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Plas Mawr (English: Great Hall)[1] is an Elizabethan townhouse in Conwy, North Wales, dating from the 16th century. The property was built by Robert Wynn, a member of the local gentry, following his marriage to his first wife, Dorothy Griffith. Plas Mawr occupied a plot of land off Conwy's High Street and was constructed in three phases between 1576 and 1585 at a total cost of around £800.[a] Wynn was known for his hospitality, and the household was supported by Wynn's local dairy herds, orchards and gardens. On his death he laid out complex instructions for dividing his estate; the resulting law-case took years to resolve, effectively preventing the redevelopment of the house and preserving it in its original condition.
After 1683 Plas Mawr passed into the hands of the Mostyn family and ceased to be used as a family home. It was rented out for various purposes during the 18th and 19th centuries, including for use as a school, cheap lodgings and finally as the headquarters of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art. In the 20th century the house became increasingly well known for its preserved Elizabethan architecture, but the costs of maintenance grew considerably and its condition deteriorated. The Welsh heritage agency Cadw took over the management of the property in 1993 and carried out an extensive, 42-month-long restoration project at a total cost of £3.3 million. With many of its rooms redecorated to resemble their condition in 1665, and replanted Renaissance gardens, it is now run as a tourist attraction.
Architecturally, Plas Mawr is almost unchanged from the 16th century, and the historian Rick Turner considers the house to be "the finest surviving town house of the Elizabethan era".[1] Plas Mawr shows a blend of continental Renaissance and local North Wales influences, with an innovative floor-plan and architectural detailing. The house still retains much of its original plasterwork, which incorporates symbols, badges and heraldry, which the historian Peter Smith has described as "the most perfect and the most complete memorial to Elizabethan Wales."[3] The architecture of the house influenced other contemporary projects in North Wales, and was later copied during the 19th and 20th centuries in buildings around the town of Conwy, including the local police station and nearby hotel.
Craigievar Castle in North East Scotland seems like a fairytale castle. It stands seven stories tall and inside it's such a maze of rooms linked by narrow spiral staircases that access is very limited - we had to wait nearly an hour to get in, and we were told they do not even accept tour buses.
Craigievar is an excellent example of the Scottish Barnial architecture, and originally had more elaborate defences including a walled courtyard with four round towers, of which only a small section remains today. Inside, the castle is renowned for its lavish plasterwork ceilings. No photography is allowed inside.
Craigievar was founded when the merchant William Forbes purchased an impoverished and only partially comlpeted structure on this site from the Mortimer family in 1610. Craigievar was completed in 1626 for the William Forbes, eventhough his fortunes were insufficient for the construction. It was in fact the Archbishop of Aberdeen, Alexander, brother of William who paid for the castle. As the seat of the Clan Sempill, the Forbes-Sempill Family resided at Craigievar until 1963, when the property was gifted to the National Trust for Scotland.
* This photo was posted Uncredited by 'Jock in da pool' in the www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=22235724&postco...
Levens Hall is a manor house in the Kent valley, near Kendal, Cumbria, Northern England. The first house on the site was a pele tower built by the Redman family in around 1350. Much of the present building dates from the Elizabethan era, when the Bellingham family extended the house. The Bellinghams, who were responsible for the fine panelling and plasterwork in the main rooms, sold the house and estate in 1689 to Colonel James Grahme, or Graham, Keeper of the Privy Purse to King James II, who made a number of additions to the house in the late 17th century. His son Henry Graham was a knight of the shire for Westmorland.
Further additions were made in the early 19th century.
Levens is now owned by the Bagot family and is open to the public.
Circa 1891 - Queen Annes Almshouses in St John Street, Newport Pagnell Buckinghamshire 23Apr grade II listed.
The History for these Almshouse goes back a long way although the current building dates to 1891.
Info from Historic England.
Name: QUEEN ANNES ALMSHOUSES
Designation Type: Listing
Grade: II
List UID: 1380128
History: The almshouses were originally founded in 1287 as St John Hospital, and were re-founded in 1615 for elderly and poor persons of the town, by deed of a charter granted by James I, and which directed that the name be changed to Queen Anne's Hospital. It was rebuilt in 1825, and again in 1891 to the design of Ernest Taylor, a former assistant of E S Harris.
Five almshouses. 1891, by Ernest Taylor. Red brick in Flemish bond with close-studded timber-framing with plastered infill to 1st floor. Plain tile roof; brick chimneys. The building comprises a low single-storey wing containing Nos 34, 36, and 38, set back behind a wall on the street line; and a 2-storey cross-wing at left (south) end containing Nos 40 and 42. Near left end of single-storey range is entrance lobby with a battened door set in a secondary 2-centred arch. Four pairs of sash windows with wide boxes, and raised external architraves and cornice. Moulded sills. The upper sash of each window is subdivided into 8 panes. Between the 3rd and 4th pairs, a single sash window of similar design. One small dormer window against the cross wing. 3 tall corniced stacks.
The cross-wing has battered base and an end buttress. The upper floor is jettied, carried on timber brackets on stone corbels, and has a deep pulvinated fascia and moulded plasterwork in the lower panels of the timber framing and a four-light paned window. Above, a shallow jettied bressumer carries the studded gable end. Moulded bargeboards. A painted board applied to the lower panels of the upper floor reads, in dubious period English, AL YOV CHRISTIANS THAT HERE DOOE PAS / BY GIVE SOOME THING TO THESE POORE PEOPLE / THAT IN ST JOHN HOSPITAL DOETH LY. A D 1615. To either side, small slate panels set in the moulded plaster, record the foundations and the periods of rebuilding, and are signed by the Vicar and churchwardens, in 1891 by the master, the Rev C M Ottley and governors.: a continuous open raised cloister walk, with moulded timber handrail between turned newels with knob finials. Windows as before. Two doors. One flat-roofed dormer. Interior: The through-passage is arched at the back, and has on the left, the stair to No 42 on the first floor. Unmoulded 6-panelled doors to the ground floor, 4-panel door to the upper dwelling.
