Fiesole’s Holy Field

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Francis

Fiesole is well known for its classic grandstand view of Florence. It is also visited for its ancient ruins which date back to the Etruscan era and its picturesque Franciscan monastery. For us this beautiful and tranquil place has another location whose special significance will become evident at the end of this post.

Fiesole cemetery, situated by a hillside between the town’s cathedral and the monastery, was founded in 1792. It remained relatively bare of monuments until the late nineteenth century when Michelangelo Maiorfi expanded its area and built a loggia designed to accommodate loculae and private chapels.

One of the odd things about this loggia is the sudden abrupt change in the design of the arches at two points. I don’t know this should be so; perhaps the architect couldn’t make his minds up. Which arch design do you prefer?

Between 1913 and 1915 five municipal chapels were also built at the base of the loggia. These are named after saints linked to Fiesole and its territory: Antonino Pierozzi, Bernardino da Siena, Alessandro di Fiesole, Andrea Corsini and Saint Romulus. They were all decorated by the Chini pottery and ceramics manufacturers. Galileo Chini was the firm’s leading light and I have discussed this major art nouveau creator in my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/tiger-hunting-in-viareggios-most-exquisite-art-nouveau-villa/

Galileo Chini himself lavishly decorated the Fiocchi chapel, with glazed ceramic inserts which suggest a Viennese secessionist style.

Between 1930 and 1947, the entrance was completed with the addition of a bay to the loggia intended to contain the fallen of the First World War. Finally, in the 1950s, the last extension was completed with a modern building, loculae and ossuaries.

There are some notable citizens buried In the cemetery, not only Italian but also from the large community of foreigners residing in the surrounding area. These include the chapels dedicated to the Spence and Dupré families.

The first contains the memorial to Luisa Teresa Renard, the wife of the painter William Blundel Spence who lived at the Villa Medici. Her sensitively modelled effigy is among the most significant works of the sculptor Odoardo Fantacchiotti. The two little children are particularly charming.

The second chapel contains the tomb of the sculptor Giovanni Dupré and his family, including his daughter Amali who was also a sculptor. On Giovanni’s grave is a copy of a ‘Pieta’ (term used to describe the figure of the dead Christ) which he carved for Siena cemetery while Amalia carved the monument for her sister Luisina, who died at a young age. There are also other sculptures and a painting of the resurrected Christ by Antonio Ciseri.

However, despite the fine art displayed by these memorials we are drawn towards a more intimate plaque placed on the inner face of the entrance wall and shaded by a cypress.

It is the last resting place of my wife’s parents.

The Walls of Florence

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Francis

The walls of Florence. What walls? Unlike many cities and towns in Italy there appear to be no walls surrounding this gem of the Italian renaissance. Yet before 1860 Florence had one of the finest defensive systems of any city. Extending over five miles the walls were designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect also of the Palazzo Vecchio and the basilica of Santa Croce in the fourteenth century. Florence’s walls were punctuated by great gates which also served as customs posts bringing in some useful cash into the city’s coffers.

In 1861 the unification of Italy changed the situation for Florence. Rome had not yet been captured and Turin became the temporary capital of the new kingdom. In 1865 the capital was transferred to Florence and the city fathers decided that its mediaeval street were unfit for purpose and that the place needed improvement. City development architect Poggi’s master plan brought some new features which are still appreciated today, especially the ‘viale dei colli’, the panoramic road which winds up to piazzale Michelangelo on Florence’s south bank. So much of great historic and artistic value, however, perished. Among these the greatest losses were the demolition of the ancient city heart centred around the old market and ghetto and also those walls. It would have been perfectly possible to have constructed a circle of roads outside the walls as has happily occurred in Lucca to magnificent effect but speculation was rife and Florence’s walls were demolished, often by dynamiting them – so solid were they – and French-style boulevards built where the defensive bastions had been situated.

Luckily many gateways were spared: the Porta San Gallo and the Porta Romana, for example, and they stand as reminders of what must have been perhaps Italy’s finest walled city. These gates have lost their original appearance for with the advent of fire power in the sixteenth century they were truncated to half their heights in order to be able to withstand damage from the new generation of weapons. Only one remains to its original height: the Porta San Niccolò by the South bank of the Arno river in the eastern part of the city.
Standing at a height of 45 metres the Porta is an imposing structure which we have often admired on our visits to Florence. With its set of three large arches and its cantilevered steps it had tempted me to climb to its top but it was always closed to visitors. Fortunately it is now managed by a friends of Florence association and visits can be booked.

