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THE 
 
 BARONIAL HALLS, 
 
 ANCIENT CHURCHES OF ENGLAND. 
 
THE 
 
 BARONIAL HALLS, 
 
 $tcturesque (Etrifices, 
 
 AND 
 
 MOEffl €MTO€H1E§ ©IF 
 
 FROM DRAWINGS BY 
 
 J. D. HARDING, G. CATTERMOLE, S. PROUT, W. MULLER, J. HOLLAND, 
 
 AND OTHER EMINENT ARTISTS. 
 
 EXECUTED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF MR. HARDING. 
 
 
 
 THE TEXT BY S. C. HALL, F. S. A. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186, STRAND. 
 
 MDCCCXLV. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 SHOTTESBROOKE CHURCH . 
 SAWSTON HALL 
 BRERETON HALL . 
 MORETON HALL 
 TURTON TOWER . 
 NAWORTH .... 
 NAWORTH, LONG GALLERY 
 HINCHINBROOK HOUSE 
 CHARLTON HOUSE . 
 COBHAM HALL 
 
 COBHAM CHURCH, INTERIOR. 
 HEVER CASTLE 
 PENSHURST, from the Park 
 PENSHURST, THE COURT YARD 
 KIRBY HALL .... 
 BUCKLING .... 
 
 THE GREAT CHAMBER, MONT 
 ACUTE 
 
 INGESTRIE 
 HELMINGHAM HALL 
 H ENGRAVE HALL . 
 WEST -STOW HALL 
 ARUNDEL CHURCH 
 BOXGROVE CHURCH 
 WARWICK CASTLE 
 
 Berkshire. From a Drawing by 
 
 Cambridgeshire „ 
 
 Cheshire „ 
 
 Lancashire „ 
 
 Cumberland „ 
 
 ■>■> » 
 
 Huntingdonshire „ 
 Kent 
 
 Northamptonshire 
 Norfolk 
 
 ^■Somersetshire 
 
 Staffordshire 
 Suffolk 
 
 Sussex 
 
 Warwickshire 
 
 J. D. Harding. 
 
 . J. Dafforne. 
 
 . . H.L. Pratt. 
 
 . H. L. Pratt. 
 
 . . J.S. Dodd. 
 
 . George Cattermole. 
 
 . . George Cattermole. 
 
 . G. II. Harrison. 
 
 . . J. Holland. 
 
 . J. D. Harding. 
 
 . . J. D. Harding. 
 
 . G. F. Sargent. 
 
 . . J. I). Harding. 
 
 . J. D. Harding. 
 
 . . J. D. Harding. 
 
 . J. I). Harding. 
 
 . . G. J. Richardson. 
 
 . J. A . Hammer sletf. 
 
 . . G. J. Richardson. 
 
 . C. J. Richardson. 
 
 . . W. Muller. 
 
 . Samuel Prout. 
 
 . . J. D. Harding. 
 J. D. Harding. 
 
 THE WHOLE DRAWN IN LITHOTINT BY J. I). HARDING AND W. L. WALTON. 
 
 THE WOODCUTS DRAWN 
 
 BY F. W. FAIRHOLT, AND ENGRAVED BY F. W. BRANSTON 
 
SHOTTE SBROOKE CHURCH, 
 
 BERKSHIRE. 
 
 Church is justly classed among the most interesting 
 Ecclesiastical Edifices in England. According to a 
 recent writer (in the Gentleman's Magazine) " for 
 symmetry and beauty it has few equals ; the plan is 
 harmonious, the architecture chaste and elegant." It 
 is, indeed, regarded as a " perfect model " — the entire 
 work of one period, possessing the advantage of an ascertained date, 
 and being remarkable for uniformity of design, "even to the minor 
 portions." The situation is highly picturesque : it stands in a small 
 valley, about five miles south-west of Maidenhead, in a comparatively low 
 and thinly-populated neighbourhood, surrounded by magnificently grown 
 trees. It is the very ideal of a village Church, for, although in its vicinity there exist the 
 venerable remains of some time-honoured structures, and one mansion of some note 
 immediately adjoins it, the simple Edifice is so enclosed by foliage, as to appear utterly 
 secluded from the world — a becoming place of rest, where 
 
 " The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep ; " 
 
 and where their descendants worship God, far removed from the stir and turmoil of life 
 around them. It is dedicated to St. John the Baptist ; the living is a Rectory not in 
 charge, erected in 1774, to the Vicarage of White Waltham in the Archdeaconry of Berks, 
 and diocese of Salisbury. 
 
 The Manor of Shottesbrooke was anciently held by a singular species of grand 
 serjeantry, viz., the service of providing charcoal to make the crown and other regalia for 
 the coronation of the Sovereign ; the sum of sixty shillings and ten pence being allowed 
 for the same. It may be observed, as a circumstance which throws some light on the 
 origin of this tenure, that the Manor then called " Sotesbrok," belonged in the time of 
 William Rufus to Alward the goldsmith, whose father held it under King Edward the 
 Confessor. The earliest possessors of the demesne of whom any mention is found, were a 
 family who took their name from the village; about the beginning of the fourteenth 
 century, it passed by marriage into the family of Vis dc Lou ; by whom it was sold, soon 
 
SHOTTESBROOKE CHURCH. 
 
 afterwards, to Sir William Tressell, of Cubblesdon, in Staffordshire. A sole daughter of 
 one of his descendants married John Vere Earl of Oxford, who dissipated her 
 wealth, and disposed of Shottesbrooke to Thomas Noke, from whom it passed into 
 the family of Powle ; from them it came into the hands of the Cherrys, by whose 
 representatives it was sold, in 1713, to an ancestor of the present proprietors, the 
 Vansittarts. Such is a brief history of the several changes to which the ancient Manor 
 has been subjected, for nearly six hundred years. 
 
 In 1337, soon after it became the property of Sir William Tressell, he founded here 
 a small Religious House, consisting of a College and Chantry dedicated to St. John the 
 Baptist, for a warden and five priests ; this College he endowed with the Church of 
 Shottesbrooke. But not long afterwards, having sustained grievous injuries by fire, it 
 was deserted by the whole of the establishment, " except John Bradford, the warden ; " 
 in consequence of which, licence was had (in 1380) to impropriate to it the Church of 
 Battlesden. The result was a considerable accession of revenue ; and it continued to 
 flourish until " the Dissolution." It is certain that the Church sustained no injury 
 when the College was partially destroyed by fire ; inasmuch as it is now in nearly " the 
 same state in which it came out of the hands 
 of the Founder ; " and its escape is further 
 evidenced by the fact that growing beside it 
 is a yew of very venerable antiquity, which 
 measures in girth upwards of twenty feet; 
 planted, no doubt, when the Edifice was 
 erected, four hundred years ago. 
 
 The plan is cruciform ; consisting of a nave 
 flanked by two uniform porches, a transept 
 and chancel; with a central tower and spire. 
 The spire is remarkably light and elegant, 
 octangular, rising within the battlement of a 
 tower, of exceedingly graceful proportions.* 
 The building is in the " decorated " style ; but 
 
 although so called, it is conspicuous rather for severe simplicity ; " its distinguishing 
 characteristics are the flowing tracery of the windows, and the small angular caps 
 
 * Tradition — for we believe the " fact " rests on no better 
 authority — connects a singular story with the completion of 
 the spire. The architect, it is said, when placing the last 
 stone, called for some wine or ale to drink the king's health ; 
 and as he drained the cup, he forgot the position in which he 
 stood, stept back, fell to the ground, and was " dashed 
 to pieces." Upon the spot where he fell he was buried ; and 
 to commemorate the event a coffin-shaped stone was placed 
 2 
 
 over his grave, carved with the interjections ! ! — the only 
 sounds he uttered after his fall. The stone is yet shown ; 
 and certain oval signs may still be detected. The examiner, 
 however, will be likely to agree with the antiquary Hearne, 
 who considered the marks to be nothing more than remaining 
 portions of a cross. They are now nearly obliterated ; in his 
 time they were, no doubt, much more distinct. 
 
SHOTTESBROOKE CHURCH. 
 
 which terminate the buttresses;" some of the latter, however, have been restored by 
 the clumsy hands of the nearest bricklayer. The principal entrance is in the West 
 Front; over which is a window of three lights, with quatrefoil tracery in the head 
 of the arch; and immediately beneath it is the ancient font. The interior, although 
 plain, is highly imposing. The venerable oak Pulpit stands out in high relief ; and 
 notwithstanding the unpicturesque effect and evil influence of an ungainly gallery, which 
 conceals the north transept, and the pews arranged without the smallest regard to 
 decent order, the venerable character of this structure is but partially destroyed. 
 Its interest is sustained chiefly by the choir, which now constitutes the chancel. 
 Here still exist the stalls for the officiating 
 clergy, and the piscina ; the pavement is in 
 part composed of encaustic tiles (one of which 
 supplies us with an initial letter) ; the centre is 
 occupied by a brass of large size, representing 
 two male effigies, in a fine state of preservation, 
 although the inscription designed to perpetuate 
 their memories has been, unhappily, removed. 
 The one is the effigy of a priest in vestments; 
 the other is that of a Franklein, who wears 
 at his girdle a short sword. The date of this 
 brass is late in the fourteenth century.* Of 
 two other brasses we procured copies ; that to 
 the left commemorates Margaret, daughter and 
 heir of Sir William Tressell, the Founder, and 
 widow of Sir Fulke Pennebrygg, who died 
 in 1401. Of the inscription a few words only 
 remain. That to the right is the effigy of a gentleman, bare-headed, with straight 
 hair. Underneath is the following inscription : — 
 
 " #?ere Igetfj tfje fafog of Ixtcfjaro <&nll squper, late sergeant of tfjc ISafcefjous to th Hpng fjenrj? tfjc 
 btj. ; anb alsotogtfj ISpng fjenrg tfje bitj. ; anb baglg of tfje bit. fjunbrebs of (tfofcam atvb HSrap; tfje 
 tofjtefjeixtefjarb beecesseb j> e bit. bag of august, tfje gete of our ILortJ <8ob J5l b c rt, o' tofjose soule 
 S'fju' fjaue m'rs." 
 
 Both are in the north transept, which contains also other brasses — one to a yeoman 
 of bluff King Harry, Thomas Noke, with his three wives. The following quaint and 
 
 * We cannot avoid offering some note of praise upon the 
 antiquarian zeal of the sexton, a blacksmith named Ilolloway, 
 who has covered this valuable relic with a net-work of iron, 
 so as to preserve it from further injury. Moreover, he is an 
 3 
 
 ingenious man, who supplies to the curious, " rubbings " of the 
 brasses contained in this and neighbouring churches, taken 
 with exceeding care and peculiar accuracy. 
 
SHOTTESBROOKE CHURCH. 
 
 pithy epitaph, (penned by the lady Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Coke,) preserves 
 the memory of his name and state : — 
 
 " $ere Irjetfj 13urieb ftfjomas ilofce, tofto for f)ts great age anb bertuous ILief toas Hebereneeb of 
 all mm, anb comcnlg called jFatfjer iiiofce ; create ©squtcr 6g iijjngc #jenr|> t|>e bttt. $e boas of 
 stature bigb anb eornln, anb for fits excellence in artilarte mabe poman of tfie crotone of (Snglanb; 
 tobtcfj ftab in bis lief tfjree toifes, anb bj? eberg of tftem some frugte anb ofsprgnge, anb Beceasseb tfje 
 TTi. bap of August, 1567, in tfje nere of bis age ILffTbii. leabing beljgnbe ijijm Julian, $is last luief, 
 ttoo of Ijts brotfjerne, one sister, one onlj? sonne, anb ij. baugljters Igbing." 
 
 The entire north-wall of the north transept is filled by the monuments of the 
 Founder, Sir William Tressell, and his Lady, Maud, daughter of Sir William Butler, 
 Lord of Wemme. The two monuments are alike, in 
 size and character ; they are altar-tombs, surmounted 
 with canopies of four arches, separated by pinnacles. 
 In the spandrels are sixteen shields, suspended by 
 belts from hooks. The armorial bearings, with which 
 they were once emblazoned, are obliterated. The 
 westernmost of these tombs encloses the dust of 
 the Founder ; in Hearne's time his remains were to 
 be seen " through a defect in the wall," wrapt up in 
 lead, and his wife in leather at his feet. Near 
 to this is a monument to the memory of Dr. Wil- 
 liam Throckmorton — the last warden of the College. 
 His effigy is attired in a long gown, with the Doctor's hood and cap, having the 
 hands conjoined. 
 
 These are not the only tombs of interest enclosed by these venerable walls. In the 
 Chancel lie the remains of the learned Henry Dodwell, sometime Camden Professor of 
 History at Oxford, an able chronologer and historian. His house stood at the north of 
 the Church, and there was written his celebrated work, " De Cyclis Veterum." In the 
 Churchyard is buried Francis Cherry, the patron of Hearne the antiquary, — the epitaph 
 — " Hie jacet peccatorum maximus, 1713," marking his grave. The father of Hearne was 
 the parish clerk of Shottesbrooke ; and this is the birth-place of the good old antiquary's 
 mind ; here he loved to ramble and meditate upon ancient times and ancient things ; 
 and his honoured name is indissolubly linked with the venerable structure and the 
 neighbourhood, although the " brave old orchard, with its trees in forms of crosses which 
 in part existed when he lived, has disappeared ; and all the relics he loved have 
 vanished, leaving the Church the sole remain of the foundation of Sir William Tressell." 
 
 4 
 
SAWSTON 
 
 HALL, 
 
 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.* 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 no- 
 tice : 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 
 
 * The windows formerly contained some rare specimens of I friend to abstract for the purpose of decorating a neighbouring 
 painted glass, which the late proprietor permitted a clerical church. 
 1 
 
SAWSTON HALL. 
 
 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 im- 
 possible 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 Cumberlande, and of divers other Manners and 
 Lordshipps, 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 
 
 2 
 
SAWSTON HALL. 
 
 whom descended Joane (wife of William Fitz-AUan, 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 Milium, 
 and parte of his tythe in Hodleston, with the socage, &c." About the same period 
 mention is made of Godard de Milium, 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. Milium Castle was fortified and embattled, in 1 335, 
 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,* (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 
 
 * Fuller states that Sir John Huddleston " was highly to Framlingham. She afterwards made him, as I have heard, 
 
 honoured by Queen Mary, and deservedly. Such was the her Privy Councillor ; and besides other great boons, bestowed 
 
 trust reposed in him, that when Jane Grey was proclaimed the bigger part of Cambridge Castle, then in ruins, upon him, 
 
 Queen, she came privately to him at Sawston, and rid thence with the stone whereof he built his fair house in this county." 
 behind his servant, the better to disguise herself from discovery, 
 3 
 
SAWSTON HALL. 
 
 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 
 Mqntagu. The manors of Dale and Huntington were purchased by Sir Edmund 
 Huddleston before the year 1 580 ; 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 thir- 
 teenth 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 en- 
 graved on a brass plate placed on the tomb, represented in the annexed w< 
 
 "fytxt Igetij entombcti tfje totige of S r 3ioljn 
 ?ftutitilrston, ISntgfjtc, birc-djambcrlagne unto 
 ilttnge |3ij;nltpe, anti captatne of fjts gattic ; an* 
 one of (Queen ittarjje's most ijonorable ptnbte 
 CouneeU, tofjo Sirti n £ fournje tia?) of iaoucmbr, 
 in tijc pcarr of out Ilortc <E5oTj 1557." 
 
 4 
 
o 
 
 o 
 
BRERE TON HALL, 
 
 CHESHIRE. 
 
 reketon. — 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 
 
 1 
 
BRERETON HALL. 
 
 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 
 w r ell 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 
 
 2 
 
BKERETON HALL. 
 
 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 embla- 
 zoned, 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 embla- 
 zoned 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 1G33 on it. In a room in the south wing, formerly 
 
 3 
 
BRERETON HALL. 
 
 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* 
 
 * A singular tradition, alluded to by Camden, has long for several days. One historian of Cheshire, sensible of the 
 prevailed, that previously to the death of a heir of the house credulity of the great antiquary, would resolve the pleasant 
 of Brereton, trunks of trees were observed to rise from the dream of olden fancy by the laws of modern statics, 
 bottom of the lake of the neighbouring Bog Mere, and to float 
 4 
 
BRERETON HALL. 
 
 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.* 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 vener- 
 able yews, standing in the church- 
 yard itself. The original chapel was 
 built in the reign of Richard Coeur- 
 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 sub- 
 ject contained four figures, repre- 
 senting the persons who slew Thomas 
 a 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 1G08. 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. 
 
 * Brereton is the " Bracebridge Hall " of Washington Irving. 
 
BRERETON HALL. 
 
