A humble Hampton Court

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Humble isn't a word that is usually found in the same sentence as Hampton Court. The reason being that most people immediately think of the royal palace of that name in Richmond, London. This was originally the property of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, was restored by Thomas Cromwell in the early 1500s, and was seized and enlarged by Henry VIII in 1529. Its early ornate brickwork and later extensions by Sir Christopher Wren are ostentatious to be sure, but not humble. Nor can Hampton Court in Herefordshire be so described. It started life as manor house in 1427 but today is a castellated country house, the result of work done in the mid-C19 to make it grander and more comfortable. Today it is well-known for its gardens that are open to the public.

However, when I look through the timber-framed archway of Hampton Court on Nelson Street in King's Lynn, the word humble seems quite appropriate, and not just because of the comparison with its two namesakes. Though parts of it were once owned by relatively wealthy people it has been extended and re-built over the years, and has usually been the home for multiple families. It is today subdivided into 15 flats. My earlier photograph is accompanied by a piece that tells something of its history.

When I came to take the mouse-eye view photograph above I decided not to do the obvious and focus on either the buildings or the nearest cobbles. Instead I set the aperture to f1.8 and focused a metre or so away leaving near and far out of focus.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Hampton Court, King's Lynn, Norfolk
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/1600 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Northgate Brewery, Newark on Trent

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The building shown in today's main photograph is the old maltings of the former Warwick's & Richardson's Brewery on Northgate, Newark-on-Trent. It has languished, empty and derelict since its closure in 1966 and I find it remarkable that it has survived so well. Perhaps the steps taken to make it safe - bricking up doorways etc - have helped its preservation. The maltings were constructed in 1864 using local bricks from the Cafferata company at Beacon Hill. The necessary ironwork was supplied by the Trent Ironworks of W.N. Nicholson & Sons.

This essentially functional building - it housed kilns - has been given a decorative veneer. The orange brick has bands of cream brick dogtooth and dentil work The window and door openings are emphasised by surrounds of the same cream brick. When it was a working maltings railway trucks brought barley alongside and a cage steam lift hoisted it into the building. The roof outline is characteristic of maltings with cowls at the top of the pyramidal shapes. Shapes fashioned after either flowers or leaves act as tails that catch the wind and rotate the cowl in the desired direction to assist with ventilation.

As we looked at the decaying building we wondered whether its fate would mirror that of the main brewery buildings nearby. This rather grand structure, an essay in studied asymmetry, has been converted into flats with shops and a cafe behind the open Gothic arcade at the bottom of the main facade. The transformation from industrial to domestic use has been handled well - with one exception. At the end of the main facade a cuboid block with rectilinear windows and balconies has been appended (just visible at the right of the smaller photograph). It is clad in timber which has weathered to a a dirty brown/grey. For reasons completely lost on me this finish of hardwood boarding has been very popular in the UK in recent years. It rarely looks appealing and in our relatively wet climate it invariably stains and looks grubby. It has done so here to the detriment of the overall scheme.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/3200
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Hampton Court, King's Lynn

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The over zealous restoration of old buildings is rife in the UK. This especially happens when such properties are in private hands. If the building is Listed the wilder fancies of the owners are often restrained by the legislation. However, where this isn't the case you too often see work designed to make the property look "quaint", or conform to the owners' conception of an idealised past that owes more to Hovis adverts, television adaptations of classic novels and the illustrations of Kate Greenaway than to a sympathetic understanding of the building and its history. So, traditional, practical finishes and details are eschewed in favour of picturesque embellishments that appear to owe more to increasing the re-sale value of the property than to any appreciation of the qualities necessary to present the building authentically. However, though such treatment of old buildings is more common than one might wish, instances of good restoration in both private and public hands are not difficult to find. Hampton Court in King's Lynn, Norfolk, is one such example.