Our guide was a very knowledgeable young lady who told me the history of Florence’s walls I have related above. The climb up those stairs was dizzying but even more spectacular were the views of this utterly rapturous city from the top.

I leave you with our photographs of those views!

Elisa’s Villa Resurrected

Posted on August 12, 2020 by Francis

The hills surrounding Lucca are dotted with some very fine villas which not only provide an escape from the city’s often torrid summer heat but also supply their owners with farm produce, especially olives and wine.

One of the most notable of these villas is the ‘Villa Reale di Marlia’ Napoleon’s sister Elisa’s favourite summer residence during her time as princess of Lucca and where Paganini was her music teacher. Elisa transformed the old medieval structure into an elegant palace in the latest neo-classical fashion and redesigned its grounds into Italy’s first English-style landscape gardens with their broad natural vistas.

After the fall of the principality the property passed into the hands of Maria Louisa of the Bourbons and a long period of decadence subsequently followed. Luckily in 1923 the Villa Reale was purchased by the Italo-American Pecci-Blunt family who set about restoring it and turning it into a mecca for artists and cultural activities. One of their guests was Dali.

The Villa’s chapel is the resting place for the deceased members of this distinguished family.

It must be terrible to have to part with such a gorgeous property but sadly this is what happened;

(Camilla was a talented photographer of celebrities. Her husband managed the Rolling Stones’ recordings).

the villa entered into a second phase of dilapidation as the family decayed until in 2015 it was saved by a shining knight in the form of a young Swiss couple who had fallen in love with it. Five years of thorough restoration of the villa and its gardens ensued. Frescoes were cleaned, ornamental details were reinstated, furnishings and musical instruments were refurbished and the grounds were returned to their former glory. Most important for visitors the Villa itself was open to the public for the first time (The Pecci Blunts only allowed entry to the gardens) and from this year we are now able to enjoy the property’s varied charms.

(The times of opening together with many other details about the Villa Reale are shown on its web site at: https://villarealedimarlia.it/. Booking is necessary as entry numbers are limited).

Despite the strictures of Covid-19 it’s quite amazing how new life has been breathed into the villa and, in particular, through the various events it is programming.

We attended one of these events last Monday. It was ‘Shooting Star Night’, known in Italian as ‘La Notte di San Lorenzo’, when one wishes upon a star (or more correctly meteors and comets) and hopes that a request may be realised.

The wish to see a villa resplendent in all its original animated glory was certainly realised for us and the gardens were filled with varied events relating to the theme of the night. We started with a little refreshment, including a glass of Camellia gin, at the refreshment gazebo.

We then proceeded to Pan’s grotto with its eccentric sculptures.

Here a group of gifted singers dressed in the high-waisted empire style, entertained us with arias from Mozart and Bel canto operas.

We accompanied some of them on a tour of the grounds as passengers in a horse-drawn wagonette.

It was truly a sweet manner to be whisked away to a different more leisurely era (except for those ubiquitous face-masks which must be worn!)

The Villa’s gardens are divided into very different areas. First there’s the grand central lawn with views south to the Pisan Mountain

and north towards the Pizzorne hills.

The variety of trees and shrubs is remarkable: mimosa, camellia, magnolia, weeping willow, Gingko Biloba, hibiscus, and many others are all found in the grounds.

The Spanish garden, inspired by the Alhambra, was filled with bubbles by a very talented artiste who captured the attention of children of all ages.

The two limonaie (orangeries) were the location for an art and a photographic exhibition, the latter concentrating on pictures of the cosmos.

The Teatro Della Verzura (or theatre of greenery) with its manicured hedges and terracotta statuettes was the venue for a dramatic monologue dealing with Dorian Gray.

In the lemon garden acrobats and singers amused us as dusk approached and coloured lights were switched on.

We then visited the Villa Reale which has been perfectly restored – some might say too perfectly, but then there are still some fitments missing, curtains and draperies for example. One downstairs room was dedicated to the restoration with ‘before and after’ pictures. Everything has received the attention of the Swiss couple from the painted door panels to the ceiling decorations, from the Napoleonic bed to the harp and fortepiano. It has been truly a labour of love. One might say how lovely it is for people to be able to live again in this charming pleasure palace. However, the truth is the owners do not actually reside there but in the bishop’s ex-palace further along in the grounds. (No photographs inside the villa are allowed).

