The Baronial Halls_ and Ancient Picturesque Edifices of England_ Vol. 2 of 2 S. C. Hall 1343 downloads.pdf

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an d An ci en t P i ct u resq u e Ed i f i ces o f En gl an d ; Vo l . 2
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Title: The Baronial Halls, and Ancient Picturesque Edifices of England;
Vol. 2 of 2

Author: S. C. Hall

Release date: October 18, 2020 [eBook #63482]
Most recently updated: October 18, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BARONIAL
HALLS, AND ANCIENT PICTURESQUE EDIFICES OF ENGLAND;
VOL. 2 OF 2 ***

THE

BARONIAL HALLS,
AND

ANCIENT PICTURESQUE EDIFICES OF ENGLAND.

FROM DRAWINGS BY

J. D. HARDING, G. CATTERMOLE, S. PROUT, W. MÜLLER, J.
HOLLAND.

AND OTHER EMINENT ARTISTS.

EXECUTED IN COLOURED LITHOTINTS, BY DAY AND SON AND HANHART.

THE TEXT BY S. C. HALL, P.S.A.

EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
WILLIS AND SOTHERAN, 136, STRAND.
MDCCCLVIII.

C ONT E NT S OF VOL UME I I .
SAWSTON HALL Cambridgeshire From a J. Dafforne.
Drawing by
BRERETON HALL Cheshire — H. L. Pratt.
CREWE HALL — — C. J. Richardson,
F.S.A.
DORFOLD HALL — — C. J. Richardson,
F.S.A.
MORETON HALL — — H. L. Pratt.
PLÂS HOUSE Cornwall — J. Gendall.
NAWORTH Cumberland — George
Cattermole.
NAWORTH, LONG — — George
GALLERY Cattermole.
HADDON HALL Derbyshire — T. Allom.
HADDON HALL, — — T. Allom.
INTERIOR
HARDWICK HALL — — Lake Price.
FORD HALL Devonshire — J. Gendall.
SHERBORNE LODGE Dorsetshire — C. J. Richardson,
F.S.A.
AUDLEY END Essex — J. D. Harding.
AUDLEY END, — — J. D. Harding.
INTERIOR
FEERING HOUSE — — F. W. Fairholt,
F.S.A.
HOREHAM HALL — — F. W. Fairholt,
F.S.A.
ST. OSYTH’S PRIORY — — J. Dafforne.
BERKELEY CASTLE Gloucestershire — J. G. Jackson.
BRAMSHILL Hampshire — F. W. Hulme.
HATFIELD HOUSE Hertfordshire — F. W. Hulme.
KNEBWORTH — — F. W. Hulme.

HINCHINBROOK Huntingdonshire — G. H. Harrison.
HOUSE
CHARLTON HOUSE Kent — J. Holland.
COBHAM HALL — — J. D. Harding.
COBHAM CHURCH, — — J. D. Harding.
INTERIOR
HEVER CASTLE — — G. F. Sargent.
KNOLE, RETAINERS’ — — S. Rayner.
GALLERY
PENSHURST, FROM — — J. D. Harding.
THE PARK
PENSHURST, THE — — J. D. Harding.
COURTYARD
HALL I’ THE WOOD Lancashire — J. D. Harding.
SMITHELL’S HALL — — J. S. Dodd.
SPEKE HALL — — J. D. Harding.
SPEKE HALL, — — Thomas Allom.
INTERIOR
TURTON TOWER — — J. S. Dodd.

Drawn by J. Dafforne. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
SAWSTON HALL CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

S AWS TON HAL L

CAMBRIDGESHIRE.

awston Hall is situated to the right of the long and
straggling village of Sawston, on the high-road to
Cambridge, from which it is distant about six miles. For
many centuries it has been the residence of the
Huddlestons, an ancient and honourable family, of the
Roman Catholic faith. The mansion lies low, and is
partially hidden by thickly-clustered cottages and
gardens. It is a large quadrangular building, erected
during the reign of Queen Mary, under circumstances
which we shall presently explain. It retains much of its
original character, both externally and internally; and, although it cannot
boast of great architectural beauty, it may be considered as a good example
of the gable-ended style of the sixteenth century. The principal entrance is by
a low door-way, underneath a porch, leading into a spacious hall, paved with
Kettering stone and black marble, and lighted by two windows, exhibited in
the appended wood-cut, and a large bay-window
on the same side.[1] The wainscotting has been stained to imitate walnut-
wood. The walls are adorned by several finely-painted portraits. Of the
rooms on the upper floor there are none that demand especial notice: two of
the bed-chambers are, however, hung with faded tapestry, concealing doors
that lead to remote parts of the building. The antique damask bed-furniture
and quilted coverlets are relics of ages long passed away. The Gallery, hung
with old family portraits, extends nearly the whole depth of the mansion—
being upwards of one hundred feet long by about eighteen wide, with oak
panels to the ceiling. A door-way in the court-yard conducts to a neat chapel,
containing a window of stained glass, and an altar of fine Egyptian marble,
inlaid with lapis lazuli. The venerable edifice
derives its principal attraction from its associations with the olden time: it is
impossible to wander through its now nearly deserted apartments, without
reading a solemn and impressive passage from history. Its great
characteristic is solitude. The present occupant—a bachelor of venerable
years—is almost the last of a distinguished and honourable race, leading a

secluded life in the house consecrated by a long line of noble ancestors.
Though dwelling apart from the business and turmoil of life, secluded alike
from the toils and anxieties of the world, where
“Silence pervades the halls of revelry;”

there are, nevertheless, many who can testify to the active benevolence of his
nature, to his worthily representing the virtues of generations of great and
good men; and that when he dies “his works will follow him.”
In supplying some details of the family history, we avail ourselves of the
genealogical roll, which the courtesy of the venerable representative
permitted us to inspect. We copy the superscription: the document itself is
upwards of eighteen feet long, and contains a multitude of names
“Writ in the annals of their country’s fame.”

“This Pedegree, Genealogy, or liniall Descent of the Ayntient and
Rightworthey Famylie of Hodlestone of Salstone, in the Countey of
Cambridg, and of Hodlestone, Lords of Milham, in the Countey of

Cumberla
nde, and
of divers
other
Manners
and
Lordshipp
s, shewing
theire
Matches
and
Aliances
with many
Princely,
and
Honorable
, and Right
Noble
famyleyes,
faithfulley
and
carefulley
Drawne
and Collected out of the Publick Recordes of this Kingdom, Ayntient deedes
and evidences, bookes of Arms, and other venerable Prooves, by John
Taylor, at the Lute, in fleetstreet, Anno 1641.”
The pedigree on the maternal side begins with Henry I., continues
through the various monarchs who filled the throne of England down to
Edward III. and John of Gaunt, whose sole daughter, Joane, became the wife
of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, by whom she had a son, Richard,
married to Alice, daughter and heir of Thomas Montague, Earl of Salisbury;
at whose death, in 1428, the earldom became extinct, but was afterwards
revived in the person of the aforesaid Richard, from whom descended Joane
(wife of William Fitz-Allan, eighth Earl of Arundel), Richard Earl of
Warwick, the “King-maker,” and John Marquis of Montagu, slain with his
brother at the battle of Barnet. This last married Isabella, daughter and
heiress of Sir Edmond Inglethorpe, Knt., by whom he had five daughters,

coheiresses, of whom one, Isabella, was the wife of Sir William Hodleston,
Knt., of Salston, in the county of Cambridge; to him the estate descended in
right of his wife. The deed of conveyance, dated 17th Henry VII., is in the
possession of Mr. Huddleston.
On the paternal side, the list commences with Nigell de Hodleston, settled
in Cumberland at the time of Henry I., which Nigell, surnamed Propositus
(provost or warden), “gave to the Abbey of Selby two carrucates of land and
a half in Millum, and parte of his tythe in Hodleston, with the socage, &c.”
About the same period mention is made of Godard de Millum, who gave to
the Abbey of St. Mary of Furney’s certain lands “for the safety of his soul,
and of all his ancestors.” Sir Adam de Hodleston sat in Parliament as Knight
of the Shire, in the third of Edward II., and afterwards became connected by
marriage with Miles de Stapleton de Bedell, of the county of York. Millum
Castle was fortified and embattled, in 1335, by Sir John de Hodleston; and a
Richard de Hodleston was a man-at-arms at the battle of Agincourt, in the
retinue of Sir William de Harington, Knight of the Garter. He was knighted
after the engagement, by the king.
From an intermarriage among the descendants of Nigell and Goddard,
sprang the above-mentioned Sir William Hodleston, whose grandson, John,
[2] (afterwards knighted by Mary), was united to Bridgett, daughter of Robert
Cotton, of Landwade, or Lanwood, ancestor of the present Sir Vincent
Cotton; for him, or by him, Sawston Hall, as it now stands, was erected.
The circumstances connected with the building of Sawston Hall are akin
to Romance. The popular tradition is, that it was erected at the cost of Queen
Mary, who, when a fugitive from her enemies, after the death of Edward VI.,
found shelter in the ancient house of the Huddlestons. Her pursuers reached
the Hall within a very short time after she had quitted it; and in their rage of
disappointment at losing their prey, burnt to the ground the mansion that had
harboured her. She is said to have witnessed the conflagration from a distant
hill; and to have exclaimed, “Let the house burn; I will build Huddleston a
better.”
“She kept her word:” writes a modern historian. “Sawston Hall was built
by her order, and at her cost.” Unfortunately, however, there exists evidence
that the Queen forgot her promise, if she ever made it, to her preserver. It is
believed, indeed, that “she gave the stone from Cambridge Castle to rebuild
the House,” but it is certain that, at least, it was unfinished many years after
Mary’s death, although commenced during her lifetime. In the court-yard are

two stones, which record the dates—probably of the commencement and
termination of the building. Upon one are the initials, J. H., and the date
1557; on the other, those of E. H., (Edmund, son of Sir John,) with the date
1584.
The village of Sawston stands in the hundred of Whittlesford, and
deanery of Camps. There are four manors in this parish—Pyrotts, Dernford,
Dale, and Huntington—all now the property of Mr. Huddleston. The manor
of Pyrotts continued until the year 1329 in the immediate descendants of
Pirotus, who held it under Eudo Fitzherbert, Steward of the Household to
William the Conqueror. Sir Edmund de la Pole died, seised of this manor and
Dernford, in 1419. Mr. Huddleston’s ancestor came into possession of them
—which had descended from the De la Poles through the Ingeldesthorps to
the noble family of Neville—by his marriage with the daughter of the
Marquis Montagu. The manors of Dale and Huntington were purchased by
Sir Edmund Huddleston before the year 1580; the manor of Dale, or Le
Dale, had been in the Saliston, or Sawston, family, who held it under the
manor of Pyrotts by the service of finding an armed soldier whenever the
owner of that manor should attend the King to the wars. Near the entrance to
the park, there formerly stood an ancient cross, the shaft and pedestal of
which alone remain. It forms the subject of our initial letter.
The church of Sawston, which abuts on the park, appears to have been
built about the thirteenth century; like most of the churches of
Cambridgeshire, it possesses a fine open porch. Sir John Huddleston, who
spent the greater part of his fortune in the service of Philip of Spain after
Mary’s death, lies buried in the chancel here. The following inscription is
engraved on a brass plate placed on the tomb, represented in the annexed
woodcut.

“Here lyeth entombed the bodye of Sʳ John
Huddleston, Knighte, vice-chamberlayne unto
King Phylipe, and captaine of his garde; and
one of Queen Marye’s most honorable pryvie
Councell, who died yᵉ fourthe day of Novembr,
in the yeare of our Lorde God 1557.”

BRERETON HALL, CHESHIRE.

B R E R E TO N HAL L ,

CHESHIRE.

RERETON.—This Mansion, designated by Webb “the
stately House of Brereton,” with which the name of
Elizabeth, our maiden Queen, is much associated, stands in
a beautiful green vale, fertilized by the little river Croco. It
is within five miles of Congleton, and three of Sandbach.
The plain of Cheshire displays great richness and
exuberance in this neighbourhood; and although “evil
times” have fallen upon the ancient demesne of Brereton—
the park having been stripped of its old familiar trees—it
has recently resumed a character of graceful serenity and
luxuriance.
Brereton Hall has a western aspect, and looks across the pleasant valley,
along which the little stream before mentioned pursues its course, in a
direction parallel to the front of the House. In form the plan of the original
building somewhat resembled the letter E, consisting of a long front, graced
by two octagonal turrets, and two wings, having the gables slightly
advancing on the front, but receding backwards a considerable distance.
Behind the two stories of apartments above the basement, which were only
one room in depth, ran a long corridor, on each floor, communicating with
the wings. Amongst the various mutations which time and an attention to
convenience and comfort has brought with it to the Hall, a geometrical
staircase has been made in the back wall of the corridor, and a large block of
offices has been built between the receding wings behind.
Camden, speaking of Brereton, tell us that Sir William Brereton “added
much credit and honour to the place by a magnificent and sumptuous house
that he had there built.” The building is of brick, quoined with stone. That
Queen Elizabeth laid the first stone of this house, and visited it, at a
subsequent period, when hospitality presided in its halls, we have not only
the authority of unquestioned tradition, but also that of numerous memorials
scattered on its walls. The central portion of its exterior seems to have been
especially devoted to ornament, and also to defence. On each side of the
door-way, there rises from the ground an octagonal tower or turret,

projecting by five of its panes from the wall, and formerly ascending above
the building, to terminate in a dome, but now surmounted by a low stone
battlement. Immediately over the centre of the door-way the sculptures begin
by the shield of the Brereton Arms, bearing two bars sable, being suspended
on an ermine mantle, from a helmet supporting the crest—the head of a
muzzled bear;—below which is the date 1586. In the spandrels of the
elliptical arch of this entrance the arms are repeated with different
quarterings, a rose being superadded on each side. We next come to a
division, reaching quite across the central part of the front, from the outer
side of one turret to that of the other, which is richly adorned. In the first
place, it is divided into a number of compartments by a series of short carved
pilasters, doubled at every angle of the turrets. Square sculptured stones
occupy some of the compartments thus formed. In the middle, however—the
place of honour—are the arms of Queen Elizabeth, with the garter, bearing
the motto, the crest and supporters, on a tablet of good dimensions. On one
side of these is a large rose, on the other a portcullis, both crowned, and both
also surmounted by the letters E. R. This ornamental stage of pilasters and
sculptures, with the heraldic insignia, is repeated above the square-headed
windows, the royal arms again occupying the centre. Each turret has a
chalice in high relief on its front pane, below the battlements. But, besides
these decorations, so distinctive of the taste of the age in which it was
erected, this “stately house of Brereton” bears, in this part, and especially on
the different faces of the turrets, and near their tops, to command various
angles, as well as different distances, another interesting indication of the
days of “good Queen Bess,” happily now grown so unfamiliar to our view.
We allude to the numerous large portholes which still frown over the
peaceful vale. Above the rise of the roof the turrets are conjoined by a closed
gallery, occupied by borders and other decorative sculptures, and supported
by a depressed arch of some magnitude. The embattled parapet is continued
from the turret on each side, along the front of the house to the gables of the
wings, being in the place of an open balustrade, which formerly rose here.
Each end of the house is furnished with a large bay, both at the front and the
side, which are occupied by windows, and surmounted by a pediment
containing sculptured ornaments. The effect of this entire front, over which
the gray tint of the masonry prevails, being rich in its antique decorations, is
solemn and imposing. Yet it excites, rather than satisfies our curiosity.

On ascending the flight of steps in the entrance-hall, we immediately
perceive that modern alterations have greatly effaced the impression of
former days with which we had expected to have been greeted. There still
remain, however, many notable traces left behind. In a good apartment,
opening into the corridor, on the left, is a richly sculptured Chimney-piece,
which has been removed from a lodging above, called Queen Elizabeth’s
Room. On a panel over the fire-place, bordered with carving, the Brereton
Arms were formerly emblazoned in inlaid wood of different colours, upon
their ermine mantle, which gave rise to the appellation of Queen Elizabeth’s
Fan. The original panel is still in the house, though much dilapidated; but the
heraldic achievements have been reproduced by the hands of the painter. The
Drawing-room in the south wing has a fine bay window, and retains the old
oak wainscoting. The ornamental Chimney-piece in this room is divided by
pilasters into three panels, having carved borders, and containing the
Brereton Arms. But the chief apartment of the House is in this wing—the
spacious and magnificent Dining-room. This noble apartment is rich in the
usual armorial decorations. Over the massive architectural Mantel-piece of
the period, the pilasters of which reach from the floor to the ceiling, the arms
of Queen Elizabeth are fully displayed; the supporters being the golden lion
and the red dragon, the latter the cognizance of the Tudor family. The letters
E. R. occupy the sides of the royal crest, whilst the words Vivat Regina, and
the date, 1585, occur below. The family crest and motto, “Opitulante Deo,”
are not omitted. Indeed the armorial bearings richly emblazoned, with
various quarterings, are repeated again in the window in stained glass.
Around the entire circuit of the room, except over the fire-place, where the
vacancy is filled up by a scroll and figures supporting a celestial globe,
immediately below the ceiling, there runs a curious series of heraldic
achievements in carved oak, now emblazoned afresh. They represent crowns
and shields bearing the arms of forty-three different states and principalities;
to each of which is attached a scroll, with the name of the King or Emperor
in Latin. In the windings of every one of these scrolls there is placed a large
white, and also a red rose. The shield of the King of Jerusalem (REX
HIERUSALEM) bears an ornamented cross, and his crown is a crown of
thorns. It might be difficult to divine the meaning of this display of
escutcheons and names. If they were intended to represent the allies of the
Queen, or those of her family, allegory seems to have been intimately
mingled in the device, from the celestial globe above her head, glittering
with golden stars on cerulean blue, to all the subsidiary parts.

Queen Elizabeth’s room is a good-sized square apartment immediately
over the entrance-hall; formerly panelled round the lower part of the walls,
but now presenting no evidence of its former high destiny. Other bed-rooms,
however, retain their ancient ornamental chimney-pieces, in alabaster and
stone, supported and divided by odd-looking pilasters in the Elizabethan
style. The oft-repeated Arms of Brereton, painted and sculptured, occur
again and again. In a room south of the entrance they are given with
supporters, viz., dexter, a greyhound, sinister, a muzzled bear; and each of
the panels at the sides bears a coronet, from which is suspended a medal
containing a flourished cipher of the name, W. Brereton. In this part of the
building some of the old oak floorings remain. A bed-room in the north wing
has an alabaster chimney-piece, with the date 1633 on it. In a room in the
south wing, formerly the drawing-room, there is an oaken wreath with
acorns round the family crest, finely executed in a close-grained stone. A
portion of the ancient oaken staircase, leading from the grand dining-room
below to this apartment, is still preserved. The landing of this staircase is
curious, as exhibiting the former state of the house unchanged. Around the
top of the walls, below the ceiling, is painted a long series of escutcheons
bearing the arms of various Cheshire families, with the name on a label
attached to each. And the window is occupied in its upper part by six
compartments, containing the heraldic devices of the five following families,
whose names and the dates are inscribed below, (the sixth is vacant,) viz.,—
LEIGH OF BOOTHES.
MANWARINGE OF CROERTON.
TROWTEBEKE, 1577.
CORBET DE LEGH.
RADELIFFE, 1577.
Brereton occurs in the Survey—when it formed part of the territorial
possessions of Gilbert de Venables, Baron of Kinderton. A family, which
assumed the local name, had a grant of it as early as the reign of William
Rufus. This is the parent stock of the very widely-spreading family of
Brereton; and they are to be traced here to about the year 1200. Sir William
Brereton, 13th in descent from the founder, was engaged in the wars in
Ireland. In 1534, with his son John, he was inshored at Howth with 250
soldiers, well appointed. In the same year he went to summon the strongly
fortified castle of Maynooth, which he took by storm, running up “the
highest turret of the castle, and advancing his standard on the top thereof,

notifienge to the Deputie that the fort was woone.” Another Sir William built
this stately mansion, and entertained his royal guest within its halls. In 1624
Sir William Brereton was created Lord Brereton of Leighlin in Ireland, on
the death of Francis Lord Brereton. In the wars between Charles I. and the
Parliament, another Sir William of this family, but not of Brereton Hall, the
famous parliamentarian general, took a very conspicuous part. So early as
August, 1642, he began to beat up for recruits, and in the severe contest of
the following years, attended by such various fortune, he many times
commanded in this county. In June 1644, he received the appointment of
Major-General of Cheshire from the Parliament; and ultimately took the
strong fortress of Beeston Castle, and the city of Chester itself, by siege;
which put an end to the war in this county. Lord Brereton, of Brereton Hall,
however, who had espoused the cause of the King, fled before his nephew
the parliamentarian general, to Biddulph Hall, in Staffordshire, whither Sir
William pursued him, and took him prisoner.[3] In 1722, the male line of the
family. In 1722 the male line of the family became extinct by the death of
Lord Brereton. The Hall and estates subsequently passed, through female
inheritance, to A. Bracebridge, Esq.[4] In 1817, to satisfy certain claims upon
it, the estate was dismembered by Act of Parliament; and, after being many
years uninhabited, Brereton Hall was purchased by the present proprietor,
John Howard, Esq.
The Church, now a rectory, and dedicated to St. Oswald, is within a
stone’s throw of the Hall. It is a plain building, in the perpendicular style,
encompassed with trees;
amongst which are one or two venerable yews, standing in the churchyard
itself. The original chapel was built in the reign of Richard Cœur-de-Lion;
but of this ancient structure it is doubtful whether any traces remain in the
present building. One of the large windows on the north side of the chancel
was formerly filled with stained glass. The subject contained four figures,
representing the persons who slew Thomas à Becket, and a fifth, supposed to
be Henry II. By an instrument yet extant, it appears to have been portrayed
by order of Sir William Brereton in 1608. Perhaps the object of most interest
in this church at present is the armour which is ascribed to Lord Brereton.
The harness is suspended
from the north wall of the chancel. The shirt to which the rings have been
attached (see our initial letter) remains, but they have dropped off. It is
surmounted by his helmet, bearing the family crest. Below these hang the

gauntlets and spurs; and above the whole a banner has waved, now
presenting only its bare staff. Attached to the wall, on the same side of the
chancel, is a monumental tablet with a Latin inscription, to the effect,—that
this church being in ancient times a donative chapel in Astbury parish, the
ancestors of Sir William Brereton, Baron of Malpas, who erected this
monument in 1618, were buried in the church-yard of Astbury. Accordingly,
in this latter place, on the north side of the church, we find some curious
ancient monuments. A fine canopied tomb, in the decorated style, open at
both sides, covers two stone effigies, of a knight armed cap-à-pie, with his
feet resting on a lion, holding a heater-shaped shield on his left arm; and his
lady, with her hands conjoined on her breast, her feet resting on a dog.
Within the arch of the canopy is the following inscription, surmounted by the
arms of Brereton:—
“HIC JACENT RADULPHUS BRERETON MILES; ET DOMINA ADA, UXOR SUA, UNA
FILIARUM DAVIDIS COMITIS NUNTINGDONIS.”

On the left
side of this
beautiful
monument is
placed a stone
coffin with
effigy in
flowing robes,
a coif, and a
beard, in form
resembling that
of some of the
Egyptian
deities, being
wider as it
descends. The
head rests on a
pillow; the
hands are
joined in the
attitude of
prayer; and the
feet are placed
on an animal,
resembling a
dog. On the
right side of the canopied tomb is another coffin and effigy of a knight in
armour, of apparently the latter part of the fourteenth century. The heater-
shaped shield has traces of heraldic bearings, seemingly the two bars of the
Breretons. This figure has been richly harnessed. The head has been covered
by the conical-topped helmet, with the chain camail falling from it over the
neck; but some modern stonecutter has done his utmost to transform these
military habiliments into an old-fashioned wig.
Cheshire abounds in ancient Halls; and a very large number of them
having received but little injury from time, or the more evil influence of
“renovators” and “improvers,” continue in a comparatively primitive state.
Several still remain to the descendants of worthies by whom they were

erected; unhappily, Brereton is not one of these; but we trust it is in safe
hands, and that it is destined to sustain no farther insult or injury from
convenience or caprice.

Drawn by C. J. Richardson, on Stone by W. Walton.
CREWE HALL CHESHIRE

C R E WE H AL L ,

CHESHIRE.

rewe Hall—situate about four miles from the town of
Nantwich—affords a striking example of the singular changes
to which a baronial residence and its dependencies may be
subjected in this utilitarian age. Formerly, it occupied the
centre of a sequestered valley—now and then, when the wind
was southerly, the ti-ri-la of the horn of a distant “stage” to
Chester, fell upon the ear of secluded villagers; it was almost
the only sound that connected them with the business of actual
life. The lord of the mansion and his humble neighbours,
dwelling apart from the stir of traffic and the din of
commerce, scarcely heard even those “rumours of oppression and deceit”
that followed or preceded “unsuccessful or successful war;” content, in their
“dreary contiguity of shade,” to be overlooked and unheeded by the busy
world about them. The picture at Crewe is now a new one: it is the largest of
all the railway stations between Birmingham and Liverpool: the moaning of
steam-engines never ceases there; a smoke perpetual gathers over the trees;
travellers are rushing backwards and forwards every hour of the day; the
noise unnatural is also unceasing, and is audible for miles around, breaking
the calm of night in the country, and making the day seem devoted to
unhealthy and unpeaceful toil. The contrast between what this pretty hamlet
was and is, becomes the more striking because, as yet, the station is at some
distance from the gigantic warehouses, engine-room, and coke-stores, which
have suddenly grown into existence here. A small inn—new, but not much
out of keeping with the ancient aspect of the place—stands beside “the
station,” and on the main road which leads from Crewe Hall to Nantwich;
the former being distant about a mile, the latter about four miles.
Crewe Hall is the seat of the Right Hon. Hungerford Crewe, third Baron
Crewe, who was born in 1812, and succeeded his father in 1835. His
grandfather, the first peer, represented Cheshire in parliament from the year
1768 until his elevation to the upper house in 1806. The manor was from a
very early period the property of the family of Crue, or Crewe, and some
remains of a far more ancient seat are still to be found in the neighbourhood.

“About the year 1300, Joan, eldest daughter and co-heiress of the last male
heir of the elder branch of the family, married Robert Praers, whose grand-
daughter conveyed the manor to Sir Robert Foulshurst.” From this family it
was purchased, in 1578, by Sir Christopher Hatton. “A fortunate lawyer” had
the means of restoring it to the race to whom it had originally belonged.
About the year 1610 Sir Randal Crewe, Serjeant-at-Law, descended from
Patrick, a younger brother of Thomas de Crewe, bought it from Sir
Christopher’s heirs, and erected, between the years 1615 and 1636, the
present mansion. In 1684 the male line became extinct, by the death of John
Crewe, Esq.; Anne, his eldest daughter, having married John Offley, Esq., of
Madeley Manor, their eldest son, John, subsequently took the name of
Crewe in 1708, and, as we have stated, the family was ennobled in 1806.
The hall is a remarkably beautiful structure, and a fine example of the
architecture of the period. It is characterised by a distinguished architect as
“undoubtedly one of the finest remaining specimens of the English branch of
the Italian cinque cento, which may be considered to have arrived at its full
state of perfection during the reign of James I.” According to some passages
in Fuller, at the period of its erection it must have been classed among the
more sumptuous edifices of the kingdom. He says, “Nor must it be forgotten
that Sir Randal first brought the model of excellent building into these
remote parts—yea, brought London into Cheshire, in the loftiness,
sightliness, and pleasantness of their structures.” Although it has undergone
many improvements, it has lost but little of its original character. “It consists
of two lofty stories, surmounted by a sculptured open parapet, concealing, in
some degree, the high roof, from which rise the chimneys, representing
detached octagonal columns, with their plinths, bases, and capitals.” The
central compartment—the line of the front being broken at each extremity by
bow windows—is composed entirely of stone, and is rich in decoration; the
arch of the doorway is supported by four fluted Ionic columns, on sculptured
pedestals. A dwarf wall and balustrades surround the edifice at its base; and
the courtyard, now a prettily laid out lawn and garden, is entered by some
finely modelled gates of cast-iron, produced at the foundry of Messrs.
Bramah. The
exterior is now undergoing thorough repair under the superintendence of Mr.
Edward Blore. Mr. Richardson has supplied us with the appended copy of
the decoration, in carved stone, which surmounts the entrance, and also of
one of the exterior ornaments, of which we have formed an initial letter.

The interior of this fine old mansion is in the purest possible state; such
alterations as time or circumstances may have rendered necessary have been
effected with judgment, skill, and taste. “It presents an extraordinary variety
of decorated ceilings, enriched plaster-work, and carved wainscot, the design
and execution of which are masterly, fully equalling the choicest specimens
of the French renaissance of the reign of Francis I.” It contains some bas-
reliefs of a very early age, and these, probably, were removed from the still
older mansion of the Crewes. It must also have undergone some changes at
so late a period as that of Charles II., and these, no doubt, were rendered
necessary in consequence of two sieges to which it was subjected during the
civil wars. In 1643 it was garrisoned by the Parliamentary troops, who were
besieged there by the Royalists under Lord Byron, to whom they yielded in
consequence of failure of food and ammunition: “becoming prisoners, stout
and valiant soldiers, having quarter granted them.” During the subsequent
year the mansion was taken by the troops of the Parliament, and, in like
manner, the garrison was permitted to go out in honourable safety.
The hall, which is somewhat low and narrow, is of carved oak; to the left
is the dining-room,
of which the accompanying print, in lithotint, affords a satisfactory idea. The
screen of richly carved oak is as fresh and sharp as if it had been painted by
the artist only yesterday. The fireplace of cut stone is inlaid with marbles of
various colours and countries. Opposite the screen is a fine oriel window;
and the ceiling is of exquisite design, and remarkably bold in character. A
side entrance leads through “the carved parlour” to the upper rooms by a
staircase of surpassing beauty, “made gay” by painted monsters of all kinds,

bearing blank shields. The several apartments, drawing-rooms, and
bedchambers, are furnished with great taste; the library is exceedingly fine
and spacious: here, as in other parts of the house, we find treasures of
ancient art, and, among them, very choice productions of the modern school
of England. At the extremity of the hall is the chapel of the mansion, small in
size but of exquisite workmanship, being formed entirely of carved oak, to
which Time has given the sombre tint that ever harmonises well with the
sacred character of the structure. The chapel contains a painted window by
Willement, and two noble paintings by Giordano. The roof is of white and
gold, with a single pendant; the gallery is for the servants, and there is a
small place at the entrance for dependants.
On the whole, there are in England few fresher or finer examples of the
period of its erection.

F. W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton M & N Hanbart Lithogʳˢ
DORFOLD HALL, CHESHIRE

DOR F OL D H AL L ,

CHESHIRE.

orfold Hall, now the seat of Mrs. Tomkinson, was built by
Ralph Wilbraham, Esq. in the reign of James I.—according
to Lysons, in the year 1616—on the site of a still older
mansion. It is situated about one mile from Nantwich; it is a
brick building with stone dressings. The staircase and the
great chamber are still perfect. The ceiling of the latter
room is an extraordinary specimen of decorative plaster-
work; the form is of the kind called “waggon-headed.” It is
completely covered with a pattern, in bold relief, of the most complicated
description, ornamented with shields of arms and various Tudor emblems.
Few
such curious specimens of the intricate design of the period can now be
found. Over the doorway in the great chamber is a shield of the arms of the
Wilton family. Mr. Richardson, in his observations on old English mansions,
observes there is every reason to suppose that Dorfold Hall, Crewe Hall, and
Aston Hall, near Birmingham, were built in successive order by the same
architect; many of the ceilings, fireplaces, staircases, &c. are nearly the same
in all the three houses. The early rudeness of the style is seen at Dorfold
Hall, its purity in Crewe Hall, and the commencement of its deterioration in
Aston Hall.
The front of Dorfold is highly picturesque. The two small lodges seen in
front belong to the original construction; but modern domestic arrangements
requiring more room than was afforded by the old building, the small offices
between the house and the old lodges have been added. If the reader can
suppose these away, and a formal balustrade or wall, with gates in the centre,
connecting the old lodges in front, he will have the exact appearance of the
house in the olden time. All the old buildings were then supplied in front by
great courtyards, into which carriages never entered, either from their being
of too lumbersome a construction, or with a view to state. It may be hinted
that the buildings of the reign of Elizabeth exhibited a considerable portion
of the proud, haughty character of the sovereign.

Do
rfold,
like
many
of its
neighb
ours in
Cheshi
re,
was
besieg
ed by
the
army
of the
Parlia
ment
during
the
Civil
Wars.
Th
e
interio
r of
the
Hall
bears
many
unequi
vocal
proofs
that
refine
d taste
prevails over all its arrangements. The new furniture is in keeping with the
old carvings; illustrated books, and prints in harmony with the impressive

character of the time-honoured structure, are profusely scattered upon the
tables and along the walls. Dorfold has fallen into “good hands;” its peculiar
beauties and its interesting associations are appreciated and valued; and the
spirits of its ancient owners may contemplate with approval the efforts of its
existing proprietors—shoots from a noble and honourable stock.

J. D. Harding, Delᵗ M & N Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
MORETON HALL, CHESHIRE.

MOR E TON HAL L ,

CHESHIRE.

subject of our present delineation—Moreton Hall, is
situated amidst the sandy plain of Cheshire, on the
Staffordshire border of the county. Its eastern aspect is
bounded by that range of hills which extends from
Scotland southwards into the centre of England, and
which here presents some of its most remarkable
features in the high hills called “Mow Cop” and
“Cloud,” both being upwards of 1000 feet above the
sea-level. The former is surmounted by a ruined tower,
and by a singular isolated rock called “The Old Man of Mow.” The latter is
an abrupt and dome-shaped termination of a portion of the range to the
northward. From the Hall, these hills present objects of interest not devoid of
richness, as on this side they are clothed with the dark verdure of the Scotch
fir. Moreton Hall—or, “Little Moreton Hall,” as it has been denominated to
distinguish it from the residence of the Bellots in the immediate
neighbourhood, seated on the plain below—is an ancient timbered house,
partly embosomed in trees, but attracting the eye from a distance by the
interrupted outline of its numerous roofs, its strange columnar chimneys,—
in form resembling rows of prismatic crystals, some of them being rendered
more picturesque by the o’er-covering
ivy,—and its black beams and diaper-like patterns distinctly traced on the
white ground of the intervening plaster. On a nearer approach we discover
the house to be encompassed by a narrow moat, beyond which, and at its
south-western corner, is a small conical mound, prettily surmounted by a
sycamore tree. The house is approached from the south over a stone arch of
antique form, and bearing the Moreton arms on either side. The square
Portal, with a sun-dial over it, is adorned with some bold carvings of foliage
in oak on the top and sides. These are repeated on the inner opening at the
entrance into the Court; each door-post here being crowned by a halbert-
bearer in high relief. Over this portal is a lofty range of building, consisting
of a number of small wainscotted rooms, and an oaken staircase, which
ascends to the long room or gallery, 68 feet in length, running over the top of

the whole.
This room
is lighted
from the
south by a
window
its entire
length.
Like all
the other
apartment
s, its walls
are lined
with
wainscot,
except the
ends,
where, at
the upper
part, are
figures
and tablets, bearing inscriptions, in stucco. That at the western end
represents blind Fortune with her wheel, bearing this motto on the rim: “Qui
modo scandit corruet statim.” The inscription is:
“The wheel of Fortune,
Whose rule is ignoraunce.”

That at the opposite extremity, Fate supporting a globe with one hand,
and holding a pair of compasses in the other. The inscription:
“The speare of Destiny,
Whose rule is knowledge.”

This apartment has a pitched roof, and an oaken ceiling, open to the
rafters. Tradition relates that Queen Elizabeth, while on a progress through
Cheshire, danced here, and that Oliver Cromwell made use of it as a council
chamber during the Civil Wars.

Having passed through the portal and under the building surmounted by
the long room, we enter a small Court, which is one of the most curious parts
of this ancient residence. There are seven doors opening

into it; the principal entrance, (that which leads into the hall,) being nearly
opposite to the portal. Besides other windows, there are two large gabled
bow-windows, which light the Banquetting Hall, the antique form and
curious glazing of which excite immediate attention. Indeed, the glazing of
most of the windows of the house is very remarkable; the panes being small,
and joined by slips of lead, so as to represent many pretty patterns. Upon
bands around these windows are the following inscriptions:—“God is al in al
thing. This window where made by William Moreton, in the yeare of oure
Lorde MDLII.” “Rycharde Dale, Carpēder made theis windows, by the grace
of God.”[5]

One of the entrances from the court, on the right, leads into a small
chapel, which, by the lapse of time and disuse, has lost much of its sacred
character. Almost the only indication of its former purpose is a series of
tablets suspended on the walls and bearing inscribed on them, in old English
characters, numerous texts of Scripture.
The principal entrance leading into the house is closed by an antique
oaken door, having a small wicket in it fastened with a ponderous bolt. This
door is rendered still more impregnable by many a coat of whitewash. On
passing through it we are ushered into a large wainscotted apartment, having
seats attached to the wainscot all round,—the ancient Banquetting Hall. In it
we observed a fine old long table of oak. This apartment is lighted by the
large windows already described, which contain, like some other windows of
the house, small portions of stained glass, consisting of the Moreton and
other arms. An inner door in the wainscot leads from the Banquetting Hall
into the family apartment, which likewise looks into the court. This room has
an ornamented chimney-piece, which is surmounted by arms in stucco,
bearing the motto “Honi soit qui mal y pense,” and a large A on each side.
Many of the rooms have floors made of plaster. The fastenings of some of
the doors of the upper rooms are curious; they consist of a large iron ring
standing out from the middle of the door, through which is passed a bar of
wood. This reaches across, and rests on the jambs on either side; a very
secure mode of fastening to those who happen to be on the right side.
In the fine old parish church of Astbury, within two miles of Moreton
Hall, there is a side chapel, at the east end of the north aisle, of great
antiquity, divided between the two manorial proprietors of Little Moreton-
cum-Rode. In the east window, which formerly contained some splendid
stained glass, there now only remains the arms of one of the Blundevilles,
the famous Earls of Chester. The three wide steps which led to the altar, a
piscina, on one side, and a closet for relics, on the other, are almost the only
remnants of its ancient purposes. At the Moreton end of this side chapel
there are three large plain marble slabs over altar tombs, bearing the
following inscriptions:—

Dame Mary Jones, Sir William Moreton, Dame Jane Moreton,
died the 19th of April, Knt., died the 10th of Feb.,
1743, Recorder of the City of 1758,
aged 85. London, aged 61.

died the 14th of March,
1763,
aged 67.
There is a fine oaken cabinet in Moreton Hall, which, from the labels in
old law-hand, has most likely belonged to the above-named Sir William
Moreton.
The house belongs to a lady of the Moreton family,—in whose possession
it is said to have remained since the 13th century. An adjacent meadow was
formerly the mill-pool of the Hall. In front of the house there formerly stood
the steps of an old cross, which have been removed. It is probable that they
now surround the cross piled up in the garden, and upon which is placed an
old sun-dial. Of this cross, or rather, the remains, Mr. Pratt (the artist to
whom we are indebted for the illustrations of this subject) made a drawing,
which forms our initial letter.
Odd Rode, or Little Moreton-cum-Rode, are noticed as two manors in
“The Survey,” and were subsequently granted to Hugh de Mara and Wm.
Fitz Nigel. They are described in Domesday, as having inclosures for taking
wild deer, and an aerie for hawks. The present divisions of the township are
distinguished by the names of Little Moreton and Rode. A branch of the
Grahams of Lostock settled in Little Moreton early in the thirteenth century,
the third of whom assumed the name of Moreton, and his descendants in the
male line continued till the death of Sir W. Moreton in 1763, when his
nephew, the Rev. Richard Taylor, took the local name.
In the 12th Henry VIII. Sir W. Brereton made an award between Mr. Wm.
Moreton and Mr. Thos. Rode, of Rode, in a dispute “which should sit highest
in the churche, and foremost goo in procession:” when he very judiciously
awarded between these two sticklers for precedence “That whyther of the
said gentylmen may dispende in landes by title of enheritaunce 10 marks or
above more than the other, that he shall have the pre-eminence in sitting in
the churche, and in gooing in procession, with all other lyke causes in that
behalf.”
We fear we must ascribe the rumoured subterranean passages of Moreton
Hall, running under the moat to chambers hid in the mound, to no higher
authority than that wild fancy which thus gilds, to its own delight, antique
and curious buildings in all parts of our country—that native spirit of poetry,
—

“One with our feelings and our powers,
And rather part of us, than ours,”

without a sprinkling of which, this world in all its teeming beauty might be
too much of a dull reality.

