Anguish, married Mary Betts, by whom he had issue two sons—the
Rev. Thomas and Edmund—and two daughters, Mary and Dorothy. The
Rev. Thomas Anguish, who was of Halesworth, married Mary Eling,
of Beccles, and, dying in 1763, was succeeded by his son, Thomas
Anguish, Accountant-General to the Court of Chancery; who, marrying
Sarah Henley, of Docking, had issue by her three sons—Thomas, the
Rev. George, and Charles—and three daughters, Catherine, Anne, and
Charlotte. The eldest of the sons, Thomas Anguish, it was who inherited
the estates of Somerleyton on the death of his kinsman, Sir Thomas
Allin, Bart., when the title became extinct. This Thomas Anguish died
unmarried in 1810, and was succeeded by his brother, the Rev. George
Anguish, from whom, in 1843 (when the line became extinct), the estates
passed to the son of his sister, Catherine Anguish, who, in 1788, had
married Francis Godolphin-Osborne, fifth Duke of Leeds, she being his
second wife. By this union she had issue Lord Sidney Godolphin-Osborne
and Lady Anne Sarah Godolphin, married to John Whyte-Melville, Esq.
Their son, Captain Whyte-Melville, is the distinguished author of many
works of fiction. The arms of Anguish were—_gules_, a cinquefoil,
pierced, _or_; the crest—a snake coiled, encircled with grass; and the
motto—“Latet anguis in herbâ.”
[Illustration: _The West Front._]
The Somerleyton estate, having come by descent to Lord Sidney
Godolphin-Osborne, was sold by him, in 1844, to Samuel Morton Peto,
Esq., the extensive “contractor,” who had become the purchaser of the
Norwich and Lowestoft ship canal, and to whose enterprise Lowestoft
owes its railway, its pier, its harbour, &c. By Samuel Morton Peto the
old mansion was entirely rearranged, extended, and altered; and by him
also was the church, in a measure, rebuilt, and the village entirely
remodelled, at a large outlay.
We should neglect an essential part of our duty if we omitted to do
tender homage to that most enterprising and liberal gentleman. He
“created” Somerleyton, so to speak, made it the grand and beautiful
edifice it now is, formed its grounds, constructed and ornamented its
delicious winter garden, hung the rooms with pictures, and filled
the library with useful and pleasant books. Unhappily, circumstances
prevented his enjoying them. Fortune, ever capricious, consigned it
to other hands; the rich contractor had to sustain a reverse, and
the “earthly paradise” passed from his hands into those of another.
Happily, however, that other was the well-known late Sir Francis
Crossley, who became the owner of the property, by purchase, in 1862.
Sir Francis Crossley had no pedigree to trace; his father was a
self-made man, and he a self-made millionaire. His father was a
journeyman carpet-weaver; his mother, herself a farmer’s daughter, was
a farm servant. The mother lived to a ripe old age; the father to start
the now famous firm of Crossley and Sons, and see it in a fair way to
success. The humble origin of Sir Francis Crossley was a matter which
he loved unostentatiously to trace. “Many years after the marriage,”
he related on one occasion, “my father and mother took Dean Clough
Mills. As my mother went with her usual energy to that place, down the
yard at four o’clock in the morning, she made a vow—‘If the Lord does
bless us at this place, the poor shall taste of it.’ It is to this
vow, given with so much faithfulness, and kept with so much fidelity,
that I attribute the great success my father had in business.” Sir
Francis Crossley’s benefactions were large. To the town of Halifax,
in 1857, he gave the People’s Park, at a cost of about £40,000. About
1861 there was commenced the erection of the Crossley Orphan Home
and School on Skircoat Moor, which was built and endowed by Messrs.
John, Francis, and Joseph Crossley, at a cost of £65,000. The building
has accommodation for four hundred children. It was provided by the
Messrs. Crossley with an endowment of £3,000 a year, but this sum has
been increased from other sources. In 1871 he gave £10,000 to the
Corporation of Halifax as a loan fund for the benefit of deserving
inhabitants. Out of this fund men may borrow to the extent of £300, and
women to the extent of £100, at 2½ per cent., on certain conditions,
one being that £10 of the principal shall be paid back annually. Then
he gave £10,000 to the Congregational Pastors’ Retiring Fund; £10,000
to a fund for the relief of widows of Congregational pastors; and
£20,000 to the London Missionary Society—making a total within a short
time of £60,000. He was a member of the Independent body, but he was a
liberal contributor to every good cause. Sir Francis was born in 1817,
and from 1852 to 1859 sat as M.P. for Halifax; from 1859 to 1865 for
the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1865 to 1868 for the North-west
Riding; and from the latter year until 1872 for the north division of
the West Riding of the same county; having thus sat in Parliament for
an unbroken period of twenty years. He married, in 1845, Martha Eliza,
daughter of the late Henry Brinton, Esq., of Kidderminster, by whom
he left issue an only surviving child, the present Sir Savile Brinton
Crossley. Sir Francis was created a baronet in 1863.
