A Room of One’s Own at Monk’s House, Rodmell

‘A Room of One’s Own’ by Virginia Woolf in the Library at Laughton Place

The moment my Swiss friends stepped off the London train at Lewes Station the sun came out and this set the scene for the next few days. We stuffed the cases in the boot and I whisked them straight off down shady narrow lanes to the quiet village of Rodmell just a few miles from the town centre of Lewes. We parked up in the Monk’s House (NT) car park and ambled back up the lane past wisteria covered cottages and pretty gardens to the Abergavenny Arms for lunch where, wonder of wonders, we were able to sit outside in the garden.

Description of Monk’s House by Virginia Woolf

Monk’s House is the former 17th century summer cottage home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf. They lived here together from 1919 until Virginia’s death in 1941 and Leonard continued to live here permanently with his companion, Trekkie Parsons, until his death in 1969. The house was left to Trekkie but before she died in 1995 she had sold the house in 1972 to The University of Sussex. Visiting lecturers and researchers stayed here until 1980 when the National Trust took on the property.

Leonard Woolf had the Conservatory added when he was too frail to walk to the Greenhouses

The Writing Lodge

Here Virginia Woolf wrote in the small wooden lodge at the bottom of the garden. Jacob’s Room was published in 1922, Mrs Dalloway in 1925, To The Lighthouse in 1927, Orlando in 1928, The Waves in 1931, The Years in 1937 and Between The Acts, published posthumously, in 1941. This latter is, apparently, steeped in references to Rodmell and the traditions and values of its villagers.

Both Virginia and Leonard’s ashes are buried beneath the magnolia tree in the garden.

The tree beneath which the ashes are buried

It’s a wonderful house. You can wander around as your fancy takes you and the garden is very pretty. Photography is not restricted and friendly local volunteers are on hand to answer questions as best they can.

Garden and Rodmell Parish Church

Leonard was the gardener, despite the recently published ‘Virginia Woolf’s Garden‘ by Jacqui Zoob who for ten years from 2000 lived at the house as a tenant of the National Trust. However, we were able to visit Virginia’s bedroom which is very much a garden room in an extension which they had added to the house.

Virginia Woolf’s Garden Bedroom Exterior

Virginia Woolf’s Garden Bedroom Interior

Originally proposed as the sitting room it was given over to VW when they realised that the view from the room above would be more suited to a sitting room. This room, which we didn’t see, is now let by the Trust as holiday accommodation.

Room to Let

On leaving the house we walked the same route to the River Ouse that Virginia took on that fateful day 28 March 1941.

The River Ouse near Rodmell

More pictures inside Monk’s House :

Laughton, East Sussex : The Village of the Buckle

Jun5

Laughton in East Sussex lies about 5 miles NE of the county town of Lewes and that is where I spent 6 nights last week. Actually, not quite in Laughton itself but at the Landmark Trust property Laughton Place about a mile and a half from the village on foot but probably two miles by road. I’ll write more about Laughton Place next time but just show some pictures of the village and explain about the Buckle here.

“What time ye French Sought to have Sackt Seafoord;

This Pelham did Repell them back Aboord”

This poem and the buckle on the village sign represent the colourful Pelham family whose own history dominates that of this area. During battle in 1356 Sir John Pelham managed to capture the King of France. The English king [Edward III] was so impressed that he removed the buckle of his sword belt and handed it to Sir John as a reward. It henceforth became the badge of the Pelhams and can be seen throughout the village. [Adapted from Wealden Walks leaflet]

All Saints Church, Laughton

Below Laughton church lie the remains of over sixty Pelhams, including two Prime Ministers [Henry Pelham (1694-1754) and his brother Thomas Pelham-Holles (1st Duke of Newcastle) (1693-1768)]. The latter rebuilt the chancel and donated a new set of bells to the church in 1724, which he had cast on the spot by a travelling founder.

