Visionary Beauty, Remarkable Antiquity, & Ancient Splendour: Stourhead, Bath, & Stonehenge

Stourhead

The purpose of Lawrence London Centre's journey to Stourhead was to support the theatre class, of which I am a part, in seeing how theatre can play out in a garden and to generate discussion off on that basis. On top of that, though, the place is just beautiful. It also put us in easy reach of Bath, so they rolled that in as a bonus for the program. I took the option to stay the night to give myself more time in Bath and so I could take an excursion out to Stonehenge.

The gardens are intended to track the story of Aeneas, his journey, the characters he encounters, the places he visits, and to touch on Greek and Roman mythology more generally. For instance, there are recreations of monoliths and of the Pantheon, as well as a cave which might depict the descent into hell, complete with statues that can be interpreted as Hades or Charon and looking out over the lake (Styx?) on inaccessible paradise. It's quite a journey. I could see how it was theatrical and was fascinated by the idea that it was theatrical without any moving action, something antithetical to stereotypical theatre.

Hell (maybe):

Some other neo-Greco-Roman buildings:

The other thing about the garden, though, was that it was just... beautiful. It was incredibly beautiful and tranquil and quite a pleasant place to be. It's true that the sun was shining only some of the time, but there was something new and exquisite about the gardens regardless of whether the sun was out or not. It wasn't really raining and certainly not snowing, but I'm sure those inclement conditions would also add something. It was also a great opportunity for photography, only some of which can be represented here, of course. One of the fascinating things about the visit to Stourhead was that it reminded me just how many incredible places there are in the world. I'd never heard of it before; it's not one of "the" attractions in England. Yet, the beauty of the place, the incredible vision of its creators, and its use of story was quite remarkable. Though I somewhat doubt it will happen, Stourhead is definitely a place I would love to return to and see in another light, another season, etc. It makes me truly understand why Monet was obsessed with painting scenes in different conditions and different times of the year.

Even near the gardens, though... cows!

Stourhead House, the house that accompanies the gardens, was also an impressive example of what the members of high society enjoyed in centuries past in England. It was not on the scale of a palace, but it was unquestionably an impressive, luxurious abode. For a Downton Abbey fan there was a hint of that kind of history, as well, although the lifestyle of Stourhead predates the style depicted in that show. The house had a variety of items of interest to me and the family, as well, which were fun to see. Those are below along with a few general shots. There were great parlours and also lots of beautiful paintings!

General shots:

Can I ever hope to own a dream library like this?!

I hear there's a nice desk going into the study at home... But I'm afraid it can't hold a candle to this one:

So anyway, that was Stourhead - an impressive trip and I'm glad that our theatre professor came up with it as an excursion for the Lawrence London Centre group. I am also glad, though, that it took us to Bath and Stonehenge (by my addition to the trip), because those places are equally incredible and, in a sort of touristy way, definitely things to check off the list.

Bath

When we arrived in Bath the main purpose of the trip was to visit the Roman Baths with the Lawrence London Centre group. It was nice to check off this big tourist attraction with expenses rolled together and the ability to jump to the front of the extensive queue of people. I love Roman history so I was fascinated by the museum and what it had to say about the Roman way of life, how the baths functioned, and so on. Perhaps more fascinating to me, though, are the ways Roman technology, science, and general sophistication far outstrip the levels in the dark ages, sometimes even approaching technology we use today.

Thus, it was really, really cool to learn about how the Roman bathing system worked, moving between different heats of bath or room, some with only steam or even heat, generally progressing from warm to cold and sealing the pores with a frigid pool at the end. One of the great parts of this was learning how the Romans supported this intricate system with underground heating, using a combination of heat from fires, the springs themselves, cooled water, slaves, and clever architecture to make the system possible. It might not all be morally upright (the slavery) but it's certainly impressive.

Of course the pools that still have water in them are the most impressive. The first one is visible early on in the tour; it is apparently at the original water level of the spring and was the inspiration for the Romans to build a shrine around the springs in honour of Sulis Minverva. It went through many changes and the water level rose and fell as it became a monastery and other things throughout the ages, but it has been restored to its original place. Later on I had an opportunity to taste the "original water" from the spring, which was filtered through a water fountain of sorts into paper cups because apparently the water in the baths themselves is so filthy they warn visitors against touching it. I got my hand close to feel the warmth but I heeded the warning, though of course others did not. More impressive, in a way, was seeing the central bath and how impressively it has been maintained, preserved, and how Bath Abbey stands imperiously over it, a marker of how times have moved past the Romans but how their mark on history remains indelible even today.

After the Bath I visited a great Thai restaurant with most of the Lawrence London Centre group and turned in for an early evening. The next day was my trip to Stonehenge and a whirlwind tour through the rest of Bath. I'll get to Stonehenge soon, but first the rest of my trip to Bath:

The morning was spent with a walk to the Crescent, through the Circus, and in Victoria park with two friends from Lawrence, one of whom I would be tagging along with on the tour of Stonehenge later. This was a lot of fun and gave me a flavour of Bath and of a city area outside of London. We got back in perfect time for the Stonehenge tour and fortunately there was room (since I didn't book ahead).

I toured the Holborn Museum, which stores the extensive collection of the Holborn family and demonstrated once again the power the aristocracy wielded to collect, build, and impress in ages past. I didn't stay too long though because it got overwhelming and a lot of the items are sort of minutia that are impressive but still second-rate (there are still some impressive pieces, though). I later went to the fashion museum, which was a lot of fun but of course focused mostly on women. It did have some really impressive dresses, from a 17th century piece (the oldest complete dress in England) up to 2013. They did make the point, though, that men's clothing tends to be much harder to come by and much more poorly preserved, which intrigued me. Then it was on to Bath Abbey. Bath Abbey really impressed me. I had high praise for the ceiling and stained glass of Canterbury Cathedral, but both were more compactly represented in just as high a quality, if not higher, in Bath Abbey. It's true that Canterbury Cathedral, like some of those I saw in Vienna, had more of an overwhelming force to it. Bath Abbey though, possessed an uncanny artistic unity that was breathtaking. My final hours in Bath were spent taking photos of the famous bridge and the town in general.

Stonehenge

When we were on our way up to Bath on the bus rented by the Lawrence London Centre we passed by Stonehenge and I caught a glimpse of it, though of course no photos and no time to walk around. I had the thought then, "maybe I don't really need to go there, I've seen it now, after all." Apparently the director of the Lawrence London Centre doesn't like to go since she's seen it so many times and it's very touristy. The thing is, there is nothing like standing there. It was an almost spiritual experience.

It's fun to muse on what Stonehenge was used for (yes works as a calendar and I caught shots of the stones lining up, though of course not the sun since it's not the right time of the month/year for the months or the solstice) - a religious site? observatory? But perhaps more striking was that regardless of the purpose it is somewhere around 5000 years old. It was built first as a dirt mound, then with small "blue stones" and finally with the massive sarsens so iconic today. What I could not shake, I think especially having just seen the Roman Baths in Bath, was when the audioguide would say, "Stonehenge was ancient and probably in ruins by the time the Romans invaded England." It was this sense of immense history and the obvious importance of the site to the people who built it that made it feel so spiritual and moving. Yes, it was great for photography and yes it was touristy (very hard to get shots without tourists also shooting!). But there was something more to it - a testament to all that humanity is in one ring of ancient stones.