tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-154465642024-03-06T00:42:13.227+00:00Old Subtlety - blog of Broughton Castle - stately home in Oxfordshire and film locationA beautiful English castle decides it needs a blog.
Built in 1306 (and 1550) this romantic fortified medieval manor house has seen it all and wants to throw off the shackles of history and take flight into the blogosphere...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-79958233503535424462009-06-02T10:34:00.002+00:002009-06-02T10:43:51.104+00:00SummertimeTwo properly English events at Broughton in the coming weeks. First the Church fete on Saturday June 13th starting at 2pm. It remains a great community "coming together". Secondly, we host the AGM of the <a href="http://www.coraclesociety.org.uk/history.htm">Coracle Society</a> on Sunday June 21st. There will be a paddle past of coracles in the afternoon - including my mother's (her 70th birthday present) probably piloted by me. A Coracle paddle-past. You can't do better than that!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-42838746843212474092009-04-07T14:29:00.006+00:002009-04-07T14:56:05.456+00:00The Music Room<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUxfXCeJhKkIJbb8eFfARZ9wWz8pCX3wlQGcB4YGE0RL63Nqz4jwKlD_oJqxWmlronog0iBB6sPRuD_GYTvqHVA2Lg8XYCxIoVLupCq9TLyNPsAmmJQF6IhObQ_ja4yIy3lOW/s1600-h/Music-Room-by-William-Fie-002.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCUxfXCeJhKkIJbb8eFfARZ9wWz8pCX3wlQGcB4YGE0RL63Nqz4jwKlD_oJqxWmlronog0iBB6sPRuD_GYTvqHVA2Lg8XYCxIoVLupCq9TLyNPsAmmJQF6IhObQ_ja4yIy3lOW/s200/Music-Room-by-William-Fie-002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321959773969780466" /></a><br />William Fiennes' book The Music Room published yesterday. William grew up at Broughton Castle and this memoir is largely set at Broughton Castle. <br /><br />It will be on sale in the shop here on open days as well, of course, at any good bookshop, Amazon etc. <br /><br />Some of the great reviews:<br />John Burnside in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/04/the-music-room-william-fiennes ">The Guardian </a> <br /><br />Nicholas Shakespeare in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5094635/The-Music-Room-by-William-Fiennes-Review.html">The Daily Telegraph </a><br /><br />Virginia Ironside in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-music-room-by-william-fiennes-1660586.html">The Independent </a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-12612746291769209482009-04-07T14:14:00.005+00:002009-04-07T14:28:27.702+00:00Spring repairs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqdkab446ErJN8DG0kDV6x7VdnrubOjNqTsQQtgcOHM7aLF3-PM1cRfrOibjttAvHJG4KXo-Knz9Dx4lJfciGOK2YOsBmSkFqKFrk6QIwqW4p28zXLl54FCRoi2Wg49dSV7gY/s1600-h/IMG_1046.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqdkab446ErJN8DG0kDV6x7VdnrubOjNqTsQQtgcOHM7aLF3-PM1cRfrOibjttAvHJG4KXo-Knz9Dx4lJfciGOK2YOsBmSkFqKFrk6QIwqW4p28zXLl54FCRoi2Wg49dSV7gY/s400/IMG_1046.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321955491347528642" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCzc9ACsa-o1jhnuXI4T3Ue-4Ats6Ql0lYcBrAWRE6_yM8LAXgx2nEEE3uul_K7Y_nZLNQHCJUn92JPDyCyoRepi5ImC49SwYFeME7C9RnrLtlyi4JZeV4uWtXVEzZAPRMjqd/s1600-h/IMG_1045.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUCzc9ACsa-o1jhnuXI4T3Ue-4Ats6Ql0lYcBrAWRE6_yM8LAXgx2nEEE3uul_K7Y_nZLNQHCJUn92JPDyCyoRepi5ImC49SwYFeME7C9RnrLtlyi4JZeV4uWtXVEzZAPRMjqd/s400/IMG_1045.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321955286638387666" /></a><br />Two renovation projects for the winter / spring. The first is complete - a new section of wall to protect the inside bank of the moat. The second is new roof tiles on the west end of the house. This is underway now and should be finished in May. The tiles are a pale Cotswold stone. I asked whether we were going to put the yoghurt / cow manure mix used on the church spire stone to encourage lichen growth and to make the tiles as quickly as possible blend with the older ones. However we can't do that up here - apparently the magic mixture would lead to an acidic run-off from the tiles onto the lead roof with possible corrosive damage resulting. So, we'll have to be patient and will soon have a glaring new west roof, for a good five years or so until it mellows and weathers. <br /><br />Here are the tiles, sitting down by the battlements, biggest on the left (which go at the bottom), smallest on the right (for the top). Patiently waiting their turn to do a couple of hundred years of sentry duty. They reminded me of Anthony Gormley's Field (see here) <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPs2xNFH2CiDtddKxbZ1KPRcuYVPaQ9M9pmaOBWtS5URtGvWgYjtdmLeQNSrPNykjn52yP_HEJQ9v3byic5XY2tTL_L3iSfuf3yO1Z5KPM3X0REy2qRJ7DKwZVi-5HC3cWlnT/s1600-h/gormley05.