Drum Tower and Bell Tower of Beijing

The Drum Tower of Beijing, or Gulou (), is situated at the northern end of the central axis of the Inner City to the north of Di'anmen Street. Originally built for musical reasons, it was later used to announce the time and is now a tourist attraction.
The Bell Tower of Beijing (), stands closely behind the drum tower. Together, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower have panoramic views over central Beijing and before the modern era, they both dominated Beijing's ancient skyline.
Function.
Bells and drums were musical instruments in ancient China. Later they were used by government and communities to announce the time. The Bell and Drum towers were central to official timekeeping in China in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Bell and Drum Towers continued to function as the official timepiece of Beijing until 1924, when the Beijing Coup led to the expulsion of Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, from the Forbidden City, and the adoption of western-styled clockwork for official time-keeping.
History.
The Drum Tower was built in 1272 during the reign of Kublai Khan, at which time it stood at the very heart of the Yuan capital Dadu. At that time it was known as the Tower of Orderly Administration (Qizhenglou). In 1420, under the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty, the building was reconstructed to the east of the original site and in 1800 under the Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing dynasty, large-scale renovations were carried out. Following the Beijing Coup in 1924, Feng Yuxiang removed the official status of the towers, replacing them with western time-keeping methods, and renamed the building "Mingchilou", or the "tower of clarifying shame". Objects related to the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of Beijing and later the May 30 Massacre of 1925 were put on display, turning the towers into a museum. The upper story of the building currently serves as the People's Cultural Hall of the East City District.
In the 1980s, after much repair, the Bell and Drum Towers were opened to tourists.
Architecture.
The Drum Tower is a -tall two-story building made of wood. The upper story of the building housed 24 drums, of which only one survives. New drums have been made to replace them. Nearby stands the Bell Tower, a -tall edifice with gray walls and a green glazed roof.


Hebrew Congregation of Woodmont

The Hebrew Congregation of Woodmont is an historic, 1926 beach (summer, resort) synagogue at 15-17 Edgefield Avenue in Woodmont, Connecticut, United States. The synagogue was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Historic building.
The small, wood-frame, clapboard synagogue was built in the Colonial Revival style typical of small New England towns for seasonal use by Jewish families who came to stay on the beach in the summer months. An adjacent social hall was built in 1946.
In 2012 the historic building was badly damaged by a fire, caused by an electrical wiring problem. A reconstruction was quickly planned to restore both the 1926 sanctuary and the adjacent 1946 social hall, which suffered minor damage. The social hall was restored in time for the High Holy Days in 2013.
Congregation.
The congregation began in 1920, meeting during the summer months in the vacation home of Rabbi Yehuda Heschel Levenberg. Ground was broken for a permanent synagogue building in 1926, and completed by the summer vacation season of 1927. A summer Sunday school opened in 1936, and a social hall was built in 1946. By the early 21st century, however, the summer population had declined and the diminished congregation hired Rabbi Schneur and Chanie Wilhelm of the Chabad movement in 2007 with the hope that they could attract enough members to make the Hebrew Congregation into a year-round synagogue. As of 2014, services were being held on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays year-round.


Hyde County Memorial Auditorium

The Hyde County Memorial Auditorium in Highmore, South Dakota was built in 1951. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
A community effort to build the auditorium began in 1945, and a fundraising campaign soon raised $25,000. A bond issue was found to be unnecessary, and bond proceeds were returned.
It was designed by architect Ursa L. Freed in a transitional style between Art Deco architecture and Art Moderne architecture.
The building hosted basketball games, concerts, theater, and other community events. The building also hosts some municipal offices. A memorial plaque in the lobby lists local men and women who served in any war from the American Civil War on.
Its opening featured Yogi Yorgesson and the "Scandahoovians", his seven-piece band.


Chelmsford Cathedral

Chelmsford Cathedral in the city of Chelmsford, Essex, United Kingdom, is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, St Peter and St Cedd. It became a cathedral when the Anglican Diocese of Chelmsford was created in 1914 and is the seat of the Bishop of Chelmsford.
History.
Parish church.
The church of St Mary the Virgin in Chelmsford was probably first built along with the town around 1200. It was rebuilt in the 15th and early 16th centuries (starting around 1520), with walls of flint rubble, stone and brick. The church has a tower with a spire and a ring of thirteen bells, twelve of which were cast by John Warner & Sons at Cripplegate and were dedicated in 1913. The nave partially collapsed in 1800, and was rebuilt by the County architect John Johnson, retaining the Perpendicular design, but using Coade stone piers and tracery, and a plaster ceiling. The upper part of the chancel was rebuilt in 1878.
Cathedral.
In 1914 the church became the cathedral for the newly created diocese of Chelmsford.
The south porch was extended in 1953 to mark Anglo-American friendship after World War II and the many US airmen stationed in Essex. In 1954, the cathedral was additionally dedicated to Saints Peter and Cedd. In 1983, the interior of the cathedral was extensively refurbished, with a new floor, seating, altar, bishop's throne, font and artwork. In 1994 and 1995 two pipe organs were installed, the first in the nave and the second in the chancel. The stained-glass windows were all installed in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In 2000 a sculpture, "Christ in Glory" by Peter Eugene Ball, was placed above the chancel arch. In 2004 two further major works of art were commissioned, and are now in place: Mark Cazelet's "Tree of Life" painting in the North Transept, and Philip Sanderson's altar frontal in the Mildmay Chapel.
The cathedral celebrates its links with Thomas Hooker, who was Chelmsford Town Lecturer between 1626 and 1629. He fled to the New World because of his Puritan views and founded the town of Hartford, Connecticut and was one of the founders of American democracy.
Dean and chapter.
As of 8 August 2019:
Music.
Cathedral organs.
A specification of the organs can be found at the National Pipe Organ Register.


Dimlands

Dimlands (also known as Dimland Castle or Dimland Lodge) was a small scale, gentry house on the north side of St Donats Road about southwest of Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, southeast Wales. Built like a small Tudor castle, it is situated about back from the clifftops of the Bristol Channel between Llantwit Major and St Donats. The main house was demolished after a fire in 1948, but its lodge, in a similar castellated style, survives and became a Grade II listed building on 9 October 1982.
History.
The site was previously occupied by the fortress of Iestyn ap Gwrgant, lord of Glamorgan and the last ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Morgannwg; its fields are still known as "Caer Wrgan" ("Wrganstown"). The property was held by the Nicholl family since the time of King Henry VII. Dimlands was built by Rev. Robert Nicholl Carne at the end of the 18th century upon land left him by his father, Whitlock Nicholl, of The Ham, High Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1746. Upon Robert's death in 1849, his younger son, John Whitlock Nicholl Carne of the University of Oxford, inherited Dimlands, and the 1850 improvements are attributed to him
Dimlands was leased to the architect Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820–1877) in 1875, he being the husband of Mary Nicholl of The Ham, a great niece of Robert. Wyatt died at Dimlands two years later. It is possible that John involved Wyatt (designer of The Ham mansion) in the Dimlands' 1850 renovation. In the early 20th century, from 1900 to 1921, the Crawshays were Dimlands' tenants; Tudor Crawshay was Deputy Lieutenant of Glamorgan, and vicar’s warden of St Illtyd's Church, Llantwit Major. Tudor Crawshay's son Owen was a tenant of the nearby Tresilian House at Tresilian Bay.
The main house was destroyed by fire in 1948.
Architecture and fittings.
The dwelling was of castellated Tudor architecture with blue lias limestone exterior, and Coombedown stone windows and cornices. The south facing main front was more than in length. The western coast of Cornwall and Lundy Island were visible from the south turrets.
The interior was described in 1853 as follows:
"The carved chimney in the dining room is made of Caen stone; the old Carne motto of "+FY ;+NGOBAITH+SY DD+YN. + NUW.+." (My hope is in God) is inscribed on its chief panel. Other features are Mintons tile flooring, the large Tudor style staircase, two sitting rooms, and the library, a newer addition. The drawing room is remarkable for the peculiar shape of its chimney piece; it has features similar to those found in some church arches. It is constructed of Caen stone, and has a label over it, ending in two supporters, with the monogram I:N:C. On this label is the ancient motto "-4-HEB.-fDHYW.+HEB.-TDHYM.+DUW+A+DIGON+". There are several large oil paintings of St. Donat's Castle, Lanrihangle, Llantwit Major, and other residences connected with this family. A later built library features a large fireplace, which is fitted with a dog grate and decorated with white glazed bricks. There are two other sitting rooms, which contain some paintings, including one of Miss Elinor Carne (afterwards Mrs. Thomas Markham) by Sir Thomas Lawrence, done at Bath, when she was only fourteen, and the painter sixteen years of age."
Grounds.
The Dimlands stables were built on a small scale. Burke, in 1853, described them as consisting of sharp, pointed gables, which are finished off at the top with the Carne crest, cut in freestone, incorporating a split pelican issuing out of a ducal coronet. On the southern front of the stables, there is an odd carved stone containing the Carne arms, the date of the original grant in A.D. 1336, and the confirmation in A.D. 1842, together with an account of the assumption of the Carne surname and estates through marriage by the Rev. Robert Nicholl.
References.
"This article incorporates public domain text from John Bernard Burke's A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen of Great Britain (1853)."


