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Belmont House And Gardens
Belmont is a Georgian house and gardens in Throwley, near Faversham in east Kent. Built between 1769 and 1793, it has been described as "a marvellous example of Georgian architecture that has remained completely unspoilt". The house is famous for the most extensive private collection of clocks in England. History There was no house or estate on the site until the land was bought in 1769 by Edward Wilks, store-keeper of the Royal Powder Mills at Faversham. It was designed by the architect Samuel Wyatt. The original house still stands as a wing of the present building. The current house was largely created between 1789–1793 by Colonel John Montresor of the Royal Engineers. His career was cut short when he was accused of embezzlement and the house was bought at auction in 1801 by General George Harris, for £9,000. His descendants continued to live at Belmont, the clock collection being assembled by the 5th Lord Harris, who served as the first President of the Antiquarian Hor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Throwley
Throwley is an English village south of Faversham in the Borough of Swale in Kent.The name is recorded in the Doomsday Book as Trevelai, which corresponds with a Brittonic origin, where "Trev" means a settlement or farm house and "Elai" typically relates to a fast moving river or stream (CF. Trelai (showing the loss of terminal "f") in Cardiff). History At the end of the civil wars of 1139-53, King Stephen's chief lieutenant William of Ypres gave the churches of Throwley and Chilham to the Abbey of Saint Bertin in Saint-Omer, France. Throwley Priory was built as a cell of that Benedictine house. It was dissolved as part of Henry IV's general suppression of alien priories in 1414 and granted to Thomas Beaufort, the half-brother of the king's father. Beaufort gave Throwley to Syon Abbey on 13 July 1424, a gift confirmed by Henry VI in 1443. A Royal Flying Corps airfield was established in the Parish during the First World War to provide a landing ground for fighter biplanes def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British trackway which was used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons, and known as Watling Street. The name is of Old English origin, meaning "the metal-worker's village". There has been a settlement at Faversham since pre-Roman times, next to the ancient sea port on Faversham Creek. It was inhabited by the Saxons and mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Favreshant''. The town was favoured by King Stephen who established Faversham Abbey, which survived until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538. Subsequently, the town became an important seaport and established itself as a centre for brewing, and the Shepherd Neame Brewery, founded in 1698, remains a significant major employer. The town was also the centre of the explosives industry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Wyatt
Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737, Weeford, Staffs. – London, 8 February 1807) was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was primarily in a neoclassical style. Career In his twenties, Wyatt was master carpenter and later Robert Adam's clerk of works at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, which was a landmark in English neoclassical architecture. He later worked with his brother James Wyatt on the Pantheon in Oxford Street, London. He designed neoclassical country houses such as Tatton Park in Cheshire, and Trinity House in London and Digswell House in Hertfordshire. Wyatt's career was diverse. He designed the Albion Mills in London, which was the first in the world to be powered by steam engines, and patented designs for cast iron bridges. He designed model farm buildings, cottages, and several lighthouses, including those at Dungeness, Longships and Flamborough Head. Between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover. The county town is Maidstone. It is the fifth most populous county in England, the most populous non-Metropolitan county and the most populous of the home counties. Kent was one of the first British territories to be settled by Germanic tribes, most notably the Jutes, following the withdrawal of the Romans. Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, the oldest cathedral in England, has been the seat of the Archbishops of Canterbury since the conversion of England to Christianity that began in the 6th century with Saint Augustine. Rochester Cathedral in Medway is England's second-oldest cathedral. Located between London and the Strait of Dover, which separates England from mainla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faversham Explosives Industry
Faversham, in Kent, England, has claims to be the cradle of the UK's explosives industry: it was also to become one of its main centres. The first gunpowder plant in the UK was established in the 16th century, possibly at the instigation of the abbey at Faversham. With their estates and endowments, monasteries were keen to invest in promising technology. Faversham was well placed. It had a stream which could be dammed at intervals to provide power for watermills. On its outskirts were low-lying areas ideal for the culture of alder and willow to provide charcoal, one of the three key gunpowder ingredients. The stream fed into a tidal creek where sulphur, another key ingredient, could be imported, and the finished product loaded for dispatch to Thames-side magazines. The port was also near the Continent where, in time of war, demand for gunpowder was brisk. Gunpowder The first factories The first factories were small, near the town, and alongside the stream, between the Lond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Harris, 1st Baron Harris
