St Alfege Church, Greenwich

St Alfege Church is an Anglican church in the centre of Greenwich, part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London. It is of medieval origin and was rebuilt in 1712–1714 to the designs of Nicholas Hawksmoor.
Early history.
The church is dedicated to Alfege (also spelt "Alphege"), Archbishop of Canterbury, and reputedly marks the place where he was martyred on 19 April 1012, having been taken prisoner during the sack of Canterbury by Danish raiders the previous year. The Danes took him to their camp at Greenwich and killed him when the large ransom they demanded was not forthcoming.
The church was rebuilt in around 1290, and Henry VIII was baptized there in 1491.
The patronage of the church was given to the abbey at Ghent during the 13th century. Following the suppression of alien priories under Henry V, it was granted to the priory at Sheen with which it remained until transferred to the Crown by exchange under Henry VIII in 1530.
During a storm in 1710 the medieval church collapsed, its foundations having been weakened by burials both inside and outside.
The present church.
Following the collapse of the medieval church, the present building was constructed, funded by a grant from the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, to the designs of Nicholas Hawksmoor, one of the Commission's two surveyors. The first church to be built by the Commissioners, it was begun in 1712 and basic construction was completed in 1714; it was not, however, consecrated until 1718.
The church is rectangular in plan with a flat ceiling and a small apse serving as a chancel. The east front, towards the street, has a portico in the Tuscan order, with a central arch cutting through the entablature and pediment—a motif used in Wren's "Great Model" for St Paul's Cathedral. A giant order of pilasters runs around the rest of the church, a feature Kerry Downes suggests may have been added by Thomas Archer, who, according to the minutes of the Commission, "improved" Hawksmoor's plans. On the north and south sides of the churchwide projecting vestibules rise to the full height of the building, with steps leading up to the doors.
Hawksmoor planned a west tower, in the position of the existing one, which had survived the collapse. However the Commission was reluctant to fund it, and the medieval tower was retained. In 1730 John James refaced it, and added a spire. Hawksmoor's design, published in an engraving in 1714, had an octagonal lantern at the top, a motif he was later to use at St George in the East.
The organ was installed in 2001, having been relocated from the Lower Chapel at Eton College, with some minor changes. It is an 1891 Lewis & Co instrument, with modifications in 1927 by A. Hunter & Son and 1970 by Harrison & Harrison. The previous organ had a long history. Of 16th century origin, it was restored in 1706 by Thomas Swarbrick, with further restorations and modifications by Dallam (1765), George England (1770) and J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd (1840, 1853 and 1863). In was further restored and rebuilt in 1875 by Joseph Robson and Benjamin Flight, modified by Lewis & Co in 1910 and rebuilt by R. Spurden Rutt & Co in 1934. By this point it had grown to 47 stops. It survived the bomb damage of 1941 and was rebuilt, again by R Spurden Rutt, in 1953, with 55 stops. The National Pipe Organ Register does not record its present whereabouts. Additionally, there is a small, six-stop moveable organ located in the north aisle, by W & A Boggis of Diss from c 1960, with a later restoration by Mander Organs.
The church had two churchyards, which were closed to burials in 1853. In 1889 they were transferred to the Greenwich District Board of Works. The later of the two churchyards was laid out as a garden and recreation ground by the landscape gardener Fanny Wilkinson, and opened in 1889. It was renamed St Alfege Park. Wilkinson planted 500 trees.
The crypt served as an air-raid shelter during World War II. During the Blitz on 19 March 1941, incendiary bombs landed on the roof causing it to collapse, burning into the nave. The walls and the tower remained standing but much of the interior was gutted. The church was restored by Sir Albert Richardson in 1953. As part of the post-war restorations, stencils of Mary the Mother of Jesus and St John the Evangelist were installed either side of the Cross (forming a traditional rood) in the side chapel of St Alfege with St Peter by the tempera artist Augustus Lunn.
In 2015 a fund-raising cream tea garden party for Christian Aid, held in the churchyard after the Sunday sermon, was stormed by armed police. An attendee said that the vicar's wife was “almost knocked over by a policeman with a huge machine gun”, but “people just carried on drinking their tea” in a display of typical British fortitude even though “all these armed police bursting in was like the film "Hot Fuzz"”. The police proceeded to the adjacent St Alfege Park, where a man was arrested and a firearm found.
The church is currently used to celebrate "Founder's Day" of Addey and Stanhope School and The John Roan School.
Notables buried here.
Notable people buried in and around the church include the Renaissance choirmaster and composer William Newark (died 1509, no surviving memorial), Richard Bower (died 1561), Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal 1545-1561, the composer Thomas Tallis (died 1585), the merchant Sir John Lethieullier (died 1719) on the outer south-west corner of the church, the English-born explorer of Canada Henry Kelsey (died 1724), General James Wolfe, the victor over the French in Canada but who died in the process at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759, the actress Lavinia Fenton (died 1760), and the MP Sir James Creed (died 1762) against the outer north wall.
Sarah Barrett Moulton, the Jamaican-born schoolgirl (1783-1795) who was the subject of the celebrated painting "Pinkie" (shown above right), was buried in the church after dying aged twelve, just a year after her portrait had been painted. The merchant, Lloyd's underwriter and art collector John Julius Angerstein (died 1823), who was a churchwarden in the early 19th century, is also buried here.
Literary connection.
In Charles Dickens's novel "Our Mutual Friend", Bella Wilfer marries John Rokesmith in St Alfege Church.
In Tom McCarthy's novel "C", after a Marinettiesque car crash, Serge Carrefax laughs from his position within the upturned chassis. This laughter is "a pleasant noise; reminds him of liturgical chants and whispers echoing around St. Alfege's interior."


Saighton Grange

Saighton Grange originated as a monastic grange. It was later converted into a country house and, as of 2013, the building is used as a school (Abbey Gate College). It is located in Saighton, Cheshire, England. The only surviving part of the monastic grange is the gatehouse, which is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is one of only two surviving monastic manorial buildings in Cheshire, the other being Ince Manor. The rest of the building is listed at Grade II, as is its chapel.
History.
The manor of Saighton was held by the secular canons of St Werburgh in Chester before the Norman conquest. In the Domesday Book it is listed as "Saltone". In 1093 it was granted to the Benedictine monks of St Werburgh's Abbey by Hugh Lupus. The site was given a licence to crenellate in 1399, and this was confirmed in 1410, but the privilege was apparently not acted upon: "Saighton was primarily an agricultural centre until it was converted to residential use in the fifteenth century". The manor house was built about 1489 for Simon Ripley, Abbot of St Werburgh's. Following the dissolution of the monasteries the manor passed through several hands and in time the house was separated from the manor. In the 1840s the house was bought by the 2nd Marquess of Westminster.
The monastic buildings, other than the gatehouse, were demolished in 1861 and were replaced by a house designed by Edward Hodkinson for the 2nd Marquess of Westminster. Alterations were made to the house in about 1870–72 and again in 1894–96 by the Chester architect John Douglas for the 1st Duke of Westminster. In the 1880s the building was occupied by Earl Grosvenor. The garden were redesigned in 1901–02 by Harry Inigo Triggs. The buildings were converted into a school in 1977 and it now forms Abbey Gate College, which is an independent coeducational school for pupils aged 4–18.
Architecture.
Gatehouse.
This dates from 1490, and was built in front of an earlier wide-arched vehicular entry. It is constructed in red sandstone and has three storeys, with string courses between the storeys. It is surmounted by a crenellated parapet. The lower 1½ storeys of the front aspect are occupied by a pointed arch, above which are three narrow windows. In the upper storey are two four-light mullioned windows. On the left side is a three-light oriel window with a four-light mullioned window above, and in the merlon above this is a niche containing a statue. On the right side is a blocked arch in the ground floor, a single-light window above it and a four-light mullioned window in the top storey. In the angle between the gateway and the newer building, on the left, is a square turret that is taller than the rest of the gatehouse.
House.
The rest of the house is also built in red sandstone and it has a tiled roof. The main wing has two storeys and flanks the gatehouse, with two bays to its left and three bays to the right. It is in Tudor style with battlements and stepped gables. The right wing also has two storeys with a three-storey cross wing.
Chapel.
The chapel was built in about 1870 in red sandstone with a tiled roof. It is a rectangular building with gables. On one of the gables is an open bellcote with one bell under a square spire. There are four windows containing stained glass; three of these date from the late 19th century, the other from the late 20th century.
Grounds.
In the grounds are part of the medieval boundary wall which is built of sandstone rubble. This stands on bedrock on the edge of a rock cutting and is thought to have been a form of light fortification. The walls are listed Grade II. The grounds consist of formal gardens, surrounded by informal parkland. The gardens are open occasionally under the National Garden Scheme.


Upton Cressett Hall

Upton Cressett Hall is an Elizabethan moated manor house in the village of Upton Cressett, Shropshire, England. It is a Grade I-listed building.
The hall was built of brick between c.1540 and c.1580 for the Cressett family to an irregular floor plan and includes an aisled great hall.
History.
The Cressett family became Lords of Upton by marriage in the late 14th century. The hall was built on the site of an earlier house for Hugh (or Hugo) Cressett, a Royal Commissioner in the Welsh Marches and Constable of Mortimer Castle. Hugh and his son Robert were both in turn High Sheriff of Shropshire. Originally the house was timber framed with a great hall, a solar wing and a cross-wing. In 1580 the house was substantially remodelled by Richard Cressett, the High Sheriff of Shropshire for 1584, who encased the building in brick, added large brick chimneystacks and by creating a false ceiling in the great hall allowed the creation of first-floor rooms.
Richard was succeeded in 1601 by Edward Cressett, a prominent Royalist who was killed in 1646 at the Battle of Bridgnorth. Edward's son Sir Francis Cressett became Steward and Treasurer to Charles I; during the English Civil War, Upton Cressett was a Royalist stronghold. James Cressett was a senior diplomat during the reign of William III and Mary II and that of Queen Anne; he served as envoy at the Court of Hanover in the 1690s and envoy extraordinary to Frederick IV of Denmark in 1700.
After Cound Hall became the family seat in 1792, Upton Cressett Hall was used as a farmhouse until it was bought c.1937 by carpet manufacturer Sir Herbert Smith, Bt as a shooting lodge. After his death in 1943, the house was left unoccupied and gradually fell into a state of disrepair, losing some of the room panelling. It was purchased in 1969 by Sir William Cash, MP for Stone and father of the current owner, William Cash, and has since been much restored. The Hall and gardens have been open to the public, and for group visits for tea, since the 1970s.
The grounds contain several Spanish chestnut trees planted in 1815 to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo, which began to die off in more recent years. In 2015, the bicentenary of the battle, a new sapling cultivated at Hougoumont Farm was planted as a replacement by the 7th Earl Cathcart, William Cash junior's father-in-law.
The Gatehouse.
The Gatehouse dates from the 16th century. It has been completely renovated and is let on short-term rentals. It has been occupied at one time or another by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, King Edward V, Charles I, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Johnson, Sir John Betjeman and Elizabeth Hurley.