Tal-Borg Battery

Tal-Borg Battery () was an artillery battery near Tarxien, Malta, built by Maltese insurgents during the French blockade of 1798–1800. It was part of a chain of batteries, redoubts and entrenchments encircling the French positions in Marsamxett and the Grand Harbour.
Description.
Tal-Borg Battery was located north of Tarxien, and about 700m away from St. John Almoner Bastion of the Santa Margherita Lines. It faced Corradino (where the insurgents also built a series of batteries), as well as the Cottonera Lines. The battery was one of the largest and best defended Maltese batteries throughout the siege.
Tal-Borg Battery consisted of a paved gun platform, with an upper and lower parapet. The upper parapet was seven courses high and had five embrasures. The west side of the upper parapet was flanked by a partially demolished farm building, which served as a protective shelter for the garrison and gun crews. A well was also located near the farm building. A large barrack building or magazine with its roof covered by a layer of soil was located at the rear of the platform. A small bastion was built next to the barracks, and this was connected to the lower parapet by a rubble wall entrenchment. The lower parapet had at least five embrasures. The battery also had two sentry rooms, which had flagpoles flying the Blue Ensign and the flag of the Kingdom of Sicily.
The upper platform was armed with five iron guns, two 6-inch mortars and a carronade. The lower platform was armed with two guns, while another gun was located near the battery's entrance.
History.
The battery was built on a field belonging to Caterina Busuttil, who received 142 scudi in compensation. It was built under the supervision of the engineer Michele Cachia and had a garrison of 230 men.
By the beginning of 1799, Tal-Borg Battery had fired over 400 shells to Cospicua and Senglea, damaging many houses within the cities. On 15 September 1799, three gunners at Tal-Borg were killed by French bombardment. On 23 February 1800, the battery fired across the harbour, hitting a ferry boat that was discharging passengers at Birgu, killing many civilians. On 4 March of the same year, French cannonball destroyed a gunpowder magazine near the battery.
Like the other French blockade fortifications, Tal-Borg Battery was dismantled, possibly sometime after 1814. No traces of the battery can be seen today, and its site is now occupied by the Pace Grasso Stadium.


Church of San Pedro de los Francos

The Church of San Pedro de los Francos (Spanish: "Iglesia de San Pedro de los Francos") is a church located on Via la Rua in Calatayud, Spain. It was declared "Bien de Interés Cultural" in 1875.
History.
The church was founded by Alfonso I el Batallador, after the Reconquista of Calatayud, to thank his French mercenary troops. The church was built in the 14th-century over an earlier temple. It has a typical Mudéjar structure of 3 naves and apses.
Art and Architecture.
The entrance portal is Gothic in style with a peaked arch flanked by standing sculptures of St Peter and Paul, while the lintel has some awkwardly seated Christ (center), the Virgin and St John, all sheltered by a ledge with architecture.
Inside the main gilded Retablo at the high altar has Baroque Solomonic columns, and was completed in 1654. Other chapels include a retablo with Renaissance style panels. The various chapels include a virgin in a grotto.
The adjacent ancient mudejar tower leans over the street.


India House, Manchester

India House in Whitworth Street, Manchester, England, is a packing and shipping warehouse built in 1906 for Lloyd's Packing Warehouses Limited, which had, by merger, become the dominant commercial packing company in early-20th century Manchester. It is in the favoured Edwardian Baroque style and is steel-framed, with cladding of buff terracotta and red brick with buff terracotta dressings. It is a Grade II* listed building as of 3 October 1974.
Background.
The building was designed by Harry S. Fairhurst, "the leading expert in the design of these advanced warehouses". Fairhurst was also responsible for Bridgewater House which stands opposite India House, and the neighbouring Lancaster House.
Fairhurst's huge buildings are "steel-framed and built to high-quality fireproof specifications".
It was constructed for Lloyd’s Packing Warehouses Limited and like many warehouses was built to a common design with steps to a raised ground floor with showroom and offices and the first floor contained more offices and waiting rooms for clients and sample and pattern rooms all decorated to impress customers. The working areas above were plain with large windows to allow in natural light. Orders were packed there and sent to the basement on hoists powered by Manchester's hydraulic power system and packed into bales using hydraulic presses before dispatch. The warehouse was lit by gas.
Noel Gallagher lived at India House in the 1990s and wrote Live Forever whilst living there.
References.
Notes
Bibliography