 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-a-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 stone- 
 cutter 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 Avhom 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. 
 
 6 
 
e 
 
MORE TO N HALL, 
 
 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 ap- 
 proach 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 
 
MORETON HALL. 
 
 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 apartments, 
 its Avails 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 open- 
 ing 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 Banquet- 
 ting 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 MDLLT." " Rycharde 
 Dale, Carpeder made theis windows, by the grace of God." * 
 
 * 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 
 
 2 
 
 occurs the name of a William Moreton, we have that also of 
 Richard Lowndes, Carpenter ; — his work, however, is of no 
 mean desert. 
 
MORETON HALL. 
 
 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 : — 
 
 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 
 
 Dame Mary Jones, 
 died the 19th of April, 1743, 
 • aged 85. 
 
 Sir William Moreton, Knt., 
 Recorder of the City of London, 
 dipd the 14th of March, 1763, 
 aged 67. 
 
 Dame Jane Moreton, 
 died the 10th of Feb., 1758 
 aged 61. 
 
MORETON HALL. 
 
 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,' 1 
 and were subsequently granted to Hugh de Mara and Win. 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. 
 
 4 
 
NAWO ETH, 
 
 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, 
 Unmodernisei) 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 
 l 
 
NAWORTH. 
 
 Priory, which cover the dust of the ancient Lords of Naworth,* 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 1 569, 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. f 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 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 ; 
 Erin 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 monas- 
 tery of St. Augustine, and founded in 1116 ; but no mention 
 of it in the records occurs earlier than the 16th of Henry II., 
 1 169. 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 
 •1 
 
 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." 
 
 t 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 follow- 
 ing, 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 ; subse- 
 quently he seized upon Naworth and other Castles, but having 
 been attacked and defeated by Lord Hunsdon, he fled into 
 Flanders, where he died. 
 

 
 f 
 
NAWORTH. 
 
 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.* 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 
 
 * 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 
 3 
 
 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." 
 
NA WORTH. 
 
 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 
 
 4 
 
NAWORTH. 
 
 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 pre- 
 served." * 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," accord- 
 ing 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 embel- 
 lished 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.f 
 
 * For the drawings on wood here engraved, we are indebted 
 to Mr. T. M. Richardson, an accomplished artist of Newcastle. 
 
 t 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 
 Libraiy he was one day deep in study, when a soldier, who 
 had captured a moss-trooper, suddenly entered with the news, 
 5 
 
 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 honks. 
 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. 
 
NAWORTH. 
 
 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 orna- 
 mented 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, consist- 
 ing 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 dun- 
 geons 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." 
 
 6 
 
# 
 
HINCHINBROOK HOUSE, 
 
 HUNTINGDONSHIRE. 
 
 inchinbrook — the seat and residence of John William Montagu, 
 
 probably, originated that peculiar temperament which after- 
 wards gave birth to mighty issues. 
 
 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, 
 
 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 15G4, 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 
 
 1 
 
HINCHINBROOK HOUSE. 
 
 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 ; " * 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, f 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. 
 
 * 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. 
 
 t That Sir Oliver impaired his paternal estates by enter- 
 taining 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 posses- 
 sion 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." 
 
HINCHINBROOK HOUSE. 
 
 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, oppo- 
 site to All-Saints Church ; * 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 tradi- 
 tion 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 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 
 3 
 
 around the venerable Town, and whose courtesies and attentions 
 it is our pleasant duty to acknowledge. 
 
HINCHINBROOK HOUSE. 
 
 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 remind- 
 ing 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." * 
 
 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 f being 
 especially rich in relics of very 
 olden times. The reader will per- 
 haps 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 
 
 * 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." 
 
 t Over the entrance porch of the church at Godmanchester 
 is a fine exafnple 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 
 4 
 
 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 imme- 
 diately 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. 
 
HINCHINBROOK HOUSE. 
 
 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 un- 
 dergone 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 
 
HINCHINBROOK HOUSE. 
 
 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.* 
 
 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 irregu- 
 larity 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. 
 
 * 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 countiy, 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, conti- 
 nually 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 
 t\venty 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 prin- 
 cipal gate. 
 
 G 
 
CHARLTON HOUSE, 
 
 KENT. 
 
 harlton — according to Philipott, " anciently written Ceorleton, 
 that is the town inhabited with honest, good, stout, 
 and usefull men, for tillage and country e 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.* 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,"! alienated it in 1659, to Sir 
 
 * The prospect has been essentially abridged by the growth 
 of surrounding trees. It is described by Evelyn as " a pros- 
 pect, doubtless, for city, river, ships, meadows, hill, woods, 
 and all other amenities, one of the most noble in the world." 
 
 t 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 Resto- 
 ration 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 dis- 
 tinguished throughout the kingdom for being a generous 
 benefactor to the poor cavaliers whose services were not 
 I 
 
 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. 
 
CHARLTON HOUSE. 
 
 William Ducie, * 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 16G0, 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, f Evelyn speaks of it as " a faire house built for 
 Prince Henry." t The interest of Charlton House is greatly enhanced by the fact that 
 
 * 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. 
 
 t 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." 
 
 X Sir Adam Newton was a native of Scotland, advanced to 
 the Deanery of Durham in 1 G06, 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. 
 
CHARLTON HOUSE. 
 
 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 lias a gallery at the western end, of 
 comparatively recent date ; the centre drop depending from the ceiling, ornamented only 
 
 He was courteous, loving and affable; naturally modest and . in history." His death was mourned by " all the muses ; " 
 
 even shame-faced ; most patient, which he shewed both in life I funeral dirges to his memory were written by Donne, Webster, 
 
 and death ; slow to anger ; merciful to offenders, after a little Chapman, Brown. Druiniiiond of Ilawthornden, and a score of 
 
 punishment to make them sensible of their faults : in brief, a other poets, 
 character that approaches nearer to perfection, is not to be found 
 3 
 
CHARLTON HOUSE. 
 
 •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 
 
 ■ o 
 
 one which endures of the " Row" of which Evelyn speaks.* 
 
 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 homes and cups and other vessels of- home there brought to be sold." 
 
 * Evelyn makes frequent mention of the venerable mansion, i the son and successor of Sir Adam. At that time the property 
 in connection with his "excellent friend," Sir Henry Newton, I belonged to Sir William Ducie. 
 4 
 
CHARLTON HOUSE. 
 
 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.* 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, 
 hoAvever, 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 pos- 
 sessions 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 
 
 * 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 TJeptford, and march from thence in procession through 
 5 
 
 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," 1012, a poem by Nicholas Breton, a long 
 and curious history of the annual meeting for the inaugura- 
 tion 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 home ;" 
 
 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, 
 VVbere none but meaner people doe repair." 
 
CHARLTON HOUSE. 
 
 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 ;* 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. 
 
 * Craggs was much implicated in the " South Sea Rubble." 
 He resided in a house on the property of Sir T. M. Wilson — 
 since the residence of Mrs. Fitz-Herbert — afterwards of Queen 
 6 
 
 Caroline, when Princess of Wales — afterwards of Alderman 
 Atkins, and recently of Gen. Sir Thomas Hislop, Bart., who 
 died there. 
 
COBHAM HALL, 
 
 KENT. 
 
 irfflP wlilf and important page it occupies in British history, the abundance 
 | ■ -^^^^My and richness of its antiquities, the peculiarities of its laws, the 
 %|"V§f primitive character of its customs, or its ecclesiastical pre- 
 
 p il! eminence ; but, chiefly, because it is regarded as our great Island 
 
 bulwark — our " Vanguard of liberty," — 
 
 he County of Kent holds foremost rank among 
 the Shires of England ; not alone because of its 
 picturesque beauty, its great fertility, the full 
 
 " 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. 
 With Kent, therefore, we commence our Work ; and although it will be, necessarily, 
 discursive, we may draw from the vast store of wealth with which the fair County 
 supplies us, ample to excite and interest the reader at the outset of our under- 
 taking. 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 toAvn 
 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 
 
 1 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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*. 
 
 Before we commence our description of the Hall, the Demesne, the Church, the College, 
 and the village of Cobham f, 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 
 
 O 
 
 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 magnse assisse — 
 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 
 
 * 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 consider- 
 ing what gratuity he is to bestow upon the guide who accom- 
 panies 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 necessaiy 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 con- 
 tinued 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. 
 
 t " Cobeham anciently Coptham, — that is the head or village, 
 from the Saxon Copt, an head." — Philipott. Survey of Kent. 
 

 
 COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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 * 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, t " 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. | " 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 
 
 * 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 under- 
 went his sentence — " to be hanged, and burned hanging." At 
 the place of execution, it is said, he desired Sir Thomas Erping- 
 ham, " 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 Canterbuiy, 
 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." 
 3 
 
 t 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. 
 
 % 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, instiga- 
 tion." 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 practises ; and that the first declara- 
 tion was drawn up voluntarily by my lord Cobham, and with- 
 out any hopes of pardon." Under a most iniquitous sentence 
 
e 
 
 COBHAM HALL. 
 
 time of their confiscation, are estimated to have been worth 7,000/. per annum ; and he 
 possessed 30,000/. 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.* 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 j ; and on his death, without 
 issue, in 1713, his sister, Lady Theodosia Hyde, inherited. She married John Bligh, of the 
 kingdom of Ireland, Esq. t ; 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 
 £51,000, 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.§ The present 
 Peer, the sixth Earl of Darnley, is a minor; he was born on the 16th April, 1827, and 
 will consequently be of age in 1848. 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 1835, 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. 
 
 then pronounced, Raleigh was executed fifteen years afterwards ; 
 and Cobham had been a houseless wanderer, meanwhile, perish- 
 ing unpitied and unwept. Of their intimacy there is no doubt; 
 and it is more than probable that the Old Hall we are describ- 
 ing was often the home of Sir Walter Raleigh, when distin- 
 guished as " the noble and valourous 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. 
 
 * 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 West 
 minster Abbey. 
 
 t " Lady Katherine O'Brien died in November following ; 
 4 
 
 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. 
 
 % 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. 
 
 § 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. 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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 facade with Corinthian 
 pilasters, is sadly out of keeping with the quaint gables, 
 octagonal turrets, ornamental door-ways, carved cor- 
 nices, 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 architec- 
 ture 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 charac- 
 teristics 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 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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'oeuvre of 
 Vandyke. The Chimney-piece is formed of the purest white marble, sculptured in bas- 
 relief after Guido'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 * 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 ex- 
 cellence, the productions of nearly 
 all the great masters of Italy; 
 including admirable examples of 
 Guido, Titian, Salvator, Rubens, 
 Raphael, Spagnoletto, P. Vero- 
 nese, Giorgione, N. Poussin, and 
 Guercino. Every part of the 
 venerable edifice contains, in- 
 deed, some object of interest. 
 The rooms, and halls, and galleries are thronged with rare and beautiful works of 
 
 * At the end of this gallery are, branching to the right and is reported to have slept when she honoured the Lord Cobham 
 
 left, the private apartments of the family ; and in a room open- vvitha visit during her progress through Kent. In the centre of the 
 
 ing out of the west end of the Picture-gallery, Queen Elizabeth ancient Ceiling are still preserved her Arms, with the date, 1599. 
 
 6 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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 trea- 
 sures — 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 con- 
 secrated : 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 
 7 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 for centuries. The whole aspect of the place indeed supplies indubitable proof of 
 very remote antiquity *. 
 
 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 quar- 
 tered 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 
 
 * 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 
 8 
 
 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 Broke 's — 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. 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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 *. 
 
 " The College of Cobham " is now only a collection of alms-houses, to which presenta- 
 tions 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 con- 
 tains a large Hall, with painted windows, a roof 
 of blackened rafters, an old oak screen, and a fire- 
 place 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. 
 
 * 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 inscrip- 
 tion, "on the day of St. Hilary the Bishop, a.d. 1433." Al 
 her feet are six sons and four daughters, and surrounding her 
 are six escutcheons of the Cobham arms and alliances. 12. Sin 
 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 inscrip- 
 tion, on the 20th January 1402. 
 
COBHAM HALL. 
 
 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 recey ve 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 unin- 
 jured. 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. 
 
 in 
 
HEVER CASTLE, 
 
 KENT. 
 
 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 
 
 Ml 
 
 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 Hum- 
 freys, 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 
 
HEVER CASTLE. 
 
 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 cham- 
 ber 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, tradi- 
 tion 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 tradi- 
 tions 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." 
 
PENSHURST, 
 
 KENT. 
 
 enshurst ! How many, and how glorious, are the associations 
 connected with this ancient house — " the seat of the Sidneys ! " 
 1 Every great name, memorable in the Augustan age of England, 
 is linked with it for ever; while its venerable aspect, the 
 H solemnity of surrounding shades, the primitive character of the 
 H vicinity, together with its isolated position — far away from 
 
 I memories it awakens. Here lived the earliest and bravest 
 Ir of the Anglo-Norman Knights. Here dwelt the ill-fated 
 p Bohuns — the three unhappy Dukes of Buckingham, who 
 perished in succession — one in the field, and two on the 
 
 the haunts of busy men — are in perfect harmony with 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 ! 
 
 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 
 
 For Sidney heard him sing, and knew his voice ;" 
 
PENSHURST. 
 
 " the servant of Queen Elizabeth, the Counsellor of King James, and tub 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 way- 
 side 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 primi- 
 tive. As an example of the pre- 
 vailing 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 fore- 
 fathers 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;" 
 
PENSHURST. 
 
 o 
 
 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. Harding'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 appur- 
 tenaynces 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 pro- 
 ceeding 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, com- 
 paratively, untouched, and the more interesting of its 
 characteristic features are in no peril of further destruc- 
 tion; 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 
 
 3 
 
PENSHURST. 
 
 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 Apart- 
 ments. They are filled with family Portraits ; all 
 of which possess considerable 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 immor- 
 talised 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* 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 
 
 * According to Hasted, the name is derived from Pen, an old British word signifying the top of anything ; and hyrst, a wood. 
 4 
 
PENSHUEST. 
 
 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 till he fell on the held 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* Again, however, he returned to Court, and his Queen seized 
 
 * It has been the fortune of the Arcadia to be too highly 
 valued in one age, and far too much underrated in another. Im- 
 mediately 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 lias 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." 
 
♦ 
 
 PENSHURST. 
 
 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* 
 
 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 
 
 * 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 
 6 
 
 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 Uni- 
 versities 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." 
 
PENSHURST. 
 
 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, Bucking- 
 hamshire. 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 Bysslie Shelley, Esq. ; their son, John Shelley 
 
PENSHURST. 
 
 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 beauti- 
 fully wrought of the tombs is to the memory 
 of Sir William Sidney, Knight Banneret, Cham- 
 berlain and Steward to Edward the Vlth, 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 Reforma- 
 tion. 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. 
 
TURTON TOWER, 
 
 LANCASHIRE. 
 
 his venerable and highly picturesque edifice is situated about 
 
 four miles from Bolton, in a district singularly at war 
 BB with relics of antiquity, and at variance with associa- 
 ~H tions awakened by remains of time-honoured mansions 
 Bg 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, Avhich 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 
 
 1 
 
TURTON TOWER. 
 
 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 mul- 
 lioned 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 heir- 
 looms of the House. 
 
 We believe, with this excep- 
 tion, 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 an- 
 nex. Through the town- 
 ship of Turton passed the 
 ancient Roman road ; and 
 in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood may be traced 
 many relics of remote 
 antiquity. 
 
