Elizabeth ever resided at Hatfield, although she had previously been
much attached to the place, and had kept up Christmas revels and
Shrovetide and other festivities in a liberal manner. At one of these,
Sir Thomas Pope, her guardian, made “for the Ladie Elizabeth, alle
at his own costes, a greate and rich maskinge, in the great hall
at Hatfielde, where the pageauntes were marvelously furnished” with
“banket of sweete dishes,” “a suttletie in thirty spyce,” and wonderful
garnishings, but for which “folliries” Sir Thomas got “snubbed” by his
queen, who ordered these mummeries to cease.
[Illustration: _The Front View._]
James I., in the third year of his reign, exchanged Hatfield for the
house, manor, and park of Theobalds, with his minister, Sir Robert
Cecil, afterwards created Earl of Salisbury, whose descendant, the
Marquis of Salisbury, is the present owner, the estates passing in
regular succession from that time to the present day, and continuing to
be the principal residence of that noble family, about whom we now give
some details.
The family of Cecil is one of considerable antiquity, and many of its
members have distinguished themselves both in statesmanship, in the
field, and in the arena of literature. The greatness of the family was
laid by Sir William Cecil, the friend and adviser of Queen Elizabeth
before she came to the throne, and her first chief Secretary of State.
“This distinguished statesman,” says Sir Robert Naunton, “was the son
of a younger brother of the Cecills of Hertfordshire, a family of my
own knowledge, though now private, yet of no mean antiquity, who, being
exposed and sent to the city, as poor gentlemen used to do their sons,
became to be a rich man on London Bridge, and purchased (estates) in
Lincolnshire where this man was born.” First he became Secretary to
the Protector Somerset, and afterwards, on the accession of Elizabeth,
he was appointed Secretary of State. In 1561 he was made President of
the Court of Wards. His great talent and assiduity won for him much
regard at court, where he was treated with great favour. In 1571 he
was created Lord Burleigh, and continued to maintain his distinguished
position in the state till his death. He resided chiefly at Theobalds,
where he often had the honour of entertaining his sovereign, who was
“sene in as great royalty, and served as bountifully and magnificently,
as at anie other tyme or place, all at his lordship’s chardge,” &c. The
events in the life of this statesman are so closely associated with the
history of England itself in the stirring times in which he lived, that
they are too well known to need more than a passing notice. After being
mixed up in every affair of state from some time before the accession
of Elizabeth, having taken part in all the proceedings connected with
the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, and with his own hand drawn up her
death-warrant, and after having for forty years mainly directed the
councils of the “Virgin Queen,” Sir William Cecil, now Lord Burleigh,
died on the 4th of August, 1598, in the seventh-eighth year of his age,
to the great grief of Elizabeth, who is said to have wept bitter tears
at his death.
The eldest son of Lord Treasurer Burleigh succeeded him in his title,
which has since been augmented by the Earldom and Marquisate of Exeter;
while his youngest son, Sir Robert Cecil, inherited much of his
father’s talent and wisdom, “with a more subtle policy and a superior
capacity for state intrigue.” For certain secret services to James,
during the life of Elizabeth, he was raised by the king to the peerage.
In 1604 he was created Viscount Cranborne, and, in the year following,
he was made Earl of Salisbury. After filling the office of sole
Secretary of State, he succeeded, on the death of the Earl of Dorset,
to the high post of Lord Treasurer. “Shrewd, subtle, and penetrating,”
he discharged his duties with great ability, and while attending to
the interests of his country, forgot not his own, having, “by various
methods,” increased his inheritance to a very ample extent.