There are so many water features in the Villa’s park: a grand pond, the rivulets and fountains of the Spanish gardens,

an art-deco swimming pool, the gorgeous colonnade

and pond of the lemon garden

and the semi-circular water theatre with its cascade behind the villa.

Our enchanted evening concluded with an open-air talk by members of the Capannori observatory on the phenomena of ‘La Notte di San Lorenzo’. We learned the difference between comets, meteors and meteorites and, with the help of a laser, constellations and stars were pointed out to us. For instance, I finally found where Vega, the brightest star in the constellation of Lyra, is positioned and where Saturn is located.

There are plenty more events planned including a repeat of the one we attended and a cosplay day. Everything is well-marked on the villa’s web site. However, it is essential to pre-book; we obtained our tickets a week before our event which was just as well since it was sold out on the day. (Numbers are, again, limited by Covid 19 rules).

I just wish that Bagni di Lucca could have its own shining knight coming to the rescue of some of its own palatial dwellings like the Villas Ada and Fiori, for example. Is there anyone out there who missed buying the Villa Reale but is happy with something more modest?

A House by the Marina

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Francis

Marina di Pisa has long been known to us. My post at https://longoio3.com/2018/10/18/fishing-for-compliments-at-marina-di-pia/ tells something about the strange fascination of this place.

While spending a very pleasant afternoon at Marina di Pisa a couple of days ago and revisiting our favourite fish restaurant ‘Il Pescotto’ followed by a delicious ice at the bar across from the restaurant

I came across this house. It looked particularly picturesque with its angled approach to the coast.

I also noticed there was a plaque on the house’s façade. Who once lived there I wondered?

It turned out to be Giuseppe Viviani, someone I had known nothing about.

Giuseppe Viviani (San Giuliano Terme 1898 – Pisa 1965) was an Italian painter and engraver who ranks among the greatest of twentieth century Italian artists (along with Giorgio Morandi and Luigi Bartolini). He had a particular predilection for life on the Pisan coast which he knew and described well as these works show:

On Viviani’s death, following his last wishes, the original plates of his engravings works were thrown into the sea at Marina di Pisa. (I wonder if there are scuba divers who have managed to find any of these plates.).

Giuseppe Viviani achieved fame only after World War II when he was appointed to the chair of engraving at Florence’s Academy of Fine Arts, a position once held by that superb impressionist painter Giovanni Fattori.

A period of great success began for Viviani and in 1960 the city of Pisa dedicated a major exhibition to him.

Viviani’s life was not easy: in fact, he lost his father at the age of two and had to move with his mother to live with his grandfather, a manufacturer of artificial limbs, objects that must have been imprinted in the memory of the child artist, so much so that he included them in several of his works.

With the Florence appointment Viviani, now fifty, finally received the success he deserved: his engravings reached high prices, giving him an economic foundation that allowed him at last to devote himself completely to his art and to his second great passion, hunting. It is not by chance that hounds are portrayed in many of Viviani’s works.

Upon his death the artist asked to be buried with his favourite shotgun…

Giuseppe Viviani’s art is marked by a melancholy and decaying vision of life and, at the same time, by a great love for life itself. With refined technical expertise, the artist moved between naive popular imagery and the search for references of memory, recreating a world of deep emotional content, rich in allusions, hints and meanings.

I am so glad I came across that house in Marina di Pisa and my discovery of Giuseppe Viviani’s work. My friend Giovanni Fascetti is president of the Viviani association at his birthplace at San Giuliano Terme. Indeed, Giovanni’s father, Antonio, a fine artist specializing in commemorative medallions who sadly died last year, knew Viviani.

Incidentally, Marina di Pisa is full of extraordinarily luscious fin-de-siècle mansions. Here are a few I spotted during my visit:

I just wonder who stayed in them?

On the High C’s in our Valley

Posted on August 3, 2020 by Francis

Crasciana was our first stop on last Sunday’s walk among the villages of the Val di Lima organized by the Vicaria di Lima and the Comune of Bagni di Lucca. Situated in a fantail-like layout, on the south side of the Lima valley at a height of 2621 feet, it’s one of the highest village in our Comune and has some wonderful views as a result.

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Vigilio Contrucci, our guide for this part of the walk, pointed out all the villages one can see from Crasciana.

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Truly, its subtitle ‘La Pomposa’ (translated as ‘splendid ‘ rather than ‘pompous’) suits Crasciana rather well as it mightily dominates the valley from its stratospheric location.

