The Origins Of Outdoor Fountains
The Origins Of Outdoor Fountains The dramatic or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to delivering drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.Originally, fountains only served a practical purpose. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, via aqueducts or springs nearby.
Until the late nineteenth, century most water fountains operated using the force of gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a supply of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Fountains were not only used as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the designer who created it. Roman fountains usually depicted imagery of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. To illustrate the gardens of paradise, Muslim and Moorish garden planners of the Middle Ages added fountains to their designs. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were intended to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to laud their positions by including decorative baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
The end of the nineteenth century saw the increase in usage of indoor plumbing to provide drinking water, so urban fountains were relegated to purely decorative elements. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity enabled fountains to bring recycled water into living spaces as well as create special water effects.
Nowadays, fountains adorn public areas and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.
The Influence of the Norman Invasion on Anglo-Saxon Landscaping
The Influence of the Norman Invasion on Anglo-Saxon Landscaping
The advent of the Normans in the latter half of the 11th century substantially modified The Anglo-Saxon ways of living. At the time of the conquest, the Normans surpassed the Anglo-Saxons in building design and cultivation. But before centering on home-life or having the occasion to consider domestic architecture or decoration, the Normans had to subjugate an entire society. Because of this, castles were cruder buildings than monasteries: Monasteries were frequently immense stone buildings set in the biggest and most fertile valleys, while castles were erected on windy crests where their residents dedicated time and space to tasks for offense and defense. Gardening, a placid occupation, was impracticable in these unproductive fortifications. Berkeley Castle, perhaps the most pristine style of the early Anglo-Norman style of architecture, still exists today. The keep is thought to date from the time of William the Conqueror. As a strategy of deterring attackers from tunneling within the walls, an immense terrace encompasses the building. On 1 of these terraces lies a charming bowling green: it is coated in grass and flanked by an old yew hedge that is formed into the shape of rough ramparts.