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Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex
Grade l listed.
List Entry Number: 1272785
Listing NGR: TQ6463810388
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24/04/2020
TQ 61SW 13/406
HERSTMONCEUX HERSTMONCEUX PARK Herstmonceux Castle, with attached bridges to north and south and causeway with moat retaining walls to west.
GV I Castle/country house. c1441 (when licence to crenellate was granted) for Sir Roger Fiennes; further embellished mid C16 for Baroness and Lord Dacre; altered mid-late C17 for Lord Dacre; part demolished 1776-1777 for Robert Hare; restored and rebuilt early C20, mostly 1911-1912, for Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lowther and 1930s for Sir Paul Latham.
Red brick in English bond with some blue header diaper work; stone dressings; plain tile roofs. Square on plan with inner courtyard, this originally divided into four courts and containing Great Hall, but these and the internal walls of the castle demolished C18; south range and south ends of east and west ranges restored by Lowther, the remainder restored by Latham. Two storeys with attic and basement in parts; five x four wide bays with tapering polygonal towers at corners and between bays, taller at angles and centre. Built and restored in C15 style: exterior has one-light or two-light windows, some transomed; courtyard has more wider windows and some with cusped or round-headed lights; four-centred-arched or segmental-arched moulded or chamfered doorways with C20 studded board doors; tall plinth with moulded offset; moulded string below embattled parapet with roll moulded coping; rainwater pipes with decorative initialled heads; stacks with ribbed and corniced clustered flues; steeply-pitched roofs with roll-moulded coping, some with hipped ends.
South (entrance) elevation: three-storey central gate tower has tall recess containing wide, panelled door, window of two cusped, transomed lights above, and grooves for former drawbridge arms; on second floor two transomed windows of two round-headed lights flank coat of arms of Sir Roger Fiennes; flanking towers have gun ports at base, looped arrow slits, machicolated parapets with arrow slits to merlons, and towers rising above as drums. Projecting from gate tower is long bridge (mostly C20) of eight arches, that to centre wider and shallower, with cutwaters, stone parapet, and central corbelled embrasure with flanking tower buttresses.
North side: central gate towers formerly had rooms on lower floors, of which truncated walls and first-floor fireplace fragment remain; machicolated parapet; at left end of range C17 window openings with later eighteen-pane sashes. West side: attached causeway containing basement room and with three half-arched bridge on south side, walling returning as moat retaining walls; main range has a basement doorway with side-lights in chamfered embrasure.
East side: the second tower has C16 first-floor bow window; tall windows to central tower (which contains chapel); right half of range has older windows blocked and larger C17 replacement openings with later eighteen-pane sashes.
Courtyard: seven-bay arcade to north side and central corbelled stack with clock; three-bay 1930s Great Hall (now library) on west side with decorative tracery to windows and offset buttress; gable of former chapel on east side, has perpendicular tracery to window, a two-storey bay window and two crow-stepped gabled attic windows to its left; several doorways and a two-storey bay window to south side; hipped-roofed dormers; brick-lined well in south-west corner.
Interior: some original features survive, including fireplaces, privies, doorways, dungeon and brick-lined dovecote in south-east tower; other old features were brought in from elsewhere, including doors, fireplaces, panelling. In south range: porter's room has old fireplace and relocated linenfold door (found in cellar); reused traceried wood panelling in rebuilt dining room fireplace; stair hall has fine early C17 wooden stair (brought from Theobalds, Herts) with strapwork roundels between square vase balusters, elaborate relief decoration, and lion finials holding shields; at head of stair; elaborate doorcase of same period ribbed ceiling with pendant finials. Drummers Room has reused panelling, part dated 1697, with fluted pilasters and frieze and elaborately arcaded and fluted-pilastered overmantel. Green Room, on second floor, has restored fireplace with crests and beasts on hood; moulded beams and bosses; and reused traceried panel below courtyard window.
North range: very fine late C17 stair (brought from Wheatley Hall, Doncaster; possibly from the workshop of Grinling Gibbons) with baskets-of-flowers and pendant finials to newels, balustrades of open, leafy, scrollwork with flower roundels, and at head of stair two elaborately carved doorcases in similar style with shields in broken pediments. Former ball room has arched ceiling with decorative plasterwork; C17-style panelling; reused elaborately-decorated C17 wooden fireplace overmantel (from Madingley Hall, Cambs.) with two orders of caryatids and embossed panels.
East range: former chapel has reused C15 wooden screen (from France) set in west wall; former Drawing room has elaborate stone fireplace, 1930s in C16 style, and in ante room a reused richly decorated fireplace with griffins and portrait roundels. The C15 castle was well restored in the early C20 and the many fine features which were brought in at that time add to its importance.
Listing NGR: TQ6463810388
Sources
Books and journals
Calvert, D , The History of Herstmonceux Castle
Pevsner, N, Nairn, I, The Buildings of England: Sussex, (1965), 534-6
'Country Life' in 18 May, (1929), 702-709
'Country Life' in 7 December, (1935), 606-612
'Country Life' in 14 December, (1935)
Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 14 East Sussex,
historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1272785
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Before 1066 Herst (meaning forest or wood) was the name of a prominent local Anglo-Saxon family and ownership of the family's estate passed into the hands of the victorious Normans. In 1131 the manor and estates were transferred to Drogo de Monceux, a great grandson of William the Conqueror . Drogo's son Ingleram married Idonea de Herst, thus founding the Herstmonceux line.
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Herstmonceux Castle Gardens and Grounds is a 300 acre estate including woodland, formal themed gardens and of course a 15th century moated castle.
Made from red brick Herstmonceux Castle is one of the earliest examples of a brick built building in England.
Read more about the history here:-
Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled castle six miles (10 km) south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the seat of Clan Sempill. The setting is among scenic rolling foothills of the Grampian Mountains. The contrast of its massive lower story structure to the finely sculpted multiple turrets, gargoyles and high corbelling work create a classic fairytale appearance.
An excellent example of the original Scottish Baronial architecture, the great seven-storey castle was completed in 1626 by the Aberdonian merchant William Forbes, ancestor to the "Forbes-Sempill family" and brother of the Bishop of Aberdeen. Forbes purchased the partially completed structure from the impoverished Mortimer family in the year 1610. Forbes' nickname was Danzig Willy, a reference to his shrewd international trading success. The Forbes family resided here for 350 years until 1963, when the property was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland.
Designed in the L plan, as was Muchalls Castle, which is located in the same region, Craigievar is noted for its exceptionally crafted plasterwork ceilings. Craigevar, Muchalls Castle and Glamis Castle are generally considered to have the three finest ceilings in Scotland. The Clan Forbes family were close friends of the Clan Burnett of Leys, who built both Crathes Castle and Muchalls Castle.
The castle originally had more defensive elements including a walled courtyard with four round towers; only one of the round towers remains today. In the arched door to that round tower are preserved the carved initials of Sir Thomas Forbes, William Forbes' son. There was also a massive iron yett or gate covering the entrance door.
The castle interior boasts a Great Hall that has the Stuart Arms over the fireplace; a musicians gallery; secret staircase connecting the high tower to the Great Hall; Queen's Bedroom; servants' quarters and of course several splendid plasterwork ceilings. There is a collection of Forbes family portraits inside as well as a considerable quantity of Forbes furnishings dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.
St Peter, Billingford, Norfolk
The old school room in Billingford churchyard.
Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.
Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.
from Elegy in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray, 1751
The area between Fakenham and Dereham is a land of quiet lanes and working villages, and the churches have a sense of being at the heart of their communities. We are not far here from the main Norwich to Fakenham road, but the village of Billingford feels remote, as many do around here. I think this is because of the way the River Wensum threads and winds through the low hills, cutting off from each other villages which are otherwise quite close.
This Billingford is not to be confused with the other of the same name, with a church dedicated to St Leonard, across the county beyond Diss.
The setting of St Peter, on a bluff overlooking a valley, completes the drama. You approach the church from the east, and here the building presents itself intimately, the large east window abutting almost directly onto the road. It is a Victorian replacement, but is of more than passing interest, as we will see. The land falls away to the west, and by the time you reach the base of the tower you are several metres below the road.
The tower is one of Norfolk's half a dozen or so octagonal towers, and the church is pretty much all of a 14th century piece, with a couple of later windows. The interior is a wide, open space, cleared of clutter, the aisles empty. Tall Victorian benches fill the middle of the nave, the space around them accentuating their bulk. There is no central walkway, which gives the place a singular feeling - as does the slope eastwards. You could never mistake this interior for another.