War Memorial in Laughton Church

“In front of the now blocked north door an impressive war memorial was erected in 1921 in honour of the eighteen Laughton men killed in the Great War. The striking war memorial in the nave was dedicated in 1921. Sculpted in Italy of Carrara marble, it was paid for in Italian lira to take advantage of the exchange rate at the time. Four names were added following World War II.” [Source]

A tablet on the same wall records the death of five people killed by a flying bomb in Shortgate.

Laughton has a pub, the Roebuck (shouldn’t that be Roebuckle??) which I didn’t try and a village shop and Post Office, which I did. The kind shopkeeper was able to point me in the direction of The Hammonds where the poet and author Eleanor Farjeon lived during the First World War.

Eleanor Farjeon wrote The Little Bookroom for children and the Martin Pippin books which are based on the East Sussex countryside.

Farjeon is most famous for her hymn Morning Has Broken which became a popular track on Cat Stevens’ album .

Morning has broken,
like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken,
like the first bird
Praise for the singing,
praise for the morning
Praise for the springing
fresh from the word

Sweet the rain’s new fall,
sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall,
on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness
of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness
where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight,
mine is the morning
Born of the one light,
Eden saw play
Praise with elation,
praise every morning
God’s recreation
of the new day

Oh, yes, we’ve still got our Teaser and the Firecat LP record (1971)!

Teaser and the Firecat LP Cover

Kiplin Hall : Country Seat of the Founder of Maryland USA

May18

For many years I have picked up the leaflet describing Kiplin Hall and tempting me to visit. My interest was even more piqued when I read fellow blog poster nilly hall‘s description of her visit to the house and garden last October. Then earlier this year I was lucky enough to join friends to attend The History Wardrobe Premiere : Women and The Great War. Although organised by Kiplin Hall the performance was presented in nearby Scorton Village Hall. Finally last week I visited the hall itself.

We arrived nice and early in good time to give the tea room a try and have a walk around the gardens and estate before lunch. The house was not due to open until 2pm. During the process of deciding on a day to visit Kiplin we pondered as to why the opening hours were rather unusual: generally Sunday to Wednesday 2 – 5pm. The grounds and tea room being open on the same days between 10am and 5pm. Could it be that they host weddings on Fridays and Saturdays? As we ate our delicious salad lunch we soon realised the reason for this. The volunteers began to stream in, greeting each other, checking the rotas and signing their attendance book. Of course, a house like this cannot operate successfully without the generous assistance of a host of local volunteers. Sunday to Wednesday must be their preferred days of working so it’s Sunday to Wednesday that Kiplin Hall is open. I should add that in each room we talked to the volunteer room stewards who added much to our enjoyment of the day.

On arrival at Kiplin Hall you are greeted by giant topiary peacocks

Our walk started at the White Garden

Walking through several gardens you eventually arrive at the Lake Walk

Grassy paths lead round the lake to The Folly or ‘eyecatcher’ which, until the 1990s gravel extraction work which brought much-needed to funds to the hall and created the artificial lake, originally stood in the west parkland. The lake provides a habitat for many aquatic birds and wild flowers.

The Folly

Kiplin Hall from the Lake Walk

We didn’t have time before lunch to complete all of the garden/estate walk nor even touch on the Woodland Trails, although we managed to fit in the Walled Garden and the Garden Museum where we learned more about the house, gardens and owners. Kiplin Hall and Gardens definitely warrant a return visit.

Beautiful blooms near the Walled Garden

Kiplin in 1780 by George Cuit The Elder

Christopher Crowe bought the house and estate in 1722

Crowe bought the estate from Charles Calvert, the 5th Baron Baltimore, whose ancestor in the late 1620s set sale for America and later founded the state of Maryland.

