Jupiter Artland, "Temple of Apollo"

The Temple in Gala Wood At Jupiter Artland is built from Portland stone and embellished with gold leaf lettering by Ian Hamilton Finlay. The quote ' Consecutive upon Apollo a titanic revolt in his heart' is from L.A. St-Juste, Finlay's 'Apollo of the French Revolution'

"Temple (n): a sacred place; a place menaced by bailiffs."

Pentrych Hunt

The Pentrych Hunt in South Wales had a 200 year old history. For much the 20th century the hunt enjoyed close links with Crichton-Stuart  family. Both the Marquess and Marchioness of Bute had been Masters. In particular the 4th Marchioness was a passionate foxhunter, she was not only Master of the Pentrych but also of the Eglington in Scotland. She collected numerous hunting trophies which were displayed at the stables in Cardiff, including the brush of a fox killed by the Vatican hounds in Italy. At Castell Coch, the jewel of a castle on the former Bute estate north of Cardiff, in the Well tower, is a vitrine containing cut out wooden figures of the Pentrych Hunt, hounds,horses, masters and servants.

The livery of the Pentrych Hunt was a brown coat with a black velvet collar and brass buttons worn with a red waistcoat.

Every season the Bute family gave a meet of the Pentrych Hunt at Castell Coch.

Meet of the Pentrych Hunt at Castell Coch

In 2014 the Pentrych Hunt amalgamated with the Llangeinor Hunt.

Castle Menzies

From the 14th century Weem near Aberfeldy  was held by Clan Menzies (pronounced 'Mingiz'). They built  a fortified tower  below the Rock of Weem to control  the road between Strath Tay and Rannoch. It was here in 1488 that the clan chief built  the 'Place of Weem' to replace an earlier stronghold,  destroyed by fire. This too was burnt to the ground fifteen years later by Neil Stewart of Garth. Sir Robert Menzies was incarcerated at Garth and was forced to sign away some of his lands by Stewart who claimed them as a dowry settlement. The case was found against Stewart who was later forced to make restitution. A new castle was built to replace the ruin, which forms the oldest part of the present Castle Menzies.

In 1577 the upper storey and roof were altered and the elaborate dormer windows added that give Castle Menzies its distinctive appearance. The completed building is a classic example of a Z-plan castle that represents the transition between from a fortified tower-house built for defence and a mansion designed for domestic comfort and display.

Arms of Sir Neil Menzies and his wife Grace Conyers Norton (1840)

above the 19th porch

Cellars

The Great Hall

Earlier hopes of peace in the Highlands were dashed when the Civil War broke out. The Menzies clan fought against James Graham, Marquis of Montrose. The chief of Clan Menzies was killed in a skirmish and his son died at the battle of Inverlochy in 1645. Castle Menzies was occupied by General Monck  in the 1650's but the family fortunes rose again when they were created Baronets of Nova Scotia in 1665.

Withdrawing Room

The chief of Clan Menzies did not support the Jacobite Risings, and Castle Menzies was captured and occupied by Jacobites in 1715. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed here for two nights in 1746, but four days later the castle was occupied by the Hanoverian forces led by the Duke of Cumberland. In January 1746 the Jacobite army withdrew from the siege of Stirling Castle to Crieff where it divided into two parts, the low landers and cavalry under Lord George Murray to proceed to Inverness along the coast and the clans, led by the Prince, to move north over the mountains. The Prince and his troops left Crieff for Aberfeldy and crossed the Tay by General Wade's bridge constructed less than twenty years earlier. Even though the then Menzies Chief, Sir Robert Menzies of Menzies had refused to participate in the rebellion he offered the Prince his hospitality who stayed at Castle Menzies on 4th and 5th February before going on to Blair Castle.

Prince Charlie's Room

The last of the Menzies of Weem died in 1918. Castle Menzies was used by Polish forces during WW2 after which it became derelict, but was restored and is now cared for by the Clan Menzies Society who acquired the building in 1957.

Queen's Dairy, Rambouillet

Louis XVI had a dairy built for the Queen in 1786-1787 at Rambouillet the estate he had bought in 1783 to indulge his love of hunting. It seems Marie Antoinette was no so enamored with the estate so the king asked architect Jean Theniven to build the dairy as a surprise for her.

The entrance is flanked by two round pavilions that resemble dovecotes with brickwork window surrounds and piers. The left hand pavilion was used for resting and entertaining, whilst the one on the right with its adjoining buildings was used as the working dairy, where milk was prepared for turning into butter, cream and cheese.

The central pavilion of the ornamental dairy, reminiscent of a Greek temple, was where visitors sampled the produce. The pediment contains a medallion representing a cow suckling its calf, the emblem for the dairy sculpted by Pierre Julien.

The first room, lit from above is the rotunda covered with a ceiling with rosettes carved in oak leaves and acorns, a reference to the surrounding forest. Against the sandstone walls marble tables mounted on consoles were used to lay out the Sevres tableware used for serving milk and the other dairy products. 

