The Effect of the Norman Invasion on Anglo-Saxon Garden Design
The Effect of the Norman Invasion on Anglo-Saxon Garden Design
The arrival of the Normans in the second half of the 11th century greatly altered The Anglo-Saxon ways of living. The Normans were better than the Anglo-Saxons at architecture and horticulture when they came into power. But yet there was no time for home life, domesticated design, and adornment until the Normans had conquered the whole realm. Most often constructed upon windy summits, castles were straightforward structures that allowed their occupants to devote time and space to offensive and defensive schemes, while monasteries were rambling stone buildings frequently installed in only the most fecund, extensive valleys. The barren fortresses did not provide for the quiet avocation of gardening. Berkeley Castle is probably the most intact model in existence nowadays of the early Anglo-Norman form of architecture. The keep is reported to have been invented during the time of William the Conqueror. As a strategy of deterring attackers from tunneling within the walls, an immense terrace encompasses the building. A picturesque bowling green, covered in grass and surrounded by battlements cut out of an ancient yew hedge, makes one of the terraces.
Where did Garden Water Fountains Begin?
Where did Garden Water Fountains Begin? The incredible architecture of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to complete your home. Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with potable water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Used until the nineteenth century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their origin of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Artists thought of fountains as amazing additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to provide clean water and celebrate the artist responsible for building it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often times used by Romans to decorate their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create mini variations of the gardens of paradise. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were intended to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby limiting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity helped fountains to deliver recycled water into living spaces as well as create special water effects.
Modern fountains are used to embellish community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.