The Carriage House roof is now complete, or at least the slate is on, but it won't be properly finished until the cupola is craned on. The cupola or probably more correctly turret from the latin turris for tower, resembles the one above, and will sit over the gap in the middle of the roofline...
Above and Below: The Carriage House (back and front respectively) with the slate tiles on the roof. Note the gap in the centre of the roofline for the cupola.
The manor was originally going to have a cupola on top, but the chimneys already breached the 10m high 'building envelope' and required us to get a special dispensation. I can not imagine we would have been able to build the cupola (I love NZ dearly, but it does suffer from tall poppy syndrome and many froward people will opposed anything which is different). The cupola for the manor was based on that of Belton House...
However, the small cupola on the Carriage House with its weather vane and clock faces is well within the envelope and has been signed off without any concerns. Originally a cupola on a barn, stable block or carriage house had a practical purpose - the louvres allowed ventilation in what were usually fairly musty buildings full of hay, silage and live animals. Beyond their practical use, they developed more ornate designs, usually incorporating a weather vane and a clock face on one if not all sides, and sometimes a bell...
Weather vanes
The term weather vane derives from the old English word fana, meaning flag. Weather vanes date back to the ancient Romans and Greeks, a notable example being the weather vane atop the temple of the eight winds in Rome, which comprised the God Neptune with his triton pointing in the direction of the wind flow...
Today weather vanes often take many whimsical forms. Here are some particularly lovely ones...
Above: A traditional trotting horse weather vane
Below: A not so traditional flying pig (I would like to get a flying pig weather vane for the barn).
We are pricing up various electric clocks at the moment. I really like this one with a black face and gold numerals, matching the black and gold theme of WBP, from Outdoor Clocks UK...
with maybe an Oxford blue one for the chapel bell tower...
Here are some more of their clocks and turrets...
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What will you use the carriage house for, once everything is complete?
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily like dancing pigs or twirling guns, but some of the clock cupolas look elegant and fantastic. Have a look at the top half of Halifax's Old Town Clock.. it was a big statement! http://www.trekexchange.com/tours/151
Once complete, the carriage house with have a rustic 'stable themed' self contained flat above to let:
Deletehttp://willowbrookpark.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/the-carriage-house-commences.html
Downstairs will provide garaging on one side and space for our private micro brewery on the other (Cider, Wine and Gin made only from home grown produce).
Hello, I'm loving your blog, thank you. Can you please tell me where you sourced your cupola from and the time it took to arrive (assuming it was sourced from the UK)?
ReplyDeleteWe got our clocks and turrets from: http://www.outdoorclocks.co.uk/index.html.
ReplyDeleteThey took 6 weeks to arrive in NZ from the UK.