St Osyth's Priory

Tendring

St Osyth's Abbey was a house of Augustinian canons in the parish of St Osyth in Essex, England in use from the 12th to 16th centuries. Founded by Richard de Belmeis, Bishop of London, c. 1121, it became one of the largest religious houses in Essex. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul as well as St Osyth , a royal saint and virgin martyr. Bishop Richard obtained the arm bone of St Osyth from Aylesbury for the monastic church and granted the canons the parish church of St Osyth. The foundation began as a priory, probably populated first by canons from Holy Trinity, Aldgate. The first prior of St Osyth's was William de Corbeil, who was elected archbishop of Canterbury in 1123 and who crowned King Stephen in 1135. The priory was converted into an abbey in the mid-12th century.In Gesta pontificum Anglorum, William of Malmesbury spoke in praise of the piety and learning of the canons at St Osyth's in the twelfth century. One of the second generation of canons there was William de Vere, later bishop of Hereford, who wrote a Latin Life of St Osyth, in which he mentions that his mother Adeliza, daughter of Gilbert fitz Richard of Clare, had been a corrodian at the abbey for twenty years of her widowhood. A charter of King Henry II confirmed the right of the canons of St Osyth's to elect their abbot and to hold a market every Sunday at Chich in the later 12th century. During the Suppression of the Monasteries, the religious group was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1539, at which time there were a prior and sixteen canons. The king granted it to his minister Thomas Cromwell, but on his fall from favour, the abbey and its estates were returned to crown possession. In the reign of King Edward VI they were sold to Sir Thomas Darcy for just under £400. The gatehouse, dating from the late 15th century, is the most significant remnant of the original monastic structures still standing. The exterior is a fine example of decorative flint work. It stood in for St Anselm's theological college in the BBC's miniseries adaptation of P. D. James' Death in Holy Orders in 2003. Five parts of the priory are Grade I listed buildings.

Stroud District Council

Stroud

Stroud District Council is the local authority for Stroud District. Stroud District is located in Central Gloucestershire in the South West of England region. The Council itself is based in the Council Offices in Stroud proper, but the borough also comprises Nailsworth, Dursley, Cam, and Wotton-under-Edge as well as a number of other settlements. It is administratively distinct from Stroud Town Council, which serves the smaller parish of Stroud only.Stroud District Council elects 51 Councillors from 27 wards. Following the May 2016 local elections and defections of 2 Labour Councillors , a member of the Conservative Group has resigned from Conservatives and now sits as an independent Stroud District Council comprises 21 Conservative Councillors, 16 Labour Councillors, 10 Green and Independent Councillors, 2 Liberal Democrat Councillors, 1 Independent and 1 Independent Councillor.

Sudeley Castle

Tewkesbury

Sudeley Castle is located in the Cotswolds near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The present structure was built in the 15th century and may have been on the site of a 12th-century castle. The castle has a notable garden, which is designed and maintained to a very high standard. The chapel, St. Mary's Sudeley, is the burial place of the English queen Catherine Parr and contains her marble tomb. Unusually for a castle chapel, St Mary's of Sudeley is part of the local parish of the Church of England. Sudeley is also one of the few castles left in England that is still a residence. As a result, the castle is only open to visitors on specific dates, and private family quarters are closed to the public. It is a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure.

Sunnycroft

Wellington (Somerset)

Sunnycroft is a Victorian suburban villa, located in Wellington, Shropshire.

Tain & District Museum

Tain

The Tain & District Museum, is located in Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland. It is volunteer-run and is open April to October part of the Tain Through Time visitor centre. The museum was established in 1966 and has a collection of silver made in the local area.