F W Hulme Delᵗ. on Stone by W Walton M & N Hanhart Lithogʳˢ

P L AC E H OUS E ,

C O R N WA L L .

lace House, formerly called the “Plâs” (a corruption of
“Palace”), from its having the reputation of being once the
residence of the Earls of Cornwall, stands on elevated
ground in the centre of Fowey, a seaport-town on the
southern coast of Cornwall. It is a fine pile of building, a
large portion being very ancient, though the exact date
cannot be ascertained with certainty; there is, however,
abundant evidence to prove that many parts of it existed so
far back as 1455,[6] and were probably built about that time;
a period to which also is assigned the re-erection of the church close by, a
handsome and lofty fabric of the perpendicular English style of architecture:
the two buildings are composed of similar materials.
The ancestors of its present possessor, J. T. Treffry, Esq., have occupied
Place House, without intermission, as we believe, for many centuries past,
and exercised considerable influence in Fowey, which was formerly a place
of far greater importance than it is now. The townsmen acquired wealth and
fame by deeds of war during the reigns of Edward I., Edward III., and Henry
V., and they furnished more ships to the fleet of Edward III. before Calais
than any other port in England. Among the gallant men who fought and won
at Cressy, we find Sir John Treffry, to whom, chroniclers say, the French
king surrendered himself on the field. His heroism at Poictiers is
commemorated on a stately monument in Fowey Church, which bears the
following inscription:—“The atchievements of John Treffry, who, at the
battle of Poictiers, fought under Edward the Black Prince, and took the
French royal standard; for it he was made a Knight-Banneret by King
Edward III. on the field of battle.” In addition to this title, Sir John was
rewarded for his valour with an honourable augmentation to his arms; viz.
supporters, and as a quartering, the fleur-de-lis from the arms of France,
which are still to be seen painted on the windows of Place House.
The French frequently attacked Fowey, and, according to Leland, “most
notably about 1457, when the wife of Thomas Treffry, with her servants,
repelled their enemies

out of the
house, in
her
husband’s
absence;
whereupon
he builded a
right faire
and strong
embateled
tower in his
house, and
embateled it
to the walls
of his
house,—in
a manner
made it a
castle, and
unto this
day it is the
glorie of the
towne
building of
Foey.” This
tower we
have
engraved.
John
Treffry,
most
probably a
son of the
aforesaid
Thomas,
was high-
sheriff of Cornwall in 1482; he left issue several sons, of whom three are
portrayed on a large tomb in the adjoining church: one of these, Sir John,

was a person of considerable eminence, and, with his brother William, was
attainted by Richard III., but afterwards restored by act of parliament to their
estates, in the reign of Henry VII. Thomas Treffry, member for the county
during the first two parliaments of Philip and Mary, was compelled to leave
the country for having opposed the marriage of Mary with the Spanish
monarch.
From this last period to the present time we find no names of note in the
genealogy of the family; but the estate appears to have been handed down,
from one generation to another, in almost unbroken succession; the various
members in possession holding a

distinguished position among the old county gentry.
Place House contains numerous apartments, many of which are highly
interesting. In the hall is a richly carved ceiling of oak, and on the walls are
emblazoned the arms of Edward VI. and the first Earl of Bedford, with
quarterings, all well executed; also the arms of Treffry and Tresilhneys,
quartered in Queen Elizabeth’s time. In several other parts are likewise the
family arms, quartered according to the various periods to which each is
assigned. One of the ancient gateways is indicated in the appended cut.

G Cattermole, Delᵗ on Stone by W Walton M & N Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ

NAWORT H,

CUMBERLAND.

AWORTH is one of the few remaining Castles of the
Border rescued from the grasp of Time by the noble
descendants of its ancient lords. It is the property of the
Earl of Carlisle—the representative of “centuries of
Howards”—who, according to Sir Walter Scott,
“deserves high praise for the attention bestowed in
maintaining the curious and venerable pile in its former
state.” While, however, his Lordship has taken especial
care to arrest the progress of Time over the old walls, he
has been wisely cautious to prevent “repairs” from being unseemly patches
upon the honoured face of “hore antiquitie.” Its condition is sufficiently
dilapidated to carry instant conviction of its age; but nothing out of keeping
with the solemn dignity derived from the weight of years is permitted to
appear. To its early and existing condition his lordship has himself made
happy reference, in some descriptive lines to this—the famous stronghold of
generations of his ancestry:
“O Naworth! monument of rudest times,
When Science slept entombed, and o’er the waste,
The heath-grown crag, and quivering moss, of old
Stalk’d unremitted war!
* * * * * *
If now the peasant, scar’d no more at eve
By distant beacons, and compelled to house
His trembling flocks, his children and his all,
Beneath his craggy roof, securely sleeps;
Yet all around thee is not changed; thy towers,
Unmodernised by tasteless Art, remain
Still unsubdued by Time.”

The Castle stands on “a pleasant eminence” at the head of the Vale of
Lanercost, or St. Mary’s Holme, and not far from the beautiful and
picturesque ruins of Lanercost Priory, which cover the dust of the ancient
Lords of Naworth,[7] and many other gallant chieftains who formerly held
sway over the wild Border.

The approach to it is peculiarly striking. “The front is strengthened by a
curtain wall, and a gateway embrasured, and the corners of the chief building
on this side by lofty square towers.” On the north, it impends over the river
Irthing, at a great height; the banks shagged with wood. “The whole house,”
says Pennant, “is a true specimen of ancient inconvenience, of magnificence
and littleness; the rooms numerous, accessible by sixteen staircases, with
most frequent and sudden ascents and descents into the bargain; besides a
long narrow gallery.” “The idea of a comfortable dwelling,” according to a
more recent writer, “was, indeed, entirely excluded; the whole internal
contrivance seeming only calculated to keep an enemy out, or elude his
vigilance should he happen to get in; its hiding-holes are numerous; but it
seems probable that many of its close recesses are even now unknown.”
We have no certain information as to the period of its erection. Tradition
reports it to have been built by the Dacres; but “by which of them has not
been ascertained.” The earliest mention of it occurs in the reign of Edward
the Third, when “Ranulphus Dacre, who had married the heiress of the
Multons, obtained a license to fortify and convert his mansion here into a
castle.” In the family of the Dacres it continued until the year 1569, when,
by the death of the last heir-male of the family, it passed to the Howards—by
the marriage of William Howard, third son of Thomas Duke of Norfolk, with
the Lady Elizabeth, sister of the last Lord Dacre.[8] When visited by
Camden, in 1607, it was under repair; according to Bishop Gibson, it was
“again repaired and made fit for the reception of a family by the Right Hon.
Charles Howard, great-grandson to the Lord William.” By its present noble
owner, the Earl of Carlisle, it is, as we have intimated, preserved from
farther injury at the hand of Time,—and is the occasional residence of some
members of his family, who resort to it in “the sporting season.”
The romantic fame of Naworth is derived from Lord William Howard
—“belted Will Howard,” one of the heroes of Border Minstrelsy. The
commencement of his chivalrous career was the first chapter to a volume of
romance. He was the third son of the fourth Duke of Norfolk, and grandson
of the famous Earl of Surrey—
“Who has not heard of Surrey’s fame?”

His father lost his title, his estates, and his head, on Tower Hill; and
bequeathed him to the care of his elder brother, as “having nothing to feed
the cormorants withal.” He was married, in 1577, to the Lady Elizabeth

Dacre, the ages of both together being short of eight-and-twenty. During the
whole of the reign of Elizabeth, however, he and the several other members
of his family were cruelly oppressed—subjected repeatedly to charges of
treason, and kept in a state of poverty “very grievous to bear.” On the
accession of James the Second their prospects brightened. Lord William was
received into special favour; and, about the year 1603, turned his attention to
the repairs of his Baronial Castle of Naworth—removing thither various
paintings and articles of furniture from mansions still more neglected or
dilapidated. Almost immediately afterwards he made it his permanent
residence, having been—probably in the year 1605—appointed to the office
of the King’s Lieutenant and Warden of the Marches.[9] The onerous and
difficult duties imposed upon him he discharged, it would seem, with equal
fearlessness and severity: so that, to quote from Fuller, “when in their
greatest height, the moss-troopers had two fierce enemies—the laws of the
land and Lord William Howard of Naworth, who sent many of them to
Carlisle, that place where the officer always does his work by daylight.”
Although formidable to his enemies, the Lord William was fervent and
faithful to his friends. His attachment to his Lady (whom he survived but a
year) was “of the truest affection, esteem, and friendship;” and his love of
letters, and the refined pursuits of leisure and ease, rendered him remarkable,
even among the intellectual men of the period. To the courage of the soldier,
“Belted Will” added the courtesy of the scholar, and, although “the Tamer of
the wild Border” has been often pictured as a ferocious man-slayer,
incapable of pity, history does him only justice in describing him as a model
of chivalry, when chivalry was the leading characteristic of the age. He died
in 1640, leaving issue by the “Lady Bessie” ten sons and five daughters—the
eldest being the ancestor of the Earls of Carlisle.
This Border Castle—the Caste of “Bauld Wyllie”—remains then, as we
have said, one of the least impaired and most interesting of the feudal
dwellings of Ancient England. It is nearly quadrangular in form; of
prodigious strength; and many indications of its early defences yet remain.
The only access to it is from the south, on which side it lies low, and presents
its principal front, “extending two hundred and eight feet.” Formerly
(according to a MS. dated 1675), “it was surrounded by pleasant woods and
gardens; ground full of fallow dear, feeding all somer time,—brave venison
pasties; with great store of reed dear on the mountains, and white wild cattle,

with black eares only, on the moores; and black heath-cockes, and brown
more-cockes, and their pootes.”
The interior is even more primitive in character than the exterior. “The
long Gallery” (which Mr. Cattermole has pictured), “extending one hundred
and sixteen feet in length, is filled with many curious and interesting
antiquities; among them are said to be the saddle, gloves, and belt of “Belted
Will Howard.” It contains also various portraits of Members of the heroic
race. The old windows are narrow and grated,

and the doors almost wholly cased with iron, moving on ponderous hinges,
and with massive bolts, which ‘make a harsh and horrid clang that echoes
fearfully through the winding passages.’ ‘The Great Hall,’ measuring 70 feet
by 24, is lighted by a range of windows, placed high up near the ceiling, and
a large oriel window at the southern end. The ceiling is formed of wood
panels in large squares, in number above one hundred, on which are painted
portraits of the Saxon Kings, and the Sovereigns of

G. Cattermole, Del Stone by W. Walton M & N Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ
NAWORTH, CUMBERLAND.

England, down to the Union of the Houses of York and Lancaster, with
many other noble personages; ‘they have, however, no recommendation but
their antiquity.’ The Minstrels’ Gallery has been removed. In the Dining Hall
are two portraits of the Lady of Lord William—one in her fourteenth year,
just after she became a bride; the other when her years were three-score ten
and three. The Chapel retains much of its original condition—a pulpit and
stall of oak, and a painted window, exhibiting a Knight and Dame kneeling,
being among the most remarkable objects that yet endure. The apartments of
Lord William Howard are, however, those to which the chief interest is
attached. They are entered at the east end of the long Gallery. The approach
to them was secured by iron-bound doors, several in succession, containing
numerous huge bolts, running far into the stone work. The strongest defends
a narrow winding staircase, up which only one person can pass; a short dark

passage leads to the bed-chamber; (pictured on the opposite page) in which
the ‘original furniture’ is preserved.”[10] Among the rest, the plain and simple
bed on which, it is said, belted Will slept. Above the stone mantel-piece are
three sculptured shields with the arms of the Dacres. Above the bed-room,
reached by the narrow stone staircase referred to, are the Library and the
Oratory of Lord William.
The Library, here pictured, still contains some curious MSS., with a large
collection

of rare old books, many of them having the autograph of Lord William. “Not
a book has been added,” according to Pennant, “since his days.” The
windows of this apartment are narrow, and are reached by an ascent of three
steps:—“such was the caution of the times.” The ceiling is richly carved; the

corbels and bosses being embellished with armorial devices; the skirting of
the room is of oak, “black from age.” Lord William was—as he is styled by
Camden, “a lover of the venerable antiquities,” and in this apartment much
of his leisure time was spent.[11]
The other Chamber which tradition closely associates with the memory of
the Lord William, is “the Oratory,” situated near the Library. “It is fitted up
with plain

wainscot, painted red, and ornamented with escallop-shells and cross-
crosslets—armorial devices of the Dacres and the Howards. There are also
some fragments of what is supposed to have been the rich screen of the
Rood-loft of Lanercost Priory Church, consisting of carved ornaments of
pierced work, in wood, richly painted and gilt, nailed up on the walls of the

apartment.” The Confessional is a small dark closet within the Oratory,
unfurnished. The dungeons of the Castle consist of “four dens, under the
great square Tower at the south-west angle.” They “instil horror into the
beholder:” there is no chink or crevice for the admission of light; and, in one
of the cells, a ring, to which prisoners were chained, is still appended to the
wall. In a note to “The Legend of Montrose,” Sir Walter Scott states that a
private staircase led to these dungeons from the apartment of Lord William.
The author of a little book, “A Guide to Naworth and Lanercost,” from
which we have borrowed some of our details, sought for this passage in vain.
Few of the ancient Baronial dwellings of our English nobles possess a
deeper interest than that of Naworth. It supplies a striking and emphatic
illustration of the rude and lawless period of its erection, when security was
the object chiefly aimed at; but mingling adornment with strength, and being
a refinement upon the cheerless and gloomy structures of the Anglo-Norman
chiefs; “expanding into a mixture of the castle and the mansion;” and
marking the splendour of our early nobles, “before they exchanged the
hospitable magnificence of a life spent among a numerous tenantry, for the
uncertain honours of Court attendance, and the equivocal rewards of
ministerial favour.” To borrow an eloquent passage from the “Border
Antiquities:” “The vast and solid mansions of our ancient nobility were like
their characters—greatness without elegance; strength without refinement;
but lofty, firm, and commanding.”

Day & Son, Lithʳˢ to The Queen.

H AD DON HAL L ,

DERBYSHIRE.

ADDON is, in the Domesday Book,
mentioned as a berewick in the
manor of Bakewell; it was granted by
the Conqueror to his natural son,
William Peverel, and it is not
improbable that some parts of the
present building were constructed
about that time. It remained in the
possession of the Peverels two
generations only, and was then
granted by one of the family to a retainer named Avenell,[12] on the tenure of
knight’s service. In the reign of Richard I., or that of John, it again changed
owners, passing by the marriage of the coheiresses of the Avenells into the
families of Vernon and Bassett. “The heiress of Vernon, in the reign of Henry
III., married Gilbert le Francis, whose son Richard took the name of Vernon,
and died, in 1296, at the age of twenty-nine. This Richard was common
ancestor to the Vernons of Haddon, Stokesay, Hodnet, Sudbury, &c.”
Haddon continued a joint possession of these two families until in or before
the reign of Henry VI., when the whole became vested in the Vernons, who
had purchased Bassett’s moiety.
Haddon was in the possession of the Vernons more than three centuries
and a half, and several of its lords held situations of great interest and
responsibility. Sir Richard Vernon is mentioned as Speaker of the Parliament
held at Leicester in 1425; and his son, also named Richard, was the last
person who held for life the important office of Constable of England. The
grandson of the latter, Sir Henry Vernon, had charge of the education of
Prince Arthur, son of Henry VIII., and is said to have had his royal pupil
residing with him for some time at Haddon. Sir George Vernon, the last of
this branch of the family, was distinguished for his magnificent style of
living, the number of his retinue, and unbounded hospitality, which procured
for him the appellation of “King of the Peak.” His possessions amounted to
thirty manors, all of which on his death, in 1565, descended to his two

daughters, Margaret and Dorothy. On a division of the property, the
Derbyshire estates were assigned to Dorothy, the younger of the coheiresses,
who married Sir John Manners, second son of Thomas first earl of Rutland,
ancestor of the present noble owner, his Grace the Duke of Rutland.
Haddon was a favourite place of residence of the Earls of Rutland, and
also of the first Duke, who was raised to that dignity by Queen Anne, in
1703, and who, during the life of his father, was summoned to Parliament by
writ, as Baron Manners of Haddon.[13]
The first Duke resided here in great state, maintaining seven score
servants, and keeping Christmas with open house, as his father had done
before him, “in the true style of old English hospitality.”[14] In the reign of
Queen Anne, the family finally quitted Haddon as a place of residence, and
in 1760 the old hall was despoiled of nearly all its moveable furniture, which
was taken to Belvoir Castle, where it still remains. Since that period Haddon
has been carefully preserved, and, except on one or two occasions, when the
festivities of the place were for a moment revived, a solemn stillness has
reigned throughout its precincts, broken only by the tread of the occasional
visitor.
The Hall occupies a situation of extreme beauty, being placed on a bold
shelving
mass of limestone, at the base of which runs the river Wye. It is surrounded
by well-grown woods, and offers an almost infinite variety of rich subjects
for the artist. It has much of the appearance of an old fortress, but is in
reality little fitted for defence; the greater part of the present building having
been erected by the Vernons and Manners in times when moral force and law
had happily taken the place of the tenure by which property was maintained
in earlier ages. The buildings cover a considerable space of ground, and are
arranged in the form of a double square, enclosing two quadrangular courts.
The entrance-tower, at the north-west corner, is one of the more ancient parts
of the structure. The entrance is by a large arched gateway, leading to a flight
of old dilapidated steps, on ascending which the visitor finds himself in the
first great court.
The interior of the building has been so well and so minutely described
by Mr. King, in the “Archæologia,” that we will transfer some of his remarks
to our pages. Beginning, then, with this tower, he says:—

“The approach is by a steep hill, which a horse can scarcely climb, and
which continues quite to the great arched gateway that forms the entrance:
this is directly under a high tower, and seems originally to have had double
gates. From hence you pass into a large square court, entirely surrounded by
the apartments, and paved with flat stones. But you ascend it, at the corner,
by a flight of angular steps, just within the gate, in such a manner that it is
impossible to have admittance otherwise than on foot, and no horse or
carriage could ever approach the door of the house. After crossing this court,
you come to a second flight of steps, which lead up directly to the great
porch, under a small tower, on passing through which you find yourself
behind the screen of the Great Hall,—a room that was originally considered
as the public dining-room for the lord and his guests, and, indeed, after them,
for the whole family; for, in tracing the ancient apartments, there appears
manifestly to have been none besides of sufficient magnitude for either the
one purpose or the other.” From this hall a flight of steps leads to the upper
chambers.

Over the doorway of the porch of the Great Hall are the arms of the
Vernons and of Fulco de Pembridge, Lord of Tonge, in Shropshire; the latter
Sir Richard Vernon was entitled to in right of his wife, who was the daughter
and sole heiress of Sir Fulk de Pembridge. From this circumstance, it has
been conjectured that he built this part of the house.
The provision made in the adjoining offices for the convenience and
attendance of the several servants of the household is very curious. On the
left hand of the great door of entrance, directly behind the hall screen, are
four large doorways, with high pointed arches, extending, in a row, the
whole length of the hall, and facing the upper end. The first of these still
retains its ancient door of strong oak, with a little wicket in the middle, just
big enough to put a trencher in or out, and was clearly the butler’s station;

for the room within still retains a vast old chest of oak, with divisions for
bread, a large old cupboard for cheese, and a number of shelves for butter.
“Besides, out of this apartment (which is itself spacious, and separate from
the rest of the house) is a passage, down steps, to a large vaulted room,
arched with stone, and supported by pillars, like the crypt of a church,
which, though very light and airy, was cool, and manifestly designed for the
beer-cellar, there being still remains of a raised low benching of stonework
all round, sufficient to hold a prodigious number of casks, and a neat stone
drain all along before it, underneath, to carry away any droppings. Through
this great arched room is also another passage to what was obviously the
brewhouse and bakehouse, where are remains of places for vast coppers,
coolers, and ovens. Near adjoining are store-rooms for corn and malt, and a
communication from thence with the outside of the building for bringing in
of stores. But in other respects this whole suite of offices was quite
unconnected with the other offices, and had no kind of communication either
with them or with the rest of the mansion, except by the door of entrance
near the hall, in which is the little wicket.”
The second pointed arch—next to the buttery, and facing the hall in like
manner—is the entrance of a long, narrow passage, leading, with a continued
descent, to the great kitchen, and having in the midway an half door, or
hatch, with a broad shelf on the top of it, whereupon to place dishes; to
which, and no further, the servants in waiting were to have access. “The
next, being the third of the great pointed arches, behind the screen, at the
bottom of the hall, opens merely into one very small vaulted room,
unconnected with any other: that was clearly the wine-cellar; which
(according to the frugality and ideas of early times, when wine was
considered merely as a cordial and dram) needed to be but small.” The
fourth great arch is at the bottom of a great steep staircase, quite distinct
from the grand staircase of the house, and leading up to a prodigious variety
of small apartments, which seem to have been designed for the reception of
guests and numerous retainers, there being others, of a still inferior sort, in
other parts of the house, for servants; especially in the range of building
opposite to the great door of the hall.
Such was the use of these four great arches behind the hall screen, and we
may with great propriety conceive, that they were the stations of the butler,
the clerk of the kitchen, the cellarer, and the chamberlain, or steward of the
household, of this great family. “The provision for the officers and attendants

being so great, we shall yet find here, as in all very ancient mansions, that
the apartments of the lord of the castle (or what we should now call the state
apartments) were very few in number, and little adequate to the rest,
according to our modern and more refined ideas.”
The great hall of entrance, just described, was the only large apartment
for dining. At the upper end remains the raised floor, where the table for the
lord and his principal guests was placed; and along one side of the hall, and
also over the screen at the lower end, is a gallery, supported by pillars; from
whence (when the lord and his company had retired to the apartments above,
and the inferior members of the family had supplied their places) the country
guests and their hospitable hosts occasionally beheld the revels.
The Great Hall still contains the old oaken table, at which the lord feasted
his more

favoured guests. The Minstrel’s Gallery is carved and panelled, and
ornamented in the true old fashion, with the antlers of stags—memorials of
the chase. There is no ceiling; the roof and rafters are exposed to view; the
fireplaces are large; and the walls are wainscoted all round, to a certain
height. From this great hall, at the upper end, in the corner on the left hand,

are two passages; one opening upon the terraces in the garden, inviting the
guests to refresh themselves; and the other leading to the grand staircase, and
the principal apartments above.
“This staircase is formed of large blocks of stone; which can hardly be
said to be
eith
er
join
ted
or
join
ed,
and
fro
m
the
top
of
it,
on
the
righ
t,
you
ente
r
wha
t we
sho
uld
now
call a drawing-room, hung with arras, and having a large bow-window as the
only light to it, at one corner, and a little door at the other, behind the arras,
leading into the gallery just mentioned, which goes round two sides of the
hall. This room, however, (whatever name we might now give it) was called
the Dining-room, and probably had that appellation because the lord of the
mansion did, even originally, on some particular occasions, here entertain a

few of his visitors of high dignity and rank; and because afterwards, in latter
ages, it became more commonly appropriated to that purpose, when greater
distinction was ordinarily made between the guests.”
This room is low; the ceiling is divided by five beams, which were once
gilt and otherwise decorated. It has a rich cornice, and the walls are covered
with oak wainscoting. It contains a fine oriel window, decorated with arms,
emblems of the chase, and royal portraits, said to be those of Henry VII. and
his queen, whose son, Prince Arthur, as we have seen, was partly educated
here. In this room is a portrait of the king’s jester, “Will Somers.” Under a
carving of the royal arms is the following pithy exhortation, in old English,
Drede God and honor the King; a right good old-fashioned mode of
exhibiting moral precepts, a custom more honored in the observance than the
breach.
“On the left of the passage, at the head of the great stairs, you ascend
again by five or six enormous semicircular steps (framed of solid masses of
timber, as ill joined as the stone steps), to a fine long gallery, 110 feet in
length, and 17 in width, which is now all wainscoted, in a curious manner,
with fine oak, the frieze being adorned with boars’ heads, thistles, and roses.
This wainscoting, though modern in comparison with the antiquity of the
house, is yet become in these days very ancient, and conveys an excellent
idea of the magnificence of the intermediate ages. There is a great square
recess in the midst of the gallery, of fifteen feet by twelve, besides several
great bow-windows; and the whole puts one very much in mind of the
galleries in the old palaces in France, so often mentioned by Sully and the
French historians.”
This magnificent Gallery, or ball-room, is said to have been erected in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth. It occupies the whole south side of the inner court.
Its narrowness seriously impairs what is otherwise a very beautiful design:
its height is fifteen feet. The floor is of oak, respecting which tradition gives
a curious story; to the effect

From a drawing by T. Allom. Day & Son, Lithʳˢ to The Queen.

that the boards were all furnished from one tree that grew in the garden, and
that its roots were cut into the circular steps by which entrance to the gallery
is gained. The windows contain the armorial devices of the successive
owners, and those of Prince Arthur. The ceiling is extremely beautiful,
graceful, and elegant, in a high degree,
and is a fair specimen of an age that, more than any other, produced
wonderful designs of this description. The architecture of Elizabeth and
James had nothing to shew more beautiful than its ceilings. From this gallery
a short passage leads to a room named by Mr. King “My lord’s parlour,” but
on insufficient authority. From this apartment there is a passage, through ill-
framed doors, to a flight of stairs, leading down to the principal terrace of the
garden.
The “garden at Haddon” has been time out of mind a treasure-store of the
English landscape-painter; one of the most favourite “bits” being “Dorothy

Vernon’s
walk,” with the
door out of
which tradition
describes her
as escaping to
meet her lover,
Sir John
Manners, with
whom she
eloped.[15]
“All these
rooms, except
the gallery,
were hung
with loose
arras, a great
part of which
still remains;
and the doors
were
concealed
everywhere
behind the
hangings, so
that the
tapestry was to
be lifted up to
pass in or out;
only for
convenience there were great iron hooks (many of which are still in their
places), by means whereof it might occasionally be held back. Few of these
doors fit close, and wooden bolts, rude bars, and iron hasps, are in general
their best and only fastenings. Besides the gallery, the dining-room, and
these three apartments, there were only two others, and those but small ones,
which could be said to belong at all to the principal suite. One of these
apartments, however, is very remarkable; having an odd cornice, with a deep

quadruple frieze, three or four feet in depth, if not more, formed of plaster,
and adorned with a running foliage of leaves and flowers, in four
compartments, like bands, or fillets, one above another. The room is hung
with arras, as the others are; but from a quaint sort of neatness appearing in
the whole of it more than in them (we quote again from Mr. King), “I am
much inclined to call it my lady’s chamber. There is, behind the tapestry, the
door I mentioned, leading to a steep flight of narrow steps, which descend
into the great court, not far from the arch belonging to the chapel, and which
gave her an opportunity of going thither rather a nearer way than the rest of
the family, and without crossing so much of the great court. All the rest of
this great pile of building (containing another large square court besides that
we have been speaking of) is filled with small trifling apartments, not one of
which deserves description, but which formed a labyrinth almost as
inextricable as that of Crete, and which could be of no use but to lodge a vast
host of dependents, retainers, and servants.”
The Chapel is placed at the south-west corner of the Hall. It is of great
antiquity, and
contains many objects of interest, although it is of comparatively small size.
It has a body and two aisles: the pulpit and reading-desk are on the left side.
The pews of the family are high, of rich old oak, which was originally gilt.
There is, also, a rich Gothic window, which formerly contained much
painted glass, of old date, part of which was stolen some years ago. The roof
was reconstructed in 1624 by Sir George Manners. Part of the chapel is
exhibited in the appended engraving.
One remark only we have space to add. The evil hands that have fallen
upon so many of our national edifices have spared Haddon; the ruthless
improvements of “classic Goths” have been forbidden here. This we owe to
the noble house of Rutland: who claim, therefore, a debt of gratitude alike
from those who love nature and those who venerate antiquity.

W. Walton, Del et lith. M & N Hanhart Lithogʳˢ.
HARDWICK HALL, DERBYSHIRE.

HAR D WI CK E HAL L ,

DERBYSHIRE.

ardwicke Hall is situated about six miles from
Chesterfield, and the same distance from Mansfield, in
the picturesque and beautiful shire of Derby. The name
does not occur in Domesday Book: Hardwicke, at the
Conquest, formed part of the manor of Steinesby, which
was granted to Roger of Poictou; by King John it was
transferred to Andrew De Beauchamp; in 1258 it passed
to William De Steynesby, whose grandson, John, died
possessed of it in 1330. Soon afterwards, the family De
Hardwicke were here established, and remained in
possession for six generations: their pedigree closes with Elizabeth
Hardwicke, the wife of Sir William Cavendish; and Hardwicke, with its
princely domains, has continued in the possession of her lineal descendants,
through the noble family of Cavendish, to their representative, the owner of
the Mansion and Estate, His Grace the Duke of Devonshire and Baron
Cavendish of Hardwicke.
Previous to the erection of the present Hall, a still more magnificent
structure existed here; but, from vestiges of the ruins which yet remain, its
date is not placed at a very remote period from that of the building we
describe, which was erected between the years 1590 and 1597, by the lady of
Sir William Cavendish, then the relict of the Earl of Shrewsbury.[16] The
character of the founder is thus recorded by Lodge:—“She was a woman of
a masculine understanding and conduct; proud, furious, selfish, and
unfeeling; who lived to a great old age, and died immensely rich, without a
friend;” Fuller writes of her as “a woman of undaunted spirit;” while her
monument, in All Saints’ Church, Derby, describes her as “beautiful and
discreet.” She was the wife of four husbands—but had issue by only one, the
founder of the famous family of Cavendish.
Hardwicke has, for a very long period, derived romantic interest from the
popular belief that it was one of the prisons of the lovely and persecuted
Queen of Scots. It is, however, certain, that although for a time in the
custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, she never was immured at Hardwicke,

her prison having been one of the Earl’s “strong castles at Sheffield;” where
she passed twelve weary years in “melyncholy and grefe,” in “sickness and
despair”—the victim of unceasing suspicion, “in the hopeless monotony of
sedentary employment, with an impaired constitution and a restless mind”—
treated with so much severity by the Countess as to extort from the more
humane Earl, in one of his petitions to the Queen, a complaint against his
“wyked and malysious wyfe.”[17]
The House, which has undergone no material change since the time of its
erection, according to Lysons, “exhibits a most complete specimen of the
domestic architecture which prevailed among the higher ranks during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth;” and it remains in its original state, “with little or
no alteration.” The Poet Gray, adopting the popular error, pictures it as so
primitive in character that “one might think the Scottish Mary was but just
walked down into the Park;” and Mrs. Radcliffe, who described the mansion
at some length in her “Tour to the Lakes,” (1795,) notes the “proud, yet
gentle and melancholy look of the Queen as she slowly passed up the Hall,”
and contrasts it with the “somewhat obsequious, yet jealous and vigilant air”
of my Lord Keeper Shrewsbury.
The name of the Architect who designed and superintended Hardwicke is
unknown; “Gerard Christmas, John Thorpe, and the Smithsons, father and
son, who built Wollaton Hall, in the vicinity, present a probable claim to this
monument of their professional talents.” It is built of stone, and round the
top is a parapet of open work, in which frequently appear the initials of the
founder—E. S.—“memorials of the proud Dame’s vanity.” The principal
front comprehends two hundred and eight feet in extent.
The structure crowns the summit of a small hill, that commands an
extensive view of the adjacent country, and overlooks a valley of vast extent,
which combines every component of the best English scenery. The eminence
rises somewhat abruptly but very gracefully, and terminates in a terrace,
from whence the prospect is inconceivably grand and beautiful. Looking
over the tops of magnificently grown oaks and yews, and other forest trees,
with which the slopes, immediately beneath, are thickly studded, the eye
ranges over a wide-spreading landscape, to which Nature has been
abundantly bountiful; and the whole is bounded by the far-famed Peak.
The mansion is of great extent—massive and firm in construction;
solemn and stately grandeur is the great characteristic of the time-honoured
pile; its general form is square; at each corner is a high tower, square also.

The exterior retains all the peculiar features of the age of its erection. The
Entrance Hall is large, and fitted up with oak wainscotting and rich old
tapestry—said to have been woven from the designs of Rubens. It contains a
statue, by Westmacott, of the unhappy Queen whose melancholy history is
so intimately associated with that of the founder of Hardwicke. The Minstrel
Gallery is still there, recalling the days of its ancient hospitality and festivity.
The litho-tint print, from a drawing by Mr. Lake Price, exhibits one of the
finest of the apartments—the State-room, or Presence-chamber; the walls are
partly of wainscot and partly hung with tapestry—an adornment with which
the rooms at Hardwicke are profusely enriched. The cabinets, chairs, and
other articles of furniture, are in admirable keeping; and among them is a
large table of the time of Elizabeth, curiously inlaid with an odd mixture of
heraldic badges, musical instruments, and games. The State-bed shown in
the centre of the picture was brought hither from Chatsworth; it is never
used, but is kept “for show.” The Picture Gallery extends in length 169 feet;
and is filled with family portraits. Scattered about this Gallery are

curious specimens of ancient furniture. Among them is an interesting couch,
which is said to have belonged to the old House. It is of plain but elegant

design: the cushions being elaborately wrought in silk and gold on velvet,
that may almost be said to be falling to pieces with age.
The passages and two principal staircases are broad, massive, and
commodious; here, as in all other parts of the mansion, every available space
is covered with tapestry, pictures, rich carved work, or subjects in relief. The
house may, indeed, be likened to a richly illuminated black-letter history;
every wall tells a story, and every piece of furniture suggests one,—all being
of a quaint but impressive character, and in happy unison with each other
and with the genius of the place. On the whole, perhaps this famous house is,
in all parts and points, as deeply interesting a relic of the olden time as can
be found in England. It is a treasury of antiquities, where, in a brief hour or
two, a rich store of knowledge may be gained of the size, general character,
furniture, and appointments of an English mansion of the seventeenth
century.
The old Hall, as we have observed, stands very close to that which, for
the purpose
of distinction, is styled “the new;” although much of it remains in a tolerably
safe condition, it is somewhat perilous to explore the interior. A correct idea
may be formed of its present state from the annexed engraving. Some of its
windows still contain the old rough glass of diamond shapes set in lead; but,
for the most part, they offer free ingress and egress to the winds, and succour
to the ivy that twists luxuriantly about the mouldering mullions and broken
walls, reaching above the ruins of even the highest summits. The only
specimens of its interior decorations now existing, are
subjects in relief over the fire-places, and the most remarkable of these is in
a large room on the upper floor. We engrave one of them, taken from a lower
room.
The gratitude of all who venerate Antiquity, and enjoy the refreshment
derived from ancient Art, is due to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, who
freely permits the visits of those who desire to examine the two structures—
the old and the new. Unceasing care and vigilance are exercised to keep
them in order, and prevent as far as possible the inroads of Time. This object
is not achieved without great expense; expense incurred entirely to give
pleasure to others—the thousands by whom the seat of his ancestors is
examined every summer. We deeply lament to add, that utterly unworthy
persons occasionally obtain access to the apartments—that fellows who
richly merit a flogging at the cart’s tail, have defaced many of the

decorations by scrawling upon them, not only their own degraded names, but
words even more deserving the epithet “infamous.”

F.W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
FORD HOUSE, DEVONSHIRE.

