Castle Acre Priory

Tags

architecture, Castle Acre, Castle Acre Priory, Cluniac, day out, English Heritage, monastic, priory, ruins

It was Richard’s birthday in the middle of August and to celebrate, he decided he would like to visit Castle Acre Priory in Norfolk.  The Priory is a ruin which is cared for by English Heritage.

Because of Covid-19 restrictions we had to book a ‘slot’ and pre-pay for our visit.  We were so happy to have Alice staying with us for a week; she had arrived the day before and accompanied us on our trip.  We made a picnic lunch to take with us and set out at 11.00 am as our ‘slot’ was at 1.00 pm.  I drove us there and because the traffic was light we arrived in very good time.  We ate our picnic sitting in the car in the car-park;  it was a dull, cool day and the only benches and tables were beyond the reception building.  We had liked the look of Castle Acre village as we drove through it, (it also has a castle and an interesting-looking church) but it was very crowded with visitors wandering about the narrow lanes.  We will return in happier times, I think.

We donned our masks and presented ourselves at the reception desk where we were given a map of the priory and I bought a guide book.  Just outside the reception building was a charming herb garden.

Castle Acre Priory herb garden

There were a couple of stands of plants for sale. I resisted buying from them with difficulty!

This was our first view of the priory ruins on leaving the herb garden

Castle Acre was chosen by William de Warenne, a Norman knight who had fought at the Battle of Hastings, to be the headquarters of all his newly acquired Norfolk properties.  The castle, the priory and the massive 12th century town defences were all built by successive generations of the de Warenne family.  The building of the priory was begun in 1090 by de Warenne’s son.

The west front of the priory church

Just look at this exquisite blind arcading!

Have a closer look…

Carved archway in the west front

More intricate carving, with a couple of grotesques

We always seem to visit a place which is currently having work done to it!  Last year we visited Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire because I wished to see its stunning facade.  ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’.  When we got there (in the pouring rain, I might add) the whole of the front was covered in scaffolding because of on-going restoration work.

This time, a number of projects were being worked on at the priory which restricted where we were able to go.

The Prior’s chapel is to the left as you look at the photo and the Prior’s great chamber/study is on the right with its fabulous bay window, added in the early 16th century.  Further round the corner on the right side of the building you can see the side view of an early 16th century oriel window.

The Prior’s study with the oriel window is on the left and a late 15th century two-storey porch is on the right. The taller building behind the porch is the Prior’s lodging. You can also see the connecting passages and galleries of the west range joining the lodging to the Prior’s chapel behind the great chamber.  The Prior’s chapel was also connected to the Priory church so the Prior had no need to go outside at all, unless he wished to.

Another view of the Prior’s buildings

This is part of the decoration on the oriel window. It must be a portrait of someone, don’t you think? Such a wonderful face!  Apologies for the poor photo.

From left to right; entrance to the west range of the priory, then a kitchen and behind it the refectory and then the building on the far right is the reredorter or latrine block.

Restoration work is being done to the bridge (in the foreground) over the leat and also to the south boundary wall. The leat is a diversion of the River Nar; this leat was used by the monks to take the waste away from the reredorter. They dug the channel close to the priory and then built the latrine block over the top of it. The leat is dry at present.

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Castle Acre Priory was a Cluniac priory, a daughter-house of the great monastery at Cluny in Burgundy.  With the support of kings and nobility many Cluniac priories were created in England between 1076 and 1154.  During the wars with France the Cluniac priories had restrictions placed on them because they were ‘alien’ even though most of the monks were, in fact, English.  Gifts to the priory were reduced and the French monks were repatriated. Only after obtaining English or ‘denizen’ status did their situation improve again and their numbers increase.  Castle Acre was suppressed by Thomas Cromwell during the reign of Henry VIII and the deed of surrender was signed on 22 November 1537.  Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk acquired the lease of the priory’s site, lands and rights.  By the following summer the priory buildings were being demolished, though the Prior’s lodging was retained as a house.

Richard and Alice at the Priory

My girls!

Elinor with the reredorter in the background. You can see clearly here how the building straddles the leat.

Richard, Alice and Elinor

It started to rain, and we decided it was time to go home.

Alice and Richard approaching the bay of the south aisle of the priory church under the south-west tower

The ceiling of the bay under the tower

Arched exit from the south-west tower

View from under the south-west tower looking towards the inside of the west door and onwards to what would have been the north-west tower

As usual, I also took photos of the plants living on and near the ruins.

A Willowherb. It could be Hoary Willowherb ( Epilobium parviflorum) because of its very hairy stem and leaves. Growing on a wall would account for its small size.  (There are other willowherbs which are hairy which accounts for my doubtful ID).

