Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

It is not necessary to trace the various hands through which Castle Ashby passed subsequently to this period, until we arrive at the fifteenth century, when the estates became the property of the Compton family, ancestors of the present noble possessor, who only succeeded in establishing a claim by a re-purchase in 1465, after fifty years’ possession, in consequence of “rival nuncupative wills” made by previous owners. Sir William Compton, the purchaser, was the head of a family long settled at Compton Winyate, in Warwickshire, from which place the family name was derived; at the death of his father, Sir William had not attained his majority, and being in ward to Henry VII., was chosen by the king to attend his son Prince Henry, who, on subsequently ascending the throne, gave him an appointment as groom of the bed-chamber. Sir William, then Mr. Compton, soon became a favourite with the sovereign, one of whose freaks was to attend _incog._ a tournament got up by some of the courtiers, on which occasion he was attended by his favourite, Mr. Compton, who received a dangerous wound by an accidental collision with Sir Edward Nevill. In November 1510, the king proclaimed a tournament, “at which he with his two aids, Charles Brandon, afterwards Duke of Suffolk, and William Compton, gave an universal challenge with the spear at tilt one day, and at tourney with the sword the other.” Magnificently accoutred, the royal party entered the lists, gained great distinction, and received the prize. Afterwards, in 1511, the king granted to William Compton Esq., “his trusty serv’nte and true liegman, for the good and (acceptable) s’vyce whiche he hathe doone to his Hignesse, and durynge his lyfe entendithe to doo,” the manor of Tottenham, in Middlesex, and he was honoured, in the following year, with an armorial augmentation out of the royal arms. “Mayster Compton,” as he is called in an old MS., became Sir William in 1513, being knighted by the king after the battle of the Spurs (5 Hen. VIII.). He died in 1528, after retaining through life the confidence and regard of his wayward master, from whom he received many valuable marks of attachment. His son Peter, who was only six years of age, became the ward of Cardinal Wolsey, and afterwards of the Earl of Shrewsbury, to whose daughter he was married. He died in his minority, leaving one son, Henry Compton, who was knighted by the Earl of Leicester in 1566, and summoned to parliament by writ, as Baron Compton, in 1572 (14 Eliz.). About this time another attempt was made to wrest the estate of Ashby from the Compton family, which, however, ended in a compromise between the contending parties, each making some concessions, “for the finall endinge of all sutes and controversies.” Lord Compton was one of the Commissioners deputed to sit in judgment on Mary queen of Scots.

William, second Lord Compton, married the daughter and heiress of Sir John Spencer, alderman of London, and thus obtained a large addition to his possessions. This union would appear to have been made secretly, and without the consent of the lady’s father; it took place at the church of St. Catharine Colman, Fenchurch St., as the register shews: “18 Apr. 1599, William Lorde Compton, and Elizabeth Spencer, maryed, being thrice asked in the churche.” Lord Compton, by reason of zealous service, was regarded with great favour by James I., who made him President of the Council within the marches of Wales, to which he added the honour of Lord Lieutenant of the Principality, and the counties of Worcester, Hereford, and Salop. In 1617 he was created Earl of Northampton. He died in 1630, and was succeeded by his only son Spencer, who became one of the most distinguished men of the age. He was an accomplished linguist, and filled posts of much distinction about the person of the king; ultimately taking an active part in the great civil war, and after many brilliant feats of arms he was killed at Hopton Heth. He left six sons, all worthy of their heroic father, distinguished like him for their devotion to the royal cause.

James, the eldest son of the loyal and gallant peer, became his successor--the third Earl of Northampton. At Hopton Heath he was carried wounded from the field, immediately before his father received his death-wound: afterwards, he greatly distinguished himself in the king’s service, particularly at Lichfield. On the Restoration he headed a troop of two hundred gentlemen, “clothed in grey and blue,” at the entry of Charles II. into London; and “his loyalty was subsequently rewarded with several honourable appointments, which he held till his death, at Castle Ashby, December 15, 1681.” George, fourth Earl, died in 1727, and was succeeded by his eldest son, James, fifth earl, who was summoned to the House of Peers, by writ, in 1711. He married Elizabeth Shirley, Baroness Ferrars, of Chartley, by whom he had issue, and left Charlotte, his only surviving child, who married the first Marquess Townshend. George, the sixth earl, after enjoying his title but four years, died without issue, and was succeeded by his nephew, Charles, seventh earl, a nobleman of considerable accomplishments, who was made ambassador extraordinary to Venice in 1763. He died at Lyons, on his way home, leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth, wife of the late, and grandmother of the present, Earl of Burlington. Spencer, eighth earl, brother of the preceding, was succeeded, in 1797, by his only son, Charles, ninth earl, who was created Baron Wilmington, Earl Compton, and Marquess of Northampton in 1812. On his death, in 1828, the titles and estates devolved on his only son, Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, born in 1790,--the present Marquess of Northampton.

