Archive for June, 2011

The spectacular Pillar Hall occupies the centre of the house.

It is meant to evoke the open-roofed atrium, or central courtyard, of a classical villa – a Roman architectural precedent rather than a Greek one. The Northumberland climate meant that it had to be roofed, with natural lighting being provided by roof lights and a [...]

14 Comments CherryPie on Jun 30th 2011

Belsay Hall was a modern villa with a comfortable library, drawing room and dining room built to overlook a romantic prospect to the south. But its owner, Sir Charles Monck, was obsessed by ancient Greece and owned every book published on Greek architecture. So the details inside and out were derived from the [...]

4 Comments CherryPie on Jun 29th 2011

This was my first visit to Belsay and it has a bit of everything and comprises of three different elements.  A hall inspired by the architecture of ancient Greece, a medieval castle  with rare wall paintings and magnificent gardens.  The hall was enlarged in the early 17th century and subsequently superseded by a Greek Revival [...]

6 Comments CherryPie on Jun 28th 2011

At the bottom of the photo you can see the foundations of a church laid out in a cruciform.

12 Comments CherryPie on Jun 27th 2011

A managed democracy is a wonderful thing… for the managers… and its greatest strength is a ‘free press’ when ‘free’ is defined as ‘responsible’ and the managers define what is ‘irresponsible’.
Robert A. Heinlein

8 Comments CherryPie on Jun 26th 2011

The Little Stair Tower has a rather distinctive spire. The tower was a secondary porch to the fourth earl’s residence in the bailey:

It served the great chamber much as the Lion Tower served the great hall. It was heavily reconsolidated and partly rebuilt in the 1920s.*

*From the English Heritage guide book.

6 Comments CherryPie on Jun 25th 2011

On becoming a lady of a certain age it was nice to celebrate with family and friends

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.

34 Comments CherryPie on Jun 24th 2011

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