Greenwich Palace


Norwich School

Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as an episcopal grammar school established by Herbert de Losinga, first Bishop of Norwich. In the 16th century the school came under the control of the city of Norwich and moved to Blackfriars' Hall following a successful petition to Henry VIII. The school was refounded in 1547 in a royal charter granted by Edward VI and moved to its current site beside the cathedral in 1551. In the 19th century it became independent of the city and its classical curriculum was broadened in response to the declining demand for classical education following the Industrial Revolution.
Early statutes declared the school was to instruct 90 sons of Norwich citizens, though it has since grown to a total enrolment of approximately 1,020 pupils. For most of its history it was a boys' school, before becoming co-educational in the sixth form in 1994 and in every year group in 2010. The school is divided into the Senior School, which has around 850 pupils aged from 11 to 18 across eight houses, and the Lower School, which was established in 1946 and has around 250 pupils aged from 4 to 11. The school educates the choristers of the cathedral, with which the school has a close relationship and which is used for morning assemblies and events throughout the academic year. In league tables of British schools it is consistently ranked first in Norfolk and Suffolk and amongst the highest in the United Kingdom.
Former pupils are referred to as Old Norvicensians or ONs. The school has maintained a strong academic tradition and has educated a number of notable figures including Lord Nelson, Sir Edward Coke and 18 Fellows of the Royal Society among many others. Several members of the Norwich School of painters, the first provincial art movement in England, were educated at the school and the movement's founder, John Crome, also taught at the school. It is a founding member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), a member of the Choir Schools' Association and has a historical connection with the Worshipful Company of Dyers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London.
History.
Establishment and early history.
Norwich School traces its origins to the founding of an episcopal grammar school in 1096 by Herbert de Losinga, first Bishop of Norwich. The continuity of the current Norwich School with the 1096 school would make it one of the oldest surviving schools in the United Kingdom. The newly established school occupied a site on "Holmstrete" in the parish of St Matthew between the close of Norwich Cathedral and the River Wensum. Until the English Reformation the bishop would appoint the headteacher (termed Head Master by the school), though on several occasions this role had been fulfilled by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The earliest known headteacher is Vincent of Scarning, who is mentioned in 1240 regarding a financial dispute with a school in Rudham.
In 1538, the school was separated from its cathedral foundation and placed under the control of the mayor, sheriffs, and commonalty of the city of Norwich following a successful petition to Henry VIII for the possession of Blackfriars' Hall, a Dominican friary which was surrendered to the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Two prominent citizens of the city, Augustine Steward and Edward Rede, after consulting Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, promised on the city's behalf "to fynd a perpetual free-schole therein for the good erudicion and education of yought in lernyng and vertue". Following repairs, the school moved to the former friary in 1541, occupying part of the south-west cloister, where it educated 20 boys under a master and a sub-master.
16th and 17th centuries.
The school was refounded as King Edward VI Grammar School in a royal charter granted by Edward VI dated 7 May 1547.
Issued four months into the king's accession, the charter expressly implemented an arrangement designed by Henry VIII and was confirmed by Edward Seymour, Lord Protector. Unusually for a cathedral city Norwich did not receive a cathedral school following the Reformation, but an endowed city grammar school. Norwich Cathedral was the first of the eight cathedral priories to surrender to the Crown, formally being re-established as a secular cathedral with a dean and chapter on 2 May 1538. Consequently, negotiations over the refoundation charter were between the city, rather than the cathedral, and the Crown. Known as the Great Hospital Charter, it granted the city possession of St Giles' hospital, also called the Great Hospital, and merged the school with it in the hope of achieving an integrated system of education and poor relief. These plans were never realised, however, as the Great Hospital was partially stripped for building materials and later sacked during Kett's Rebellion in 1549. The school temporarily occupied St Luke's House, a building north-west of the cathedral.
In 1550 the city purchased the former chantry chapel and college of St John the Evangelist beside the cathedral for the use of the grammar school out of the £200 each year at their disposal in a licence in mortmain to purchase and add to the revenues of the Great Hospital. Founded in 1316 by John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich, the chapel, in addition to its role as a chantry dedicated to the souls of Salmon's parents and the predecessors and successors of the Bishops of Norwich had also been used as a charnel house and contained the Wodehouse chantry, founded by Henry V at the request of John Wodehous, a veteran of the Battle of Agincourt. The school moved to the site in the summer of 1551, where it has remained ever since. The chapel was used as the main schoolroom while the other buildings were used to provide a library and accommodation for the master and boarding pupils. The arrangement continued until the 19th century, and today the building is used as the school chapel.
A master and "usher" (deputy headteacher) were to be appointed by the city out of the revenues assigned to them, who were required to have a good knowledge of classical languages, namely Latin and Greek. Additionally, the master was required to be a university graduate, of "sound religion", and not to take on additional work. The salary of the usher was £6. 13s. 4d. and the master a "handsome" sum of £10, which by 1636 had risen to £50. The 1566 statutes declared the school was to provide Greek and Latin instruction for 90 sons of Norwich citizens free of expense and up to ten fee-paying pupils. By the 19th century the city was observed to generally leave room for as many boarders and other day scholars to sufficiently remunerate the teachers. Admission was limited to boys thought to benefit from the education offered, and the school was highly selective as a result. The education was based on erudition, the eventual goal being that by the age of 18 the pupils would have learned "to vary one sentence diversely, to make a verse exactly, to endight an epistle eloquently and learnedly, to declaim of a theme simple, and last of all to attain some competent knowledge of the Greek tongue". Pupils were taught rhetoric based on the "Rhetorica ad Herennium", and Greek centred around the works of Homer and Virgil. In addition to classical literature, etiquette was taught as both were deemed fundamental to a good education. Edward Coke studied at the school at the age of eight from 1560 until 1567, where he is said to have been taught to value the "forcefulness of freedom of speech", something he later applied as a judge.
As part of the annual Guild Day procession of the inauguration of the new mayor of Norwich it was tradition for the head boy to deliver a short speech in Latin from the school porch "commending justice and obedyence" to the mayor and corporation. Afterwards the orator would attend the guild dinner, historically riding in the procession on a white horse, but in later years taken in the mayor's carriage. When Elizabeth I visited Norwich on a separate occasion in 1578 the master at the time, Stephen Limbert, is said to have delivered an oration, which "so pleased Her Majesty that she said it had been the best she had heard, and gave him her hand to kiss, and afterwards sent back to enquire his name." The encounter has been said to characterise the public image of Elizabeth I as a monarch who indulged her subjects with goodwill and has been used for the interpretation of the character of Theseus in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
18th and 19th centuries.
The system of education remained largely unchanged until the late 18th century. Dr. Samuel Parr, master from 1778 to 1785 was noted for his use of corporal punishment, commonplace at the time. One pupil remarked:
Parr's fame for severity spread a sort of panic through the city, especially among the mothers, who would sometimes interpose a remonstrance, which occasioned a ludicrous scene, but seldom availed the culprit, while the wiser were willing to leave their boys in his hands. Richard Twining, the tea merchant, however, was advised by his brother John to send his eldest son to Norwich, writing of Parr, "I have been told that he flogs too much, but I doubt those from whom I have heard it think "any" use of punishment too much". Parr's daily teaching was interrupted at midday when he sent a boy to the pastry-cook's across the road for a pie, which he ate by the schoolroom fire. On the resignation of his headship in 1785, historian Warren Derry comments, "an object of terror was gone, but the glory of the place had gone with it".
John Crome, the landscape painter and founder of the Norwich School of painters, became a drawing master at the school at the beginning of the 19th century, a position he held for many years. The Norwich School of painters was the first provincial art movement in England, and Crome has been described as one of the most prominent British landscape painters alongside Constable and Gainsborough. Several notable artists of the movement were educated at the school including John Sell Cotman, James Stark, George Vincent, John Berney Crome, George Vincent and Edward Thomas Daniell. Frederick Sandys, the "Norwich Pre-Raphaelite", who also attended the school, had his roots in the movement. Some staff, such as Dr. Samuel Forster, were associated with the movement; Forster was headteacher when John Sell Cotman attended the school. Forster became vice president of the Norwich Society of Artists, the society established in 1803 for artists of the movement. Charles Hodgson who taught mathematics and art, and his son David who taught art, were also supporters of Crome.
The number of pupils fluctuated significantly at the beginning of the 19th century, with usual numbers between 100 and 150 pupils, but falling to eight pupils in 1811 and 30 in 1859. Under the headship of the classical scholar Edward Valpy (1810–1829) pupil numbers increased and the school enjoyed a prosperous period, though its development was hindered by its charter whose trustees preferred to spend most of the £7,000 a year income on the Great Hospital, leaving £300 for the school. Valpy published a popular textbook on Latin style, "Elegantiae Latinae" (1803), which went through ten editions in his lifetime and "The Greek Testament, with English notes, selected and original" (1815) in three volumes. In 1837, in the wake of the Municipal Reform Act the patronage of the governors went to twenty-one independent trustees appointed by the Lord Chancellor, separating the governance of the school from the city corporation. As a result of a later 1858 court case "Attorney-General v. Hudson" the school became independent of the Great Hospital, gaining an endowment of its own and a Board of Governors to administer it. The original objects of the school to provide education for poor boys was abolished and replaced with boarding fees of £60 a year for sons of laymen, £45 for sons of clergymen, and 12 guineas a year for day pupils. A separate school was established to provide training for boys to enter industry and trade called the King Edward VI Middle School or Commercial School. Opened in 1862 and located in the cloisters of Blackfriars' it had 200 pupils and charged a tuition fee of four guineas a year.
By the mid-19th century the school failed to cater to the requirements of the new urban middle class due to its predominant focus on classical education and was perceived by the city's large Nonconformist community as too exclusively Anglican. The school, however, underwent dramatic reform under Augustus Jessopp, one of the great Victorian reforming headteachers, whose headship lasted from 1859 to 1879. Influenced by Thomas Arnold's reforms at Rugby and the new Victorian public schools, the school was remodelled into a public school. The curriculum was broadened to include non-classical subjects such as mathematics, drawing, German and French, as part of a trend seen in several schools including Marlborough College, Rossall, Wellington, Clifton and Richmond to establish modern departments where pupils would be allowed to omit learning Greek and follow a non-classical curriculum to fulfill the increasing demand for a "high" but less classical education. A strict moral code was instilled, the chapel becoming the focal point of school life, a prefectorial system was implemented to encourage leadership and responsibility, and there was a greater focus on sport which was thought to foster team spirit and individual initiative, reflecting the prevailing belief in muscular Christianity among educationalists.
The Schools Inquiry Commission (1864–1868), which examined endowed grammar schools under the chairmanship of Lord Taunton, reported that the school "gives the highest education in the county of Norfolk" and sent on average twice as many boys to university as all the other endowed schools in Norfolk each year. The commissioners also praised the Commercial School, despite it facing competition from similar schools: "the extent of its usefulness and the soundness of its practical teaching, is second to none". These reforms were accompanied by building expansion, such as the completion in 1860 of the Gothic Revival north wing of School House which contained a large dormitory for boarding pupils. By 1872 there were 127 pupils, 91 of whom were boarders who were drawn from all over the south-east of England. At the first meeting of the Headmasters' Conference in 1869 Jessopp represented Norwich School as one of the original thirteen members. Although successful his efforts were hindered by the effects of agricultural depression as four-fifths of endowment income came from land, and the school ultimately thrived as a city day school.