 From " the Height " a 
 most extensive view is 
 obtained — a view unsur- 
 passed in England for sin- 
 gularity 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. 
 
 mm 
 
 mm 
 
KIRBY HALL, 
 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
 
 irby Hall. — Although now deserted, this very venerable and exceedingly 
 beautiful Mansion ranks among the finest of the kingdom* For 
 upwards of two centuries, it was the seat of "the Hattons," — the 
 famous Sir Christopher and his lineal descendants, the Earls of 
 Winchelsea. It was built by Humphrey Stafford, the Sixth Earl of 
 Northampton ; the Architect was John Thorpe, and two plans of the 
 building are preserved among his collection of sketches in the Museum 
 bequeathed to the nation by the late Sir John Soane; one of them 
 is thus distinguished : — " Kirby, whereof I layd the first stone, 1570." 
 Not long afterwards, it came into the possession of the Lord Chancellor 
 Hatton, who obtained it from Queen Elizabeth in exchange for that 
 of Holdenby — a superb structure erected by him, and which Camden 
 describes as " a faire pattern of. stately and magnificent building which 
 maketh a faire glorious show," and as " not to be matched in this 
 land." f It is more than probable that Kirby was largely added to — perhaps finished — 
 by Sir Christopher; but that it was commenced by the unhappy family of Stafford, 
 is evidenced by the " Boar's head out of a Ducal Coronet," and the name " Humfree 
 Stafford," to be found on several parts of the building. The front was decorated 
 by Inigo Jones about the year 1638. The mansion is the property of the present 
 Earl of Winchelsea, who was born there. It remains in a comparatively good state 
 
 * " Kirby Hall is situated in Corby Hundred, about nine 
 miles north-west of Oundle, partly in the Parish of Bulwick, 
 and partly in that of Gretton — the Church of which contains 
 several monuments to members of the family of Hatton." 
 
 t The family of Hatton is stated to be descended from 
 Ivon, a noble of Norway, whose sixth son, Wolfaith, obtained 
 the Manor of Hatton, in Cheshire. Sir Christopher Hatton is 
 said to have danced himself into Court favour ; mightily 
 pleasing the fancy of " the virgin Queen" by the graces of 
 his person ; and consequently rising with great rapidity through 
 
 the several offices of Captain of the Guard, Vice Chamberlain, 
 Privy Councillor, &c, until, in 1587, he obtained possession of 
 the seals as Lord Chancellor. He died not long afterwards 
 — and, it is believed, of a broken heart, in consequence of a 
 demand, on the part of his fickle and heartless mistress, for the 
 payment of an old debt, which he was unable to discharge. He 
 was a liberal patron of learning, — one of the worthies of the 
 Elizabethan age ; " so great, that his sentence was a law to 
 the subject ; and so wise, that his opinion was an oracle to the 
 Queen." 
 
KIRBY HALL. 
 
 of preservation ; but it is certain that in its now neglected and deserted condition, 
 the encroachments of Time will not be withstood much longer. Its situation, like 
 that of so many structures of the same date in England, is unfortunately low, 
 and the difficulty of drainage (it is liable at times to be flooded) offers some excuse 
 for removal to a more eligible site. The approach is through an avenue of finely- 
 grown trees, extending above three quarters of a mile. The first Court-yard resembled 
 that of Holdenby — a balustraded inclosure, with two grand archways. The external 
 front is the work of Inigo Jones, by whom also much of the interior was considerably 
 altered. Passing through this, the visitor enters the principal Quadrangle (which 
 forms the subject of Mr. Richardson's drawing). " On each side of the arched 
 entrance are fluted Ionic pilasters, with an enriched frieze and entablature ; the 
 arched window above, opening upon a Gallery supported by consoles, has a semi- 
 circular pediment, broken in the centre, and inclosing a bracket for a bust, with 
 the date 1638." The window is, however, an insertion by Inigo Jones ; and being of a 
 much later date than the other parts of the front, sadly mars the effect of the 
 architecture of old Thorpe. The third story contains the motto and date " Je. Seray 
 1572, Loyal." The Garden front has a raised Terrace — now a corn-field — in which 
 the slopes and a few ornamental seats yet remain. This front supplies one of the 
 grandest examples of Elizabethan architecture existing in England. It was built 
 by Thorpe, and essentially agrees with the German School of Architecture of that 
 day — which the British Architect had evidently studied. The Garden seats, vases, 
 &c, of which there endure only broken fragments, are in the style, and believed 
 to be the works, of Inigo Jones. The Garden was terminated by a remarkably 
 picturesque little bridge, ornamented with a balustrade and scroll work, now, like all 
 other objects about the structure, or connected with it, submitted to the wanton assaults 
 of every heedless passer-by. Modern Vandalism has, indeed, been very busy every- 
 where within and around this venerable Mansion ;— a farmer occupies a suite of rooms, 
 the decorations of which would excite astonishment and admiration in a London 
 Club-house ; farm-servants sleep surrounded by exquisite carvings ; one room in the 
 south side of the Quadrangle, decorated with a fine old fire-place, in which are the arms 
 of the Lord Chancellor, served, at the time of the artist's visit, the purpose of a dog- 
 kennel ; and an elegant Chapel, constructed by Inigo Jones, is entered with difficulty 
 through piles of lumber and heaps of rubbish. 
 
 Our initial letter is copied from one of the Finials, which crown the pilasters and 
 gables in the Quadrangle. They formerly held staves with moveable vanes (in metal), 
 " turning with every winde." 
 
 2 
 
BUCKLING HALL, 
 
 NORFOLK. 
 
 ourneying a dozen miles north of the city of Norwich, the 
 Tourist reaches the old town of Aylsham. A mile hence 
 jr, is the very ancient manor of Blickling* — famous so far 
 back as the time of the Confessor, when it was in the 
 | possession of Harold, King of England ; remarkable, in after 
 
 times, when occupied by the Bishops of the See, and cele- 
 
 uHf 
 
 ft brated, in the history of various epochs, as a seat of the 
 
 noble families of Dagworth, Erpingham, Fastolff, Boleyne, 
 Clere, and Hobart. From this ancient house, Henry VIII. 
 married the unfortunate mother of Queen Elizabeth ; here 
 the virgin queen herself is said to have been a guest, and 
 
 here Charles II. and his consort were visitors ; — events referred to by the court-poet, 
 Stephenson : 
 
 The mansion — Blickling Hall — is one of the most perfect examples remaining of the time 
 of James I. ; the exterior has undergone few changes ; the bridge, the moat, the turrets, 
 the curiously-formed gables, and the double row of spacious and convenient out-offices — 
 connected with the mansion by an arcade— are characteristic of the period, while 
 elaborate finish and costly ornament indicate the wealth and rank of its noble owners. 
 The high-road passes the gates, and runs within a few yards of the house ; a small green 
 sward only separating it from the public pathway. The Moat is crossed by a Bridge of 
 remarkably light and graceful proportions; on either side of this bridge are Pedestals with 
 bulls (the heraldic crest of the Hobarts) bearing blank shields. The Entrance-porch is 
 exceedingly beautiful ; the design is simple and elegant ; " it may be regarded," according 
 to Mr. Shaw, " as one of the earliest attempts at the restoration of classical architecture. 
 
 Blickling 2 monarchs and 2 queens has seen ; 
 One king fetch'd thence, another brought, a queen. 
 
 * t< 
 
 The name Blickling," according to Blomefield, " seems to signifie the low meadows at the Beck." 
 
 1 
 
BUCKLING HALL. 
 
 and appears to be formed upon the model of the Arch of Titus at Rome." In the 
 spandrels are sculptured figures of Victory. Over the entablature, supported by two 
 Doric columns, is an enriched compartment, bearing the arms and quarterings of Sir 
 Henry Hobart, Bart, (by whom the stately mansion was erected). A massive Oak Door 
 contains the date 1 620 ; the knocker of this door is peculiarly quaint ; a copy of it acts 
 as the initial letter commencing this description. Passing a small quadrangular court, 
 we enter the Hall, from which opens the grand Staircase of Oak, the newels of which are 
 crowned with figures. Unhappily the oak has been covered with paint, and time 
 having removed some of the figures, their places have been supplied by others out of 
 harmony with the character of the venerable structure.* Of the several apartments, the 
 only one that demands particular notice is the Library — a noble room, filled with the 
 rarest and most valuable books. It measures one hundred and twenty-seven feet ; 
 the ceiling is a magnificent collection of works of art, 'unsurpassed by anything of the 
 kind in Great Britain. It consists of a series of models, representing the Senses, the 
 Passions, and the Elements, in low relief — comprising a very large number of subjects, 
 no two of which are alike. The library is — as a private collection — extensive ; the 
 books it contains are generally "large paper copies," and in the finest possible state. 
 Some of its treasures are unique — here are a volume of Saxon Homilies, and a Latin 
 MS. of the Psalter, certainly as ancient as anything we possess in the Latin tongue, 
 and several others, with and without illuminations, of very remote dates. Here also are 
 two copies (imperfect) of the Coverdale Bible ; an uncut copy of the diminutive Sedan 
 New Testament, and a vast assemblage of the choicest productions of the early English 
 press. It was formed by Maittaire for Sir Richard Ellys, Bart., of Norton, in Lincolnshire, 
 to whom he dedicated his " Anacreon," in 1725. The curiosities of the library were 
 shown to us by the Rev. James Bulwer, whose own family seat of Heydon is in 
 the neighbourhood of Blickling Hall. 
 
 Mr. Harding's print of this fine old mansion affords an accurate idea of its elegance 
 and grandeur. Its form is quadrangular — having a square turret at each angle. Viewed 
 from any point it is highly picturesque. The Park, which surrounds it on three sides, 
 contains above 1000 acres. Its trees are celebrated for their exceeding beauty and 
 
 * Among these odd substitutes for ancient heroes, are carved 
 copies of foot-soldiers of the time of George III. It would 
 seem as if the Earl of Buckingham — writing in 1765 — had 
 actually contemplated the " improvements " indicated in the 
 following letter. " I have," he writes, " determined what to 
 do with the Hall. Some tributary sorrow should, however, be 
 paid to the nine Worthies — but Hector has lost his spear and 
 his nose ; David his harp ; Godfrey of Boulogne his ears ; 
 Alexander the Great his highest shoulder ; and part of Joshua 
 has fallen in. As the ceiling is to be raised, eight of them 
 
 ■ 2 
 
 must have gone ; and Hector is at all events determined to 
 leave his niche. You will forgive my replacing them with 
 eight worthies of my own times, whose figures are not yet 
 essentially mutilated, viz., Dr. Shebbeare, Mr. Wilkes, Dr. 
 Hill, Mr. Glover, Mr. Deputy Hodges, Mr. Whitfield, Justice 
 Fielding, and Mr. Foote ; and as Anne Boleyn was born at 
 Blickling, it will not be improper to purchase her father 
 Henry, the eighth figure (which by order is no longer to be 
 exhibited in the Tower) who will fill with credit the space 
 occupied by the falling Hector." 
 
BUCKLING HALL. 
 
 prodigious growth. A remarkably fine piece of water, shaped like a crescent, adjoins 
 the house, extending nearly a mile in length. Nature and Art have both contributed 
 to adorn this artificial Lake; gentle acclivities rise from its sides, here and there 
 fringed with evergreens infinitely varied, while gigantic oaks, and elms, and beeches, 
 rising at intervals, seem the guardians of its banks. 
 
 We may sum up our account of Blickling Hall in the words of old Blomefield : — 
 " The building is a curious brick fabric, four-square, with a turret at each corner ; there 
 are two good Courts, with a fine Library, elegant Wilderness, good Lake, Gardens, and 
 Park ; it is a pleasant, beautiful seat, worthy the observation of such as make the 
 Norfolk Tour." 
 
 The erection of the existing structure was commenced by Sir Henry Hobart, Bart., 
 during the reign of James the First, but Avas not finished until the year 1628, when " the 
 Domestic Chapel was consecrated." The building, however, retained its original 
 character, varying very little, in external appearance and internal arrangements, from 
 the old Mansion in which Queen Ann Boleyne was born, and which had been famous for 
 centuries. 
 
 When the Domesday Survey was made, one part of the Manor belonged to Beausoc, 
 Bishop of Thetford (the seat of the See until 1088), the other part being in possession of 
 the Crown. Both moieties were invested with the privileges of ancient demesne, were 
 exempt from the hundred (of South Erpingham), and had the lete with all royalties. 
 Having successively passed through the hands of many distinguished families, in 1431 
 it was the property of Sir Thomas De Erpingham, by whom it was sold to Sir John 
 Fastolff, who, about the year 1452, sold it to Sir Geoffrey Boleyne, Knt., who was Lord 
 Mayor of London in 1458, and who made Blickling his country-seat. From him inherited 
 his second son, Sir William Boleyne, Knight, 
 who married Margaret, sister of James But- 
 ler, Earl of Ormond; dying in 1505, he was 
 succeeded by his son, Sir Thomas Boleyne, 
 who, the 18th of Henry VIII., was raised to 
 the peerage by the title of Viscount Roch- 
 ford, and three years afterwards was created 
 Earl of Wiltshire. His daughter, Anne, was 
 privately married to Henry VIII., on the 
 5th of January, 1533. On the 19th of May, 
 153G, she was beheaded: her dismal fate 
 having been shared by her brother, Viscount 
 Rochford ; and the old Earl died in 1538 — it is believed of a broken heart. Soon 
 afterwards the estate of Blickling, having been for a short time in the family of the 
 
 3 
 
BUCKLING HALL. 
 
 Cleres, was purchased by Sir Harry Hobart, Bart., " a fortunate lawyer," who became 
 Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He was succeeded by his son and grandson, 
 
 the second and third Baronets ; the fourth 
 Baronet was created, by George II., Lord 
 Hobart of Blickling, in 1728; and in 1746, 
 Earl of Buckinghamshire. His son, the 
 second Earl, died without male issue, but 
 left four daughters, one of whom married 
 the late Marquis of Londonderry, another 
 William Lord Suffield, the third Lord Mount 
 Edgcombe, and a fourth the Marquis of 
 Lothian, whose surviving son, the fifth Mar- 
 quis, died at Blickling in 1841, leaving a son, 
 an infant, who is heir-apparent to the 
 estate, now in the possession of his great aunt, the Dowager Lady Suffield. 
 
 The venerable Church of Blickling adjoins the Mansion. It is built —in the style of 
 nearly all the Norfolk Churches— of flint, a material that essentially impairs the solemn 
 dignity of the structure. Many of the Brasses and Tombs are of high interest ; the one 
 of which we append an engraving (on the preceding page) is to the memory of Edward 
 Clere. It is described by Blomefield as " a most curious Altar Tomb, placed between 
 the Chancel and Boleyne's Chapel. The Effigy which 
 laid upon it is now gone ; but there remain the Arms and 
 Matches of his family, from the Conquest to the time that 
 his son and heir, Sir Edward Clere, erected this tomb." 
 As a work of art, the Tomb possesses considerable excel- 
 lence. The carved Armorial Bearings retain much of 
 the original brilliancy of their colouring. Among the 
 Brasses is one for Anne Boleyne, aunt of the unfortunate 
 Queen, and another of Isabella Cheyne, (dated 1485) remark- 
 able as exhibiting the earliest authentic example of the 
 necklace. An elaborately-wrought Oak Chest, of great size, 
 strongly banded with iron, and secured by five curiously 
 formed locks and keys, is preserved in Blickling Church ; 
 but a relic still more curious and unique is a Poor-box, of 
 
 very primitive character, heart-shaped, and painted blue, the letters, " Pray remember the 
 Pore," being gilt. We give engravings of both these peculiar and very interesting 
 antiquities. 
 
 4 
 
MONTACUTE, 
 
 SOMERSETSHIRE. 
 
 i ontacute. The village of Montacute is one of the most 
 primitive and picturesque of the villages of England. 
 It consists of a large Square, a Market-place, with its 
 simple and beautiful School-house, an erection which dates so far 
 back as the time of Henry the Seventh, — a very rare and fine 
 example in a remarkably good state of preservation, which formerly 
 stood against a quaint old Market-house, now destroyed. The principal 
 street consists of stone hovels, built in a rude style, but still retaining 
 proofs that the comforts of the inmates were duly weighed and considered. 
 The village and its vicinity are flourishing, in consequence of the ample employ- 
 ment which the women obtain at glove-making, at which they are nearly all occupied 
 in their own cottages. It is situated within four miles west of the town of Yeovil, 
 and about the same distance south of Ilchester. 
 
 Montacute derives its name from a conical hill (mons acutus) which overlooks the 
 village, and on which is a round tower, com- 
 manding an extensive view of the Vale of 
 Somerset, and the British Channel.* The pro- 
 spect thence is, indeed, not only extensive but 
 exceedingly magnificent ; including " the hills 
 below Minehead and Blackdown, Taunton, Quan- 
 tock Hills, Bridgewater Bay, and the coast of 
 Wales ; Brent Knoll, the whole range of Mendip, 
 with the city of Wells and Glastonbury Torr; 
 Cheech and Knowl Hills, Alfred's ToAver, and 
 the high lands about Shaftesbury; also the 
 Dorsetshire Hills, and Lambert's Castle near 
 Lyme." At the foot, is the site of a Priory of 
 black Cluniac monks, suppressed in the time of 
 
 Henry the Eighth, of which only the Gatehouse endures; it is here pictured from a 
 
 * This tower was erected by one of the family of the Phelips. 
 The ascent to it is so gradual, that he is said, upon one occa- 
 1 
 
 sion, to have visited the summit in his coach and four. The 
 road winds round the hill. 
 
MONTACUTE. 
 
 drawing by Mr. Richardson. It is somewhat extensive, and contains one room, little 
 injured by time, with a good oak ceiling of peculiarly bold character. 
 