George Harris, 1st Baron Harris GCB (18 March 1746 – 19 May 1829) was a British soldier. Military career Harris was the son of the Reverend George Harris, curate of Brasted, Kent. He was educated at Westminster School and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he was commissioned to the Royal Artillery in 1760, transferring as an ensign in the 5th foot (Northumberland Fusiliers) in 1762. Three years later he became lieutenant, and in 1771 captain. His first active service was in the American War of Independence, in which he served at Lexington, Bunker Hill (severely wounded) and in every engagement of Howe's army except one up to November 1778.. By this time he had obtained his majority, and his next service was under Major-General Medows at St. Lucia in 1778–1779, after which his regiment served as marines in Rodney's fleet. Later in 1779 he was for a time a prisoner of war. Shortly before his promotion to lieutenant-colonel in his regiment (1780) he married ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiquarian Horological Society
The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In early 2016, the Society appointed Dr Patricia Fara of Clare College, Cambridge as its new president, following the untimely death of its previous president Professor Lisa Jardine. The Chairman is Dr James Nye. The Society was founded in 1953. It unites collectors, scholars and museum professionals interested in the historical aspects of horology – the study of the art, science, social history and technology of timekeepers, such as clocks and watches. The society is a registered charity under English law. Activities The principal meetings of the Society are held periodically, primarily in London. Meetings may also be multi-day seminars, held in a number of locations such as Oxford. The Society hosts a London Lecture Series, which fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Betts
Jonathan Betts Order of the British Empire, MBE (born January 1955) is Curator Emeritus at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory (National Maritime Museum), Greenwich, a horological scholar and author, and an expert on the first marine chronometer, marine timekeepers created by John Harrison in the middle of the 18th century. He was formerly Senior Specialist in horology at Greenwich. Between 2016 and 2019 he served on the board of trustees of the Institute of Conservation. Career From a family of retail watchmakers and jewellers, he took the British Horological Institute finals in technical horology. In 1975 he was awarded the Tremayne National Prize for Practical Watchmaking. For the following five years, he practised as a self-employed horology conservator. In 1980 he was appointed Senior Horology Conservator at the National Maritime Museum, and in 1989 was presented the museum's Callender Award for his contribution to horological conservation. He was appointed Cur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arabella Lennox-Boyd
Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Lady Lennox-Boyd (née Parisi) is an Italian-born English garden designer. Background Arabella Lennox-Boyd was born in Rome and grew up there and at Palazzo Parisi, Oliveto, their family home. She later settled in England where she undertook a course in Landscape Architecture at Thames Polytechnic. Career Since moving to Gresgarth Hall in Lancashire in 1978 with her family, Arabella Lennox-Boyd developed the gardens there, marrying Italian style with British plantmanship. In 1989 Arabella formed Arabella Lennox-Boyd Landscape and Architectural Design where she heads a team of designers. She has been designing gardens for over forty-five years and has landscaped more than seven hundred gardens worldwide, including six Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal gardens, and the Best of Show winner in 1998. Her many commissions range from commercial projects, such as the roof garden at No. I Poultry in the City of London; gardens open to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Harris, 4th Baron Harris
Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active from 1870 to 1889, who played for Kent and England as captain of both teams. He had a political career from 1885 to 1900 and was for much of his life a highly influential figure in cricket administration through the offices he held with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He was President of the Kent County Football Association between 1881 and 1908. Early life The Honourable George Harris was born in St Ann's, Trinidad on 3 February 1851 when his father, George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris, was serving as Governor of Trinidad (1846–1854)Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), p.216.Available onlineat the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 11 March 2021.) and Sarah ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landmark Trust
The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headquarters is at Shottesbrooke in Berkshire. Most Trust properties are in England, Scotland and Wales. Several are on Lundy Island off the coast of north Devon, operated under lease from the National Trust. In continental Europe there are Landmark sites in Belgium, France and Italy. Five properties are in the United States — all in Vermont — one of which, Naulakha, was the home of Rudyard Kipling in the 1890s. The Trust is a charity registered in England & Wales and in Scotland. The American sites are owned by an independent sister charity, Landmark Trust USA. There is also an Irish Landmark Trust. Those who rent Landmarks provide a source of funds to support restoration costs and building maintenance. The first rentals were in 1967 when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
