A visit to Flatford

The Mill at Flatford was once owned by John Constable’s father and Constable made the Mill and the surrounding area the subject of many of his works of art, which are now world famous.

The famous `Willie Lott`s Cottage` at Flatford, taken in 2011 on a summer evening. 

Valley Farm is the oldest building on site at Flatford. Built in the mid-15th century and is a good example of a medieval, open hall house which is now a Grade 1 listed building. 

At one time Willy Lott's grandparents (English and Mary Lott) lived at Valley Farm and it was later owned by Willy Lott’s brother John (a farmer like his brother) who lived there with his wife and 14 children. Up until the 1930's Valley Farm was surrounded by buildings for all sorts of different agricultural uses. A fire in the 1930s destroyed nearly all of them. 

Outside, the walls were timbered and painted with lime wash at regular intervals to preserve the timber frame and seal the gaps between the timbers and the wattle/daub infill - whilst allowing the whole building to breathe. 

Valley Farm was called an 'open hall house' because there was no upper floor, the central hall being open up to the roof rafters. Originally the fire in the room would have been laid on the stone floor with the smoke going up to the underside of the roof ridge and escaping through the roof tiles or through a smoke hole in the gable end wall.

In the sixteenth century a massive inglenook fireplace and chimney were built to replace the open fire and an upper floor was added for use as bedrooms.

In 1901 Leonard Richardson bought Valley Farm. He lived there with his wife and three daughters Kathleen, Sylivia and Margaret and farmed the surrounding land. In the late 1920's he became increasingly anxious about the condition of the house and between 1928 and 1935 wrote repeatedly to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings asking them for help with the cost of repairs - but no financial help was forthcoming. 

Leonard Richardson sold Valley Farm in 1935 to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings for £1,500. The Society undertook major repairs and restored the building to its near original state. The upper floor was removed - although the marks on the vertical timbers clearly show where it was. The inglenook fireplace and chimney were retained and can be seen to this day. 

The National Trust continues to lease the building to the Field Studies Council for student accommodation but the National Trust still holds various family events inside the grounds and the building itself.The house is also open to the public on Heritage Open Days

This building I know is Bridge Cottage - as it`s position indicates. We went here specifically to see a Landscape Photography exhibition by Justin Minns (http://www.justinminns.co.uk/gallery) It is one of the views that most phototographers like to capture, along with Willie Lott`s cottage of course. During John Constable's boyhood, the family living in Bridge Cottage were tenants of the Constable family. 

Family members collected tolls from the lighters passing through Flatford Lock and may have provided a rest area, beer house and eating place for the families who operated the commercial barge route along the River Stour between Sudbury and Mistley Wharf. They cooked their meals on a large central fireplace which can still be seen inside Bridge Cottage today. 

Bridge Cottage was constructed as a single dwelling around a timber frame and the gaps between the frame were filled with daub and wattle, a mixture of twigs covered by a plaster made out of mud, straw and animal dung. 

By the late 17th-century the northern end of the cottage had been constructed although buildings would have existed on the site in previous centuries. 

Between 1725 and 1750 the southern end of the cottage was added along with commercial bread ovens which were housed in a lean-to extension at the back of the cottage - all that remains of the bread ovens today are a couple of brick arches. 

In the 19th-century, Bridge Cottage was converted into two dwellings to accommodate two families. Each family lived in a small parlour with access to a bedroom in the attic. One family accessed the attic by a small twisting staircase whilst the other used a loft ladder. 

A great way to see the Mill but how could they pass the coffee shop I ask? 

Mallards were busy either chasing each other, begging for food (as this one was) or just sunning themselves with an occasional swim. 

Mr Mallard was on the lookout for any female who passed (and the odd other male) 

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Flags of Convenience

Recently, while at Languard Point, I was at watching these two vessels coming into Felixstowe Port and mulling over their countries of origin. So, when at home, a bit of research on the internet gave me the following.

ANNABA, registered in Liberia but owned by a firm in Germany. It has a length of 168m and deadweight of 20600 tons

The  MAERSK ESSEN, registered in the Marshall Islands but the owner is from Singapore. It has a length of 366m and deadweight of 142105 tons.The interesting point is that neither ship is registered in the country of the owner.

So, why is this?

Well, When registering a vessel for international travel, one must choose a nation under the flag of which that vessel will sail. The term “flag of convenience” refers to registering a ship in a sovereign state different from that of the ship's owners.

Why register a flag of convenience?

Ships registered under flags of convenience can often reduce operating costs or avoid the regulations of the owner's country. To do so, a vessel owner will find a nation with an open registry, or a nation that allows registration of vessels owned by foreign entities. A ship operates under the laws of its flag state, so vessel owners often register in other nations to take advantages of reduced regulation, lower administrative fees, and greater numbers of friendly ports.