 Montacute House, and the estates adjoining, have been for several centuries the 
 property of the family of Phelips ; who originally " came over " with the Conqueror, and 
 in consideration of military services were requited with large grants of lands in Wales, 
 where they were long settled. In the fourteenth century they " migrated " into Somer- 
 setshire, residing for many years at Barrington, not far from the present seat. The 
 "spacious and noble building" was commenced in 1550, and finished in 1601, for Sir 
 Edward Phelips, Knight, Queen's Serjeant, the third son of Sir Thomas Phelips. Its cost 
 is said to have exceeded the sum of £19,500. It has since continued in the family of the 
 founder, in the following line of succession. Sir Edward Phelips, Master of the Rolls, 
 Chancellor to Henry Prince of Wales, and Speaker of the House of Commons, in the reigns 
 of Elizabeth and James the First ; Sir Robert Phelips, his son, in the reigns of James the 
 First and Charles the First ; Colonel Edward Phelips, during the Commonwealth, and in 
 the reign of Charles the Second ; * Sir Edward Phelips, Knight, in the reigns of James the 
 Second and William the Third ; his nephew, Edward Phelips, Esq., in the reigns of Anne 
 and George the First; Edward Phelips, Esq., in that of George the Second; William 
 Phelips, Esq., in that of George the Third ; and John Phelips, Esq., in that of George the 
 Fourth ; the present possessor is a minor. But, unhappily, the Mansion, so long the scene 
 of comparatively uninterrupted hospitality, has been, of late years, deserted ; stripped in 
 a great degree of its internal decorations ; and left to the mercy of time. It presents, 
 however, one of the finest and most interesting examples of the architecture of the period, 
 yet existing in the kingdom; "combining simplicity of design with richness of ornament," 
 — " a magnificent specimen of the style of Elizabeth's reign." 
 
 The form of the building is that of the Roman letter E ; a form which the founder 
 is said to have adopted in compliment to his Royal mistress. It is built entirely of 
 brown stone, found on the Estate. " The length of the Eastern or principal front," 
 according to Mr. Shaw, (" Elizabethan Architecture,") is one hundred and seventy feet ; 
 it is three stories in height, and is surmounted by gables and a parapet, crowned 
 with pinnacles. Each story is marked by its entablature ; the bays of its numerous 
 windows are divided by stone mullions ; and between each window of the uppermost 
 story are recessed niches, containing a series of statues, the size of life, in Roman 
 armour, resting on their shields." The wings, twenty-eight feet in width, are crowned by 
 ornamental gables ; the space between them being occupied by a terrace ascended by a 
 flight of seven steps. The Western Front — we learn from the same source — was greatly 
 
 * The family suffered considerably, in consequence of their 
 devotion to the royal cause during the unhappy reign of 
 Charles the First ; and, afterwards, their loyalty being un- 
 2 
 
 chilled by their losses, Colonel Richard Phelips united with 
 Colonel Wyndham in secreting, and subsequently conveying 
 out of the kingdom, the Second Charles. 
 
MONTACUTE. 
 
 improved, in 1760, by the acquisition of an ancient screen, removed from Clifton House, 
 near Yeovil ; " it is placed between the wings in front of the original edifice : surmounted 
 by finials, crowned with grotesque figures rising from turrets connected by a pierced 
 parapet." The Court, upon the Eastern front, is " a fine and appropriate accessory " to 
 this stately Mansion. It contains two picturesque square Pavilions, or Lodges, at the 
 angles facing the building. The sides are formed by an open balustrade, having a 
 small circular temple in the centre of each ; these latter are twenty-five feet in height, 
 from the level of the Court. The whole composition exhibits great beauty. 
 
 Over the arched entrances in the centre compartment are the arms of the family — 
 argent, a chevron between three roses, gules, seeded or, barbel vert, with lions rampant as 
 supporters. Over the principal door of the building is the following couplet, indicative 
 of the hospitality of its high-born owners : — 
 
 GTfjrougf) tfjts to toe opening gate, 
 
 None eomc too early, none return too late. 
 
 This, however, is not the only inscription to convey their sense of duty to their guests. 
 Over the North Porch is the following : — 
 
 Hno pours mg frteno. 
 
 And on one of the lodges, 
 
 2l2tleleome tfje romtng 
 Speeo tf)t parting guest. 
 
 The interior is divided into suites of handsome and spacious apartments. The 
 staircase is of the construction usual in the time of Elizabeth — stone steps round a 
 huge solid mass of stone. In the Hall, is a 
 fine stone screen; and, at the end, a bas- 
 relief, four feet six inches in height, repre- 
 senting the ancient custom of "skimmitting 
 or stang-riding." * The Hall contains also 
 a curious old chest — the work, probably, of 
 some Italian or French artist of the time of 
 Henry the Eighth. The Rooms are gene- 
 rally panelled with oak; but the ceilings 
 throughout, and the staircase, are quite 
 plain; the walls of the principal apartments 
 
 are, however, lined with finely-carved wainscotting to within a few feet of the cfciling- 
 
 * " Skimmitting, or, as it is called in the north of England, 
 stang-riding, is still kept up in many parts of the kingdom, for 
 the purpose of exposing to shame and ridicule, the man who 
 has heen guilty of cruelty or infidelity towards his wife." In 
 the basso-relievo at Montacute, the wife, accompanied by a 
 
 3 
 
 crowd of villagers, is represented bestowing a few sound blows 
 with her shoe upon her faithless partner, and " the artist has 
 with happy effect introduced a church in the back-ground, to 
 intimate that certain vows and promises which had been there 
 solemnly pledged ought to have been kept in remembrance." 
 
MONTACUTE. 
 
 the intervening space being ornamented by rich plaster-work, which has a fine effect. 
 The screen, which Mr. Richardson has pictured in the appended print, belonged originally 
 
 to the entrance to the Dining-room, and was removed 
 to its present position by one of the later proprietors 
 of the Mansion.* 
 
 Although the Mansion at Montacute supplies us 
 with many subjects for illustration by the pencil, we 
 have preferred to introduce a copy of the graceful 
 and venerable School-house — one of the most striking 
 and interesting remains of a remote period, and one 
 with which no other than agreeable memories can be 
 associated. The initial letter is part of the sculpture 
 of the western front. 
 
 Unhappily, the Destroyer is busily at work about 
 this fine old Mansion — one of the grandest, most original, and most auspiciously 
 situated of the few unimpaired structures of the reign of Queen Elizabeth by which 
 the kingdom is still enriched. Although its present possessor is the direct descendant 
 of its founder, and " the line " has been unbroken fbr nearly three centuries, it is 
 now deserted. All its glories are of ancient dates : the " wide opening gate " gives 
 admission to no gay revellers ; and the yet existing motto seems a solemn mockery — 
 
 Welcome tfje coming 
 Speco tfje parting guest. 
 
 * " It would appear from the introduction of the elegant felt even in the time of Elizabeth ; these screens could have 
 screens or door-cases in the principal living rooms, that the been made only for warmth and comfort. They are beautifully 
 cold draughts of air, caused by the long passages, the extent of painted, and their effect is very quaint and pleasing." — C. J. 
 the rooms, and the great size of the windows, must have been Richardson. 
 4 
 
INGESTRIE HALL, 
 
 STAFFORDSHIRE. 
 
 erhaps there are few districts so rich in historical 
 interest as that in which is situated this 
 venerable Mansion. The manors of Shug- 
 borough, Sandon, Chartley — with its ruined 
 Castle — Heywood, Blithfield, and Wolseley, 
 are all within view ; Tixal Heath, with its abundant legends, is close 
 at hand ;* and the ancient Town of Stafford is distant about tliree 
 miles. Ingestrie, or, as now more commonly written, Ingestre, and 
 anciently Ingestrent (from ing, in Danish, a meadow, that is, Trent 
 Meadow), and in Domesday-book called Gestreon, was a part of the Great 
 Barony of Stafford, and granted to Robert de Toeni by William the Con- 
 queror, being then valued at 15s. 5d. In the reign of Henry the Second, 
 it was held by Eudo, or Ivo de Mutton, or Mitton, who gave certain lands in Ingestre to 
 the Priory of St. Thomas a Becket near adjoining, and then newly-founded : he afterwards 
 became a lay-brother there, leaving his possessions to his son, Sir Ralph de Mutton, who 
 had issue Adam and Philip, both knights. Sir Adam was also a benefactor to the 
 fore-named convent, and had the presentation of a canon granted to him and his heirs 
 for ever, to celebrate Divine Service for the souls of Sir Philip de Mutton, his brother, his 
 own soul, and those of his ancestors and successors : he died in the fortieth year of the 
 reign of Henry the Third, leaving by Isabella, his wife, Ralph, his son, who died without 
 issue, and Isabella, his only daughter, married to Sir Philip de Chetwynd. After the 
 death of Sir Philip de Mutton without issue, Philip de Chetwynd, son of Sir Philip 
 and Isabella, became sole heir to that family (the Muttons) in his mother's right. 
 
 * William Chetwynd, who was Gentleman Usher of the 
 Chamber to Henry the Seventh, in the ninth year of that king's 
 reign was barbarously and treacherously assassinated on Tixal 
 Heath, near Ingestre, by Sir Humphrey Stanley, of Pipe, from 
 
 1 
 
 motives of jealousy, having inveigled him from his house by a 
 counterfeit letter. Pennant says: — " It does not appear that 
 justice overtook the assassin, although his widow persevering v 
 evoked it." 
 
INGESTRIE HALL. 
 
 and was possessed of Ingestre, &c, &c.; which, by a continued succession, descended 
 to Walter Chetwynd, Esq., who, dying without issue, his estates devolved to Captain 
 Chetwynd, his near relation, whose descendants were created Barons of Ingestre and 
 Talbot. In 1784, John Chetwynd Talbot, who succeeded his uncle William in the barony, 
 was raised to the dignity of an Earl of the United Kingdom by the style and title of Earl 
 Talbot of Ingestre. 
 
 His successor was his son, Charles Chetwynd, Earl Talbot of Ingestre, whose seat 
 is still the noble old Hall of his ancestors. None of the nobles of the kingdom are 
 more universally esteemed or respected. He has extensive estates in the immediate 
 neighbourhood in his own holding; and is distinguished by his active promotion of 
 agricultural improvements. The nobility and gentry of the surrounding district 
 frequently assemble to witness the success of his experiments, and to participate in 
 the hospitality of this noble "English farmer." His Lordship, however, has not 
 altogether eschewed public life. For some time he was the Irish Viceroy. The manor 
 and estate of Ingestre have recently received a large accession by the purchase of the 
 Tixal Estate, from Sir Clifford Constable, by the present Earl Talbot. 
 
 Ingestre Hall is pleasantly situated on a gentle declivity, sloping towards the 
 river Trent, in a large and richly wooded park, which contains some remarkably fine 
 beech and other trees.* The house has a stately and venerable appearance. It is in the 
 style which prevailed during the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First — having various 
 projections, bay windows, and others with stone mullions. The north front was built 
 by the present Earl, corresponding in character with the south front ; and like that 
 also of brick and stone ; by which means several elegant rooms and a grand staircase 
 have been added. The north side has a terraced flower-garden ornamented by 
 fountains, a stone balustrade, &c, which add much to the elegance of this part of the 
 building. The interior well agrees with the exterior — consisting of large and well-propor- 
 tioned apartments, the principal of which is the Library, an elegant room occupying 
 the western portion of the Mansion, containing a valuable collection of Books, placed in 
 handsome oak cases, with pilasters, &c, of the Corinthian order ; also a beautiful 
 marble fire-place. The Billiard-room is wainscotted with oak, one-third of its height, 
 containing a variety of grotesque heads in small panels. The grand Staircase has a 
 massive oak railing of arabesque character. The interior, however, has been greatly 
 modernised ; and its chief attraction to the antiquary will arise from the Family Portraits, 
 which possess considerable interest. But the Mansion contains a rich treasure of 
 
 * The fertility and other natural advantages of " the vale," 
 and, we may believe, its picturesque beauties also, in remote 
 times, determined the ancient nobility of Staffordshire to make 
 it their chosen seat. This, and a lower portion of the river, 
 are adorned with that graceful bird the swan. Ingestre, and 
 
 the neighbouring royalties, have had " games of swans " imme- 
 morially. Amongst the distinguishing marks on the beaks of 
 the birds used in 1785 in the several royalties adjoining the 
 Trent, enumerated by Dr. S. Shaw, we find that of " Earl 
 Talbot, Ingestre ; two notches on the right side." 
 
INGESTRIE .HALL. 
 
 historical and antiquarian lore : in the Library are preserved five Volumes in Manuscript, 
 collected by Walter Chetwynd, Esq., consisting of Letters, Pedigrees, &c, &c* 
 
 The present Church of Ingestre is situate very near the Hall, on the S. E. side 
 (the ancient Church was on the S.W. side of the house), and is a plain but handsome 
 structure in the Grecian style of architecture — consisting of a Tower ; a Nave, with side 
 aisles ; and a Chancel ; the Ceiling of the Nave being much enriched with festoons of fruit, 
 flowers, &c. — and that of the Chancel with shields of arms, &c. The Nave is separated 
 from the Chancel by an appropriate Screen, having the Royal Arms in relief over the 
 Entrance, and, together with the Pulpit, &c, is of Flanders oak. The Chancel contains 
 several mural Monuments of the Chetwynd Family, and Busts of the late Countess 
 and a little Boy. There is an interesting mural Tablet for the late unfortunate 
 Charles Thomas Viscount Ingestre, who was lost in a Morass, near Vienna, on the 
 23rd of May, 1826, being twenty-four years of age; it represents the extrication of 
 his dead body. There is also a figure exhibiting Religion with a chalice in the 
 hands. This is placed on a Monument to the present Earl's brother, the late Rev. John 
 Talbot, Rector of Ingestre, &c. The Church has six fine Bells, and an Organ ; and was 
 built by Walter Chetwynd, Esq., in 1673. A full account of the building and conse- 
 cration of the Church is given by Dr. Plot, in his " Natural History of Staffordshire." f 
 
 The neighbourhood of Ingestre is full of historical interest. On Hopton Heath (now 
 inclosed), distant about a mile and a half, a bloody battle was fought on Sunday, the 
 
 * Walter Chetwynd, Esq., of Ingestre, the celebrated anti- 
 quary, was the son of Walter Chetwynd, Esq., and married 
 Ann, daughter of Sir Edward Bagot, Bart., August, 1658. He 
 introduced the learned Dr. Plot, from Oxford, into Stafford- 
 shire, to write its Natural History. Dr. Plot exhibits in his 
 work (168G) a Plan of Ingestre Hall, and gives an account 
 of the rebuilding of Ingestre church by his patron. 
 
 The first person who undertook to wnte upon the history 
 and antiquities of Staffordshire was Sampson Erdeswick, Esq., 
 of Sandon, near Ingestre, venerandae antiquitatis cultor maxi- 
 mus, as Camden describes him ; i. e. an eminent encourager of 
 venerable antiquity. He died in 1603, and was buried under 
 a handsome monument, having his effigy, " cut to life," erected 
 by himself in his lifetime, in Sandon church. His MS. papers 
 fell into the hands of Walter Chetwynd. This latter gentle- 
 man obtained in addition the collections of Mr. Ferrers, of 
 Baddesley, and of William Burton, the Leicestershire historian, 
 and brother of the Anatomist of Melancholy. To these he 
 added veiy large collections of his own. All these MSS., upon 
 the repairing of Ingestre Hall, were put in a box, for safety, 
 by the Rev. James Milnes, rector, and were unfortunately lost. 
 They were, however, subsequently found at Rudge ; but con- 
 tinued in obscurity, till rediscovered at Ingestre, when they 
 were placed in the hands of Dr. Stebbing Shaw, the learned 
 and indefatigable historian of the county, whose premature 
 decease unhappily interrupted his elaborate work. There is a 
 3 
 
 good portrait of Walter Chetwynd, Esq., the antiquary, by 
 Lely, at Ingestre Hall. 
 
 t One member of the Talbot family, Charles Talbot (son of 
 the Lord Chancellor), who died in 1733, made the tour of 
 Europe with Thomson, the author of the " Seasons," to whom 
 Lord Talbot was a liberal patron and kind benefactor. — His 
 poem on " Liberty," which was conceived during their travels, 
 opens with an affectionate tribute of sorrow to the memory of 
 his friend. 
 
 " my lamented Talbot ! while with thee, 
 The Muse gay roved the glad Hesperian round, 
 And drew th' inspiring breath of ancient arts ; 
 Ah ! little thought she, her returning verse' 
 Should sing our darling subject to thy shade ! 
 And does the mystic veil from mortal beam 
 Involve those eyes, where every virtue smiled, 
 And all the father's candid spirit shone ? 
 The light of reason, pure without a cloud ; 
 Full of the generous heart, the mild regard ; 
 Honour disdaining blemish, cordial faith, 
 And limpid truth that looks the very soul." 
 
