Some famous buildings and their story : $b being the results of recent research in London and elsewhere

"Some famous buildings and their story" by Clapham and Godfrey is a collection of architectural-historical studies written in the early 20th century. It presents carefully researched case studies—richly illustrated with plans and photographs—on notable English buildings, especially in and around London, blending architectural analysis, documentary evidence, and topographical insight to make specialist findings accessible to general readers. The opening of the volume sets out its purpose: to offer short, accurate studies derived from recent research and earlier articles, with Clapham covering royal palaces, monastic houses, and halls, and Godfrey focusing on London buildings and reconstructive analyses. It first examines Nonsuch Palace—its Tudor–Renaissance hybrid design, probable Italian influence (Toto and perhaps John of Padua), two-court plan with twin gatehouses, famed pargetted reliefs, banqueting house, scant survivals, and sources like the 1650 Parliamentary Survey and early views. It then reconstructs the Fortune Theatre from the 1599–1600 contract, correlating dimensions (80 ft square outside; 55 ft inside; three-tier galleries; 43 ft stage) with the Swan drawing and stage directions to argue for a roofed stage, upper and inner stages, and distinct “gentlemen’s” and “twopenny” rooms. Next comes a development history of the Tower of London, proposing that Norman works incorporated Roman walls and bastions, tracing successive enlargements to a concentric fortress, detailing key towers and gates, the White Tower’s Chapel of St. John, later Tudor bastions, Wren’s horse-armoury, and the mixed legacy of modern restorations. The study of Eltham Palace uses Hatfield and Thorpe plans to map the moated complex, identify Bek’s fortifications, the bridge, Edward IV’s great hall and its roof, Henry VIII’s rebuilt chapel and lodgings, and surviving outer-court houses, while warning about plan inaccuracies and urging on-site verification. It concludes this opening section by beginning a broader essay on the origin of the domestic hall, contrasting monastic and secular models and distinguishing the rectangular stone frater from the aisled, barn-derived type, with examples such as Oakham, Winchester, Bishop Auckland, and York Guildhall. (This is an automatically generated summary.)