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I spotted this little architectural gem the other day and couldn't resist taking a few snaps. I bet school was a bit different in those days. Certainly class sizes must have been smaller!
-------------------- Arthur Vanson Bucks Signs Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England arthur@buckssigns.co.uk -------------------- Posts: 805 | From: Chesham, Bucks, England | Registered: Mar 2002
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Nice - I just love old architecture. Can you imagine the stories that have happened in those walls. Is the arched area that says Grammar School made of stone or is it something that has been redone? It almost looks like concrete. Imagine the patience it must have taken to chisel something like that out of stone. I can just see getting to the second last letter and hitting a stress point in the stone.....
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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Good Grief, Sheila, we don't have 1624 houses in the whole country, let alone one street; that's the year it was built! It must have been carved by masons; signwriting as a separate trade was quite a late-comer (early nineteenth century). Your question makes me wonder if certain masons specialised in lettering? I don't know if the cloverleaf has any significance other then as a space filler. Certainly every mason had his own mark, which he scribed on each stone he faced or carved. This practice was for purposes of claiming payment. Perhaps he re-worked his symbol as a decorative feature?
Kelly, I fear the lighter colour may be an example of the unsympathetic cleaning that took place after 'Smokeless Zone' legislation was imposed. It's the original stone but the patina of centuries has been erased. If so, I'm glad they left the date alone.
-------------------- Arthur Vanson Bucks Signs Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England arthur@buckssigns.co.uk -------------------- Posts: 805 | From: Chesham, Bucks, England | Registered: Mar 2002
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LOL Arthur!! We have some street numbers that have as many as 5 numbers!!
Sorry I did'nt catch that as the year!! LOL
Man! That place is as old as dirt!
So, did they move this entry portion from another building, perhaps an original stone structure, to use in this 'newer' location?? Or has this entire building been there that long??
Thanx for sharin' a bit of your rich history.
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
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"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5758 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
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That is the original entry-way (non-original door), in the original building. Look at the roofline, makes OP's building look perfectly perpendicular! – relatively The facade has undergone major surgery in the Georgian period (1720ish) which accounts for the rather flat geometric frontage and windows. Originally the first floor would probably have been jetted with wildly overhanging eaves and higgeldy-piggeldy leaded lights. Builders were often fashion victims as much as their owners.
A similar but less modified building.
-------------------- Arthur Vanson Bucks Signs Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England arthur@buckssigns.co.uk -------------------- Posts: 805 | From: Chesham, Bucks, England | Registered: Mar 2002
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WR, I don't have a lot of lettering to offer, though there are a couple of stunning pieces I am waiting to photograph as soon as the light allows. Some copperwork, listing vicars from the years circa 900 and onwards; no surnames then, just 'Wolfbaine' and the like; don't think the piece is contemporary, but very unusual.
Meanwhile here are some winged skulls, a red-tile ridge terminator and some unusual gilt rope-lettering.
-------------------- Arthur Vanson Bucks Signs Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England arthur@buckssigns.co.uk -------------------- Posts: 805 | From: Chesham, Bucks, England | Registered: Mar 2002
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Thanks for showing us the stone work Arthur. I love that stuff. A fishing tackle shop in my street recently removed an old timber sign to reveal hand carved stone lettering from the 1800's when the shop was a shoe factory. The owners decided to leave it visible; it's nice to know some people appreciate the old stuff.
Just to rub it in a bit for our American friends - the pub I drink in was built in 1450. When was your country discovered?
-------------------- Big G AG Sign & Display England Posts: 12 | From: Wellingborough, UK | Registered: Jul 2005
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Arthur, I just love the stuff you post. Especially any type of skull stone! Thanks for sharing. Love....Jill
Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Arthur, Inspired by your ancient lettering, I went on a quest to Pittsburgh yesterday. The best I could come up with was the date stone on the Blockhouse at The Point, 1764, Colonel Bouquet. Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Hi Jill, well spotted and it looks as if the bricks are surviving well too. That's only a few years later than the Mayflower's arrival isn't it?
-------------------- Arthur Vanson Bucks Signs Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England arthur@buckssigns.co.uk -------------------- Posts: 805 | From: Chesham, Bucks, England | Registered: Mar 2002
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nice pics Arthur, Andy G, my pal lives in a house built around then !! i'll see if i can grab a pic next tme i'm up there,
shilea, your comment about the street No. had me spit me coffee back out and near die laughing when i read it, thank you for cheering an otherwise dull day !
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Nice Letter style that Arthur for the date ( could it be a later Victorian addition?)
Funny you should say about Masons marks..ever looked at the very foot of old grave stones?.. It sounds macarbre, but poke around at the foot of large stones (where it goes into the ground- or where the ground has sunk away ) and you might be lucky enough to find a few "practice cuts"-and personal monagrams of the mason,-where he knew it would be hidden from view,
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LOL Hugh . . . the first comment, or after I was corrected by Arthur?? either way, (with an english accent> I'm so elated my utter stupidity is found to be a reliable source of amusement for you . . . .
(We'll finish this in Scotland). . .
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
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"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5758 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
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Thanks for sharing this great stuff, can't wait to see more. As for Andy, our country here was discovered year 900 by the Norse. Settlements in Maine and Minnesota can still be found. After the Norse, my family was one of the first ones here and helped set up the Jamestown settlement..... Writing from that time recorded they saw blonde haired "native" people along the shore, must be the "lost" Vikings, because my Lenne Lenape relatives all had black hair. Enough history lessons, lets paint some signs!
-------------------- Doug Fielder Fallout Grafix Port St. Lucie, FL
16 years with a brush in my hand... Posts: 273 | From: Port St. Lucie, FL | Registered: May 1999
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