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 206px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPs2xNFH2CiDtddKxbZ1KPRcuYVPaQ9M9pmaOBWtS5URtGvWgYjtdmLeQNSrPNykjn52yP_HEJQ9v3byic5XY2tTL_L3iSfuf3yO1Z5KPM3X0REy2qRJ7DKwZVi-5HC3cWlnT/s400/gormley05.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321955664123609666" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-83905574178174860532009-01-26T12:35:00.004+00:002009-01-26T12:51:20.366+00:00Batman and Robin visit Broughton Castle!<div align="right"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY3InoO9pWHfi_mGOdPtlfy_sbhSEmqb5lhyphenhyphenl10S9ovfsDK8a1klMCh7TeUvYvoMhG40YuDDnqTSAx8Ypwq1MnyrFDJFNBRU6mLuCG1LLquby1vCQrkdk7fOk2GTyntphFBxz8/s1600-h/IMG_6766.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295582854804267554" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY3InoO9pWHfi_mGOdPtlfy_sbhSEmqb5lhyphenhyphenl10S9ovfsDK8a1klMCh7TeUvYvoMhG40YuDDnqTSAx8Ypwq1MnyrFDJFNBRU6mLuCG1LLquby1vCQrkdk7fOk2GTyntphFBxz8/s320/IMG_6766.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA82DyW6Mss5pHReu5p5-tM5auygT6nlJRtP3IzmX8dcfacwU1fsi5KcSQJekLvn6FJ6i0ZIFQuRXLF60Vyeq5mLJhXVKqTJaWZY_8DDydx1LFnp3RSfKyqSEvD-dwg3ZMQCJV/s1600-h/IMG_6769.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295583422550162066" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA82DyW6Mss5pHReu5p5-tM5auygT6nlJRtP3IzmX8dcfacwU1fsi5KcSQJekLvn6FJ6i0ZIFQuRXLF60Vyeq5mLJhXVKqTJaWZY_8DDydx1LFnp3RSfKyqSEvD-dwg3ZMQCJV/s320/IMG_6769.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><p align="right"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY3InoO9pWHfi_mGOdPtlfy_sbhSEmqb5lhyphenhyphenl10S9ovfsDK8a1klMCh7TeUvYvoMhG40YuDDnqTSAx8Ypwq1MnyrFDJFNBRU6mLuCG1LLquby1vCQrkdk7fOk2GTyntphFBxz8/s1600-h/IMG_6766.jpg"></a> </p>On Wednesday 19 November 2008 Batman and Robin came to Broughton Castle in their Bat Mobile!<br /><br />Is it a bird? Is it a plane? (Am I talking about the right super hero? -No!) Is it the real Batman and Robin? No!<br /><br />It was some of the teachers, pupils and parents of local Frank Wise School (Banbury) filming part their Christmas 2008 show - which was premiered at the local Banbury Cinema in December.Joannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13854610503760858881noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-67044704388070483902009-01-21T19:23:00.008+00:002009-01-22T19:41:21.882+00:00Hornton ironstone at Broughton<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KmNAS0hZnXZZNqScbthB1ZgfHWezm4fn3KtoScriKs2jCN31UtuZFBb1Oa4Re5ieThE0nexWOVMBcKrbJ2ZTeA75YTM4rvHpxl0fBziDU8mX6fOXcgUjvtEzU1MpgabdwT7U/s1600-h/PC.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KmNAS0hZnXZZNqScbthB1ZgfHWezm4fn3KtoScriKs2jCN31UtuZFBb1Oa4Re5ieThE0nexWOVMBcKrbJ2ZTeA75YTM4rvHpxl0fBziDU8mX6fOXcgUjvtEzU1MpgabdwT7U/s400/PC.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" border="0" /></a>Reading about Hornton stone, the stone used at Broughton.<br /><br />It is from Hornton village about 6 miles away just up by Edgehill and the Warwickshire border.<br /><br />Alec Clifton-Taylor in his 1972 "The Pattern of English Building" writes of it thus <blockquote>"This beautiful stone, understandably beloved of sculptors as well as formerly for building, is unusual, inasmuch as deep brown, tawny yellow, greenish and greyish-blue tints can be combined within a single block."</blockquote>He goes on ... <blockquote>"Only six or seven miles away from Hornton is Broughton Castle, one of the most lovable country houses in England, and almost without peer for the subtle beauty of its colour. The gabled walls are a mixture of grey and gold, grey-green and golden-green, and almost everything in between! Lichens add, here and there a gently mottled texture which is quite inimitable." Hornton is a Liassic ironstone. "All ironstones darken on exposure to the weather, since the particles of iron are soon oxidised to produce rust; this often yields richly satisfying hues."</blockquote><div>Here is a 'richly satisfying hue' in the mirrored picture above. I took it on a simple little camera one evening in February last year from the park. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>and just for comparison, a couple of showing how dramatically the stone changes - first on a grey autumn day, and then on a bright mid-summer's day. </div><div><br /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhirdsOiuWIwm7t3If9Oq9auN2duvjsDQBUnvTgfbi5DdVa5UuO6xJ8Y4nLORgbsxPAe6teOYrkl8ntE5ssUeXjOWgNGncBmCL9K4BGAh-HjW5fi5zuF9KJFkFwmjCTO5ihBewd/s320/DSC01380.