F OR D E HO U S E ,

DEVONSHIRE.

orde House, surrounded by lofty hills, rests in the centre of a
lawn of considerable extent, having at its eastern extremity a
beautiful sheet of water, distant about a mile from the town of
Newton Abbott, at the foot of Milbourne Down. Although this
ancient and celebrated mansion is not externally profuse in
architectural decoration, it affords an accurate idea of the
residences of the gentry in the reign of James I. Its elevation
exhibits great simplicity, with a tendency to decoration,
shewing an immense improvement in the style of building, compared with
the heavy and incongruous houses of the previous era; its principal front
having a centre with two wings, the central

projection being ornamented with a cupola or belltower; whilst numerous
large windows, having their compartments divided by stone mullions, give
to it a character which time has not altered.
It was erected in the year 1610 by Sir Richard Reynell, Knt., second son
of Richard Reynell, Esq., of East Ogwell. Risdon, in his “Survey of Devon,”
gives the following account of Forde:—“Within the parish of Wolborough is
Forde, fairly seated, which, at the surrender of such structures, was
purchased by Taverick, whose heirs were wedded to Drew, Marshall, and
Hayman; they alienated their estate to Sir Richard Reynell, Knt., a
flourishing branch of the house of Ogwell, who has beautified the old
buildings with new edifices; and having issue one only daughter, Jane,
wedded her according to her worth, to Sir William Waller, Knt., descended
from an ancient family in Kent.” The daughter and heiress of Sir W. Waller,
Margaret, married Sir W. Courtenay, a direct ancestor of the present Earl of
Devon, a nobleman universally beloved; since which period it has continued
in the Courtenay family.
Respecting the interior of the house, although much has been done to
render it adapted to modern habits, still much remains of its former state to
give a correct idea of byegone days; its magnificent ceilings, its oaken
staircase, its panelled hall, and massive doors, tend to recall those times
when grandeur and security were more considered than the finished
decorations of the present day. The Hall is entered by a low stone porch,
which forms the central projection of the house; it is thirty feet long and
twenty feet wide. It is lighted by two large mullion-latticed windows, having
inserted in stained glass the arms of Reynell, Waller, and Courtenay. It is
wainscoted throughout, and the fireplace stands in relief, having for its base
two doric columns, which support a superstructure of smaller

columns, with
elaborate
decoration. The
ceiling is formed
into a variety of
geometrical figures,
and ornamented
with numerous
allegorical subjects,
whilst a deep frieze,
consisting of
winged horses in
plaster, meet the
wainscoted sides of
the Hall.
A finely carved
oaken staircase, of
considerable width,
the balustrades of
which are massive
and highly
decorated, leads to
the Great Drawing-
room, and to King
Charles’ Bed-
chamber. Its disused
bed and antique
chairs add to the
interest of the place,
and remind the
visitor of its former illustrious occupant. It may be justly said of Forde, that
it has lost little of its pristine interest by the modern alterations it has
undergone.
For many years past Forde has had various occupiers. At present it is let
on lease to Henry Cartwright, Esq., a gentleman much respected. In 1844,
Mr. Cartwright served the office of high-sheriff, and since then has
continued an active Justice of the Peace.

The family of Cartwright is among the most ancient of the British
Commoners; as we find that Sir Hugh Cartwright, temp. Edward, led the van
at the battle of Poictiers; and in the reign of Henry VII., 1485, by the
marriage of Hugh Cartwright with Matilda Cove, four great branches
sprung; one of whom, William, Captain in the Navy (temp. Charles I.),
obeying the authority of his Royal Master against that of the Parliament, was
by the latter deprived of his honours, and, dying in poverty, left an only son,
William, the great-great-grandfather of the present occupier of Forde, who
settled in Devonshire soon after the Reformation. By maternal descent, Mr.
Cartwright is joint representative of the ancient and ennobled family of
Anson. His grandfather, W. Anson, was first cousin of the Hon. Lord Anson,
and last male branch of the Anson family. Mr. Cartwright married Miss
Minet, daughter of J. Minet, of Baldwyn’s Park, Kent, Esq., and grand-
daughter of Sir Charles Pole, Bart., of Wolverton, by whom he has issue
Anson, Reginald, and others.

F.W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.

SHERBORNE LODGE, DORSET.

S HE R BO R NE L OD G E ,

DORSETSHIRE.

herborne Lodge, now the seat of Earl Digby, stands upon a
rising ground, at a little distance from the ancient castle. It is
surrounded by a large park, which, according to Leland, was in
his time “inclosed with a stone waulle.” The Lodge is built on a
singular plan, in the form of the letter H, with hexagonal towers
at the four corners, and two others on each side of the centre of
the principal front. The general appearance of the building is
peculiar rather than picturesque; but, notwithstanding, it offers
much that is interesting and worthy of admiration. The centre
part is said to have been built by Sir Walter Raleigh, who, “by
his merit and the royal favour,” obtained a grant of the Manor
and Castle of Sherbourne, and many other lands belonging to the See of
Sarum. He is said to have spent much time here, beginning “very fairly to
repair the castle” (the ruins of which still remain); but, altering his purpose,
“he built in the park adjoining to it, from the ground, a most fine house,
which he beautified with orchards, gardens, and groves of much variety and
delight,” so that for the “pleasantness of the seat and the delicacies
belonging to it, it is unparalleled by any in these parts.” Notwithstanding
these laudations of what Sir Walter had done, he appears to have left much
of his plan incomplete.[18] Two wings were added soon after the Restoration,
by the Earl of Bristol, who appears to have drawn freely on the ruins of the
castle for the required materials.
The house contains many interesting and valuable pictures, chiefly
portraits of remarkable historical personages. Among them is a good
specimen of Cornelius Jansen; a portrait of Elizabeth, Countess of
Southampton; also a portrait of Henry, first Earl Digby, by Sir Joshua
Reynolds. But the most remarkable is a picture of the famous procession of
Queen Elizabeth to visit Lord Hunsdon, at Hunsdon House, in Hertfordshire;
she is carried in an open sedan by eight of her principal noblemen. Vertue
ascribes this picture to Gerard, her majesty’s painter.
Sir Walter is said to have used unfair means to gain possession of this
property, “being

charged with having persuaded Bishop Coldwell to pass it to the Crown, on
his election to the See of Salisbury, after which Sir Walter obtained a grant
of it;” which, however, in the end proved a snare to himself, for it excited
envious and malignant feelings in his fellow-courtiers, whose machinations
were not without influence in promoting his subsequent disgrace and death.
In a letter to his wife, written after his condemnation, he desires her to
procure his dead body, and lay it either at Sherborne or in Exeter church, by
his father and mother. It does not appear that he was buried at either place.
The grounds around the Lodge and Castle ruins were laid out and
“improved” by Brown, of whose skill in landscape gardening they present a
fair example; of which one of the most noticeable features is a large artificial
lake, formed by confining within the grounds what was formerly an
inconsiderable stream, but which is now considered one of the most
beautiful and extensive pieces of water in the west of England.
Sherborne contains several interesting remains, of which we have given
two,—the Abbey
House (introduced above) and an old mansion in St. Swithin’s Street; the
latter conspicuous for a beautiful oriel window. The whole neighbourhood is,

indeed, rich in antiquities, of a rare and curious order; not the less valuable
because of their association with the romantic history of one of the most
remarkable men of a remarkable age; in particular we may make reference to
an ancient dwelling, now a country inn, which supplies abundant evidence of
former state and splendour; although now applied to “base uses” of which its
founders must have had little apprehension.

J.D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithog{rs}.
AUDLEY END, ESSEX.

AUD L E Y E ND ,

ESSEX.

udley End, the most celebrated of the mansions in
Essex, takes its name from Sir Thomas Audley,
Chancellor to King Henry VIII., to whom the Abbey of
Walden and most of the lands at the west end of the
parish had been granted at the Dissolution by Henry
VIII.; and who is believed to have fixed his residence
there, although, as Lord Braybrooke remarks in his
history of this house, “the fact cannot now be
established. Horace Walpole, notwithstanding, and,
after him, Mr. Gough, assumed that Audley Inn was
the original designation; but for this assertion no authority whatever is
adduced: not to mention that many of the neighbouring hamlets are still
distinguished by the names of North End, Sewer’s End, Sparrow’s End, &c.;
and that similar instances frequently occur in different parts of the County of
Essex.”
The manor of Walden having been originally granted to the celebrated
follower of William the Conqueror, Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex,
after many mutations, again reverted to the crown, and so remained till May
1538; when it was granted by Henry VIII., with the recently dissolved Abbey
of Walden, and the greatest part of the advowsons and estates belonging to
that foundation, to Sir Thomas Audley, from whom are descended the Earls
of Suffolk, Berkshire, and Carlisle, the Earls and present Marquis of Bristol,
and the Lords Howard de Walden; besides the Earls of Binden and Lords
Howard of Escrick, whose titles are extinct.
Sir Thomas Audley, a clever and crafty man, was the principal instrument
in the hands of the king in effecting the dissolution of the religious houses;
by which he also greatly enriched himself, for the rapacity of Henry never
exceeded that of Sir Thomas, who was all his life employed in asking for
grants and emoluments, under the plea of ill-paid services or absolute
poverty—an excuse as disgusting as it was untrue; and nothing can exceed
the fawning perseverance of his begging-letters, as printed by Lord
Braybrooke in his “History of Audley End,” or the meanness of soul that

runs throughout them, and which his lordship, with right feeling, does not do
otherwise than unequivocally condemn. The first step in the king’s favour
made by Sir Thomas (after he was, at the recommendation of the Duke of
Suffolk, to whom he was steward or chancellor, introduced to Henry) was
occasioned by his conduct as Speaker of the Long, or Black Parliament, to
which office the king had caused him to be elected, which first sat in
November 1529, and continuing, by prorogation, six years, effected the
dissolution of all the religious houses whose revenues did not annually
exceed 200l.
“To enable us justly to appreciate the importance of this measure, it must not be forgotten that by
this one act three hundred and seventy-six monasteries were simultaneously suppressed, and their
revenues, of the yearly value of 32,000l., placed at the king’s disposal, together with their personal
property, amounting to 100,000l.; and so absolute was the monarch’s authority, and so abject the
servility of his Parliament, under the guidance of their Speaker, that no opposition was offered to the
bill during its progress through the House of Commons. We may easily imagine that Henry was not a
little pleased with these proceedings; and Audley’s services became so necessary to him that he was,
in the ensuing year, constituted Attorney-General for the duchy of Lancaster, and, in November
following, made King’s Sergeant; and so rapid was his promotion, that, on the 20th of May, 1532, we
find him, upon the resignation of Sir Thomas More, knighted, and appointed Keeper of the Great Seal;
and, in January 26, 1532-3, Lord Chancellor. In the exercise of his new functions Audley proved as
subservient to the wishes of his royal master as he had shewn himself upon all former occasions; and
having, while Speaker, gratified the king, as well as the people, by passing six bills to restrain the
power of the clergy, and greatly forwarded the measure of dissolving the lesser religious
establishments, he now undertook the arduous task of obtaining the surrender of the more wealthy
foundations; and in this enterprise his endeavours were shortly crowned with complete success; and,
before the expiration of two years, the king found himself in possession of all the remaining monastic
establishments, producing, with those already dissolved, an annual income, according to Hume, of
142,914l.”[19]

Henry thus acquired ample funds for the remuneration of those ministers
and favourites who had been the instruments of his tyranny, and who had
ensured the consummation of his grand designs; amongst these Audley, as
the principal actor, was not forgotten, and he revelled in the church
spoliation he had ensured his master. The rich priory of Christ Church,
Aldgate, with all the church plate and lands belonging to that house, was
first granted him; and afterwards many portions of the estates previously
belonging to the lesser religious houses of Essex, with licenses to alienate
them, of which he duly availed himself. Thus St. Botolph’s priory at
Colchester, with all its revenues, the priory of the Crouched Friars in the
same town, and Tiltey Abbey, near Thaxted, were added to the list of his
monastic spoils, after the gifts from the king in 1538, on Sir Thomas’s
application, of the rich abbey of Walden, with all the estates, manors, and

advowsons thereunto attached. He was also created Lord Audley of Walden,
and installed a Knight of the Garter. “Yet,” says Lord Braybrooke, “instead
of Audley’s being contented with these repeated marks of the royal favour,
we are compelled to admit that every grant which he obtained encouraged
him to importune the king for further recompense; and his letters, preserved
in the Cottonian library, prove that, in making these applications, he was
mean enough to plead poverty as an excuse, and even to assert that his
character had suffered in consequence of the public services which he had
been obliged to perform.” With a watchfulness for every advantage which
might accrue to him, and a continued solicitation for gifts, he continued to
enjoy the king’s confidence till his death, in 1544. He is buried in the church
of Saffron Walden, where a plain altar-tomb of black marble perpetuates his
memory.
Sir Thomas Audley left two daughters, and the youngest, dying in 1546,
left the eldest (Margaret) sole heiress. She married Lord Henry Dudley at the
early age of fourteen; he was arraigned for high treason in 1533, and,
pleading guilty, was ordered for death; but Mary pardoned him, and restored
his property. He was killed at the battle of St. Quintin’s, in Picardy, in 1557,
and his widow, in the same year, married Thomas, the fourth Duke of
Norfolk, dying herself at the early age of twenty-three.
The Howards thus became possessed of Audley End; but the duke’s ill-
judged project of forming a matrimonial alliance with Mary Queen of Scots,
under the impression that, if they both survived Elizabeth, he should
eventually become king-consort of England, was a scheme which cost him
his life; he was beheaded for high-treason on Tower Hill, June 2, 1572—a
sentence which he bore with exemplary fortitude.
His son, Lord Thomas Howard, was the builder of Audley End. He was
restored in blood by act of Parliament in 1583, and, when very young,
embraced the military service, but abandoned it for success at court, where
he sought every opportunity of ingratiating himself with the queen, and
succeeded, in a great measure, in obtaining her countenance. During the next
reign, almost the whole of his life was passed at court; and although the high
and lucrative offices which he held afforded him more ample means of
displaying his magnificence than those enjoyed by his ancestors, he
contrived to eclipse them all in extravagance; and we are assured that in the
building of Audley End alone he expended a no less sum than 190,000l. He
was much honoured by King James I., and was advanced by him to the

Earldom of Suffolk, and made Lord Chamberlain, and afterwards Lord High
Treasurer of England. Lady Suffolk was, unfortunately, a woman of a
covetous mind, and having too great an ascendancy over her husband, used it
in making him a party to her extortions on persons who had business to
transact at the Treasury, or places to obtain at court; and her husband was
charged with embezzlement, deprived of his office, and fined 30,000l., but
which was reduced by the king to 7000l. He was generally considered to
have been chiefly guilty only in concealing the mal-practices of his wife,
who eventually died in debt and difficulty.
From this period the history of the possessors of Audley End is a mere
confused piece of family biography, of little interest to the general reader:
they seem never to have recovered the charges entailed upon them by the
building of Audley End, and constant curtailments of the house and park
were made by each succeeding owner up to the partition of the estates in
1747. The cost of the original building appears to have involved Lord
Suffolk greatly, for we learn from one of his letters, printed in the “Cabala,”
that, at the period of his committal to the Tower, he was in debt nearly
40,000l., though he had then recently sold the Charter House to Mr. Sutton
for 13,000l., and disposed of his property at Aynhoe in Northamptonshire;
and he died possessed of Lulworth and Framlingham Castle, and Charlton in
Wiltshire, with the estates belonging to them, as well as Suffolk House in the
Strand, besides the large Essex property derived through his mother,
Margaret Audley. At all events the cost of the building must have been very
serious, nor did the charge of maintaining it prove less formidable; so much
so, in fact, that none of the possessors of Audley End, after the death of the
first Earl of Suffolk, were enabled to keep an establishment suitable to the
size and magnificence of the house. Earl Theophilus and his son James, the
third earl, seem, indeed, to have resided there; but the latter, of whom it is
not recorded that he took any active part during the Commonwealth, lived in
retirement, and, after the Restoration, gladly availed himself of the
opportunity of alienating the house and park to Charles II., and thus dispose
of a possession which, from his being unable to enjoy it, could only be
considered as a source of mortification.
At this period the house was of regal magnificence, and consisted,
besides the offices, of various ranges of building, surrounding two spacious
quadrangular courts; that to the westward was the largest, and was
approached over a bridge across the lake, through a double avenue of limes,

terminating with a double-entrance gateway, flanked by four circular towers.
The apartments on the north and south sides of the principal court were
erected over an open cloister, and supported by pillars of alabaster; while, on
the eastern side, a flight of steps led to the entrance-porches, placed on a
terrace running parallel to the great hall, which formed the centre of the
building, and which is now the principal front of the mansion, despoiled as it
at present is of its grand entrance-court. Beyond the hall was the inner court,
surrounded by an arcade, over which were the principal apartments, the three
sides of which only remain, while the chapel beyond has been entirely
demolished. It will thus be seen that the present house is but a wreck of the
original building.[20]

Of the original architect, Lord Braybrooke thus writes: “According to
Horace Walpole, Bernard Jansen was the architect employed; but after
hazarding this assertion he contrives to establish a stronger claim in behalf of
John Thorpe, who built many of the houses of the nobility about that period,
and whose partiality for what Walpole terms barbarous
ornaments and balustrades he especially notices; adding, that some of his
vast bow-windows advanced outwards in a sharp angle, and thus actually
describing a portion of the principal court at Audley End long since
demolished,” but represented in our woodcut from Winstanley’s view of the
original house, where one occurs at each side of the principal entrance.
Thorpe’s claim to the erection of Audley End has been further confirmed
by the discovery of the ground-plan of the house, corresponding to that
engraved by Winstanley, existing among the curious volume of original
plans and drawings made by John Thorpe himself, formerly preserved at
Warwick Castle, and afterwards in the possession of Sir John Soane. Upon
this plan a variety of pencilled alterations might be traced. “And there
appeared,” says Lord Braybrooke, “so strong a family likeness (if such an
expression may be used) in the different elevations throughout the volume,
that no doubt could be reasonably entertained as to their all being the work
of the same individual. The house has always been supposed to have been
commenced in 1603, and to have occupied thirteen years before it was
entirely finished; and the date of 1616 still remains upon one of the
gateways.”

In 1666 the house was
sold to Charles II. (who
liked it as well for its regal
magnificence as for its
convenience to Newmarket)
for the sum of 50,000l. a
portion being paid, and
20,000l. being left on
mortgage. In 1670 the court
was regularly established
there, and the queen very
frequently resided in the
house. “Lord Suffolk and
his successor, the fourth
earl, seem to have resided at
Chesterfield Park after the
sale of Audley End, which
was committed to the
charge of one of the family,
who held the office of
housekeeper and keeper of
the wardrobe, with a salary;
and this arrangement
continued till 1701, when
the house and park were reconveyed to Henry the fifth Earl of Suffolk, upon
condition of his relinquishing all claim to the 20,000l. which had remained
on mortgage from the year 1668; nor is it clear that any interest had been
ever paid upon it.”
The work of demolition commenced in 1721, when the three sides of the
grand quadrangle, which formed so magnificent an entrance to the house,
were demolished by the advice of Sir John Vanburgh, with the kitchen and
offices, which occupied a considerable space behind the north wing of the
building; and the chapel and cellars, which projected at each extremity of the
gallery wing, were probably soon afterwards removed, leaving the inner
court only untouched; the entire building being then in the form of an open
square. In 1747, Lord Effingham, who succeeded the Earl of Suffolk, sold
the house and park to Elizabeth countess of Portsmouth for 10,000l., which

sum included the timber, 500 head of deer, a water-mill, and the right of
presentation to the Mastership of Magdalen College, Cambridge. There was
a debate at this time about pulling the house entirely down and selling the
materials, and for which a valuation was actually made; or else, for
converting the buildings into a silk-manufactory, for which the spacious
premises and mill near the stables seemed well adapted. At this time the
house was rapidly going to decay, the windows were without glass in many
places, the furniture taken away, the cupola in the centre in danger of falling
from every high wind, and the eastern wing with its noble gallery so unsafe
that Lady Portsmouth levelled it to the ground in 1749. This splendid gallery
occupied the whole of the first floor of the demolished wing, and measured
24 feet in height, 226 feet in length, and 32 feet in width, exclusive of the
bow in the centre, which was sufficiently spacious to contain a full-sized
billiard-table. The whole room was fitted up with wainscot, in which a
profusion of ornamental carving was introduced. The Labours of Hercules
were represented in oak upon the chimney-piece; and upon the stuccoed
ceiling, the Loves of the Gods.
The Countess of Portsmouth at her death bequeathed her possessions, in
default of issue, to John Griffin Whitwell, eldest son of her sister Anne,
afterwards confirmed Lord Howard de Walden and Baron Braybrooke of
Braybrooke, in the county of Northampton. This nobleman, at great expense,
restored the dilapidated house at Audley End; and continued his repairs and
renovations until he had succeeded in making this noble relic again
habitable.
The present aspect of the house, as seen from the main road to
Newmarket and
Cambridge, is depicted in our plate. Upon crossing the modern bridge
which leads to the town of Saffron Walden, a gate to the left leads up to the
house. It is the gate already noticed as bearing the date of 1616, and is here
engraved. The way in which the noble trees hang their branches in the
richest profusion over it renders it a most picturesque object; it is
surmounted by a lion standing on a cap of maintenance, beneath which is
inscribed:—
JOAN. B. II. DE WALD. REST. ET. ORN. M.DCC.LXXXVI.

A semicircular walk leads to the mansion. The doors, both back and front,
of the principal entrance, are exceedingly fine specimens of wood-carving.

They are extremely massive, and carved in a geometric pattern; the circular
portion above being filled in the front door
with figures emblematic of the arts of Peace, that of the back leading into the
garden, representing War in a chariot drawn by wolves. We have engraved
this beautiful door. It originally led into the inner court; it now leads to the
arcade facing the garden, which is believed to have been the site of the
ancient monastery, as many stone coffins have been discovered there.
Entering a small vestibule the great hall lies to the right; it is ninety feet
in length, twenty-seven feet wide, and twenty-nine feet high; it is too square
to be considered in good proportion, a fault found by all since its first
erection. Its principal feature is the magnificent oak screen, which occupies
the entire north end. It is most elaborately carved and ornamented with a
great variety of grotesque figures executed in bold relief, and is said to have
been originally procured from Italy; but of this there may be entertained
considerable doubt, as it is precisely similar in its details to many others

which still exist
and are of English
workmanship. The
fireplace is of
similar design, and
our initial letter
exhibits one of its
many beautiful
compartments. The
hall is wainscoted,
and is lighted by
five windows, that
in the centre
having a large
projecting bow,
extending from the
cornice to the floor
which is paved. It
is hung with
family pictures,
among which
those of the
Cornwallis
predominate—the
ancestors of the
present Lady
Braybrooke. The
ceiling is of plaster, divided into forty square compartments, formed by the
massive oaken beams supported by richly-carved brackets. These
compartments are filled with the crests and cognizances of the Howard
family, worked in raised stucco and encircled by a border. A gay effect is
produced by the many silken banners which hang from the walls.
Opposite the fine old wooden screen is an open one of stone, for which,
says Lord Braybrooke, “we are indebted to the bad taste of Sir John
Vanburgh, who removed the south wall to enlarge the hall, which had been
censured by Evelyn and others as too small in proportion to the rest of the
house, and being desirous at the same time to obtain sufficient space for a

double flight of stairs leading to the saloon”—the subject of our second
plate; it is in every sense a magnificent room, and is sixty feet in length,
twenty-seven feet three inches wide, and twenty feet eight inches high. The
description of the noble owner must be here quoted: “It was originally called
the Fish-room, after the dolphins and sea monsters represented in bold relief
upon the ceiling, which is of stucco, and divided into thirty-two
compartments with raised borders. From each angle of these compartments
hang pendants of considerable dimensions elaborately wrought, and
producing a striking and singular effect. The fittings of the wall are of wood-
work, painted in white and gold, and carved up twelve feet from the ground;
the cornice and frieze, being supported by pilasters placed at equal distances,
the spaces between which are allotted to portraits, in whole-length, of the
different persons connected with the history of Audley End, let into arches
serving as frames, and the spandrils of which are filled with rich foliage.
Upon the wall above the cornice, which has a bold projection, are quatre-
feuilles, worked in stucco, probably added after the room was finished, and
not in character with the ceiling. The frieze is deep, and decorated with
lions’ heads and a variety of other patterns, carved in wood. The pilasters are
also surmounted by grotesque heads. The large western bow, to which we
ascend by three steps, commands a
fi
n
e
vi
e
w
of
th
e
gr
o
u
n
d
s,
th
e river Cam, and the ancient stables beyond, here engraved; they are of red

brick and are exceedingly picturesque, embowered as they are in antique
trees. The chimney-piece is completely in keeping with the rest of the
apartment, and, though not dissimilar to those already described, greatly
surpasses them in the beauty of the carved work and the brilliancy of the
gilding. In the centre are emblazoned the arms of Thomas Earl of Suffolk,
impaling Knivett and his quarterings, and encircled by the Garter. The
female figures and ancient heads on each side, as well as the arms and crests
of Lord Howard de Walden and his two wives, were painted by Rebecca.”
The suite of rooms
in connexion with the
saloon are fine and
contain some good
ceilings and fireplaces.
In one of them is
preserved the
interesting relic here
engraved. Its history is
thus told on a brass
plate inserted in the
back:—“This chair,
once the property of
Alexander Pope, was
given as a keepsake to
the nurse who attended
him in his illness; from
her descendants it was
obtained by the Rev.
Thomas Ashley, curate
of the parish of
Binfield, and kindly
presented by him to
Lord Braybrooke in
1844, nearly a century
after the poet’s
decease.” It is
apparently of Flemish
workmanship, and of

rather singular design; in the central medallion is a figure of Venus, holding
a dart in her right hand, and a burning heart in her left. The narrow back and
wide-circling arms give a peculiarly quaint appearance to this curious relic
of one of our greatest poets.
The upper and lower floor of this wing are connected together by a fine
oak staircase,
represented in
the
accompanying
woodcut. It
reaches from
the ground to
the upper story
in such a
manner that a
person
ascending the
whole height
goes two and a
half times
round the well
which it
includes. This
well, a narrow
oblong, is a
frame-work of
upright posts
extending from
top to bottom;
and these posts,
being divided
into shorter
lengths by the
various traverse
of the stairs and
landing-places,
are ornamented

in a sort of pilaster fashion, and connected by arches at the top of each
opening: the balustrade of the stairs being formed by a repetition of such an
arcade on a smaller scale. A similar staircase of oak, of a plainer character, is
in the opposite wing.
The chapel is in “Strawberry-Hill Gothic.” The library contains about
seven thousand books of varied standard literature. The pictures throughout
the house are not very remarkable. The park is extensive and contains some
magnificent old trees, the views being relieved by sloping elevations.
Nearly opposite the dated gateway to the mansion, already engraved and
described, is the entrance to the village of Audley End, which is approached
through an avenue of trees,

which hide it from the road. The first view of its humble habitations, as
delineated in our engraving, is very striking, and as simply antique as need
be. Its old gables and deep-bowed windows, over which climb the
honeysuckle and ivy, tell at once the age of their erection, and carry the
spectator back to the days of Elizabeth. It is a compact little village, of about

forty cottages, which form a narrow street of close tenements, all of which
may be detected at a glance. The ground on which the village is built rises
and falls in picturesque undulations; and at its farthest extremity, the gables
seen in our next cut belong to the ancient brick tenements, picturesque in
decay, of which a view is here given. They are thus described in the volume
so
freq
uent
ly
quot
ed:
—“
The
buil
ding
s
surr
oun
d
two
cour
ts,
one
of
whi
ch is
appr
opriated to ten old women, permitted to reside there by Lord Braybrooke, to
whom the premises belong. The other court is occupied as a farm-house,
together with the old chapel, long since converted into a barn; but there are
no traces of its former destination, excepting an iron cross on the eastern
gable, and the lofty ceiling, supported by oak beams; and this part of the
building is in a very ruinous state.”[21]
These premises were, doubtless, originally erected for purposes of
charity, and perhaps placed under the control of the monastery, having no
especial endowment. At a later period, Thomas first Earl of Suffolk made
some allowance to the inmates, and the building is described in the parish

register as “my lord’s almshouse;” but his widow discontinued the payments,
nor is there any tradition of their having been since claimed as matter of
right.
“It is recorded in one of the chronicles of Walden Abbey, that on the
festival of St. Mark 1258, when Fulco Bishop of London, and Hugo de
Balsham Bishop of Norwich, consecrated the church of Walden, Bishop
Hugo performed the same ceremony for the chapel of the Infirmaria, and
granted an indulgence to those who visited it on the feast of its dedication. It
also appears from an inquisition, dated the forty-sixth of Edward III., that
Humphrey Earl of Essex, Hereford, and Northampton, was seised, inter alia,
of the advowson of the hospital of the Abbey of Walden; we may therefore
suppose the almshouses, or the site which they occupy, to have been the
place alluded to, and this conjecture is confirmed by the premises having
been described in some old leases as the Hospital Farm.”[22]

F. W. Fairholt, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
FEERING HOUSE, ESSEX.

F E E R I N G HOU S E ,

ESSEX.

EERING is situated on the highroad between
London and Colchester, and is a picturesque and
secluded village, full of antique houses and quiet
tenantry, through which runs the Eastern Counties
Railway,—the modern “improvement” that looks
strangely out of place in connexion with the
associations engendered by so retired a spot. It is
a place whose history is almost unrecorded.
Morant, in his “History of Essex,” says:—“This parish is of pretty great
extent, and lies partly on the London road, being divided from Kelvedon by
the river Pant. The name is formed from two Saxon words, signifying Bull’s
meadow or pasture. In records, it is called Feering, Feringes, Frearing; and in
Domesday Book, Pheringas and Ferlingas. In Edward the Confessor’s reign,
Harold, afterwards King of England, and Brictmar, had the chief part, if not
the whole, of this parish. At the time of the general survey it was holden by
the Abbot of Westminster and Ralph Peverell; and from thence were derived
the two capital manors here, Feringbury and Prested Hall. The former is a
considerable estate, for many years part of the revenues of Westminster
Abbey, by whom given I cannot find; however, they were possessed of it in
1343, and continued so till their dissolution, when it came to the crown.
Henry VIII., upon his erecting Westminster Abbey into a bishoprick,
endowed it, among other things, with the manor and rectory of Fering, and
the advowson of the vicarage, January 20, 1540. But Edward VI. suppressed
that bishopric, and gave the premises, April 12, 1550, to Nicholas Ridley,
bishop of London, and his successors. Queen Mary I. confirmed the same,
March 3, 1553, to Edmund Bonner, bishop of London, and his successors for
ever; and they have remained possessed of them ever since. Prested Hall,
sometime written Persted and Porsted, and in Domesday Book, Peresteda,
was holden by Ralph Peverell at the general survey; but it had belonged
before to one Brictmar. The mansion-house stands about half a mile from the
church, a little way south from the London road. In the reign of King Henry
II. Brien, son of Ralph, held this lordship of the honor of Peverell of

London.” There are two lesser manors in the parish called Chambers and
Howchins, alias Fowchins; the latter “standing a little way from the road
leading from Marks Tay to Coggershall. The lands lie partly in the adjoining
parishes of Little Tay and Great Tay. It appears to have been what anciently
belonged to Hugh de Feringe, who took his surname from this parish. In the
year 1332 he and Alianore, his wife, gave it to St. John’s Abbey in
Colchester;” and at the dissolution it reverted to the Crown.
The most interesting old house in the parish or neighbourhood is the one
which forms the subject of our plate, and which stands close to the edge of
the river Pant, or Blackwater, a small stream, seen in the back-view of the
ancient mansion given in our initial letter; the triple gable here peeps above a
rich group of old trees, and the carved barge-boards and richly clustered
chimneys invite the traveller’s nearer view. Crossing the small bridge, he
will find his expectations in no degree disappointed; the mansion exists in
pristine purity, with all its richly carved decorations untouched by modern
hands. From this point our view of the exterior is taken. The elegant
pendants to each gable, the involuted foliage running along the beams and
barge-board, the decorated spandrils, the antique bow-windows, and the
beautiful porch, elaborately carved and covered with ivy, at once meet the
view, and greatly excite curiosity as to whether the interior in any degree
corresponds with so perfect a piece of antiquity. An entrance is no way
difficult of
accomplishment. Alas, for worldly grandeur! this mansion, upon which the
art and expenditure of the sixteenth century was lavished, is now an ale-
house; and not even one of a first-rate class—being only “licensed to sell
beer.” Few but the poorest class of labourers sit in the parlour, which forms
the subject of our plate, and its beauties are unappreciated. To which of the
families of note in the olden time (and many resided here) this mansion
belonged, cannot now be ascertained with any certainty; whether Ridley or
Bonner (names which give rise to so many and such varied associations)
once sat in these rooms is unrecorded, but the taste and expenditure here
exhibited denote the superiority of the original occupant. It is seldom we see
a more perfect and remarkable specimen of the in-door aspect of a
gentleman’s house in the early part of the sixteenth century; all here is
original, and all perfect; no plaster-work is any where visible, but walls,
ceilings, and floor, are of oak; the massive beams of the roof boldly cut in a
pattern of running leaves, the angles of the smaller ones tastefully chiselled

and sculptured; figures of angels playing on the lute are upon the beams in
the bay-windows, in which is preserved some of the original painted glass,
“richly dight,” and exhibiting the crowned monogram of the Virgin, an eagle
bearing a scroll, and the royal arms of England, with the initials E. R. on
each side of them. The walls of the room are entirely covered with carving in
a series of patterns, the lower ranges of which are of that species termed “the
napkin pattern,” most delicately and beautifully chiselled, and untouched by
the painter, as well as uninjured by time. The uppermost range of panels are
cut in oval frames, from the centres of which peep forth, in high relief, a
series of male and female heads, cut with a vigour and truth at once bold and
effective; the head-dresses of all are remarkable, and present a singular
variety of fashions. Mr. Fairholt, in his “Costume in England,” has noticed
that the principal attention of the ladies was given to this portion of dress,
and that they sometimes consisted of a mere “heap of finery, combining cap,
coverchief, and hood, which was at that time the extreme of fashion.” This
remark is fully carried out in the series we now describe, no two of which

are precisely alike, yet all are elaborate in design and elegant in ornamental
detail. Beneath them run a series of elongated panels, containing smaller
heads in the centre of arabesque ornaments, which are thrown up in strong
relief, as the ground of the panel is painted blue; the projecting pillars which
support the main beams are similarly decorated; and the door is also carved
all over with the napkin pattern, and has the original ring-handle upon it, as
well as the chased steel lock. A more perfect interior of this peculiar period,
or a more elegant one, could not be found. Our view comprehends one half
of the room, reaching to the central beam, the other half of the room is dark
and dingy, and has been separated in a more modern style from the older and
larger room. A fire-place and a carved locker are preserved; and the pattern
of the pomegranate and its leaves, rather lavishly introduced here, would
seem to point out the period when the house was erected—as the
pomegranate was the badge of Catherine of Arragon, the first wife of Henry
VIII.
This fine old mansion stands on the boundary of the parish of Feering, the
village and church being about half-a-mile, or more, distant, and a little out
of the main road. It is, as we have observed, quiet and secluded, in a fertile
county, embracing the ordinary flat, fertile, and extensive views for which
Essex is remarkable; but little of modernisation appears there, and the
visitors would seem to be “few and far between.” From the churchyard the
view is very extensive. Morant says:—
“The church, dedicated to All Saints, stands high and pleasant. The body
of the church and the chancel are tyled, but a north or south aisle adjoining
to the church are leaded. The south wall and the porch are of brick; and in
the windows are pictured a shuttle and three feathers, with the letters H. P.,
which gave rise to the vulgar tradition that they were built by a weaver. At
the west end there is a square tower of stone, containing eight bells.
“This church was given with the manor to Westminster Abbey. It was
originally a rectory and sinecure, but in Henry the Third’s reign a vicarage
was here ordained, and endowed in the patronage of the rector or possessor
of the sinecure: afterwards the rectory or great tithes were appropriated to
the said abbey and convent, and they remained patrons of
the vicarage till their suppression; and then they were granted to the see of
London, as hath been mentioned above.”
The most remarkable feature of the interior is the roof of oak, the beams
and king-posts are richly sculptured, and in good preservation; it contains no

old tombs or brasses; the font
is simple, and the only objects
worthy of note are some
remains of distemper-painting
on the north wall: a figure of
St. Christopher bearing the
infant Saviour is still visible,
together with the fragments of
an elegant diaper-pattern,
which had probably originally
covered the entire wall.
The porch, which we
engrave, is entirely built of
fine red brick, in which the
elegant windows, niches,
tracery, battlements, and
pinnacles of the later Gothic
architecture, are beautifully
formed and finished with a
sharpness and accuracy which
may almost be said to be peculiar to this county, as we seldom meet with
brick-work in this style so rich in design and execution elsewhere.

Drawn by F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart,
Lithogʳˢ.
HOREHAM HALL.

HOR E H AM HAL L ,

ESSEX.

n a retired part of the county of Essex, at a short distance
from the road, in a secluded and lonely spot, stands the
picturesque Hall which forms the subject of our plate. The
mansion is in the parish of Thaxted, and is about two miles
south-west of the church. This manor is supposed to be part
of the two fees and a half which the heirs of Walter de Acre
held in Thaxted, Chaure, and Brokesheued, under Richard de
Clare, who died in 1262. It was afterwards in the possession
of the important family surnamed de Wauton; for William de
Wanton or Wauton, who died in 1347, held the manors of
Chaureth and Horam of the Lady Elizabeth de Burgh and her
ancestors, by the service of three fees, as of the Honour of
Clare. The next possessor upon record was Sir John Cutt or
Cutts, who erected the mansion immediately preceding or
early in the reign of Elizabeth; he was a man of great wealth,
and built at Salisbury Park near St. Alban’s, and at Childerley
in Cambridgeshire, according to Leland, who tells us
concerning the present building in his “Itinerary,” (vol. i. p.
30, pt. 1), that “Old Cutte builded Horeham Hall, a very
sumptuous house in Est Sax, by Thoxtede, and there is a
goodly pond, or lake, by it, and faire parkes there about.”
Thaxted eventually became the property of Sir William Smijth of Hill
Hall, in whose family it has remained to the present time.
Of the learned Sir Thomas Smijth, the secretary to King Edward VI. and
Queen Elizabeth, there is still preserved an ancient portrait on panel, which
is let into a circle over the carved fireplace of one of the parlours. It is
remarkable as being one of the very few portraits painted by Titian. Another
interesting relic preserved in the Great Hall is the side-saddle of Queen
Elizabeth; the pommel is of wrought metal and has been gilt, the ornament
upon it is in the then fashionable style of the Renaissance; the seat, of velvet,
is now in a very ruinous condition; but it is

carefully
kept beneath
a glass case,
as a
memento of
the queen’s
visits to this
place. When
princess,
Elizabeth
retired to
Horeham as
a place of
refuge
during the
reign of her
sister Mary;
the
loneliness of
the situation, and its distance from the metropolis, rendered it a seclusion
befitting the quietude of one anxious to remain unnoticed in troublous times.
A room on the first floor in the square tower, seen to the right in our view, is
shewn as that in which Elizabeth resided. She found the retirement of
Horeham so agreeable, that often after she had succeeded to the crown she
took a pleasure in revisiting the place.
The exterior features of the building are characteristic of that period when
strength and security began to give way to domestic comfort and elegance;
there is a mixture of the
castle and the mansion in Horeham that marks a transition period in
architecture. One great feature of an earlier style of defence still remains in
the moat which originally surrounded the building, but which is now partly
filled up: at the back of the mansion, as shewn in our cut, it seems still to
encircle the building. The old walls which form the boundary of the garden,
and are washed by the water, are stone, and antique. Some fine cedars of
ancient growth still flourish by its side, to add a sombre, dignified beauty to
the scene. There is a grandeur about old trees which cannot be imparted to a
mansion by artificial aid, and which tell forcibly its antiquity. Modern

antiques may easily be called into existence by the builder, but the “ancestral
trees” are as proud a memento of the early date of an ancient mansion as the
coat-armour sculptured on its front.
The Hall is small; it has a minstrel’s gallery, and the dais opposite is still
preserved. It is lighted by a magnificent oriel window, and has a greater air
of comfort than is found in those of grander proportions. The other rooms
have been so much modernised, to suit the habits and tastes of the present
age, that scarcely a relic remains to shew their original state.

