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| A view from the Crown Centre of the "Brittox" |
On the first Tuesday of the month, the U3A Geology Group meets in the "Crown Centre" to discuss and try to unravel the complex geology of our planet's great land masses. Complex it is, and although I have a general grasp of what might have happened, I don't understand the details the complex strata, the layers of clay, stone, gravels, sand and chalk, laid down, and then uplifted, submerged, eroded and overlaid during the millions of years it has taken to form our landscapes. I cannot conceptualize the eons of time needed to produce the land on which Devizes now stands. But that is enough said about a complex subject, now a much easier one to understand, the history of the beautiful "Crown Centre" a former old coaching inn, which was in continous use from 1544 to 1966 and much used during the coaching era. It was advertised in 1869 as having stables for forty horses. It has recently had a facelift, having needed major renovations to rectify structural problems and water leaking into the cellar. The photo below shows the centre, standing mid picture, within its setting of old buildings. The yellow building is now "Wetherspoons" part of a well known pub chain.
In Britain, buildings of special historical interest carry a blue plaque on their frontage, and this one gives a date for the "Crown Coaching Inn." The lower photo shows some water plants called crinoids, fossils that we examined this morning. I will buy myself a copy of the book shown lowermost, it contained some wonderful pictures of fossils, all presented so well and with simple explanations.
www.bbc.co.uk/nature/fossils
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| The Crown Centre, the central building. |
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| Blue Plaque outside the building. |
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| Fossil crinoids |
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| Everything you need to know about fossils. |
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