We have been many times to Crasciana but a guided walk does enable us to see familiar places in a novel light besides teaching us previously unknown facts about them. Like so many other villages in the Tuscan Appennines Crasciana owes its foundation to land given by the Roman Empire to its centurions upon their retirement, in this case a certain Carsius.

Crasciana was once located further down from its present site but landslides forced its inhabitants to move further up the hill. Only the church of ‘Santo Della Villa’ now remains of the original village. A religious procession is made every three years from this church to the newer one, dedicated to Saint Jacopo and Frediano, at the top of the village. Our choir has sung at one of these events.

Virgilio led us from the village’s main square, repaved some years ago when it was inaugurated with a concert by a brilliant Pink Floyd cover band we attended (see my post at https://longoio.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/walls-but-no-wall/), to the parish church.

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Although originally dating from the thirteenth century the building has been considerably altered and enlarged over the centuries. It has a prettily decorated interior,

a haunting ancient crucifix

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and a fine 18th century Agati organ which we have heard played on other visits to Crasciana.

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The campanile, or bell tower, of the church reminds one that in former times these places were not just spiritual strongholds but temporal ones too.

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Our guide pointed out to us the original line of walls surrounding Crasciana, their gates and the as yet unexcavated site of the castle.

Crasciana is the birthplace of the engraver Bartolomeo Nerici. We attended a conference on this extraordinary person (described in my post at . https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/enlightened-engraver/). One of the contributors to the conference was Angela Amadei, familiar as Bagni di Lucca’s head librarian. Her family originate from Crasciana and one of her ancestors was the poet Bartolomeo Amadei. These mountain villages were certainly not all populated by ‘mute, inglorious Miltons’!

Our second ‘high C’ was Casabasciana, at a height of 1876 feet a little lower down from Crasciana, with whom it has shared an often heated rivalry over the years.

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Acquaintance and noted local historian Bruno Micheletti met us at the oratory of the Assumption in the upper part of the village, the first of three religious buildings our visit here was focused on.

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The full Italian title of the oratory is ‘Oratorio dell’Assunta in localita’ Murrotto – the murrotto or muro rotto referring to the broken wall where it is located. Built in 1691 the oratory is preceeded by a high and graceful portico. Within is the effigy of the Assumpted (raised bodily to heaven) Virgin and some fine decorations including a painted ‘cassone’ ceiling.

We descended into the heart of Casabasciana, the Piazza Cavour surrounded by the entrance to the parish church dedicated to Saint Quirico and Giulitta, the old village hall, a chapel and a fountain.

Bruno mentioned that the locals used to play ‘palla elastica’ (an Italian version of hand ball squash) in the square much to the annoyance of the priest who was conducting the church services. A second square was, therefore, built further down where the village’s main social activities now take place and where there is a bar and shop.

The church is notable for having the only wholly baroque interior in the valley. All the side altars are in a similar design with a particularly angelic main altar. It’s within this altar that the remains of the village’s patron saint are entombed. Saint Primo was a four year old put to death for his Christian beliefs by a particularly bestial Roman emperor. You can read more about this horrific story and see how Casabasciana celebrates its martyr in my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/child-murder-and-martyrdom-in-casabasciana/.

Our last ecclesiastical monument was the Pieve of Sala, originally Casabasciana’s parish church.

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Until 1917 the only place one could get baptised in was a Pieve so these buildings had to be located within easy reach of a number of villages. When local churches were allowed to perform baptism many of these pieve were closed up and abandoned. This was the case with the one at Sala which meant that what we were now able to view was a virtually unspoilt late Romanesque building. There were no fancy decorations here: just bare walls, three aisles separated by columns and a semi circular apse.

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The column capitals are carved with a mixture of religious and political symbols. The six leaved circle, for example, represents the six days of the creation and the labyrinthine spiral stands for the quest for spiritual truth.

Once baptism was practised by total immersion and the place where the font formerly stood is marked by a large stone circle on the church floor which originally stood at a deeper level.

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Remains of the font itself are placed in a corner near to the more modern ‘mini font’ now used by the church.

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We skipped the lunch provided by Ferdinando’s Villa Aurora (we have eaten deliciously there on previous occasions) and headed home to our own lunch after a truly interesting and diverting morning spent among those two high C’s of our valley: Crasciana and Casabasciana.

There’s one more visit in this series planned. It’s on the 23rd of August and concentrates on Bagni di Lucca. As with the other walks pre-booking is essential for groups are limited to a maximum of ten persons as part of covid19 precautions.

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I am sure that since these walking visits are proving successful we shall be able to look forwards to many more of them soon.