The noble marquess is not alone distinguished by high descent and lofty position; few persons of the age have more assiduously cultivated science and letters. His lordship is president of the Royal Society, and member of various other learned Institutions; and his “annual gatherings” of distinguished or accomplished men at his mansion in London, have been among the most gratifying and beneficial events of a period which recognises genius as a distinction, and gives its proper _status_ to mind.[10]

Castle Ashby is about two miles from the White-Mill Station, on the Northampton and Peterborough Railway, from which a convenient road offers facilities to vehicles, while pedestrian visitors may shorten the distance, and enjoy extensive prospects of scenery, by taking a footpath over the hills--thus at once saving time and augmenting enjoyment. On ascending the first of these hills, he sees before him an extensive valley; on the opposite hill is placed the castle, of which, however, as yet he can obtain no glimpse, being hidden from his view by a dense mass of noble trees, which protect it from the northern winds.

From this point the church is an object of much beauty in the landscape, and being partially screened by fine trees, offers, as the visitor proceeds towards it, many pleasing and picturesque combinations. Emerging suddenly from under thick foliage, we tread upon an extended lawn, and the whole of the southern front of the mansion is at once in sight: its symmetrical regularity, its not unhappy marriage of English with Italian, its stately octangular towers, and the silvery grey of its time-bleached walls, all combine to produce a most agreeable impression. It is placed on the crest of the hill, the slope in its rear, a large tract of table land in front; at right angles with the front a most magnificent avenue of noble trees passes far into the distance, terminating on the northern side of Yardley Chase.

Mr. Robinson, in the “Vitruvius Britannicus,” relates all that is known regarding the erection of the house. “The castle, embattled by license to Bishop Langton, in the reign of Edward I., was the occasional residence of successive proprietors. Sir William de la Pole, and Margaret Peveril, his wife, in 1358, dated a feoffment of their manors of Ashley and Little Brington at “Castell Assheby;” but when acquired by the family of Grey de Ruthyn, in the fifteenth century, its proximity to their patrimonial seat at Yardley Hastings, would naturally lead to its partial and, ultimately, entire desertion. A century had scarcely elapsed before Leland thus recorded its desolate condition. “Almost in the middle way betwixt Welingborow and Northampton I passed Assheby, more than a mile off on the left hand, wher hathe bene a castle, that now is clene downe, and is made but a _septum_ for bestes.” By a survey in 1565, it appears that George Carleton, Esq., under a lease granted by Sir William Compton for sixty-one years, held the site of the manor and farm of “Asheby David,” with all the demesne lands, “whereunto pertaineth the old ruined castle.” Camden, in his “Britannica,” says:--“From hence (Northampton) men maketh haste away by Castle Ashby, where Henry L. Compton began to build a faire sightly house.” The commencement of the present stately edifice may, therefore, be safely dated between the expiration of the lease in 1583 and the death of this nobleman in 1589. One of the requests of the rich heiress of Spencer to her lord was, to “build up Ashby House.” And the original pile may be presumed to have been completed when King James I. and his queen favoured its noble owner with a visit in 1605. The dates of 1624 on the east front and on the two turrets, must have reference to the subsequent alterations and erections by Inigo Jones.