“After several years of negotiation over both the land and Calvert’s proposed charter, on 20 June 1632 Charles I put his seal to the patent for land to the north of Virginia, to be called Terra Mariae or Maryland in honour of Queen Henrietta Maria. Sadly, George Calvert had died in April that year and his son Cecil, 2nd Lord Baltimore, became the first Proprietor of Maryland. Cecil appointed his younger brother, Leonard, the first Governor.” [Source]

Maryland maintains connections with Kiplin Hall (or rather, they have been re-instated) through the Maryland Study Centre near the main entrance to the grounds. When students from Maryland University are staying at the Centre and involved in helping or research at the Hall the Maryland flag is always flying. As it was on the day of our visit.

The Maryland Study Centre

The ubiquitous Doggie Graves in the Kiplin Woodland

No photography was allowed in the house. The excellent website has links to each room with photos and descriptions. The theme of the exhibition and trail throughout the hall this year is “Kiplin Hall in times of War”. Various paintings, pieces of furniture and other artefacts connect the Hall with British fighting campaigns throughout the ages from the English Civil War (1642-1651) to The Crimean War (1853-1856). A further two rooms on the second floor have been preserved from the time when the hall was requisitioned by the Army during the Second World War and these two rooms were part of a flat later occupied by RAF officers.

The Lake from The Hall

A very satisfying day out!

Tea and Books in Oxford

Apr14

When I meet with my online book group chums there is not much chance of sightseeing. Rather we seem to stagger from book shop to tea shop with our bags getting heavier and our purses lighter (although every purchase is always a bargain) and tummies fuller.

Saturday was no exception. Back in December Simon, over at Stuck-in-a-book, had invited us to join him for a day in Oxford. Although it is possible to get there and back in a day from Leeds for easier travel I opted to go via two nights in London. This meant a not so early start from Paddington in the company of another group member on Saturday morning.

St John’s College, Oxford, on St Giles

The Jam Factory is just across the road (more or less) from Oxford Railway Station. (I should just add that from the station there is no indication that one is in the city of dreaming spires and all that; but we did eventually pass hurriedly by one or two colleges and churches so the joys of Oxford await me on a future visit.) The JF is a lovely light and airy venue and the food looked excellent although I only shared a pot of Oxford Blend Tea before we set off on our books and teas trail. Whilst we all assembled at this venue Simon told us more about the new project that he’s a founder member of Shiny New Books an online book review magazine. I urge you to pop over now and have a look.

At Albion Beatnik Books

From the Jam Factory we headed to The Albion Beatnik Bookstore at 34 Walton Street. “Opened in 2009, this bookworm’s paradise is the coolest and most maverick of Oxford’s many bookstores. It offers an eclectic selection of new and secondhand books with a particular focus on jazz and blues … , American pulp fiction, graphic novels, beatnik poetry, Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group and neglected 20th century novels.” Says my 2011 LV City Guide to Edinburgh, London and Oxford. On the table were flowers made of printed paper and our purchases were wrapped in more printed paper with a quotation sticker to seal.

Our next stop was the Oxfam Bookshop on St Giles but I also spotted the pub The Eagle and Child which has associations with the Inklings writers’ group which included J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

“A fascinating past :
The Eagle and Child lays claim to a number of interesting literary connections. J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and fellow writers met here and dubbed themselves ‘The Inklings’. They nicknamed the pub ‘The Bird and Baby’. A public house since 1650, our hostelry takes its name from the crest of the Earls of Derby. During the Civil War, our building was used as the playhouse for Royalist soldiers.” [From the pub website]

St Michael’s Street

Time for lunch and the recommended venue was The Nosebag on St Michael’s St. I immediately recognised the address and building of The Oxford Union for it is the location of a Landmark Trust apartment : The Steward’s House. Even though it was after 2pm The Nosebag was packed so rather than miss out we had to split into two groups of 3 and 4. After the meal we dragged together enough chairs round one table in order to discuss the next steps in the campaign.

The Steward’s House and Oxfrod Union (red brick building) from the Nosebag

Pretty Arcadia is next door. It’s doesn’t just sell books but has a few displays and boxes outside and lots of vintage cards and accessories inside.