Kingston Lacy was built in 1663-5 for Sir Ralph Bankes by Sir Roger Pratt after the Bankes family’s main seat, Corfe Castle, was ruined during the Commonwealth. In 1835-40, the rising star of Victorian architecture, Sir Charles Barry - who also built the Houses of Parliament - encased the building in stone. The present house may prompt regret at the loss of one of the great Caroline country houses, but Barry’s Italianate palace has a power and grace all its own. The interiors were refitted to provide a suitably opulent setting for the outstanding collections of paintings and other works of art acquired by William John Bankes. The interiors are lavishly decorated and include the spectacular Spanish Room, with an early 17th-century Venetian ceiling and hangings of gilded leather; neo-Caroline ceiling plasterwork; oak and cedar panelling; and a coved and painted 18th-century saloon ceiling.
Falkland Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Falkland, Fife, Scotland. The structure, which has been converted for use as offices and as shops, is a Category A listed building.
The first municipal building in the town was an old tolbooth which dated back to the 17th century. By the late 18th century, it was in a dilapidated condition and the burgh leaders, who also had ambitions for a new school, decided to demolish the old tolbooth and to erect a new town hall, which would also accommodate the school, on the same site. The new building was designed by Thomas Barclay of Balbirnie in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1801.
The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto the High Street; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a square headed doorway enclosed by a round headed arch with voussoirs; there was a tri-partite mullioned window on the first floor and a pediment with the burgh coat of arms in the tympanum above. The outer bays were fenestrated by round headed sash windows on the ground floor and square headed sash windows on the first floor, and there were balustrades under each of the first-floor windows. The eastern elevation, facing onto Back Wynd, was designed in a similar style but, in the outer bays, the first-floor windows were blind, and, above the central pediment, there was a square tower which was surmounted by an octagonal belfry, a spire and a weather vane. Internally, the principal rooms were the classroom on the ground floor and the burgh council chamber on the first floor. The council chamber contained some fine decorative plasterwork. The bell, which had been cast by a Dutch foundryman, Michael Burgerhuys of Middelburg, in 1630 was recovered from the old tolbooth and a clock was designed and manufactured by James Ritchie & Son and installed in the tower in 1858.
The town clerk, Charles Gulland, and other council officers relocated to Bank House, on the opposite side of Back Wynd, in around 1900. The building continued to serve as the meeting place of the burgh council for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged North-East Fife District Council was formed in 1975. The first floor of the building was subsequently converted for commercial use and the ground floor, after being used as a post office, was converted for use as a shop.
In 2016, the town hall was used to depict the Inverness County Records Office when it appeared in the television series, Outlander. Info: Wikipedia
The Lion is a late 15th century hotel, which is protected by Grade I Listing.
The hotel, comprises of 3 buildings. Earliest building is late C15, altered early C19, the others late C18. Earliest building render over timber-frame with plain tiled roof, the others brick, roofs not visible behind parapets.
EXTERIOR: earliest building in the middle of the row: 3 storeys, 2-window range. Tripartite sashes with traceried glazing in brick lower storey are C20 insertions, echoing the design of the upper windows. First floor has projecting outer bays with traceried tripartite sashes linked by a balcony with paired cusped arches over it. Traceried glazing to horizontally sliding sashes in upper storey.
Main block to right built as hotel in later C18, possibly incorporating earlier structure. 4 storeys, 6-window range. Painted brick to ground floor, with central door with Doric columns carrying entablature which supports statue of lion, flanked by 12-pane sash windows. Carriage entry to right. Upper windows also 12-pane sashes with flat-arched gauged brick heads (6 panes to attic). Central windows have moulded stone architraves. Plain parapet eaves. Rear wing with bowed gable end and round-arched windows houses ball room and music room. Parapet has stone panel with mutilated coat of arms, and formerly supported a lion carved by John Nelson of Shrewsbury in 1777.
Lower block incorporated into hotel is c1800. 2 storeys, 4-window range. Painted brick to lower storey. Doorway to right in open pediment, and 3 round-arched windows with traceried glazing recessed in round-arched arcade. Upper windows are 12-pane sashes with flat-arched gauged brick heads. Moulded cornice to parapet eaves, gable end stacks.
INTERIOR: exposed framing visible in central section. Ball room in rear wing on ground floor has dado panelling and fine plasterwork panels between windows. Music room above has very fine and elaborate decorative scheme in the style of Adam, with low relief plaster swags and emblems of music in wall panels, plain dado and enriched frieze. Paired marble fireplaces. Balcony carried on polished marble columns, now partitioned below. Open hall in front block is an early C20 feature, perhaps based on original structure, though nothing survives. Wide segmentally-arched stone fireplace with quatrefoil timber panels in hood. Leaded lights with armorial stained glass panels. An historic inn, closely associated with the London - Holyhead mail coaches and with such persons as Dickens, De Quncey, Paganini and Jenny Lind.
Boroujerdi Historical House, Kashan, Iran.
