A ramble through the Haute Marne and Arc-et-Senans

It is the time of year that we, as a family, migrate across France to Switzerland, with a car full of warm clothes, English things and a lively and inquisitive Jack Russell! Last year we stopped at Laon, to see the great cathedral there, and the massive Basilica of St Quentin. This time we were nearing Dijon and it was decided to explore an unknown area to us, the Haute Marne, where some of our family had lived at Droyes. It was here that my great great Grandmother, Camille Adelaide Lefebure (nee Bourdot), would have spent some of her childhood with her maternal grandparents, the Thomassins. Pierre Remy Thomassin had owned the Inn at Droyes-haute-Marne and his Thomassin kinsmen were Lords of the manor there and had owned the Chateau de Puellemontier and the land surrounding adjoining Droyes since the early Seventeenth Century. The family were also Comtes de Bienville.

Camille Adelaide Lefebure

The Haute-Marne is a secret area seldom visited and is, in some ways, an oddity. The architecture is eccentric and eclectic. On the way to Droyes we passed one church with the most extraordinarily ornate and fine Gothic/Renaissance carving and cathedral-scale portals.

A Gothic/Rensaissance portal in the Haute-Marne

 Around another corner came the unforgettable sight of the little half timbered church of the Exaltation de la Ste Croix at Bailly-le-Franc. The church was built in 1510 and is somewhere between a house and a barn in its construction, apart from the spire, which surmounts its quirky west front.

The West Front

 Inside there is little decoration save some ornate plasterwork and woodwork on the eighteenth-Century altarpiece and the beautiful Sixteenth Century stained glass windows, one of which shows a pieta. 

This little church, one of a dozen in this strange style, has been beautifully restored although one does wonder how it stays up at all when the winds start to howl around the desolate hillocks of the Haute-Marne.

West 'Portico' 

The East End

The parish church at Droyes is a different affair; large, cruciform and set grandly in its graveyard. We found the Thomassin family plot at the West  end close to the half timbered inn owned by our ancestor and less than a mile away from the Thomassin family stronghold, the Chateau de Paulemontier. Bertie, our dog, also clearly felt some ancestral claim to the place as he tried to challenge a very large St Bernard dog to a ruck outside the old inn!

The West End of Droyes Church from the Thomassin plot

The Thomassin's Inn at Droyes-haute-Marne

Chateau de Puellemontier

Bertie and the St Bernard of Droyes

Our next stop was Arc-et-Senans. Claude-Nicolas Ledoux is surely one of the most visionary European architects of the last five hundred years. Sadly much of his work has been lost or remained unbuilt, but his legacy, in his remaining buildings and extraordinary plans, lives on magnificently.

                  The entrance to the Saline Royale, Arc-et-Senans

Ledoux was a Neo-Classicist of the most inventive type. Despite being somewhat of a Utopian in his vision for the perfect city he remained, incongruously, under royal patronage for the majority of his career. The incomplete yet sublime Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans remains his most magnificent work. 

                       Aerial view of the Royal Salt Works, or Saline Royale

Ledoux designed palaces, townhouses, bridges and more. Of his sixty marvellous tollgates around Paris a bare handful survive. Despite their beauty and unique architecture these gates became symbols for all that was wrong with French society and bureaucracy and were widely hated.

The brilliant museum at Arc-et-Senans

Ledoux was born in 1736 in Dormans-sur-Marne. In his youth he became extremely proficient at drawing, Classics and engraving. He commenced his studies in architecture with Jacques-Francois Blondel. His further studies with other architects brought him in to contact with the great classical buildings and the work of Palladio. Ledoux attracted a rich and aristocratic clientele. Between 1769-71 he visited England. and was a friend of the equally imaginative William Beckford.

       One of Ledoux's Parisian palaces - a coach could drive under the building!

The Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans bare testimony to the value that Eighteenth century Europe gave to salt. In France an unpopular salt tax kept the King happy and the people cross. Contrary to the wishes of the government Ledoux placed the saltworks close to the forests rather than the source of the salt water as, he surmised, it was easier to transport water than wood. The present structure was constructed between 1775-1778 and was intended as just a small part of a grand new city.

One enters the complex under a colossal portico inspired by the temples at Paestum and then a salt grotto of utterly theatrical nature. The gifts of Nature and the genius of man are contrasted in stone and cement in this man-made cavern.

                      The Director's House

The great semicircular courtyard is bordered by ten buildings containing forges, bothies and other offices. The centrepiece is the Director's House, which once also housed the chapel. The portico of this building is extraordinary; colossal, grotesque in the sculptural forms of the columns one part cylindrical the other a segmental square. The scale is enormous and this great and beautiful albatross is lost amidst the countryside which was to be the site of Ledoux's Utopian city.

The Saltworks declined and, like much of Ledoux's architecture, was a symbol for all that was wrong with monarchy in France. It is a wonder it has survived at all and, even more so, that is is in such splendid shape. The museum is exquisite and the endlessly varied models of Ledoux's works, built and unbuilt, are like faberge boxes in their elegance and imagination.

