Gladstone's Land is a surviving 17th-century high-tenement house situated in the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has been restored and furnished by the National Trust for Scotland, and is operated as a popular tourist attraction.
The "Land" was originally built in 1550, but was bought and redeveloped in 1617 by a prosperous Edinburgh merchant and burgess, Thomas Gledstanes, and his wife, Bessie Cunningham. The work was completed in 1620. Its prominent siting and the extent of its accommodation mark out the affluence of its mercantile owner. However, not only did Gledstanes reside there, he let out parts of the building to an assortment of tenants of different social classes . Thus the restored building allows an insight into varieties of Edinburgh life of the period. The cramped conditions of the Old Town, and the physical size of the lot, meant that the house could only be extended in depth or in height. As a result, the house is six storeys tall.In 1934, the building was condemned and scheduled for demolition, until it was rescued by the National Trust for Scotland. Under the auspices of the Trust, restoration of the building was carried out by the architect, Sir Frank Mears, in consultation with the Ancient Monuments Department of the Ministry of Works in Edinburgh. Original renaissance painted ceilings were uncovered in the process. Today the restored premises offer a glimpse of 17th-century life, with open fires, lack of running water, and period decoration and furniture. At ground level, there is an arcade frontage and reconstructed shop booth, complete with replicas of 17th-century wares. This would originally have provided shelter for the merchant's customers. On the left of the building, a curved stone forestair with iron railings leads from the street to a door at 1st floor level.
The sign above the entrance to the building displays the date 1617 and a gilt-copper hawk with outstretched wings. Although not an original feature, the significance of this is that the name "Gledstanes" is derived from the Scots word "gled" meaning a kite or hawk.By the late-18th century, Edinburgh's Old Town was no longer a fashionable address. Increasing pressures from population growth encouraged the flight of the affluent from cramped conditions to the developing New Town. Today, visitors to the city can contrast Gladstone's Land to the Trust's restored example of a New Town residence, The Georgian House, at No. 7 Charlotte Square.
The Gordon Highlanders Museum is based in Aberdeen, Scotland and celebrates the story of the Gordon Highlanders regiment, which originated as the 92nd Regiment of Foot in 1794, became the Gordon Highlanders in 1881 and was then amalgamated into a new larger unit of the British Army in 1994. It is a 5-star Scottish Tourist Board attraction, as of 2019, the only one in Aberdeen.
Grantham Museum is located at St Peter's Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England in the building provided for it in 1926.
The building also housed the public library, and was partly funded by the Carnegie UK Trust which was continuing Andrew Carnegie's project of building libraries across the United Kingdom. Grantham's library is now located in the Isaac Newton Centre, and the museum occupies the whole of the 1926 building.
The idea of a museum can be traced back to meetings of the Grantham Scientific society in the 1890s.
The basis of the collection is material provided by Henry Preston, the first Curator and Founder, and twentieth century additions included material about Sir Isaac Newton, Edith Smith and Margaret Thatcher. There is also material about the Dambusters Raid. The Museum hosts a variety of exhibitions during the year.
The museum is currently managed by the Grantham Community Heritage Association . This charity was formed in 2011 to take over the management of the museum from Lincolnshire County Council with a view to reopening the facility for the Queen's Jubilee in June 2012.
In 2013, a few months before the death of Margaret Thatcher, the GCHA announced plans to raise funds to obtain a statue of the former prime minister.
Green Templeton College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and is centred on the architecturally important Radcliffe Observatory, an 18th-century building, modelled on the ancient Tower of the Winds at Athens. It is the university's second newest graduate college, after Parks College, having been founded by the historic merger of Green College and Templeton College in 2008.The college has a distinctive academic profile, specialising in subjects relating to human welfare and social, economic and environmental well-being, including medical and health sciences, management and business, and most social sciences.Green Templeton's sister college at the University of Cambridge is St Edmund's College.
Gunby Hall is a country house in Gunby, near Spilsby, in Lincolnshire, England, reached by a half mile long private drive. The Estate comprises the 42-room Gunby Hall, listed Grade I, a clocktower, listed Grade II* and a carriage house and stable block which are listed Grade II. In 1944 the trustees of the Gunby Hall Estate, Lady Montgomery-Massingberd, Major Norman Leith-Hay-Clarke and Field Marshal Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd, gave the house to the National Trust together with its contents and some 1,500 acres of land.Gunby Hall is currently leased from the National Trust with a requirement to open the Hall's State Rooms and Gardens to the public.
The Highland Folk Museum is a museum and open-air visitor attraction in Newtonmore in Badenoch and Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands. It is owned by Highland Council and administered by High Life Highland. It was founded by Dr. Isabel Frances Grant in 1935.
Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and the official residence in Northern Ireland of Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British royal family when they visit the country, as well as a guest house for prominent international visitors.
From 1924 until the post's abolition in 1973, it was the official residence of the Governor of Northern Ireland. Since April 2014, it has been managed by Historic Royal Palaces, and is open to the public on certain dates.
Holkham Hall is an 18th-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England. The house was constructed in the Palladian style for the 1st Earl of Leicester by the architect William Kent, aided by the architect and aristocrat Lord Burlington.
Holkham Hall is one of England's finest examples of the Palladian revival style of architecture, and the severity of its design is closer to Palladio's ideals than many of the other numerous Palladian style houses of the period. The Holkham Estate was built up by Sir Edward Coke, the founder of his family's fortune. He bought Neales manor in 1609, though never lived there, and made many other purchases of land in Norfolk to endow to his six sons. His fourth son, John, inherited the land and married heiress Meriel Wheatley in 1612. They made Hill Hall their home, and by 1659, John had complete ownership of all three Holkham manors. It is the ancestral home of the Coke family, who became Earls of Leicester.
The interior of the hall is opulent, but by the standards of the day, simply decorated and furnished. Ornament is used with such restraint that it was possible to decorate both private and state rooms in the same style, without oppressing the former. The principal entrance is through the Marble Hall, which is in fact made of pink Derbyshire alabaster; this leads to the piano nobile, or the first floor, and state rooms. The most impressive of these rooms is the Saloon, which has walls lined with red velvet. Each of the major state rooms is symmetrical in its layout and design; in some rooms, false doors are necessary to fully achieve this balanced effect.