The castle buildings occupy a huge quadrangle, with a garden court in the centre. The most important apartments are on the northern and the southern sides. The north front is of pure Elizabethan architecture, plain, but of massive design, combined with a grandeur and impressiveness not often attained with such unadorned simplicity. The principal, or southern front, is remarkable for the curious anomaly it presents in the mixture of Elizabethan with Italian architecture. Pure taste, of course, rejects such experiments, but if they be at all allowed, perhaps it would hardly be possible to find an instance in which the incongruous association is less offensive than in this front; arising, no doubt, from no attempt having been made to engraft the one style upon the other, both being kept distinct. The Italian façade was added to enclose the court, and complete the quadrangle: it was designed by Inigo Jones, and may be considered a good example of its peculiar character. In contrast with the plain, massive, Elizabethan wings, the work of Jones may, perhaps, justly be charged with something of a petite character; but, nevertheless, taking the whole together, it forms a composition by no means unpleasing. On entering the castle the visitor is ushered into the Great Hall, a room of noble dimensions, and which formerly possessed many claims to admiration, but, unfortunately, it has been modernised, and, therefore, after noting the fine pictures it contains,--chiefly old family portraits,[11]--we pass on to the Dining-Room, which also contains some choice pictures; the most striking are portraits of the present noble marquess and his lady, apparently by Hoppner, and some choice gems of the Dutch school. Hence we pass into the Billiard-Room, where, after admiring the table and a few good pictures, there is nothing to detain us, and we enter the Drawing-Room, in which is an excellent large picture of landscape, with cattle and figures, the painter of which is not known. Presently we come to the Great Staircase, which may be admired for its rich old oak, carved, according to the fashion of Elizabeth’s time, into a variety of geometrical forms, intermingled with wreaths of fruit and flowers, some parts of which argue no mean skill in the artisan. From hence we gain entrance to an ante-room, containing tapestry, said to have been presented by Queen Elizabeth; and on leaving this room we pass into the gallery of the Great Hall, whence we must pause awhile to examine a portrait of Mrs. Chute, by Reynolds, a most valuable picture of an excellent lady; the dress is white, the picture is in a light key, clear, broad, and harmonious, and of perfect execution. The next room is the Octagon, where are two life-size figures, in marble, of Mercury and the Venus de Medici, and also various other statues, of minor size and merit. King William’s Room next engages attention: it is of large dimensions, and is chiefly remarkable for its ceiling, of which we have given one of the enrichments as our initial. There are two magnificent bay-windows in this room. The Long Gallery is contained in the upper part of Inigo Jones’ façade, or screen, of which it runs the entire length--ninety-one feet. It is not remarkable for any peculiar attractions. It contains a few good pictures, one of which is of interest, “The Battle of Hopton Heath,” where, as we have seen, several members of the Compton family were distinguished. It will be at once understood that our remarks and enumeration of objects refer solely to matters of artistic or antiquarian interest; we therefore pass over much that might greatly interest general readers. On the whole, the interior does not sustain the rich promise of the exterior; the plan does not seem to have been carried out with the fulness and determination so marked in many of our Baronial Halls. The gardens do not present any remarkable features: the grounds are picturesque, and contain a large artificial lake, formed by the famous landscape gardener Brown, to whom so many of our nobility entrusted their estates for such aids as art can supply to nature. The grounds of Castle Ashby needed, however, but little of such help; they are naturally of a kind which art cannot create, nor do much to improve.

Day & Son, Lithᵗʰ. to The Queen.

KIRBY HALL, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE]

KIRBY HALL,

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.

Kirby Hall.--Although now deserted, this very venerable and exceedingly beautiful Mansion ranks among the finest of the kingdom.[12] 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.”[13] 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 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 semicircular 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 everywhere 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.”

From a drawing by T. Allom Day & Son, Lith.ʳˢ. to The Queen. ]

WOLLATTON HALL,

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Wollatton Hall, the seat of the Right Hon. Digby Willoughby, the seventh Baron Middleton, is situate three miles west of Nottingham, in the centre of a finely wooded park, remarkable for a judicious combination of wood and water. It stands on a considerable elevation, and is seen from all parts of the surrounding country; of which, consequently, it commands extensive views--not only of rich and fertile valleys, but of one of the busiest and most populous of manufacturing towns. We give on this page an engraving of the north entrance to the mansion.

