In our last volume we noticed the announcement of a volume of
_Descriptive Sketches of Tunbridge Wells_, by Mr. Britton: and here it
is, with prints and plans, and a deep roseate binding--one of the most
elegant volumes of the season, and yet purchasable for a crown. We did
not expect a dull, unsatisfactory guidebook--a mere finger-post
folio--nor has the author produced such a commonplace volume. Hence
these "Sketches" have much of the neatness and polish, the patient
investigation and research of an author who has delighted in attachment
to his subject. The work contains a few of the scenes and objects of the
road from London to the Wells in outline; a panoramic sketch of the
Wells; the olden characteristics; and the modern improvements, including
the Calverley Park estate; the _natural history_ of the district,
including the air, water, and diseases for which the water is
recommended by Dr. Yeats; and the geological features of the country,
from the able pen of Mr. Gideon Mantell, of Lewes; lastly, brief notice
of seats, scenes, and antiquities in the environs of the Wells.
Of Tunbridge Wells, as an olden and modern resort, we have very recently
spoken,[6] and we are happy to perceive that the association of the
place with the literary characters of the last century, as pleasantly
recorded by Samuel Richardson, has been turned to interesting account in
the pages before us. Cumberland, the dramatist, _we_ omitted to mention,
not only resided for some years, but wrote many of his works, at
Tunbridge Wells: and here he recognised the sterling talent of Dowton,
the comedian, who, through Cumberland, was first introduced to the
London stage. "One of the houses at Mount Ephraim, (at the Wells,)
adjoining the Tunbridge Ware manufactory, formerly belonged to the
infamous judge Jeffries;" and an adjoining house was built by Sir Edmund
King, physician to Charles II., and his frequent residence here probably
attracted the court. The antiquities of the environs are very
attractive. On a lofty knoll are the remains of an ancient encampment,
called Saxon-bury Castle, from its name, ascribed to the Saxons; a
neighbouring spot bears the name of Dane's Gate, and is supposed to be
part of an old trackway or military road. "On Edridge Green continued,
for many years, a curious mortar or large gun, said to have been the
first made in England. The tradition is that it was cast at Buxted
furnace about twelve miles north of Lewes. It is preserved in the
British Museum; and some account of it, with a print, is given in the
_Archaeologia_, vol. x. p. 472." Next is the estate of Edridge, among
the lords of which were Godwin, Earl of Kent and the Earl of Montaigne
and Cornwall: Mayfield, was possessed by the see of Canterbury before
the Norman conquest, and at its palace Sir Thomas Gresham lived in
sumptuous style, and probably entertained Queen Elizabeth in one of her
progresses; among the curiosities here the anvil, hammer, and tongs,
which are traditionally said to have belonged to the noted St. Dunstan,
"and, who is also said to have used the last instrument most
ungallantly, and even brutishly, in twinging the nose of Old Nick, who
tempted the immaculate prelate in the form of a fine lady;" Bayham, or
Bageham Abbey, about 6 miles south-east of the Wells, was a monastery of
great extent in 1200, but is now so dilapidated and overgrown as
scarcely to enable the antiquary to trace its architectural features:
here too is an immense pollard ash-tree, which Gough describes, in his
additions to Camden's _Britannia_, as being "several yards in girth, as
old, if not older, than the abbey, and supposed to be the largest
extant." Mr. Britton likewise noticed here a curious instance of ivy,
which has not only covered nearly the whole surface of the (abbey)
building, but has insinuated its treacherous branches into the joints
and crevices of the masonry. "The wood," says our observant author, "has
grown to a great size, and displaced columns, mouldings, mullions, &c.
