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Solar (room)
The solar was a room in many English and French medieval manor houses, great houses and castles, mostly on an upper storey, designed as the family's private living and sleeping quarters. Within castles they are often called the "Lords' and Ladies' Chamber" or the "Great Chamber". Etymology The word ''solar'' has two possible origins: it may derive from the Latin word ''solaris'' meaning sun (often a room with the brightest aspect), or — as the solar provided privacy for its occupants — it may come from the Latin word, ''solus'', meaning, "alone". Function In some houses, the main ground-floor room was known as the Great Hall, in which all members of the household, including tenants, employees, and servants, would often or could sometimes eat. Those of highest status would be at the end, often on a raised dais, and those of lesser status seated further down the hall. But a need was felt for more privacy to be enjoyed by the heads of the household, encouraged by the senior women ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunratty Castle South Solar 01
Bunratty (, meaning "end of the Raite") is a village in County Clare, Ireland, near Bunratty Castle. It is connected by the N18 road to Limerick and Galway. The Raite river defines the parish's eastern boundary and flows into the Shannon Estuary, which defines the southern boundary. History The first settlement in Bunratty may have been set up by Vikings in the 10th century. The Annals of the Four Masters report that Brian Boru destroyed a Viking settlement in the area in 977. Around 1250 the Anglo-Norman ruler Mucegros was given the right to hold a market and fair at Bunratty. He built the castle in 1277. The castle became the main residence of Richard de Clare, owner of all of Thomond. In the late 13th century, Bunratty had about 1,000 inhabitants. Richard de Clare was killed in 1311, and in 1314 the town of Bunratty was burned to the ground by the local people. The castle was sacked in 1332. The current Bunratty Castle was built by the MacNamara family in the early part o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original castle was built in the 11th century, after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I (who reigned 1100–1135), it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century state apartments were described by early 20th century art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste".Hugh Roberts, ''Options Report for Windsor Castle'', cited Nicolson, p. 79. Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on PBS, which supported production of the series as part of its ''Masterpiece Classic'' anthology, on 9 January 2011. The series, set on the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1926, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era—the great events of the time having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. Events depicted throughout the series include news of the sinking of the ''Titanic'' in the first series; the outbreak of the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, and the Marconi scandal in the second series; the Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State in the third series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbered granary, and the 15th-century St Nicolas Church, along with 17th- and 18th-century listed buildings. As well as being home to Newbury Racecourse, it is the headquarters of Vodafone and software company Micro Focus International. In the valley of the River Kennet, south of Oxford, north of Winchester, southeast of Swindon and west of Reading. Newbury lies on the edge of the Berkshire Downs; part of the North Wessex Downs Area of outstanding natural beauty, north of the Hampshire-Berkshire county boundary. In the suburban village of Donnington lies the part-ruined Donnington Castle and the surrounding hills are home to some of the country's most famous racehorse training grounds (centred on nearby Lambourn). To the south ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is a Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in Hampshire, England, about south of Newbury, Berkshire, and north of Andover, Hampshire. It is the country seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, a branch of the Anglo-Welsh Herbert family. Highclere Castle has been used as a filming location for several films and television series, including 1990s comedy series ''Jeeves and Wooster'', and achieved international fame as the main location for the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–15) and the 2019 and 2022 films based on it. The house, Egyptian exhibition, and gardens are open to the public for self-guided tours during the summer months and at other times during the rest of the year, such as Christmas and Easter. The house also holds ticketed events, such as the Battle Proms picnic concert, and special guided tours thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Undercroft
An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open to the sides, but covered by the building above. History While some were used as simple storerooms, others were rented out as shops. For example, the undercroft rooms at Myres Castle in Fife, Scotland of circa 1300 were used as the medieval kitchen and a range of stores. Many of these early medieval undercrofts were vaulted or groined, such as the vaulted chamber at Beverston Castle in Gloucestershire or the groined stores at Myres Castle. The term is sometimes used to describe a crypt beneath a church, used for burial purposes. For example, there is a 14th-century undercroft or crypt extant at Muchalls Castle in Aberdeenshire in Scotland, even though the original chapel above it was destroyed in an act of war in 1746. Undercrofts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetbury
Tetbury is a town and civil parish inside the Cotswold district in England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in the 2001 census, increasing to 5,472 at the 2011 census. The population was 6,453 in the 2021 Census. History During the Middle Ages, Tetbury became an important market for Cotswold wool and yarn. The Tetbury Woolsack Races, founded 1972, is an annual competition where participants must carry a sack of wool up and down a steep hill (''Gumstool Hill''). The Tetbury Woolsack Races take place on the "late May Bank Holiday", the last Monday in May each year. Notable buildings in the town include the Church House, the Market House and the late-eighteenth century Gothic revival parish church of St Mary the Virgin and St Mary Magdalene and much of the rest of the town centre, dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Market Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beverston Castle
Beverston Castle, also known as Beverstone Castle or Tetbury Castle, was constructed as a medieval stone fortress in the village of Beverston, Gloucestershire, England. The property is a mix of manor house, various small buildings, extensive gardens and the medieval ruins of the fortified building. The castle was founded in 1229 by Maurice de Gaunt. Much of the castle remained in a state of ruin according to a 2019 report, and had been uninhabitable since the 17th century. Several buildings on the 693-acre property, including five cottages and the 17th century house with seven bedrooms, were in use as residences, however. Description The original castle was laid out in pentagonal plan. In the early 14th century, a small quadrangular stronghold was added, along with a twin-towered gatehouse. Beverston Castle is situated approximately three kilometres west of the town of Tetbury and about two kilometres east of the medieval abbey annex, Calcot Manor. The castle is in the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire
Tattershall Castle is a castle in Tattershall, Lincolnshire, England, about 12 miles (19 km) north east of Sleaford. Since 1925 it has been in the care of the National Trust. History Tattershall Castle has its origins in either a stone castle or a fortified manor house, built by Robert de Tattershall in 1231. This was largely rebuilt in brick, and greatly expanded, by Ralph Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell, Treasurer of England, between 1430 and 1450. Brick castles are less common in England than stone or earth and timber constructions; when brick was chosen as a building material it was often for its aesthetic appeal or because it was fashionable. The trend for using bricks was introduced by Flemish weavers. There was plenty of stone available nearby, but Cromwell chose to use brick. About 700,000 bricks were used to build the castle, which has been described as "the finest piece of medieval brick-work in England". Of Lord Cromwell's castle, the high Great Tower a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1974, when county boundary change meant the city became part of Cambridgeshire instead. The city is north of London, on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea to the north-east. In 2020 the built-up area subdivision had an estimated population of 179,349. In 2021 the Unitary Authority area had a population of 215,671. The local topography is flat, and in some places, the land lies below sea level, for example in parts of the Fens to the east and to the south of Peterborough. Human settlement in the area began before the Bronze Age, as can be seen at the Flag Fen archaeological site to the east of the current city centre, also with evidence of Roman occupation. The Anglo-Saxon period saw the establishment of a monastery, Mede ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longthorpe Tower
Longthorpe Tower is a 14th-century three-storey tower in the village of Longthorpe, famous for its well-preserved set of medieval murals. Details Longthorpe tower is located in the village of Longthorpe, now a residential area of Peterborough in the United Kingdom, about two miles (3 km) to the west of the city centre. At the start of the 14th century, Robert Thorpe built the tower as an extension to an existing fortified manor house. Thorpe had worked his way to relative wealth through the local Peterborough Abbey, and the tower may have been something of a status symbol. The tower has three stories, and the first floor was originally designed as living space for Thorpe. The tower is best known for its English medieval wall paintings, carried out around 1330. The paintings show religious, secular and moral themes and the quality is comparatively good for a provincial work. The paintings were whitewashed over around the time of the Reformation and remained hidden until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edlingham Castle
Edlingham Castle is a small castle ruin, having scheduled monument and Grade I listed building status, in the care of English Heritage. It is located in a valley to the west of Alnwick, Northumberland, England. It has been described as "...one of the most interesting in the county", by Nikolaus Pevsner, the architectural historian. Edlingham itself is little more than a hamlet with a church alongside the castle. The ruins are mostly laid low, though much of the solar towerRobert Liddiard (Editor) still stands despite an impressive crack running several stories down to ground level. The foundations and part of the walls of the hall house, gatehouse, barbican and other courtyard buildings are still visible, most dating from the 16th century. The castle – more properly a fortified manor house typical of many medieval houses in the North of England – guards one of the few approaches to Alnwick through the hills to its west. Its fortifications were increased in response ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.JPG "Click for more on -> Undercroft")