The mansion was erected by Sir Francis Willoughby, Knt., towards the close of the sixteenth century, as we learn from an inscription

over one of its entrances. In the old history of the county of Nottingham by Thoroton there is a descent of this family, down to the builder of the present Mansion, whose daughter Bridget married Sir Percival Willoughby, of another branch of the family. Sir Percival left five sons, the eldest of whom, Sir Francis, who died in 1665, was father of Francis Willoughby, Esq., one of the greatest _virtuosi_ in Europe. His renowned history of birds was published in Latin after his death, in 1676. He died in 1672, leaving two sons and one daughter. The latter, Cassandra, was married to James Duke of Chandos. The eldest son died unmarried, in his twentieth year. The second son was created a peer in the tenth of Queen Anne, A.D. 1711. In 1781, on the death of Thomas Lord Middleton without issue, the estate and its honours descended to Henry Willoughby, Esq., of Birdfall, county of York. It is a remarkable circumstance, that up to the present time the heir-at-law, in consequence of there being no proximate issue, has always been a remote member of the family.

The exterior of the mansion is peculiarly grand and imposing. It is in the fashion of Queen Elizabeth’s reign,--or rather the fashion just then beginning to be introduced,--and is in the Italian style, but of Gothic arrangement. It is square, with four large towers adorned with pinnacles; and in the centre the body of the house rises higher, with projecting coped turrets at the corners. The front and sides are adorned with square projecting Ionic pilasters; the square stone pillars are without tracery; and “the too great uniformity of the whole is broken by oblong niches, circular ones filled

with busts of philosophers, &c., and some very rich mouldings;” “In the richness of its ornaments it is surpassed by no Mansion in the kingdom.” The accompanying engraving represents the Terrace and south entrance to the mansion.

The Hall is lofty, and the roof, which is supported by arches somewhat like Westminster Hall, has a very noble appearance. The screen in the Hall is supported by pillars of the Doric order: there is a variety of quaint devices under the beams, in conformity with the taste of the time; such as heads of satyrs, chimeras, &c. &c. The walls and ceilings were painted by Laguerre. The rooms in general are on a grand scale, lofty and spacious. The fabric, taken as one built by a commoner, exceeds the loftiest ideas of magnificence. It is wholly of stone, and must have cost an immense sum in its erection. Indeed the learned Camden, in the first edition of his “Britannia,” pays to the builder a somewhat equivocal compliment, asserting that by the time it was finished he had sunk in its erection “three lordships;” “this Sir Francis,” he adds, “at great expence, in a foolish display of his wealth, built a magnificent and most elegant house with a fine prospect.”

BENTHALL HALL,

SHROPSHIRE.

Benthall Manor,[14] Shropshire, is in that part of Wenlock hundred which was comprised in the Saxon hundred of Patintune; a division which became obsolete soon after the compilation of Domesday Book. Though in the present day Benthall constitutes a parish in itself, it was included in that of Wenlock till the latter end of the seventeenth century. In the reign of Edward the Confessor--and, probably, from a much earlier period--this estate belonged to the priory of Wenlock; and when William, the successor of that pious king, distributed lands among his Norman followers, at the expense of the Saxon nobles, he had too much regard for his reputation to deprive the Church of her possessions. Reconciling, however, his piety to worldly policy, King William made the priory of Wenlock subservient to the abbey of Rheims, and thus contrived to reward the latter establishment for successful prayers made in favour of his expedition, and at the same time to raise a Norman influence over possessions of the English Church. The abbots of Rheims, like modern non-resident landlords, had cause to regret their absence; for we find that in the reign of Richard I. the Prior of Wenlock dealt with his lands as if the Norman abbot had no concern with them: and when, at length, in the reign of Edward III., the Abbot of Rheims obtained the king’s charter, confirming to him and his successors all the English lands which belonged to his abbey, the interposition of the sovereign was ineffectual as far as it related to Benthall, that estate having been in the meantime irrevocably disposed of.

