1.
English country house
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An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses. With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s, the estates, of country houses were the hub. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifestyle, increased taxation and the effects of World War I led to the demolition of hundreds of houses, those that remained had to adapt to survive. While a château or a schloss can be a fortified or unfortified building, if fortified, it is called a castle, but not all buildings with the name castle are fortified. The term stately home is subject to debate, and avoided by historians, as a description of a country house, the term was first used in a poem by Felicia Hemans, The Homes of England, originally published in Blackwoods Magazine in 1827. In the 20th century, the term was popularised in a song by Noël Coward. The books collection of homes also includes George IVs Brighton town palace. The country houses of England have evolved over the last five hundred years, before this time, larger houses were usually fortified, reflecting the position of their owners as feudal lords, de facto overlords of their manors. The Tudor period of stability in the saw the building of the first of the unfortified great houses. Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries saw many former ecclesiastical properties granted to the Kings favourites, woburn Abbey, Forde Abbey and many other mansions with abbey or priory in their name became private houses during this period. Other terms used in the names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace, castle, court, hall, mansion, park, house, manor, and place. Burghley House, Longleat House, and Hatfield House are among the best known examples of the prodigy house. Some of the best known of Englands country houses were built by one architect at one time, Montacute House, Chatsworth House. They finally ran out of funds in the early 20th century, an example of this is Brympton dEvercy in Somerset, a house of many periods that is unified architecturally by the continuing use of the same mellow, local Ham Hill stone
2.
Rothschild family
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During the 19th century, the Rothschild family possessed the largest private fortune in the world, as well as the largest private fortune in modern world history. The Rothschild family has frequently been the subject of conspiracy theories, the first member of the family who was known to use the name Rothschild was Izaak Elchanan Rothschild, born in 1577. The name is derived from the German zum rothen Schild, meaning with the red sign, the familys ascent to international prominence began in 1744, with the birth of Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was the son of Amschel Moses Rothschild, a money changer who had traded with the Prince of Hesse, the family motto appears below the shield, Concordia, Integritas, Industria. Paul Johnson writes he Rothschilds are elusive, there is no book about them that is both revealing and accurate. Libraries of nonsense have been written about them, a woman who planned to write a book entitled Lies about the Rothschilds abandoned it, saying, ‘It was relatively easy to spot the lies, but it proved impossible to find out the truth. Their assets were held in financial instruments, circulating through the world as stocks, bonds, changes made by the Rothschilds allowed them to insulate their property from local violence, Henceforth their real wealth was beyond the reach of the mob, almost beyond the reach of greedy monarchs. Another essential part of Mayer Rothschilds strategy for success was to control of their banks in family hands. By this means, Jewish financiers obtained a share of international finance during the middle. The head of the group was the Rothschild family. It also states, Of more recent years, non-Jewish financiers have learned the same method, and, on the whole. Mayer Rothschild successfully kept the fortune in the family with carefully arranged marriages, by the late 19th century, however, almost all Rothschilds had started to marry outside the family, usually into the aristocracy or other financial dynasties. The surname Rothschild is rare in Germany, the German surname Rothschild is not related to the Protestant surname Rothchilds from the United Kingdom. Another line, of the British branch of the family, was elevated by Queen Victoria, research conducted by GreatGameIndia Magazine has revealed that the Rothschild family was one of the controller families of the East India Company. The Rothschilds already possessed a significant fortune before the start of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815 alone, the Rothschilds provided £9.8 million in subsidy loans to Britains continental allies. The brothers helped coordinate Rothschild activities across the continent, and the family developed a network of agents, in one instance, the family network enabled Nathan to receive in London the news of Wellingtons victory at the Battle of Waterloo a full day ahead of the governments official messengers. It was then repeated in popular accounts, such as that of Morton. The basis for the Rothschilds most famously profitable move was made after the news of British victory had made public
3.
Mentmore
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Mentmore is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Wingrave, three miles south east of Wing, the village toponym is derived from the Old English for Mentas moor. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as Mentmore, the well of this lodge is marked today by a wood still known as Prilow, derived from the Norman French pres lieu. In 1808 Magna Britannia reported, MENTMORE, in the hundred of Cotslow and deanery of Muresley, legoe, who inherited them from the family of Wigg. They are now the property of Richard Bard Harcourt esq. who purchased them of Lord Limericks son, in the church are some memorials of the families of Theed and Wigg. The impropriate rectory, which was given by the Bussells to the priory of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, is now the property of Mr. Harcourt, the Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin dates from the 14th century. It contains monuments to the Wigg and Theed families and one to Neil Primrose and it is a simple structure of three aisles and a clerestory. It was heavily restored by the Rothschild family in the 19th century, the tower has a ring of five bells, which were recently restored. The village manor house, built by the Wigg family as a 16th-century half timbered structure, was re-faced in redbrick, the Wiggs were lords of the manor from the 16th to 18th centuries. The purchaser was Baron Mayer de Rothschild, the Baron employed the leading architect of the day Joseph Paxton to build a new grandiose mansion, the site chosen because of its fine elevation, was that of the village itself. To a Rothschild this was no problem, the village was moved to the site it occupies today, in fairness to the Baron the villagers were living in semi-derelict hovels, and were probably only too pleased to be rehoused. The plan chosen for the new village was Tudor meets Victorian around a village green, while Paxton and his son-in-law George Stokes worked on the mansion later to be known as Mentmore Towers, George Stokes also designed the first cottages for the new Mentmore. On the death of Baron Mayer in 1877 his heiress Hannah de Rothschild continued the building of the village using another architect George Devey and these houses can be identified by the H de R cypher on their gables. The Old Post office in the centre of a block of housing is clearly Devys work, the picturesque style Thatched or South Lodge is another of Deveys work, as is the former riding school with its stable yard –. Of particular note, is the cottage orné style Old Dairy, while intended as a functioning dairy, its verandas were also designed as a setting for Baroness Mayer de Rothschilds afternoon tea parties. This is one of the last buildings still to be owned by the Rosebery Estate and was restored in 2007, at this time Anglo Saxon remains were found near the site of the present front drive of Mentmore Towers. The drives to the mansion are the public highways, which were also re-routed at this time. By 1880 the village and its new approach roads were more or less finished and looked much as they do today, the late 6th Earl of Rosebery who died in 1973 was fond of saying nothing had been built in Mentmore in his lifetime
4.
Buckinghamshire
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Development in this region is restricted by the Metropolitan Green Belt. Other large settlements include the county town of Aylesbury, Marlow in the south near the Thames and Princes Risborough in the west near Oxford. Some areas without rail links to London, such as around the old county town of Buckingham. The largest town is Milton Keynes in the northeast, which with the area is administered as a unitary authority separately to the rest of Buckinghamshire. The remainder of the county is administered by Buckinghamshire County Council as a non-metropolitan county, in national elections, Buckinghamshire is considered a reliable supporter of the Conservative Party. A large part of the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, runs through the south of the county and attracts many walkers, in this area older buildings are often made from local flint and red brick. Chequers, an estate owned by the government, is the country retreat of the incumbent Prime Minister. To the north of the county lies rolling countryside in the Vale of Aylesbury, the Thames forms part of the county’s southwestern boundary. Notable service amenities in the county are Pinewood Film Studios, Dorney rowing lake, many national companies have offices in Milton Keynes. Heavy industry and quarrying is limited, with agriculture predominating after service industries, the name Buckinghamshire is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means The district of Buccas home. Buccas home refers to Buckingham in the north of the county, the county has been so named since about the 12th century, however, the county has existed since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Mercia. Historically, the biggest change to the county came in the 19th century, Buckinghamshire is a popular home for London commuters, leading to greater local affluence, however, some pockets of relative deprivation remain. As a result, most county institutions are now based in the south of the county or Milton Keynes, the county can be split into two sections geographically. The county includes parts of two of the four longest rivers in England, the River Thames forms the southern boundary with Berkshire, which has crept over the border at Eton and Slough so that the river is no longer the sole boundary between the two counties. The River Great Ouse rises just outside the county in Northamptonshire and flows east through Buckingham, Milton Keynes, the main branch of the Grand Union Canal passes through the county as do its arms to Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Buckingham. The canal has been incorporated into the landscaping of Milton Keynes, the southern part of the county is dominated by the Chiltern Hills. The two highest points in Buckinghamshire are Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods at 267 metres above sea level, quarrying has taken place for chalk, clay for brickmaking and gravel and sand in the river valleys. Flint, also extracted from quarries, was used to build older local buildings
5.
Joseph Paxton
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Paxton was born in 1803, the seventh son of a farming family, in Milton Bryan, Bedfordshire. Some references, incorrectly, list his year as 1801. This is, as he admitted in later life, a result of misinformation he provided in his teens and he became a garden boy at the age of fifteen for Sir Gregory Osborne Page-Turner at Battlesden Park, near Woburn. After several moves, he obtained a position in 1823 at the Horticultural Societys Chiswick Gardens, the Horticultural Societys gardens were close to the gardens of William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick House. The duke met the young gardener as he strolled in his gardens and became impressed with his skill and he offered the 20-year-old Paxton the position of head gardener at Chatsworth, which was considered one of the finest landscaped gardens of the time. Although the duke was in Russia, Paxton set off for Chatsworth on the Chesterfield coach arriving at Chatsworth at half past four in the morning and he married Bown in 1827, and she proved capable of managing his affairs, leaving him free to pursue his ideas. He enjoyed a relationship with his employer who recognised his diverse talents. One of Paxtons first projects was to redesign the garden around the new wing of the house. He became skilled at moving mature trees, the largest, weighing about eight tons, was moved from Kedleston Road in Derby. Among several other projects at Chatsworth were the rock garden. At the time the use of houses was in its infancy. The next great building at Chatsworth was built for the first seeds of the Victoria regia lily which had sent to Kew from the Amazon in 1836. Although they had germinated and grown they had not flowered and in 1849 a seedling was given to Paxton to try out at Chatsworth. He entrusted it to Eduard Ortgies, a gardener and within two months the leaves were 4.5 ft in diameter, and a month later it flowered. It continued growing and it became necessary to build a larger house. Inspired by the waterlilys huge leaves – a natural feat of engineering – he found the structure for his conservatory which he tested by floating his daughter Annie on a leaf, the secret was in the rigidity provided by the radiating ribs connecting with flexible cross-ribs. Constant experimentation over a number of years led him to devise the design that inspired the Crystal Palace. With a cheap and light frame, the conservatory design had a ridge-and-furrow roof to let in more light
6.