[Illustration: _North-east View._]
The present baronet, and owner of the immense estates and wealth of Sir
Francis, is his son, Sir Savile Brinton Crossley, who was born in 1857,
and succeeded to the title in 1872.
The arms of Crossley are—_gules_, a chevron indented, _ermine_,
between two cross-crosslets in chief, and a saltire couped in base,
_or_. Crest—a demi-hind erased, _proper_, charged with two bars, _or_,
and holding between the feet a cross-crosslet, _or_. Motto—“Omne bonum
ab alto.” The family seats are Somerleyton, near Lowestoft, in Suffolk,
and Belle Vue, Halifax, Yorkshire.
The old hall of Somerleyton was one of the finest of the old brick
mansions remaining, and possessed many interesting features. Fuller,
the quaint old writer whose words are so often quoted, ranked it among
the best of the many fine houses of the county of Suffolk, and says
that it well deserved the name of Somerleyton, for here summer is to be
seen in the depth of winter—the grounds being planted with evergreens,
and the pleasant walks beset on both sides with fir-trees, green all
the year round, besides other curiosities.
The Park, about two hundred acres in extent, is rich in beauty, and
includes a deer park. Two miles from the house, in the direction of
Yarmouth, there is a drive through ornamental grounds, and a “decoy”
on a splendid sheet of water three miles long, and a quarter of a mile
in breadth, called Fritton Lake. It abounds with a variety of fish,
and is the resort of widgeons, ducks, teal, grebes, and other wild
fowl during the season, which begins in October and ends in April.
Vast quantities are taken yearly. The banks of this fine sheet of
water are fringed with wood, and two or three gentlemen’s houses and
pleasure-grounds add interest to the scenery. The lake separates the
parishes of Fritton, Herringfleet, Belton, Lound, and Ashby; and in the
Herringfleet woods, belonging to Major Leathes, there is a heronry. The
owner of Somerleyton, to whom belongs a large portion of the lake, has
a beautiful drive on one side of it, extending for nearly two miles,
winding through plantations comprising choice specimens of pines,
&c., with occasional peeps of the lake on one side, and heath and
woods on the other. The lake—such is its natural and yet cultivated
beauty—might be a bit of the lovely shire of Devon planted among the
bare plains of Suffolk. It is zig-zag in form; tiny peninsulas jut
into it, clothed with graceful firs and thick underwood, among which
tall ferns luxuriate; the steeps have gradual ascents from the banks;
closely planted trees of many varieties completely cover them; and it
is only now and then that glimpses are caught of the water.
[Illustration: _In the Winter Garden. Spanish Dancers, Hautmann._]
The lake is close and compact, and on no side does there seem any
opening, only footpaths lead to it from the adjacent roads. Its
solitary character—out of the way of passing intruders—and its
thickness of composition, render it a favourite shelter of wild fowl.
They do not, however, enjoy solitude in security. Man is always astir
in search of prey: three “decoys” are active at all seasons to entrap
the unsuspicious and unwary. One of them was in operation during our
visit. Domestic ducks were sailing in and out of a narrow passage,
quacking and playing and feeding, to show their wild cousins outside
that no danger was near. Two or three bolder than the rest summoned
courage to enter, and very soon were in the net-trap that furnished the
bag of the gamekeeper.
This charming scene of mingled wood and water adds materially to the
attractions of the locality; and here Art has been brought to the aid
of Nature.
[Illustration: _In the Winter Garden. Statue, Hautmann._]
Passing in at the North Lodge, visitors are generally conducted
through the kitchen and fruit gardens, the vineries, hothouses, and
conservatories, to a sloping lawn facing the Winter Garden and north
front of the house, from which point a charming scene presents itself.
