The orangery..Stoke on Trent

[Mikeymutt]

Visited this with man gone wrong and priority 7..been wanting to see you his place for a while now and it did not dissapoint.the place is in a sad state though.it site and n the trentham estate.wgich remains what's left of the old Manor House.it was said to be one of the finest in the country.until it was demolished in the 20th century.all that remains now are the wings and clock tower.we did look to see if we could explore it but was locked tight.there was plans to restore it all in to a hotel.but I think the stupid costs make this project not a viable option.the gardens have been restored and are a popular tourist risk attraction.seemed surreal being in there taking photos with people looking from the gardens at it.i even got chatting to some as I was taking externals

 

[HughieD]

That place is exquisite Mikey...

 

[Sam Haltin]

Must have been very grand in its time but very much derelict.

 

[prettyvacant71]

Love that moody first shot Mikey! Fab detailed pic of that fallen masonry too.

Really like the look of this place with the curves and columns, I've not seen it before, lets hope something great happens to it as it deserves a new life.

Thanks for that dude!

 

[The Wombat]

This is awesome....
Excellent work Mikey

 

[Derelictheart]

What a beautiful building

 

[smiler]

Did you notice a boiler room as I thought I spotted underfloor heating vents, well up to your usual standard's of photography and talent of finding the oddities Mikey, Thanks

 

[jsp77]

I like this mikey, nice shots as always

 

[Mikeymutt]

Thank you all for the kind comments.i never noticed the vents.i have always known it as an orangery but some say the grand entrance.maybe if there was plants in here they had an old style heating system.i take it years ago they prob had a basic style one

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

This is of course a 'Grand Promenade' where the ladies of the Manor could stroll and not suffer the ravages of the hot or cold weather on their elaborate dresses or be-wigged hair, but could also have been used as a 'Grand Entrance' on occasions if it was connected physically to the main house - I have not seen any old plans that indicate it was connected by a covered passage. All the old drawings indicated that this was a stand alone structure - Almost like a 'folly' in some respects. They are normally built as a many windowed straight corridor, attached to an outside wall of a large mansion or palace. This circular one was could have been built for two functions at a time when when having fresh oranges was the aim of the very rich and landed gentry. Original plans seen many years ago did not indicate any built in heating - method of the day was iron braziers filled with slow burning logs, placed inside the building during periods of cold/freezing weather. Do not forget that manpower was very cheap and plentiful on these estates back then, and in winter there would be a 'junior' (usually some poor old bugger) gardener keeping a 'winter night watch'. When it's available, the social history of the workers on these Estates makes very revealing reading.

 

[Rubex]

Stunning building and pics Mikey. Very nice!

 

[Mikeymutt]

thank you rubex and ds thank you for your great input.funny you say about the boy doing night watch.i went some gardens in Dorset were my nan lived and there was a double tiered building it was basically a shed the lower level held all the tools and the upper actually had four beds and I was reading that the apprentice gardener had to get up early to light the fire to obviusly heat the building up.i guess correct me if I am wrong but the sleeping part was above so they could light two fires one below and above and the heat then rises.

 

[stu8fish]

Super set there.. Love this place and its on the list.

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

Correct Mikey, whenever you see old multi-storey buildings with fire places etc on lower floor only, rising heat was supposed to 'heat' the upper. Actually a good fire roaring up a big chimney piece does give a very large source of radiant heat up to the top of the structure - once the mass of masonry is heated up.