- Friar Park
Infobox Modern building
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name=Friar Park
location_town=Henley-on-Thames
location_country=England
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style=Gothic revival |Friar Park is the 120-room Victorian
neo-Gothic mansion previously owned by the eccentricSir Frank Crisp nearHenley-on-Thames and bought by themusician George Harrison as his new home onJanuary 14 ,1970 , as he left his former home Kinfauns, inEsher .It has extensive gardens and
water feature s, and one main theme to the decor: mockeries of organised religion. Among the statuary is a monk holding 2 skillet's with holes in them, and a plaque reading "Two Holy Friars". Ironically, Friar Park's owner between Crisp and Harrison was theRoman Catholic Church when nuns belonging to theSalesians of Don Bosco order were in residence. The Nuns ran a local Catholic school in Henley, the Sacred Heart School. That's when the firstgarden gnome statues appeared. George Harrison was photographed amongst these for the cover of "All Things Must Pass ", and again with his father Harry a few years later (with the photo appearing in his album "Thirty Three & 1/3 ").A 16-track tape-based
recording studio was installed in a guest suite, which at one stage was superior to the one atEMI 'sAbbey Road Studios . Harrison's albums recorded there usually mention F.P.S.H.O.T., or Friar Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames. Besides records by Harrison or artists he produced, the studio was also used byShakespear's Sister to record their 1992 album "Hormonally Yours ".Harrison immortalised the building in his song "Crackerbox Palace" (his nickname for the mansion, after
Lord Buckley 's home inCalifornia ). A further powerful song, "The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)", was also inspired by the mansion's history. Harrison loved tending to the gardens personally, and among the groundskeepers were his older brothers Peter and Harry.The mansion was largely open to the public, until the murder of
John Lennon in December 1980; shortly afterward, the gates were locked, and security features such as razor-wire fences and video cameras were installed. Despite these measures, an intruder broke into the residence on December 30, 1999, attacking Harrison and his wife in their bedroom in the early morning hours, leaving Harrison hospitalized with stab wounds to the chest.cite web| url=http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0817.html| title= George Harrison Stabbed in Chest by an Intruder| publisher=New York Times| date=1999-12-31| accessdate=2008-05-20]Harrison's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, continued to live in the mansion for months after Harrison's death from cancer in November 2001. The rumours about the sale of this property are unfounded.
References
External links
* [http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/harrison/friarpark/page1.html Friar Park photographs]
* [http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/42508/pics/ Friar Park photographs]
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