Renaissance Revival architecture
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The divergent forms of Renaissance architecture in different parts of Europe, particularly in France and Italy, has added to the difficulty of defining and recognizing Neo-Renaissance architecture. The movement grew from scientific observations of nature, in human anatomy. Neo-Renaissance architecture is formed by not only the original Italian architecture, in England the Renaissance tended to manifest itself in large square tall houses such as Longleat House. Often these buildings had symmetrical towers which hint at the evolution from medieval fortified architecture and this is particularly evident at Hatfield House built between 1607 and 1611, where medieval towers jostle with a large Italian cupola. If this were not confusing enough, the new Neo-Renaissance then frequently borrowed architectural elements from the succeeding Mannerist period, mannerism and Baroque being two very opposing styles of architecture. Mannerism was exemplified by the Palazzo del Te and Baroque by the Wurzburg Residenz, as a consequence a self-consciously Neo-Renaissance manner first began to appear circa 1840. By 1890 this movement was already in decline, the Hagues Peace Palace completed in 1913, in a heavy French Neo-Renaissance manner was one of the last notable buildings in this style. Charles Barry introduced the Neo-Renaissance to England with his design of the Travellers Club, the style is characterized by original Renaissance motifs, taken from such Quattrocento architects as Alberti. These motifs included rusticated masonry and quoins, windows framed by architraves and doors crowned by pediments, if a building were of several floors the uppermost floor usually had small square windows representing the minor mezzanine floor of the original Renaissance designs. However, the Neo-renaissance style later came to incorporate Romanesque and Baroque features not found in the original Renaissance architecture which was more severe in its design. Like all architectural styles the Neo-Renaissance did not appear overnight fully formed but evolved slowly, one of the very first signs of its emergence was the Würzburg Womens Prison, which was erected in 1809 designed by Peter Speeth. This building foreshadows similar effects in the work of the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson whose work in the Neo-Renaissance style was popular in the USA during the 1880s, richardsons style at the end or the revival era was a severe mix of both Romanesque and Renaissance features. This was exemplified by his Marshall Field Warehouse in Chicago, however, while the beginning of Neo-Renaissance period can be defined by its simplicity and severity, what came between was far more ornate in its design. This period can be defined by some of the opera houses of the Europe, such as Gottfried Sempers Burgtheater in Vienna. This ornate form of the Neo-Renaissance, originating from France, is known as the Second Empire style. By 1875 it had become the style in Europe for all public and bureaucratic buildings. In England, where Sir George Gilbert Scott designed the London Foreign Office in this style between 1860 and 1875, it also incorporated certain Palladian features. In Austria, it was pioneered by such names as Rudolf Eitelberger
7.
Jacobethan
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The Jacobethan architectural style is also called Jacobean Revival. To save the time of those who do not wish to distinguish between these periods of uncertainty, I will henceforward use the term Jacobethan. The term caught on with art historians, examples of this style are Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire and Sandringham House in Norfolk, England. In June 1835, when the competition was announced for designs for new Houses of Parliament, of the ninety-seven designs submitted, six were in a self-described Elizabethan style. In 1838, with the Gothic revival was well under way in Britain, Joseph Nash, pugins office designing Gothic details, struck out on his own with a lithographed album Architecture of the Middle Ages, Drawn from Nature and on Stone in 1838. Two young architects already providing Jacobethan buildings were James Pennethorne and Anthony Salvin, salvins Jacobethan Harlaxton Manor, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, its first sections completed in 1837, is the great example that defines the style. The Jacobethan Revival survived the late 19th century and became a part of the commercial builders repertory through the first 20 years of the 20th century. Apart from its origins in the UK, the style became popular both in Canada and throughout the United States during those periods, for sturdy baronial dwellings in a free Renaissance style, a key exponent of the style in Britain was T. G. Jackson. Some examples can also be found in buildings in the former British Empire, such as Rashtrapati Niwas, more recently the term has proved useful to literary studies that are emphasizing the continuity of English literature in the half century 1575–1625. For example the 1603 death of Elizabeth I falls in the middle of Shakespeares career as dramatist, tudorbethan architecture Jacobean era Mowl, Tim
8.
Rothschild properties in the Home counties
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Of all the landowners in the Home counties, particularly the Buckinghamshire area, none has had more impact on the landscape than the Rothschild family. By the time of his death in 1836 he was able to pass a fast-growing banking business on to his eldest son Lionel Rothschild. Gunnersbury Park in Middlesex was the first Rothschild country house to be purchased, marking the start of a north and westwards to Hertfordshire. The Rothschilds began to acquire estates in Buckinghamshire in the 1840s, when an estate was purchased near Mentmore for hunting. Lionel Rothschilds brother, Baron Mayer de Rothschild, became the first Rothschild to build a house in Buckinghamshire when he commissioned Joseph Paxton to design Mentmore Towers in 1850. By 1900, different branches and generations of the family owned thousands of acres, nathan Mayer Rothschild had rented Tring Park in Tring, Hertfordshire in the 1830s. It was purchased with 4,000 acres by Lionel Rothschild in May 1872 as his country residence. The family seat was established at Waddesdon Manor, near to the town of Aylesbury. The Kings Head was donated to the National Trust in 1925, eythrope is the country home of the current Lord Rothschild. Waddesdon Manor and Ascott House were donated to the National Trust, halton is now an officers mess, and Tring is a school of the performing arts. Mentmore has passed through various hands, and planning permission is in place for its conversion into a hotel, aston Clinton was demolished in the 1950s. Further afield, the Rothschild family owns the Exbury estate in Hampshire, world famous for the Rothschild collection of rhododendrons, the Worlds Banker, the History of the House of Rothschild
9.
Aylesbury Vale
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The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of gently rolling agricultural landscape located in the northern half of Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard, the vale is named after Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire. Two other towns lie within the vale and they are Winslow, the bed of the vale is largely made up of clay that was formed at the end of the ice age. Also at this time the vast underground reserves of water make the water table in the Vale of Aylesbury higher than average, were created. In the 2001 UK census the population of Aylesbury Vale was 165,748, about half of those live in the county town Aylesbury. Aylesbury Vale is a government district of northern Buckinghamshire, administered by a district council. The district offices are based in Aylesbury, the district councils logo includes the historical figure of John Hampden. There are 111 civil parishes,84 with a parish council, elections to the district council take place every 4 years, with 59 councillors being elected from 36 wards. Since winning a majority at the 2003 election the Conservative party has control of the council. Major roads include the A41, A413 and A418- which all meet at Aylesbury, the A421 passes through the north of the district providing connections to Milton Keynes, Bedford and the M1 to the east, and the M40 and Oxford and Birmingham to the west. For its size, the district contains relatively few railway stations, at Aylesbury there are connecting services to Princes Risborough station. In addition, the West Coast and Chiltern main lines pass through the district, each having a station within the district. The district has a number of buildings and landscapes which are popular tourist attractions. The National Trust owns several properties including Waddesdon Manor, Claydon House, the Silverstone Circuit sits on the northern boundary of the district with South Northamptonshire, and the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is located near Quainton. Aylesbury is home to the County Museum, and Buckingham features the Old Gaol Museum
10.
Tring
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Tring /trɪŋ/ is a small market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. As of 2013 Tring has a population of 11,730, settlements in Tring date back to Prehistoric times and it was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tring received its town charter in 1315. Tring is now largely a commuter town within the London commuter belt, the name Tring is believed to derive from the Anglo-Saxons Tredunga or Trehangr. Tre, meaning tree and with the suffix ing implying a slope where trees grow, there is evidence of Prehistoric settlement with Iron Age barrows, and defensive embankments adjacent to the Ridgeway Path and also later with Saxon burials. The town straddles the Roman road called Akeman Street, which runs through it as the High Street, Tring was the dominant settlement in the area, being the primary settlement in the Hundred of Tring during the Domesday Book. Tring had a large population and paid a large amount of tax relative to most settlements listed in the Domesday book. The Manor of Treunga is described in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it was assigned to Count Eustace II of Boulogne by William the Conqueror. In 1315 the town was granted a charter by Edward II. This charter gave Faversham Abbey the right to hold markets on Tuesdays, and hold a ten-day fair starting on the 29th of June. It also prevented the creation of any rival markets within a days travel of the town, the tower of the Church of St Peter and St Paul was built somewhere in between 1360 and 1400. The mansion of Tring Park was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and was built in 1682 for the owner Henry Guy, John Washington, the son of the Reverend Lawrence Washington and Amphyllis Twigden was born and brought up in Tring. Industries which benefitted included flour milling, brewing, silk weaving, lace-making, in 1836 Thomas Butcher, a wholesale seed and corn merchant and his son also Thomas, established a private bank Thomas Butcher & Son in Tring High Street. The business was run by Thomass grandsons, Frederick and George and was also known locally as Tring Old Bank. By 1900 it had branches in Aylesbury, Chesham and Berkhamsted, from this time it became the subject of successive bank consolidations which concluded in the formation of the last to be represented in the town, the National Westminster Bank. In the late 19th century the estate became the home of the Rothschild family, nathan Mayer Rothschilds son Lionel Walter Rothschild built a private zoological museum in Tring. This housed perhaps the largest collection of stuffed animals worldwide, as the Natural History Museum at Tring, it has been part of the Natural History Museum since 1937. In April 2007 the museum changed its name to the Natural History Museum at Tring in order to make people aware of the museums link to Londons Natural History Museum
11.
Ascott, Buckinghamshire
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Ascott is a hamlet and country house in the parish of Wing, Buckinghamshire, England. The hamlet lies completely within the boundary of the Ascott Estate, it is home to many of the estate, prior to the Norman Conquest there was an abbey at Ascott, that had been given by a royal to a Benedictine convent in Angiers. In 1415 however, the year as the Battle of Agincourt. It was in 1554 that Dormer entertained Princess Elizabeth at the house, the former abbey, now a house, itself once featured additions that were attributed to Inigo Jones. The house fell into decay following the death without heir of its owner the Earl of Caernarvon in 1709, in 1727 the house and estate were broken up, the deer sold and all the timber cut down and sold off. In the late 19th century members of the Rothschild banking family began to acquire estates in the area, today this is the National Trust property known as Ascott House or sometimes known more simply as just Ascott
12.