 Thomson also composed a poem " To the memory of Lord 
 Talbot," which is equally creditable to the Chancellor and 
 the Poet, and reflects great honour on Lord Talbot's family, to 
 whom it is addressed. 
 
INGESTRIE HALL. 
 
 19th of March, 1643, between the King's troops, commanded by Spencer Compton Earl of 
 Northampton, and the Parliamentary Forces under Sir John Gell and Sir William 
 Brereton ; in which the Earl, with six captains and about 600 soldiers, were all killed. 
 Human bones and fragments of military weapons have been turned up by the plough on 
 this spot. One of the most interesting of several ancient remains in the vicinity is 
 that of Chartley Castle. It has been a ruin for more than a century. The Park contains 
 a thousand acres, inclosed from the Forest of Needwood, and never submitted to the 
 plough. It has long been inhabited by a noble herd of " wild cattle," descended, in a 
 direct line, from the wild cattle of the country which roamed at large in ancient times over 
 the Forest of Needwood — probably a corruption of Neat's Wood, or the Wood of Cattle. 
 Chartley Castle was one of the prison-houses of Mary Queen of Scots. On the 21st 
 of December, 1585, she took her final leave of Tutbury, and was removed to Chartley. 
 It was during her residence at the latter place, that what has been denominated 
 " Babington's Plot," was matured ; which, on its discovery, led to the execution of 
 no less than twelve persons engaged in it. The discovery of this plot, likewise, in which 
 Mary herself was intimately involved, hastened the fate of the unhappy queen. It was 
 whilst Mary was on horseback, enjoying the sports of the field, in this neighbourhood, 
 that she received the messenger who communicated the discovery of her guilt. The 
 announcement of the fatal intelligence which Sir Thomas Gorges conveyed, suddenly 
 extinguished the fond expectations which had been so long cherished. She instantly 
 directed her horse's head homewards ; but was not permitted to return thither. She was 
 conveyed to Fotheringay — the last sad scene of her eventful history. 
 
HELMINGHAM HALL, 
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 elmingiiam Hall may be classed among the most 
 remarkable and interesting edifices in the Kingdom ; 
 for, although it has undergone many changes, and been 
 subjected to a variety of " improvements," the leading 
 characteristics of the ancient structure are retained ; 
 it still exhibits a connecting link between the strong 
 castles of the old Barons, and the embattled mansions 
 which succeeded them. The Hall is distant about 
 eight miles from the venerable town of Ipswich. The 
 Park contains about five hundred acres, and is largely 
 stocked with deer. The Entrance-gate — which forms 
 the initial letter to this Chapter — is placed between two Lodges — modern, but in 
 admirable keeping with the old House. An Avenue, arched by magnificently grown 
 trees, conducts to the South 
 Front of the Mansion ; in which 
 is the principal Entrance, ap- 
 proached by a Bridge thrown 
 across the Moat. The Moat en- 
 compasses the building ; which 
 is surrounded also by a Terrace. 
 Both are kept in excellent re- 
 pair; and the former is well 
 supplied with fish. The Draw- 
 bridges are maintained in all 
 their primitive formality, and 
 are, we understand, even to this 
 day, raised every night. The 
 appended print exhibits the pic- 
 turesque interior of one of the two " Gate-houses," in which these ancient appendages 
 i 
 
HELMINGHAM HALL. 
 
 still remain, — showing also the rude machinery by which it was elevated or depressed. 
 It is an object now very rarely encountered: one of the most impressive records of 
 " the state " (using the term in its double sense) in which our ancestors lived — keeping 
 perpetual watch and ward. All praise be to the existing Lord of this Mansion, who has 
 taken especial care to prevent Time from destroying so peculiar a relic of a remote age. 
 The present representative of the Tollemaches — John Tollemache, Esq. — has indeed 
 manifested continual zeal to protect from injury the seat of his ancestors — restoring 
 with judgment, skill, and taste, where injuries have resulted from years, but so as in no 
 
 degree to impair its original character; 
 neither adding to, nor taking from, its 
 early and " fair " proportions. 
 
 Notwithstanding these solemn tokens 
 of gone-by days, so intimately associated 
 with times of peril, the external appear- 
 ance of the building is peculiarly light 
 and graceful — a character which it derives, 
 chiefly, from four large Bay Windows, with 
 projecting cornices and embattled para- 
 pets ; Gables profusely ornamented with 
 richly wrought finials ; and a multiplicity 
 of Chimneys similarly enriched, with reti- 
 culated and indented mouldings. The 
 structure is quadrangular. The Court- 
 yard, with its several dependent buildings, 
 has been restored with remarkably good 
 taste and imposing effect. The Eastern 
 Entrance to these buildings is here pic- 
 tured. Crossing this Court, the Hall is reached*; the State Apartments are limited 
 to the Western Front. They have been arranged with greater care to comfort than 
 to Baronial grandeur ; due attention has been paid, however, to the "furnishing," and 
 the taste of the Tudor age harmoniously prevails throughout the Mansion. Until 
 very lately, the Hall had been completely deserted by the family, and was rapidly 
 falling to decay. When it became the residence of the present proprietor, it was 
 completely renovated; the Garden or West Front, which had become dilapidated. 
 
 * Over the entrance of the Porch leading to the Great Hall 
 from the Court Yard, is a shield cut in stone, with these 
 seven quarterings : — 
 
 1 . Tollemache, Argent, a Frett Sable. 
 
 2. Joyce . . Argent on a Chevron Gules, 3 escallops, Or. 
 
 3. Joyce 
 
 4. 
 
 . Or, a Lion rampant, Azure armed Gules. 
 . Gules, a Fesse between 3 buckles, Or. 
 
 5. Visdeliea . Argent, 3 Wolves' heads, couped Gules. 
 
 6. Curzon . . Ermine a bend cheeky, Argent and Sable. 
 
 7. Peche . . Argent, a Fesse between 2 Chevrons Gules. 
 
HELMINGHAM HALL. 
 
 having been entirely rebuilt. The Hall and several of the Apartments are adorned 
 with Portraits of the ancient and noble Family ; among them are some fine paintings 
 by Lely, Kneller, and Reynolds. 
 
 A relic of exceeding interest is contained in one of the rooms. It is the Lute which 
 Queen Elizabeth presented to an infant scion 
 of the House, to whom her Majesty stood 
 Godmother. It has the date, — 1580, — and 
 the inscription, " Cymbalum Deca chordon." 
 It is preserved in a glass-case, which also 
 encloses a variety of rare and curious coins ; 
 and in the same chamber is a spinette — 
 believed to have been once the property of 
 the Virgin Queen. 
 
 The very ancient Family of Tollemache 
 resided for many generations at Bentley in Suffolk. In their old Manor House there 
 was " to be seen until lately," (within the present century, perhaps), the following 
 inscription : — 
 
 JUHfjen W&LUliam tfjc (tfonquewr reigneti tottfj great fame, 
 Mentis boas mg seat, anti Collemaefje teas m» name. 
 
 They boast their descent from Tollemache, a Saxon Lord of Bentley and Stoke 
 Tollemache in Oxfordshire, in the sixth century. In the Domesday Book, the name is 
 written Toolmag, and subsequently Thalemache, Tolemache, Talmage, Tallmash, and 
 Tollemache. For nearly thirteen hundred years, the Family has dwelt in Suffolk county, 
 flourishing in uninterrupted male succession, until so recently as 1821, when, by the 
 death of the late Earl of Dysart, the title became extinct, and with it the direct male 
 line of the long famous race. They acquired the rich estate at Helmingham by the 
 marriage of Lionel Tollemache, of Bentley, Esquire, with Edith, daughter and sole 
 heiress of William Joyce, of Crekes Hall, in Helmingham, who in the first year of the 
 eighth Henry was found, by requisition, to hold the Manor of Bentley by knight's service. 
 He served the office of High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in the fourth year of the 
 same reign. By this Lionel Tollemache, Helmingham Hall was built. He died in the 
 early part of the reign of Edward the Sixth, and was succeeded by his son, Lionel 
 Tollemache, Esq., who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, who, during her progress 
 through the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk in 1561, honoured him with her presence at 
 Helmingham Hall, on August 14th and four following days, " where she was entertained 
 with great splendour and hospitality." During the visit, Her Majesty stood Godmother 
 to her Host's eldest son, Lionel: to commemorate this event, she presented to him, as we 
 have stated, a Lute, still preserved as an heir-loom in the Family. 
 
 3 
 
HELMINGHAM HALL. 
 
 His son, the first Baronet, was advanced to the dignity by James the First, in 1611. 
 He died at Helmingham on the 5th of September, 1612, and was buried there on the 
 same day (in the Parish Register the interment is entered, " Et eodem die sepultus fuit)." 
 Helmingham Hall continued in his male descendants until the death of Wilbraham 
 Tollemache, Earl of Dysart, in 1821*, when it devolved upon his sister Louisa, Countess 
 of Dysart, and upon her death in 1840, to the present proprietor, John Tollemache, Esq., 
 M.P. for North Cheshire, eldest son of the late Admiral Tollemache, grandson to Lady 
 Jane Halliday, sister to Lionel, fifth Earl, and Wilbraham, sixth and last Earl of Dysart. 
 
 The Earldom of Dysart came to the family by the marriage of Sir Lionel Tollemache, 
 Bart., with the Lady Elizabeth Murray, eldest daughter and heiress of William Murray, 
 first Earl of Dysart ; upon the death of her father she succeeded to the title. Sir 
 Lionel died in 1669, and was buried with great pomp at Helmingham on the 25th 
 of March, in the same year. The Countess married secondly at Petersham, in Surrey, 
 February 17, 1671-2, to John Maitland, Duke of Lauderdale, and Knight of the Garter. 
 
 The Tollemaches — although classing amongst the most ancient families of the 
 realm, and for centuries preserving an unbroken link — appear never to have been 
 very emulous of distinction. The name scarcely appears upon the Roll of Fame : 
 neither in the Senate nor at the Bar have they achieved for it high repute ; nor does 
 it occupy a conspicuous place in the annals of war of any period — from the Conquest 
 down to the existing age f. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the Hall, are several primitive and highly picturesque 
 Cottages, many of which are of a date coeval with that of the Mansion : and the very 
 ancient and venerable town of Ipswich is inconceivably rich in architectural antiquities. 
 
 * During the lifetime of this Earl, old English hospitality 
 was kept up in a most primitive style, whenever he was 
 residing at the Hall. The tenants and tradesmen employed by 
 his Lordship were allowed to visit the Hall whenever they 
 pleased, and many yet living remember with grateful pleasure 
 the entertainment afforded them there. 
 
 t The exception should, however, be made in favour of 
 General Thomas Tollemache. In the Church, there is a sarco- 
 phagus of white marble, in which stands, upon a pedestal, 
 a bust, and behind it an obelisk of reddish marble, surrounded 
 by military trophies. On the face of the sarcophagus is this 
 inscription : — " Thomas Tollemache, Lieutenant-General (de- 
 scended of a family more ancient than the Norman Conquest,) 
 second son of Sir Lionel Tollemache, Bart., by his wife, Elizabeth 
 Murray, Countess of Dysart in her own right. His natural 
 abilities and first education were improved by his travels in 
 foreign nations, where he spent several years in the younger 
 part of his life, in the observation of their genius, customs, 
 politics, and interest ; and in the service of his country, abroad 
 in the field, in which he distinguished himself to such advantage 
 by his bravery and conduct, that he soon rose to considerable 
 4 
 
 posts in the Army. Upon the accession of King William III. 
 to the Throne, he was made Colonel of the Coldstream 
 Regiment of Foot Guards, and soon after advanced to the rank 
 of Lieutenant-General. In 1691, he exerted himself with 
 uncommon bravery in the passage over the river Shannon, and 
 the taking of Athlone, in Ireland, and in the battle of Aghrim. 
 In 1693, he attended the King to Flanders ; and at the battle 
 of Landen, against the French, when His Majesty himself was 
 obliged to retire, he brought off the English Foot with great 
 prudence and success. In 1694, he was ordered by the King 
 to attempt the destroying of the harbour of Brest in France ; 
 but on his landing at the head of six hundred men, he was so 
 much exposed to the enemy's fire, that most of his men were 
 killed, and himself shot through the thigh, of which Wound 
 he died a few days after. Thus fell this brave man, extremely 
 lamented, and not without suspicion of being made a sacrifice, 
 in this desperate attempt, through envy of some of his pre- 
 tended friends ; and thus failed a design, which, if it had been 
 undertaken at any time before the French were so well 
 prepared to receive it, might have been attended with success, 
 and followed with very important effects.*' 
 
HELMINGHAM HALL. 
 
 Helmingham Church stands by the south side of the Park. The tower was 
 built in 1487, as appears by the copy of an agreement now in the Church chest, 
 
 between " John Talmage, Esquier, 
 Maistress Elizabeth, his wyff, Ed- 
 mund Joyce, Gent., John Wythe, and 
 William Holme, on the one part, and 
 Thomas Aldrych, of North Lopham, 
 Mason, on the other, for thirty 
 pounds." It is not known by whom 
 the Church was built ; but in 1258, 
 Dame Margaret Creke, who founded 
 the Nunnery of Flixton, near Bungay, 
 presented to it, and the Prioress and 
 Nuns of Flixton presented to it till 
 1312, when she exchanged the pa- 
 tronage for that of Flixton, with the 
 Bishop of Norwich; from that time the Bishops presented to it till the Reformation, 
 when the Crown claimed and has presented to it ever since. It is dedicated to the 
 Virgin Mary. About a foot and a half from the ground, on the south side of the 
 steeple, carved in stone letters of a foot high, is the following inscription, in old English 
 letters : — 
 
 "iocantitt ats ctfjcta, VitQO, puerpeta bttgula fesse." 
 
 The Steeple is a square tower of Flints, embattled on the top : on the south side are 
 the arms of Tollemache, — three shields — of the date 1543, when it was built. It is 
 supported by four buttresses, all standing diagonally. On the west side, near the 
 ground, was an inscription, now gone. 
 
 The Nave of the Church is of the date of the fourteenth century, and contains 
 a fine South door of the then prevalent style of architecture. The Windows, as 
 well as the Roof, are of a later age — probably about 1540. The Chancel is quite 
 modern, but is now undergoing alterations and repairs ; the result of which will be, 
 to assimilate it with other parts of the venerable building. In reference to this matter, 
 also, high praise is due to the present proprietor of Helmingham, inasmuch as he is 
 removing many of the blots left upon the sacred edifice by the bad taste or heedless 
 indifference of his predecessors. 
 
 Both the Chancel and Nave are crowded with monuments commemorating the 
 heroic deeds of members of the Family of Tollemache. The most remarkable and 
 interesting fills nearly the whole of the southern side of the nave ; and it is so lofty, that 
 part of the roof has been displaced to make room for it. It contains, in niches, four 
 
 5 
 
HELMINGHAM HALL. 
 
 figures of men kneeling with their hands clasped and erect before them, the three first 
 in a row, the fourth above them ; they are bareheaded, with swords by their sides, and 
 in the dress of the 17th century. We learn from a rhymed inscription underneath 
 each figure that these are the effigies of the four first of the Tollemaches who settled 
 
 at Helmingham- 
 
 -the monument to their honour being erected bv the fifth.* 
 
 These rhymes are curious and interesting, and possess sufficient merit to justify our devoting to them the space necessary, 
 
 Baptized Lyonel Tollemache, my name, 
 Since Norman's conquest of unsoyled fame, 
 Shews my descent from ancestors of worth ; 
 And that my life might not belye my birth, 
 Their virtues track, with heedful steps 1 trod : 
 Rightful to men, religious towards God. 
 
 Train'd in the law, I gain'd the bar and bench, 
 Not bent to kindle strife, but rather quench ; 
 Gentle to clients, in my counsels just ; 
 With Norfolk's great Duke, in no little trust ; 
 Sir Joyce his fleir was my fair faithful wife, 
 Bentley my seat, and seventy years my life. 
 
 Heir of my Father's name, surname, and seat, 
 Lands, goods, and goodness towards small and great ; 
 By Heaven's dear blessing on my best endeavour, 
 In his fair footsteps did I well persevere ; 
 Amongst the best, above the most admir'd, 
 For all the parts my race and place requir'd. 
 
 High sheriff of Suffolk once, of Norfolk twice, 
 For both approv'd, right, gentle, just and wise ; 
 Frank house, frank heart, free of my purse and port, 
 Both lov'd and loving towards every sort ; 
 Lord Wentworth's daughter was my lovely Pheer, 
 And fourscore, six less, liv'd I pilgrim here. 
 
