1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
Wollaton Park
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Wollaton Park is a deer park and home of Wollaton Hall, Nottingham Natural History Museum and Nottingham Industrial Museum in the heart of Nottingham. The enclosure of Wollaton Park required the destruction of the village of Sutton Passeys and it was enclosed by Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton with a 7-mile red brick wall at the start of the nineteenth century. Originally 790 acres, land sales have reduced the park to 500 acres, a small plaque commemorates this event. Subsequently German prisoners of war were billeted here for employment in the locality between 1945 and 1947, in addition to Wollaton Hall the park hosts the following historic buildings, Lenton Lodge is one of the Gatehouses built around the boundary of Wollaton Park. It was commissioned by Henry Willoughby, 6th Baron Middleton and it was designed by the architect Jeffry Wyatville and completed in 1825. It is built in the Elizabethan Revival style, with the sale of part of the park for residential building, Lenton Lodge is now separated from the rest of the park, and stands isolated but prominent on Derby Road in Lenton. It was sold by Nottingham City Council in the early 1980s, a 99-year revolving lease was acquired by Moiz Saigara in 1996. Planning permission to convert Lenton Lodge to a dwelling was obtained and major restoration work was undertaken by Moiz Saigara. The Lodge was used by Moiz Saigara as his residence from 1996 to 2006, in 2006-8 Lenton Lodge was restored by Chek Whyte Industries and sold as a 3,324 sq ft office in 2009. It was occupied by Global Fire and Security for six years and it is built of coursed Gritstone ashlar in a heavy Gothic style with martello-type round outer towers with battlements. The square central gatehouse is connected to the towers at the floor level. It has a carriage entrance with an oriel window above. It was built following the Nottingham Reform riots in October 1831, the park is home to a herd of red deer and fallow deer. Other wildlife of note at the park include a large corvid roost made up of rook, jackdaw, other notable species present at the site are populations of jay, nuthatch and sparrowhawk. Migrating wildfowl grace the lake in the winter and species of note include gadwall, northern shoveller, Eurasian wigeon, there is a good diversity of fungi present, especially in the winter months, mainly found near the wooded areas and the lake. Wollaton Park is often used for events, including, Splendour music festival held annually in July. Intercounties Cross Country trials in March of each year, and has hosted the English Schools Cross Country, february 2014 saw the English National Cross Country Championships. Nottingham Steam and Country Show, typically in May, in 2011, key scenes from the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises were filmed in Wollaton Park
5.
Nottingham
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Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, England, located 128 miles north of London, in the East Midlands. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and it was granted its city charter in 1897 as part of Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination, in 2011, visitors spent over £1.5 billion - the thirteenth highest amount in Englands 111 statistical territories. In 2015, Nottingham had an population of 321,550 with the wider urban area. Its urban area is the largest in the east Midlands and the second largest in the Midlands, the population of the Nottingham/Derby metropolitan area is estimated to be 1,610,000. Its metropolitan economy is the seventh largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $50. 9bn, the city is also ranked as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. It is also a sporting centre, and in October 2015 was named Home of English Sport. The city also has rugby, ice hockey and cricket teams, and the Aegon Nottingham Open. This accolade came just over a year after Nottingham was named as the UKs first City of Football, on 11 December 2015, Nottingham was named a Unesco City of Literature, joining Norwich, Melbourne, Prague and Barcelona as one of only a handful in the world. The title reflects Nottinghams literary heritage, with Lord Byron, DH Lawrence and it has two universities, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, which are attended by over 70,610 students. In modern Welsh it is known poetically as Y Ty Ogofog, when it fell under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot it became known as Snotingaham, the homestead of Snots people. Some authors derive Nottingham from Snottenga, caves, and ham, Nottingham Castle was constructed in 1068 on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen. Following the Norman Conquest the Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham and housed a Town Hall, a settlement also developed around the castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the castle. Eventually, the space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later, defences, consisted initially of a ditch and bank in the early 12th century. The ditch was later widened, in the mid 13th century, a short length of the wall survives, and is visible at the northern end of Maid Marian Way, and is protected as a Scheduled Monument. On the return of Richard the Lionheart from the Crusades, the Castle was occupied by supporters of Prince John and it was besieged by Richard and, after a sharp conflict, was captured. In the legends of Robin Hood, Nottingham Castle is the scene of the showdown between the Sheriff and the hero outlaw. By the 15th century Nottingham had established itself as a centre of an export trade in religious sculpture made from Nottingham Alabaster
6.