Before the end of our day we reached The Last Bookshop. This is also known as the £2 bookshop. It’s a great source of, presumably remaindered, new paper and hard back books. All priced (as it says on the tin) at £2. If I wasn’t such a devoted library user I would have bought loads here.

Actually, not The Last Book Shop for us

Our final two shops were – sellers of brushes not books – Objects of Use on Market Street – and a further Oxfam Bookshop on Turl Street. At least I thought OoU was more or less a kitchen wares shop as my companion and I only hovered near the entrance at a table full of brushes for different uses but I see from the website that it sells so much more. Apart from at The Home at Salts Mill this is the only other place that I have seen my Book Brush!

The very handy Book Brush

Instructions for Use

With trains and buses to catch around 5.30 time was pressing so we had a final tea and cake at ‘news’ and discussed plans for a Tenth Birthday Celebration in the autumn. All too soon it was time to hurry to station and rest our weary legs and heavy bags on the journey back to London.

Gibside : “The Chapell, Greenhouse, Banquiting House, Bath, Gardens, and Walks, [and] pleasure grounds are all gone to Ruin.”

Nov14

Last week I finished reading ‘Wedlock’ by Wendy Moore, subtitled on the cover ‘How Georgian Britain’s Worst Husband met his Match’. And what a tale it tells. It’s been recommended to me from several sources not least from Nilly Hall‘s wittily titled ‘Bowes and Cupid’s Arrows‘ published last February.

The book is the story of Mary Eleanor Bowes (1749-1800) daughter of the coal baron creator of “Gibside, a Georgian ‘grand design’ on a spectacular scale. The vision of coal baron George Bowes, the Palladian chapel is an architectural masterpiece, the stable block is a vibrant learning and discovery centre, and the once grand hall is now a dramatic shell. Gibside is also a haven for wildlife with red kites often circling in the skies above.” [NT]

The Stable Block

Gibside just a few miles from Newcastle is now the property of the National Trust. I have visited Gibside twice. The most recent time was just last December on my way to a course at Sage plc.

The Chapell

The Greenhouse or Orangery

The Banquiting House

The water feature below the Banqueting House was an elegant octagonal pond built in the Greek style to add to the stately vistas. A fountain cooled he air and statues stood on the terraces above. The Banqueting House was restored by The Landmark Trust after many years of neglect. That same neglect has had some happy consequences for the pond. It is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its population of great crested newts. There are no plans to restore the Octagon Pond as any such work could destroy the habitat of these shy and rare creatures, as well as upsetting the many other types of bird and aquatic life that thrive here. [Extracted from the Information Board at the Pond]

A highly educated woman for her time Mary Eleanor’s father, George Bowes, died when she was 11 leaving her a vast fortune and prey to future gold-diggers. She married her first husband, John Lyon, the 9th Earl of Strathmore, in 1767, gave birth to five children in six years and was left a widow when Lyon died of tuberculosis in 1776.

Her second marriage to Andrew Robinson Stoney, an Anglo-Irish adventurer, was a total disaster. Self-styled ‘Captain’ Stoney duped Mary into marriage in 1777. From then on she was brutally treated and virtually held captive by him. Finally, she did manage to escape his clutches and even to divorce him – highly unusual at the time. He is the origin of the term “stony broke” – he died in a debtor’s prison – and he was the inspiration to William Makepeace Thackeray who learned of Stoney Bowes’ life story from the Countess’s grandson John Bowes and used it in his novel “The Luck of Barry Lyndon.”

Stoney’s or Bowes’, as he is called in the book (in compliance with Mary’s father’s will, Stoney changed his name to Bowes his marriage to Mary Eleanor), greed was responsible for the ruin of Gibside and the destruction of thousands of trees on the estate .

It is ironic that Mary’s father constructed the Column of Liberty in the grounds of the estate when for several years during her marriage to Bowes she was very far from being at liberty.