Santa Maria in Montesanto (Rome)

Santa Maria in Montesanto is a church of Rome, in the Rione Campo Marzio, which stands in Piazza del Popolo, between Via del Corso and Via del Babuino. It is also known as the Church of the Artists. The church is popularly known as the "twin church" of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, though it shows significant differences especially in the planimetry.
History.
The name of the church derives from the fact that it replaced a smaller one, that belonged to the Carmelites of the Province of Monte Santo in Sicily. It was built in 1662, on the initiative of Pope Alexander VII, by Cardinal Girolamo Gastaldi, who was later buried there. The original design was the work of Carlo Rainaldi.
The works were interrupted on the dead of the Pontiff in 1667, then resumed in 1673 under the supervision of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and the cooperation of Carlo Fontana and finished in 1679, except for a belfry that was added in the 18th Century.
In July 1825 Pope Leo XII elevated the church to the dignity of Minor basilica.
In this church, on 10 August 1904, Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, was ordained a priest; the event is remembered by a plaque affixed during his pontificate.
Since 1953 the church has become the seat of the "Mass of the artists", a singular initiative conceived in 1941 by presbyter and art historian Ennio Francia; after changing several places for worship, the liturgical event took place in the church in Piazza del Popolo, where every Sunday, for over sixty years, this Eucharistic celebration has been celebrated with representatives of the world of culture and art. It is also in this church that the funeral of people linked to the world of culture and television is often celebrated. For these reasons, it is also known as "Church of the artists".
Description.
The statues of saints on the exterior have been attributed to Bernini's design.
The interior has an elliptical plan, while its so-called "twin" Santa Maria dei Miracoli has a circular plan. It has six side chapels (in the "twin" church they are four). The cupola is dodecagonal.
The first chapel on the left is the "Cappella di Santa Lucia" ("Saint Lucy"). The second chapel, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, was designed by Carlo Rainaldi to honor the Carmelite nun canonized by Pope Clement XI in 1669. The ceiling and the altarpiece of the "Miracle of the Saint" (ca. 1685) was painted by Ludovico Gimignani.
The third chapel is the "Cappella Montioni". The Montioni family commissioned the design to Tommaso Mattei, a pupil of Carlo Fontana. The altarpiece of the "Madonna with Child and Saints Francis and Jacob" (ca. 1687) was completed by Carlo Maratta. The "Assumption" fresco was painted by Giuseppe Chiari. Upon the altar is a modern statue of the "Angel for the artists" by Guelfo (1937–1997).
The presbytery is stuccoed with angels by Filippo Carcani and houses the miraculous 15th-century altarpiece of the "Virgin of Montesanto", which, according to the tradition, was painted by an 11-year-old girl. The sacristy has a frescoed vault with angels and the instruments of passion, the altarpiece of the "Deposition "(ca. 1600) is attributed to Biagio Puccini.
Under the two twin churches are the remains of two pyramid-shaped funerary monuments, which, in shape and size, are very similar to the Pyramid of Cestius and to the demolished Pyramid of Romulus; like these ones, both the tombs probably date back to the Augustan age and served as a monumental entrance to the Campus Martius, precisely the same function that the two churches have today.


Temple Israel (Johannesburg)

Temple Israel is the oldest of eleven Progressive synagogues in South Africa. It is a provincial heritage site, built in the Art Deco style by architect Herman Kallenbach. It is located in the Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow. It is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).
Temple Israel officially opened on August 23, 1936 as the mother synagogue of Progressive Judaism in the country. Johannesburg mayor Maurice Freeman, a member of the Jewish community, laid the cornerstone on September 22, 1935. The founding rabbi was Moses Cyrus Weiler.
Progressive Judaism.
The progressive streams of Judaism began during the Enlightenment in 18th-century Europe, and was brought to South Africa in the 1930s by Jews fleeing persecution in Central and Eastern Europe. Progressive Judaism aims to strike a balance between modernity and tradition. Progressive Judaism has given prominence to the moral commands over the ritual observances. This is not to abandon rituals altogether, but to highlight that by themselves they are insufficient unless they are accompanied by ethical conduct. This means that the movement is supportive of egalitarian seating and female participation in services, support for LGBT rights and flexibility over Kashrut dietary laws. It is one of four Progressive, the others being Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue on Oxford Road, Temple Bet David in Sandton and Beit Luria (opened in 2019) in Randburg. The Progressive movement in South Africa and the overall South African Jewish population reached its high point in the 1970s with an estimated Jewish population of 120 000 of whom 11 000 identified with the Progressive movement. Today the Jewish population is estimated at around 70 000 with around 6 000 Progressive Jews.
History.
Temple Israel was built in 1936 on the corner of Claim and Paul Nel Streets when the Jewish population of Hillbrow amounted to around 800. The interior maintains much of the original features such as wood panelling and parquet floors. The bimah has twin gold columns and menorah shapes going up the wall. There is also an egalitarian three-sided gallery that runs around the main seating area.
The idea to build the synagogue was sparked by a visit in 1929 of Prof. Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882-1938) who was visiting family in Johannesburg at the time. He held forth on Jewish music and the origins of Progressive Judaism, as Reform was also called. Idelsohn encouraged his brother Jerry to found a Reform group in the Gold City. After beginning to hold services in private homes in 1930, Jerry founded the South African Jewish Religious Union for Liberal Judaism (later the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ)). Jerry made contact with Moses Cyrus Weiler, at the time a student of the elder Idelsohn's at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. After he was ordained in August 1933, Rabbi Weiler came to Johannesburg to found a Reform congregation. His first service was held in the Freemason's Hall at Clarendon Place at the edge of Hillbrow.
At the end of 1933, a plot of 3/4 of an acre was purchased, and three years later, the synagogue officially opened. The imposing building was designed in Art Deco style and is four stories high. It was designed by the Jewish architect Hermann Kallenbach with his partners A.M. Kennedy and A.S. Furner. Kallenbach also designed the equally striking Greek Orthodox Church on Wolmarans Street and Jeppestown Reformed Church in Fairview. He also helped choose the site for the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street.
On 6 August 1983 a limpet mine exploded outside the synagogue, four hours before State President Marais Viljoen was scheduled to attend a ceremony marking Temple Israel's 50th anniversary. There were no injuries and the celebration went ahead with Viljoen in attendance. Mahommed Iqbal Shaik of the Dolphin Unit of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) later assumed responsibility during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings and he was granted amnesty.
Jews began emigrating from South Africa in the 1980s. At Temple Israel's 80th anniversary celebration in 2016, a permanent exhibition was launched delving into the evolution of the Reformed Movement in South Africa and the history of the synagogue, the Heritage Centre. In 2017, only 50 attended regularly, although 300 attended on High Holy Days.
Activities.
The congregation consists primarily of old, frail, lonely and poor people from Hillbrow, Berea, Yeoville, and Parktown. These Jews still regard it as their spiritual home. The synagogue is leased to a Christian church for Sunday services, at a nominal fee.
Temple Israel's site houses a school that enrolls Jews and non-Jewish students. The shul has established an outreach program, the M.C. Weiler Primary School, in Alexandra township. The women of Temple Israel began such programs in 1944, believing that Jews must help fellow both believers and their other neighbors in need.
Businesswoman Reeva Forman got involved with Temple Israel in the early 1990s when she heard the congregation was going to sell the synagogue. The purchase vote failed by one. She has served as chairwoman of Temple Israel since 1994.