The house was built in 1857 by architect Ostad Ali Maryam, for the bride of Haji Mehdi Borujerdi, a wealthy merchant. The bride came from the affluent Tabatabaei family, for whom Ali Maryam had built the Tabatabaei House some years earlier. It consists of a rectangular beautiful courtyard, delightful wall paintings by the royal painter Kamal-ol-molk, and three 40 meter tall wind towers which help cool the house to unusually cool temperatures. It has 3 entrances, and all the classic signatures of traditional Persian residential architecture, such as biruni and daruni (andarun). The house took eighteen years to build using 150 craftsmen. It has three entrances and all the classic signatures of Persian architecture. The main entrance is in the form of an octagonal vestibule with multilateral skylights in the ceiling. Near the entrance is a five-door chamber with intricate plasterwork. Walking through a narrow corridor, one reaches a vast rectangular courtyard that has a pool and is flanked by trees and flowerbeds. The house is famous for its unusual wind towers, which are made of stone, brick, sun-baked bricks and a composition of clay, straw and mortar. Three 40-meter-tall wind towers help cool the house to unusually cool temperatures. Even the basements consistently benefit from the flow of cool air from the wind towers. Since exceptional attention has been paid to minute architectural details demanded by the geographical and climatic conditions of the area, the house has attracted considerable attention of architects as well as Iranian and foreign scientific and technical teams. While Boroujerdi House used to be a private home, it is now open to the public as a museum. The museum is divided into four sections, namely reception, ceremonies, residential halls and rooms.
The Italian Gardens and South Wing of Towneley Hall, Burnley, Lancashire
The Hall was the home of the Towneley family for more than 500 years (the Towneley family were an important Catholic family and once owned extensive estates in and around Burnley, the West Riding of Yorkshire and County Durham). The male line of the family died out in 1878 and in 1901 one of the daughters, Lady O'Hagan, sold the house together with 62 acres of land to Burnley Corporation. The family departed in March 1902, leaving behind a building almost completely empty except for a couple of tables and a few pictures in the chapel. The park was opened to the public in June 1902, and in May 1903 the Great Hall and the south wing of the house were opened for a temporary art exhibition.
The Hall has been closed for extensive renovation since November 2022 The restoration work included significant repairs to the historic Great Hall plasterwork, re-roofing, window replacements, and addressing structural issues. The hall was temporarily closed for the repairs, which also involved the careful removal and storage of over 30,000 museum objects.
The Hall is once again open to visitors
Burnley, Lancashire, UK
©SWJuk (2025)
All rights reserved
The Hall of The Ambassadors in The Alcazar of Seville is considered by most to be the artistic centerpiece of this grand old structure. This room has the Half Orange dome in the ceiling that I uploaded a couple of days ago. You can see one of the balconies here and also get a perspective as to the size.
Salon de Embajadores. The Ambassadors Hall is the ancient throne room built during the reign of Al-Mu'tamid in the 11th century. In the 14th century, Pedro I of Castile remodeled the hall to make it a centerpiece of his royal palace. Plant motifs in plasterwork were added in the corners of the room and spandrels of the arches. Windows were traced with geometric elements. Walls were covered with tiled panels. The orientation of the hall was also changed from facing Mecca to northeast. The doorway now led to the Patio of the Maidens (Patio de las Doncellas). In 1526, Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal celebrated their marriage in this room.[Wikipedia]
Hardwick Old Hall built by Bess of Hardwick then vacated for the larger newer hall across the park. Left to 'ruin' by the Victorians when follies became popular features.
See also my Album of Clandon House & Park, before and after the fire of 2015
Clandon Park, an elegant 18th-century stately home that was gutted in a fire in 2015, is to be mainly conserved as a ruin rather than restored to its former Palladian glory.
Plans by the National Trust, which has owned the Grade I-listed house since 1956, will allow visitors to see the “raw power and poetic beauty” of the building after the flames stripped away panelling and plasterwork and brought down floors, said Kent Rawlinson, the project director.
The external walls and windows of the building near Guildford, Surrey, will be restored by heritage craftspeople, but the interior will be largely conserved in its fire-damage state.
Once the work is complete, in about five years, a series of interior walkways and roof lights will allow visitors to view the shell of the house up close and from new angles.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/06/fire-gutted-cland...
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/clandon-park/features/clandon-pa...
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 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.
As a Nottingham lass, this is of interest to me.
Boots the Chemist built substantial stores with mock-timber fronts in approximately 16 historic English towns before the Great War. This approach was devised by the company architect, Michael Treleaven, but one or two of the buildings were designed by the Nottingham architect A. N. Bromley, whose services had been secured by Boots since the 1890s. Here, as in Gloucester, Bromley was named as the architect (Shrewsbury Chronicle, 22 February 1907, 5).
The two gabled bays to the left bear the date 1907, while the extension on the right is dated 1920. The decorative plasterwork includes Jesse Boot’s initials and the Tudor royal arms. Boots aspired to ‘study and uphold the historic interest of the locality, and so catch the civic spirt of those places where their businesses have been established’. Thus, the town’s arms (three ‘loggerheads’ or leopard heads) are included.
Despite Boots’ intentions, the fact that certain features evoke an architectural tradition from a far-flung county bothered Pevsner, who deplored ‘Another misguided attempt to carry on the town’s half-timbered tradition . . . with alien pargetting and ‘Ipswich’ windows’. This has not prevented the listing of Boots’ mock-Tudor stores in Kingston upon Thames, Trent Bridge, York and here in Shrewsbury.
Another from our Italy trip a couple of months back- Looking up at the beautiful, decaying ceiling of this abandoned villa which was last used as a health retreat for those with mental health conditions.
in progress
-The unique blue tiles of Isfahan's Islamic buildings, and the city's majestic bridges, contrast perfectly with the hot, dry Iranian countryside around it, Isfahan is a sight you won't forget. Not only is the architecture superb and the climate pleasant, but there's a fairly relaxed atmosphere here, compared with many other Iranian towns. It's a city for walking, getting lost in the bazaar, walking in beautiful gardens and meeting people.
