#coade stone

[lindahall]

Eleanor Coade – Scientist of the Day

Eleanor Coade, an English manufacturer, was born June 3, 1733.

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[londiniumlundene]

The Coade Stone Caryatids of St Pancras Church

St Pancras Church on Euston Road was constructed in Greek Revival style in the early 19th Century – and was apparently the most expensive place of worship to be constructed in London since the rebuilding of St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire. To complete its Greek stylings (heavily modelled after the Erechtheum in Athens), the architects commissioned the sculptor John Charles Felix Rossi to make eight caryatids (sculpted female figures serving as architectural supports in place of a conventional pillar) to flank each side of the church.

The caryatids were sculpted from Coade stone, an artificial stone popular at the time as it was very weather resistant, though unfortunately not so resistant to staining from modern pollution. The caryatids took three years to make, only for Rossi to be hit with a last minute problem – he had made them too tall to fit between the platforms on which they were to stand and the roof they had to support.

Determined that his work be incorporated into the church, Rossi cut out part of the torso of each sculpture; the surgery is partially disguised by the flowing robes each caryatid wears, though on close examination, a) the cut can be seen, and b) the legs are noticeably disproportionately long. 

[thefollyflaneuse]

Freddie's Folly, The Gibberd Garden, Harlow, Essex

In the 1970s the Coutts Bank building in central London was partly remodelled to a design by the architect Sir Frederick Gibberd. A new glass entrance was designed to replace the columned central section of the facade on the Strand. As work progressed Gibberd salvaged some of the redundant masonry to reuse at his Essex home. There he indulged in what the Architects’ Journal called ‘that virtuous…

Freddie's Folly, The Gibberd Garden, Harlow, Essex

[thefollyflaneuse]

The Orangery, Clapham, London

Surrounded by a twentieth century housing estate in south London, this classical building comes as something of a surprise. The Orangery, as it is known today, was once a feature of the pleasure grounds of Robert Thornton’s house on the edge of Clapham Common. Continue reading The Orangery, Clapham, London

The Orangery, Clapham, London

[thefollyflaneuse]

The Obelisk, Woolverstone Park, Suffolk

On the banks of the river Orwell in Suffolk there once stood a lofty obelisk. It proclaimed to all the filial piety of Charles Berners, who erected it in 1793 in memory of his father, William. At 96 feet tall, and topped with a golden sun, it was a prominent landmark but sadly it came to a sorry end when it was damaged by fire and then demolished in the middle of the 20th century. But as the…

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[thefollyflaneuse]

The Temple of the Muses, Dryburgh, Borders.

The Temple of the Muses, Dryburgh, Borders.

The 11th Earl of Buchan, seldom mentioned without the qualifier ‘eccentric’, bought the Dryburgh estate towards the end of the 18th century. He built a new house and improved the grounds, creating a landscape which featured as its centrepiece that ultimate in garden ornaments: a ruined abbey. Further embellishments included this pretty rotunda on a hillock overlooking the Tweed, and a ‘colossal…

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[thefollyflaneuse]

One Orangery, Two Gardens: Fairford, Gloucestershire and Sledmere, East Yorkshire

One Orangery, Two Gardens: Fairford, Gloucestershire and Sledmere, East Yorkshire

A view of the house at Sledmere, painted in 1795, shows a classical orangery west of the kitchen garden. No trace of this building survives today but, mysteriously, another 18th century orangery can be found between the house and the stables. (more…)

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[thefollyflaneuse]

Pavilions in Peril part II: Persisting in Peril

Pavilions in Peril part II: Persisting in Peril

In 1987 Save Britain’s Heritage, the charity which campaigns to save historic buildings from needless destruction, published Pavilions in Peril, a report into the great number of garden buildings in Britain that faced an uncertain future. In drawing attention to historic buildings that are vacant and whose future is uncertain, the charity hoped to identify new owners able to repair and/or find a…

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