20th century to present.
Extensive building development was completed in 1908, which included converting the chapel back to religious use, a redesigned School Lodge and a block of six classrooms designed by Edward Boardman called the New Buildings. To secure its finances the school accepted a grant from the Board of Education in return for offering 10 percent of its intake to places funded by central government. The First World War saw the establishment of an Officers Training Corps company associated with the Norfolk Regiment, which disbanded in 1918. Pupil numbers grew steadily to 277 in 1930 and there was further modernisation of the curriculum. During the Second World War several buildings were destroyed in the Baedeker raids on Norwich, while School End House was commandeered by the Auxiliary Territorial Service and the Bishop's Palace was used by the American Red Cross. Inhumations were reportedly disturbed in 1939 when air-raid shelters were being dug on the current site of the playground, previously the old cathedral cemetery. In total, 102 pupils who attended the school died in the two world wars.
Post-war reconstruction was assisted by the Dean and Chapter who leased further buildings in the Close and the Worshipful Company of Dyers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, through HH Judge Norman Daynes, an ON and Prime Warden of the Company. Though functional the new buildings had little aesthetic value; according to Pevsner they "spoil the North West part of the precinct beyond hope of redemption". The Dyers' continue to be a major benefactor of the school. Following the Education Act 1944 the school became a direct grant grammar school, increasing the number of free places to one quarter of its intake, however reverted to full independence when the scheme was phased out in 1975. A preparatory school called the Lower School was established in 1946, rebuilt in 1971 by architects Feilden and Mawson, and has undergone several extensions since. The 1950s saw a closer relationship with the Dean and Chapter following the merger of the choir school and the lease of the Bishop's Palace.
Boarding was phased out in 1989 and the buildings used for boarding, School House and the Bishop's Palace, were converted into teaching space. Girls were admitted to the sixth form for the first time in 1994, ending nearly 900 years of single-sex education. In 1999 the Daynes Sports Centre opened and the former gymnasium was converted into the Blake Drama Studio and two further laboratories. The same year the artists Cornford & Cross were commissioned by the Norwich Gallery to produce a series of sculptures beside the River Wensum. One of the works, "Jerusalem", was installed on the school playing fields until July 2002. Part of the installation was later donated to the art department. In 2008 new science laboratories opened on St Faiths Lane in the south section of the Close. The facilities include a seismometer which is part of the British Geological Survey's schools network. That same year, the school began to admit girls below the sixth form for the first time, initially as young as age eleven. The next year, 2009, all school-age girls were eligible for admission. An eighth house called Seagrim, named after distinguished ONs Derek and Hugh Seagrim, was created in 2009. In 2011 the first female head of school in the school's history was chosen. In late 2013 work began to extend the Lower School. The extension of the Lower School was completed in 2018 when 4 changing rooms and a shower block had been converted into classrooms for roughly 60 pupils from Reception to Year 3. This has allowed pupils to enter the school at the age of 4 instead of 7.
There are currently plans to build a new Refectory in the Senior School site to provide space for the evergrowing number of pupils at the school. There are plans in place for the old refectory (only meant to have been temporary when built) to be demolished and classrooms built in its place.
Location and buildings.
The school is principally located within the 44 acre (17.81 ha) cathedral close of Norwich Cathedral, known as "the Close", though over time has expanded beyond the precinct boundaries. In addition to the site next to the cathedral the Senior School uses buildings spread throughout the Close for teaching, many of which are listed buildings of historic interest, and several are scheduled monuments of national importance. The Lower School is located in the Lower Close between the east end of the cathedral and the River Wensum.
Chapel.
The school chapel, located next to the Erpingham Gate and the west door of the cathedral in what was the west part of the cathedral cemetery, was originally the chantry chapel and college of St John the Evangelist built in 1316 by John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich, who specified that;
... in this chapel we ordain that there shall be for ever four priests, and we decree that they shall celebrate for our souls and for the souls of our father and mother, Solomon and Amice, and for the souls of our predecessors and successors the Bishops of Norwich ... The said priests, however, in the buildings built by us next the Chapel for their use, shall dwell and remain eating and drinking together and living in common.
Alternatively known as the Carnary chapel and college, the complex was originally formed of separate buildings which were later joined together. The entrance porch to the chapel was added between 1446 and 1472 during the episcopate of Walter Lyhart, Bishop of Norwich. The crypt beneath the chapel was used as a charnel house administered by the sacristan of the cathedral which stored the bones of people buried in the churches of the city to await resurrection, and the ocular windows of the chapel would allow visitors to view the charnel remains. From 1421 to 1476 the crypt was also the location of the Wodehous chantry, established by Henry V at the request of John Wodehous, a veteran of the Battle of Agincourt. The college was dissolved in 1547 during the English Reformation by the Abolition of Chantries Act before being purchased by the city in 1550, and used by the school shortly after. Until the 19th century the chapel was used as the main classroom, though it was not until 1908 the chapel returned to the role of religious assembly and 1940 when it was consecrated for use as a church, due to the cost of refurbishment.
The chapel is constructed from stone with a plain tiled roof and comprises four bays above a four bay twin-aisled undercroft. The windows originally contained the names and arms of benefactors who contributed to the renovation of the chapel after its purchase by the city and the imperial crown of Edward VI, but by the 19th century many had been lost. Blomefield's "History of the County of Norfolk", compiled in the 18th century, identifies the coat of arms of the Drapers, Grocers, and St George's arms; with the family arms of the Palmers, Symbarbs and the Ruggs. Following renovations carried out in 1937–40 six windows contain stained glass panels mainly depicting shields. Among those that can be seen today are the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Dyers, and a shield carrying the Latin motto which literally translates to "Fame is equal to the toil". The motto, which comes from the "Satires" of Horace, has been taken out of context as in the poem Horace explains that fame never corresponds to the effort one has made. The art historian Eric Fernie suggests the style of the chapel is firmly within the palatial tradition of two-storey chapels along with the Palatine Chapel, Aachen, La Sainte-Chapelle and the Royal Chapel of St Stephen. In contrast archaeologist Roberta Gilchrist suggests that the design was influenced by the "visual culture of medieval death", its architecture holding additional iconographic meaning connected to its use for storage of charnel. The old charnel house is a scheduled monument and the chapel above is a Grade I listed building.
Erpingham Gate and St Ethelbert's Gate.
The Erpingham Gate is the primary entrance to the north section of the Close, directly opposite the west door of the cathedral. It was commissioned by Sir Thomas Erpingham, a commander in the Battle of Agincourt and was constructed between 1416 and 1425. The top of the arch contains a canopied niche which is thought originally to have been dedicated to the Five Holy Wounds of Christ, flanked by the Four Evangelists and with the Holy Trinity above, but was replaced in the 18th century with a kneeling statue of Erpingham wearing armour and surcoat with a collar of Esses and the Order of the Garter below his left knee. The rest of the gateway is decorated with the coat of arms of Erpingham and members of his family, together with his motto "yenk" (think) on small scrolls. It has been restored several times: first in the 18th century, then by E. W. Tristram in 1938 and again by Feilden and Mawson in 1989. It is a scheduled monument and adjoins School House and the Music School, which occupy 70 and 71 The Close respectively.
St Ethelbert's Gate is one of the entrances to the south section of the Close. The room above the gateway was originally a chapel dedicated to Saint Ethelbert the King and came to be used by the school in 1944. It was used as an art room before its conversion into the Barbirolli music practice room, named after Lady Barbirolli, under Philip Stibbe's headship (1975–1984), a project financed by the Dyers. A scheduled monument, the gateway was built in 1316 by the citizens of Norwich as penance for a riot in 1272 which damaged many of the priory buildings. It was substantially restored in 1815 by William Wilkins, an Old Norvicensian, and underwent further renovations in 1964 which saw the stonework and carvings replaced under the supervision of Sir Bernard Feilden. Art historian Veronica Sekules describes the St Ethelbert's Gate as it was in the 14th century as "a highly decorative building presenting a façade rich in images, which the cathedral otherwise lacked. In a sense it would have operated as a principal façade and, in as far as one can glean from the remaining images, it communicated a strong message designating the gate as the opening to hallowed ground beyond."
Nelson's statue.
The Grade II listed statue of Lord Nelson, an Old Norvicensian, was sculpted by Thomas Milnes in 1847. Milnes was later asked to model the lions for the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, but the commission was eventually given to Sir Edwin Landseer. Nelson is depicted in vice admiral full-dress uniform, with epaulettes and three stars on the cuff, resting a telescope on a cannon with a hawser at his feet. He lost most of his right arm in 1797, shown by his empty right sleeve which is pinned to his uniform to support the cloak which falls from his left shoulder. The octagonal granite plinth is inscribed with "Nelson". It was originally located outside the Norwich Guildhall but was relocated to its current site next to the school in the Upper Close in 1856 at the suggestion of the sculptor Richard Westmacott the Younger.
Other buildings.
School House, 70 The Close, was formerly part of the Carnary college but now contains classrooms and school offices. While much of the building dates to around 1830, extensive 14th and 15th century features remain such as the stone entrance archway. The building, which is Grade I listed, adjoins the Erpingham Gate and is three storeys high and has eight bays. School End House, 69 The Close, is a 17th-century timber-framed house built against the east end of the school chapel. Formerly a home, the Grade I listed building is now the senior common room for staff and a school office. The entrance is pilastered and is surrounded by lion-mask roundels. The Music School, 71 The Close, was built in 1626–28 as a home for the prebendaries of the cathedral, funded by the chapter. Typical of the period, the Grade II* listed building was constructed from flint-rubble, brick, and reused materials from monastic buildings in the Close. It replaced an earlier house and incorporates the remains of a medieval free-standing bell tower originating in the 12th or 13th century, rebuilt around 1300 and largely demolished by 1580.
The Bishop's Palace was built on the site of the former Anglo-Saxon parish church of Holy Trinity. The primary wing was completed during Bishop de Losinga's episcopate (1091–1119). Bishops Suffield (1244–1257) and Salmon (1298–1325) developed the palace and its grounds substantially. Under Bishop Salmon the palace underwent ambitious expansion, possibly prompted by damage from the riot of 1272 and his personal success of being elected as Lord Chancellor to Edward III in 1319. The main feature of the original palace was a three-storey fortified tower which was directly connected to the cathedral, drawing upon the precedent of Carolingian imperial palaces. In c. 1858 the building underwent major restoration under the supervision of Ewan Christian. The building came to be used by the school in 1958. Today the building contains classrooms where mathematics and geography are taught, the junior common room (for sixth form pupils) and libraries in the former parlour and undercroft.
The former private chapel of Edward Reynolds, Bishop of Norwich, was built in 1662 almost entirely at his own expense. It replaced an earlier chapel which had been severely damaged by a mob during Bishop Hall's episcopate (1641–1656). Constructed from stone with a plain tile roof, it annexes the Bishop's Palace. There is a coat of arms above the doorway but it is badly weathered. The Grade II* listed building was previously used by the dean and chapter for the storage of records and came to be used as a library by the school under S. M. Andrews' headship (1967–75) following renovations funded by the Dyers.
Organisation and administration.
