The tower of the church of St Peter and Paul, beside the castle of Melnik, overlooking an important crossing point at the confluence of the the Elbe and Vltava rivers in the Czech Republic. The church has been rebuilt a number of times since its original construction in 1000. The tower dates to 1488 with its Baroque spire added in 1681. The main external appearance, however, dates to an extensive restoration between 1910 and 1916. The castle also dates it origins to the 9th century and was largely rebuilt in the 17th. The Lobkowicz family owed the castle from 1753 to 1948. Ownership was returned to them on the fall of communism in 1992. the castle has since been extensively conserved and is now open to the public.
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The church at the centre of Herrnhut in Saxony. Focus of the town plan, this was the original settlement of the Moravian Church. The town is currently partnered with Gracehill in Northern Ireland and Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, USA, in a bid to UNESCO for joint transnational world heritage status. Herrnhut, however, is also famous for its Christmas star factory
Pixie Cottage near Redruth, Cornwall. Probably mid nineteenth century, now renovated as holiday accommodation. Beautiful secluded setting.
The Eden Project, near St Austell in Cornwall. Situated in a former China Clay quarry, the site is dominated by two huge geodesic domes which were erected between 1998 and 2000 called biomes. These created the conditions to house Rainforest and Mediterranean plants. Temperate zone planting is displayed outside. It is an impressive display and well with the visit.
Further around the coast near Truro, this is the view from a small jetty at Malpas where the Tresillian River meets the Truro River. In the trees on the other side is the former Ship Inn (until 1854). A picturesque place and a sheltered harbour for boats.
St ives in the summer, a long way from the icy weather tonight. Clustered around its bay, sheltered by its pier, picturesque in its composition, its narrow streets are a delight to visit as is the Barbara Hepworth Gallery with its sculpture garden. The Tate St Ives is visible on the edge of the hill in this view is worth a visit as well, and reflects that this place has held an attraction for artists over many years.
Possibly the most dramatically sited of the many tin mines scattered across Cornwall, the Wheal Coates mine operated from 1802 to 1889. This building is the Towanroath Pumping Engine House of 1872 that was used to pump water out of the adjacent mine shaft that extended under the sea. A great steam powered beam engine was once enclosed by the building. Though at third floor the back wall was open to allow the beam to project. Beautiful and full of character today, it would have been an extreme environment to work in, with sheer cliffs below and bog land above. Now part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site
St Michael's Mount is a dramatic island monastery/fortress connected to the land by a tidal causeway. The island is crowned by a church and is very similar in appearance to Mont Saint Michel across the English Channel in Normandy. it was, in fact, a priory owned by that monastery from the tenth century up to the 1414 when Henry V dissolved the link during the 100 Years War with France. it became a parish church thereafter. The current church is thought to have been built in the late 14th century following an earthquake. The defensible position of the island meant that it was involved in a number of incidents, including being held by Royalists during the English Civil War. In 1659 it was sold to a Colonel John St Aubyn a former soldier in the New Model Army and his decedents adapted and expanded the former monastic buildings into the fine castellated house that now encloses the church. The most recent works were carried out in the 1870's. The site is managed by the National Trust
The Minack Theatre near Porthcurrno Cornwall is a remarkable place. From a natural amphitheatre overlooking the sea, it was developed from 1932 onwards by Rowena Cade and her gardener. A delight to the eye, the reinforced concrete interventions are decorated with Celtic motifs and swirls and the names and dates of plays performed. Everywhere are dates recording when a particular piece was added. Rowena kept adapting the place until she was in her 80's and died in 1983. All built by hand, it shows the quirkiness of a project that was never on a drawing board and just developed organically over time as needs were understood and refined. Visiting is a real experience, driving up the steep narrow road from Porthcurno you arrive at a flat car parking field with expansive views and then walk down to the theatre though boundary walls and kiosks to a sudden vertiginous view down to the stage. When I was there the sun was very strong, the sea calm and the actors easily heard. A unique experience in a wonderful place.
Brackfield Bawn, beside Lower Cumber Presbyterian Church. One of two bawns or fortified houses built by the Skinners Company of London on their 'proportion' as part of the Plantation of Ulster in the early Seventeenth Century. The other bawn was in the village of Dungiven and reused the historic priory in that village. The construction of bawns was.a requirement of the Plantation and provided refuge for the new settlers from Scotland and England in times of uncertainty. They all tended to have a fortified stone house with a courtyard defended by corner turrets or 'flankers'. The bawn was the focus of a small settlement and 12 houses and a church are recorded outside its walls in a map of 1622. A mill was also recorded between the village and the nearby Faughan river. Of all this nothing survives above ground. The bawn itself was abandoned by the end of the Seventeenth century. It is now a Monument in State Care.
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