Nottingham Industrial Museum
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Nottingham Industrial Museum is located in the 17th-century stables block of Wollaton Hall. The museum won the Nottinghamshire Heritage Site of the Year Award 2012, the Museum collection closed in 2009, but has since reopened to the public as a volunteer-run organisation on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. There is a charge for entry in order to keep the museum open. It also houses an operational Basford Beam Engine with occasional steamings held on some Sundays, the museum has displays relating to five areas of Nottingham industry, Textiles, Transport, Communications, Mining and Steam, each portraying Nottingham’s rich industrial heritage. Learn about how Nottingham changed the industry, and how the communications industry changed the daily lives of Nottingham people. See and hear the restored vintage radios and gramophones dating back to the 1920s and this horse ginn was removed from a local colliery and had been used for bringing coal to the surface in mines with short pit shafts. It is reputed to be one of only a handful remaining today, nearby is situated the recently restored living van. These were towed behind steam engines and steam rollers and provided accommodation for workers, there are usually a number of tractors to be found in the tractor yard and these can be seen working during steaming days. The tractor collection comprises a Standard Fordson, a Field Marshall Series 2, outside the engine house is a yard which is home to a number of barn engines, used previously to drive items like pumps and agricultural machinery. There are examples from a range of manufacturers, including Wolseley, Ruston. The barn engines are usually seen operating at steaming days, the Steam Gallery contains an impressive Basford Beam Engine, one of a pair of engines built in 1858 by R. W. Hawthorn in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was installed at Basford Pumping Station to lift water 110 ft from the sandstone below to supply water to the City of Nottingham. The engine was replaced in 1965 and was removed to the purpose-built Steam Gallery where it was first fired in 1975, also in this building today are a large variety of pumps and engines many of which were removed from local companies. At the bottom end of the gallery stand two impressive ploughing engines and these have consecutive registration numbers and were the last two production engines to come out of Fowlers Leeds Foundry. Owned by Nottingham City Council, they were used for ploughing the treated sewage into the land at a dairy farm at Stoke Bardolph. One of these engines is operational and is used at the steam up events, next to the ploughing engines is a unique J. T. Marshall Portable steam engine, built at the Nottingham Engineering Works, Sandiacre, in 1886. It has been restored to working order and can be seen operating at the steam up events. In the many cabinets surrounding this gallery are to be found relating to mining, transport
7.
Prodigy house
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The prodigy houses stretch over the periods of Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean architecture, though the term may be restricted to a core period of roughly 1570 to 1620. Many of the grandest were built with a view to housing Elizabeth I, many are therefore close to major roads, often in the English Midlands. The term originates with the architectural historian Sir John Summerson, and has generally adopted. He called them. the most daring of all English buildings, andrea Palladio was already dead before the prodigy houses reached their peak, but his much more restrained classical style did not reach England until the work of Inigo Jones in the 1620s. For ornament, French and Flemish Northern Mannerist decoration was more influential than Italian, the hosts were expected to house the monarch in style, and provide sufficient accommodation for about 150 travelling members of the court, for whom temporary buildings might need to be erected. Elizabeth was not slow to complain if she felt her accommodation had not been appropriate, a characteristic was the large area of glass – a new feature that superseded the need for easily defended external walls and announced the owners wealth. Hardwick Hall, for example was described as Hardwick Hall. Many other smaller houses were built by businessmen and administrators, as well as long-established families of the nobility. Some recent uses of the term extend the meaning to describe large ostentatious houses in America of later periods, such as colonial mansions in Virginia, altogether. a strange amalgam of exuberant pinnacles and turrets, native Gothic mullioned windows, and Renaissance decoration. Many houses stand alone, with stables and other outbuildings at a discreet distance, glass was then an expensive material, and its use on a large scale a demonstration of wealth. The large windows required mullions, normally in stone even in houses mainly in brick, though there were often reminiscences of the medieval castle, the houses were exceptionally without defences, compared to contemporary Italian and French equivalents. To have two internal courtyards, requiring a large building, was a status symbol, found at Audley End, Blickling Hall. Hardwick Hall, Burghley House, and on a smaller scale Wollaton Hall, the outer exteriors of the house are more decorated than internal exteriors such as courtyards, the reverse of the usual priority in medieval houses. The classical orders were used as decoration, piled up one above the other on the storeys over the main entrance. At Longleat and Wollaton shallow pilasters are used across the facades, the heavily-illustrated books on ornament by the Netherlander Hans Vredeman de Vries and German Wendel Dietterlin supplied much of the Northern Mannerist decorative detail such as strapwork. It is evident from surviving letters that took a keen. Inside, most houses still had a hall in the medieval style. But this was used for eating in by the servants
8.
