The Corpus of ROMANESQUE SCULPTURE in Britain & Ireland
Private house
Private house
Borough Marsh is an island surrounded by the rivers Thames and Loddon and their tributaries, between Shiplake and Wargrave. These gateposts with beakhead voussoirs built into them were crucial to the rediscovery of carved stones from the cloister of Reading Abbey. Just before the outbreak of World War II, Dr Wilfred Bowman bought Barn Acre Cottage in Borough Marsh near Wargrave. He intended to use it as a summer cottage, but he and his family took more-or-less permanent residence there after the air raids on London began. While gardening Dr Bowman unearthed the two beakhead voussoirs recorded here, and had them incorporated into the gateposts of a new set of gates for the cottage. In 1948 the stones were noticed by René Ledésert, a specialist in French literature based in London, who brought them to the attention of his friend George Zarnecki at the Courtauld Institute of Art, who recognised them as stones from Reading Abbey, and began a correspondence with Dr Bowman that resulted, later the same year, in the Courtauld Institute excavation of Dr Bowman's garden, and the discovery of some sixty carved stones that are now in Reading Museum. For an account of how the stones may have come to Borough Marsh, and more details of the excavation, see Baxter and Harrison (2002) and Zarnecki (1949 and 1950). An account of the excavation has been compiled by Tessa Smith, Dr Bowman's daughter, which includes photographs and copies of correspondence.
Private house
This house was built in the 18th century; it appears on a 1773 map. In the 19th century it was two houses called 'Rose Cottage Villas' and remained two houses until the late 20th century, when it became a single house. Many stones from the nearby Cistercian nunnery, Stanley Abbey (founded 1154), were reused in its construction, including a section of roll moulding from an arch in the front wall of the house.
Private house
35 London Street, now (4 November 2013) the headquarters of R.I.S.C., is a terraced house of three storeys with a large basement extending under the road. It now boasts an imposing baroque facade. The fragments of sculpture here described were discovered built into the fabric of the first floor and basement during a major restoration of the building in 1997. The stones were found in two locations: (i) built into a wall on the first floor, and (ii) built into walls in the basement. Details of the location of each stone are given below, but they are all described under the heading of loose sculpture, since it is intended that they should be removed from their present locations for display in the public areas of the building.
Private house
These architectural fragments had been reused in the walls of a barn and were discovered when the building was demolished. They are now located in the courtyard of a private house at Quenington Court Farm.
Private house
A general introduction to Glastonbury will be found under the entry for Glastonbury Abbey. Chilkwell Street is to the E of the medieval town centre which includes the large green space containing the ruins of the abbey. The official listing text combines nos. 43 and 45 in one entry, saying it is one building used as two properties; it is of late medieval origin, although altered. The building is of two storeys with a stone facing. A single moulded bracket or corbel is built into the front under the eaves of No. 45.
Private house
The late Romanesque doorway was originally in the back stairs in the SW portion of the manor near an underground chamber, now sealed off, which is said to have led to the chancel of the church. It was reset as an entrance to the existing dining room by Norman Jewson, in 1926.
Private house
This late medieval, probably circa 1500 house in a lane between the town and St John’s Church, has fragments from the demolished castle incorporated into it. NB the listing description dates the property to the 16th or 17th century with alterations from the 18th century.
Private house
In the fireplace of the ground floor lounge and in the cellar there are a series of reused carved 12th century stones from Devizes Castle.
Private house
Cumrew lies 13 miles E of Carlisle. St Mary’s church was extensively repaired by John Calvert, curate of the church(1679-1690). Later, in 1814, a W tower was erected. The small church was entirely rebuilt in 1890. Carved stones from the 12thc can be seen re-used on both the interior and exterior outer walls of a neighbouring building, now a private house, and these stones are believed to have originally formed part of the medieval church. Previous to it being made into a house, the building was used for storage. The N exterior wall of the house contains a number of carved stones, but the carving of several of these cannot easily be determined, as another building N of the house has subsequently been built close to it. There is no early reference to the building before it was made into a house, but suggestions for the date of its construction have been put forward as late-16thc or 17thc.
Private house
Swainston Manor is situated in parkland in the west-central area of the Isle of Wight to the N of the island’s lateral chalk ridge. Swainston Manor is a large house dating from the 18thc. Adjoining this are substantial remains from the medieval period. There is a rectangular block of largely 13thc date with a main story lit by lancet and later windows above an undercroft . Attached to the N side of this structure is a smaller range which is also aligned E-W. This was altered in the 18thc but its E wall dates from the later 12thc, indicated by the twin light window high up in the external wall (Lloyd and Pevsner 2006, 278).