in dome construction: Timber from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, supplied by Dashiell family of Cypress Swamp, Somerset County.
•Architect of the dome: Joseph Clark
•Possible model for design of the dome: Schloßturm, the dome of the free-standing tower next to the palace of Karl-Wilhelm, Markgraf of Baden, in Karlsruhe, Germany
History of the State House Dome
When the Continental Congress came to Annapolis to meet in the Old Senate Chamber from November 1783 – August 1784, they found a State House which was still unfinished. Although the Old Senate Chamber was complete, the roof was not and it had leaked during the last few winters, damaging the upstairs rooms. The dome—or cupola—atop the State House was variously described as inadequate, unimpressive, and too small for the building and, it, too, leaked.
In order to rectify the situation, Joseph Clark, an Annapolis architect and builder, was asked to repair the roof and the dome. Clark first raised the pitch of the roof to facilitate the runoff of water and covered it with cypress shingles. The crowning achievement of Clark’s work on the State House was, of course, the extraordinary dome which he designed and built. It is not known where Clark’s inspiration for the unusual design of the dome came from, but it is very similar to one in Karlsruhe, Germany called the Schloßturm.
By the summer of 1788, the exterior of the new dome was complete. It was constructed of timber and no metal nails were used in its construction and, to this day, it is held together by wooden pegs reinforced by iron straps forged by an Annapolis ironmonger.
Although the exterior of the dome was completed by 1788, the interior was not completed until 1797. Tragedy struck the project in 1793 when a plasterer named Thomas Dance fell to his death from the inside of the dome. By 1794, Joseph Clark was completely disillusioned with the project and left it to John Shaw, the noted Annapolis cabinetmaker, to oversee completion. Over the years, John Shaw did much of the maintenance work on the State House, built various items for it and, in 1797, made the desks and chairs which furnished the Old Senate Chamber.
The First Dome: 1769-1774
Just as the Articles of Confederation did not effectively govern the country, the first dome of the State House at Annapolis did not survive more than a decade of Maryland weather. In 1769, the General Assembly of Maryland passed an act to erect a new state house, securely covered with slate tile or lead. The architect was Joseph Horatio Anderson, and the undertaker or builder of the project was Charles Wallace. According to William Eddis in 1773, the work was carried on with great dispatch and when completed would “be equal to any public edifice on the American continent.”
The exact date of the completion of the first dome or cupola is not known but evidence suggests that it was completed by the year 1774. In a 1773 Act of Assembly, Charles Wallace was instructed to fix an iron rod pointed with silver or gold at least six feet above the cupola. The General Assembly also recommended that the roof be covered with copper because the slate originally specified would require frequent repairs and cause other inconveniences. According to Charles E. Peterson’s “Notes on Copper Roofing in America to 1802”, it was more than likely that local copper was put on the roof to advertise the new industry of Maryland.
The Second Dome: 1785-1794
According to the Intendent of Revenue, Daniel St. Thomas Jenifer, the first dome of the State House was a contradiction of architectural design. A survey of the timbers in 1784 revealed that they were so decayed by water damage that a new dome would be required.
“It was originally constructed contrary to all rules of architecture; it ought to have been built double instead of single, and a staircase between the two domes, leading up to the lanthorn. The water should have been carried off by eaves, instead of being drawn to the center of the building, to two small conductors, which are liableto be choked by ice, and overflowed by rains. That it was next to impossible, under present construction, that it could have been made tight”.
On February 24, 1785 Jenifer placed a notice in the Maryland Gazette for carpenters work to be made to the dome and roof under the execution of Joseph Clark
“The work We are a Doing is to put a Roof on the Governor’s House and we are going to take the Roof of the State house and it is a going to Raise it one story higher and the Doom is to be Sixty foot higher then the old one”.
Clark raised the pitch of the dome to facilitate the runoff of excess water, the chief reason the timbers rotted in the original dome.