The Column of Liberty at Gibside

An Invitation to View : Lukesland

Nov12

In addition to a shared love of reading Lynne (alias Dovegreyreader) and I have a love of houses and a nosey poke around in other people’s – especially the grander sort – when we get an opportunity. The chance arose when I was wondering how to belatedly celebrate her big birthday on our annual Devonshire Day Out.

Dovegreyreader can’t wait to get inside Lukesland

Then I remembered “Invitation to View” an organisation that brings together house owners and those inquisitive members of the public prepared to pay to have a private guided to tour of their homes followed by tea and cake or a light lunch by the fire or in the garden depending on the time of year. A small number of houses in Norfolk and Suffolk were included in the early years. This number has increased quite significantly and a few years ago The Southwest joined the group and there are now 23 houses in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset included in the scheme.

So, a couple of weeks ago I extended An Invitation to View to Lynne who accepted right away and we made our arrangements to meet last Thursday. Meeting at 11.30 in a favourite cafe of ours in Ashburton – Moorish – we allowed ourselves an hour and a half to catch up on each other’s families and reading and what-not, to drink tea, eat soup and, oh dear, have the first cake of the day. (Well, we were celebrating a birthday – any old excuse will do when the Moorish Tunisian Orange Cake is winking at you!).

Comfortably sustained by soup and cake Lynne drove us to Ivybridge and up out of town onto the edge of Dartmoor to Lukesland; the house we were booked to visit. From about 1.30pm the gardens were opened to us and the house tour began at 2.30pm.

Lukesland House and Garden

The gardens at Lukesland are generally open to the public in the spring and in the autumn. We thought there would be more autumn colour in early November than there was but nevertheless we enjoyed a chatty wander and took some photos as photography inside the house is not permitted.

The Kitchen Garden

The Kitchen Garden was the main garden of the original Tudor estate. It was much reduced in size by the Victorian owners in order to build a drive between the house and the stables (under the clock in the photo). The garden produced vegetables for the family, the domestic staff and for the farm workers on the estate until the 1940s. Since 2005 parts of it have been let as allotments to local Ivybridge residents.

Lukesland

Milady and Dovegreyreader at Lukesland

By 2.30 about 14 of us were assembled in Rosemary Howell’s sitting room waiting for the talk and tour to begin. Rosemary and her daughter-in-law Lorna welcomed us to the house and told us the brief history of the place.

“The Place Names of Devon lists “Lukesland” as being derived from the family of John Lucas in the 1330 Lay Subsidy Rolls.” There is evidence – written and in carved stonework – of settlement at Lukesland during and ever since Tudor times. The Tudor house was called Lukesland Grove. In 1863 a new (the current) house was built of Dartmoor granite and Portland stone on a new site and in the popular Victorian Gothic style for William Edwin Matthews, as a base for hunting on the moor. “Around 1875, Matthews was obliged to sell Lukesland and it was bought by James and Barbara MacAndrew, who came from the family of the London-Liverpool shipping line of that name.”

Howard Howell, a Canadian who came to Britain with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War, worked locally in forestry and married a Welsh woman, Muriel Neale and they settled in Exeter later buying Lukesland. The estate was in its heyday before the Second World War.

“A second phase of landscaping of the garden took place. A pond was dug (‘The Lower Pond’ as it is now), many waterfalls installed and three stone-arch bridges built (one, just below Rh. smithii, collapsed after a flood undermined the foundations in the early 1970s). A bathing pool was built on the island in front of the house, and a much bigger range of rhododendrons was planted, along with other shrubs and trees. Although the Victorians had planted some newly introduced exotic trees in the Cleave, including some Wellingtonias, this was the first time that the garden was really diversified. Many more flowering shrubs were available by the 1930s, and Howard was a forester who took a keen interest in them.”