“Before us,” says a recent writer, “in a setting of old forest trees,
cedars, aged thorns, clumps of azaleas, and rhododendrons, rises, as
if evoked by a magician’s wand, a range of fantastic palaces of glass,
their many sheeny domes and pinnacles sparkling like diamond facets in
the noonday sun, and their contours and traceried outlines of graceful
arabesques backed and thrown into relief by the deep red brick-work of
the towers, gables, and campaniles of the hall.”
[Illustration: _In the Winter Garden. Statue of Hymen, Byrtrom._]
On the left is an aviary of gold and silver pheasants, screening a part
of the offices. The area covered by the Winter Garden is one hundred
feet square. Within the decorations are Renaissance, of a light and
elegant character. Four main alleys converge under the great mosque
dome, beneath which is a fountain supported on a rockery of ferns by
four dolphins, and surmounted by a marble statue of the “Nymph of the
Lily.”
[Illustration: _In the Winter Garden. Nymph at her Toilet, Haudmauer._]
From the central alley numerous aisles diverge to an outer one,
circumscribing the building. The roof is supported by light iron
columns covered with fuchsias and beautiful creepers, with wire baskets
of flowers suspended overhead. Parterres of rare exotics, and large
majolica vases filled with flowers, occupy the grand space. At the
corners and in other parts are life-sized statues: mirrors and other
appliances add to the beauty of the whole. The south side opens to the
Billiard, Morning, and Withdrawing Rooms. Aviaries of singing-birds are
placed at intervals throughout the garden, and in the corridor leading
to the Palm-house are a fern-grotto and fountain. The whole, it should
be specially noted, may be lit with gas.
From the Winter Garden the visitor is shown the Italian Garden,
opposite the west front. This front of the house opens upon a noble
terrace, three hundred feet in length, enriched with statuary, vases,
&c., from which three flights of steps lead down to the Dutch Garden,
laid out in geometrical form by Nesfield, in the same general manner
as that by him at Castle Howard, which we have heretofore described.
In the centre of this parterre is a noble sundial, and from this
point, looking to the south, a view is obtained of the grand avenue
of fine old lime-trees, four hundred and fifty yards in length, at
the termination of which the Church of Somerleyton is seen. Near to
this avenue, in which are some fine sculptured figures and groups and
other objects, is a double avenue of elm-trees. In this garden will
be especially noticed two admirably sculptured figures of “Night” and
“Morning,” by the late John Thomas, an artist of eminence and great
ability, whose advice is understood to have greatly guided Sir Morton
Peto in the adornment of the beautiful house; he may, indeed, be
described as “the architect.” There is also (but on the other side of
the Winter Garden) a drinking-fountain, created by a statue, the work
of Joseph Durham, A.R.A., of a milkmaid, her pail at her feet, in an
attitude that implies outlook for the kine.
The West Front, one hundred and fifty feet in length, is composed of a
central tower and two wings, with large bay windows. The entrance is by
a porch in the central tower.
The Corridor, lined with wainscot, leads to a finely panelled Hall,
from which a staircase ascends to the upper suites of apartments. The
Hall is hung with arms and curious and valuable armour, one suit of
which, of remarkably fine design and the most exquisite workmanship,
is inlaid with gold, and bears a German motto, and the date 1652. Over
the massive chimney-piece the wall is decorated by Maclise’s large
oil-painting of “Chivalry.” It contains also other valuable works
of Art; among them a fine picture of deer by Sir Edwin Landseer, in
his best manner and his best time. In the stained-glass windows are
the arms of some of the successive owners of Somerleyton—Allin,
Anguish, Godolphin-Osborne, Peto, Crossley, &c. On the landing is a
portrait-picture of George and Robert Stephenson, and in the passage
from the Staircase to the Boudoir are “Edward the Confessor leaving his
Crown to Harold,” and “Harold’s Oath to William, Duke of Normandy,”
pictures of great merit by John Cross. There is also in the Hall a
grand colossal statue of Æneas. In the outer Hall—placed on a very
graceful pedestal—is a marble statue of a boy who has been gathering
shells by the seashore; it is a portrait-statue of the present baronet,
and is one of the charming works of Joseph Durham, A.R.A.
