wrote:—“On the earnest invitation of the Earl of Essex, I went with
him to his house at Cassioberie in Hartfordshire. It was on Sunday, but
going early from his house in the square of St. James’s, we arrived
by ten o’clock; this we thought too late to go to church, and we had
prayers in his chapell. The house is new, a plaine fabric built by
my friend Mr. Hugh May. There are divers faire and good roomes, and
excellent carving by Gibbons, especially the chimney-piece of ye
library. There is in the porch or entrance a painting by Verrio, of
‘Apollo and the Liberal Arts.’ One room parquetted with yew which
I lik’d well. Some of the chimney-mantles are of Irish marble,
brought by my lord from Ireland, when he was Lord-Lieutenant, and
not much inferior to Italian. The tympanum or gable at the front is
a _basso-relievo_ of Diana hunting, cut in Portland stone handsomely
enough. I did not approve of the middle dores being round, but when the
Hall is finished as design’d, it being an oval with a cupola, together
with the other wing, it will be a very noble palace. The library is
large, and very nobly finished, and all the books are richly bound
and gilded; but there are no MSS. except the parliament rolls and
journals, the transcribing and binding of which cost him, as he assured
me, £500. No man has been more industrious than this noble lord in
planting about his seat, adorned with walkes, ponds, and other rural
elegancies; but the soile is stonie, churlish, and uneven, nor is the
water neere enough to the house, though a very swift and cleare streame
run within a flight shot from it in the valley, which may be fitly
call’d Coldbrook, it being indeed excessive cold, yet producing fair
troutes. ‘Tis pitty the house was not situated to more advantage, but
it seems it was built just where the old one was, which, I believe, he
onlley meant to repaire; this leads men into irremediable errors, and
saves but a little. The land about it is exceedingly addicted to wood,
but the coldnesse of the place hinders the growth. Black cherry-trees
prosper even to considerable timber, some being 80 foote long; they
make alsoe very handsome avenues. There is a pretty oval at the end of
a faire walke, set about with treble rows of Spanish chesnut-trees. The
gardens are very rare, and cannot be otherwise, having so skilful an
artist to govern them as Mr. Cooke, who is, as to ye mechanick part,
not ignorant in mathematiks, and portends to astrologie. There is an
excellent collection of the choicest fruit.”
By the second Earl of Essex the gardens were altered and improved; and
it is said that those of the old mansion of the Morrisons which had
not been reconstructed by the first earl, were restored or rebuilt by
him. With the exception of these alterations and a few other occasional
repairs, the house remained as it was left by the first Earl of Essex,
until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the greater part
was again rebuilt by the late earl, from the designs of James Wyatt.
We now proceed to speak of the families of Morrison and Capel, to whom
Cassiobury has successively belonged.
William Morrison, or Morysine, in the reign of Henry VI. resided at
Chardwell, Yorkshire, and it was his grandson, Thomas Morrison, of
Chardwell, son of William Morrison by a daughter of Roger Leigh,
of Preston, who removed into Hertfordshire. He married a daughter
of Thomas Merry, of Hatfield, by whom he had a son, Sir Richard
Morrison, who, in 1537, succeeded Cardinal Pole in the prebend of
Yatsminster-Seconda in Salisbury Cathedral. In 1539 he was appointed
by Henry VIII. ambassador to Charles V., Emperor of Germany, in which
he was accompanied by Roger Ascham, and, in 1546, had a grant of the
manor of Cashiobury, and soon after commenced building there a mansion
of considerable size. Besides Cashiobury he had grants, and acquired
much property, in London, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Somersetshire.
