08-JUL-2010
BEACH VIEW TOWARDS EAST PRESTON
05-JUL-2010
ST RICHARD'S GATE
The door leading from the churchyard through the walls of Amberley Castle.....named after the Bishop it was made for.
After the Norman invasion the Bishops of Chichester made Amberley one of their palaces. Earlier buildings which served as a Manor House were enclosed by a wall in the late 14th Century, intended to safeguard the Bishop from the surrounding peasants. The licence to crenellate......literally, permission to build battlemented walls..... was granted in December 1377, just before the Peasants' Revolt.
Contrary to suggestions, Amberley escaped much of the bloodshed and chaos of the Civil War, although there were several cavalry skirmishes on the nearby South Downs. The then occupant of Amberley Castle, John Goring, was a notorious Royalist and after Parliament's capture of Arundel, soldiers were sent to Amberley to seek payment of back taxes he owed. No doubt it was them who wrecked much of the buildings inside the Castle. Parliament then seized Amberley Castle in 1648 and sold it for £3,341 14s 4d to a London merchant.
It is currently a luxurious hotel.
11-JUN-2009
A SUCKLING PIGLETS 695
WINNER : South of England Show gallery
12-DEC-2009
A ANOTHER CHANNEL SUNSET 581
02-FEB-2012
THE SHARD
The Shard skyscraper located just outside London Bridge railway station. It is still under construction, which began in March 2009 and is expected to be complete in May 2012. It will be 1,017ft tall........the tallest building in the European Union (EU). In comparison, nearby Tower Bridge, which took 8 years to build from 1886-1894, is 213ft high.
The Shard will house an observatory, luxury apartments, offices, a hotel and spa, restaurants and shops. A public viewing gallery will be at the top of the tower.
19-JUN-2009
COOMBES CHURCH . 1
The tiny ancient parish church in a field at Coombes.....a downland hamlet between Shoreham and Steyning, with a current population of only around 40 people.
This 11th century church has some of the most important frescoes in England painted 1100 AD
Its single bell is one of the oldest in Sussex, dated 1150 AD and probably cast in Normandy. The roof is Horsham Stone slabs.
The church was extensively refurbished and restored during 2007 and 2008, and re-opened last Christmas. The bell has still to be re-hung
15-JUN-2011
PRIORY & CASTLE
Part of the frontage of Arundel Priory, which is now a care home. Also part of Arundel Castle, the home of the Duke of Norfolk, in the background.