Westonbirt House

Westonbirt House is a country house in Gloucestershire, England, about southwest of the town of Tetbury. It belonged to the Holford family from 1665 until 1926. The first house on the site was an Elizabethan manor house. The Holfords replaced it first with a Georgian house, and then Robert Stayner Holford, who inherited Westonbirt in 1839, replaced that house between 1863 and 1870 with the present mansion which was designed by Lewis Vulliamy. He also remodelled the gardens, diverted the main road and relocated the villagers.
The house is constructed of high quality ashlar masonry on a grand scale. The exterior is in an Elizabethan style, with a symmetrical main block and asymmetric wings, one of them containing a conservatory. The interiors are in a sumptuous classical style. The house was fitted with the latest technology such as gas lighting, central heating, fireproof construction and iron roofs. It is now a Grade I listed building.
Extensive formal terrace gardens were created around the house and of ornamental woodlands were planted in the 19th century. Since 1928, the house has been occupied by the girls' boarding school Westonbirt School, except during World War II when it was requisitioned by the Air Ministry. Westonbirt House is open to the public on certain days, and the gardens are open more frequently. The house is also licensed to hold civil ceremonies and is used as a wedding venue.
Robert Stayner Holford and Mary Anne Holford.
Robert was born in 1808 to George Peter Holford and Anne Holford who was the daughter of Reverend Averell Daniell of Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland. George inherited a mansion at Westonbirt from his father; this was the original manor which had been erected in the reign of Elizabeth or the early part of the time of James I. This house was demolished by George in 1818 and a new house built in 1823.
In 1829 at the age of 21, Robert graduated from Oriel College, Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. In the same year the arboretum on the Westonbirt Estate was commenced and Robert played a significant role in this project. In 1838 he inherited his uncle's fortune of over one million pounds. In the following year his father died and he became the owner of Westonbirt House. He was a keen lover of art and literature and his enormous wealth now allowed him to indulge this interest. He began collecting paintings and books for what was to become the famous "Holford Collection". To accommodate this collection he built Dorchester House in Park Lane, London between 1851 and 1853 where he employed Lewis Vulliamy as the architect.
During this time he became a Magistrate for Gloucester and Wilts and in 1843 was the High Sheriff of Wiltshire. In December 1854 he was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire East. In August 1854, at the age of 46, he married Mary Anne Lindsay who was the 25-year-old daughter of Lieutenant-General James Lindsay.
Between 1863 and 1870, Robert built the present Westonbirt house, which was reputed to be one of the most expensive houses constructed in the Victorian era.
Robert continued his work as a member of parliament until 1872 when he retired. He continued to collect plants for the garden at Westonbirt House and also for the arboretum. His son George also developed an interest in gardens and plants and assisted his father with this work.
After Robert's retirement, the couple spent time at both Westonbirt and Dorchester House. In 1875 Charles Gayard, a French diplomat, visited Westonbirt and gave an account of his experience as follows.
The garden at Westonbirt House and the Arboretum continued to expand and in 1886 an extensive article was written about it in "The Garden". This said that "Mr Holford's aim has been to create variety without confusion, informality and picturesqueness without losing sight of that polish in the vicinity of the mansion which must always be regarded as in accordance with correct taste."
In February 1892, Robert died at Dorchester House.
Sir George Holford and Lady Holford.
George was the only son of Robert and Mary Holford. In 1873 he went to Eton and was there for four years. At the age of 20 in 1880 George obtained a commission with the 1st Life Guards, where he remained for almost 30 years. He was closely associated with royalty and court life, and from 1888 to 1892 he was equerry to Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence.
When Robert Holford died in 1892, George inherited Westonbirt House and Aboretum. He also inherited Dorchester House in London and the art and book collection that were housed within it. He did not have his father's interest in art and books but he did have a passion for gardens and orchids so he devoted much of his time to his property at Westonbirt. "The Times" made the following comment about him.
He was indeed, one of the most successful amateur gardeners of the time, and though famous as a grower of orchids, amaryllids and Javanese rhododendrons, his garden and estate show a wide catholicity of taste. The arrangement of the many rare and exotic trees there and the skilful use of evergreen species as background and to provide the shelter so needful in a cold district like the Cotswolds, have rarely been equalled; there is no crowding of the trees; each is able to show its true form and all have been well cared for. On few estates has the autumnal colouring of deciduous tress been so cleverly used by harmony and contrast, as, for instance, in the planting of Norway maples and glaucous Atlantic cedars.
"Country Life" magazine wrote extensive articles about Westonbirt Gardens and Arboretum in 1905 and again in 1907 when George was the owner of the estate. They outlined in detail the beauty of the gardens and made the comment.
Captain Holford has carried on the work in the same spirit and with the same tradition (as his father) and Westonbirt is now more luxuriant and more beautiful than the late Mr Holford ever knew it. The gardens have been planted not to give an effect for one season only but to be invested with beauty at every time of the year.
Although he was always considered an eligible bachelor, George did not marry until late in life and had no children. In 1912 he married the recently widowed Susannah Menzies, the eldest child of Arthur and Mary Wilson. The Wilsons were a wealthy family who had made their money from a shipping line.
In 1926 George Holford died, having suffered for some time with emphysema. As he did not have any heirs his property passed to his blood relatives in accordance with the will of his father. The main part of the estate went to George's nephew the 4th Earl of Morley. However, Susannah was well provided for as George left her his personal goods such as jewellery and furniture and a large annuity of £10,000 per annum. Susannah remained at Westonbirt until it was sold in 1927, when she moved to London.
Arboretum.
Robert Stayner Holford, the rebuilder of Westonbirt, also founded the Westonbirt Arboretum on former common downland across the road from the house, a mile away. The arboretum was developed over the next few decades by him and his son Sir George Lindsay Holford. Since the younger Holford did not have children, the house and arboretum passed to his eldest sister's son the 4th Earl of Morley, who sold the house by 1928. The family gave the arboretum to the nation in 1956.
The estate today.
The gardens and surrounding parkland, together with the arboretum, were listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in 1986.
Westonbirt School and its preparatory school are on the site. The school's leisure centre and golf course can be accessed by the public.
Westonbirt Arboretum is managed by the Forestry Commission and is open to the public on a regular basis.


Toltec Lodge

The Toltec Lodge, at 228 High St. in Prescott, Arizona, was built in 1919. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
It is a one-story Craftsman / Prairie School style house built for Le Roy and Margherite Anderson.


Eighth Creative Union of MEPhI

The Eighth Creative Union (ECU) of Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI) () is a creative and interdisciplinary team unifying students, graduates, postgraduate students and the university lecturers and professors. The ECU implies a variety of activities including a student theatre of pop sketches, arrangement of concerts and performances, scriptwriting, arrangement of night entertainment events and conventions, issuing of wall newspapers along with prose, poetry and playwriting almanacs, participating in Singer-Songwriter Club and Club of the Funny and Inventive People and Sharp-witted activities and taking part in different shows and competitions.
History of the ECU.
The Union was founded at Physics and Power Engineering Faculty of Moscow National Research Nuclear University MEPhI in accordance with the Faculty Komsomol (Young Communist League) Committee decree. Its stage debut was on 13 December 1969. That particular day is considered to be the official date of the ECU foundation. Its first President was Oleg Yurievich Fyodorov, a former captain of 1962 Institute CCS (Club of the Cheerful and Sharp-witted. ) team. Nikolay Artemyev, Mel’ko Khutsiev and Vladimir Chekhonadskiy triarchy was in charge of scriptwriting, arrangement of rehearsals and managerial issues. The Union management had been traditionally conducted by three students since then.
An oak tree and a woodpecker, a forest guard, are portrayed in the ECU insignia. The woodpecker symbolizes satire defeating the blood-suckers eaten into the country's body.
In 1974, the Faculty Komsomol Committee insisted on electing the only person as the head of the ECU and Valeriy Shambarov became as the President. He was in charge of solving the ECU managerial issues and his responsibilities did not cover art direction. Nikolay Artemyev, Vladimir Chekhnadskiy, Alexander Razumov, Valeriy Shambarov, Sergey Struev, Alexander Selin, Andrey Troitskiy and others were theatre directors at different time periods of the Union history.
The ECU activity is of a selfless character which is the reason for its success and steady demand for the Union throughout its long period of existence. The ECU activities cover all the available areas of its creative work starting from arrangement of social and outreach activities up to the student's theatre which is involved in not only pop sketches but in far more serious and large-scale performances staging as well.
Theatre of Social Horror project was launched in 1988 and lasted until 1991 as a part of the ECU activities. The MEPhI amateur actors and actresses showed their theatricals in different cities and towns, took part in Sem’ Ya Festival of Independent Theatres in Saint Petersburg and in the First All-Soviet Union festival of Club of the Cheerful and Sharp-witted Teams in Dnepropetrovsk. Alexander Selin, an excellent actor and a talented writer who wrote several plays, was the Manager of Theatre of Social Horror.
The ECU history can be divided into four time periods.
1969 – 1984 It is the time of traditions establishing and development. It is the time of large-scale theatrical productions both by amateur authors (M. Khutsiev, V. Shambarov, A. Selin) and by professional playwrights (Felix Krivin, Evgeny Schwartz, D. Al).
1985 – 1997 Several creative individuals were making attempts of developing their creative work in a professional environment. For instance, V. Shambarov was involved in social and political journalism, A. Selin was working in television, writing scripts for TV programmes and commercials and was cooperating with CCS (Club of the Cheerful and Sharp-witted) TV programme. S. Struev started his film director's career and A. Semyonov became a poet and his poetry had been the basis of Vezhlivyi Otkaz (the Polite Refusal; Russian: "Вежливый отказ") rock-group creative development. The ECU existed as parallel activities of several small creative groups.
1998 – 2002 By M. Khutsiev, A. Selin, N. Turchaninov and Ch. Kaitukov's efforts the ECU were focused on taking part in CCS (Club of the Cheerful and Sharp-witted) team competitions. Inter-faculty competitions had been arranged, the university team had taken part in regional league competitions and Vizit team had qualified to the Major League of KVN.
2003 – present. The ECU have been working within the framework of traditional student theater of pop sketches (STPS) format. Their theatricals include short short stories, parodies and sketches. Performances are almost not staged.
Traditions.
First-year Student's Day is celebrated annually on 1 September. The ECU have conducted a theatrical performance for the first-year students of all faculties since 1 September 1974. Although the content of the performance changed throughout its history starting from parting words of ‘Scholar Elders’ to the first-year students, Higher Education game and amusement arcades to a concert of all on-stage performance groups of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI the ECU have constantly taken part in that important event.
The first-year Student Outdoor Convention is held annually on the 2–3 September weekend. The tradition was established by the ECU members in 1974 when the first convention of that type was held in Tuchkovo. The agenda included Faculty F first-year students outdoor trip, student's ‘horror path’, a memorial meeting at Moscow defenders’ obelisk and a night concert. There usually were some sport completions and give-away prize ceremony on the second day. The tradition of September conventions has existed since then and only the convention venues in Moscow Oblast were changed.
May Student's Convention in Sknyatino (held annually on 1 May).
It is strictly the ECU event. The tradition was established on 1 May 1975. That day a group of the ECU students covered 165 kilometers to reach Tver Oblast (to the village of Sknyatino) to relax in the lap of nature. There were so many people willing to go to Sknyatino in 1976 that the persons charge had to divide them into teams. Creative and sport competitions were held then. The tradition is still alive and more than 100 people go to the village every year.
April Fools’ Days (held annually in April).
The first April Fools' Day of Moscow Technical Universities was held on 1 April 1973. A large concert was arranged in Zamoskvorech’ye Community Centre and apart from the MEPhI ECU, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow Power Engineering Institute, National Research University of Electronic Technology and Kurchatov Institute student teams had taken part in it. Afterwards the event title changed to Day of Laughter, Fool's Day and Woodpecker's Day. Presently, the ECU arrange a four-day event with a diverse programme. A large humorous concert is held on the final day. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow State University, Moscow Aviation Institute and the MEPhI ECU teams take part in it.
Propaganda teams.
They are small creative ECU teams which used to go on tour to remote areas of the country in the Soviet times. The first propaganda team went to Naberezhnye Chelny in 1974 when Kamaz was being erected. The team members showed sketches, declared poems and sang hiking songs for the construction site workers. Afterwards, there had been a series of trips to different border military districts with concerts conducted for border patrol soldiers with the following agitation for entering the institute. The final trip of that sort was made in July 1989. We hope to breath a new life to that tradition.
Winter farewell party.
Winter farewell party was conducted by the ECU in cooperation with Esta MEPhI ballroom dance studio in March 1977 – 1979 not far from Zvenigorod. It was a theatrical performance which included dances, down heel sledging, blins (pancakes) eating and seizure of snow fortress. Afterwards Esta MEPhI were completely in charge of the event arrangement.
The ECU school.
The ECU keep on trying to recruit its new members and to invite new first-year students with a creative potential. Each year the freshmen have classes conducted by experienced ECU team members. They try to master the basics of text and playwriting, stage movement, elocution, vocal and dancing. Only a year later on coming through initiating of Ordination they become full-fledged members of the Eighth Creative Union.
MEPhI Club of the Funny and Inventive People.
It is an integral part of the ECU which was finally formed at the end of the 1990s. V. Shambarov remembers that "In 1969 when the ECU was established there were several groups of the guys. One group which included Kolya Artem’ev and Nina Gulova wanted to establish a theatre. The guys from the other group headed by Khutsiev wanted to take part in Club of the Funny and Inventive People (KVN) competition. As they had come to an agreement they established something in between, a theatre of KVN style."
Film and video production.
In 1974 the ECU shot their first short feature film "Monday or No Words about the Patient" (Russian: "Понедельник, или о больном ни слова") (directed by N. Artem’ev featuring M. Khutsiev). The plot was about a student who was preparing April Fools' Day's tricks for his neighbors and his girl-friend was trapped instead. In 1979 Alexander Bolgarov shot an auteur ten-minute film "Corridor" (Koridor Russian: "Коридор"). The film can be stuck in memory for both real life events took place in a student's hostel in the morning and for student night and day dreams about joys of life. Short feature film "Stulker" (Russian: "Стулкер") directed by A. Khipko based on original script and shot in 1979 is a parody of Stalker (1979 film) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. The main events took place in a student's hostel and its vicinity instead of the "Zone" (starring A. Selin, A. Igomonov, A. Shramko and others).
In 1983 a coloured documentary about MEPhI health camp in the Volga River area was shot (script by A. Khripko and A. Sheblakov).
In 1990 the ECU shot an introduction video of MEPhI KVN team required for participation in the First All-Union KVN Festival in Dnipropetrovsk (script by A. Selin, directed by A. Yazlovsky). It was a parody of a famous The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol. The action took place in the National Opera of Ukraine and Alexander Maslyakov was thought to have been the Governor of the Town. Auteur short feature film "MEPhI and a Dorm" (directed by Yu. Antushev 2001) was devoted to the students’ native Chair and to those who live in a dormitory. A striking story was shot several months before the author's death. A short feature film "Only You and Me" script by P. Markelov, directed by D. Golovkin) shot in 2007 as a part of KVN video competition told about human relationships and supernatural forces interference with them.
In 2007 communication service provider MegaFon Moscow initiated holding a video clip festival devoted to different types of the provider services. A video clip should have been based on the auteur script which was perfectly made. The ECU video clip "Look for a Girl" won the Grand Prix (written and directed by V. Budrik, shot by D. Golovkin).