W. L. Walton, Del et lith. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
ST. OSYTH’S PRIORY.

S T. O S Y T H’ S P R I ORY,

ESSEX

. Osyth’s Priory—an ancient and very venerable edifice
—is situated on an estuary formed by the Rivers Stour
and Blackwater, distant about twelve miles south-east
from Colchester. The village in which it stands was
originally named Cice, or Chich; and although its
chroniclers give us no information as to its Saxon
derivation, there is no lack of knowledge concerning its
comparatively modern name—St. Osyth. But it is
obtained from tradition and Monkish legends; from
which we learn that the virgin saint was the daughter of Frithwald, King of
East Anglia, betrothed to Sighere, the Christian king of the East Saxons; by
whom, however, she was freed from marriage bonds, and permitted to found
a church and institute a nunnery of Maturines of the order of the Holy Trinity
—which she did at Chich, a village given to her by her generous lord. Her
establishment was subsequently plundered and destroyed by the Danes,
under Inguar and Hubba, and the royal lady was herself beheaded beside a
fountain, at which, with her hapless maidens, she used to bathe.[23]
The parish of St. Osyth was anciently part of the royal demesnes. Canute
granted it to Godwin, Earl of Kent, who gave it to Christ’s Church,
Canterbury, with permission of Edward the Confessor. Prior to the Conquest
it must have passed into other hands, for we find at the time of the Survey it
belonged to the bishop of London. Richard de Belmeis or de Beaumes,
consecrated Bishop of London in 1108, obtained the manor and church of
Cice, in order to build and endow a monastery there for canons of the order
of St. Augustine, which was done about 1118; and the tithes being
appropriated to the monks, they served the cure by one of their own canons.
At the Dissolution, the amount of all the revenues was found to be,
according to Speed, £758. 5s. 8d. Dugdale says it was £677. 7s. 2d. The
abbot, prior, and eighteen canons, subscribed to the King’s supremacy—
which shows the number then maintained. Alaric de Vere, the first Earl of
Oxford, had a son a canon here, who wrote the Life of St. Osyth, about 1160.
Soon after the suppression of religious houses, Henry VIII. granted it to

Thomas Lord Cromwell. On his disgrace and attainder, the property reverted
to the Crown.
Edward VI., for the sum of £3974. 9s. 4½d., disposed of it to Thomas,
Lord Darcy of Chich, Knight of the Garter and Chamberlain of his
household, by whom it was converted into a residence. This nobleman was
son of Roger Darcy, sheriff of Essex and Herts in 1506, and squire of the
body to Henry VII. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John de Vere, Earl of
Oxford. John, second Lord Darcy, was united to Frances, daughter of
Richard, Lord Rich, by whom he had a son, Thomas. He was united to a
daughter of Sir Thomas Kytson, of Hengrave Hall, Suffolk; created in 1621
Viscount Colchester for life, with remainder to his son-in-law, Sir Thomas
Savage; five years afterwards he was advanced to an earldom, by the title of
Earl Rivers, which became extinct in 1728. This Sir T. Savage, upon whom
the titles were entailed, dying before his predecessor, Elizabeth, the Earl’s
eldest daughter, took the title of Countess Rivers. She it was who suffered
the loss of so much property during the civil wars. In 1694, the Hon. Richard
Savage came into possession of the titles and estates; he was Lieutenant-
General of Horse, Lord-Lieutenant and Vice-Admiral of the County; but
having no legitimate male issue surviving, he gave St. Osyth to a natural
daughter, the wife of Frederick de Nassau, Earl of Rochford, a branch of the
regal line of the House of Orange, whose father came over into England with
William III., at the Revolution. The Earl died in 1738, leaving two sons, the
eldest of whom, William Henry, was secretary of state in the year 1772. The
title became extinct in 1830, and the possessions devolved upon their present
owner, Frederick Nassau, Esq., a collateral branch of the same family, by
whom the Mansion is occupied.
Although the ruins of the ancient monastery are scattered in rich
profusion in all directions around the present dwelling-house, it is somewhat
difficult to determine
its exact site; arches, towers, and picturesque remains, meet the visitor at
every point, but so situated as almost to defy an attempt to fix the original
plan. The entrance to the residence is through a noble gateway, flanked, by
projecting towers of unequal proportions, with posterns; the whole being
divided into numerous apartments, forming a building of considerable size
and extent. The ceiling is beautifully groined, and in excellent preservation.
As the structure occupies rather high ground, the Towers are distinctly
visible to vessels skirting the eastern coast, from which it is distant about

three miles.
The gateway
opens upon
a spacious
quadrangle,
in the centre
of which
stands a
well-
executed
figure of
Time
supporting a
sun-dial.
Our
principal
drawing
exhibits
parts of the
northern and
eastern sides
of the
square; the
other sides
consist
principally
of domestic
offices, the
larger portions of which are formed from the old buildings. Those in which
the family now reside are of comparatively modern date, and look out upon
an extensive park, finely wooded and well stocked with deer. In the grounds,
and about sixty yards from the house, is a square brick pillar, surmounted by
an urn; on one side of the pillar is a tablet with the following inscription, to
mark the boundary of the old priory: it was erected at the time of the
Commonwealth—“Vetus hæc Quam cernis maceries conservata est Ad
Augustiniani cœnobii limites designandos Tu vero inter loci huius
amœnitates Tuorum temporum felicitati Gratuleris ablegata jam ista

superstitione quæ Domicilium tam superbum segnitiæ consecravit et
socordiæ A.D. CIƆIƆCCLX.”
At right angles, with the gateway extending outwardly, is a long
battlemented wall, with a fine Norman archway; near the farther extremity,
are several mullioned windows, now blocked up, and a doorway approached
by deep steps. It is generally supposed that the court-house stood here; for on
the steps the manorial court is still opened by the lord of the manor, or his
representative. In the grounds, beneath a tower of considerable elevation,
may be seen the ancient chapel of the monastery, with its adjoining cells; but
the place
“Where monks their orisons and vespers sung,”

is now literally “a cage for unclean birds,” and a receptacle for garden-tools
and decayed fruits and vegetables: it is still in good preservation, though
damp and rottenness have discoloured the well-proportioned pillars and
groined arches of the
ceiling. Without admitting or denying the truth of the inscription we have
quoted concerning the holy men of other days, it is certain, that to them we
are indebted for the noblest examples of ecclesiastical architecture of which
the world can boast; and the ruins of St. Osyth’s Priory exhibit no mean
specimen of their skill and industry.
The interior of the present mansion presents nothing that demands
particular notice, except one room called the “King’s Room,” fitted with the
furniture of the chamber in which George II. died (the Earl of Rochford was
groom of the stole at that period), consisting of the satin mattress, crimson
bed hangings, &c. &c.
The Church is a very ancient structure, built partly of brick, and partly of
flint and stone, situated nearly opposite the Priory. It has recently undergone
a thorough internal repair; new pews have been erected, and a neat Gothic
organ has been placed in a newly constructed gallery. The roofs, which are
lofty, are supported by massive oaken beams, resting upon arches that spring
from hexagon columns fluted on four of their sides—the rafters in the
northern aisle are boldly and richly carved in various devices. While the
repairs were in progress, the Font, which had hitherto presented a plain
surface, was accidentally found to be finely ornamented; and the mortar with
which the interstices were filled being removed, it now presents the

appearance
exhibited in
our cut—
the initial
letter. The
chancel is
separated
from the
nave by a
low screen,
behind
which are
the pews
allotted to
the Priory.
The church
contains
several
monuments
—chiefly
raised in
honour of
the Darcys.
St.
Osyth,
standing as
it does, in
an isolated
spot, and
almost apart from the business of active life, is scarcely known even to the
Tourist. It is, however, full of deep interest, and, we feel assured, might
throw considerable light upon the architecture of very remote periods; at all
events, it would afford enjoyment and information amply to repay a
lengthened visit of the antiquary.

F. W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. L. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
BERKELEY CASTLE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

BE R KE L E Y C AS T L E ,

GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

ERKELEY is one of the most ancient of the manors of
England; it is styled a royal demesne and free borough
in Domesday Book, and, during the reign of Edward the
Confessor, a religious house existed there for nuns.
This, having been forfeited, was granted to the famous
Earl Godwin; and a tradition still endures, that the
crafty earl obtained it by corrupting the inmates of the
nunnery, whose dissolute conduct he afterwards
reported to the sovereign. By this wicked means he
obtained their possessions; but his consort, Gueda,
refused maintenance from lands thus acquired, and her lord assigned to her
use the manor of Woodchester. The history of the castle is full of the deepest
interest, from the Conquest to the close of the Civil War, and a few facts
collected from the statements of its many historians cannot fail to be
acceptable to our readers. William the Conqueror bestowed the manor on
Roger, surnamed De Berkeley, one of the soldiers of his invading army: his
grandson taking part with Stephen against Henry II., was deprived of his
inheritance, which was given by the king to Robert Fitzhardinge, governor
of Bristol, “a Dane of royal descent,” in reward for eminent services; and
with the posterity of this renowned knight the manor has ever since
remained.[24] By this Robert the castle is believed to have been founded, and
of the original structure the Keep is undoubtedly a part. About the year 1186,
the lord of Berkeley having occasion to widen the castle moat, trespassed a
few feet on the churchyard, which had been granted by Robert Fitzhardinge
to the abbey of St. Augustin at Bristol. Richard, the first abbot, indignant at
this infringement of ecclesiastical rights, according to Fuller, “so persecuted
him with church censures, that he made him in a manner cast the dirt of the
ditch in his own face,” compelling him not only publicly to confess his fault,
but to bestow upon the abbey a portion of land, “pro emendatione culpæ
suæ.” About the middle of the thirteenth century the castle was strengthened
and beautified by Maurice, lord of Berkeley, walks and gardens were formed
around it, the course of a small river was changed for its convenience, and

pools and ponds were made for fish. By Edward II. the castle was granted in
succession to his favourites, Piers Gavestone and Hugh Spencer, but his
rebellious queen at the head of her army restored it to its legitimate owner.
Soon after this event, in 1327, the castle became the scene of a frightful
tragedy—the murder of the king under circumstances of unparalleled
atrocity. Edward, then imprisoned at Kenilworth, having been compelled to
resign the crown in favour of his son, was transferred to the safer keeping of
Berkeley Castle; but its lord manifesting proof of sympathy with the
unhappy sovereign, his relentless queen, by the counsel of her paramour,
Mortimer, placed in charge over him Sir Thomas Gournay and Sir John
Maltravers, who had the custody of the royal prisoner “month about.” These
men, taking advantage of the sickness of Berkeley, in whose custody the
king then was, and while he was incapacitated from attending to his charge,
entered the castle and took possession of the royal person. The very place
where the act was committed is still preserved nearly intact; it is a detached
and dismal chamber, then only lighted by arrow slits, situated over the steps
which lead into the keep, and its appalling name of “The Dungeon Room,” is
retained to this day. His murderers threw the king on his bed, and so
perpetrated the murder as to avoid all external evidence of the cruel deed:—
“Mark the year and mark the night,
When Severn shall re-echo with affright;
The shrieks of death through Berkeley’s roofs that ring—
Shrieks of an agonising king!”

“His crie,” writes Hollinshed, “did move many within the castell and town of
Berkelei to compassion, plainelie hearing him utter a waileful noyse, as the
tormentors were about to murder him; so that dyvers being awakened
therebye (as they themselves confessed) prayed heartilie to God to receyve
his soule, when they understode by his crie how the matter went.”[25] It is
said that the monasteries of Bristol, Kingswood, and Malmesbury, refused to
receive the body, which was ultimately buried at Gloucester, attended
thereto, according to Fosbrooke, by the Berkeley family, his heart being put
in a silver vessel.[26]
Various additions were made to Berkeley Castle by subsequent lords.
Thomas, the eighth lord, in 1342, rebuilt the high tower on the north side of
the Keep (then in a state of decay), at a cost of 108l. 3s. 1½d.; it was called
“Thorpe’s Tower,” from the tenure of one Thorpe, who held his lands at
Wanswell by the guard of it. “This lord also, at subsequent periods, built that

portion beyond the keep on the north-east side, and gave to the castle its
present shape and circumference.”
The records of the castle exhibit many singular and striking evidences of
the peculiar customs and manners of the several ages through which it has
passed. In 1250 the lord of Berkeley feasted with fish during Lent the
convent and abbey of Gloucester;[27] in 1273 marl was first used as manure
on the lands of Berkeley, which then let for sixpence per acre. Thomas, the
sixteenth earl, was much given to hunting;[28] in 1550 he had a princely
residence in Shoe Lane (then a fashionable quarter), and used to hunt daily
in Gray’s Inn Fields and about Islington. In 1572, on the occasion of Queen
Elizabeth’s visit to Berkeley, “27 stagges were slaine in one day,” much to
the displeasure of the earl, who “sodainely and passionately” desparked the
ground. The visit was supposed to have been contrived by the Earl of
Leicester, in order to provoke Lord Berkeley, and thus “draw upon him the
royal disfavour.”
The castle was the last place which held out against Cromwell; it was
surrendered on the 26th September, 1645, the soldiers marching out without
arms, the officers with arms.[29]
Bounded on the north by the churchyard and on the south by a bowling-
green, bordered
with a yew-hedge clipped into fantastic forms and arcades by the gardener’s
art, a small embattled gate-lodge affords access to the outer court of
Berkeley Castle. This court, having on its south side the beautiful park
scenery, and in front of the spectator the fine and massive walls of the Keep,
with the Thorpe Tower bearing on its summit the Berkeley banner, forms a
picture of true baronial grandeur. The inner gateway still retains the groove
of its portcullis, and is flanked on either side by cannon taken from St. Jean
d’Acre during its siege by the Hon. Captain Berkeley, when commanding the
Thunderer. Over the archway is a state-room, from which a narrow winding
passage, cut in the thickness of the wall, affords a communication with the
keep.
Emerging from the gateway, the visitor enters a quadrangle formed by the
buildings erected by the eighth Lord Berkeley, the keep, and the tower said
to have been the scene of the unfortunate Edward II.’s murder. Crossing the
quadrangle, the hall is entered by an open porch having a doorway of
singular form. The hall has lost many of its ancient features, but is still a
very fine apartment, sixty-one feet in length, thirty-two feet six inches in

breadth, and of the
same height. At the
entrance end is the
minstrels’ gallery, with
doorways under
leading to the steward’s
room and buttery-
hatch, and at the
opposite extremity is
the dais, raised two
steps from the floor.
Large and deeply
recessed windows on
the sides give light to
the apartment, and
from the upper end the
staircase is entered,
which affords access to
the principal
apartments. In the
chapel is an eagle
lettern, supporting a
Bible of the date of
1640; there is also a
cast of the face of
Charles I., and a fragment of Roman sculpture. The drawing-room, dining-
room, breakfast-room, music-room, and the several other chambers, are all
well “fitted up,” and contain some family portraits and pictures of a good but
not superlative class of art. Many articles of furniture, of the time of
Elizabeth and James, are interspersed throughout the rooms, among which
may be named a handsome bed in the little state-room, and another in the
room said to have been occupied by Queen Elizabeth. There is also a room
called Admiral Drake’s room, containing a bedstead, chairs, and wash-hand-
stand of ebony, all of which were used by him during his voyage round the
world.
The objects of more peculiar interest, however, in this noble building are
the apartments connected with Edward II.’s imprisonment and tragical fate;

viz. the Dungeon-Room, and the chamber adopted by general tradition as the
scene of his murder. A passage by the side of the former receives light from
the window which opens into the court, and this passage also affords
communication with a small room which may have been a guard-chamber;
but the Dungeon-Room is itself without light, and a trap-door in the floor
discloses when opened a darksome, dry well, sunk down some nine or ten
yards. It has been asserted that the
smell from dead
carcases thrown into
this well was one of the
sources of annoyance to
which the monarch was
subjected, and this
would seem to identify
the room as his place of
abode; but Hollinshed’s
statement “that his crie
was heard by many in
the town of Berkelei,” is
held as more applicable
to the room adjoining
the keep, which we now
describe.[30]
To the left on
entering the inner
quadrangle, and
attached to the Keep, is
a square tower of two
stories, and on a
platform of four or five
steps stands an early
English arch,
surmounted by a still earlier Norman label-moulding, attesting the antiquity
of this tower. A flight of steps from thence gives access to the level of the
base court of the keep. At the side of these steps a narrow gangway or
gallery, protected by a rude and antique timber-shed roof, leads to a room of
irregular form and small dimensions extending

over the staircase,
lighted by two deeply
recessed windows
opening to the outer
court, and secured by a
strong oak door
communicating with
the before-named
gallery.
An old chair, an old
carved four-post
bedstead, and in a most
suspiciously recessed
angular nook, an old
black-looking pallet-
bed, form the furniture
of this room, all,
though tattered and
time-worn, bearing
evidence of some
former splendour in
decoration. It does not
require much stretch of
imagination for the
adoption of this chamber as the scene of
“Murder most foul and most unnatural!”

And a bust of the wretched king standing in one of the window recesses,
with its face veiled in shadow, seems mutely but powerfully to appeal to
those feelings of pity which cannot fail to be excited by the view of this
dreary abode of royalty.
Emerging into the open court, a highly enriched Norman archway is
found, which forms the entrance into the courtyard of the keep, where, at
some ten or twelve yards above the base-court, a number of wild ducks are
quietly domiciled in a small pond formed in its centre, and where they have
remained for some years contrary to their nature, apparently without a wish

for change. From thence
the ramparts are ascended,
and a fine view is obtained
of the surrounding country.
The Church is a fine
early structure adjoining
the castle, and attached to
its south side is the
mortuary chapel of the
Berkeley family—a richly
groined edifice, divided
into two compartments by
a handsome stone screen,
the inner or eastern
apartment containing
several monuments of the
family. The altar end is
blocked up by a fine
Elizabethan tomb of Sir
Henry Berkeley, who died
in 1613; his first wife’s
effigies are placed by his
side. Under an arch, opening into the south side of the chancel, is a highly
enriched and decorated altar-tomb, on which lie the effigies of another Earl
of Berkeley and his son. It is a beautiful specimen of the period, divided into
fourteen niches, having floriated canopies, under which are figures on
pedestals—the Virgin and Child, St. Christopher with our Saviour, St.
George and the dragon, and St. Peter, are among the number.
The groining of the chapel is curious, as containing in its several bosses
and panels a connected set of emblems referring to the awful mystery of the
Holy Trinity, with a most unaccountable interpolation of the monkish satires
of the fox preaching to geese, a monkey holding a bottle, &c.
The churchyard contains a monument to the last of those privileged
characters, the “fool” or jester of the nobility. He was in the employ of the
Earl of Suffolk, and appears to have been lent to Lord Berkeley. He was
buried 18th June, 1728. At the end of the monument are the arms of the earl,
and on one side this inscription,—

“My lord that’s gone, himself made much of him!”

On the opposite side are these lines written by Dean Swift, who was
chaplain to Charles Earl of Berkeley:—
“Here lies the Earl of Suffolk’s fool,
Men call him Dicky Pearce;
His folly served to make men laugh,
When wit and mirth were scarce.
Poor Dick, alas! is dead and gone—
What signifies to cry?
Dickies enough are left behind
To laugh at by and by.”

The village bears the half-maritime character usual in places near the sea,
or an arm of
the sea, and has some
old buildings about it,
of which the annexed
sketch is a specimen.
It may, however, be
justly celebrated as
the birthplace of Dr.
Jenner, by whom
cowpock inocculation
was first introduced.
He was buried at
Berkeley, and will
ever be remembered
with gratitude as the
successful combatant
of that fearful disease,
whose ravages were
so finely alluded to
by Admiral Berkeley,
when, advocating his
claims in the House
of Commons, he said,
that “not a second is
struck by the hand of
Time but a victim is
sacrificed at the altar
of that most horrible of all disorders—the small-pox.”
Wandering through the ancient and venerable Halls, consecrated by time,
the mind associates with every solemn nook some memorable passage of its
eventful history. Ages have wrought comparatively little change in its
external and internal aspect. There are no indications of ruin, and few even
of neglect, in this famous baronial castle. The fancy is scarcely taxed to
behold again, seated on the dais, its powerful lords—mirrors of chivalry: we
seem almost to hear the minstrels recite the praises of descendants of the
royal Dane, who fought and conquered by the side of the Conqueror; we

behold his successors, in one unbroken line for centuries, surrounded by
their vassals, holding regal sway; we tread the very steps which a deposed
and death-doomed monarch trod in grievous captivity; and although we
shudder at entering the dark chamber in which he was so foully murdered,
we feel pity for, rather than anger towards, that “Lord of Berkeley” who was
certainly guiltless of the deed, and whose weapon would have forced aside
the hands of remorseless butchers. Berkeley Castle is a fine study for the
antiquary; a full page for the historian: it illustrates with singular force the
customs of our ancestors; exhibits their state of perpetual “watch and ward;”
the frowning Keep speaks audibly; and every winding staircase and
chamber, small or large, is fertile of story.
The neighbourhood, too, retains much of its primitive character. One may
imagine the peasants and farmers, whose quaint homesteads environ the
strong castle—the dependants and retainers of four centuries ago.
So few of these “old places” have been preserved to our time,
“unimproved” by modern “taste,” that a visit to Berkeley is like a refreshing
draught of pure water in an arid plain, to those who mourn over removals of
the ancient landmarks of their ancestors.
“In surveying Berkeley Castle,”—we quote the fine apostrophe of
Dallaway—“this proud monument of feudal splendour and magnificence,
the very genius of chivalry seems to present himself amidst the venerable
remains, with a sternness and majesty of air and feature which shew what he
once has been, and a mixture of disdain for the degenerate posterity that
robbed him of his honours. Amidst such a scene the manly exercises of
knighthood recur to the imagination in their full pomp and solemnity; while
every patriot feeling beats at the remembrance of the generous virtues which
were nursed in those schools of fortitude, honour, courtesy, and wit—the
mansions of our ancient nobility!”

Drawn by F. W. Hulme. on Stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ

BRAMSHILL, HAMPSHIRE

B RA MS H I L L HOU S E ,

HAMPSHIRE.

ramshill House is one of the most perfect of the
remaining mansions of the time of James the First. It is
said to have been erected for the excellent Prince Henry
—by whom it was never inhabited, his death having
occurred before the building was completely finished. It
became the property of the Lords Zouch, from whom it
subsequently passed to the family of Cope—the present
proprietor being Sir John Cope, Bart. The wings are
comparatively plain, constructed of brick, with stone
dressings; but the centre is elaborately built of stone,
finely carved and profusely decorated. It supplies a
striking example of the peculiar architecture of the period, when “Italian
improvements” were earliest introduced into, and mixed up with, our “old
Gothic manner.” This central portion of the structure is carried up in rich
compartments, with pilasters, from story to story, surmounted
by a pediment of the same character, which bears the coronet of the Prince
for whom the building is said to have been designed.
The interior is even more primitive and unimpaired than the exterior. The
old Hall is floored and wainscotted with oak; the ceiling is enriched, and the
walls are hung with family portraits in antique frames, in admirable keeping
with the staid and solemn aspect of the venerable structure. The apartments
throughout the mansion are of the same interesting class. In the principal
drawing-room, the needle rivals the pencil upon the tapestried walls; every
chamber retains unaltered its ancient character: the furniture and
“garnishings” are of other days; the massive fire-places still afford space for
the hospitable yule log; and in the chairs and couches that throng the several
apartments, we see the quaint and elaborate carvings and embroidered
coverings which exhibit the skill and industry of gone-by times. All things
within the mansion are in harmony with the impressive grandeur it derives
from age. Circumstances have happily existed to prevent the coarse assaults
of the modern Renovator; and Bramshill House remains—and, we hope, will
long continue—a fine example of the period of its erection.

Such “Houses” are rarely encountered now-a-days—a mansion so little
altered, within and without, that Imagination may readily recal its ancient
occupants, peopling the long galleries, shadowed recesses, and spacious
Hall, with the formal and stately Dames and Knights of the period when it
was erected. There are, indeed, few places that are so easily associated with
the past; one might almost fancy that the very chairs and tables have been
unmoved during two whole centuries.
The House is auspiciously situated: it stands on rising ground, and
commands extensive prospects of the surrounding country. It has recently
obtained augmented importance in consequence of the visit of Her Majesty,
Queen Victoria, who, while a guest of his Grace the Duke of Wellington,
examined the old mansion of Bramshill, which is distant about six miles
from Strathfieldsaye.

F. W. Hulme, Delt. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
HATFIELD HOUSE, HERTFORDSHIRE.

HAT F I E L D HO US E ,

H E RT F O R D S H I R E .

atfield House is finely placed on the summit
of a gently swelling hill, close to the little
town of Hatfield. Few old English mansions
have a more general or varied interest.
Whether we consider its architectural merits,
its historical associations, or the picturesque
attractions by which it is surrounded, its
claims to our regard are neither few nor
small. Seven centuries have passed away
since Hatfield became a place of note; and
the crown, the mitre, and the coronet, have
successively held sway over its destinies. Of
the architectural glories of Hatfield, little
now remains of a date anterior to the time of
James I., in whose reign the present noble
house was built by John Thorp. A part, however, of the previous palace of
Hatfield still exists, interesting as the place of residence of the Princess
Elizabeth, afterwards queen, during the reign of her sister, Mary. Nor was
her residence here, though compulsory, a state of imprisonment and
oppression, as some have said; for it has been proved, from various records,
that she met with considerate treatment, and lived in a state befitting her high
rank and queenly prospects. On the death of Mary, Elizabeth proceeded
hence to take possession of the throne.[31]
Since the reign of James I., Hatfield has been the property and principal
residence of the family of Cecil. William Cecil, afterwards Lord Treasurer
Burleigh, laid the
foundation of the greatness of this family. “This distinguished statesman,”
says Sir Robert Naunton, “was the son of a younger brother of the Cecills of
Hertfordshire, a family of my own knowledge, though now private, yet of no
mean antiquity, who, being exposed and sent to the city, as poor gentlemen
used to do their sons, became to be a rich man on London Bridge, and
purchased (estates) in Lincolnshire, where this man was born.” First he

became Secretary to the Protector Somerset, and afterwards, on the
accession of Elizabeth, he was appointed Secretary of State. In 1561 he was
made President of the Court of Wards. His great talent and assiduity won for
him much regard at court, where he was treated with great favour. In 1571 he
was created Lord Burleigh, and continued to maintain his distinguished
position in the State till his death, in 1598. He resided chiefly at Theobald’s,
where he often had the honour of entertaining his sovereign, who was “sene
in as great royalty, and served as bountifully and magnificently, as at anie
other tyme or place, all at his lordship’s chardg,” &c.

Robert, the youngest son of Lord Burleigh, became possessor of Hatfield
by exchange with the king, James I. He inherited much of his father’s talent
and wisdom, “with a more subtle policy and a superior capacity for state
intrigue.” For certain secret services to James, during the life of Elizabeth,
he was raised by the king to the peerage. Afterwards he was created Viscount
Cranbourn, and, in the year following, he was made Earl of Salisbury. After
filling the office of sole Secretary of State, he succeeded, on the death of the
Earl of Dorset, to the high post of Lord Treasurer. “Shrewd, subtle, and
penetrating,” he discharged his duties with great ability, and while attending
to the interests of his country forgot not his own, having, “by various
methods,” increased his inheritance to a very ample extent. He died in 1612.
The title and estates then descended to his only son, William, who died in
1668, and was succeeded by James, the third earl. The fourth earl, also
named James, died in 1694; his great-grandson, the seventh earl, was created
Marquis of Salisbury by George III., in 1789. He was the father of the
present noble representative of the family of Cecil.
Hatfield House is of vast extent; it is of brick, with stone dressings. It was
built between the years 1605 and 1611, by Robert Cecil, first Earl of
Salisbury. After being suffered to fall into decay, it was restored and
beautified by the sixth earl, about the middle of the last century. In 1835, a
great part of the west wing was destroyed by fire, little being left of that part
of the house besides the outer walls. On this mischief occurring, occasion
was taken to effect a general reparation, which was brought to a close last
year (1846). The house is in the form of an half H, comprising a centre and
two wings, the hollow part being towards the south. The centre is a
magnificent example of the Palladian style, and, although of mixed
architecture, presents, in its totality, a design of great richness and beauty.
The basement-story contains an arcade, with eight arches, divided
externally by pilasters, whereof the upper parts are fluted, and the lower
parts enriched with Elizabethan arabesques. The lower pilasters are Doric,
the upper Ionic. The wings are massive, and comparatively plain, supported
at each corner by square turrets, seventy feet high to the gilded vanes; the
space between, comprising three stories, is relieved by a fine oriel window,
of two stories. The centre tower, over the grand entrance, is also seventy feet
high; it has three stories, with coupled columns at the corners, the whole
having an agreeable pyramidal effect. The third story of the tower contains a
clock, and also the armorial bearings of the founder, with the date 1611, in

which year the present house was finished. The length of the southern front
is 300 feet, the centre being 140 feet, and each wing 80 feet wide, with a
projection from the centre of 100 feet.

The northern front is plain—a severe simplicity, nearly allied to grandeur,
being its chief characteristic; the centre compartment, with its entrance-
doorway below and noble clock-tower above, being the only elaboration it
contains. Of this front we give a view, as seen from the avenue of trees
which marks the approach on this side.
The south front contains the principal entrance, and, from its symmetry
and ornate character, is, architecturally at least, the principal one. The east
front has, however, certain advantages, which go far towards making it the
most interesting, as it is certainly the most picturesque. The view in that
direction, whether from the house or of it, is by far the most pleasing, as the
founder well knew when he caused the principal apartments to be placed on
this side. The view from these rooms is of remarkable interest and variety:

first there is a noble terrace-walk, with an enriched parapet, over which the
eye wanders at will among the clustering flowers of the Elizabethan garden,
and from them to the Maze; beyond which is the Park, with its fine sheet of
water, surrounded by noble old trees, their deep green reflexions broken ever
and anon by the splash of leaping fish, or the sedate movements of the
stately swans.
The interior well sustains the rich promise of the exterior. Convenience of
arrangement and sumptuousness of decoration are every where united. Two
grand staircases, one in the corner of each wing, lead to the principal
apartments. These staircases are of oak, richly carved. That in the north-west
angle was formerly called the Adam and Eve staircase: much of it is of
recent date, having been redecorated since the late calamitous fire. The
north-east staircase is all old, and exquisitely carved. This staircase leads
almost direct to King James’s Room, one of the noblest apartments of the
house, the extreme magnificence of which no words can describe: in truth it
is too rich, and the eye turns involuntarily towards the grand oriel windows
for relief. The ceiling is of exquisite design, and was, till recently, plain
white; now it is all gold and colour. The chimneypiece is massive, of white
marble; and a central niche over the fire contains a life-size statue of James
I. in dark stone. The fire-dogs are of silver; the furniture and the six
chandeliers are gilt; the curtains are of white satin; the chair and sofa
coverings are crimson velvet; and the carpet, “patent Axminster,” is of
Elizabethan design, worked in brown, gold, scarlet, and blue. This room
contains some of the most important pictures. The Gallery extends the whole
length of the south front: it is about 160 feet long, and 20 feet wide. The
ceiling is of remarkable beauty, one of the finest examples of a period that
was most prolific in such designs. The walls are panelled with oak, and
covered with a profusion of carving and other embellishment. Our further
remarks on the interior must be brief; many interesting matters we must
altogether omit. We hasten, therefore, through the Winter Dining-Room, and
pass into the Library, in which, among other treasures, there are some rare
old documents. From the Library we may pass into the gallery of the Chapel,
which contains a curious old organ, a large window of richly painted glass,
and some good pictures. On the north side of the house is the Great Hall; it is
50 feet by 30, and is lighted by three bay-windows, rising the whole height
of the hall. At the eastern end is a massive screen, supporting a gallery

above, the whole covered with carvings of heraldic badges and other
decorations.
The Park is full of fine trees, which from many points offer beautiful little
pictures, more particularly when seen in combination with the house or
garden terraces. One of these “bits” we have engraved for the initial letter.

F. W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
KNEBWORTH, HERTFORDSHIRE

KN E B WORT H,

H E RT F O R D S H I R E .

NEBWORTH Manor and Fort were granted at the
Conquest by William I. to his favourite counsellor and
captain, Eudo, surnamed Dapifer. Knebworth was
fortunate in the rank or fame of its successive owners
during the early periods of our history. In the reign of
Edward I. its ancient fort was possessed by the powerful
Robert de Hoo; in that of Edward II. it had passed to
Thomas de Brotherton, fifth son of Edward I. by marriage
with his daughter Margaret, afterwards created Duchess of
Norfolk. Its next owner was the famous Sir Walter Manny.
It devolved by heritage on Anne, daughter of the Duchess
of Norfolk, and wife to John de Hastings, Earl of
Pembroke. In the reign of Henry IV. it became the property of John Hotoft,
Knight of the Shire for Herts; an eminent man in that reign, and
subsequently Treasurer to the Household of Henry IV. His daughter married
Sir Robert de Lytton, of Lytton in the Peak of Derbyshire, Governor of
Bolsover Castle, and Grand Agister of the Forests in the Peak. His grandson
(also named Robert), early in the reign of Henry VII., purchased the property
of his maternal ancestry, and thus became Lord of Knebworth. This second
Sir Robert de Lytton was of great note and power in his time: his family had
always espoused the cause of the House of Lancaster; he fought with Henry
VII. at the battle of Bosworth, and was by that king made Keeper of the
Great Wardrobe, Under-Treasurer of the Court of Exchequer, one of the
Privy Council, and Knight of the Bath. He is mentioned by Perkin Warbeck,
in one of his manifestos, as exercising considerable influence in the councils
of Henry VII., and was one of the most powerful of that king’s supporters, in
point of possessions and descent. He held rich lordships in Derbyshire,
Cheshire, Northamptonshire, Herts, and Essex. Knebworth became his
principal residence. He enlarged the fortress, and changed its character into
the elaborate and enriched architecture, which the part of the house now
standing, and originally reconstructed by him, still retains.