Many plants growing on one of the walls

White Stonecrop (Sedum album)  I find its red leaves most attractive

White Stonecrop

White Stonecrop

Horse Chestnut ( Aesculus hippocastanum) These leaves are badly affected by leaf blotch caused by a fungus.  Horse chestnut trees are also often badly attacked by Horse chestnut leaf-mining moth larvae

Wild Teasel ( Dipsacus fullonum)

Wild teasel

Maidenhair spleenwort ( Asplenium trichomanes) Recognizable by its black midrib

I think this might be Roseroot (Sedum rosea).  Not a plant one would expect to find in this part of the country

Harebells ( Campanula rotundifolia) and Black Medick ( Medicago lupulina)

Harebells

Common liverwort/Umbrella liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha )  Common liverwort is a thallose liverwort; it has flattened leaf-like structures (thalli) with forked branches.  Common liverwort is also dioicous – it has separate male and female plants. This photo is of a female plant as it has star-like umbrella structures some of which are showing yellow mature sporangia or spores.  Common liverworts can also reproduce asexually by ‘gemmae’ produced in gammae cups which can be seen centre bottom of the photo on the thalli.  The gemmae are knocked out of the cups by splashes of water/raindrops.

Lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum )

Wallflower ( Erysimum cheiri)

I think this is Common calamint (Clinopodium ascendens )

Common calamint

We had a very enjoyable few hours at the priory and I hope to return to Castle Acre one day to look around the village and revisit the priory.

To end this post, I have added the following English Heritage guide to Medieval Monastic life….

and, here is the Salve Regina, a chant that would have been sung (probably not to this tune) when Castle Acre Priory was in its glory.

 

King Street, Norwich

Tags

architecture, Dragon Hall, King Street, Lesser Black-backed Gull, medieval buildings, Norfolk, Norwich, redundant churches, River Wensum, St Etheldreda, St Peter Parmentergate, The Music House, Traveller's Joy, Wensum Lodge

It is some time since I wrote a post about Norwich and as my younger daughter Elinor has started attending some art courses in the city I thought I would share some  photographs I have taken recently.

Elinor is no longer at the City College so is attending art classes at Wensum Lodge which is owned by the City Council.

Main entrance to Wensum Lodge.

The City Council has converted old riverside buildings into classrooms and studios and this is where Elinor is learning Portraiture on Tuesday and Drawing and Painting on Saturday.  (She also goes to the Theatre Royal, Norwich every Thursday evening for drama classes.)

I love the soft red brick buildings and the cobbled yards.

More studios at Wensum Lodge.

Buildings at Wensum Lodge.

 The River Wensum flows through the centre of the city of Norwich.

The River Wensum seen from the rear of the art studio.

The River Wensum.

While Elinor studies, I take myself off and walk through the city.  Wensum Lodge is located in King Street which is full of ancient buildings and was inhabited by the richest merchants in medieval times.

Medieval buildings in King Street.

The entrance to Raven Yard

The lane going down towards the river is called Mountergate. There are new houses being built on the right.

Buildings of different heights and ages; shops, workshops and dwellings.

An attractive cottage in King Street with a courtyard beyond the gate.

Next to the cottage is the redundant church of St Peter Parmentergate now used as a martial arts academy.

‘Parmentergate’ means the street of the parmenters: parchment makers or leatherworkers.  As the word became obsolete the street name changed and became Mountergate but the church retained the original name.

I like the triangular gables on the roof of this building and the arched windows in the centre of the facade.

This is Stepping Lane off King Street

The Music House, the oldest private dwelling in Norwich. Sadly, it has been adorned with grafitti.

The Music House was built in the 12th century and in 1225, Isaac Jurnet, a member of one of the wealthiest Jewish families in England at the time, bought it from a man called John Curry.  During the reign of Elizabeth I the house became the headquarters of the Norwich waits and minstrels and thereafter became known as the Music House. The front you see in this photo is 17th century but behind the left hand gable are the remains of the 12th century building constructed at right-angles to the street.  This original 12th century building was extended later in that century, in 1175, with a north-south range where the current 17th century front stands, making an L-shaped building.  The new part consisted of a single-aisled hall with an undercroft (cellar, basement, storeroom) which was at ground level when built, but is lower now.  The aisle of the hall was removed in 1480 and another undercroft built.  Most of the hall was removed when the 17th century front was constructed.  The building is owned by the City Council and is part of the Wensum Lodge range and can be accessed from the inner yard.  Concerts are performed in the building.

More old buildings.

Entrance to a former inn.

Princes In(n).

Another redundant church, St Etheldreda’s which as you can see, is artist studios

St Etheldreda was a daughter of King Anna of East Anglia.  Anna had four daughters, all of whom were made saints.  Etheldreda founded a monastery on the Isle of Ely (in Cambridgeshire) and died there in 679.

I am surprised to find I didn’t photograph Dragon Hall this time, but below are some photos I took of the hall a couple of years ago.  

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The Dragon Hall dating from 1420, is a merchant’s hall which belonged to Robert Toppes who was made mayor of the city four times.  It is virtually unique in Western Europe in being a medieval trading hall built by an individual rather than a guild.  One of the spandrels in the roof of the grand hall upstairs is carved with the figure of a dragon.