The famous half-rhyme Isfahan nesf-e-jahan (Esfahan is half the world) was coined in the 16th century to express the city's grandeur. There's so much to see that you'll probably have to ration your time and concentrate on must-sees such as the Imam Mosque, a magnificent building completely covered in Isfahan's trademark pale blue tiles; This mosque is situated to the south of Naqsh-e-Jahan sq. built in the reign of shah Abbas, tile work and architecture of this Mosque is amazingly superb. Its minarets Are 48 meters high. Naghsh-e-Jahan (world picture) Square, one of the largest town square in the world. The Chehel Sotun Museum & Palace, a marvellous 17th century pavilion and a great place for a picnic; this palace is another building dating back to the Safavid period, built amidst a vast garden covering an area of 67000 sq m. The building has a veranda with 18 pillars and a large pool in front of it. Being mirrored in the still water of the pool, the pillars create a beautiful view. The wall painting in the interior of the building is superlative in their kind.Ali Qapoo Palace Situated to the west of Naghsh-e-Jahan Sq. belongs to the Safavid period. It was used for the reception of the Ambassadors and envoys from other Countries. Ali Qapoo is a six-storied plasterwork and paintings of which are extremely impressive. and the Vank Cathedral, the historic focal point of the Armenian church in Iran. Taking tea in one of the teahouses under the bridges is also an essential part of the Isfahan experience.
Isfahan is about 400km (250ml) south of Tehran.
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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Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in the village of Burton Agnes, near Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It was built by Sir Henry Griffith in 1601–10 to designs attributed to Robert Smythson. The older Norman Burton Agnes Manor House, originally built in 1173, still stands on an adjacent site; both buildings are now Grade I listed.
The Great Hall is without parallel of any house of the Elizabethan period. The screen and chimneypiece fight each other to a draw. The screen rises the full height of the entrance wall; three tiers of tableaux form a gallery of sculpted figures. In the wood carving above the arches are the twelve sons of Jacob, the founders of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The lower tier of the plasterwork features the Four Evangelists and their emblems, and the narrow band above the Twelve Apostles. These are topped by Elizabethan ladies, angels and a pilgrim knight.
Canons Ashby House (previously known as Canons Ashby Hall) is a Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house located in the village of Canons Ashby, about 11 miles south of Daventry, Northamptonshire. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse and the gardens had turned into a meadow.
The house had been the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century; the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710. The interior of Canons Ashby House is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork. It has remained essentially unchanged since 1710 and is presented as it was during the time of Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden (1818–1899), a Victorian antiquary with an interest in history.
The house sits in the midst of a formal garden with colourful herbaceous borders, an orchard featuring varieties of fruit trees from the 16th century, terraces, walls and gate piers from 1710. There is also the remains of a medieval priory church (from which the house gets its name).
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
The East Block (officially the Eastern Departmental Building; in French: Édifice administratif de l'est) is one of the three buildings on Canada's Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing offices for parliamentarians, as well as some preserved pre-Confederation spaces.
Built in the Victorian High Gothic style, the East Block is, along with the Library of Parliament, one of only two buildings on Parliament Hill to have survived mostly intact since original construction.
Though not as renowned as the Centre Block of parliament, the East Block formerly appeared on the face of the Journey Series design of the Canadian hundred-dollar bill.
Designed by Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver, the East Block is an asymmetrical structure built in the Victorian High Gothic style, with load bearing masonry walls— being nearly 0.9 m (3 ft) thick at the ground level, expanding to 2.1 m (7 ft) thick at the base of the main tower. These are all clad in a rustic Nepean sandstone exterior and dressed stone trim around windows and other edges, as well as displaying a multitude of stone carvings, including gargoyles, grotesques, and friezes, keeping with the style of the rest of the parliamentary complex.
This detail continues on the interior of the East Block, where emblems, such as wheat sheaves, were carved in stone originally to indicate the various government departments housed nearby. The level of quality and luxury of the offices initially indicated the status of the inhabitant: large, wood panelled chambers with marble fireplaces and richly decorated plaster ceilings served for ministers of the Crown; intricate, but somewhat less detailed cornices were sufficient for senior bureaucrats; and basic, machine-made woodwork and concrete fireplace mantles filled rooms set aside for clerks. Though much of the original decor has been retained or restored, the spaces have been reorganized so that the East Block now houses, as well as ministers, members of parliament, senators, and parliamentary administrators. Corridors and entranceways are also lit by windows filled with stained glass, and contemporary adaptations of the original gas fixtures adorn the walls. Beneath the decor stand 0.6 m (2 ft) wide, double-wythe masonry partitions with a rubble fill core, and concrete floors more than 0.3 m (1 ft) thick.
The main historic spaces in the East Block are restored to reflect the period around 1872. The former office of the Governor General of Canada contains its original furnishings, and the woodwork, fireplace, and plasterwork are finished as they would have been just a decade after Confederation.
The office that had been occupied by Sir John A. Macdonald contains a blue-grey Arnprior marble mantle, and the Prime Minister's furniture occupies the room. The previous Queen's Privy Council for Canada chamber holds a reproduction of the original table made at Upper Canada Village, above which hangs the same chandelier that hung there before the Second World War.
Sutton Scarsdale Hall is a Grade I listed ruined stately home in Sutton Scarsdale, just outside Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The existing structure is believed to be the fourth or fifth built on the site. In 1724, Nicholas Leke, 4th Earl of Scarsdale commissioned the building of a design by architect Francis Smith, to develop a Georgian mansion with gardens, using parts of the existing structure.
On a scale and quality with Chatsworth House, internally it featured both oak ornamental panels and stucco plasterwork by Italian craftsmen Francesco Vassalli, Giovanni Bagutti and the brothers Giuseppe and Adalberto Artari; carved Adamesque fireplaces in both marble and Blue John, and a carved mahogany staircase.
Richard Arkwright Junior (1755–1843) bought Sutton Scarsdale Hall in 1824. He was the son of Sir Richard Arkwright who invented the water frame and had a major involvement in the cotton industry.
