Apr 23, 2020
Figure 1: Ruins of Old Sherborne Castle. It was the Civil War in the mid-17th century that led to its present state.[1] RALEIGH AT OLD SHERBORNE CASTLE Sir Walter Raleigh led an extraordinary life. In the Elizabethan court he rose to become one of the most...
Apr 6, 2020
Baroque architecture developed in Italy in the early-17th C and appeared in England during the 1660s. The Baroque garland was a motif that appeared as part of a scheme in English plasterwork. This post looks at three examples of plasterwork garlands in Baroque...
Mar 1, 2020
I recently visited the Holy Ghost Parish Church at Crowcombe in The Quantock Hills, Somerset. The Carew Chapel contains some fine hatchments. Besides church architecture the fixtures and fixings provide us with clues to social history. Human social history evolves and...
Feb 23, 2020
Tucked away in the Poulett chapel of St George’s Church, Hinton St George is one of the earliest works of scagliola in England. It is a remarkable work full of Baroque wonder. The Baroque in Europe arose circa 1600 and lasted until circa 1725. The memorial is for John...
Jan 16, 2020
Montacute House is a rare survival from the late Elizabethan moving into the early-Jacobean period. In this post I wish to examine an aspect of decoration in the great hall that tells of how local villagers would deal with a particular transgression of a neighbour....
Dec 31, 2019
The spectacular gatehouse of Layer Marney is embellished with astounding terracotta ornamentation. This is particularly impressive when taking the date of its build into consideration. It was built during the early part of Henry VIII’s reign (reign was 1509 to 1547)....