Under Queen Mary and her persecutions Sir Richard was compelled to fly
from England, and died at Strasburg in 1556. He married Bridget Hussey,
daughter of Lord Hussey (who, after his death, married successively
Henry, second Earl of Rutland, and Francis, third Earl of Bedford),
by whom he had issue one son, Sir Charles Morrison, Knight, and three
daughters, Elizabeth, married first to Henry Norris, son of Lord
Norris, of Rycote, and secondly to Henry, second Earl of Lincoln;
Mary, married to Bartholomew Hales, of Chesterfield; and Jane Sibilla,
married, first to Edward, Lord Russell, and, second, to Arthur, Lord
Grey, of Wilton. Sir Charles Morrison, who was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth, and was a minor at the time of his father’s death, married
Dorothy, daughter of Nicholas Clarke, and widow of Henry Long, of
Shengie, and by her had issue a son, Sir Charles Morrison, and three
daughters, Bridgett, married to Robert, fifth Earl of Sussex, and
Elizabeth and Catherine, who died unmarried. This second Sir Charles,
who succeeded his father in 1599, and was then a minor, was created
a baronet by letters patent, June 29, 1611, and on the coronation
of Charles I. was installed a Knight of the Bath. He married Mary,
daughter and co-heiress of Baptist, Lord Hicks and Viscount Campden
(the lady afterwards married successively Sir John Cooper, Bart.,
and Sir Richard Alford, Knight), and by her had issue two sons, who
died young, and a daughter, Elizabeth Morrison, who thus became his
only heir. This lady, Elizabeth Morrison, married Arthur Capel, who,
by letters patent, dated August 6, 1641, was created Baron Capel, of
Hadham, and thus the large estates of the Morrisons, both at Cashiobury
and elsewhere, passed into the family of Capel, its present holders.
The arms of Morrison were, _or_, on a chief, _gules_, three chaplets of
the first. Crest, specially conferred on Sir Richard, in allusion to
his literary attainments, a Pegasus rising, _or_.
[Illustration: _From the Wood Walks._]
The noble family of Capel to whom Cassiobury, as has been stated,
passed by marriage with the heiress of Morrison, and to whom it
still belongs, is of considerable antiquity, and few families have
been enriched by so many scions of brilliant intellect. The family
appears to have been originally of Capel’s Moan, hear Stoke Neyland,
in Suffolk, and here, in 1261, resided Sir Richard de Capel, Lord
Justice of Ireland: in 1368, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward
III., left by will “to John de Capell, my chaplain, a girdle of gold,
to make a chalice in memory of my soul.” Later on another John Capel,
who died in 1441, left, by his wife, Joan, besides a son, John, a
second son, William Capel, who was a draper and citizen of London,
“and successively alderman, sheriff, representative of the city in
Parliament, and lord mayor, and had the honour of knighthood conferred
on him by Henry VII.” He was twice lord mayor, and several times M.P.
of the city. He died in 1515, and “was buried in a chapel founded by
himself on the south side of the church of St. Bartholomew, near the
Royal Exchange, London.” He also gave his name to Capel Court. He
married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Arundell, of Lanhorne, by
whom, besides two daughters, he had a son, Sir Giles Capel, Knight, who
succeeded him, and married, first, Mary, daughter of Richard Roos, son
of Lord Roos, and, secondly, Isabel, daughter of Sir Thomas Newton, by
whom he had issue a daughter, and two sons, Sir Henry and Sir Edward.
Sir Henry Capel married Anne, daughter of Lord Roos, and granddaughter
of the Duchess of Exeter, sister to King Edward IV.: he died without
surviving issue, and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Edward Capel,
whose wife was Anne, daughter of Sir William Pelham, ancestor of the
Dukes of Newcastle; he, dying in 1577, was succeeded by his eldest son.
Sir Henry Capel, Knight, who, by his second wife, Catherine, daughter
of Thomas, Earl of Rutland, had, besides several others, a son, Sir
Arthur Capel, Knight, who succeeded him, and was in turn succeeded by
his son, Sir Henry Capel. This gentleman, who, like many of his family,
had been Sheriff of Herts, married twice. By his first wife, Theodosia,
daughter of Sir Edward Montagne, he had issue, besides others, a son,
Arthur Capel, who was a minor at the time of his death.
Arthur Capel was born about the year 1614, and, both his parents dying
when he was young, he was brought up by his grandfather, Sir Arthur.
He espoused the royal cause in the troublous times of Charles I., and
became one of his most valued and zealous adherents. He was rewarded
with a peerage, being created Baron Capel of Hadham, the king in
desiring this reward having written to the Queen, “there is one that
doth not yet pretend, that deserves as well as any; I mean Capel;
therefore I desire thy assistance to find out something for him before
he ask.” After taking an active part in support and defence of the
king, Lord Capel was imprisoned in the Tower, and on the 9th of March,
1649, he was beheaded before the great gate of Westminster Hall. “His
body was buried at Little Hadham, with an inscription stating him to
have been murdered for his loyalty to King Charles I.; and his heart,
according to a wish he had expressed to Bishop Morley, was enclosed
in a silver cup and cover, to be eventually buried at the feet of the
master whom he had so zealously served. But no funeral rites being
performed to the memory of Charles I., the cup was kept in a press at
Hadham, where it was discovered in 1703, and its contents placed in the
family vault.” It was this Lord Capel who, before his elevation to the
peerage, had married Elizabeth Morrison, and so acquired Cassiobury
and the rest of the large possessions of the Morrison family. The
issue of this marriage was four sons and four daughters, viz., Arthur,
who succeeded his father; Sir Henry Capel, created Baron Capel of
Tewkesbury; Charles and Edward, who died unmarried; Mary, married,
first, to Lord Beauchamp, and, secondly, to Henry, Duke of Beaufort;
Elizabeth, married to the Earl of Carnarvon; Theodosia, wife of the
Earl of Clarendon; and Anne, of John Strangeways.