[Illustration: _The Garden Front of Hatfield House._]
After taking a prominent part in the affairs of state during
Elizabeth’s reign, he was the one who, on her death-bed, succeeded in
inducing her to name her successor. Cecil, who was then her Secretary,
approached her bed with the lord-keeper and the lord-admiral, and
begged the dying Queen to name her successor, when she started and
said, “I told you my seat had been the seat of kings; I will have no
_rascal_ to succeed me!”—when Cecil boldly asked her what she meant by
“no rascal?”—to which she replied, a king should succeed her, and who
could that be but her cousin of Scotland? and she begged to be no more
troubled. Nevertheless, some hours later Cecil again “besought her, if
she would have the King of Scots to succeed her, she would show a sign
unto them, whereat, suddenly heaving herself up in her bed, she held
both her hands joined together over her head in manner of a crown. Then
she sank down, fell into a doze, and at three o’clock in the morning
died in a stupor.” Five hours after her death, Cecil proclaimed James
of Scotland, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender
of the Faith, &c., and thus at once secured the country against
conflicting claimants to the crown. Soon afterwards he received the new
monarch at Theobalds, who a few days later rewarded him by important
offices, and by creating him Baron Cecil and afterwards Viscount
Cranborne and Earl of Salisbury. From the moment of James’s accession,
through all the troublous times of the gunpowder plot, and all the
matters relating to Lady Arabella Stuart, to Sir Walter Raleigh, and
others, down to 1612, Cecil’s was one of the most prominent names
in the kingdom. In that year “he died, worn out and wretched, at
Marlborough, on his way back to court.” In his last moments he said,
“Ease and pleasure quake to hear of death; but my life, full of cares
and miseries, desireth to be dissolved.” It was this nobleman who
exchanged his mansion of Theobalds, with the king, for Hatfield. On
his death, his title and estates descended to his only son, William
Cecil, who became second Earl of Salisbury; and, dying in 1688, was
succeeded by James Cecil, as third Earl of Salisbury. The fourth Earl
of Salisbury, also named James, died in 1694, and his great grandson,
James Cecil, the seventh Earl, was created Marquis of Salisbury by
George III., in 1789. This nobleman had succeeded his father in 1780.
He married the Lady Mary Amelia Hill, second daughter of the Marquis
of Downshire, by whom he had issue a son, who succeeded him, and two
daughters. He died in 1823, and was succeeded, as second Marquis of
Salisbury, by his only son, James Brownlow Williams Cecil, Viscount
Cranborne, who was born in 1791. His lordship married, first, in 1821,
Frances Mary Gascoigne, daughter and heiress of Bamber Gascoigne, Esq.,
and assumed the surname of Gascoigne-Cecil. By this marriage he had
issue three sons, Lord James Emilius William Evelyn Gascoigne-Cecil
(who died during the lifetime of his father), Lord Robert Arthur Talbot
Gascoigne-Cecil, the present Marquis, and Lord Eustace Brownlow Henry
Gascoigne-Cecil, M.P.; and two daughters, the Lady Mildred Arabella
Charlotte Henrietta, married to A. J. B. Beresford Hope, M.P., and
the Lady Blanche Mary Harriet, married to the late J. M. Balfour,
Esq. The marquis married secondly, in 1847, the Lady Mary Catherine
Sackville-West, daughter of Earl Delawarr, by whom he had issue three
sons and two daughters, Lords Sackville Arthur, Arthur, and Lionel; and
Ladies Mary Isabella (married to the Earl of Galloway), and Margaret
Elizabeth. His lordship died in 1868, and his widow, the Marchioness of
Salisbury, was re-married, in 1870, to the present Earl of Derby. He
was succeeded by his son, the present peer.
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne-Cecil, third Marquis and sixth Earl
of Salisbury, Viscount Cranborne, and Baron Cecil, Chancellor of
the University of Oxford, was born in 1830, was educated at Eton and
at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1850, M.A. and Fellow of All Souls’
College, 1853), and in 1853 was returned to parliament as M.P. for
Stamford, for which place he sat until, in 1868, he succeeded to the
title. In 1866-7 he held the office of Secretary of State for India,
and still holds many important local appointments. In 1857 his lordship
married Georgina, daughter of Sir Edward Hall Alderson, Baron of the
Court of Exchequer, by whom he has issue living four sons, viz., James
Edward Hubert, Viscount Cranborne, born 1861; Rupert William Ernest,
born 1863; Algernon Edward Robert, born 1864, and another born 1869;
and two daughters, Beatrix, born in 1858, and Gwendolen, born in 1860.
His lordship is patron of eight livings in Hertfordshire, Dorsetshire,
and Essex. The arms of the Marquis of Salisbury are quarterly, first
and fourth CECIL, viz., barry of ten, _argent_ and _azure_, over all
six escutcheons, three, two and one, _sable_, each charged with a lion
rampant, _argent_, a crescent, _gules_, for difference; second and
third GASCOIGNE, viz., _argent_, on a pale, _sable_, a conger’s head,
erased and erect, _or_, charged with an ermine spot. Crests, first, on
a wreath six arrows in saltire, _or_, barbed and feathered, _argent_,
banded, _gules_, buckled and garnished, _or_, surmounted by a morion or
steel cap, proper (Cecil); second, on a wreath a conger’s head erased
and erect, _or_, charged with an ermine spot (Gascoigne). Supporters,
two lions, ermine.