“The Annapolis dome is in its proportions like the original Karlsruhe tower. Possibly its more classical feeling is a result of the universal trend of architectural styles rather than the influence of the altered Schloßturm. Yet the arched windows below the architrave in Annapolis, one with the lower part closed, are like the windows below the Architrave in Karlsruhe in all of which the lower parts are closed. The horizontal oval windows below the main curving section of the dome in Annapolis resemble the vertical ovals in the equivalent part of the Karlsruhe tower. The small square windows above the balustrades and the architraves themselves in both buildings are similarly placed.”
The Acorn and the Lightning Rod
Facts About the Acorn
•Material: Original cypress from ca. 1785-1788, covered with copper panels Pedestal covered with sheet lead, probably from 1837
•Original colors (from Charles Willson Peale drawing):
•Top: gilt
•Bottom: green
•Pedestal: white
•Purpose: To provide stability to the “Franklin” lightning rod which goes through its center. Acorns were common decorative elements in the late 18th century. In the language of the day, “sound as an acorn” meant to be without a flaw, free from imperfection, clearly something the architect of the dome, Joseph Clark, and the General Assembly, intended his creation to be.
•Replacement of the Acorn, September 1996: During restoration work on the State House dome, it was discovered that the 208-year-old acorn had become rotten because of water seepage. As it too damaged to be repaired, it was decided to replace it by having 32 craftspeople from around the state make “slices” that would be used to assemble a new acorn. The new acorn was then clad in copper and gilded and painted according to the original drawings of Charles Willson Peale. In 2011, the acorn was regilded.
Facts About the Lightning Rod
•Size: 28' tall; 2.5" square at maximum thickness
•Material: Original wrought iron
•History: A prime example of lightning rod designed according to the theories of Benjamin Franklin who argued that the most effective protection from lightning was a pointed rod, preferably grounded into a deep well.
Protecting the State House from Lighting
The lightning rod on the dome of the State House is the largest ‘Franklin’ lightning rod ever attached to a public or private building in Benjamin Franklin’s lifetime. It was constructed in accord with Franklin’s recommendations and has served the State House and the dome well for more than two centuries, with only one recorded instance of damage caused by lightning. The lightning rod is of wrought iron painted to protect it from corrosion. It is 28' tall and 2.5" square at its maximum thickness.
Restoration Work
The acorn has been replaced by a new one constructed of sections made by 31 Maryland craftspeople from specification supplied by the Department of General Services. The new acorn is made of cypress wood, as was the original. The original lightning rod has been left in place and a metal sleeve placed around it for protection. In 1997, the State House Trust and the Department of General Services were awarded the Calvert Prize by the Maryland Historical Trust for their roles in the restoration and preservation of the State House dome.
The lightening rod which tops the dome is a story in itself. It is a “Franklin” rod, constructed and grounded to Benjamin Franklin’s specifications. In some respects, the useof this type of lightning rod was also a political statement, expressing support for Franklin’s theories on protection of public buildings from lightning strikes and the rejection of the opposing theories supported by King George III. The pointed lightning rod atop such an important new public building was a powerful symbol of the independence and ingenuity of the young nation.
As an architect trained in London and with a brother who had a bookshop in Annapolis, Clark would have been familiar with the writings of Benjamin Franklin. In addition, Charles Willson Peale confirmed Clark’s design. On July 14, 1788, he and his brother went to Philadelphia to see His Excellency Doctor Franklin to ask his opinion on the efficacy of lightning rods on the State House. They were unable to see Franklin, but did see Robert Patterson and David Rittenhouse, both eminent authorities on the physical sciences. Peale reported that Mr. Rittenhouse was of the opinion that “if the points are good and near anough the Building and the part going into the ground so deep as to get into soft earth no danger is to be apprehended, but if the end could be put in water of a Well it would be best.”
The engineering of the lightning rod and the acorn which holds it in place represents an astonishing achievement. Protruding 28' into the air, the rod is anchored at its bottom to the top of the dome. It then runs through the pedestal and the acorn and is surmounted by a copper weather vane. The acorn and pedestal have served to stabilize the Franklin rod and hold it in place for more than two centuries of extremes of Maryland weather.
