A Rough Guide to Castle Design Part 3 – The Floorplan by Jon Roberts To collect and transform the room list into a sensible layout I make a flowchart, finding this to be a simple way to list …
Sandpit play is fun and children learn so much when playing with sand. Sand play is good for children's development including fine and gross motor skills.
heaven-ly-mind: “ Lindisfarne Castle at dawn ”
The State rooms at Windsor are truly spectacular. Photos are not allowed so the following are scanned from the guidebook. I had a serious crick in my neck from looking up! You’ll see what I mean… The Grand Staircase is lined with armour and arms and as I walked up the stairs I was totally awed by the size and height of the space. The ceiling of the Grand Vestibule. The plaster fan vaulted ceiling was completed between 1800 and 1814. The room holds a number of glass cases, originally designed to display some of the thousands of gifts given to Queen Victoria on her Golden Jubilee. They now contain relics and arms largely from the collection of George IV. The Waterloo Chamber was built as a tribute to the nations success at the Battle of Waterloo in June of 1815 where Napoleon was defeated. The room filled an open court that had existed since the 13th century. The Indian carpet, woven by inmates at Agra prison for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, is thought to be the largest seamless carpet in existence and weighs 2 tons. During the 1992 fire it took 50 soldiers to roll it up and move it. The room itself was spared due to the thick medieval walls. The dining room table (when extended to its full length is 175 feet long and seats 162) gives an idea of the scale of the room. The official “State Apartments” were built between 1675 and 1678 for Charles II and his wife, Catherine of Braganza and have been altered over the years. The King’s Drawing room marked the divide between the public rooms and the King’s private apartments and only the cornice remains from its 17th century appearance. The King’s bedchamber was used by Charles II for the formal ceremonies of the king rising an going to bed – it is believed he actually slept in an adjacent room. Most of the room’s appearance dates from the reigns of George III and George IV. The tapestries and painted ceiling of the Queen’s Drawing room were replaced in the 1830s and some of the finest Tudor and Stuart royal portraits in the Royal Collection (including portraits of Henry VIII, Mary I, and Edward VI) hang here. The ceiling of the King’s Dining Room – a banquet of the gods - was painted by Antonio Verrio in the 1680s. The Queen’s Ballroom was the principal ballroom in the castle until the completion of the Grand Reception Room and Waterloo Camber in the 1830s. The chandeliers were hung during the reign of Queen Victoria. St. George’s Hall measures 185 by 30 feet and the ceiling contains the coats of arms of all the Knights of the Garter since its founding in 1348. The hall was seriously damaged in the 1992 fire with the ceiling and roof completely destroyed. The ceiling was reconstructed entirely of green oak using medieval carpentry methods and is the largest timber roof constructed in the 20th century. At the far end of the hall is the armoured figure of the King’s Campion on horseback. The armour was made for Sir Christopher Hatten in 1585 who later gave it to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester a favorite of Elizabeth I. The ceremony of the Champion riding into the coronation banquet and issuing a challenge for anyone to deny the new monarch was last held in 1821 for the coronation of King George IV. The Lantern Lobby was created after the 1992 fire on the former site of a private chapel that had been created for Queen Victoria. This space allows movement between the State and Semi-State apartments. The badge and motto of the Garter are inlaid in British marble on the floor and the red stone that forms the cross is from a small deposit in Derbyshire known as “The Duke’s Red”. The Lantern Lobby also contains a suit of armour made for Henry VIII at Greenwich around 1540. The Semi-State Apartments were created for George IV in the 1820s as his private apartments and are now used by The Queen for entertaining. They were severely damaged by the 1992 fire but since this area was undergoing a re-wiring project, most of the contents had been removed. The rooms were largely restored to their original brilliance, including the above Green Drawing Room. The carpet in the room was specifically designed for this room for Queen Victoria around 1850. It was soaked with water during the fire and is now considered too delicate for visitors to walk on. The Crimson Drawing room is the principle room in this part of the castle and during the fire, the ceiling collapsed and the were walls badly burnt. The steel roof structure expanded in the extreme heat and pushed out one of the walls, threatening the whole thing with collapse. The restored ceiling incorporates many fragments salvaged from the original. The walls are hung with the state portraits of George IV and Queen Elizabeth that were painted during World War II. The Octagon Dining Room is a small room used by members of The Queen’s household when they are in residence at Easter. Located in an area of the castle known as the Brunswick Tower, it was also badly damaged during the fire when the internal floors of the tower collapsed and the tower acted as a flue shooting flames 50 feet into the sky. The marble chimneypiece survived and analysis has showed that the fire reached temperatures of 820 degrees Celsius/1500 F! The Grand Reception room reflects George IV’s love of all things French. It was the site of Edward III’s Great Staircase which formed the heart of the medieval castle. The floor incorporates 14th century ceiling timbers reused from a later renovation. The room was completely restored and re-gilded after the 1992 fire. The Garter Throne Room is where new Knights and Ladies of the Garter are invested. It was the main Throne Room for Queen Victoria and most of the room (with the exception of the oak wall panels) dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. All of the rooms contain a number of paintings, artwork, tapestries, sculpture and furniture from the 17th – 19th centuries which must be worth a small (or perhaps not so small) fortune! These pictures really do not do the place justice and it is more than worth the price of admission (about $25). *all information from the guidebook Cheers!
Schwerin | Germany
One of the great mysteries of the world is located in Florida where a 5 foot tall man built a huge park out of coral rock where some weighed as much as 31 tons. The reason it is a mystery is that he did it all by himself with no help. How did he...