The family of Lytton had been settled in Cheshire and Derbyshire from
the period of the Conquest. Sir Giles de Lytton, nephew to the great Hubert
de Lacy, Earl of Chester, whose arms he quartered, followed Richard III. to
the Holy Land, and fought with him at Askalon. The Lyttons continued to
hold offices of state or trust under successive monarchs till the reign of
Elizabeth. Under Henry VIII., William de Lytton was made Governor of
Bulloign Castle. Under Elizabeth, Sir Rowland de Lytton, Lord Lieutenant
of Essex and Herts, commanded the forces of those counties at Tilbury Fort;
and was Captain of that flower of English chivalry, the band of Gentlemen
Pensioners, so renowned in the reign of the Virgin Queen.[32] Sir Rowland
Lytton married Anne, daughter of Oliver, the first Lord St. John of Bletsoe,
and great-granddaughter of Margaret Beauchamp by her first husband, Sir
Oliver St. John. By her second marriage with the Duke of Somerset, this
Margaret was the grandmother of Henry VII.; so that Anne, Lady Lytton,
claimed the honour of a blood-relationship with Elizabeth, who favoured
Knebworth with several visits during her reign.
In the reign of Charles I., Sir William Lytton, Knight of the Shire for
Herts, adopted the popular cause, supported by Pym, Elliott, and Hampden,
and was one of the commissioners sent to treat with the king at Oxford;
those commissioners being chosen from the most powerful country
gentlemen of the party. He seems to have been a moderate man, and a
sincere patriot; for he opposed the ascendancy of Cromwell no less than the
despotism of Charles, and was one of the refractory members whom Oliver
confined in Hellhole. By his marriage with Ruth, daughter of Sir Thomas
Barrington, of Barrington Hall, Sir William Lytton allied his house with the
blood-royal of the Plantagenets; Ruth Barrington being fourth in descent,
through the Countess of Salisbury and Richard de la Pole, Knight of the
Garter, from George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel, daughter of Earl
Warwick the King-maker.
In the reign of Anne, the heir-male of the Lyttons dying without issue, the
estate passed to his cousin, William Robinson, ceu Norreys, of Guersylt,
Denbighshire, and Monacdhu, in Anglesey, who, on the maternal side,
descended from the Lyttons, and on his father’s, from a race still more
ancient; tracing, indeed, in a direct and acknowledged line, from the heroes
and princes of our earliest history,—Elystan Glodrydd, or the Glorious
(godson of King Athelstan), Prince of North Wales, and Lord of all between
Wye and Severn; Karadoc Vreicfras; Roderic the Great; and Cadwallader the

last of the British kings. His ancestor, Sir William Norreys, married Anne,
sister of Owen Tudor, and grand-aunt to Henry VII. His son, Sir Robert,
married Anne, daughter of Sir W. Griffiths, Grand Chamberlain of Wales,
and his name was of such eminence in the wars of the time, that his son,
according to Welsh custom, took the name of Rob’s or Robin’s son, which
was afterwards borne by the descendants indiscriminately with the proper
patronymic of Norreys. Through later intermarriages this family claim also
descent from the Norman houses of Grosvenor, Stanley of Hooton, Brereton
of Malpas, and Warburton of Ardely. The great-granddaughter of this
William Robinson, who took the name and arms of Lytton on succeeding to
the estates of his maternal ancestry, was Elizabeth Warburton Lytton, who
became sole heiress and representative of the families of Lytton and
Robinson. She married William Earle Bulwer (brigadier-general), of Heydon
Hall and Wood Dalling, Norfolk; lands which had been in possession of his
family since the Conquest. (See Burke’s “Commoners,” and Bloomfield’s
“Norfolk.”) By this marriage there were three sons: 1st, William Lytton
Bulwer, the present possessor of Heydon; 2nd, the Right Hon. Henry Lytton
Bulwer, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Madrid, to whom his
grandmother bequeathed a considerable fortune; and Sir Edward Bulwer,
Bart., who succeeded to his mother by will, in December 1843, and took the
surname and arms of Lytton.
The ancient house of Knebworth is described in an early number of the
“Gentleman’s Magazine.” It was a large quadrangular building, the front, or
east side, being part of the early fortress, and dating as far back as the time
of Edward III. Three sides of the pile were, however, removed, as both too
vast and too ruinous to inhabit, by the late Mrs. Bulwer Lytton; and the
fourth side, which was built in the reign of Henry VII. by Sir Robert Lytton,
forms the present residence. It was repaired and restored by Mrs. Bulwer
Lytton and the present possessor, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.
The house stands on what Sir Henry Chauncy calls “a dry hill in a fair
large park, stocked with the best deer in the county, excellent timber and
well wooded, and from whence you may behold a most lovely prospect to
the east.”
The exterior consists of two wings of the purest Tudor architecture,
flanked by highly ornamented turrets, surmounted with cupolas and gilded
vanes. The windows are all in stone mullions with small panes, and most of
them in stained glass. At the east or entrance-front is a tall square tower, with

flag turret and massive projecting porch. The west or garden-front is
peculiarly elaborate, and covered with the profuse heraldry of the period, in
arms, rebuses, badges, &c. The centre is formed by a circular tower, squared
towards the base, with projecting embayed window, and the initials R. L.
(Robert Lytton), with the date 1499, over the door. On this side, a garden
stretches into the park, laid out in the style favoured in the reign of James I.,
with stone-pierced balustrades, straight walks, statues, and elaborate
parterres. The other sides of the house, viz. the north and east, are
approached by stately avenues of limes and chestnuts.
On entering through the porch there is a narrow corridor, covered with
armour of different dates. Over a door leading to the butteries hang a
crusader’s chain-mail, and the gigantic double-handed swords of the same
age. But the chief part of the armour here is of the more recent date of the
Civil Wars.
On entering the park from the London road is a picturesque Lodge, which
formed part
of the ancient gateway in front of the quadrangle, and was removed by Mrs.
Bulwer Lytton to the present site. The road winds through a richly wooded
deer-park for about three-quarters of a mile, and, skirting the garden-front,
approaches the house at the east.
The Mausoleum, a beautiful Palladian building of stone erected by Mrs.
Bulwer Lytton, and the grey, venerable Church, which stands within the
park, about one hundred yards from the house, partially serve to break the
wide prospect to which Sir Henry Chauncy refers.
To the left is the Screen Hall, about fifty-six feet long, twenty-four broad,
and thirty in height; the ceiling of this hall is of the date of Henry VII., the
screen was added in the reign of Elizabeth, and the arms of Sir Rowland
Lytton, quartering those of Booth and Oke, of which families he was heir-
male, are carved on the panels. Above the screen is the Minstrels’ Gallery.
The oak panels that surround the hall and ascend to a considerable height,
with the columns at the extreme end, are of the date of Charles I., and above
them are carved deers’ heads with gigantic antlers. There are three figures in
complete knight’s armour in this hall, of the several dates of Henry VII.,
Henry VIII., and James I.; and trophies, of the dates of Elizabeth and Charles
I., are suspended on the piers between three Gothic pierced windows. The
fire-dogs on the ample hearth are peculiarly massive, and of the time of
Henry VII., having the supporters assumed by Sir Robert de Lytton. One of

the doors at the extreme end is connected with a curious relique of ancient
manners, of which a few similar instances are still to be found in our old
halls; it leads to a spacious cellar raised on arches, to which it was the
custom, in the less sober age of our fathers, for the revellers to retire after
dinner, with the noble design to drink out a bin undisturbed. The
corresponding door gives access to the Oak Drawing-room, a room thirty-six
feet in length, paneled in deep wainscot, with a curious and massive
chimneypiece rising to the ceiling, and carved with the arms and supporters
of Lytton. The upper compartments of the stone mullion windows are
emblazoned with the arms of Booth, Godmanston, and Oke; quarterings
brought into the family by the marriage of Sir W. Lytton (temp. Henry VIII.)
with the heiress of the Booths. This room is hung round with portraits,
chiefly those of the family, but with some of a more general interest. There
are small heads of Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, and Cardinal Wolsey, a fine

portrait of Algernon Sidney in his youth, another of Andrew Marvel, two by
Rubens of the Duke of Alba and Clara Eugenia, one of Galileo, and one of
the Elector Palatine, husband to Elizabeth Stuart. This room communicates
with the Library; a spacious apartment, with one large deep-set oriel
window, facing the garden. The bookcases, of carved Gothic work in dark
oak (surmounted by the crest of Norreys, the Cornish chough, which,
according to Welsh heraldry, denotes royal descent), line the room
throughout. The chimneypiece, of carved stone, is blazoned with the arms of
Grosvenor, Stanley, and Robinson, Beaufort, St. John, and Lytton; and the
stained glass of the windows contains other armorial bearings of the joint
descents of the families of Lytton and Robinson. In this room are two
antique tall bronze candelabra, with lamps inlaid with silver, which were dug
up in Apulia, and purchased by Sir Edward at Naples. The Neapolitan
government refused for a long time to permit them to leave the country, and
it was only upon the decision of a learned antiquary, that they were of the
date of Joan of Naples, and not Roman antiquities, that they were consigned
to their present proprietor. Assuming that date to be correct, though there is
strong evidence to believe them genuinely Roman, they are wonderfully well
preserved, and their shape and form are of exquisite taste and workmanship.
From this room we pass to the Staircase, formed by a double flight of oak
stairs, with curiously wrought balusters, ornamented with lions supporting
armorial shields. Two long mullion windows with richly stained glass,
illustrating the descent of Ruth, Lady Lytton, from the Neviles and
Plantagenets, light this interesting part of the house. The walls are covered
with armour, banners, and portraits; among the last is a full-length of the
Regent Murray, another half-length of Henry, Prince of Wales, and a vast
equestrian portrait of the Emperor Charles V.: the rest are family portraits,
including one of Sir Edward by Von Holst. Ascending the flight to the right,
we pass through a carved screen-work into the lobby, leading to the State
Apartments, four in number. The first is a small square room, extremely
curious from the antiquity of its decorations. The wainscot, in oak carving,
represents the Cardinal Virtues; the walls are covered with gilt stamped
leather, and the ceiling is blazoned with heraldry. In this room are some
interesting portraits, viz. of the Earl of Strafford and his widow, of Lord
Darnley, of Sir Philip Sidney, said to be given by him to Sir Rowland Lytton,
of Sir Robert Cecil (first Lord Salisbury), said also to be a gift, of Bussy
d’Amboise, homme de sang et de feu, and Sir Francis Russell, who married a
daughter of Sir William Lytton. There is a curious oak cabinet, of the reign

of Henry VIII., in this room. Passing through a carved oak door we enter the
next in the suite, a somewhat long but narrow room, hung with rich tapestry
glitteringly wrought in bugles. Between the windows is a superb Venetian
cabinet, in tortoiseshell and silver. There is a picture by Rembrandt, called
“The Magician’s Study,” over one of the doors; and above the high oak
chimneypiece is a portrait of the young Duke of Gloucester, son of Charles I.
Folding-doors open from this room into the oval room, and thence into the
principal drawing-room, formerly called the Presence Chamber. These
rooms are decorated en suite; the ceilings represent nearly ninety
quarterings, and the frieze the principal descents, by alliance, from the
Tudors and Plantagenets; corresponding heraldic devices are blazoned on the
windows of the whole suite. The walls are in green and gold, depicting the
crests, badges, and motto of the family. There are several excellent pictures
in these rooms; viz. a “Magdalene,” by Carlo Dolce, in his best manner; a
most beautiful “Madonna,” by Gallego, a Spanish artist little known in this
country, but of high repute in his own: he was a pupil of Albert Durer.
Nothing can exceed the finish and exquisite colouring of this lovely picture.
There is also a “Holy Family,” by Albert Durer; the head of the Virgin is
beautiful. “The Flight into Egypt,” by N.Poussin; a portrait of Marie de
Medici by Tintoretto; and the celebrated masterpiece of Lancret, so often
engraved, of “The Dancing Group.” There is also a charming bit by Charles
le Brun; a portrait of Edward VI., given by him to Sir William Lytton; an
“Oriental Fair,” finely painted, the artist unknown; a “Battle-piece” by
Wouvermans; a landscape by Salvator Rosa, “Acis and Galatea;” and four
full-length family portraits connected with the genealogical decorations of
the apartments.
The furniture throughout this suite corresponds with the antiquity of the
apartments and character of the decorations, comprising some rare and
genuine examples of the taste of our forefathers. There are, in particular, two
tables in ivory and ebony of the reign of Henry VIII.; two cabinets in oak
and gold of that of Henry VII.; an early Venetian table of extreme beauty;
and several chairs in the old Genoese cloth of gold, as fresh as if wrought but
yesterday. Here are also two of the ivory and gold chairs formerly belonging
to Tippoo Saib, presented by Lord Wellesley to Queen Charlotte, and sold
after her death; and some fine specimens of sculpture on marble pedestals:
the “Laura” of Canova; the “Mercury,” and “Shepherd’s Boy” of
Thorwaldsen; the “Flora” of Gibson, presented to Sir Edward by that

exquisite artist; and the busts of the four Italian poets, Petrarch, Ariosto,
Dante, and Tasso, in alabaster. At the end of the old Presence Chamber
formerly ran the Picture Gallery, removed by Mrs. Bulwer Lytton. The suite
now terminates by a stained glass window, on which is painted the full-
length of Henry VII. with the subjoined inscription:—
“King Henry the VII., to whose blood are akin the heirs of Sir Robert de
Lytton of Knebworth, K.B., Privy Councillor and Keeper of the Great
Wardrobe, A.D. 1508; 1st. by Margret Beauchamp, from whom descended
Anne St. John, wife of Sir Rowland Lytton, temp. Elizabeth. 2dly. by Anne,
sister of Sir Owen Tudor and wife of Sir William Norreys, temp. Henry VII.,
from whom descended William Robinson Lytton, temp. Anne.”
The chimneypiece is a beautiful Gothic specimen of carved stone gilt and
blazoned, with the following punning motto on the frieze,—“A Dieu foy,
aulx amys foyer.”
Returning to the staircase we descend the first flight, and turning to that
at the left pass by a full-length statue, in carved wood, of Sir Walter Raleigh;
to a lobby, communicating on one hand with the Minstrels’ Gallery, on the
other, through a very curious oak door, to the Round-Tower Chamber. This
last is covered with stamped leather, white and gold, and commands, from
the deep-set window, a beautiful view of the gardens. It contains portraits of
Madame Dubarry, mistress to Louis XV.; of Ninon de l’Enclos; and one or
two other persons of better repute: amongst them, Viscountess Falkland,
daughter of Sir Rowland Lytton—a charming face. In a lobby adjoining the
tower is a stone bust of Prince Charles Edward. In the Music Gallery is a
long picture of “Moses in the Bulrushes,” which unluckily hides the old œil
de bœuf, so rare in English halls. A corridor leads from the Music Gallery to
the principal sleeping chambers, which are, for the most part, in character
with the rest of the house.
The Falkland Room is uniformly in the style of Charles II., with family
portraits of that date: viz. Margaret, daughter of Sir William Lytton, and wife
of Viscount Hewyt; another daughter, Dorothy, wife of Sir Francis
Barrington of Barrington; a third, Judith, married to Sir Nicholas Strode; and
fourth, Elizabeth, married to W. Windham of Felbrigge, ancestor of the
celebrated statesman. Over the chimneypiece hangs a half-length of Charles
II. in armour.
Another room, called the Hampden, is of a much earlier style of
decoration and furniture than that which the name betokens. The curious old

bed, the wardrobe, chimneypiece, &c., are about the time of Henry VIII. or
Edward VI.
But the two most interesting rooms in this part of the house are, 1st, that
called Queen Elizabeth’s, which is carved entirely, with magnificent old
tapestry in fine preservation, and in which are a vast bed of carved oak, a
rude chimneypiece supported by quaint stone figures, &c.; 2d, the room
called Mrs. Bulwer Lytton’s, and occupied by her in her lifetime. This
contrasts with the rest of the house, and is entirely modern. The walls,
paneled in wainscot, white and gold, are hung round with her own drawings
and paintings, some of which are of no common merit for a lady artist; here
also are collected the portraits of her immediate family, her three sons, her
mother, Sir Edward’s children, &c. But the feeling which dictated the
character of this room is best told, perhaps, by the following inscription over
the chimneypiece:—
“This room, long occupied by Elizabeth Bulwer Lytton, and containing
the relics most associated with her memory, her Son trusts that her
descendants will preserve unaltered. Liberis Virtutis exemplar.”
The Village is long, straggling, primitive, and rural; the cottages neat, and
all provided with gardens. In the centre is an alms-house for widows, built
by the late Mrs. Bulwer Lytton, whose interest in all that concerned the poor
of the neighbourhood, or the maintenance of the several duties connected
with property, is visible everywhere.
The Church of Knebworth is worth visiting. In the private Chapel of the
family are some very beautiful and costly marble monuments to several of
the Lyttons, surmounted by faded banners, and the crested
helmets of some of that line, said, by Mr. Pratt, to be among the finest and
rarest specimens he has seen in England: their dates appear to be those of
Henry IV., Henry VII., and Elizabeth.
A very interesting little tale was published in the last century, called
“Jenny Spinner, or the Hertfordshire Ghost,” the scene and incidents of
which are laid at Knebworth, and founded upon the traditional superstition
that in certain apartments, called “the Haunted Rooms,” the whirr of a
spinning-wheel was heard at night. The book is extremely rare, and appears
to have furnished Sir Walter Scott with the idea of the parish-clerk of
Gandercleugh, in “Old Mortality.”

As the seat and residence of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., the
accomplished Author who occupies so prominent a position in the Literary
History of the age and country, Knebworth cannot fail to possess an interest
beyond that which it derives from antiquity and picturesque character; we,
therefore, have devoted to it greater space than we are usually able to
appropriate to a single subject.

J. D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. L. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
HINCHINBROOK

H I N C HI NB R OOK HO US E ,

HUNTINGDONSHIRE.

INCHINBROOK—the seat and residence of John
William Montagu, seventh Earl of Sandwich—is situated
within “a short mile” of the ancient town of Huntingdon.
Few mansions in England possess a deeper interest, or
have weightier associations connected with them; for,
although not actually born within these walls, here the
Protector, Oliver Cromwell, passed many of his boyish
days: here occurred not a few of the incidents which
formed his character; and here, probably, originated that
peculiar temperament which afterwards gave birth to
mighty issues.
The House stands upon the site of a very ancient Priory of Benedictine
Nuns, said to have been founded by the Conqueror; the “holy ladies” having
been removed thither from Eltesly, in Cambridgeshire, where, according to
Leland, “was sumtyme a Nunnery, where Pandonia, the Scottish virgine, was
buried, and where there is a Well of her name yn the south side of the quire.”
The site of this Priory was granted—29 Henry VIII.,—to Sir Richard
Williams, the lineal representative of the Welsh Lords of Cardigan and
Powis, whose father having married the sister of the famous Earl of Essex,
assumed the name of Cromwell. Sir Richard rose rapidly into favour with
his uncle’s imperious master, the Eighth Henry, obtained the lucrative
appointment of one of the Visitors of Religious Houses, and on the
Dissolution had a lion’s share of rich Abbey lands; becoming, in
consequence, one of the wealthiest commoners of England. In 1546, he was
succeeded by his son, Sir Henry, called, from the liberality of his largesses,
“the golden knight.” By him the mansion at Hinchinbrook was built, partly
out of the materials of the adjacent nunnery, the memory of which is still
preserved by the names, “Nun’s Bridge,” and “Nun’s Meadow,” continued
by tradition to places on the west side of the park. In 1564, the mansion had
the honour of receiving Queen Elizabeth as a guest. Sir Henry left a large
family. Sir Oliver inherited Hinchinbrook, and Robert, the second son, was

the father of the Protector. The uncle was also the godfather of Oliver
Cromwell; and in this house many of his boyish days were passed.
From causes insufficiently explained, the revenue of Sir Oliver dwindled;
and, being under the necessity of alienating part of his hereditary estates, he
sold Hinchinbrook to Sir Sidney Montagu, of Barnwell, knight—the
ancestor of the present Earl of Sandwich—in whose family it has since
remained. Thus, the heir apparent, afterwards the Protector, instead of
inheriting a large patrimony, had but a poor prospect; his father, to augment
his income, became a brewer, dwelling in a comparatively “meane house
within the towne;”[33] and it is matter for curious speculation how far the
visits of James I. to Sir Oliver impaired the fortunes of the house, and the
consequent impoverishment may have biassed the character of his nephew;
who, possibly, if he had been heir to the enormous estates acquired by his
grandfather, might have been contented with his destiny, and have never
drawn a sword which continued out of the scabbard until a monarch had
perished on a scaffold.[34] In Huntingdon, Oliver Cromwell was born, on the
25th April, 1599, “by birth,”—as he described himself in Parliament fifty-
five years afterwards,—“a gentleman, to live neither at any considerable
height nor yet in obscurity;” and in the church which adjoined his father’s
house, the church of St. John, long ago removed, he was christened, four
days afterwards, as appears by the entry (of which we made a fac-simile
copy) in the books, now preserved in the church of All-Saints.

Above this entry some loyalist had written, “England’s plague for five
years,” which the pen of some Parliamentarian had afterwards struck
through. The hand-writing of this pithy sentence seems, to judge from the
characters and the ink, nearly as old as the registry itself.

Fortunately there is one object associated with the early life of “Oliver,
Lord Protector,” which the rude hand of a modern Vandal has not been able
to desecrate or even touch. The Grammar School remains uninjured even by
time; it stands

in the centre of the Town, opposite to All-Saints Church;[35] and in its
interior as well as exterior seems to have undergone very little change since
Oliver’s master, Dr. Beard, flogged him there—as tradition saith he did—for
dreaming that “he saw a gigantic figure come to his bedside, and tell him he
should be greater than a King;” and where, not long afterwards—it is said,
on the same authority—while acting the part of “Tactus” in the play of
“Lingua,” it was his business to “stumble at a crown and regalia,” and to
repeat the lines commencing—

“Was ever man so fortunate as I,
To break his shins at such a stumbling-block.”

The ancient and venerable school-room, retaining, as it does, so much of
its primitive character, is an object of intense interest; the thick walls, with
their latticed windows, seem utterly unchanged; the very desks, heavy with
ink blotches, and the deeply-carved names of hundreds of heedless urchins,
may have been—possibly are—the very desks at which young Oliver sate,
when “now a hard student for a week or two, and then a truant or otioso for
twice as many months.”
In this town, which he afterwards represented in Parliament, he passed
not only his boyhood, but the years of his prime; selling, in 1631, the small
remnant of his property there, and removing to St. Ives, whence, on the
death of his maternal uncle, Sir Thomas Steward, he removed, in 1636, to
the Isle of Ely. It was at Huntingdon, however, he made his first essays in the
cause of Freedom. Here, in 1639, he met the King’s Commissioners, who
were working injustice towards those who had reclaimed the Fens; here he
argued with and confuted them; boldly confronting the Crown-partisans, and
thwarting the measures of the Court; so that thenceforward, until he achieved
a higher title, he obtained the popular appellation of “Lord of the Fens.”
During his greatness, his native town seems to have seen very little of
him; his fate was perhaps that of prophets generally, who “have no honour in
their own country.” It is on record, however, that one day marching through
it, he met in the main street a reverend divine, by whom his life had been
saved from drowning when a boy. On reminding the clergyman of the fact,
“the general” received for answer, “Yes, I well remember it, and wish I had
put you in, rather than see you thus in arms against your King.”[36]
Hinchinbrook House is scarcely less intimately connected with Oliver’s
early history, than is Huntingdon town; independently, therefore, of its
intrinsic value, its associations
are of surpassing interest; and it is surrounded by very valuable remains of
antiquity—the ancient borough of Godmanchester[37] being especially rich
in relics of very olden times. The reader will perhaps consider we have done
well in procuring a copy of one of them—the old Court-House—the speedy
removal of which is one of the “threats” of the age. Causes tried “in open
court” is a phrase familiar to all; but in ancient times, the courts were
literally “open”—not to suitors alone, but to wind and weather. That at

Godmanchester continued “open” until the passing of the Reform Bill. It
stands in the middle of the highway where two roads meet, and is a
venerable building of timber and plaster, having upon its front the date 1679;
probably that of its latest alteration or reparation—for some portions of the
building are certainly much older. It is inclosed in a small court-yard by a
mud wall; and remained perfectly “open” up to the memorable year 1832,
when for the comfort and convenience of a
new race of Aldermen, unaccustomed to privations, it was bricked and
plastered in. Here then, until within the last few years, was justice ministered
openly as in the most ancient times, when a broad tree not unfrequently
formed the sole shelter for judge and people. Down to a comparatively late
period the law courts were thus held both in Guildhall and Westminster-hall,
in London. In a much earlier age Parliament was similarly seated; Richard II.
erected for the Members a temporary wooden house, while rebuilding
Westminster-hall; and this house was open on all sides to the weather and to
all men; the members being protected by 4,000 Archers placed around them

by the King—“to
secure freedom of
debate,” as Pennant
slily remarks. Such
open meeting-
houses were by no
means uncommon
in the olden time;
the Godmanchester
Court-house is
interesting as the
last remaining relic
of the custom.
Another valuable
relic of antiquity
we found in the
Church of
Godmanchester;
chained to the
pulpit was a poor-
box formed of oak
strongly banded
with iron. We thought it desirable to preserve a copy of it, which we have
given above.
Hinchinbrook, as we have stated, passed from the family of Cromwell to
that of Montagu; having been purchased by Sir Sydney Montagu, in 1627. It
is the present
seat and residence of his lineal descendant, John William, the seventh Earl of
Sandwich—a family ennobled by talent and bravery, but also by remote and
honourable descent. Although the venerable structure has undergone sundry
changes, chiefly the consequence of a fire which consumed a considerable
portion of it in 1828, it retains much of its original character. The court-yard,
reached through a winding avenue of trees, is entered through a singularly
picturesque gate-way, which forms the subject of the appended engraving. It
is built of stone, embellished and carved with more than ordinary skill. The
gates are of thick oak; there are two—one to open and give admission to

carriages, the other to foot passengers, who are protected by a solid
balustrade, also of oak.[38]
The exterior, as we have intimated, has been considerably impaired by
fire; and sufficient care does not appear to have been taken with its
subsequent restoration. Notwithstanding, it continues to “display in its parts
the architectural taste of the earliest as well as of the latest period of Queen
Elizabeth’s reign, possessing the irregularity of design peculiar to the era.”
The bay-windows are profusely embellished with shields of the family of
Cromwell, the arms of Queen Elizabeth, and “a variety of heraldic
cognizances denoting the honours of the Tudor line,—the falcon, the
portcullis, a ton with a branch, and roses of different forms, which are upon
the upper cornice of each window.” The interior has been almost entirely
modernized; but the “furnishing” is in good taste, and is made to harmonize

as nearly as possible with the era in which the fame of the venerable
structure was achieved. The walls are covered with family portraits—
principally the “living likenesses” of Lely. The library is of oak—richly and
elaborately carved by the hand of some great old master.

J. Holland, Delᵗ. on Stone, by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
CHARLTON HOUSE, KENT

C HAR LTON H OUS E ,

K E N T.

HARLTON—according to Philipott, “anciently
written Ceorleton, that is the town inhabited with
honest, good, stout, and usefull men, for tillage and
countrye businesse,” the name being derived from
the Saxon word Ceorle, a husbandman, “from which
radix ‘Churle’ cometh,” and so Churleston, whence
Charlton—is a village in Kent distant seven miles
from London, and standing on the summit of a hill,
which commands an extensive view of the Thames,
and the opposite shores of Essex county.[39] In the
reign of Edward the Confessor, the Manor was held by two brothers,
Godwin and Alward; the Conqueror bestowed it upon his half brother Odo,
Bishop of Baieux; subsequently, it came into the possession of Robert
Bloett, Bishop of Lincoln, who gave it, about the year 1093, to the Prior and
Monks of Bermondsey. After the suppression of that Monastery, it passed
into the hands, severally, of Sir Thomas White, Anne Lady Parry, and
Thomas Fortescue. In 1604, it was granted by James the First to John Earl of
Mar, by whom it was sold immediately afterwards to Sir James Erskine, who
re-sold it, in 1607, to Sir Adam Newton; his son, Sir Henry Newton, (who
had taken the name of Puckering,) “a great royalist who suffered much by
sequestration,”[40] alienated it in 1659, to Sir William Ducie,[41] afterwards
Viscount Downe, by whose representatives it was disposed of to Sir William
Langhorne, an East India merchant; from him, failing male issue, inherited
“his kinswoman,” Mrs. Margaret Maryon, widow, whose son John
bequeathed it to his niece, whose daughter Jane inheriting, conveyed it by
marriage to Sir Thomas Spencer Wilson, Bart., whose grandson, Sir Thomas
Maryon Wilson, Bart., now possesses the estate.
The Wilsons are a family of great antiquity, descended from William
Welson or Wilson, chancellor to William the Conqueror:—From Thomas
Wilson, of Elton, in Yorkshire, 1250, was descended Sir Thomas Wilson,
Knight, LL.D., Dean of Durham, principal Secretary of State to Queen
Elizabeth; not only an able statesman, but one of the most eminent scholars

of that age. He was knighted and made Dean of Durham and Master of St.
Katherine’s, near the Tower, by Queen Elizabeth, in reward for important
and continued services. The baronetcy was conferred, in 1660, upon his
descendant, William Wilson, of East-bourne, son and heir of John Wilson, of
Sheffield-place, Sussex, for his fidelity and distinguished conduct on the side
of the monarchy, during the civil wars. The present baronet is the eighth in
succession; a magistrate for Kent, Sussex, and Surrey; a deputy-lieutenant,
and captain in the West Kent Militia; and was High Sheriff of Kent in 1828.
Sir Thomas is also Lord of the Manor of Hampstead, where he inherited
considerable property.
The Manor House of Charlton was built by Sir Adam Newton, between
the years 1607 and 1612. Sir Adam was tutor to Prince Henry, the son of
James the First; and, according to contemporary authorities, it was erected
for the Prince, a statement which receives confirmation from the royal arms
placed over one of the recesses of the saloon, while the plume of ostrich
feathers—the cognizance of the Prince—occupies a similar position
opposite.[42] Evelyn speaks of it as “a faire house built for Prince Henry.”[43]
The interest of Charlton House is greatly enhanced by the fact that here was
formed the mind of the estimable youth; here he was trained to virtue. After
the lamented death of his beloved pupil, Mr. Newton, “though made
treasurer to Prince Charles, spent the remainder of his days chiefly in study
and retirement.”
The Mansion, as we have intimated, stands on the summit of a hill, which
overlooks the Thames. The trees, by which it is surrounded, are of
magnificent growth. Hasted speaks of a long row of cypress trees, “which
seem to be of great age, and are, perhaps, the oldest in England; “they have
all—save one—been removed by the hand of Time. The ancient gateway,
now disused, immediately fronts the principal entrance; (we have adopted it
as our initial letter). It is a remarkably elegant erection, attributed, not
without reason, to Inigo Jones, who resided for some time in a house, still
standing, in the immediate neighbourhood. The Mansion forms an oblong
square, with projections at the end of each front, crowned by turrets, and an
open stone balustrade of peculiar character, carried round the summit of the
front. The centre projects; on either side of the arched entrance, surmounted
by a niche, are two Corinthian pillars; above are two pillars carved in
grotesque ornaments; the projection, running to the roof, being richly
decorated with carved cornices and brackets.

The spacious Hall is of oak, panelled, and has a gallery at the western
end, of comparatively recent date; the centre drop depending from the
ceiling, ornamented only at the angles, possesses great beauty. At the bottom
of the grand staircase is the dining-room; and adjoining to this the Chapel,
the ancient doors of both being beautifully carved in oak. The staircase
leading to the principal apartments, which are on the upper floor, is of
massive chesnut, its arabesque balusters being surmounted by capitals of the
Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. On the upper floor are the saloon, long
gallery, and suite of drawing-rooms, all with highly-wrought chimney-
pieces, in stone or marble, and ornamented ceilings. The ceiling of the
saloon is composed of exquisitely-worked arabesque ornaments intermixed
with fruit and flowers, and decorated with pendants. The chimney-piece is of
alabaster and black marble, in which the Greek and arabesque are united,
supported by two finely-sculptured figures of Vulcan and Venus. The gallery,
76 feet in length, is of panelled oak, with an elaborately-wrought arabesque
ceiling. Between the gallery and the saloon is the chimney-piece here
represented. It is carved with the story of Medusa, underneath which
are two allegorical basso-relievos. In the drawing-room, on the other side of
the saloon, is a chimney-piece, “so highly polished,” that—if we may credit
the testimony of Dr. Plot—“the Lord of Downe did see in it a robbery

committed on
Shooter’s Hill;
whereupon sending
out his servants the
thieves were taken.”
The House
contains a good
collection of family
portraits, and a
Museum of curious
and interesting
objects in Natural
History, gathered
chiefly by the late
Lady Wilson, and
augmented by the
present Baronet
during travels in the
North and South of
Europe.
The Park—
although small,
containing about 100
acres—is exceedingly
beautiful; full of
finely-grown trees,
among which are
several yews of
venerable antiquity, a
perfect avenue of
which still leads to
the garden north of the House. The gardens are laid out with considerable
taste, and abound in shrubs brought from various parts of the world. The
annexed print represents a graceful and picturesque “drinking-house,” in the
grounds fronting the Mansion; overlooking it is the solitary tree of cypress,
the only one which endures of the “Row” of which Evelyn speaks.[44]

Charlton Village, until late in the last century, was famous for a
“disorderly fair” called “Horn Fair,” according to Philipott, “by reason of the
great plentie of all sorts of winding hornes and cups and other vessels of
horne there brought to be sold.” That which had been instituted for a useful
purpose degenerated in time, and became a nuisance to the neighbourhood,
until its excesses were suppressed by the grandfather of
the present Baronet.
[45] It is now held in
a field at the end of
the village, and is
one of the most
orderly fairs in the
neighbourhood of
the Metropolis.
The present
Church of Charlton
is of a date a little
more recent than the
Mansion.—It is
built, however, on
the site, and partly
with the materials,
of an ancient
structure. It is
dedicated to St.
Luke, and seems to
have been
surrendered to the
crown with the
Manor of Charlton,
and the rest of the
possessions of St.
Saviour’s, at its dissolution, June 1st, anno 29 King Henry the Eighth, 1537,
and to have remained part of the Royal demesnes till James the First granted
it with the Manor to Sir Adam Newton, who dying before he was enabled to
repair or rebuild it, “left,” according to Philipott, “the care with his cost, to
enlarge and beautify God’s house,” to his executors, who “most amply

discharged that trust, and in a manner new builded a great part thereof, and
erected the steeple new from the ground, and furnished it with a good ring of
bells, decorating the same Church without and within so worthily that it
surpasseth most in the shire.” The Patron of the Church is Sir Thomas
Maryon Wilson; the Rector is the Rev. Arthur Drummond, who married a
sister of the present baronet. The structure is of red brick, consisting of a
Chancel, a Nave, and North Aisle. At the West end is a square brick Tower
embattled. In the Windows of the Chancel are several Coats of Arms in
stained glass—principally those of Lee Warner, Bishop of Rochester;
Newton (uncle of Sir Adam, one of his executors) Blunt, of Wricklemarsh;
Peto, quartering Langley and Loges; Puckering; Sir William Langhorne,
impaling Manners,—Sir William’s first wife being a daughter of the Earl of
Rutland; Puckering impaling Chowne, Wilson quartering Smythe, Haddon,
and Weller, &c.
The Church contains Monuments to Sir Adam Newton, the founder of the
Mansion, and his Lady, with a Latin inscription written by himself; of Sir
William Langhorne and his wife Grace, daughter of John, Earl of Rutland,
and relict of Viscount Armagh; Brigadier Michael Richards, Surveyor-
general of Ordnance to George the First; James Craggs, Esq., Postmaster-
general, 1721;[46] John Turnpenny, Esq., “who by industry acquired, by
economy improved, and with equity dispensed, a considerable fortune
among his surviving friends”; Sir John Lambert Middleton, Bart.; Edward
Falkingham, Esq., Comptroller of the Navy, 1757; and of the father and
grandfather and other members of the family of the present baronet. A bust
by Chantrey, with an inscription, is also placed here over the remains of the
amiable and excellent Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, who fell by the hand of
an assassin, when Prime Minister of the country, in 1812. He married Jane,
second daughter of Sir T. Spencer Wilson. The lamented Edward
Drummond, also the victim of assassination, having been mistaken by the
murderer for Sir R. Peel, to whom he was private secretary, is buried in a
vault in the churchyard. He was brother of the present rector.
Few mansions of its date—although that date is no more remote than the
beginning of the seventeenth century—have retained, with less injury, the
peculiar characteristics of the age of James the First. The present estimable
possessor is fortunately anxious to preserve it in its purity; the necessary
repairs have been conducted with judgment and taste; and, as an example of

the architecture of the period, it may be regarded with exceeding pleasure—a
pleasure enhanced by its vicinity to the Metropolis.

J. D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
COBHAM HALL, KENT.

C OB HAM H AL L ,

K E N T.

County of Kent holds foremost rank
he
among the Shires of England; not alone
because of its picturesque beauty, its great
fertility, the full and important page it
occupies in British history, the abundance and
richness of its antiquities, the peculiarities of
its laws, the primitive character of its customs,
or its ecclesiastical pre-eminence; but, chiefly,
because it is regarded as our great Island bulwark—our “Vanguard of
liberty,”—
“A soil that doth advance
A haughty brow against the coast of France.”