The school is divided into the Lower School, a preparatory feeder school which has around 250 pupils from ages 4 to 11, and the Senior School which has around 850 pupils aged from 12 to 18. Like many other independent schools the school has its own distinctive names for year groups called "forms". The school's academic year is divided into three terms: "Michaelmas" term, from early September to mid-December; "Lent" term, from early January to mid-March; and "Trinity" term, from mid-April to early July. In the middle of each term there is a week-long half-term holiday. The pupils receive an extra week of holiday in the three major holidays between terms, compared to most state schools of England. The school is a registered charity. The school's charitable work includes financial and practical support of the Diskit Monastery and the GTC Monastic School in Ladakh, India, a primary school and health centre in Zambia and a community centre in Boulogne Sur Mer, Argentina.
The headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and is responsible to the governors for the whole school from 4 to 18, though is primarily based in the Senior School. Housemasters are managed by the principal deputy head, who is accountable to the headteacher for the pastoral care and discipline of the school, as well as for much of the rest of the school's non-academic activity. The governors form the Board of Governors, also known as the Council of Management, which meets each term and is headed by a chairman. Past chairmen have included Donald Dalrymple ON, physician and Liberal MP for Bath (1868–73), J. J. Colman, head of the Colman's mustard company and Liberal MP for Norwich (1890–1898), Augustus Jessopp (1900–1903), James Stuart, founder of the University Extension Movement and Rector of the University of St Andrews (1903–1913), E. E. Blyth, first Lord Mayor of Norwich (1913–1934), David Cranage, Dean of Norwich (1934–1945), and General Manager of Norwich Union E. F. Williamson (1945–1954). The current chairman is P. J. E. Smith. Several governor positions are appointed by organisations closely connected to the school. The dean and chapter of Norwich Cathedral appoint one governor, and the Worshipful Company of Dyers appoint three. The school's historical connection with the Dyers, one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, dates back to 1947 when HH Judge Norman Daynes, an Old Norvicensian, was the Prime Warden of the Company. The charitable trust of the Company continues to be a major benefactor of the school through the funding of building expansion and bursaries. The school is also a member of the Choir Schools' Association and the Lower School is a member of the Independent Association of Prep Schools.
The school is selective; admission is based on assessments in English, mathematics and reasoning, an academic reference from the applicant's current school and an interview. The main entry point to enter the Lower School is at age 4 (Reception), age 7 (Year 3), and ages 11 (Year 7), 13 (Year 9) and 16 to enter the Senior School. There are academic, music and other scholarships which reduce school fees by up to one-fifth, as well as means-tested bursaries up to the entirety of school fees. In addition, the charitable trust of the Dyers' provide a bursary to cover half the school fees of one pupil in each academic year. Cathedral choristers also receive bursaries which cover half of school fees through the Norwich Cathedral Choir Endowment Fund. The fees for the 2013/2014 academic year for the Lower School were £11,997 per annum (£3,999 per term), and £13,167 per annum (£4,389 per term) for the Senior School. However, the fees for the 2018/2019 academic year are £11,493 per annum for Pre-prep, £15,441 per annum for Years 3-6 and £16,941 per annum for pupils in the Senior School The school also charges fees for lunches and entries for public examinations.
School life.
Norwich Cathedral is used by the school on weekdays for morning assemblies and events throughout the academic year. The choristers of the cathedral are also educated at the school. The school has a Christian ethos, and emphasises Christian values such as love and compassion as underpinning its activities. "Tatler" describes the school as "fantastically unstuffy". Former headteacher, Chris Brown, in an interview as chairman of the HMC in 2001 commented that the school does not fit the stereotype of a public school but is better described as an "independent grammar" because of the school's philanthropy and outreach in the community. Richard Harries, author of one of the school's histories argues that due to the evolution of the school it does not fit either public or grammar school stereotypes and that it is most properly described as an independent school among "the distinguished group of City independent schools", such as City of London School and Manchester Grammar School.
Curriculum.
In Lower Five (Year 9) and below pupils study a broad curriculum including Latin and two modern languages. There is also a programme of games at all levels, and in the fourth and fifth forms an ICT programme and a general course called "Curriculum vitae" (not to be mistaken with a written form known as a CV) which covers Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) topics, study skills and subjects such as philosophy and Mandarin. Pupils are required to take at least ten General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and IGCSE subjects in Middle Five (Year 10) and Upper Five (Year 11).
In the sixth form, pupils usually study four or five AS-level (the equivalent of half an A-level qualification) subjects for one year, and most continue with three subjects to A-level. Many also take the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). In total, 25 subjects are offered at A-level. Sixth-formers must also take part in a community service programme where pupils volunteer in various local organisations around the city.
Academically, the school is one of the highest performing independent schools in the country. In 2010, 2011 and 2012 "The Daily Telegraph" ranked its A-Level results as 93rd, 78th and 38th respectively among independent schools in the UK. Almost all sixth form pupils go to university upon leaving the school. Around 41 percent enter courses in humanities and social sciences, 24 percent in science and engineering, 15 percent in arts subjects, 13 percent in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science and 7 percent in vocational subjects such as business, management, physiotherapy and sports science. Large numbers of pupils gain entrance to "golden triangle", Russell Group and other top universities.
The school also runs student exchanges with schools in France, Germany, Spain and Liechtenstein, and there are numerous trips overseas. In addition, the school offers the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the Young Enterprise scheme.
Houses.
The pastoral care of the school is organised by a house system, first implemented under the headship of W. F. Brown in 1912. Pupils are allocated to one of the eight houses upon joining the Senior School, or one of the three houses in the Lower School, and stay with that house as they move up through the year groups. Each house is run by a housemaster, who is also an active member of the teaching staff. Each year group within a house, called a tutor group, is run by a tutor who monitors pupils' academic progress, general welfare and extra-curricular involvement. The tutor, who is the first point of contact for pastoral and academic matters, sees everyone in the tutor group daily for registration and weekly for a longer tutor period. In the Lower School the houses are named after the historic gates of Norwich: "Conisford", "Heigham" and "Magdalen". In the Senior School the houses are named after distinguished Old Norvicensians, Head Masters and benefactors of the school, with the exception of School house, and each is designated a colour:
Traditions.
Trafalgar Day is marked on 21 October each year with a service held in the cathedral to honour Lord Nelson who attended the school as a boarding pupil from 1768 to 1769 under the headship of Edmond Simmons. Following the service the entire school gathers at Nelson's statue in the Close where there is the laying of wreaths accompanied by the Last Post. Each year a concert is held in recognition of the Dyers' which takes place in St James Garlickhythe, London or the school chapel. A House Music choral and instrumental competition, known as ‘House Shout’, takes place each year between the houses and culminates in an event in St Andrews Hall. Since 1915 there has been an annual race called the Cup Run, a successor of the game of hare and hounds which was a popular activity at the school. The six or seven mile course was originally near Trowse, but today the event is held at Mousehold Heath in Norwich. Sports day, first held in June 1861, occurs in Trinity term each year.
Extracurricular activities.
The school owns a gymnasium, a tennis court and two sports grounds, one in the Lower Close and the other just north of the city. The main sports for boys are rugby (which replaced football as a main sport in 1922), hockey and cricket; for girls, they are hockey, netball and rounders. The school also excels in fencing, cross-country, athletics, tennis, and rowing. The rowing club was revived under A. Stephenson's headship (1943–1967), and has since competed at major regattas such as the Henley Royal Regatta. Other sports offered include: swimming, sailing, football, kayaking, cycling, martial arts, orienteering, shooting, squash and badminton.
Nearly two-thirds of pupils play instruments or sing regularly in orchestras, bands and choirs, and around 26 music groups rehearse weekly at the school. There is an annual music tour to various European cities during the Easter holiday which has performed in venues such as St Peter's Basilica, St Mark's Basilica and Brussels Cathedral. There are a number of plays, drama evenings and musicals each year: the Senior Play is performed in the Maddermarket Theatre, the Junior Play at the Norwich Puppet Theatre, while the annual musical is performed at the Norwich Playhouse. The school helps organise an annual arts festival from late June to early July for young people in the county. The inaugural festival in 2013 was officially launched by Dame Judi Dench and included partnerships with EPIC Studios, The Garage, Norfolk County Music Service, Norwich Cathedral, Norwich Puppet Theatre, Norwich Sound & Vision, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Sistema in Norwich, Writers' Centre Norwich, in addition to events run by the school.
There are many societies reflecting pupils' interests, including creative writing, Thomas Browne (philosophy), politics, Amnesty International, conservation, and sewing societies. Several societies have been operating under various guises since the end of the Second World War, such as the History, Chess and Film clubs. In addition the Appeals Committee has been operating since 1964 to raise money in aid of good causes.
The 8th Norwich Sea Scout Group and Octavi Explorer Scout Unit are sponsored by Norwich School and membership is primarily for members of the school. The group has a combined membership of 300 and is one of about one hundred Sea Scout groups in the country recognised by the Royal Navy, for which it receives a number of privileges such as wearing the Royal Navy Pennant, flying the defaced Red Ensign and access to additional funding. The group is also a Royal Yachting Association Training Centre, and runs courses for dinghy sailing, powerboating and marine VHF radio, in addition to offering British Canoe Union star awards. In 2013 the group celebrated its 90th anniversary since becoming linked with the school in 1923 under G. A. Williamson. However, the school claims that the group may have first gathered as early as 1908 at the beginning of the scouting movement.
Notable people.
Alumni.
Past pupils of Norwich School are known as Old Norvicensians (ONs). Over the years the school has educated a number of notable figures, including Lord Nelson, the jurist Sir Edward Coke, Rajah of Sarawak Sir James Brooke, philosopher Samuel Clarke, former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Michael Ashcroft, author George Borrow and 2010 World Time Trial Champion cyclist Emma Pooley. Distinguished ONs in science include Joe Farman, co-discover of the Antarctic ozone hole, Tom Cavalier-Smith, Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford, historical ecologist Oliver Rackham, and at least 18 Fellows of the Royal Society among others. Three ONs have been awarded the Victoria Cross, of whom Derek and Hugh Seagrim have the distinction as the only siblings to have been awarded the Victoria Cross and George Cross respectively. In the arts, several members of the Norwich School art movement were alumni including John Sell Cotman and John Berney Crome, Greek Revival architect William Wilkins, Frederick Sandys, the "Norwich Pre-Raphaelite", maverick architectural theorist and historian of the post-war period Reyner Banham, and the 20th-century Post-Impressionist painter, Edward Seago.
Staff.
Headteachers, historically known as the "Master" and now as the "Head Master", have included Vincent of Scarning, the earliest known headteacher (c. 1240), author Samuel Hoadly (1700–1705), Whig writer Samuel Parr (1778–1785), classicists Edward Valpy (1810–1829) and Thomas Kidd, writer George William Lemon, first principal of the University of Sydney John Woolley (1849–1852), historian Augustus Jessopp (1859–1880), author O. W. Tancock (1880–1890), clergyman Theodore Acland (1930–1943), and former Chindit and author Philip Stibbe (1975–1984). Past principal deputy heads, a post historically known as "usher", have included Archbishop of Armagh John Hoadly, writer
William Beloe, author and clergyman Henry Stebbing FRS (1825–1826), and clergyman Cecil Matthews (1903–1907). Other notable staff have included John Crome, founder of the Norwich School of painters, classicist G. A. Williamson (1922–1960), and historian and current Director of Studies David N. Farr.
Old Norvicensian Society.
ONs may join the Old Norvicensian Society, an association for former pupils. Predecessors in the 18th and 19th centuries include the Parrian Club, a dining society for former pupils of Samuel Parr's headship, and the Valpeian Club, after Edward Valpy. In 1866, the latter was replaced by The Norwich School Club which gave rise to the current association for former pupils, which emerged at the beginning of the 20th century.
Racism scandal.
In June 2020, an open letter was written by three former pupils, and signed by 264 pupils, ex-pupils and parents, calling on the school to implement changes after many experienced racial abuse. The letter details accounts of 20 pupils' experiences of racism within the school, with perpetrators including staff and pupils.