History of open registries

The modern practice of flagging ships in foreign countries began in the 1920s in the United States after shipowners became frustrated with increased regulations and rising labor costs and began registering their ships in other nations (originally Panama). As other nations began to allow open registries a few nations became standouts in the flag of convenience industry. In 1968, Liberia grew to surpass the United Kingdom as the world's largest shipping register and, as of 2009, more than half of the world’s merchant ships were registered with open registries, with Panama, Liberia, and Marshall Islands flags accounting for almost 40% of the entire world fleet as calculated by tonnage.

Criticisms of flag of convenience systems

Many nations with open registries are criticized for having substandard regulations. For example, many shipowners are allowed to remain legally anonymous in open registry systems, making it difficult to identify and prosecute legal actions (whether civil or criminal) against these individuals. Some ships with flags of convenience have been found engaging in criminal activity, offering substandard working conditions, and spewing pollution into the environment or illegally fishing. As a result, ships flying under these flags are now targeted by other nations for special enforcement when they make call in one of the host nation's ports.

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Nayland and Stoke by Nayland

Dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, it is one of the largest and finest churches in Suffolk, with a history stretching back to the 10th century, but refashioned in the Perpendicular style by the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, in the late 1400s.

Its tower dominates the landscape of Dedham Vale, and can be seen for miles around. Its outstanding treasure is the 15th century carved oak doors in the south porch, unique in Suffolk, but the font is very fine, and no less a person than the artist John Constable has said that “the lofty and slender proportions of the tower arch are the crowning beauty of the whole interior.”

John Constable loved this tower, and it appears several times in his paintings, not always in the right place. St Mary is pretty much all of a piece, in the 15th century, although there are some older bits, and a great deal of rather undistinguished 19th century work. But the glory of the church is the red brick tower, completed about 1470 and surmounted by stone spires, reminiscent of Bungay St Mary, away on Suffolk's northern borderland. There are fine views of this from many places, and from many miles away. Close to, it is immense; Stoke by Nayland is, after all, a small village rather than a town, and the setting of cottages only enhances the sense that this tower is enormous. The buttresses are laced with canopied image niches - how amazing it must have looked before the 16th century reformers removed all the statues! 

I just love this door which has a mass of carvings on it. It makes you wonder how long it took to complete. But this was completed in an age when time was of little consequence. St Mary has the best late 15th century doors in Suffolk, eclipsing even Otley. The figures are remarkable; they stand proud of Gothic turrets and arches. They seem to represent a Tree of Jesse, effectively Christ's family tree, with Mary at the top and ancestors back into Old Testament times beneath. It is thought the figures in the border are disciples and apostles. Medieval doors haven't survived at all widely in East Anglia, so it is interesting to see them at such close quarters.

Some of the stained glass, which I assume is Victorian.

The font is curious, to say the least. Four of the panels show conventional evangelistic symbols, but three of the other four are unfamiliar. One is an angel, but the others are a woman in a cowl carrying a scroll beside a tree, a man with a sack pointing to a book open on a shelf, and a man with a scroll at a lectern. The iconography is apparently unusual.

A general view looking toward the altar and giving a sense of the enormity of this building. 

The front door and window of this old house near the church just appealed to the eye.

Talking of `quirky` doors, short people must have lived here as the bottom of the door appears to have been cut off to make it fit. Below are some of the beautiful ones in Nayland, which is close by. Also one or two general images around the village

You don't see many petrol pumps like these any more, seen in Nayland

Some more of the quirky architecture to be seen around the village of Nayland

So many mile `From` some places and so many miles `To` others - strange! 

This C18th stone obelisk-milepost has a a moulded pedestal plinth and a ball finial on the truncated shaft. The shaft is inscribed on 3 sides with mileages as follows:-...on the north (left) face "8 miles to Hadleigh",

...on the west (front) face "55 miles from London, 26 miles from Chelmsford, 22 miles to Bury [St.Edmunds]",

...on the south (right) face "6 miles to Colchester".

It is a Grade II listed monument and has placed immediately adjacent to it a commemorative horse trough commemorating the Coronation of King George V.

All in all, a pleasant morning, and we came away impressed with the magnificent St Mary`s at Stoke by Nayland and the lovely old houses etc. in Nayland. Well worth a visit.

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Ipswich`s Holywells Park

Ipswich Holywells Park is looking better than ever - thanks to a £3.5 million “Parks for People” refurbishment. Holywells is a beautiful open space, with stunning trees and ponds, but also a green hub for the community. There is something for people of all ages to enjoy … The park extends over 28 hectares of picturesque grounds with a history dating back to medieval times.