I just can’t resist photographing plants! This is Traveller’s Joy or, as it’s also called, Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba )

I also liked this gull on the roof of Wensum Lodge, though my camera insisted on focusing on the roof.

I believe the gull is a Lesser Black-backed Gull ( Larus fuscus) in its winter plumage.

 

Thanks for visiting!

I have used the following sites and books :

http://www.tournorfolk.co.uk/norwich.html

The Medieval Churches of the City of Norwich by Nicholas Groves

The Little Book of Norwich by Neil R Storey

Norwich by Stephen Browning

Harrap’s Wild Flowers by Simon Harrap

RSPB Complete Birds of Britain and Europe by Rob Hume

 

A Little Sight-seeing in the Black Forest

Tags

architecture, Black Forest, Black Forest Museum, cake shops, Furtwanger, Germany, holiday, Maria in der Tanne, Pilgrimage Church, Schonwald

We thought we would go and see what other nearby towns and villages were like so we travelled to Furtwanger on the bus.  We took our Visitor Card with us and didn’t have to pay any bus-fare.

View from the bus

View from the bus

View of a typical Black Forest house taken from the bus

The weather was still cloudy and very cool that morning so after a brief wander through the town we found a café and had a hot drink (or in Elinor’s case, an apple juice) and yet more cake.

Richard’s cake

Elinor’s cake

My cake

We admired this beautiful vintage coffee machine

Fortified by our meal we sallied out again and found that the weather had improved and the sun was coming out.  We discovered a little more of the town.

The Town Hall

A Guest house and hotel with an ornate sign outside

The sign

Furtwanger : the bus station is just beyond the banners

An attractive house.

The town river

The following day we thought we would visit another village on the bus but before doing so we would look at a couple of places in Triberg.  The Black Forest Museum was very interesting and was situated in the old Trade Hall.

There were musical instruments ….

An orchestrion

..and another orchestrion!

There were displays of Black Forest Costumes….

….and lots of clocks!

There was even a rather old and dangerous-looking bob-sleigh!

There were exhibits from the local straw-braiding industry and the local glass industry.  A large room was full of information about the Black Forest Railway constructed in the 19th century which has two innovative terminal loops with 39 tunnels that overcame the altitude differences – there is nearly 600 metres difference in height between a couple of the towns.  There was a diorama made in the 1950s that shows this double loop in great detail.

Diorama of the Black Forest Railways many tunnels

There were reconstructions of workshops and rooms in houses with authentic furniture and tools.

A beautiful bed!

We had a wonderful time in the museum!

We then visited the Pilgrimage Church of Maria in der Tanne (Mary in the Forest).  Many years ago, so legend has it, a girl was cured of an eye disease when she bathed it in the spring water nearby.  The following year a man was cured of leprosy by washing in the spring water.  He was grateful and placed a figure of the Virgin Mary in a niche in a fir tree.  The place was forgotten about for about a hundred years until three soldiers rediscovered it after having heard some beautiful singing and followed the sound to the fir tree.  The spring and fir tree became a place of pilgrimage and the church was built in the 18th century.

Maria in der Tanne

The nave leading up to the enormous and ornate altar

The altar

The pulpit

A detail of the ceiling decoration

Looking back down the Nave towards the gallery and the organ

We then caught the bus to Schonwald, a pretty village where we had hoped to have some lunch.  Unfortunately, we got there too late.  We had some coffee and a short walk instead.

View from the bus

View from the bus

This has symbols of all the trades on it.

We returned to Triberg and to our hotel for a rest before our evening meal.

Thanks for visiting!

A Walk to St Peter’s Church 12th April 2015

Tags

architecture, churches, St Peter South Elmham, Suffolk, walking

Primrose bank outside St Peter’s church

I am indebted to our Rector the Rev. Richard Thornburgh for the use of his Notes on the church of St Peter South Elmham.  A leaflet we bought when we visited the church.

Richard and I went to church at St Peter South Elmham on the 12th April.  It was a lovely spring day and the primroses on the bank outside the church were glorious!  We decided that, as it was such a nice day, we would walk back to the church in the afternoon and try to get there across the fields instead of along the lanes.  We had travelled there by car in the morning.

We set off on the same route across the fields that we usually use and were pleased to see that the ground was dry and virtually mud free.

Dried grass in the field.

Our goal; St Peters church across the fields.  You can just see it behind the trees on the horizon.

We have been having to put up with almost continuous road repairs to our lanes for the past two or three months. The repairs are desperately needed but the long diversions to get past them have been very inconvenient. This was a strange place for this sign to be. It was half way along a very narrow lane with no other lanes turning off it. It would have confused a stranger!

Richard walking across the field at the valley bottom. The paths are so clearly marked in the fields. So many people have used these paths over the centuries that the ground is indented and the grass grows differently.

The Beck, our local stream, at the corner of the field; with blackthorn blossom.