The Dining-hall, which is two stories in height, has a rich carved
polychrome ceiling in compartments, and cornices of oak, with gilt
reliefs, and clusters of fruit and wreaths of flowers. It has a huge
pyramidal chimney-piece, supported by two full-length caryatides,
“Summer” and “Winter,” by John Thomas. The ceiling is carried on
brackets supported by heads of the roebuck, wild boar, &c. In the
stained-glass windows are medallion-portraits of Newton, Watt, Chaucer,
Shakspere, Wren, and Reynolds, surmounted by allegorical figures of the
liberal sciences. On either side the fire-place are _chefs-d’œuvre_
of Stanfield fitted into panels, and above these are frescoes by
Maclise and Horsley. The furniture is massive and appropriate, and a
fine minstrel’s gallery adds much to the beauty of the room. In this
gallery is a fine mechanical orchestral organ. The two paintings by
Stanfield are, we believe, the largest in size of his productions,
and undoubtedly his best works. They are so well known as to need no
description here: one is the Storming of St. Sebastian, the other
the dismantled _Victory_ towed into Gibraltar after the battle of
Trafalgar. These are monuments to the memory of one of the greatest
painters of any age. In this most beautiful room also hang a “St.
Simeon,” by Guido, and a large and very fine example of G. Lance: it is
called “The Seneschal,” and is certainly the best work of this artist.
The Breakfast-room, a charming apartment filled with choice objects,
commands a view down one of the avenues; in it are the “Italian
Peasants,” by Armitage, landscapes by Constable, a fruit-piece by Hunt,
&c.
The Library has a beautiful ceiling, and is fitted with carved
book-cases, containing editions of all modern authors. In the extensive
collection few works of merit and interest are omitted. Over the
chimney-piece, with its motto, “Learn to live, live to learn,” is
Rembrandt’s grand picture of “Ferdinand and Isabella;” and there are
also portraits of Milton and Shakspere, the latter a “life” portrait
from Stowe.
The old Drawing-room is wainscoted throughout, and the cornices,
door-heads, and mirror-frame are exquisitely and elaborately carved
with game, and groups and festoons of fruit and flowers, attributed
to Gibbons. In the upper lights of tho windows, of modern insertion,
landscapes are introduced.
The Drawing-room, Billiard-room, and other apartments are all of equal
elegance, and all filled with costly furniture and choice works of Art,
among which are paintings by Beverley, Lance, Solomon, Mole, and others.
In the upper rooms of the house—not, of course, shown to visitors—is
preserved the ancient tapestry which adorned the walls of the old
mansion; and here, too, are many gems of Art, including examples of
Wright of Derby, Wilson, Bright, and others; with Manuel’s “Voyage
Subjects,” twenty-two in number. The subjects of the tapestry are
as follows:—In the Tapestry-room, the “Story of Lucretia;” in the
Dressing-room, portions of a very large tapestry, “The Passage of the
Red Sea,” “Moses striking the Rock,” &c. The “Story of Lucretia” is in
five panels, very beautifully wrought, obviously from the designs of an
accomplished artist. There are also pictures of great worth in some of
these rooms; notably a portrait by Holbein of his mother, a series of
charming drawings by Henry Bright, and several fine proof engravings
of great pictures. Many of the pieces of furniture were purchased at
Stowe, and are of great rarity and worth—brilliant examples of Art of
a past but honoured age.
The Business-room is a finely groined apartment, hung with rich old
tapestry, and contains, among other works of Art, three pictures by
Herring, one attributed to Rubens, and some good examples of the old
Dutch masters.
The Stables (flanked by a clock-tower of much elegance) lie to the
right of the main entrance; they are models of architectural beauty,
and are, of course, fitted up with all the modern appliances of comfort
and convenience.
In the Church of Somerleyton are preserved the old rood-screen,
containing sixteen painted panels of saints, and some of the monuments
from the older edifice. Among these are memorials to Admiral Sir
Thomas Allin, to Sir John Wentworth and his lady, and to Sir Thomas
Jernegan—an altar-tomb, on which, according to Weever and Camden,
there was formerly the inscription—
“Jesu Christ, both God and Man,
Save thy servant Jernegan.”
On the front of the tomb are three, and at each end one, lozenge-formed
panels, in each of which is a quatrefoil with trefoiled cusps. In the
centre of each is a shield of arms. On the top of the tomb are places
where brasses have at one time been fixed. Among the arms are Appleyard
impaled with Jernegan. This tomb has been much impaired by time. It is
now, however, carefully preserved.
Another slab bears the inscription, “Margaret Jernegan, the wyef of
Edward Jernegan, Esquyer, daughter of Sir Edmund Bedingfelde, Knt.,
which Margaret dyed the xxiiij of Marche, anno MDIII.”
