A venue for group events and leisure courses in the Cotswolds, Farncombe Estate

Some venues offer group packages that suits the venue, in unloved meeting rooms with fixed meal times. There’s nothing fixed about Farncombe. Our 320-acre estate is perfect for photographers and ramblers, artists and team-builders – the only limit is your imagination.

Our parkland setting, combined with a “village” of smaller buildings, enables us to create privacy for every kind of activity. Whether you want to make lace or practise yoga, sing or pray, we can ensure calm and tranquility, far away from main roads and urban centres.

We are also a favourite retreat for charities and associations, who choose us for their annual conferences and group meetings. Our Heart of England location is easy to reach from the motorway network by delegates from all over the UK.

As well as welcoming groups of all-kind to our venue, we offer our own Course Programme of weekend leisure courses and day courses in subjects that include; History, Art, Painting, Crafts and Textiles, Music Appreciation and much more.

Summer Discount at Farncombe

Our Early Bird offer may have flown but we are pleased to offer you a 10% discount on selected summer courses at Farncombe!   Please quote FC0612 to claim this special discount. Bookings need to be made by phone - 0333 456 8580.

The following courses qualify:

Drawing for theTerrified (2 nights) 13 – 15 July

Richard Box will guide you on your first steps in creative drawing

Botanical BasicsPainting (2 nights) 13 – 15 July

Learn to use gouache or watercolour to illustrate botanical subjects, with artist Simon Williams

Digital PhotographyWeekend – Learn to use your Compact Digital Camera (2 nights) 20-22 July

Ban the auto button and take better pictures with the help of photographer Nick Meers

Blocks Galore forQuilts and More (4 nights) 22 – 26 July

Textile tutor Jennie Rayment will teach you the delights of textured twiddling!

The High Renaissancein Italy (3 nights) 5 – 8 August

Discover the important artists and patrons of 16^th Century Italy, with art historian Alice Foster

Novel Outline andBeyond (3 nights) 12 – 15 August

Pick up professional tips on developing a story and creating believable characters – with author Sue Johnson

‘All the Queen’s Women’: the Female World of Elizabeth I

During the reign of Elizabeth I, it was her female circle that exerted the most profound influence on her life. This in-depth course explores the leading women at the Queen’s court as well as investigating more outstanding female contemporaries such as Mary Sidney, Bess Throckmorton, Lady Penelope Devereux and the legendary Bess of Hardwick. The course also includes a field trip to Sudeley Castle with transport provided, but the admission charge is not included.

Join John Sutton in the 2 day course at Farncombe Estate, Broadway, Worcestershire. To book your place call us on 0333 456 8580.

Sheep on the Hills - Wool on their Backs - A History Weekend Course at Farncombe

The medieval wool trade and woollen cloth manufacture impacted on the English landscape particularly that of the Cotswolds as sheep from this area contributed significantly to the economic strength of medieval England.

Wool was one of the main sources of England’s prosperity in the middle and early post-middle ages. Historical sources and evidence from the landscape tell us about the value of wool production, exports to Flanders and Italy; fortunes made from the wool trade survive in the form of the great wool churches, earthworks, place names, pack routes to the ports and homes of the wool merchants and clothiers

Discover more on this weekend course with Graham Winton 26-28 November 2010

Sheep on the Hills - Wool on their Backs - History, Family History & Architecture

London: Portrait of a City with William Tyler

London has been our most important city since Roman times. We shall trace the story of this great city from that moment through to the present day. We shall take an overview of this long history whilst also focussing in on specific events in that story, such as the city's development in The Middle Ages as an economic powerhouse, and the development of local government in the same period. Later we shall see the role of the city in The Civil War of the 1640s, and the development of banking. More modern times will see the rise of and decline of The London Docks and London during the Blitz. Along the way we shall meet a rich galaxy of characters and personalities.

We only have 3 places for this course 9-11 December 2011 - to enquire about booking call 033 3456 8580

London: Portrait of a City - History, Family History & Architecture

Castles of Britain: A Guide to Exploration and Interpretation

Beetling ramparts, mighty keeps, palatial halls - Britain's medieval castles are still among the most awe-inspiring structures in the land. But that's not the whole story - a castle was a home, a business, an expression of lordship and even a fashion accessory. This course aims to get under the skin of castles, by seeing them in the wider context of society, politics and the overall history of fortification. An excursion will be included, and scores of beautiful slides to convince you that here are come of mankind's greatest architectural achievements. We see how the focus gradually shifted from displays of military stregnth to an expression of economic mastery. The political evolutions from Norman to Tudor times explain this. It's all about rulers, and the way they present themselves to their subjects, castles are manifestos in stone, which can be read like a book.

Castles of Britain: A Guide to Exploration and Interpretation is a 3 night course tutored by Tim Porter at Farncombe 22-25 July 2011.