Also singular is the curious and lovely font. A sloping octagonal bowl, its sides are carved with sets of double arches, a grand arcade of sixteen all the way around. I think it must predate the church slightly, and may have come from elsewhere, or was simply reused from an earlier building on this site.
Billingford has one of those wonderful early 16th century giant latten lecterns, an eagle standing on an orb. Norfolk has about ten of these, but this is the only one I know that isn't polished, and so it creates a quite different effect. As Mortlock is fond of observing here and elsewhere, they come from the same foundry as the one at St Mark in Venice.
The lightness in the nave is helped by the clear windows, and the east window is filled with a very good early 20th century representation of the Transfiguration, an unusual subject. But I mentioned earlier that the window itself is of interest, and this is because this church is generally accepted as the original source of the marvellous range of 15th century glass now in the church at North Tuddenham.
The window you see now replaces one that was much larger. You can see this clearly from the changes in the plasterwork, and it may have been done for structural reasons. The glass at North Tuddenham was bought from a builders yard in Dereham, and had probably been removed from the once larger window here as part of the restoration which fitted this one. If it had survived, medievalists and church explorers from all over the country would be beating a path to this church. A startling thought.
THE FIRST DWELLING AT LEVENS WAS A MEDIEVAL PELE TOWER, BUILT BY THE DE REDMAN FAMILY OF YEALAND REDMAYNE. THE BELLINGHAM FAMILY, WHO WERE WEALTHY LANDOWNERS, CHOSE LEVENS AS THEIR MAIN RESIDENCE IN THE 1590S AND INCORPORATED THE FORTIFIED TOWER INTO A GENTLEMAN’S RESIDENCE. THEY EMPLOYED LOCAL CRAFTSMEN TO CARVE THE OAK PANELLING, INCORPORATED ELABORATE ITALIAN PLASTERWORK, INCLUDING ELIZABETH THE FIRST’S COAT OF ARMS AND STAINED GLASS - ALL OF WHICH CAN BE SEEN TODAY.
THE HISTORIC HOUSE BECAME THE PROPERTY OF COLONEL JAMES GRAHME IN 1688 AFTER HIS CAREER AT COURT IN THE SERVICE OF KING JAMES II. HE BROUGHT WITH HIM A YOUNG FRENCH GARDENER, GUILLAUME BEAUMONT, A PUPIL OF LE NOTRE AT VERSAILLES, TO PLAN A FASHIONABLE GARDEN AT LEVENS. THIS FAMILY HOME CONTAINS FINE FURNITURE, PAINTINGS, ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES IN EUROPE OF SPANISH LEATHER WALL COVERINGS, THE EARLIEST ENGLISH PATCHWORK, WELLINGTONIANA, CLOCKS AND MINIATURES, AND HAS BECOME ONE OF THE FINEST STATELY HOMES IN SOUTH CUMBRIA.
THERE ARE TEN WONDERFUL ACRES OF GARDENS AT LEVENS HALL. THEY INCLUDE THE UNIQUE COLLECTION OF ANCIENT AND EXTRAORDINARY TOPIARY CHARACTERS SCULPTED FROM BOX AND YEW. THEY RISE UP FROM A SPECTACULAR SEASONAL UNDERPLANTING POPULATED WITH AN EVER-CHANGING RANGE OF OVER THIRTY THOUSAND FLOWERS. FURTHER ON, BEYOND THE ROMANTIC OLD ORCHARD AND SEPARATED BY THE GREAT BEECH HEDGES, LIE THE MAGNIFICENT HERBACEOUS BORDERS. THESE ARE TRADITIONALLY DOUBLE IN FORMAT AND ARE AMONGST THE FINEST TO BE FOUND IN ENGLAND. THERE ARE ALSO WALL BORDERS, VEGETABLE AND HERB GARDENS, A ROSE GARDEN, FOUNTAIN GARDEN, FINE LAWNS, WILDFLOWER MEADOWS & WILLOW LABYRINTH ETC.
GHOSTS AT LEVENS HALL
THE MOST FAMOUS GHOST AT LEVENS HALL IS ABOUT A GYPSY WOMAN WHO IS SAID TO HAVE DIED CURSING THE HOUSE, CLAIMING THAT NO MALE HEIR WOULD INHERIT UNTIL THE RIVER KENT CEASED TO FLOW AND A WHITE FAWN WAS BORN IN THE PARK. STRANGELY, THE ESTATE PASSED THROUGH THE FEMALE LINE FOR FOUR GENERATIONS UNTIL THE BIRTH OF ALAN DESMOND BAGOT IN 1896 WHEN THE RIVER DID INDEED FREEZE OVER AND A WHITE FAWN WAS BORN IN THE PARK. THE THREE MALE HEIRS SINCE HAVE ALL BEEN BORN ON FREEZING WINTER DAYS.
AN EPISODE FILMED BY THE TELEVISION PROGRAMME ‘MOST HAUNTED’ IN 2002 DISCOVERED SOME LIGHTS, SOUNDS AND DISTURBING ATMOSPHERES NOT PREVIOUSLY EXPERIENCED BY VISITORS.
The Hall of the Ambassadors is one of the palace’s most breath-taking sights. Dating back to the 11th century, it was later renovated as a focal point of the new royal palace by Pedro I of Castile in the 14th century.
The hall showcases principal design elements including plant motifs in plasterwork, geometric patterns on the windows, and tiled panels along the walls. Symbols and inscriptions in the hall hold significance as they denote its function as a space for ambassadors, as highlighted by the Arabic inscriptions on the door. The ceiling decoration, which includes a yoke, a sheaf of arrows, and the motto ‘tatomota’, each carries symbolic meanings.
Excerpt from alhambradegranada.org:
The Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas) did not receive this name because of a legend or an event that took place in it, as many tend to believe.
The hall was so called because of two big twin marble flagstones that are part of the floor. This hall was in the centre of a series of chambers where the sultana and her family lived. Boabdil's mother also lived there with her children, after being repudiated by Muley Hacén.
The hall was built by order of Mohammed V. It is square, has bedchambers with interlacing ceilings connected with the Emperor's Chambers (Habitaciones de Carlos V) and, through a balcony, with the Gardens of the Partal (Jardines del Partal). Visitors may access the hall through a semicircular festooned arch, where the original wooden doors are still preserved. A passageway leads to the high chambers, with ceilings carved in the 16th century. Three little arches, with mocarabes on the lateral arches and arch scallops on the central arch, lead to the mirador's chamber. You can look at the Patio of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) from there.
The hall's paving is made of marble and has a small fountain with a jet and a little channel that carries the water to the Patio of the Lions (Patio de los Leones). The most impressing element of the hall is the beautiful and perfect dome of mocarabes. Its lighting was carefully considered and it receives the light from lateral little windows. The dome is therefore a beautiful and exquisitely rich flower. Ibn Zamrak wrote a poem about this dome and some of its verses are reproduced on a tile skirting board that has metallic iridescence. The hall's walls are covered with extremely fine plasterwork on different themes, among which we count the classical Nasrid motto «Only God is Victor» and, for example, a pair of closed hands.
The garden at Lanhydrock and the Garden of Eden: there certainly are some paralels - not that I saw snakes at Lanhydrock!
This is a detail of the plasterwork on the ceiling of the Long Gallery at Lanhydrock, showing Adam and Eve in Paradise. A very impressive Long Gallery!
A beautifully detailed ceiling at Trerice, Cornwall. It was bought by the National Trust because of this wonderful work of art... HTT!
Opening in 1816 the Wellington Rooms was a subscription assembly room in Liverpool. Later becoming the Irish Centre before its closure in the 1990s, the building is now disused and decaying.
View more images and read about the Wellington Room's history on my website - www.bcd-urbex.com/wellington-rooms-irish-centre-liverpool/
Together with my wife we visit quite a number of historic buildings and homes, particularly those in the care of the National Trust and English Heritage and I often marvel at the skill of the people who created the artful ornamental plasterwork it is truly incredible. I reckon I look a bit weird wandering around with my cap back to front and my nose in the air but quite often the amazing stuff is above our heads. This is a small section of ceiling in Basildon Park near Reading.
(National Trust)
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/oxfordshire-buckinghamshir...