The monument to Sir John Wentworth and his lady bears figures of the
knight in armour, with the peaked beard of the times, and the lady
habited in a plain dress; an escutcheon has the arms of Wentworth,
_azure_, a saltire, _ermine_, between four eagles displayed, _or_;
impaling Soame, _gules_, a chevron between three mullets, _or_,
quartered with, second, _azure_, two bars gemelles and a canton, _or_,
charged with a tun, and, third, _gules_, six annulets, _or_.
The memorial to Sir Thomas Allin is a tablet bearing the following
inscription:—“Near this place lies interred Sir Thomas Allin, Bart.,
whose unshaken fidelity to his sovereign, Charles ye 2nd, was rewarded
with many marks of his royal favour, having had the honour of serving
him as Admiral in his fleets, in the British and Mediterranean Seas;
Controller of the Navy, Captain of Sandgate Castle, and Master of the
Trinity House. He died in 1686 in ye 73 year of his age.”
The Church is seen from many parts of the grounds of Somerleyton
Hall—always a pleasant object in the landscape—through a grand avenue
of elms: a wood-walk footpath leads to it from the house. A fine piece
of the park forms a portion of the glebe. The Church is dedicated to
St. Mary. A singular and interesting octangular font (in some parts
recut), with an inscription, now illegible, is one of its few remains
of antiquity.
There is also a small modern Chapel at a little distance from the
house, where service is held on Sundays. It was originally erected
as a Baptist chapel by Sir Morton Peto. Close to it is a Maze of
dwarf yews, kept with exceeding nicety: in the centre is a graceful
temple, from the seats of which views are obtained of the gardens and
conservatories.
The Conservatories are of great extent, divided into “houses” for
all the rarer plants, with vineries, pine-pits, and all the other
accessories of abundance at every season of the year.
[Illustration: _Somerleyton Church._]
The principal entrance to the mansion is through iron gates, the stone
piers, supporting deer _couchant_, sculptured by John Thomas. This view
we have engraved on page 207: it is at once graceful and commanding.
Somerleyton is a magnificent house, but it was erected with a view to
comfort as well as elegance; all the rooms, both above and below, are
so constructed as to suggest the idea of home; the “appliances and
means” of wealth have been judiciously exerted to promote the rational
enjoyment of life; ease has not been sacrificed to state; and grandeur
has been less studied than content. The house is splendid, and yet
homely; there is none of the burden of magnificence either in the
mansion or the grounds, while ostentation seems as far removed from
the lofty and munificently furnished apartments as from those which
ornament a simple cottage dwelling.
Its perfect architectural details, its noble conservatories, its
garden, its avenues—one of elm, another of lime trees, stretching from
the house across the park—its numerous vases and statues, happily
placed—and especially its Winter Garden—all perfect when viewed
separately, and all joined in admirable harmony—render Somerleyton
remarkable among the most beautiful modern mansions of the kingdom,
and do honour to the sculptor-architect under whose superintendence it
was planned and executed. Somerleyton, therefore, may be described as
one of the gems of the county of Suffolk—a county rich in baronial
mansions, abundant of historic events, and full of traditions of the
earliest, as well as of mediæval, ages in England.
It would be a long list that which gave even the names of the baronial
halls in this grand historic county, and it would far exceed our space
to give details of its ancient monuments—Roman, Saxon, Danish, and
Norman—to say nothing of those that have descended to us from the
still earlier Britons, many relics of whom are yet to be found in the
neighbourhood. Suffolk is, indeed, if less graced by natural beauties
than some other of our English shires, rich among the richest of them
in antiquities and in traditions, while it has a high and prominent
place in British history.
The scenery that neighbours Somerleyton is purely English; the lanes
are pleasant and picturesque in spring and summer; the land is
productive; the broad river Waveney fertilises miles upon miles of
green or arable banks between which it runs; the trees have prodigious
growth; and, above all, the sea is near at hand; the German Ocean rolls
its waves into the harbours of these eastern shores, bearing the wealth
that thousands of hardy fishermen gather in during every month of the
year.
From any of the heights, which, though not numerous, occur
occasionally, and, in a degree, from any of the roads that skirt the
shore, may be seen a “multitudinous shipping,” so to say, from the
huge three-master and the grand steamship to the comparatively small
fishing-smacks that dot the sea-scape, and the heavily weighted coal
vessels that are bearing sources of wealth to all parts of the world.
It is to the fishing-smacks the locality is mainly indebted for its
prosperity; but Lowestoft now holds rank among the fashionable and most
frequented sea watering-places of the kingdom.
WILTON HOUSE.