Edgcumbe, wife of George, first Baron and Earl of that title—is
charmingly situated in one of the most lovely of the dells of this
domain, surrounded by soft grassy turf, and overhung by lofty trees;
the cottage itself is completely embosomed in creeping plants, and
has a rustic verandah exquisitely decorated with fir-cones and other
natural productions, so disposed as to give considerable richness to
the effect of the building. The little valley in which it stands,
hollowed out with great regularity by Nature, and sloping gently down
towards the sea, is one of the sweetest spots on the whole estate. The
footway winds round the upper part of the valley, and at the head of
the dell is a spacious alcove composed of Gothic fragments, called the
“Ruined Chapel,” from which a glorious view is obtained.
In the grounds the most famous points for the attraction of visitors
are “Thomson’s Seat;” the “Temple of Milton;” a recess called the
“Amphitheatre;” a charming alcove, the “White Seat,” which commands
a splendid prospect; “the Arch,” which overlooks the Sound; and the
“zig-zag walks,” which lead down along the cliffs and through the
woods, and are the favourite resorts of visitors.
[Illustration: _The Mansion._]
The gardens are three in number, and called respectively the “Italian,”
the “French,” and the “English” gardens, in each of which the special
characteristics of planting and arrangement of those countries are
carried out—the conservatories, fountains, orangeries, terraces, etc.,
being, in each instance, built in accordance with the tastes of the
three kingdoms.
Indeed, it is difficult to convey an idea of the grandeur, beauty,
and interest of the views from every portion of the Park; they are
perpetually varied as the eye turns from sea to shore, and from shore
to sea; each one of them enhanced by ships at anchor or in full sail;
while boats of all forms and sizes are continually passing to and fro.
One of the most prominent objects from the park is Drake’s Island; an
island in mid-channel between Plymouth and Mount Edgcumbe; it appears
on the map, however, as St. Nicholas Island, its original name, but it
has, in later times, been occasionally called Drake’s Island, after
the great admiral, Sir Francis Drake—one of the many sea-heroes of
whom Plymouth is justly proud. This island is connected with the shore
at Mount Edgcumbe by a submarine ridge of rocks, called the “Bridge,”
which renders the passage, on that side, dangerous to ships of even
moderate burthen. On the island was formerly an ancient chapel,
dedicated to St. Michael, which was converted in the fifteenth century
into a bulwark. The island contains about three acres of land, and is
strongly fortified.
We turn our backs on the Breakwater and distant Eddystone, to mark the
steamer passing under the most remarkable effort of engineering skill
in England—one of the legacies of Brunel—the “Albert Bridge” that
crosses the Tamar from Devonshire into Cornwall; and long to visit
(which we may easily do, for steam-boats run daily up it in summer)
the beautiful river Tamar and its grand tributary, the Tavy. A drive
of a mile, and before us is a continuation of the promontory, still
charming; and a little farther on, but across the river Lynher—and
adjacent to the ancient borough of St. Germans, with its venerable
church, once the cathedral of the See of Cornwall—is Port Eliot, the
residence of the noble family of Eliot, Earls of St. Germans. In a
word, a hundred points of deep and exciting interest, picturesquely
beautiful and historically interesting, may be seen and “taken note
of,” from the several points to which a drive through the Park conducts.
We give an engraving of the mansion. Parts of it are as old as the
reign of Henry VIII., but its outward signs of remote age are few; it
seems built for comfort; it is thoroughly a domestic house; the rooms
are neither large, lofty, nor stately; but all of them are made to live
in—so many parts of a home. We may except the Great Hall, however;
that is “grand.” There is a minstrels’ gallery, and it is often used
for music. The house is square in general form, and originally had
a circular tower at each angle; these, however, have been rebuilt
of an octagonal form, and additions have been carried in different
directions. The front faces down a grassy slope to the sea at Cremill,
and thus a charming prospect is always before its windows; the rooms
are full of family and historic portraits: some of them by the great
old masters, many by Sir Joshua Reynolds, “dear Knight of Plympton,”
while ten or twelve Vanderveldes grace the several apartments. Of
these some are stated to have been painted by the artist, Vandervelde
himself, at Mount Edgcumbe. Of one, which formed the subject of
correspondence between Sir Richard Edgcumbe and the artist, the
original and amended sketches hang beside the picture. The portraits
by Sir Joshua Reynolds are of individuals of three generations, and
those by Lely are in his best style. Among the national pictures are
full-length and other portraits of Charles I., Charles II., James II.,
Prince Rupert, William III., the Duke of Monmouth, and others.