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" border="0" /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAcH13mmXwGKF6KwLvehj4PWXjbvmlbInqdBUuzLdLQjEfRczW-WN_cTTfVxwpNrRG4sggfytaZzRZrLMLknaO30zGu-gsINlLODAS8vFes3nH6pF_exVuNS8bZ81qw2JFv32/s320/IMG_1138.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" border="0" /></div><style id="jajah">span.jajahWrapper { font-size:1em; color:#B11196; text-decoration:underline; } a.jajahLink { color:#000000; text-decoration:none; } span.jajahInLink:hover { background-color:#B11196; }</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-83744864285292308832008-04-28T15:09:00.005+00:002009-01-22T19:44:58.702+00:00"My yew fence of England. Who can stand against thee?"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHatcfdH5NCP88whuV6X8tqR2eGo7Z50Py6CV2KmZVNpGxTQ1oR8ftzKksSLr0_pDSf2zruM6K24oDWK4d6Ee-YYuDc0CsuP5HXDkqT3j9bqqXTZktlc2wPVJ26VPQiSZvKIH/s1600-h/IMG_1641.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHatcfdH5NCP88whuV6X8tqR2eGo7Z50Py6CV2KmZVNpGxTQ1oR8ftzKksSLr0_pDSf2zruM6K24oDWK4d6Ee-YYuDc0CsuP5HXDkqT3j9bqqXTZktlc2wPVJ26VPQiSZvKIH/s320/IMG_1641.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" border="0" /></a><br />March saw the return of the <a href="http://www.pickwickpepperpots.co.uk/whoarewe.html">Pickwick Pepperpots</a> to Broughton.<br /><br />This is a Midlands-based longbow only archers club. About 80 bowmen (?) archers (?) - I'm not sure of the correct term - participated, firing at various 'marks' around the park.<br /><br />One mark placed very close to the moat resulted in the loss of numerous arrows into the murky depths. As in 2007 the event finished with shooting at a target in the park from the roof of the Gatehouse.<br /><br />Beautiful to watch, and strangely, to listen to; the noise of the bow releasing the arrow, and the arrow flights whistling through the air together. Even with just 80 archers you wouldn't have fancied your chances within a 30 foot radius of the target. Imagine 5,000 longbows at Agincourt firing 10 arrows a minute. Ouch. Some of the Pickwick Pepperpots have published rather good footage of the event on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jnTt1S20LE">YouTube</a>. The photo above was actually from the rather sunnier visit in 2007.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9jnTt1S20LE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9jnTt1S20LE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsaPLnhHhgD-pJmb3u9g_7s43ElDU_ZqHs5rBT7Ygti1kDu_VDQ5TwmoKh54dI3RlA5faTiuNJnuvFoBnOsCrV07VwJhaZyKiEqLfz_T1aJNJU4-3iGnkbjClYjt8IIGyWpz5/s1600-h/IMG_3096.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsaPLnhHhgD-pJmb3u9g_7s43ElDU_ZqHs5rBT7Ygti1kDu_VDQ5TwmoKh54dI3RlA5faTiuNJnuvFoBnOsCrV07VwJhaZyKiEqLfz_T1aJNJU4-3iGnkbjClYjt8IIGyWpz5/s320/IMG_3096.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_" border="0" /></a>On a grisly grey cool Sunday (April 20th) the Castle hosted a Dragon Boat race organised by Banbury Rotary and raising funds for the <a href="http://www.byhp.org.uk/">Banbury Young Homeless</a>.<br /><br />The races, and a dance in a marquee in the park the night before raised fantastic sums for the Banbury Young Homeless. Lots of fun had by all.<br /><br />Only the sun was missing. Hopefully not too traumatic for the carp and perch and Cayuga ducks who I imagine took refuge over on the opposite side of the moat.<br /><br />So, Old Subtlety returns. Perhaps another posting sooner than in 24 months :-)<style id="jajah">span.jajahWrapper { font-size:1em; color:#B11196; text-decoration:underline; } a.jajahLink { color:#000000; text-decoration:none; } span.jajahInLink:hover { background-color:#B11196; }</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1141647927884794972006-03-06T12:10:00.001+00:002009-01-22T19:46:41.105+00:00You learn something everyday<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/640/IMG_0631.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/320/IMG_0631.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/640/IMG_0634.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/320/IMG_0634.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />A pillow mound.<br /><br />I think it is possible to make out this earthwork in the Park at Broughton from these pictures that I took at the weekend. Anyway it is a mound, about 30 feet by 8 feet, (the dog gives it scale).