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How Pardini Beautified Ponte a Serraglio

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Francis

The spread of summer events in Bagni di Lucca has been somewhat curtailed this year because of the world health crisis. However, there are still some very pleasant activities including a series of walks in and around the town and the surrounding villages organized by the De Montaigne foundation. This is the programme for the events which must all be booked. The walks themselves are free with a voluntary donation towards the upkeep of Bagni’s protestant cemetery.

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We joined one last week-end which took in some historic buildings by the Lucchese architect Giuseppe Pardini (1799-1884) who, in 1834, was appointed chief architect for the city of Lucca.

We started the walk from the gardens of villa Fiori, a formerly magnificent nineteenth century mansion, now virtually abandoned to the elements. Some work had recently been done on its roof. Unfortunately, during the recent storm, described in my previous post, a tall pine tree fell upon the building gravely damaging a part of the structure.

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Although now having a classical appearance, villa Fiori was originally designed in the neo-gothic style. Only the garden turrets now reflect the original architecture of the villa which is desperately seeking a white knight to rescue it from further neglect.

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At the price normally paid for a tiny bedsit in London’s Knightsbridge the villa’s fifty rooms are a real bargain!

We crossed the foot bridge, built in 2009, with our escort, Giulia, a very well informed twenty-three year old member of Bagni’s De Montaigne cultural association, and walked to the old hospital built by Russian count Demidoff as a thank you to the citizens of Bagni for having cured him of gout by drinking its waters.

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The villa Demidoff has been leased for some years to the Global Village which hosts various alternative well-being therapies. The former family mausoleum is now used for yoga sessions.

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Of course, we know these places well having first come to the area in 2005. However, the nice thing about visiting in a small group is that we can see familiar sights with fresh eyes. I get the same sensation when I show some of the beautiful locations this valley offers to friends from abroad.

A steep path led us up to one of the oldest of Bagni’s thermal establishments. The Terme di Bernabo’ date back to at least the fifteenth century although the present building is nineteenth century. Its foyer has exquisite ceiling decorations.

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We viewed the elegant marble baths with their rather less elegant modern taps.

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One bath particularly stood out for its elegance.

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The unfortunate thing about the Bagni Bernabo’, however, is that after their restoration ten years ago there was no-one to maintain and encourage visitors to use them. Hence they are, once again, showing signs of dilapidation. Our escort, nevertheless, did state that there was a possibility that they would once again be open for use by the public.

The views from the Bagni Bernabo’ are especially charming, even more so in the golden late afternoon summer sun; our walk had begun at 5pm to avoid the hottest part of the day.

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We stepped down to the valley floor and entered perhaps Bagni di Lucca’s most magnificent building and Europe’s first public casino, again designed by Pardini. The various rooms, including the sumptuous hall of the lilies (decorated by the same painter who did the ceiling frescoes for the Bagni Bernabo’), are familiar to us through the events they have hosted over the years. May these events return soon!

We crossed the river Lima via a bridge designed, again, by Pardini and reached one of the architect’s most ingenious buildings, the hotel de Russie.

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On an awkward triangular site the architect managed to produce one of the most sumptuous of the forty-odd hotels Bagni di Lucca once had. Giulia informed us that an American architect was inspired by Pardini’s effort to design the flatiron building in New York. Judge for yourselves…

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With this last building, which has both a famous (as writer Ouida’s favourite residence when she would come to Bagni) and an infamous (as a fascist interrogation and torture centre in the last war) association we concluded our Ponte a Serraglio walk. We shall certainly book more as they are such fun and very informative.

Where Princess Pocahontas Rests

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Francis

There’s a parody sketch by that vintage English comic, Peter Sellers, which refers to Balham as ‘the Gateway to the South.’ In grand terms the announcer presents the ancient crafts of this not especially distinguished London suburb, one of which is ‘to carve the little holes in the top of toothbrushes’.

If there is doubt cast on Balham’s claim to fame as a ‘gateway’ then there is no such uncertainty regarding Gravesend, the river-side town to the south-east of London. For much of its history it has been the gateway to London itself and, after a period of decline when the port moved down stream, Gravesend has now become a key location for the Thames Gateway project which aims at developing the economy of the Thames estuary region.

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A part of this regeneration has been to restore Gravesend’s historic centre which, as I remember, had become woefully rundown.

The old town’s high street has a number of characteristic clapper-board buildings with specialist shops and restaurants.

The street ends with the restored pier from which one embarks on a passenger ferry to Tilbury across the Thames.