The second room, the 'cooling chamber' is an extraordinary surprise, at the far end of the rectangular room is  a grotto with a chaotic tumble of artificial rocks, in the midst of which is the sculpture, The Nymph Amaltheus and her Goat,by Julien. The Nymph's feet used to be washed by water flowing from the springs while fine jets of water sprayed from either side of the grotto used to cool the bowls of water.

Castell Coch

Castell Coch, on a steeply wooded hillside north of Cardiff is proof that fairy tales do, sometimes, come true. Of course it helped that the client was John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, the spectacularly rich 3rd Marquess of Bute and his architect was eccentric genius William Burges, one of 19th century Britain's most imaginative designers. While working for Lord Bute at Cardiff Castle, William Burges drew up plans for the reconstruction of Castell Coch, a ruined 13th century castle on the Bute estates north-east of Cardiff. Although the plans were drawn up in 1872, due to the scale of the ongoing work at Cardiff Castle, work on Castell Coch did not begin until 1875.

Lord Bute a serious and committed antiquarian and scholar had a passionate interest in archaeology. In 1871 he commissioned  an extensive programme of excavations at Castell Coch, the Red Castle. So in 1872 with the ruins cleared of vegetation he asked William Burges to imagine what the original appearance of the castle would have been like.

The origins of the castle go back to the 11th century when the Welsh were defending their country against the Norman invaders who sought to conquer the south-west of the country. The first stronghold on the site was a motte and bailey, later a stone keep was erected on the summit. By the 13th century the area was controlled by the powerful Clare family, lords of Glamorgan, and they built the first of Castell Coch's three great towers, the Well Tower.

Two further towers were added to the southern face of the castle, overlooking the Taff Gorge, most probably by Earl Gilbert de Clare (1263-95), responsible for building Caerphilly Castle. However soon after Castell Coch seems to have suffered the depredations of war and was finally abandoned after the Welsh rebellions of the early 14th century.  Then, after a gap of 550 years, the Marquess of Bute engaged William Burges to recreate the castle.

What Lord Bute's cash and William Burges' imagination created was a stunning fantasy castle. Never intended to be a permanent residence Castell Coch was a spectacular folly to augment Lord Bute's vast Welsh estates.

The dramatic entrance to the castle is by means of a wooden bridge to the gatehouse, defended by a working portcullis and drawbridge and a wooden platform above. Bute and Burgess wanted to emulate Viollet-le-Duc at Carcassonne and Pierrefonds. Spiritual protection is provided by a statue of the Madonna and Child

The Courtyard was inspired by the castle of Chillon and Viollet-le-Duc's covered wall walk at Pierrefonds.

The Courtyard and wall walk

The Portcullis

The Banqueting Hall

The vaulted galleried Drawing Room is the most spectacular room at Castell Coch.

The Drawing Room

The Three Fates of Greek mythology on the chimney-piece.

The drawing room ceiling

The walls of the drawing room are painted with scenes from Aesop's Fables.

Lord Bute's Bedroom

Ceiling of Lord  Bute's Bedroom

Lord Bute's Bedroom

Lady Bute's Bedroom

Ceiling of Lady Bute's Bedroom

Armoire

The washstand

Lady Margaret's Bedroom

Stained glass from the Chapel

Although Castell Coch was never intended as a permanent residence, after Lord Bute's death, his widow and daughter Lady Margaret withdrew here for the mourning period. Lady Bute recieved the use of Castell Coch for life. However the castle was only used for occassional visits in summer and for an annual meet of the Pentrych Hunt. The castle was requisitioned in the Second World War and in 1950, the 5th Marquess of Bute handed Castell Coch over to the Ministry of Works, whose successors Cadw care for the castle today.

Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument, Bath

Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument was erected in 1720 by Henry Grenville, Lord Lansdown, to commemorate his grandfather's great heroism at the spot where he was killed during the Battle of Lansdown in 1643. Standing 7.6 metres high the Monument is said to be the first war memorial to be erected in England. On the south face there is a description of the battle and two poems on the north side. On another side are the Royal arms of Charles II supported by those of Sir Bevil's eldest son John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628-1721) , and by the arms of the latter's first cousin General Monck, 1st Duke of Albermarle, KG (1608-1670). Monck was the pivotal figure in the Restoration of Charles II and for their support both men were elevated to the peerage.  The Monument is surmounted by a griffin supporting the Grenville arms.

The Battle of Lansdown was fought on 5 July 1643 on the hill just north of Bath. The Royalist army led by Lord Hopton attacked the Parliamentarian forces entrenched on top of the hill. Under the command of Sir Bevil Grenville, the Cornish Pikemen stormed the enemy position, but he was mortally wounded when the Parliamentarian horse counter-attacked although they were driven off. He received a fatal poleaxe to the head.

Inscribed on the Monument is the Elegy to Sir Bevil Grenville by William Cartwright, a fellow Royalist who was killed soon after, on 29 November 1643

                                           This was not Nature's courage nor that thing,
                                            We valour call which time and reason bring,
                                            But a diviner fury fierce and high,
                                            Valour transported into Ecstasy.

The Monument used to be the venue for the closing meet of the Duke of  Beaufort's Hunt, an occasion I was privileged  to attend on a number of times as a boy, many, many years ago.