<br /><br />Pillow mounds are part of the normal agricultural landscape from the middle ages and later. This one may be 16th century. <br /><br />A pillow mound is for rabbit farming. You build up a false mound for your rabbits to make a warren in, and surround it with a trench. What sort of fence you used to keep the rabbits in I don't know. <br /><br />This is just one of a number of unusual bumps and ditches in the park, but next time you walk your dog here (which, by the way, you are welcome to do) you'll know what this one is. <a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a> <style id="jajah">span.jajahWrapper { font-size:1em; color:#B11196; text-decoration:underline; } a.jajahLink { color:#000000; text-decoration:none; } span.jajahInLink:hover { background-color:#B11196; }</style>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1139850881007337892006-02-13T16:53:00.000+00:002006-02-16T11:06:03.030+00:00Lining the swimming pool<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0561.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/320/IMG_0561.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />This winter's repair and maintenance work has involved emptying the moat to about a quarter of its normal volume, and tackling the deteriorating inner bank on the north side of the moat either side of the Gatehouse.<br /><br />Time, the ducks and the beastly Canada geese are probably responsible for the gradual erosion of these banks. Perhaps even the many grass snakes living on various patches around the moat have also contributed. Not a lot of people know that grasss snakes love swimming - hence their latin name <em>natrix natrix. </em>It is only mildly alarming when swimming you see their little heads above the water as they wiggle their way from one bank to another. Enough digression - here are the banks - newly rebuilt with a concrete base and, for aesthetic reasons, stone on the top which will end up being visible above the water level. Cost prohibited doing the whole thing in stone.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0567.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/320/IMG_0567.jpg" border="0" /></a>This side is still being finished, but you can see that here we are having to fill in between the eroded bank and what we assume was the original shore line. The filler here is the blue clay originally used to line the base of the moat when it was constructed in the early 15th century.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1139849375047213882006-02-13T14:31:00.000+00:002006-07-26T14:30:34.680+00:00<strong>700th Anniversary<br /><br /><br /></strong><strong></strong><strong></strong><p align="left"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0587.jpg" border="0" /></p><br />The core of the existing house was built in 1306 by Sir John de Broughton.<br /><br />That makes these corbel heads in the Groined Passage 700 years old this year. In recognition of their longevity and the hundreds of years that they have watched over us, we give them a blogout ('blog outing' ?)...<br /><br /><br /><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0591.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0591.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0593.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0593.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We don't know who they actually are. Could they be Sir John de Broughton himself and his family? Could they be the architect of the house? or the stonemasons? <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0578.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0578.jpg" border="0" /></a>Why is the man drinking from a horn, or blowing a horn? or on his mobile? Perhaps one is Edward I - Sir John de Broughton II, responsible for much of the major early building work, was one of Edward I's captains.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0590.2.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0590.3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0595.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0595.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0598.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0598.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In among these charming characters you find a few animals and symbolic figures - here is our Green Man - a very poor photo I'm afraid. The oak leaves protruding from his mouth have been broken off so it looks as if he is smoking a cheroot. For more on Green Men see Mike Harding's site <a href="http://www.mikeharding.co.uk/greenman/greenindex.html">here</a> . Somewhere I heard that often you find a hare opposite a Green Man, and sure enough here is ours. <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0585.jpg"></a></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_0585.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0585.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_0580.jpg" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1139840018479135932006-02-13T14:12:00.000+00:002006-02-13T14:31:05.456+00:00nice lines....Broughton Castle November's frost 2005<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/640/IMG_0439.