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When I took the ferry last month it was a dour and very windy day and the Thames became a little choppy.

We have disembarked before at Tilbury, on the ‘Waverley’, the last ocean-going paddle steamer in the world.

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This memorable journey produced the following poem:

WAVERLEY

The pistons pursue their unceasing act

of love and the steamer’s bold prow furrows

through grey-green waters while an east wind blows;

stork-like forts loom ahead: the deck is packed.

Side-paddles ruffle estuary water

in flecks and glints; flat Essex horizon

combines with sea in leaden unison.

You are the River’s beautiful daughter

and come from a truer age and sea-lochs

bordered by lush hills and craggy ridges.

The City is now your servant: bridges

open to you above the shuttered docks.

All hail with blasts and cheers in one consent

for through you we re-live childhood content.

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This time I looked up at a gigantic cruise liner moored there. No sign of any passengers, however. I wonder where they had all gone.

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Along the riverside, but hidden by an embankment wall, was Tilbury fort the location for Queen Elizabeth I’s stirring speech against the Spanish Armada:

“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm”.

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I returned to Gravesend and walked to the railway station passing the elegant eighteenth century church of Saint George.

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It contains the burial place of iconic native American princess Pocahontas of the Powhatan people who saved the life of John Smith the founder of the colony of Virginia.

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Pocahontas later married John Rolfe and sailed to the UK where she was presented to the Royal Court with much pomp and interest.

On her return to her native land Pocahontas became ill at Gravesend and sadly died there at the age of just twenty one

The statue of the princess is a cast copy of the original in Jamestown, Virginia by William Partridge and was presented to Gravesend as a token of anglo-american friendship in 1957.

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Thinking about all those statues which have recently raised disputes about whether they should still be standing I thought that Pocahontas will be there in front of Saint George’s church for as long as freedom and equality are prized. She was a person who valued all humans whether they be red, white or black. However, I wonder what Pocahontas would have thought of her nation today.

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Where Arsenal F. C. Began

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Francis

When we pass the sign displaying ‘Arsenale’ on the road from Fornaci di Barga to Castelvecchio Pascoli in the Garfagnana I am always wistfully reminded of a part of London I know rather well. It’s Woolwich with its former Royal Arsenal, the armaments powerhouse of the British Empire, now being redeveloped as a prime residential area.

‘Arsenale’ is one of the four contrade or quarters of Barga, the others being Ponte di Catagnana, Catagnana and San Quirico. I don’t know whether its name alludes to a former armaments factory. The Woolwich ‘Arsenal’, however, has a long history connected with the testing and manufacture of the lethal weapons of war. Its origin dates from the 17^th century and by the time of the First World War its area had expanded to over a thousand acres and it employed over eighty thousand people. Ceasing production in 1967 the Arsenal finally closed in 1994 when the Ministry of Defence moved out.

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(Women workers at the Royal Arsenal during World War One)

The area used to be top-secret and was not marked on any Ordnance Survey maps. I remember we had to sign the Official Secrets act when we visited the Arsenal in a specially hired bus since the area was so extensive. Later I would explore the abandoned site with its decaying armaments factories ammunition proofing sheds and explosives research laboratories. Regrettably I have few photographs in a pre-digital age of the complexities of the area except for these. They have become ever more valuable to me. Spot the large hangars, the rifle testing tunnel, the anti-Hitler casements (an attack up the Thames was imagined) and the remains of the Royal Arsenal rail network.

I also penned this poem in recognition of the strange wonders the domain held me when it was still in its derelict state.

THE OUTER ARSENAL 1985

These steep arched banks, like iron-age forts, protect

the engines of war. Through white-tiled tunnels

(for in making bombs one cannot neglect

pureness) we reach a field of wrecked funnels.

Past the birches gulls land on the tump, spread

gently like a park’s ornamental pond.

At its centre, the island of the dead:

a walled garden stilled by alchemy’s wand.

Wasteland runs riot: spinneys and briars

grow from Victorian ruin and sprout fruits;

while above a lark sings in heaven’s choirs

on the tarn’s a confutation of coots.

This land was ours and we could walk it free:

reclaim love from war before new blight’s scree.

Since those days most of the old Royal Arsenal site has been redeveloped for housing as part of Thamesmead’s expansion. Gone is the abandoned area with its characteristic tumps, moated mounds once storing explosives. There is little evidence of the former railway network which serviced the various armaments production centres.

