John Carter's section of Durham Cathedral, printed 224 years ago. His were the first serious record drawings of cathedrals, packed with information and very beautiful.

Early autumn morning

"How many Scotlands fit into Greenland?" AI speaks its brains

Endless AI garbage... "Can a person walk from England to Scotland in a single day?"

Don't believe it, Uni kids- use your precious noddles

Medieval intrigues this evening at Shaftesbury www.shaftesburyabbey.org.uk/event-detail...

Rousham, Oxfordshire

Busy weekend, this stopped me- a carpet of cyclamen in the shadow of beech, unexpected and joyous. (Harewood).

Adam ceilings at Harewood House

Some marvellously atmospheric paintings in the exhibition of Austen/ Turner/ Picturesque sensibilities at Harewood House: John Wykeham Archer ‘21 Maiden Lane Covent Garden’ (1852); Turner, ‘Dormitory of Fountains Abbey’ (1798); Turner, ‘Drawing Room, East Cowes Castle’ (1830). Also Turner’s paintbox

The least medieval, medieval detail in England. A fluted column, the flutes defined by ‘dying mouldings’ from a vault at St Mary Beverley. Looks like the designer had seen a Corinthian column. Photo and drawing.

St Mary Beverley- ceiling of kings. c.1445 and later

Maybe not the best light today, but still one of the world’s greatest buildings. Lincoln Cathedral is 👌

Quite the day for Rousham gardens

In Beverley tomorrow afternoon, should you be in a churchy frame of mind… www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-audience...

MOST interesting: the bronze of the Lion of Venice was sampled by Padua Uni last year- and lead isotopes show it's Chinese, Yangtze River basin, probably a Tang dynasty 'zhènmùshòu' horned tomb guardian of more upright stature, c.600-900. Possibly imported by Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, then modified.

Next Wednesday evening in Shaftesbury, Dorset- what do remains, fragments. relics tell us about the past? shaftesburyartscentre.org.uk/events/the-s...

AI is hilarious at period furniture

Pier, a roller-coaster www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Forde Abbey- what an elevation.

Name yon house?

Crazy way to sleep

Autumn arrives in its colour and bluster and raking light- and thankfully dampness

Eagle of Zeus at Ston Easton, Somerset. Plasterwork about 1740.

King’s College Chapel, though.

Devon woodcarving is 👌

Cause and effect: the Annunciation and the visitation of the Magi- rood screen at Hennock, Devon (likely 1460-70)

A favourite snap.

Durham Cathedral's crossing vault.

The time of the year for revising lectures and rediscovering old photos. (Gloucester Abbey/ Cathedral, medieval England's most outrageous exercise in cladding)

Tintern Abbey. Pugin didn't much care for it, but most of the Romantics thought it lush.

The Telegraph: what a piece of work.

I vividly recall taking a photo of Gold Hill in Shaftesbury and dropping my phone on the cobbles. This attempt was more fortunate.

St Giles, Cheadle , Pugin 1841-6

Fascinating afternoon. Making a film on an aspect of architectural history, more anon…

That X-Ray of the C7 cross, @profaliceroberts.bsky.social - astonishing.

Oof! Pugin’s St Giles Cheadle, 1841-6. A nostalgic revolution.

Waited years to see this. St Mary Swynnerton, Staffs: attractive enough church. But inside…

No it doesn't. And this is what happens to essays, kids.

A few days ago I learned you can skip the AI summary feature in Google by adding "-AI" to your search. I love it!

Squally.

Sherborne Abbey, nave vault

This how the framing is going. That a president has no power in the US constitution to do a thing is now being recast as the president having “no explicit power”. Subtle, devious, dangerous, treacherous shift. Sad and bad to see NYT adopting this spin on a headline.

Portugal is a solid choice for an engineer to enjoy a busman’s holiday

An autumn talk in Shaftesbury, Dorset on the fragmentary nature of the remains of the past, and the power of those loose relics to inform the big picture- if we can read them correctly. 24 Sept. www.shaftesburyabbey.org.uk/event-detail...

Talk on what art tells us about the C13 medieval monarchy, Salisbury Thurs. 6 November. salisburymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/ann...

The conclusion of this opening para is so old-school archaeology.

Blimey, this was fascinating. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...