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York, features hammer beams in the form of angels holding musical instruments and other useful objects. An even greater draw here is the superlative display of medieval glass, including the unique Pricke of Conscience window illustrating the final 15 days of the world with rising seas, monsters, earthquakes and falling stars. Despite the Wars of the
Roses, England’s merchants prospered, especially in wool and cloth. Many endowed local churches, building what now seem rather grandiose affairs in village and town settings. Tour the Cotswolds
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to admire the ‘wool churches’ of Chipping Campden, Fairford (5), Northleach (2) and Winchcombe. St Mary the Virgin, Fairford, is famed for its complete set of 28 medieval stained glass windows, and St Peter & St Paul, Northleach, boasts superb brass memorials to local woolmen. Or wander over to Suffolk to see the medieval cloth and wool towns and churches of Cavendish, Long Melford (3) and Lavenham – whose half-timbered Guildhall (7) bustles us into the Tudor era. Chantries and chapels
commemorating the great
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and the good (and booking them a ticket to heaven) abound elsewhere, too, including the glorious Beauchamp Chapel of St Mary’s, Warwick, built to house the tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Henry VI, of course, founded Eton College (9) and King’s College, Cambridge. Grand domestic buildings
of the era show a growing focus on splendour and comfort. Castle moats are now often meant for ornament rather than defence – witness Herst- monceux Castle(1), East Sussex, also one of the first
major buildings in brick. The remains of the moated fortified mansion of Kirby Muxloe Castle (8), Leicestershire, are also in brick; while the moated manor house of Great Chalfield, near Melksham in Wiltshire, has stunning oriel windows. There’s a magnificent
hammer-beam roof to admire in the Great Hall added to Eltham Palace in the reign of Edward IV, and the extensive ruins of Derbyshire’s Wingfield Manor, arranged around two courtyards, hint at the conspicuous consumption of
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the well-to-do. You might feel more at home in the original medieval hall house at Great Dixter, East Sussex, comprising a Great Hall, Parlour and Solar. If you’re in need of
refreshment look no farther than The George Inn (4), Norton St Philip, near Bath. One of the few remaining medieval inns, this half- timbered building boasts 15th-century jettied (overhanging) storeys, which were typically developed to provide more space on the upper floors while also protecting the lower part of the building from rain.
BRITAIN 87
PHOTO: ALAMY/
WWW.VISITBRITAINIMAGES.COM/NTPL, ANDREW BUTLER/COURTESY OF VISIT YORK
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