It is needless to add that delicious views are obtained from the
windows of all the leading chambers, not only on the upper but on
the ground floors, as well as from the several terraces by which the
dwelling is, on all sides, environed—occupying as it does an elevation
on the side of one of the hill slopes.
Before we visit COTHELE—the other mansion of the Mount-Edgcumbes—we
give some account of the ancient and long-honoured family, who have
been their lords for many hundred years.
The family of Edgcumbe, or Edgcomb, is one of the most ancient and
venerable in the county of Devon, the name being derived from their
original possession of Eggescomb, Egecomb, or Edgcombe (now called
Lower Edgcumbe), in the parish of Milton Abbots, in that county. From
this family and this place, the noble family of the Earls of Mount
Edgcumbe is descended as a younger branch.
In 1292 Richard Edgcumbe was Lord of Edgcumbe, in Milton Abbots, and
he was direct ancestor, both of the present representative of the main
line, who is twentieth in direct lineal descent, and of the present
ennobled family, as well as of the branches settled in Kent and
elsewhere.
In the reign of Edward III., William de Eggescombe, or Edgcombe, second
son of the House of Edgcumbe, having married Hilaria, sole daughter and
heiress of William de Cothele, of Cothele, or Coteel, in the parish
of Calstock, in Cornwall, a fine old Cornish family, became possessed
of Cothele and the other estates, and removed into Cornwall. Here, at
Cothele, he and his descendants resided for several generations.
Richard Edgcumbe, great grandson of William de Edgcumbe and Hilaria
de Cothele, is said to have built the greater part of the grand
old residence of Cothele as it remains at the present day: of this
singular mansion we shall furnish some details. At Bosworth Richard
Edgcumbe received the honour of knighthood from his victorious
leader, Henry VII., was made comptroller of his household, and one
of his Privy Council, and had the castle and lordship of Totnes, in
Devonshire—forfeited to the crown on the attainder of John Lord Zouch
for high treason—conferred upon him by that monarch, with many other
honours and dignities, and large extents of land, including those of
Sir Henry Bodrugan, who had likewise been attainted for high treason.
He also held, as he had previously done, the offices of Recorder, and
Constable of the castle of Launceston, and Constable of Hertford, &c.
In 1488 Sir Richard was sent into Ireland, as Lord Deputy, by his royal
master, to take the oaths of allegiance of the Irish people, embarking
at Mounts Bay in the _Anne of Fowey_, and attended by other ships,
and a retinue of five hundred men. He died in 1489, at Morlaix, while
holding the appointment of ambassador to France. He married Joan,
daughter of Thomas Tremaine of Collacombe, by whom he had issue.
[Illustration: _Lady Emma’s Cottage._]
Of Sir Richard Edgcumbe, Fuller tells a romantic story. He says he was
“memorable in his generation for being zealous in the cause of Henry,
Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry VII. He was, in the time of
Richard III., so hotly pursued, and narrowly searched for, that he
was forced to hide himself in his wood, at his house, in Cuttail, in
Cornwall. Here extremity taught him a suddain policy, to put a stone
in his capp and tumble the same into the water, whilst these rangers
were fast at his heels, who, looking down after the noise, and seeing
the cap swimming therein, supposed that hee had desperately drowned
himself, and deluded by this honest fraud, gave over their further
pursuit, leaving him at liberty to shift over into Brittany. Nor was
his gratitude less than his ingenuity, who, in remembranse of his
delivery, after his return built a chappel (which still remains) in
the plase where he lurked, and lived in great repute with prince and
people.” After thus cleverly misleading his pursuers, Richard Edgcumbe
crossed the Channel in a small ship, to the Earl of Richmond, in
Brittany, with whom he afterwards returned to England, and was engaged
in the battle of Bosworth Field, in Leicestershire, where King Richard
was killed.
[Illustration: _In the Gardens._]
His son, Piers Edgcumbe, was Sheriff of the county of Devon, 9th, 10th,
and 13th Henry VII. and 2nd Henry VIII. “At the creation of Prince
Arthur he was one of the twenty individuals who were made Knights of
the Cross of St. Andrew.” He, with others, was “appointed to review
and array all men at arms, archers, and others, who were to accompany
Sir Thomas D’Arcy in his expedition against the Moors and infidels.”