Soho Theatre (Granada), Walthamstow - the view of the stage from the side stalls. Opened on the 15 September 1930, designed by Cecil Masey with interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky, and built on the enlarged site of the earlier Victoria Cinema. The Granada had 2,697 seats in stalls and balcony, with a strongly Moorish influence to the spectacular foyers and auditorium. It was tripled in 1974, with two mini cinemas under the balcony - the front stalls were removed and the stage lost live usage. The theatre was grade 2 listed in 1987 (upped to Grade 2* in 2000). Later known as ABC, MGM and EMD Cinemas, the venue closed in 2003 and was sold to a church, who were refused planning consent for change of use on several occasions. It was sold again, in a derelict state, in 2014 and parts of the building were reopened as a bar and live entertainment venue known as Mirth. In 2019 it was bought by Waltham Forest Borough Council and, in conjunction with the Soho Theatre, they began a restoration process. This saw the main auditorium restored as a 1,000 theatre, the rear stalls had the original plasterwork restored to become a unique bar, the rear of the circle, again with original features, is now a community / rehearsal room, the circle foyer is a stylish bar, and the foyers restored (with full disabled access adaptations) to original splendour. The architects for the scheme were Pilbrow & Partners, and the main contractor was Wilmott Dixon. Soho Walthamstow, as the theatre is now known, reopened in May 2025 and the theatre is now very comfortable and looks stunning, there is some of the best front-of-house space existing in a theatre, with brand-new artiste rooms and a widened stage. What it lacks is the original organs, now in storage, awaiting sufficient money (£1million+) to be restored and reinstated.
London Borough of Waltham Forest, Walthamstow, London, UK - former Granada Cinema, Hoe Street
July 2025
Sutton Scarsdale Hall is a Grade I listed Georgian ruined stately home in Sutton Scarsdale, close to the town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire.
Construction on the present building started in 1724 by architect Francis Smith for the 4th Earl of Scarsdale and incorperated a previous building that stood on the site.
The building was complete by 1729 on a scale and quality with nearby Chatsworth House, internally it featured both oak ornamental panels, stucco plasterwork, carved fireplaces in both marble and Blue John, and a carved mahogany staircase.
The house was purchased by Richard Arkwright Junior in 1824. He was the son of Sir Richard Arkwright who invented the water frame and had a major involvement in the cotton industry.
The Arkwright family lived in the hall until it was auctioned off in 1919, it was bought by a group of local businessmen who asset-stripped the house, this went as far as removing the roof in 1920. Some parts of the building were shipped to the United States were oak panelling from the hall is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In 1946, the estate was bought by Sir Osbert Sitwell of nearby Renishaw Hall, with the intention of preserving the remaining shell as a ruin. The hall was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1951, and is now in the care of English Heritage.
The lovely girl from Joy Street
I can't remember her name, I can't even remember what she looked like! All I can remember was that she very pretty!
She worked in Woolies ( Woolworth) Cornmarket Belfast, on the record counter. I would spend my lunch hour browsing rows of 45 records at one and ninepence (1/9d) while surreptitiously taking a quick shy glance, hoping our eyes would meet and I would have the courage to chat her up and ask her out. It never happened. Anyway sharing a coke and two straws would have hardly been her idea of a hot date.
“Play the Alleykats Sweet Home Chicago”. She always did. She lived in Joy street she told me ..that's as far as I got!
The Markets area of Belfast was developed on marshy land reclaimed from the mill dam of the Joy family's paper mill, which was situated at the junction of Cromac Street and Ormeau Avenue during the 18th century. Joy Street was mostly developed between 1825 and 1840. Many of the houses were built of local dark brick and only very soberly ornamented, but this group was probably one of the last developments in the area and built at the beginning of the Victorian period when fashion was moving towards stucco plasterwork and richer decoration of architraves and doorcases.
The Joy family were quite probably kin of Henry Joy McCracken who was hanged in Belfast for his part in the United Irishmen's uprising in 1798
Excerpt from alhambradegranada.org:
The Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas) did not receive this name because of a legend or an event that took place in it, as many tend to believe.
The hall was so called because of two big twin marble flagstones that are part of the floor. This hall was in the centre of a series of chambers where the sultana and her family lived. Boabdil's mother also lived there with her children, after being repudiated by Muley Hacén.
The hall was built by order of Mohammed V. It is square, has bedchambers with interlacing ceilings connected with the Emperor's Chambers (Habitaciones de Carlos V) and, through a balcony, with the Gardens of the Partal (Jardines del Partal). Visitors may access the hall through a semicircular festooned arch, where the original wooden doors are still preserved. A passageway leads to the high chambers, with ceilings carved in the 16th century. Three little arches, with mocarabes on the lateral arches and arch scallops on the central arch, lead to the mirador's chamber. You can look at the Patio of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) from there.
The hall's paving is made of marble and has a small fountain with a jet and a little channel that carries the water to the Patio of the Lions (Patio de los Leones). The most impressing element of the hall is the beautiful and perfect dome of mocarabes. Its lighting was carefully considered and it receives the light from lateral little windows. The dome is therefore a beautiful and exquisitely rich flower. Ibn Zamrak wrote a poem about this dome and some of its verses are reproduced on a tile skirting board that has metallic iridescence. The hall's walls are covered with extremely fine plasterwork on different themes, among which we count the classical Nasrid motto «Only God is Victor» and, for example, a pair of closed hands.
Detail section of the decorative plasterwork on the unique Civic Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand. This amazing plasterwork was the work of Arnold Zimmerman, a swiss born decorator and scenic artist who arrived in Sydney, Australia in 1923.
Designed by architects Charles Bohringer and William T. Leighton, the Civic opened on 20 December 1929 and is a famous example of the 'atmospheric theatre style' wherein lighting and interior design create the illusion of an open sky complete with twinkling stars - this gives the audience the impression of being seated in an outdoor auditorium at night.
Constructed of reinforced concrete, the theatre contained numerous innovations including a Wintergarden in the basement, a rising ‘gondola’ orchestra pit and the second largest Wurlitzer Organ in the Southern Hemisphere.
The theatre also gained some fame when it was used in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong, standing in for a New York theatre called The Alhambra.
© All rights reserved.
Soho Theatre (Granada), Walthamstow - the former rear stalls under the balcony, plasterwork all reinstated after the area had been split into screens 2 & 3, now a stylish bar. Opened on the 15 September 1930, designed by Cecil Masey with interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky, and built on the enlarged site of the earlier Victoria Cinema. The Granada had 2,697 seats in stalls and balcony, with a strongly Moorish influence to the spectacular foyers and auditorium. It was tripled in 1974, with two mini cinemas under the balcony - the front stalls were removed and the stage lost live usage. The theatre was grade 2 listed in 1987 (upped to Grade 2* in 2000). Later known as ABC, MGM and EMD Cinemas, the venue closed in 2003 and was sold to a church, who were refused planning consent for change of use on several occasions. It was sold again, in a derelict state, in 2014 and parts of the building were reopened as a bar and live entertainment venue known as Mirth. In 2019, it was bought by Waltham Forest Borough Council and, in conjunction with the Soho Theatre, they began a restoration process. This saw the main auditorium restored as a 1,000 theatre, the rear stalls had the original plasterwork restored to become a unique bar, the rear of the circle, again with original features, is now a community / rehearsal room, the circle foyer is a stylish bar, and the foyers restored (with full disabled access adaptations) to original splendour. The architects for the scheme were Pilbrow & Partners, and the main contractor was Wilmott Dixon. Soho Walthamstow, as the theatre is now known, reopened in May 2025 and the theatre is now very comfortable and looks stunning, there is some of the best front-of-house space existing in a theatre, with brand-new artiste rooms and a widened stage. What it lacks is the original organs, now in storage, awaiting sufficient money (£1million+) to be restored and reinstated.
London Borough of Waltham Forest, Walthamstow, London, UK - Soho Theatre (former Granada Cinema), Hoe Street
July 2025
dTHIS ELIZABETHAN HALL STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER CALDER IN PADIHAM IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE. THE HALL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1600 AND 1605 GAWTHORPE HALL WAS THE FAMILY HOME OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH FAMILY FOR OVER 300 YEARS. INSIDE THE HOUSE YOU WILL FIND PERIOD ROOMS ON DISPLAY FROM THE 1850 REMODELLING BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT SIR CHARLES BARRY AND PUGIN AS WELL AS ORIGINAL PLASTERWORK CEILINGS, PANELLING AND THE IMPRESSIVE LONG GALLERY. ALSO ON DISPLAY ARE OVER 200 PIECES FROM THE NATIONALLY IMPORTANT GAWTHORPE TEXTILE COLLECTION.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY HAS LOANED OVER 20 PAINTINGS TO THE HALL ALL OF WHICH ILLUSTRATE ITS FASCINATING CONNECTIONS AND HISTORY, PARTICULARLY WITH THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. GAWTHORPE HALL IS AN ARTISTIC AND HISTORIC TREASURE TROVE IN THE MIDDLE OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE.
