A Timeline of Britain
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spectacular transition from medieval to modern architecture, and a dazzling burst of houses on a grand scale. Author Alison Weir, whose historical tours service includes Tudor Treasures (
www.alisonweirtours.com), said: “The period began with
the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style widely interpreted in brick in the fashionable Flemish style. Soon it was increasingly being embellished with ‘antick’ Renaissance decoration as French and Italian influences gained popularity.
www.britain-magazine.com “There is no finer example
of early Tudor architecture than Hampton Court Palace (3): the magnificent Great Hall, with its splendid hammerbeam roof, was built as an impressive entrance to Henry VIII’s apartments, while the Tudor kitchens cover one third of the palace area and are the best preserved anywhere. The Chapel Royal (4) has a breathtaking ceiling in blue and gold, and the myriad decorated chimney columns reflect the trend towards coal fires and greater domestic comfort.
“Anne Boleyn’s family
converted Hever Castle (5) (Kent) into an imposing manor house and built one of the earliest English long galleries, designed to display portraits and for exercise on wet days. Harvington Hall (6) (near Kidderminster) is a moated redbrick mansion that conceals no fewer than seven priest holes – a necessary feature of Catholic houses in the Protestant Elizabethan era. “The likes of the great
prodigy houses of Elizabeth’s reign, with their classical ornamentation, had not been
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seen in England since Roman times. As glass became cheaper, windows became larger, and interiors much lighter, as can be seen at Hardwick Hall (7) (Derbyshire) – ‘more glass than wall’. Rich Renaissance decoration, derived from French pattern books, abounds at ruined Kirby Hall (8) (Northamptonshire). “In towns like Stratford- upon-Avon, one sees beautifully preserved Tudor houses of timber and brick, such as the famous Shakespeare properties. Shakespeare’s Globe (9)
in London has been authentically recreated to reflect another new building trend of the Elizabethan period: theatres.” Also to add to your
sightseeing list: Burghley House (Stamford), its rooftop a miniature city of turrets, stair-towers and chimneys; black-and-white Little Moreton Hall (Cheshire), a showcase of Elizabethan carpentry; palatial Longleat (Wiltshire) with the Elizabethan Great Hall at its heart; mellow brick Melford Hall and moated, redbrick Kentwell (Suffolk).
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PHOTO: VISIT BRITAIN/BRITAIN ON VIEW
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