July 2009
Visit to Hatfield House 16 July 2009
The coach carrying Farnham DFAS members parked mercifully close to Hatfield House itself and the restaurant. Mercifully because the journey had lengthened by an hour due to roadworks on the M25 and M3 and coffee was dearly needed.
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| Hatfield House | View from the garden |
Whilst one half of the contingent went on a guided tour of the House the rest of us wandered around the lovely gardens with pleached hornbeam alleys linking different areas and peeked inside the Great Hall where Queen Elizabeth 1 held her first council meeting on accession to the throne. It was glorious with tapestry hung walls and a high, very high, ceiling decorated with a intricate pattern of beams.
After lunch, sitting in the sunshine, we made for the house which sits foursquare and imposing overlooking the forecourt rather like that portrait of Henry VIII with his feet apart and hands on hips.
We were ushered into a grand hall and met by our guide who explained something of its history and, more particularly, about Queen Elizabeth I who lived here as a girl until her accession. It was wonderful to learn about all the symbology imbedded in the famous ‘portrait’ of Queen Elizabeth 1 with all its little eyes and ears indicating the strength of her intelligence network and the serpent clasping a ruby heart in its mouth meaning wisdom overbearing passion. It would have been nice to have binoculars so that we could have really enjoyed the sumptuous Elizabethan portraits hung high up on its walls.
So we traipsed up the magnificent stairs to more rooms hung with priceless works of art and into a breathtakingly large library and a huge drawing room hung with tapestries to hide the highly patterned wallpaper so as to show off the vast collection of Renaissance paintings all the better. We all recoiled at the blue and yellow ‘Chinese’ bedroom but gasped at the splendour of the ceiling in the Long Gallery which was gilded in real gold on the whim of a wealthy female forebear.
The little chapel was our last port of call and we all delighted in its ancient organ still in use and the font last used two years ago for a christening. All too soon we were out in the sunshine and a cup of tea before the journey home.
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| Gardens | Statue in garden |
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| Time for tea | Mural in garden |
King’s College Cambridge: Architecture and Music.
Farnham Decorative and Fine Arts Society met on July 21st to hear a talk with music by Elizabeth Gordon who is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music. The lecture was entitled “King’s College Cambridge: Architecture and Music.”
Mr. Peter Duffy welcomed all those present and introduced Mrs. Gordon who would be showing that the Chapel is an architectural masterpiece and how the beauty of the building and the singing of the Choir harmonise together to create an unforgettable experience for any visitor.
Henry VI founded the College Choir, which maintains formal disciplines and attire. There were strict rules for Scholars that included “no inappropriate sports”. The first Christmas Eve broadcast was in 1918 and has continued every year since then with the Soloist chosen on the day from the 16 boys as the voices can vary from day to day. The Hall was filled with an exquisite recording of sublime unaccompanied singing of “Once in Royal David’s City” by the soloist, the boys and then the full choir.
The founder of the Chapel was Henry VI when he was only 19 and the foundation stone was laid in 1446 but the building was not completed until 1547. The work was halted for the Wars of the Roses and through the reigns of five Kings ending with Henry VIII. The style is Perpendicular and late Gothic and is our finest late medieval building. The beautiful stone-carved tracery of the 80 feet high vault fanning out from the pillars like fine lace changes colour with the light coming from the huge arched side windows. The bosses at the intersections, carved by master masons, have Tudor motifs and the carved wooden Rood Screen has elaborate carvings in the ‘Grotesque’ style with crests of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Anne’s only go halfway as her life was cut short. Howells “Nunc Dimittis” enhanced the beauty of the images as the music soared through the Hall.
The Ante Chapel has a wonderful wooden frieze with dragons and greyhounds, which are very lifelike and all different, along with Tudor roses and Portcullis and chains very finely carved.
The East window is from the 15th Century with nine double arches and was painted by Flemish craftsmen as a series of separate masterpieces depicting the Crucifixion. Close up images revealed brilliance of the work as Gregorio Allegri’s “Miserere” was played. The organ is placed on top of the Rood Screen, which divides the Choir and views of this were accompanied by Widor’s Organ “Toccata.”
This rousing music brought to an end Elizabeth Gordon’s talk in which she demonstrated that the beauty of the building in harmony with the music from the Choir provides a moving experience that touches the spirits of all who experience it.