Another view of St Peters church

The water in the Beck was beautifully clear.

Such a beautiful glossy horse in a field we walked past.

This bridge over the Beck at the bottom of the hill in St Peter’s village has been rebuilt many times.  You can just about see the couple of patches of red brick.

St Michael’s church in the village of St Michael can be seen from the bottom of the hill in St Peter’s village. Almost all our village churches in ‘The Saints’ are within very short distances of each other.

The view up the hill to St Peters church

Looking back down the hill from the church to where the bridge is.

St Peter’s churchyard

This is believed to be the base and part of the Preaching Cross which once stood at the nearby road junction.

The 14th century porch which has very worn carved faces (headstops) on the outer arch. Richard is inside reading notices on the notice-board.  The door into the church from inside the porch, that Richard is standing in front of, is much older than the porch.  It is early Norman – late 11th or 12th century.

The stoup recess inside the porch. This would have contained a bowl of Holy Water.

The window in the tower.

The beautifully carved Rood screen and the chancel.

I was sorry not to be able to get a better photo of the Rood screen as it is quite lovely.  I would have had to light the church properly so that the sunlight from the windows wasn’t causing the Rood Screen to be in silhouette.   The screen isn’t all that old.  It was presented to the church by the Adair family from Flixton Hall in 1923.

You can see the socket holes in the arch above the screen into which the original screen and tympanum were fitted.  The originals were probably destroyed during the time of the Commonwealth.

The nave has a beautiful timber roof.

18th century pulpit.

The altar, the modern oak reredos behind the altar and the east window.

Carving in stone and wood

Carving in stone and wood

A list of the names of all the Rectors of St Peter’s church from the 14th century to the 19th century and their patrons.

The harmonium

Ancient door

This is the 15th century font with a typically East Anglican lion design. There are four lions round the shaft and angel faces with crossed hands above them. Above the angels are Tudor rose designs and blank shields. The font cover is 17th century work. Please ignore the decorative red bucket under the pew! I didn’t notice it when I took the photo.

Part of tomb panel

There used to be a Lady Chapel, built in the late 14th or 15th century, on the north side of the church.  In the chapel, John Tasburgh Esq. and his wife Margery, owners of the land on which the church was built, were buried.  The tomb panel pictured above (one of two) is all that is left of their tombs, and therefore all that’s left of the Lady Chapel which was desecrated during the Commonwealth years.  By 1830 the chapel was in a terribly dilapidated state, the tombs had been dismantled and the panels used as the base for the new north wall.  The panels extend for about another foot below ground level.  The last of the chapel was demolished in the 1840’s.

 

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South side of the church

The tower

The east window

By the time we left the church it had become very windy and we really struggled in our walk home.

I thought at first I had found some wild strawberries, but on closer inspection I realised that this is a Barren Strawberry plant.

Barren Strawberry (Potentilla sterilis)

The petals of the Barren Strawberry are widely spaced and the fruits are dry and papery.  The terminal tooth of the end leaflet ( the plant is trifoliate like a strawberry plant) is shorter than the adjacent ones.

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The sky was beautiful.

Thanks for visiting!

 

 

The Royal Arcade, Norwich

Tags

architecture, Art Nouveau, Colman's Mustard Shop and Museum, Digby's Chocolates, Norwich, shopping, The Royal Arcade

 

The main entrance to the Royal Arcade

This is another of my Norwich posts and this time I am just going to focus on one place, The Royal Arcade.  I usually visit it at some stage during all my walks round the city.  I have gathered together a number of pictures that I have taken at different times and have spot-lighted this very interesting and beautiful place.   Many people use and see it but don’t look at it.

This front has just undergone some renovation and is freshly painted.

I cropped the former photo to show some of the details – the carving on the pillars in front of the windows, the tiles under the canopy and the tiny little crowns on top of the railing.

The first building to occupy this site from at least the 15th century was the ‘Angel Inn’.  As well as being somewhere to eat and drink and spend the night the inn was also a place where one could be entertained.  It hosted travelling shows and ‘spectacles’ – in 1685 a pair of elephants could be seen here.  In the 1830’s it was the Headquarters of the Norwich Whigs (the fore-runners of the Liberal party) where there was once such a vicious brawl between the Whigs and their political rivals the Tories that the Mayor had to read the Riot Act and call in the militia.

The Angel was re-named and became the ‘Royal Hotel’ which occupied this site for about fifty years before moving to a newer building elsewhere.  Joseph Stannard rebuilt the entrance when it became the ‘Royal Hotel’ in 1846 and this facade remained when the Royal Arcade was constructed in 1899.

Inside the Arcade.

The Arcade was built where the hotel stables and yard had been and followed the shape of the yard.  It isn’t obvious when walking through the Arcade but from this angle you can see that the Arcade isn’t straight but bends slightly.

When it was first constructed it housed 24 bow-fronted shops, a pub and a clubroom.

