HOME | DD
Okavanga — Castle Kennedy
#castle #scottish #architecture #medieval
Published: 2016-09-30 06:59:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 341; Favourites: 18; Downloads: 15
Redirect to original
Description
Castle Kennedy GardensArtists have their creative blocks, from which photographers are not exempt. After all the exciting times snapping wildlife in South Africa, scrambling up the Thukela Gorge, and striding out on the Drakensbergs, the humble pleasures of home life are insufficient to allay the ennui of quotidian existence. Simply put, I'm bored after adventures in foreign lands. However, I've been partly shaken out of this depression by the thoughtful words of my friend Deb-e-ann who said why not show some flowers like her! Indeed, I have been busy capturing some plants and trees at some Scottish locations in the interim, and here are a few from a visit to one of Scotland's most famous, if somewhat hidden, gems - Castle Kennedy Gardens, not far from the port of Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway.
The Gardens are part of the Earl of Stair's estate, the present Earl, the 14th, is related to our Royal family; predecessors have served the country in major positi
Related content
Comments: 26
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
Actually you will need about half a million dollars and three years with the planning commission before you pick up a hammer. Renovating buildings in the United Kingdom is super expensive and the government gets involved in every step. It is not a matter of bending over backwards. It is bending over backwards while climbing through the eye of a needle. I watched a BBC show called Grand designs and one house got started in the first year. Not finished. Started.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Yeah - that'll be right! Some rooms in some castles have been restored to what is believed to have been the original conditions, but I'm not sure that you would really have liked to have lived in those times - cold, damp, rats, dark, smelly, noisy...oops not really your classroom!!
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That sounds about right - we all like our mod cons. By our standards ordinary life was pretty rough in those days.
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes, standards of bathroom sanitation are very high on my list of life requirements!!!
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Sounds like a good essay title for your class, J, - Sanitation in the Medieval World or The Medieval Loo, Where is it now?
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Chapter 11? Is that a class name? Whenever I visit historic buildings I do like to find the old loos - you tell a lot from them. I would have thought the evolution of ablutionary facilities would provide many useful projects in terms of the derivation of words and ideas. For example the word "privy" means among other things a place with a toilet. And, if you have anyone in your classes called Jake, you might want to have them look up what else is associated with a group of jakes!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That sounds like a class I would like to take. Those bronze doors are amazing - I just checked them out via Google. I've seen some of the Sutton Hoo treasure, and been to the site a couple of times. I think a key point about such studies is that seeing the real thing or the actual place brings an immediacy to the events and the artifacts - a bit like seeing a Rembrandt in a book and seeing it for real. I think it is also very difficult for young people (and lots of older ones) to understand the time scales involved. That is a challenge for any teacher when yesterday's Facebook entry is so uncool!
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Very true, very true! They have no clue -- and if it isn't on their smartphone, it must not be relevant. 
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hmmm... I think we're back to a previous discussion - how do you motivate the blighters! I do not know - novelty might be a way forward, perhaps a discussion about medieval punishments with a practical example or two???
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
heh heh heh They think their lives are tough in this day and age. They have no clue! 
J
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
One of the things about those log ago times was that outside of towns people didn't move around very much - they had no means of transport, very poor roads, and not much reason to, being tied to the land. So, to us, their world was very limited. You could use a parallel with today's smart phone dominated world which is also just like the medieval world - total absorption in the little bubble of the electronic world - no ability to move out or on.....
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
There's something very special about Ruins, David....a haunting quality. Nice capture. 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Being a bit if a ruin myself, I totally agree, Linda!
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
'There is time everything' - huge and small ideas! To me, this structure is saying just that. That, whoever created it had a huge idea. But, at some time, the flame of that idea subsided and this structure is standing here, seemingly abandoned. Well, many factors play some part in life. But, this is a strong picture, David - and a great story!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Many thanks for this insightful comment, Henry. This is, indeed, a substantial building that was built in 1607, in part, to impress the local population as well as to defend against anything but the most powerful of armies. As far as I know, the castle was never taken, and following a serious fire in 1716 was abandoned. Those were turbulent, troubled times, and the local Lord was responsible to his peasantry and to the King, whoever that might be. But, other warring factions roamed the land, and would kill and destroy opposition if they could. Castles such as this were to be found all over Scotland and England. Here is another dating from the 1300s, Threave Castle, near my cottage.
The building would have been even more imposing than the ruins suggest because there would have been an outer perimeter wall, a pit around the outside, and wooden balcony battlements on the roof. The Castle was also surrounded by water from two lochs, both of which are still there. So, this was a very strong defensive position. It is not surprising that the Earls of Stair were important people over the centuries in the governing of Scotland, and then Great Britain.
By the time of the fire most of Britain was united politically and the need for such castles had gone. True, there was the 1715 and then 1745 Jacobite rebellions that started in Scotland, but they were defeated, and that was the last of organised military rebellion in Britain.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you for the historical details of the Castle. After all this - rebellion and stuff, who takes ownership of these structures? Can't then be renovated and put to good use? True that they are tourist attraction - I believe. But, am just thinking aloud!
Cheers!
Henry K
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Good points, Henry. Castle Kennedy is still part of the original estate, so it is owned by the Earl of Stair, and maintained by the estate as part of its attraction and as part of Historic Scotland. Other Castles and the like are owned and operated by the National Trust for Scotland, and like bodies. They are promoted as tourist attractions, but still have great historical value to those who study history at all levels, for example schools, universities.
David
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
thank you very much, David for your explanation! A great point both on historical education and tourist attraction - which explains a useful reason for not renovating it - which may cause it to lose its sentimental value!!
cheers
Henry K.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Indeed. Some of these places have been partially renovated so you can go round bits of them, for example Threave Castle in the other photo.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks, David!
Cheers!
Henry K.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0