Tag: English Heritage

Stairway to Heaven!

Northants: Kirby Hall – [1570] Elizabethan Home of Nobility! (1.8.2025)

This building reminded us in structure of Hampton Court (not far from where we live in London) – and Berry Pomeroy in Totnes, South Devon (not far from where my parents live). This is not surprising, as I believe from reading the available “English Heritage” literature that the same architects and engineers were used by the Court of Queen Elizabeth I and the nobility that served her. The front of the Hall faces North – with the back of house facing South (built on a North-South orientation). Local serfs (landless or homeless peasants) and peasants (land-occupying peasants) were employed by the nobility when large-scale building projects were initiated. Indeed, with the development of Guilds (primitive unions) – certain groups of peasants became highly skilled in specific construction and maintenance skills. Whether any such labour was employed from nearly Kirby Village, (situated to the South-West of what became the ornate rear garden of the complex), is open to debate.

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Berry Pomeroy Castle – South Devon – 4.8.15

After the Norman victory of 1066 CE in Britain, the warriors of the indigenous British kept-up a fierce resistance to the Norman presence for decades. The Normans spread-out across the land, and built very strong fortified houses and castles. These structures allowed the Norman occupiers to live in relative safety against the continuous threat of British attack. This castle building skill marked a significant evolution in the building of militarised structures in Britain, and there was very little the indigenous British warriors could do against the high and smooth stone walls, deep water-filled moats, and steep inclines.

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