In a series of charters possessed by the Benthall family, some of which are written in the Saxon language, though without date, it appears that the manor was owned many years by a family who took their surname from this estate, and these are referred to in the hundred-rolls of the reign of King Henry III., as having been the ancestors of Phillip de Benethall, then Lord of Benethall, who held certain lands under the Prior of Wenlock. Early in the following reign, however, on Phillip’s forfeiting his lands, Benthall was re-granted to Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells and Lord Chancellor, whose annexation of this and numerous other estates to his neighbouring castle of Acton Burnell is not free from suspicion. The chancellor’s object seems, however, to have been the preferment of his family, and, perhaps, an addition to his local influence, rather than an increase to his own revenue, for no sooner had he acquired the manor than he subgranted it to his kinsman, John Burnell, who describes himself Lord of Benethall, and appears to have resided here many years; but on his succeeding his son Henry, as Abbot of Buildwas, his eldest son, Phillip Burnell, received possession of his father’s lands, and, dropping the patronymic of Burnell, assumed the surname of De Benethall.[15] Several acts of liberality on the part of this Phillip towards the fraternity at Buildwas are recorded to his credit; and his father appears to have been a considerable benefactor of the abbey. The descendants of this Phillip de Benethall, and his wife Maude, daughter of Nicholas Forrer, of Lynley, continued to hold the lordship of Benthall, with other lands, upon conditions of feudal service to the elder branch of the Burnell family, namely, the descendants of Sir Hugh, the eldest brother of the chancellor; among whom are included the Handloes and the Lovells, descended from Maud, sister and heiress of Edward Lord Burnell, the grandson of Sir Hugh, until Francis Viscount Lovell, Lord Chamberlain of the Household and Chief Butler of King Richard III., having fought for his sovereign at Bosworth Field, his estates were forfeited to the Lancastrian king, Henry VII.[16]

On the loss of the battle, with which King Richard lost his life as well as his ill-gotten crown, Lord Lovell escaped to Saint John’s Abbey at Colchester, and afterwards to Flanders, where Margaret, duchess of Burgundy, sister to the late King Edward IV., supplied an army of two thousand men; with which, and associated with John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, he invaded England, and was killed at the battle of Newark-upon-Trent, in the third year of King Henry VII. Robert Benthall, the seventh in descent from Phillip Burnell, was owner of the estate at this time, and continued to enjoy it, notwithstanding Lord Lovell’s forfeiture.[17] From this circumstance there can be no doubt that Robert had proved himself of Lancastrian politics; and it is probable that he was one of the party of eight hundred gentlemen and others of Shropshire who were collected by his cousin, Sir Richard Corbet, and accompanied the Earl of Richmond from Shrewsbury to Bosworth.

From this period the family of De Benethall, or Benthall, held the manor immediately under the crown,[18] till the death of Richard Benthall, Esq.,[19] in 1720, who, by his will, gave this estate, together with other lands, to his affianced cousin, Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph Browne, Esq., of Caughley, who was high-sheriff of the county anno 1567, by Catherine, the daughter and sole heiress of Edward Benthall. By the will of Ann, widow of Ralph Browne, Esq. (who was a son of the before-mentioned Ralph), the manor of Benthall was entailed, in the year 1768, on Lucia, the only daughter and heiress of Francis Turner Blythe, Esq., afterwards the wife of the Rev. Edward Harries, Rector of Hanwood, and Vicar of Cleobury Mortimer, from whose eldest son, Thomas Harries, Esq., of Cructon Hall, the estate has been recently purchased by John George Weld, second Lord Forester.

About twelve miles from Shrewsbury, and three from Wenlock, lies Benthall Hall, built by William Benthall, Esq.,[20] A.D. 1535, on the site of a former house, which, as well as the adjacent manor chapel, is mentioned in the reign of Henry III.,[21] as being then the property of Phillip de Benethall; the chapel, however, which was of early English architecture, remained until A.D. 1666, when it was destroyed by fire, and in its place the modern chapel, now the parish church of Benthall, was erected.

The situation of Benthall has at all times enabled its proprietor to exercise considerable influence over elections in the borough of Wenlock, the franchise of which extends over the whole of this manor; but few of the preceding residents at the Hall have aspired to the office of bailiff, the chief magistrate of this borough--an office which, nevertheless, is of importance, since the liberties of Wenlock are more extensive, it is said, than those of any other borough in England. There is, however, in the Bodleian Library, a curious manuscript account of the honourable reception which Edward Sprott, deputy to Richard Benthall, of Benthall, the bailiff, and Richard Lawley, gave, on the 16th July, 1554, to the Lord President of the Marches of Wales, on his visiting Wenlock with Justice Townsend. Mr. Sprott was a member of an ancient family, who long held a considerable property, called “The Marsh,” in the borough of Wenlock. Richard Lawley was a son of Mr. Thomas Lawley, who had purchased the then lately dissolved priory of Wenlock, and had converted it to a residence for himself. He was the ancestor of the present (anno 1847) Lord Wenlock and Sir Francis Lawley, Bart., to the latter of whom the extensive property of the Lawley family in this neighbourhood now belongs. Richard Benthall was eldest son and heir of William, who has been before noticed. He married Jane, daughter of Lawrence Ludlow, Esq., of the Morehouse in this county.