Hatfield House is of vast extent; it is of brick, with stone dressings.
It was built between the years 1605 and 1611 by Robert Cecil, first
Earl of Salisbury. After being suffered to fall into decay, it was
restored and beautified by the sixth earl, about the middle of the last
century.[38] In 1835, a great part of the west wing was destroyed by
fire (in which the Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury perished), little
being left of that part of the house besides the outer walls. On this
disaster occurring, occasion was taken to effect a general reparation
of the entire building. The house is built in the form of a half H,
comprising a centre and two wings, the hollow part being turned towards
the south. The centre is a magnificent example of the Palladian style,
and, although of mixed architecture, presents, in its totality, a
design of great richness and beauty.
[Illustration: _The East View._]
The basement-story contains an arcade with eight arches, divided
externally by pilasters, whereof the upper parts are fluted, and the
lower parts enriched with Elizabethan arabesques. The lower pilasters
are Doric, the upper Ionic. The wings are massive and comparatively
plain, supported at each corner by square turrets, seventy feet high
to the gilded vanes: the space between, comprising three stories, is
relieved by a fine oriel window of two stories. The centre tower, over
the grand entrance, is also seventy feet high; it has three stories
with coupled columns at the corners, the whole having an agreeable
pyramidal effect. The third story of the tower contains a clock, and
also the armorial bearings of the founder, with the date 1611, in which
year the present house was finished. The length of the southern front
is 300 feet, the centre being 140 feet, and each wing 80 feet wide,
with a projection from the centre of 100 feet.
The northern front is plain—a severe simplicity, nearly allied to
grandeur, being its chief characteristic; the centre compartment, with
its entrance-doorway below and noble clock-tower above, being the only
elaboration it contains.
The south front contains the principal entrance, and, from its symmetry
and ornate character, is, architecturally at least, the principal
one. The east front has, however, certain advantages, which go far
towards making it the most interesting, as it certainly is the most
picturesque. The view in that direction, whether from the house or
of it, is by far the most pleasing, as the founder well knew when he
caused the principal apartments to be placed on this side. The scene
from these rooms is of remarkable interest and variety; first there is
a noble terrace-walk, with enriched parapet, over which the eye wanders
at will among the clustering flowers of the Elizabethan garden, and
from thence to the maze, beyond which is the park, with its fine sheet
of water surrounded by noble old trees.
Entering the mansion the visitor is admitted into a spacious HALL
which leads to the GALLERY, in which are preserved many interesting
relics of former days. Among these are the saddle-cloth on which “good
Queen Bess” sat on her white charger at Tilbury Fort, and another
saddle-cloth used by the first Earl of Salisbury, the celebrated Sir
Robert Cecil; a large collection of arms, many of which were taken from
the “invincible Armada” of the Spaniards; and a number of models and
other interesting objects. It contains also several effigies of men in
armour, one of which is given in our initial letter.
The GRAND STAIRCASE is one of the most magnificent parts of this
palatial residence. It occupies, in plan, a space of 35 by 21 feet,
and comprises flights with five landings. “The balusters are massive,
and carved in the Italian form; above the handrail are represented
genii, armorial lions, &c., and here is a hatch-gate, probably to keep
the favourite dogs from ascending to the drawing-rooms. The upper
division of the ceiling is enriched by a very beautiful pendant in
the Florentine style,” relieved by gold and silver and colour. On the
walls are hung a series of family portraits of the Cecils by Lely,
Kneller, Vandyke, Zucchero, Reynolds, and others. At the foot of
the staircase is the DINING-ROOM, panelled throughout with oak, and
having an enriched ceiling. Over the door is a marble bust of Lord
Burleigh. Near this are the breakfast, summer, drawing, and other
rooms, all of which are fitted and furnished in a style of sumptuous
magnificence, and contain a vast number of very valuable paintings.
Among the pictures contained in this noble mansion are no fewer than
five original portraits of Queen Elizabeth, including the celebrated
large one by Zucchero; and many portraits, &c., which were the private
property of that sovereign.
[Illustration: _The Gallery._]
The GREAT HALL, or MARBLE HALL, is 50 feet by 30 feet, and is extremely
lofty. It is lit by an oriel window at the upper or daïs end, and
by three bay windows; and is panelled with oak and lined with fine
old tapestry. A carved screen, with an open gallery, decorated with
armorial bearings, badges, &c., is at the east end, and the ceiling,
which is coved and divided into compartments, is decorated with the
heads of the Cæsars. Here are deposited two banners presented to the
late marquis by the Duke of Wellington—part of the “spoil” of Paris in
1814: here are also two other banners taken in the Crimea.