After many years of neglect, in November 1919 the estate 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, where one room's oak panelling was bought by newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, who planned to use it at Hearst Castle. After many years in storage in New York City, the panelling was bought by Pall Mall films for use as a set in their various 1950s productions. Another set of panels are now resident in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In 1946, the estate was bought by Sir Osbert Sitwell of 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.
Drish Plantation
built 1837
Featured in the book, 13 Alabama ghosts and Jeffrey...in the short story "Death Lights in the Tower". The original owner died falling down the stairway of the property
Sutton Scarsdale Hall is a Grade I listed ruined stately home in Sutton Scarsdale, just outside Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The existing structure is believed to be the fourth or fifth built on the site. In 1724, Nicholas Leke, 4th Earl of Scarsdale commissioned the building of a design by architect Francis Smith, to develop a Georgian mansion with gardens, using parts of the existing structure.
On a scale and quality with Chatsworth House, internally it featured both oak ornamental panels and stucco plasterwork by Italian craftsmen Francesco Vassalli, Giovanni Bagutti and the brothers Giuseppe and Adalberto Artari; carved Adamesque fireplaces in both marble and Blue John, and a carved mahogany staircase.
Richard Arkwright Junior (1755–1843) bought Sutton Scarsdale Hall in 1824. He was the son of Sir Richard Arkwright who invented the water frame and had a major involvement in the cotton industry.
After many years of neglect, in November 1919 the estate 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, where one room's oak panelling was bought by newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst, who planned to use it at Hearst Castle. After many years in storage in New York City, the panelling was bought by Pall Mall films for use as a set in their various 1950s productions. Another set of panels are now resident in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
In 1946, the estate was bought by Sir Osbert Sitwell of 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 hall at Maenan was built in 1509, probably by Dafydd ab Owain, abbot of Aberconwy and bishop of St Asaph. At the centre of the hall is a soaring gothic arch, formed by crucks. In 1582 the hall was encased in plasterwork by Morus Kyffin who tried hard to match his opulent neighbours, the Wynn's of nearby Gwydir. Our group of 40 or so delegates was split into three smaller groups to view the interior and we were told we were not to take photographs inside the house. As I had been asked to provide sketches for someone who has to write up the conference for the VAG newsletter in return for bursary funding for her place I felt under little pressure to have a go at some of the amazing plasterwork. This is as far as I got before we were moved out of the hall, our total time inside the house being limited to about 20 minutes. I have left the drawing unfinished as a reminder of what can be done on a limited time.
Canons Ashby House (previously known as Canons Ashby Hall) is a Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house located in the village of Canons Ashby, about 11 miles south of Daventry, Northamptonshire. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1981 when the house was close to collapse and the gardens had turned into a meadow.
The house had been the home of the Dryden family since its construction in the 16th century; the manor house was built in approximately 1550 with additions in the 1590s, in the 1630s and 1710. The interior of Canons Ashby House is noted for its Elizabethan wall paintings and its Jacobean plasterwork. It has remained essentially unchanged since 1710 and is presented as it was during the time of Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden (1818–1899), a Victorian antiquary with an interest in history.
The house sits in the midst of a formal garden with colourful herbaceous borders, an orchard featuring varieties of fruit trees from the 16th century, terraces, walls and gate piers from 1710. There is also the remains of a medieval priory church (from which the house gets its name).
"The East Block (officially the Eastern Departmental Building; French: Édifice administratif de l'est) is one of the three buildings on Canada's Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Ontario, containing offices for parliamentarians, as well as some preserved pre-Confederation spaces.
Built in the Victorian High Gothic style, the East Block is, along with the Library of Parliament, one of only two buildings on Parliament Hill to have survived mostly intact since original construction. Though not as renowned as the Centre Block of parliament, the East Block formerly appeared on the face of the Journey Series design of the Canadian hundred-dollar bill. The East Block is open to the public for tours in July and August.
Designed by Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver, the East Block is an asymmetrical structure built in the Victorian High Gothic style, with load bearing masonry walls— being nearly 0.9 m (3 ft) thick at the ground level, expanding to 2.1 m (7 ft) thick at the base of the main tower. These are all clad in a rustic Nepean sandstone exterior and dressed stone trim around windows and other edges, as well as displaying a multitude of stone carvings, including gargoyles, grotesques, and friezes, keeping with the style of the rest of the parliamentary complex.
This detail continues on the interior of the East Block, where emblems, such as wheat sheaves, were carved in stone originally to indicate the various government departments housed nearby. The level of quality and luxury of the offices initially indicated the status of the inhabitant: large, wood panelled chambers with marble fireplaces and richly decorated plaster ceilings served for ministers of the Crown; intricate, but somewhat less detailed cornices were sufficient for senior bureaucrats; and basic, machine-made woodwork and concrete fireplace mantles filled rooms set aside for clerks. Though much of the original decor has been retained or restored, the spaces have been reorganized so that the East Block now houses, as well as ministers, members of parliament, senators, and parliamentary administrators. Corridors and entranceways are also lit by windows filled with stained glass, and contemporary adaptations of the original gas fixtures adorn the walls. Beneath the decor stand 0.6 m (2 ft) wide, double-wythe masonry partitions with a rubble fill core, and concrete floors more than 0.3 m (1 ft) thick.
The main historic spaces in the East Block are restored to reflect the period around 1872. The former office of the Governor General of Canada contains its original furnishings, and the woodwork, fireplace, and plasterwork are finished as they would have been just a decade after Confederation. The office that had been occupied by Sir John A. Macdonald contains a blue-grey Arnprior marble mantle, and the Prime Minister's furniture occupies the room. The previous Queen's Privy Council for Canada chamber holds a reproduction of the original table made at Upper Canada Village, above which hangs the same chandelier that hung there before the Second World War.