Peoples Savings Bank

The Peoples Savings Bank in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was designed by Louis Sullivan. It was the second of a number of small "jewel box" banks in midwest towns designed by Sullivan during 1907 to 1919. It was built in 1911, and it was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2014 it was included as a contributing property in the West Side Third Avenue SW Commercial Historic District.
History.
Sullivan's initial design was completed in the summer of 1909 but was rejected by the bank as being too expensive. The following year his Cedar Rapids clients, spearheaded by the bank Vice-President Fred Shaver (whom local Cedar Rapids tradition has Sullivan designing a remodeling of his residence), continued their negotiations with him and an agreement was reached. Sullivan began this study of the bank and its functions beginning with the large banking room and working out from there while reducing the cost of the structure by cutting back on the terra cotta ornamentation. The building was finished in 1912.
The prominent architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler said of it at the time that, "The building is thus clearly designed from within outward. The exterior is the envelope of the interior reduced to its very simplest expression." (Wilson and Robinson)
The bricks for the exterior of the building were produced in 15 different shades, producing, as Sullivan remarked, "the effect of an antique Oriental rug." The interior of the building includes clerestory walls of glass with murals by Allen Philbrick depicting life in rural Iowa.
This bank was the last commission that George Elmslie assisted Sullivan on. Shortly after its completion Elmslie joined the Minnesota partnership of Purcell & Feick, the new firm being named Purcell, Feick & Elmslie.
Peoples Bank was purchased around 1989 by Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation, which a few years later acquired Wells Fargo and took on its name. The Third Avenue building continued to serve as the Cedar Rapids/Marion area's main Wells Fargo branch, but because of its proximity to the Cedar River, it was impacted by the Great Iowa Flood of 2008. As such, the main bank is currently closed. Wells Fargo's Web site says the adjacent motor bank is operating, however.


Tsinghua Garden

Tsinghua Garden () is a garden in Haidian District, Beijing, China. Constructed during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722) in the Qing dynasty, it was originally named "Xichun Garden" (). Later, it was divided into two gardens: Chunze Garden () and Hande Garden (). Chunze Garden and Hande Garden were later respectively renamed to "Jinchun Garden" () and "Xichun Garden" (its former name). In 1852, during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor, the garden was renamed again to "Qinghua Garden" (or "Tsinghua Garden"). In the present-day, "Tsinghua Garden" generally refers to the locations of the Tsinghua University, such as Tsinghua Garden, Jinchun Garden, and other Qing dynasty gardens in the university.
History.
Tsinghua Garden, originally the Xichun Garden, was granted as a gift by the Kangxi Emperor to his third son, Yinzhi (Prince Cheng). It was part of the Old Summer Palace and was called the "East Garden" (東園) because it was located to the east of the Old Summer Palace. The Kangxi Emperor visited the garden ten times when the garden was owned by Yinzhi, and celebrated eight of his birthdays at the garden, including his 60th birthday in 1713. He also wrote calligraphy for five plaques displayed all over the garden, one of which was the garden's name (Xichun Garden).
In 1821, the Daoguang Emperor divided the Xichun Garden into Chunze Garden (later renamed to Jinchun Garden) and Hande Garden (later renamed back to Xichun Garden), and granted them respectively to his brothers Mianxin (Prince Ruihuai 瑞懷親王) and Miankai (Prince Dunke 惇恪親王). After Miankai's death, Xichun Garden was inherited by his adopted son, Yicong (Prince Dun). As Yicong was actually the fifth son of the Daoguang Emperor, Xichun Garden was loosely referred to as the "Fifth Prince's Garden" (小五爺園).
In 1852, after the Xianfeng Emperor came to the throne, he renamed Xichun Garden to "Qinghua Garden" (or "Tsinghua Garden"). In 1860, during the Second Opium War, the Anglo-French forces destroyed Jinchun Garden while burning down the Old Summer Palace. Qinghua Garden sustained little or no damage. After Yicong's death, Qinghua Garden was inherited by his eldest son, Zailian. In the aftermath of the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, Qinghua Garden was confiscated by the Qing imperial government because it had been used by Zailian's younger brother, Zaiyi (Prince Duan), as a meeting location with the Boxer rebels. The garden fell into disrepair for some years before the imperial government approved a request by the foreign affairs ministry to build a school on the land. The school, named "Qinghua School" (清華學堂), started operating in 1911. In 1913, Qinghua School acquired the former Jinchun Garden and the surrounding areas, and gradually expanded over time to become the present-day Tsinghua University.


Tugu Church

Tugu Church (Indonesian: ), is a Protestant church in Kampung Kurus (Kampung Kecil), Semper Barat Administrative Village, Cilincing, Jakarta, Indonesia. The church was located in Kampung Tugu, a village of Mardijker people, a Creole Portuguese community. It is the second oldest church in Jakarta, after Sion Church
History.
On July 21, 1647, a portion of a land was donated by Justinus van der Vinck, owner of the lands around Cilincing and Pasar Senen at that time. Over this land, the first Tugu Church was constructed in 1678. In 1737, Pastor Van der Tydt restored the building, but in 1740, this church was burned by the Chinese during an uprising. A second church was constructed between 1744 and 1747, the church that exist today, by Pastor Mohr. The church was ordained on July 29, 1747, under the permission of Governor General Van Imhoff.
Architecture.
Tugu church was built in a modest style. The style can be described as a fusion between 18th century Dutch architecture and Portuguese Church. Although the church building has undergone several renovations, original parts still remain, including the baptismal pool. It contains several antique deacon bench, metal plates and the old pulpit. The bell tower dates from 1880, but the old bell was broken (from 1747) and stored in the vicarage. The Tugu Church complex also accommodates a home for the elderly, a cemetery and a high school.


Fannin County Courthouse (Texas)

The Fannin County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas. Built in 1888-1889 of rough-cut local limestone from Gober by Scottish-born stonemasons Kane and Cormack, it was designed in the Second Empire style of architecture by Waco-based architect Wesley Clark Dodson (1829–1914) of the firm Dodson and Dudley. As built it was similar in appearance to the Hood County Courthouse Dodson designed shortly after it. Its central clock tower and elaborate mansard roof were destroyed by fire on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1929, and were replaced by a flat roof. In 1965 the courthouse was modernized, the remaining roof pediments were removed and the exterior was covered with a smooth surface of what is called "Lueders stone" or "Lueders limestone", so that it now appears to be a Moderne or rather plain Art Deco building.
In 2008 the county received a state historical renovation grant and discussion ensued about whether to restore the building to its earlier grandeur.
On November 8, 2016, a courthouse restoration bond proposal was passed by Fannin County voters. This $12.5 million bond, in conjunction with a matching $5 million grant from the Texas Historical Commission, will restore the courthouse to its original 1888 design.


