STRAWBERRY HILL ..... Georgian Gothic Revival ..... AMAZING !!

I am turning into the London Tourist Board !!!! ..... but, I HAVE to show you this wonderful Georgian Gothic Revival house in Twickenham that we visited on Monday. I think that it's one of the best houses I have seen ..... I could live there !! I have spared you ALL of the photographs that I took  .....  you would have been here all day !!

Horace Walpole { 1717-1797 } discovered ' Chopp'd Straw Hall ' in 1747 when it was one of the last remaining sites available on the banks of the Thames in fashionable Twickenham.

He set about transforming, what was then a couple of cottages, into his ' little Gothic castle ' with pinnacles, battlements and a round tower set in meadows and gardens with ' cows and sheep studied for becoming the view '. In creating Strawberry Hill, Walpole inspired a new fashion for Gothic in both architecture and literature. 

Walpole's guests would enter the house into a dark hall, lit by one candle in the lantern. He did this purposely and would guide them through winding corridors and gloomy passageways which suddenly opened into the sudden splendour of rooms as you will see in the following photographs.

I loved the hall and would have it in my own home if I could ..... the colours are so ' now ' aren't they ?

The first room was the refectory .....

..... then, the library. Unfortunately, there was an exhibition of sculptures which, I think, detracted from the beautiful rooms !!

While houses like nearby Marble Hill were based on classic traditions, Walpole chose the architecture of Gothic cathedrals as the inspiration for his villa. Chimney pieces, doors and ceilings are based on Gothic vaulting, medieval tombs and rose windows..... he was a man way ahead of his time I think.

The Gallery ..... ' all Gothicism, gold and looking glass " as the poet Thomas Gray described it.

This room is where Walpole kept his treasures of art, miniatures and priceless objects to show his friends. Unfortunately, much of these were sold in a house sale and are spread across the world. I have edited out an awful sculpture of a full size hessian kangaroo with boxing gloves on that was placed right in the centre of the room ..... the guide said that the exhibition, which was finishing the following day, had been rather controversial !! 

Here's a ghostly one of me hiding behind an 18th century dress !!

The castle became a tourist attraction in Walpole's lifetime. He allowed four visitors a day and published rules for their guidance { no children allowed !! } His housekeeper frequently showed them round while Walpole retired to his cottage in the grounds. Reopened to the public in 2010 after a £9 million restoration, today's visitors have the opportunity to explore this unique heritage site.

Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford also known as Horace Walpole, was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician, built Strawberry Hill House, reviving the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors ..... I think that I would have liked him !! 

All images by me

THE GREAT STINK ..... A LONDON TALE OF POO AND WEE !!!!! ..........

I have lived 20 to 30 minutes away from London all of my life and have visited many of the iconic buildings over the years but it always amazes me how many more places there are to visit and how I shall, more than likely, never see them all !!

Last week we went on The Great Stink Tour !! 

We started our tour at Clifford's Inn Passage. By the 19th Century, this lane was a dark and claustrophobic little haunt .....

..... exactly the sort of place where a Londoner, having made merry in the surrounding multitude of taverns and gin palaces, would drunkenly stagger for a pee. Back then, of course, London's sanitary arrangements left a lot to be desired and folk relieved themselves wherever they could !! The walls of these passageways were usually private property, the owners of which, did not take too kindly to having their cherished brickwork eroded away by copious amounts of steaming urine so, they bolted urine deflectors to the wall which deterred potential wee'er's, as the urine would end up on their feet and would also be directed into the gutter !

Through Clifford Passage and onto Fleet Street ..... number 17 being one of the few surviving buildings in the City of London dating from before The Great Fire of London of 1666. It's a good example of a house where the upper levels protrude over the pavement so that human waste thrown from the upper windows would hopefully miss the passers-by !!

We then got the boat to Greenwich, past the Cutty Sark where we picked up the coach to Crossness Pumping Station. 

Two hundred years ago, London was in a mess, with raw sewage flowing into the Thames and thousands dying of cholera. 

In 1858, the ' Great Stink ' from the river got so bad that Parliament had to close, making it imperative that something was done.

Enter Joseph Bazelgette who supervised the building of the great Victorian sewage network for London. All of the waste was sent to two pumping stations, one of which was Crossness. 

Hard hats had to be worn ..... that's me in mine !! 

The Victorians loved all of their buildings to be ornate, including their pumping stations .....

' VOILA ' 

It is SO beautiful !! ..... and it's just a pumping station !!

Some has been left as they found it .....

..... and some has been renovated. 

They built Crossness Pumping Station as a cathedral of industrialisation ..... ornate cast iron decoration around a central octagon.

There was a museum of toilet ephemera including all the different ways that people ' cleaned up ' after themselves before toilet paper arrived, including a communal sponge on a stick, left in vinegar until the next person needed it, oyster and mussel shells { the mind boggles !! } and rope !!

Thank goodness for soft toilet paper !!!!! 

image 1: via youtube, image 2: via goodreads, image 3: via huffington post, 

All other images via ME

BY INVITATION ..... AUTUMN FASHION ..... OUR ' TAKE EVERYWHERE, CAN'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT ' !! .....

Our By Invitation subject this month is all about Autumn fashion and the one thing that we take everywhere and can't leave home without .....

I'm not really a jewellery lover but, I do love silver bangles and, in particular, silver cuffs.

The above are my favourites ..... two silver cuffs from Afghanistan and .....

..... my silver cross which, I think, was a Bible hinge and you'll never guess where it came from ? I bought it when I was about 18 from the shop called Chelsea Girl { now called River Island } at the end of the 1960's and, I wear it and the bracelets everyday when I go out. The cross cost me £1.99 !!!! It's solid silver and, I've seen them for sale for over £100 !!  Over 40 years of wearing it, pretty much, everyday. I think that I have got my money's worth, don't you ? ..... Good old Chelsea Girl !!

I do vary the bracelets from time to time . My husband bought me most of them including the one above ..... I then saw it on a catwalk image on Pinterest !!!! ..... my bracelet is famous !!!! ... ish !!

I guess that I'm cheating a bit as, I do wear them in Spring, Summer and Winter too but, they are really the only things that I take everywhere !!

" Jewelry takes people's minds off your wrinkles "

{ Sarah Phillips }

If you would like to see what other people can't do without this Autumn, pop over to Marsha where you'll find all the links.

image 1: via daniel pardini, images 2 & 3: via envers du decor, image 4: via margadirube, images 5, 6 & 7: via me