HISTORIC VISITS GROUP VISIT TO ATHELHAMPTON HOUSE Lucky once again with the weather a group of eleven of us made a visit Athelhampton on 12th September. It is a substantial tudor manor house set in quite extensive gardens. Both house and garden are well worth seeing. The on site guide was very informative and happy to give any information needed. The main part of the ground floor is taken up by the Great Hall built around 1493.From there steep spiral stairs lead to the upper floors, with an exhibition of paintings by Russian artist, Marevna who was associated with the house about fifty years ago. The gardens are divided into several walled sections each laid out quite formally with trees and water features, the most spectacular being one with giant pyramid shape yews in a square pattern. The visit ended with refreshments in the pleasant cafe. Hopefully an enjoyable visit was had by all.

HISTORIC VISITS GROUP : VISIT TO OLD WARDOUR CASTLE AND THE TITHE BARN, PLACE FARM, TISBURY 24 AUGUST 2017

We visited two sites associated with the Arundell family of Wardour on 24 August: their former home of Old Wardour Castle, and the Tithe Barn of one of their properties in nearby Tisbury. The family owned extensive estates in Wiltshire and , and many of them had to be sold to meet the enormous debts which had been incurred through the building of New Wardour Castle and the surrounding park in the 1770’s. By 1876, their acres had been reduced to 6000, compared to the 55000 owned by the Thynnes of Longleat, and the 44000 by the Herberts of Wilton. The 18th and 19th century Arundells seem to have shown little aptitude in the management of their lands, but things took a turn for the better when the 15th and 16th Lords Arundell became head of the family in the first half of the 20th century. This hopeful period ended in 1944 when the final Lord Arundell, the 16th, died of TB which he had contracted as a prisoner-of-war in Germany. In many ways, the story of the Arundells resembles the Flytes’ in “Brideshead Revisited”, of a great family in decline.

The Wardour Arundells were a cadet branch of the Cornish Arundells, and made their fortune at the court of Henry VIII. They bought many of the estates of Abbey after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, and these included the complex of buildings known as Place Farm. In 1547, they bought Wardour Castle from the Greville family: it had been built c.1392 to a hexagonal design, and it is unique amongst British castles. It was very luxurious, and never meant to be defensive; though the 61-year old Lady Arundell held it against a force of Parliamentarians in 1643. Her son, the 3rd Lord Arundell, then attacked the Parliamentarian garrison of the Castle; and it was during this second siege that the south side was wrecked. The Arundells never lived in the Castle after that, and moved into more modest homes on their estates. The walls of the undamaged part of the Castle survive to a great height; and include many of their architectural features. It was incorporated into the park in the 1770’s as a romantic ruin; and is surrounded by deciduous woodland. While we were there, some children were playing as medieval lords and ladies, and having a whale of a time; and I recommend the Castle as a terrific place, for ALL ages.

Old Wardour Castle

The entrance to the staircase to the Great Hall of the Castle (it was designed by Robert Smythson (1535-1614) for Sir Matthew Arundell in the 1570’s)

Place Farm was a grange of Shaftesbury Abbey, and the house a residence of the Abbess; and many of the buildings survive from this period of its history. It is one of the finest groups of medieval monastic buildings in the UK, and includes the Tithe Barn. This is reputed to be the largest thatched barn in the country, and it has a wonderful timber roof.

The 14th century gatehouse to Place Farm

The exterior of the Tithe Barn

The interior of the barn before restoration …

… and afterwards (this sculpture, by Dominic Welch, was shown at the first exhibition to be held in the barn in 2016) It was restored and converted into an art gallery in 2016, where events related to the current exhibition are also held. When we visited it, the exhibition was “Wood – Design and Inspiration”; and a class in woodcarving was in progress.

The surroundings of Place Farm, on the edge of Tisbury and the downs, are as perfect as Old Wardour Castle’s; and of course the clear, sunny weather enhanced our pleasure in seeing these sites.