 My stile and state (least any question should) 
 My Sire and Grandsire have already told ; 
 My fame and fortune not unlike to theirs, 
 My life as fair as human frailty bears ; 
 My zeal to God, my love to ev'ry good, 
 My Saviour knows, his saints have understood. 
 
 My many virtues moral and divine, 
 
 My liberal hand, my loving heart to mine, 
 
 My piety, my pity, pains and care, 
 
 My neighbours, tenants, servants, yet declare. 
 
 My gentle bride Sir Ambrose Jermyn bred ; 
 
 My years lack five of half my grandsire's thread. 
 
 Here, with his father, sleeps Sir Lyonel, . 
 Knight, Baronet, all honours worthy well ; 
 So well the acts of truth, his life exprest 
 His elder's virtues, and excell'd their best ; 
 His prudent bearing in his public place, 
 Suffolk's high sheriff twice, in sixteen years space. 
 
 His zeal to God, and towards ill, severity ; 
 His temperance, his justice, his sincerity : 
 His native mildness towards great and small, 
 His faith, his love to friends, wife, children all, 
 In life and death ; made him belov'd and dear, 
 To God and man, happy in Heaven and here. 
 
 Happy in soul and body, gootls and name ; 
 Happy in wedlock with a noble dame. 
 Lord Crumwell's daughter ; happy in his heir, 
 Whose spring of virtues sprouts so young and fair 
 Whose dear affection, to his founders debtor ; 
 Built them this tomb, but in his heart a better. 
 
• 
 
H ENGRAVE HALL, SUFFOLK 
 
HENGRAVE HALL, 
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 engrave Hall — " an embattled Manor-house, with Turrets of singular 
 design and a Gate-House of acknowledged beauty " — is situate 
 about two miles from the ancient and venerable town of Bury 
 St. Edmunds.* The founder of the building was Sir Thomas 
 Kytson, a wealthy cloth-merchant of London, by whom it was 
 erected, between the years 1525 and 1538, probably upon the 
 site of a mansion still older, — the ancient hall of the de Heme- 
 graves. A brief history of the several families through whose 
 hands the Manor has passed into those of its present possessor, 
 Sir Thomas Gage, Bart., may interest the reader.f 
 In the reign of Edward the Confessor, it formed part of the territory of St. Edmund, 
 by whose monks it was held at the Conquest. About the middle of the twelfth century 
 it was granted by Anselm, the seventh Abbot, to " Leo and his heirs ; " and by them was 
 assumed the surname of Hemegrave. The de Hemegraves filled the highest offices in 
 Suffolk for upwards of two centuries, when the race was extinct, and the estate became, 
 by purchase, the property of the Hethes. In failure of male issue, it passed — in the 
 nineteenth of Henry VI. — by purchase, to the Staffords. In 1522, consequent upon the 
 attainder of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, it was sold to Sir Thomas Kytson, " citizen 
 and mercer of London, otherwise called, Kytson the Merchant ;" so he is styled in an 
 Act of Parliament which confirmed him the purchaser of Hengravc.t He was succeeded 
 by a posthumous son, who left no male issue ; he had, however, three daughters, one of 
 whom married Thomas Lord Darcy, created Viscount Colchester and Earl Rivers, and 
 
 * Hengrave is called in Domesday Book " Hemegretha." 
 In several ancient deeds it is variously spelt Hemegreth, 
 Hemegrede, Hemegrave, and Hengrave. 
 
 t This information we condense, chiefly from a costly 
 volume in quarto, published by the late John Gage, Esq., 
 F.S.A., entitled " The History and Antiquities of Hengrave." 
 
 + His portrait, by Holbein, is among the family portraits at 
 Hengrave. It is that of a fine portly citizen, with a stern, but 
 
 1 
 
 intellectual, countenance. He was Sheriff of London in 1533> 
 having been previously knighted. His mercantile transactions 
 were principally carried on "at the cloth fairs or staples 
 holden at Antwerp, Middleburg, and other places in Flanders, 
 by the Merchant Adventurers, to which company he belonged." 
 His wealth must have been enormous, for he purchased 
 estates in the counties of Suffolk, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, 
 and Nottingham. 
 
 ■ 
 
HENGRAVE HALL. 
 
 who, in right of his wife, became entitled to, and resided at, Hengrave. From her 
 inherited a daughter, Penelope, who married Sir John Gage, Bart., of Firle, in Sussex* 
 In this family Hengrave has since continued ; its present proprietor being Sir Thomas 
 Gage, the eighth Baronet, born on the 20th of March, 1812. 
 
 The Mansion, which seems to have undergone very little change since its erection, 
 and may be classed among the most unimpaired domestic structures of the kingdom, 
 is of considerable size, " covering 18,500 square feet of ground," although by the removal, 
 in 1775, of a mass of building which projected at the east and north sides, together 
 with a high Tower, it has been reduced one third at least from its original extent. 
 Several ancient family documents which still exist, and of which copies are given by 
 Mr. Gage, inform us that the whole cost of the structure did not much exceed £3000.f 
 
 From these interesting documents we learn also that the Mansion at Hengrave 
 was furnished with all necessaries from sources within its own boundaries — a mill, 
 a forge, and a farm ; a dovecote, a grange, a barn ; a great and little park, a vineyard, 
 an orchard, a hop-ground, and a hemp-ground. There were butts for the Archers, 
 (" still visible in the upper part of the Park ") ; mews for the hawks, and kennels 
 for the hounds. There was a bowling-green also ; and the neighbouring ponds were well 
 stocked with fish to divert the Angler and supply the " Fast-day meal." The Inventory of 
 household goods, taken in 1G03, enumerates among other items, now familiar only 
 to the Antiquary, " the Shovelboard," a table for playing a fashionable game ; of Armour, 
 the " Almain Rivetts," "the Privye Coats" of Mail; the " Jackes of Plate," the "Mayle 
 Gorgetts," the " Spanish Burgenetts," the " Dagges," (short Hand-guns) ; " Snaphaunces," 
 (Firelocks,) Pethernells, (a kind of Harquebuss,) and Ptyzens, (Partizans,) both "ordinary 
 and very fayre." Of Musical Instruments, the Recorder, the Cornute, the Bandore, 
 the Cittern, the Curtail, and the Lysarden — all " in ye chamber where ye Musicyons 
 playe ;" with books, " covered with parchment," containing pavines, galliards, measures 
 levaultoes, corrantoes, and Italian fa-laes. 
 
 The beautiful and long-famous Gate-way of Hengrave Hall is pictured in the 
 accompanying print. It is a splendid example of " Tudor magnificence ;" — " of such 
 singular beauty," says Mr. Gough, " and in such high preservation, that, perhaps, a more 
 
 * It is said that Sir George Trenchard, Sir John Gage, and 
 Sir William Hervey, each solicited at the same time the hand 
 of the wealthy heiress ; and that, to keep peace between the 
 rivals, she threatened the first aggressor with her perpetual 
 displeasure ; " humorously telling them that, if they would 
 wait, she would have them all in their turns — a promise 
 which the lady actually performed." Her first husband was 
 Sir George Trenchard, her second Sir John Gage, and her 
 third Sir William Hervey. She left issue only by her second 
 husband. 
 
 t Several documents relative to " the raising of Hengrave" 
 
 are still preserved. Among others, is the contract with John 
 Eastowe, the mason, to " macke a house at Hengrave of all 
 manor of mason's worck," &c. &c. " The said John must have 
 for ye sayd worck, and finishing thereof, iic.li. (£200), to be 
 paid, x li. when he begins the foundacyon thereof, and after- 
 wards always as xx li. worth of worke is wrought by estyma- 
 cion." The plasterer's contract is for ±'116 (< of lawful money 
 of Ingland." Among other items are these — " For a lode of 
 tymbar, vis.; "The glasyar, for making of all the glass wyn- 
 dowes of the manour place, with the sodar, and for xiii skutt- 
 chens with armes, iiii li." (four pounds.) 
 
HENGRAVE HALL. 
 
 elegant specimen of the Architecture of the age in which it was erected cannot now 
 be seen." We borrow our description of it from Mr. Gage. The structure has an arch 
 obtusely pointed ; in the spandrels appear the Kytson Crest— a unicorn's head erased. 
 The space above is filled by a triple bay window, the domes of which are rich in scale 
 work and crockets, and have basements or brackets elegantly terminated in pendant 
 corbels ; each square compartment in the lower division of the window contains a Shield, 
 bearing the Arms of some member of the family of the founder. On the frieze below 
 two of these Shields are these words : — 
 
 ©pus fjoc fieri fecit <E"ome l&gtscm. 
 
 ano &t\i. 2Tricesstmo ©ctabo. 
 
 The battlements of the Gate-house, assuming the appearance of small gables, the 
 points of which, crowned with richly carved hoop garlands and vanes, correspond with 
 those of the triple dome below, give height to the whole, and complete the beauty and 
 harmony of the design. The Inner Court of fine masonry, embattled, appears in its 
 original state ; and is distinguished by the bay window of the Hall on the north side. 
 The interior of the Mansion has little of its primitive character ; but " the florid style of 
 architecture which prevailed, is still conspicuous in the fair tracery, pendant, and 
 spandrels of the bay window," which retains its early beauty. Of the number and 
 variety of the apartments at Hengrave, and of the splendid luxury of its domestic 
 arrangements, some judgment may be formed from the "Inventory," dated 1603, of which 
 Mr. Gage prints a copy. Here we read of the Queen's Chamber, the Chiefe Chamber, 
 the Great Chamber, the Armoury, the Gallery at the Tower, the Dyning Chamber, the 
 Chapell Chamber, the Chamber in which the muscycions playe, and a host of others — all 
 magnificently furnished. The Great Chamber was hung with eight large pieces of fine 
 arr as — " parke worke with great beasts and fowls, 160 yards;" the cheyres and stooles 
 were covered with coloured clothe of silver ; the carpetts were of Turkeye worke. The 
 Dyning Chamber had its tapestrye — " of the story of Danea." The Wynter Parlor, its 
 " pfuming frame of brasse " and " chesse boorde, w*» men to it." To the furniture of 
 the Armoury and the Musicians' Chamber we have adverted. The contents of the 
 " Sadler's Shopp," however, denotes more pointedly the wealth and luxury of the family. 
 The saddles were of sumptuous character — " layed with gould lace ;" "fringed with gould 
 and silke ; " " embroidered with goulde and purle ; " and so forth. 
 
 Towards the close of the last century, the Mansion was the abode of a sisterhood of 
 expatriated nuns. They belonged to the English Convent of Austin Nuns at Bruges, and 
 obtained an asylum here by the generosity of Sir Thomas Gage, himself a Roman 
 Catholic. They subsequently returned to France ; but the mortal remains of many of 
 the persecuted Sisters lie in the Churchyard of Hengrave— among others, those of their 
 
 3 
 
HENGRAVE HALL. 
 
 Abbess, the venerable Mary More, one of the heirs-general, and the last lineal descendant, 
 in the paternal line, of the great Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. 
 
 Hengrave Church is very close to the Hall, and would appear, indeed, to have been 
 originally attached to it. It has 
 long ceased to be used for the pur- 
 pose of worship, but is kept in re- 
 pair as the Burial-place of the 
 family. It is a small structure, 
 built of the materials common to 
 sacred edifices in the counties of 
 Norfolk and Suffolk — rough flint, 
 with cement and free-stone in the 
 battlements, parapets, groins, but- 
 tresses, windows, and arches. The 
 round Tower, indicated in the ac- 
 companying print, is curious, and of remote antiquity. Its external aspect is peculiarly 
 venerable, covered with Ivy-trees, the growth of centuries. The interior (where, it is 
 said, no religious service has been performed since the Reformation, the family having 
 adhered, through all changes, to the old faith,) is without pews, and contains many 
 richly-sculptured Monuments. Among them is a superb Tomb of marble and coloured 
 free-stone, to the memory of Margaret, Countess of Bath, and her three husbands; 
 the first of whom was Sir Thomas Kytson — the citizen-founder of Hengrave — who died 
 September 13th, 1545, aged 55 years. The other principal Tombs are in memory of Sir 
 Thomas Kytson, the younger ; Sir Thomas Darcy ; the Bourchiers, Earls of Bath ; the 
 Cornwallys ; and the Gages. 
 
 Altogether, there are few of the Baronial Mansions of England so little spoiled 
 by time — so comparatively uninjured by modern taste and injudicious improvement. 
 Hengrave Hall is " a fair, and, in some respects, a unique example of the domestic 
 architecture of the period of its erection." 
 
 4 
 
WEST STOW HALL, SUFFOLK 
 
•s. 
 
 WEST STOW HALL, 
 
 SUFFOLK. 
 
 ) : H> tP : 'i^^-y ITHIN f° ur miles — north-west — of the venerable town of Bury St. 
 c.-*s^-.i -'. - Edmunds, the traveller may notice, not for from the road-side. 
 
 miff" a 
 
 the turrets of an ancient House, now decayed, but which, in the 
 S palmy age of England, was classed among the stateliest of its 
 
 ' w " stately Homes." Unless attention is directed to it, however, 
 it will attract no passers-by; for very humble are now the 
 pretensions of the Palace-Hall, in which resided Charles Bran- 
 don, Duke of Suffolk, and his Royal wife, the youngest daughter 
 of Henry VII., sister to Henry VIII., and widow of Louis XII., King of France. 
 
 The Old Hall is situated in the very centre of a host of picturesque antiquities ; in 
 all directions around it exist objects of exceeding interest, — as relics of the olden time 
 and imperishable illustrations of British History. It would be difficult to find in the 
 kingdom so many remains of architectural splendour within a circuit of four or five miles. 
 Bury contains the most interesting of our monastic ruins. Among them are those of 
 the famous "Norman Tower" (still comparatively unimpaired), erected in the reign of 
 the Conqueror, as the Grand Portal to the magnificent church of Abbot Baldwin ; — the 
 Charnel Chapel, in which Lidgate wrote, — the Church which for centuries enshrined the 
 miracle-working bones of St. Edmund, — and the walls of the Chamber where, on the 20th 
 of November, 1215, "the Barons" pledged "the repose of their souls" to extort the 
 Charter of Freedom from the tyrant John. The road to West Stow is scarcely less rich in 
 historic sites than the town of Bury. Without the north-gate are the remains of the 
 Gateway to St. Saviour's Hospital, where, — during the Parliament of 1446, assembled at 
 Bury, by Henry VI., — the " good Duke Humphrey" was murdered by Cardinal Beaufort and 
 De la Pole ; half a mile beyond, we cross the Old Toll-gate Bridge of the mitred Abbots of 
 St. Edmunsbury ; at a short distance, an ivy-clad Tower is all that remains of the Church 
 of Fornham St. Genevieve ; but tumuli still endure to indicate where the ten thousand 
 Flemings were buried by " sloven-hands," after the bloody battle which gave to the second 
 l 
 
■ 
 
 WEST STOW HALL. 
 
 Henry peaceable possession of the crown. By other roads we pass objects equally fertile 
 of history. The Round Towers of Saxham are within ken ; Risby and Hengrave Churches 
 are close at hand ; and very near us are some of the grandest and most beautiful of the 
 Baronial Halls of England — Coldham, Rushbrooke, and Hengrave among the rest. 
 
 All who visit the ancient mansion of West Stow, will first enter the venerable Church, 
 to which a footway leads through a field from off the main road. It is a fine example of 
 a very early age. The Tower is square and embattled ; the Chancel, apparently of a more 
 recent date than the Nave, contains an enriched Piscina, of the fifteenth century, and 
 many mural monuments and grave-stones of the once illustrious family of Crofts — a 
 family now known in Suffolk only by history and these cold records of their fame. The 
 Nave has an open roof; the brackets that support the principals are ornamented with 
 armorial bearings of " many ancient Lords of this Manor, with their alliances." 
 
 Of West Stow Hall very little is known. The assertion that it was formerly the residence 
 of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and the Royal widow he had married, is supported 
 mainly by tradition and their armorial bearings, which still exist, carved upon a stone, 
 over the porch. Of the once extensive pile nothing now remains, except the Turrets we 
 have pictured ; and a long Corridor, reaching to a modern house — the comfortable home 
 of a substantial farmer. The former bears ample evidence that its date is of the time of 
 Henry VIII. ; that of the Corridor is not so remote by a century. 
 