The State rooms at Windsor are truly spectacular. Photos are not allowed so the following are scanned from the guidebook. I had a serious crick in my neck from looking up! You’ll see what I mean… The Grand Staircase is lined with armour and arms and as I walked up the stairs I was totally awed by the size and height of the space. The ceiling of the Grand Vestibule. The plaster fan vaulted ceiling was completed between 1800 and 1814. The room holds a number of glass cases, originally designed to display some of the thousands of gifts given to Queen Victoria on her Golden Jubilee. They now contain relics and arms largely from the collection of George IV. The Waterloo Chamber was built as a tribute to the nations success at the Battle of Waterloo in June of 1815 where Napoleon was defeated. The room filled an open court that had existed since the 13th century. The Indian carpet, woven by inmates at Agra prison for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, is thought to be the largest seamless carpet in existence and weighs 2 tons. During the 1992 fire it took 50 soldiers to roll it up and move it. The room itself was spared due to the thick medieval walls. The dining room table (when extended to its full length is 175 feet long and seats 162) gives an idea of the scale of the room. The official “State Apartments” were built between 1675 and 1678 for Charles II and his wife, Catherine of Braganza and have been altered over the years. The King’s Drawing room marked the divide between the public rooms and the King’s private apartments and only the cornice remains from its 17th century appearance. The King’s bedchamber was used by Charles II for the formal ceremonies of the king rising an going to bed – it is believed he actually slept in an adjacent room. Most of the room’s appearance dates from the reigns of George III and George IV. The tapestries and painted ceiling of the Queen’s Drawing room were replaced in the 1830s and some of the finest Tudor and Stuart royal portraits in the Royal Collection (including portraits of Henry VIII, Mary I, and Edward VI) hang here. The ceiling of the King’s Dining Room – a banquet of the gods - was painted by Antonio Verrio in the 1680s. The Queen’s Ballroom was the principal ballroom in the castle until the completion of the Grand Reception Room and Waterloo Camber in the 1830s. The chandeliers were hung during the reign of Queen Victoria. St. George’s Hall measures 185 by 30 feet and the ceiling contains the coats of arms of all the Knights of the Garter since its founding in 1348. The hall was seriously damaged in the 1992 fire with the ceiling and roof completely destroyed. The ceiling was reconstructed entirely of green oak using medieval carpentry methods and is the largest timber roof constructed in the 20th century. At the far end of the hall is the armoured figure of the King’s Campion on horseback. The armour was made for Sir Christopher Hatten in 1585 who later gave it to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester a favorite of Elizabeth I. The ceremony of the Champion riding into the coronation banquet and issuing a challenge for anyone to deny the new monarch was last held in 1821 for the coronation of King George IV. The Lantern Lobby was created after the 1992 fire on the former site of a private chapel that had been created for Queen Victoria. This space allows movement between the State and Semi-State apartments. The badge and motto of the Garter are inlaid in British marble on the floor and the red stone that forms the cross is from a small deposit in Derbyshire known as “The Duke’s Red”. The Lantern Lobby also contains a suit of armour made for Henry VIII at Greenwich around 1540. The Semi-State Apartments were created for George IV in the 1820s as his private apartments and are now used by The Queen for entertaining. They were severely damaged by the 1992 fire but since this area was undergoing a re-wiring project, most of the contents had been removed. The rooms were largely restored to their original brilliance, including the above Green Drawing Room. The carpet in the room was specifically designed for this room for Queen Victoria around 1850. It was soaked with water during the fire and is now considered too delicate for visitors to walk on. The Crimson Drawing room is the principle room in this part of the castle and during the fire, the ceiling collapsed and the were walls badly burnt. The steel roof structure expanded in the extreme heat and pushed out one of the walls, threatening the whole thing with collapse. The restored ceiling incorporates many fragments salvaged from the original. The walls are hung with the state portraits of George IV and Queen Elizabeth that were painted during World War II. The Octagon Dining Room is a small room used by members of The Queen’s household when they are in residence at Easter. Located in an area of the castle known as the Brunswick Tower, it was also badly damaged during the fire when the internal floors of the tower collapsed and the tower acted as a flue shooting flames 50 feet into the sky. The marble chimneypiece survived and analysis has showed that the fire reached temperatures of 820 degrees Celsius/1500 F! The Grand Reception room reflects George IV’s love of all things French. It was the site of Edward III’s Great Staircase which formed the heart of the medieval castle. The floor incorporates 14th century ceiling timbers reused from a later renovation. The room was completely restored and re-gilded after the 1992 fire. The Garter Throne Room is where new Knights and Ladies of the Garter are invested. It was the main Throne Room for Queen Victoria and most of the room (with the exception of the oak wall panels) dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. All of the rooms contain a number of paintings, artwork, tapestries, sculpture and furniture from the 17th – 19th centuries which must be worth a small (or perhaps not so small) fortune! These pictures really do not do the place justice and it is more than worth the price of admission (about $25). *all information from the guidebook Cheers!
Schwerin | Germany
Discover the best castles to visit in Aberdeenshire Scotland including the breathtaking cliffside, Dunnottar castle.
Bodiam Castle, according to historian Charles Coulson represents the popular ideal of a medieval castle. It was used in the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" as the Swamp Castle in the "Tale of Sir Lancelot" sequence.
Add these top 10 things to do in Scotland to your Scotland bucket list! Scotland is an absolutely amazing country to visit. You do not want to miss this!
Who would have thought that Predjama Castle hidden somewhere in south-central Slovenia will turn out to be such a memorable castle?
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The cultural centre of Bavaria, Munich is a city of happy contradictions, prizing both innovation and tradition. World-class museums and restaurants jockey next to beer halls and pretzel wagons, while high-flying tech companies set up shop in medieval Bavarian neighbourhoods. If you're in the spirit for an unforgettable party, visit the city in the fall to swing a pint or two at Oktoberfest, one of the largest and most famous festivals in the world.