This cobbled courtyard surrounded by four ranges of buildings dating from C14, c.1450, c.1480 and c.1600 has elevations constructed of brick, stone and timber-framing. The west range incorporates a former warehouse that would have fronted the river before it was embanked. All the present structures may have been built on the foundations of earlier buildings, all have been the subject of later maintenance and updating down the centuries and all were restored in 1958-60 at a time when they were in very poor repair. In 1962 they were converted into the fifteen flats that we see today. The current name probably refers to John Hampton, a master baker who became a freeman of the town in 1645. The restoration of Hampton Court has been widely acclaimed. Pevsner speaks of it "setting a standard for such work which is reached depressingly rarely." He was right, and to stand today under the half-timbered entrance arch on Nelson Street and look into the courtyard is to look back in time.

I 've photographed this courtyard a few times but I've never been satisfied with the shots that I've secured. On a recent visit I decided to concentrate on a small section, the corner where the northern range (on the right) meets the western range. I'm much happier with this outcome.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 58mm
 F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Corn exchanges

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A nineteenth century building that can be found in many of England's towns and cities is the corn exchange. Most of them were built during Victoria's reign, though some date from the first few decades of the 1800s. Their main purpose was to provide a space where farmers and merchants could trade cereals. However, anyone who has seen a selection of corn exchanges will realise that important subsidiary purposes of the buildings were to proclaim the wealth of those involved in this branch of agriculture and to adorn the community of which they were a part: corn exchanges are often very ostentatious! It's unusual to find a corn exchange that merges comfortably with the vernacular style of the locality: in the main they are built of stone, usually in a classical style, though occasionally Gothic is used, and they mostly dwarf the buildings around them.

Where the corn exchange is entirely new (as opposed to a conversion of an existing building) they are typically three bays wide. The central bay has the main entrance door, and often the flanking bays have doors too. Central towers are not uncommon, even above a classical facade where no Greek or Roman would have put one (though the architects of the English Renaissance such as Wren might have done so). A discernible order of architecture is often seen: at Newark it is Corinthian, King's Lynn chose Ionic. But what is mandatory (apart from the date of construction and, usually, the words "Corn Exchange") is sculpture, either in relief or in the form of symbolic figures - Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, is commonly seen. Other popular subjects are, unsurprisingly, sheaves of wheat, scythes and sickles, cornucopias and rakes.

The life of most corn exchanges wasn't very long, the process of trading wheat changed, and these interesting, showy buildings were often turned to new uses based around the large trading hall that had been the focus of their commercial activity. Many towns converted them into theatres. This happened at Stamford, Lincolnshire, at Cambridge and at King's Lynn (above) to name but three. Others, such as the one on the High Street in Hull became museums. At Newark (above) a nightclub currently makes use of the building. It is a testament to their quality and adaptability, as well as the local affection that exists for these buildings, that they continue to serve their communities many years after their original purpose has passed. Long may they continue to do so.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
 F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Buried column capitals

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What did the medieval builder do when the local population and congregation increased beyond the size that a small nave and chancel church could accommodate? Simple, he added an aisle. This was usually on the north side of the building because fewer burials were made there than on the sunny south side. How do you go about adding an aisle to a stone building? Well, you support the existing roof then punch holes in the external wall. You make these holes into an arcade of arches supported on columns so that the upper part of the old wall is secure. Then you build a new external wall with windows beyond the arcade, top it with a lean-to roof and finish off the interior. In a few short years you've added an aisle and increased the church's accommodation.

But what if the need arises to reduce the size of the church because the population declines due to, for example, the Black Death, rural depopulation, or the high cost of maintaining the old structure? Well, then you get rid of an aisle. You fill the arcade arches with stonework, thicken what now becomes the exterior wall, remove the lean-to roof and knock down the old external wall of the aisle. You can re-use the windows by placing them in the walling that fills the arcades (see small photograph).

Of course, you have to make these walls thick otherwise the old column capitals may still be visible. And even if they're not, a Victorian antiquarian may well reveal them and turn them into a feature demonstrating the longevity and building history of the church. Oh, and you might find that a future parishioner makes use of the crudely carved thirteenth century capital as a charming place to position a small vase of flowers to beautify that part of the nave. An example of this is the subject of today's photograph taken in St Andrew at Donington-on-Bain, Lincolnshire.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 27mm
F No: f4
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO: 500
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Plastic wrapping and facelifts

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What could be behind this slightly dramatic looking plastic wrapping? Is it a modern office block under construction, all gleaming glass and shiny steel, a testament to opulence, affluence and the worship of money? Perhaps what is underneath is of little consequence, and it's the shrink-wrap itself that is important because it's an artwork by those artful charlatans, Christo and Jean-Claude. But no, as you've probably guessed, it's a building under renovation. But which building? Here is an official description in the dry but precise prose of English Heritage's National Monuments Record.

