Despite the fact that I was absolutely “wrung out” from a long, hard slog to finish the 3D Model and create the video vignette I planned to feature, the talk and unveiling event was a wonderful success! Every chair we could get in the room was filled, and some stood. We had help from 5 special guests (most in their ceremonial attire), a PA system and mics brought by our friend (Bill Mitchell) and even a professional videographer (Luke Finn) who volunteered to capture the event the day before. The main event was the unveiling of a wonderful new artwork (based upon my research) of the Original Treaty House by artist Misha Farris. It was an unforgettable day.
If you missed the unveiling event, and would like to watch it (with thanks to videographer Luke Finn), I’ve assembled the footage files into a single video. I enhanced the volume where needed and also added some bookend slides to make it feel a bit more complete. The event video can be viewed at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gO83jqg0M-_HCfHZic0dg2sxnkxlrCyO/view?usp=sharing
The points of the greatest interest are:
- 16:30 How the mystery of the Treaty House was finally solved
- 26:20 Satellite imagery analysis and the 3D model of the grounds
- 31:30 View of the Treaty Chamber and introduction of the “fly through” video
- 33:40 The “fly through” video of the Original Uxbridge Treaty House
- 41:30 Remarks by the Special Guests, beginning with MP Danny Beales
- 56:30 Remarks by the artist, Misha Farris
- 1:01:10 The Unveiling of Misha’s artwork!
Preparations for the Event
When Mary and I arrived in England in early August, I hadn’t yet proven my recent theory of how the surviving wing and the long-demolished center span of the building had structurally connected. I did not have an artist enlisted to create the new artwork needed to update the framed piece hanging in the Crown and Treaty. And I didn’t know how I was going to produce the 3D model needed to prove my theory and to provide the accurate linework needed to support the new artwork. But I knew we had 6 months to figure it all out…
Our first unlikely break came the day we finished our multi-day bike ride of Hadrian’s Wall (the continuous 80-mile fortification at the waistline of the country, just below the Scottish border).
We had arranged to meet a childhood friend of Mary’s daughter for dinner at the end of our ride. I didn’t know she was an artist, but as we talked (and I looked at the sketchbook she’d brought), I mentioned to her that I needed an artist for my project. Knowing how busy she was going to be, I was only hoping she might know someone who would be intrigued by the project. In the end (to my good fortune), that person turned out to be her!
We set up a weekly Zoom meeting that started with Misha telling me what she needed from the 3D model (which I had decided to build myself). Once I had a sufficiently detailed model in place, we selected the viewing perspective and extracted an image from that viewpoint. From this moment on, “the ball” was in Misha’s hands, and the meetings became review and discussion sessions. Together, we made our way through myriad details to ensure everything in the depiction had a basis in the surviving wing, historical evidence, or examples of contemporary architecture in the area. Eventually, after reviewing a color and lighting study, I would not see anything more of the emerging artwork until the unveiling. This was on purpose. I had come to trust Misha’s diligence and her talent. And, I wanted her to be the only one in the room who knew what was under that red velvet drape…
This project was a huge commitment for Misha to have made, as she was in the last semester of her Master’s program. Since that degree was her future, it was correctly her first priority. But like the best of us, Misha managed her time , put her shoulder into it and drove all of her commitments to completion. I could not be prouder than to have worked shoulder to shoulder with her in this effort. Her work has brought this reconstruction beautifully to life!
I’d like to make one last brag about Misha’s work. We conceived this particular scene as the “morning arrival” of grandfather Sir John Bennet (the owner who did the major upgrade of the property in the 1520s). Although minute, the figure in the carriage the children are running towards is based upon a portrait of Sir John Bennet.
The Evolution of the 3D Model
I’d never used a 3D modeling package before this project, so my first task was to choose the package I would have to learn to use. I knew that I needed to create very specific details, so I avoided using any of the myriad architectural packages. Although they might have been easier to learn, I was concerned that they would not allow me to create arbitrary shapes I needed to accurately model this historic structure. In the end, I believe that was a wise choice. Shapr3D was affordable, relatively intuitive and very precise.
This project pushed the modeling package to its limits, ultimately creating a full-scale world about half a kilometer square, and containing more than 20,000 design elements. Although the 3D package turned out to be robust and reliable, it was clearly struggling with the scale of the project. At the end, every small step incurred a “wait, I’m working” pause of around 10 seconds as it checked all of the physical relationships to see which of those 20,000+ components were affected.
The “Nadia” Video
Once I had given Misha the linework image she needed, the model had already proven out my “offset join” theory about how the center span actually connected to the surviving wing.
Any additional work on the 3D model after this was only to support graphics for the upcoming presentation. But I began thinking about what it would take to do something extraordinary…to take people on a virtual “fly through” of the Original Uxbridge Treaty House. If I could pull it off, it would be far more interesting than a series of slides…
Although the 3D package wasn’t built to produce these kinds of animations, I knew I could use screen capture tools to create video clips while I moved inside the 3D modeling tool. The lighting and coloring/texturing capabilities of the 3D package were basic, but should be effective enough. I started creating choreographies of video sequences I thought would be the most meaningful, and lists of the details that would need to be built out to support those sequences.
I also decided to give the video I planned to create a great soundtrack. I couldn’t think of any that would serve better than Henri Mancini’s deeply moving “Nadia’s Theme”. I first heard this haunting piece while watching a special tribute to Nadia Comaneci during the 1976 Winter Olympics. It is one of the most powerful and lovely pieces of music I have ever heard, and the first time I felt the power of the cello to bring a lump to my throat. 50 years later, it still does.