Despite all the social changes in Britain since the War the Howell’s have lived on at Lukesland making changes and adapting the house and garden. Rosemary and her husband Brian moved in in 1975. Brian’s background was also in forestry. A lot of work needed to be done on the house. Brian died in 2003 and his son John and wife Lorna moved in in 2004. Adaptations include opening the gardens and tea room and letting holiday accommodation in out-buildings and in a wing of the house itself. [Adapted from Source]

Rosemary’s sitting room was in a separate wing of the house created by the insertion of a gothic-style but fully glazed door which separates it physically from the main body of the house. But done in this way I’m sure she still feels very much a part of the family.

We were then shown a larger sitting room and the big family kitchen created from a butler’s pantry and other servants’ quarters. It seems as if nothing is thrown away at Lukesland. Lorna joked as we moved from one scullery or dairy to the next that after the national collection of wallpapers we moved on to the national collection of flower vases. I kept making mental notes to self – get that loft and cellar cleared out!

Upstairs there seemed to be a multitude of bedrooms and bathrooms created from bedrooms all of which seem to be in use. There is also a separate apartment which is let a long-term holiday let. The house has a sheltered courtyard behind and here as well is the old billiard room and former nursery converted to a tea room and in use when the gardens are open.

Finally we returned to Rosemary’s sitting room where DGR remarked that the shabby, but not threadbare, rugs seem to be a feature of these old properties and I was able to tell her that the Landmark Trust would never use a new rug in an old property and that they have a huge store of suitably worn rugs ready to furnish future properties.

Tea and delicious home-baked cakes (yes, we carried on in the tea- and cake-tasting tradition established over the years) were served by the log fire and we discussed further what we had seen and how these lived-in houses are constantly evolving and adapting and how nice it was to see bookcases in every room, everyday objects and even imagining ourselves descending the stairs in Edwardian times as if we lived there!

Leaving Lukesland

Welcome to Lustleigh : A Short Tour of the Village – Wreyland back to Lustleigh

Nov10

Continuation of “A Walk Around Lustleigh”

9. Brookfield also originally belonged to Bovey Tracey [3 miles down the A382]. The first houses here were built in the late 19th century for the men who worked at Kelly Mine.

10. Station House : The Newton Abbot to Moretonehampstead Railway opened in 1866 running for just under 100 years and being famed for its well-kept garden [presumably, The Station House]. The passenger service ended in 1959.

The Station House [private drive]

11. Bishop’s Stone : the indistinct coat-of-arms carved on the front may be that of the See of Exeter but little is known of the history surrounding the stone.

Bishop’s Stone

12 : Old Gatehouses: built for Coombe Hill but are now private dwellings.

One of the Gatehouses

13. War Memorial: dedicated to the memory of all who fell in the two World Wars.

14. Great Hall, or Old Rectory: This historic building with its 14th century timber roof was once the home of the Lords of The Manor and later the Rectory. It was divided up into three private properties in the 20th century.

15. “Parson’s Loaf” : There is only speculation as to why this unusual rock came to be so called.

“Parson’s Loaf”

16. School House. The Board School built following the Education Act of 1870 for Infants and Juniors also provided accommodation for the Head Teacher. It was closed in 1963 and is now a private dwelling.

[The Infants School on the rights is now holiday accommodation and that is where we stayed in Lustleigh]

The School House

17. Town Orchard: The road between The Dairy and the Former Post Office leads past the recently-rebuilt Village Hall to The Town Orchard given to the people of Lustleigh by a resident, Mr W. Bennett. It is where the annual May Day festivities take place.

Village Hall

Town Orchard

18. The Bridge over the leat taking water the the Old Corn Mill, now a private dwelling.

The Bridge and Leat

19. The road leads to Rudge, one of the old farms of the Manor of Lustleigh, and from where a footpath continues past another old farm, Lower Hisley and on to Hisley Bridge in Lustleigh Cleave.

Road leads to Rudge

20. Baptist Chapel : built in 1853 and still in regular use as a place of worship.

Welcome to Lustleigh : A Short Tour of the Village – The Church, The Green and Wreyland

Nov9

A Walk Around Lustleigh Map

Last week I was staying in deepest Devon in the lovely village of Lustleigh on the edge of Dartmoor but within the boundary of the Dartmoor National Park. In addition to everything listed on the walk leaflet there is an excellent community shop called The Dairy. It houses the Post Office (open 9-1 each weekday) and itself is open every day including Sunday. Come with me on a walk through Lustleigh …

Starting at the village centre, outside the Church.