Aston Clinton
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Aston Clinton is a village and civil parish close to the main A41 road in Buckinghamshire, England between Tring and Aylesbury. The parish covers 3,809 acres and is about 4 miles east of Aylesbury, the village is at the foot of the chalk escarpment of the Chiltern Hills at the junction of the pre-historic track the Icknield Way with Akeman Street Roman road. It is bisected both at the end of the parish by the Aylesbury Arm and in the centre of the parish by the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal. It is believed that the village started at the crossing of two Roman roads, Akeman Street and Icknield Way, both of which are main roads in the village. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it became a Saxon settlement, before the Norman conquest of England in 1066 the settlement was held by Wlwen probably under patronage of King Edward the Confessor. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 where in Old English it was called Estone, the manor, later to be known as Aston Clinton, was for a short period after 1100 under the control of Edward de Salisbury, who was King Henry Is standard-bearer. In 1217 King Henry III gave it to Sir William de Farendon, however, by 1237 the manor was owned by the de Clinton family, hence the name at that time of Aston de Clinton. William de Clinton separated out from Aston Clinton a new manor called Chivery as a dowry for his daughter Alice, sometime after 1239, King Edward I granted the estates to the Montacutes, who were the ancestors of the Earls of Salisbury. Their descendant the Countess of Salisbury was beheaded by King Henry VIII in 1541, successive families owned the manor, passing by marriage from the Hastings to the Barringtons, Gerards, and then to Lord Lake of Aston Clinton later to become Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake. Composer and lutenist Daniel Bacheler was born in the village in 1572, on 22 September 1934, a twin-engined biplane named Youth of New Zealand of Sir Alan Cobhams National Aviation Displays, crashed into a field near the canal at Aston Clinton. The Youth of New Zealand had just departed from Heston Aerodrome after being refuelled when it crashed, the probable cause was the failure of a bolt through metal fatigue. The modern parish of Aston Clinton was created in 1934, dundridge manor became part of the ecclesiastical parish of St Leonards which has itself since 1934 become part of the parish of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards. Michael and All Angels parish church dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, the Aston Clinton A41 Bypass opened on 3 October 2003. The car manufacturer Aston Martin took one part of its name from the village combining it with that of its co-founder Lionel Martin and it had great success in the Aston Clinton Hillclimb competition up nearby Aston Hill. A plaque now marks the site, in the centre of the village is the Anthony Hall, a concert hall which was donated to the village by the widow of Anthony Nathan de Rothschild. Aston Clinton School is a school that takes pupils between the ages of 4 and 11. The school has approximately 275 pupils, the school badge includes the five arrows from the Rothschild coat of arms, because the family built the first schools in the village. The TV programme Hotel Babylon was filmed in Aston Clinton, rock band Marillion were originally formed in the village in 1979 as Silmarillion
13.
Waddesdon Manor
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Waddesdon Manor is a country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale,6.6 miles west of Aylesbury, the house was built in the Neo-Renaissance style of a French château between 1874 and 1889 for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild as a weekend residence for grand entertaining. The last member of the Rothschild family to own Waddesdon was James de Rothschild and he bequeathed the house and its contents to the National Trust. It is now administered by a Rothschild charitable trust that is overseen by Jacob Rothschild and it is one of the National Trusts most visited properties, with around 335,000 visitors annually. Prior to the construction of Waddesdon Manor, no house existed on the site, Ferdinand de Rothschild wanted a house in the style of the great Renaissance châteaux of the Loire Valley. The Baron, a member of the Viennese branch of the Rothschild banking dynasty, Destailleur was already experienced in working in this style, having overseen the restoration of many châteaux in that region, in particular that of the Château de Mouchy. Through Destailleurs vision, Waddesdon embodied an eclectic style based on the châteaux so admired by his patron, Baron Ferdinand. The towers at Waddesdon were based on those of the Château de Maintenon, however, following the theme of unparalleled luxury at Waddesdon, the windows of the towers at Waddesdon were glazed, unlike those of the staircase at Chambord. They are also far more ornate, the structural design of Waddesdon, however, was not all retrospective. The house also had hot and cold running water in its bathrooms, central heating, the building contractor was Edward Conder & Son. Works were acquired for their quality and fine provenance. One of the highlights of the collection is the extraordinary musical automaton elephant, dating from 1774, in the 1890s, Baron Ferdinand focused on the Renaissance collection for his small museum in the New Smoking Room. This collection was bequeathed to the British Museum and is now known as the Waddesdon Bequest, the interior of Waddesdon Manor was photographed in 1897 for Baron Ferdinands privately published The Red Book. Subsequent owners added noted collections of Limoges enamel, arms and armour, maiolica, medieval manuscripts, prints, extensive landscaping of the hill was carried out, including leveling the top. The gardens and landscape park were laid out by the French landscape architect Elie Lainé, an attempt was made to transplant full-grown trees by chloroforming their roots, to limit the shock. While this novel idea was unsuccessful, many large trees were successfully transplanted. The gardens were enhanced with statuary, pavilions and an aviary that is still in use, the Proserpina fountain was brought to the Manor at the end of the 19th century from the Palace of the Dukes of Parma in northern Italy, the Ducal Palace of Colorno. The gardens are listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks, Baron Ferdinand played host to many important guests including the future Edward VII
14.
Halton House
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Halton House is a country house in the Chiltern Hills above the village of Halton in Buckinghamshire, England. It was built for Alfred de Rothschild between 1880 and 1883 and it is currently used as the main officers mess for RAF Halton. There has been a house at Halton since the Norman Conquest. Thomas Cranmer sold the manor to Henry Bradshaw, Solicitor-General in the mid-16th century, after remaining in the Bradshaw family for some considerable time, it was sold to Sir Francis Dashwood in 1720 and was then held in the Dashwood family for almost 150 years. The site of the old Halton House, or Manor, was west of the church in Halton village and it had a large park, which was later bisected by the Grand Union Canal. In June 1849 Sir George Dashwood auctioned the contents and, in 1853, Lionel then left the estate to his son Alfred de Rothschild in 1879. At this time the estate covered approximately 1,500 acres in a triangle between Wendover, Aston Clinton and Weston Turville. It is thought the architect was William R Rodriguez, who worked in the team of William Cubbitt and Company. Just three years later the house was finished, the house was widely criticised by members of the establishment. Alfred was a superb host, and his greatest pleasure was to give pleasure to others, whether as a philanthropist to the lowest kitchen maid or host to Emperor, Tsar, however, Haltons glittering life lasted less than thirty years. The last party was in 1914 at the outbreak World War I, devastated by the carnage of the war, Alfreds health began to fail and he died in 1918. Alfred had no children, so the house was bequeathed to his nephew Lionel Nathan de Rothschild. He detested the place and sold the contents at auction in 1918, the house and by now diminished estate were purchased for the Royal Air Force by the Air Ministry for a bargain £115,000. Shortly after the RAF acquired the Halton estate, the house became RAF Haltons officers mess, on 1 January 1920 RAF Halton was upgraded to a command and the headquarters element moved into Halton House. Although the House no longer functions as a headquarters, it remains an officers mess, under the RAF the house has been conserved. As an officers mess it has seen more entertaining and parties than under Alfred de Rothschild, to the chagrin of many people, the winter garden and its huge dome were demolished, and a new accommodation wing has been built in its place. However, with the appreciation of 19th-century architecture ascending, it is unlikely that such will occur again, a new dining room was built at the rear of the servants wing of the house in the 1960s. For the style of the house Alfred was probably influenced by that of newly completed Waddesdon Manor, the front of the house features a porte-cochère
15.
Transcendental Meditation
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Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced the TM technique and TM movement in India, in the mid-1950s. The Maharishi taught thousands of people during a series of tours from 1958 to 1965, expressing his teachings in spiritual. TM became more popular in the 1960s and 1970s, as the Maharishi shifted to a technical presentation. At this time, he began training TM teachers and created specialized organizations to present TM to specific segments of the such as business people. By the early 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of people, and the worldwide TM organization had grown to include programs, health products. The TM technique involves the use of a sound or mantra and it is taught by certified teachers through a standard course of instruction, which costs a fee that varies by country. According to the Transcendental Meditation movement, it is a method for relaxation, stress reduction, varying views on whether the technique is religious or non-religious have been expressed including by sociologists, scholars, and a New Jersey court. TM is one of the most widely practiced and researched meditation techniques, Transcendental Meditation dates its origin back to the Vedic traditions of India. The Transcendental Meditation program and the Transcendental Meditation movement originated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the organization, the Maharishi initiated thousands of people, then developed a TM teacher training program as a way to accelerate the rate of bringing the technique to more people. He also inaugurated a series of tours which promoted Transcendental Meditation. These factors, coupled with endorsements by celebrities who practiced TM and claims that research had validated the technique. By the late 2000s, TM had been taught to millions of individuals, despite organizational changes and the addition of advanced meditative techniques in the 1970s, the Transcendental Meditation technique has remained relatively unchanged. Among the first organizations to promote TM were the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, the successor to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and leader of the Global Country of World Peace, is Tony Nader. The meditation practice involves the use of a mantra for 15–20 minutes twice per day while sitting with the eyes closed and it is reported to be one of the most widely practiced, and among the most widely researched, meditation techniques, with hundreds of published research studies. The technique is available worldwide by certified TM teachers in a seven-step course. Beginning in 1965, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been incorporated into selected schools, universities, corporations, and prison programs in the US, Latin America, Europe, the technique has since been included in a number of educational and social programs around the world. Advanced courses supplement the TM technique and include a meditation program called the TM-Sidhi program. The Transcendental Meditation movement refers to the programs and organizations connected with the Transcendental Meditation technique, Transcendental Meditation was first taught in the 1950s in India and has continued since the Maharishis death in 2008
16.
