Notes and Comments
A Mediaeval Wall Painting
Some alterations at the White Swan Hotel, Stratford-on-Avon, under the supervision of Mr. Sydney W. Davis, A. R. I. B. A., the architect for the owners, Trust Houses, Ltd., has brought to light an interesting mural painting. The removal of some panelling in a room about. 20 ft. by 15 ft., intended to be converted from a bar into a coffee room, disclosed the painting, which is executed on a skin of fine plaster overlying a wall of half timber with a filling of rough plaster mixed with straw. The ground scheme is of foliage and flowers on a large scale, into which are introduced scenes illustrative of the story of Tobias, from the Apocrypha (as borne out by the inscriptions in Gothic script) framed in between painted columns. The whole is about 13 ft. long by 6 ft. deep. It is satisfactory to note that steps are being taken for the preservation of the painting, and that at the instance of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Professor Tristram is being called upon to advise in the matter. Although not a work of the first class, it is bold and lively, and probably dates from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
Service Subways
The upheaval of London’s Piccadilly has raised more of a storm than can be confined in the proverbial tea-cup. One can sympathise with the shopkeepers whose customers will probably be kept away by the confusion, delay and inconvenience inseparable from the carrying out of road repairs on the grand scale. The practical closing of one of the busiest Metropolitan thoroughfares for a period of three or four months has, however, raised serious doubts in the minds of many road and traffic experts whether our present procedure in these matters is the best that can be devised, or is in consonance with modern necessities. That the repaving of the whole thoroughfare is being undertaken in one piece is largely dictated by the water, gas and other service authorities requiring to overhaul or relay their mains. And the number
of such services carried under the streets of London is almost past belief. A good many years have passed since Mr. Ventris, then Road Surveyor of the Westminster City Council, prepared a plan showing the various services under the short length of the Strand between Duncannon Street and Trafalgar Square. They totalled fifty-three, and, presumably, they have not diminished in number with the passing of the years. That disclosure, and the simultaneous incidence of a troublesome repaving work in the West End, evoked serious proposals for putting subways under the busy thoroughfare of London to take all the service mains, so that they could be repaired or attended to without the constant disturbance of the road surface. The agitation probably induced the L. C. C. to install such subways under Kingsway and Aldwych, then being constructed. Cost, however, appears to have stopped their introduction under other thoroughfares, although the loss through delay and inconvenience arising from piecemeal excavations and replacements in subsequent repairs probably amounts now to many times the first cost of the proposed subways. The structure of our city streets really rests in the flat cambered concrete arch which carries the wearing resilient skin over which the traffic runs. When a service authority cuts a trench either across, or along its length, the severed edges invariably sink a little, the arch formation is destroyed and cannot be perfectly restored. Prom that moment the rapid deterioration of the road begins. Apart from this serious factor, however, the question of the most suitable wearing skin for busy streets, in view of the great change in the character of the traffic, demands enquiry; and the time seems to be ripe for the road, traffic and various service authorities to come together and seek a solution of this perennial and troublesome problem. The service authorities must expend considerable sums in delving down into our roads. They would probably not be averse from making some contribution towards the cost of subways in which they could attend to their mains with little expense and no delay.
COMPETITION RESULTS
The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Preliminary Competition
The result of the preliminary competition for designs for the rebuilding of Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, was announced on Friday last. Seventy-four sets of designs were received from British, American and Canadian architects. Prom these the assessors, Mr. E. Guy Dawber, A. R. A., P. P. R. I. B. A., Mr. Cass Gilbert, President of the United States Academy of Design, and Mr. Robert Atkinson, M. Arch., P. R. I. B. A., selected six designs. The authors of these six schemes, who will submit their further considered designs for final adjudication November next, were found to be as follows:
Mr. R. Derrick, Michigan, U. S. A.
Mr. Donald Frank Martin-Smith, A. R. I. B. A., London. Messrs. A. R. Mohr and Benjamin Moscowitz, New York City, U. S. A. Mr. A. J. Rousseau, Ann Arber, Michigan, U. S. A. Miss Elizabeth Scott, London.
Messrs. Percy Tubbs, Son and Duncan, F. and AA. R. I. B. A., with Mr. S. Rowland Pierce, London.
Beckenham Municipal Offices Preliminary Competition
Mr. Septimus Warwick, P. R. I. B. A., the Assessor, in his report on the sixty-seven designs for Municipal Offices, recommended that the authors of the following designs, viz., Nos. 1, 9, 27, 41, 56 and 60, should be invited to take part in the final competition. October 15 has been fixed as the last day for the receipt of the drawings.
Design No. 9: Mr. W. Naseby Adams, A. R. I. B. A. Design No. 60: Mr. Harold G. Cherry, P. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 27: Messrs. Cecil E. M. Fillmore, A. R. I. B. A., and A. Malcolm McKewan, A. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 1: Messrs. H. V. Lanchester, P. R. I. B. A., Geoffrey Lucas. P. R. I. B. A., T. A. Lodge, O. B. E.. A. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 56: Mr. T. R. Somerford, A. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 41: Messrs. E. Berry Webber, A. R. I. B. A., & J. G. Cheadle, A. R. I. B. A.