[Illustration: _The Hall._]
The Staircase leads, almost direct, to KING JAMES’S ROOM, or the GREAT
CHAMBER, one of the noblest apartments of the house, the extreme
magnificence of which it is not easy to describe; in truth, it is too
rich, and the eye turns involuntarily to the grand oriel windows for
relief. The ceiling is of exquisite design, and was till recently plain
white; now it is all gold and colours. The chimney-piece is massive, of
white marble; and a central niche over the fire contains a life-size
statue of James I. in dark stone. The fire-dogs are of silver; the
furniture and the six chandeliers are gilt; the curtains are of white
satin; the chair and sofa coverings are crimson velvet; and the carpet,
“patent Axminster,” is of Elizabethan design, worked in brown, gold,
scarlet, and blue. This room, which is very large, contains some of the
most important pictures, including Reynolds’s portraits of George III.
and Queen Charlotte.
The GALLERY extends the whole length of the south front; it is about
60 feet long and 20 feet wide. The ceiling is of remarkable beauty,
and of the finest examples of a period that was most prolific in such
designs. The walls are panelled with oak, and are profusely carved.
The LIBRARY, of equal dimensions with King James’s Room, is enriched
over the chimney-piece with a fine mosaic portrait of the first Earl
of Salisbury—1608. The collection of books and MSS. is of extreme
interest and value. Here, among other treasures, are preserved “the
forty-two articles of Edward VI., with his autograph;” Cardinal
Wolsey’s instructions to the ambassador sent to the Pope by Henry
VIII., with Wolsey’s autograph; and a pedigree of Queen Elizabeth,
emblazoned, tracing her ancestry to Adam. The state papers in the
collection extend through the successive administrations of Lord
Burleigh and his son, the first Earl of Salisbury, and include
documents which came into Lord Burleigh’s hands through his connection
with the court. Here are no fewer than 13,000 letters, from the reign
of Henry VIII. to that of James I. Among the earlier MSS. are copies
of William of Malmesbury’s and Roger de Hoveden’s English History;
a splendid MS., with miniature of Henry VII.; another, with the
autograph of Henry VI.; a treatise on Councils, by Archbishop Cranmer;
the original depositions touching the divorce of Anne of Cleves; the
proclamation of Edward VI. on ascending the throne; the original
council-book of Queen Mary I.; historical MSS. by Lord Burleigh;
the Duke of Norfolk’s book of copies of his letters on the affairs
of Mary Queen of Scots; accounts of the Earl of Northumberland’s
conspiracies, and the actual draft, in the handwriting of Sir Robert
Cecil, of the proclamation declaring James of Scotland King of England,
as well as the papers relating to the gunpowder plot, and to the
Raleigh conspiracy, &c. Here are also many autograph letters of Queen
Elizabeth, and the famous Cecil papers, “the oak cradle of Queen
Elizabeth, the pair of silk stockings presented to her by Sir Thomas
Gresham, and the purse of James I.”
The CHAPEL is a remarkably fine and interesting room, with a
richly-painted window, and a gallery decorated with paintings of
scriptural subjects.
The Park and grounds are full of fine trees, which from many points
offer beautiful pictures, more particularly when seen in combination
with the house or garden-terraces. Among the grand old trees in the
park are the “Lion Oak,” nearly 60 feet in girth, and a thousand years
old; and “Queen Elizabeth’s Oak,” under which she is said to have been
sitting when she received the news of her accession to the throne. The
Gardens and Vineyard are remarkably beautiful and interesting. The
latter, which is entered through an avenue of yew trees forming a
picturesque wall on either side, and cut so as to give the appearance
of walls and towers, with loopholes and battlements, is immortalised by
Pepys.
The Privy Garden, on the west side of the mansion, is enclosed within
a high and closely-cut hedge, with a close walk or avenue all around
it. In each of the four angles stood a mulberry tree, said to have been
planted by King James I., and in the centre is a pond surrounded by
rock-work.
The three pairs of splendid entrance-gates, of French metal work, and
of the most elaborate and artistic character, were put up by the late
Marquis of Salisbury in 1846, when Hatfield House was honoured by the
presence of her Majesty and the Prince Consort.