He was one of the expedition into France, 5th Henry VIII., and for
his distinguished gallantry at the sieges of Tournay and Thurovenne,
and at the battle of Spurs, he was created a knight-banneret. Sir
Piers Edgcumbe was married twice: first to the daughter and heiress
of Stephen Durnford, by his wife the heiress of Rame; and, second, to
Katherine, daughter of Sir John St. John, and widow of Sir Griffith
Ap Rys, by whom he had no issue. By the first of these marriages,
Sir Piers Edgcumbe acquired the manors and estates of the Durnfords,
including that of West Stonehouse (now Mount Edgcumbe). He had issue
by her, three sons, Richard, John, and James, and three daughters,
Elizabeth, Jane, and Agnes (or Anne). Sir Piers Edgcumbe died in 1539,
and was succeeded as heir by his eldest son, Richard Edgcumbe, who was
knighted in 1536.
This Sir Richard Edgcumbe built the present family mansion, on a
part of the estate which his father had acquired by marriage with
the heiress of the Durnfords (who had inherited it from the ancient
family of Stonehouse or Stenhouse), and gave to it the name of “Mount
Edgcumbe.” He was Sheriff of Devon 35th Henry VIII. and 1st Queen
Mary. He married first a daughter of Sir John Arundel, by whom he had
no issue; and, second, Winifred Essex, and by her had, besides other
issue, a son, Piers, or Peter, who succeeded him. Sir Richard Edgcumbe,
who kept up a fine establishment, and at one time entertained at Mount
Edgcumbe the English, Spanish, and Netherlands admirals, died in 1561.
Piers (or Peter) Edgcumbe, who was member of Parliament, and was also
Sheriff of Devon 9th Elizabeth, married Margaret, daughter of Sir
Andrew Lutterell, by whom he had five sons and four daughters, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Richard.
Piers Edgcumbe died in 1607, and on his tomb his honours are thus set
forth:—
“Lief Tenant to my Queen long Time
And often for my Shire and Knighte;
My merit did to Creddit clime,
Still bidinge in my Callinge righte;
By Loyalty my faith was tryede,
Peacefull I liv’d, hopeful I diede.”
His son, Sir Richard Edgcumbe, knighted by James I., was member of
Parliament for Totnes, for Grampound, and for Bossiney; he married
Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Coteele, or Cottle, of
London, and by her, who died eighteen years before him, had issue, two
sons, Piers and Richard, by the eldest of whom, Piers Edgcumbe, he was
succeeded. This gentleman distinguished himself by his devotion to the
royal cause; he “was a master of languages and sciences, a lover of the
king and church, which he endeavoured to support in the time of the
civil wars to the utmost of his power and fortune.” Sir Alexander Carew
and Major Scawen, for holding connection with Piers Edgcumbe, who held
a colonel’s commission in the king’s army, were beheaded. He married
Mary, daughter of Sir John Glanvil, and died in 1660, being succeeded
by his eldest son, Sir Richard Edgcumbe, who had been knighted during
his father’s lifetime. He was also a member of Parliament. He married
Anne Montague, daughter of Edward, Earl of Sandwich, by whom he had
issue two sons, Piers, who died young and unmarried, and Richard; and
six daughters. He died in 1688.
To this time, for several generations, it will have been noticed, the
inheritors of the estate alternated, in name, between Piers (or Peter)
and Richard. This succession of name was now broken by the death of
Piers, the eldest son.
Richard Edgcumbe, soon after coming of age, was chosen M.P. for
Cornwall, and continued to sit for various places until 1742. In 1716
and 1720 he was one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and
in 1724 was Vice-Treasurer, and Paymaster of the Taxes, &c. In 1742
he was created BARON EDGCUMBE of Mount Edgcumbe, and was afterwards
made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, one of the Privy Council,
and Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall. His lordship, by his wife Matilda,
daughter of Sir Henry Furnese, had issue, three sons, Richard, Henry
(who died an infant), and George; he died in 1758, and was succeeded
in his title and estates by his eldest son, Richard, second Baron
Edgcumbe, member of Parliament for various places, one of the Lords of
the Admiralty, and afterwards appointed Comptroller of his Majesty’s
Household. He was a man of great talent, and is thus spoken of by
Horace Walpole in his “Royal and Noble Authors:”—“His lordship’s skill
as a draughtsman is said to have been such as might entitle him to
a place in the ‘Anecdotes of English Painting,’ ‘while the ease and
harmony of his poetic compositions give him an authorised introduction
here.’ ... ‘a man of fine parts, great knowledge, and original wit,
who possessed a light and easy vein of poetry; who was calculated by
nature to serve the public, and to charm society; but who unhappily
was a man of pleasure, and left his gay associates a most affecting
example how health, fame, ambition, and everything that may be laudable
in principle or practice, are drawn into and absorbed by that most
destructive of all whirlpools—gaming.’”