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL
Brooklyn Borough Hall,the original City Hall,is located on the north side of Joralemon Street,between Court and Adams streets.It houses the Brooklyn Borough President and is Brooklyn’s oldest public building.
Brooklyn Borough Hall was originally built as Brooklyn’s City Hall and contained the offices of the Mayor and the City Council as well as a courtroom and a jail. This was typical of early nineteenth century city halls, which contained all of the functions of city government within one building.
Brooklyn was a growing community when it was incorporated as a city in 1834. The following year a competition was held for a city hall,won by the architect Calvin Pollard.While the cornerstone for the Greek Revival style building was laid in 1836,only the foundation was built due to financial problems. Construction began again in 1845, with a revised and simplified design by Gamaliel King,and the incomplete City Hall opened in 1848.It served as the Brooklyn City Hall for nearly fifty years, before the consolidation with New York City in 1898,when it became the Brooklyn Borough Hall.
This imposing Greek Revival style structure is clad in Tuckahoe marble.A monumental staircase leads to an entrance with six fluted Ionic columns supporting a triangular pediment.The cast-iron cupola, designed by Vincent Griffith and Stoughton & Stoughton,is a 1898 replacement for the original,which burned in an 1895 fire that also destroyed part of the interior.The statue of Justice, part of the original plan, was finally installed on top of the cupola in 1988.
The architect,Gamaliel King, was a major figure in Brooklyn civic and ecclesiastical architecture in the 19th century.His practice began in the 1820s and he designed some of the borough’s finest churches.His 12th Street Reformed Church (1868) in Park Slope still stands today.He designed the spectacular,domed King’s County Courthouse (1861-5),now demolished,and the extant King’s County Savings Bank (1868) in Williamsburg.He was well known for his pioneering commercial architecture in Manhattan through his work with John Kellum in the 1850s. The firm designed the landmark Cary Building in Tribeca,one of the first full-fronted cast iron buildings in the world.
The two-story rectangular lobby, known as the rotunda,has been restored to its 1845 glory.The stairs removed in 1897 were restored,as was the black and white marble floor.The elaborate Courtroom,designed in 1903 by Brooklyn architect Axel Hedman,has a coffered domed ceiling,carved wood paneling, fluted Ionic columns,and ornate plasterwork.
Brooklyn Borough Hall is one of the most significant government buildings in Brooklyn and the heart and soul of Brooklyn’s Civic Center.In the 1980s,one of the City’s most ambitious efforts to date was commenced to restore the exterior,which had suffered serious decay over the years.The award-winning work included stone work restoration, replacement of copper shingles on the cupola and installation of stainless steel cladding on the main roof,and repair of the clock and tower elements.The bronze statue of Virtue on the roof,a part of the original design not built with the building,was created from drawings and documents.Site work included raising the plaza by two feet, installing an ornamental iron fence around the building and placing historic lighting fixtures on the street.
The church of San Juan Bautista, in Coin ( Malaga province , Spain ), was built by decree of Juana in 1489 and responds to a basilica scheme. It has three separate arches in origin targeted ships that after the reform of the eighteenth century became midpoint, which rest on thick stone columns of smooth wood with hybrid flavor capitals Moorish . The nave, wider and higher, covered with a barrel vault hiding the primitive Mudejar. The side, lower in height, communicating with its headwaters in presbytery by two smaller arches. These ships have so lintel covers, except the two chapels of the header whose floors are covered with square vaults.
Both covers the soffit of the arches are decorated with plaster polychrome. The choir, located at the foot, is supported by two arches between piers and half columns. The presbytery is a rectangular area, raised on stands, covered by a rich diamond alfarje on fallopian troughs with polychrome richly profiles. The triumphal arch has, in the soffit and in the spandrels, plasterwork decoration with rocks and fallen leaves that extend the pilasters. This decoration is applied too exuberantly in the side walls of the chapel, on the arches that communicate with the side and especially at the top which is arranged around the oculi, by cut plates that end in a clumsy cherubs colonial flavor. At the foot of the presbytery of variegated marble pulpit stands with the arms of Bishop Eulate and Santa Cruz, under whose patronage was held in the mid eighteenth century.
From Wikipedia
See also www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMAgwUBqP74
Historically, tin ceilings were introduced to North America as an affordable alternative to the exquisite plasterwork used in European homes. They gained popularity in the late 1800s as Americans sought sophisticated interior design. Durable, lightweight and fireproof, tin ceilings were appealing to home and business owners alike as a functionally attractive design element that was readily available.
Wikipedia
The Todmorden Hippodrome opened as a live theatre on October 9, 1908 with “Two Lancashire Lasses in London”. Seating was provided for 1,500 in orchestra stalls, pit and balcony areas. By 1911 film interludes were part of the programme and by 1917 movies had all but taken over.
The externally plain red brick building is located slightly outside the town centre and this has probably aided its survival. Inside there is attractive Edwardian Baroque style plasterwork on the front of the balcony and around the proscenium arch. The auditorium remains very much as built with the exception that the former ‘pit’ (rear stalls seating beneath the balcony) has been walled off to form a large bar/foyer space for the theatre.
The Hippodrome was the first cinema in Todmorden to present ‘talkies’ which arrived on 17 March 1930 (“Broadway Melody”), it was claimed, at the time, that it was the best installation in the north of England.
Sadly it was the first cinema in the town to close in June 1956. It was then leased to the Todmorden Players and the Todmorden Operatic Societies who still own it. Much renovation work has been carried out over the years and the Hippodrome Theatre is a popular venue for local amateur and small scale professional theatrical productions with seating for 495.
In recent years occasional film shows have been introduced as part of the programming.
IMGP6350 - The Old Sun Inn, established in the fourteenth century, is one of the most illustrious inns in England. The diarist Samuel Pepys and the writer John Evelyn both recorded visits, and Oliver Cromwell is said to have stayed there during the Civil War. It is especially renowned for the ornate plasterwork, or 'pargetting', on its facade, depicting the legendary figures of Tom Hickathrift and the Wisbech Giant. Although the Sun is no longer an inn, the building survives today.
#117 in Flickr Explore Page
Ali Qapu Palace / Isfahan / Iran
Sixth Stage: During this stage a water tower was built in the northern flank for provision of water for the copper pool of the columned verandah. Plaster decorations in reception story and music hall.
The room on the sixth floor is also decorated with plasterwork, representing pots and vessels and one is famous as the music and sound room. It is certainly well worth visiting for the cut out decorations round the room, which represent a considerable artistic feat. These cut out shapes were not placed there to act as cupboards: the stuccowork is most delicate and falls to pieces at the highest touch. So we conclude that it was placed in position in these rooms for ornament and decoration. The rooms were used for private parties and for the King's musicians, and these hollow places in the walls retained the echoes and produced the sounds of the singing and musical instruments clearly in all parts.
You can find more about Ali Qapu Palace here.