Ledoux was an innovator through and through. In his theatres , including his lost work at Besancon, he created a far more egalitarian plan for seating allowing the social classes, especially the lower echelons, better viewing and more comfort. He also invented the orchestra pit at the theatre in Besancon.

                       Cross-section of the theatre at Besancon

                      Model of the interior of the theatre at Besancon

          Ledoux's celebrated image of the eye looking from the stage at Besancon

With the Revolution much of Ledoux's aristocratic clientele dispersed in one way or another and his glory days ended. History has been kinder to the great man and one need only visit Arc-et-Senans to be bowled over by his masterful design and a genius imagination that is hard to fathom.

Now, where will we get to next ski season?!

For more information on the Royal Saltworks visit:-

http://www.salineroyale.com

All images in this blog are the copyright of Oliver Gerrish. Please ask permission before using them

The Georgian Group Architectural Awards 2013 - Part One


I felt extremely honoured at the end of last year to be asked to be a judge for these awards, which are gradually becoming the 'Oscars' of the architectural preservation world. Nearly a hundred buildings were entered for the seven categories, ranging from a completely new building in a Classical style to the restoration of a Georgian landscape. We judges rushed around the country to see these many brilliant projects. I was lucky enough to visit, amongst others, Bentley Priory, Sulby Manor Farm, Althorp House, Canons Ashby, Woburn Abbey, St Helen's House Derby and The Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

                    Vice Chairman of the Georgian Group, Dr David Watkin, with Chairman, Lady Nutting at Sulby 

On this particular day, I and my fellow judges, Diane Nutting, David Watkin, Crispin Holborow and Russell Taylor were off to Northamptonshire…a county rich in fine architecture.

Sulby Manor Farm is a complete John Soane farmstead. House, yard, stables, bothies and groom's lodgings and kitchen remain and look in very fine fettle. It is hard to believe on seeing the place now that until recently the yard was roofed in corrugated iron, many windows were blocked, the stables were in disarray and the historic Soane fabric was almost totally obscured from view. Today Sulby couldn't be more different and the elegant yellow buildings make one almost long to live there, even as a horse! The horses, the lucky things, in fact have stables fit for a great stallion and his chevalier court. Inside the stables Soane's colour scheme has been restored; sky blue up high and a warm Tuscan orange, and the coved ceiling has been reinstated. 

                      Sulby's splendid stables

Nearby the groom's kitchen and cook's bedroom have been restored and are ready for passing walkers should they wish to stop by. Mr Sandercock, the owner, built the marvellous ceiling and roof in one of the large barns and intends soon to tackle the restoration of the Soane farm house. This is a stunning restoration and one that has involved the owners getting their own hands dirty!

                                                          Mr Sandercock's ceiling 

                                                   Althorp from across the park

We then darted-off to Althorp House to gawp at the large scale restoration going on there; acres of roof re-leaded and made water-tight and the many thousands of mathematical tiles (Henry Holland's mass-produced alternative to the brick…not convinced) stuck back on the exterior after their iron rods had eroded. 

                            The forecourt at Althorp

This huge task of general maintenance is something which goes on with historic buildings all over the country and is an unenviable task. Althorp is a treasure of a house and it was wonderful to see the interior and gawp at the magnificence of this palace built on the back of Tudor sheep-farming.

Lunch at Althorp - Crispin Holborow, Oliver gerrish, Lady Nutting,the advisor for         the work at Althorp and Dr David Watkin

The interior is immensely varied in its distribution; the Hall is a Palladian masterpiece, while the Gallery is surely one of the finest spaces in England with one of the great picture collections. The central hall is nothing short of palatial with its imperial style staircase and the little private chapel is a serene and modest space amidst all the grandeur.

                          The central hall at Althorp

                                  The Gallery

                             The Chapel at Althorp

The culmination of our visit was a tour of the roof, which is a perfect playground for the architectural boffin. It is now immaculate and leak-less. Althorp is ready for business and in finer fettle than ever.

                              The roof at Althorp


From Althorp we drove to Canons Ashby, once home to the Dryden family and surely one of the most evocative and romantic country houses. The National Trust have restored the gardens and we were there to see their work. The restored gardens have given the house back its eccentric surroundings.
I was fascinated to see the interior of Canons Ashby, which is organic like so many houses of the period, with various additions added in a pleasingly disorganised way over the centuries. The grand early Eighteenth Century garden front has an Elizabethan tower at its centre…such is the unique quality of Canons Ashby.  The Drawing Room with its monstrously barrel vaulted ceiling is unforgettable.

           The garden front of Canons Ashby - Queen Anne/Tudor sandwich!!

                         The Drawing Room at Canons Ashby

Our final stop on this day was Woburn Abbey and the magnificent restoration of its huge Humphrey Repton gardens. This was truly mind-blowing and the Landscape Manager is a true trooper! He and the Duchess of Bedford have been the driving forces behind this renaissance. Despite the pouring rain, we (Giles, Russell and me)went over the whole garden; temples, tea houses, dairies, grottoes and many other follies.
The Dairy is a mini pleasure palace complete with stained glass, decorative milk churns and a dome straight from the Brighton Pavilion…albeit in miniature.