The Hall stands on one of a chain of wooded hills called Benthall Edge, which rises from a sheet of water in front of the house to a point at some distance in its rear. In this direction the table of the hill is terminated by a precipitous wood, which skirts the river Severn, and, at the left, commands a distant view of mountains in Montgomeryshire, while the Severn is seen winding its course through the vale of Shropshire. In the foreground the river passes beneath the Wrekin hill, and washes the ruined walls of Buildwas Abbey. These objects are presented from a natural terrace raised some hundred feet above the Severn, which here, pent in by opposing hills, glides rapidly towards Bridgnorth.

The oak carving in the hall, dining-room, and drawing-room of the manor-house, were executed by order of John Benthall, Esq. (a grandson of William), about A.D. 1618, and the arms of Cassey were impaled with those of Benthall in the ornamental panels, as a compliment to that family, upon the recent marriage of Lawrence, the heir of Benthall, with the daughter of Thomas Cassey, Esq.,[22] of Whitefield and Cassey Compton, in Gloucestershire.

During the Parliamentary wars, Lawrence impoverished himself by his zeal in support of King Charles; he was one of a list of thirty-two principal gentlemen of Shropshire (headed by the sheriff) who, in November 1642, entered into a mutual undertaking to raise a troop of dragoons for his Majesty’s service; a step deemed necessary in consequence of the additional strength which the Parliamentary party had acquired in the county, by Colonel Mitton’s capture of Wem, in the preceding month of August; but the cause of the Royalists sustained a far severer blow eighteen months afterwards in the loss of Shrewsbury, which borough, after having voluntarily expended nearly all its resources in aid of the king, was surprised in the night of 21st February, 1645, through the treachery of one of its inhabitants. After an ineffectual defence, the town was carried by the rebels, and among the prisoners whom they took on that occasion, was Ensign Cassey Benthall, the eldest son of Lawrence. The young officer was fortunate enough, however, to make his escape, and, pursuing his loyal course, had attained the rank of colonel, when he was killed, fighting for Charles I., at Stow-in-the-Wold, in Gloucestershire. Colonel Benthall had enlisted in his regiment many of the yeomen in the neighbourhood of his father’s estate, and among those who were killed at Stow was Thomas Penderel, a brother of the famous Richard Penderel, who was the attendant and guide of Charles II. in his wanderings after the battle of Worcester. The loyalty of Lawrence Benthall was well known to Richard Penderel, and nearly procured for the former the honour of aiding the king to escape; for the royal fugitive, having been conducted by Richard to the town of Madeley, would have crossed the Severn by the Benthall ferry, but his intention had been anticipated by the Parliamentary soldiers, who had taken possession of the boat. Charles, therefore, remained concealed at Madeley, in a barn of Mr. Woolf, a worthy loyalist, who entertained him there a night and a day; and from thence the unfortunate king retreated to Boscobel wood, where he had the well-known adventure which has made the oak-leaf sacred to his memory.

Many were the damages sustained by the houses of the gentlemen of Shropshire at this troublesome period, through wanton acts of violence; but Benthall Hall remained in tolerably perfect preservation till A.D. 1818, when it was partly destroyed by fire, from which, however, the principal rooms escaped without injury.

The exterior of the mansion, though it would be commonly denominated Elizabethan, affords an example of the domestic architecture which was antecedent to the pure Elizabethan style. The landscape view of the front presented to the reader is taken from the avenue, which has been unfortunately deprived of its most stately trees by its present noble proprietor. The building is of stone; the extent of frontage being relieved by a slight projection on the left, and by two tiers of bay-windows, which are placed at equal distances on either side of a porch. All the windows have stone compartments and lozenge-panes. The roof is gabled without finials, and the chimneys, which are tastefully placed, are lofty, with ornamented shafts and mouldings. The porch stands somewhat out of the centre of the frontage, so as agreeably to subdue the regularity of the building, and surmounted by a windowed room, harmonises with the other projections. The front entrance is a round arched door, on the left of the porch.