St. Maria im Kapitol

St. Maria im Kapitol (St. Mary's in the Capitol) is an 11th-century Romanesque church located in the Kapitol-Viertel in the old town of Cologne, Germany. The name “im Kapitol“ refers to the Roman temple for the Capitoline Triad that was built on today’s site of the church in the first century. The Catholic church is based on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was dedicated to St. Mary and built between 1040 and 1065. It is one of twelve Romanesque churches built in Cologne during this period.
Measuring 100 m x 40 m and encompassing 4,000 square metres of internal space, St. Maria is the largest of the Romanesque churches in Cologne. Like many of the latter, it has an east end which is trefoil in shape, with three apses. It has a nave and aisles and three towers to the west. It is considered the most important work of German church architecture of the Salian dynasty.
History.
Late antiquity.
A temple to the Capitoline triad stood upon the small hill in the southernmost part of the first century Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium that should later become the site of St. Maria im Kapitol. The temple was built to commemorate Claudia Ara Agrippinensium being granted the title of colonia. The temple itself measured 33 m x 29.5 m and was surrounded by a 97 m x 69 m courtyard. Inside of the temple, three cellae – one for each of the worshipped gods – were built. The temple’s walls were later used as a foundation for the church.
Early middle ages.
After the Franks conquered Cologne in the fifth century, the Frankish mayors of the palace resided around the Capitoline hill. Pepin of Herstal, who effectively ruled the empire after becoming mayor of all three Frankish kingdoms in 687, lived in Cologne for a period of time. His wife Plectrude had a proprietary church built on the ruins of the capitol before her death. She was buried in this aisleless church.
High middle ages.
In the middle of the eleventh century, the archbishop of Cologne Hermann II. and his sister Ida, abbess of St. Maria im Kapitol, initiated construction of a new church. The altar and the nave were consecrated by pope Leo IX.
20th century.
In World War II, the church was damaged heavily. Until 1956, the church could only be used in the closed off western part. In 1984, the eastern part was reopened and could also be used.
Works of art.
The church's works of art include:


Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library

Barrow-in-Furness Main Public Library (more usually known as Barrow Central Library or Barrow Library) is a Grade II listed Beaux-Arts style building located at Ramsden Square, Barrow-in-Furness, England. Operated since 1974 by Cumbria County Council, it is the largest library in the town and the present structure, designed by J A Charles was originally built as a Carnegie library with support from the Carnegie Foundation.
The first library in Barrow was opened on 18 September 1882 in temporary iron buildings in Schneider Square; in 1887 this was transferred to a room within Barrow Town Hall. The growing population meant that a larger building was needed and this was eventually met by the construction of the present accommodation at the junction of Abbey Road with Ramsden Square. The building itself bears a date of 1915 (denoted by an engraving by the main entrance which reads 'ANNO DNI MCMXV'), although delays brought about by World War I meant that it wasn't actually completed and opened until 1922.
The library formerly housed the Furness Museum which held artefacts both from across the world and also from the local area. The museum (always operated by Barrow Borough Council) was opened in 1930 in an upstairs lecture room. It closed in 1991 and most of the exhibits were eventually moved to larger purpose built premises next to Walney Channel - the Dock Museum. After building modifications in 1998, the library has also worked with the Cumbria Archive Service in the joint operation of a local archives or county record office branch. This now shares a public searchroom together with the local studies library.
Besides the Central Library there are currently five other libraries in the present borough: Askam, Barrow Island, Dalton, Roose and Walney. A sixth branch at Ormsgill has now been replaced by a library link facility in Ormsgill Children's Centre


Lotamore House

Lotamore House is an Irish historic house in County Cork, used as a residence by a number of Cork merchant families before being turned into a number of businesses including a guesthouse. In the beginning of the 21st century it fell into significant disrepair. However it has been renovated and is now home to a fertility clinic.
House.
The original land belonged to John and William Galway and was leased to Robert and George Rogers, detailed in leases dated 1694 and 1720. The central structure is a 2-storey Georgian house built by the Rogers family of Lota in 1798 and extended in the Victorian 1880s. It is on a hill with views overlooking the River Lee. The house was let to the Honourable C.L. Bernard in 1837 and Frederick Hamilton nearer the middle of the 19th century. Sir William Bartholomew Hackett was the tenant near the latter end of the century before the house was sold to the Perrier family, a merchant family of Huguenot origin, and later Martin Francis Mahony and his descendants. The list of names also shown as private residents includes Harrison, Hackett, Lunham and Cudmore.
After 1961 when the house was no longer a family residence it served as the offices of the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes before becoming a twenty-room guesthouse which closed in 2006. Further development was halted with the downturn in the economy. Though the house was sold, the new owners went into receivership through Deloitte. There was a period when the house was occupied by the protest group, the Rodolphus Allen Family Private Trust. After the court case ended and the squatters were removed the house was eventually sold again. Between 2013 and 2017 it was renovated, with the assistance of architects, construction teams and craftsmen, until the building has been greatly increased in size and is no longer at risk of being destroyed through decay.


Auditorium Building (Chicago)

The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Congress Street (now Ida B. Wells Drive). The building was designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater, and a hotel. As a young apprentice, Frank Lloyd Wright worked on some of the interior design.
The Auditorium Theatre is part of the Auditorium Building and is located at 50 East Ida B. Wells Drive. The theater was the first home of the Chicago Civic Opera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It currently hosts the season performances of the Joffrey Ballet.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975, and was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1976. In addition, it is a historic district contributing property for the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. Since 1947, the Auditorium Building has been part of Roosevelt University.
Origin and purpose.
Ferdinand Peck, a Chicago businessman, incorporated the Chicago Auditorium Association in December 1886 to develop what he wanted to be the world's largest, grandest, most expensive theater that would rival such institutions as the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. He was said to have wanted to make high culture accessible to the working classes of Chicago.
The building was to include an office block and a first class hotel. Peck persuaded many Chicago business tycoons to go on board with him, including Marshall Field, Edson Keith, Martin A. Ryerson, Charles L. Hutchinson and George Pullman. The association hired the renowned architectural firm of Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan to design the building. At the time, a young Frank Lloyd Wright was employed at the firm as draftsman, and he may have contributed to the design.
The Auditorium was built for a syndicate of businessmen to house a large civic opera house; to provide an economic base it was decided to wrap the auditorium with a hotel and office block. Hence Adler & Sullivan had to plan a complex multiple-use building. Fronting on Michigan Avenue, overlooking the lake, was the hotel (now Roosevelt University) while the offices were placed to the west on Wabash Avenue. The entrance to the auditorium is on the south side beneath the tall blocky eighteen-story tower. The rest of the building is a uniform ten stories, organized in the same way as Richardson's Marshall Field Wholesale Store. The interior embellishment, however, is wholly Sullivan's, and some of the details, because of their continuous curvilinear foliate motifs, are among the nearest equivalents to European Art Nouveau architecture.
Design.
Sullivan and Adler designed a tall structure with load-bearing outer walls, and based the exterior appearance partly on the design of H.H. Richardson's Marshall Field Warehouse, another Chicago landmark. The Auditorium is a heavy, impressive structure externally, and was more striking in its day when buildings of its scale were less common. When completed, it was the tallest building in the city and largest building in the United States.
One of the most innovative features of the building was its massive raft foundation, designed by Adler in conjunction with engineer Paul Mueller. The soil beneath the Auditorium consists of soft blue clay to a depth of over 100 feet, which made conventional foundations impossible. Adler and Mueller designed a floating mat of crisscrossed railroad ties, topped with a double layer of steel rails embedded in concrete, the whole assemblage coated with pitch.
The resulting raft distributed the weight of the massive outer walls over a large area. However, the weight of the masonry outer walls in relation to the relatively lightweight interior deformed the raft during the course of a century, and today portions of the building have settled as much as 29 inches. This deflection is clearly visible in the theater lobby, where the mosaic floor takes on a distinct slope as it nears the outer walls. This settlement is not because of poor engineering but the fact the design was changed during construction. The original plan had the exterior covered in lightweight terra-cotta, but this was changed to stone after the foundations were under construction. Most of the settlement occurred within a decade after construction, and at one time a plan existed to shorten the interior supports to level the floors but this was never carried out.
In the center of the building was a 4,300 seat auditorium, originally intended primarily for production of Grand Opera. In keeping with Peck's democratic ideals, the auditorium was designed so that all seats would have good views and acoustics. The original plans had no box seats and when these were added to the plans they did not receive prime locations.
Housed in the building around the central space were an 1890 addition of 136 offices and a 400-room hotel, whose purpose was to generate much of the revenue to support the opera. While the Auditorium Building was not intended as a commercial building, Peck wanted it to be self-sufficient. Revenue from the offices and hotel was meant to allow ticket prices to remain reasonable. In reality, both the hotel and office block became unprofitable within a few years.
Later uses.
On October 5, 1887, President Grover Cleveland laid the cornerstone for the Auditorium Building. The 1888 Republican National Convention was held in a partially finished building where Benjamin Harrison was nominated as a presidential candidate. On December 9, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison dedicated the building and opera star Adelina Patti sang "Home Sweet Home" to thunderous applause. Adler & Sullivan had also opened their offices on the 16th and 17th floors of the Auditorium tower.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra debuted on October 16, 1891, and made its home in the Auditorium Theatre until moving to Orchestra Hall in 1904.
The opera company renting the accommodation moved to the Civic Opera House in 1929, and the Auditorium Theatre closed during the Great Depression. In 1941, it was taken over by the city of Chicago to be used as a World War II servicemen's center. By 1946, Roosevelt University moved into the Auditorium Building, but the theater was not restored to its former splendor.
In 1952, Congress Parkway was widened, bringing the curb to the southern edge of the building. To make room for a sidewalk, some ground-floor rooms and part of the theater lobby were removed and a sidewalk arcade created.
On October 31, 1967, the Auditorium Theatre reopened and through 1975, the Auditorium served as a rock venue. Among other notable acts, the Grateful Dead played there ten times from 1971 through 1977.
The Doors also played their first concert at the Auditorium Building after their arrest of singer Jim Morrison on June 14, 1969.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1975.
The building was equipped with the first central air conditioning system and the theater was the first to be entirely lit by incandescent light bulbs. In 2001, a major restoration of the Auditorium Theatre was begun by Daniel P. Coffey and Associates in conjunction with EverGreene Architectural Arts to return the theater to its original colors and finishes.
On April 30, 2015, the National Football League held its 2015 NFL Draft in the Auditorium Theatre, the first time the league has held its annual draft in Chicago in more than 50 years.
References.
Notes
Further reading