Enquire online or call 033 3456 8580.


Farncombe Estate - Castles of Britain: A Guide to Exploration and Interpretation (3 nights) - Click here for further details ...

King Alfred: The Fact and the Fantasy - A new weekend course at Farncombe for 2011

With Tim Porter 21 - 23 January 2011.

Soldier, scholar, reformer – that is an unusual combination at the best of times. For a hereditary ruler, you’d be lucky to find it once in a thousand years. Yet Alfred stepped into English History at its moment of worst crisis, and deployed these qualities to memorable effect. Today, we must try to decide why, when and how! This course aims to unpick the threads and reveal the real Alfred. We also look at his reputation, trying to understand why every subsequent age has needed to re-invent him in its own image. Issues to be examined include: How far can we trust the original sources? How much of Alfred’s image was self-created? What was the extent of his scholarship? Where did the decisive battles take place? Using slides, maps and even music, we also look at the strange statues and monuments whereby later generations turned man into myth, and the haunting landscapes which still survive.


King Alfred: The Fact and the Fantasy - History, Family History & Architecture

Who was St. Nicholas? Tickets £8

Yes, we all know he was the original Santa Claus. But less wellknown is his medieval reputation for pilgrimage and miracles, his popularity in Norman England, and the various bizarre and wonderful stories about him which circulated in the Middle Ages. So leave your red bobble hat at home and come to hear about something infinitely stranger!

Find out more on 17th December with Tim Porter

Who was St. Nicholas? - General Interests

Simon de Montfort Society at Farncombe 2 October 2010

A panel of medieval historians review selected aspects of Norman identity, image and culture at the heart of the Conquest and the subsequent making of ‘Norman England’. The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the great icons of the Norman Conquest, but why was it created? What messages did it convey, and to whom? Similarly, Domesday Book; what role did this record, and the inquest that produced it, play in the creation of Norman England? How did the Normans see themselves and their achievements in England and Normandy? What questions does the representation of architectural features in Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman painting and drawing pose about the ‘Normanness’ of Norman architecture?

FEES: Inclusive of morning coffee and afternoon tea. MEMBERS of the Simon de Montfort Society pay £35.00;NON-MEMBERS pay £45.00.

Payable in advance, to the Society's Hon Treasurer:

Mr T Paul Jenkins

4 The Mews
Head Street
Pershore
Worcestershire
WR10 1DA

(01386 561426)

ALL CHEQUES should be made payable to “The Simon de Montfort Society”.





CLOSING DATE FOR ENROLMENTS – Wednesday, 15th September 2010.

Elizabethan Puzzles, Kenilworth Castle and Shakespeare's Stratford - Unlocking secrets in history

Was William Shakespeare ‘a closet Papist’? Did the Elizabethan dramatist Kit Marlowe die in a drunken tavern brawl or was he deliberately murdered? What truth lies behind the contemporary charge that the Queen’s astrologer Dr John Dee practiced the black arts of devil conjuring? Was the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots the result of a deliberate and sinister plot by Elizabeth’s spy-master, Sir Francis Walsingham? Can Lady Penelope Devereaux be identified with Stella in the beautiful sonnets of Sir Philip Sidney?

Join John Sutton to find out - "Unlocking the Secrets of the Elizabethan Age" 20-23 August 2010

Unlocking the Secrets of the Elizabethan Age (3 nights) - History, Family History & Architecture

The Churches under the Hill: Didbrook to Mickleton - Evening Talk 29 January with Tim Porter

Farncombe stands on the Cotswold Escarpment, looking down on a string of lovely villages. It turns out that seven of these, along with their beautiful churches, belonged to seven of the great medieval abbeys. This evening talk with Tim Porter is an armchair trip through the local history and landscape on which the monks left such an indelible mark. From Didbrook to Mickleton with everything in between.
The Churches under the Hill: Didbrook to Mickleton - Evening/Afternoon Talks

Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE - family history event 2010

Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE is excited to announce two of it’s celebrity guests, respected actor, author and historian Tony Robinson plus the much loved BBC wildlife presenter, Kate Humble! Both will be appearing at the 2010 event, where they will be discussing their own experiences in researching their family history.

The 2010 event, taking place on the 26th-28th February 2010 at the National Hall, Olympia, will attract around 15,000 family history enthusiasts and is set to be the biggest family history event in the UK.

www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk

Revolution on paper at the British Museum

Mexican prints 1910–1960

22 October 2009 – 5 April 2010 / Room 90 / Admission free

The exhibition is the first in Europe to focus on the great age of Mexican printmaking in the first half of the 20th century. It features 130 works by over 40 artists including prints by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/future_exhibitions/mexican_prints_1910%E2%80%931960.aspx

Congratulations William Tyler MBE !