Parliament Hill (French: Colline du Parlement), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose architectural elements were chosen to evoke the history of parliamentary democracy. Parliament Hill attracts approximately three million visitors each year. The Parliamentary Protective Service is responsible for law enforcement on Parliament Hill and in the parliamentary precinct, while the National Capital Commission is responsible for maintaining the nine-hectare (22-acre) area of the grounds.
Development of the area, which in the 18th and early 19th centuries was the site of a military base, into a governmental precinct began in 1859 after Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada. Following several extensions to the Parliament and departmental buildings, and a fire in 1916 that destroyed the Centre Block, Parliament Hill took on its present form with the completion of the Peace Tower in 1927. In 1976, the Parliament Buildings and the grounds of Parliament Hill were designated as National Historic Sites of Canada. Since 2002, an extensive $3 billion renovation-and-rehabilitation project has been underway throughout the precinct's buildings that is expected to be completed after 2028.
Ottawa (/ˈɒtəwə/, /ˈɒtəwɑː/; Canadian French: [ɔtawɑ]) is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2021, Ottawa had a city population of 1,017,449 and a metropolitan population of 1,488,307, making it the fourth-largest city and fourth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.
Ottawa is the political centre of Canada and the headquarters of the federal government. The city houses numerous foreign embassies, key buildings, organizations, and institutions of Canada's government; these include the Parliament of Canada, the Supreme Court, the residence of Canada's viceroy, and Office of the Prime Minister.
Founded in 1826 as Bytown, and incorporated as Ottawa in 1855, its original boundaries were expanded through numerous annexations and were ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and amalgamation in 2001. The municipal government of Ottawa is established and governed by the City of Ottawa Act of the Government of Ontario. It has an elected city council across 24 wards and a mayor elected city-wide.
Ottawa has the highest proportion of university-educated residents among Canadian cities and is home to several colleges and universities, research and cultural institutions, including the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Algonquin College, Collège La Cité, the National Arts Centre, the National Gallery of Canada; and numerous national museums, monuments, and historic sites. It is one of the most visited cities in Canada, with over 11 million visitors annually contributing more than $2.2B to the city's economy." - info from Wikipedia.
Late June to early July, 2024 I did my 4th major cycling tour. I cycled from Ottawa to London, Ontario on a convoluted route that passed by Niagara Falls. during this journey I cycled 1,876.26 km and took 21,413 photos. As with my other tours a major focus was old architecture.
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When Robert Adam designed this room in the 1760s, it was intended to be the best drawing room. The ceiling plasterwork and wall decorations were completed by 1774, but the room remained unfinished.
Sir Roland Winn and Sabine had planned this as a grand 'withdrawing room' for guests to retreat after an evenings entertainment, but the project ground to a halt when he died in 1785. Only the ceiling and fireplace remain. Whilst Rowland's Nostell was shaped by new, British designers, tasted changed in the following century. Later generations were keen to promote their family history and good taste by filling rooms with a mix of prized inheritances and newly purchased artistic treasures. These included Continental antiques such as Flemish tapestries which give the room its name.
Of the four largest tapestries, three date from 1750, the other is a period replacement after the fourth in the set was damaged by fire in 1920.
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Details of red bricks used to create the temple at Gu Pyauk Gyi. Gu Byaukgyi Paya (Wet Kyi Inn) which means “Great Painted Cave Tempe” off Anawrahta Rd just south of Nyaung-U (should not be confused with identically named temple in Myinkaba). Traces of fine plasterwork can still be seen on the exterior. This was build in the early 12th century. Bagan Myanmar
This house has been let fall to the elements the slow destruction is awful to see. The owners have tried to hold it all together but it seems to be a losing the battle.
The inside has some amazing features still intact and old furniture scattered. The vandals and others have made it almost impossible to get into now. The security has been tightened.
We were lucky to be allowed to enter the grounds, it was my first visit my partner in crime had gotten inside a while back and managed to get some really beautiful shots of the inside. The original features are great examples of workmanship in woodwork and plasterwork and stone masonry.
Plaster Ceiling Boss Image taken at Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk, England.
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When Robert Adam designed this room in the 1760s, it was intended to be the best drawing room. The ceiling plasterwork and wall decorations were completed by 1774, but the room remained unfinished.
Sir Roland Winn and Sabine had planned this as a grand 'withdrawing room' for guests to retreat after an evenings entertainment, but the project ground to a halt when he died in 1785. Only the ceiling and fireplace remain. Whilst Rowland's Nostell was shaped by new, British designers, tasted changed in the following century. Later generations were keen to promote their family history and good taste by filling rooms with a mix of prized inheritances and newly purchased artistic treasures. These included Continental antiques such as Flemish tapestries which give the room its name.
Of the four largest tapestries, three date from 1750, the other is a period replacement after the fourth in the set was damaged by fire in 1920.
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No Group Banners, thanks.
The Grade I listed Temple of Piety, the most prominent building, the focal point, in the water garden at Studley Royal. Completed by 1742, plasterwork completed 1748 and restored by the National Trust in 1980. To the right, in the centre of the Moon Pond, is the Neptune statue, of similar age and restoration.
The ancestral home of the MacMorrough Kavanaghs, High Kings of Leinster, Borris is one of the few Irish estates that can trace its history back to the royal families of ancient Ireland. Set in over six hundred and fifty acres of walled private park and woodlands, Borris House retains its place as the centrepiece of the locality.
Originally an important castle guarding the River Barrow, Borris House was rebuilt in 1731 and late altered by the architectural dynastic family, The Morrisons, chiefly Richard and William. Externally, they clothed the 18th c house in a thin Tudor Gothic disguise, adding a crenellated arcaded porch on the entrance and decorating the windows with rectangular and ogival hood-moulds.