Bath Assembly Rooms

Bath

The Bath Assembly Rooms, designed by John Wood the Younger in 1769, are a set of assembly rooms located in the heart of the World Heritage City of Bath in England which are now open to the public as a visitor attraction. They are designated as a Grade I listed building.During the Georgian era Bath became fashionable, and the architects John Wood, the Elder, and his son laid out new areas of housing for residents and visitors. Assembly rooms had been built early in the 18th century, but a new venue for balls, concerts and gambling was envisaged in the area between Queen Square, The Circus and the Royal Crescent. Robert Adam submitted a proposal that was rejected as too expensive. John Wood, the Younger raised funding through a tontine, and construction started in 1769. The new or upper assembly rooms opened with a grand ball in 1771 and became the hub of fashionable society, being frequented by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, along with the nobility of the time. The building, made of Bath stone, is arranged in a U shape. There are four main function rooms in the complex: the 100-foot-long ballroom — the largest Georgian interior in Bath; the tea room; the card room; and the octagon. The rooms have Whitefriars crystal chandeliers and are decorated with fine art. In the 20th century they were used as a cinema and in 1931 were taken over by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and restored. They were bombed and burnt out during the Second World War, with restoration undertaken by Sir Albert Richardson before reopening in 1963. They are now owned by the National Trust and operated by Bath and North East Somerset Council for public functions. The basement of the building provides a home to the Fashion Museum.

The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre

Somerset West and Taunton

The Brewhouse Theatre and Arts Centre is the largest theatre and arts centre in Taunton, a town in Somerset, England. The building opened 28 March 1977, on the banks of the River Tone, and offers a 350-seat auditorium and supporting studio and exhibition spaces. Its first professional production was Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, starring the then unknown David Jason. The administrative offices are on the first floor of a Georgian Grade II listed building which gives the theatre its name.In 2005, Arts Council England announced that it would cut regular funding to The Brewhouse from 2006, following a drop in artistic output. In September 2005 a new director Robert Miles was appointed to lead the artistic reinvigoration of the organisation, which now plays host to experimental theatre companies such as DEREVO, and No Fit State Circus. It was also the first theatre, apart from the Royal Court Theatre, to stage Caryl Churchill's controversial play Seven Jewish Children. In 2009, ongoing under funding, combined with the impact of recession and a subsequent threat of cuts meant the venue was once again put under threat of closure. With support from its stakeholders The Brewhouse overcame these immediate funding concerns, and in March 2010 it was announced that the organisation had been awarded £487,500 from Arts Council England's Sustain fund to allow it to continue to programme arts and participatory activities during the economic downturn.A feasibility study by ArtsService recommends the current site be expanded to create a 600- to 750-seat auditorium, a larger gallery space and arthouse cinema with improved bar and catering provision as part of a new "Coal Orchard" - Taunton’s cultural quarter.The venue closed in February 2013 and went into administration.The venue reopened in April 2014 by the Taunton Theatre Association , having been granted the lease from Taunton Deane Borough Council, who bought the 61-year lease of the site and its contents from administrator BDO.

Museum of Bath Architecture

Bath

The Museum of Bath Architecture in Bath, Somerset, England, occupies the Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel, where it provides exhibits that explain the building of the Georgian era city during the 18th century. It is owned and managed by the Bath Preservation Trust. The Trust moved its own offices from Number One Royal Crescent to occupy part of the Chapel while the Whole Story Project was undertaken to reunite Number One with its original domestic offices. As of 2018 some Trust staff are based at No. 1 Royal Crescent and some are at the Old School House adjacent to the Museum of Bath Architecture. The museum includes a series of models, maps, paintings and reconstructions to show how a typical Georgian house was constructed, from the ashlar stone to the decorative plasterwork. Sections include displays of stone mining, furniture making, painting, wallpaper, soft furnishings and upholstery. A model of Bath on a 1:500 scale gives a bird's-eye view of the city. The study gallery specialises in books on architecture including the Bath Buildings Record and Coard Collection.The collection includes several works whose purchase was supported by the Art Fund. A panoramic view of Bath from Beechen Cliff, by Charles Joseph Hullmandel and dating from 1824 shows Bath as a still relatively small city, after its Georgian growth, but before the arrival of the railway and Victorian expansion. A slightly later panorama by Joseph William Allen is of Bath from Lyncombe Hill, on the present site of 6 Carlton Road, and includes a gabled house in the immediate centre foreground which still stands and is reputed to have been the house in which Alexander Pope once stayed.

Nottingham Council House

Nottingham

Nottingham Council House is the city hall of Nottingham, England. The 200 feet high dome that rises above the city is the centrepiece of the skyline and presides over the Old Market Square . It is a Grade II* listed building.