[Illustration: _The Ruin, the Sound, Drake’s Island, &c._]
His lordship, dying unmarried in 1761, was succeeded by his brother
George as third baron. This nobleman, who had sat in several
parliaments, and held various public offices (among them the
Lord-Lieutenancy of Cornwall), and was Vice-Admiral of the Blue,
married Emma, only daughter and heiress of John Gilbert, Archbishop of
York, by whom he had issue an only son, who succeeded him. His lordship
was, on the 17th February, 1781, created in addition to his title of
Baron Edgcumbe, _Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort_; and in 1789 he
was further advanced to the dignity of an earl, by the title of _Earl
of Mount Edgcumbe_. Dying in 1795, he was succeeded by his only son,
Richard, as second earl.
[Illustration: _The Salute Battery._]
This nobleman, who also held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of
Cornwall, married Lady Sophia Hobart, daughter of John, second Earl of
Buckinghamshire, and by her had issue, two sons, Ernest Augustus, and
George, and two daughters. His lordship died in 1839, and was succeeded
by his eldest son, Ernest Augustus, as third earl, who (born in 1797)
was Aide-de-Camp to the Queen and Colonel of the Cornwall militia.
He married, in 1831, Caroline Augusta, daughter of Rear-Admiral
Charles Feilding, who still survives him, and is an extra Lady of the
Bed-chamber to the Queen. By her his lordship had issue two sons: viz.,
William Henry and Charles Ernest, and two daughters, of whom Ernestine
Emma Horatia is still living. The earl died in 1861, and was succeeded
by his eldest son as fourth earl.
The present nobleman, William Henry Edgcumbe, fourth Earl of Mount
Edgcumbe, Viscount Mount Edgcumbe and Valletort, and Baron Edgcumbe
of Mount Edgcumbe, the noble owner of Mount Edgcumbe and of the large
estates concentrated in the family, was born in 1832. He was educated
at Harrow, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he became B.A. in 1856,
and sat as M.P. for the borough of Plymouth from 1859 to 1861, when,
by the death of his father, he entered the Upper House. His lordship
is an extra Lord of the Bed-chamber to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales; is
Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd battalion and Captain Commandant of the
16th corps of Devon Rifle Volunteers; is a Special Deputy Warden of the
Stannaries, &c., &c. He married in 1858 the Lady Katherine Elizabeth
Hamilton, fourth daughter of the first Duke of Abercorn, and has by her
issue one son, Piers Alexander Hamilton Edgcumbe Viscount Valletort
(born 1865), and three daughters, Victoria Frederica Caroline, born
1859, Albertha Louisa Florence, born 1861, and Edith Hilaria, born
1862. His lordship is patron of five livings; viz., Dittisham and
Beer Ferrers, in Devonshire; and Landrake, Rame, and Millbrook, in
Cornwall. The arms of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe are—_gules_, on a
bend _ermines_, cottised, _or_, three boars’ heads, _argent_. Crest—a
boar, statant, _argent_, gorged with a leaf of oak, _vert_, fructed,
_or_. Supporters—two greyhounds, _argent_, gutté de poix, and gorged
with a collar, dovetailed, _gules_.
From the ancient mansion at Mount Edgcumbe we proceed to that which is
still older and more venerable—
COTHELE.—It is difficult to imagine a house continuing—and but
little changed—to be inhabited by the same family, or, indeed,
inhabited at all, during a period approaching three centuries; yet
that is the case with Cothele, pride of the beautiful river Tamar, and
one of the “gems” of Cornwall;[14] its gigantic oaks, and chestnuts
are obviously so old; but it is requisite to examine the exterior,
and especially the interior, to obtain conviction that the mansion
dates from the reign of the seventh Henry; while its present lord is
the lineal representative of the knight who built it—Sir Richard
Edgcumbe—whose house it is we see, nearly as he left it:[15] but,
also, we may examine the armour he wore, for it still hangs in this
hall; the table at which he feasted (the worm of time only has touched
it); the chairs on which he and his dame sat, the very bed on which
they slept, while the tapestry, woven by fair hands that have been
dust for three centuries, still cover the old walls. Charles I.
certainly slept in one of these rooms, and it demands no great stretch
of imagination to believe that the illustrious Sir Walter Raleigh was
often its honoured guest. We may have been seated in the very chair
in which the great knight recounted his adventurous exploits against
the hated Spaniards under his cousin’s roof-tree. Memories haunt every
room; every hole and corner, so to speak, has a tale to tell of the
long past.
