Homes, castles and inviolacy

click photo to enlarge
"An Englishman's home is his castle."
Old saying

There can be little doubt that the saying quoted above was known to whoever it was that, during the nineteenth century, built Tower House in Spalding, Lincolnshire. This relatively modest building, on Tower Lane near the River Welland, is a castle in miniature. Or rather a building with a selection of debased features typical of castles of the medieval and later periods.

If we were to look at it from an architectural viewpoint, rather than as the charming folly that it is, we'd have to question the mixture of medieval trappings. We have battlements, turrets, mock machicolations and semi-circular headed windows (Romanesque?). On the riverward side is a semi-circular window, a crow-step gable, buttressing and a pinnacle. Even the wooden gates into the enclosed area are embattled. The building and the perimeter wall at the back of the house, is constructed in brick laid, appropriately enough, in English bond (alternating rows of headers and strethers).

And yet, despite its peculiarities, the house does seem to be an example of the famous quotation made real. Where does that idea come from, the suggestion that you can do as you wish in your own abode, that home is somewhere inviolate, a place where the state cannot intrude? It seems to have become a popular belief in the sixteenth century when the headmaster of the Merchants Taylor's School in London declared of the householder that, "He is the appointer of his owne circumstance, and his home is his castle." The principle gained wider acceptance through Sir Edward Coke's, "The Institutes of the Laws of England" (1628), a book that said, ""For a man's house is his castle, and each man's home is his safest refuge."

In fact it has never been the case that the state cannot intrude into a home where significant illegality takes place, and today more organisations have rights of entry than ever before. A sham castle like the one above wouldn't be much of a deterrent to such people though some real castles, suitably defended, might be!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off

Google Street View bad for photographers?

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Today, after I'd rolled into a parking bay whilst out shopping a Google "Street View" car, complete with mast-mounted cameras came and parked next to me. The heavy rain showers had forced the driver to put covers over the cameras, so there's no chance (I think) of me featuring on Google Maps!

Until today I've watched the debate around Street View with a fairly detached interest. Individuals who don't want to be featured, or people who don't want their property to be shown, have kicked up a fuss, and some have succeeded in having their image or that of their house blurred. It seemed to me that the ability to navigate through a town I've never visited, with an all-round view available is a very nice extension of the excellent mapping that is currently available from Google on the web. Until today.

As I walked off to do my shopping a thought came to me about Street View - it's bad news for photographers! Why? Well, anti-terror legislation and fears of paedophiles have led to some photographers having their right to photograph freely in public places restricted, in some cases legally, but often illegally. My concern is that Google Street View cameras posting millions of images of people and places on the web will drive people to assert their right to privacy over such activity regardless of who is taking the photograph. The harmless amateur taking snaps in a town centre will be seen as someone infringing someone else's privacy and liberty, just like Google. It's a wrong conclusion, I think, but unfortunately that may be the turn that the debate takes. I can see that politicians seeking to be "responsive" to the electorate might well choose the route of least resistance and bring in legislation to restrict what is currently a valuable freedom.

If that happens we'll be restricted to taking shots like today's of the Fenland landscape of Lincolnshire. Not a person or house in sight for someone to object about! Which will be fine if you like to photograph empty landscapes with clouds, but is more than a little limiting in the long term.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (22mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/2000 seconds
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On