I knew the staggering amount of work it would be to detail out the 3D model to support this video. And the serious task of arranging and editing those video clips into a video that synchronized properly with the song. But if I could pull it off, I might be able to help the audience feel what I do when I think about the spectacular but lost Original Treaty House. If I got it right, I could create an emotional experience…
And so halfway through our 6 month visit, I reviewed our list of remaining “must see” places in the UK, and started cutting. Penzance and the Isles of Scilly (where the refugees and entourage of Prince Charles were forced to flee to the sea)? Sorry–gone. St Malo, France–that stunning coastal fortress city where Sir Richard Lane fell ill and had to be left behind by King Charles II? Can’t do it. Jersey, Cambridge, Chester, the Somerset Archives and Southampton were all axed. Even Stonehenge and Sherwood Forest were given the heave-ho to make time for the massive task ahead.
Writing off these places hurt, but there is a saying that rang in my ears, “If you get your chance to stand at that plate, you lean into it and swing for the fence!” This opportunity (to have the capstone talk on solving the mystery of the Treaty House during during the 380th anniversary of the treaty negotiations) would never come again.
There is one “easter egg” in the 3D model, and in the “fly through” video. If you look for it, you will notice the second seat closest to the fireplace on the royalist side of the great table is embossed with the family arms of Sir Richard Lane. Working hard doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun!
The Special Guests
While attempting to make contact with the historical community in Northampton, I came upon a description for a talk about the Recorders of Northampton. It wasn’t long before I was in contact with Judge Rupert Mayo, Recorder of Northampton, who had given that talk. I was delighted! Not long after passing the bar, young Richard Lane had been appointed the Deputy Recorder for his hometown of Northampton. 13 years later, he became the Recorder–an office he would until the outbreak of the Civil War.
The office of Recorder is a prestigious, royally appointed judgeship. And I had managed to make contact with the man in that same role 400 years later! When we finally were able to meet for dinner, I was able to explain the project and what I hoped to do. Judge Mayo agreed to attend the event to help with the unveiling on February 1st. This was also particularly good luck because of a consolidation of governance in Northamptonshire, Judge Rupert Mayo, historian and sitting judge of Northampton will be the last Recorder of Northampton.
From the initial involvement of Judge Mayo, a small delegation of special guests emerged that included the High Sheriff of Northampton (Amy Crawfurd), the High Sheriff of Greater London (Millicent Grant), the MP for Uxbridge (Danny Beales) and The Worshipful The Mayor of Hillingdon, Councilor Colleen Sullivan. Most arrived in their ceremonial attire of office (special robes and chains/medallions of their offices) and gave remarks to mark the occasion, making the event truly unforgettable!
The Big Day Finally Arrives
As you might imagine, there are a lot of moving parts involved in putting on an event like this one. But we had put so much into this successful project we decided it was time to celebrate! We had framed prints of the artwork made for each of the special guests as a thank you for their support. We had commemorative stainless water bottles made for everyone at the event and put them in nice gift bags with Sir Richard Lane’s crest on them. We bought traffic cones to reserve parking spots for our Special Guests and a few others who had driven from far away.
In addition to a small entourage from Northampton, we had attendees from as far away as Kent and a man we had met in Dover. We had a historian from South of Oxford, and another who works for Parliament at Westminster. We had a number of folks from area historical Societies and the archives. We also had a few friends from around London, and our circle of friends from Uxbridge.
Working long hours for more than two weeks, I finally finished the 3D model 3 days before the event. The next two days were spent producing the special video set to Nadia’s Theme. And so, the day of the event it was time to finish one last detail–to create the presentation I would be giving later that same day! Of course, finishing at the 11th hour is not how I had planned for it to go. But with various complications that had to be worked through, it simply took everything I had (including time available) to get it all done.
But, it was worth it! Misha’s artwork was wonderful, and the video I had worked so hard to create had real punch… Together, they did a good job of taking everyone in the room back to visit a place that had been lost to history…that place where Sir Richard Lane and the other commissioners tried to end a war 380 years ago to the very day: the Original Uxbridge Treaty House!
After the event, it was interesting to note that many people stood around and talked for a very long time. In fact, some of our out-of-town guests realized the time they had allowed to have dinner had slipped away and had to leave without eating. Eventually, glowing and exhausted, we sat down with a number of remaining people in the “Treaty Room” and had a wonderful meal. When the evening finally grew late, we packed up what we had brought, said our goodbyes, and went home to get packed for the plane ride to Colorado that was only a few days away. It has been nearly a week now since that talk, and we are still unwinding from the experience. What a ride…
With a mountain of luggage we had brought that included two bicycles, lots of sports gear, a hoard of pint glasses and new books, we didn’t have much time to get everything packed. But there were two events we made time for in the two days before we had to fly home.
The first was a “going away” dinner given by our friends here in Uxbridge. Honestly, we were all a bit sad about parting, and seeing everyone one last time meant the world to us!
The second was an invitation by the Mayor of Hillingdon, Councilor Colleen Sullivan, to the Mayor’s Parlor for tea and a tour. This is an honor, and when Andy (the Mayor’s aide) asked if we could make time, we didn’t hesitate in accepting. I’d have sooner left things behind than to have missed it. It was a privilege getting to know the mayor, and we certainly enjoyed Andy’s walk through all the history of this proud borough of London.
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