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/320/IMG_0439.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />copyright Martin Fiennes, (and my current screensaver) <a href="http://picasa.google.com/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-origin: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1139840180579059312006-02-13T14:05:00.000+00:002006-02-13T14:29:45.713+00:00Now that I am 95% finished on the new website (see <a href="http://www.broughtoncastle.com">www.broughtoncastle.com</a>) I am going to start off doing some more regular postings on the blog.<br /><br />So, advance notice here of a few events lining up for Broughton in 2006:<br /><br />Saturday 17th May - Flower festival in Broughton church<br />Saturday 3rd June - Walk in the park to raise money for Diabetes<br />Saturday 22nd July - Jazz concert in the park to raise money for the new Cheshire Home building in Banbury<br /><br />More detail on each of these and other similar to follow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1124992546861570132005-08-25T17:26:00.000+00:002005-08-25T17:55:46.866+00:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_028511.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_028511.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/1600/IMG_02831.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/IMG_02831.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last Friday the Oxford-based theatre company <a href="http://www.cakesandale.org.uk">Cakes & Ale</a> planned an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the front lawn at Broughton to raise funds for the <a href="http://www.helenanddouglas.org.uk">Helen and Douglas House hospice</a> for children and young adults. The combination of an ominous forecast and even greyer skies led to the production being hastily shifted indoors into the Great Hall which just about fitted the 180 in the audience. Fabulous amateur dramatics meets fabulous indoor location. A wonderful production. It crossed my mind that next year (or one year) we should find a three act play with the Acts split between the front lawn, west lawn (see picture) or back lawn. Even better would be to have some contemporary dance out on the west lawn – <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6673/1430/200/DSC014171.jpg" border="0" />or would it be impossible to get the correct level of “spring” on an outdoor stage? And might the dancers strain muscles in outdoor temperatures? Further research warranted.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15446564.post-1124123307889240512005-08-16T04:01:00.000+00:002005-08-15T16:28:27.893+00:00The previous record for swimming all the way round the moat, held by Clemmie Gibbs with a time of 14 mins has been smashed. Mike Kennedy is the new holder - 11 minutes 20 seconds. That is for all the way round including under the gatehouse bridge. Now he has gone back to the US on his Harley - we demand he returns next year to defend his title !<br /><br />I need to find out about other houses with moats - dry or full, complete or incomplete. There needs to be an Association - obviously those of us with full and complete (i.e. all the way round) moats will be terribly nice to those without.<br /><br />You can see ours on the fantastic new Google tool - Google Earth. The satellite images of the area are not very clear but the moat is! Find Oxford, go 22 miles north and turn west for 2 miles - or to be precise 52 degrees 02'24.34" N 1 degree 23'32.17" W (is that the right way to express it? at least that is what Google earth has when I put the pointer above the moat)<br /><br />This is the first blog entry on behalf of Broughton Castle, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK. I hope to be the scribe through whom the house speaks to the world via its blog - "Old Subtlety". It is my family home, and we wanted to be the first Castle with a blog. (Are we?) We were, I like to think the first Castle with a website in January 1998. <a href="http://www.broughtoncastle.demon.co.uk">www.broughtoncastle.demon.co.uk</a> . As you can see it looks very 1998. It is about to be brought back to life and do grown-up things like moving to <a href="http://www.broughtoncastle.com">www.broughtoncastle.com</a> . Soon.<br /><br />Old Subtlety was the nickname of the William Fiennes, first Viscount Saye & Sele, an important figure in the English Civil War, and a leader of the rebel Puritans / Parliamentarians in their struggle against Charles I. More on him later.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2