"BOSTON TF3243SE HIGH STREET 716-1/14/63 (East side) 27/05/49 Nos.118A, 120 AND 122 GV II* Includes: 118A, 120 AND 112 HIGH STREET OXFORD STREET. Banker's house, now flats. c1770, added to late C18, early C19, altered late C19 and C20. Red brick in Flemish bond, slate roofs, ashlar dressings, red brick ridge and valley stacks. EXTERIOR: centre house of 3 storeys, with 5 bays, the 3 centre bays slightly advanced and pedimented. Plinth, 1st floor platt band, dentilled cornice, cartouche and rococo scrolls to pediment, balustraded parapet. Plain sashes with cambered heads and fluted keystones, arranged 2:1:2. Central 6-panel doors with radiating fanlight, panelled reveals, set in Ionic stone doorcase, pedimented with scrolled keystone and egg-and-dart surround. To left a late C18 canted bay of 2 storeys, with dentilled cornice at original height has been raised later to match the other side. Plain sash to both faces, fluted keystones, centre one with acanthus leaf scroll. 1st floor windows have been heightened, front one is blocked. To right an early C19 canted bay of 2 storeys with a single plain sash to each canted face matching the left one. 3 similar windows above. The return to Oxford Street has a 2-panel C19 door with plain overlight and pilastered doorcase with dentilled flat hood on scrolled acanthus brackets. Rear is faced in ashlar, painted, with sill bands, dentilled cornice to plain parapet, plain sashes and later inserted modern fenestration. INTERIOR: although much altered retains some full height panelling and panelled doors. HISTORY: the house was the C18 and C19 home of the Claypon family of Garfitts and Claypon Bank of Boston."

Yes, it's a large eighteenth century town house on the old High Street at Boston, Lincolnshire; one that had fallen on hard times that is currently in the process of being restored. Its status as a Grade II* listed building means it is an important structure for architectural, historical and locational reasons. When the work is completed I'll see if I can get a photograph of its new, post-facelift visage.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm (80mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f4.8
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

An undignified end

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Mankind, it seems, has an innate desire to hang on to parts of the past. This is, by and large, a good trait, because knowing where we've come from (the past), helps us to understand our (present) context, and can inform our course of action for tomorrow (the future). But, sometimes, we've just got to let go or we become like Dickens' Miss Haversham in "Great Expectations", forever looking back, trying to hold on to a past that has gone, and making fools of ourselves.

When, in the 1970s, the 3,500 acre reservoir that is now Rutland Water was created, several farms, many cottages, and Normanton Park was inundated. But, a decision was taken to "save" St Matthew, the Park's church. The nave and chancel date from 1764. The west end (including the tower) are by Cockerell, and replaced a medieval tower when they were added in 1826-9. Further alterations took place in 1911. As churches go it is not without interest, but it isn't of more than local architectural importance. However, Cockerell's work is held in high regard, and that was probably the decisive factor that led to its being preserved. But what a preservation. An artificial spit of stone and concrete was arranged around the ground floor of the church leaving only the upper floor, tower and roof showing.

Today St Matthew is the Rutland Water Museum, with stairs down to the floor below water level. It looks, frankly, ridiculous - the top half of a church poking up out of the rubble and water. Virtually any other course of action would have treated the building with more dignity than the one chosen . If funds were not available to disassemble it and reassemble it elsewhere, then the significant architectural parts could have been removed and erected on the shore, leaving the rest to its watery grave. When I came to compose a photograph of this sad building I noticed a fly-fisherman by the water's edge, and thought he'd make some good foreground interest and give it a bit of context.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 42mm (84mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/640
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On