Longleat
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Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. It is a leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house and it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster and Westbury in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set in 1,000 acres of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown, with 4,000 acres of let farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland, which includes a Center Parcs holiday village. It was the first stately home to open to the public, the house was built by Sir John Thynne and was designed mainly by Robert Smythson, after the original priory was destroyed by fire in 1567. It took 12 years to complete and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. Longleat is occupied by Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, a descendant of the builder, however. Longleat was previously an Augustinian priory, the name comes from leat, an artificial waterway or channel such as that which supplies a watermill. Sir Charles Appleton purchased Longleat for Sir John Thynn in 1541 for £53, Appleton was a builder with experience gained from working on The Old School Baltonsborough, Bedwyn Broil and Somerset House. In April 1567 the original house caught fire and burnt down, a replacement house was effectively completed by 1580. Adrian Gaunt, Alan Maynard, Robert Smythson, the Earl of Hertford and Humpfrey Lovell all contributed to the new building, formal gardens, canals, fountains and parterres were created by George London with sculptures by Arnold Quellin and Chevalier David. The Best Gallery, Long Gallery, Old Library and Chapel were all added due to Wren. In 1707, Thomas Thynne founded a school for boys in the market town of Warminster, near to his family seat, to teach the boys of Warminster, Longbridge Deverill. Over time this became known as the Lord Weymouth School, in 1973 Lord Weymouths School merged with St. Monicas School for girls, Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth married Louisa Carteret whose ghost is reputed to haunt the house as the Green Lady. Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath employed Capability Brown who replaced the gardens with a landscaped park and dramatic drives. Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath employed Jeffry Wyatville to modernise the house, Wyatville demolished several parts of the house, including Wrens staircase, and replaced them with galleries and a grand staircase. He also constructed many outbuildings including the Orangery, Henry Thynne, 3rd Marquess of Bath John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath collected Italian fine arts. He employed John Crace, whose work included Brighton Pavilion, Woburn Abbey, Chatsworth House
9.
Jacobean architecture
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The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated, at the start of James reign there was little stylistic break in architecture, as Elizabethan trends continued their development. Courtiers continued to build prodigy houses, even though James spent less time on summer progresses round his realm than Elizabeth had. The influence of Flemish and German Northern Mannerism increased, now often executed by immigrant craftsmen and artists, there continued to be very little building of new churches, though a considerable amount of modifications to old ones, but a great deal of secular building. Although the general lines of Elizabethan design remained, there was a consistent and unified application of formal design. Much use was made of columns and pilasters, round-arch arcades and these and other classical elements appeared in a free and fanciful vernacular rather than with any true classical purity. With them were mixed the prismatic rustications and ornamental detail of scrolls, straps, the style influenced furniture design and other decorative arts. In 1577, three years before the commencement of Wollaton Hall, a copybook of the orders was out in Antwerp by Hans Vredeman de Vries. Inside the house, the elaborately carved staircase demonstrates the Renaissance influence on English ornament, in 1607 and 1620, England founded her first successful colonies, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. This concurs with the dimensions of houses that would have been found amongst the English commoner classes as evidenced by the tax rolls of the Jacobean era. Examples of original Jacobean architecture in the Americas include Drax Hall Great House and St. Nicholas Abbey, Jacobean era Jacobean revival M. Whiffen, An Introduction to Elizabethan and Jacobean Architecture. J. Summerson, Architecture in Britain, 1530–1830 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Spiers, R. Phene
10.
Josephus
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Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and interpreter, after Vespasian became Emperor in 69 CE, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperors family name of Flavius. Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship and he became an advisor and friend of Vespasians son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the Siege of Jerusalem. Since the siege proved ineffective at stopping the Jewish revolt, the citys destruction, Josephus recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the first century CE and the First Jewish–Roman War, including the Siege of Masada. His most important works were The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, the Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation. Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience and these works provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity. Josephus introduces himself in Greek as Iōsēpos, son of Matthias and he was the second-born son of Matthias. His older full-blooded brother was also called Matthias and their mother was an aristocratic woman who descended from the royal and formerly ruling Hasmonean dynasty. Josephuss paternal grandparents were Josephus and his wife—an unnamed Hebrew noblewoman, distant relatives of each other and he descended through his father from the priestly order of the Jehoiarib, which was the first of the 24 orders of priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. Josephus was a descendant of the high priest Jonathon, born and raised in Jerusalem, Josephus was educated alongside his brother. In his early twenties, he traveled to negotiate with Emperor Nero for the release of 12 Jewish priests, Josephus successfully fought the Roman army in Galilee, until he was captured by the Romans during the height of the war. After the Jewish garrison of Yodfat fell under siege, the Romans invaded, killing thousands, according to Josephus, he was trapped in a cave with 40 of his companions in July 67 CE. The Romans asked the group to surrender, but they refused, Josephus suggested a method of collective suicide, they drew lots and killed each other, one by one, counting to every third person. Two men were left, who surrendered to the Roman forces, in 69 CE, Josephus was released. According to his account, he acted as a negotiator with the defenders during the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, in which his parents and first wife died. While being confined at Yodfat, Josephus claimed to have experienced a divine revelation, after the prediction came true, he was released by Vespasian, who considered his gift of prophecy to be divine. In 71 CE, he went to Rome in the entourage of Titus, becoming a Roman citizen, in addition to Roman citizenship, he was granted accommodation in conquered Judaea and a decent, if not extravagant, pension. While in Rome and under Flavian patronage, Josephus wrote all of his known works, although he uses Josephus, he appears to have taken the Roman praenomen Titus and nomen Flavius from his patrons
11.
