|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Scottish Doocots £3.50
Tim Buxbaum 978 0 85263 848 4 (Album 190) 32 pp, 55 ills. On many Scottish estates a dovecote (or doocot) can be found. It may be disguised as a classical temple, transformed into a cottage ornée or incorporated into the cupola of a stable block, but many doocots are more humble structures of random rubble with simple dressings that date from medieval times, when pigeons and their eggs were a valuable source of food, while their dung was used for fertiliser and even gunpowder. This book traces the development of simple beehive and lectern pigeonhouses into increasingly elaborate architectural structures associated with pioneering agricultural improvements, the enclosure of estates, and the design of pleasure grounds. Tim Buxbaum is a chartered architect in private practice. Other titles for Shire by this author are: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Shell Houses and Grottoes £4.50
Hazelle Jackson 978 0 7478 0522 9 (Album 398) 40 pp, 93 colour, 6b/w ills. The artificial grotto has a long and intriguing history in architecture and garden design. The earliest grottoes in ancient Greece were pagan shrines dedicated to water nymphs. During the Roman empire these evolved into formal temples to water gods and in the sixteenth century grottoes were revived by Renaissance architects to lend an authentic air to neo-classical villas. This book describes the origins of the grotto in Renaissance Italy, its heyday in eighteenth-century England, its decline in the nineteenth century and its return to favour in the late twentieth century. Over 250 surviving grottoes are listed by the English Heritage National Monuments Record, in varying states of repair, and there are more to be discovered. This book contains a comprehensive gazetteer of grottoes and shell houses that the public can visit. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Christopher Powell 978 0 7478 0105 4 (Album 261) 32 pp, 55 ills. Stables and stable blocks are one of the building types most evocative of the spirit of bygone times. This book examines the architecture of stables of all kinds from humble farm buildings to the ornate and stylish courtyard blocks of great country houses. Among the endless variety of building shapes and forms are curiosities like circular stable blocks for canal horses and multi-storey stables for urban draught horses. There is variety, too, in the vernacular building materials and methods and also in the fittings and finishes within. Christopher Powell studied architecture at the University of Bristol and social history at Brunel University. He currently lectures at the Welsh School of Architecture, University of Wales College of Cardiff. Other titles for Shire by this author are: Discovering Cottage Architecture (currently out of print)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Christopher St J. H. Daniel 978 0 7478 0558 8 (Album 176) about 48 pp, colour and b/w ills. For over 1000 years sundials have played an important role in regulating the daily life of mankind throughout Europe and the British Isles. Indeed the study of the art of constructing sundials, or the ‘Art of Dialling’, was a part of every scholar’s education. Only with the coming of modern communications and the extreme accuracy of timekeeping equipment has the sundial been eclipsed as a scientific instrument and ceased to provide a useful service. This book describes and illustrates each particular class of dial likely to be found on buildings, in churchyards, public squares, private gardens and remote countryside locations. Christopher Daniel has been a sundial designer since 1986 and is chairman of the British Sundial Society. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Jacqueline Fearn 978 0 7478 0588 5 (Album 16) about 48 pp, colour and b/w ills. The craft of the thatcher probably gives more pleasure to people than any other of our rural crafts; the inclusion in a country scene of a thatched house, cottage or barn often adds the element of continuity and stability which we like to think is characteristic of the British countryside. Thatching is, nevertheless, a craft most people know nothing about and which is commonly thought to be dying out. In fact thatchers in all three materials – water reed, long straw and combed wheat reed – have had an assured livelihood over the last few decades for the first time since the late eighteenth century. This book outlines the history of thatching in Britain from its use as the commonest form of roofing to the present and explains how the thatcher works with his traditional materials. Jacqueline Fearn is an historian with a long interest in vernacular building. Other titles for Shire by this author: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Discovering Timber-framed Buildings £5.99 Richard Harris 978 0 7478 0215 0 (Db 242) 96 pp, 72 ills. Half-timbered houses, cottages and barns are a familiar feature of the landscape, but only rarely do we have an opportunity to see below the surface and understand how they were planned and constructed. This book looks behind the common image of 'black-and-white' houses, showing how timber buildings were built and how they vary from region to region. '...the best general book on (England's) timber-framed buildings. Written and beautifully illustrated by Richard Harris, the book is not just essential for those interested in the subject but, because of the detail of the drawings, is invaluable for any architect involved in repairing or moving a timber-framed building.' Architects Journal. Richard Harris spent his first day as an architectural assistant surveying a medieval timber-framed building and has been fascinated by them ever since. He is Research Director at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton, West Sussex.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Traditional Farm Buildings £4.99 J. E. C. Peters 978 0 85263 556 8 (Db262) 88 pp, 68 ills. Farm buildings form an important part of the landscape. In their design they reflect the differences in types and methods of farming between one area and another and between different periods of history. The traditional farmstead was composed of a number of different buildings, each with its own characteristic features and each serving a different purpose. This book looks at the purely agricultural buildings in turn, so that each can be recognised as a barn, a cowhouse, a stable and so on. J. E. C. Peters has prepared reports for farmers and others, some for planning applications, and has publised articles on farm buildings and lectured on the subject. He is in private practice as an architect. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