Listed building
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A listed building or listed structure, in the United Kingdom, is one that has been placed on the Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The statutory bodies maintaining the list are Historic England in England, Cadw in Wales, Historic Scotland in Scotland, however, the preferred term in Ireland is protected structure. In England and Wales, an amenity society must be notified of any work to a listed building which involves any element of demolition. Owners of listed buildings are, in circumstances, compelled to repair and maintain them. When alterations are permitted, or when listed buildings are repaired or maintained, slightly different systems operate in each area of the United Kingdom, though the basic principles of the listing remain the same. It was the damage to caused by German bombing during World War II that prompted the first listing of buildings that were deemed to be of particular architectural merit. The listings were used as a means of determining whether a building should be rebuilt if it was damaged by bombing. Listing was first introduced into Northern Ireland under the Planning Order 1972, the listing process has since developed slightly differently in each part of the UK. In the UK, the process of protecting the historic environment is called ‘designation’. A heritage asset is a part of the environment that is valued because of its historic. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. However, buildings that are not formally listed but still judged as being of heritage interest are still regarded as being a consideration in the planning process. Almost anything can be listed – it does not have to be a building, Buildings and structures of special historic interest come in a wide variety of forms and types, ranging from telephone boxes and road signs, to castles. Historic England has created twenty broad categories of structures, and published selection guides for each one to aid with assessing buildings and these include historical overviews and describe the special considerations for listing each category. Both Historic Scotland and Cadw produce guidance for owners, in England, to have a building considered for listing or delisting, the process is to apply to the secretary of state, this can be done by submitting an application form online to Historic England. The applicant does not need to be the owner of the building to apply for it to be listed, full information including application form guidance notes are on the Historic England website. Historic England assesses buildings put forward for listing or delisting and provides advice to the Secretary of State on the architectural, the Secretary of State, who may seek additional advice from others, then decides whether or not to list or delist the building. In England and Wales the authority for listing is granted to the Secretary of State by the Planning Act 1990, Listed buildings in danger of decay are listed on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register
17.
Amber
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Amber is fossilized tree resin, which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects and it has also been used as a healing agent in folk medicine. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents, because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions. Amber occurring in coal seams is also called resinite, and the term ambrite is applied to that found specifically within New Zealand coal seams, the English word amber derives from Arabic ʿanbar عنبر via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. The word was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century as referring to what is now known as ambergris, in the Romance languages, the sense of the word had come to be extended to Baltic amber from as early as the late 13th century. At first called white or yellow amber, this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century, as the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word. The two substances conceivably became associated or confused because they both were washed up on beaches. Ambergris is less dense water and floats, whereas amber is too dense to float. The classical names for amber, Latin electrum and Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον, are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ meaning beaming Sun, according to myth, when Phaëton son of Helios was killed, his mourning sisters became poplar trees, and their tears became elektron, amber. Earlier Pliny says that an island of three days sail from the Scythian coast called Balcia by Xenophon of Lampsacus, author of a fanciful travel book in Greek, is called Basilia by Pytheas. It is generally understood to be the same as Abalus and it is assumed that there were well-established trade routes for amber connecting the Baltic with the Mediterranean. Pliny states explicitly that the Germans export amber to Pannonia, from where it was traded further abroad by the Veneti, the ancient Italic peoples of southern Italy were working amber, the most important examples are on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Siritide to Matera. Amber used in antiquity as at Mycenae and in the prehistory of the Mediterranean comes from deposits of Sicily. Besides the fanciful explanations according to which amber is produced by the Sun, Pliny cites opinions that are aware of its origin in tree resin. Amber is produced from a marrow discharged by trees belonging to the genus, like gum from the cherry. This is confirmed by the recorded Old High German glas and Old English glær for amber, in Middle Low German, amber was known as berne-, barn-, börnstēn. The Low German term became dominant also in High German by the 18th century, the Baltic Lithuanian term for amber is gintaras and Latvian dzintars. They, and the Slavic jantar or Hungarian gyanta, are thought to originate from Phoenician jainitar, Early in the nineteenth century, the first reports of amber from North America came from discoveries in New Jersey along Crosswicks Creek near Trenton, at Camden, and near Woodbury
18.
Vitreous enamel
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Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C. The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, so in technical terms fired enamelware is an integrated layered composite of glass and metal. Enamelling is an old and widely adopted technology, for most of its history mainly used in jewelry, enamelled and enamelling are the preferred spellings in British English, while enameled and enameling are preferred in American English. The term enamel is most often restricted to work on metal, enamelled glass is also called painted, and overglaze decoration to pottery is often called enamelling. The word enamel comes from the Old High German word smelzan via the Old French esmail, or from a Latin word smaltum, used as a noun, an enamel is usually a small decorative object coated with enamel. Since the 19th century the term also to industrial materials and many metal consumer objects, such as some cooking vessels, dishwashers, laundry machines, sinks. The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to stone objects, pottery, and sometimes jewellery, the ancient Greeks, Celts, Georgians, and Chinese also used enamel on metal objects. Enamel powder could be produced in two ways, either by powdering coloured glass, or by mixing colourless glass powder with pigments such as a metallic oxide, designs were either painted freehand or over the top of outline incisions, and the technique probably originated in metalworking. Once painted, enamelled glass vessels needed to be fired at a high enough to melt the applied powder. Ancient Persians used this method for colouring and ornamenting the surface of metals by fusing over it brilliant colours that are decorated in an intricate design and called it Meenakari. Gold has been used traditionally for Meenakari Jewellery as it holds the enamel better, lasts longer, initially, the work of Meenakari often went unnoticed as this art was traditionally used as a backing for the famous kundan or stone-studded jewellery. This also allowed the wearer to reverse the jewellery as also promised a special joy in the secret of the hidden design, the Byzantine enamel style was widely adopted by the barbarian peoples of Migration Period northern Europe. The Byzantines then began to use cloisonné more freely to create images, the champlevé technique was considerably easier and very widely practiced in the Romanesque period. In Gothic art the finest work is in basse-taille and ronde-bosse techniques, from either Byzantium or the Islamic world, the cloisonné technique reached China in the 13-14th centuries. The first written reference to cloisonné is in a book from 1388, cloisonné remained very popular in China until the 19th century and is still produced today. Starting from the century, the Japanese also produced large quantities of very high technical quality. A resurgence in enamel-based art took place near the end of the 20th century in the Soviet Union, led by artists like Alexei Maximov, in Australia, abstract artist Bernard Hesling brought the style into prominence with his variously sized steel plates. Enamel was first applied commercially to sheet iron and steel in Austria, industrialization increased as the purity of raw materials increased and costs decreased
19.
Imperial staircase
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An Imperial staircase is the name given to a staircase with divided flights. Usually the first flight rises to a half-landing and then divides into two symmetrical flights both rising with an number of steps and turns to the next floor. The feature is reputed to have first been used at El Escorial, the advantages of an imperial staircase became apparent during the 18th century, when Matthew Brettingham revolutionised the design of the piano nobile of the London town house. Guests would proceed through a series of rooms arranged as a circuit. At large gatherings the two branches could ease the flow of arriving and departing, or moving between a ballroom and a supper room on the floor below. An imperial staircase is used today for similar reasons where two streams of people are moving in opposite directions in buildings as diverse as an opera house to a railway station. Double staircases as opposed to imperial staircases are often of just two flights leaving the ground symmetrically to join one common destination. Occasionally, especially in the architecture of the Sicilian Baroque, they leave the ground as one flight and then divide. One may also see an imperial staircase in the form of two flights rising to join and then continue as one flight, but this is rare
20.
Blarenberghe
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Van Blarenberghe was the name of a dynasty of painters, originally from French Flanders but some of the most famous descendants also lived in Paris, France. They were all descendants from Joris van Blarenberghe, the first two painters were Hendrick van Blarenberghe and his son Jacques-Guillaume van Blarenberghe. Their style was heavily influenced by the Flemish Baroque style. Jacques-Guillaume had two painting sons, Louis-Nicolas van Blarenberghe and Henri Désiré van Blarenberghe, Louis-Nicolas had a son who was also a painter and with whom he often collaborated, Henri-Joseph van Blarenberghe. Together with his father, they stayed at the Palace of Versailles and they were especially famous for their paintings on snuff boxes. Louis-Nicolas also worked as official painter of the French court. Two of his daughters, Catherine-Henriette and Isabelle, were chamber maids to the children of the French kings, the works of Louis-Nicolas and Henri-Joseph were collected in profusion in the 19th century by the Rothschild family. There is a collection of their work on display at Waddesdon Manor. An enormous collection of Blarenberghe art was sold in the Mentmore Towers sale of 1977, Henri-Joseph painted, besides the miniatures, mainly Panoramic paintings, often in gouache. The subjects were, as with his father, often military and he was the drawing teacher of the French princes, and founder and first conservator of the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. French exhibition about Henri-Joseph Van Blarenberghe at Musée du Louvre, Paris France French Exhibition about Louis-Nicolas Van Blarenberghe at Versailles, France
21.
Madame du Barry
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Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Jeanne Bécu was born at Vaucouleurs, in the present-day Meuse department in Lorraine, France, as the daughter of Anne Bécu. Jeannes father was possibly Jean Baptiste Gormand de Vaubernier, a known as frère Ange. Little Jeanette was well liked by Dumonceauxs mistress Francesca, who pampered her in all luxury, dumonceaux funded Jeanettes education at the Couvent de Saint-Aure. At the age of fifteen, Jeanne left the convent, for she had come of age, for some reason – possibly due either to La Frédériques jealousy of the formers beauty or because Dumonceauxs passion for Anne revived – both mother and daughter were thrown out. They then moved into the small household of Annes husband. Jeanne had to some sort of income to help herself live. Later, Jeanne worked as a assistant in a haberdashery shop named À la Toilette, owned by Madame Labille. Labilles daughter, the famed painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, became a good friend of Jeanne. As reflected in art from the time, Jeanne was an attractive blonde woman with thick golden ringlets. Her beauty came to the attention of Jean-Baptiste du Barry, a high-class pimp/procurer nicknamed le roué, Du Barry owned a casino, and Jeanne came to his attention in 1763 when she was entertaining in Madame Quisnoys brothel-casino. She introduced herself as Jeanne Vaubernier, Du Barry installed her in his household and made her his mistress. As Mademoiselle Lange, Jeanne immediately became a sensation in Paris and she had many lovers from the kings ministers to his courtiers. The dashing yet old Maréchal de Richelieu became one of her recurring lovers, because of this, Jean du Barry saw her as a means of influence over Louis XV, who became aware of her in 1768 while she was on an errand at Versailles. The errand involved the duc de Choiseul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in any case, Jeanne could not qualify as a maîtresse-en-titre unless she had a title, this was solved by her marriage on 1 September 1768 to du Barrys brother, Comte Guillaume du Barry. The marriage ceremony included a false birth certificate created by Jean du Barry himself, Jeanne was now installed above the Kings quarters in Lebels former rooms. She lived a life, unable to be seen with the King since no formal presentation had taken place as yet. Comte du Barry constantly pestered Jeanne and urged her to speak of presentation with the king, Louis XV, in turn, asked her to find a proper sponsor to be able to have one
22.