ROCHESTER HIGH STREET TQ 7468 SW (Eastgate) 9/140 Eastgate House 24.10.50 GV I Formerly a large private town house, now a museum. Substantially of 1590-1, built by Sir Peter Buck, Clerk of the Acts in the Navy Board, extended and refurbished in the C17; it is possible that the house incorporates some earlier work. Main range of brick; side elevation and rear wings brick and timber framed; some rubble ragstone. Kent tile roofs. Plan: the removal of internal partitions in the C19 and the likely demolition of a range to the E makes reconstruction of the original plan uncertain. Ground floor hall entered by a porch (S) probably into a through passage (opposing entries in situ, screen removed); one room to the left (W) with high status chambers above served by an S stair turret (which forms an important element in the main front) although both turret and W rooms appear to belong to a slightly different building programme to the main range (see change in plinth details). These rooms are largely timber-framed and the side elevation (W) with much jettying forms a secondary show front towards the street. To the right of the hall is another room. A long set of windows in the rear wall, along with a rubble plinth, extend beyond the line of the present end (E) wall into what is now a low lean-to, and this must indicate that the house originally extended to the E. Until the addition of the C17 stairs (situated to the rear of the former through-passage and contained within one of 3 separately gabled wings all of the same date), it is difficult to see how the upper floors of the E and of the house were adequately served and it is probable that the now demolished E part of the house contained a second S stair turret balancing that mentioned above and thereby forming a roughly symmetrical S front. Exterior: S front: 3 storeys and attic. Asymmetrical. 2 storeyed porch is flanked by a gabled bay. The porch has a hipped roof, 1st floor windows to S and E (2 lights with double-ovolo moulded brick surround, mullion and transom); pediment over doorway with pilasters on panelled plinths; stone 4-centred arch has shields in spandrels and large bar stops set high. Each bay has a tripartite window arrangement; 2-light windows to each floor connect with a central 3-storeyed projecting bay, polygonal to left, canted to right, giving continuous glazing across the wings. All windows with timber mullions, transoms and surrounds; most of the woodwork is renewed. To the left the polygonal stair turret with single- light windows under cambered arches, all-brick moulded, moulded string-courses between floors, and projecting gabled roof. To the left again, the plain end wall of the street front, plain brick, but containing a plaque with the herladic device of the Bucj family and 2-light window under hood mould to ground. High Street elevation: 3 storeys and attic, all jettied, with 2 gables. Brick end well corbelled and moulded with a decorative zig-zag vertical strip to 1st floor. Uninterrupted 14 light ground floor window with king mullion, set high under jetty. Similar to 1st and 2nd floors but here broken by - at 1st floor - a 7-light oriel on console brackets and - on 2nd floor - 2 3- light oriels. These long ranks of windows set very high to each floor are presumably intended to light the fine plaster ceilings: see interior. 2-light gable wall windows, decorated bargeboarding and apex and pendants. To the left the side wall of the W rear wing considerably later (see masonry joint and absence of plinth); brick, 2 storeys, with 4-light windows to each floor (that to the 1st floor slightly projecting). Diamond leading. String course. rear: 3 gabled wings, half-hipped upper storeys and attic; 2, 3 and 4-light windows to 1st floor (that to E wing with large mullions, lighting stairs), 2-light windows to gable walls. Interior: although considerable amounts of woodwork, including the porch inner door, are brought from elsewhere, there is some fine plasterwork, and the stone fireplaces appear to be in situ. Hall: wall panelling, fire- surround with pilasters, panelled overmantel with caryatids (not in situ) and inserted ceiling beams. Doorways with cyma moulded surrounds and bar stops set high. Right-hand room with ovllo- moulded ceiling beams; wall panelling, fireplace with stone surround with pulvinated frieze, and Jacobean overmantel not in situr. Open well stairs, C17, turned balusters, square-section newels with finials. 1st floor. Right-hand room with dentil cornice, some panelling and simple fire surround with fluted pilasters. Chamber above hall with fine fire surround (not in situ) with fluted term pilasters and elaborate panelled overmantel. Wall panelling. Between these two rooms is a pierced wooden panel designed to distribute borrowed light: evidence for others exist elsewhere. The most significant interiors are in the W rooms where good plaster ceilings survive to all floors. These are single-ribbed with a variety of geometric patterns (quatrefoils, diamonds, squares etc) with stylised foliage, and heraldic devices. The heraldry (and a rebus to 2nd floor) indicate that they date from Buck's time (ie the 1590s) and as such are a remarkable set of early plasterwork ceilings. Stone fireplaces with 4-centred arches, dated 1590 and 1591. In the attic is some simple line-drawn patternwork on plaster (much remains to be exposed). Side purlin roof; the High Street range is separately roofed.
Note: The single storeyed 3-window range to the rear of Eastgate House and the 2 storeyed 3-window range with which it connects (Charles Dickens Centre) are included in this listing for group value only.
Built with ornate internal mosaic, plasterwork-domed sanctuary and gas lighting, it seated 1000 comfortably and included two flats, half a dozen large classrooms, offices, smaller chapels, and outdoor spaces.
This is a former church turned Methodist church in the UK.
Chatsworth House
Grade I listed
List Entry Number: 1373871
PARISH OF CHATSWORTH CHATSWORTH PARK SK 2570/2670 6/82 29.9.51 Chatsworth House GV I Country house. South wing 1687-9 by William Talman. East front 1689-91 by Talman, west front 1700-03, north front 1705-7 by Thomas Archer. Alterations and additions 1756-60 by James Paine, mostly replaced by alterations and additions including the north wing 1820-42 by Jeffrey Wyatt, later Sir Jeffrey Wyatville. Baroque and Neo-classical styles. For the First, Fourth and Sixth Dukes of Devonshire. Sandstone ashlar (mostly local) with other stones and marbles used for decoration. Roofs hidden behind parapets. Basically preserving the plan of the previous Elizabethan house, of four ranges around a courtyard, and with a long north east wing with a return range to south and wall enclosing a long entrance courtyard. Three floors, the ground floor treated as a basement due to the fall of the land. North wing of one storey over a basement. South front of twelve bays, 3-6-3 with a rusticated basement and two upper floors of equal height. Advanced end pavilions have giant fluted Ionic pilasters. Full entablature with carving to the frieze of the pavilions and bold inscription CAVENDO TUTUS across the centre. Balustrade added in 1693 and urns in 1701. The basement has segment headed glazing bar sashes and in the centre a double return flight staircase, a replacement of 1837 by Wyatville. The first and second floors have twelve glazing bar sashes in moulded architraves with stepped keyblocks. East front of 1-8-1 bays, continues the rusticated basement, entablature, balustrade and urns. Segment headed sashes to ground floor and glazing bar sashes in keyed moulded architraves, to the two upper floors. The end bays are set back and are flanked by paired giant pilasters. The front was altered by Wyatville in 1823, who removed a row of attic windows and refaced the whole front. West front (originally the entrance front) of 3-3-3 bays. The centre three advanced and pedimented, on four fluted Ionic attached columns. The outer bays have giant fluted Ionic pilasters. Rusticated basement with segment headed glazing bar sashes and a central flat arched entrance with moulded architrave. Two tiers of glazing bar sashes above, in moulded architraves with stepped keyblocks, the centre and upper ones decorated with relief carving. Complete entablature with carved frieze, carving also in the pediment. Balustraded parapet with urns. Garlands around the centre windows. Carving by Nadauld and by Samuel Watson. North front of 3-5-3 bays, the centre five forming a shallow curve, taller than the rest. Rusticated basement, giant fluted Corinthian pilsters to the centre bow, and glazing bar sashes in moulded architraves. The facade was altered by Wyatville whose north wing abuts it. He altered the fenestration of the centre part, removing attic windows and making the pilasters fluted. The internal courtyard has elevations of five and seven bays, mostly in their present form as altered by Wyatville. Plain pilasters with carved trophies by Watson. Top floor windows with alternately triangular and segmental pedimented architraves. Wyatville replaced an open colonnade on the south side. North wing has north elevation of 1-5-5-5-1 bays, followed by the orangery of 2-5-2 bays. Of the first part the middle and end bays are divided by plain pilasters and have solid parapets with urns rather than balustraded parapets. Rusticated basement with segment headed glazing bar sashes and glazing bar sashes in moulded architraves above. The orangery has the five middle bays advanced and divided by plain pilasters. Large casement windows. Balustraded parapet, dated 1827. The wing is terminated by a three by six bay pavilion and belvedere, rising to four storeys. Entablatures between storeys, glazing bar sashes in moulded architraves and the corner bays with plain pilasters. The belvedere has open colonnades on all sides. Lower pavilion beyond. Return range to west with gateways and entrance lodges. Tripartite composition with three round-arched carriageways. The centre flanked by paired Tuscan Doric columns, triglyph frieze, entablature and parapet, partly balustraded. Flanked by glazing bar sashes in moulded architraves and rusticated advanced end bays. Partly balustraded parapet. The central gates are re-set and are late C17 by Jean Tijou. Wall to south enclosing entrance courtyard with statues on pedestals. Interior: North entrance hall converted from a kitchen by James Paine. Tuscan Doric columns with triglyphs. Wyatville replaced the chimneypieces and widened the staircase. North corridor enclosed and altered by Wyatville. The Painted Hall of two storey height. Ceilings and walls painted by Laguerre, assisted by Ricard, in 1694. Stone carvings by Samuel Watson. Staircase 1911-12 by W H Romaine-Walker. The south range commences with private apartments, one room with an early C18 chimneypiece, another with early C19 painted panels in the window reveals. The Oak Room has panelling and twisted columns of c1700, brought from Germany by the Sixth Duke. The chapel in the south west corner is of two storeys, with an east gallery. Cedar panelling with limewood carvings by Samuel Watson. Sumptuous Baroque alabaster reredos designed by Cibber and carved by Watson. Completed in 1694. Walls and ceilings painted by Laguerre. On the west side, the west stairs with iron balustrade of 1702 by John Gardom, with wrought iron panels on the landings by Tijou. Painted ceiling by James Thornhill. West entrance hall with Grisaille painting. Leather Room and Lower Library redecorated in 1839 by Crace. The ground floor of the north wing contains service rooms. First floor has mostly private apartments, taking in the upper half of the chapel and hall, except the north wing. On the south side private dining and drawing rooms, basically early C18 but redone in 1780s by John Carr. The dining room was altered by Wyatville. In the west wing the centre bedroom was originally a vestibule and has late C17 panelling. Other rooms with delicate late C18 plasterwork. Duchess' dressing room ceiling by Joseph Palfreyman, 1775. The Red Velvet Room has a chimneypiece by Kent. On the north side the Library made in 1832 by Wyatville with woodwork and fittings by Armstrong and Siddons. Late C17 ceiling with painting by Verrio. The Ante-Library by Wyatville with ceiling painting by Hayter. To the north the suite of rooms in Wyatville's north wing. Dome Room, the Great Dining Room with segmental arched coffered ceiling and chimneypiece by Westmacott the Younger and Sievier. Sculpture Gallery lit by three lantern skylights. At the north end ormolu capitals to the columns, by Delafontaine of Paris. Bas reliefs by Thorwaldsen and collection of neo-classical sculpture. Second floor contains the state rooms along the south wing. Great Staircase designed by Talman (1689-90). Ceiling by Verrio; statues and doorcases by Cibber, balustrade by Tijou. The state Dining Room, Drawing Room, Music Room and Bedroom fill the south side. They have painted ceilings by Verrio, Laguerre and Ricardi and a profusion of wood carving by the London carvers Lobb, Davis and Young, assisted by Watson. The rooms were decorated in 1689-99, but only the Dining Room survives in its original state. In the centre of the west wing is the Sabine Bedroom, originally a lobby, with uninterrupted illusionist painting over ceiling and walls by Thornhill (1708). In the north wing are smaller family rooms and in the east wing the Queen of Scots Rooms, a suite of rooms redone by Wyatville c1830. The oak stairs between ground and first floor are by Wyatville, 1823-4. At the end of Wyatville's wing is the Theatre, designed in 1833 as a banqueting chamber. The painted ceiling panels of c1700 by Cheron and Thornhill, were originally in the Library. Sources: William, 6th Duke of Devonshire Handbook of Chatsworth & Hardwick, London 1844. J Lees-Milne and J Cornforth Chatsworth. Nine articles in Country Life April-September 1968. Duchess of Devonshire The House: A Portrait of Chatsworth MacMillan 1982.
