The tallest hedge in Britain?

At our last house we had the unenviable task of cutting a hedge that was abut 120 feet long and 10 feet high. When I saw the hedge cutting featured in today's photograph I remembered our hedge and reflected that the job was as nothing compared with the task of keeping this monster in shape. I don't know whether this hedge at Cirencester Park is the tallest in Britain but there can't be many, if any, that surpass it. You might wonder why a country house that is surrounded by a stone wall as tall as that in the photograph needs a hedge behind it. It must, I think, be because the house is next to the streets and houses of the town and a taller barrier was felt necessary to preserve the privacy of the owners. Incidentally, watching this hedge cutting was probably the highpoint of our grandson's visit to Cirencester.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Flowers and Cotswold stone

Pevsner describes Cecily Hill as "the grandest street in Cirencester." He is right, though my photograph doesn't show it. On my visit, the first to this broad thoroughfare, I was taken by the variety of shape and colour of the shrubs and flowers against the Cotswold stone of the Tontine Buildings, a twenty-three-bay terrace of 1802. The photograph shows that the absence of a garden at the front of your property is no impediment to a floral display, and if your neighbours are like-minded then everyone's work combines to great effect.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Fan vaulting

It's always a pleasure to come across fan vaulting. This way of supporting and embellishing a stone roof is peculiar to English Gothic and dates from the years around 1500. This particular example is in the south porch of Cirencester church and consequently is invariably lit by a raking light from the entrance: often they are lit by artificial light to show off their beauty. It received some restoration in 1865 by George Gilbert Scott and he, doubtless, simply made good what he found.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Cirencester

The Roman Corinium mentioned by Ptolemy in 150AD is the present day Cotswolds market town of Cirencester. It lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the Thames, and is often called the "capital of the Cotswolds". There are many buildings featuring the honey-coloured limestone of that region, and more than a few that  have been painted in pastel shades as this view along the Market Place shows.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100