Very few of our counties contain so many perfect examples of structures
such as it is our purpose to depict. The baronial halls of Kent, and the
ANCIENT CHURCHES of Kent, are among the most remarkable,
picturesque, and unimpaired EDIFICES of the kingdom. Upon Kent,
therefore, we shall draw rather extensively for the present Work; and
although necessarily discursive, we may derive from the vast store of wealth
with which it supplies us, ample to excite and interest the lover of
picturesque beauty and antiquity. Its proximity to the Metropolis—from
which, if we measure distances by time, it is separated by little more than
two hours—supplies a sufficient motive for the selection of Cobham Hall,
and the several striking objects in its immediate vicinity. It is situated about
four miles south-east of Gravesend, nearly midway between that town and
Rochester; but a mile or so out of the direct road. The narrow coach-paths
which lead to it are shaded by pleasant hedge-rows, and run between lines of
hop-gardens—our English vineyards, infinitely more graceful and beautiful
accessories to the landscape than the stunted grape-shrubberies of France.
The mansion stands in the midst of scenery of surpassing loveliness;
alternating hill and valley, rich in “patrician trees” and “plebeian
underwood;” dotted with pretty cottages, and interspersed with primitive

villages; while, here and there, are scattered “old houses” of red brick, with
their carved wooden gables and tall twisted chimneys; and glimpses are
caught, occasionally, of the all-glorious Thames.
A visit to Cobham Hall, therefore, furnishes a most refreshing and
invigorating luxury to dwellers in the Metropolis; and the liberality of its
noble owner adds to the rich banquet of Nature as rare a treat as can be
supplied by Art; the Hall,—independent of the interest it derives from its
quaint architecture—its fine, although not unmixed, remains of the Tudor
style—contains a gallery of pictures by the best masters of the most famous
schools, large in number and of rare value.[47]
Before we commence our description of the Hall, the Demesne, the
Church, the College, and the village of Cobham,[48] it is necessary that we
supply some information concerning the several families, under whose
guardianship they have flourished.
Cobham Hall has not descended from sire to son through many
generations. Its present lord is in no way, or at least very remotely, connected
with the ancient family who for centuries governed the “men of Kent;” and
who, at one period, possessed power second only to that of the sovereign.
That race of bold barons has been long extinct, the last of them dying in
miserable poverty; and if their proud blood is still to be found within their
once princely barony, it runs, probably, through the veins of some tiller of
the soil.
The Cobhams had been famous from the earliest recorded times. In
Philipott’s “Survey of Kent,” 1659—it is said that “Cobham afforded a seat
and a surname to that noble and splendid family; and certainly,” adds the
quaint old writer, “this place was the cradle or seminary of persons who, in
elder ages, were invested in places of as signall and principall a trust or
eminence, as they could move in, in the narrow orbe of a particular county.”
Henry de Cobham was one of the Recognitores magnæ assisæ—who were
“in some proportion equivalent to the judges itinerant”—in the first year of
King John. No less than four Kentish gentlemen of the name embarked with
the first Edward in his “victorious and triumphant expedition into Scotland,”
and were knighted for services rendered to that Prince in his “successful and
auspicious siege of Carlaverock.” With John de Cobham, distinguished in
the reign of Edward the Third, the male line determined; Joan, his daughter,
is said to have had five husbands, by only one of whom,[49] Sir Reginald
Braybrooke, she left issue, Joan, who being married to Sir Thomas Broke, of

the county of Somerset, Esq., “knitt Cobham, and a large income beside, to
her husband’s patrimony.”[50] Their eldest son, Sir Edward Broke, was
summoned to Parliament, as Baron Cobham, in the 23 Henry VI. In 1559,
Sir William Broke entertained Queen Elizabeth at Cobham Hall, in the first
year of her reign, “with a noble welcome as she took her progress through
the county of Kent.” His son and successor, Henry Lord Cobham, was Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports; but “being too deeply concerned in the design
of Sir Walter Raleigh,” he was deprived of his estates, “though not his
life.”[51] His younger brother, George, was executed; but Lord Cobham
“lived many years after in great misery and poverty,” dying in January, 1619;
and sharing the humble grave of some lowly peasant, apart from the
magnificent tombs which cover the remains of his great and gallant
ancestors. He is said, by Weldon, to have been reduced to such extreme
necessity, that “he had starved, but for a trencher-scraper, sometime his
servant at Court, who relieved him with scraps.” His estates, at the time of
their confiscation, are estimated to have been worth 7,000l. per annum; and
he possessed 30,000l. in goods and chattels. His nephew was “restored in
blood; “but not to the title or property. These were transferred—“the manor
and seat of Cobham Hall, and the rest of Lord Cobham’s lands”—by James
the First to one of his kinsmen, Ludovick Stuart, Duke of Lennox; whose
male line became extinct in 1672. The Lady Katherine, sister of the last
Duke of Richmond and Lennox, married into the princely family of the
O’Briens of Thomond; but the Duke “dying greatly in debt,” the estates were
sold. Cobham Hall was purchased by the second husband of the Lady
Katherine, Sir Joseph Williamson, who resided there for some time.[52] In
1701 he died, bequeathing two-thirds of his property to his widow. This
proportion descended, on her demise, to Edward Lord Clifton and Cornbury,
afterwards Lord Clarendon, who had married the sole child of the Lady
Katherine, by her first husband, Henry Lord O’Brien;[53] and on his death,
without issue, in 1713, his sister, Lady Theodosia Hyde, inherited. She
married John Bligh, of the kingdom of Ireland, Esq.;[54] created, in 1721, an
Irish Peer by the title of Lord Clifton of Rathmore, and, in 1725, Earl of
Darnley in that kingdom. For some years the estate was in Chancery. After a
tedious suit, it was purchased by Lord Darnley for the sum of 51,000l., to the
third part of which a Mrs. Hornsby became entitled, as relict of the
gentleman to whom Sir Joseph Williamson had devised one third part.[55]
The present Peer, the sixth Earl of Darnley, was born on the 16th April,

1827, and succeeded his father, the fifth Earl, in 1835. He is hereditary High
Steward of Gravesend and Milton. His father, the fifth Peer, married—in
1825—Emma Jane, third daughter of Sir Henry Parnell, Bart., created Lord
Congleton in 1841. This estimable lady resides at Cobham Hall. The late
Peer died in consequence of an injury received from a woodman’s axe, while
he was trimming trees in a plantation adjoining his mansion. His death was
the subject of universal sorrow; in his own immediate neighbourhood, it was
mourned as a private and personal loss.
Such is a brief history of the several noble families through whom the
mansion, demesne, and estates, of Cobham have passed.
The Hall is backed by a noble Park, amply stocked with deer, and
containing trees, of great variety and immense size, some of them measuring
above thirty feet in circumference. It comprises 1,800 acres, and encloses an
area of about seven miles. The old approach, long disused, was through an
Avenue of lime-trees, consisting of four rows, and extending more than half
a mile in length from the dependent village. The present entrance is through
a red-brick, turreted, Gateway, adjacent to which is “the Lodge.” On nearing
the House, the eye encounters a Cedar of magnificent growth, and to the left
are the Gardens, into which there are two Terrace-walks; one from the great
gate, and another, at a considerable elevation, from the suite of apartments
which constitute the first floor. The View taken by Mr. Harding pictures the
more ancient portion of the venerable edifice—the north wing; with which
the south wing mainly corresponds. They are, however, connected by a
centre, built by Inigo Jones; and
this centre, which consists of a façade with Corinthian pilasters, is sadly out
of keeping with the quaint gables, octagonal turrets, ornamental door-ways,
carved cornices, projecting mullioned windows, and elaborated chimneys,
which distinguish the earlier dwelling of the Cobhams. In front, this
incongruity is sadly apparent; but examined from either of the sides it is not
perceived. The additions made by Inigo Jones are injurious, because they
impair the harmony of the building; although, considered apart, they are
worthy of his high fame. The nature of the architecture and the singular
contradiction it exhibits, cannot be better shown than by reference to this
engraving of one of the projecting entrances, of stone, extending to the roof,
by which the wings are backed—including one of the ancient latticed
windows on either side. The structure thus assumes the form of a half H, the
wings being terminated by octagonal towers; a sunken wall in front encloses

a quadrangular
Lawn, ornamented
with vases and
statues. The wings
exhibit the dates—
1582 and 1594—
and retain all the
characteristics of
the later Tudor
style; although, as
we have intimated,
it has been
materially
corrupted by the
several alterations
to which it has
been, from time to
time, subjected.
The ordinary
entrance to the
house is through a
vaulted Passage,
“built in the form
of a Gothic cloister
by James Wyatt,”
which contains the
arms of the
Cobhams, with the
date 1587. This
passage leads to the
grand Staircase, and the several apartments on the ground-floor. The first to
which strangers are conducted is the Dining-hall; which contains an
elaborately carved black and white marble Chimney-piece, having quaint
and curious figures and buildings; and a series of Portraits of rare excellence.
The Music Room, one of the suite added to the ancient building, affords a
brilliant contrast to the sombre and solid character of the dining-room. It
contains but one picture—full-length Portraits of the Lords John and Bernard
Stuart, sons of the Duke of Lennox—a chef-d’œuvre of Vandyke. The

Chimney-piece is formed of the purest white marble, sculptured in bas-relief
after Guide’s Aurora, by the elder Westmacott, with fauns, life-size, as
supporters. The Ceiling was designed by Inigo Jones; it is divided into
several square and circular compartments, with a deep oval in the centre,
“superbly gilt and enriched by appropriate ornaments, among which are
twelve pendent coronets.” The apartment is in length 50 feet, in breadth 36
feet, and in height 32 feet; and although superbly ornamented and richly gilt
—the Pillars, of the composite order, being of white marble, and the lining
of scagliola—the whole is in fine harmony with the grace and chasteness of
the design. There are two Galleries, one of which contains an Organ. The
Vestibule is a small chamber, decorated with valuable Vases of verde
antique. The Library contains a series of Portraits of eminent literary men—
Bolingbroke, Sidney, Shakspere, Swift, and others; none of them, however,
advance strong claims to originality. On the walls of the great staircase are
hung several large pictures, which may bear examination before the gallery
is entered. The most remarkable is attributed to Domenichino.
The grand Staircase conducts, first to the Portrait Gallery, and next to the
Picture Gallery. The walls of the former are hung with portraits, among
which are many of exceeding interest, including those of heroes, statesmen,
kings and queens, church-reformers, and poets, mingled without regard to
date or order.[56] The Picture Gallery is the great “show-room” of the house.
It is a noble apartment, the walls of which are
covered with works of art, of rare value and unsurpassed excellence, the
productions of nearly all the great masters of Italy; including admirable
examples of Guido, Titian, Salvator, Rubens, Raphael, Spagnoletto, P.
Veronese, Giorgione, N. Poussin, and Guercino. Every part of the venerable
edifice contains, indeed, some object of interest. The rooms, and halls, and
galleries are thronged with rare and beautiful works of

J. D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
COBHAM CHURCH.

art; a series of perfect Vases from Herculaneum lie on the tables of the
Picture Gallery; several antique Busts and Statues line the Hall; a
magnificent Bath, of red Egyptian granite, is placed in the entrance-passage;
and the furniture and interior decorations are all of corresponding excellence
and beauty. Not the least interesting among relics of the olden time, is a
Carriage, of which we append a copy. Its date is probably not more remote
than the reign of Charles the Second. It is in a good state of preservation, and
stands in one of the Out-offices, of which there is an extensive and
remarkably commodious range.
Although necessarily limited in our description of Cobham Hall, we have
sufficiently shown the rare treat a visit to it will afford to those who, “in
populous city pent,” desire to convert occasional holidays into contributions
to intellectual enjoyment. The Hall and its contents will amply repay
examination; and the noble Park is full of natural treasures—thronged with
deer, singularly abundant in singing-birds, and containing trees, unsurpassed
in magnificent size and graceful proportions. One of the walks conducts to a
hillock, from the summit of which there is a splendid prospect of the
adjacent country, commanding views of the Thames and Medway, and
taking in the venerable castle, cathedral, and town, of Rochester; the
dockyards at Sheerness; and the whole course of the great English river to its
mouth at the Nore. The pedestrian, pursuing this route, will pass the
Mausoleum, an elegant structure, built conformably with the Will of the
third Earl of Darnley; and designed for the sepulture of his family. It was
never consecrated: in consequence, it is said, of a dispute respecting “terms,”
and is now rapidly falling to decay. The basement story contains a vault and
sarcophagus, surrounded by recesses for coffins. The Chapel is above. The
exterior consists of four wings, with columns, sustaining sarcophagi, and
surmounted by a pyramid.
But Cobham has other objects of interest—the venerable Church, and no
less
venerable “College.” The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, stands
upon elevated ground, at the entrance to the village. It consists of a nave,

aisles, and chancel,
with an embattled
tower, entered by an
antique porch. The
Tower is obviously of
a more recent date
than the Chancel; the
former is very
ancient. As in many of
the Kentish churches,
the Walls were
formerly painted in
fresco, of which
evidence may be
easily obtained by
those who will
examine them
narrowly; the steps of
the altar are paved
with encaustic tiles, of
about the period of
Edward III.—of
various patterns, but
most of them
containing the fleur-de-lis; the Stalls, of old oak, appear to have been worm-
eaten for centuries. The whole aspect of the place indeed supplies
indubitable proof of very remote antiquity[57].
The modern “fittings up”—the painted pews—contrast strangely with the
age of the
structure. The Roof of huge oak rafters, the Gothic arches, the Brasses—
broken or entire—which cover the floor, the quaint Monuments let into the
walls, the delicately-sculptured Piscina, the Sedelia of carved stone, the
singular Font, the rude Vestry-room with its massive oak Chest, the Scripture
passages painted on the walls—all bespeak the antiquity of the building. But
the most primitive portion of it is the Chancel, on either side of which are
five latticed Windows, the south side being entirely, and the north side being
partially, blocked up with rough stones. Nearly in

the centre is the still
beautiful Tomb of Sir
Thomas Broke, the Lady
Joan, and their ten sons
and four daughters. It is
of white marble; over
which, upon a black slab,
lie the effigies of the
knight and dame. On
either side, are those of
five of their sons,
kneeling, and wearing
tabards, with their swords
girded on. The figures of
the four daughters are
carved on the east and
west ends of the superb
monument. It bears the
date 1561, under the arms of the Brokes quartered with those of the
Cobhams. On the floor of the chancel are the famous “Cobham Brasses,” the
most perfect and the most numerous assemblage now existing in the
kingdom. The series consists of thirteen, recording the memory of the
Cobhams and Brokes, “Lords and Barons of this town of Cobham, with
many of their kindred, who for many descents did flourish in honourable
reputation.” Of the thirteen, eight are in honour of the knights, and five are
memorials of the dames. Of one of them we procured an engraving, in order
to convey a somewhat accurate idea of the style and character of the series.
It is to the memory of Sir Nicholas Hawberk, the third husband of Joan Lady
Cobham; the carving, in this example, is very elaborate and refined. The
knight is represented with folded hands under a canopy, “habited in plate
armour, standing on a lion, with a sword and dagger dependent from a rich
girdle, and has on a skull-cap, with a hauberk of mail.” The summit of the
canopy is divided into three compartments, highly enriched with finials and
pinnacles, and exhibiting the Trinity in the centre, and at the sides the Virgin
and Child, and St. George killing the Dragon. At the feet of the knight is a
youth standing on a pedestal. An inscription round the verge of the slab
records the marriage of Sir Nicholas with Joan de Cobham[58].

“The College of
Cobham” is now only a
collection of alms-houses, to
which presentations are
made—of old people,
without restriction to either
sex—as vacancies occur, by
the parish and ten other
parishes adjacent. It lies
immediately south of the
church, and is entered by a
small Gothic gateway. Its
occupants are twenty aged
men and women, who
have each a little mansion,
with a neat garden and an
allowance monthly,
sufficient to secure the
necessaries of life. It is a
quadrangular building, of
stone, measuring about 60
feet by 50; and contains a
large Hall, with painted
windows, a roof of
blackened rafters, an old oak
screen, and a fireplace of cut
stone. The history of the
college is curious and
interesting. A college or
chauntry was originally
founded here, about the year
1362, by John de Cobham,
thence called “the Founder,”
in the reign of Edward III.
Towards the end of the reign of Elizabeth it was rebuilt, as appears by a
record—“finished in September, 1598”—inscribed over the south portal,
under the arms and alliances of the Brokes Lords Cobham. The endowments

of the old
foundation were
ample; and were,
with the college
itself, bestowed by
Henry VIII. at the
Dissolution, upon
George Lord
Cobham, who had
the “King’s roiall
assent and licence
by hys Grace’s
word, without any
manner of letters
patent, or other
writings, to
purchase and
receyve to his
heires for ever, of
the late Master and
Bretheren, of the
colledge or
chauntry of Cobham, in the countie of Kent, now being utterly dissolved, the
scite of the same colledge or chauntry, and al and
singular their heridaments and possessions, as well temporall as
ecclesiasticall, wheresoever they lay, or were, within the realm of England.”
The walls of the ancient college may be clearly traced, and a small portion
still endures, comparatively uninjured. It is a Gateway, surmounted by the
arms of the Cobhams, luxuriantly overgrown with ivy, forming a fine
example of picturesque antiquity. The present structure was erected pursuant
to the will of Sir William Broke, Lord Cobham, who devised “all those
edifices, ruined buildings, soil and ground, with the appurtenances which
sometime belonged to the late suppressed college,” for the use of the “new”
college. By an act of the 39th of Elizabeth the wardens of Rochester Bridge,
for the time being, were made a body corporate, and declared to be perpetual
presidents of the new college, the government of which they retain to this
day.

The dependent
village of Cobham
is one of the neatest
and most pleasant
of the many fair
villages of Kent.
Although in the
course of our work
we shall picture
many nobler and
more perfect
examples of the
domestic
architecture of
“Old” England than
is supplied by
Cobham Hall, we
shall be enabled to
call attention to few
that afford so rich a
recompense at so
small a cost:—
taking into account
its genuine remains
of antiquity, the
magnificent works
of art that decorate
its walls, its easy
access from the
Metropolis, and the
primitive character
and surpassing
beauty of the
locality in which it is situated.

G. F. Sargent, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. L. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
HEVER CASTLE, KENT.

H E VE R C AS T L E ,

K E N T.

ever Castle is situated in that district of the County of
Kent called “the Weald.” It was erected in the time of
Edward III., by William de Hevre, who had obtained
the King’s license to embattle his Manor-house; dying
soon afterwards, the estate was inherited by his two
daughters; one of whom married a younger son of the
Lord Cobham, who purchased the remainder, and by
whose grandson the whole was disposed of to Sir
Geoffrey Boleyn, a wealthy mercer of London, who
was Lord Mayor of the City in the 37th Henry VI. He
was the founder of a family, whose short-lived power
forms a brilliant but melancholy page in British History. His grandson,
Thomas, the father of “the unfortunate Anne,” was created, by Henry VIII.,
Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond; but dying without issue male (his son having
been executed during his lifetime), his remorseless son-in-law seized on the
estates “in right of his late wife,” which in the 32nd year of
his reign, he granted, for her life, to Anne of Cleves, the wife he had then
repudiated. Sir Thomas Boleyn is buried in the Church of Hever; his tomb is
in the chancel; a fine relic of ancient splendour, which time and neglect have
essentially impaired. After the decease of Anne of Cleves, Hever passed
successively through the hands of the Waldegraves, the Humfreys, the
Waldos, and the Medleys, in whose possession it is at present.
The Castle is still in good condition, and is kept in sufficient repair. A
moat surrounds it, formed by the river Eden; over which a drawbridge leads
to the principal entrance—a centre flanked by round towers, embattled and
machicolated, and defended also by a portcullis. The inner buildings form a
quadrangle, inclosing a court. Our view is taken from the entrance to the
orchard, on the east side of the moat; thus presenting the east and north sides
of the building.
A “great staircase” conducts to the several apartments and “the long
gallery;” from

this gallery there opens a small recess, said to have been the council chamber
of the eighth Henry during his frequent visits to the Castle. Our print exhibits
also the trap-door, from which there is a narrow and gloomy passage to the
dungeons and the moat. To this awful-looking place, so suggestive of sad
thought, tradition has given the name of “the hunger hole.” A chamber, with
which are associated feelings scarcely less painful, is the antechamber that
leads to the bed-room of Queen Anna Boleyn. This suite is said to have
constituted her prison after her “disgrace”—if the term may be applied
to the change of circumstances to which she was doomed by the inhuman
despot to whose merciless keeping a stern fate had consigned her destiny.
The Castle and its neighbourhood contain many traditions connected with
the sad story of the ill-fated Anne. Hever was the residence of her earlier and
happier years; in this Castle she was wooed by her King; from hence she was
conducted in triumph to a throne. And from the lone chamber she here
occupied, she was led to a still more fatal prison and the scaffold. In the

immediate neighbourhood, a hill is pointed out, upon the summit of which it
was the custom of King Henry to wind his bugle-horn in token of his
approach, when, with his retinue, he drew near the dwelling of his “Lady-
love.”

S. Rayner, Delᵗ. on stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
KNOLE, RETAINER’S GALLERY.

K NO L E H OU S E ,

K E N T.

nole House adjoins the pleasant and picturesque
town of Sevenoaks. The principal approach is by a
long and winding avenue of finely-grown beech-
trees, through the extensive Park—the road,
sloping and rising gradually, and presenting
frequent views of hill and dale, terminated by the
heavy and sombre stone front of the ancient and
venerable edifice. Passing under an embattled
Tower, the first or outer quadrangle is entered; hence there is another
passage through another tower-portal, which conducts to the inner
quadrangle, and so to the
“Huge Hall, long Galleries, spacious Chambers,”

for which Knole—one of the stateliest of the Baronial Mansions of England
—has long been famous. No precise date can be assigned to the structure; it
is certain that so far back as the Conquest there was “a residence” here; we
have, however, no authentic records of its occupants until early in the reign
of John, when “the Manor and Estate” were held by Baldwin de Bethune,
from whom they passed by marriage to the Mareschals, Earls of Pembroke,
one of whom—a “rebellious Baron”—forfeiting, the lands were bestowed
upon Fulk de Brent, a low soldier of fortune—“a desperate fellow,” as
Camden terms him, whose arms had been useful to the King and his son,
Henry the Third. Upon the subsequent disgrace of this mercenary, the lands
reverted to the Earl of Pembroke; from whom they passed to the Bigods, the
Grandisons, the Says, and—in the reign of Henry the Sixth—to James
Fienes, summoned to Parliament in the twenty-fourth of that Monarch’s
reign as Lord Say and Sele; and murdered in Cheapside by order of “Jack
Cade.” His son and heir conveyed the estates to Thomas Bourchier,
Archbishop of Canterbury, who having “rebuilt the Manor-house, and
enclosed a Park round the same,” bequeathed it, in 1486, to the See. Knole
thus became the dwelling-house of the several Archbishops until the twenty-
ninth of Henry the Eighth, when Cranmer, “willing to surrender a part of the

possessions of the Church to preserve the remainder,” granted Knole and its
appurtenances to the King. By Edward the Sixth they were given to the
Dudleys: on the failure of the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne,
they reverted to the Crown. By Queen Mary they were presented to Cardinal
Pole. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, after having been held for a brief
time by the Earl of Leicester, they were bestowed upon Thomas Sackville,
created Baron Buckhurst and Earl of Dorset. In this family they have ever
since remained; the present owner of the noble Mansion and Estates being
the Countess Amherst, relict of the sixth Earl of Plymouth, and daughter of
the third Duke of Dorset, co-heiress, with her sister the Countess De la Warr,
of her brother, the fourth Duke, who died “of full age, but unmarried and
without issue,” in 1815.[59]
Knole House is full of highly honourable and deeply interesting
associations with the past. Seen from a distance, the Mansion appears
irregular; but, although the erection of several periods, and enlarged, from
time to time, to meet the wants or wishes of its immediate occupiers, it
exhibits few parts out of harmony with the whole; and presents a striking
and very imposing example of the earlier Baronial Mansions, such as it was
before settled peace in Britain warranted the withdrawal of all means of
defence in cases of attack from open or covert enemies.—The
neighbourhood, as well as “the House,” is suggestive of many sad, or
pleasant, memories: from the summits of knolls in the noble and well-
stocked Park, extensive views are obtained of the adjacent country; scattered
about the wealds of Kent are the tall spires of scores of village churches;
Hever—recalling the fate of the murdered Anna Boleyn and the destiny of
the deserted Anne of Cleves; Penshurst—the cradle and the tomb of the
Sidneys; Eridge—once great Warwick’s hunting-seat; the still frowning
battlements of Tunbridge Castle;—these and other objects, within ken,
demand thought and induce reflection; both of which obtain augmented
power while treading the graceful corridors and stately chambers of the
time-honoured
Mansion. The walls are hung with authentic portraits of the great men of
various epochs, who, when living, flourished here; not alone the noble and
wealthy owners of the old Hall, but the worthies who sojourned there as
guests—to have sheltered, aided, and befriended whom is now the proudest,
as it will be the most enduring, of all the boasts of lordly Knole.[60]

Visitors are generously admitted into the more interesting and attractive
of the apartments; and they are full of treasures of art,—not of paintings
alone, although of these every chamber is a store-house, but of curious and
rare productions, from the most elaborate and costly examples of the artists
of the middle ages, to the characteristic works of the English artisan during
the reigns of Elizabeth and James, when a vast amount of labour was
bestowed upon the commonest articles of everyday use. The collection of
Fire-dogs at Knole is singularly rich; those which adorn “the Cartoon
Gallery” supply us with our initial letter; but every room throughout the
Mansion contains a pair equally curious and fine—the greater number being
of chased silver. The chairs and seats of various kinds, to be found in all
parts of the House, are so many models for the artist. The best are placed in
“the Brown Gallery”[61]—a long and narrow apartment, panneled, roofed,
and floored with oak; here the antique fastenings to the doors and windows
are preserved in their early purity; the stained windows are fresh as if
painted yesterday; while the walls are covered with historic Portraits, giving

vitality to the striking and interesting scene—and seeming to remove two
centuries from between the present and the past. Similar wealth (wealth in
the best and truest meaning of the word) is

to be found in every chamber. The Great Hall has its “dais,” its “Minstrels’
Gallery,” and even its oak tables where retainers feasted, long ago. The bed-
rooms are distinguished as, “the Spangled,” “the Venetian,” “the King’s,”
&c. &c. Of the last named we give an engraving. The furniture here is
entirely of silver; the state bed is said to have cost £8000. The room was
prepared and furnished for the reception of James the First. The Portraits
scattered through the various apartments are, many of them, of rare value.
They include the principal nobility and statesmen of the reigns of Henry the
Eighth and his children. Among the other pictures are choice examples of
Titian, Corregio, Vandyck, Rembrandt, and Reynolds. In a window of the
Billiard-room is a painting on glass of a knight in armour, representing the
famous ancestor of the Sackvilles; and in the Cartoon Gallery are, also on
glass, the armorial bearings of twenty-one of his descendants, ending with

Richard, the third Earl of Dorset. Of the several “galleries,” and the drawing-
rooms, it is sufficient to state that they are magnificent in reference to their
contents, and beautiful as regards the style of decoration accorded to each.
There is, indeed, no part of the noble building which may not afford
exquisite and useful models to the painter; a fact of which we understand the
noble owners are fully aware, for to artists they have afforded repeated
facilities for study. It will not be difficult to recognise, in some of the best
productions of modern art, copies of the gems which give value and
adornment to the noble House of Knole.

J. D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
PENSHURST FROM THE PARK.

P E N S HU RS T,

K E N T.

ENSHURST! How many, and how glorious, are the
associations connected with this ancient house—“the
seat of the Sidneys!” Every great name, memorable in
the Augustan age of England, is linked with it for ever;
while its venerable aspect, the solemnity of surrounding
shades, the primitive character of the vicinity, together
with its isolated position—far away from the haunts of
busy men—are in perfect harmony with the memories it
awakens. Here lived the earliest and bravest of the
Anglo-Norman Knights. Here dwelt the ill-fated Bohuns
—the three unhappy Dukes of Buckingham, who
perished in succession—one in the field, and two on the scaffold. And here
flourished the Sidneys! Here, during his few brief years of absence from
turmoil in the turbulent countries of Ireland and Wales, resided the elder
Sidney, Sir Henry, who, although his fame has been eclipsed by the more
dazzling reputation of his gallant son, was in all respects good as well as
great—a good soldier, a good subject, a good master, and a good counsellor
and actor, under circumstances peculiarly perilous. This is the birth-place of
“the darling of his time,” the “chiefest jewel of a crown,” the “diamond of
the Court of Queen Elizabeth.” Here, too, was born, and here was interred
the mutilated body of, the “later Sidney;” he who had “set up Marcus Brutus
for his pattern,” and perished on the scaffold—a martyr for what he called
“the good old cause,” one of the many victims of the meanest and worst of
his race. With the memories of these three marvellous men—the Sidneys,
Henry, Philip, and Algernon—are closely blended those of the Worthies of
the two most remarkable Eras in English History. Who can speak of
Penshurst without thinking of Spenser!
“For Sidney heard him sing, and knew his voice;”—

of Shakspere—of Ben Jonson, the laureate of the Place—of Raleigh, the
“friend and frequent guest”—of Broke, whose proudest boast is recorded on
his tomb, that he was “the servant of Queen Elizabeth, the Counsellor of

King James, and THE FRIEND of Sir Philip Sidney”—of the many other
immortal men, who made the reign of Elizabeth the glory of all Time!
Reverting to a period less remote, who can think of Penshurst without
speaking of the high spirits of a troubled age?—
“The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington,
Young Vane, and others who called Milton—friend!”

Although its glory is of the past, and nearly two centuries have intervened
between the latest record of its greatness and its present state,—although it
has been silent all that time,—a solemn silence broken only by the false
love-note of an unworthy minstrel, for the names of “Waller and Sacharissa”
dishonour rather than glorify its gray walls—who does not turn to Penshurst
as to a refreshing fountain by the wayside of wearying History?
Penshurst—“the seat of the Sidneys”—adjoins the village to which it
gives a name. It is situated in the weald of Kent, nearly six miles south-west
of Tonbridge, and about
thirty miles from London. The neighbourhood is remarkably primitive. As an
example of the prevailing character of the houses, we have copied a group
that stands at the entrance to the Church-yard—a small cluster of quiet
cottages, behind which repose the rude forefathers of the Hamlet, with brave
Knights of imperishable names; and facing which, is an Elm of prodigious
size and age, that has seen generations after generations flourish and decay.
The sluggish Medway creeps lazily round the Park, which consists of about
400 acres, finely wooded, and happily diversified with hill and dale. A
double row of Beech-trees of some extent, preserves the name of
“Sacharissa’s Walk;” and a venerable Oak, the trunk of which is hollowed by
Time, is pointed out as the veritable tree that was planted on the day of Sir
Philip’s birth; of which Rare Ben Jonson thus writes,—
“That taller tree which of a nut was set,
At his great birth when all the Muses met:”

—to which Waller makes reference as “the sacred mark of noble Sidney’s
birth;” concerning which Southey also has some lines; and from which a
host of lesser Poets have drawn inspiration.
Until within the last twenty or thirty years, the house was in a sadly
dilapidated state. Its utter ruin, indeed, appeared a settled thing, until the
present proprietor, Lord De L’Isle, set himself to the task of its restoration. It

is now rapidly assuming its ancient character—a combination of several
styles of architecture, in which the Tudor predominates. One of Mr.
Hoarding’s drawings represents it “under repair,” as it now is; the other gives
a view of the Mansion, from the principal approach, through the Park. In the
first, the back-entrance to the Hall is seen between two rude buttresses, and
the roof of the Hall is shown above the broken wall. Opposite, is the old
Court-yard Bell, which bears the date of 1649. It is supported on a wooden
frame, richly covered with ivy. A print of it forms the Initial Letter to this
History. In Mr. Harding’s second view is exhibited the West Front, the north
front being seen in quick perspective; on the left, is “Sir Henry’s Tower,”
containing his arms, and an inscription stating that he was Lord Deputie
General of the Realm of Ireland in 1579. This Tower terminates the north
wing, the only part of the building as yet completely restored. In the north

wing is the principal entrance, by an ancient gateway leading through one of
the smaller Courts to the great Hall. Over this Gateway is an antique Slab,
setting forth that “The most religious and renowned Prince, Edward the Sixt,
kinge of England, France and Irelande, gave this house of Pencestre, with
the Manors, landes and appurtenaynces therunto belonginge unto his trustye
and well beloved servant syr William Sidney, Knight Banneret.”
The Exterior of the Mansion is, however, an assemblage of erections of
various times, and furnishes some examples of singular incongruity. But the
“restorations” are proceeding
in good taste and with
sound judgment; and
the Seat of the
Sidneys will, in the
course of a few years,
regain its rank as one
of the finest and most
extensive edifices of
the County of Kent.
The Interior is also
in progressive
improvement; but the
new and the old are at
present awkwardly
and ungracefully
mingled. The “Hall”
is still comparatively
untouched, and the
more interesting of its
characteristic features
are in no peril of
further destruction; the business of the architect being limited to repairing
the inroads of time. The pointed timber Roof, upon which the slates are laid,
is supported by a series of grotesque figures (corbels), each the size of life.
The Screen of the Gallery is richly carved and panelled. The Gallery—“the
Minstrels’ Gallery”—fills the side opposite the Dais. The Gothic Windows
are narrow and lofty. Every object calls to mind and illustrates a Feudal age.
The oak Tables, on which retainers feasted, still occupy the Hall; in its centre

are the huge Dogs, (pictured on the preceding page), in an octagonal
enclosure, beneath the louvre, or lanthorn, in the Roof, which formerly
permitted
egress to
the smoke.
A stone
Staircase
(indicated
in the
appended
print) leads
from the
Hall to the
Picture
Gallery and
the State
Apartments.
They are
filled with
family
Portraits, all
of which
possess
considerabl
e interest,
although
few are of
much
worth.
Among
them are
several of
Sir Philip
and Algernon Sidney; one of Sir Philip’s sister, the Countess of Pembroke, to
whom he addressed the “Arcadia,” and who is immortalised by Ben Jonson
in his famous Epitaph to “the subject of all verse;” and one, by Lely, of the
“Sacharissa” of the muse of Waller. A small Chamber in the Mansion

contains, however, a few treasures of rarer value than all its copies of “fair
women and brave men.” Among some curious family relics and records, is a
lock of Sir Philip Sidney’s hair; it is of a pale auburn. A lock of the hair of
the ill-fated Algernon is also with it; in tint it nearly resembles that of his
illustrious great uncle.
But “Penshurst Place” is interesting chiefly because of its associations;
and these are indeed of a high order. Our history of the family is, necessarily,
brief. Until the reign of Edward the Sixth, the Manor of Peneshurste[62] had
received a rapid succession of lords. In the reign of Edward the First, it was
in the possession of Sir Stephen de Peneshurste, or Pencestre—“a very
learned man,” according to Harris, and a “famous warden of the Cinque
Ports.” In that of Edward the Second, it was the property of Sir John de
Pulteney, who “had licence to embattle it,”—and who was four times Lord
Mayor of London. In that of Richard the Second, it was sold to the Regent
Duke of Bedford. On his death, his brother, “the good Duke Humphrey,”
inherited; and on his death—by murder, at Bury, in 1446—the estate
reverted to the Crown, and was granted by Henry the Sixth to his kinsman,
Humphrey de Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. In his family it remained until
the reign of Henry the Eighth, when, by the attainder of Edward Duke of
Buckingham, it fell again to the Crown. By Edward the Sixth, it was given to
Sir Ralph Fane; but on his execution, as an accomplice of the Protector
Somerset, it was by letters patent granted to Sir William Sidney (one of the
heroes of Flodden Field) and his heirs—Sir William being lineally
descended from Sir William Sidney, Knight, Chamberlain to the Second
Henry, “With whom he came out of Anjou.” In 1553, his son, Sir Henry,
inherited. Sir Henry was from infancy bred at Court, being “a companion,
and many times a bedfellow,” to the young Prince, afterwards Edward the
Sixth, by whom he was knighted. He was twice Lord Deputy of Ireland in
the reign of Elizabeth—a period of trouble and continual danger; during
which he discharged his duty as an energetic soldier, a sound practical
reformer, and a merciful man. The Historians of his time describe him as “of
a very public spirit, of great abilities, modest, pious, and patient; and in his
younger years, for comeliness and beauty, the ornament of the Court.”
Sir Philip Sidney—styled “the Incomparable”—was his eldest son; and at
Penshurst he was born, on the 29th of November, 1554. His life was one
scene of romance from its commencement to its close. His early years were
spent in travel; and on his return, he was married to the daughter of Sir

Francis Walsingham, a lady of many accomplishments, and of
“extraordinary handsomeness;” but his heart was given to another. The Lady
Penelope Devereux won it, and kept it until he fell on the field of Zutphen.
Family regards had forbad their marriage; but she was united to the immortal
part of him, and that contract has not been yet dissolved. She is still the
Philoclea of the “Arcadia,” and Stella in the Poems of Astrophel. It is
unnecessary to follow, in detail, the course of Sir Philip Sidney’s life. There
is no strange inconsistency to reason off, no stain to clear, no blame to talk
away. We describe it when we name his accomplishments. We remember it
as we would a dream of uninterrupted glory. His learning, his beauty, his
chivalry, his grace, shed a lustre on the most glorious reign recorded in the
English annals. England herself, “by reason of the wide-spread fame of Sir
Philip Sidney,” rose exalted in the eyes of foreign nations. He was the idol,
the darling, of his own. For, with every sort of power at his command, it was
his creed to think all vain but affection and honour, and to hold the simplest
and cheapest pleasures the truest and most precious. The only displeasure he
ever incurred at Court, was when he vindicated the rights and independence
of English Commoners in his own gallant person, against the arrogance of
English Nobles in the person of the Earl of Oxford. For a time, then, he
retired from the Court, and sought rest in his loved simplicity. He went to
Wilton; and there, for the amusement of his dear sister, Mary, Countess of
Pembroke, he wrote the “Arcadia,” between the years 1579 and 1581.[63]
Again, however, he returned to Court, and his Queen seized every
opportunity to do him honour. He received her smiles with the same high
and manly gallantry, the same plain and simple boldness, with which he had
taken her frowns. In the end, Elizabeth—who, to preserve this “jewel of her
crown,” had forcibly laid hands on him when he projected a voyage to
America with Sir Francis Drake, and laid her veto on his quitting England,
when he was offered the crown of Poland—could not restrain his bravery in
battle, when circumstances called him there. At Zutphen, on the 22nd of
September, 1586, he received a mortal wound.[64]
We may place implicit faith in the testimony of all the contemporaries of
Sir Philip Sidney—and by all of them he is described as very near
perfection; their praises must have been as sincere as they were hearty; for
his fortune was too poor to furnish him with the means to purchase them
with other than gifts of kindly zeal, affectionate sympathy, cordial advice,

and generous recommendations to more prosperous men. From Spenser
himself we learn, that Sidney
“First did lift my muse out of the floor.”

In his dedication of the “Ruins of Time” to Sidney’s sister, he speaks of her
brother as “the Hope of all learned men, and the Patron of my young
Muse.”—“He was,” writes Camden, the great glory of his family, the great
hope of mankind, the most lively pattern of virtue, and the darling of the
learned world.” Sir Philip dying without issue, he was succeeded by his
brother, Sir Robert, created Lord Sidney of Penshurst, and afterwards Earl of
Leicester, by James I. He died at Penshurst in July 1626, and was succeeded
by his son, Robert. “Though never of their faction,” he remained in
retirement at Penshurst during the domination of the Parliament and the rule
of the Protector, and died there in November 1677, in the 82nd year of his
age. His eldest son succeeded to the title and estates, and lived in troubled
times the life of an easy gentleman. Not so the second son—the famous
scion of the Sidneys, whose name is scarcely less renowned in history than
that of his great-uncle, Sir Philip. Algernon Sidney was born at Penshurst in
1621. He had scarcely reached the age of manhood when he was called upon
to play his part in the mighty drama then acting before the

J. D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
PENSHURST, KENT.

world. He joined the Parliament, and became a busy soldier—serving with
repute in Ireland, where he was “sometime Lieut.-General of the Horse, and
Governor of Dublin”—until Cromwell assumed the position of a sovereign,
when Sidney retired in disgust to the family seat in Kent, and began to write
his celebrated “Discourses on Government.” At the Restoration, he was
abroad, and “being so noted a republican,” thought it unsafe to return to
England; for seventeen years after this event he was a wanderer throughout
Europe,—suffering severe privations—“exposed (according to his own
words) to all those troubles, inconveniences, and mischiefs, unto which they
are liable who have nothing to subsist upon, in a place farre from home,
wheare no assistance can possibly be expected, and wheare I am known to
be of a quality which makes all lowe and meane wayes of living shamefull
and detestible.” The school of adversity failed to subdue the proud spirit of
the republican; and on his return to his native country—in 1677—at the

entreaty of his father, who “desired to see him before he died,” the “later
Sidney” became a marked man, whom the depraved Charles and his minions
were resolved to sacrifice. He was accused of high-treason—implicated in
the notorious Rye-house plot—carried through a form of trial on the 21st of
November—and beheaded on Tower-hill on the 7th December, 1683.
Philip, Algernon’s brother, the third Earl, died in 1696. Three of his
grandsons were successively Earls of Leicester. Jocelyn, the last Earl of this
family, died in 1743, leaving no legitimate issue. His next brother, who died
before him, had however two daughters, to whom the estate devolved as
coheiresses, after a long course of litigation with a natural daughter of the
late Earl. In the division of the property, Penshurst

Place was allotted to the youngest, Elizabeth, who was married to
William Perry, Esq., of Turvile Park, Buckinghamshire. After the death of
her sister, Lady Sherrard, Mrs. Perry was enabled, by purchase, to re-unite a
part of her moiety to the Penshurst estate. This Mrs. Elizabeth Perry had an
only son—Algernon Perry Sidney—who died in his mother’s life-time, but

left two daughters; the eldest, Elizabeth, was married to Bysshe Shelley,
Esq.; their son, John Shelley Sidney, inherited Penshurst and the manors and
estates in Kent; he was created a Baronet in 1818; and his son, who married
one of the daughters of his late Majesty William the Fourth, was elevated to
the Peerage, by the title of Lord De L’Isle and Dudley, in 1835.
Consequently, Penshurst, “the seat of the Sidneys,” is now the inheritance
of a very remote branch of the illustrious family.
The Church at Penshurst is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It
immediately adjoins the Park; and is connected, by a private walk, with the
garden of the Mansion. It is an ancient and very venerable structure,
containing many monuments to the Sidneys,
and to members of the families of Draynowt, Cambridge, Egerton, Head,
Darkenol, Pawle, and Yden. The most interesting and beautifully wrought of
the tombs is to the memory of Sir William Sidney, Knight Banneret,
Chamberlain and Steward to Edward the VIth, and Lord of the Manor of
Peneshurste, who died in 1553. It stands in a small chapel at the west end of
the chancel, and at the foot of the tomb is a very antique figure, carved in
marble, supposed to be a memorial to Sir Stephen de Pencestre. Below, is the
vault which contains the dust of generations of the Sidneys. Sir William
Sidney’s monument is a fine example of art, elaborately and delicately
sculptured; it contains a long inscription, engraved on a brass tablet, the
lettering in which is as clear and as sharp as if it were the work of yesterday.
The roof of this Chapel is peculiarly light and elegant. In both the exterior
and interior the Church is highly picturesque. The oak gallery is one of the
earliest erections of the kind that followed the Reformation. In our view of
the exterior is introduced the entrance to the Sidney vault—a modern
addition to the Church.
In all respects, therefore, a visit to Penshurst—now, by railroad, within
an hour’s distance of the Metropolis—may be described as a rare intellectual
treat; opening a full and brilliant page of history, abundant in sources of
profitable enjoyment to the Antiquary, affording a large recompense to the
lover, or the professor, of Art, and exhibiting Nature under a vast variety of
seductive aspects.