Arthur, second Baron Capel, was, in 1601, created Viscount Maiden and
Earl of Essex, and in 1670 was appointed ambassador to the court of
Denmark. He it was who, as has already been stated, rebuilt Cassiobury,
and formed its beautiful gardens. In 1683 his lordship was apprehended
at Cassiobury on a charge of being concerned in the famous “Rye House
Plot,” and was committed to the Tower, where he was, as is believed,
foully murdered, or at all events, where he was found dead with his
throat cut. The earl married Elizabeth, only daughter of Algernon
Percy, Earl of Northumberland, by whom he had six sons and two
daughters, most of whom dying young, he was at his death succeeded by
his fifth son, Algernon Capel.
[Illustration: _From the South West._]
Algernon, second Earl of Essex, was Gentleman of the Bed-chamber
to King William III., and held important offices under Queen Anne.
He married Mary, daughter of the Earl of Portland, by whom he had
issue two daughters and one son, William Capel, who succeeded him as
third Earl of Essex. This Earl married twice, and had, by his first
wife, Jane, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, four daughters; and
by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Bedford, four
daughters, and one son, by whom he was succeeded. This was—
William Anne Holles Capel, fourth Earl of Essex, one of the Lords of
the Bed-chamber to George II. and George III., and Lord-Lieutenant of
Hertfordshire. He married Frances, daughter of Sir Charles Hanbury
Williams, Bart., by whom he acquired the estate of Hampton Court,
Herefordshire, which was afterwards sold to Richard Arkwright, Esq.,
of Cromford, Derbyshire, and by her had issue two daughters, and
a son, George Capel, who succeeded him, in 1759, as fifth Earl of
Essex; and, secondly, Harriet, daughter of Colonel Thomas Bladen, by
whom he had issue five sons, viz., one who died young; John Thomas,
whose son succeeded to the title and estates as sixth Earl of Essex;
Lieut.-General Thomas Edward Capel; Hon. and Rev. William Robert Capel,
chaplain to the King; and Rear-Admiral the Hon. Bladen Thomas Capel.
His lordship died in 1799, and was succeeded by his son, George Capel,
who, having succeeded to the estates of his maternal grandmother,
assumed the name of Coningsby, and became George Capel-Coningsby, fifth
Earl of Essex, Viscount Malden, and sixth Baron Capel. His lordship
married twice, first, in 1786, Sarah, daughter of Henry Bazett, Esq.,
of St. Helena, and widow of Edward Stephenson, Esq.; and secondly,
in 1838, Catherine, daughter of Mr. E. Stephens, but had no issue by
either marriage. His lordship died in 1839, and was succeeded in his
title and estates by his nephew, Arthur Algernon Capel, the son of his
half-brother, the Hon. John Thomas Capel.
Arthur Algernon Capel, sixth Earl of Essex and Viscount Malden, and
seventh Baron Capel of Hadham, was born January 28th, 1803. In 1825 he
married the Lady Caroline Jeanetta Beauclerk, third daughter of the
eighth Duke of St. Albans, and by her, who died in 1862, had issue:
Arthur De Vere Capel, Viscount Malden, born 1826 (heir to the title
and estate, who married, in 1853, Emma Martha, daughter of Sir Henry
Meux, Bart., and has issue), the Hon. Adela Caroline Harriet Capel, now
deceased, married to the Earl of Eglintoun; the Hon. Reginald Algernon
Capel, married to Mary, daughter of John Nicholas Fazkerly, Esq., and
niece of the Earl of Rokeby; and the Hon. Randolph Capel. In 1863, his
lordship married, secondly, the Lady Louisa Caroline Elizabeth Boyle,
daughter of Viscountess Dungarvon, and sister to the Earl of Cork, and
by her has issue living, the Hon. Arthur Algernon Capel, born 1864,
and the Hon. Beatrice Mary, born 1870. His lordship is patron of the
livings of Watford, in Hertfordshire, Rayne, in Essex, and Shuttington,
in Warwickshire.