The dome which Clark designed and built for the State House has been the defining landmark of the Annapolis skyline for more than 225 years. It was also, for many years, a popular spot from which to observe the city and the Chesapeake Bay beyond. Charles Willson Peale planned a dramatic cyclorama of Annapolis with eight views from the dome and a centerpiece drawing of State Circle from Cornhill Street. Only the drawing of the State House was completed and published in 1789. Thomas Jefferson spent some most enjoyable three hours in September 1790 on the balcony of the dome with James Madison, Thomas Lee Shippen and an Annapolis friend who entertained them with the gossip related to each of the houses they could see from their perch above the town.
In 1996, an examination of the dome and the acorn revealed that almost all of the material in the acorn, its pedestal and the lightning rod was original from the 18th century. During the summer and fall of 1996, the acorn was removed and replaced by a new one. The new acorn is constructed of 31 pieces of cypress made by craftspeople from around the state and is clad in copper and gilded on the top, like the original. The original lightning rod has remained intact and continues to serve as it has for more than 225 years, although a steel sleeve has been placed around it inside the new acorn to strengthen it.
The State House Lightning Rod: A Timeline
•1773
Chapter 32 Laws of 1773:
“… to guard the said Stadt House as far as may be against any Accident from Lightning. Be it further enacted that the said Undertaker shall fix place and secure in the best manner an Iron Rod pointed with Silver or Gold of six feet at least above the Height of the Cupola of the said building and conducted at least six feet in the Ground …”
•1775/09/07
Maryland Gazette, September 7, 1775:
“On Saturday night last we had a most violent storm from the north-east, which for several hours blew a mere hurricane, with heavy rain; the water rose three feet perpendicular above the common tide; a great quantity of the copper on the state-house was torn up, and the market-house blown down; the damage sustained in different parts of the province, we are told, is very considerable.”
•1775/09/07
Charles Wallace to Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, ca. November 1784:
“The September Storm of 1775 blew off the roof, the building unavoidably lay open near the whole Winter, in consequence of which, the work of the upper Rooms which was entirely finished, was Totally destroyed.– At another time lightning very much damaged the Dom, repairing of which cost much expense & loss of Time.” When the lightning struck is not clear, but the next sentence describes events in 1777 which suggests that the lightning may have struck sometime between September of 1775 and 1777 when the British fleet appeared in the Bay.
•1786/03/10
The General Assembly gave its implicit approval to commencing work on Joseph Clark’s dome which was ‘to be ‘sixty foot Higer’ then the old one.
•1787/08-1788/06/05
Simon Retalick, is engaged in ironwork on the State House. While there is no account extant for the lightning rod, there are sufficient accounting entries for Retalick to encompass his forging and installing the rod. From one surviving account, it is clear that Retalick worked for 32 days beginning in July 1787 and ending on or about August 25, 1787 on “iron work” for the windows of the State House. Similar sums are paid him in January and June of 1788. Assuming the windows were secured while the dome, cupola, and acorn were under construction, it would seem likely that Retalick completed the lightning rod by the time of the January entry in the accounts, or by June at the latest.
•1788/06/09
Charles Willson Peale’s diary:
“begun a Drawing of the Stadt-House from the entrance of Cornhill Street for the Circle before Breakfast, before 11 O Clock I made another outline of the Stadt-House from the NN/E back view.”
•1788/07/14
“Went with my Brother to his Ex:y doctor Franklins, my Intention was to enquire his opinion abut the effecacy of the Rods on the Stadt House at Annapolis, the Doctr was Ill & could not be seen – then Visit Mr. Patterson & David Rittenhouse on same enquiry abut lighning rods. Mr. Rittenhouse being of oppinion that if the points are good and near anough the Building and part going into the ground so deep as to get into soft earth no danger is to be apprehended, but if the end could be put in water of a Well it would be best. Afternoon I wrote to Mr. Richmond Coll. Ramsey & Nicholas Brewer. …
•1788/07/23
George Washington’s Diary:
“Wednesday … [Mount Vernon] the most violent storm ever known commenced at 1700 and continued for 9 hours. “The Maryland Gazette at Annapolis noted the greatest tide in memory with northeast winds which gradually veered to southeast, but no abrupt shift to southerly took place, to put the Maryland capital east of the track of the center. At Baltimore a violent storm from the east-northeast raged for 12 hours ….”
