MEDIEVAL ECHOES: Church of St Mary, Tarrant Crawford, Dorset

MEDIEVAL ECHOES: Church of St Mary, Tarrant Crawford, Dorset

I don’t particularly like to venture out from late July through August, when the schools are on holiday. However, the places that are guaranteed to be free of tourists are parish churches. This August (2024) I ventured out with a friend to visit two Dorset churches...
The Shell-Headed Niche Part 1: Rome, Renaissance, & Baroque

The Shell-Headed Niche Part 1: Rome, Renaissance, & Baroque

When I was researching Tudor and early-Stuart gatehouses in the central southwest of England, one of the common features that occurred was the shell-headed niche. The niche whether empty or filled by a statue becomes a significant architectural device in England from...
THE PANTHEON: Mastery of Roman Architecture & Engineering

THE PANTHEON: Mastery of Roman Architecture & Engineering

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....
The Game of Fives in South Somerset

The Game of Fives in South Somerset

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...