Much of the wall surrounding the complex has gone because of road widening. In their place new housing and commercial centres are springing up – certainly a more positive aspect when compared to the area’s previous dedication to destructive weapons.

However, the original part of the Royal Arsenal has been preserved for its historical value. It contains several buildings of some worth.

The main gateway is now separated from the rest of the arsenal by a widened road and stands alone as part of Woolwich Market.

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Here is my photo taken of when it was being isolated from the arsenal it prologued. Note the former wall which joined it to the site.

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Crossing the road and entering the depot’s grand avenue the following features attracted my attention:

The elegant Royal Brass Foundry of 1717:

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Dial Square is where what was to become Arsenal Football club played its first game.

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I was particularly taken by the mock cannon balls adorning the portico of the building here.

The Main Guard House dates from 1787 and provided accommodation for an Artillery detachment.

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The original Royal Military Academy designed by Vanbrugh in 1718 once served as the Royal Arsenal Officers’ Mess. I tried to take photographs of this building’s interior but was requested to leave by a security guard. Presumably it still houses top-secret activities!

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The riverside guard rooms of 1815 mark the arsenal’s main entry point from the river. It was here that the body of ‘Lulu’, the Prince Imperial, son of Napoleon III, was brought after his death in the Zulu wars. Queen Victoria on her visit to Woolwich insisted on being brought to this very spot. You can read more about this in my Facebook entry at https://www.facebook.com/fpettitt/posts/10214823717241037.

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By the guard houses is a group of Gormley-like statues by sculptor Peter Burke called ‘assembly’. I think they just about respected social distancing!

There are several other historic buildings many of which have been converted into luxury riverside flats or community centres. It’s good to know that redundant historic structures are now being recycled to other uses instead of being demolished as they formerly would have been.

I walked part of the London stretch of the 184 mile long Thames path which passes various various piers, one of which had been re-utilized as a Thames river-bus stop.

The path took me to the new housing development of Thamesmead. As Battersea is now renamed ‘South Chelsea’ by resident snobs so West Thamesmead is now called ‘Broadwater Green’ perhaps to dispel its former notorious past as the scenario for Stanley Kubrick’s controversial ‘A Clockwork Orange’.

Many of the 1960’s brutalist pseudo-Corbusier blocks of flats have now been demolished and replaced by more friendly housing. Some of the high rise buildings, which made our yachting sorties on the lake fronting them somewhat dodgy because of their wind deflection propensity, still remain, however.

I was pleased to note that a new Thamesmead was rising with ample green, a multitude of trees and the preservation of many of the tumps and canals which characterised the old Arsenal site. It was quite lovely to enjoy the warmest of suns in this landscape of willows, lakes, coots and swans.

Lesnes Abbey Woods

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Francis

London’s Green Chain walk connects over three hundred parks and open spaces in the south-eastern part of the metropolis. It extends from Erith in the east to Crystal Palace in the west with branches to Thamesmead, Nunhead, Beckenham and Charlton and offers a great chance to stroll in surprisingly rural parts of one of the world’s great cities linking up with other paths such as the Capital Ring.

(see also my post in Italian at https://longoio3.com/2019/07/10/londra-selvaggia/)

Originally set up in 1977 to protect open spaces from being built on the Green chain is a walk I know rather well since a branch of it starts near my home in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Though never done completely in one go I’ve covered all the route taking different sections at different times. During the recent UK heat wave I decided I’d head for one of its most idyllic stretches. There is a marvellous compendium of woods stretching from Frank’s Park near Erith to Bostall Woods including Oxleas, well-known for its bluebells and Lesnes Abbey with its spectacular wild daffodils.(For pictures of these see my post at https://longoio3.com/2020/04/06/daffodils/)

London’s Coronation church, Westminster Abbey, is known throughout the world. However, in pre-reformation times the city had many other abbeys which are now sadly either in ruins or have completely vanished.

Ruined Lesnes Abbey is on the Green Chain walk and is surrounded by an extensive forest appropriately called Abbey Woods.

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1178 saw the foundation of the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Thomas the Martyr in Lesnes by Richard de Luci, chief executioner of England. It was built as a penance for the murder of Thomas Becket, in which he was involved.

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(Murder of St Thomas a Becket)

In 1179, de Luci resigned from his office and retired to the abbey, where he died three months later and was buried in the chapter house.