Cour d'honneur
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The Palace of Versailles and Blenheim Palace both feature such entrance courts. Its open courtyard is presented like the permanent theatre set of a proscenium stage. Like the theatre set the environment is defined and enclosed from the more public space by ornate wrought iron gilded railings. Other 16th century urban palazzi remained resolutely enclosed, like Palazzo Farnese, in Rome, the wings of Carlo Madernos Palazzo Barberini design, were the first that reached forward from a central block to create a cour dhonneur floorplan. On a condensed, urban scale the formula is expressed in Parisian private houses, hôtels particuliers built entre cour et jardin, between court and garden. Nearby, the Tuileries Palace is gone, but the cour dhonneur with its Arc du Carrousel remains, vanderbilt House on the Plaza were the rare exceptions. The much-photographed front façade of Buckingham Palace was refashioned by Sir Aston Webb in 1913, the cour dhonneur, now known as The Quadrangle, still retains the principal entrance to the palace however
23.
Servants' quarters
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Servants quarters are those parts of a building, traditionally in a private house, which contain the domestic offices and staff accommodation. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century, they were a feature in many large houses. Sometimes they are a part of a smaller house—in the basements and attics, especially in a town house. Before the late 17th century, servants dined, slept and worked in the part of the house with their employers. The principal reception room of a known as the great hall—would have been completely communal regardless of hierarchy within the household. Before this period only the very grandest houses and the royal palaces such as Hampton Court, Audley End and these areas, often courtyards known as the Kitchen of Base court, were not exclusively for the servants, and neither were they inconspicuous. At Hampton court the lesser courtyard forms part of the processional route under an ornate clock tower to the more grand areas of the palace. It should also be noted that servants in the late 17th century had a social standing than their 18th century counterparts. They included gentlewomen and various poorer relations of the owners, and there were also far more of them. In 1585 the Earl of Derby had a household of 115 people, while forty years later the Earl of Dorset was still maintaining a household of 111, all of whom were reported to be living in great state. By 1722 the more elevated Duke of Chandos had a household of 90,16 of whom were members of his private orchestra rather than domestic servants, the reduction in staff numbers went hand in hand with the reduction of ceremony. Roger Pratt is the credited with pioneering the removal of servants from dining in the great hall. In 1650 at Coleshill House Pratt designed the first purpose-built servants hall in the basement, by the end of the century the arrangement was common, the only servants left in the hall were those waiting for a summons. However it was essential that servants were close at hand, and so they were given their own floors, usually the lowest. These floors were often, as at Belton, distinguished by a different fenestration from the rooms of the employers in between, hence at Belton can be seen the small windows of the semi-basement containing the kitchens, pantries and servants dining halls. Above are the windows lighting the principal rooms, while right at the top of the house are again the small windows of the servants’ bedrooms. These rooms which were entirely in main block of the house, even while Belton was still being completed, a large change was taking place in architecture with more classical genres of the continental Baroque being introduced. Chatsworth House and Castle Howard are symbolic of this period and these wings became adapted in design to house the staff, and other secondary rooms
24.
Panelling
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Panelling is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials, panelling was developed in antiquity to make rooms in stone buildings more comfortable. The panels served to insulate the room from the cold stone, in more modern buildings, such panelling is often installed for decorative purposes. The term wainscot originally applied to high quality riven oak boards, Wainscot oak came from large, slow-grown forest trees, and produced boards that were knot-free, low in tannin, light in weight, and easy to work with. It was preferred to home-grown oak, especially in Holland and Great Britain, because it was a far superior product, the Oxford English Dictionary states that it derives from the medieval German wagenschot as well as wageschot or wall-board. Johnsons Dictionary defined it thus, Wainscot, the inner wooden covering of a wall, to wainscot, to line the walls with boards A wainscot was therefore a board of riven oak, and wainscoting was the panelling made from it. Also in the 18th century, the style of panelling changed from a covering to one in which only the lower part of the wall was covered. Hence wainscot or wainscoting became a panelling style applied to the lower 90 to 150 cm of a wall, below the dado rail or chair rail. It is traditionally constructed from tongue-and-groove boards, though bead-board or decorative panels, new manufacturing techniques are capable of milling large panels from one sheet, reducing seams, caulking, and expansion/contraction cracks that have plagued traditional construction. Wainscoting may also refer to materials used in a similar fashion. The original purpose of wainscoting was to cover the part of walls. Boiserie is the French term used to define ornate and intricately carved wood panelling, early examples of boiseries were unpainted, but later the raised mouldings were often painted or gilded. Boiseries were popular in seventeenth and eighteenth century French interior design, the panels were not confined to just the walls of a room but were used to decorate doors, frames, cupboards, and shelves also. Often pictures would be set into the boiseries, the framing the picture rather like a conventional frame. Moulding Ornament Panel edge staining Structural insulated panel Vacuum insulated panel Wainscot
25.
The Crystal Palace
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The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and plate-glass structure originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in its 990, designed by Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet long, with an interior height of 128 feet. It stood there from 1854 until its destruction by fire in 1936, Crystal Palace F. C. were founded at the site in 1905 and played at the Cup Final venue in their early years. The park still contains Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkinss Crystal Palace Dinosaurs which date back to 1854, the Commission in charge of mounting the Great Exhibition was established in January 1850, and it was decided at the outset that the entire project would be funded by public subscription. Within three weeks, the committee had received some 245 entries, including 38 international submissions from Australia, turner was furious at the rejection, and reportedly badgered the commissioners for months afterwards, seeking compensation, but at an estimated £300,000, his design was too expensive. Opponents of the scheme lobbied strenuously against the use of Hyde Park, the most outspoken critic was arch-conservative Col. At this point renowned gardener Joseph Paxton became interested in the project, the lily and its house led directly to Paxtons design for the Crystal Palace and he later cited the huge ribbed floating leaves as a key inspiration. Paxton left his 9 June 1850 meeting with Henry Cole fired with enthusiasm and he immediately went to Hyde Park, where he walked the site earmarked for the Exhibition. Two days later, on 11 June, while attending a meeting of the Midland Railway, Paxton made his original concept drawing. In the event, Paxtons design fulfilled and surpassed all the requirements, would cover roughly twenty-five times the ground area of its progenitor. He was exultant, but now had less than eight months to finalize his plans, manufacture the parts and erect the building in time for the Exhibitions opening, which was scheduled for 1 May 1851. Paxton was able to design and build the largest glass structure yet created, from scratch, in less than a year, Paxtons modular, hierarchical design reflected his practical brilliance as a designer and problem-solver. These were the largest available at the time, measuring 10 inches wide by 49 inches long, the original Hyde Park building was essentially a vast, flat-roofed rectangular hall. A huge open gallery ran along the axis, with wings extending down either side. The main exhibition space was two stories high, with the upper floor stepped in from the boundary. Most of the building had a roof, except for the central transept. Both the flat-profile sections and the transept roof were constructed using the key element of Paxtons design - his patented ridge-and-furrow roofing system. The basic roofing unit, in essence, took the form of a triangular prism
26.
George Myers (builder)
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George Myers was an English builder, best known for his work with the architect and designer Augustus Pugin. Myers was born in 1803 in Kingston-upon-Hull and he first met Pugin in 1827 while working as an apprentice to the Master Mason of Beverley Minster, William Comins. In 1837, Pugin commissioned them to build St Marys Catholic Church in Derby for him, Myers followed Pugin to London, settling in St Georges Road, Southwark in 1842. From here he executed many important commissions for Pugin, including Newcastle, Birmingham, Nottingham and he also worked for many other architects, and it has been estimated that he built on average three churches a year. In 1852-1854 they were the builders contracted to complete Mentmore Towers in Buckingham shire for the Rothschild family, the Rothschild family frequently employed George Myers builder for building projects. In 1853, after the death of his eldest daughter the previous October, Myers moved to Montague House, Clapham Road and he was responsible for building the Royal Pavilion at Aldershot for Prince Albert in 1855. In March 1874 Myers suffered a serious stroke and he died of exhaustion on 25 January 1875, and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery. His business had passed to his sons on his retirement, but it was running down. Myers is commemorated by a plaque at his home in 131 St Georges Road. He is also listed in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and is the subject of the biography Pugins Builder, The Life and Work of George Myers by Patricia Spencer-Silver
27.
Robert Smythson
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Robert Smythson was an English architect. Smythson designed a number of houses during the Elizabethan era. Little is known about his birth and upbringing—his first mention in historical records comes in 1556 and he later designed Hardwick Hall, Wollaton Hall, Burton Agnes Hall, and other significant projects. Historically, a number of other Elizabethan houses, such as Gawthorpe Hall have been attributed to him on stylistic grounds, in Britain at this time, the profession of architect was in its most embryonic stage of development. Smythson was trained as a stonemason, and by the 1560s was travelling England as a master mason leading his own team of masons, in 1580 he moved to his next project—Wollaton Hall. At Wollaton he was more a surveyor than a stonemason. Hardwick in particular is noted for its use of glass and his son John Smythson and grandson Huntingdon Smithson were also architects
28.