Inside the house they created an exuberant series of rooms beginning with the most florid room of the house, the entrance hall, where a circle is created within a square space with the clever use of pairs of scagliola columns and richly modelled plasterwork. The ceiling is like a great wheel with its shallowly coved circular centre from which eight beams radiate outwards. The plasterwork is profuse with festoons in the frieze, eagles with outspread wings in the spandrels and swirling acanthus in the cove of the ceiling.
Richard and William Morrison designed a number of works as a father and son team. They include such prominent houses as Baronscourt, Co Tyrone, Kilruddery House, Co Wicklow, Ballyfin House, Co Laois and Fota House, Co Cork. Among their public works were alterations to the cathedral at Cashel, the court-house and gaol at Galway, court-houses at Carlow, Clonmel, Roscommon, Wexford, and elsewhere, and the Roman Catholic Pro-cathedral at Dublin. William Morrison is also responsible for Clontarf Castle, Co Dublin, Glenarm Castle and Mount Stewart, Co Down.
No family in Ireland can point to a more ancient pedigree than the Kavanaghs. They can trace it back to the dawn of Irish history. Tradition, indeed, carries it far beyond that limit – to the legendary Feniusa of Scythia, coeval with the Tower of Babel, whose descendants, having wandered into Egypt, found their way back again to Scthia, and thence to Spain, from which country Heber and Heremon, the 2 sons of Gallamhy or Milesius, crossed over to Ireland, reduced it to subjection and divided it between them. From them sprang lines of Kings ruling over the 5 monarchies into which the island was split up.
Levens Hall, Cumbria, England.
Levens Hall is a manor house in the Kent valley, near Kendal, Cumbria, Northern England. The first house on the site was a pele tower built by the Redman family in around 1350. Much of the present building dates from the Elizabethan era, when the Bellingham family extended the house. The Bellinghams, who were responsible for the fine panelling and plasterwork in the main rooms, sold the house and estate in 1689 to Colonel James Grahme, or Graham, Keeper of the Privy Purse to King James II, who made a number of additions to the house in the late 17th century. His son Henry Graham was a knight of the shire for Westmorland.
Further additions were made in the early 19th century.
Levens is now owned by the Bagot family and is open to the public.
For video, please visit youtu.be/mDjKsnTIYbA?list=UULJqdxR1UK1Pzk7FSwTSneg
These three beautifully gilt mirrors hang in the Gallery of Werribee Park Mansion. Sometimes used as a ballroom, the Gallery is painted Jasperware Blue with ornate cornicing and Corinthian orders which have been painstakingly picked out and gilded. It runs the width of the mansion from the top of the second storey stairwell to the balcony doors that lead out onto the terrace. The elegance of this space and its Victorian grandeur is reflected with several ornate gilded mirrors along the walls.
This year the FFF+ Group have decided to have a weekly challenge called “Snap Happy”. A different theme chosen by a member of the group each week, and the image is to be posted on the Monday of the week.
This week the theme, “reflection” was chosen by Beverley, BlueberryAsh.
When Beverley announced the theme, I immediately thought of my January visit to Werribee Mansion and the amount of time I spent standing in the middle of the Gallery floor trying to capture the reflections in both mirrors to create perfect mirror image shots. I think I have more than one hundred photos of these two mirrors. This combined with one shot looking upwards and catching a tantalising glimpse of the vaulted dome ceiling has given me a collage I think well suited for the “Snap Happy” challenge.
Werribee Park Mansion was built between 1874 and 1877 in the Italianate-style by the pioneering pastoralists Thomas Chirnside (1815 - 1887) and his brother Andrew Chirnside (1818 - 1890), from Scotland, founders of the "Chirnside Pastoral Empire". Its residential and working buildings supported a large farm workforce. The rooms open to the public include the billiard room, the main bedrooms, the reception rooms and part of the kitchen.
Built in 1892-1894, this Richardsonian Romanesque Revival-style building was designed by Theodore Link for the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis to serve as a Union Station for multiple railroads that offered passenger service in the city at the time. The building consists of three sections, those being a head house, a large train shed, and a midway between the two. The head house is clad in granite with a rough-hewn rusticated base, rough-hewn belt coursing, hipped, gabled, and conical red terra cotta tile roofs, cylindrical turrets, a clock tower with an octagonal turret and pyramidal hipped roof, arched window bays on the second floor and the third floor, Chateauesque wall dormers, stone terraces with stone railings and metal lampposts flanking the main entrance at the exterior of the Grand Hall, a large suspended metal canopy at the main entrance, and buff brick and brown brick cladding on the rear and side facades. The interior of the head house originally housed a hotel, lunch room, ticketing facilities, and offices, as well as a large waiting room, known as the Grand Hall, which features a barrel vaulted ceiling with decorative stenciling and plasterwork, arches with decorative sculptural reliefs, arched bays on the walls, green tile wainscoting, stained glass windows, terazzo floors, around which are hallways with decorative ceilings, marble and tile wainscoting, decorative plasterwork, columns with decorative capitals, and decorative fireplace surrounds. The Train Shed is a large metal-frame structure with a barrel vault roof, skylights, and roof monitors, which originally housed multiple train platforms, and today houses multiple buildings that contain a hotel, aquarium, and mirror maze. The midway, between the two larger structures, features a metal truss roof with skylights, brick and drywall walls, marble floors, fountains, balconies, and window openings from the surrounding structures. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, and was designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1981. The last passenger train service at the station was in 1978, after decades of declining ridership, and the building languished until 1985, when it was rehabilitated and renovated for adaptive reuse as a hotel, shopping mall, and food court under the direction of HOK and Conrad Schmitt Studios. The hotel today is part of the Curio Collection by Hilton, and the train shed houses the St. Louis Aquarium, a Mirror Maze, multiple restaurants, and a carousel.