and thus overturned and destroyed the very objects it was intended to
adorn." What a picture is this of the wild luxuriance of nature
devastating the trim and chiselled glories of art! Next is Scotney
Castle, the ancient part of which is said to have been a fortress in the
reign of Richard II.; the moat still remains. The author hints that the
tour may be advantageously extended to Bodiam Castle; Winchelsea, near
which is Camber, one of the fortresses built by Henry VIII. to guard the
south coast; Battle Abbey, founded by William the Norman, and calling up
in review the battle of Hastings, and the Bayeaux tapestry; the Roman
fort of Pevensey; and Hurstmonceaux Castle built by Roger Fiennes,
treasurer to King Henry VI. Returning to the Wells, and in the more
immediate vicinity, are Somer Hill, whose chase, manor, and
appurtenances were conveyed by Queen Elizabeth to her favourite Dudley,
Earl of Leicester, and subsequently to the widow of the magnanimous but
ill-fated Earl of Essex; also, Great Bounds, of the age of Elizabeth,
and conveyed to her relative Henry Cary, Lord Hunsden. Come we then to
Tunbridge Castle, built by De Tonbridge, a kinsman of the Conqueror, who
came with the invaders to share the spoil of their victory: "here, it is
said, he congregated his retainers and vassals. These were all called
into active service soon after the death of William I.," for De
Tonbridge, (or Earl Clare, as he had been created,) espoused the cause
of Robert Curtoise, in opposition to William Rufus, who had seized the
crown. The castle is described by Mr. Britton with interesting and not
dry-as-dust minuteness, although only some dilapidated and almost
undefinable fragments remain. Tunbridge Priory and the Free Grammar
School are next mentioned, the latter in connexion with Dr. Vicesimus
Knox, who was master of the school for some years.
[6] See _Mirror_, vol. xiv. p. 66, and vol. xviii. p. 225.
Let us hope that the frequenters of the Wells will not, in their grave
moments, forget the olden glory of _Penshurst_, about six miles N.W. of
the gay resort,--Penshurst, as Mr. Britton terms it, "the memorable, the
once splendid, but now sadly dilapidated mansion of the Sydneys," or as
Charlotte Smith sung with touching simplicity, in 1788:
Upon this spot,
Ye towers sublime, deserted now and drear,
Ye woods deep sighing to the hollow blast!
The musing wand'rer loves to linger near,
While History points to all your glories past.
Yet, how can we enumerate the ancient fame of Penshurst in this brief
memoir; from Sir John de Poulteney, who first embattled the mansion in
the reign of Edward II:, to Sir John Shelley Sydney, the present
proprietor of the estate; or how can we here describe the mansion,
wherein that pains-taking investigator, Mr. Carter, in 1805, recognised
the architectural characteristics of the reigns of Henry II., Richard
III., Henry VIII., Elizabeth, James I. and George I. and III. But we
must observe, "it is presumed, that whilst residing here, Henry VIII.
became acquainted with Anne Boleyn, then living with her father at Hever
Castle, in this neighbourhood." Among the more glorious events of the
place, is the birth of the amiable Sir Philip Sydney here, Nov. 29,
1554, as Spencer dignified him, "the president of nobleness and
chivalrie;" the celebrated _Algernon_; and his daughter, the Saccharissa
of Waller. In this romantic retreat, Sydney probably framed his
_Arcadia_; here he may have sung
O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness!
O how much do I like your solitariness.
Enough of the baronial hall at Penshurst has been spared to show the
lantern for ventilation in the roof, "the original fire-hearth beneath
it, with a large and-iron for sustaining the blazing log;" though of the
place generally, Mr. Britton observes, "A house that has been so long
deserted by its masters must exhibit various evidences of ruin and
decay. Not only walls, roofs, and timbers, but the interior furniture
and ornaments are assailed by moth, rust, and other destructive
operations." Alas! the fittest scene of Burke's lament for chivalry
would have been the hall of Penshurst. Yet, _a_ Sir Philip Sydney
exists, and has lately been honoured with some distinction, as Churchill
would say, "flowing from the crown." In the park at Penshurst, is,
however, one of Nature's memorials of one of her proudest sons--"a fine
old oak tree, said to have been planted at Sir Philip Sydney's birth:"
and in Penshurst churchyard, on the south side of the mansion, several
of the Sydneys lie sleeping. _Requiescant in pace._
Hever Castle, built in the reign of Edward III., already mentioned as
the residence of the Boleyns, is about four miles north-west of
Penshurst.
We have left ourselves but space to mention in the vicinity of the
Wells, Buckhurst and Knole, magnificent seats of the Sackvilles, Earls
of Dorset, whose splendid details have already filled volumes. Lastly,
we promise the Wells visiter some gratification, by extending his tour
to Brambletye House, memorialized in Horace Smith's entertaining novel.
These few traits may serve to show the picturesqueness of the environs
of the Wells, and consequently of Mr. Britton's volume; and we leave the
reader with their grateful impression on his memory.
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