The Victorian Public House £4.50 Richard Tames 978 0 7478 0573 1 (Shire Album 423) 40 pp, 60 colour ills. The Victorian public house evolved out of the traditional tavern and the humble beerhouse in response to the novel challenge of the garish but soulless gin palace. Incorporating such innovations as large plate-glass windows, gas lighting, the hydraulic beer-engine and the island bar, the reinvented pub became a central feature of working-class life. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
War Memorials in Britain £5.99 Jim Corke 978 0 7478 0626 4 (Album 441) about 56 pp, colour and b/w ills. War memorials are a feature of Britain’s landscape, often taken for granted, and part of the fabric of its history as a nation. The Imperial War Museum’s National Inventory has sixty thousand war memorials spanning two millennia. They include works of art and the artless, the sacred and the secular, vernacular and abstract forms, all redolent with symbolism ancient and modern. The examples shown here are an eclectic mix with, perhaps, a few surprises. They are intended as a tribute to the victims of war and as tangible reminders of significant events, deserving remembrance and necessitating their conservation as part of the national heritage. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Martin Watts 978 0 7478 0654 7 (Album 457) about 56 pp, colour and b/w ills. Watermills were once commonplace but, because of their domestic scale and their often picturesque, waterside locations, many have now lost their waterwheels and machinery and the buildings have been converted to other uses. Their place in the townscapes and countryside of Britain is a significant one, however, as each mill required its own water supply, which usually had a noticeable effect on its immediate surroundings. Water power has been in use for over two thousand years, initially for grinding grain and pumping water, and later for driving processing machinery for a wide variety of industries, such as ironworking and textiles. Understanding the history and development of watermills as working buildings thus forms an important aspect of a wider appreciation of the built environment and the use of natural sources of power. Since 1988 Martin Watts has worked as a traditional millwright and consultant, his work covering many aspects of the repair, maintenance, conservation and interpretation of historic mills and their machinery. Other books for Shire by this author: Water and Wind Power |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Paula Sunshine 978 0 7478 0652 3 (Album 455) approx 48 pp, colour and b/w ills. Wattle and daub is possibly one of the oldest building methods in the world. Ever since man first erected a hut in which to shelter, sticks (wattles) and clay or earth (daub) have been used to fill in the gaps in the wooden framework, to keep out the cold, wind and rain, or the heat during summer. Wattle and daub can still be seen today as infill panels between the timbers of thousands of ancient timber-framed buildings throughout Great Britain. Its longevity is remarkable, as it may last for more than five hundred years in many situations. The author sets out to explain some of the mysteries surrounding wattle and daub and why it has stood the test of time. Paula Sunshine works daily with timber-framed buildings, teaching homeowners and people in the building trade traditional -methods of repair, such as wattle and daub and lime plastering. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Martin Watts 978 0 7478 0653 9 (Album 456) 64 pp, 83 colour and 10 b/w ills. Windmills have been in existence for over eight hundred years and, although only a fraction of those that once ground corn, pumped water and provided power for industry and agriculture now survive, they are still a distinctive and often dramatic presence in the British landscape. Among the most important features of these survivors are the variations in design that have come about through their different origins, the use of local materials in their construction, and the influence of millwrights and millers – those who built and worked them – in different parts of the country. Understanding these variations is vital for the protection and maintenance of windmills, the continued survival of which allows a fascinating insight into the historic use of renewable energy, the development of engineering, and the processing of grain for flour and bread, as well as other essential products. Since 1988 Martin Watts has worked as a traditional millwright and consultant, his work covering many aspects of the repair, maintenance, conservation and interpretation of historic mills and their machinery. Other books for Shire by this author: Water and Wind Power |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Discovering Your Old House £6.99 David Iredale and John Barrett 978 0 7478 0498 7 (Discovering handbook 14) 176 pp, 153 b/w ills. Every house has a story to tell. In this completely new, enlarged and updated edition of a popular title, David Iredale and John Barrett describe how, step by step, the history of your old (or not so old) house may be discovered. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
