BURFORD, A COTSWOLD TOWN.
Burford and Cirencester are two typical Cotswold towns; and perhaps the
first-named is the most characteristic, as it is also the most remote
and old-world of all places in this part of England. It was on a lovely
day in June that we resolved to go and explore the ancient priory and
glorious church of old Burford. A very slow train sets you down at
Bampton, commonly called Bampton-in-the-Bush, though the forest which
gave rise to the name has long since given place to open fields.
There are many other curious names of this type in Gloucestershire and
the adjoining counties. Villages of the same name are often
distinguished from each other by these quaint descriptions of their
various situations. Thus:
Moreton-in-the-Marsh distinguishes from More-ton-on-Lug.
Bourton-on-the-Water distinguishes from Bourton-on-the-Hill.
Stow-on-the-Wold distinguishes from Stowe-Nine-Churches.
Then we find
Shipston-on-Stour and Shipton-under-Whichwood.
Hinton-on-the-Green and Hinton-in-the-Hedges.
Aston-under-Hill and Aston-under-Edge.
It may be noted in passing that the derivation of the word
"Moreton-in-the-Marsh" has ever been the subject of much controversy.
But the fact that the place is on the ancient trackway from Cirencester
to the north, and also that four counties meet here, is sufficient
reason for assigning Morton-hen-Mearc (=) "the place on the moor by the
old boundary" as the probable meaning of the name.
We were fortunate enough to secure an outside seat on the rickety old
"bus" which plies between Bampton and Burford, and were soon slowly
traversing the white limestone road, stopping every now and then to set
down a passenger or deposit a parcel at some clean-looking, stone-faced
cottage in the straggling old villages.
It was indeed a glorious morning for an expedition into the Cotswolds.
The six weeks' drought had just given place to cool, showery weather. A
light wind from the west breathed the fragrance of countless wild
flowers and sweet may blossom from the leafy hedges, and the scent of
roses and honeysuckle was wafted from every cottage garden. After a
month spent amid the languid air and depressing surroundings of London,
one felt glad at heart to experience once again the grand, pure air and
rural scenery of the Cotswold Hills.
What strikes one so forcibly about this part of England, after a sojourn
in some smoky town, is its extraordinary cleanliness.
There is no such thing as _dirt_ in a limestone country. The very mud
off the roads in rainy weather is not dirt at all, sticky though it
undoubtedly is. It consists almost entirely of lime, which, though it
burns all the varnish off your carriage if allowed to remain on it for a
few days, has nothing repulsive about its nature, like ordinary mud.
How pleasant, too, is the contrast between the quiet, peaceful country
life and the restless din and never-ceasing commotion of the "busy
haunts of men"! As we pass along through villages gay with flowers, we
converse freely with the driver of the 'bus, chiefly about fishing. The
great question which every one asks in this part of the world in the
first week in June is whether the may-fly is up. The lovely green-drake
generally appears on the Windrush about this time, and then for ten days
nobody thinks or talks about anything else. Who that has ever witnessed
a real may-fly "rise" on a chalk or limestone stream will deny that it
is one of the most beautiful and interesting sights in all creation?
Myriads of olive-coloured, transparent insects, almost as large as
butterflies, rising out of the water, and floating on wings as light as
gossamer, only to live but one short day; great trout, flopping and
rolling in all directions, forgetful of all the wiles of which they are
generally capable; and then, when the evening sun is declining, the
female fly may be seen hovering over the water, and dropping her eggs
time after time, until, having accomplished the only purpose for which
she has existed in the winged state, she falls lifeless into the stream.
But though these lovely insects live but twenty-four hours, and during
that short period undergo a transformation from the _sub-imago_ to the
_imago_ state, they exist as larvae in the bed of the river for quite
two years from the time the eggs are dropped. The season of 1896 was one
of the worst ever known on some may-fly rivers; probably the great frost
two winters back was the cause of failure. The intense cold is supposed
to have killed the larvae.
The Windrush trout are very large indeed; a five-pound fish is not at
all uncommon. The driver of the 'bus talked of monsters of eight pounds
having been taken near Burford, but we took this _cum grano salis_.
