# Some 'naughty' pics.....



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

I took myself on another discovery today, this time to a bit of real history of where I used to live, in Eltham SE London. I'd explored the outside of 'Eltham Palace' as a kid, but the grounds were closed and boarded up to the public so all I had was tantalising glimpses over walls and through the fences.

This is how it is today, for anyone interested in the origins and history of the place, see *here* and *here* (It's a lot easier than me typing it all :grin

The 'Front Gate'....










First sight of the house...










View of the moat from the bridge....










As you enter the main house (after entering through the 'Tradesman's entrance', where you pay for your ticket and face a barrage of 'assisted-tours', audio-guides and such) you finally get to the 'Entrance Hall'.

This is where it gets 'naughty', 'English Heritage has a 'No Photography' policy, but the décor was so stunning, I couldn't resist a few pics (Oh OK then, a lot of pics :grin - I apologise for some blurry shots, that's where I heard footsteps approaching so I had to rush, just in case :wink

I couldn't actually get my own photo of the Entrance-Hall, but I found *this* online, though it's a bit small....

The 'pictured-walls' are actually huge marquetry-panels, thin sheets of wood cut to shape then assembled to make the picture, similar to a jigsaw puzzle. The lit domed ceiling is actually dozens of glass blocks, slightly 'lensed', so the whole area is naturally lit at any time of day.

One of the doors off the living-room - The geometric patters are actually aluminium, the animals are (real) Mother-of-Pearl'!










The painted oak-beamed ceiling....










Footsteps..... :grin:










More later..... :wave: ---- (5 pic limit, stretched slightly :laugh


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Good memories of a nice day out. :wink:

The craftsmanship inside some of these places is absolutely exquisite.


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Very true Donald, especially when money's no object :grin:

Even a plain, no-frills fireplace can look stunning, like this one in Stephen Courtauld's study....











More approaching footsteps :sigh: - Rather appropriate that the statue's named 'The Guardian' :grin:











Wrought-ironwork at the French-window to the garden











Pure Art-Deco fireplace in Stephen Courtauld's bedroom - The tree-patterned wallpaper is mada up of different-coloured layers, each stuck on the one below to give a slight but noticeable 3D effect...











Virginia Courtauld's bedroom - The ropes on the furniture are to stop visitors sitting on the furniture.... :grin:










turn round 180 degrees and.... The mirror is a work-of-art on it's own, framed in mirror/pure silver....










The vertical wall-panels and the foot-board on the bed are all top-quality parquetry (Wood-veneered pictures are called 'marquetry', wood-veneered geometric patterns are called 'parquetry' :wink

More later, along with 'the jewel' of the visit :grin:


----------



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

wow! - not bad digs :grin: 

Craftmanship like that is so good to see - pity there isn't more of it kept alive these days - many newer buildings lack the style and presence, let alone the attention to handcrafted detail, that older buildings had - suppose cost is a big factor - that sort of workmanship would cost sooooooo much these days.


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hehehehe... Very true, it's definitely more than 'minimum-salary' work :grin: Luckily, we still have the craftsmen who can do work like this - When Windsor Castle caught fire, a few years ago, there were scores of craftsmen brought in to restore everything from masonry & stone-carving, construction, cabinet-making and seamstresses and weavers - It was a fantastic job.

Meanwhile, more extravagance.... :grin:

Virginia Coutauld's bathroom and yes, that is pure gold gilding on the tiles, everything except the ceiling is White-Onyx - The taps and plug-holes are pure gold too :wink:










Turn 90 degrees...










Another 90 degrees...











After leaving the modern house, a short corridor leads to the 12th-century Great-Hall, the actual 'Royal Palace' bit where Henry VIII played as a young nipper :laugh: - This is the view as you enter... 

The ceiling is the 3rd largest surviving 'Hammerbeam'-joisted ceiling in the UK, Westminster Hall is the largest and I can't remember the 2nd :grin:










Some stunning bits of carpentry...











One of the 'Settle's along the side....


----------



## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

beautiful photo's and beautiful work .. somehow though the wooden roofwork looks out of place in that sterile environment at least in the "Big Picture" .. must have something to do with the white walls ..


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

I suspect that's the restorer's imagination as to what it should look like, I did get a peek behind one of the huge pink drapes, but it's just really rough and very dirty stonework - It was a barn for quite a bit of it's life, after it fell into disuse for a few decades or more :grin:


This is the back wall, just behind the King's table.....










A close-up of the carving-detail....











The King's view of his dining-room.... :grin:










It's not very clear to read, but here's a 'potted history' of the hall....











To the King's right.....










And left....











Next lot, out to the gardens..... (and 'legal' pics :grin


----------



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

Something I would like to do is have a look at some of these historic places in the UK & Europe (well anywhere would be nice :grin- oldest built things we have here are only 200 odd years old - mere whippersnappers compared to your time standards in UK & Europe.