Listing NGR: SK2602270104
Sources
Books and journals
Devonshire, William Duke of, Handbook of Chatsworth and Hardwick, (1844)
Devonshire, Duchess of , The House a Portrait of Chatsworth, (1982)
'Country Life' in September, (1968)
Saltram House is a Georgian mansion in Plympton, on the east side of Plymouth. The beautiful house that can be seen today is the work of Robert Adam, who altered the original Tudor house on two occasions. The saloon (main drawing room) is sometimes cited as one of Adam's finest interiors. Complete with all of the original decor, plasterwork and furnishings, Saltram is one of Britain's best preserved examples of an early Georgian house. Originally home to the Parker family and Earls of Morley, Saltram House changed hands when, in 1957, it became the property of the National Trust.
John Parker inherited the house in 1743 and along with his wealthy wife, Lady Catherine Parker, (who largely funded the remodelling), clothed the building with symmetrical Palladian facades which cover the Tudor origins of the house. The interiors of the house were given delicate touches including Rococo ceiling plasterwork in the Entrance Hall, Morning Room and Velvet Drawing Room.
Parker's son, who was later created Lord Boringdon, succeeded his father in 1768, and the next few years are considered Saltram's golden age. Robert Adam was appointed to create a suite of neo-classical rooms along the east front which reaches its climax in the Saloon, perhaps the most iconic of all of Saltram House's rooms. Adam, who was the most fashionable architect and interior designer of the day, created everything from the door handles to the huge plasterwork ceiling. Not to be confined to the inside of the property, Boringdon also commissioned Nathaniel Richmond to lay out the present parkland which surrounds the house
Built in 1928, this Art Deco-style building was designed by R. Harold Zook and William F. McCaughey to serve as a movie theater for the growing Chicago suburb of Park Ridge. The building features sculptures by Alfonso Iannelli, and is clad in limestone with a large entrance tower featuring a ziggurat-esque roof, bronze lanterns atop the tower and the two flanking piers, fluted panels, decorative pilasters, a large marquee with stylized Mayan-inspired reliefs, Chicago-style windows at the second floor offices, tall arched bays at the tower, and large first-floor bays home to multiple retail shopfronts. Inside, the building features a high-ceilinged lobby with decorative polychromatic geometric reliefs and stencils, marble-clad walls, decorative plasterwork, Art Deco statues, and decorative light fixtures in the corridor to the auditorium, geometric paneled wooden doors, and an auditorium with Mayan-inspired geometric motifs, a coffered ceiling with a large floral mural, and decorative geometric grilles. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Today, the building remains in use as a movie theater.
A panoramic view of Blenheim Palace and Vanbrugh's Grand Bridge.
Blenheim Palace
A masterpiece of Baroque architecture, Blenheim Palace provides an awe-inspiring experience for visitors.
Home to the 12th Duke of Marlborough and his family and the birth place of Sir Winston Churchill, Blenheim Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site boasting a long and diverse history.
Blenheim Palace was built as a gift to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, from Queen Anne and a grateful nation in thanks for his victory at the Battle of Blenheim on 13th August 1704.
Today, the Palace is home to one of the most important and extensive collections in Europe, which includes portraits, furniture, sculpture and tapestries.
Amongst the many treasures to be found in the State Rooms are the famous Marlborough Tapestries ( the 'Victories Series') in the Green Writing Room and the First, Second and Third State Rooms.
The magnificent Long Library has walls lined with more than 10,000 books, many of them hundreds of years old and of great historic significance.
The Grand Bridge
The Grand Bridge was designed by John Vanbrugh and built between the years of 1708-1724. The Bridge was designed to provide a level arrival route connecting the main drive to the Palace and was described as being “a mansion” and a “cool retreat in summer.” Internally, there were a number of rooms.
The bridge has a 30-metre-wide central arch, flanked by smaller arches, and four corner towers.
It measures more than 120 metres in length and stands at 15 metres tall.
By 1774, Capability Brown had flooded the valley and submerged the lower rooms of the Bridge.
When restoration work was undertaken in 2018 and the lake levels lowered these rooms were seen for the first time in over 250 years. A large number of rooms and passageways, some containing original plasterwork, stairways and potentially cooking ranges were revealed.
Blenheim Palace today is still the home of the Churchill family. It is currently the home of the Twelfth Duke of Marlborough, Charles James Spencer-Churchill. The land is now owned by the king since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The family has paid rent for the land for the past 300 years. It is the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace.
The Palace and Bridge are Grade I Listed.
Soho Theatre (Granada), Walthamstow - a panoramic stitch of seven portrait mode shots, showing the whole of the auditorium. Opened on the 15 September 1930, designed by Cecil Masey with interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky, and built on the enlarged site of the earlier Victoria Cinema. The Granada had 2,697 seats in stalls and balcony, with a strongly Moorish influence to the spectacular foyers and auditorium. It was tripled in 1974, with two mini cinemas under the balcony - the front stalls were removed and the stage lost live usage. The theatre was grade 2 listed in 1987 (upped to Grade 2* in 2000). Later known as ABC, MGM and EMD Cinemas, the venue closed in 2003 and was sold to a church, who were refused planning consent for change of use on several occasions. It was sold again, in a derelict state, in 2014 and parts of the building were reopened as a bar and live entertainment venue known as Mirth. In 2019 it was bought by Waltham Forest Borough Council and, in conjunction with the Soho Theatre, they began a restoration process. This saw the main auditorium restored as a 1,000 theatre, the rear stalls had the original plasterwork restored to become a unique bar, the rear of the circle, again with original features, is now a community / rehearsal room, the circle foyer is a stylish bar, and the foyers restored (with full disabled access adaptations) to original splendour. The architects for the scheme were Pilbrow & Partners, and the main contractor was Wilmott Dixon. Soho Walthamstow, as the theatre is now known, reopened in May 2025 and the theatre is now very comfortable and looks stunning, there is some of the best front-of-house space existing in a theatre, wiith brand-new artiste rooms and a widened stage. What it lacks is the original organs, now in storage, awaiting sufficient money (£1million+) to be restored and reinstated.