The house is one of the finest remaining examples of the period to
which it belongs, and, with Haddon Hall, in Derbyshire, which it
closely resembles in general plan and in some of its details, is one
of the best existing specimens of mediæval domestic architecture in
England. Although, doubtless, the greater part of the building was
erected by Sir Richard Edgcumbe, it is evident that the whole was
not built by him, but that he added to, and enlarged the then family
residence of the Cotheles, many portions of which exist at the present
time.[16] The buildings surround two court-yards, or quadrangles, the
entrance being surmounted by an embattled tower; the main buildings and
large tower are also embattled.
The banqueting-hall is a noble apartment, 42 feet long by 22 feet wide.
It has a remarkably fine timber roof, with intersecting arches in its
compartments. At the upper end, to the left, the lord’s table stood
beneath the bayed window, and opposite to it a doorway leads to the
principal staircase. At the bottom of the hall are three doorways, one
of which led to the great kitchen, and the other two to the buttery and
the cellar. On the walls are suits of armour, helmets, breastplates,
warders’ horns, gauntlets, matchlocks, cross-bows, shields,
battle-axes, halberts, pikes, swords, pistols, gisarmes, petronels, and
two-handed swords and spears that may have been
“Bathed in gore
On the plains of Azincourt.”
In the windows are the royal arms, the arms and impalements of
Edgcumbe, Cothele, Holland, Tremaine, Trenchard, Durnford, Rame,
Cotterell, Raleigh (for Sir Walter Raleigh’s grandmother was Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Richard Edgcumbe of Cothele), Trevanion (Sir William
Trevanion married another daughter of Sir Richard Edgcumbe, and fought
by his side at Bosworth Field, and accompanied him in his pursuit of
the mutual enemy, Sir Henry Bodrugan), Carew, of Anthony (of the family
of Carew the historian), St. Maur, Courtenay, Bigbury, Fitzwalter, &c.
The dining-room is a charming tapestried apartment, with mullioned
windows and a fine old fire-place. The tapestry is highly interesting,
one of the subjects being the story of Eurydice, another Diana and
Apollo, and the others rural scenes, equestrian figures, &c.
Adjoining the dining-room is an ante-room of surpassing interest. “The
tapestry in this room represents the Sciences, and might be called the
school of Athens, from the similarity of the subject to the celebrated
picture of Raphael.” In this room, as in others, has been collected
together a fine assemblage of old earthenware and other interesting
matters relating to the life of the inmates in times of old.
The chapel, which is in the corner of the court-yard, contains a pretty
open-work oak screen, and an arched roof at the intersections of
which are carved bosses. The bowl of the original font is preserved.
In the east window, in stained glass, are considerable portions of
full-length figures, probably of saints, but the names do not appear,
while in the upper light is represented the Annunciation. The angel is
red with green wings, and on a label, in black letter, the words “Ave
Maria gracia plena, D̄ns tecum.” The Virgin is on the other side, near
a building resembling a church, with a label also, on which once was
“Ecce ancilla D̄ni; fiat ̄mi s̄cdm verbū-tuū.” In the lower compartment
of the window will be noticed three shields of arms: the first being
Edgcumbe, quartering Tremaine (or Trenchard); the second, first, and
fourth Edgcumbe, second Holland, third Tremaine, impaling first and
fourth Durnford, second Fitzwalter, and third, now blank but probably
originally containing Bigbury; and the third which contained Edgcumbe
and several quarterings, much injured. In the south window are two
female saints, St. Ann and St. Katherine. “An ancient altar-piece has
the date 1589, and in the centre the adoration of the Magi; while on
one door is the portrait of a man with ‘æt suæ 38,’ and on the other
of a female, with ‘æt suæ 28,’ and on each door a shield with _or_, an
arrow, _sable_.” The chapel is entered from the dining-room as well as
from the court-yard and domestic offices. It has a small bell turret.