1. Church of St John the Baptist: built in the 12th century on a Celtic site. Inside see the raised Celtic stone and the beautiful rood screen.

The Nave with Rood Screen, Barrel Roof and Carved Pew Ends

The Raised Celtic Stone

[This ancient stone was removed from the position in the paving below the inner doorway of the church porch in 1979 in order to preserve it from further wear. It belongs within a well-recognised series of commemorative stones erected in the post-Roman period between about AD450 and AD600. The inscription probably read ‘DATUIDOCI CONHINOCI FILIUS’ – the stone Datuidoci the son of Conhinoci’.]

Carved Pew End

Rood Screen and Carved Pulpit

2. The Old Vestry: originally a school (see tablet on wall above the door). Now used for church choir rehearsals, parish council meetings and by the Lustleigh Society for the Community Archive.

The Old Vestry

Tablet on The Old Vestry

3. Church House: built around the 14th century. It was once a centre for village social activities, later became a Poor House and then a Reading Room.

Church House

4. The Cleave Hotel: originally an old farm “Gatehouse” and became a public house in the 19th century.

The Cleave Public House

5. Tudor Cross on the village green. Made of stone with a Maltese Cross head and chamfered shaft on an octagonal base. Erected in memory of Rector Henry Tudor (1888-1904). Nearby was the site of the village pump. Only the granite trough remains.

Tudor Cross

6. Cottages around the green: In the mid 19th century many were shops and one a Post Office. Primrose Cottage [tea rooms] was built in 1940 on the site of a hardware shop.

Primrose Tea Rooms

7. Old Gospel Hall: formerly used for worship by the Plymouth Brethren.

The Old Gospel Hall and Wrey Brook

8. Wreyland: Approached from under the railway bridge Wreyland (or Wrayland) is a small hamlet that was part of the parish of Bovey Tracey until 1957. The Wrey Brook being the boundary between Lustleigh and Bovey. The thatched cottage on the left, known as Wreyland Manor, was where early manorial courts were held. Cecil Torr’s family owned properties here, including Yonder Wreyland where “Small Talk at Wreyland” was written.

Wreyland Manor

Yonder Wreyland

Small Talk at Wreyland

Day Tripper – To Liverpool Library

Oct12

On Thursday I spent the day with a friend in Liverpool. We met at Lime Street Station and spent the morning over coffee in the cafe and admiring the ‘new’ Liverpool Public Library re-opened in May after a massive renovation project. It’s a job well done! I wanted to visit ever since I saw this blog post and the super pictures. I don’t really have much to add text-wise. We travelled up to the top and the very windy roof terrace and then inspected the building and departments as we descended. The Hornby and Oak Rooms reminded me of my own dear Leeds Library. Going into the major reference space – The Picton Library – was just like entering the old British Museum Reading Room. And the glass dome on the roof reminded me of The Reichstag in Berlin.

Views from the Roof Terrace

The Glass Dome Exterior

The Open Plan Liverpool Record Office has Beatles memorabilia and other documents on display

The Picton Reading Room

Detail of the Reading Room – quality fixtures and fittings

This magnificent building and reading room was built in 1875 -79. Sir James Allanson Picton was the Chairman of the Libraries Committee, architect and author of the famous “Memorials of Liverpool”.

Based on the rotunda of the British Museum in London, the Picton reading room is 100′ in diameter and 56′ high, and was designed by Cornelius Sherlock, Corporation Surveyor, at a cost of £20,000 with seating for 200 readers.

The circular structure was nicknamed “Picton’s Gasometer” although ironically it was the first public building in Liverpool to be lit by electric lighting when opened in 1879.

