Your favourite old building?

[Penners]

I can't believe I haven't included this one earlier. One of my absolute favourites:

The Guildhall of Corpus Christi in Lavenham, Suffolk. It's a National Trust property.

I love timberframe buildings anyway, so this magnificent example just takes my breath away. To appreciate it fully, you have to visit the building and study the incredible work that's gone into it.

As a bonus, once you've gawped at the building itself you can have a look round the fascinating museum of wool cloth making that it contains, and which was the basis for Lavenham's wealth.

And then you can have a nice NT cuppa and wedge of coffee and walnut cake.

 

[Ian Bond]

Heartily agree with than one. Used to visit often when we lived down that way.

Will be back down to lovely Suffolk soon to stay in the Ancient House, Clare. Nice pargeting.

Did someone mention cake?

:mrgreen:

 

[Penners]

In which case I expect you know The Ancient House in Ipswich? A wonderful building with magnificent pargetting. When I lived in Ipswich it was a bookshop, but I'm not sure whether it still is, and I can't quite tell what's in the windows in the photo.

And there used to be a cake shop nearby.

 

[Carol]

Thanks to Vicky Whitworth who recommended Finch Foundry in Devon. We visited today and it was fascinating. Oak beam structures used in a wholly unexpected way! Well worth a trip and the coffee is very good too.

 

[Ian Bond]

Another lovely bit of pargeting, Penners.And the promise of nearby cake.

Finch foundry is not firmly on the list of NT places to visit - couldn't fit them all in last time I was down in Devon, but will make sure I get there next time.

 

[fjpdesigns]

I did a pargeting demonstration in the garden of the Ancient House in Clare last year. The pargeting on the street elevations certainly is very impressive, as is the slope on the bathroom floor.
It was a rather quiet day and I tried working out how many different people must have done repairs and patches to the much simpler herringbone pargeting on the house walls facing the garden. I can't remember exactly, but I reckon there had been eight or nine different stamps used at various times. Some of them after a good session in the pub and one particular patch after consuming some very bad beer.

 

[Anys9]

I love the Llanthony Priory ruins in the Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons. There's a quaint hotel there as well.
Well worth a visit.

 

[DaveBrigg]

My favourite building is Warwick castle because of the jousting and sword fighting shows. From Andrew. :mrgreen:

 

[Ian Bond]

I did a pargeting demonstration in the garden of the Ancient House in Clare last year. The pargeting on the street elevations certainly is very impressive, as is the slope on the bathroom floor.
It was a rather quiet day and I tried working out how many different people must have done repairs and patches to the much simpler herringbone pargeting on the house walls facing the garden. I can't remember exactly, but I reckon there had been eight or nine different stamps used at various times. Some of them after a good session in the pub and one particular patch after consuming some very bad beer.

Nice website btw, will keep an eye out and see if I can spot any of your work on my travels.

Looks as though you are right about the bathroom floor!

 

[Ian Bond]

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[fjpdesigns]

Thanks Ian.

 

[DaveBrigg]

At the risk of embarrasing fjpdesigns, can I echo Ian's comments about the website. Great info about pargetting, and I loved this chap

 

[Penners]

There - be warned! That's what a socket outlet in the bathroom can do to you!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Have just spent a week in the Loire valley, and can probably add just about every other building there to the list of favourite buildings. Some wonderful timber-framed buildings in Amboise, Saint-Aignon and Montrichard, near where we stayed.

Why is it that so much of rural France's architectural heritage has survived, and less so ours? No surrender jokes please, Penners!

Someone advanced a theory to me that the peasanterie (or maybe it was "paysanterie"?) survived much longer in France than in the UK (even into this century) and so less of their architecture has undergone a "great rebuild". I suspect it also has something to do with the unifying element of their revolution - every town square has a Mairie in a similar and distinctive style.

 

[Penners]

Why is it that so much of rural France's architectural heritage has survived, and less so ours?

I strongly disagree! In fact, I (and the French branch of our family) feel that it's rather the other way around. And that's true whether you're talking about grand or vernacular architecture. In Britain we have a much more developed sense of conservation of our architectural heritage than in France. We also have English Heritage and the National Trust. There are vaguely equivalent organisations in France, but not nearly as active or as well supported. The French in general are not great charitable donors - they regard that as the job of Government.

You are perhaps correct on one point. The French peasant remained much poorer for much longer than in the UK. So when the opportunity came to abandon his rude country cottage to go and work in the towns and cities, he did just that - abandoned it. For this reason there has been much less "gentrification" of the country cottage in France, and there are still large numbers of crumbling agricultural buildings that lie abandoned, waiting for someone to come along and restore/convert them. The British "invasion" of France has been a key element in setting this trend going, and it's only in the last decade or two that the price of such "renovation opportunities" has really started to increase.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Why is it that so much of rural France's architectural heritage has survived, and less so ours?

I strongly disagree! In fact, I (and the French branch of our family) feel that it's rather the other way around. And that's true whether you're talking about grand or vernacular architecture. In Britain we have a much more developed sense of conservation of our architectural heritage than in France. We also have English Heritage and the National Trust. There are vaguely equivalent organisations in France, but not nearly as active or as well supported. The French in general are not great charitable donors - they regard that as the job of Government.

You are perhaps correct on one point. The French peasant remained much poorer for much longer than in the UK. So when the opportunity came to abandon his rude country cottage to go and work in the towns and cities, he did just that - abandoned it. For this reason there has been much less "gentrification" of the country cottage in France, and there are still large numbers of crumbling agricultural buildings that lie abandoned, waiting for someone to come along and restore/convert them. The British "invasion" of France has been a key element in setting this trend going, and it's only in the last decade or two that the price of such "renovation opportunities" has really started to increase.

On the other hand, our Ruskin / Morris inspired sense of the need to conserve rather than restore does mean that we miss out (for the most part) on spectacular, naughtily speculative, reconstructions of mediaeval castles of which the French have lots:
whereas we have only a handful:View attachment 1

 

[shelli]

I Agree Penners - perhaps the next big place will be rural Ireland - the same abandonment of rural cottages and farmhouses is still going strong in the west - Gounty Galway , Mayo and Meath to name but a few - there are castles, keeps and towers, massive country houses, church buildings, old schools all along the atlantic coast
When last there we were staggered by the fact of beautiful crumbling farmhouses stuffed with original features (cast iron range decaying amongst heap of spoil in the garden, tree growing through chimney etc) and hideous Ponderosa style rendered bungalows built next to it

Their wealthy offspring will make their euros in the booming towns and then come back home for a rural idyll in which to raise their children and the price of these places will go through the roof. Wish I had a pot'o'gold hanging around, t' be sure.

I can see it all so clearly in my crystal ball!!

Mystic Shelli X

 

[Penners]

Shelli - any chance of a forecast on this week's lottery numbers?

 

[shelli]

i can see 6 numbers and a bonus number - all of them are between 1 and 49
hope this helps

 

[Penners]

Great! I'll share my winnings with you.