The town of Hatfield presents few objects of antiquity; it stands
on the side of a hill, on the height of which are the gates of the
mansion. Close at hand is the parish church, a structure with little
pretence to architectural beauty.
We may not omit to mention that at the termination of the grounds runs
the clear and beautiful river Lee—here of considerable depth. There is
no bridge to cross to the other side, where are the kitchen gardens of
the house, but a ferry-boat is always at hand.
On a steep above the river is the yew-tree walk—a series of pathways
bordered by the venerable trees, dwarfed generally, but producing a
most agreeable effect.
In all respects, therefore, Hatfield House is largely gifted by Nature
as well as Art.
CASSIOBURY.
CASSIOBURY, or Cashiobury, as it is sometimes spelt, lies about a mile
distant from Watford, in Hertfordshire. It is, therefore, within easy
distance—sixteen miles—from London, and may be considered as one
of the breathing places of denizens of the Metropolis. The name of
Cassiobury is said, and with reason to be derived from the Casii, a
tribe of the Britons who occupied the district, and whose stronghold,
Verulamium, lies only a few miles away. The Casii were, at the time
of the landing of Julius Cæsar, commanded by Cassivelanus, under whom
they fought many battles with the invaders. The hundred is still called
the hundred of Cassio, and the affix of _bury_ evidently signifies an
assemblage of dwellings surrounded by walls, or a burgh or borough.
“Being as its name implies, the only _bury_ within the manor of Cassio
during the Saxon era, it might have been either the seat of justice
for the hundred (for the name _bury_ will admit of this construction),
or an occasional retreat of some of the British princes residing at
Verulamium, of whom Cassivelanus was one,” and by some writers it is
stated to have been “the actual seat or home of Cassivelanus.”
Under the Saxons the manor of Cassio was, it has been stated, among the
numerous possessions of Offa with which he endowed the Abbey of St.
Albans, and it remained attached to that abbey until the dissolution of
the religious houses by Henry VIII. In Domesday Book it is stated that
“the Abbot of St. Albans holds Cassiou; it answers for twenty hides; of
these the abbot holds nineteen. There is land for twenty-two ploughs.
Six hides are in demesne, and there are five ploughs, and a sixth
may yet be made. Three foreigners and thirty-six villeins with eight
bordars have there fifteen ploughs, and one may yet be made. There
are, moreover, three bordars and two bondmen, and four mills of 26_s._
8_d._ Meadow for twenty-two ploughs. Pasture for the cattle. Pannage
for 1,000 hogs. Its whole value is £28; when received £24; and in King
Edward’s time £30. St. Alban held and holds this manor in demesne.”
In the twelfth century the revenue duties payable from Cassio to the
abbey were, at Christmas 2_s._ and twenty-four hens; at Easter, 2_s._
and 600 eggs; and on St. Alban’s day, 2_s._ and twenty-four cheeses.
By Henry I. the whole liberty of Cassio was formally made over to the
abbey. In 1546, after the dissolution of the monasteries, “the lordship
or manor of Cayshobury” and other places was granted to Sir Richard
Morrison, Knight, in consideration of certain property in Yorkshire
and Worcestershire, and of the sum of £176 17_s._ 6_d._ in money; to
hold the same by the service of the tenth part of a knight, and paying
for the same yearly £5 12_s._ 6½_d._ Soon after this, Sir Richard
commenced the erection of “a fayre and large house, situated upon a dry
hill not far from a pleasant river in a fayre park, and had prepared
materials for the finishing thereof; but before the same could be half
built, he was forced to fly beyond the seas.” The mansion was completed
by his son, Sir Charles Morrison, who died in 1599. On the marriage of
Elizabeth Morrison, the only surviving child of Sir Richard’s grandson,
the property passed to her husband, Arthur Capel, created Baron Capel
of Hadham in 1641, from whom the present possessor, the Earl of Essex,
is lineally descended. Baron Capel appears to have resided more at
Hadham than at Cassiobury, but his son, Arthur Capel, created Viscount
Malden and Earl of Essex in 1661, after residing there for a time, took
up his residence at Cassiobury, the greater part of which he is said to
have rebuilt—indeed, it is said that the whole of the mansion, with
the exception of the north-west wing, was rebuilt by him, employing for
the house May, the architect, and for the laying out of his gardens
Moses Cooke—who in 1675 published a volume on fruit-trees—and, it is
also said, Le Notre, and Rose, his head-gardener at Essex House, in the
Strand.
[Illustration: _Back View._]