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Vicars Close (geograph 2559384)
Vicars' Close, in Wells, Somerset, England, is claimed to be the oldest purely residential street with original buildings surviving intact in Europe. John Julius Norwich called it "that rarest of survivals, a planned street of the mid-14th century". It comprises numerous Grade I listed buildings, comprising 27 residences (originally 44), built for Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury, a chapel and library at the north end, and a hall at the south end, over an arched gate. It is connected at its southern end to the cathedral by a walkway over Chain Gate. The Close is about long, and paved with setts. Its width is tapered by to make it look longer when viewed from the main entrance nearest the cathedral. When viewed from the other end it looks shorter. By the nineteenth century the buildings were reported to be in a poor state of repair, and part of the hall was being used as a malt house. Repairs have since been carried out including the construction of Shrewsbury House to replace bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology and traffic signs include many different alternatives. Some of these are used only regionally. In the United States and other countries, ''cul-de-sac'' is often not an exact synonym for ''dead end'' and refers to dead ends with a circular end, allowing for easy turning at the end of the road. In Australia and Canada, they are usually referred to as a ''court'' when they have a bulbous end. Dead ends are added to road layouts in urban planning to limit through-traffic in residential areas. While some dead ends provide no possible passage except in and out of their road entry, others allow cyclists, pedestrians or other non-automotive traffic to pass through connecting easements or paths, an example of filtered permeability. The Internati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chantry
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in a parish church or cathedral reserved for the performance of the "chantry duties". In the Medieval Era through to the Age of Enlightenment it was commonly believed such liturgies might help atone for misdeeds and assist the soul to obtain eternal peace. Etymology The word "chantry" derives from Old French ''chanter'' and from the Latin ''cantare'' (to sing). Its medieval derivative ''cantaria'' means "licence to sing mass". The French term for this commemorative institution is ''chapellenie'' (chaplaincy). Overview Liturgy for the dead Firstly, a chantry could mean the prayers and liturgy in the Christian church for the benefit of the dead, as part of the search for atonement for sins committed during their lives. It might include the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chest (furniture)
A chest (also called coffer or kist) is a form of furniture typically of a rectangular structure with four walls and a removable or hinged lid, used for storage, usually of personal items. The interior space may be subdivided. History The Ancient Egyptians created the first known chests, using wood or woven reeds, circa 3000 BC. The early uses of an antique chest or coffer included storage of fine cloth, weapons, foods and valuable items. In Medieval and early Renaissance times in Europe, low chests were often used as benches while taller chests were used as side tables. By placing a chest on the side on any kind of rough table, the inner surface of its lid could be used as a proper writing surface while the interior could house writing implements and related materials, as was the case with the Bargueño desk of Spain. Many early Portable desks were stacked chests, with the top one having its lid on the side, to serve as a writing surface when opened. Many European c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stained Glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture. Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to include domestic lead light and '' objets d'art'' created from foil glasswork exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany. As a material ''stained glass'' is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture, and usually then further decorating it in various ways. The coloured glass is crafted into ''stained glass windows'' in which small pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together (traditionally) by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame. Pai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lectern
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. To facilitate eye contact and improve posture when facing an audience, lecterns may have adjustable height and slant. People reading from a lectern, called lectors, generally do so while standing. In pre-modern usage, the word ''lectern'' was used to refer specifically to the "reading desk or stand ... from which the Scripture lessons ('' lectiones'') ... are chanted or read." One 1905 dictionary states that "the term is properly applied only to the class mentioned hurch book standsas independent of the pulpit." By the 1920s, however, the term was being used in a broader sense; for example, in reference to a memorial service in Carnegie Hall, it was stated that "the lectern from which the speakers talked was enveloped in black." Acad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barrel Vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design. The barrel vault is the simplest form of a vault: effectively a series of arches placed side by side (i.e., one after another). It is a form of barrel roof. As with all arch-based constructions, there is an outward thrust generated against the walls underneath a barrel vault. There are several mechanisms for absorbing this thrust. One is to make the walls exceedingly thick and strong – this is a primitive and sometimes unacceptable method. A more elegant method is to build two or more vaults parallel to each other; the forces of their outward thrusts will thus negate each other. This method was most often used in construction of churches, where s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Witney