South Jefferson Avenue Historic District

The South Jefferson Avenue Historic District is a residential historic district located along South Jefferson between Meredith and East Holland, and along East Remington and East Holland between Jefferson and Sheridan in Saginaw, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
History.
In 1893, a major fire destroyed over 250 structures in this area. Residents rebuilt after the fire, resulting in a neighborhood where most of the houses date from the 1890s and early 20th century. These houses were fashionable, representing well-off families of Saginaw's business and professional classes.
Description.
The South Jefferson Avenue Historic District contains 130 structures, of which 121 contribute to the historic character of the neighborhood. Most of these structures date from after the 1893, with only a handful along Holland and Remington Streets pre-dating the 1893 fire. The homes are large and are predominantly Queen Anne and Eastlake styles. Other architectural styles are intermixed, including Italianate, Colonial Revival, Prairie School, Dutch Revival, Chateauesque, Bungaloid, and Mediterranean.
Significant structures in the district include:


Montgomery Building (El Paso, Texas)

The Montgomery Building is the last surviving false-front structure and the oldest existing business building in the City of El Paso, Texas.
History.
The Montgomery Building was built as the American El Paso, as opposed to a Mexican El Paso, underwent a great transformation from a dusty adobe village to a thriving city following the arrival of the railroad on May 13, 1881. The Southern Pacific Railroad had just arrived in El Paso and two other railroads were approaching the outskirts of the county. A great commercial building boom followed as lumber and brick structures, some two stories high, began replacing adobe ones. El Paso Street became a bustling center of commerce running from San Jacinto Plaza on San Francisco Street to the ferry landing at the Rio Grande.
In 1882, just months after the Four Dead in Five Seconds Gunfight, William J. Montgomery (1833–1899) built this structure on a vacant lot between two buildings that were situated North and South of the property. Montgomery made use of the two buildings' existing walls, constructing only a roof, floor, front wall and back wall. He ran a new wall down the middle, creating two new addresses, 216 and 218 El Paso Street.
The building was typical of western frontier architecture of the late 19th century. It featured a false front to make it appear taller and more like commercial buildings found in the East. Originally, the building housed a drug store and a book store.
Architectural significance.
The outward appearance of the Montgomery building was typical of those built in Western towns during the railroad boom of the late 19th century. Developers wanted railroad towns to look as much like eastern towns as possible so stone and lumber quickly replaced adobe and log as the primary building materials. Timber was scarce in El Paso but the railroad brought milled lumber, much of it from the Cloudcroft area. Railroads also brought pressed tin, cast iron, glass and hardware that were used to simulate styles popular in the eastern United States.
The one-part commercial building is a simple box with a decorated wood façade and cornice. The architectural style of small, pitched-roof buildings with false fronts created the commercial core of the new western towns during the mid-19th century.
The Montgomery building had one ground-level floor with a false front added to make the building appear taller. The false front was topped by a bracketed cornice typical of the Italianate style popular at the time. This created the impression that the building was larger and housed more businesses and people, similar to the main commercial streets found in eastern American towns. In front of the original structure there was a wooden sidewalk covered by a wooden roof and hitching posts for horses. It is known exactly what the exterior of the Montgomery building looked like in 1882 from a photograph taken by F. Parker who documented many of the changes taking place in the city during that period.
Modern times.
The two addresses have undergone many interior and exterior renovations over the years. They have housed drugstores, restaurants, shoemakers, and clothing stores. The building is now occupied by Dave’s Pawn Shop and a clothing store. With the arrival of the automobile and the paving of streets, the wooden sidewalks, post, and roofs were removed and conventional sidewalks were constructed. Today, the wooden facade of the building lies beneath a modern sign but the cornice is clearly visible. 216-218 S. El Paso Street is a classic example of western architecture from the boom era of the 1880s.
Situated on one of the past main commercial thoroughfares of the city, it continues to represent part of the rich frontier heritage of El Paso and is one of the few remaining structures from the original commercial district of the Old Western town of El Paso.
The addresses 216 and 218 S. El Paso St. have remained in continuous use for more than one hundred and twenty years making it the oldest surviving commercial structure in the City of El Paso.


Cartwright Hall

Cartwright Hall is the civic art gallery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, situated about a mile from the city centre in the Manningham district. It was built on the former site of Manningham Hall using a gift of £40,000 donated by Samuel Lister and it is named after Edmund Cartwright. The gallery which opened in 1904 initially had a display of artworks loaned from other galleries and private collections until it was able to purchase a permanent collection of Victorian and Edwardian works using money raised by the 1904 Bradford Exhibition.
Cartwright Hall stands in Lister Park and enjoys scenic views of the city. Cartwright Hall has been held to represent "Bradford Baroque", a style of architecture typical of Bradford. It is however designed by the same architects as Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (Sir John W. Simpson and E.J. Milner Allen), also in the Baroque style.
The purpose-built gallery is home to a collection of permanent works, from Old Masters to 20th-century British paintings and sculpture. Cartwright Hall also has a biennial open exhibition and contemporary and historical exhibitions by local, national and international artists. Since the mid 1980s the Bradford museum group has collected works that are associated with the cultural background of many post-war migrants to the Bradford area. Acquisitions include contemporary South Asian Art - Islamic calligraphy, phulkari style illustrated textiles and items of contemporary Sikh art, including a portrait of Guru Nanak.
In 1983 Cartwright Hall was briefly used as part of the musical number "Every Sperm is Sacred" in the Monty Python film, "The Meaning of Life".
In 2003 an Unreal Tournament map was created featuring the inside of the hall as part of a contest for PC Format Magazine.


Oscarsteatern

Oscarsteatern (English: Oscar Theatre), also known simply as Oscars, is one of Stockholm's private theatres and is the best-known musical theatre in Sweden. It is located at Kungsgatan 63 in central Stockholm.
History.
The theater was designed in Art Nouveau by architect Axel Anderberg (1860–1937) and was inaugurated on December 6, 1906.
It was named after King Oscar II. The salon accommodated 1175 seats and was decorated with white stucco and gilded ornaments. Between 1971-1974, the theater was closed for renovation and at the same time the salon was restored.
The opening production was "Frihetsbröderna (Les brigands)" by Jacques Offenbach, on 6 December the same year. The theatre has during the years been seen as the foremost stage for musical productions and operettas in Sweden. The theatre has 905 seats and for many years in the early 20th century was part of theatre empire of Albert Ranft (1858-1938).
Over the years it has boasted some great musical productions, including several successful stagings of "My Fair Lady" (the 1959–61 run reaching 766 performances) and the 1989–95 run of "The Phantom of the Opera" (performed 1173 times). Opera soprano singer Rosa Grünberg (1878–1960) made her play stage debut. The original Swedish (and European) staging of "Nine" in 1983 is also among the most successful – and critically acclaimed – productions in the theatre's history.
The theatre was managed from its inception until 1926 by Albert Ranft; from 1926 to 1947 by Gösta Ekman (1890–1938) and Pauline Brunius (1881–1954) among others. It was used in this period solely as a stage for spoken drama. From 1947 to 1998 it was managed by Sandrew Metronome, during a period often described as the theatre's "golden days" in terms of musical theatre shows. In 1998 it has been managed by Vicky von der Lancken and since 2004, by 2 Entertain production company.
In the autumn of 2006, the theatre celebrated its 100th jubilee with the musical production "Singin' in the Rain".


Aachen Hauptbahnhof

Aachen Hauptbahnhof (German for Aachen main station) is the most important railway station for the city of Aachen, in the far west of Germany near the Dutch and Belgian border. It is the largest of the four currently active Aachen stations, and is integrated into the long-distance network.
History.
A station at Aachen was first opened in 1841, when the Rheinische Eisenbahngesellschaft opened its line from Cologne. The line first was extended to Herbesthal (near the Belgian border) and on 15 October 1843 to Antwerp. The first station was built outside of the city walls, however the city soon grew and the station eventually became surrounded by new buildings. The Prussian state railways deemed that rather impractical and decided to build a new station situated on a hillside. Embankments and new bridges were built from 1901 onward, and on 21 December 1905 the station opened at its new location.
The station remained largely undisturbed until suffering from damage in 1944, when German troops were retreating. However, since the rail link was highly valued by the Allied forces, damage was cleared up rather quickly and in 1950 all war damage had been removed from the site. Since 2002 the Cologne–Aachen high-speed railway line allows connections to Cologne with speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph).
Electrification.
In 1966, Aachen Hauptbahnhof was electrified. Due to its proximity to Belgium, it was decided to implement the switching point from the Deutsche Bahn's 15 kV AC to the 3000 V DC used by the NMBS/SNCB in the station. Tracks 6 to 9 therefore have a switchable catenary and are used for international Thalys, ICE and Regional-Express services.
Renovations.
The station hall was renovated from 2000 to 2006. In 2007 a new electronic signal box was built, enabling more streamlined operations and automatic switching of the correct voltages. The cost estimate for the revamp was around €40 million. The main changes were:
Train services.
The following services currently call at Aachen Hbf:
Operational usage.
Aachen Hauptbahnhof is served by the following lines:


