tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post2547713230574702448..comments2024-03-16T08:31:20.966+00:00Comments on English Buildings: Lewes, SussexPhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-89137391284670588522012-08-29T20:51:07.259+01:002012-08-29T20:51:07.259+01:00Thank you. A slow walk around Lewes is definitely ...Thank you. A slow walk around Lewes is definitely to be recommended. Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-2022990663330251702012-08-29T20:05:52.375+01:002012-08-29T20:05:52.375+01:00Because we have abandoned Classical architecture a...Because we have abandoned Classical architecture and don't always understand its rationale, the ammonites seem to cause a lot of trouble for us: J.S.Curl in his book on Classical Architecture (1991?) tried to share the combination of aesthetics and maths that makes up the Classical orders and what they are trying to achieve. Very unEnglish, some would say, but a slow walk around Lewes even in the depths of winter is highly recommended: I have my own photos on my wall at home, and they continue to give great pleasure - and nobody would pretend that the nodding half-timber of the Fifteenth Century Bookshop is not as unClassical and vernacular as they come, once you get tired of the entablatures and the shiny black "mathematical tiles"!Joseph Biddulphnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-83269861921349465892011-07-11T08:16:49.593+01:002011-07-11T08:16:49.593+01:00Thank you, Ron. It's good when such a tiny det...Thank you, Ron. It's good when such a tiny detail on a building yields such stories.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-25919192863546852342011-07-10T21:44:37.857+01:002011-07-10T21:44:37.857+01:00Just such interesting stuff. Bravo Wilko!Just such interesting stuff. Bravo Wilko!Ron Combohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05270358674385406494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-65688876680060498732011-07-09T07:50:16.322+01:002011-07-09T07:50:16.322+01:00Auriel: Thank you for your comment. I hope you get...Auriel: Thank you for your comment. I hope you get to see some of our buildings one day.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-8700570599945047342011-07-09T04:19:43.705+01:002011-07-09T04:19:43.705+01:00I am so enjoying these English posts!
I wish I wer...I am so enjoying these English posts!<br />I wish I were with you, rather than in the Pacific Northwest of the USAA whre so much of architecture is so prosaic and wooden.<br /><br />Please keep what's left of your heritage for those in other climes who can appreciate it!<br /><br />hope to visit someday and see many things!Auriel Ragmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395216240172741261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-74833953455050121152011-07-08T22:17:03.744+01:002011-07-08T22:17:03.744+01:00Caroline: I vaguely remember these, but I wasn'...Caroline: I vaguely remember these, but I wasn't as aware of such things when I lived in this part of southeast London, many moons ago.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-33914810901018324102011-07-08T21:05:45.617+01:002011-07-08T21:05:45.617+01:00Lovely - there are some ammonite order columns on ...Lovely - there are some ammonite order columns on cottages in New Cross Road, London which might just possibly be by the Wilds too.CarolineLDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00197813252586559665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-87369617054334359792011-07-08T12:17:16.988+01:002011-07-08T12:17:16.988+01:00Jon: A fascinating character, thank you for fleshi...Jon: A fascinating character, thank you for fleshing him out.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-68775528005938346042011-07-08T11:28:52.471+01:002011-07-08T11:28:52.471+01:00Philip, you're spoiling us now! Mantell and hi...Philip, you're spoiling us now! Mantell and his home...what a treat. I think you're right about the fossils atop the columns predating his moving there - pure serendipity. A local writer claims otherwise but she's wrong I'm sure. Mantell's life story occupied many pages in a run of pre-war Sussex County magazines, and what a life. A total obsessive of course, he lost his marriage to his 'hobby' and after failing to gain any interest from Brighton, sold his remarkable collection to (I think) the British Museum for £5,000. Got a woman off a murder charge too...and wrote poetry, was a midwife and member of The Royal College of Surgeons and credited with the discovery of the Iguanadon. Quite a chap, finally ruined by a carriage accident which damaged his spine and left him addicted to opium as a painkiller on which he finally od'd. Sorry, this is supposed to be about buildings isn't it.Jon Dudleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09717891707293701969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-79537516435360089282011-07-08T04:36:39.694+01:002011-07-08T04:36:39.694+01:00I would love that!I would love that!Vinogirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10145696108646897751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-85056401228524692022011-07-07T17:12:14.267+01:002011-07-07T17:12:14.267+01:00Bazza: I try to keep an open mind. It's not al...Bazza: I try to keep an open mind. It's not always easy, mind you!<br /><br />Vinogirl: Thank you. I must look out for some architectural grapes for you!Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-72004305616592367502011-07-07T17:03:48.131+01:002011-07-07T17:03:48.131+01:00Great little tidbit of archaeologic history.Great little tidbit of archaeologic history.Vinogirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10145696108646897751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-83312404022451591092011-07-06T23:15:20.509+01:002011-07-06T23:15:20.509+01:00Sometimes when one see's a mish-mash of classi...Sometimes when one see's a mish-mash of classical orders in various buildings it's temtping to sneer.<br />However it <i>could</i> be seen as real inventiveness or daring experimenation. We should have open minds and you have been very generous!<br /><a href="http://todiscoverice.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow"> Click here for Bazza’s Blog ‘To Discover Ice’</a>bazzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794010156639774028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-81915409787323010892011-07-06T07:27:40.176+01:002011-07-06T07:27:40.176+01:00Shui-Long: Yes! Emlyn's British Order is bizar...Shui-Long: Yes! Emlyn's British Order is bizarre in the extreme.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-32962147113514319202011-07-05T22:36:32.103+01:002011-07-05T22:36:32.103+01:00It's rather more successful than the "Eng...It's rather more successful than the "English Order" invented by Henry Emlyn of Windsor - e.g. Beaumont Lodge at Old Windsor, 1790Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-60957371694029174522011-07-05T18:51:12.808+01:002011-07-05T18:51:12.808+01:00Monkeycounter: Yes, Mantell was indeed an importan...Monkeycounter: Yes, Mantell was indeed an important early fossil collector and pioneer palaeontologist. It's just possible that the ammonites were added for him, but equally possible that Wilds incorporated them into his original 1810 remodelling of the house, six years before Mantell moved in. The English Heritage listing description for the house seems to indicate that the front, including the ammonites, is from 1810. There's plenty of further evidence from the houses that the Wilds built in Brighton that the Wilds family were keen on ammonites.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-27852174469495028352011-07-05T18:04:55.178+01:002011-07-05T18:04:55.178+01:00Gideon Mantell was more than just a geologist - on...Gideon Mantell was more than just a geologist - one of the very earliest fossil collectors. It's difficult to imagine that the ammonites weren't added by him.Monkeycounterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15748654963471293574noreply@blogger.com