After a five-mile drive we suddenly see the picturesque old town below
us. Like most of the villages of the country, it lies in one of the
narrow valleys which intersect the hills, so that you do not get a view
of the houses until you arrive at the edge of the depression in which
they are built.
Having paid the modest shilling which represents the fare for the five
miles, we start off for the priory. There was no difficulty in finding
our way to it. In all the Cotswold villages and small towns the "big
house" stands out conspicuously among the old cottages and barns and
farmhouses, half hidden as it is by the dense foliage of giant elms and
beeches and chestnuts and ash; nor is Burford Priory an exception to the
rule, though its grounds are guarded by a wall of immense height on one
side. And then once more we get the view we have seen so often on
Cotswold; yet it never palls upon the senses, but thrills us with its
own mysterious charm. Who can ever get tired of the picture presented by
a gabled, mediaeval house set in a framework of stately trees, amid
whose leafy branches the rooks are cawing and chattering round their
ancestral nests, whilst down below the fertilising stream silently
fulfils its never-ceasing task, flowing onwards everlastingly, caring
nothing for the vicissitudes of our transitory life and the hopes and
fears that sway the hearts of successive generations of men?
There the old house stands "silent in the shade"; there are the "nursery
windows," but the "children's voices" no longer break the silence of the
still summer day. Everywhere--in the hall, in the smoking-room, where
the empty gun-cases still hang, and in "my lady's bower,"
"Sorrow and silence and sadness
Are hanging over all."
Until we arrived within a few yards of the front door we had almost
forgotten that the place was a ruin; for though the house is but an
empty shell, almost as hollow as a skull, the outer walls are
absolutely complete and undamaged. At one end is the beautiful old
chapel, built by "Speaker" Lenthall in the time of the Commonwealth.
There is an air of sanctity about this lovely white freestone temple
which no amount of neglect can eradicate. The roof, of fine stucco work,
has fallen in; the elder shrubs grow freely through the crevices in the
broken pavement under foot,--and yet you feel bound to remove your hat
as you enter, for "you are standing on holy ground."
"EXUE CALCEOS, NAM TERRA EST SANCTA."
Over the entrance stands boldly forth this solemn inscription, whilst
angels, wonderfully carved in white stone, watch and guard the sacred
precincts. At the north end of the chapel stands intact the altar, and,
strangely enough, the most perfectly preserved remnants of the whole
building are two white stone tablets plainly setting forth the Ten
Commandments. The sun, as we stood there, was pouring its rays through
the graceful mullioned windows, lighting up the delicate carving,--work
that is rendered more beautiful than ever by the "tender grace of a day
that is dead,"--whilst outside in the deserted garden the birds were
singing sweetly. The scene was sadly impressive; one felt as one does
when standing by the grave of some old friend. As we passed out of the
chapel we could not help reflecting on the hard-heartedness of men fifty
years ago, who could allow this consecrated place, beautiful and fair
as it still is, to fall gradually to the ground, nor attempt to put
forth a helping hand to save it ere it crumbles into dust. How
ungrateful it seems to those whose labour and hard, self-sacrificing
toil erected it two hundred and fifty years ago! Those men of whom
Ruskin wrote: "All else for which the builders sacrificed has passed
away; all their living interests and aims and achievements. We know not
for what they laboured, and we see no evidence of their reward. Victory,
wealth, authority, happiness, all have departed, though bought by many a
bitter sacrifice."
It should be mentioned, however, that Mr. R. Hurst is at the present
time engaged in a laudable endeavour to restore this chapel to its
original state. Inside the house the most noteworthy feature of interest
is a remarkably fine ornamental ceiling. Good judges inform us that the
ballroom ceiling at Burford Priory is one of the finest examples of old
work of the kind anywhere to be seen. The room itself is a very large
and well-proportioned one; the oak panels, which completely cover the
walls, still bear the marks of the famous portraits that once adorned
them. Charles I. and Henry Prince of Wales, by Cornelius Jansen; Queen
Henrietta Maria, by Vandyke; Sir Thomas More and his family, by Holbein;
Speaker Lenthall, the former owner of the house; and many other fine
pictures hung here in former times. The staircase is a fine broad
one, of oak.