Swakeleys House

Swakeleys House is a Grade I-listed 17th-century mansion in Ickenham, London Borough of Hillingdon, built in 1638 for the future Lord Mayor of London, Sir Edmund Wright. Originally the home of the lords of the manor of Swakeleys, writer Samuel Pepys visited the house twice. The property changed hands many times over the years and at one time was home to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Sports Association. Large sections of the grounds were sold off in 1922 and developed as suburban housing.
Following a long period of decline, the house was purchased in the 1980s by a group of local residents and restored as part of its conversion to offices. It became a focal point for Ickenham during the biennial Ickenham Festival when the grounds were used to host the main gala day, until the house's new owners restricted access in 2014. Swakeleys is open in part once a year to the public as part of Open House London. Planning permission was granted in 2014 for the conversion of the house to form one large, residential property.
History.
Construction.
The manor of Swakeleys was named after Robert Swalcliffe, 14th century owner of the manor, who is also recorded as "Swalcleve". John Charlton later took ownership of Swakeleys but a relative of his was subsequently killed during the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, while fighting on the side of Richard III. The victor of the battle, Henry VII, subsequently granted Charlton's widow a life interest in the manor, although he gave possession to Sir Thomas Bourchier. The Bourchiers later passed Swakeleys to Sir John Pecche, from whom it then passed to the Earl of Devon, Henry Courteney, then Ralph Pexall.
The house was built for Sir Edmund Wright, who became Lord Mayor of London in 1640. The brick structure dates from between 1629 and 1638. In 1629, Wright purchased the grounds from John Bingley, who had undertaken extensive remedial work on an existing 13th century structure in the grounds—probably timber-framed and wattle filled. Bingley's alterations were said to have been detrimental to the condition of the house and grounds. He was accused of driving away almost all the birds in the dovehouse, and of pulling up many healthy fruit-bearing trees from the orchard. The house had a moat, which Bingley filled in, believing the water to be unhealthy, at which point he also had a defensive brick wall built around the house.
The house is a leading example of what Sir John Summerson calls "Artisan Mannerism", a development of Jacobean architecture led by a group of mostly London-based craftsmen still active in their guilds (called livery companies in London). Swakeleys shows "what a gulf there was between the taste of the Court and that of the City." It features prominently the fancy quasi-classical gable ends that were a mark of the style. Other houses in the style are the "Dutch House", as it was known, now Kew Palace (1630s), West Horsley Place and Slyfield Manor, the last two near Guildford.
The house is built in an "H" shape with a central section flanked by four projecting wings. Swakeleys was built of English Bond brick, with its windows framed with stone. Several of the exterior rain-water heads show the year construction was completed along with the initials "E.W." for Sir Edmund Wright. To the west of the house, a large lawn stretches out to what is now known as Swakeleys Lake. The main routes leading to the house have since become the residential streets Swakeleys Road (then Back Lane), The Grove and The Avenue.
Inside, the main staircase is made of oak, and the fireplaces of marble. The long by wide Great Chamber, also known as the Ball Room and the Long Gallery, originally had a pinewood floor. It was covered by new flooring after it became worn over time. The room is high, with the ceiling arranged in fifteen panels. Within the room is a wooden screen made for Sir James Harrington in 1655 by woodcarver John Colt and painted to resemble stone. On top of the screen sits a bust of Charles I flanked by two lions. In the Dining Room, the panelling is believed to be from the original house, which Sir Edmund was so impressed by that he had it incorporated into the new building.
Subsequent ownership.
Wright's son-in-law Sir James Harrington took over ownership from Sir Edmund. Harrington was a commissioner at the trial of Charles I and fled to France in 1660 upon the restoration of the monarchy. His wife, Lady Harrington, sold the house to Sir Robert Vyner.
Samuel Pepys visited the house in 1665 and noted some of its features, particularly the busts of Charles I, Lord Essex and Lord Fairfax and described the house as "a very pleasant place". He visited the house twice to collect money on behalf of Charles II from Sir Robert Vyner who was a well-known goldsmith. On one occasion, Sir Robert showed Pepys the body of a black boy who had worked at the house and died of tuberculosis. The body had been dried in an oven and kept in an open coffin and was then displayed to visitors. Sir Robert later became Lord Mayor of London in 1674. After the house became empty in 1923, workmen unsealed a cupboard near the servants' quarters where it was believed the body was stored, though they found no trace of it.
Pepys wrote of his first visit:
Sir Robert died in 1688, when Swakeleys passed to his nephew Thomas Vyner, whose son Robert sold it to Benjamin Lethiullier in 1741 on behalf of his sister-in-law's son Benjamin. In 1750, Lethiullier's son sold the house to the Reverend Thomas Clarke, at that time rector of Ickenham. Clarke's son Thomas Truesdale Clarke succeeded his father in ownership of the house in 1796. He was later found drowned in the River Pinn, which ran through the Swakeleys estate. Although the river was only deep, it was enough to cover his face and therefore cause drowning. An inquest was held which refused to return a suicide verdict as the coroner believed such a ruling would stigmatise the Clarke family.
Edward Walford also wrote about Swakeleys House in 1893, when he described it as "the most interesting Jacobean house in the whole county of Middlesex. The gardens are quaint and trim, laid out in something of the old-fashioned style and a long avenue of elms adorns the front of the house to the south." The avenue was developed as the residential road The Grove, though the elms were killed by Dutch elm disease in the 1960s.
While Albert Gilbey was the main tenant of the house in the 1890s, the All England Croquet Championships were held in the grounds. Gilbey later became High Sheriff of Middlesex in 1912. The estate became significantly smaller following the disposal of of the estate for development at an auction on 5 July 1922. Warren Road, Swakeleys Drive, Court Road, Milton Road, Ivy House Road, The Avenue and Thornhill Road (originally named Park Road) were constructed while other land bordering the River Pinn was designated as public open land. Humphrey John Talbot bought the house to avoid it being demolished and eventually sold it to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Sports Association in 1927, upon the condition he could remain as a tenant on the first floor. Swakeleys was requisitioned by the military during the Second World War when a searchlight battery operated within the grounds. The Foreign Office retained the house until 1955 when it was sold to the London Postal Region Sports Club. The club staged cricket matches with local teams from Ickenham and Uxbridge.
Restoration.
Three local residents, Keith Chamberlain, Paul Newson and Simon Kreiger, formed Swakeleys House Ltd as a non-profit company to purchase the house in 1980 following a long period of deterioration. They then restored its key features and constructed new office buildings within the grounds to help finance the restoration works. In 1984, a 25 year lease was negotiated with the Bristol-Myers Squibb company and the house was opened to the public for three days a year. HRH Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the newly refurbished house on 7 May 1985. Swakeleys House Ltd went on to win the 1988 Country House Award for best conversion of a listed country house.
During 2012, scenes for the film "Great Expectations", and the television adaptation of "Mr Stink", were filmed within the house.
New ownership.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb lease expired in 2009 and Swakeleys was sold to new owners who wished to reduce public access to one day a year, as part of Open House London. This new proposal was accepted by the London Borough of Hillingdon in June 2010.
In 2014, the new owner of Swakeleys, CES Properties (Ickenham), received planning permission from Hillingdon Council to convert the house back into a single large residence, including 23 en-suite bedrooms, a party pavilion and a stable. CES Properties placed restrictions on the staging of the Ickenham Festival that year, leading to the festival's organising committee relocating its planned gala day and evening events to the nearby Vyners School. The festival had previously used the grounds of the house as a focal point for events. CES Properties placed the house up for sale in February 2015 for £45 million.


Santissime Stimmate di San Francesco

The Ss. Stimmate di San Francesco ("Church of the Holy Stigmata of St. Francis") is a church in central Rome, Italy, in the Rione Pigna, sited where previously there was a church called Ss. Quaranta Martiri de Calcarario. It is located on via dei Cestari, near corner with Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and across the street and diagonal from the Largo di Torre Argentina.
A first church in the place was consecrated in 1297. In 1597 the land was given by Pope Clement VIII to the "Confraternita delle Ss.Stimmate"; the construction a new building was completed in 1714, on designs by Giovanni Battista Contini.
Art and architecture.
During the papacy of Clement XI, the facade was begun by Antonio Canevari, in a plan recalling Pietro da Cortona's style. In the center niche formed by the interrupted tympanum is a statue of the saint receiving the stigmata as he looks heavenward.
The first chapel to the right has a "Flagellation" by Marco Benefial, flanking paintings by Domenico Muratori with a cupola frescoed by Giovanni Odazzi. The second chapel has a painting of the Virgin by Sebastiano Conca and a "St Michael", copy of the mosaic of St Peters completed by Filippo Laurenti. The third chapel on the right has a canvas depicting "St Joseph Calasanzio" by Marco Caprini.
The main altarpiece is a "Saint Francis with stigmata" (1719) by Francesco Trevisani. The nave ceiling has a "Glory of St. Francis" by Luigi Garzi.
In the third chapel the left has an altarpiece depicting the "Ss. Quaranta Martiri" (Holy Forty martyrs) by Giacinto Brandi, author of another "St. Francis with Stigmata" in the Hall of Stimmate. The sacristy ceiling was frescoed by Girolamo Pesce.


Fairholme (Newport, Rhode Island)

Fairholme is a Tudor style historic mansion in Newport, Rhode Island designed by Frank Furness and built by Furness & Hewitt in 1874-1875 for Fairman Rogers. One of the many "cottages" built during the Gilded Age on beachfront property in the Newport area, it is located on a parcel of 4.3 acres near the eastern end of Ruggles Avenue with an ocean frontage of 425 feet. It was remodeled in 1905 by John R. Drexel at a substantial cost but, after passing through the hands of Alphonso P. Villa, was sold before 1955, during the period when the rich were impacted by high tax rates, to Robert A. Young for $38,000.
It was owned by Palm Beach resident John Noffo Kahn, an heir to the Annenberg publishing fortune.
The Gilded Age estate was on the market for $16,900,000. It is located on Ochre Point, south of The Breakers on the south side of Ruggles Avenue between the neighboring mansions of Midcliffe and Angelsea. The stables on Ruggles Avenue, historically used as the gardener's cottage, was acquired by Salve Regina University in 1991 and converted to a residence hall, Jean and David W. Wallace Hall.
It was bought by American businessperson Doug Manchester in the summer of 2015, and subsequently sold a year later, in 2016 for $16.1MM.


