With chess finding it’s way into the news, it’s a fun moment to highlight this renaissance joke in the architectural code here.
A chess board in chess court at Soulton Hall; the finials of the chess court gate sand in for two missin pawns on a modern board
The chess court before the main door is a square.
The finals are topped by pawns.
You cross the gravely path to the house where the terrace and house represents the senior pieces, including the shield of a knight.
The house itself is engaging with philosophy in the architectural code with the intention that a visitor leaves having been elevated in the same way a pawn becomes a queen on the board.
The 16 cell diamond brickwork: one for each piece; Soulton Hall’s design with pawn-topped finals symbolizing philosophical codes, aims to elevate visitors like pawns becoming queens.
This is underlined by the 2×16 cell diamond brickwork: one for each piece.
This is why in 2022, we planted 8 new yews you can see growing down that avenue.
Acknowledgement for this scholarship: James D. Wenn, Byrga Geniht.
UPDATE: you can can learn a bit more about this from the embedded lecture below (should start at 1hr 18min).
