February 20, 2016

Number crunching


Trying to imagine what prompts someone to carve the year on their house...came to no conclusions. But here are some.





 Here is the square today. Was struck how the shadows have the same tonal value of the trees, just about; marvellously confusing.

Not a lot happening :) Which is a Good Thing.

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2 comments:

  1. gabriele grayFebruary 20, 2016 at 5:55 PM

    In England they're known as datestones (or date stones) and there are people who collect the information and in particular, Jersey has been the study of theirs...in some cases it's to mark the foundation (or modification) of a building or in others, a marriage (with initials, etc).
    Probably copied from the much grander coats-of-arms that the upper classes used to identify their homes.
    But knowing the French, it might also have a legal aspect...citing the date on a building might make it subject to less strict codes or taxes ('grandfathered' is how I know the usage).
    If it were originally a business with living quarters upstairs it could represent the establishment of the business...('Mr Mason & Sons est.1845').
    In any event, I always enjoy seeing them and trying to remember what would have been happening at that time (an overview)

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  2. vanilla beerFebruary 21, 2016 at 1:11 PM

    Thanks for this Gabriele, makes sense - my knowledge of history is dreadful so I can't tie in dates to events, but local occasions makes sense - marriage etc. Will ask around a bit for more info., you've inspired me -

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