Shakespeare Alive & Well Downunder

A Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and an Open House to Commemorate the Opening of the Leo Fowler Room On Saturday 17 October 2009
A ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the room and the great works of Leo Fowler, the founder and builder of the Elizabethan Village, a replica of Shakespeares Birthplace, will be held at the ElizabethanVillage Pub. Participating in the event will be Sally-ann Fowler, International Photographer and daughter of Leo Fowler. The Honorable Mayor of Armadale, Linton Reynolds, a Member of the Order of Australia will be in attendance.

LEO FOWLER, a self-made millionaire, industrialist and retired to Australia British engineer had a dream. His dream was to build a replica of an ELIZABETHAN VILLAGE and fill it with authentic 16th Century antiques. He wanted to share the rich culture, history and architecture of the era with Australia. And, he did just that. With the permission of Dr. Levi Fox, Director of Shakespeares Birthplace Trust, an independent registered educational charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, Leo Fowler along with architect, Laurence Burton measured, drew up blue prints and laid the groundwork in the year 1974. On September 14, 1977, Sir Charles Court, Premier of Western Australia, commemorated the opening of the village and Fowlers dream was underway.In three short years, Fowler built the ELIZABETHAN VILLAGE to the exact measurements of the original in England. Among the houses built were Shakespeares birthplace, the ever popular Anne Hathaway Cottage with extensive gardens and bed and breakfast accommodations, and the Cobweb Restaurant (renamed the Elizabethan Village Pub). Leo, along with his wife Margaret, brought the largest collection of English oak furniture and artifacts outside of the United Kingdom and filled each house with authentic items from the 16th century. As an engineer and architect, Fowler had a full appreciation of the architectural craftsmanship during this period and set out to skillfully replicate each peg, beam and board.
In July 1979, Fowler won the prestigious Sir David Brand award for his outstanding contribution to the development of tourism in Western

Born in 1923 in Birmingham, Fowler had an eye for architecture. He began his career as an apprentice in the furnishing trade and during World War II, at the age of 19; he started his own light-medium engineering business in Birmingham. Leo Fowlers accomplishments did not stop there. In 1946, he established a second engineering company, Lemark Ltd., and over the course of 27 years, built the biggest engineering business of its kind in Europe.




My father was a modest man. In many ways though, he always had a calling to be great in what ever he under took. His life was one of great achievements, said Sally-ann Fowler when asked about her father. Sally-ann personally hand-selected photographs and designed displays of her fathers work to share with the public which will hang in the new Leo Fowler Room. To view more photographs, go to

http://sallyann.quiver.com.au http://stores.lulu.com/sallyann

http://www.youtube.com/user/sallyannphotography

Or for more information on Leo Fowler, email: sallyann@pnc.com.au
The Elizabethan Village is located on Canns Road in Armadale. Western Australia.Many Locals enjoyed the opening andviewing all the preserved news paper articals and photography saved by Sally-ann over the years from 1974 with the progress of the buildings. a History of Shakespears birth place Anne Hathaways Cottage and The cobwebb cafe and Resturant.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• Leo
• Fowler
• History
• Blue
• Prints
• Stratford
• art
• elizabethan
• english
• pub
• bed
• and
• breakfast
• Relplica
• Photography

[truejoys]

~ "So fathers, be good to your daughters,

daughters will love like you do." ~ Obviously you had the best of fathers Sally. Warmest regards, Joy

[alphatoyou]

Well done Sally .. typical gardener in me - I LOVED the slate flowerbox lol.

Sally your dad is so PROUD of you. What a delight to finally have his memories & dreams acknowledged.

[cataplexic]

Wonderful, Sally... so glad all went well. ---Missmel

[SculptorRon]

Very Nice... Let me be the second to give you 5 stars..

[clearly]

Please allow me to be the first to award you five stars dear Sallyann~~~~ Martin