Wollaton Hall
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Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the out-buildings, the surrounding parkland has a herd of deer, and is regularly used for large-scale outdoor events such as rock concerts, sporting events and festivals. Though much re-modelled inside, the startlingly bold exterior remains largely intact, the style is an advanced Elizabethan with early Jacobean elements. The floor plan has been said to derive from Serlios drawing of Giuliano da Majanos Villa Poggio Reale near Naples of the late 15th century, with elevations derived from Hans Vredeman de Vries. The building is of Ancaster stone from Lincolnshire, and is said to have paid for with coal from the Wollaton pits owned by Willoughby. Cassandra Willoughby, Duchess of Chandos recorded in 1702 that the master masons, the decorative gondola mooring rings carved in stone on the exterior walls offer some evidence of this, as do other architectural features. There are also obvious French and Dutch influences, the exterior and hall have extensive and busy carved decoration, featuring strapwork and a profusion of decorative forms. The window tracery of the floors in the central block and the general business of the decoration look back to the Middle Ages. The building consists of a block dominated by a hall three storeys high, with a stone screen at one end and galleries at either end. From this there are views of the park and surrounding country. There are towers at each corner, projecting out from this top floor, at each corner of the house is a square pavilion of three storeys, with decorative features rising above the roof line. Much of the basement storey is cut from the rock the house sits on, the house was unused for about four decades before 1687, following a fire in 1642, and then re-occupied and given the first of several campaigns of re-modelling of the interiors. Paintings on the ceilings of the two staircases and round the walls of one are attributed to Sir James Thornhill and perhaps also Laguerre. Re-modelling was carried out by Wyattville in 1801 and continued intermittently until the 1830s, the gallery of the main hall contains Nottinghamshires oldest pipe organ, thought to date from the end of the 17th century, possibly by the builder Gerard Smith. It is still blown by hand, beneath the hall are many cellars and passages, and a well and associated reservoir tank, in which some accounts report that an admiral of the Willoughby family took a daily bath. The Willoughbys were noted for the number of explorers they produced, Willoughbys Land is named after him. In 1881, the house was owned by the head of the Willoughby family, Digby Willoughby, 9th Baron Middleton. The hall was bought by Nottingham Council, and opened as a museum in 1925 and it re-opened in April 2007 after being closed for refurbishment
29.
Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery
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Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery was a British noblewoman, the daughter of Baron Mayer de Rothschild and the wife of Archibald, Earl of Rosebery. After inheriting her fathers fortune in 1874, she became the richest woman in Britain, in truth, she was her husbands driving force and motivation. Her marriage into the aristocracy, while controversial at the time and she subsequently became a political hostess and philanthropist. Her charitable work was principally in the sphere of public health and his premiership of the United Kingdom was shambolic, and lasted barely a year. For over thirty years following her death, he wandered in a wilderness, directionless and exceedingly eccentric. Hannah de Rothschild was born in 1851 into a world of great wealth and she was the granddaughter of Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who had founded N M Rothschild & Sons, the English branch of the Rothschilds banking empire. Whether or not this was true, the many Rothschild homes and their art collections, in England, Austria, France and Germany. Hannah de Rothschilds father Baron Meyer Amschel de Rothschild married his cousin Juliana Cohen in 1850, the marriage provided the impetus for Meyer to create what he described as an enduring monument, a country house of monumental proportions. His daughter Hannah, aged just six months, laid the stone on 31 December 1851. Throughout her life, Mentmore Towers was to be a fixed, pevsner has described this enclave of Rothschild properties as the most conspicuous and significant aspect of Victorian architecture in Buckinghamshire. As an only child growing up in what were, in all but name, palaces and she was a companion to her hypochondriac mother and, in later life, a hostess with her father during her mothers long periods of indisposition. She was indulged by both parents and her education was neglected in favour of music and singing lessons, subjects in which she was accomplished. Her parents were very protective of her, attempting to ensure that she was never exposed to the risk of sickness or even the sight of poverty, as a result, she was never allowed to enter the cottages on the Rothschilds estates. A cousin, who seems to have disliked her, claims that Hannah was so sheltered that the phrase the poor was just a euphemism to her. This is likely to be an exaggeration, as from her teens onwards she used much of her fortune to improve the lot of the poor, in housing and education. Mayer Amschel de Rothschild died in 1874, leaving his daughter not only Mentmore, his London mansion, and innumerable investments, thus, Hannah de Rothschild became the wealthiest woman in England. Hannah de Rothschild was first introduced to her husband, the 28-year-old Earl of Rosebery, by Lady Beaconsfield. The Disraelis were close friends and neighbours of the Rothschilds in Buckinghamshire, Archibald, 5th Earl of Rosebery, born in 1847, had inherited his title from his grandfather in 1868, when aged 21, together with an income of £30,000 a year
30.
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
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Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny. Rosebery first came to attention in 1879–1880 by sponsoring the successful Midlothian campaign of William Ewart Gladstone. He briefly was in charge of Scottish affairs and this finest performance in office came as chairman of the London County Council in 1889. He entered the cabinet in 1885 and served twice as minister, paying special attention to French. He succeeded Gladstone as prime minister and leader of the Liberal party in 1894 and he resigned the party leadership in 1896 and never again held political office. He was widely known as a brilliant orator, a sportsman and marksman. All of these activities attracted him more politics, which grew boring. Furthermore, he drifted to the right of the Liberal party, winston Churchill, observing that he never adapted to democratic electoral competition, quipped, He would not stoop, he did not conquer. Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who favoured strong national defence and imperialism abroad and social reform at home, historians judge him a failure as foreign minister and as prime minister. Archibald Philip Primrose was born on 7 May 1847 in his parents house in Charles Street, Mayfair and his father was Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, son and heir apparent to Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery, whom he predeceased. Lord Dalmeny was a title used by the Earls eldest son and heir apparent, during the Earls lifetime. Lord Dalmeny was MP for Stirling from 1832 to 1847 and served as First Lord of the Admiralty under Lord Melbourne. Roseberys mother was Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, a historian who wrote under her second married name the Duchess of Cleveland. Lord Dalmeny died on 23 January 1851, having predeceased his father, when the title passed to his son. In 1854 his mother remarried to Lord Harry Vane, the relationship between mother and son was very poor. His elder and favourite sister Lady Leconfield was the wife of Henry Wyndham, Dalmeny attended preparatory schools in Hertfordshire and Brighton and then Eton which he attended between 1860 and 1863, he then went to Brighton College between 1863 and 1865. His remarkable intellect, displayed in debates, attracted the attention of William Johnson Cory, michael Matthew Kaylors Secreted Desires, The Major Uranians, Hopkins, Pater and Wilde explores their personal relationship. Dalmeny proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford, through the years 1865 until 1869, remarkably the three Prime Ministers from 1880 to 1902, namely Gladstone, Salisbury and Rosebery, all attended both Eton and Christ Church
31.
Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery
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Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery KT DSO MC PC, styled Lord Dalmeny until 1929, was a British politician who briefly served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1945. His parents were Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery and he was the brother of Neil Primrose and the writer Lady Sybil Grant. He attended Eton and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Lord Dalmeny was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards as a Second lieutenant 12 February 1902. During the First World War, he served in France from 1914–17 as Camp Commandant and ADC to General Allenby and his brother Neil Primrose was killed in Palestine in 1917. As Lord Dalmeny he was a prominent cricketer and he played two matches for Middlesex in 1902. He served as captain of Surrey County Cricket Club and he played in 102 first-class matches in all, scoring 3551 runs at an average of 22.47, including 2 centuries with a highest score of 138. He commenced his career by being elected Liberal Member of Parliament for the Scottish seat of Edinburghshire. This was a county, better known by its name of Midlothian. Dalmeny was one of almost 400 Liberals returned in the landslide victory of the 1906 election. He retired from the House of Commons in January 1910, at the time of his death he was the last survivor of the 1906 Liberal MPs. Rosebery entered the House of Lords on the death of his father in 1929, the same year he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Midlothian, a post he held until 1964. In February 1941, during the Second World War, he was appointed Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence in Scotland, when the wartime coalition government broke up in 1945, Winston Churchill formed a caretaker administration to hold office until the 1945 general election. The new government was composed of members of the Conservative Party, amongst these allies was the National Liberal Party to which Rosebery belonged. One of the most unexpected appointments Churchill made was to install Rosebery as a member of the Privy Council, both men had served together in the Liberal Parliamentary Party in the 1906–1910 Parliament. The caretaker Ministry was in office May to July 1945, Rosebery was President of the National Liberal Party 1945–1957. He was also appointed Chairman of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland in 1952, in 1909, he married Dorothy Alice Margaret Augusta Grosvenor, daughter of Lord Henry George Grosvenor. They had a son, Archie Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, with the end of the war came also Roseberys divorce in 1919. He eventually remarried in 1924, to Dame Eva Isabel Marion and their only child, Neil Archibald Primrose, was born in 1929
32.
Horse racing
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Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys or driven over a set distance for competition. Horse races vary widely in format, often, countries have developed their own particular horse racing traditions. Variations include restricting races to particular breeds, running over obstacles, running over different distances, running on different track surfaces, Horse racing has a long and distinguished history and has been practised in civilisations across the world since ancient times. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in Ancient Greece, Babylon, Syria and it also plays an important part of myth and legend, such as the contest between the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. Chariot racing was one of the most popular ancient Greek, Roman, both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC and were important in the other Panhellenic Games. This was despite the fact that racing was often dangerous to both driver and horse as they frequently suffered serious injury and even death. In the Roman Empire, chariot and mounted horse racing were major industries, fifteen to 20 riderless horses, originally imported from the Barbary Coast of North Africa, ran the length of the Via del Corso, a long, straight city street, in about 2½ minutes. In later times, Thoroughbred racing became, and remains, popular with the aristocrats and royalty of British society, historically, equestrians honed their skills through games and races. Equestrian sports provided entertainment for crowds and honed the excellent horsemanship that was needed in battle, Horse racing of all types evolved from impromptu competitions between riders or drivers. The various forms of competition, requiring demanding and specialized skills from both horse and rider, resulted in the development of specialized breeds and equipment for each sport. The popularity of sports through the centuries has resulted in the preservation of skills that would otherwise have disappeared after horses stopped being used in combat. There are many different types of racing, including, Flat racing. Jump racing, or Jumps racing, also known as Steeplechasing or, in the UK and Ireland, National Hunt racing, Harness racing, where horses trot or pace while pulling a driver in a sulky. Breeds that are used for flat racing include the Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse, Arabian, Paint, Jump racing breeds include the Thoroughbred and AQPS. In harness racing, Standardbreds are used in Australia, New Zealand and North America, light cold blood horses, such as Finnhorses and Scandinavian coldblood trotter are also used in harness racing within their respective geographical areas. There also are races for ponies, both flat and jump and harness racing, Flat racing is the most common form of racing seen worldwide. Track surfaces vary, with turf most common in Europe, dirt more common in North America and Asia, individual flat races are run over distances ranging from 440 yards up to two and a half miles, with distances between five and twelve furlongs being most common. Short races are referred to as sprints, while longer races are known as routes in the United States or staying races in Europe
33.