J. S. Dodd, Delᵗ Stone by W. Walton M. & N. Hanbart, Lithogʳˢ
THE HALL IN THE WOOD, LANCASHIRE

HAL L I ’ T H E WOOD,

LANCASHIRE.

all i’ the Wood.—This very ancient and venerable
edifice—with which, far more than with many of
greater magnitude and higher state among the old
mansions of England, are associated ideas of
permanent utility and universal good—is situate about
a mile from Bolton, close to one of the admirably-
managed cotton-mills of the Messrs. Ashworth. It is
surrounded by indications of commerce; the smoke of
many hundred factories impregnates the air, and
renders even the herbage stunted and dark; while numerous steam-engines
are busily at work drawing to the surface the coal, without which industry
could avail little in a locality so far inland, and where the water barely
suffices to aid the mighty machinery which supplies the world with the most
essential article of dress. Yet the neighbourhood is full also of tokens of early
Baronial splendour; and the “Halls” scattered in various directions afford
unequivocal proofs of its former dignity and importance, ere the
“ ‘Squirearchy” gave place to the “Manufacturers,” who now fill every part
of Lancashire with long, tall, and broad houses, abounding in windows—
grievously diminishing the picturesque, but cheering and animating to those
who know that in the nineteenth century the pre-eminence of Great Britain
must be secured by commerce and manufacture. Close at hand are
“Smithells,” formerly a seat of the Ratcliffes, now the property of the
Ainsworths; “Peel Hall,” still the inheritance of the Kenyons; “Turton
Tower,” once the seat of Humphry Chetham; and “Worsley Old Hall,” the
present residence of Lord Francis Egerton. The greater number of these old
houses, however, have altogether changed owners;—many of them, as in the
case of Hall i’ the Wood, having been deserted, or left to humbler occupants,
who care only to keep the roofs above their heads, and attach small import to
the interest they derive from antiquity.
The house under especial notice at one time belonged to “the Norrises;”
from them, it passed to “the Starkies;” and towards the close of the last
century it obtained a celebrity—which must for ever render the

neighbourhood famous—as the humble dwelling of a humble artisan, who
largely contributed to the prosperity of his country. From him, indeed, Hall i’
the Wood derives historic interest; the old and somewhat dilapidated
mansion, although divided and subdivided into tenements for “working
men,” should be as a place of pilgrimage to those who date the modern
supremacy of Great Britain from the improvements in manufactures, which
have upheld the State and sustained her power during peace, as the courage,
fortitude, and endurance of her sons had done during a protracted war. In no
part of England does the memorable line receive stronger emphasis than in
the small room of this comparatively deserted house:—
“Peace hath her victories as well as War!”

The father of Samuel Crompton was a small farmer, residing at Firwood,
near Bolton, who, as was the custom in those days, mingled with the
business of a farmer the occupations of weaving, carding, and spinning.
Samuel was born in 1753; and while an infant, was removed with his family
to the scene of his after triumph, Hall i’ the Wood; which even then must
have been consigned by its earlier owners to the chances of preservation
from needy inmates. We borrow from various sources some particulars
concerning the eventful life and important labours of this remarkable man—
chiefly from a paper by John Kennedy, Esq., the generous and consistent
friend of Crompton.
At the age of sixteen, he learned to spin upon “a Jenny” (of Hargreave’s
make), and occasionally wove the yarn he had spun. His work, however,
being but indifferent, he was led to consider how it could be improved; and
the result was, ultimately, though at a far-off distance of time, the
construction of “the mule”—a machine which it is foreign to our purpose to
describe, but which gave to the cotton manufacture a degree of perfection to
which, without it, it could never have attained.
Crompton was only twenty-one years old when he commenced the
undertaking, which took him five years to effect—at least, before he could
bring his improvements to maturity. He experienced much difficulty in
consequence of being unable to procure proper tools with his limited
earnings, acquired by labour at the loom or jenny. Not being a regular
mechanic, and having to learn the use of the few he could purchase, it is
matter of surprise that even in five years he succeeded in making his
machine practically useful. His greatest trouble appears to have been his

inability to enjoy his little invention to himself, in his own room; for the
product of his machine obtaining a better price than other yarns of those
times, a report was circulated that he had devised some novel mode of
improved spinning: people, for miles round the country, gathered about his
dwelling; and, in many instances, actually obtained ladders, and climbed up
to his window to see him work. To avoid this intrusion, he formed a screen;
but the annoyance becoming so great, that he could not proceed with his
work to advantage, he at length laid the whole plan before a number of
gentlemen, who gave him one guinea each to look at it. These sums
amounted to about 50l., which enabled him to construct another machine,
still farther improved, and of larger dimensions (the first machine consisted
of not more than thirty or forty spindles). When relating this little history to
Mr. G. A. Lee and Mr. John Kennedy, Mr. Lee having observed, “It was a
pity he had not kept the secret to himself,” he replied, “that a man had a very
insecure tenure of property, which another could carry away with his eyes.”
Unfortunately, therefore, Crompton never secured his invention by patent;
and the consequence was, that while hundreds of manufacturers were
making immense fortunes by the result of his ingenuity, he himself lived in
poverty, and died little better than a pauper. He was left a widower when his
children were very young, and his only daughter kept his little cottage in
King-street, Bolton, where he died. He erected several looms for the fancy-
work of that town, in which he displayed great ingenuity. He was fond of
music, and built for himself an organ, which he had in his little cottage. In
1812 he made a survey of all the cotton districts in England, Scotland, and
Ireland, and obtained an estimate of the number of spindles then at work on
his principle, which amounted to between four and five millions (in 1829,
the number was seven millions). On his return, he laid the result of his
inquiries before Mr. Lee and Mr. Kennedy, with a suggestion that Parliament
might “grant him something.”
With these data before him, Mr. Lee entered fully into the case, and made
an appointment with the late George Duckworth, Esq., of Manchester, who
drew up a memorial to Parliament in his behalf. This was signed by most of
the principal manufacturers in the kingdom, who were acquainted with his
merits. He went to London himself with the memorial, and obtained an
interview with one of the members for the county of Lancaster. He remained
there during the session, and was in the House on the evening that Mr.
Perceval was shot, and witnessed the catastrophe. A short time before this

disastrous occurrence, Mr. Perceval had given him a promise to interest
himself in his behalf; and, in accordance with this assurance, had brought in
a bill, which was passed, for a grant of 5000l. in full, without fees or
charges.
Mr. Crompton was now anxious to place his sons in some business, and
fixed on that of bleaching; but the unfavourable state of the times, the
inexperience and mismanagement of his sons, a bad situation, and a
misunderstanding with his landlord, which occasioned a tedious lawsuit,
conspired, in a very short time, to put an end to this establishment. His sons
were dispersed, and he and his daughter reduced to poverty. Messrs. Hicks
and Rothwell, of Bolton, Mr. Kennedy, and some others in that
neighbourhood and in Manchester, made, in 1824, a second subscription, to
purchase a life annuity for him, which produced 63l. per annum. The amount
was raised in small sums from one to ten pounds, some of which were
contributed by the Swiss and French spinners, who acknowledged his merits,
and pitied his misfortunes. He died January 26, 1827, having enjoyed his
annuity only two years, leaving his daughter, his affectionate housekeeper, in
absolute poverty. Such, unhappily, has been the fate of many public
benefactors. They have tilled the ground and sown the seed, but others have
gathered in the harvest.
“Hall i’ the Wood,” as we have intimated—the preservation of which as a
monument to the memory of useful industry, and its prodigious practical
results, may be regarded as a public duty—is falling gradually into decay;
but its condition is such, that a very trifling degree of labour may effectually
restore it. Its present occupants work at the neighbouring factories: and
although we found them taking some pride in the aged walls
they inhabit, from them we can expect nothing in the way of its preservation.
Surely it ought not to be left to the common fate of common things! The
accompanying print—from an excellent drawing by Mr. J. J. Dodd, a most
intelligent artist, by whom we were accompanied to this “shrine” of
manufacturing devotees—exhibits the principal front, “Crompton’s Room”
being indicated by the open window. The house is built in the usual style of
old dwellings of a better class in Lancashire, being composed of “wood and
plaster.” It has no projecting windows or carved doors; the chief entrance, at
the south gable, appears to have been a later addition. It is of stone; and
above it, in a square panel, is the date 1648, with the initials A.N.A. Within,
a staircase of massive oak leads to the upper chambers; of which, one only

—“Crompt
on’s
Room”—
seems to
have been
treated with
respect; but
this also
has been
doomed to
periodical
“whitewash
ings,”
which,
however,
have failed
to efface a
deeply-cut
panel
(given as
our initial
letter),
interesting
as that
upon which
the eyes of
“the
Discoverer
” must have
often
looked.
Seen from a distance, the house is highly picturesque; it stands on high,
rocky ground, which on one side is almost perpendicular to a great depth,
broken into masses, covered with moss and lichens, among which, here and
there, shoot out the branches of the oak and ash, which have found places for
their roots in the crevices of the rocks. Some of these trees have been
partially hurled down by frequent storms, and their gnarled branches form

singular contrasts with the silvery stems of a few slender birch-trees, which
flourish in young vigour by their sides. At the foot of the precipitous descent,
a broad and somewhat clear stream winds its way over large stones, forming
tiny waterfalls; passing under a rustic wooden bridge, it makes its way
through the adjacent valley to supply many scores of mills and factories,
creating wealth.

J. S. Dodd, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
SMITHELL’S HALL, LANCASHIRE.

S MI T HE L L S HA L L ,

LANCASHIRE.

mithells Hall is situated about two miles and a half from
the populous and flourishing manufacturing town of
Bolton. The manor was dependent on the manor of
Sharples, the lord of which claimed from its owners a pair
of gilt spurs annually, and—by a singular and
“inconvenient” custom—the unlimited use of the Smithells
cellars during one week of every year. It does not appear,
however, that the lord of Smithells was bound, at this
particular period, to store his cellars with any particular
quantity or quality of liquor. Up to the time of Henry VII. the Radcliffes
were lords of Smithells; but Joan, the daughter and sole heir of Sir Ralph
Radcliffe, having married Robert Barton, Esq., he became in that reign
seized of the manor and lordship of Smithells, where his posterity continued,
until Grace, sole daughter and heiress of Thomas Barton, Esq., the last male
heir, was married to Henry, eldest son of Henry first Lord Viscount
Fauconberg, whose descendant, Thomas, in 1721, sold the manor, which
afterwards passed into the hands of the Byrons of Manchester, by whom it
was sold for 21,000l. to Mr. Ainsworth of Halliwell, an opulent bleacher, and
a descendant of the Ainsworths of Pleasington.
The period of the erection of the mansion cannot be accurately
ascertained; a date (1360)
affixed above one of the gateways is obviously no authority. The rebus of a
tun, crossed by a bar, indicating, it is said, Andrew Barton, the famous rover
of Henry VII.’s reign, may probably indicate the erection of part of the
structure early in the sixteenth century. The building consists of “post and
plaster work,” black and white, with bold trefoils and quatrefoils. At the
western extremity is a shaded walk, covered with ivy, leading to the
principal entrance. The hall is tastefully furnished with relics of the olden
time—chairs and tables coeval with the building—while its primitive
character is augmented by huge baskets of yule-logs. The leading feature of
the house is the magnificent oak dining-room, erected by the present owner,

Peter Ainsworth, Esq. M.P., in admirable keeping with the aspect of the
edifice in its several details.
The grateful acknowledgments of all antiquaries are due to Mr. Ainsworth
for the zeal he has manifested in preserving the ancient style of his venerable
mansion; the delicate care he has exhibited in preventing the destruction of
even the least important “bit” that may be preserved; and the judgment he
has exercised in effecting restorations and repairs in perfect harmony. This
feeling is especially evidenced by the manner in which the dining-room has
been constructed. It was rebuilt—an exact resemblance of its former state,—
and panelled with the old oak, the workmanship of which is so pure as to
bear comparison with the best existing examples in the kingdom.
In a passage near the door of the old dining-room, at the foot of the
staircase leading to
the chapel, is a natural mark in the stone-flag resembling the print of a man’s
foot. This appearance has given rise to a tradition that the martyr, George
Marsh, when brought before Sir Roger Barton for examination in 1555,

stamped with his foot in
confirmation of the truth
of his opinions, and that
a miraculous impression
was made on the stone
as a perpetual memorial
of the injustice of his
enemies. George Marsh
was born at Dean, two
miles south-west of
Bolton. In the
persecuting days of
Mary he underwent his
first examination before
Sir Roger Barton in
Smithells Hall, from
whence he was
transferred to Latham,
previous to his final
committal to Lancaster
Castle.
A small chamber
behind the chapel
contains a beautiful
latticed window of large size, and
here tradition states the early martyrs endured much suffering. The chapel
has been fitted up in good taste, and is full of associations with remote
periods. It is not only used by the family and the household, but, by the
courtesy of Mr. Ainsworth, is open to all in the neighbourhood who desire to
attend divine service there.
The house, it will be seen from our engraving, is a fine example of a class
of architecture of which Lancashire still has many singular and interesting
remains. It is highly picturesque; and, notwithstanding its situation in the
centre of a manufacturing district, it commands extensive and very beautiful
views of a rich and productive valley.
The drawing and the sketches from woodcut illustrations have been
supplied to us by Mr. J. J. Dodd, an excellent artist of Manchester.

J. I. Dodd Delᵗ. on stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
SPEKE HALL, THE GARDEN FRONT, LANCASHIRE.

S P E KE H AL L ,

LANCASHIRE.

PEC, Speake,—or Speke Hall, according to the more
modern reading,—is situate about seven miles from
Liverpool, and nearly the same distance from Prescot.
The house and the estates adjacent—after passing
through “several hands”—are now the property of
Richard Watt, Esq., of Bishop-Burton, whose uncle,
Richard Watt, Esq., merchant of Liverpool, purchased
the manor from the Beauclerk family. The house is,
however, “let,” and is now in the occupation of Joseph
Brereton, Esq. The history of the mansion—preserved as it is from a very
early period—is curious and interesting. Speke, according to Domesday
Book, was “held by Uctred,” with “two caracutes of land,” and was “worth
sixty-four pence.” With Uctred, however, it did not long remain; for, soon
afterwards, we find it given by Benedict de Gerneth or Garnet, with Annota
his daughter and heiress, to Adam de Molineux, of the Sefton branch of that
very noble and chivalric family. From them it passed—by marriage with
Joan Molineux, daughter of Sir John Molineux, Knt., of Sefton—to William
Norris, Esq., of Sutton. From this union sprung the Lord Norris, of Rycot,
and the founders of several other noble families of Lancashire and Berkshire.
[65] It was held by the Norrises, in direct descent, until the middle of the last
century, when it was inherited by Topham Beauclerk, Esq., by whose son it
was transferred to Mr. Watt.
Speke Hall is among the best specimens of its class that yet endure in
England. It is built of wood and plaster—the material employed in all the
Lancashire houses of the sixteenth century. It was formerly surrounded by a
moat, the remains of which are easily traced, although long ago filled up by
gravelled walks and flowering shrubs in rich abundance. A stone bridge,
with high piers, leads to the principal front; and the house is entered through
a picturesque stone porch, immediately over which is the following
inscription, in black letter of antique shape:—

This worke twenty yards long was wholly built by E. N., 1598.

The annexed woodcut shows the Stone Bridge leading to the entrance
arch, from

which there is a flight of stone steps communicating with the moat; there
appears formerly to have been a terrace walk on this side of the house, the
situation of which is shown by the figure looking over the wall. The
pinnacles and ornaments from the Gables on this side of the building are
quite gone, the only ornament now remaining is the string course round the
whole building which still remains in good preservation; and the window
over the arch has some bold mouldings, it occupies the space below the
second gable in the woodcut. A large room in the further Gable, now used as
a Laundry, is said to have formerly been the Chapel: we may imagine this to
have been the case by the window, which is different in size and shape from

the others. On the right of the arch is a doorway leading to the moat by the
flight of stone steps, also to the terrace-walk before mentioned, which is only
continued on one side of the building. On each side of this doorway is a
large stone seat, one of which is shown in the woodcut. The arch is
ornamented with a number of small mouldings, which, commencing at one
base, is continued through the impost and architrave to the base opposite.
Two large oak doors open from the porch into an inner court of an oblong
form, in
length about twenty-four yards, and in breadth about seventeen. Two
enormous and very venerable yew-trees still flourish here—now only
picturesque ornaments in keeping with the solemn character of the structure;
but in ancient times, no doubt, they answered the purpose of equipping many
a stout English bowman, and may have aided the victors of Crecy and
Poictiers. The principal windows of the mansion look into this court; several
of them yet retain their costly ornaments, and everywhere there is to be
found some indication that wealth and taste were lavishly expended in
decorating the noble and beautiful structure.
Passing down the principal lobby, we enter the Great Hall on the right. It
is very lofty; a fine oak wainscoting reaches from the floor to the ceiling,
which is of oak also, crossed by large beams, deeply moulded, forming
squares, which are again crossed, diagonally, by small moulded ribs. The
large Bay
Window, as we have noted, looks into the court-yard. The huge Chimney-
piece, which seems to be of a much later date than the Hall, contains a
singular mass of strange forms; its peculiarities are shown in the drawing,
for which, and the other illustrations of this fine old mansion, we are
indebted to Mr. J. J. Dodd, an excellent artist, of Manchester. The drawing
introduces the Bay Window and a projecting doorway leading to the
drawing-room; it exhibits, too, the fine wainscoting, which is divided
perpendicularly and horizontally into panels of various sizes; above the eye
is a row of twelve panels, bearing shields or scrolls, similar to achievement
shields, of Gothic shapes, on each of which is carved a head, supposed to
represent one of the twelve Cæsars. Of this wainscot Seacome, in his
“History of the House of Stanley,” says, “And here justice as well as respect
to the ancient and worthy house, Norris of Speke, calls upon me to acquaint
the reader with the bravery of Sir Edward Norris, son of Sir William, who
was slain at the battle of Musselburrow, in the time of Henry VII. This

valiant
and
heroic
gentlema
n, Sir
Edward
Norris,
comman
ded a
body of
the army,
under
General
Stanley,
at
Flodden
Field,
where he
behaved
with so
much
courage
and good
conduct,
that he
was
honoure
d by the
King his
master
with a
congratu
latory
letter, for his good services on the victory of that day, in token whereof he
brought from the deceased King of Scots’ palace all or most of his princely
library; and he also brought from the said palace the wainscot of the King’s
Hall, and put it up in his own hall of Speke, wherein are seen all the orders

of architecture, and round the top of it this inscription” (broken by the
projections and ornaments):—

Slepe : not : till : u hathe : consederd
how : thow : hast : Spent: y day : past
if : thou : have : well don : thank : God if
other: ways, re pent, ye[66]
The Door-case between the great hall and large Drawing-room projects
into the former, and is richly ornamented with a coat of arms and supporters.
In the windows

J. I. Dodd, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
SPEKE, THE GREAT HALL, LANCASHIRE.

there are still to be seen many arms painted on the glass, which add greatly
to the imposing effect of the room. A seat or bench, with a rest for the feet, is
continued, not only in the recess of the bow and bay windows, but all round
the apartment.
Crossing the hall, a passage leading from the projecting doorway brings
us to the staircase on the right, opposite to which is the entrance to the great
parlour or drawing-room, on the door frieze of which is the following
inscription, in similar characters to those in the Great Hall:—
The : Streghtest : God : to : love : serve :
ys :
waye : to : heaven : above : all : thyng

While the Great Hall has been renovated and repaired with considerable
taste and skill, the Drawing-room has been grievously neglected, until it has
become a complete ruin. The floor has been entirely removed; every window
is boarded up, mouldings from the oak wainscot are crumbling and falling
down on every side, and it is not till we have remained in the room some
time, and the eye is accustomed to the darkness, that we discern the
elaborately enriched ceiling, which consists of fifteen square compartments,
being divided by four beams horizontally, having the corners splayed off;
they are of plaster, ornamented with a running stem of the hop-plant,
skilfully continued throughout.

The
ceiling of
the Bay
Window
is also
ornamente
d, but in a
different
style,
being
panelled
with
scrolls
and ogee
lines, and
having in
the centre
an angel,
apparently
rising into
the clouds; the seats and panelling from this window are gone, and the space
is filled with broken panels, mouldings, and “firewood;” the wind and rain
force their way between the pieces of board which stand in the stead of
glass; and the ivy has in many places forced itself through from the outside.
This Bay Window, with a square window of six lights close to it, looks into
the moat. This side of the house has been quite neglected: windows are
partially boarded up, and it is difficult to trace any architectural features,
except the two fine Chimneys; all else is a complete wreck, exhibiting
grievous proof of the want of taste and right feeling in the present owner.
The Chimneys here are stone, but the greater part of the building is of wood;
a few bricks have been introduced, but only because they were absolutely
necessary to support the tottering woodwork from the ruin that follows
neglect. Another window, at the end, looked into the garden, into which there
was also a communication through an arched doorway—shown in the garden
front view—having the initials carved on it. The whole of the drawing-room
is of oak, from the floor to the ceiling; the panels at the top of the end
adjoining the Great Hall are pierced with stars and circles of different kinds

in two rows; intended doubtless to destroy the dull uniformity which must
have been otherwise exhibited by one hundred and twenty panels broken
only by two doorways.
It only remains to notice the Carved Oak Chimney-piece in this room,
with which time has not yet made so much havoc as it has with the ceiling.
From the carved figures and inscriptions on the frieze, there can be no doubt
of its representing a pedigree of the Norris family for three generations. It
consists of three principal compartments, separated by pairs of square
columns, having their interstices occupied

by beautiful arabesque foliage of different patterns, the whole resting on a
base corresponding with the extent of the fireplace, and finished with
carvings of a similar kind to those filling the spaces between the columns.
An inscription formerly ran along the cornice, explanatory of the figures in
the different compartments, but it is entirely gone: the remainder is in a fair

state of preservation, and is a good specimen of the class introduced into
England, when the Italian became mixed with our English classic in
domestic architecture.
The ancient Hall of Speke supplies a highly interesting example of the
architecture of the period. Although time has made sad havoc among its
beauties and peculiarities, and it has been shamefully neglected by those
who should have cherished the old House, as “the apple of an eye,” its
leading outlines still exist unimpaired; the arrangements of the several
apartments may be distinctly traced; and if by some fortunate event it should
happen to fall into the hands of parties capable of estimating its worth, its
restoration might be so effected as to exhibit a perfect mansion of the 16th
century.
Most auspiciously situated in the midst of rich and lovely scenery,
surrounded by venerable trees, many of them coeval with the building, it
would seem as if all the moral, social, and physical wants of the owner might
be supplied by means ready at his hands. Alas! that there is no manorial lord
to estimate the value of rare gifts of nature and fortune beyond the actual
profit the venerable walls can be made to yield.

J. S. Dodd Delᵗ on Stone by W. Walton M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
TURTON TOWER, LANCASHIRE.

T URTO N TO WE R ,

LANCASHIRE.

his venerable and highly picturesque edifice is
situated about four miles from Bolton, in a district
singularly at war with relics of antiquity, and at
variance with associations awakened by remains of
time-honoured mansions of the ancient lords of the
soil. From an adjacent hill may be seen a thousand tall
chimneys, of red brick; while the surrounding
atmosphere is dense and heavy with the smoke arising from factories and
coal-pits, so numerous, that the eye labours in vain to count them.
In the time of King John, the Township of Turton was held by Roger Fitz
Robert (De Holland); it became part of the property of Henry, “the good
Duke of Lancaster,” from whom the manor passed into the knightly family
of the Orrels, whom Camden styles “Illustrious.” From them it was
purchased, for £3,000, by Humphrey Chetham, Esq., a manufacturer of
fustians; of whom, about the middle of the 17th century, Fuller speaks, as “a
public benefactor.” From him it passed successively to his descendants,
Humphrey, Samuel, and Edward Chetham; by Anne, one of the co-heiresses
of Edward Chetham, it was conveyed by marriage to —— Bland, Esq.,
whose sole heiress married Mordecai Green, Esq., whose daughters, the
issue of his son, James Green, inherited, and now possess, the estate. That
portion of it, consisting of 365 acres, which contains Turton Tower, is in the
occupation of James Kay, Esq., a gentleman who deserves the high praise of
all, and the fervent gratitude of the antiquary, for the care he has taken, not
only to protect from further injury the venerable relic of a remote age, but
for the taste and judgment he exhibits in keeping all things in harmony with
the character of the honoured and interesting edifice. The dwelling has
received various additions from time to time; but none of them are of very
recent date. They are principally of a class common in Lancashire, in houses
of the better order, as well as in cottages of the labourer and artisan, being
constructed of wood and plaster. “The Tower” is of stone, and much older
than other parts of the structure. It is square, and was evidently constructed
for defence. It has a hall, of small size, but richly decorated with wood

carvings; a quaint staircase conducts to the upper apartments, the principal of
which is the drawing-room, panelled with oak from the floor nearly to the
ceiling—the ceiling being highly enriched.

It receives light from two mullioned windows. This room is in the Tower
—the whole length and breadth of which it occupies. Every chamber
throughout the mansion has been fitly furnished by Mr. Kay. The ancient
coffer, bound with iron—(it supplies our initial letter)—concerning which
tradition has been always busy—is one of the few heirlooms of the House.
We believe, with this exception, the whole of its picturesque contents,
from attic to cellar, have been the introductions of Mr. Kay; and we cannot
sufficiently praise the sound taste and judicious feeling by which that
gentleman has been actuated in his efforts at restoration both within and
without.

At a short distance from the mansion is a singularly picturesque turret—
an

engraving of which we annex. Through the township of Turton passed the
ancient Roman road; and in the immediate neighbourhood may be traced
many relics of remote antiquity.
From “the Height” a most extensive view is obtained—a view
unsurpassed in England for singularity and deep interest,—taking in Bolton
and Warrington and other towns and villages full of factories; from hence
also are seen Billinge Hill and Beacon, the far-famed Pike and Beacon of
Rivington; while a deep shadow that hangs over an enormous space, points
attention to busy and prosperous Manchester, buried with its prodigious
wealth in the centre of a valley some fifteen miles away.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] The windows formerly contained some rare specimens of painted glass, which the late
proprietor permitted a clerical friend to abstract for the purpose of decorating a neighbouring
church.

[2] Fuller states that Sir John Huddleston “was highly honoured by Queen Mary, and
deservedly. Such was the trust reposed in him, that when Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen, she
came privately to him at Sawston, and rid thence behind his servant, the better to disguise
herself from discovery, to Framlingham. She afterwards made him, as I have heard, her Privy
Councillor; and besides other great boons, bestowed the bigger part of Cambridge Castle, then
in ruins, upon him, with the stone whereof he built his fair house in this county.”
[3] A singular tradition, alluded to by Camden, has long prevailed, that previously to the
death of a heir of the house of Brereton, trunks of trees were observed to rise from the bottom of
the lake of the neighbouring Bog Mere, and to float for several days. One historian of Cheshire,
sensible of the credulity of the great antiquary, would resolve the pleasant dream of olden fancy
by the laws of modern statics.
[4] Brereton is the “Bracebridge Hall” of Washington Irving.
[5] The Cheshire carpenters of old seem to have been not sparingly endowed with the
“noble” aspiration. In an inscription on the fine carved oak ceiling of the neighbouring Church
of Astbury, bearing date 1616 and 1617, in which occurs the name of a William Moreton, we
have that also of Richard Lowndes, Carpenter;—his work, however, is of no mean desert.
[6] Hales and Tonkin state, that “about the middle of the fourteenth century the Treffry
family largely contributed towards the building of the church, and erected, adjoining to it, a
magnificent castellated mansion for their own residence.” We imagine there is an error in the
date of this, and should rather refer it to the middle of the fifteenth century, after the French had
destroyed the town; which they did about the year 1453.
[7] The following inscription upon the tomb of one of them was “formerly in the Church:”—

“Sir Rowland Vaux that sometime was the Lord of Triermaine,
Is dead, his body clad in lead, and ligs law under this stane;
Evin as we, evin so was he, on earth a levan man;
Evin as he, evin so maun we, for all the craft we can.”

“According to the tablet in the church (we quote from the ‘Border Antiquities’ of Sir Walter
Scott), this was a monastery of St. Augustine, and founded in 1116; but no mention of it in the
records occurs earlier than the 16th of Henry II., 1169. Its endowments consisted of all the lands
lying between Picts’ Wall and Irthing, and also between Burgh and Poltross, and several other
valuable possessions. Bernard, Bishop of Carlisle, dedicated the Church to Mary Magdalen. * *
* * Edward I. granted to the Prior and Convent the advowson of two churches in his patronage,
because the Priory had been burnt and the lands ravaged by an incursion of the Scots. He wrote
an epistle to the Pope, expressly to obtain his sanction to this grant, which was not withheld.
Many other liberal donations were made to this monastery, and some of them exhibited the
peculiar character of the times—such as the tithes of venison, and the skins of deer and foxes;
tithe of the mulcture of a mill, pasture for milking and sheep, the bark of trees, a well or spring,
and sundry villeins their issue and goods.”
[8] The sad death of this “last Lord Dacre” is thus recorded by Stow. The event occurred on
the 17th of May, 1559.
“He was by a great mischaunce slayne at Thetford, in the house of Sir Richard Falmenstone,
Knight, by meane of a vaunting horse of woode, standing within the same house; upon which
horse, as he meant to have vaunted, and the pins of the feet being not made sure, the horse fell
upon him and bruised the brains out of his head.” In the January following, Leonard Dacre, Esq.,
of Horsley, in the county of York, second son of Lord William Dacre, of Gilsland, “choosing,”
according to Camden, “rather to try for the estate with his prince in war, than with his nieces at

law,” entered into rebellion, with a design to carry off the Queen of Scots. This object was
frustrated by Mary’s removal to Coventry; subsequently he seized upon Naworth and other
Castles, but having been attacked and defeated by Lord Hunsdon, he fled into Flanders, where
he died.
[9] To understand the full importance of this appointment it is necessary to offer some
explanations of the state of the Border at that period. The accession of James VI. to the English
crown, although it produced the effect of converting the two extremities into the middle of the
kingdom, contributed but little to arrest the system of plunder and depredation which had
existed there for centuries. The inhabitants generally, on the Scottish side, were unrestrained
moss-troopers (so called from the sloughs and bogs to which they resorted), “Knowing no
measure of law,” says Camden, “but the length of their swords,”—men of whom Fuller quaintly
writes, “they come to church as seldom as the 29th of February comes into the kalendar.”
According to Sir Walter Scott, “the hands of rapine were never there folded in inactivity, nor the
sword of violence returned to the scabbard.” The habits of these marauders, and the “interesting
nature of their exploits,” are pictured in a strong light by the historian Camden. “They sally out
of their own Borders in the night in troops, through unfrequented by-ways, and many intricate
windings. All the daytime they refresh themselves and their horses in lurking holes they had
pitched upon before, till they arrive in the dark at those places they have a design upon. As soon
as they have seized upon the booty, they, in like manner, return home in the night, through blind
ways, and fetching many a compass. The more skilful any captain is to pass through those wild
deserts, crooked turnings, and deep precipices, in the thickest mists and darkness, his reputation
is the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of an excellent head. And they are so very
cunning, that they seldom have their booty taken from them, unless sometimes, when, by the
help of blood-hounds following them exactly upon the track, they may chance to fall into the
hands of their adversaries.”
[10] For the drawings on wood here engraved, we are indebted to Mr. T. M. Richardson, an
accomplished artist of Newcastle.
[11] An anecdote is recorded of the gallant knight which strongly illustrates not only his
peculiar habit, but the character of the turbulent time in which he lived. In this Library he was
one day deep in study, when a soldier, who had captured a moss-trooper, suddenly entered with
the news, disturbing his master with the unwelcome question of what was to be done with the
fellow? “Hang him, in the devil’s name,” exclaimed the irritated lord, and turned to his books.
The order was construed literally; and forthwith the unhappy prisoner was dangling from a tree;
which Lord William, to his exceeding dismay, learned, when a few hours afterwards he ordered
the culprit to be brought before him for examination.
[12] The Avenells, it would appear, about this time owned considerable property in the
north, the benefits of which they seem to have dispensed with no niggard hand, as we find from
the following notices in Dugdale’s “Monasticon,” vol. i. p. 839. “The manor of Oneash (the
Aneise of Domesday) was given to Roche Abbey, Yorkshire, by William Avenell, Lord of
Haddon.” “Conksbury, near Over Haddon, was given to the abbey of Leicester, by William
Avenell.”
[13] Monuments of the Vernons and Manners in Bakewell Church:—
“Sir John Vernon, Knt. (son and heir of Henry), 1477; Sir Geo. Vernon, of Haddon, d. 1561,
and his two wives, Margaret, daughʳ of Sir Gilbert Talbois, and Maud, daughtʳ of Sir Ralph
Longford; Sir John Manners (second son of Thomas earl of Rutland), who died in 1611, and his
wife (Dorothy, daughter and coheir of Sir Geo. Vernon), who died in 1584. John Manners (third
son of Sir John), who died in 1590. And Sir Geo. Manners, who died in 1623; he married Grace,
daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepont.”

Arms of Manners, duke of Rutland:—Or, two bars azure; a chief quarterly of the second and
gules, the first and fourth charged with two fleurs-de-lis of the first, and third with a lion
passant-guardant of the same, being an augmentation given to the family, in consequence of
their descent from King Edward IV.
Crest:—On a chapeau, gules, turned up erm., a peacock in pride, proper.
Supporters:—Two unicorns, arg., thin horns, manes, tufts, and hoofs, or.
[14] The subjoined particulars respecting one of these open-house occasions, in 1663, are
curious and interesting. They are extracted from the bailiff’s accounts of the time of John, eighth
earl, who died here in 1679:—

£. s. d.
“Paid George Wood, the cook, for helping in the pastry all Christmas 3 0 0
Paid Robert Swindell, for helping at the like work all Christmas, and two weeks 1 5 0
Paid William Green, the cook, for helping in the kitchen all Christmas 1 0 0
Paid Antony Higton, turnspit, for helping all Christmas 0 3 0
Paid W. Creswick, for pulling fowls and poultry all Christmas 0 3 6
Paid Catherine Sprig, for helping the scullery-maid all Christmas 0 3 0
Paid Thomas Shaw, the piper, for piping all Christmas 2 0 0
Given by my honourable Lord and Lady’s command to Thomas Shaw’s man 0 10 0
Given by their honours’ commands to Richard Blackwell, the dancer 0 10 0
Given by their honours’ commands to Ottiwell Bramwell, the dancer 0 10 0
Given by their honours’ commands to Ottiwell Bramwell’s kinswoman, for dancing 0 5 0

About this time, from 1660 to 1670, although the family resided chiefly at Belvoir, there
were generally killed and consumed every year, at Haddon, between 30 and 40 beeves, between
400 and 500 sheep, and 8 or 10 swine.”
[15] A romantic tradition is still current in the vicinity of Haddon, relative to the courtship
and marriage of Mr. Manners (afterwards Sir John) with the younger co-heiress of Vernon. The
tradition purports that the lover (who was, perhaps, thirty years of age) having conceived an
attachment for Miss Vernon, a beautiful girl of eighteen, dwelt for some time in the woods of
Haddon as an outlaw, or, rather, in the dress of a gamekeeper (probably with the popular
reputation of being an outlawed man), for the purpose of concealment, and in order to facilitate
secret interviews with his mistress; and that he at length succeeded in persuading the young lady
to elope with him during the festivities of a masked ball, given by Sir G. Vernon in honour of the
marriage of his eldest daughter, Margaret, with Sir Thomas Stanley, a younger son of the Earl of
Derby.
[16] According to Walpole, “Anecdotes of Painting,” there is a tradition in the family of
Cavendish, that a fortune-teller had told this imperious lady that “she should not die while she
was building: accordingly, she bestowed a great deal of the wealth she had obtained from three
of her four husbands in erecting large seats at Hardwicke, Chatsworth, Bolsover and Oldcote,
and, I think, at Worksop; and died in a hard frost, when the workmen could not labour.”
[17] Hardwicke was built subsequently to the death of Mary; but there is little doubt that the
room called “The Queen’s Room,” in memory of the unhappy lady, was furnished with the bed
and other furniture removed thither from Chatsworth, where she was for some time a prisoner.
Probably the hangings said to have been wrought by her were actually the work of her hands;
needlework was unquestionably one of the modes by which she sought to solace her dismal
confinement. Mr. White, writing to Sir William Cecil, describes an interview he had with her at
Tutbury Castle, in 1568: “She sayd that all day she wrought with her nydill and that the diversity

of the colours made her work seem less tedious, and contynued so long at it, till very payne
made her to give over.”
[18] The curious in such matters may find further information on this head in the
“Churchman’s Magazine” of 1801; and in the tenth volume of Bowles’ edition of Pope’s Works,
1806.
[19] Lord Braybrooke’s “History of Audley End;” to which copious volume we are
principally indebted for our notices of the history of the house and its occupants.
[20] Evelyn records, in his “Diary,” his visit thus:—“From Cambridge, on August 31, 1654,
we went to Audley End, and spent some time in seeing that goodly palace, built by Howard, Earl
of Suffolk, once Lord Treasurer. It is a mixt fabric, ’twixt ancient and modern, but observable
for its being completely finished; and it is one of the stateliest palaces of the kingdom. It
consists of two courts, the first very large, winged with cloisters. The front hath a double
entrance; the hall is faire, but somewhat too small for so august a pile; the kitchen is very large,
as are the cellars, arched with stone, very neate, and well disposed. These offices are joyned by a
wing out of the way very handsomely. The gallery is the most cheerful, and, I think, one of the
best in England; a faire dining-roome, and the rest of the lodgings answearable, with a pretty
chapel. The gardens are not in order, though well inclosed; it has also a bowling alley, and a
nobly walled, wooded, and watered park. The river glides before the palace, to which is an
avenue of lime-trees, but all this is much diminished by its being placed in an obscure bottom.
For the rest it is a perfectly uniform structure, and shews without like a diadem, by the
decoration of the cupolas and other ornaments on the pavilions. Instead of railings and balusters,
there is a bordure of capital letters, as was lately, also, in Suffolke house.”
[21] It has recently been pulled down.
[22] Lord Braybrooke’s “History of Audley End.”
[23] The story of St. Osyth, as given in an old tract, entitled “Purgatory Proved by
Miracles,” is printed by Wright in his History of Essex:—“St. Ositha was daughter of a Mercian
prince named Frithwald, and of Wilterburga, daughter of Pende, king of the Mercians. She was
bred up in great piety; and through her parents’ authority, became wife to Sighere, companion to
St. Seb, in the kingdom of East Angles. But preferring the love of a heavenly bridegroom before
the embraces of a king, her husband complied with her devotion; and, moreover, not only
permitted her to consecrate herself to our Lord, but bestowed on her a village, situated near the
sea, called Chic, where, building a monastery, she enclosed herself, and after she had spent some
time in the service of God, it happened that a troop of Danish pirates landed there; who, going
out of their ships, wasted and burned the country thereabout, using all manner of cruelty to the
Christian inhabitants. Then he who was the captain of that impious band, having learnt the
condition and religious life of the blessed virgin St. Ositha, began by entreaties and presents to
tempt her to idolatry; adding withal threats of scourging, and other torments, if she refused to
adore the gods he worshipped. But the holy virgin, despising his flatteries, and not fearing his
threats, made small account of the torments attending her. Whereupon the said captain, enraged
at her constancy and scorn of his idols, pronounced sentence of death against her, commanding
her to lay down her head to be cut off. And in the same place where the virgin suffered
martyrdom, a clear fountain broke forth, which cured several kinds of diseases. As soon as her
head was off, the body presently rose up, and taking up the head in the hands, by the conduct of
angels, walked firmly the straight way to the church of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, about
a quarter of a mile distant from the place of her suffering. And when it was come there, it
knocked at the door with the bloody hands, as desiring it might be opened, and thereon left
marks of blood. Having done this, it fell there down to the ground.”

