It was Stephen Wass's 60th. He invited ten of us to a private dinner at Ettington Park near Stratford on Avon. Ettington Park is a magnificent neo-gothic pile in extensive grounds with the river Stour running through.
The entrance hall with wellies
The house through the (possible) Saxon window in the ruined church. The church was abandoned when the gentry exercised their right to enclose - and kicked out the locals and cleared the village.
Dinner for 10 in the chapel
Stephen can't leave his archaeology behind. There's a dilapidated summer house in the grounds and he and Verna saw parallels with the one at Farnborough Hall and asked me to take some pictures.
A ruined tunnel system in the grounds. Possibly an ice house or maybe a grotto.
Here's the birthday boy
And here he is with Verna
There are more images here should you be interested
A trip to Farnborough Hall with archaeologist Stephen Wass to record some details of the so-called dairy. The dairy is now used as an animal shelter. Its original purpose is unknown, but it can be seen from the house, the cascade and the terraced walk so it is thought that it is possibly a feature to do with the parkland. There is much more research to be done to establish its context in the park.
The cascade was looking magnificent in the snow
The purpose of the visit was to record some of the features of the dairy. The floor under the shelter has brick pavings and a stone channel to carry water (and other liquids) away. The brick has collapsed near to the wall, possibly into a culvert or opening below.
Stephen wanted a photographic record of the carpenter's marks on the roof timbers. It looks as though this timber has been reused a few times.
Inside the main section of the dairy in the milking parlour, the carpenter's marks take a different form. This time they're chisel marks of differing lengths to show which beams and king posts are matched
Here's an internal door with some interesting iron work.
Finally we had a look at the collapsed cricket pavilion elsewhere on the the estate. According to the head gardener, this was standing 10 years ago so it shows how quickly buildings can deteriorate when not properly maintained. This will be the subject of a detailed survey during the coming weeks.
Loads more images can be seen in the gallery here
Stephen's website is here
Here's the National Trust's Farnborough Hall site
And there's some historical stuff here
