Philanthropy can be a tricky subject. It can raise questions of ethics, motives, power plays, and whether the donor is seeking to mould society without due democratic aegis. Overall, though, it's difficult to deny that many do actually benefit from such benefaction. I have written about other historical places where philanthropy meets exactly these questions - most notably and recently,
New Lanark. There tends to be a trade-off for beneficiaries: commitment and loyalty to the estate providing the philanthropic largesse. These days, too, there can be some discomfort when looking at how the wealth of any given philanthropist has been acquired...
Let me leave you with those thoughts for what they are and move on to tell you a little about this little place called Ford, just north of where Aitch lives in Northumberland. It turns out that much of the building here was related to the estate of that name and one lady in particular, who wanted to enrich the lives of those living and working on the estate... There is a LOT of history involved in this place, so I am going to provide links for the historically curious whilst attempting to juggle a summary here for the less-inclined!
Ford Castle (and therefore, the estate) was established in the late 13th century by Sir Wm Heron. In the early 14th century, the Scots fought for and won it. They 'dismantled' it, but it got rebuilt, and James IV of Scotland took ownership at the time of the Battle of Flodden. There was much to and from between the Scots and the English ownership until things got a little more stable in the mid-17th century. The Blakes and Delaval families held the line until one daughter married into the Waterford family (of Ireland). Through that line, the Waterfords retained ownership, and consequently, when the widow of the 3rd Marquis of Waterford retired there, she left her mark. That was
Louisa Beresford, Dowager Marchioness of Waterford. (If you follow that link, you will see quite the lineage for her... and for those who care, yes, the Stuarts of Bute are directly related to the royal line of Scotland. They descend from Sir John Stewart, an illegitimate son of King Robert II (the first Stewart monarch), making them an officially recognised branch of the royal House of Stewart.)
There is much to be admired around the hamlet of Ford, a lot of which is attributed to Lady Louisa - but the outstanding place to see is the hall, which once served as the school. The Lady was an artist of some repute, and it is her own work that adorns the walls of this place. If you read that board above, you will note that it took her many years to complete the panels in the school hall, and that she used the locals as models, so we have a record of their faces. Now, I am going to give you a glimpse, but I am holding some specifics for the Menonday posts later in the year. First the exterior, then an overall view of the interior...
There is just sooooo much to take in here!!! There were information boards for each of the individual panels... and then there was the little bit that reminded one of the original educational purpose of the building.
...Goooo oonn... you know you can work that out!
This post would be mahoosive if I used everything I have from that day out - so I'm going to continue this next Thursday. However, I will close here with the photos of the mosaics that Ducky 6939 told you about on Tuesday. Here you can see them as a whole. Sadly, weathering has taken a toll, and many of the decorations have sprung away from the cement. It is still a fine thing to sit and study for a while, though!