Old Bnai Zion Synagogue

Old Bnai Zion Synagogue, also known as Sunset Palace, is a historic synagogue at 906 N. El Paso Street in El Paso, Texas. It was built in 1916 and added to the National Register in 1984.
It served as synagogue from 1912 to 1917, serving El Paso's first Jewish community. It served St. Nicholas Greek Church from 1927 through at least 1934. In 1984 it was serving as a dance studio, Sunset Palace, as well as sometimes as a social center and church.


Sailors Refuge, Bristol

The Sailors Refuge is an historic house situated at 27–29 Queen Square, Bristol, England.
It dates from 1709–1710 and is one of the few remaining houses from the original construction of the square. It was one of the architecturally richer houses, and provides an example of what the more demanding segment of houseowners required.
It is built in an early Georgian naive Palladian style. The classical orders on the facade, though they are conventionally ordered from bottom to top, in the sequence Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, are placed so naively that they have no architectural relationship to the pediments over the windows or the cornice. The lack of any visible support for the window pediments, in the form of columns or projecting architraves, is similarly naive, and not in accord with proper architectural usage.
It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.


Jewish Center (Manhattan)

The Jewish Center is one of America's premier Orthodox synagogues and Modern Orthodox congregations, in New York City.
History.
The synagogue was founded in 1918 by prosperous Jews moving into the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a neighborhood that was just being built along the new IRT subway line. The large synagogue is in a tall Neo-Classical building at 131 West 86th Street that contains a large number of social halls, classrooms, auditoriums and offices in addition to the Neo-Classical main sanctuary. The synagogue was the first in America to be built not only to serve as spiritual home to its members, but also as a cultural, social and recreational home. The synagogue's members affectionately refer to the synagogue as "The first Shul with a Pool." It continues to support a variety of educational and social programming.
The first rabbi was Mordecai Kaplan, who left in 1921 because his positions were too reform oriented for the Orthodox congregation. The congregation then hired Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung, who later became involved in the founding and support of almost every major Orthodox organization in the United States and abroad, including the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, Agudath Israel, Torah Umesorah, Bais Yaakov movement (in Poland and the United States) and Chabad. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, later Chancellor at Yeshiva University, took over the pulpit in 1959. The fourth rabbi was Rabbi Isaac Bernstein, an Irish scholar. Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter was rabbi from 1981 to 2000, and now serves as Resident Scholar at The Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University. Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, founding rabbi of The Jewish Center Young Leadership minyan, and currently president of Yeshiva University, served as the sixth rabbi of the Center before making aliyah in 2008.
Present.
The current rabbi is Yosie Levine, an alumnus of Columbia University and Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.


Building at 44 Central Avenue

44 Central Avenue (also known as J.R. Peter's and Sons) is a historic commercial building located in the Washington Avenue neighborhood of Albany, Albany County, New York.
Description and history.
It was built sometime between June 23, 1813 and 1817 at a prominent intersection known as Robinson's Point, and is a three-story, load bearing brick wedge-shaped building with the bricks on the exterior laid in a Flemish bond pattern. It sits on an uncoarsed rubble foundation and has a full basement. The building housed a grain and feed storage and sales company until 1941. In 1983 the building underwent major rehabilitations, and is currently occupied by the Preservation League of New York State.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 2014.


Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted

The Parish Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted, is a Church of England, Grade II* listed church in the town of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It stands on the main High Street of the town and is recognisable by its clock tower.
The building is medieval in origin, the earliest part dating from c.1200, and the architecture spans at least five architectural periods, mostly 14th and 15th centuries. The church was altered greatly during the Victorian era, most notably undergoing a restoration by William Butterfield. It is one of the largest churches in Hertfordshire.
Because of its proximity to Berkhamsted Castle, St Peter's has had a long association with Royalty, with the reigning monarch acting as patron to Berkhamsted rectors for several centuries. Many members of the congregation also worked in important positions for the Royal household. The church has counted among its worshippers such notable figures as the poet William Cowper and John Incent, who went on to become Dean of St Paul's Cathedral 1540–1545.
The church today has lost its direct royal ties and functions as the main parish church of the town of Berkhamsted. The feast of St Peter is celebrated annually with the Petertide fair.
History.
It is not known exactly when the first church was built on the site of St Peter's, but it is not the oldest church in the area; the church of St Mary in Northchurch, about north-west of St Peter's, is estimated to be Saxon in origin and was mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). The advowson of a church of Berkhamsted – probably that of St Mary's – along with the advowson of the chapel of the castle, was granted to the monastery of Grestein Abbey in Normandy sometime between 1087 and 1104 by William, Count of Mortain. It was about this time that the "Parish of Great Berkhampstead" was created. St Mary's church was originally known as "Berkhampstead St Mary" and it is thought that it was the original main church in the area until it was superseded by the larger St Peter's after the Norman Conquest, when the focus of political and ecclesiastical power moved south to the area around Berkhamsted Castle. By the 14th century, the town had acquired the name of "le Northcherche" or Northchurch to distinguish it from St Peter's.
Foundation.
The date of foundation of a church in Berkhamsted town is uncertain; a chapel certainly existed within the walls of Berkhamsted Castle from the 11th century, rebuilt around 1250 by Richard of Cornwall. The possibility exists of another town chapel dedicated to St James; this is supported by the fact that for many centuries, the Berkhamsted town fair was held on the feast day of St James rather than at Petertide, suggesting an ancient celebration of the patron saint. It is thought that this chapel of St James stood on the present site of the town Post Office.
The foundation date of St Peter's is also uncertain, but historians assume it to be around 1222, the year that Robert de Tuardo, the first known rector, was instituted by the Bishop of Lincoln, Hugh of Wells. The "Parish of Berkhampstead St Peter" was originally part of the huge Diocese of Lincoln (Archdeaconry of Huntingdon), until it was transferred in 1843 to Rochester (Archdeaconry of St Albans) and then again in 1877 to the newly formed Diocese of St Albans.
Medieval St Peter's.
A brass plaque can be seen inside the church today which lists all the rectors from the 13th century to the present day. The turnover of rectors was especially high in the 14th century, probably due to their lives being cut short by the bubonic plague; between 1369 and 1386, St Peter's had eight successive rectors, the shortest being Thomas Payne, whose tenure lasted only nine days. John de Waltham was rector of St Peter's from 1379 along with a large number of other parishes, as was common at the time. He left after 16 months in office, and was later ordained Bishop of Salisbury in 1388. Waltham enjoyed an especially close relationship with King Richard II such that, after his death, Richard honoured him with a tomb in Westminster Abbey in the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, the only person not of royal blood to be buried in the royal chapel.
16th and early 17th centuries.
Brass memorials in the church commemorate Katherine and Robert Incent, two 16th-century parishioners. Robert was the secretary to Cicely, Duchess of York at Berkhamsted Castle. Their son, John Incent, was Dean of St Paul's Cathedral 1540–1545, and in 1541 he founded the Berkhamsted School. The Incent family house, which still stands on the High Street opposite the church, is today known as "Dean Incent's House".
One rector noted for his long tenure was Rev. Thomas Newman, who was rector for over 40 years from 1598 to 1639. Newman served for a time as a Chief Burgess of Berkhamsted and mayor in 1631. According to parish records, Newman was the second husband of Bridget (Dryden) Marbury, who was mother of Anne Marbury Hutchinson by way of her first husband Francis Marbury. Despite being a staunch Anglican, by 1645 Newman fell into political disfavor by being barred from the rectory of St. Peter's by Act of Parliament for a payment delinquency.
The Civil War.
Newman's successor, Rev John Napier, was instituted as rector of St Peter's in 1639 but ejected by Parliament during the English Civil War and was replaced by a series of "intruder" priests installed by Parliament: George Phippon, William Harrison, David Bramley (or Bramble) and Richard Lee. After 18 years living in Buckinghamshire, Napier had his own restoration as rector of Great Berkhamsted in 1670 and remained in office until 1681. During his absence, Napier continued to record the baptisms of his own children in the Berkhamsted parish register, signing himself as rector. Although no battles were fought in the area during the Civil War, Berkhamsted lay on the lines of communication between London and Aylesbury and Royalist forces sometimes passed through the parish and soldiers were billeted in local cottages. St Peter's Church was itself caught up in the conflict when, in 1648, it was requisitioned by General Fairfax as a Military prison to hold captured soldiers from the Siege of Colchester. Because the church was full of maimed, hungry soldiers, Fairfax ordered that the church windows be taken out. When the church was eventually returned to parish control, the vestry levied a special tax of twopence an acre on local landowners to pay for replacement windows.
Another long-standing rector was Napier's successor, Rev Robert Brabant, whose ministry also lasted over 40 years (1681 to 1722). He was also the vicar of Hemel Hempstead and chaplain to Queen Anne.
After the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, John Sayer, a member St Peter's congregation was appointed chief cook to King Charles II. Sayer was a wealthy man and lived in Berkhamsted Place and benefactor of the town. He was known to Samuel Pepys, who wrote of him in his Diary. In 1661, Pepys wrote "...I went with Captain Morrice at his desire into the King's Privy Kitchen to Mr. Sayres, the Master Cook, and there we had a good slice of beef or two to our breakfast, and from thence he took us into the wine cellar where, by my troth, we were very merry, and I drank too much wine, and all along had great and particular kindness from Mr. Sayres, but I drank so much wine that I was not fit for business." Upon his death in 1682, John Sayer left £1000 in his will for the construction of a row of almshouses on Berkhamsted High Street, containing twelve rooms for the habitation of six poor widows. The endowment also provided for a weekly allowance of two shillings and a fuel allowance for each widow. The almshouses, which are still in existence today, were completed in 1684 and bear an inscription on the front, "A gift of John Sayer, 1684". Sayer's elaborate marble tomb stands in the Lady chapel of St Peter's.
William Cowper.
From 1722 to 1756, Rev John Cowper served as rector of St Peter's; he is noted because he was the father of the poet and hymnodist William Cowper, who was born in Berkhamsted in 1731 and baptised in the church. William Cowper went on to write a number of hymns which became popular in the Evangelical movement and were included in Anglican hymn books such as the English Hymnal.
19th century.
Charles de Guiffadière, who was rector from 1798 to 1810 and also served as vicar of Stoke Newington, was a reader to Queen Caroline and a popular figure of fun who featured in the humorous journal The Diary of Fanny Burney as the character "Mr Turbulent".
In the 19th century, the Rev John Wolstenholme Cobb documented much of Berkhamsted's past when he wrote his "History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted" during his time as curate of St Peter's (1853–55). He then went on to become rector of the parish from 1871 to 1883.
St Peter's has also counted among its congregation members of the Dorrien-Smith family who are commemorated by various memorials around the church. Augustus John Smith became the first Lord Proprietor of the Scilly Islands in 1834, and was succeeded by Dorrien-Smiths; George Dorrien was Governor of the Bank of England 1818–1820; and several members of the Dorrien-Smith family saw active service in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902.
Royal patronage.
From the installation of Robert de Tuardo, the rectors of the Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted were presented by the abbot of Grestein until 1381, when Peter de Burton was presented by King Richard II. This tradition of the reigning monarch acting as patron to each new rector continued more or less unbroken until the 18th century. The last reigning monarch to act in this role for Great Berkhamsted was Charles II in 1681, for the installation of Robert Brabant. At the installation of the next rector in 1722, John Cowper, the duty of patronage was taken on by George, Prince of Wales. From this time, rectors were presented by princes of Wales until Rev James Hutchinson (installed in 1851 with Prince Albert Edward as patron). After the local Duchy of Cornwall estates were sold to the Ashridge Estate in 1862, rectors of Great Berkhamsted were presented by Earls of Brownlow; Hutchinson's successor, Rev John Wolstenholme Cobb, was presented by Earl Brownlow in 1871.
Architecture.
The church is in a cruciform layout, and measures from the west door to the east window and the width across the transepts is . The oldest part of the church is the chancel which is dated at c.1200, the foundation of the church, and it is in the Early English style common in that period. The transepts, erected during the reign of Edward II are from the Decorated Period.
Additions and alterations.
The architecture of St Peter's belongs to no single period, but extends over about 350 years. Many additions have made to the church over the centuries and subsequent Victorian restorations have changed the fabric of the church substantially.
Expansion 1230–1546.
In the 13th century, construction progressed rapidly westwards, with the nave, transepts and crossing being added in the first few years after the construction of the chancel. In 1230, north and south aisles were added to the nave and the north transept was extended on the eastern side; this extension was later used partly as a vestry, and today serves as the Lady Chapel. On the south side of the Chancel, the chapel of St Catherine was added in 1320, and in 1350 the irregularly angled St John's Chantry was built onto the south aisle for worship by the boys and masters of Berkhamsted School. In 1450 a clerestory was added to the nave, raising its height, and a large timber pillar added to the middle of the St John Chantry. Expansion of the church culminated in 1545-6 when the tower was raised to its current height of , and the church reached its present size.