Epsom Derby
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The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey over a distance of one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards and it is Britains richest horse race, and the most prestigious of the five Classics. It is sometimes referred to as the Blue Riband of the turf, the race serves as the middle leg of the Triple Crown, preceded by the 2000 Guineas and followed by the St Leger, although the feat of winning all three is now rarely attempted. The name Derby has become synonymous with great races all over the world, however, the Epsom Derby is the original. It is one of Britains great national sporting events and has a large worldwide TV audience, in Great Britain the name Derby is pronounced /ˈdɑːrbi/, while in the United States it is /ˈdɜːrbi/, a case of spelling pronunciation. The Derby originated at a following the first running of the Oaks Stakes in 1779. A new race was planned, and it was decided that it should be named either the host of the party. According to legend the decision was made by the toss of a coin, but it is probable that Bunbury, the inaugural running of the Derby was held on Thursday 4 May 1780. It was won by Diomed, a colt owned by Sir Charles Bunbury, the first four runnings were contested over 1 mile, but this was amended to the current distance of 1½ miles in 1784. Lord Derby achieved his first success in the event in 1787, the starting point of the race was moved twice during the 19th century. The first move, suggested by Lord George Bentinck, was in 1848, and it was discovered in 1991 that the exact length of the race was one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards. Initially, the Derby was run on a Thursday in late May or early June depending on when Easter occurred, in 1838 the race was moved to a Wednesday to fit in with the railways timetables but was still run on different dates depending on Easter. In 1995 the day was changed from the first Wednesday in June to the first Saturday, the Derby has been run at Epsom in all years except during the world wars. From 1915 to 1918 and from 1940 to 1945 the Derby was run at Newmarket and these races are known as the New Derby. The Derby has inspired similar events around the world. European variations include the Derby Italiano, the Deutsches Derby, the Irish Derby, other national equivalents include the Australian Derby, the New Zealand Derby and the Tokyo Yūshun. Several races in the United States include the Derby name, including the Kentucky Derby, investec became the sponsor of the Derby in 2009, and the current sponsorship deal runs until 2022. The race was backed by Ever Ready and Vodafone
34.
Ladas (horse)
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Ladas was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. His career attracted an unusual amount of attention as his owner, Lord Rosebery, in a career that lasted from 1893 to 1894, Ladas ran eleven times and won seven races. He was the leading British two-year-old of 1893, being unbeaten in four starts including the Champagne Stakes, in the following year, he won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Derby at Epsom to complete the first two legs of the English Triple Crown. He was beaten by the four-year-old colt Isinglass in his two starts and failed in his bid for the Triple Crown when beaten in the St Leger at Doncaster. Ladas was retired to stud at the end of the season, Ladas was a bay horse of almost faultless conformation, standing just under 16 hands high. He was bred at the Crafton Stud in Buckinghamshire by his owner, Lord Rosebery and he was trained by Mathew Dawson at Newmarket, Suffolk. Dawson, who was over seventy at the time, had retired from training in 1885. Ladas was ridden in his Classic wins by Jack Watts, Ladass sire, named Hampton, was a successful racehorse, especially over long distances, who won both the Goodwood Cup and the Doncaster Cup. Hampton was the Champion sire in 1887 and sired, in addition to Ladas, the Derby winners Merry Hampton and Ayrshire, as well as Bay Ronald, the sire of Bayardo. Illuminata, the dam of Ladas, also produced a filly called Gas, the dam of the Derby winner Cicero, and Chelandry, who won the 1000 Guineas and herself produced the 2000 Guineas winner Neil Gow. The name Ladas, derived from that of Alexander the Greats messenger, had previously used by Lord Roseberys father for a horse who ran unplaced in the 1869 Derby. Rosebery, then an under-graduate at Oxford University, had tipped the horse to his friends as a winner and was reportedly mortified by the result. By way of an apology, Rosebery told his friends if he ever had a horse with a prime chance of winning the Derby, he would name him Ladas so that they could all take the tip. It was the memory of this incident which reportedly persuaded Rosebery to abandon his plan to name the colt Hampton Wick. The pronunciation of the name was a point of disagreement between owner and trainer, Rosebery called the colt Lar-dar or Lah-dah, while Dawson insisted on Lay-das or Ley-das. He showed impressive acceleration to easily beat the filly Mecca and was identified as a full of promise by one correspondent. He was then sent to Royal Ascot where he started 6/4 favourite for the Coventry Stakes on 13 June and he led from the start on this occasion and shook off the opposition in the closing stages to win by one and a half lengths from a colt named Bullingdon. The Illuminata colt led from the start, and when Sempronius moved up to challenge him, after his win at Doncaster, he was officially named Ladas and was then sent to Newmarket for the Middle Park Plate, the most important two-year-old race of the season
35.
Sir Visto
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Sir Visto was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1894 to 1896 he ran thirteen times, as a three-year-old in the 1895 he won both the Epsom Derby and the St Leger at Doncaster. He failed to win in six subsequent races and was retired to stud at the end of the 1896 season, Sir Visto was described as “a lengthy, rather plain bay with sickle hocks”, but an excellent mover. He was also described as looking powerful but unfurnished and split-up and he was bred at the Crafton Stud by his owner Lord Rosebery, a prominent Liberal statesman who became Prime Minister in 1894. Sir Vistos St Leger was the last of twenty-eight classic wins gained by his trainer Mathew Dawson, Dawson, who was over seventy at the time had retired from large-scale training in 1885, but continued to handle a small number of horses at his Melton House Stable. Sir Vistos sire was the undefeated Irish champion Barcaldine, a representative of the Godolphin Arabian sire line, Sir Visto made his first appearance at Epsom at the Derby meeting in June. Ridden by John Watts, he was not particularly fancied and finished unplaced behind Saintly in the Woodcote Stakes, later reports claimed that he was only half-fit for the race. He was then off the course for four months before reappearing in the valuable Imperial Produce Stakes at Kempton and he led into the final furlong and held off the late challenge of the filly Float by a short head with the future 1000 Guineas Galeottia in third. At the end of the year, a writer in The Sportsman noted that Sir Visto had grown and gone on well, and had been seen working with the stables 1894 Derby winner Ladas. Before the season began, Sir Visto was identified as one of the most-fancied Derby contenders in what was regarded as an open year. Lord Rosebery was reported to have described the colt as a stayer who would be well suited by the Derby distance of one, on his three-year-old debut, Sir Visto ran in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on 1 May and started 5/1 third favourite of the eight runners. Ridden by Walter Bradford, he raced prominently and led at half way, in the last quarter mile he was overtaken, but ran on to finish third, three lengths behind the winner Kirkconnel and two behind the runner-up Laveno. The race took place on a bright, breezy day in front of a crowd including the Prince of Wales, chibiabos made the early running before Beckhampton took over and led the field into the straight. Sir Visto, ridden by Sam Loates, had held up at the back of the field. He won by three-quarters of a length from Curzon with Kirkconnel half a length back in third. The race was filmed by the photographer and film pioneer Birt Acres, the footage was considered lost until its rediscovery in 1995. Racing historian Michael Church, of the Racing Post, viewed the film, on 4 July he carried top weight of 131 pounds in the £10,000 Princess of Waless Stakes at Newmarket. He was never among the leaders and finished unplaced behind the odds-on favourite Le Var, in the St Leger on 11 September Sir Visto started 9/4 favourite in a field of eleven
36.
Cicero (horse)
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Cicero was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the best English two-year-old of 1904, winning all five of his races, in 1905 Cicero became one of the shortest priced successful favourites in the history of the Derby, winning at 4/11 to remain undefeated. He won only once from his three races before retiring to a modestly successful career at stud. Cicero, a chestnut colt, was bred by his owner Lord Rosebery. He was sired by Cyllene, an Ascot Gold Cup winner, in addition to Cicero, he sired three other winners of the Epsom Derby and through his grandson, Phalaris, he is the direct male-line ancestor of most modern thoroughbreds. Cicero was sent into training with Percy Peck at Harraton Court, Exning, near Newmarket, in training, Cicero was a lively, high-spirited type who could be seen bucking and kicking at exercise. One writer commented that he takes something out of himself with his vagaries. Cicero was unbeaten in five races as a two-year-old, at the Craven meeting at Newmaket in April he won the Fitzwilliam Stakes, beating the King’s, horse Rosemarket who started favourite. Cicero beat Rosemarket again in the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom in June and he was then sent to Royal Ascot where he won the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot beating Vedas by two lengths. He won the July Stakes at Newmarket at the odds of 1/20. He sustained an injury in the Sandown race and missed the rest of the season, Cicero had not been entered in the 2000 Guineas, which was won by Vedas and instead made his debut in the Newmarket Stakes. He won easily from Llangibby and was favourite for the Derby. Vedas was ruled out of the Derby by injury and at Epsom Cicero was sent off at odds of 4/11, ridden by Danny Maher Cicero tracked the leaders in the early stages before making his challenge in the straight. Unable to find a run along the rails, Maher switched Cicero to the outside and took the only to be faced by the strenuous challenges of Jardy. He ran on strongly under pressure to win after a struggle by three quarters of a length from Jardy with Signorino a head further back in third. The winning time of 2,39.6 was a new race record, on his next start Cicero attempted to defend his unbeaten record in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown for which he started 8/13 favourite. His main rival was expected to be Val dOr, a companion of Jardy. Cicero took up the lead in the straight and was challenged by the French colt
37.
Blue Peter (British horse)
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Blue Peter was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse whose career was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. He won the Epsom Derby and was later a Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland, bred and owned by Lord Rosebery, his sire was the good racehorse, Fairway and his dam Fancy Free was by Stefan the Great, a son of The Tetrarch. At age two, Blue Peter raced twice without winning and he was unplaced in one outing and second in the Middle Park Stakes behind the top-rated British two-year-old, Foxbrough. In 1939, three-year-old Blue Peter went undefeated in all four of his races and he captured the Blue Riband Trial Stakes, a prep race for the ensuing Triple Crown series. In May, the won the 2,000 Guineas and then Junes Epsom Derby. While Blue Peter was clearly the best three-year-old in Britain in 1939, the onset of World War II ended his chance to win the Triple Crown as the St. Leger Stakes was cancelled. Cancelled as well, was a match race against the brilliant French colt Pharis who had won the Prix du Jockey Club and Frances most important race at the time. Blue Peter was retired to stud duty at his owners Mentmore Stud on the Mentmore Towers estate in Buckinghamshire, successful, he was near the top on the British General Sires List three times and in 1954 was leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland. His notable offspring included, Botticelli was a winner of the 1954 Italian Derby and 1955 Ascot Gold Cup, first Consul -1950 Ayr Gold Cup winner Masthead was a stakeswinner that was exported to Australia where he sired 10 stakeswinners for 21 stakeswins. Ocean Swell, winner of the 1944 Epsom Derby, Jockey Club Cup and 1945 Ascot Gold Cup, Blue Peter died in 1957 and is buried in the grounds of Mentmore Towers close to a statue of his ancestor King Tom. Blue Peter was the horse his owner loved best, shortly after his death Lord Rosebery described him thus, Blue Peter was particular about what he ate. Give him something he didnt like and he would take one look at it and he was the best horse I ever had and was the best I had ever seen and he had only half a career as a racehorse
38.
