Category: Monument

Château de Vufflens, Vaud, Switzerland

Fine rain started as I sketched the Château de Vufflens. At first I thought I could keep sketching. But then rain arrived in large-size drops, some containing ice. I took refuge under an archway. There was a view of the castle from there, but a different view. Also, standing there, I was, very possibly, in someone’s garden. I am not sure about Swiss laws on trespass. All I was sure of was that there would be laws. I assembled suitable French phrases in my head, to be ready to explain and apologise. And I restarted the sketch from this new angle. Then the rain stopped.

I inspected the sky suspiciously. I watched the cloud movements. Clouds just appear here, over the mountains, as from a volcano. They don’t proceed in an orderly succession as they do over the Atlantic. However all seemed more lightweight and friendly than it did earlier. I exited from the archway, and resumed my place on the public roadway. There are probably laws about sketching on the public roadway too.

But no-one even walked past. Not a car. Not a person. Not a dog. So that was alright. I finished the sketch. And then the rain started again.

Château de Vufflens in the morning, 24 March 2024 11:15 in Sketchbook 14

This castle is privately owned. It is on a rock in the valley, surrounded by high walls. Houses cluster at the bases of the walls. if you know the work of Mervyn Peake, think “Gormenghast”.

It was originally constructed in the middle ages, 1420-1430, for Henri de Colombier, an adviser to Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy, I was told. It looks well maintained, and vast.

Later that day I made another attempt at drawing the castle, from a different angle. From this new viewpoint I could be under cover, but there were trees. I put the trees in.

Château de Vufflens in the afternoon. 24th March 2024, 4pm. 6″ x 8″ on Arches Aquarelle card

The walnuts came from the trees.

The Temple Church, Temple, London EC4

The Inns of Court are an ancient area of London, around Fleet Street, close to the Royal Courts of Justice. It’s an area of narrow lanes and quiet courtyards. Lawyers’ practices are there.

In amongst the buildings is this church, which opened on 10 February 1185.

Temple Church, 14th February 2023, in sketchbook 13

The church is open to visitors. I went in. It’s a splendid space, very calm, beautifully vaulted. You can even go up a narrow winding staircase inside the round structure I have drawn. Here are some photos of the inside.

Victorian tiles
A view out over the buildings of Temple
This is a window in my drawing, now inside looking out.
Looking up towards the roof
A calm space

Here’s a map and a photo of the Norman arch on the outside

Here are some work-in-progress photos.

Working on the pen drawing
In Pegasus Court

St Martin-in-the-Fields, WC2

On the way back from a visit to the West End, I passed St-Martin-in-the-Fields, standing out against the cold sky.

St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. Sketched 2nd Dec 2022, in sketchbook 12

The statue in the foreground, left, is the Edith Cavell Memorial, seen from the back. Edith Cavell (1865-1915) was a British nurse. In German-occupied Belgium, guided by her principles of humanity and her Christian faith, she provided medical care to soldiers irrespective of which side they were on. She was executed by a German firing squad 1915, because she had helped Belgian, British and French soldiers to escape the German occupation and reach Britain. Her grave is in Norwich Cathedral.

I sketched standing on a corner of the Charing Cross road, see map above. This turned out to be a very noisy location. The National Portrait Gallery is being refurbished and there was continuous drilling and banging. Buses and cars ground their gears, and thundered past, rushing through the traffic lights to shriek to a halt at the next junction.

But St-Martin-in-the-Fields rose above it all. The inscriptions which faced me on the Edith Cavell Memorial were: “Determination”, “Fortitude”.

Bank of England – Tivoli Corner

I took advantage of the road closures for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to sketch this corner of the Bank of England.

Bank of England – Tivoli Corner, 2nd June 2022, in Sketchbook 12
Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, modern photo from Wikipedia Commons on this link

This is the North-West corner of the Bank of England. The perimeter wall was designed by John Soane in 1805. The design of the corner was inspired by the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli.

The John Soane museum has a marvellous digital archive with detailed notes on his work on the Bank of England. John Soane was surveyor to the Bank of England for 45 years, from 1788 to 1833. During that time the role of the Bank of England changed from a small bank helping out the government with the national debt, to a significant national institution, printing money and managing Income Tax. The Soane museum archive notes:

Since its foundation in 1694, the Bank of England had financed Britain’s wars and managed the national debt. War, therefore, resulted in more business for the Bank, demanding extensive alterations and additions. Soane’s vast building work was largely the result of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars that lasted from 1793 to 1815. More space was required as the staff doubled during this time and the bank note printing process was carried out on site. In addition, new offices were required as the Bank’s responsibilities and roles changed, such as a place for managing the newly instituted Income Tax of 1799.

Madeleine Helmer, 2010-2011, on this link © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London

Here is a view from the North-West in 1807, showing the John Soane Bank of England as constructed. You see the Tivoli Corner, which is there today.

North face of the Bank of England, exhibited in the Royal Academy 1809, by “John Soane Archt 1807” Photo: © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, http://collections.soane.org/OBJECT3718

John Soane’s 3-storey building was demolished to make way for a new 7-storey building constructed 1925-39 by Herbert Baker. Soane’s perimeter wall was retained, but everything else was replaced. It is Herbert Baker who is responsible for that dome in my drawing, and also for the marvellous walk-through passage at this corner. You can see the North side of the passage in my drawing. For more photos of this passage and a description, I recommend the wonderful “IanVisits” site. Ian visits Tivoli Corner on this link. Or go there! And look up.

I took advantage of the road closure to sketch standing in Moorgate.

As I sketched, people walked past either side of me, in extraordinary hats. Everyone was cheerful and the sun shone. I enjoyed chatting to the various people who stopped to examine my drawing or comment on the view.

Pen, before the colour went on

You see the traffic bollards in the drawing. Those were patiently removed by a security guard every time a police vehicle approached, and equally patiently replaced. This must have happened about six times in the hour and half I was there.

Site progress drawings 1798. Joseph Michael Gandy (1771-1843) Photo: © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London SM (58) volume 69/14

The John Soane archive notes on Tivoli corner are on this link. This site has some lively “work-in-progress” drawings of the construction of the Bank of England. Here is one. See how modern it looks! It was drawn in 1798, the same year that Nelson fought Napoleon in the Battle of the Nile.