[24] It appears that in the time of the Confessor a “De Berkeley” possessed the adjoining
manor and castle of Dursley; and his descendant might probably have joined the Conqueror on,
or immediately after, his invasion, and thus retain the possessions until the domain was, during
the wars between Maud and Stephen, consigned to Henry, afterwards Henry II. The gift to
Robert Fitzhardinge is clear, and, occurring on the very year of his accession to the throne, was
doubtless intended by the monarch to mark that event.
[25] The king had previously been treated with exceeding cruelty. It is said that on his way
to Berkeley his conductors, for greater concealment of their captive, caused him to dismount
from his horse and a barber to shave his head and beard with cold water from a ditch, telling him
that “for once cold water must serve his purpose.” Covering his face with his hands, the
unhappy monarch wept, saying, “Woulde they or noulde they, he woulde have warm water for
his beard!” and to the end that he might keep his promise, he began to shed tears plentifully.
This incident is related by Stowe on the authority of Thomas de Mori, “a worshipfull knight that
then lived, and wrote in the French tongue, what he sawe with his eies or heard credily reported
by them that sawe and some that were actors.” Lord Berkeley was allowed 5l. per diem for the
monarch’s expenses during his imprisonment, and acquitted of all participation in the murder;
Gournay was subsequently arrested at Marseilles and beheaded on shipboard, “it was supposed,”
according to Hume, “because some nobles and prelates in England were anxious to prevent any
discovery he might make of his accomplices.” Maltravers, many years afterwards, sued for
mercy and obtained it. The greatest culprit seems to have escaped: Adam bishop of Hereford
lent himself to the schemes of Mortimer and the queen, and wrote as follows to the knights who
had the king in custody, “Edvardum occidere nolite timere bonum est,” purposely omitting the
punctuations, so that the passage was capable of a double meaning, advising either to slay or
spare the royal prisoner, and supplying a safe exit for the writer out of any difficulty that might
subsequently arise.
[26] The following notes are extracted from Smith’s “Lives of the Lord Berkeleys,” edited
by Fosbrooke:—
“The accompt of William Aside, receiver to the Lord Berkeley, accomptinge for a year from
Mmass. anno 20 of Edward II. to the same feast in the first of Edward III., sheweth that he
received to this lord’s use 700l. de camera scaccarii domini regis, out of the receipt in the king’s
exchequer, for the expences of the house of the king’s father whilest he was at Berkeley; and
hath in his said accompt an allowance of 31s. 1d. paid by him to Sir Thomas de Gournay, sent to
Nottingham from Berkeley by the said Lord Berkeley to advertize the queene and the king her
sonne of the death of the late king his father there. And 15th May the same year an allowance of
500l. more from the kynge, paid him by John de Langton, keeper of the castle of Kerfilly, for the
same cause.
“The accompts of the reeves (stewards) of Hame and Alkington, and of other manors of this
lord’s, near Berkeley Castle, expressly shewe what provisions and acates they sent from their
severall granges and manor-houses from the 5th day of Aprill, then being Palm Sunday, when at
supper time the kinge was first brought prisoner to Berkeley Castle, untill his death there the
21st September following.
“And the accompt of this said lord’s receiver for the yeare following, in 2d Edward III.,
sheweth what he payd for dyinge of the white canvas into black, for coveringe of the chariot
wherein the bodye of the king was carryed from Berkeley Castle to Gloucester; what the cords,
the hors-collers, the traces, and other necessaries particularly cost, used about the said chariot
and conveyinge of his body thence to Gloucester; for a silver vessell to put the king’s hart in
37s. 8d. (in uno vase argentes pro corde dicti Domini Regis patres reponend); in oblations at
several times in the chapple of the Castle for the kinges soul, 21d.; in expenses of the Lord
Berkeley’s family going with the kinges body from Berkeley unto Gloucester, 18s. 9d.; and
many like particularities.”

[27] About this period the records of the Castle testify that “from the manors of Ham and
Cowley the following provisions were sent to the clerk of the kitchen for one year:—17,000
eggs, 1008 pigeons, 91 capons, 192 hens, 288 ducks, 388 chickens, 80 hogs, 110 porkers, 84
pigs, 45 calves, 315 quarters of wheat.”
[28] In 1334 the retinue of the then Lord of Berkeley usually consisted of twelve knights,
each with two servants and a page; twenty-four squires, each with one man and a page—making
a total of 108 persons.

£ s. d.
His expenditure for one year was 1309 14 6
He saved 1155 18 8
2465 13 2
A large sum for yearly income in those days.
His armour cost 11 8 11
A hawk 0 15 0
A falcon 1 15 0

[29] “The governor, Sir Charles Lucas, with three horses and arms, and 50l. in money. Each
field-officer, two horses; foot-captains, one horse; lieutenant and ensigns, sword but no horse;
field-officers and captains not to exceed 5l., soldiers not 5s. 16th October, Colonel Barnes, on
petition, nominated governor by the House of Commons.”
[30] In reference to this apartment Horace Walpole, in a letter to the Rev. William Cole,
dated 15th August, 1774, says:—“The room shewn for the murder of Edward II. and the shrieks
of an agonising king, I verily believe to be genuine. It is a dismal chamber, almost at the top of
the house, quite detached, and to be approached only by a kind of footbridge, and from that
descends a large flight of steps, that terminate on strong gates—exactly a corps-de-garde.”
[31] “Hatfield, called Haethfeld, in the Saxon times, from its situation on a heath, was an
ancient demesne of the Saxon kings, till it was granted by Edgar, in the tenth century, to the
abbey at Ely, in Cambridgeshire. On the conversion of that foundation into a bishopric, in the
reign of Henry I., it became attached to the new see; and the manor-house becoming a palace of
the bishops, the town was thenceforth distinguished by the appellation of Bishops’ Hatfield.
Queen Elizabeth, who had resided in the bishop’s palace some years before she came to the
crown, greatly admired the situation; and by virtue of the statute which gave her the power of
exchange, procured the alienation of this manor from the then bishop of Ely, Richard Cox.
James I., in the third year of his reign, exchanged it for the house, manor, and park of
Theobald’s, with his minister, Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury, whose descendant, the Marquis of
Salisbury, is the present owner.”
Notwithstanding Elizabeth’s regard for Hatfield, we cannot learn that she often resided here
after her accession to the throne.
[32] The lowest fortune of any gentleman in that noble corps is stated, by one of its
members, to have been no less than 4000l. a-year in land; equal, probably, to 20,000l. a-year at
the present time.
[33] Of this house—the house in which Oliver Cromwell was born—only the site remains; a
modern mansion having been erected upon it, about thirty years ago, by a Mr. Rust, a banker of
the town—upon whose memory let the anathema rest. A wall of a cellar, which formed part of
the ancient dwelling, now alone exists. The chamber in which the Protector “first drew breath”
was a sight to which visitors ran eagerly; and this, it would seem, so worried the soul of the rich
banker, that he commanded its removal, and with it as far as possible every trace of a house to

which tens of thousands would desire to make a pilgrimage. Mr. Rust obtained the house—and
the site, to which it would seem he attached some value—so recently as the year 1810. Until
then it was in the possession of a Mr. Audley, a draper, who used to show the room in which the
Protector was born, “and sportively desire it might be noticed that the devil was behind the
door,” alluding to a figure of Satan upon some old tapestry with which the walls were hung. The
ancient fabric was built of stone, with gothic windows and projecting attics. The present
dwelling is as ugly an example of modern building as could well be seen.
[34] That Sir Oliver impaired his paternal estates by entertaining James I. is very certain. It
is probable that the king was a frequent visitor to the hospitable knight, inasmuch as Royston,
his Majesty’s hunting seat, was in the neighbourhood. The king’s first visit, in 1603, on his
progress to take possession of the English throne, was a costly one. “His Highnesse and his
followers,” according to Stow, “with all comers, had such entertainment as was not the like in
any place before; there was such plentie and varietis of meates and diversitie of wines, and the
sellars open at any man’s pleasure.” It is stated, indeed, that Sir Oliver’s entertainment was “a
greater feast than had ever been given to a king by a subject”—a fact to which his Majesty
himself testified; for on parting from the brave old knight, he is reported to have addressed him,
“Merry mon, thou hast treated me better than ony ane syn I left Edinbro.”
[35] The present master of the school is the Rev. Mr. Fell, an accomplished scholar, and an
enlightened gentleman, by whom we were guided about the various objects of interest in and
around the venerable Town, and whose courtesies and attentions it is our pleasant duty to
acknowledge.
[36] Upon a similar occasion, it is related that he paid a visit to his godfather-uncle at
Ramsay; the sturdy old Royalist was firm to the monarchy; and although his nephew treated him
with so much respect as to decline wearing his hat in his presence, he seized all his plate for the
public service, and afterwards compelled him to give forty saddle-horses, “by way of fine.”
Subsequently, however, when the whole estates of Sir Oliver were sequestrated by the
Parliament, the remnant was restored to him by the intervention of Oliver—“for whose sake the
sequestration was taken off.” Notwithstanding, the aged knight died in extreme poverty, in 1655,
at the age of 93, and, it is said, was buried by night, “to prevent the seizure of his body by his
creditors.”
[37] Over the entrance porch of the church at Godmanchester is a fine example of that
ancient religious emblem, the “lily-pot,” in which is placed the miraculous rod of Joseph; in
allusion to the old Roman Catholic legend of his marriage with the Virgin. According to this
miraculous tale, the Virgin, who had spent her life in the service of the Temple, was to be
married to that man of the race of David who, upon coming to the Temple bearing in his hand a
rod, should be divinely pointed out as her future husband, by the miraculous flowering of the
dry stick he carried, when offered at the altar to the High Priest. Joseph’s rod put forth buds and
flowers immediately it was offered, and this miracle was a favourite subject with the early
Catholic painters. Raffaelle has left us a picture of this event, and Joseph is frequently
represented by other artists holding the rod with its flowers in his hand. The lily-rod is also often
placed in a pot in the windows of in-door “Holy Family” scenes, similar to that which is placed
upon the apex of the door at Godmanchester, as delineated in our initial letter; and which is a
curious and unusually perfect example.
[38] On each side of the gate, upon projecting pillars, stand statues of wild men, the size of
life. Each holds a tree uprooted; they are represented as covered with shaggy hair, wearing long
beards and mustachios, with no article of dress but a girdle round the waist. These
“Wodehouses,” or “Green Men,” for they were known by both names in the olden time, were
favourite characters with our ancestors—as well in this country, as on the Continent. Froissart
relates a melancholy story of a masque of wild men, among whom was King Charles VI. of

France, which was performed at a marriage in 1392, when four of the noble masquers were
burnt to death, owing to the curiosity of the King’s brother, who approached too near them with
a lighted torch, which set fire to their dresses, that were made of cloth, and covered with pitch,
upon which flax was fastened, to imitate shaggy hair. They were very commonly displayed in
court masques and public processions in England. When King Henry VIII. kept his Christmas at
Greenwich in the fifth year of his reign, “a mount,” upon which sat the King and five others,
was drawn into the great Hall by “five wodehouses,” dressed in skins, or rugs resembling skins,
so as to appear like savages. When Queen Elizabeth visited Kenilworth Castle, she was
addressed by the pert Gascoigne habited like a savage, covered with ivy, holding in one of his
hands an oaken plant torn up by the roots. They were frequently used to clear the way in
processions, when the clubs were filled with fireworks. When Anne Bullen was conveyed upon
the water from Greenwich to London in 1533, “there went before the Lord Mayor’s barge,” says
Hall, “a foyste (a barge or pinnace propelled by rowers) full of ordnance, in which foyste was a
great red dragon, continually moving, and casting forth wildfire; and round about the said foyste
stood terrible monsters and wilde men, casting of fire and making a hideous noise.” They were
usually employed in land processions, and the danger of too near an approach to them is alluded
to by one of the characters in Wilson’s play, called “The Cobler’s Prophesy,” 1594, who
exclaims, “Comes there a pageant by? I’ll stand out of the green man’s way, for fear of burning
my vestment.” They were constant precursors of the annual pageants exhibited on Lord Mayor’s
Day in London; in the Mayoralty procession of 1681, a body of twenty preceded the principal
device. As a part of ancient public state and magnificence, the wild men of Hinchinbrook are
most appropriately placed to watch and ward the principal gate.
[39] The prospect has been essentially abridged by the growth of surrounding trees. It is
described by Evelyn as “a prospect, doubtless, for city, river, ships, meadows, hill, woods, and
all other amenities, one of the most noble in the world.”
[40] Sir Henry Newton, who took the name of Puckering, on succeeding to the estates of his
maternal uncle, espoused the royal cause, and was at the battle of Edge-hill. On the Restoration
he was appointed Paymaster-general of the Forces. “His good housekeeping and liberality to the
poor, who scarcely ever went away unfed from his gates, gained him the general love and
esteem of his neighbours, and he was distinguished throughout the kingdom for being a
generous benefactor to the poor cavaliers whose services were not rewarded by King Charles the
Second.” Jane, the only daughter of Sir Henry, was attacked in Greenwich Park, on the 26th of
September, 1649, by a party of men, who conveyed her to Erith, and put her on board a vessel
there, the object being to compel her to marry a man named Joseph Welsh, by whom she was
kept confined in a nunnery in Flanders, until she was induced, “through fear and despairing of
ever being restored to her friends,” to marry him. On procuring her liberty, however, she
instituted criminal proceedings against Welsh and his accomplices, and the marriage was
declared void. They were indicted at Maidstone in 1651, and their guilt was proved, but it does
not appear that they were in custody. She afterwards married Sir John Bale, of Carleton-Curlieu.
[41] Sir William Ducie was the son of Sir Robert Ducie, who “accumulated immense wealth
in trade. He was banker to King Charles the First, and notwithstanding losing £80,000 by his
Majesty, died, it is said, worth more than £400,000.”—Burke’s Extinct and Dormant
Baronetcies.
[42] An anecdote of the Prince and his tutor is thus recorded. The Prince was here playing at
the ancient English game of golf, when lifting up his golf-club to strike the ball, one standing by
said to him, “Beware that you hit not Master Newton;” whereupon he, drawing back his hand,
said, “Had I done so, I had but paid my debts.”
[43] Sir Adam Newton was a native of Scotland, advanced to the Deanery of Durham in
1606, which dignity, though not in orders, he held till 1620, when he resigned it, “being, in April

of that year, created a Baronet.” His appointment as tutor to Prince Henry commenced in 1599
or 1600. “He was,” according to Dr. Birch, (Life of Henry Prince of Wales,) “thoroughly
qualified for the office assigned him, both by his genius and his skill in the learned and other
languages; and was distinguished by the neatness and perspicuity of his Latin style, shewn by
his translation of King James’s Discourse against Conrade Vorstius.” In 1610 Mr. Adam Newton
was appointed Secretary to the Prince when his Royal Highness “settled his household.” The
Prince, to the universal grief of the nation, died in 1612. All contemporary historians unite in his
praise. The anecdote so often told of him is a key to his admirable character. When urged to be
wrathful with a butcher whose dog had killed a stag he was chasing, and so spoiled his sport
—“Away,” said he, “all the pleasure in the world is not worth an oath.” “He was gentle and
affable; but, however, in his carriage had a noble stateliness, without affectation, which
commanded esteem and respect. He was courteous, loving and affable; naturally modest and
even shame-faced; most patient, which he shewed both in life and death; slow to anger; merciful
to offenders, after a little punishment to make them sensible of their faults: in brief, a character
that approaches nearer to perfection, is not to be found in history.” His death was mourned by
“all the muses;” funeral dirges to his memory were written by Donne, Webster, Chapman,
Brown, Drummond of Hawthornden, and a score of other poets.
[44] Evelyn makes frequent mention of the venerable mansion, in connection with his
“excellent friend,” Sir Henry Newton, the son and successor of Sir Adam. At that time the
property belonged to Sir William Ducie.
[45] There are several wild traditions—and some of them not very delicate—concerning its
origin. It is said to have been the result of an intrigue of King John with the wife of a miller: but
the more probable origin is, that it was symbolic of the Ox of St. Luke, by which he is usually
distinguished in ancient paintings, and to this Saint the Church of Charlton is dedicated. The
Fair is now held on St. Luke’s day, the 18th of October, and the minister had a bequest of twenty
shillings for preaching a sermon there. It was formerly kept upon a green opposite the Church,
and facing the Mansion. At this fair were sold various articles formed of horn, such as drinking
cups, &c., and horns gilded were sold and worn by the frequenters; during the reign of Charles
the Second, it was a carnival of the most unrestrained kind, and persons used to start from
London in boats, disguised as kings, queens, millers, &c., with horns on their heads, and men
dressed as females, who formed in procession and marched round the church and fair. In the
time of Brand, he tells us that the folks assembled consisted “of a riotous mob, who, after a
printed summons dispersed through the adjacent towns, meet near Deptford, and march from
thence in procession through that town and Greenwich to Charlton, with horns of different kinds
upon their heads; and at the fair there are sold rams’ horns and every sort of toy made of horn,
even the ginger-bread figures have horns.” In “Pasquil’s Night-cap, or Antidote for the Head-
ache,” 1612, a poem by Nicholas Breton, a long and curious history of the annual meeting for
the inauguration of these horns is given, as it used to be held in great pomp and with an
immense concourse of people, all of whom

“In comely sort their foreheads did adorne,
With goodly coronets of hardy horne;”

but he ends by telling us that—

“Long time this solemne custome was observ’d,
And Kentish-men with others met to feast;
But latter times are from old fashions swerv’d
And grown repugnant to this good behest.
For now ungratefull men these meetings scorn
And thanklesse prove to Fortune and the horn,
For onely now is kept a poor goose fair,
Where none but meaner people doe repair.”

[46] Craggs was much implicated in the “South Sea Bubble.” He resided in a house on the
property of Sir T. M. Wilson—since the residence of Mrs. Fitz-Herbert—afterwards of Queen
Caroline, when Princess of Wales—afterwards of Alderman Atkins, and recently of Gen. Sir
Thomas Hislop, Bart., who died there.
[47] The Hall is opened to the public generally, only on Friday (between the hours of eleven
and four) the day on which Hampton Court is closed. Visitors are admissible by cards, which
must be obtained previously from Mr. Caddel, library, Gravesend, or Mr. Wildash, bookseller,
Rochester. A charge is made of one shilling to each person. The sum thus accruing is
appropriated to the benefit of the schools and other charitable institutions in the neighbourhood.
The visitor is thus relieved from the irksome necessity of considering what gratuity he is to
bestow upon the guide who accompanies him through the several galleries,—servants “being
strictly forbidden to take any fees.” The cards contain the “Regulations.” Those who can devote
but one day to an examination of this locality will do well to commence by an inspection of the
church and village, and wander about the park after the Hall has been seen. Those who are not
content with so comparatively brief a scrutiny, will find a homely but neat and comfortable inn
at Cobham. It is scarcely necessary to observe that steam-boats ply, in summer, from Blackwall
—distant six miles, or ten minutes, from the heart of London—every half hour. These voyages
commence very early, and are continued to a late hour; so that although the Hall is five or six
and twenty miles from the metropolis, it will not be found difficult to visit it and return to the
city within one day.
[48] “Cobeham, anciently Coptham,—that is the head or village, from the Saxon Copt, an
head.”—Philipott. Survey of Kent.
[49] One of the husbands of this lady was Sir John Oldcastle, who, in the reign of Henry V.,
attached himself to the Lollards. He was cited to appear before the Archbishop of Canterbury,
and sentenced to death as “a heretic; who together with others, to the number of twenty men,
called Lollards, had conspired to subvert the clergy and kill the king.” Having been outlawed
upon treason and excommunicated, he was removed from the Tower to the “New Gallows” in
St. Giles’, where he underwent his sentence—“to be hanged, and burned hanging.” At the place
of execution, it is said, he desired Sir Thomas Erpingham, “in case he saw him risen the third
day after, that he would then be a means to procure favour to the rest of his sect.” His “Tryal”
before the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1 Henry Fifth, A.D. 1413, “on the Saturday after the feast
of St. Matthew,” in the Chapter House of St. Paul, is reported in the State Trials. It is curious to
note the language in which the prelate is stated to have addressed the doomed recusant:—“We
repeated in soft and moderate terms, and in a manner very courteous and obliging, all our
proceedings against him.” “We replied with much patience, and in a courteous and affectionate
manner.” “We besought him, with tears in our eyes, and exhorted him in the most compassionate
manner.” Such, and similar phrases, record the “gentleness” with which he was doomed to a
cruel death. The archbishop could “make nothing” of the brave Lollard. He openly avowed that
the only honour he vouchsafed to the Image of the Cross was, to “keep it clean, and in his
closet;” declared his belief that he was “the true successor of St. Peter, who followed him in the

purity of his life and conversation;” and protested that he “desired absolution only from God.”
For the said “detestable crime of heresy” he was ordered to die; “by the advice and consent of
men famous for discretion and wisdom;” and was “dispatched with all convenient expedition.”
[50] Sir Thomas Broke, and Joan de Cobham, his wife, had ten sons and four daughters. It is
their tomb which occupies so prominent a position in the chancel of Cobham church.
[51] At the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, at Winton, the 17th of November, 1 Jac. 1603, for
high treason, “in conspiring to depose the king and set up the Lady Arabella Stuart, and
corresponding with Spain for that purpose;” a variety of documents and letters were produced
and read; written, as alleged, by Lord Cobham, implicating Sir Walter, admitting his own guilty
participation, and affirming that “he would not have entered into these courses but by his,
Raleigh’s, instigation.” Raleigh’s demand to be brought “face to face” with his accuser was
refused, on the ground that “the accuser may be drawn by practise to retract what he had
deposed, while he is here in person.” To this Raleigh replied, “He dares not accuse me. He said I
was the cause of all his miseries and the destruction of his house, by my wicked counsel. If this
be true, whom hath he to accuse or be revenged of but me?” “I say,” he added, “that Cobham is
a base, dishonourable, poor soul.” Cobham, however, had retracted his assertions concerning
Raleigh, who, at his trial, produced a letter from Cobham, to this effect:—“Seeing myself so
near my end, for the discharge of my conscience and freeing myself from your blood, which else
will cry vengeance against me, I protest upon my salvation, I never practised with Spain by your
procurement: God so comfort me in this my affliction, as you are a true subject for anything I
know. I will say as Pilate, ‘Purus sum a sanguine hujus.’ So God have mercy upon my soul, as I
know no treason by you.” The letter, however, availed Sir Walter nothing; the attorney-general
affirming “that it had been procured by subtle practices; and that the first declaration was drawn
up voluntarily by my lord Cobham, and without any hopes of pardon.” Under a most iniquitous
sentence then pronounced, Raleigh was executed fifteen years afterwards; and Cobham had been
a houseless wanderer, meanwhile, perishing unpitied and unwept. Of their intimacy there is no
doubt; and it is more than probable that the Old Hall we are describing was often the home of
Sir Walter Raleigh, when distinguished as “the noble and valorous knight.” It is grievous to
think that so great a “worthy” should have been sacrificed to the pitiful cowardice of so “poor a
soul” as the last of the Cobhams—the degenerate scion of a munificent and valorous race.
[52] Sir Joseph Williamson was the son of a clergyman of Cumberland. He held various
appointments under the Crown, was President of the Royal Society; and was buried in
Westminster Abbey.
[53] “Lady Katherine O’Brien died in November following; upon which her two-thirds of
this manor and seat, with the rest of the estates of the late Duke of Richmond, purchased by Sir
Joseph Williamson, descended to Edward, Lord Clifton and Cornbury (son of Edward, Lord
Cornbury, afterwards Earl of Clarendon, and Catherine his wife, the only daughter and heir of
the said Lady Katherine, by her first husband, Henry, Lord O’Brien), and on her death without
issue, in 1713, to his only surviving sister and heir, the Lady Theodosia Hyde.”—Hasted’s Kent,
vol. i.
[54] The Blighs were originally a Devonshire family; and in the reign of Charles the First
were seated at Rathmore, in the county of Meath, in Ireland.
[55] In 1714, 1 Geo. I., Sir Richard Temple, Bart. was created Baron Cobham—a title his
descendants enjoy. The Temples were connected in the female line with the Brokes.
[56] At the end of this gallery are, branching to the right and left, the private apartments of
the family; and in a room opening out of the west end of the Picture-gallery, Queen Elizabeth is
reported to have slept when she honoured the Lord Cobham with a visit during her progress

through Kent. In the centre of the ancient Ceiling are still preserved her Arms, with the date,
1599.
[57] An interesting series of Helmets hangs upon the walls of the chancel. They vary in age
and appearance. The most interesting are two tilting helmets of the time of Henry V. These
helmets were worn over the bassinet, which was also of steel, and fitted close to the head,
having a movable visor which covered the face. The tilting or tournament helmet had nothing of
the kind, an opening for the admission of light and air being formed by the projection of the
lower portion, which covered the face, from the cap above. A few holes were drilled for sight,
and the helmet rested upon the shoulders, being made wider at the neck, while the bassinet fitted
it closely. The crest of the wearer, a plume of feathers, or other ornament, was generally affixed
to these tournament helmets; and upon one of these at Cobham the staples remain upon the top
and a hook behind, which helped to retain such decorations. A helmet thus ornamented with the
crest of the Brokes—a Saracen’s head—still remains upon the walls. It is, however, of a much
later date, probably about the time of Henry VII., and is a war-helmet with a movable visor.
[58] The other Brasses require a brief notice. The earliest is to the memory of John de
Cobham, the first Knight Banneret, and Constable of Rochester; he is dressed in a shirt of mail:
round his waist is a rich girdle sustaining a long sword. Eight lines of Norman French are
inscribed round the verge of the slab. 2. Maude de Cobham, wife to Reynold, Baron Cobham,
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in the reign of Edward the Third: she is standing on a dog. 3.
Another Maude De Cobham—probably the wife of Thomas de Cobham, who died in the reign
of Richard the Second. 4. Margaret de Cobham, wife of John Lord Cobham, the founder of the
College. The inscription round the verge informs us, she was daughter to the Earl of Devonshire.
5. John de Cobham, the founder of the College, standing on a lion under a canopy. In his hands
he holds a church. 6. Thomas de Cobham. 7. Joan de Cobham, “probably the daughter of John
Lord Beauchamp, and mother of the Founder.” 8. Sir John Broke, and Lady Margaret his wife,
under a rich canopy with pendants and other ornaments, with triangular compartments,
“containing circles with shields, one of which bears the crown of thorns, and the other the five
wounds; between the pinnacles, in the centre, is a curious representation of the Trinity, in which
the Deity is delineated with a triple crown, and the Holy Spirit has a human face. The figure of
the knight is gone, but that of his lady remains; and beneath, are groups of eight sons and ten
daughters.” 9. Sir Reginald Braybroke, the second husband of Joan Lady Cobham. 10. Sir
Nicholas Hawberk, her third husband. 11. Joan de Cobham: she died, as appears from the
inscription, “on the day of St. Hilary the Bishop, A.D. 1433.” At her feet are six sons and four
daughters, and surrounding her are six escutcheons of the Cobham arms and alliances. 12. Sir
Thomas Broke, and one of his three wives. Below them are seven sons and five daughters. Sir
Thomas died in 1529. 13. Sir Ralph, or Rauf de Cobham, represented by a bust, in a skull-cap
and shirt of mail. He died, according to the inscription, on the 20th January 1402.
[59] The Sackvilles are an ancient and very distinguished family, dating from the Conquest.
The first Peer, the famous Lord Buckhurst and Earl of Dorset, succeeded Burleigh as Lord
Treasurer, an office in which he was confirmed by King James. He is more celebrated, however,
as the author of the earliest English Tragedy in blank verse, “Gordubuc,” and “The Induction to
a Mirrour for Magistrates,” one of the noblest Poems in the language. Gordubuc is praised by
Sidney for its “notable moralitie;” and the Poem is believed to have given use to the Fairy
Queen. All contemporaries agree in bearing testimony to the virtues of this truly noble man. One
of them thus draws his character:—“How many rare things were in him! who more loving unto
his wife! who more kind unto his children! who more fast unto his friend! who more moderate
unto his enemy! who more true to his word!” The sixth Earl of Dorset is also celebrated in the
History of Literature: he was one of the wits of the licentious court of Charles the Second; the
associate of Rochester, Villiers, and Sedley; but subsequently the patron of Prior, Dryden,
Butler, Congreve, Addison, and Pope. Prior he rescued from a vintner’s tap, and Butler “owed to

him that the court tasted his ‘Hudibras.’ ” His reputation as an author rests upon a Poem
consisting of no more than eleven stanzas—the “song” beginning

“To all ye ladies now at land,”—

said to have been written on shipboard, on the night preceding a sea-fight. It is an elegant
composition, and manifests a “heedlessnesse of danger” natural to a gallant youth. Pope hails
him as

“the grace of courts, the Muses’ pride;”

and there can be no doubt that he was not only a generous and liberal friend to men of
letters, but a judicious patron to those who needed help.
[60] The Dining Parlour—where, by the way, in 1645, the Court of Sequestration met and
deprived, for loyalty to his sovereign, Edward, the fourth Earl of Dorset, of his estates—contains
a series of Portraits of men who, it is certain, met together often there, assembled round the
festive board of Charles, the sixth Earl. Among the more interesting and important are those of
Waller and Addison, by Jarvis; Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and Goldsmith, by Sir Joshua Reynolds;
Otway, by Sir Peter Lely; Locke, Hobbes, Sedley, Newton, and Dryden, by Kneller; Cowley and
Rochester, by Du Boyce; Tom Durfey—in “a conversation piece”—by Vandergucht; Burke, by
Opie; together with copies, by less famous hands, of Ben Jonson, Congreve, Wycherley, Rowe,
Garth, Swift, Cartwright, Pope, Betterton, Gay, Handel, &c., &c., &c.
[61] The artist selected as a worthy subject for his pencil the gallery which runs parallel with
“the Brown Gallery,” on the upper floor. It is peculiarly striking and characteristic; and Time has
shaken it into “the picturesque.” It is known as “the Retainers’ Gallery;” the sleeping apartments
of the domestics branch off from it. The marble chimney-piece, although much dilapidated, is of
the finest marble, and of rare workmanship.
[62] According to Hasted, the name is derived from Pen, an old British word signifying the
top of anything; and hyrst, a wood.
[63] It has been the fortune of the “Arcadia” to be too highly valued in one age, and far too
much underrated in another. Immediately after its publication it was received with unbounded
applause:—“From it was taken the language of compliment and love, it gave a tinge of
similitude to the colloquial and courtly dialect of the time, and from thence its influence was
communicated to the lucubrations of the Poet, the Historian, and the Divine.” The Book is a
mixture of what has been termed the heroic and the pastoral Romance, interspersed with
interludes and episodes, and details the various and marvellous adventures of two friends,
Musidorus and Pyrocles. It was not intended to be published to the world; but was written
merely to pleasure the Countess of Pembroke—“a principal ornament to the family of the
Sidneis.”
[64] The touching incident to which, perhaps, more than to any other circumstance, Sir
Philip is indebted for his heroic fame, is thus related by his friend and biographer, Fulke
Greville, Lord Broke:—“In his sad progress, passing along by the rest of the army, where his
uncle, the General, was, and being thirsty with excess of bleeding, he called for drink, which
was presently brought him; but, as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a poor soldier
carried along, who had been wounded at the same time, ghastly casting up his eyes at the bottle.
Which Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his head before he drank, and delivered it to the poor
man, with these words, ‘Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.’ ” He lived in great pain for
many days after he was wounded, and died on the 17th of October, 1586. The close of his life
affords a beautiful lesson. “Calmly and steadily he awaited the approach of death. His prayers

were long and fervent—his bearing was indeed that of a Christian hero. He had a noble funeral.
Kings clad themselves in garments of grief—a whole people grieved for the loss of the most
accomplished scholar, the most graceful courtier, the best soldier, and the worthiest man of the
country and the age. He was buried in state, in the old Cathedral of St. Paul’s, on the 16th of
February. Both Universities composed verses to his memory; and so general was the mourning
for him, that, “for many months after his death, it was accounted indecent for any gentleman of
quality to appear at Court, or in the City, in any light or gaudy apparel.”
[65] The Norrises had long been a family of note in Lancashire, and held lands in Blackrod,
Sutton, &c. The family of Bradshaw, of Bradshaw, was of Saxon origin, and seated there before
the conquest; after that event, Sir John Bradshaw was repossessed of his estates by the
Conqueror, which went to his posterity for twenty-two descents, whereof eleven were lineally
knighted, as appears by ancient charter, and other authentic evidences. A full account of the
marriages may be seen in Wotton’s Baronetage (Edition 1769, vol. vi., fol. 14), down to Sir
William Bradshaw, second son of Sir John Bradshaw, the tenth generation from Sir John
Bradshaw; which Sir William married Mabel daughter of Hugh Norreys, or Norris, by which he
got for her dowry, as sole heir of her father, the manors of Sutton, Raynhill, Whiston, Haghe,
Blackerode, and West Leigh. Haghe and Blackrode were held as a twelfth part of a knight’s fee.
There is a well-attested story of Mab and Mab’s Cross. She was obliged to walk bare-foot and
bare-legged once a week from Haigh to near Wigan, to expiate the sin of marrying again in her
husband’s absence, when she thought he had been slain. This Mab was Mabil Norreys, of
Blackrode. A portion of the Cross is still to be seen at the extremity of the town of Wigan, on the
left hand side of the road, leading from Wigan to Haigh Hall, now the residence of Earl
Balcarras.
The Norrises of Speke and Rycot were all martial men. They held their estate of Speke by
military tenure, which they imposed upon their tenantry. The Norrises acquired great honours in
foreign service, in which they were so much engaged as to be unfrequent attendants at court. A
part of the debateable lands at Bromfield, in Wales, was granted to this family. Sir John Norris
was a most accomplished General about 1577, equally valiant and skilful in a charge as a retreat.
On one memorable occasion, he effected a retreat with a handful of Englishmen, which gained
him more honour than a victory could have conferred. He was sent to Ireland, as a commander,
in the reign of Elizabeth; but not being properly supported by the Government, or owing perhaps
to the animosity of party spirit, he did not succeed in his mission, and died anno 1597.
[66] The question whether the wainscoting at Speke did or not originally come from
Scotland, appears to have given rise to some discussion; and is unquestionably a matter of deep
interest to antiquarians. Not long ago, Robert Whatton, Esq., F.S.A., Member of the Royal
College of Surgeons, took some pains to investigate its history, in order to assist the Scottish
Society of Antiquaries, who had organised a committee with a view to ascertain whether there
was or was not any proof to sustain the tradition.
It appears Mr. Whatton could meet with no intelligence prior to 1767. “Seacome,” in his
History of the House of Stanley, page 46, refers to it; also “Enfield,” in his History of
Liverpool, 4to, 1774, page 115. These accounts have been copied by Gough, in his edition of
Camden, and every subsequent writer.
The very splendid and highly-finished specimen of the carved oak wainscot, common to the
counties of Lancaster and Chester, is erected against the north wall of the room, and is divided
perpendicularly from the ceiling, two-thirds of its extent downwards, into eight compartments,
these compartments being again subdivided horizontally into five rows of panels; a space
corresponding with the width of two of the compartments, on the right hand, with the exception
of the uppermost panels, is occupied by the door-case, which projects into the room. That part of
the wainscot which is usually allotted to the frieze or cornice, is here formed into a projecting

head, extending through the whole length of the works in a line with the ceiling of the room, to
which it is attached and secured by nine supporters, correspondent with the columns below.
The columns which divide the wainscot into compartments rise from square ornamental
pedestals; the shafts are fluted in two divisions, having capitals with volutes and rows of foliage,
and supporting scrolls with massive square heads, increasing in diameter upwards, and reaching
to the bottom of the first row of panels.
The columns of the door-case are similar to those on the wainscot, except that the shafts are
ornamented in zigzag instead of fluting; in the centre, over this door, is a shield with the arms of
Norris, quartering Harrington, and Molyneux, and others we cannot decipher.
With respect to the origin of this fine and beautiful work, there seems to be no evidence to
support the current tradition of its having been originally Scottish. Mr. Whatton is of opinion,
not only that it never came from Scotland, but that it was of neighbouring manufacture; and was
executed for Edward Norris in 1598 (40th of Elizabeth), and not brought thither by his great
uncle, Sir Edward, who fought at Flodden; but the probability is, that some relics brought from
Scotland had been set up at Speke previous to the erection of the present Manor Hall in 1598;
and as these would no doubt be transferred to the new building, it might have happened in the
course of time, that what was strictly applicable to a part may have been ascribed to the whole.

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