Aug 23, 2023
The 18th-century Grand Tour must have been exciting time for young patricians seeking to discover the ancient world first hand in Rome. If they could put aside the temptations of pleasurable diversions, then serious learning and procuring a collection were attainable....
Dec 19, 2022
The game of fives became a popular sport in South Somerset from the mid-18th C. There are churchwarden accounts that record the problem of fives being played against church towers. One way around this was to construct purpose-built fives walls. These were mainly built...
Oct 5, 2022
Last week I caught an early train to London to visit a few places. I travelled into Paddington and then walked to the Wallace Collection in Hertford House, Manchester Square, W1. I ambled as the gallery does not open until ten. I reflected on the relative safety of...
Aug 31, 2022
Following the development of the elite country house from the medieval period onwards, it is evident there is a discontinuity in architectural function from the Romano-British culture. The break is the influence of Anglo-Saxon culture, who have a preoccupation with...
Apr 22, 2022
It is useful, I find, when examining civic architecture and the architecture of the English country house to remember the classical arch, of which there are key examples in Rome. The triumphal arch and the triumphal column were testament to the dominance of...
Apr 22, 2022
When studying the columns of Trajan (113 AD) and Marcus Aurelius (c. 190 AD), I cannot help thinking of them as the inspiration for the Bayeux Tapestry. Although, there is no record to my knowledge of Bishop Odo visiting Rome. The spiralling upwards bas relief reads...
