Contemporary Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots
Contemporary Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Roots The dramatic or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to supplying drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs nearby. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity.
Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and memorialize the designer. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often used by Romans to beautify their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. The fountains found 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 created 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.
Urban fountains built at the end of the 19th century functioned only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the essential drinking water. The creation of unique water effects and the recycling of water were 2 things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern-day fountains serve mostly as decoration for open spaces, to honor individuals or events, and compliment entertainment and recreational gatherings.
Anglo Saxon Gardens During the Norman Conquest
Anglo Saxon Gardens During the Norman Conquest The introduction of the Normans in the latter half of the eleventh century considerably transformed The Anglo-Saxon ways of living. At the time of the conquest, the Normans surpassed the Anglo-Saxons in building design and cultivation. However the Normans had to pacify the entire territory before they could focus on home life, domestic architecture, and decoration. Monasteries and castles served separate functions, so while monasteries were massive stone structures constructed in only the most productive, wide dales, castles were set upon blustery knolls where the people focused on learning offensive and defensive strategies. Gardening, a peaceful occupation, was unfeasible in these unproductive fortifications. The early Anglo-Norman style of architecture is represented in Berkeley Castle, which is perhaps the most unscathed example we have. The keep is thought to date from the time of William the Conqueror. An enormous terrace encompasses the building, serving as an obstacle to assailants wanting to dig under the castle walls. On one of these parapets is a picturesque bowling green covered in grass and bordered by an aged hedge of yew that has been shaped into coarse battlements.