But now let us leave the inside of the house, which _ought_ to be so
beautiful and bright, and _is_ so desolate and bare, for it is of no
great age, and let us call to mind the picture which Waller painted,
engravings of which used to adorn so many Oxford rooms: "The Empty
Saddle." For, standing in the neglected garden we may see the very
terrace and the angle of the house which were drawn so beautifully by
him. Then, as we stroll through the deserted grounds towards the
peaceful Windrush, where the great trout are still sucking down the poor
short-lived may-flies, let us try to recollect what manner of men used
to walk in these peaceful gardens in the old, stirring times.
Little or nothing is known of the monastery which doubtless existed
somewhere hereabouts prior to the dissolution in Henry VIII.'s reign.
Up to the Conquest the manor of Burford was held by Saxon noblemen. It
is mentioned in Doomsday Book as belonging to Earl Aubrey; but the first
notable man who held it was Hugh le Despencer. This man was one of
Edward II.'s favourites, and was ultimately hung, by the queen's
command, at the same time that Edward was committed to Kenilworth
Castle. Burford remained with his descendants till the reign of Henry
V., when it passed by marriage to a still more notable man, in the
person of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the "kingmaker." Space does
not allow us to romance on the part that this great warrior played in
the history of those times; Lord Lytton has done that for us in his
splendid book, "The Last of the Barons." Suffice it to say that he left
an undying fame to future generations, and fell in the Wars of the Roses
when fighting at the battle of Barnet against the very man he had set on
the throne. The almshouses he built for Burford are still to be seen
hard by the grand old church.
"For who lived king, but I could dig his grave?
And who durst smile, when Warwick bent his brow?
Lo, now my glory's smear'd in dust and blood!
My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,
Even now forsake me; and of all my lands,
Is nothing left me, but my body's length!"
3 _King Henry VI_., V. ii.
In the reign of Henry VIII. this manor, having lapsed to the Crown, was
granted to Edmund Harman, the royal surgeon. Then in later days Sir John
Fortescue, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth, got hold of
it, and eventually sold it to Sir Lawrence Tanfield, a great judge in
those times. The latter was buried "at twelve o'clock in the Night" in
the church of Burford; and there is a very handsome aisle there and an
immense monument to his memory. The Tanfield monument, though somewhat
ugly and grotesque, is a wonderful example of alabaster work. The cost
of erecting it and the labour bestowed must have been immense. It was
this knight who built the great house of which the present ruins form
part, and the date would probably be about 1600. But in 1808 nearly half
the original building is supposed to have been pulled down, and what was
allowed to remain, with the exception of the chapel, has been very
much altered.
It was in the time of Lucius Carey's (second Lord Falkland) ownership of
this manor that the place was in the zenith of its fame. This
accomplished man, whose father had married Chief Justice Tanfield's
only daughter, succeeded his grandfather in the year 1625. He gathered
together, either here or at Great Tew, a few miles away, half the
literary celebrities of the day. Ben Jonson, Cowley, and Chillingworth
all visited Falkland from time to time. Lucius Carey afterwards became
the ill-fated King Charles's Secretary of State, an office which he
conscientiously filled until his untimely death.
Falkland left little literary work behind him of any mark, yet of no
other man of those times may it be said that so great a reputation for
ability and character has been handed down to us. Novelists and authors
delight in dwelling on his good qualities. Even in this jubilee year of
1897 the author of "Sir Kenelm Digby" has written a book about the
Falklands. Whyte Melville, too, made him the hero of one of his novels,
describing him as a man in whose outward appearance there were no
indications of the intellectual superiority he enjoyed over his fellow
men. Indeed, as with Arthur Hallam in our own times, so it was with
Falkland in the mediaeval age. Neither left behind them any work of
their own by which future generations could realise their abilities and
almost godlike charm, yet each has earned a kind of immortality through
being honoured and sung by the pens of the greatest writers of his
respective age.