 It is certain that, after the romantic marriage of Charles Brandon with the beloved of 
 his younger days, when death had freed her from her state-contract with Louis XII., 
 and her early lover had become a widower, they lived for many years in comparative 
 seclusion in Suffolk ; and, although " Mary Tudor died at the Manor of Westhorpe in this 
 county, in 1533," it is more than probable that West Stow was one of their mansions. 
 It was evidently of great extent ; there are persons still living, who recollect a 
 quadrangular court and extensive out-buildings ; and the wide Moat by which it was 
 surrounded was filled up only two years ago. The Tower is partially of a defensive 
 character ; the interior consists of several small chambers, one of which contains some 
 singular paintings in distemper, the principal objects in which are these : — A boy 
 hawking, with an inscription in old English letters, " Thus doe I all the day ;" a young 
 man making love to a maiden, inscribed — " Thus doe I while I may ;" a middle-aged 
 man, looking on — the inscription, "Thus did I when I might;" an aged man, hobbling 
 onward — the inscription, " Good Lord, will this world last ever?" The drawings are rude, 
 but they are of the age of Elizabeth. They were recently exposed to view by the removal 
 of a skirting of oak ; and are as fresh as if painted yesterday. 
 
 2 
 
ARUNDEL CHURCH, 
 
 SUSSEX. 
 
 he church at Arundel — of which we give a print of the 
 interior from a drawing by Mr. Prout— is of very ancient 
 date. For a series of years down to our own time, it was 
 suffered to fall into decay; and age was gradually re- 
 moving all tokens of its former splendour. The roof 
 had disappeared from the chancel; and ivy had over- 
 grown its carved pillars and mullioned windows; the 
 few repairs to which it had been subjected had been 
 carried out in bad taste ; and for a long period it 
 remained a discreditable evidence of the apathy of successive Dukes of Norfolk, 
 rather than a monument to record the honours and glories of the race. It is 
 now, however, in progress of restoration ; its 
 claims upon the noble family have been 
 recognised; the inroads of time have been 
 effectually arrested ; and it is undergoing such 
 necessary changes (at the cost of the present 
 Duke) as are dictated by judgment and good 
 sense. The church occupies an elevated position 
 north of the town, and nearly opposite the 
 principal entrance into the Castle. Its exterior 
 has many traces of antiquity, and not a few 
 remains of early beauty. Age, and the slovenly 
 hands of stonemasons, have, however, materially 
 injured its venerable character and imposing 
 effect — its principal injury having been sus- 
 tained by the addition of a wooden spire 
 placed above a low square tower which rises from the centre of the edifice. 
 The church is of large size, and consists of a double arcade, dividing the nave from 
 1 
 
ARUNDEL CHURCH. 
 
 the aisles, above which are placed, "in what in the architecture of the age was 
 termed the cleoestory, a row of circular windows enclosing quatrefoils — a shape of 
 rare occurrence." The south transept was, we are told, formerly occupied by the 
 parochial altar; it now contains the communion-table and the font; the latter being 
 octagonal upon an octagonal shaft, with a corresponding pedestal. It is composed of 
 Sussex marble, and is of very early date. In the north transept was "the chantry 
 of St. Christopher, commonly called Salmon's" — to which was attached a priest whose 
 endowment was the appropriation of the Church of Rudgwick, "with two acres of 
 land, one in Rudgwick for his use, the other in Arundel for the site of his residence." 
 The foundation of this chantry was created by the benefaction of Edward Mille, Esq. 
 "The first incumbent, William Baynton, took possession of the benefice on the 9th 
 Mav, 1440." * 
 
 The original ecclesiastical foundation was that of the alien priory, or cell, dedicated 
 to St. Nicholas, established by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel, soon after the 
 Conquest, and subjected to the Benedictine Abbey of Seez, or De Sagio, in Normandy. It 
 consisted only of a Prior and three 
 or four Monks, who continued to 
 conduct the establishment for nearly 
 three centuries, until the 3rd year 
 of the reign of Richard II., when 
 Richard Fitz-alan, Earl of Arundel, 
 obtained a license to extinguish the 
 Priory and to found a Chantry for 
 the maintenance of a master and 
 twelve secular canons with their 
 officers. Upon this change, it was 
 styled "the College of the Holy 
 Trinity."! 
 
 The Collegiate church being intended as the mausoleum of his family, the founder 
 supplied ample means to enrich it with examples of monumental splendour. The tomb of 
 his son Thomas Fitz-alan and his wife Beatrix, daughter of John, King of Portugal, was 
 
 * " In 1511, a dispute arose between the college on the one 
 part, and the mayor, burgesses, and parishioners on the other, 
 as to the liability of their respective bodies to repair the 
 transepts and tower, with the bell and other appurtenances 
 belonging to the latter. By consent of the parties, the point 
 at issue was referred to the arbitration of Thomas, Earl of 
 Arundel, and Robert Sherburne, Bishop of Chichester ; and 
 an award was soon after published, by which the burthen was 
 equally divided between the college and the town. To the 
 
 former, the duty of repairing the south transept, commonly 
 called ' the chancel of the parish,' was assigned ; to the latter, 
 the obligation of attending in the same manner to the north 
 transept ; while the expense of upholding the tower, and the 
 emoluments to be derived from the use of its bells, w r ere 
 thenceforth to be shared equally by both." 
 
 t At the suppression, it was endowed with a yearly revenue 
 of 2631. 14s. 9d. 
 
ARUNDEL CHURCH. 
 
 the earliest of those placed in the church. It is of alabaster, finely sculptured. * It was 
 formerly painted and gilt. It contains the effigies of the Earl and his Lady ; at the feet 
 of the Earl is a horse, the cognizance of the Fitz-alans, and at those of the Lady are two 
 lap-dogs. Around, in niches, are small standing figures of ecclesiastics or pleureurs, with 
 open books, as performing funeral obsequies, and above them as many escutcheons, the 
 emblazoning of which is nearly obliterated. Other " stately tombs " are erected to the 
 memories of John Fitz-alan and Eleanor his wife ; Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and his wife, 
 "one of the eyres of Richard Wodevyle Earl Rivers, sister to Elizabeth Queen of 
 England, sometime wife to King Edward IV." — recording the date of the Earl's death. 
 1524 ; and to Henry, Earl of Arundel, the last of the Fitz-alans, erected by his son-in-law. 
 John, Baron Lumley, with a Latin inscription, of which the following is a translation : — 
 
 " The magnanimous hero, whose effigy is here beheld, and whose remains are deposited beneath this monument, was the 
 Earl of this place, the last of a family deriving its lengthened descent from the son of Alan. His name was Henry, Lord 
 and Baron Maltravers, Clunne and Oswaldestre, senior knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, only son and successor 
 of William, Earl of Arundel, and the worthy representative of his father's virtues. To Heniy, Edward, Mary, and 
 Elizabeth, he discharged the duty of Privy Councillor. Under the first, he was Governor of Calais, Marshal of the 
 army at the siege of Boulogne, and afterwards Lord Chamberlain. At the coronation of Edward, he officiated as Earl 
 Marshal ; at that of Maiy, as Lord High Constable. To the former, as to his father, he was Lord Chamberlain : to the 
 latter, as well as to her sister, Queen Elizabeth, he was Lord High Steward, and President of the Council. 
 
 " Thus, this man, illustrious in his descent, more illustrious in his employments, and deemed most illustrious both at 
 home and abroad, rich in honour, but broken with labour and worn out with age, having attained his sixty-eighth year, 
 calmly and piously fell asleep in the Lord, in London, on the 2uth of February, 1579. 
 
 " To the kindest of fathers-in-law, and the best of patrons, here interred, John Lumley, Baron Lumley, his affectionate 
 son-in-law and executor, with many tears, and as a last testimony of his love, has consecrated this monument, and 
 adorned it with his own armour, not for the sake of preserving his memory, which his virtues have rendered immortal, but 
 for the sake of that mortal body, which is here deposited, in the hope of a happy resurrection." 
 
 There is one monument of a peculiarly striking character ; it occupies an opening- 
 cut in the wall, between the chancel and the Lady's chapel — the chapel which forms 
 the subject of our principal engraving. They are divided by low arches. The tomb 
 is an open feretrum or bier, carved in alabaster, and formerly painted, under which 
 lies an emaciated figure extended on a shroud. Upon the upper slab is an effigy in 
 plate armour, with a close tabard, emblazoned with Fitz-alan and Maltravers, quarterly, 
 the feet resting on a horse. Two angels support the head. It represents John 
 Fitz-alan, Earl of Arundel, who died at Beauvais of wounds received at the siege of 
 Gerberoy, in 1435. He had selected this spot as the place of his interment ; and 
 although his remains were buried in the Cathedral of Beauvais, this singular 
 monument was erected to his memory here. 
 
 * By this Thomas Fitz- Alan and his wife Beatrix was founded 
 a hospital called " Maison Dieu," for the maintenance of as 
 many poor as the revenues with which it was endowed, 
 3 
 
 would support. At the Dissolution, these were valued at 
 421. 35. 8d. per annum. 
 
ARUNDEL CHURCH. 
 
 The church encloses several monuments in addition to those we have enumerated ; 
 and in the chancel are many brasses, containing epitaphs "in obsolete Latin and 
 monkish verse " to masters and fellows of the college and to servants of the noble 
 families — the Montgomeries, the Albinis, the Fitz-alans and the Howards — who have 
 held sway over Arundel for centuries, for — 
 
 " Since William rose and Harold fell, 
 There have been Counts of Arundel ; 
 And Earls old Arundel shall have 
 While rivers flow and forests wave." 
 
 The decorations of the church and its magnificent tombs were either seriously injured or 
 destroyed by soldiers quartered in the church during the siege of the castle in 1643. 
 The windows were formerly filled with richly stained glass, the eastern window 
 containing a series of kneeling figures, male and female, in coat armour and mantles, 
 with their respective armorial bearings. * 
 
 It is to the honour of the present Duke of Norfolk, that although a member of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, he has deemed it his duty to restore this ancient and venerable 
 edifice from the state of dilapidation in which it has for many years existed. 
 
 * In one of the chapel windows is the figure of a swallow 
 on the wing, which is considered to intimate the original of 
 the name of the castle ; " for history and geography," says 
 Mr. Tierney, "the realms of fancy and romance, have all 
 been explored in order to discover its etymon." One author 
 has amused himself with a rebus founded on the resemblance 
 between the words Hirondelle and Arundel ; and " it is not 
 
 4 
 
 improbable," writes Dr. Beattie, "that the migratory bird, 
 here introduced, may have been selected as an appropriate 
 emblem for the chapel window. The conjecture is, at least, 
 as plausible as another that has been advanced ; namely, 
 that Arundel is derived from Hirondelle — the name of Bevis's 
 Horse." 
 
BOXGROVE CHURCH, SUSSEX 
 
BOXGEOVE CHURCH 
 
 SUSSEX. 
 
 he Priory, Boxgrove — part of which is now in ruins, hut 
 portions of which are still used as the Parish Church — 
 was founded by Robert de Haia, Lord of Halmacro, a.d. 
 1117, in the reign of King Henry the First, in honour of 
 the Virgin and St. Blaise, for three monks only of the 
 Benedictine order. The sole daughter of the founder 
 was married to Roger St. John, who added three more ; 
 and the number was augmented to fifteen, by their two 
 sons, William and Robert, in the reign of King Stephen. 
 It remained, however, subordinate to the Abbey of L' Essay, or De Exaquio, in 
 Normandy, a.d. 1149. Before the suppression, the monks were reduced to nine. 
 But when Edward the Third assumed possession of other alien Priories, that of 
 Boxgrove secured the privilege of being " indigena," by which it was rendered 
 independent, and retained its endowment — considerable in proportion to the extent of 
 the establishment. In the year 1535, its annual revenue was £185 19s., without 
 including the income derived from fines and renewals. 
 
 The Ruins of Halnacre, or Halnaker, House, the mansion of Robert de Haia, or De 
 Haye, still exist in the grounds of Goodwood, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Richmond. 
 To this " worthie and valourous knight," the estate was given by Henry the First ; from 
 his descendant it passed, by marriage, to the family of St. John. In the reign of Edward 
 the Third it was transferred, also by marriage, to the Poynings ; subsequently, it passed 
 through the hands of the Bonvilles into those of the Lords de la Warr, who gave it to 
 Henry the Eighth in exchange for the Abbey and lands of Wherwell, in Hampshire. 
 Halnacre remained an appanage of the Crown until towards the close of Queen 
 Elizabeth's reign, when the Morleys received a grant of it. In 1701, it became the pro- 
 perty of Mary, Countess of Derby,* who inherited from her father, Sir William Morley. 
 
 * This Countess of Derby was the daughter of Sir William 
 Morley, K.B., and her mother was a daughter of Sir John 
 Denham, the Poet. On the north side of the Chancel is a 
 marble Monument to her memory. She died in 1752, at the 
 age of 85. She was distinguished by charitable deeds and 
 on her tomb is represented sitting under an oak, relieving 
 poor travellers, and pointing to a building she had founded in 
 1 
 
 the Parish — a Hospital endowed in 1741, as the inscription 
 informs us, " the Alms-houses for the habitation and support 
 of poor aged and infirm women, — the School for the habitation 
 and maintenance of a school-master, and the education of poor 
 boys and girls — the women and children to be chosen out of 
 the parishes of Boxgrove, East Lavant, and Tangmere." 
 
BOXGROVE CHURCH. 
 
 At her death in 1752, it devolved to her cousin, Sir Thomas Ackland, Bart., who 
 sold it for the sum of £50,000 to the Duke of Richmond. The Remains are of very 
 limited extent ; sufficient, however, to indicate the former magnitude and splendour of 
 the edifice. 
 
 Of the conventual buildings (the great extent of which may be estimated by the old 
 Avails which form enclosures to neighbouring farm-yards) little remains except the 
 Refectory, now used as a barn ; and the present Parish Church, supposed to be the Choir 
 of the original building. Some portions of the ancient Nave, which appears to be of a 
 
 more remote era, may be traced in the 
 broken arches westward of the Church ; and 
 the Chapter-house is attached, externally, to 
 the North Transept, having a Norman door- 
 way, with arches on each side of it, leading, 
 it is believed, to a Cloister which extended 
 to the Refectory and the habitation of the 
 monks. It is this fine relic of the once 
 extensive and richly-decorated structure 
 which Mr. Prout has pictured in the ap- 
 pended Print. A considerable portion of it 
 has been removed by time ; and the Church 
 is now separated from the Refectory by a 
 huge gap, where sheep were feeding quietly at the time of our visit. Marks of a 
 Piscina, and a place for the Bell, may still be detected by a minute scrutiny. In an 
 old MS., which came accidentally into our hands, it is surmised that this portion of 
 the edifice was the Private Chapel of the monks. 
 
 The exterior of the Church (represented on the opposite page) is of very imposing 
 character, bearing indubitable tokens of remote antiquity. The Tower is low, with 
 windows ; in its general form it resembles that of Winchester, and seems to be of 
 the era of Henry the Second. The interior consists of a Nave and Chancel, without 
 division, with aisles on each side, north and south Transepts ; and a space, westward of 
 the Tower, which is certainly the most ancient part of the structure. In length it is 
 12G feet ; the width of the Nave being 24 feet, and that of the aisles each 13 feet 6 
 inches. The Eastern Window, of three large lights, is separated internally by tall shafts 
 and flourished capitals, and is ornamented, externally, with the nail-head moulding. 
 This mixture of ornament affords almost conclusive proof that the structure is of 
 the date of Stephen or Henry the Second, when the round Norman arch was first 
 abandoned, and several novelties, which prevailed only in a few instances, were 
 
 2 
 
BOXGROVE CHURCH. 
 
 introduced. Pillars, somewhat similar in character, support the roof ; but they have 
 been consigned, from time to time, to the hands of the " white-washer," who has 
 effectually hidden the fine Pur- 
 beck marble of which they are 
 composed. 
 
 The sepulchral remains in the 
 Church of Boxgrove are remark- 
 able, and worthy of investigation, 
 although it is difficult to ascertain 
 with any degree of certainty to 
 whom the Tombs severally belong. 
 They are six in number, two 
 situated against the north wall of 
 the north aisle, and another of 
 large dimensions under one of the 
 arches which divide the Chancel 
 
 from the north aisle; and three others, placed against the south wall of the south 
 aisle. Two of these probably contain the bodies of a sister and daughter of William 
 de Albini, Earl of Arundel, who left a donation to the Church for prayers to be made 
 " pro anima Adelizse reginse (his mother, and Queen-Dowager of Henry the First), et 
 pro animabus Olivise sororis mese, et Olivise filise mese, quae ibi jacent." Out of this 
 circumstance has probably arisen a tradition, that Queen Adeliza was here interred ; but 
 there is sufficient evidence to prove that her remains were deposited in the Conventual 
 Church of Reading* Dugdale asserts, but erroneously, that Gundreda, wife of William 
 
 * " This Adeliza," writes Camden, " was daughter to Godfrey 
 Barbatus, of Lovaine, who had for her dowrie Arundell Castle 
 and all the forfeited lands of Robert de Belismo, the Earle, 
 when the King (Henry the First) took her for his second wife. 
 