Lincolnshire
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Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It also borders Northamptonshire in the south for just 20 yards, Englands shortest county boundary, the county town is Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters. The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire is composed of the county of Lincolnshire. Therefore, part of the county is in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The county is the second-largest of the English ceremonial counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in land use, the county is fifth largest of the two-tier counties, as the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are not included. The county can be broken down into a number of geographical sub-regions including, Lincolnshire derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the county was called Lindsey, and it is recorded as such in the 11th-century Domesday Book. In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and these survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire. A local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside, and the south of the Humber was allocated to the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire. These two areas became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial such as the Lord-Lieutenancy, but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police and are in the Yorkshire. The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Holland, South Kesteven and they are part of the East Midlands region. Lincolnshire is home to Woolsthorpe Manor, birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton and he attended The Kings School, Grantham and its library has preserved his signature, applied to a window sill when he was a teenager. Lincolnshire is an area, growing large amounts of wheat, barley, sugar beet. In South Lincolnshire, where the soil is rich in nutrients, some of the most common crops include potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers. Most such companies are long gone, and Lincolnshire is no longer an engineering centre, however, as a result of the current economic climate some food production facilities have closed down, this has caused some reduction in the levels of migrant workers. The large number of people from Portugal is still obvious in the town of Boston. A coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents currently controls Lincolnshire County Council, the Conservative Party comfortably controlled the County Council following the 2009 local elections, in which they increased their majority to 43 seats. The Labour Party lost a total of 15 seats including 7 in Lincoln, the Lincolnshire Independents gained a total of four seats, although one of their number moved to the Conservative group during 2010, increasing the number of Conservative seats to 61
12.
Gondola
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The gondola is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is similar to a canoe, except it is narrower and it is propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, in a sculling manner and acts as the rudder. For centuries, the gondola was the means of transportation. In modern times, the boats still do have a role in public transport in the city. They are also used in special regattas held amongst gondoliers and their primary role today, however, is to carry tourists on rides at fixed rates. The gondola is propelled by a person who stands facing the bow and rows with a forward stroke, followed by a compensating backward stroke. The oar rests in an carved wooden rest shaped to project from the side of the craft so as to allow the slight drag of each return stroke to pull the bow back to its forward course. Because of the flat bottom it may also be drifted sideways when required. Contrary to popular belief, the gondola is never poled like a punt as the waters of Venice are too deep. Until the early 20th century, as many photographs attest, gondolas were often fitted with a felze and its windows could be closed with louvered shutters—the original Venetian blinds. While in previous centuries gondolas could be different colors, a sumptuary law of Venice required that gondolas should be painted black. It is estimated there were eight to ten thousand gondolas during the 17th and 18th century. There are just over four hundred in service today, virtually all of them used for hire by tourists. Those few that are in ownership are either hired out to Venetians for weddings or used for racing. Now, only a handful of batellas survive, and caorlinas are used for racing only, the historical gondola was quite different from its modern evolution, the paintings of Canaletto and others show a much lower prow, a higher ferro, and usually two rowers. The banana-shaped modern gondola was developed only in the 19th century by the boat-builder Tramontin, the construction of the gondola continued to evolve until the mid-20th century, when the city government prohibited any further modifications. The oar or rèmo is held in an oar lock known as a fórcola, the forcola is of a complicated shape, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, turning, slowing down, rowing backwards, and stopping. The ornament on the front of the boat is called the fèrro and can be made from brass, stainless steel and it serves as decoration and as counterweight for the gondolier standing near the stern
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