London Borough of Waltham Forest, Walthamstow, London, UK - former Granada Cinema, Hoe Street
July 2025
James Nisbet 1761; mid 19th century alterations; and later additions to form hotel. Polished ashlar except north end. East, entrance front is 7 bays with a high plinth and continuous cill-course at the ground floor, centre 3 bays advanced and pedimented; the central door with its curved balustraded entrance steps, bracketted hood and side-lights is mid-19th century. Cornice and blocking course at wallhead, pediment with Dickson arms. Extending to north and south are mid 19th century
Interior: outstanding plasterwork attributed to Thomas Perritt and Joseph Rose, sen. Fine joinerwork, chimney pieces etc.
Built for James Dickson originally called Havannah House. The mid 19th century alterations are probably of c. 1845 when Peter Robertson succeeded to the estate. This date is on cast-iron plaques fixed to the 19th century garden walls.
Excerpt from wellingtoncityheritage.org.nz:
The McDonald Building, built in 1920 is a three storey Classical style commercial building with a relatively unchanged main facade. Its strong rhythmic quality, modest scale and level of decorative interest combine to give the building a strong aesthetic value.
The McDonald Building makes a significant contribution to the townscape qualities and sense of place of the important Willis Street/ Manners Street/Boulcott Street intersection.
The billiard saloon that occupied the building for many years, the retail and office tenants, and the NZ Symphony Orchestra which occupied it for 14 years, have all given the building some historic significance.
The original architectural drawings for the McDonald Building show it as eight bays wide and two storeys high. It is not known when the decision to make it three storeys was made, but the front facade to Willis Street today certainly looks as though it was intended to be built as three storeys, with architectural features on the first and second floors matching closely. Although the windows are casements, and therefore modern for the date of construction, the heavily bracketed cornice at roof level and the ornamental parapet give the building an Edwardian character that had been popular a decade earlier and this is likely to have been one of the last buildings to be constructed in this style in Wellington.
The original layout of the building was three shops on the ground floor with a passage at the south end through to the single-storey portion which was at the back, a billiard room with space for 15 tables. This space was spanned by five unusually profiled angle-iron trusses, with ventilators and skylights set in the roof. The floors above the shops were laid out as offices, and are now apartments.
Construction was in load-bearing masonry, 9” (23cm) and 14” (35.5cm) thick walls, with reinforced concrete beams at each floor level, and concrete floors. The verandah is hung from the wall, while the decorative plasterwork on the facade above the verandah (window architraves, cornices, brackets and parapet) match that shown on the original drawings. (The drawings are dated 25 June 1919.) The front building (originally shops and offices) is therefore authentic in its architectural detail. The rear building (originally the billiards hall) has been much altered, the ground floor is currently used for carparking (2012) and the original roof space was converted to apartments in 1994.
The McDonald Building has important townscape quality, especially in the view looking north along Willis Street where it is seen in conjunction with the former St George Hotel and Henry Pollen house. The facade has a strong rhythmic quality, a modest scale and a level of decorative interest that combine to make it an inner city commercial building of considerable interest.
It belongs to the romantic-revivalist period and was built around 1922 by the master sculptor of Sintra, José da Fonseca. Its decoration is Arab in inspiration, with neo mudejar azulejos, painted plasterwork and sculptured decoration.
For more photos of Portugal, please click HERE.
THIS ELIZABETHAN HALL AND STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER CALDER IN PADIHAM IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE. THE HALL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1600 AND 1605 GAWTHORPE HALL WAS THE FAMILY HOME OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH FAMILY FOR OVER 300 YEARS. INSIDE THE HOUSE YOU WILL FIND PERIOD ROOMS ON DISPLAY FROM THE 1850 REMODELLING BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT SIR CHARLES BARRY AND PUGIN AS WELL AS ORIGINAL PLASTERWORK CEILINGS, PANELLING AND THE IMPRESSIVE LONG GALLERY. ALSO ON DISPLAY ARE OVER 200 PIECES FROM THE NATIONALLY IMPORTANT GAWTHORPE TEXTILE COLLECTION.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY HAS LOANED OVER 20 PAINTINGS TO THE HALL ALL OF WHICH ILLUSTRATE ITS FASCINATING CONNECTIONS AND HISTORY, PARTICULARLY WITH THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. GAWTHORPE HALL IS AN ARTISTIC AND HISTORIC TREASURE TROVE IN THE MIDDLE OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE.
GAWTHORPE HALL IS CLOSED COMPLETELY FOR THE REST OF 2015. THIS IS DUE TO MAJOR BUILDING CONSERVATION WORK TO THE HALL, AND IS EXPECTED BE OPEN FULLY FOR 2016.
THIS ELIZABETHAN HALL AND STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER CALDER IN PADIHAM IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE. THE HALL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1600 AND 1605 GAWTHORPE HALL WAS THE FAMILY HOME OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH FAMILY FOR OVER 300 YEARS. INSIDE THE HOUSE YOU WILL FIND PERIOD ROOMS ON DISPLAY FROM THE 1850 REMODELLING BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT SIR CHARLES BARRY AND PUGIN AS WELL AS ORIGINAL PLASTERWORK CEILINGS, PANELLING AND THE IMPRESSIVE LONG GALLERY. ALSO ON DISPLAY ARE OVER 200 PIECES FROM THE NATIONALLY IMPORTANT GAWTHORPE TEXTILE COLLECTION.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY HAS LOANED OVER 20 PAINTINGS TO THE HALL ALL OF WHICH ILLUSTRATE ITS FASCINATING CONNECTIONS AND HISTORY, PARTICULARLY WITH THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. GAWTHORPE HALL IS AN ARTISTIC AND HISTORIC TREASURE TROVE IN THE MIDDLE OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE.
GAWTHORPE HALL IS CLOSED COMPLETELY FOR THE REST OF 2015. THIS IS DUE TO MAJOR BUILDING CONSERVATION WORK TO THE HALL, AND IS EXPECTED BE OPEN FULLY FOR 2016.
This enormous 19th-century neo-Norman castle sits between Snowdonia and the Menai Strait.
It's crammed with fascinating items, such as a one-ton slate bed made for Queen Victoria, elaborate carvings, plasterwork and mock-Norman furniture. It also has an outstanding collection of paintings.
The City Hall, Dublin (Irish: Halla na Cathrach, Baile Átha Cliath), originally the Royal Exchange, is a civic building in Dublin, Ireland. It was built between 1769 and 1779 to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley and is a notable example of 18th-century architecture in the city.
Located at the top of Parliament Street on the city's southern side, the City Hall building stands next to Dublin Castle, the centre of the British government in Ireland until 1922. Parliament Street had been laid-out in 1753, providing a continuation of Capel Street on the north bank of the Liffey, across the newly widened Essex Bridge.
Originally built as the Royal Exchange, the structure was designed by Thomas Cooley, who had won a design competition run for the project between 1768 and 1769. The exterior of the building is primarily made out of white Portland stone from a quarry in Dorset. The large size and fittings of the exchange, with carved capitals by Simon Vierpyl, and plasterwork by the leading stuccodore Charles Thorpe, reflect the standing and prestige of Dublin in the 18th Century. The neo-classical building contains a central entrance hall or Rotunda, with a large dome supported by twelve columns which are surrounded by an ambulatory where the merchants strolled and discussed business meetings.
The function of the building was to provide a meeting place for Dublin's businessmen, where they could buy and sell goods and trade bills of exchange. It was also close to the then Customs House that stood on the site of today's Clarence Hotel, making it convenient for overseas merchants. The cost of building the exchange was met by the Parliament of Ireland, and this is reflected by the initials "SPQH", standing for "Senatus PopulusQue Hibernicus", meaning "The senate and people of Ireland" (an Irish version of SPQR).
The city government had originally been located in the mediæval Tholsel at the corner of Nicholas Street and Christchurch Place, approximately 300 metres to the west (where the 'Peace Park' is today), and before that on the Thingmount, where Suffolk Street now runs. In the 18th century, meetings were held in South William Street (formerly the Civic Museum).
In 1815 the metal balustrade of the exchange fell, owing to the pressure against it by a crowd, which led to the death of nine people, with much more injured. This led to crowd restrictions in the building.
In the 1850s, the City Corporation bought the Royal Exchange and converted it for use by the city government. The changes included partitions around the ambulatory, the construction of a new staircase from the Rotunda to the upper floors and the sub-division of the vaults for storage. On 30 September 1852, the Royal Exchange was renamed City Hall at the first meeting of Dublin City Council held there. (The ward name "Royal Exchange" was retained, corresponding to the current electoral divisions of Royal Exchange A and B.)[8][9] A series of frescos were later added, representing the regions of Ireland.