A beautiful Grade I listed Georgian mansion with a stately avenue of trees, between which there is a breathtaking formal lake. Once inside the house you are surrounded by history, a great deal of the original features have been retained including the decorative handcrafted plasterwork on the 24ft high ceilings, original fireplaces and solid oak panelling.
In 1713, the widow of Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, sold part of her estate to Benjamin Hoare, son of Richard Hoare, the wealthy Fleet Street banker. New Hall continued to be occupied by the widow until her death. So, Benjamin Hoare decided to build Boreham House as his new family home. The main building was begun about 1728 and finished in 1733. He commissioned prominent architects Henry Flitcroft & Sir James Gibbs to design the house and it was embellished with fine marbles and other materials including the staircase bought from New Hall, owned by Henry VIII from 1517 to 1547.
Boreham House stayed in the Hoares family until 1785, when William Walford bought it and rented it to Sir Elija Impey a British judge, until 1792. Around 1792, Sir John Tyrell, 1st Baronet bought the House. He was a local Justice of the Peace. In 1832, his son Sir John Tyrell, 2nd Baronet inherited Boreham House. He sat in Parliament as Conservative member for Essex. He died in 1877 leaving Boreham House in tail to his grandson Lieutenant Colonel Tufnell Tyrell, sheriff of Essex. The House stayed in the Family until
1931 when Henry Ford purchased the estate while returning from Oberammergau to see the Passion Play. He went into the English countryside and noticed the very bad conditions of farms and farm buildings which he passed. When the train was held up briefly at the Generals Lane level crossing and he noticed that Boreham House was for sale. He seized the opportunity to realise one of his dreams and bought Boreham House on 2 May 1931 to show that British agriculture could prosper and make people lives easier.this is where Ford developed this new venture under a new company called Fordson Estate Limited.
In 1937, the house, with a parcel of the land was donated to trustees of the Henry Ford Institute of Agricultural Engineering. Boreham House started to be a college in 1952, when it became the main training centre for the Ford Tractor Operation in Europe. The house also served as the temporary home for the National College of Agricultural Engineering in 1962. This moved to Silsoe, Bedfordshire as Silsoe College later joining with Cranfield University.
In 1997, the house had reverted to single family occupation.
In 2008 it was bought by the entrepreneur and business woman Teresa Ward. She decided to use the House as a wedding venue and corporate centre. Nowadays, people can get married in the house and have their wedding breakfast in this historic building.[4]
The house is located just off the Boreham road off the A12 roadway in Essex. The south face of the building fronts the top of Danbury Hill and Little Baddow Common, overlooking the Chelmer river vale.
Sometimes you talk to other explorers who give you hints how to ge in somewhere. I thought I had it all figured out when we arrived here. Until I saw where we should go in. I clearly should have mentioned that I am almost 2 meters long and 120 kilograms.... Luckily it all worked out!
This castle dates back to the 13th century. It was built on a crossing of two very important trade routes and therefor interesting area for people to settle. It has been owned by various aristocrats during the centuries.
The beautiful plaster on the several ceilings was built in the end of the 17th century already. In one room called the 'Bacchus Room' the ceiling is decorated with angels and wine barrels.
Although the decorations inside are some you don't see very often, the rest of the castle is rather empty. They have been working on renovation, but guess this is at a standstill for several years already....
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If you like my work and you would like a piece of me on your wall, please contact me for various materials and prices!
Pargeting decoration of the Old Sun Inn, Church Street, Saffron Walden. Until recently occupied by an antiques dealer.
Plasterwork wall panel by Giovanni Bagutti from the Great Staircase designed in the 1720s by James Gibbs at Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire. This staircase replaced an earlier, seventeenth-century one. Wimpole is largely the creation of Edward Harley, earl of Oxford (1689-1741) who expanded the core of an earlier house. This phase of work was undertaken circa 1719-21 by Gibbs.
The mansion was built in the 1630s for Sir Thos. Holte {1571-1654}. The frieze in the great dining room depicts the Nine Worthies, plus 2 other figures. The IDs in the notes have been provided by a staff member at Aston Hall.