That great, though somewhat bombastic, historian, Lord Clarendon, tells
us that Falkland was "a person of such prodigious parts of learning and
knowledge, of that inimitable sweetness and delight in conversation, of
so flowing and obliging a humanity and goodness to mankind, and of that
primitive simplicity and integrity of life, that if there were no other
brand upon this odious and accursed Civil War than that single loss, it
must be most infamous and execrable to all posterity." From the same
authority we learn that although he was ever anxious for peace, yet he
was the bravest of the brave. At the battle of Newbury he put himself in
the first rank of Lord Byron's regiment, when he met his end through a
musket shot. "Thus," says Clarendon, "fell that incomparable young man,
in the four-and-thirtieth year of his age, having so much despatched the
true business of life that the eldest rarely attain to that immense
knowledge, and the youngest enter not into the world with more
innocency."
When it is remembered that Falkland was not a soldier at all, but a
learned scholar, whose natural proclivities were literature and the arts
of peace, his self-sacrifice and bravery cannot fail to call forth
admiration for the man, and we cannot but regret his untimely end.
King Charles was several times at Burford, for it was the scene of much
fighting in the Civil Wars.
It was in the year 1636 that Speaker Lenthall purchased Burford Priory.
He was a man of note in those troublous times, and even Cromwell seems
to have respected him; for, although the latter came down to the House
one day with a troop of musketeers, with the express intention of
turning the gallant Speaker out of his chair, and effected his object
amid the proverbial cries of "Make way for honester men!" yet we find
that within twelve months the crafty old gentleman had once more got
back again into the chair, and remained Speaker during the Protectorate
of Richard Cromwell. He declared on his deathbed that, although, like
Saul, he held the clothes of the murderers, yet that he never consented
to the death of the king, but was deceived by Cromwell and his agents.
The priory remained in the Lenthall family up to the year 1821. At the
present time it belongs to the Hurst family.
We have now briefly traced the history of the manor from the time of the
Conquest, and, doubtless, all the men whose names occur have spent a
good deal of time on this beautiful spot.
Alas that the garden should be but a wilderness! The carriage drive
consists of rich green turf. In a summer-house in the grounds John
Prior, Speaker Lenthall's faithful servant, was murdered in the year
1697. The Earl of Abercorn was accused of the murder, but was acquitted.
In addition to King Charles I., many other royal personages have visited
this place. Queen Elizabeth once visited the town, and came with
great pomp.
The Burgesses' Book has a note to the effect that in 1663 twenty-one
pounds was paid for three saddles presented to Charles II. and his
brother the Duke of York. Burford was celebrated for its saddles in
those days. It was a great racing centre, and both here and at Bibury
(ten miles off) flat racing was constantly attracting people from all
parts. Bibury was a sort of Newmarket in old days. Charles II. was at
Burford on three occasions at least.
It was in the year 1681 that the Newmarket spring meeting was
transferred to Bibury. Parliament was then sitting at Oxford, some
thirty miles away; so that the new rendezvous was more convenient than
the old. Nell Gwynne accompanied the king to the course. For a hundred
and fifty years the Bibury club held its meetings here. The oldest
racing club in England, it still flourishes, and will in future hold its
meetings near Salisbury.
In 1695 King William III. came to Burford in order to influence the
votes in the forthcoming parliamentary election. Macaulay tells us that
two of the famous saddles were presented to this monarch, and remarks
that one of the Burford saddlers was the best in Europe. William III.
slept that night at the priory. The famous "Nimrod," in his "Life of a
Sportsman," gives us a picture, by Alken, of Bibury racecourse, and
tells us how gay Burford was a hundred years ago:
"Those were Bibury's very best days. In addition to the presence of
George IV., then Prince of Wales, who was received by Lord Sherborne for
the race week at his seat in the neighbourhood, and who every day
appeared on the course as a private gentleman, there was a galaxy of
gentlemen jockeys, who alone rode at this meeting, which has never since
been equalled. Amongst them were the Duke of Dorset, who always rode for
the Prince; the late Mr. Delme-Radcliffe; the late Lords Charles
Somerset and Milsington; Lord Delamere, Sir Tatton Sykes, and many other
first-raters.
"I well remember the scenes at Burford and all the neighbouring towns
after the races were over. That at Burford 'beggars' description; for,
independently of the bustle occasioned by the accommodation necessary
for the club who were domiciled in the town, the concourse of persons of
all sorts and degrees was immense."
Old Mr. Peregrine told me the other day that during the race week the
shopkeepers at Bibury village used to let their bedrooms to the
visitors, and sleep on the shop board, while the rest of the family
slept underneath the counter.