It is interesting to note that the first part of the pilgrim route known in Italy as the Via Francigena passes from London to Canterbury where pilgrims visited Saint Thomas Becket’s tomb, a journey that gave rise to Chaucer’s wonderful book of tales and Pasolini’s film. Lesnes abbey never became a large community and Cardinal Wolsey closed it down in 1525 by a law for the closure of monasteries with fewer than seven monks. It was one of the first to be suppressed after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1534. The abbey is surrounded by parkland and an ornamental garden known as the monks’ nursery.

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(Pilgrim statue carved from a tree trunk in Lesnes Abbey)

I especially like the way the Abbot’s symbol, the shepherd’s crook, is weaved into various elements of the monks’ garden:

Even though Lesnes Abbey is in a state of extreme ruin, its various sections can easily be distinguished.

The church:

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the principal cloister:

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the chapter house:

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the refectory:

the dormitory and the library in which the Lesnes Missal, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, was located.

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Every time I visit Lesnes Abbey I think of those lines from Shakespeare’s seventy third sonnet:

‘Bare ruin’d choirs where late the sweet birds sang’.

However, I’m glad to say that once a year the parishes and clergy of the Roman Catholic deaneries of Bexley and Greenwich organise a procession of the Blessed Sacrament in the Abbey ruins, bringing them to new life. The procession would have been in June this year but has unfortunately had to be cancelled because of the pandemic.

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I continued my woodland walk passing various interesting features: the chalk pit which once supplied building material but is now securely fenced off because of the danger of its very steep slopes:

The fossil beds where one can spend a happy time uncovering sand sharks’ teeth dating from the cretaceous era:

A large pond, with an unfortunate tree collapsed upon it.

The path is well sign-posted and maintained.

Eventually I emerged from the cool woodland and found myself entering a broad heath and the heat again.

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Why certain idiots travel miles to find a crammed place on a beach flouting every health and safety measure imposed during this pandemic crisis when near to their home they can find the most beautiful and unpopulated open spaces I shall never know!

PS If you read Italian there’s more on Lesnes Abbey with extra pictures in my post at:

Le Abbazie di Londra e i loro Scandali

Where Alexandra Began

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Francis

This week-end, one year after her mother sadly died, my wife and I visited the church where her parents were married seventy three years ago.

We took the tube to Saint John’s Wood. The Grade II listed station preserves its original fabric including the Underground’s last wooden escalator illuminated by one of three surviving art-deco sets of bronze escalator uplights. The ‘way out’ sign is also unique. I’m so glad these features have been kept!

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We walked past Lord’s cricket ground to reach our destination.

Dedicated to Our Lady, the church was one of the first Roman Catholic places of worship to be built following the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829.

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The building was funded by two sisters, Louise and Jessie Gallini, from the inheritance left them by their father, Giovanni Gallini. Born in Florence he had come to England as a refugee and had a very successful career as dancing master and impresario in London. (Among his friends were J. C. Bach and Haydn). I felt, since Sandra’s own father was also born in Florence and moved to London for his work, that this was a lovely coincidence.

The church of Our Lady was designed by John Joseph Scoles, a Roman Catholic architect, in what John Betjeman described as ‘Regency’ gothic style.

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(A old print of the Church of Our Lady)

It has a mellow brick exterior and a facade with a rose window:

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an entrance porch flanked by a rose bush:

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and a garden with the statue of the Virgin:

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My first impression in entering Our Lady’s church (only recently re-opened to worshippers with one-way system and social distancing to be respected during this pandemic) was that of a beautifully airy and luminous early neo-gothic building with a elegantly vaulted nave flanked by aisles of equal height.

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Indeed, Our Lady reminded me of those hall churches in northern Germany with the light coming from the side windows rather than from any clerestory.

The church is filled with several examples of contemporary art. These include fine glass panels representing scenes from Christ’s life:

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The font:

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and the main altar in the apse.

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However, Our Lady was not always like this. Its original plain appearance became richly embellished in the Victorian era as seen in this photo.

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The ornamentation was stripped back this century returning the church to its simpler, original atmosphere and enhancing its fine vaulting. Undoubtedly there will be some who will regret this change, especially the removal of the original High Altar and its replacement by something more contemporary.

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Not having experienced the church as it was at the time of Alexandra’s parents’ wedding I can say little. I do feel, however, that it would have been better to have the East window displayed instead of covering it up.

We met Fr. Kevin Jordan the very personable parish priest and Sandra showed him a copy of her parents’ marriage certificate written in Latin.

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It becomes ever more essential in these rather socially disconnected times to visit those places which have played such an important part in our parents’, indeed, our own lives. They are truly holy places twice over.