                              The dome of the Dairy

The maze and pavilion have been restored and the most marvellous Pine House built over a rivulet…resplendent with swags of pine cones.

                                 The Pine House 

The Georgian aviary has been reconstructed and, most thrilling of all, the Chinese temple and rockery have been expertly restored. The latter must have been a huge job and is indicative of the type of large-scale restoration Woburn takes on without public funding and with labour and materials from the estate.

                    The Chinese temple in Repton's watercolour

           The Chinese temple and rockery before the recent restoration

                                     The Chinese temple and rockery today

Repton would be delighted and the visitors are delighted. I could not recommend the garden at Woburn more…I am only sad I didn't get to nose in the house!!

                            Stained glass in the Dairy

                                          Woburn Abbey in the rain 









For information on The Georgian Group and its charitable work please go to:-
www.georgiangroup.org.uk


http://www.woburnabbey.co.uk

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/canons-ashby-house/

http://www.althorp.com


This blog and the images contained in it are the copyright of Oliver Gerrish. Please ask permission before using them.

Salisbury Cathedral uncovered
Georgian Group Visit

Friday 11th October 2013

The sight of Salisbury Cathedral rearing in to view never fails to set my imagination on fire.

I spent my Gap Year in 2000/01 as Alto Choral Scholar at Lichfield Cathedral, with its three spires, 'The Ladies of the Vale', and this whet my already large appetite for ecclesiastical architecture. Salisbury is a great amongst the Cathedrals of England, and what a thrill it was to see back-stage, down and up, around this masterpiece of Mediaeval building.

                     The cliff-like east end of Salisbury Cathedral 

We clambered up various tiny and vertiginous passages and spiral staircases to arrive high above the Nave on the west gallery. The uniformity of the Cathedral is almost unique in England as Salisbury was a new foundation on this site, so the Cathedral was built afresh in the noble Early English style.

                                      The Nave from the west gallery

Next stop, and umpteen stairs later is the roof space above the Nave. The beams of the roof are made of oak from the time of Christ and the main beams are over forty feet long. The age of the wood and the reason for the building in the first place make the whole atmosphere of Salisbury deeply tangible.

                        The roof above the nave with the lime mortar-covered vaulting

Being in the roof space of a building of this scale is akin to being in the hull of an upturned ship. After the space above the Nave comes the great central tower, the now blank windows of which were once open and Wren, no less, reckoned the Mediaeval structural ironwork of the tower to be the finest in existence. 

Mediaeval ironwork above the later girders in the Central Tower

This is skyscraper architecture of another time and the experience of climbing the Cathedral is as thrilling as any ride at Disney World. I don't like heights, but Salisbury quickly puts that phobia in its place as there is not much choice...it is onwards and upwards, and the views are worth the scare!

After the final ascent one reaches the spire. A spider's web of wooden scaffolding towers above in an almost endless cone. What makes this construction even more amazing, if it can be, is that it is not at all structural but purely for the building and maintenance of the great spire. It is like Esher at his most mad, but this is real!

The views from the parapet of the Central Tower are breathtaking; there is the City of Salisbury, once its own World ruled by its Bishop, the ancient city of old Sarum and The Close, with its many mansions.

                     Oliver Gerrish holding on for dear life!

From this space one enters the eastern roof space and the Eastern Crossing roof space, much of which is Georgian work and Wren's posts and gallows brackets are still there in the North Eastern Transept.

Salisbury Cathedral was built partly because of 'cathedral envy', as Winchester, a giant amongst the cathedrals, was being rebuilt in a very grand manner. Old Sarum and its Norman Cathedral were abandoned and Salisbury Cathedral built. The foundation stone was laid in the east in 1220 and the great building we see today, apart from the Central Tower and Spire, was finished in just thirty years. There was also a freestanding bell tower, a great rarity, which Wyatt (often known as 'the cathedral destoryer') demolished in 1790.

                                  Salisbury Cathedral with its bell tower

Salisbury also boasts the World's oldest working clock from circa 1386, which was built in Belgium. This clock was once housed in the bell tower. Wyatt also removed two chantries, the stonework of one of which is now along the walls of the Lady Chapel. He demolished the Pulpitum too. The Georgians were perhaps not the best friends of Salisbury Cathedral.

At Salisbury all the windows are in timber frames and in seventeen different patterns of grisaille, which is unique to Salisbury. 

                           Newly carved corbels and gargoyles for the Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral has to be seen and explored to be believed. This utterly un-Georgian masterpiece was an utter thrill and I won't forget clambering around it for a very long time!!

For more information on Salisbury Cathedral please go to:-

http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk

...and on The Georgian Group:-

www.georgiangroup.org.uk

and a bit on me, talking about architecture in Britain in general...:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcLYkJOmooY

All photographs in this blog are copyright to Oliver Gerrish. Please ask before using them.