The arms of the Earl of Essex are—_Gules_, a lion rampant between
three cross-crosslets fitchée, _or_; crest, a demi-lion rampant
supporting a cross-crosslet fitchée, _or_; supporters, two lions, _or_,
ducally crowned, _gules_; motto, “Fide et Fortitudine.”
The park of Cassiobury embraces an area of nearly seven hundred acres,
of which more than three hundred and fifty are called “the Home Park,”
and about two hundred and fifty the “Upper Park;” they are separated
from each other by the river Gade, which flows between them. The
remainder of the ground is divided into woods, lawns, gardens, and all
the other elegancies of grounds around the house, the site of which is
also included in it. The parks are well wooded with majestic trees,
among which are a profusion of beech, oak, elm, and fir—some of the
latter resembling in their enormous size those of Norway. Several of
the beech-trees, too, are of gigantic size, some being said to cover an
area of ground nearly 150 feet in diameter.
[Illustration: _The Swiss Cottage._]
The present mansion was built from the designs of Mr. James Wyatt,
at that time the fashionable architect of Fonthill Abbey, of parts
of Windsor Castle, and other places: it is of that peculiar style of
Gothic architecture which characterizes most buildings erected by him.
The general plan is a square; the building surrounding a court-yard or
quadrangle, with a cloister on two of its sides; the entrance being
to the west, the chief room to the south, the private or family rooms
to the east, and the kitchen, servants’ offices, &c., to the north. A
porch screens the entrance-doorway, that opens into a narrow cloister,
on the right of which is a small vestibule and enclosed staircase.
Eastward of these is the great cloister, having five windows, partly of
stained glass, and its walls adorned with full-length family portraits
and other paintings.
[Illustration: _The Lodge._]
Branching off from the cloisters is the SALOON, placed between the
dining and drawing-rooms. “Its ceiling is adorned with the painting
Evelyn mentions as belonging to the hall of the old mansion, and to
have been the work of Verrio, the subject being composed chiefly of
allegorical figures—Painting, Sculpture, Music, and War. In this
apartment are two cabinets, containing numerous miniatures painted by
the Countess of Essex,” and many family and other portraits.
In the DINING-ROOM, which is a noble apartment, with wainscoted
walls, also hang several remarkably fine family and other portraits,
by Vandyke, Hoppner, and other painters; and several fine
pictures,—notably, “The Cat’s Paw,” by Landseer, and “The Highlander’s
Home,” by Wilkie.
The GRAND DRAWING-ROOM, which is filled with all the elegancies and
luxuries of the most refined taste, and with the choicest cabinets, is
adorned with paintings by Turner, Callcott, Collins, and others. These
are of the highest order—rare and beautiful examples of the great
English masters in art. Adjoining the drawing-room is the conservatory
cloister, which is entered both from it and from the library.
The LIBRARY, which occupies four rooms,—respectively known as the
Great Library, the Inner Library, the Dramatists’ Library, and the
Small Library,—is remarkably extensive; and contains, as such a
library ought, a rare collection of valuable books in every class of
literature. In these various rooms is preserved a fine collection of
family paintings; and here, too, will be seen some of Grinling Gibbon’s
matchless carvings, which are noticed by Evelyn as being there in
his day. Among the historical relics preserved in the Library is the
handkerchief which Lord Coningsby applied to the shoulder of King
William III., when that monarch was wounded, in 1690, at the battle
of the Boyne. It is stained with the blood of the king. There is also
here a piece of the velvet pall of Charles I., taken from the tomb at
Windsor, when it was opened in 1813, with a fragment of the Garter worn
by the king at his execution.
Like these, the other apartments at Cassiobury are filled with choice
paintings and with everything that good taste and a lavish hand can
suggest. The family portraits are, as might be expected, numerous,
and of the highest order of art, several are by Vandyke, Cornelius
Jansen, Sir Peter Lely, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and other famous artists.
Throughout the rooms are scattered admirable works by Rembrandt, Cuyp,
Teniers, &c., &c.
