Thank you to Clive Taylor of Ellys Manor House for this guest article. Please do consider signing one of the petitions to help Clive and Ellys Manor House.

Ellys Manor House (pronounced Ellis, affectionately referred to as EMH), is without doubt one of the United Kingdom’s most significant historic buildings. Historic notes credit Anthony Ellys, a rich English wool merchant of the Staple of Calais, as builder of the house and the adjacent church tower in the late medieval/early Tudor period.

The architectural language of this unique and magical building fully encapsulates Early Modern European, British and Hanseatic League history, a testament to the Northern Renaissance. Yet today, the building goes unnoticed, even by some scholars.

Thank you so much to my friend Sara for sharing this news with me on social media, I just love this type of discovery.

The remains of a woman who died between 997 and 1162 and who was buried in a German graveyard were examined by scientists. They found brilliant blue flecks in the tartar of her teeth and analysis showed that these flecks were lapis lazuli, a vivid blue semi-precious stone that was ground up and used as a pigment, ultramarine, by those involved in making illuminated manuscripts. The pigment was expensive, being worth more than gold.

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