Met a visiting English potter a few years back who lived in a house that still had some of the original dwelling left in it - built in the 1600's :laugh:

That 'Hammerbeam'-joisted ceiling looks incredible - similar to the Norse/Scandanavian construction?


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

There's a close resemblance between the ceilings, though I haven't seen any close-up shots of the Scandinavian work - I don't know about the joinery, but you can't vary much between mortice-and-tenon and dowel-pegging :grin:

My nerves were a bit frazzled by now (too much imagining being frog-marched out by 'Security' ) so I aimed for the outside and safety. Here's the 'proper' entrance to the house and where the Tudor Great-Hall if attached - Unfortunately, the portico threw the door into such a deep shade, the camera just couldn't get a good shot of it, so I didn't bother....










'Tother side :grin:











A view from the gardens with 'That Tower' in the distance.... :laugh:











Another view, this time of London - I found a convenient tree to lean against for this shot, it's at max 18x zoom + 3x digital zoom!!! I'm impressed with this cam...











Originally, the entire Royal Palace and Great Hall was moated but, some time back, it got partly filled in. Here's what Mr & Mrs Courtauld did with it....










The Wisteria climbing up the left-hand pillar of the bridge smelt divine, but more of that later. Walking to the bridge, I found a rare gem in London, an 'Indian Bean' tree - Unfortunately, I was either too early or too late, it only had empty pods :sigh:




















Oooooh  - I'm 2 over so more next time, otherwise I'll have to go stand in the naughty-corner :grin:


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

:lol:

I bet you are mighty pleased with that lot WB

You are already in the naughty corner! :grin:


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Yep, out of the 80+ piccies I originally shot, 3 were deleted as too useless to do anything with (Don't worry, I'm not posting all 80, just the better highlights :grin


The view from the bridge - This is where I caught the scent of the Wisteria, I must've spent about 5 minutes just sniffing, I can now understand cats going wild for Catnip, if it smells that good to them :grin:




















The hall & house from the bridge....










T'other end of the bridge - That is one amazing tree, the 2 lowest branches are almost as thick as the trunk itself. The weight is so great, there's a cunningly concealed steel-cable from branch to trunk, for added support 











Continuing around the corner of the house, more Wisteria....










Stand by for the next thrilling instalment..... :grin:


----------



## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

That's far from exquisite. It's so much more than that! I simply can't think of a word to describe the place but I NEED to go there!


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Thank you ebackhus, it's one thing to read about history in books or even on the TV documentaries, but when you can walk the floors and physically touch the stones, it really brings it home just how ancient the place is.

If you want to see the area around there, either Google-map or Google-Earth 'Eltham Palace, Tilt Yard, Eltham SE9, UK' - The street-view doesn't show much but there's lots more photos there :wink:


After trying to overdose on Wisteria-scent, I went to explore the moat-garden area - On my wanderings I noticed this upstairs window....










There were lots of this stuff growing by the downstairs window....











I didn't find the main way down, but I did find the 'back-door' :grin:




















There were lots of wild onions growing in the beds...











And some of these, I'm glad I had my dark-tinted glasses on, there were literally that vivid in the full sunlight :laugh:


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

What a fabulous collection of memories WB. I can smell the wisteria from here (mainly because our wisteria is in full bloom too and the windows are open) :grin:

You are certainly getting some great photos.


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Thank you Donald :smile: Wisteria is a weird plant in that it's the only flower I've smelt that has such a lingering scent - I could still smell it next day when I woke up, although that might have been because I ended up sticking my head full in the biggest bunch of blooms that I could find:grin:


Meanwhile, blue...











The bridge from the moat (+ obligatory Wisteria + obligatory stripey lawn :laugh











The way back up....











As I finally wended my way out, I happened to glance down into the moat - then found another snag with this camera; no way of mounting a polarising-filter :sigh:











The moat from over the fence....











Finally, the next-door-neighbour's house......










Rarely see brickwork like this anymore....











And that's it - 5 minutes later and I was back into the reality of driving up Eltham High Street in the 'rush-hour' :grin:

As much as I like 'Art-Deco', I'm now searching around for my real love, an 'Art Nouveau' equivalent to this place, preferably local :laugh:


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

A fabulous sequence - travelogue of an historic house & gardens. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Thank you Donald, I hope to return there later and grab some more inside pics :wink:

There's been something niggling the back of my mind about this sequence, it finally struck me when I was Google-mapping around there and looking at other folks' photos - I'd omitted uploading this shot, taken at the end of the Great Hall between the zoom-shot of London and the Wisteria-Bridge shot (Post #9)

I don't know who the statue is supposed to be, but it's beautifully sculpted...











Now that's all :grin:


----------

