Have house, will travel!
QUESTION Have any historic buildings been relocated abroad?
One historic building that has been rebuilt abroad is Captain Cook’s cottage in Melbourne, Australia. My two daughters and grandchildren live locally and I have visited it several times.
It was built by Cook’s parents in 1755 in the village of Great Ayton, which is now a suburb of Middlesbrough.
The cottage came up for sale in 1934 and there was a rumour that it was being bought and transported to the U.S. The owner wanted the cottage to stay in Britain, but was persuaded to sell it to an empire country for £800.
The cottage was taken down and transported to Australia in 253 cases and 40 barrels. It was rebuilt in Fitzroy Gardens in the centre of Melbourne, the costs being paid by Sir Russell Grimwade, a local businessman.
A lintel has the initials ‘JCG’ for James Cook and Grace, Captain Cook’s parents. It is unlikely that Captain Cook lived in the cottage because he left the area ten years before his parents moved in, but he probably visited it.
Interestingly, he was not a captain. On his first visit to Australia, he was a lieutenant. Later in life he was given the rank of post-captain, a now defunct courtesy title.
Alan Ware, Newport, Gwent. PeRhAPS the most famous example is London Bridge. In the mid-20th century, the Georgian structure was falling down owing to the weight of modern traffic. To make room for a new bridge, the granite structure was put up for auction in 1968.
The winning bidder was Robert McCulloch, the mastermind behind Lake havasu City, a resort in Arizona. he paid $2.46 million (then worth just under £1 million) for the landmark.
The bridge was dismantled and each piece of masonry was numbered to be transported to Arizona and rebuilt according to the original plans.
The replacement 833ft, three-span bridge was officially opened by the Queen in March 1973.
A 12th-century monastery cloister near Sacramenia in Spain was moved to
Miami, Florida. The monastery, which was built in traditional Cistercian Romanesque style, was founded by Alfonso VII of Castile and Leon. It was bought by magnate William Randolph hearst in 1926, who had it dismantled and shipped to new York.
hearst ran into financial trouble and the monastery spent a quarter of a century in a Brooklyn warehouse until it was reassembled on the site of a nursery in Miami.
It was bought by Colonel Robert Pentland Jr, who gave it to the episcopal parish of St Bernard de Clairvaux. It’s a popular wedding venue.
Charles Samuel, Kirkburton, W. Yorks.
QUESTION What is the festival of Kwanzaa, which is celebrated by the U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris?
FOUnded by activist and author dr Maulana Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa is a festival celebrated by the AfricanAmerican community from december 26 to January 1. The name comes from the phrase matunda ya kwanza, which means first fruits in Swahili.
Karenga founded Kwanzaa after the Watts Riots of 1965 sparked by the attempted arrest of a young black man for drink-diving. Several days of violence were suppressed by 14,000 members of the California Army national Guard, resulting in 34 deaths, 1,000 injuries and more than $40 million (£14 million) in damage to property.
In an effort to unify the local community in a positive manner, Karenga helped establish the Black Congress. he created a group known as U.S. (a counterpoint to ‘them’), a rival to the Black Panther movement, and adopted the name Maulana Karenga — Maulana is Swahili
for master teacher. he created Kwanzaa, a festival that features storytelling, the sharing of food, singing, dancing, music including African drumming, gift giving and poetry readings.
The lighting of seven candles represents the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, co-operative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Kamala harris’s claims that she celebrated Kwanzaa as a child have been questioned as it did not become a popular festival until the 1980s when she would have been in her 20s.
Michelle Johnson, London E11.
QUESTION What is the most valuable piece of china in the world?
PORCeLAIn, often referred to as china, is a high-fired, translucent and vitrified ceramic material that is hard to scratch, more expensive and more durable than other types of pottery.
Qianlong was the fourth emperor in the Qing dynasty and one of the longest serving in Chinese history, reigning from 1735 to 1796.
The Chinese ceramics industry during his reign was known for the perfection of its porcelain and new decorative techniques.
In 2010, a family was astonished to discover a Qianlong vase (right) while clearing out their late parents’ bungalow in Ruislip, north-West London.
It has a fish motif, yellow painted trumpet neck and is doublewalled, so an inner vase can be seen through the perforations of the main body.
It was put up for auction with an estimated valuation of £1.2million and sold for an extraordinary £43million to an anonymous Chinese buyer.
The second most expensive piece of china is a blue and white porcelain imperial vase dating from the 16th century, during the Ming dynasty.
It sold for £13.5 million at a 2011 Sotheby’s auction in hong Kong.
K. E. Lees, Twickenham, Middx.