George Devey
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George Devey was a British architect notable for his work on country houses and their estates, especially those belonging to the Rothschild family. The second son of Frederick and Ann Devey, he was born, after leaving school he studied art, under John Sell Cotman and James Duffield Harding with an ambition to become a professional artist, but later trained as an architect. During his professional career Devey had a London office in Great Marlborough Street and he worked extensively for the Duke of Sutherland at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire where he designed lodges and cottages in the vernacular style of the Sussex Weald. He often used tiles and timbers on external walls, in a way evocative or earlier periods and this style he adapted and personalised until it had his own distinctive stamp. He often tried to create an impression of a buildings age. Despite having been in practice since the 1850s, business was slow until he was discovered by the Rothschild family and this international dynasty of bankers would provide Devey with numerous commissions and ensure a steady stream of work. Devey first appears in Rothschild account books as the architect for a new school at Hulcott, in 1863 he came to attention of Sir Anthony de Rothschild when he designed Buckland School for the vicar Edward Bonus on a site donated by the Rothschilds. He succeeded Joseph Paxtons son-in-law George H. Stokes as Baron Mayer de Rothschilds architect for the village at Mentmore, designing the stables. After the Barons death in 1877, Devey continued in the employ of his daughter Hannah de Rothschild building cottages at Wingrave, Devey was replaced by John Aspell, the Mentmore Clerk of Works who had worked under him. Aspell continued building at Mentmore, but in a version of Deveys style. Devey was largely responsible for Ascott House, a neo-Tudor extravaganza developed from a half timbered farmhouse. He began work there in 1874 for Leopold de Rothschild and this house, conceived as a small hunting box, expanded, the intention was to make the house seem as though it had grown and developed over centuries. Devey designed numerous half timbered extensions and he was still working on the house at his death in 1886, when his partner James Williams took over the project. Ascott House is probably Deveys greatest monument, although further half timbered extensions continued to be added to house as late as the 1930s. Devey was also responsible for the cottages on the Green, near the entrance of Ascott House. A further Rothschild house by Devey was Aston Clinton, where he worked with George Stokes, the Italianate house with its huge porte-cochere is now demolished, a casualty of the huge country house demolitions of the 1950s. However, the Lodge and stables by Devey still stand, as does his West Lodge at Aston Clinton, Devey later built a house very similar to the transformed Tring in Lennox Gardens, London, for a Mrs. Hunloke. Devey was capable of working on more than one project at a time, in 1876, Alice de Rothschild commissioned him to build her a house at Eythrope in the Vale of Aylesbury
39.
Ledburn
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Ledburn is a hamlet in the parish of Mentmore, in Buckinghamshire, England. The name Ledburn is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means stream with a conduit, in manorial records of 1212 it was recorded as Leteburn. Ledburn Manor was built in the 16th century, and in the early 18th century it was given a new front facade in the classical style. During the 19th and 20th century, the hamlet was owned by Baron Mayer de Rothschild and, by inheritance, the manor house at that time served as the estate office and home of the resident Land Agent. A tiny Methodist chapel in the hamlet has recently converted to a private house. The agricultural land in the village, having passed out of the Rothschilds ownership in the 20th century, is now back in the familys ownership, and is part of Sir Evelyn de Rothschilds Ascott Estate. Ledburn was the scene of the Great Train Robbery when a £2.6 million train robbery was committed at Bridego Railway Bridge on 8 August 1963, BBC News On This Day archive, The Great Train Robbery of 1963
40.
Kenneth Clark
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Clark was born in London, the only child of Kenneth MacKenzie Clark and Margaret Alice McArthur. The Clarks were a wealthy Scottish family with roots in the textile trade and his great-great-grandfather had invented the cotton spool. Kenneth Clark the elder, reputedly the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo, had retired in 1909 at the age of 41 to become a member of the idle rich. Clark was educated at Wixenford School, Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford, in 1927 he married a fellow Oxford student, Elizabeth Jane Martin, who was Irish and the daughter of Dr. Emily Winifred Dickson, first female Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. The couple had three children, Alan, in 1928, and twins Colette and Colin in 1932, greatly influenced by John Ruskin and a protégé of the most influential art critic of the time, Bernard Berenson, Clark quickly became the British art establishments most respected aesthete. After a stint as fine art curator at Oxfords Ashmolean Museum, in 1933 at age 30 and he remains the youngest person ever to hold the post. The following year he also became Surveyor of the Kings Pictures, as Director of the National Gallery he oversaw the successful relocation and storage of the collection to avoid the Blitz and continued a programme of concerts and performances. In 1939, Clark visited Australia, and later referred to it as that intolerable continent, adding that Australian galleries had the worst art, as Director of The National Gallery he wrote Southampton Art Gallerys acquisitions policy which included a growing collection of modern oil paintings. He was also an advisor to the Ministry of Information commissioning Dylan Thomas amongst others to write scripts for propaganda films, in 1946 Clark resigned his directorship in order to devote more time to writing. Between 1946 and 1950 he was Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford. He was a board member and also served as Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1955 to 1960. In the preface to his book, The Nude, a study of art, Clark wrote. There is difficulty of form, a survey would be long and repetitive. And there is a difficulty of scope, since Jacob Burckhardt no responsible art historian would have attempted to cover both antique and post-mediaeval art, in 1955, Clark bought Saltwood Castle in Kent. Kenneth Clark was created Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1938 and he was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1976. In 1959, he received the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria and he was one of the founders, in 1954, of the Independent Television Authority, serving as its Chairman until 1957. In 1969 he wrote and presented Civilisation for BBC television, a series on the history of Western civilisation as seen through its art, afterwards Clark was persuaded to write a book version of Civilisation but lamented that without the visual and musical accompaniment it was weak. Also broadcast in the US on PBS in 1969, Civilisation was successful on both sides of the Atlantic, gaining Clark an international profile, according to Clark, the series was created in answer to growing criticism of Western civilisation, from its value system to its heroes
41.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
42.
National Portrait Gallery, London
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The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856, the gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martins Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then, the National Portrait Gallery also has regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall in Yorkshire and Montacute House in Somerset. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the gallery is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The gallery houses portraits of important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter. The collection includes photographs and caricatures as well as paintings, drawings, one of its best-known images is the Chandos portrait, the most famous portrait of William Shakespeare although there is some uncertainty about whether the painting actually is of the playwright. Not all of the portraits are exceptional artistically, although there are self-portraits by William Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, some, such as the group portrait of the participants in the Somerset House Conference of 1604, are important historical documents in their own right. Portraits of living figures were allowed from 1969, the three people largely responsible for the founding of the National Portrait Gallery are commemorated with busts over the main entrance. At centre is Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, with his supporters on either side, Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay and it was Stanhope who, in 1846 as a Member of Parliament, first proposed the idea of a National Portrait Gallery. It was not until his attempt, in 1856, this time from the House of Lords. With Queen Victorias approval, the House of Commons set aside a sum of £2000 to establish the gallery, as well as Stanhope and Macaulay, the founder Trustees included Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Ellesmere. It was the latter who donated the Chandos portrait to the nation as the gallerys first portrait, Carlyle became a trustee after the death of Ellesmere in 1857. For the first 40 years, the gallery was housed in locations in London. The first 13 years were spent at 29 Great George Street, there, the collection increased in size from 57 to 208 items, and the number of visitors from 5,300 to 34,500. In 1869, the moved to Exhibition Road and buildings managed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Following a fire in buildings, the collection was moved in 1885. This location was unsuitable due to its distance from the West End, condensation. Following calls for a new location to be found, the government accepted an offer of funds from the philanthropist William Henry Alexander, Alexander donated £60,000 followed by another £20,000, and also chose the architect, Ewan Christian
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Royal Collection
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The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family and the largest private art collection in the world. The Queen owns some objects in the collection in right of the Crown, the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London was built specially to exhibit pieces from the collection on a rotating basis. There is an art gallery next to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The Crown Jewels are on display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London. About 3,000 objects are on loan to museums throughout the world, few items from before King Henry VIII survive. The most important additions to the collection were made by Charles I, a collector of Italian paintings. Many works have been given from the collection to museums, especially by George III and Victoria, in particular, most of the then royal library was given by George III to the British Museum, now the British Library, where many books are still catalogued as Royal. The core of this collection was the purchase by James I of the collections of Humphrey Llwyd, Lord Lumley. Throughout the reign of Elizabeth II, there have been significant additions to the collection through purchases, bequests and through gifts from nation states. Numbering over 7,000 works, spread across the Royal Residences, numbering over 300 items, the Royal Collection holds one of the greatest and most important collections of French furniture ever assembled. The collection is noted for its range as well as counting the greatest cabinet-makers of the Ancien Régime. The Royal Collection is privately owned, although some of the works are displayed in areas of palaces, some of the collection is owned by the monarch personally, and everything else is described as being held in trust by the monarch in right of the Crown. All works of art acquired by monarchs up to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 are heirlooms which fall into the latter category. Items the British royal family acquired later, including official gifts, ambiguity surrounds the status of objects that have come into Queen Elizabeth IIs possession during her reign. The Royal Collection Trust has confirmed that all pieces left to the Queen by the Queen Mother belong to her personally, non-personal items are said to be inalienable as they can only be willed to the monarchs successor. The legal accuracy of this claim has never been substantiated in court, in a 2000 television interview, the Duke of Edinburgh said that the Queen was technically, perfectly at liberty to sell them. In 1995, Iain Sproat, then Secretary of State for National Heritage, a registered charity, the Royal Collection Trust was set up in 1993 after the Windsor Castle fire with a mandate to conserve the works and enhance the publics appreciation and understanding of art. It employs around 500 staff and is one of the five departments of the Royal Household, buildings do not come under its remit
