Methodist Chapel, Monmouth

Contrary to the Listing information about this Grade II* building Monmouth's methodist chapel is not "prominently sited". In fact, it has to be searched out and is easily missed, being built back from the street line. It was designed by the architect G.V. Maddox and a panel supported by scrolls in the pediment proclaims the date of its completion as 1837. Maddox gave the building a classical facade with Ionic columns at ground level supporting a porch, Ionic pilasters on the first floor, triangular pediments over the rectangular ground floor windows and round-topped windows in recessed arches above. It is a fine composition that deserved a more public location. A small step in making it better seen by the passing public would be the removal of the bushes that impair the view.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Worcester Guildhall and Queen Anne

Pevsner describes the Guildhall at Worcester (1721-4) as "splendid as any of the C18 in England". It is a large, imposing building of brick with stone details and may be by the architect Thomas White. Much of the fine detailing is on the upper part of the main facade. Here we see statues of Peace, Justice and Plenty above the large segmental pediment. This is filled with trophies of war that are painted and gilded. Below, framed by giant Corinthian pilasters is a niche with a statue of Queen Anne (formerly free standing). below is a broken-backed triangular pediment, above the main entrance, that features the city's coat of arms. The windows have segmental tops with keystone heads and aprons below. Statues of Queen Anne are not too common in Britain despite a style of architecture being named after her.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

King's Cross facade

During the two periods when we lived in the east of England we frequently visited London using the east coast mainline railway connection with the capital. The terminus of the trains was (and still is) King's Cross and this, in time, became my favourite railway station. I liked it for its simple, relatively unadorned "form follows function" facade where, in the manner of the west end of a cathedral, the external arches express the internal arched spaces - in the former the nave and aisles, in the latter the arches above the lines and platforms. It helped, of course, that King's Cross is next door to my second favourite London terminus - St Pancras!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Tiled pub facade

What is now the Eagle Vaults pub in Worcester was built as a private house around 1740. It was bought in 1764 and in 1779 was converted into a pub known as Young's Mug House. From 1814-1817 it was known as the Volunteer pub and subsequently the Plummer's (sic) Arms. In 1859 it became The Friar Street Vaults. Some time around 1890-1900 it had the decorative and lettering tiles applied to the ground floor of the facade and its name at that time (as now) was the Eagle Vaults. The tiles have lasted very well and the whole scheme looks almost as good today as when it was first installed over a century ago.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Window sill planters

This house opens on to the public pavement on Barton Street, Tewkesbury. It dates from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century and has a plain, though not unattractive, brick facade laid in Flemish bond. I photographed it for the way the owner had decorated each window with potted box shrubs. It's a device that adds to the interest of the facade, and is all the better for featuring just one type of plant rather than many.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Queen Square, Bath

The north side of Queen Square in Bath is the work of John Wood the Elder. It dates from the early eighteenth century and follows the Palladian style for a grand front of a large house. The innovation here is that Wood designed the facade but he sought other builders to erect the individual dwellings behind that make this into, not a single large dwelling, but a terrace of houses.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Windows, louvres and shadows

Louvres have proliferated on modern buildings as architects have wrestled with the problem of solar gain. In the eighteenth century the louvres were in the form of shutters that closed across the outside of a window. Today they can be fixed in place with movable vanes. Other designs are immovable and only have an effect when the sun is at a particular angle. In some buildings the louvres become the main decorative element as well as having a functional role. The photograph shows the louvres on part of Gloucestershire College in Gloucester. They are fixed above the windows and project outwards. throwing shade across the window as the sun moves across the face of the building. In bright sunlight the shadows enliven the relatively plain facade.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Faded elelgance, Wisbech

There's an attraction in faded elegance. Perhaps it's glimpsing and still enjoying something of what was in what is.This late Georgian (early 1800s) building in Hill Street, Wisbech, must have been a town house for a well-to-do family. It is tastefully composed, well-proportioned, and uses brick and stone dressing in a minimalist sort of way. In fact, theses features contribute most to the success of the facade. More money and more decoration was, quite appropriately, given to the entrance with its Doric columns and Greek key pattern. Gentle subsidence and desultory maintenance have left it looking somewhat neglected, but its style still manages to shine through.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10