buildings
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Here is another fine old house for sale, although way out of my price bracket. I’ve learned of it courtesy of Country Life magazine. Hunton Court, formerly Court Lodge, is tucked away near Maidstone in Kent and you can read about it here. There is a link to the estate agent’s details of the property,…
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As I was wandering the deep valleys of darkest Wiltshire, I suddenly thought I was having a hallucination. Across the green rises, I spotted, not the usual line of ponies and horses…but three humpy Bactrian camels ambling along a trail! Not the kind of beasties one normally expects in the Wiltshire countryside. Apparently I was…
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While searching for an explanation of why some women in the 14th century were termed “Dame” I found that it meant they were a knight’s wife/widow. Apparently Dame preceded Lady, which came about in the 17th Century—or so it seems. I can’t quite believe that. Anyway, I also learned that it wasn’t unknown for women…
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Thanks to a TV documentary involving student stained-glass glaziers this viewer was taken to Canterbury Cathedral to see its astonishingly beautiful windows, some of which we learned have now been dated as early as the mid-1100s, maybe even the 1130s.. Léonie Seliger, the head of stained glass conservation at the cathedral, and part of the…
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So now we examine the case of the artist Raphael (d’Urbino), who lived from 1483-1520. He was officially betrothed, in 1514, to Maria Bibbiena, the niece of a Cardinal (left, painted in 1516), which implies the need for some propriety in the relationship. Canon law would definitely apply and the chance of secretly marrying her…
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I have been trying to understand the downfall of Eleanor Cobham. Not because I plan to write about her (life is too short) but purely because I like to understand events clearly. Eleanor was, of course, the wife of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, Henry VI‘s youngest and last surviving uncle. I have no doubt at…
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As you may know, Richard III’s Book of Hours is housed in the Library of Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which is located just across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament. It was put on display for a limited period in the spring and I managed to find time to…
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“….Henry VII, doubtless after having taken good stock of the amenities of Ewelme Manor, during his self-proposed visit to Edmund de la Pole before the latter’s banishment, decided that it would be well-fitted for a country retreat, later on to be converted into a Royal Palace. In fact, it may have become to the King…
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This great house was never built next to the Thames at Chelsea, but now it stands right on the riverbank. It originally stood in Bishopsgate, London, from where it was moved brick by brick at the beginning of the 20th century. It was first erected in 1466 by Sir John Crosby., and is now…
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