The rooms in the interior are lofty. The entrance-hall has unfortunately lost all its wainscoting, except some carved oak over the chimneypiece, which represents the Benthall

coat of arms with that of Cassey impaled. On the right is the ancient with-drawing-room, completely wainscoted, and containing an oak chimneypiece, which is executed in the diminutive Grecian style essential to Elizabethan architecture. The uppermost tier of columns, which have Ionic capitals, enclose the Benthall coat of arms with that of Cassey impaled, and immediately beneath it is the coat of Harries, enclosed by a tier of Roman Doric columns. This room has an elegant bay-window, and a decorated ceiling; further on the right is a spacious, but modern dining-room, built by Francis Blythe Harries, Esq. of Broseley Hall, who resided here many years. On the left of the entrance-hall is the principal staircase-lobby, forming a passage to the ancient dining-room. This room is fully and richly wainscoted, and has a handsome oak chimneypiece extending to a decorated ceiling, and exhibiting on its panels the Benthall and Cassey coats of arms. The staircase is also of oak, and elaborately worked, in the angle of which a panel tastefully, though somewhat fantastically carved, represents a leopard, the crest of Benthall.

From a drawing by F W Hulme. Day & Son. Lithʳˢ to The Queen

PITCHFORD HALL, SHROPSHIRE]

PITCHFORD HALL,

SHROPSHIRE.

Pitchford Hall. This very curious and interesting example of the half-timbered houses of the time of Henry VIII. is situate in the hundred of Condover, and about six miles south of Shrewsbury. Its position is singularly felicitous, being placed in one of the pleasantest and most fertile parts of that most beautiful county, Shropshire. From Shrewsbury it is approached by a sort of “cross-country” road, passing through rich tracts of corn-growing land, up and down, in and out; and the first view of its chequered walls and clustered chimneys is gained from a distance of about half a mile, looking up the well-wooded slopes of a rich valley of pasture land. The road traverses one side of the vale; the Hall occupies a commanding position on the other, presenting to the tourist new combinations of beautiful scenery at almost every step he advances, all marked by a happy unity of impression. No railway comes near it, to break its quiet with the din and clatter of the too-busy world.

The best general view of the house is from the public road, seen from a point nearly opposite the principal front: at a distance, the somewhat harsh contrast of the vivid interlacings of black and white is toned down into harmony with the general effect, still leaving point enough to give value to the full, rich masses of wood, by which three of its sides are encompassed. The house is highly picturesque; the walls seem to be composed, for the most part, of strongly framed timber, raised on a substructure of stone and brick. The whole is in a surprising state of preservation for its age, and seems to have suffered but little from the progress of time, or the assaults of “improvers.” In front of the Hall a small stream of water flows, passing under a bridge, on one side of which it has been raised by means of a weir. This serves a double purpose--it gives the upper part of the stream a broad river-like appearance, and at the same time is an admirable defence to the extensive gardens, which skirt its banks for a considerable distance. The interior contains nothing peculiarly remarkable; it has some good rooms, wanting in height, however, as is almost invariably the case in houses of this description.

Pitchford is said to have derived its name from “a bituminous well, one of the greatest natural curiosities of the county, on the surface of which constantly floats a sort of liquid bitumen, in nature resembling that which floats on the Lake Asphaltites in Palestine.”[23]

The earliest possessors of Pitchford of whom we find mention, were a family who derived their name from the place; of whom one Ralph de Pitchford, says Camden, “behaved himself so valiantly at the siege of Bridgnorth, that King Henry I. gave him Little Brug near it, to hold by the service of finding dry wood for the Great Chamber of the castle of Brug, or Bruggnorth, against the coming of his sovereign lord the king.”