Bridget Spiers

VISITS TO HISTORIC PLACES GROUP VISIT TO JULY 25th. On one of the few sunny days this summer a group of thirteen drove to Sherborne for a guided visit to St. Johns Alms House. The 15th century building stands next to the Abbey, and has been extended in the Victorian era. We were given a very interesting talk on the history of the alms house which still functions, housing up to 18 residents. The main historical feature is the chapel with its ancient triptych altar piece which has to be viewed through a carved oak screen. Examples of the original residents’ uniforms are on display, also several ancient notice boards with the strict house rules still clearly visible. There must have been one in every room, obviously not to be ignored. After lunching at the local hostelry we drove the several miles to Sandford Orcas to visit its old Elizabethan manor house, embarrassing myself as the group leader by getting lost and being last to arrive. We were conducted round the old house by its owner Sir Mervyn Medlicot who showed us round most of the house with its many old wooden carved decorations and ancient portraits including some by Gainsborough. We then had a chance to wander through the garden and get a scent of the assortment of aromatic herbs. A very pleasant day out well organised by Bridget . Bill Titley

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On 16 May, we visited two of the most important Roman sites in the south of : Portchester Castle and Fishbourne Roman Palace.

The Castle, which was founded c.270 as one of the fortresses of the Saxon Shore, is one of the most perfect examples of a Roman fort in northern Europe. It appears to have been continually inhabited until 1814; and is enclosed by a near unbroken circuit of walls, standing to a height of nearly 20 feet; and the area is so huge (almost 10 acres) it includes a church and a cricket field.

The church began life in 1120, a part of the complex of buildings of an Augustinian priory. The Priory moved to Southwick in 1150, and most of the monastery buildings were demolished; but the church remained to become the parish church of Portchester. It has not been altered much in its life, and is a near perfect example of a Norman building.

The church inside Portchester Castle

During the reign of Henry (I100-35) the NW corner of the walls was demolished, and a tower and inner bailey built. These were altered over the years; and Richard II built a small but luxurious palace in the area. Prisoners-of-war were held there between the seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries, and the tower contains graffiti they carved into the stone.

The Norman tower

The Castle has been at the forefront of English military history since its beginning. A squadron of the Roman navy was based there, at the head of a large natural harbour. The Romans had a genius for picking sites; and so it could claim to be the ancestor of the naval presence in Portsmouth and the surrounding area. The harbour waters still come up to the southern walls, and it is easy to imagine they looked like this when the Romans were there. Later in its history it was the staging post for a number of expeditions to France during the Hundred Years War, and these included Henry V’s campaign which resulted in the victory of Agincourt.

The harbour-side walls of Portchester Castle. The D-shaped towers are thought to be artillery platforms.

Fishbourne Roman Palace was built c. 60 AD, and was discovered in 1960, when the local water company was laying a main. It is the largest known Roman domestic building north of the Alps, and contains the largest collection of mosaics in situ; and thanks to the generosity of Ivan Margary, it was saved from burial under a housing estate.

It covers approximately 500 square feet, and has a larger footprint than Buckingham Palace. No-one is sure who built it; but the accepted theory it was a local king, Togidubnus, who had associations with nearby Chichester. The Palace was substantially altered in the 90’s, and improvements continued to be made; and in its final incarnation had four wings fronted by colonnades which surrounded the garden.

The building was destroyed by fire c. 270 AD, and abandoned : no-one knows whether this was an accident, or the result of a raid by Saxon pirates; but it is intriguing that Portchester Castle was built at about this time, to guard the coast against the incursions of raiders.

The Cupid on a Dolphin mosaic at Fishbourne Roman Palace c.160 AD. It includes a small bird amongst the vine tendrils which frame the design, and this is thought to be the mosaicist’s trademark.