A Mediaeval Wall Painting
Some alterations at the White Swan Hotel, Stratford-on-Avon, under the supervision of Mr. Sydney W. Davis, A. R. I. B. A., the architect for the owners, Trust Houses, Ltd., has brought to light an interesting mural painting. The removal of some panelling in a room about. 20 ft. by 15 ft., intended to be converted from a bar into a coffee room, disclosed the painting, which is executed on a skin of fine plaster overlying a wall of half timber with a filling of rough plaster mixed with straw. The ground scheme is of foliage and flowers on a large scale, into which are introduced scenes illustrative of the story of Tobias, from the Apocrypha (as borne out by the inscriptions in Gothic script) framed in between painted columns. The whole is about 13 ft. long by 6 ft. deep. It is satisfactory to note that steps are being taken for the preservation of the painting, and that at the instance of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Professor Tristram is being called upon to advise in the matter. Although not a work of the first class, it is bold and lively, and probably dates from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
Service Subways
The upheaval of London’s Piccadilly has raised more of a storm than can be confined in the proverbial tea-cup. One can sympathise with the shopkeepers whose customers will probably be kept away by the confusion, delay and inconvenience inseparable from the carrying out of road repairs on the grand scale. The practical closing of one of the busiest Metropolitan thoroughfares for a period of three or four months has, however, raised serious doubts in the minds of many road and traffic experts whether our present procedure in these matters is the best that can be devised, or is in consonance with modern necessities. That the repaving of the whole thoroughfare is being undertaken in one piece is largely dictated by the water, gas and other service authorities requiring to overhaul or relay their mains. And the number
of such services carried under the streets of London is almost past belief. A good many years have passed since Mr. Ventris, then Road Surveyor of the Westminster City Council, prepared a plan showing the various services under the short length of the Strand between Duncannon Street and Trafalgar Square. They totalled fifty-three, and, presumably, they have not diminished in number with the passing of the years. That disclosure, and the simultaneous incidence of a troublesome repaving work in the West End, evoked serious proposals for putting subways under the busy thoroughfare of London to take all the service mains, so that they could be repaired or attended to without the constant disturbance of the road surface. The agitation probably induced the L. C. C. to install such subways under Kingsway and Aldwych, then being constructed. Cost, however, appears to have stopped their introduction under other thoroughfares, although the loss through delay and inconvenience arising from piecemeal excavations and replacements in subsequent repairs probably amounts now to many times the first cost of the proposed subways. The structure of our city streets really rests in the flat cambered concrete arch which carries the wearing resilient skin over which the traffic runs. When a service authority cuts a trench either across, or along its length, the severed edges invariably sink a little, the arch formation is destroyed and cannot be perfectly restored. Prom that moment the rapid deterioration of the road begins. Apart from this serious factor, however, the question of the most suitable wearing skin for busy streets, in view of the great change in the character of the traffic, demands enquiry; and the time seems to be ripe for the road, traffic and various service authorities to come together and seek a solution of this perennial and troublesome problem. The service authorities must expend considerable sums in delving down into our roads. They would probably not be averse from making some contribution towards the cost of subways in which they could attend to their mains with little expense and no delay.
COMPETITION RESULTS
The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Preliminary Competition
The result of the preliminary competition for designs for the rebuilding of Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-on-Avon, was announced on Friday last. Seventy-four sets of designs were received from British, American and Canadian architects. Prom these the assessors, Mr. E. Guy Dawber, A. R. A., P. P. R. I. B. A., Mr. Cass Gilbert, President of the United States Academy of Design, and Mr. Robert Atkinson, M. Arch., P. R. I. B. A., selected six designs. The authors of these six schemes, who will submit their further considered designs for final adjudication November next, were found to be as follows:
Mr. R. Derrick, Michigan, U. S. A.
Mr. Donald Frank Martin-Smith, A. R. I. B. A., London. Messrs. A. R. Mohr and Benjamin Moscowitz, New York City, U. S. A. Mr. A. J. Rousseau, Ann Arber, Michigan, U. S. A. Miss Elizabeth Scott, London.
Messrs. Percy Tubbs, Son and Duncan, F. and AA. R. I. B. A., with Mr. S. Rowland Pierce, London.
Beckenham Municipal Offices Preliminary Competition
Mr. Septimus Warwick, P. R. I. B. A., the Assessor, in his report on the sixty-seven designs for Municipal Offices, recommended that the authors of the following designs, viz., Nos. 1, 9, 27, 41, 56 and 60, should be invited to take part in the final competition. October 15 has been fixed as the last day for the receipt of the drawings.
Design No. 9: Mr. W. Naseby Adams, A. R. I. B. A. Design No. 60: Mr. Harold G. Cherry, P. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 27: Messrs. Cecil E. M. Fillmore, A. R. I. B. A., and A. Malcolm McKewan, A. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 1: Messrs. H. V. Lanchester, P. R. I. B. A., Geoffrey Lucas. P. R. I. B. A., T. A. Lodge, O. B. E.. A. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 56: Mr. T. R. Somerford, A. R. I. B. A.
Design No. 41: Messrs. E. Berry Webber, A. R. I. B. A., & J. G. Cheadle, A. R. I. B. A.