During the 1916 Easter Rising, the City Hall was used as a garrison for the Irish Citizen Army.
Sean Connolly seized the building using a key which he obtained as he worked in the motor department and had access to the building. There were 35 people based here, mostly women. It was in this area where the first casualty of the rising, a guard named James O’Brien, occurred at Dublin Castle and he was shot by Sean Connolly while on duty. In total, the entire siege lasted about 12 hours
ASTLEY HALL IS A MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY HOUSED WITHIN A GRADE I LISTED HISTORIC HOUSE. THE HALL IS SET WITHIN THE BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS OF ASTLEY PARK WHICH INCLUDE HISTORIC WOODLAND, A LAKE, AND A FULLY RENOVATED VICTORIAN WALLED GARDEN ALONGSIDE CLEAN AND MODERN FACILITIES FOR VISITORS TO ENJOY.
THE HALL IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR ITS STUNNING JACOBEAN PLASTERWORK CEILINGS AND THE HOUSE IS BUILT AROUND AN INTERNAL ELIZABETHAN COURTYARD. THE FOUR WINGS OF THE HOUSE WERE EXTENDED BY THE FAMILIES WHO LIVED HERE AND MOST OF THE ORIGINAL FEATURES ARE RETAINED TO THIS DAY. THE HOUSE CONTAINS MUCH OAK FURNITURE FROM THE 1600S, INCLUDING THE SIRLOIN CHAIR AND A 27FT LONG SHOVEL BOARD TABLE.
The story of East Riddlesden Hall has been shaped over the years by the contrasting influences of town and countryside, agriculture and industry, civil war and peace. This intimate 17th century manor house built above the River Aire was once at the heart of the agricultural estate of Riddlesden.
The early site
A manor has existed on this site since the 7th century.
Following the Norman invasion in 1066 and subsequent conquest, ownership of the site is believed to have passed from an Anglo-Saxon family to the Norman de Montalt’s.
1300s
A medieval hall was built in the early 1300s by descendants of the Norman de Montalt family, where the now-ruined Starkie wing stands.
1400s
In 1466 a house was constructed south of the medieval hall by the Paslew family.
Between 1466-1590 the house was extended to double its original size. This range of dates has been established through a test of the ornate plasterwork ceilings which are still in evidence in the Hall today.
1600s
In the 17th century the Hall was transformed into a comfortable manor house by James Murgatroyd, who had made his fortune in the Halifax woollen cloth industry. James bought the manor and 2000 acre estate of Riddlesden from the Rishworth family in 1638 for approximately £6,000, which would be valued at £6,000,000 today.
James was a keen builder and East Riddlesden was intended as a home for his eldest son John.
The property purchased by James looked very different from that which we see today. His alterations to the house were extensive and ostentatious.
The south end was remodelled to create the current two-storey block, and changes were made to the original medieval hall. The Great Hall was built as a temporary weatherproof structure to link the new Murgatroyd block with the original medieval hall during the re-building programme.
Sadly, James died in 1653 before his alterations to the property were completed.
The architecture and external decoration helped to create an impression of the owner’s quirky sense of style which is still revealed to us today.
Post 1600s
History still continued to be written at East Riddlesden Hall after James' death, and for 300 years after, the house was loved by a number of families before being saved from demolition in 1933
When it opened in 1897, the Van Nuys was one of the finest hotels in Los Angeles. It was the first hotel to provide telephone and electric service to every room. There were thirty-two rooms on each floor with sixty private baths and ten public baths. It is the oldest hotel in continuous operation in Los Angeles.
The hotel was a commercial investment by Isaac Newton Van Nuys, one of Los Angeles’ wealthiest businessmen and landowners.
Designed by the firm of Morgan and Walls, the six-story Beaux Arts-style building with Romanesque features cost over $275,000 to build. The ground floor featured large picture windows, with art-glass transoms above the lobby windows on 4th Street. The second floor exterior is of terra cotta scored to mimic blocks of stone, while the upper stories are sheathed in cream-colored pressed brick. Pilasters with Corinthian capitals rise from the second to the sixth floor, separating banks of paired windows. The building is capped by a modest cornice, under which is a plain band ornamented only with rondelles above each pier, and the building’s name, “The Van Nuys” in the center on the Fourth Street and Main Street elevations.
The Fourth Street lobby still retains many original elements, including Sullivanesque plasterwork, ceiling decorations, columns, and arched doorways. The stained glass windows in the lobby feature old-fashioned scenes of banqueting, fine ladies, and music. One panel has a crest with the initials “V. N.” held up by sea horses.
The Barclay is currently operated as a low-income residential hotel.
This is the kitchen at Saltram House in Plympton on the outskirts of Plymouth. The original Tudor house was re-worked by the outstanding English architect Robert Adam in the early 1770s. Complete with all of the original decor, plasterwork and furnishings, Saltram is one of Britain's best preserved examples of an early Georgian house. Originally home to the Parker family and Earls of Morley, Saltram House changed hands when, in 1957, it became the property of the National Trust.
ASTLEY HALL IS A MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY HOUSED WITHIN A GRADE I LISTED HISTORIC HOUSE. THE HALL IS SET WITHIN THE BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS OF ASTLEY PARK WHICH INCLUDE HISTORIC WOODLAND, A LAKE, AND A FULLY RENOVATED VICTORIAN WALLED GARDEN ALONGSIDE CLEAN AND MODERN FACILITIES FOR VISITORS TO ENJOY.
THE HALL IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR ITS STUNNING JACOBEAN PLASTERWORK CEILINGS AND THE HOUSE IS BUILT AROUND AN INTERNAL ELIZABETHAN COURTYARD. THE FOUR WINGS OF THE HOUSE WERE EXTENDED BY THE FAMILIES WHO LIVED HERE AND MOST OF THE ORIGINAL FEATURES ARE RETAINED TO THIS DAY. THE HOUSE CONTAINS MUCH OAK FURNITURE FROM THE 1600S, INCLUDING THE SIRLOIN CHAIR AND A 27FT LONG SHOVEL BOARD TABLE.
Long and crooked, this room at Little Moreton Hall is full of character. The tour guide (facing) explained that the ornate plasterwork depicts the 'wheel of fortune' and the 'spear of destiny'. All very interesting, but it was the light streaming in from the right that had my attention, and I received a stern look from my daughter as I pressed the camera's shutter button resulting in a loud 'clunk'... haha... these older cameras weren't made for stealth :D
Thanks for looking!
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Praktica MTL3 / Optomax 35mm lens / Kodak Tri-X 400
Taken at film speed - developed in Ilfosol 3 (1:9, 7'30" - agitation first minute and then inverted once every 30")
The Grand Cafe is situated at the rear of South Western House, a building with a long and fascinating history. The Restaurant itself was originally the Wedgwood Ballroom, with its traditional blue and white colour scheme seen in the plasterwork. There are only a couple of these rooms still to be seen in the UK, and most of them are in London.
There is also photographic evidence that the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited the Hotel and indeed danced in the Wedgwood Ballroom.
Definitely Dreaming 'buildings' theme. 19/52
Shot 36/100 x (square format)
THIS ELIZABETHAN HALL AND STANDS ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER CALDER IN PADIHAM IN THE HEART OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE. THE HALL WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1600 AND 1605 GAWTHORPE HALL WAS THE FAMILY HOME OF THE SHUTTLEWORTH FAMILY FOR OVER 300 YEARS. INSIDE THE HOUSE YOU WILL FIND PERIOD ROOMS ON DISPLAY FROM THE 1850 REMODELLING BY RENOWNED ARCHITECT SIR CHARLES BARRY AND PUGIN AS WELL AS ORIGINAL PLASTERWORK CEILINGS, PANELLING AND THE IMPRESSIVE LONG GALLERY. ALSO ON DISPLAY ARE OVER 200 PIECES FROM THE NATIONALLY IMPORTANT GAWTHORPE TEXTILE COLLECTION.
THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY HAS LOANED OVER 20 PAINTINGS TO THE HALL ALL OF WHICH ILLUSTRATE ITS FASCINATING CONNECTIONS AND HISTORY, PARTICULARLY WITH THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR. GAWTHORPE HALL IS AN ARTISTIC AND HISTORIC TREASURE TROVE IN THE MIDDLE OF INDUSTRIAL LANCASHIRE.
GAWTHORPE HALL IS CLOSED COMPLETELY FOR THE REST OF 2015. THIS IS DUE TO MAJOR BUILDING CONSERVATION WORK TO THE HALL, AND IS EXPECTED BE OPEN FULLY FOR 2016.