Source

The Oak Room with Audubon Display

The Oak Room was the last addition to the Picton and was opened in 1914 as a special library for the rarest books in the building.

It houses some 4000 books but pride of place must be the Birds of America by John James Audubon, purchased with a donation from William Brown’s partner in America, Joseph Shipley.

Source

Detail of The Hornby Room

The Hornby Library was the donation of a wealthy Liverpool merchant, Hugh Frederick Hornby.

He bequeathed his collection of books, prints and autographs to the City in 1899 together with £10,000 for a building to house it.

The building is full of Edwardian opulence with ten alcoves to display the many rare bindings and a gallery above. It was designed by the Corporation Architect Thomas Shelmerdine and was opened in 1906.

Source

The Liverpolitan Magazine, 1932

But it’s not all restored Victorian – there’s an exciting modern children’s library in the former Picton Hall below The Reading Room.

The Children’s Department

View of the Dome from the Ground Floor

Read more about the library and its services here. Well done, Liverpool, you have a public library worthy of your UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

The Pinecone : a Visit to St Mary’s Church, Wreay in Cumbria

Oct9

Earlier this year I read Jenny Uglow’s latest book “The Pinecone : the story of Sarah Losh, forgotten Romantic heroine – antiquarian, architect and visionary”. I had heard Jenny speaking about the book at the 2012 Ilkley Literature Festival. Sarah Losh’s life and her work are almost totally unknown.

“The village of Wreay lies five miles south of Carlisle. Four country roads meet at the village green, shaded by trees, and across the way is the church. It looks like a small Romanesque chapel from northern Italy. What is it doing in this northern village, with the mountains of the Lake District to the west and the Pennines to the east?”

This is the premise for the book [on the back cover] and it’s a fascinating tale. Jenny Uglow first sets the scene by telling the story of Sarah Losh’s antecedents who made money in Newcastle from alkali works and later from iron works and the railways. Sarah was born in 1786 and her sister Katharine, with whom she was especially close, in 1788. Their parents died in 1799 [their mother] and 1814 [their father]. The sisters were brought up in the countryside south of Carlisle but as adults they made several tours on the Continent including to Italy. This must be where Sarah received her inspiration. For women at the time they were very highly educated.

The Mortuary Chapel Across the Field from the Church

Following the death of their father and their travels on the Continent the Losh sisters returned home and began to make improvements to their home and estate and to the village of Wreay itself including the building of a school. But Katherine fell ill and died in 1835 and Sarah was inconsolable. She then directed her efforts to building a Mortuary Chapel modelled on one she had seen at St Piran in Cornwall.

Then Sarah began work on the new church 1835. It was completed in 1845. She declared that it was to be “Not in the Gothick style” but based on a Romanesque design and it is a masterpiece and very obviously the work of one person – the untrained architect and designer – Sarah Losh.

Sarah Losh

I can’t go into all the details of both the interior and exterior decoration of the building. It’s a perfect gem – earning four stars in Simon Jenkins’ England’s Thousand Best Churches “This is one of the most eccentric small churches in England … unlike almost all the works in this book, Wreay appears to have been the creation of a single original mind … The Arts and Crafts Movement took half a century to catch up with her.”

The Mausoleum

Dedicated to Katherine Losh

There is a Mausoleum dedicated to her sister and an exact replica of the Bewcastle Cross (the original of which stands by Hadrian’s Wall) alongside the church. The Loshes, including Sarah and Katherine, are buried in a grave enclosure nearby.

The Bewcastle Cross

The Mausoleum and Cross with the School across the road

“IN VITA DIVISAE, IN MORTE CONJUNCTAE” – Parted in life, in death united”

I’m lucky to have a friend who lives not far from Wreay. I visited her in Carlisle last year. So last Thursday I took to the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle Line again to visit Wreay Church with June and her husband, David. We were lucky to arrive whilst a group were being shown round and had the good fortune to have access along with them to the small Mausoleum dedicated to Katherine.