* * * * *
Ah well! _Tempora mutantur!_ "Nimrod" and his "notables" are all gone.
"The knights' bones are dust,
And their good swords rust,
Their souls are with the saints, I trust."
And whereas up to fifty years ago Burford was a rich country town,
famous for the manufacture of paper, malt, and sailcloth--enriched, too,
by the constant passage of numerous coaches stopping on their way from
Oxford to Gloucester--it is now little more than a village--the
quietest, the cleanest, and the quaintest place in Oxfordshire. Perhaps
its citizens are to be envied rather than pitied:
"bene est cui deus obtulit
Parca, quod satis est, manu."
Let us go up to the top of the main street, and sit down on the ancient
oak bench high up on the hill, whence we can look down on the old-world
place and get a birdseye view of the quaint houses and the surrounding
country. And now we may exclaim with Ossian, "A tale of the times of
old! The deeds of days of other years!" For yonder, a mile away from the
town, the kings of Mercia and Wessex fought a desperate battle in the
year A.D. 685. Quite recently a tomb was found there containing a stone
coffin weighing nearly a ton. The bones of the warrior who fought and
died there were marvellously complete when disturbed in their
resting-place--in fact, the skeleton was a perfect one.
"Whose fame is in that dark green tomb? Four stones with their heads of
moss stand there. They mark the narrow house of death. Some chief of
fame is here! Raise the songs of old! Awake their memory in the
tomb." [4]
[Footnote 4: Ossian.]
Tradition has it that this was the body of a great Saxon chief,
Aethelhum, the mighty standard-bearer of the Mercian King Ethelbald. It
was in honour of this great warrior that the people of Burford carried a
standard emblazoned with a golden dragon through the old streets on
midsummer eve, annually, for nigh on a thousand years. We are told that
it was only during last century that the custom died out.
How beautiful are some of the old houses in the broad and stately High
Street!
The ancient building in the centre of the town is called the "Tolsey";
it must be more than four hundred years old. The name originated in the
custom of paying tolls due to the lord of the manor in the building.
There are some grand old iron chests here; one of these old boxes
contains many interesting charters and deeds, some of them bearing the
signatures of chancellors Morton, Stephen Gardiner, and Ellesmere. There
are letters from Elizabeth, and an order from the Privy Council with
Arlington's signature attached. "The stocks" used to stand on the north
side of this building, but have lately been removed. Then the houses
opposite the Tolsey are as beautiful as they possibly can be. They are
fifteenth century, and have oak verge-boards round their gables, carved
in very delicate tracery.
Another house has a wonderful cellar, filled with grandly carved
stonework, like the aisle of a church; this crypt is probably more than
five hundred years old. Perhaps this vaulted Gothic chamber is a remnant
of the old monastery, the site of which is not known. Close by is an
ancient building, now turned into an inn; and this also may have been
part of the dwelling-place of the monks of Burford. From the vaulted
cellar beneath the house, now occupied by Mr. Chandler, ran an
underground passage, evidently connected with some other building.
How sweetly pretty is the house at the foot of the bridge, as seen from
the High Street above! The following inscription stands out prominently
on the front:--
"SYMON WYSDOM ALDERMAN
THE FYRST FOUNDER OR THE SCHOLE
IN BURFORD GAVE THE TENEMENES
IN A.D. 1577."
The old almshouses on the green by the church have an inscription to
the effect that they were founded by Richard Earl of Warwick (the
kingmaker), in the year 1457. They were practically rebuilt about
seventy years ago; but remnants of beautiful Gothic architecture still
remain in the old stone belfry, and here and there a piece of tracery
has been preserved. In all parts of the town one suddenly alights upon
beautiful bits of carved stone--an Early English gateway in one street,
and lancet doorways to many a cottage in another. Oriel windows are also
plentiful. Behind the almshouses is a cottage with massive buttresses,
and everywhere broken pieces of quaint gargoyles, pinnacles, and other
remnants of Gothic workmanship are to be seen lying about on the walls
and in odd corners. A careful search would doubtless reveal many a fine
piece of tracery in the cottages and buildings. At some period, however,
vandalism has evidently been rampant. Happening to find our way into the
back premises of an ancient inn, we noticed that the coals were heaped
up against a wall of old oak panelling.