This photo is looking towards the main entrance 

This is a marvellous chocolatiere and confectioner’s shop in the Arcade.

The windows are always dressed so beautifully

The Mustard Shop and Museum. Colman’s Mustard has been part of Norwich life for a long time and is quite an institution.  J. Colman began manufacturing mustard 200 years ago.

A beautiful old cash-till in the window.

A longer view of the interior.

The Royal Arcade is a 247′ long covered avenue and was designed and built by Dereham-born architect, George Skipper.  It is a perfect example of Art Nouveau style.

This photo shows a plaque commemorating the architect and some of the wonderful decorative tiles that line the first floor.

The designs are typically Art Nouveau and are inspired by nature and femininity – floral shapes and peacocks.  The tiles were designed by WJ Neatby (who also produced tiles for Harrod’s Food Hall (Harrods is a large and famous department store in London)).  The tiles were manufactured by Doulton.

One of the pillars at the main entrance

Another entrance to the Arcade.

Here is that same entrance showing the lovely stained glass semi-circular window and the decorations on the outside of the Arcade.

This sign is over yet another entrance to the Arcade

 

This wrought-iron work along with other examples in the Arcade, the floor tiles and the beautiful lamps were added later during restoration in the 1980’s.  They are happily in keeping with the rest of the building.

A very pretty clock.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to the Royal Arcade.

 

A Trip to the Seaside

Tags

architecture, beach huts, coast, lighthouse, pier, Punch and Judy, Sailor's Reading Room, seaside, Southwold, Suffolk

Southwold beach

Maybe this wasn’t a good day for a frolic in the sea!

I have had a heavy head cold since last Wednesday and on Sunday Richard thought a trip to the sea was in order.  We had mist first thing in the morning and on the way to church with my mother the sun was trying to break through.  We thought it would be fine when we got out of church but sadly it wasn’t.  The mist had risen slightly but cloud had descended and the rest of the day was very gloomy indeed.  The temperature was about 7 degrees centigrade but when we got to the coast the strong on-shore breeze made us feel very cold and our ears started to ache.

The car-park by the pier

During the winter months, owners of these beach huts get them lifted up from down by the beach to here, in the car-park, where there is less chance they will get battered by storms.  Those that can’t afford to move their huts have to hope that we don’t have too many high tides and gale force winds.  You may wonder why the owners would want to pay to have what looks like a shed moved to the car-park.  You may be surprised to hear that last year one of these huts went on the market for £100,000 and it was thought that it might have sold for more than that.  For this price you get a painted hut with no electricity or running water but in a ‘prime location’.  You also get a 30 year lease from the council but you have to pay non-domestic annual rates and other charges.  Last year the rates were £720.

The view looking inland from the car-park.  Buss Creek.

The boating lake

The seagulls appreciate the calm waters here.  Seaside resorts are a little sad in the winter-time I think.  I like the sadness.

There is only one road in and out of Southwold which is almost an island, bordered by the North Sea to the east, the River Blyth and Southwold harbour to the south-west and Buss Creek to the north.

A Punch and Judy performance on the sea front

A few views of the sea.  I expect you wish you had been with us!

Southwold pier

The pier was built right at the end of the 19th century and was approximately 810 feet long with a T junction at the end to make a landing stage for ‘Belle’, the steamer bringing holiday makers to the town.  The T junction was swept away in a great storm in 1934 and was only replaced in 2001.  The pier was further damaged in 1955 and 1979 and had to be closed to the public in 1998.  Restoration started in 1999 and it is now an award-winning pier with a pavillion, restaurant, bar and amusements.  When we were in Southwold on Sunday we could hear a saxophonist playing from the pier.  We didn’t venture onto it because of the wind-chill.

Southwold lighthouse

The whitewashed tower of the lighthouse can be seen from afar but is very difficult to find when you walk round the town with its narrow winding streets.  It is 101 feet tall and commenced operation in 1890.  It was originally illuminated by paraffin but was converted to electricity in 1938.

A couple of small cannon near the sea front.

Southwold does in fact own six 18 pound cannons which were given to the town by the Royal Armouries as protection for the town and to shipping from pirate raids in the 18th century.  We didn’t get as far as Gun Hill on Sunday.

Southwold cottages

There are many second homes and holiday cottages in the town which most of the year stand empty.  Local people can’t afford to live in these tiny cottages.

A couple of grander houses.

Richard and Elinor walking in Southwold

Richard and Elinor in the shelter and behind it some examples of the interesting architecture to be found in the town.

I am often reminded of ‘Mary Poppins’ by P L Travers looking at the platform above the shelter and think that Admiral Boom would find it ideal for firing his cannon from.  ‘The Ghost and Mrs Muir’ comes to mind when I look at one of those grander houses I showed above.

More Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans) with some new leaves of Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) in front

I joined Richard and Elinor in the shelter for a while and just in front of us on the grass slope that descended to the beach was this large patch of Heliotrope.  It really shouldn’t be there and shows how invasive it is.  Since seeing the Heliotrope last Sunday that I included in my post ‘Weekend’ I have seen this plant everywhere.  It does have a wonderful scent though and in spite of my cold I could smell the vanilla perfume very well.

A chilly little Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) was walking about near our feet.

The Sailor’s Reading Room

This was built in 1864 in memory of Captain Charles Rayley RN a naval officer who served at the time of the Battle of Trafalgar and who died in 1863.  Its purpose was as a refuge for fishermen and mariners when not out at sea and it was hoped it would keep them out of the pubs and would encourage them in Christian ideals.  The Reading Room still provides daily papers and a place to read them and continues to be a social base for local fishermen, lifeboatmen and coastguards.  It is now a Registered Charity and contains a museum with exhibits showing the town’s seafaring past.

East Green

In 1659 there was a devastating fire in the town and most of the buildings were lost and many people were made homeless and destitute.  In the rebuilding of the town, it was decided to incorporate a number of greens as fire breaks.  This is East Green.

Some of you may remember a film made for TV in 1987 by Michael Palin called ‘East of Ipswich’ which was based on his own memories of seaside holidays in the 50’s.  It was filmed in Southwold.

Best wishes to you all!

Peak District Holiday 1st to 9th July. Day 5.

Tags

architecture, church of St Edward the Confessor, George Edmund Street, Greystones, Larner Sugden, Leek, Leek School of Embroidery, Nicholson Institute, Norman Shaw, oatcakes, ragged schools, River Churnet, silk mills, Staffordshire, stained glass, William Morris, William Sugden

A view down one of the main streets in Leek looking towards the Roman Catholic church.

The nearest town to where we usually stay in the Staffordshire Peaks is Leek.  It is the principal town of the area and is known locally as ‘The Queen of the Moorlands’.  It is not a large town; it is built on a hill and is contained in a large bend in the River Churnet.  During the late 18th and early 19th centuries it changed from a quiet market town to a silk-weaving centre and a few large mills were built there.  This industry has completely gone now but some of the old mills remain.

An abandoned mill.

William Morris, the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement lived and worked in Leek from 1875 until 1878.  He studied the art of dyeing there and it was Leek which provided his firm with silk.

R and I woke on the Saturday morning to hear the rain still falling and so didn’t rush our breakfast.  Fortunately, by the time we had washed up after our meal the rain had stopped and the sun had come out.  We decided we would spend the rest of the day in Leek so after a mid-morning cup of coffee we drove into town and parked the car in a car-park next to playing fields.

The town is full of interesting architecture.

I love this house with its chequered brickwork and the arch over the door mirrored by the arch over the window above it.

This house has a stained-glass window reaching from top to bottom.

I wonder if this window is where the stairs are. How lovely to have jewel-coloured light shining into your home! The next time we go to Leek I must try to find out more about this house.

Someone has filled their bay window with model boats

We began to feel hungry and went to the White Hart Tea Room in order that we might sample their wonderful Staffordshire oatcakes.

These oatcakes are made like pancakes but with oat-flour instead of wheat-flour. They are like the galettes you get in Brittany, France (which are made with buckwheat!)

Mine was filled with sausage and melted cheese and R’s had bacon and melted cheese.

Rested and refreshed, R and I continued to wander about the town.

The church of St Edward the Confessor

There is an 8th Century Saxon cross in the churchyard and some of the stained glass in the church is by Morris and Co.  The church also has a wonderful collection of examples of the work of the Leek School of Embroidery that R and I were lucky enough to see a couple of years ago in an exhibition.  There were enormous altar frontals and embroidered panels as well as smaller pieces of work and all so beautifully done.  The church was extended in the 19th Century by the architect George Edmund Street.  William Morris was one of his apprentices.

Apparently, until the trees in the churchyard grew too tall, a phenomenon called a double sunset could be seen from this church at about the time of the summer solstice.  There is a hill called the Cloud and as the sun sets it can be seen above and to the side of the hill at the same time.

The Rectory

Spout Hall. A mock Tudor building constructed in 1873 and attributed to the architect Richard Norman Shaw. Look at the size of the chimney!  The gutters also need clearing!

A kissing seat decorated with the Staffordshire Knot

An attractive iron railing

I believe these are almshouses.

The plaque on the wall states that the building was restored in 1911.  It also says ‘The gift of Elizabeth Ash widow, the eldest daughter of William Jolliffe, Esqr.  Anno Dom 1696’

I looked on the British History Online website and discovered that William Jolliffe acquired some land (part of an estate) in 1644.  When he died in 1669 the land passed to his daughter Elizabeth Ashe (the site spells her surname with an ‘e’), widow of Edward Ashe a London draper.  In 1677 she charged the land with rent to support the almshouses which she had founded at Leek.

I wonder what the tenant of the land thought about that!

As the sign over the door says, this is the Wesleyan Chapel and Ragged School.