The Hall is now the property and residence of the Earl of Liverpool, to whom it was devised in 1806 by Mr. Oteley, in whose family the estate had been for nearly four centuries. William Ottley Esq., as the name was then spelt, was high-sheriff for the county of Salop in the 15th of Henry VII., and again in the 5th of Henry VIII., in whose reign the present Hall is supposed to have been built. Robert Ottley is mentioned as the lord of the manor in the time of Queen Elizabeth. During the Civil War, members of this family gained much distinction as active and zealous, but not always successful, adherents of the royal party. “Sir Francis Ottley was successively governor of the towns of Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth; the latter he surrendered, after a siege in 1646, to the Parliamentary forces.” In the articles of capitulation, still existing at Pitchford, it is stipulated, that “Sir Francis Ottley be permitted to retire with his family and baggage to his home at Pitchford, or at the Hay,” another possession of the family.

Close to the Hall, screened on all sides by thick plantations, is the church, a plain, neat, “respectable” structure, of great age. It contains some interesting monuments of various members of the Ottley family, and also “a fine and curious oaken figure of a Knight Templar, a Baron de Pitchford, a crusader, who was buried here.”

In October, 1832, Pitchford Hall was visited by her Majesty the Queen (then Princess Victoria) and her august mother, the Duchess of Kent; “on which occasion,” says the loyal and zealous county historian, “it was the scene of genuine Shropshire hospitality and festivity.”

From a sketch by C J Richardson Day & Son, Lithʳˢ to The Queen

THE GREAT CHAMBER MONTACUTE]

MONTACUTE,

SOMERSETSHIRE.

Montacute. 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 employment 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, commanding an extensive view of the Vale of Somerset, and the British Channel.[24] The prospect thence is, indeed, not only extensive but exceedingly magnificent; including “the hills below Minehead and Blackdown, Taunton, Quantock 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 Tower, 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 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 Somersetshire, 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;[25] 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 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:--

Through this wide opening gate,
None come 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:--

And yours my friend.

And on one of the lodges,

Welcome the coming
Speed the 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, representing the ancient custom of “skimmitting or stang-riding.”[26] 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 generally 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 ceiling--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.[27]

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 for 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 the coming
Speed the parting guest.

From a sketch by J. L. P. Day & Son, Lith.ʳˢ to The Queen

CAVERSWALL CASTLE, STAFFORDSHIRE.]

CAVERSWALL CASTLE,

STAFFORDSHIRE.

Caverswall Castle.--The pretty and secluded village of Caverswall is seated in the centre of a rich level vale, through which runs the river Blithe,--here, not far from its source, a narrow stream, which gradually swells into size and strength. The venerable Castle of Caverswall, one of the most striking, picturesque, and interesting remains of a distant age, towers above this pleasant and appropriately named streamlet, overlooking the broad valley, the whole of which it completely commands, and of which it was formerly the guardian and the glory.

In the twentieth year of William the Conqueror, Caverswall was held of Robert de Stadford by Ernulfus de Hesding; but in the time of Richard Cœur de Lion, one Thomas de Careswell was lord of this demesne, from whom it descended to Sir William de Caverswell, Knight, most likely the same who was sheriff of Staffordshire towards the close of the reign of Henry III., and whose descendant, probably grandson, of the same name and title, in the latter end of the reign of King Edward II., built

a large and strong stone castle here, surrounded by a deep moat. As additional security, when safety was worth a costly purchase, we are told he gave it the further defence of square turrets at the heads of extensive pieces of water. This is “the castel or prati-pile of Caverwell” of Leland’s time. Of its founder, we know nothing more than is revealed to us by his marble monumental slab, now reduced to the level of the church-floor at the entrance into the chancel--strange transition!--to be trodden on by every foot that passes. This “goodly castle,” as Erdeswick terms it, in his time, about two hundred and fifty years ago, he tells us, “was lately in reasonable good repair, but is now quite let to decay by one Browne, farmer of the demesnes, which he procured (if a man might guess at the cause) lest his lord should take a conceit to live there, and thereby take the demesnes from him.” Now, it is probable no remnant of this ancient Castle is extant, unless in the chiselled stones which give support to garden-hedges about the village. Still, the lower portions of the wall which surrounds the platform of the Castle, with its graduated buttresses, and perhaps also the foundations of some of the turrets, give indications of an architecture at least much anterior to the present building. We are inclined to refer this ancient wall to the period of the original Castle.