We have made but brief reference to the gardens and grounds, and
scarcely noticed the spacious and very beautiful Park. They are charms
that neither lofty descent nor large wealth could purchase—the
bequests only of Time. Centuries have passed since some of these
magnificent trees were planted. The house is best seen from one of the
high steeps on the opposite side of the river that runs through the
demesne; lines of venerable chestnuts border a greensward that extends
miles.
Here and there glimpses are caught of the mansion, made by distance
more picturesque than it is at a nearer range. In fact, there is at
Cassiobury the happy combination of grandeur and beauty, natural grace
in association with rich cultivation, that makes so many of the Stately
Homes of England the boast and glory of the country.
[Illustration: _In the Church at Watford._]
The family burial-place of the Morrison and Capel families of
Cassiobury is at Watford, where a fine monumental chapel exists in
the parish church. This chapel “contains sepulchral memorials to the
Morrison and Capel families, from that of Lady Morrison, wife of Sir
Richard Morrison, who directed the chapel to be built in 1595.” In
the centre is an altar-tomb, supported upon six pillars, of various
coloured marbles, on which rests the recumbent figure of “Lady Bridget,
Countess of Bedford”—the lady by whom the chapel was founded—and
daughter of Lord Hussey. She died in 1600.
On the south side “is a large and gorgeous monument to Sir Charles
Morrison the elder, whose effigy, in armour, in a reclining posture,
is placed under the canopy.” On either side of the tomb, in kneeling
positions upon pedestals, are figures of the son and daughter of Sir
Charles Morrison, and Bridget Morrison, Countess of Sussex. This work
was executed by Nicholas Stone, in 1619, who agreed with Sir Charles
to make “a tomb of alabaster and touchstone,” and whose entry in his
note-book as to price is very curious. He says he made it with “one
pictor of white marble for his father, and his own, and his sister, the
Countess of Sesex, as great as the life, of alabaster, for the which I
had well payed £260, and four pieces given to drinke.”
On the opposite side of the chapel is another large monument to the
second Sir Charles Morrison, designed and executed by the same “carver
and tomb-maker,” as he is termed in the contract, and for which he
agreed with the widow to receive £400. There are also several other
interesting monuments and monumental slabs; the chapel is hung with
banners and hatchments.
At this time, the church is undergoing thorough repair and restoration.
CHATSWORTH.
[Illustration: _Entrance to the Stables._]
CHATSWORTH, the “Palace of the Peak,” perhaps more than any other house
in England, merits its proud distinction as a “STATELY HOME.” Situated
in the most beautiful district of Derbyshire; possessing many natural
advantages within the circuit of its domain—of hill and valley, wood
and water, rugged rock and verdant plain, and rendered attractive by
every means the most poetic imagination could conceive and unbounded
wealth accomplish, it is foremost among the finest and most charming
seats in the kingdom; where the delights of natural beauty, aided
by Art, may be fully and freely enjoyed by all comers. Belonging to
his Grace the Duke of Devonshire—one of the most enlightened and
liberal-minded of our English aristocracy—Chatsworth, with its park
and grounds, is thrown open to “the people,” under such restrictions
only as are essentially necessary to its well-being and proper
conservation. Assuredly no mansion and grounds are more freely and
liberally made available to the public, while none are more worthy of
being visited. It will be our task, therefore, to endeavour to describe
several of its beauties and attractions, and to unfold and spread out
before our readers some of the rich treasures of Nature and of Art it
contains.
And, first, a few words on its geographical position and history.
Chatsworth lies in the parish of Edensor, in the hundred of High Peak,
in the county of Derby. It is three miles from the Midland Railway
Station at Rowsley (of which we have spoken in our account of Haddon
Hall, and which is the most convenient station for visitors from the
south), three-and-a-half miles from Bakewell (where there is a station
convenient for visitors from the north) two from Baslow, twenty-six
from Derby, ten from Matlock Bath, nine from Chesterfield, twelve from
Sheffield, fourteen from Buxton, thirty-seven from Manchester, and
about one hundred and fifty-four from London. The railway stations
from which Chatsworth is best reached are, as just stated, Rowsley
and Bakewell; the line from London and the south to the former
passing through Derby, Duffield, Belper, Ambergate (where the lines
from Sheffield, Leeds, York, and the north join in), Whatstandwell,
Cromford, Matlock Bath, Matlock Bridge, and Darley Dale; and to the
latter from Manchester and Buxton, passing Miller’s Dale, Monsal Dale,
Longstone, and Hassop.