The Bank and the Buttons

Sussex is busy, but Surrey is next level at the weekend as many people come out of London for a change of scene. Where to head on a hot Bank Holiday Monday when you know many of the local beauty spots will be rammed. The answer was staring me right in the face...keep it simple and stick to your original destination exploring on foot.

We returned to Guildford and met up with TYM for an overdue visit to his part of the world. A free historical guided walk in the morning and a family stroll after lunch turned up some treasures.

This beautiful building is the Guild Hall and the clock upon it is the handiwork of John Aylward who was trying to curry favour with the merchants so that he could trade in the town. They turned his first request down, but then he returned with a gift. Yes bribery was alive and well in 1683.

I saw this as we wandered past. It was once the frontage of a cinema which stood here, but has been repurposed and reimagined as the attractive feature on the exterior of the recently build Tunsgate shopping arcade.

Guildford has its very own castle, although mainly what you're looking at is the Norman keep on top of the motte. It is of note because usually William I just handed out these things like smarties to his dukes to keep them onside, but this one is a Royal one and there are records of several members of the monarchy spending time here and hunting. To this day the hill where the cathedral is situated is still called Stag Hill. The ruins are part of what remains of Henry III's castle...it was very plush with stained glass windows and a green ceiling with gold stars apparently.

In the grounds I was pleased to discover that the gate has the four card suits in reference to the Alice in wonderland sculpture https://gnatbottomedtowers.blogspot.com/2020/02/in-wonderland.html which stands near by and the house which Charles Dodgson [Lewis Carroll] bought for his unmarried sisters just over the way. As I have previously blogged he contracted a fatal bout of flu on one of his visits to them and is buried in the Mount Hill Cemetery. I like the way the tree roots have been accommodated in the adjoining wall.

Below is the Jacobean Hospital of the Blessed Trinity or The Abbot Hospital as it is more commonly known. It was founded by George Abbot who was born here in 1562 and rose to become the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1611. Work started on this building in April 1619 and it was to offer housing to 12 unmarried men and 8 single ladies. Incredibly it is still doing the same job some 400 years later only now it has space for up to 30 people with some flats offered to married couples. It stipulates that you must be over 60 and in a financial position where you would be eligible to claim housing benefit. To mark the 400th anniversary these superb ceramic panels representing the history from the 17th to the 20th centuries were created by Carlos Espana and Lilian Montoya. You can find them in the adjacent Jeffries Passage.

If you should find yourself in Thorneycroft Wood it now contains a recently scheduled monument. This might lead you to expect something ancient, but this one is relatively modern. Masses of anti tank traps which are normally known as dragons teeth from 1941-42. I have to say that they look like rows of concrete Toblerone pieces to me. It's only now that such vestiges of WWII are beginning to be recognised and this example was deemed to be one of the best of its kind in the country by Historic England and hence its listing last year. Quite chilling really.

And what of the bank and the buttons in the title? I had no idea what those round, pierced disks were on the exterior of the Lloyds Bank building when our guide asked.

Buttons certainly wasn't the answer I was anticipating. The detail was saved when the building was extended in 1899 and it marks the earliest modern bank in the town. It was established by a draper called William Haydon in 1765 and his original intention had been to use the secure room he'd had built to keep his valuables and business takings safe. It was only when other shopkeepers requested that he provided the same service to them that he realised that there was a great deal more money to be made this way than selling buttons and other notions. It was my top tale of the day and I don't think I'd have ever made the connection had I not had it pointed out to me.

Hope everyone has a cracking weekend.

Arilx

 

Photo of the day.

 Someone making sure that the female Canada goose on the local pond has some shade, whilst she is incubating her eggs💖

As ever not the planned post, but simply couldn't resist. Photo was taken at a distance to not stress her.

Arilx

In the heat of the moment.

 It's quite toasty temperature wise in the South East at the moment so lots of us will be following the advice.and taking on board lots of liquid. Unfortunately on a hot day back in May 1764 one Thomas Thetcher was not so lucky for he died of drinking cold small beer. The advice on the gravestone is that he should either have drunk strong beer or none at all!

It seems strange that he should have died from drinking what was essentially a very weak, low alcohol beer when that's what everybody had been imbibing since the Middle Ages and was considerably safer than the polluted water of the time. Perhaps he was already unwell with his violent fever. We shall never know, but the story of his demise has survived and can be seen outside Winchester Cathedral. Thetcher is more commonly known as The Hampshire Grenadier and it is indeed a sad tale.

I went in search of this historical gem over my lunchbreak when we danced in the city last weekend.

Arilx

Stonehenge

For anyone who is interested in Stonehenge, but the history rather than any spiritual content, may I recommend the new series by the archaeologist Dr Julian Richards over on his Youtube channel. Each episode is short, but very informative and well presented.I found the content has already given me a much better understanding of this fascinating, but enigmatic monument.

 

The photo is of the slightly tacky trilithon/lintel display case they have inside the SH gift shop, but it rather amused me at the same time. Have a good weekend.

Arilx

 

Standen's Arts and Crafts

 Before getting distracted again and going off at a tangent [never been known eh!] I thought I'd pop up some of the delicious interior details from Standen House for any fans of the Arts and Crafts movement. It was built as a weekend home for the Beale family in 1891 and a place to escape to from their London life. Eventually they moved here permanently in 1912 and it is one of the first properties in the country to have had electricity installed right from the outset. It's a strange mixture of the modern combined with the ideals of William Morris and Philip Webb. It manages to be effortlessly elegant whilst homely all at the same time. The light was much better than on my previous visits so I have been able to capture more of it.

It's never a chore to come back here again. I adore it.

꩜Aril꩜

Sunnies and a brolly

OK own up...who stole the lovely weather eh🌞☔🌧 Just as I had dared to get my summer clothes out of storage the storm clouds have gathered and the mercury has plummeted😁 Thankfully it looks like things are going to take a turn for the better later on this week. These nippy, soggy days left me with a dilemma of what to wear yesterday when meeting my friend Eloise. I'd had romantic ideas of something floaty and floral with sandals, but in the end we settled for that oh so British combination of sunglasses and a brolly with a changed plan from being outside to one with both inside and outside options. After a bit of head scratching we headed for the NT property of Standen and a personal favourite of mine. As luck would have it we hit the jackpot...we managed to enjoy the beautiful exterior in the dry and sun and the interior [more of that next time] whilst it was chucking it down. 

I haven't been for some time and usually it's been at Christmas so this was my first visit at this time of year. It is very beautiful and gorgeous to see so many pops of colour after all the leaden skies. The metal sculptures are by Alison Catchlove [temporary display] bar the final one which was made to commemorate the restoration of the garden between 2012 and 2017. The timber is from the estate wood and the coloured glass represents the range of shades to be found in the flowers. You get a beautiful view out across the North Downs and the Weir Wood Reservoir from this point.

꩜Aril꩜