A-Z Challenge 2017 - Houses, some real, some not.- 'A'

A - Audley End

It seems appropriate somehow that an embezzler should end his life at 

Audley End

Thomas Howard, !st Earl of Suffolk,  King James I's Treasurer helped himself to  royal funds to build the splendid home of Audley End in 1614

However he was removed from there when convicted and sent to the Tower of London. After his release he returned to Audley End and died there in 1626.

The large building was expensive to maintain and the Howard family eventually demolished  more than half of it. What remains is still one of the biggest houses in Britain.

King Charles II bought the house in 1668 for the sum of £5 as somewhere to stay when he went to the races at Newmarket; it was returned to the Suffolks in 1701.

Capability Brown was commissioned to landscape the parkland in 1762.

During WWII Audley End became the base for the special-operations paratroops of the Polish Army in exile. A memorial to the men they lost stands in the drive to the house.

In 1948 the Braybrooke family sold the house to the Ministry of Works, the predecessor of English Heritage under whose stewardship Audley End remains. The house and gardens are open to the public at certain times of the year.

Photo attribution:

• Creative commons - Misterzee, 2008 - CC BY-3.0

A-Z Challenge 2016 - Wildflowers 'Q'

My theme this year is wild flowers. Most of us will be aware of the flowers that grow in our gardens but what surprises me is how few wild flowers that I know.

I pass them every day but rarely look at them. Well this year will be different - even if many of them may fall under the letter 'X' for unknown.

'Q' - Queen Anne's Lace, Quercus Robur

I predicted quite correctly when I wrote about cow parsley under 'C' that I would regret not saving it for 'Q' under its other name.

Queen Anne's Lace

I always thought that I could rely on the flowers from a tree whose Latin name is 'quercus robur'  before it dawned on me that I had no idea what they looked like.

Quercus robur is the tree that has the status of a national emblem - the English oak. I also learned that it is also called the common or pedunculate or French oak despite it receiving the 'title' of Royal Oak for harbouring Charles II when he was escaping Cromwell's Roundheads during the Civil War.

Hopefully by the time this post is published I shall have obtained a photo of the quercus robur that I pass every day and the flowers (or catkins) that it carries.

Oak leaves and flowers (male catkins) in Osgodby Coppice

I understand that the female catkins are smaller, but it's these that produce the 'nuts' that squirrels love.

Acorns

Acorns are also known as mast, from the Scandinavian word 'mat' meaning food. Acorn is derived from Scandinavian too, 'ek korn' meaning oak corn seed. They were once served extensively as winter fodder to pigs that were allowed to roam the woods in places like the New Forest.

For years I believed that the tree grew apples like this.

Oak apple

But this is not an apple at all but rather oak apple gall a swelling caused by larvae of the gall wasp burrowing into the leaf buds as they form.

There are more species of oak trees' The Holm oak is an evergreen and is one I have still to see.

Holm oak catkins 

Some oaks have male and female catkins, others one or the other.

I have still to find out which have which.

Attributions:

• Oak leaves & flowers, Osgodby Coppice - 18 April 2007, ex geograph.org,uk, by Kate Jewell - CC BY-SA 2.0 generic
• Holm oak catkins - 2 june 2006, ex geograph.org.uk, by Penny Mayes CC BY-SA 2.0 generic

Taunton Castle and the Bloody Assizes

A-Z Challenge 2012 - T

Taunton Castle

Back in Anglo-Saxon times, c 710 AD, King Ine of Wessex “timbered him a burgh” at Taunton in what is now the south west county of Somerset. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle related that Ethelburga, his consort, destroyed it 12 years later when recapturing it from rebels.

A minster and a manor house built by the Bishops of Wessex were later to occupy the site before the minster became an Augustinian Priory in c 1120. Henry de Blois transformed the manor house into a mighty castle in 1138 during the Civil War in the reign of King Stephen.

Walls of Taunton Castle - 2009

In the first half of the 12^th century Taunton was a typical Norman keep, 50 feet by 40, with three stories and 13 feet thick walls. Now it is more Edwardian than Norman in appearance.

The outer ward of the castle has been invaded by two hotels, but the great gate-house opening into this enclosure dates from the time of Edward I (1272-1307. The inner ward is ‘triangular in shape with the Great Hall on the north side.

Inevitably the castle has a reputation of being haunted, the Great Hall of the castle especially. Somerset has many traditions and legends relating back to the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. Somerset people suffered at the hands of the authorities after the failed uprising. Taunton Castle was the scene for some of the trails of the Bloody Assizes.

The rebellion was led by James Scott, 1^st Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of Charles II and his mistress Lucy Walter. After the death of his father in 1685 Monmouth tried to win the throne from his uncle James II. Having captured Taunton his followers took up residence in the Castle where he was proclaimed King. His supporters celebrated at the castle with wine and dancing. Their high spirits were to be short lived.

In the early morning of 6 July 1685, Monmouth’s army was crushed at the Battle of Sedgemoor. ON 15 July James Scott was beheaded in London. The King sent the infamous Hanging Judge Jeffries west to dole out savage retribution.

Excalibur and Taunton Castle Gate - 2009

It was in Taunton Castle’s Great Hall that Jeffries condemned 200 of Monmouth’s followers to the gallows, with many more sold into slavery. The women who had taken part in the dancing were flogged.

The museum, now occupying the Great Hall is said to echo to the marching feet of soldiers bringing prisoners to trial. A man in period dress and wig, carrying a sword and pistol has been seen. In addition to poltergeist activity the ghost of a fair-haired woman in 17^th century costume also appears in the castle.

Castle Hotel guests often hear the soothing strains of a phantom violin or fiddle which are said to be sounds of the Duke of Monmouth and his followers continuing to celebrate a ‘victory’ for which they were unknowingly to suffer Jeffries bloody justice.

Hilary Melton-Butcher’s chose ‘my castle’ in Kent on Saturday - Scotney Castle

Attributions:

·        Walls of Taunton Castle 2009; by Ken Grainger; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

·        Excalibur and Taunton Castle Gate 2009; by Ken Grainger; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

·        Images from Geograph project collection

Amberley's Lustful Bishop

A-Z Challenge 2012 - A

Amberley’s Lustful Bishop

Amberley Castle is located in West Sussex, England. It was built as a 12^th century manor house by Bishop Luffa. It was fortified in 1377 when Bishop Reede received a license to crenellate it from Richard II. It then had a stonework enclosure with high curtain walls, towers, a hall and a massive gatehouse. The Bishops of Chichester used Amberley as a fortress.

The castle passed to the Crown and became a royalist stronghold in the English Civil War. Charles II took shelter there after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 prior to heading for exile.

Amberley Castle

The castle remained in private hands after its purchase by the Duke of Norfolk. After 1989 it became a luxurious country hotel.

However you will find no mention in the hotel’s literature of the castle’s one time servant girl. Made pregnant by a lustful Bishop, poor Emily, deserted in her hour of need, died in childbirth. Her ghost is said to haunt the kitchens and to return to the top of the battlements from where she had leapt to her death.

Amberley Castle Walls

Attributions:

• Amberley Castle, East Sussex; author Jonathan Day; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0 
• Amberley Castle walls; author Colin Day; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0