Looking at the building it appeared to be disused and was a little worse for wear.

Ragged Schools ‘were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th Century Britain.’  (Wikipedia)  Eventually these schools began opening at night as well to educate all comers, children and adults.  The novelist Charles Dickens began his association with Ragged Schools in 1843 when he visited one in London.  He was appalled by the conditions but wished to help them.  His experience inspired him to write ‘A Christmas Carol’.  He said, ‘They who are too ragged, wretched, filthy and forlorn to enter any other place: who could gain admission into no charity school, and who would be driven from any church door: are invited to come in here, and find some people not depraved, willing to teach them something and show them some sympathy.’

William Sugden the architect arrived in Leek in 1849 to work on the design of the Churnet Valley Railway.  His son Larner was born in 1850 and was apprenticed to his father in 1866.  Both men’s influence on the town was very great.  It was they who built the Methodist Chapel and Ragged School in 1870.  Larner’s masterpiece was the Nicholson Institute built in Queen Anne style in 1882.

This part of the building is now used by Buxton and Leek College.

Nicholson Institute.  Now Leek Public Library and Gallery

Larner incorporated busts of Shakespeare, Newton, Reynolds and Tennyson into the building, representing 400 years of artistic and scientific achievement from the 16th to 19th Centuries.

The quote from Milton says, ‘A good booke is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit imbalm’d and treasur’d up on purpose to a life beyond life.’

The Institute is tucked away behind a 17th Century building on the main road.  Any other architect of the time would have pulled the building down but apparently Larner had a real regard for old buildings and so the building was allowed to remain.

And here it is. Or at least a part of it. There were so many trees and plants in the front garden that I couldn’t see much of the house.

The house is called ‘Greystones’ and until recently was being used as a tea-shop.

The gate is lovely!

Local rumour has it that William Morris founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1877 as a result of his successful campaign to prevent the demolition of this building.  It was through the SPAB he came into contact with Larner Sugden who went on to publish some of Morris’ speeches and essays!

A Visit to Sheffield

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'The Company', abutilon, architecture, Botanical Gardens, canna, chapels, copper beech, Drama Studio, Ely Cathedral, eringium, George Etherege, HMS Sheffield, Man of Mode, memorial, Mrs Loveit, pavilions, pelargonium, review, Sheffield, Sheffield cathedral, Sheffield Star, Tour de France, water feature, Windy wet weather

We were away from home on holiday from Tuesday 1st July until Wednesday 9th July.  As we neared home on Wednesday the weather deteriorated – the sun disappeared, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.  While we had been away the weather at home had been quite warm with a little sun but a lot of cloud according to my mother.  I took Mum out shopping yesterday and we were fortunate to be able to do it in the dry.  Shortly after getting home at 2.00pm the heavens opened and it rained for hours with some thunder and lightning.  I went for my monthly blood test this morning and chatted to my friend who is the phlebotomist at the medical centre.  Her daughter and my younger daughter E are the same age and were friends when E was able to go to school.  The Sixth Form Centre that Katrina attends was flooded yesterday and the roof was blown off the maths block so Katrina was enjoying a day off school.  My friend keeps horses and a tree had blown down in her paddock yesterday too.  The weather is quite autumnal at present.

Wheat field behind our house

The wind and rain has done considerable damage to the fields of crops in the area.  Please note the overwhelming grey sky!

My last post ended with me about to visit my eldest daughter in Sheffield to watch her perform in George Etherege’s play ‘Man of Mode’.  The few times I have visited her I have only stayed for one night so this time I booked two nights in a hotel and hoped I would be less rushed and tired and would be able to see more of my daughter and more of the city as well.

The journey was virtually uneventful and there were no delays.  The air conditioning wasn’t working on the train and I was amused by a young man becoming hot and somewhat bothered trying to force open a locked window.  The conductor eventually wandered through the carriage and asked if we would like the window opened.  We were very pleased to see him open it with a key  – fresh air is a wonderful thing!

The approach to Sheffield station seen from the station  Google image

I have had to supplement my photos with some from the internet as not all of mine came out well.

I decided to walk to my hotel in the city centre as it was a fine afternoon and made myself a refreshing cup of tea.  After a short rest I went out shopping and bought some food for our early evening meal and took a taxi to A’s house. The taxi driver was friendly and told me all about his daughters and what he planned to have for his evening meal.  He was just about to finish work for the day.  I had arranged with A that she would be standing at the end of her driveway as I probably wouldn’t recognise her house.  I pointed her out to the taxi driver who waved at her.  He was surprised that she didn’t wave back but of course I told him she had been brought up well and didn’t wave to strange men in cars.

A made us a cup of tea and then we ate our meal and I enjoyed our chat.  I walked with her to the Drama Studio and while she got changed ready for the performance I waited outside for the doors to open.  I had plenty of time to re-acquaint myself with the view from the top of the steps.

Houses opposite the studios

Shops opposite the studios

I had plenty of time to stare at the door too…..