Scanned image from an original print of the 1887 Kansas Atlas showing the larger and fancier Bitting Brothers store at 126 and 128 Douglas Ave in Wichita, KS. This building is confirmed to have been built by William Henry Sternberg (1832 - 1906). The location of this building was the same as the smaller "Keystone Clothing Store" owned by Charles and Alfred Bitting. The caption at the bottom of the image reads, "Bitting Brothers, One Price Clothiers, Hatters and Furnishers. 126 & 128 Douglas Ave. N.W. Corner Market Steet. Wichita, Kansas. Mail Orders Receive Prompt Attention". The interior image (lower portion of picture) shows many tables stacked with clothes and many glass display cases filled with goods. The ceilings and walls are decked out with swags, fancy wallpaper borders and plasterwork. The center support colums are each very stylish electric lights. Along the walls are some very ornate display cases (glass ones on the right and wooden drawers on the left). Not visible in this image is a telephone for public use on the wall. The center island cage says "Cashier" above the middle gentleman. This was the 1st floor main level of the store and a large staircase leads up to floors above.
The exterior image (upper portion) shows horse drawn carriages in the dirt street and also a horse drawn trolley being pulled along rails. The advertisement on the roof of this trolley states, "Bitting Brothers One Price Clothiers East Douglas Avenue". These horse drawn trolleys were owned and operated by the Wichita Street Railway. Note the blocks of stone that have been layed next to the street (highlighted with notes in the photo). These were there for people to step out on when a carriage pulled up along side. Otherwise the drop down was fairly far, especially for the ladies. These blocks were chisled with the name, "Bitting Bros" facing out. One wonders sometimes the level of embellishment of these drawings, but all in all they appear to be quite accurate with virtually no embellishment at all. Bitting brothers indeed did advertise frequently on trolley cars and their trolley car advertising appears in other un-related old-time photos. This was not simply done for this Bitting store sketch.
Also seen in the print is a fire hydrant, so fire protection had come a long way in just a short period of time vs. pressurized pumps on trucks (in the 1870s). In spite a fire hydrant being right next to this building it sustained a massive fire in the Winter of 1911 and was a complete loss. The idea of installing a water system with fire hydrants throughout the city was being discussed in Wichita as early as 1880. But it wasn't until 1882 that Wichita finally began working on installing an underground water system for fire supression. In this year, Wichita contracted with a St. Louis firm for laying a 14-inch main, six inch supply pipes and a total of 60 hydrants throughout the city. This system was finished and in operation by Spring of 1883. City water pressure in the 1880s was kept at about 40 pounds, but during a fire it was doubled to 80 pounds, but only if the Water Superintendent got notified that there was a fire so he could increase the pressure. More than a few times in the frenzy of a fire, the Water Superintendent was never notified and so water pressure didn't get increased and was inadequate to fight the fire resulting in unnecessary structural loss. The water department was "catching heat" for this lack of adequate pressure, but ultimately the fire department was to blame for failing to notify the water department. However, by the time the Bitting Building burned these issues had been worked out long before and a lack of pressure was not to blame of the complete loss of the Bitting Building. The materials and construction of the building was likely more to blame. Fire stops, which are now required in structures to stop the spread of a fire, were normally not worked into buildings at this time. And fire-proof materials didn't exist, either. Although both manual and automatic fire sprinkler systems did exist at this time (automatic ones since about 1875), they were not required in commercial buildings like are they are today - they were at the discretion of the building owner. If a fire sprinkler system was installed in a commercial building it was usually in a factory (where fires at the turn of the century were often catastrophic in terms of both human and property losses) vs. a retail store. Also a fire supression system is not visible in the image above. So there were several reasons that contributed to this disasterous fire. Fortunately, though, no one was hurt in the Bitting Building fire. No one was in the building. The fire happened in the middle of the night. Wichita residents went to work the next cold winter day surpirsed by the scene of the four exterior walls being covered with huge ice cicles
Any thoughts, comments, ideas or additional information is welcomed and appreciated!
This image scanned from original 1887 print from the 1887 Kansas Atlas.