The Park was originally part of the Manor of Wykes Bishop, held by the Bishops of Norwich from the 13th Century. During the reign of Henry VIII, the Manor was surrendered to the Crown and then granted to Sir John Jermy. The title of Lord of the Manor was acquired by John Cobbold in 1812.

The Cobbold family purchased what was the Pitts Farm estate in 1811 to use the park’s spring water for their brewery business. It was the Cobbold Family that renamed the area Holy Wells. The Cobbolds sold the estate in 1930 to Lord Woodbridge who subsequently bequeathed the land to the Town Council and was opened as a park in 1936. Holywells Park is a designated County Wildlife Site, a Conservation Area with two listed buildings - the Stable Block and conservatory - and is on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. Holywells has been designated a Regionally Important Geodiversity site.

The Stable block, which are used for a variety of things.

Residents of one of the lakes ...

... and one of the bridges.

The park is really well supported and holds many events for small children upwards, beside having huge areas to wander and enjoy the huge amount of wildlife.

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A morning in Ipswich

My visit today was to photo some of the series of art works originally called Ipswich Artathon, adding to the ones already captured. I will have to post them all in one Blog in the near future I think.

There are three of the series in this Blog: The African Garden, the Giles statue of Grandma and the Spiral Vortex. It is worth looking at the Ipswich Council list of the whole series as it`s a great way to see Ipswich.

The first three images were in fact taken along the Waterfront, a great favourite of mine! I love the mixture of colours on the walls and on the derelict building. 

Cranfield Mill is a 23 story, mixed-use development located on the waterfront with access from College Street in Ipswich, England. The Mill was the first phase of the Cranfields Mill development at Albion Quay on the waterfront at a cost of £42 million and was designed by John Lyall Architects and was proposed to be the 'landmark' building of Ipswich. 

Last remnant of a school founded by Cardinal Wolsey in 1528 

In the 12th century an Augustinian priory was established on the north bank of the River Orwell. The canons of the Priory of SS Peter and Paul used the church of St Peter, which had been founded as early as the late Saxon period at the north end of a ford across the river. 

The priory occupied a large area of land, but it was land that eventually attracted the eye of Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey. Wolsey was interested in education, and evolved a grand scheme to establish a network of a dozen schools around the country to prepare students for his new foundation of Cardinal College in Oxford (now Christ Church College). 

One of the 12 'feeder' schools was to be established in his home town of Ipswich. It was meant to rival older schools like Eaton or Winchester School, and provide a wide pool of talented students to attend Cardinal College. 

Wolsey was used to getting his own way. He forced the priory to close and seized the land. He got permission from the king to establish a school, and construction began near St Peter's church in 1528. Students were taken on, and professors were hired. The new school head was William Golding, lured away from Eton. St Peter's church was rebuilt to serve as the school chapel and the congregation forced to use St Nicholas or St Mary at the Quay churches in neighbouring parishes. 

Wolsey's Gate was built to serve as a ceremonial gateway for visitors arriving by river. In Tudor times the River Orwell was much wider than it is now, and the gateway and neighbouring churchyard must have stood near the water's edge. The 'Water Gate' as Wolsey would have known it, led directly to the river. 

Unfortunately for Wolsey - and his school - its foundation coincided with Wolsey's fall from power over his failure to secure papal approval for Henry to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Wolsey was removed from office, then arrested for treason, but died before he could be put on trial. Construction of the school ground to a halt. 

In 1532 all the remaining building materials, including timber, lead, and stone, was transported to London where it was used to extend Wolsey's former home of York House, which later became Whitehall Palace. 

Headmaster Golding stayed on in Ipswich; his salary was even paid by the crown, on the instigation of Thomas Cromwell, Wolsey's former protege. The grammar school moved premises to Foundation Street, and formed the basis of what would later become Ipswich School. The school was endowed with money from the dissolution of local monasteries, and its charter was renewed by Henry VIII and again by his daughter Elizabeth I. The Foundation Street site is now occupied by a car park. 

The gateway stands in an area of the town that has been undeveloped and run down for a long time, and it is an ongoing concern over how the Borough Council can make the most of the gateway's historic value and encourage visitors. As it is now the best vantage point to view the gateway is from across College Road, which can be dangerously busy and difficult to cross at some times of day. 

Local residents occasionally raise the question of moving the gate to make it more easily accessible and to prevent vandalism. They have a point about the latter question, for in 2012 vandals spray-painted the rear of the gateway with graffiti, which had to be very carefully removed from the porous Tudor bricks. It seems very unlikely that the gateway will ever be moved; it is a scheduled ancient monument and getting approval from all the concerned bureaucracies would be extremely unlikely, not to mention the chance of damage to the gateway from attempting to move it 

The gateway consists of two short sections of brick wall supporting a pair of turrets, joined by a horizontal lintel, decorated with brickwork in the style of blind arcades. Under the lintel and flanked by niches is a very worn coat of arms in white stone. The coat of arms has suffered greatly from the passage of time, and no doubt from the automobile fumes that constantly bombard it. 

