Indholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2019 i Discover Britain

Welcome to a slightly mystical edition of Discover Britain. Our cover feature this month (p10) is a round-up of Britain’s most fascinating sacred sites, from the famed megaliths of Stonehenge and Avebury, to the remote delights of Lindisfarne and the Ness of Brodgar. To visit either requires something of a pilgrimage even with modern transport links, making for a purposeful experience that will never be forgotten. Continuing that theme, we also present a city guide to Canterbury (p58), home of countless pilgrimages to the cathedral, as well as an in-depth look at the medieval art of heraldry (p28). Keeping things seasonal, we also re-evaluate Guy Fawkes (p34), the star of so many British bonfires, and ask whether he really was an evil traitor or just the fall guy for an…

For any keen explorer of the British Isles, there is one meaningful type of symbol whose recurrence is all-pervasive. They are seen – often prominently, sometimes discretely – displayed up and down the kingdom, from Oxbridge colleges to the Houses of Parliament; grand homes of the landed gentry to ancient business and societies; religious groups to whole countries themselves. These symbols are coats of arms. For those able to decipher the symbolism, heraldry – the art of creating coats of arms – immediately conveys information, the armoury displayed communicating heraldic achievement, rank and pedigree at a moment’s glance. All of this would make these heraldic designs an interesting yet anachronistic relic of the medieval world, were it not for the fact that the beauty of them assured their survival past…

Goddards, Surrey Leased by The Landmark Trust, guests can not only visit but also stay at Goddards in Abinger Common near Dorking. Lutyens was commissioned to design this Surrey home for Sir F Mirrielees in 1898. www.landmarktrust.org.uk Greywalls, Muirfield Now a hotel, it was originally built for The Honourable Alfred Lyttelton in 1901, with views over East Lothian and walled gardens designed by Gertrude Jekyll; a great example of their partnership in action. www.greywalls.co.uk Castle Drogo, Devon Lutyens designed the gardens and castle at Drogo [see issue 210], inspired by the brooding Dartmoor tors that surround it. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo Great Dixter, East Sussex Nathaniel Lloyd employed Lutyens to restore and enlarge Great Dixter, which involved the acquisition and re-erection of a 16th-century timber house as one section of his ambitious design.…

When Boris Johnson became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 24 July 2019, he assumed an office and official residence at 10 Downing Street. This small London cul-de-sac has been central to British government life ever since 1735, when Sir Robert Walpole – the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain since 1721 – was offered the property by King George II as a gift for his services to the nation. Keen to not profit personally, Walpole insisted it was instead given to the office of the Treasury. The original street was named after Sir George Downing, a miserly British diplomat who was granted the lease on a road next to Whitehall Palace. Downing employed architect Sir Christopher Wren to build a row of houses on the…

1 Langley Castle Hotel Northumberland Natives of north-east England will wax lyrical about Allen Banks [right] and Staward Gorge, but it remains something of a well-kept local secret. The 617-acre estate has the largest ancient woodland in the county, and red squirrels and various rare birds are commonplace throughout. Susan Davidson, granddaughter of the 9th Earl of Strathmore, did much to develop the formal gardens on the estate during the Victorian era too, resulting in fascinating pathways that survive today. A few miles east of Allen Banks lies Langley Castle, something of a rare four-star hotel boasting seven-foot thick, 14th-century walls. Antique furniture, rich tapestries and daily battlement tours add to the unique atmosphere. www.langleycastle.co.uk 2 Brownber Hall Cumbria Falling in a sweet spot equidistant from the Yorkshire Dales, the…

Get the bunting out I thought you might like my picture of Haworth in West Yorkshire, which I took on a visit in June. Karl Hammett, via email Restoration game My husband and I visited Chillingham Castle [Issue 211] when the restorations were just beginning. It looked totally ruined and I could not believe restoration was possible. It was wonderful to read the article and see the pictures so many years later. Sharron Hembroff, Oshawa, Canada Back on the map Just wanted to thank you very much for including the map showing the locations of the articles on page 4 of Issue 211. It’s one of my favourite and useful bits. Judy Hoey, Canada City dwelling I love subscribing to Discover Britain and noting names of cities and towns you…

It did seem that the Government knew more about the Gunpowder Plot than they let on Around midnight on 4 November 1605 a search party led by Sir Thomas Knyvett, keeper of Westminster Palace, discovered a man coming out of a storeroom: situated directly beneath the chamber where, the following day, MPs and Lords would gather for the opening of Parliament by King James I. In the flickering lamplight a violent struggle ensued and the tall, bearded, redheaded fellow, claiming to be John Johnson, a servant of Thomas Percy, was overpowered. Inside the storeroom 36 barrels of gunpowder were found hidden beneath firewood; fuses were found in Johnson’s pockets. Hauled before King James that very same night, Johnson boldly admitted he had intended to blow up Parliament and obliterate Lords,…

Beckenham, Bromley Historic England grants “David Bowie bandstand” a grade II listing The Growth Summer Festival took place in Beckenham, south London, on 16 August 1969. Exactly half a century later, Historic England has granted a grade II listing to the Victorian bandstand in which it took place. This small festival would have been long forgotten were it not for the fact that it was organised by a young David Bowie and friends. The soon-to-be world-renowned musician [left] was living on nearby Foxgrove Road and headlined the fundraising festival in front of a crowd of just a few hundred people. It is even claimed he wrote hit song Life on Mars while sat on the bandstand, which was built in 1891 and still hosts local performances today. www.historicengland.org.uk Seven Sisters,…

In November 2019 people from all over Britain will gather around an unusual, almost blank vertical stone monument in the middle of Whitehall, the wide street of government that leads from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament. The monument in question is called the Cenotaph, using the Greek words kenos tapho (or “empty tomb”) because it commemorates those buried elsewhere. It was unveiled 100 years ago, although the original structure was constructed in wood and rebuilt in stone the following year. The memorial appears to be full of vertical lines, but they are subtly shaped; if extended into the air, all sides of the Cenotaph would meet at a point 1,000 feet above Whitehall. It was here on 11 November 1919 that British soldiers and politicians assembled to pay…

A home, a teacher, a fast and graceful competitor, a free ticket to Australia, a museum. Witness to the humdrum of pea soup suppers and tobacco chewing, and the setting for mutiny, murder and suicide. Cutty Sark, the world’s only surviving tea clipper ship, has seen a lot. Today she can be found on the river in South London, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Maritime Greenwich, unmissable thanks to her main mast shooting up 153 feet into the skies over London. The three levels of the ship can be explored, and a glass-roofed visitor centre surrounds the hull and houses a fascinating museum. If you stand to her south, the sleek towers of London’s financial district, Canary Wharf, in all its gleaming glory, are her backdrop. This…

Nine-year-old Jennet Device gave damning evidence against her mother and siblings Witch trials may sound like the stuff of Stephen King novels or comic books, yet in the 17th century they were commonplace. Not only that but here in Britain, they would even lead to changes in the law on the advice of the king himself. In fact, the outcome of the Salem Witch Trials in America directly hinged upon the legal precedent set by the Pendle Witch Trials 80 years earlier. At the beginning of the 17th century, paranoia was endemic throughout British society. James I of Great Britain had narrowly avoided being killed by the foiled Gunpowder Plot (see page 34) and subsequently lived in fear of a Catholic uprising. And, as any sane and rational individual might…