During the excavations of the site, the archaeologists discovered the planting beds in the palace garden: they showed as grey loam against the ochre coloured clay of the subsoil. They were unable to discover the plants, with the exception of plantain and daisy, which had been grown there, so they used the writings of authors such as Pliny to recreate the appearance of the garden. One feature is the box hedges which Pliny described lining the paths in his own gardens: these have been planted at Fishbourne, and they are thriving in the soil there.

The reconstructed garden at Fishbourne Roman Palace.

Once again, we were very lucky with the weather when we went on this outing. We were all intrigued by what we saw.

Bridget Spiers

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U3A HISTORIC VISITS MOTTISFONT AND ROMSEY ABBEY 18TH APRIL 2017

We set off at 8.15 a.m. on a chilly but sparkling April morning to enjoy a lovely ride across the New Forest to Romsey, a charming old town one often skirts but seldom visits. We were dropped at the bus station and made our way to the Abbey where we split into two groups for our conducted tour.

Rob, our guide and a chorister, showed us to seats in the choir stalls and gave an interesting twenty minute talk on the history of the Abbey, which started in 907 and was re-founded as a Benedictine Nunnery in 967, which continued for 500 years and survived the Reformation because the church was bought by the town community for £100 from Henry V111. The Bill of Sale with Henry’s signature is displayed in the Abbey. Rob told us that prayers had been said daily, without exception, in the church for 1,000 years. He pointed out the symmetry of the Norman and Early English arches, three storeys high, built between 1120 and 1250: also the Mountbatten family pews and the chapel where Earl Mountbatten is buried; and where the Queen and many of the royal family had sat when they attended a family wedding last month. We were than taken for a walk round the outside of the Abbey with interesting features, including a leper’s squint, but there was no escape from a bitterly cold wind and we were glad to return inside.

Half an hour’s drive in bright sunshine through lovely countryside took us to Mottisfont Abbey. The immediate impression was that it didn’t look like an abbey. Our guide told us that the reason for this was that, at the Dissolution, Henry VIII had stipulated that the new owner should completely erase all the existing religious buildings with the result that only a small part of the church remains.

We made a tour of the house which is mainly 18th century but became a hub for artists, including Cecil Beaton and Rex Whistler, in the 1930s when Maud Russell made it her country home and we then visited the Whistler exhibition which showed a lot of his wartime work, particularly poignant.

Having fortified ourselves with a very welcome lunch in the courtyard of the Coach House Café, lovely and sheltered in the sunshine, we joined the 40 minute introduction to the garden tour. This started at the Font, a small but deep pool which for more than 1,000 years has provided an endless spring of pure water to the site. The wind had dropped by this time and the grounds were lovely, especially by the river. We finished in the walled garden: roses had always been special to Mottisfont being considered sacred symbols in medieval times, and in the 1970s Graham Stewart Thomas saved many rare blooms from extinction and created this lovely and extensive garden. We also enjoyed the potting shed with old gardeners’ diaries on display.

A visit to the book shop and café for tea and cake and it was time for the coach home, a most enjoyable day.

Jean Coull

U3A Historic Visits at Mottisfont and Romsey Abbeys (18th April 2017)

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THE HISTORIC VISITS GROUP’S EXCURSION TO THE BRISTOL MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY (14 MARCH 2017)

The museum and art gallery, which has permanent displays of European and eastern art from different periods, Egyptology, geology, minerals and world wildlife, had on display a spcial exhibition of the Staffordshire Hoard which was the focus of our visit.

Discovered in 2009 by a farmer near Litchfield, it is the largest collection of its kind ever to be found.

The items on display are thought to be from the Dark Ages, and are mainly embellishments for swords, a weapon which indicated authority and leadership. In Mercia, Penda its last pagan king, had enlarged his kingdom in successful battles, and was killed in the final one. He was succeeded by his son; and eventually Mercia was absorbed into the of England under Alfred the Great.

Altogether a most interesting visit. Thank you, Bridget, for your organisation.

Margaret Oliver

Historic Visits visit to Bristol (14 March 2017