Church of St James the Less, Tatham

The Church of St James the Less is in the village of Tatham, Lancashire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Tunstall, the archdeaconry of Lancaster and the diocese of Blackburn. Its benefice is united with those of St Wilfrid, Melling, St John the Baptist, Tunstall, St Peter, Leck, the Good Shepherd, Lowgill, and Holy Trinity, Wray, to form the benefice of East Lonsdale. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It stands above the flood plain of the River Wenning.
History.
A church has been present on the site since at least the Norman era. Most of the fabric of the present church dates from the 15th century, with elements remaining from the Norman period and from the 13th century. The tower was rebuilt in 1722. In 1885–87 the Lancaster architects Paley and Austin added a saddleback roof to the tower. They also carried out an extensive restoration that included adding an organ loft and a vestry, repairing walls, adding windows, fittings and a floor, and removing the ceiling. The restoration cost £3,269 (equivalent to £ in ).
Architecture.
Exterior.
St James' is constructed in sandstone rubble, and has a stone slate roof. Its plan consists of a nave, a north aisle, a south porch, a chancel, a northeast vestry and organ chamber, and a west tower. The tower stands on a plinth, and has two setbacks. At its summit is a saddleback roof with gables to the north and south. Along the south wall of the church is one three-light window and three two-light windows, all containing Perpendicular tracery, and a buttress. The outer doorway of the porch has a pointed arch, above which is a slate sundial. The inner doorway is Norman, and has been much restored. On the north wall of the aisle are two windows, one with two lights, the other with three lights, both with trefoils under flat heads. Between them is a doorway with a pointed arch. The organ chamber is gabled and contains a three-light window with Perpendicular tracery. The vestry has a two-light window with Y-tracery. The east window has three lights with intersecting tracery.
Interior.
Inside the church between the nave and the aisle is a three-bay arcade. It consists of pointed arches carried on octagonal piers, with bases and capitals said to date from the 12th century. In the floor of the chancel is a medieval grave-cover. Also in the chancel are a triple sedilia and a piscina with trefoil heads; both of these have been restored and reconstructed. The sandstone font is octagonal and carved. The choirstalls, pews and pulpit were designed by Paley and Austin. The stained glass in the east window is by Burlison and Grylls and dates from the late 19th century. The window also incorporates glass depicting the arms of the Duke of Lancaster in grisaille, dating from about 1300 to about 1400. The west window in the aisle contains glass by Shrigley and Hunt, dated 1909, depicting Saint Helen. In the church are brasses dating from the 17th century. Also in the church are the painted royal arms of George II. The two-manual organ was built in the 1880s by Abbott. There is a ring of three bells. The oldest of these was cast in 1771 by an unknown founder, and the other two in 1887 by John Taylor and Company.
External features.
The churchyard contains the war grave of a sailor of the Royal Naval Patrol Service of World War II.


Marsh Foundation School

The Marsh Foundation School is an alternative school in Van Wert, Ohio, United States. Housed in a complex of historic buildings along the former Lincoln Highway, the school and an associated children's home were founded to serve impoverished children throughout northwestern Ohio.
Born in 1833, George H. Marsh settled in Van Wert at the age of twelve with his father. Growing to adulthood, he erected the present farmhouse in the first half of the 1860s; a two-story brick structure, it is a built in the plan of a cross. As the years passed, Marsh became very wealthy, and he became determined to use his wealth to help others. According to locals, Marsh and his family were returning home from Fort Wayne, Indiana on a winter night and saw two impoverished children, and consequently his wife Hilinda suggested dedicating their estate to children such as those two.
After Marsh's death, his will provided more than $5,000,000 for the establishment of a foundation to administer the school. In 1923, the trustees contracted with Langdon, Hohly, and Gram, a Toledo architectural company, to build six school buildings on the Marsh farm. Since that time, the school and home have served the community of Van Wert, while the original house has been converted into a museum.
In 1980, the Marsh homestead and school buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places; twenty-one buildings across the complex qualified as contributing properties. The property qualified for inclusion on the Register both because of its distinctive architecture and because of its connection to Marsh: he was one of Van Wert's leading citizens, and the school buildings are among the best Jacobethan structures in western Ohio.


Free Synagogue of Flushing

The Free Synagogue of Flushing is a historic synagogue located at 41-60 Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, Queens, New York City. It was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 2009. Its establishment is based on the free synagogue movement, started by Stephen Samuel Wise.
Early history.
The Free Synagogue of Flushing was founded in 1917 Sanford Avenue by the Hebrew Women's Aid Society, in keeping with the philosophy of the first Free Synagogue, the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan. In the "New York Tribune" in 1906, an interview with Rabbi Wise explained his plans and meaning of "free synagogue": "The Free Synagogue will, as its name implies, be free in so far as its pulpit will be free and untrammeled, free to voice without free or scruple the high moral and spiritual teachings of the synagogue. It will thus do much to regain the moral support, which church and synagogue alike, alas! are losing or have lost." These principles include freedom of the pulpit, freedom in religious philosophy, freedom in terms of seating, and men and women are equal in participation and leadership. For much of its history, the synagogue has been a bastion of liberal thought and social activism. It is the oldest Reform congregation in Queens.
When the synagogue was established with the aid of Rabbi Sidney Goldstein of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, it purchased the white house at the then quiet intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Sanford Avenue. The first synagogue was a stately pillared mansion designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, which stood on the corner of the lot. Some years later, the synagogue membership had grown so large it was decided a new sanctuary had to be built. During World War I, the Hebrew Women's Aid Society commissioned the architect Maurice Courland to build a synagogue on Kissena Boulevard.
During its early years, the synagogue was served by three rabbis for relatively short periods of time. They included Rabbi Bernard Cantor, who left on a mission for the Joint Distribution Committee to help oppressed Jews in Eastern Europe. While doing his humanitarian work, Cantor was murdered by bandits in southern Russia. The anniversary of his death is still observed.
Cantor was succeeded by Rabbi Abraham Feldman, who later went to Hartford, Connecticut, and he in turn was followed by Rabbi Maxwell Silver, a brother of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, the famed Zionist and counselor to a number of American presidents. When Silver left in 1922, the temple turned to Wise for help, and he selected Rabbi Max Meyer to serve on a "temporary basis", which lasted 40 years. Meyer was the prime mover in the growth and development of the Free Synagogue of Flushing. He also served as chairman of the North Shore branch of the Long Island division of the American Jewish Congress.
Rabbi Charles Agin came to Flushing in 1958 to assist Meyer, and quickly gained the affection and confidence of the congregation. A year later, Rabbi Agin received an officer's commission and was inducted into the Armed Forces. When he returned, Rabbi Agin was named assistant rabbi and principal of the religious school, and at the retirement of Meyer, he was named to succeed him and was granted life tenure. During his 50 years of service, Rabbi Agin presided over expansion of the temple, including a new administration building, the Rabbi Max Meyer Religious School which supports children 6 through 16 with an after school Hebrew education and other facilities.
Events since 2000.
Michael Weisser joined as rabbi in September 2008, when the synagogue had around 100 members, down from several hundred decades earlier. A graduate of Hebrew Union College's cantorial program in the 1970s, he was ordained in 2001. He has participated in the planning and execution of the Queens Unity Walk, which brings together people of various faiths for a day of learning. He is currently involved in the creation of an interfaith council that will serve the ethnically and religiously diverse borough of Queens. Recently, he was among those chosen to deliver an invocation at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Interfaith Breakfast.
When Weisser was a cantor in Lincoln, Nebraska, Larry Trapp, the Grand Dragon of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan threatened him and his family. The rabbi's response was to reach out to the one behind the threats. He ultimately befriended Mr. Trapp and was instrumental in changing him from a lifelong racist to a renouncer of hatred who spoke out publicly against bigotry. Three months before his death from diabetes-related kidney disease in 1992, Trapp converted to Judaism under Rabbi Weisser's guidance, in the very same synagogue he once plotted to blow up. The book "Not by the Sword: How a Cantor and His Family Transformed a Klansman" by Kathryn Watterson was written about these events. Composer Michael Ching wrote an opera called "Slaying the Dragon" (2012) based on the events described in Watterson's book. Rabbi Weisser retired in June 2016 and returned to Nebraska.
Nationally known Steven Pearlston, a professional opera singer and director, was the synagogue's cantor and music director for 35 years until his resignation in July 2014. He possessed a broad knowledge of the full range of the Jewish liturgical, classical and secular musical repertoires, as well as Jewish history and philosophy. He was the cantor of the only synagogue in Queens which had a professional choir at all services. The choir performed behind an ornate grate above the pink marbled Ark. During the first 47 years, the synagogue did not have a cantor with the rabbi conducting services and the congregation singing the responses. In 1923, it obtained an organ which ranks in quality with some of the finest organs in Europe.
The Free Synagogue of Flushing has a youth and adult education program. It provides space to various political, community organizations, and fledgling church groups. Throughout its history, the synagogue has remained active in social action causes. Every year, it commemorates Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday in its sanctuary and hosts interfaith events.
Current building.
The white Victorian-style building that White built was moved in 1926 to the Sanford Avenue frontage of the synagogue to make way for a larger sanctuary, the present Free Synagogue of Flushing. This neoclassical building designed by Maurice Courland, who is a specialist in synagogue design, features a massive portico supported by four Ionic pillars. Ascending the stately steps is magnificent sanctuary where dark green pilasters support the walls upon which rest the enormous dome. The building is beautified with ornamental Judaic motifs, such as a seven-branched menorah right outside the doors of the synagogue. Tiffany style stained glass windows crafted in Czechoslovakia bathe the sanctuary in rich, radiant colors. Inscribed in the front is the verse ().
The windows depict Noah's Ark, the lions of Judah, great swirls of leaves and vines and delicate flowers used in the Sukkot prayer, and the two hands of the Priestly Blessing. In the center of the domed ceiling that covers the entire sanctuary is a smaller stained-glass dome designed around a Star of David and intricate, gold-leaf filigree, hand-turned and carved, graces the wood that is a dark green color. It is a synagogue-in-the-round which provides a sense of intimacy during its spiritual services. In 1964, a three-story school building was added to accommodate the religious school and adult education classes. It is listed on both the New York State and National Register of Historic Places.
Since 2009 the synagogue building has been undergoing an extensive renovation. The new windows, on the south side of the temple near Sanford Avenue are the latest part of the ongoing repairs. The New York Landmarks Conservancy awarded their first-ever Historic Synagogue Fund award for the restoration of its monumental stained glass windows and wood sash, and in December 2011, the synagogue dedicated its new stained glass windows with prayers led by Rabbi Michael S. Weisser.