And now we come to the most beautiful piece of architecture in the
place--the magnificent old church. It is grandly situated close to the
banks of the Windrush, and is more like a cathedral than a village
church. The front of the porch is worked with figures representing our
Lord, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. John the Evangelist; but the heads
were unfortunately destroyed in the Civil Wars. Inside the porch the
rich fan-tracery, which rises from the pilasters on each side, is carved
with consummate skill.
Space does not allow us to dwell on the grandeur of the massive Norman
tower, the great doorway at the western entrance with its splendid
moulding, the quaint low arch leading from nave to chancel, and the
other specimens of Norman work to be seen in all parts of this
magnificent edifice. Nor can we do justice to the glorious nave, with
its roof of oak; nor the aisles and the chancel; nor the beautiful
Leggare chapel, with its oak screen, carved in its upper part in
fifteenth-century tracery, its faded frescoes and ancient altar tomb.
The glass of the upper portion of the great west window and the window
of St Thomas' chapel are indeed "labyrinths of twisted tracery and
starry light" such as would delight the fastidious taste of Ruskin.
Several pages might easily be written in describing the wonderful and
grotesque example of alabaster work known as the Tanfield tomb. The only
regret one feels on gazing at this grand old specimen of the toil of our
simple ancestors is that it is seldom visited save by the natives of
rural Burford, many of whom, alas! must realise but little the
exceptional beauty and stateliness of the lovely old church with which
they have been so familiar all their lives.
A few years ago Mr. Oman, Fellow of All Souls', Oxford, made a curious
discovery. Whilst going through some documents that had been for many
years in the hands of the last survivor of the ancient corporation, and
being one of the few men in England in a position to identify the
handwriting, he came across a deed or charter signed by "the great
kingmaker" himself; it was in the form of a letter, and had reference
to the gift of almshouses he made to Burford in 1457 A.D. The boldly
written "R.I. Warrewyck" at the end is the only signature of the
kingmaker's known to exist save the one at Belvoir. In this letter
prayers are besought for the founder and the Countess Anne his wife,
whilst attached to it is a seal with the arms of Neville, Montacute,
Despencer, and Beauchamp.
On the font in the church is a roughly chiselled name:
"ANTHONY SEDLEY. 1649. Prisner."
Not only prisoners, but even their _horses_, were shut up in these grand
old churches during the Civil Wars. This Anthony Sedley must have been
one of the three hundred and forty Levellers who were imprisoned here
in 1649.
The register has the following entry:--
"1649. Three soldiers shot to death in Burford Churchyard, buried May
17th."
Burford was the scene of a good deal of fighting during the Civil Wars.
On January 1st, 1642, in the dead of night, Sir John Byron's regiment
had a sharp encounter with two hundred dragoons of the Parliamentary
forces. A fierce struggle took place round the market cross, during
which Sir John Byron was wounded in the face with a poleaxe. Cromwell's
soldiers, however, were routed and driven out of the town.
In the parish register is the following entry :--
"1642. Robert Varney of Stowe, slain in Burford and buried January 1st.
"1642. Six soldiers slain in Burford, buried 2nd January.
"1642. William Junks slain with the shot of musket, buried January 10th.
"1642. A soldier hurt at Cirencester road was buried."
Many other entries of the same nature are to be seen in the parish
register.
The old market cross of Burford has indeed seen some strange things. Mr.
W.J. Monk, to whose "History of Burford" I am indebted for valuable
information, tells us that the penance enjoined on various citizens of
Burford for such crimes as buying a Bible in the year 1521 was as
follows:--
"Everyone to go upon a market day thrice about the market of Burford,
and then to stand up upon the highest steps of the cross there, a
quarter of an hour, with a faggot of wood upon his shoulder.
"Everyone also to beare a faggot of wood before the procession on a
certain Sunday at Burford from the Quire doore going out, to the quire
doore going in, and once to bear a faggot at the burning of a heretic.
"Also none of them to hide their mark [+] upon their cheek (branded
in)," etc., etc.
"In the event of refusal, they were to be given up to the civil
authorities to be burnt."
[Illustration: The Manor-House, Coln St. Aldwyns. 214.png]