 " In her commendation, a certaine Englishman in that un- 
 learned age wrote some unlearned verses," of which these lines 
 are the commencement : — 
 
 " When Muses nine thy beauties rare (faire Adeliza Queene 
 Of England) readie are to tell, they starke astonied beene ; 
 What booteth thee so beautifull, gold-croune or pretious 
 stone, 
 
 Dimme is the diadem to thee, the gemme hath beautie 
 none." 
 
 After the King's death she married William de Albini ; 
 " who, taking part with Maude the Empresse against King 
 Stephen, and defending his castle (of Arundel) against him, 
 was, in recompense of his good service, by the saide Maude, the 
 Empresse and Ladie of Englishmen (for this title she used), 
 created Earle of Arundel ; and her son, King Henry, gave the 
 
 3 
 
 whole Rape of Arundel to that William, to hold of him by the 
 service of fourscore and foure knights 1 fees and one halfe." 
 During her contest with Stephen, Maud was lodged in the 
 Castle of Arundel, which the King besieged. The Earl, how- 
 ever — or, it is said, his Countess — by diplomacy, contrived to 
 facilitate the escape of the Empress to Bristol, from which she 
 took shipping, and returned to the Continent. 
 
 " A small Chamber, over the inner gate of Arundel Castle, 
 enjoys the traditionary fame of having been her sleeping-room, 
 during her sojourn there. It is a low square apartment, such 
 as the Castellan might have occupied during a siege." The 
 Bedstead on which the Empress is reported to have slept is 
 still preserved there. " Its massive wallnut posts are elabo- 
 rately carved, but so worm-eaten that, unless tenderly scruti- 
 nizcd, the wood would be apt to fall into powder in the hands 
 of the visitor." We have quoted this brief account from Dr. 
 Beattie's History of Arundel. From the engraving that ac- 
 companies it, there can be little doubt that this relic is no 
 older than the reign of Henry the 8th, if so old. 
 
BOXGROVE CHURCH. 
 
 Earl Warren, was here buried ; her husband, it is believed, was a benefactor to the 
 establishment. Thomas de Poynings and Philippa his second wife (daughter of Edmund 
 Mortimer, Earl of March, Countess Dowager of Arundel and Pembroke), are also said to 
 have been here interred ; and upon the key-stone of one of the tombs in the north aisle 
 are the arms of the family of St. John (argent in a chief gules, two mullets pierced or) — 
 the tomb possibly of Thomas de Poynings, summoned as Lord St. John of Basing, 1369, 
 (42 Edw. III.), obit. 1429. It is left mainly to conjecture, aided by the uncertain light of 
 tradition, to determine whose dust is covered by these stones. There is, however, one 
 Monument, concerning which no doubts can exist. It is a Sacellum, or Shrine, belonging 
 to the family of West, or La War. The date, as may be seen on the pendant ornament 
 between the two north-eastern arches, is 1532, which was during the lifetime of Thomas 
 West, second Baron La War and Cantilupe ; but it is supposed to have been erected 
 after his death by his daughter, Dorothy, who married Sir Edward Owen. The 
 inscription under the Altar in the Shrine — 
 
 <*M cfjartte ptag for g e souls of Cfjomas ILa 212Iaw ant ISIgjaoeti) f) 3 topf, 
 
 seems to sanction the supposition. In other parts of the Shrine may be read the words, 
 
 Cfjomas Ua ©Slat anno Bnt mvxxxh. 
 
 and 
 
 IElt?aoetf) 3La 2Mar. 
 
 Between the niches of the Shrine, over the arcades, are four coats of arms, supported by 
 angels, with the quarterings of La War, Cantilupe, Mortimer, St. John, Poynings, Bonville, 
 W T ingfield, &c. The Tomb is a peculiarly interesting and remarkably beautiful object. 
 It has recently been cleaned and repaired by order of the Duke of Richmond — 
 somewhat clumsily, however, for the workman has disarranged several of the 
 decorations, and one of the figures he has placed " upside down." It is richly carved 
 in stone, and abundantly ornamented. Mr. Prout has introduced it into the Drawing 
 which exhibits the Interior of the venerable Church, with its Pulpit of carved oak, black 
 with age. An ancient Font has been recently removed from the Nave to the foot of the 
 Pulpit. In the Chancel are many encaustic tiles — one of which supplies us with an 
 initial letter. 
 
 The Church is situated about eight miles west of Arundel, a short distance out of the 
 road to Chichester, from which it is distant about four miles. 
 
 4 
 
WARWICK CASTLE, 
 
 WARWICKSHIRE. 
 
 A 
 
 he early history of the town of Warwick is involved in the 
 mists of past ages, and carries us back to the period 
 prior to the invasion of Britain by the Romans ; if 
 Rous and other old historians of the county be correct, 
 who declare it to have been a British town of con- 
 siderable importance before that great event. Dugdale 
 says, " as it hath been the chieftest town of these parts, 
 
 and whereof the whole county, upon its division into 
 shires, took its name, so may it justly glory in its 
 situation beyond any other, standing upon a rocky 
 ascent, from every side, and in a dry and fertile soil, 
 having the benefit of rich and pleasant meadows on 
 
 the south part, with the lofty groves and spacious thickets of the woodland on the 
 north: wherefore, were there nothing else to argue its great antiquity, these 
 commodities, which so surround it, might easily satisfy us, that the Britons made an 
 early plantation here to participate of them." The reader will not be expected to 
 place implicit reliance on the statements of Dugdale concerning its foundation by 
 Cymbeline, by whom it was termed Caerleon, and its destruction by the Picts and 
 Scots, " till Caractacus, the famous British Prince, rebuilt it, making a mansion-house 
 therein for himself." After the defeat of Caractacus in A.D. 50, the Romans, in order 
 to secure their conquests in Britain, erected several fortresses on the banks of the 
 Severn and Avon, and Warwick is said to have been one of these, but this is not 
 very clearly proved. During the Saxon period the town was included in the kingdom 
 of Mercia, and fell under the dominion of Warremund, who rebuilt it and called it 
 Warrewyke, after his own name. Warwick was subsequently destroyed by the Danes, 
 and, according to Dugdale, "so rested until the renowned Lady Ethelfled, daughter 
 to King Alfred, who had the whole Earldom of Mercia given her by her father to 
 the noble Etheldred in marriage, repaired its ruins, and in the year of Christ DCCCCXV, 
 made a strong fortification here, called the doungeon, for resistance of the enemy, upon 
 a hill of earth artificially raised near the river side ;" and this forms the most ancient 
 
 i 
 
WARWICK CASTLE. 
 
 part of the present building. But the most important reparations of the castle were 
 the work of the famous Guy, Earl of Warwick, although Dugdale tells us that the 
 great tower at the north-east corner, called Guy's Tower, the walls whereof are ten 
 feet thick, was built by Thomas, Earl of Warwick, about the 17th of Richard the 
 Second, on whose banishment the custody of it was granted to John de Clinton, 
 and in a short time after to Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent. In the reign of Henry the 
 Third, the extraordinary strength of this building was alleged as a reason for particularly 
 prohibiting the widowed Countess of Warwick from re-marrying with any other than 
 a person approved by the King; but in the furious contests which occurred in the 
 latter years of this reign, William Mauduit, the then Earl, neglecting to keep proper 
 guard, the fortress was surprised, and all the building, except the towers, levelled 
 with the ground, while himself and his Countess were carried prisoners to Kenilworth. 
 The family of Beauchamp shortly succeeded to the Earldom, and by Thomas Beauchamp, 
 in the reign of Edward the Third, the castle was repaired, strong gates were added, and 
 the gateways fortified with embattled towers. Thomas de Beauchamp, his son and 
 successor, passed a great portion of his time here, during his exile from Court ; he 
 had, thus, leisure to repair and strengthen the castle ; and he it was who built the 
 tower as stated above, on which he bestowed the name of Guy's Tower ; it is a fine 
 relic of early castellated building, and is represented in our initial letter.* 
 
 * The legend of Guy of Warwick was extremely popular 
 in the middle ages ; and his encounter with the Danish cham- 
 pion Colbrand, as well as his victory over the Dun Cow, was 
 the favourite subject of the wandering minstrel. Dugdale has 
 given the narrative of his battle with Colbrand, which he 
 seems inclined to believe to be true in the main features, 
 although " the monks may have sounded out his praises hyper- 
 bolically." According to him, " in the 3 year of King Athel- 
 stan, a d. 826, the Danes having invaded England cruelly 
 wasted the countrys where they marcht, so that there was scarce 
 a Town or Castle that they had not burnt or destroyed almost 
 as far as Winchester," where the King resided, and to whom 
 they sent a message, requiring him to resign his crown to their 
 generals, holding his power at their hands, and paying them 
 yearly tribute for the privilege of ruling ; or, that the whole 
 dispute for the kingdom be determined in a single combat, by 
 two champions, for both sides. The King having chosen the 
 latter alternative, enjoins a fast for three days, and in great 
 anguish of heart that Guy, the famous warrior, is absent on a 
 pilgrimage to the Holy Land, prays Heaven for assistance. 
 An Angel appears to the King as he lies on his bed, and directs 
 him to arise early on the morrow, and take two bishops with him 
 to the North gate of the city, and stay there " till the hour of 
 Prime," until the poor people and pilgrims arrive, among whom 
 he must choose a champion, and the choice must fall on him 
 who goes barefooted, with a wreath of white roses on his head. 
 The King goes, and meets the Pilgrim, accosts him, and asks 
 his championship, which he hesitates to give, excusing himself 
 on the ground of his weakness with much travel, and exhorts 
 2 
 
 him to seek a fitter help. To this the King bitterly answers, 
 " I had but one valiant knight, which was Earl of Warwick, 
 called Guy, and he had a courageous servant, named Sir Heraud 
 de Ardene ; would to God I had him here, for then should this 
 duel be soon undertaken, and the war finished, and as he 
 spake these words the tears fell from his eyes." The Pilgrim 
 is moved, and ultimately consents, and after three weeks 
 spent in prayer and preparation, the battle begins. Colbrand 
 " came so weightily harnessed that his horse could scarce 
 carry him, and before him a cart loaded with Danish axes, 
 great clubs with knobs of iron, squared bars of steel, lances, 
 and iron hooks, to pull his adversary to him." The giant uses 
 a bar of steel in the combat, which lasts the whole day — Guy 
 in the end proving victorious, and taking a farewell of the King 
 to whom he declares himself, goes towards Warwick, and 
 thence to a hermit in its neighbourhood, living with him till 
 his death, and succeeding him in his cell until his own decease. 
 The spot is still pointed out, and bears the name of Guy's Cliff. 
 
 But this is not the only Giant story connected with the 
 family. Their well-known crest or cognisance is said to come 
 from one Morvidus, an Earl of Warwick in the days of King 
 Arthur, " who being a man of great valour slew a mighty giant 
 in a single duell, which gyant encountered him with a young 
 tree pulled up by the root, the boughs being snag'd from it ; 
 in token whereof, he and his successors, earles of Warwick, in 
 the time of the Brittons, bore a ragged staff of silver in a sable 
 shield for their cognisance." Such were the old fables with 
 which our ancient family histories were obscured, or rendered 
 romantic and wonderful to the subordinate classes. 
 
WARWICK CASTLE. 
 
 The daughter of this Richard Beauchamp married Richard Nevil, son and heir of the 
 Earl of Salisbury, and in consequence of this marriage the Earldom of Warwick came 
 into the possession of the Nevils. This powerful Earl played a conspicuous part in the 
 wars of the Roses, and has been immortalised by Shakspeare, in his drama of King 
 Henry VI. ; and, after a life of strange vicissitude and high excitement, he was killed in 
 the battle of Barnet, a. d. 1471. His estates were forfeited, his widow was deprived of 
 all power, " as if she had been naturally dead," and her vast inheritances were settled 
 upon her daughters, Isabel and Anne, the latter of whom was married to George Duke of 
 Clarence, created Earl of Warwick by his brother, King Edward the Fourth. He chiefly 
 resided at Warwick Castle, and added much to the strength and beauty of its works. On 
 the accession of Henry the Seventh, the jealousy of that monarch to his son Edward, the 
 last of the male Plantagenets, induced him to compass his death, by holding out to him 
 fair promises and a hope of liberty (for he had been imprisoned in the Tower on a 
 groundless charge, to keep him secure), to confess a connection with Perkin Warbeck, 
 after which confession he was beheaded on Tower-hill. From this time until the 1st of 
 Edward the Sixth there was no Earl of Warwick ; until John Dudley having been 
 advanced to the dignity of Viscount L'Isle, was so created through the favour of the 
 Duke of Somerset, the powerful Protector ; and on the failure of that line, the title was 
 revived by James the First, in the person of Robert Lord Rich, in whose posterity it 
 continued till the year 1759, when it passed into the family of the Grevilles, who now 
 hold the title of Earl Brooke and Earl of Warwick, their seats being Warwick Castle 
 and Brooke House, Dorset. 
 
 The Castle occupies the summit of a steep hill, which greatly aided its artificial 
 defences in " the olden time." The present approach is 
 by a narrow passage, cut through the solid rock, and 
 extending to the main entrance from the Porter's Lodge, 
 — the Lodge itself, however, being a place of attraction 
 which few will leave unvisited, for here are collected the 
 marvellous relics of the great Earl — a rib of the dun cow, 
 a tusk of the wild boar, with horse armour, a helmet, 
 breast-plate, tilting-pole, and walking-staff, of such prodi- 
 gious size and weight that they could have suited only a 
 giant and his steed. Of the two famous Towers, that of Guy 
 is to the right, while that of " Csesar " (here represented) 
 is to the left: they are connected by a strong embattled 
 wall, in the centre of which is the ponderous arched Gate- 
 way, flanked by Towers, and succeeded by a second arched 
 Gateway, with Towers and Battlements, " formerly defended by two portholes, one of 
 
 3 
 
WARWICK CASTLE. 
 
 which still remains; before the whole is now a disused Moat, with an arch thrown 
 over it at the Gateway, where was once the drawbridge." * 
 
 Passing the double Gateway, the court-yard is entered. Thus seen, " the castellated 
 mansion " of the most famous of the feudal Barons has a tranquil and peaceful aspect ; 
 fronting it is a green sward, and the " frowning keep " which conceals all its gloomier 
 features behind a screen of ivy and evergreen shrubs. It is only when viewed from the 
 river, when the battlements of the old Castle seem literally towering in air, that a notion 
 is obtained of its prodigious strength. The slopes, however, are now clothed with gently- 
 growing trees ; several unscathed cedars speak of long years of rest from strife ; the 
 gardens are among the fairest and most fertile of the kingdom ; and in one of the 
 conservatories of the rich Park, is deposited " the Vase," which may be said to have given 
 a second immortality to the name of Warwick. 
 
 The interior of Warwick Castle demands but a brief notice. " The Hall " is a 
 restoration; and the apartments, generally, have been subjected to the deleterious 
 influence of the fashionable upholsterer. The rooms contain, however, many rich 
 treasures of art ; the collection of pictures, although of limited extent, is of rare value, 
 comprising, perhaps, some of the best examples to be found in England of Vandyck and 
 Rubens ; and there is a fine assemblage of costly garderobes, cabinets, encoigneurs, tables 
 
 of Buhl and Marquetrie, vases, and bronzes, 
 with many veritable antiques. An object of 
 much interest is pictured in the appended 
 wood-cut. It is " the Warder's Horn." Its 
 history is told by the following inscription : — 
 
 PHIL. THOMASSINUS. FEC. ET EXCUD. CUM PRIVIL. 
 SUMMI. PONTIFICIS ET SUPERIOR. LICENTIA ROMiE. 
 FLORUIT 1598. 
 
 It measures two feet two inches across, and three inches and three-quarters diameter 
 at the mouth. 
 
 In all respects Warwick Castle holds rank among the most remarkable of our 
 existing remains of the dwellings of the Feudal Barons. Its history is deeply 
 interesting; and from the few changes it has undergone, we require little aid from 
 fancy to read there a full and perfect record of the leading incidents of by-gone ages. 
 
 * From the top of Guy's Tower, ascended by 133 steps, 
 the view is most fine and most extensive. Far stretching in 
 the distance are seen the tall spires of the Churches at 
 Coventry ; nearer is the ruined Castle of Kenilworth ; still 
 nearer, are Guy's Cliff and Blacklow Hill, famous in legend 
 and story ; Leamington appears lying at our feet ; while 
 
 " Stratford-on-the-Avon " seems almost " within arms-reach ;" 
 far off are the hills of Shropshire ; on all sides are fertile 
 plains, of seemingly illimitable extent, with here and there 
 dark woods and forests ; the Panorama is inconceivably beau- 
 tiful and grand. 
 
1041 
 
 V.I