Under the coat of arms is a broad Tudor arch and a doorway with multiple layers of moulding. The effect is pure Tudor theatre, though very restrained by Wolsey's standards. One wonders what the main gates of the school would have looked like if this was a simple water gate? 

Originally called the Ipswich Board School (1872), the building was rebuilt in 1914 for 432 boys and took in pupils from Foundation Street School. It was then called Ipswich School of Commerce and Social Studies. It stands in Argyle Street. Another reminder of the history of Ipswich.

This artwork is part of the African Garden in Alexandra Park. The garden aims to enhance the natural biodiversity of Alexandra Park and celebrate its value as part of community life. The planting and materials have been chosen to reflect the range of African landscapes. The sculpture (above) by Antonia Hockton aims to convey the essence of our community of cultures. I will have to return when the winter has passed to capture it`s true beauty.

Silent Street in Ipswich has these wonderful windows and doors. I believe the street has a claim to fame as the birthplace of Cardinal Wolsey, although other parts of the town claim similar!

SPIRAL VORTEX 1992 This sculpture was commissioned especially for the library building. It is just inside the Old Foundry Road entrance to the library and can also be viewed from upstairs in the reference library giving an alternative viewpoint and a closer look. Its theme is knowledge.The discs are made of glass of different colours and are based on sections of the Dewey decimal classification used by libraries. They all have different images and symbols on them and hang in a spiral form. It is easily missed as you enter the library, look up! Unfortunately, time has had an effect and the whole thing needs a good clean. However, it was one of the Ipswich art objects I had not captured. 

Reflections in the Willis Building (Ipswich) glass building. 

Of all Giles figures Grandma was perhaps his most famous character; she was unveiled as a statue in Ipswich Town Centre in 1993 as a mark of respect for the long and distinguished career Giles had enjoyed working in the town. The Statue’s placement (in the now ‘Giles Circus’) is deliberate so that Grandma can keep a watch on Giles’ former office on the second floor where he created the majority of his work across the road from her situation. 

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Colchester Priory and Firstsite Gallery

Firstsite is the East of England's contemporary visual arts organisation. From its spectacular golden building designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Viñoly, firstsite presents a varied and challenging programme of exhibitions, commissions, residencies and screenings, in a broad range of media and art forms, by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists - so the blurb goes.

Or, as the Telegraph commented, "A £28m art gallery has been condemned as a waste of public money amid claims more than half of its visitors only entered to use the lavatory.

The Firstsite art gallery in Colchester, Essex, first opened its doors to the public in September 2011 with the aim of attracting 150,000 visitors every year.

But the attraction - which aims to make "contemporary art relevant to everyone" - has now come under the spotlight amid claims the majority of people were leaving within two minutes of coming through the doors.

Instead of coming to see the artworks - which have been described by some critics as a "out touch with ordinary people" - it is thought many members of the public are just using the free-to-enter gallery as a convenient place to go to the lavatory."

Worth photographing nonetheless, although if you look at images taken around the time it opened in 2011, it was a more golden colour. I guess age `takes the shine` from all of us!

Some reflections caught in the glass frontage of the Firstsite gallery.

The 162ft Victorian tower on Colchester town hall was presented by industrialist James Paxman with a statue at the top of St Helena, Colchester's patron saint.

I have not found out yet the meaning of this sign on a building in Colchester, but perhaps something to do with an old inn, The Three Cups, which I believe did exist?

St. Botolph's Priory.The ruins are still an attraction for visitors to Colchester, and one can only wonder as to the completed building`s magnificence. The first St Botolph’s Church was built where the ruins of St Botolph’s Priory Church now stand. It was a Saxon Church with a tower construction similar to that of nearby Holy Trinity, and stood just outside the town’s Roman wall. Recent excavations have revealed the remains of a Roman house close to the site.

The Priory was granted a charter by William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, in C1100. It was the first House of the Augustinian Order in England, founded by two priests who served the Saxon Church. The Priory Church was about twice as long as the remaining portion and the recent excavations indicate a straight and not apsidal East end. The Main West doorway can still be seen with its five orders of typical Norman ornamentation. The monastic buildings were arranged in a square around an open cloister and the present Church stands on the site of the kitchens and refectory.

At the time of the dissolution of the monasteries the Priory suffered badly and in 1536 was largely demolished. Only the Church was left, which continued for another century to serve the parish, as well as the Mayor and Corporation, which used to attend 'on Sundays and other public occasions'. Further serious damage was suffered during the Civil War at the time of the Siege of Colchester in 1648 and for many years little attempt was made to repair it. By the nineteenth century the interior of the ruin was used as a burial ground.

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