Monkeying Around

Just a quickie today. While stood in the queue waiting to see the Banksy exhibition in Bristol I had time ( a lot of time!) to look at the surrounding buildings. There was a row of Gothic looking buildings, some houses, some now offices, and they all had interesting animal cravings above the windows. My favourite one was this odd monkey one. Its all a bit sinister looking and reminds me of something but I can't quite remember what! Any thoughts?

_

Theme Day - Night

Its the first of the month and its Theme Day across the CDPB community. This months theme is 'Night' and this is my offering. It shows Christ Church lit up at night. Its an impressive building and can be seen from all around Cheltenham, especially at night.

To see all the other many interpretations for this Theme head here.

_

Castle College

Not really a college but a University Of Gloucestershire campus - Francis Close Hall. The site used to be St Pauls College for Teacher Training but was renamed in 1979 after the Rev. Francis Close, who was known in the town for his involvement in education. The buildings then became Cheltenham College Of Higher Education, before the college gained university status a few years ago. The old part of the campus, shown here, dates back to 1849. Recently new buildings and student halls of residence have been constructed, adding a nice contrast to these Tudor Gothic ones. The photo below shows the depth of the complex and amongst these turrets and sturdy stone walls is a large courtyard garden.

_

A Pizza Church

Last night Phoebe and I went to one of our favourite restaurants for something to eat, to celebrate the start of our week off of work (Yay!) This is Zizzi's, an Italian restaurant now taking up residence in a former church, which the new owners restored the interior of, keeping nearly all of the original features of this fantastic Gothic Revival style building. The top photo shows the open kitchen, with pizza oven, in the area that was once the altar. As you can see, the place is beautifully lit at night which enhances all of the stone work. The photo below shows the balcony, which is where you'll find the bar. Last night there was someone playing the piano, you can see the lid of the grand piano in the bottom of the photo. Hopefully you'll be able to make out the wooden ceiling with its carved features. If you want to see the outside of the building then check out a previous post here.

Both of these photos were taken with my camera phone, hence the quality.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Chetenham College

This is the view from the balconies in yesterdays post. It is the world famous Cheltenham Boys College. Well, it allows girls now but locally it is known as the Boys College. The college dates from 1841 and has been on this site, in these Gothic Revival buildings since 1843. It was opened as Cheltenham Proprietary College and was founded to educate the sons of gentlemen. The college took in day and boarding students, and still does, with many surrounding streets having halls of residence. The college was originally split into Classical and Military schools but this ended in the middle of the last century. The college is one of several independent fee paying schools in Cheltenham, educating students between 13 and 18 years old. The college grounds are very large with many buildings and the huge chapel (on the left of the photo) was built in 1893-96 for the college's 50th Jubilee celebrations! The college also hosts the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, which started yesterday, and has been held there since 1872.

So, what do you think about the modern Century Court (see yesterdays post) being built opposite the classic Cheltenham College? Now you can see what all the fuss was about at the time!

_

Its A Restaurant!

Yes, the carved stone head on the church with a difference, from yesterdays post, is on the front of a restaurant!

Zizzi's is a great Italian restaurant that took over the building about five years ago. Before that the former church, which was de-consecrated in 1974, was used as the Church Hall for St Philip and St James Church based in nearby Leckhampton. The church, once St James', is in Suffolk Square and is built in the Gothic Revival style. It was built in 1825-30 on land sold by the Earl of Suffolk's daughter, and was designed by local architect Edward Jenkins. It was, and still is, the impressive focal point of the upmarket Suffolk Square. Inside all of the original stone carvings, pillars and balconies still exist; with the open kitchen under the magnificent stained glass window, in the area of the former altar. It is stunning inside and next time I eat there I will take some photos. As a bonus the food is great too!

There was no outright winner from yesterdays quiz. The nearest guess was Vanky, but they have no link to their profile, so I can't give a link to their blog. Therefore the honour of a link goes to Jackie in Glasgow, who came second. Check out her great blog at Glasgow Daily Photo.

Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity Church, on Portland Street, is one of many buildings in Cheltenham designed by George Underwood. The Church was built in 1820-3 in a Gothic Revival style and is unlike many of the other Churches in town that have the usual spire, I think it has a French look about it. The construction of the church was funded by the sale of shares. Each share that a parishioner purchased entitled them to the use of a pew in the church. If you weren't well off enough to buy a share you had to pay a shilling to attend each service!

Church On Sunday

Christ Church in Malvern Road is one of the towns most striking churches and its tower can be seen from many points around Cheltenham. It was built between 1837 and 1840 and was designed by brothers Robert William Jearrad and Charles Jearrad for the people of the Lansdown estate. To aid the building work shares were sold to local people and raised £17,000 to buy the stone from the nearby Cotswold village of Whittington. Over the years the Church has undergone several renovations and additions but the impressive Gothic architecture has always remained. Below is a shot across the Ladies College playing fields showing the scale of the Church.