6th November 2025. The Elevated Sarcophagus of Pinner.
In walking the route of a future tour in Pinner I discovered a most unusual memorial in the parish churchyard of a tall, stuccoed brick pyramid with a stone sarcophagus projecting out of its middle. It commemorates William and Agnes Loudon who died in 1809 and 1831 and was designed by their son John Claudius Loudon; a prolific garden designer and writer. You can ask many questions about this monument. Are the Loudons in the sarcophagus? Why is William’s inscription in Latin and Agnes’ in English? As is often the case I can not find any easy answers.
21st October 2025. Architectural Honesty in Hertford.
In preparing a new lecture for the Victorian England course I am delivering in Hertford I visited All Saints church, a very splendid piece of late Victorian gothic architecture. The church replaced one destroyed by fire in 1891 and was reopened in 1895. The architects were Paley and Austin of Lancaster who designed a building where you can see how the structure works with pointed arches bearing the load. It is ornamented with accurate Perpendicular detail inspired by the 15th century. The one quibble you might have with it is that the building stone is red sandstone from Runcorn an impossible choice in medieval Hertfordshire but one made easy by Victorian Railways.
23rd September 2025 : In Search of Harry I Found Wendy.
A visit to the delightfully named Bedfordshire hamlet of Cockayne Hatley was intended to get a sense of the small estate owned at the end of the 19th Century by Harry Cust, the heir to the vastly larger Brownlow estates of Ashridge (Herts), Belton (Lincs) etc.
Harry was an important editor and writer and because of this and his membership of that aristocratic group of intellectuals (and occasional bed hoppers) known as the Souls he knew many writers, artists and politicians. This was what was to lead to a most impressive monument being erected in the churchyard in the 1890’s for the Henley family starting with Margaret Emma Henley who died aged 5 ½ in1894. Margaret was J.M. Barrie’s inspiration for Wendy in Peter Pan.
Returning to Harry, he will feature in a future Friday morning online lecture looking at the Brownlow inheritance in the early 20th Century; with a brief mention of his bed hopping.
9th September 2025 : Cogges Manor Farm, Witney, Oxfordshire.
In my researches for courses looking at smaller houses for the academic year 2026-7 I visited Cogges Manor Farm. The farm house was a manor house but was reduced in size and status to become a farm in the 18th Century although it still has parts of medieval buildings surviving. It is surrounded by an impressive collection of farm buildings from barns to pig styes so there will be plenty to discuss on a future course.
A walk of ten minutes brought me into the centre of Witney which has much of architectural interest. I will explore the possibility of a visit to Cogges next spring or summer with an add on “architecture and history” walk in Witney. Does this appeal, or is it further than you would want to travel? Let me know your thoughts.
A final important point is that the Cogges café serves excellent coffee and cake……
1st September 2025 : Watlington, Oxfordshire.
The autumn series of visits started with a walk in the small market town of Watlington where we were able to see many interesting buildings from the 15th to 20th centuries, while raising and lowering umbrellas in the showers.
The poor transport links to the town in the 19th century saw it stagnate and then decline in population which has led to a high number of earlier buildings surviving. We also saw the site of the town gas works which had houses built on it in the 1960’s and led us to think about what pollution may remain. Following the walk one of our number researched this and discovered that the gardens behind these houses had the soil replaced about 15 years ago because of pollution concerns. It’s always rewarding when someone is able to follow up something on a walk and I will keep using this blog to share any similar research in the future.
13th August 2025 : Apethorpe, Northamptonshire.
It all begins with an idea.
A fascinating visit to Apethorpe Palace which is a recently restored private house that opens for a limited number of days each year through an agreement with English Heritage (booking through English Heritage).
Sisters Emma and Molly gave an excellent tour of this multilayered house which has interesting parts from each century between the 15th and 21st. There was much to learn about the rebuilding of the house to be used as a hunting lodge by James I in the 1620’s and how he was introduced to his favourite George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham at Apethorpe.
Also notable mentions for decorative details including 17th century carrots and the Brassey duck. More will be revealed in my online course : The English Country House 1990-Present ; Country Houses in Rude Health? Which starts in January 2026.
My visit concluded with a visit to St. Leonard’s church in Apethorpe which contains the spectacular classical monument to Grace and Anthony Mildmay dating to the early 1620’s and which will feature in a future Friday morning online lecture.