An MBE in the Queen's birthday honours announced on Friday came "completely out of the blue" for Farncombe Estate tutor William Tyler.
William Tyler spent his whole professional life working in adult education, something which took him all over the country. He said he was "almost embarrassed" about the honour which recognises a career spanning almost 30 years in adult education.
"We got a letter from the Cabinet office it was a complete and utter surprise and completely out of the blue," he said. "It is a huge honour and recognises the importance of adult education as a service in society."
William Tyler is one of the 984 people to be honoured by the Queen. His MBE is in recognition of services to adult education and his last full time post was as Principal of The City Lit in London, Britain's biggest adult education college. He had previously served as a Principal of Manchester's Adult Education College and as Warwickshire's County Adviser for Adult Education.
Mr Tyler read law at Oxford University, before studying criminology at Keele University and undertaking a research degree at Nottingham University in educational geratology - education of the elderly. He said he was looking for a job after university when he became a resident tutor at a college in Kent. He met his wife, Jennifer, there as she was a bursar housekeeper and Mr Tyler said he "enjoyed working with adults, I thought it was interesting and fun and went on from there".
Humble Mr Tyler said he will visit Buckingham Palace within the next six months with his wife and two children. He said he cannot believe the company he keeps with regard to his honour. "When you look at what people who have received these awards have done, one feels quite privileged to be in the same group," he said. "To be in the same list as James Bolam of the Likely Lads was pretty humbling and there are a lot of people with real talent."
As well as serving on a host of boards and trusts Mr Tyler is constantly busy in his retirement, as he has built up a freelance career including lecturing, public speaking, writing and consultancy work which includes tutoring on several weekends a year at Farncombe Estate Centre just outside Broadway. William's next course at Farncombe takes place in January 2010.

New Medieval Europe Gallery now open

http://www.farncombeestate.co.uk/coursedetail.asp?course=1776&fac=

Medieval Europe 1050–1550

The Paul and Jill Ruddock Gallery

Opening 25 March 2009

The new gallery features the famous Lewis Chessmen alongside Byzantine art, Romanesque and Gothic metalwork and ivory, coinage, jewellery, arms and armour, prints, leatherwork, tiles, and scientific instruments.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/europe/room_40_europe_ad_1000-1540.aspx

Local History Forum

Local History Magazine has just recently launched a new website forum where you can view and post relevant information. Please visit http://www.localhistoryforum.co.uk/

New Permanent Galleries at the British Museum

Medieval Europe 1050–1550
The Paul and Jill Ruddock Gallery
Opening in March 2009
The new gallery features the famous Lewis Chessmen alongside Byzantine art, Romanesque and Gothic metalwork and ivory, coinage, jewellery, arms and armour, prints, leatherwork, tiles, and scientific instruments.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/europe/room_40_europe_ad_1000-1540.aspx

Autumn Antiques and Fine Art Fair, Cheltenham

Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th November 2008 - The Autumn Antiques & Fine Art Fair in association with LAPADA. The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire, GL50 4SH.The Autumn Antiques & Fine Art Fair is Cheltenham’s most prestigious and elegant fine art and antiques fair and is now in its 5th year at The Centaur at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Annual Local History Afternoon

GLOUCESTERSHIRE RURAL COMMUNITY COUNCIL LOCAL HISTORY COMMITTEE

'Poets & Writers in Gloucestershire'

Saturday 4th October 2008
2pm to 5pm
(Doors open 1.15pm)

Main Hall
Sir Thomas Rich's School
Longlevens, Gloucester


There will be illustrated talks on Poetry and Poets in Gloucestershire by Alan Tucker, a well-known authority on Gloucestershire poets and Ivor Gurney and his friend F.W. Harvey by Anthony Boden the author of Stars in a Dark Night: the Letters of Ivor Gurney to the Chapman Family and F.W. Harvey: Soldier, Poet.

There will also be bookstalls and exhibitions by many local history societies throughout the county on writers and poets in their areas. In addition, the 10 finalists of the annual Bryan Jerrard Award for the best local history article published during the year will be announced, together with the presentation of the award to the winner and also the presentation of the award for the best local history society display.

£5.00 entry fee (payable at the door) to include refreshments.

Further information from John Loosley Tel: 01285 760460
E-mail: john@loosleyj.freeserve.co.uk

See the summer in the Corinium Museum’s new Roman Garden

Visitors can come and relax in a setting similar to ancient Italy this summer thanks to a makeover of the Corinium Museum’s Roman Garden.
A whole host of plants and shrubbery has been donated by local garden centre Dobbies to the Cotswold District Council-owned museum in Cirencester, to create a stunning Roman-style centrepiece at the Park Street venue.
Following the Museum’s £6 million refurbishment in 2004 the garden needed a major redesign, and the area has now been replanted to create the impression of a Roman townhouse garden, in the style of the late first and second centuries.