Recently D and I went to Coventry to see Helios at The Charterhouse. Helios is a piece of artwork by Luke Jerram. I must admit that I was horrified when we arrived as the car park was overflowing into a nearby field and the Charterhouse plus garden and grounds were teeming with people. Because I wanted to see Helios so much I had ignored my golden rule - don't visit NT or EH places particularly in Warwickshire in the school summer holidays. I should have learnt my lesson from how busy Croft Castle was recently although the Charterhouse had even more people!
The Charterhouse was a Carthusian Priory of St Anne founded in 1381 with the foundation stone being placed by King Richard II in 1388. The monks came from Chartreuse in France and thus gave the name Charterhouse to their monasteries in England. They were a silent order and the monks lived alone in their cells only speaking on special occasions. Twelve cells were located around a cloister in what is now the walled garden. The priory was dissolved in 1539 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The stone building contained the monks refectory and the prior's lodging. The timber framed end of the building was added in the C16th after the building became a private home. The conservatory which I assume is a more modern addition serves as the ticket office area.
Helios is located in the walled garden and here is our first view of it.
Helios is named after the sun god of Greek mythology and the sculpture is 7 metres wide and has light, high resolution solar imagery and sounds recorded by NASA are emitted. One metre of the sculpture represents 2000km of the real sun's surface.
In 2017 we went to see the Museum of the Moon by the same artist which was located in Birmingham City Centre. In many ways I think I preferred the Moon sculpture.
We wandered around the walled garden first.
This building is called the Apple Store which was built as a C19th folly.
We returned to the tea room and D managed to find a table although the queues for food were still long.
After lunch and visiting the book store we were hoping to go into the building itself but sadly that wasn't possible as apparently you needed a timed ticket which I hadn't realised! I was a bit annoyed with myself as one of the treasures inside is the lower part of a wall painting that would have been in the refectory. It was put there ~1417 soon after the building was finished and depicts the Crucifixion of Christ.
We had a brief wander around the orchard before leaving.
The Charterhouse is Grade I listed. After the Dissolution it became a family home and then a garden to produce exotic fruit. One notable past resident was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I.
The Charterhouse is owned by by the Historic Coventry Trust which was set up in 2011 to restore historical places in Coventry. They raised the £11.9 million needed to restore the Charterhouse.
The National Trust and the Historic Coventry Trust are now in a partnership and the former now cares for the house. It is their first property in Coventry.
The River Sherbourne
The lost medieval village of Bisseley (later called Shortley) was located near the C12th Bisseley Corn mill near the Charterhouse. The mill was later called the Charterhouse Mill and was demolished in the 1930's. It is possible that part of the village lies under the Charterhouse and its grounds.
The medieval St Anne's chapel was also located nearby.
Some of D's photos from the visit
Photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ bridge camera and those marked *D were taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks)
Reference:
National Trust website on The Charterhouse
Various information boards around the site
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