A humble Hampton Court

click photo to enlarge
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

Setts and cobblestones

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Many people assume that an old road that is laid with stones is "cobbled" and that such stones are called "cobblestones". The word "setts" isn't widely known, but where it is, there is a general belief that it is synonymous with cobbles. However, the two types of stone road surface are different.

The essence of the distinction is as follows: cobblestones are found and setts are made. So, cobblestones may be - and often are - large (bigger than 2.5 inches but smaller than 10 inches), water-worn pebbles, that are laid closely together, frequently irregularly, but sometimes with patterns and borders. Setts are cut, rectangular, blocks of stone, usually granite, that are laid in stepped parallel courses, rather like a horizontal, stretcher bond, wall. An example of a road constructed of granite setts is shown in today's photograph which shows Pilot Street in King's Lynn, Norfolk. Such a road is very durable, looks great, with the slight differences in colour of the setts adding to its appeal, but is somewhat uncomfortable to walk, cycle and drive over. It is for the latter reason that many British cobbled roads and those laid with setts were taken up or covered with a smooth layer of tarmacadam. However, many survived, and quite a few of those that were buried have since been revealed and repaired.

This particular street in King's Lynn has a charming and interesting collection of houses spanning several centuries and on one side borders the churchyard of the town's second largest medieval church, St Nicholas. I plan to make the street the subject of a future blog post.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 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

Stony Lane, Thaxted, Essex

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During my recent travels I went to Thaxted in Essex. Before my visit I knew little about the place apart from what I'd read about the church and its windmill. I also had a vague memory that there was a connection with the composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934).

Towards the end of an October afternoon I wandered through its streets, had a look at the main buildings, and came upon the well-named Stony Lane. The narrow cobbled surface of the road leading up the hill to the church and the picturesque mixture of ancient buildings attracted my attention. A look at The Buildings of England: Essex revealed that the half-timbered buildings on the left date from the early 1400s, and have many original features.

Further digging enlarged my knowledge of the Holst connection. Apparently the main theme of Jupiter from his suite, The Planets, which he adapted to fit Sir Cecil Spring-Rice's poem for the hymn "I vow to thee my country", is called Thaxted after the place Holst lived from 1914 until the 1920s. An article written for the Foxearth and District Local History Society, I Ring for the General Dance: Gustav Holst and Thaxted, gives an interesting account of Holst's time in the Essex market town. Moreover it includes fanciful alternatives for the source of inspiration for each of the movements of "The Planets". The author suggests that Jupiter, perhaps for its association with the hymn name, represents market day in Thaxted. The market was packing up as I left so I can't vouch for whether or not it exudes a Jovian jollity, but the description that the author gives of the music representing a walk from the market place, up Stony Lane, through the church and around the town, is quite alluring.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Streets and names

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High Street is one of the two most common street names to be found in England. Virtually every town and city, and many villages, feature a street with this name. "High" in the sense it is used here means "main". When street naming began in the New World it was the latter word that was chosen to prevent any confusion with "raised" or "elevated". Interestingly, when naming new thoroughfares the word "street" is much less used in England than formerly. House builders fancy that they can more easily sell a new row of houses if the address is anything but "street". So we have avenues, groves, lanes, chases, gardens, closes, places, leaps, ways, forges and even roads.

The second of the most common street names is Church Street. Most settlements had a church, and as they grew more were built. This simple descriptive name was an obvious choice. Where it was eschewed, it was often the name of the building's dedicatory saint that described the road, thus St George's Street or All Saints Road. For obvious reasons, in most villages, towns and cities, the High Street and Church Street are usually two of the oldest roads, and will frequently still have some of the most ancient and interesting buildings.

Today's photograph shows Church Street in Boston, Lincolnshire. Here the street is behind the Market Place, and leads from it to the south porch (the main entrance) of St Botolph. With a tower 272 feet high Boston's church creeps into many shots taken in the town. Here I framed it with the cobbles of the street, the Britannia pub, the row of shops on the opposite side, and the soft, white, summer clouds.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 19mm (38mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off

Brightening the way

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The English village churchyard has always been a place of utility. All began life as a graveyard, a place where parishioners were laid to rest, originally in unmarked graves. However, from the seventeenth century onwards tombstones of varying degrees of expense and ornament became much more widely used. As the population outgrew the space available for burial new graveyards were made, often at some distance from the church. Today it is relatively unusual to find burials still being made in the original churchyard. Churchyards were also places where the English longbowman, that scourge of the French knights at Crecy and Agincourt, practiced their art. Yew trees growing amongst the tombs sometimes provided the wood for their weapon. Local politics and education was often carried out in the churchyard and its surrounds, and boards and doors bore official notices and declarations.

In the past forty or so years churchyards have seen many changes. "Dangerous" monuments have been taken down. In some places the oldest and most ornate tombstones have been lined up around perimeter walls leaving an expanse of green that is easy to mow and keep "tidy". More enlightened parishes realised the environmental value of the churchyard, and left some wild areas, put up bird and bat nest boxes, and encouraged wild plants, increasing the biodiversity. And many have created attractive garden areas, with colour through all the seasons, a joy to the eye, and an attractive counterpoint to the ancient stonework of church and grave.

Today's photograph illustrates one of the latter examples, and shows the path to the south door at St Mary, Manton, in Rutland. Both sides of this lovely cobbled way are planted with a variety of flowering perennials that brighten your passage and seem to beckon you into this marvellous old building that dates from the twelfth to the fifteenth century.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 20mm (40mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/20
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On