Decay.
Over the years the fabric of the building decayed. On one occasion in the 1700s, the boys and masters had a narrow escape when, moments after they had left the chantry to go into the main body of the church, the main beam gave way and the ceiling collapsed. The event was recorded by one Nathaniel Salmon, who also reported that the disaster had uncovered a set of painted figures on the pillars, possibly medieval in origin, of the Eleven Apostles and Saint George and the Dragon. Salmon noted that they had "but lately come to light, having, by the zeal of the last generation, been whited over", in reference to the efforts of Puritan iconoclasts of the English Civil War during the previous century.
Wyattville's restoration.
The structure of the church continued to evolve; doors were added and blocked up, fittings were installed and moved around and monuments resited and removed. In the 19th century there were major restorations of St Peter's church; the first in 1820, led by Jeffry Wyattville, architect of Ashridge House, was controversial and has been criticised for the destruction of many original features of the building. During the works, churchwardens were involved in removing ancient monuments from the church, and Wyattville covered the outer walls with stucco. The font was moved from the west end to the south porch, and the door was walled up, the Torrington tomb was moved from the nave into the transept, and many old inscriptions were obliterated. The peal of six bells was recast into eight, and a gallery which stood between the tower arches was removed and a new gallery erected at the west end.
Butterfield's restoration.
In 1870–71 another restoration programme was carried out by William Butterfield, a Gothic Revival architect whose works included churches such as All Saints, Margaret Street in London as well as an array of church restorations. Butterfield's restoration of St Peter's Church is more positively assessed, although his work also involved the removal of some original features, including the obliteration of the paintings on the pillars. The most substantial structural changes involved raising both the roof and the floor of the chancel, raising the roof of the south transept to its original pitch, removing the vestry, incorporating the south porch into the south aisle and removing the door, re-flooring the nave, installing new oak benches and replacing Wyattville's gallery. Butterfield also installed clear windows in the clerestory, allowing more light to enter the nave. He extended the aisles by knocking down the dividing walls of two chambers at the west end; one of these chambers, in the south-west corner of the nave, was used to house the town fire engine. A door to the right of the great west door had "Engine House" painted above it on the outside; Butterfield blocked up this door. The flint from these alterations was kept in storage and was later used in the construction of Sunnyside Parish Church in 1909. On the exterior of the church, Butterfield removed Wyattville's crumbling plaster and re-faced the church walls with flint flushwork.
20th-century re-ordering.
Between 1956 and 1960 St Peter's underwent further restoration in which the tower and nave were re-roofed. St Catherine's Chapel and the nave were refurbished and a large mural of the Ascension by Burrows which covered the wall over the tower arch was painted over. The church was also substantially re-ordered, and the high altar and sanctuary area brought forward under the tower crossing. The wooden 15th-century rood screen which separated the nave from the crossing was painted and gilded in a medieval style, and a set of twelve carved figures which had been added in the early 19th century were also painted and mounted higher up the screen. The screen was backed with oak and re-mounted on the back of the new sanctuary area to form a reredos behind the altar, also serving as a dividing wall with the old chancel area which was converted into a vestry area.
Nave.
The late Gothic Revival pulpit dates from 1910 and is decorated with figures of angels, carved by Harry Hems.
In the north aisle stands the Parish Chest, a finely carved 17th century wooden chest which contained parish documents. By the corner of the north transept stands the marble tomb of Sir John Cornwallis, a member of the Council of King Edward VI.
Sanctuary.
The high altar, located under the tower crossing since 1960, is on a raised white marble floor. The gilded reredos, a reworking of the 15th-century rood screen presents the figures of twelve saints. To the left of the sanctuary is the long brass plaque listing the rectors of Great Berkhamsted from 1222 to the present day. Brass memorials on the walls commemorate Rev JW Cobb and his wife.
St John's Chantry.
This chantry chapel was used for worship by the boys and masters of Berkhamsted School until the 19th century, when the school built its own chapel, and was physically separated from the nave by a dividing wall.
The chantry is now used for the choir stalls and organ. The present organ was built by Peter Collins or Redbourne in 1986, and replaces an earlier instrument built by Walker. Some of the Walker pipework was incorporated into the modern instrument. The organ has two manuals, the brightly coloured casing is in English oak and decorations are in sycamore wood.
The chantry contains monumental brasses commemorating Robert and Katherine Incent, the parents of John Incent. Another brass commemorates John Raven, squire to the Edward, the Black Prince at Berkhamsted Castle.
Lady Chapel.
The Lady chapel forms a bright, spacious part of the church dating from the 13th century. It is an extension of the north transept. The interior carving around the windows and arches features ball-flower motif of the Decorated Period. The present windows and the windows of the north transept are good examples of curvilinear tracery, typical of the first half of the 14th century, although the glass is from a later period. Traces of the original window arches are still visible.
The Lady Chapel also contains some notable memorials, including the marble tomb of John Sayer, inscribed with the date 1682. Next to the old chancel (now the wooden steps into the vestry) lies a stone tomb which is thought to be that of Henry of Berkhamsted and his wife; the tomb has lost its inscription and the identity of the persons interred within has been in dispute for many years. The tomb has two stone supine effigies on top with hands together in prayer, Henry wearing medieval armour. Henry was Constable to the Black Prince at Berkhamsted Castle in the mid-14th century.
St Catherine's Chapel.
St Catherine's Chapel, dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria, lies to the south of the old chancel adjoining the south transept. Dating from around 1320, it contains two recessed medieval tombs in the south wall, one of which contains a tomb slab decorated with a carved floriated cross. The 16th-century wall monuments commemorate Waterhouse family. The chapel was restored around 1900 and the alabaster reredos – a copy of high altar screen in Winchester Cathedral – and the stained glass windows date from this period.
Chancel.
The old chancel is used today as a vestry for the choir and clergy. The area still contains fixtures from its days as the sanctuary before the church was re-ordered in 1960, including a large mosaic reredos by Alfred Hoare Powell with a painted crucifixion scene by Burrows. There also several memorials to past worshippers, including one to Ann Cowper, wife of the Rector John Cowper and mother of William Cowper; valedictory lines by the poet in tribute to his mother are engraved on the memorial, ending "These lines, though weak, are as herself sincere".
Tower.
The clock tower was finished in 1546 and contains a peal of eight bells with a combined weight of . The bells were re-cast in 1837 from the bells dating from 1553 with additional metal by Mears and Stainbrook of Whitechapel. At the same time, a new clock was installed.
Windows.
The windows in St Peter's include some lancets surviving from the 14th century, along with much notable stained glass from renowned Victorian glass makers Heaton and Butler, Clayton and Bell, Charles Eamer Kempe, Nathaniel Westlake and James Powell and Sons.
A three-light window by Westlake, installed in 1885 in memory of the Berkhamsted sheep dip manufacturer William Cooper, depicts Christ enthroned surrounded by saints and martyrs, including Edward the Confessor and Hugh of Lincoln accompanied by his pet swan. A window by Alexander Gibbs was installed in 1872 at the west end of the aisle in memory of Rev F. Bullock who drowned in that year; this was replaced in 2000 with a window by David Peace and Sally Scott marking the Christian Millennium and the bicentenary of William Cowper's death. The clear glass is etched with quotes from Cowper's poetry, images of Berkhamsted and scenes of nature.
Churchyard and cemetery.
The graveyard around St Peter's Church contains many old gravestones, most of which were laid flat in the late 19th century, and it now serves as a green. One remaining memorial is a large stone cross at the north-east corner of the church, the Smith-Dorrien Monument, which was erected in 1909 in memory of Mary Ann Smith-Dorrien, wife of Robert Algernon Smith-Dorrien of Haresfoot, a Colonel in the Hertfordshire Militia, and mother of Horace Smith-Dorrien. St Peter's churchyard was originally used for town burials, mostly on the north side of the church, but like many burial grounds in England at the time, it had become overcrowded by the mid-19th century. Some burials were made on the south side of the church, but the widening of the High Street limited the amount of space available.
A new detached cemetery was opened in 1842 behind the Elizabethan manor, Egerton House (now the site of the Rex Cinema), on an acre of land donated by Charlotte Catherine Anne, Countess of Bridgewater and widow of John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater. A foundation stone commemorates the donation of the Countess and the consecration of the burial ground by John Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln, on 11 October 1842. The cemetery, situated between Three Close Lane and the old St Peter's rectory and known variously as Three Close Lane Cemetery or Rectory Lane Cemetery, was extended in 1921. There are several Commonwealth War Graves in the cemetery from both World War I and World War II, and among the notable burials is the grave of General Horace Smith-Dorrien, a veteran of the Second Boer War and World War I and former Governor of Gibraltar. In 2014 the Rectory Lane Cemetery Project was founded to transform the Cemetery, creating a new community space with an enhanced wildlife domain and restored heritage features. The volunteer group, linked to the Friends of St Peters, secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund for this scheme in 2017, enabling them to begin a 3-year project restore a neglected area and conserve local heritage for future generations.
By the late 1940s the Rectory Lane Cemetery was filling up and a new civic cemetery was opened at nearby Kingshill.
The Church today.
The Parish of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted continues today as an active Church of England parish church. The church holds regular services of Christian worship, and the church choir sings on Sundays during the Eucharist and in a monthly service of choral evensong. The church is also frequently used as a venue for classical music concerts performed by local music groups. The church publishes a monthly magazine, "Your Berkhamsted" (known until 2010 as "The Berkhamsted Review"), which has been in existence since 1874.
St Peter's is affiliated with two Church of England schools in Berkhamsted, Victoria Infant School and the Thomas Coram School.