March 2021 Advertiser Article

parlington around 1860, stereo photo & brewster viewer

Early photography was very different, in fact photography up until the nineteen nineties was constrained by the storage medium. But with the advent of digital cameras and electronic storage the world changed. Back in the Victorian era a camera was a huge box with a brass mount for a large glass lens, all supported on a sturdy wooden tripod.… Read the full article

Notes from the Cellar Discovery

Coffee Cup, found in the excavations (2 pieces glued together)

The discovery of the cellar at Parlington prompted me to make the following notes at the time, 2005

He considered the options carefully, “How could it be? No one, and I mean nobody, could have been in here for around seventy or more years, not since the main entrance area was demolished when the Porte Cochère was moved to Lotherton Hall — it’s giving a tingling sensation down my neck, spooky!… Read the full article

Advertiser Mag :: 2020 #21

Part Two

Cellar, looking back towards the stairway entrance

The destruction of Parlington Hall was not a single event. The hall was largely unoccupied sometime after the death of Colonel Frederick Trench-Gascoigne in 1905, his son Dick and new bride preferring the recently inherited Lotherton Hall. Dick, took the view that the property was really beyond saving.… Read the full article

York Minster Visit


Following a visit to York Minster, to tour the “Hidden Places”, along with 9 other members of the Barwick in Elmet Historical Society, I spent a good couple of hours climbing, descending, squeezing, through small apertures along very narrow corridors and up ever decreasing spiral stairways in the innards of York Minster, viewing at close hand the stunning masonry, much of it dating to the 1200’s.… Read the full article

Triumphal Arch to Feature in New Book

Some time ago I was contacted by a lady who was researching for a book about Georgian garden buildings, she had come across one of my pictures of the Triumphal Arch on Flickr and requested it be included for consideration in the upcoming book about Georgian garden buildings. Naturally I was pleased one of my pictures was in contention for a place in the book, although I have to say its not the one I would have used, however, never look a gift horse in the mouth… and anything which raises the profile of Parlington gets my vote!… Read the full article

Medieval Cross Near Bramham

Following recent trimming of the roadside hedges, scrub and trees, the old cross which is believed to date back to medieval times, is quite prominent on the roadside, on the left as you progress from Tadcaster on Toulston Lane towards Bramham. It really is great to see something like this, without too much in the way of vandalism afflicting it, just some fairly light scratchings from some people keen to leave their initials for no-one to wonder who they were!… Read the full article

Lost Painting of Parlington Hall

I wrote about a water colour painting of Parlington Hall which had been found in a skip, it features in an earlier post,
http://www.parlington.info/2009/09/04/country-life-magazine/
The picture above is of the painting; for over a year I have carefully steered a path towards having the picture recovered and returned to its rightful home, Lotherton Hall, where it will be displayed for the interest of the general public.… Read the full article

The Cellar is Consigned to History Again

My excavations that re-discovered the cellar in the summer of 2005 as documented here on the Parlington History site are being consigned to history AGAIN! Sadly, the location is being filled with cheap rubble and demolition waste, not even clean stone is being used. The stairway to the cellar built almost certainly in the 1730’s at the behest of Sir Edward Gascoigne, when he constructed the central block that would endure as Parlington’s main elevation for over 250 years, is being filled by Messrs Moron & Co!… Read the full article

BBC – A History of the World

BBC The World in a Hundred Objects

For those interested in all things historical, I’ve added a short article about the Brewster Stereo Photo Viewer to the new BBC “A History of the World” web site which acompanies the rather good Radio Four series, “A History of the World in a 100 Objects”.

The site and in particular my article about the viewer is here: Brewster 3D Viewer

The article on my on the main Parlington History site is here:
Artefacts Section

The idea is a naked attempt to push more visitors to the History site, as people keep telling me that the profile of the site is too low!