This interesting structure is referred to by a clever writer[1] as one
of the richest specimens extant of the highly-ornamented embattled
mansions of the time of Henry VII. and VIII., the period of transition
from the castle to the palace, and undoubtedly the best aera of
English architecture. This judgment will be found confirmed in the
writings of distinguished antiquarians; and the reader's attention to
the descriptive details of this building will be important in
connexion with several notices, in our recent pages, of old English
domestic architecture.
[1] See the paper in part quoted in our pages from the
_Quarterly Review_, No. 90.
The manor of Wingfield, or Winfield, is situated four or five miles to
the eastward of the centre of Derbyshire. The early lords had two
parks, which, according to a survey made in 1655, contained nearly
1,100 acres. These parks are now divided into farms: on the border of
one of them are a moat and other remains of an ancient mansion,
traditionally said to have been called Bakewell Hall; by some, this is
supposed to have been the original mansion, which is said by others to
have been near the Peacock Inn, on the road between Derby and
Chesterfield. The present Manor-House, (as represented in the
Engraving,) according to Camden, was built about the year 1440, by
Ralph, Lord Cromwell, in the time of Henry VI. This Lord Cromwell was
treasurer of England; and the testimony of Camden that he was the
founder, is strongly corroborated by the bags or purses of stones,
(alluding to the office of treasurer which he filled,) carved over the
gateway leading into the quadrangle. Bags or purses are mentioned to
have been carved on the manor-house of Coly Weston, in Northamptonshire,
augmented by this Lord Cromwell; and there were also similar ornaments
carved in wood, removed about a century ago from Wingfield Manor.
The Manor-House originally consisted of two square courts, one of
which, to the north, has been built on all sides, and the south side
of it forms the north side of the south court, which has also ranges
of buildings on the east and west sides, and on part of the south. The
latter court seems principally to have consisted of offices. The first
entrance is under an arched gateway on the east side of the south
court. The arch of this gateway being a semicircle, was probably
erected subsequently to the rest of the building: hence the
communication with the inner court is under an arched gateway in the
middle of the north side of the south court. One half of this range of
building seems originally to have been used as a hall, which was
lighted by a beautiful octagon window, and through a range of Gothic
windows to the south, now broken away, and a correspondent range to
the north. This part of the house was afterwards divided and
subdivided into several apartments: these have suffered the same fate
as the noble hall, the magnificence of which their erection destroyed.
In the other part of this range are the portal, the remains of the
chapel, and of the great state apartment, lighted by another rich
Gothic window. Little or no part of the east side of the building
remains; and only the outer wall and some broken turrets were a few
years since, standing on the west side of the north court.
In the thirty-third year of the reign of Henry VIII. it appears that
Wingfield Manor was in the possession of the Earl of Shrewsbury; and
in the time of Queen Elizabeth, the Earl of Shrewsbury held in his
custody here the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scotland. Her suit of
apartments, tradition informs us, was on the west side of the north
court. This, in the memory of persons living but a few years since,
was the most beautiful part of the building: it communicated with the
great tower, whence it is said the ill-starred captive had sometimes
an opportunity of seeing the friends approach with whom she held a
secret correspondence; and "this tradition appears to have been
founded upon good authority."[2] It is inferred that her captivity at
Wingfield commenced in 1569, in which year an attempt was made by
Leonard Dacre to rescue her; after which, Elizabeth, becoming
suspicious of the Earl of Shrewsbury, under pretence of his lordship's
being in ill health, directed the Earl of Huntingdon to take care of
the Queen of Scots in Shrewsbury's house; and her train was reduced to
thirty persons. This event happened the year after Mary was removed
from Bolton Castle, in Yorkshire, to Tutbury Castle, in Staffordshire,
and placed under the care of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Her captivity at
Wingfield is stated to have extended to nine years; but it is
improbable that so large a proportion of the time she was in the
custody of this nobleman, should be spent here: for it is well known,
that from 1568 to 1584, she was at Buxton, Sheffield, Coventry,
Tutbury, and other places, and, if her confinement here continued so
long, it must have been with many intervals of absence.
[2] Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet, vol. i.
The Manor-House continued to be the occasional residence of the
Shrewsburys till the death of Earl Gilbert, in the year 1616, who
dying without male issue, the whole of his estates in this part of the
kingdom descended to his three daughters and co-heirs by marriage, and
their descendants, till one of the latter, the Hon. Henry Howard,
becoming Duke of Norfolk, sold his portion to different tenants; and
in the year 1666, we find Mr. Emanuel Halton resident at the
Manor-House. He was a man of considerable literary and scientific
attainments, as well as of good family, his father being sheriff of
Cumberland in 1652. Being employed as auditor to Henry, Duke of
Norfolk, he was, through that connexion, introduced into Derbyshire,
and spent the latter part of his life, which was devoted to music and
mathematics, at Wingfield. In the Appendix to Foster's _Mathematical
Miscellanies_ are some of his pieces. In the year 1676 he observed an
eclipse of the sun at Wingfield, which was published in the
_Philosophical Transactions_ for that year. The Manor was, in 1817, in
the possession of Wingfield Halton, Esq., great grandson of the
aforesaid Emanuel; but it was not then inhabited. The last of the
Halton family who resided at the Manor-House became its spoiler; for,
desiring to build himself a house at the foot of the high hill upon
which the mansion stands, he pulled down and unroofed part of the fine
old structure--so that the hall, with its proud emblazonry of the
Shrewsbury arms and quarterings, became exposed to the decaying
influences of the elements.[3] The mansion had been, however,
previously much injured during the civil wars, in the reign of Charles
I.; and there are a few singular incidents in its fate. The house
being possessed by the royal party, was besieged and taken by Lord
Grey, of Groby, and Sir John Gall, of Hopton--brave officers in the
service of the parliament, who, according to Whitelock, voted them a
letter of thanks for this and other services. The assault was begun on
the east side, with cannon planted on Pentridge Common, and a
half-moon battery raised for its defence in this quarter was soon
carried; but a breach being found impracticable, the cannon were
removed to a wood on the opposite side. They soon opened a
considerable breach in the wall, and captured the place. Colonel
Dalby, who was the governor, was killed during the siege. He had
disguised himself in the dress of a common soldier, but being seen and
known by a deserter, he was shot by him in the face as he walked in
one of the stables. The hole through which the assailant introduced
his murderous musket might lately be seen, near the porter's lodge.
[3] The strange taste, or rather Vandalism, which despoiled
the Manor House, had well nigh led the Halton family to
consider the valuable MSS. and correspondence of their
philosophical ancestor as so much waste paper.
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