The entrance to the drama studios

and at some of the carved detail.

I took a photograph of the studios the next day and looking at the resultant picture I see that either I wasn’t standing up straight or the building is leaning backwards.

Drama Studios

I think it was me!

The building looks like a former church and from a photograph on display inside, I found that it had been used at one time as a synagogue.

I enjoyed the play immensely and was sorry that there were so few people in the audience.  A played the part of Mrs Loveit, a spurned mistress –  a jealous, bitter woman out for revenge.

These are photos of A taken by a friend in the dressing room.  They do not quite show how beautiful she is or how good she looked in her costume.

I waited for her afterwards and we walked back to my hotel together and had a drink in the bar before she got the bus back to her house.

The next day we met mid-morning and she took me to see the Cathedral.

Sheffield Cathedral Google images

It was formerly a parish church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul but was made a cathedral one hundred years ago in 1914.  There has been a church on the site for a thousand years but the oldest part of the present building dates from 1430.  Chapels were added over the years – for example in 1520 the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury built the Shrewsbury Chapel where he and his two wives have their tomb and there is a grand monument to the 6th Earl who was guardian to Mary Queen of Scots when she was imprisoned in Sheffield  from 1570-1584.

Chancel ceiling with golden angels

Another ceiling

 

But by the 19th century it had also become very dilapidated.  A diarist of the time said that the church was ‘one of the most gloomy places of worship in the kingdom.’  This is no surprise as Sheffield is also known as ‘Steel City’ and in the 19th century the place was full of steel and iron foundries with furnaces blazing all day and night.  The dirt, soot and smoke must have been terrible.   The nave had to be demolished and rebuilt, the church was enlarged and the interior was modernised.

Ancient banners hanging in one of the chapels

Memorial

 

This lovely statue is a memorial to commemorate the special relationship between the city of Sheffield and ships of the Royal Navy bearing the city’s name.  It was placed in the cathedral on 17th April 2000 by His Royal Highness the Duke of York CVO ADC.  It is a tribute to all those who gave their lives in the service of their country.  British people remember that HMS Sheffield, a 4,100 tonne destroyer with a crew of 300 on board was hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile on 4th May 1982.  Twenty died and twenty-six suffered blast and burn injuries.  It was the first ship to be lost in enemy action since the Second World War.  Prince Andrew took part in the Falklands War.

A Chapel

A Chapel

The church was made a cathedral when the new diocese of Sheffield was formed.  Yet more plans were made to enlarge the cathedral but only some of the building works were carried out.  In the early 1960s more extensions were made including the narthex entrance and the west end was extended with a lantern tower.  The latter was repaired and new glass put in in 1998-1999.  Work is continuing to this day.

The Lantern

After admiring the Cathedral we walked up through the city to the Botanical Gardens  This was originally laid out in 1836 in the ‘Gardenesque’ style which featured winding paths and scattered plantings among tree-planted mounds.  The Gardens are listed by English Heritage as a Grade II site of special historic and architectural interest.  A major restoration programme was completed in 2005.

Sheffield Botanical Gardens Google images

We wandered about the grounds admiring the plants and sat for a while on a bench.  I didn’t manage to take many photos unfortunately as both A and I were bothered by sore feet!

Copper Beech leaves

Eringium

Eringium

A modern clock on the glass pavilion

The pavilions contain plants from the temperate regions of the world.  They are 90 metres long and contain thousands of panes of hand-blown glass.

Abutilon

Canna

Pelargonium

Abutilon

We had lunch – a cream tea (scone, jam, clotted cream, cup of tea) in the restaurant and then went our separate ways – A back to her house to do some more writing and me to traipse all the way back to my hotel for another rest and then more shopping for food.

I decided to walk back to A’s house instead of taking the bus or going by taxi but half way there I almost regretted my decision as it was all uphill, quite warm and my shopping was heavy.  However, I managed it and felt very pleased with myself once I had got my breath back.  We ate together as we had done the day before and again I walked to the Studio with her and waited outside  for the doors to open.  There was a larger audience this evening and I enjoyed the performance as much as I had done the evening before.  I met A after the performance and said good-bye to her there as she was seeing friends after the show.  I walked back to my hotel quite exhausted having walked some miles in the past couple of days.  It had rained while we had been in the theatre but stayed dry for my walk back to the city centre.

Steep hill down to the station

The following morning I returned to the railway station.  Sheffield was getting itself ready for the Tour de France with banners and posters everywhere.

The water feature outside the station didn’t look so attractive on a cloudy day.

The train journey home went quite quickly and I enjoyed it more as I had a window seat this time.  We passed through lots of showers of rain and I managed to take a photo of Ely Cathedral as we pulled out of the station.

It is easier to see in the winter when the trees are bare!

A told me her play had been reviewed in the Sheffield Star so I looked it up on the internet.  A was described as ‘the excellent A S’ – but I could have told them that!