A picturesque conversion of two former cottages standing in a ¼ acre of land. The year 1634 is etched in to the plasterwork. Although I've read that some experts have said parts of it may be even older.
"All Saints' Church, Northampton situated in the centre of Northampton, is a Church of England parish church. It is a Grade I listed building.
After the fire, Charles II gave a thousand tons of timber for the rebuilding of All Hallows' Church, and one tenth of the money collected for the rebuilding of the town was allocated to the rebuilding of All Hallows', under the management of the King's Lynn architect, Henry Bell. Bell was resident in Northampton at the time, and he set to rebuild the church in a manner similar to Sir Christopher Wren's designs.
The central medieval tower survived the fire, as did the crypt. The new church of All Saints' was built east of the tower in an almost square plan, with a chancel to the east and a north and south narthex flanking the tower.
Visitors enter the church through the existing tower into a barrel vaulted nave. At the centre is a dome, supported on four Ionic columns, which is lit by a lantern above. The barrel vault extends into the aisles from the dome in a Greek-cross form, leaving four flat ceilings in the corners of the church. The church is well lit by plain glass windows in the aisles and originally there was a large east window in the chancel, that is now covered by a reredos. The plasterwork ceiling is finely decorated, and the barrel vaults are lit by elliptical windows.
Built in the style of Christopher Wren's London churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, it has in the past been mistakenly attributed to him. The rebuilding of the city churches was initiated by financing of the Rebuilding of London Act 1670. Wren, as Surveyor General of the King's Works, undertook the operation, and one of his first churches was St Mary-at-Hill.
The rebuilt church of All Saints' was consecrated and opened in 1680. In 1701, a large portico was added to the west end, in front of the narthex, very much in the style of the Inigo Jones portico added to Old St Paul's Cathedral in the 1630s.
Northampton is a minster and market town in the East Midlands of England. It is also the county town of wider county of Northamptonshire. Northampton lies on the River Nene, 60 miles (97 km) north-west of London and 45 miles (72 km) south-east of Birmingham. One of the largest towns in England, it had a population of 212,100 at the 2011 census (223,000 est. 2019).
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In the Middle Ages, the town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle, an occasional royal residence which regularly hosted the Parliament of England. Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton, all enclosed by the town walls. It was granted a town charter by Richard I in 1189 and a mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town was also the site of two medieval battles, in 1264 and 1460.
Northampton supported the Parliamentary Roundheads in the English Civil War, and Charles II ordered the destruction of the town walls and most of the castle. The Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 destroyed much of the town. It was soon rebuilt and grew rapidly with the industrial development of the 18th century. Northampton continued to grow with the arrival of the Grand Union Canal and the railways in the 19th century, becoming a centre for footwear and leather manufacture.
Northampton's growth was limited until it was designated as a New Town in 1968, accelerating development in the town. It unsuccessfully applied for city status in 2000." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Welcome to the Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, one of the finest surviving examples of Victorian theatre architecture in the UK. Originally established in 1865 above a pub called The White Swan, this Grade II* listed venue became a cherished institution for music hall entertainment, hosting comedians, singers, novelty acts, and famously — the BBC’s The Good Old Days from 1953 to 1983.
With its ornate balconies, gilded plasterwork, and intimate 467-seat horseshoe auditorium, the theatre retains much of its original charm despite a major £9.9 million restoration completed in 2011. The makeover carefully preserved historical features while upgrading backstage facilities and accessibility, ensuring the Varieties remains both a heritage landmark and a thriving performance venue in the heart of Leeds.
The Grade II Listed Bodnant House, located in the National Trust's Bodnant Gardens, in Conwy Valley, North Wales.
The structure of Bodnant house was built by Colonel Forbes between 1770 and 1821 at a small distance from the original house called Old Bodnod. The late Georgian house, with 7-bay symmetrical S facade including outer wings, was bought in January 1875 by Henry Pochin, a wealthy industrial chemist and china clay magnate from Lancashire.
The house was progressively rebuilt from 1875-6 in Old English style by W J Green of London who refaced the house with hard blue local stone, used Talacre sandstone for window dressings and quoins and replaced the sash windows with stone mullions and casements. An architectural drawing of 1880 by G Richards Julian (in estate office) shows the remodelled exterior before the Drawing-Room wing and conservatories were added.
The conservatory attached to the SE corner was built for Pochin by Messenger & Co in 1881-2 (contract dated Nov 1881) and the adjoining fernery was in place and planted by 1883. The conservatory originally had a gabled porch to the S side and there were double doors to the fernery.
Henry Pochin's daughter married the first Lord Aberconway and she and her son and grandson have further developed the house and hugely improved the gardens. The large Drawing-Room wing was added in 1898 to the NW tower of the house to designs by Ould of Grayson and Ould, architects of Chester. The Dining-Room was extended in 1911 including the bay towards the terraces, and the upper room over the porch (chimney-piece dated 1911) was added at that time. Other dates appear in the Drawing Room plasterwork - 1935 when the Shobdon panelling was inserted - and the Turret Room of 1936 which has panelling from Wheatley Hall, Doncaster.
Information gained from britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/300025063-bodnant-eglwysbach...
This church erected with financial support from the Board of First Fruits (fl. 1711-1833) representing an integral component of the early nineteenth-century ecclesiastical heritage of north County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, one evoking favourable comparisons with the contemporary Ballycarney Church (Ballycarney) (1834), Ballycarney (see 15701510), confirmed by such attributes as the standardised nave-with-entrance tower plan form, aligned along a liturgically-correct axis; the "pointed" profile of the openings underpinning a contemporary Georgian Gothic theme with the chancel defined by a streamlined "East Window"; and the slender pinnacles embellishing the tower as a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, including crown or cylinder glazing panels in hornless sash frames: meanwhile, contemporary joinery; and sleek plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural street scene.