The Egyptian Hall, also known as Bullock’s Museum, while much smaller than the British Museum was extraordinarily unique. When Lord Admiral Nelson triumphed at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, English interest in the “East” began to soar. Although obelisks and other monumental pieces had been leaking out of...
Finally at the end of my ten-part series covering all of the fifty States of the Union comprising the United States of America. What a fun journey it has been! I learned a ton, and hope all my readers, whether from the US or abroad, have enjoyed the education about...
On Tuesday I posted a blog giving a brief history on the HERMITAGE, a Georgian Era type of garden folly. As I noted, few known hermitages from the 18th century still exist. Of those, most have been reconstructed or renovated to some degree. Drawings and documentation of hermitages long reclaimed by...
My ten-part series covering all of the fifty States of the Union comprising the United States of America is almost complete! Here we are at #9, and there is only one more to go! I am a proud American, particularly regarding our remarkable history, so for ten consecutive weeks each...
Two days ago I gave a brief history on the HERMITAGE, a Georgian Era type of garden folly. As I noted, few known hermitages from the 18th century still exist. Of those, most have been reconstructed or renovated to some degree. Drawings and documentation of hermitages long reclaimed by nature or...
I am forever fascinated by the unusual structures designed and erected to add atmosphere to a Georgian Era landscape garden. I’ve written several blogs on the subject —which are listed with links in the Pemberley Library under “Landscape & Garden”— and will be writing more in the future. For this...
Today I am continuing what will be a ten-part series covering all of the fifty States of the Union comprising the United States of America. I am a proud American, particularly regarding our remarkable history, so for ten consecutive Wednesdays each blog post will spotlight FIVE States (chosen at random)....
BARWICK PARK is a landscape park located near the city of Yeovil in South Somerset. The enormous estate was once the property of Syon Abbey, but then passed through various owners after Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1530s. Documentation during these centuries are sketchy, including the acquisition around...
Founded by Parliament in 1753, the British Museum was the first national, public museum in the world. Located at Montagu House in Bloomsbury, the gardens opened in 1757 and the museum in 1759, with a beginning collection of over 71,000 antiquities donated by physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane. Initially,...
MAZE MONTH has to end sometime (and tomorrow will indeed be the last post) but as I searched historic hedge mazes I ran across so many astounding structures of a newer creation that I had to include at least one blog about them. The following list is far from complete when...
MAZE MONTH reaches its conclusion with the discussion of hedge mazes from the days of yore! Be sure to check out the previous four blog posts covering the overall history of mazes and labyrinths (links below). In between the historical blogs, MAZE MONTH has included eight posts spotlighting the surviving...
MAZE MONTH reaches its conclusion with the discussion of hedge mazes from the days of yore! Be sure to check out the previous four blog posts covering the overall history of mazes and labyrinths (links below). In between the historical blogs, MAZE MONTH has included eight posts spotlighting the surviving...
MAZE MONTH has so far focused on proper unicursal labyrinths rather than actual multicursal mazes. I’ve used a great deal of blog space covering turf-created labyrinths, despite knowing the instant vision of “garden maze” brings tall hedges to mind. In my defense, factually tracing the evolution of mazes required those...
High on the top of a hill, with views stretching far over the hills and fields of Hampshire and Wiltshire, is the Breamore Mizmaze. Located about ten-miles south of Salisbury, the small village of Breamore is the site of numerous Iron Age and Roman ruins. A priory of Augustinian Canons...
Perilous Pond was an ancient pond fed by a spring, first mentioned in 1598. Located near the junction of modern-day Old Street and City Road, it earned its name due to the many tragic drownings of people using it as a swimming hole. In 1743 the land was purchased by...