Thomas Witney or Thomas of Witney (''fl.'' 1292–1342) was an English master mason, probably born in Witney, Oxfordshire. The first record of his work is as a mason on the building of St Stephen's Chapel, London in the years following 1292.John Harvey, revised by T. Ayers''Witney, Thomas (fl. 1292–1342)'' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition (subscription required). Retrieved 2020-02-29. He worked on Exeter Cathedral under Bishops Stapledon and Grandisson from about 1313 until his death, and was probably also responsible for the octagonal Lady Chapel in Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as .... References 13th-century births 14th-century deaths English stonemasons People from Witney {{Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Joy
William Joy (fl. 1310 – 1348) was an English master mason, or architect, of the Decorated Gothic style, known for his work on several English cathedrals. Joy's cathedral work shows influences of Bristol Cathedral, and he may have originated from that area. Early career Joy is first mentioned in the records of the Benedictine abbey church of St Augustine (now Bristol Cathedral) ''c''. 1310, where he may have designed the Berkeley Chapel sacristy. He was next recorded at Salisbury Cathedral, where he created the first of the ‘strainer arches’ he became known for, designed to stop the collapse of an enlarged crossing tower. Wells Cathedral William Joy was a colleague of the master mason Thomas Witney, and took over his work at Wells Cathedral in 1329. Joy extended the choir and retrochoir and designed the choir vault. Joy built the scissor arches to prevent the central tower from collapse after cracks appeared in the tower following repairs made after an earthquake in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-centred Arch
A four-centered arch is a low, wide type of arch with a pointed apex. Its structure is achieved by drafting two arcs which rise steeply from each springing point on a small radius, and then turning into two arches with a wide radius and much lower springing point. It is a pointed sub-type of the general flattened depressed arch. This type of arch uses space efficiently and decoratively when used for doorways. It is also employed as a wall decoration in which arcade and window openings form part of the whole decorative surface. Two of the most notable types are known as the Persian arch, which is moderately "depressed" and found in Islamic architecture, and the Tudor arch, which is much flatter and found in English architecture. Another variant, the keel arch, has partially straight rather than curved sides and developed in Fatimid architecture. Use in Islamic architecture The four-centered arch is widely used in Islamic architecture, originally employed by the Abbasids and la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lierne (vault)
In Gothic architecture, a lierne is a tertiary rib connecting one rib to another, as opposed to connecting to a springer, or to the central boss. The resulting construction is called a lierne vault or stellar vault (named after the star shape generated by connecting liernes). The term ''lierne'' comes from the French ''lier'' (to bind). In England, the lierne came into use during the 14th-century Decorated period of architecture. Gloucester Cathedral offers a good example of lierne vaulting. In France, examples occur in Flamboyant architecture, such as in the Church of Saint-Pierre in Caen. The vault-plan diagram of Ely Choir shows the ribs as double lines. The main longitudinal ridge rib (middle vertical lines) and transverse ridge ribs (alternate horizontal lines) intersect each other at the central bosses (large circles). The longitudinal ridge rib runs down the centre of the choir, and the transverse ridge ribs span from the apex of each window at the sides of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feoffee
Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use of such trustees developed towards the end of the era of feudalism in the Middle Ages and declined with the formal ending of that social and economic system in 1660. The development of feoffees to uses may have hastened the end of the feudal system, since their operation circumvented vital feudal fiscal mechanisms. Development The practice of enfeoffing feoffees with fees, that is to say of granting legal seizin in one's land-holdings ("holdings" as only the king himself "owned" land by his allodial title) to a group of trusted friends or relatives or other allies whilst retaining use of the lands, began to be widespread by about 1375.McFarlane, p.146 The purpose of such an action was two-fold: *Akin to modern tax avoidance, it was a lega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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