THE FEN COUNTIES, AND THEIR
PICTURESQUENESS--ELY--CAMBRIDGE--HUNTINGDON--MARKET
BOSWORTH--BEDFORD--ADVANTAGES OF WATER
POWER--LINCOLN--GAINSBOROUGH--GRANTHAM--STAMFORD--ANGEL INN,
GRANTHAM.
The Fen countries in Bedford, Cambridge, Lincoln, and Northampton, have
a certain amount of picturesque beauty of their own that is well suited
for an artist, and out of which an architect, with a proper feeling for
his subject, may make anything. There is a peculiar interest in the
thought that all has been reclaimed by human labour from the wilderness.
These counties do not present such insuperable difficulties for
cultivation as Holland, because they are above the level of the sea, and
do not require to be pumped dry like the Low Countries. The latter,
indeed, would be flooded over if human energy were to cease in
protecting them for one single year. The most curious feature in these
vast dreary flats is the splendour of the ecclesiastical buildings that
rise up above the horizons at great distances. Peterborough is hardly
out of sight before the towers of Ely appear, vast and gray. The
homesteads on these flats are generally good, for the farmers, to make
amends for their solitude, can always procure plenty of good land at a
comparatively low rental, and their dwellings have a picturesqueness of
their own among stacks of turf and stunted orchards. After passing
Chittisham, on the Ely road, all begins to mend--the land gently rises,
hedgerows reappear, marsh willows give way to beech and elm, and the
towers of Ely stand grandly out against the sky. The entrance to the
close here shown is a wonderful example of picturesque beauty; as for
architecture, in the modern sense of the term, it possesses none, but it
simply owes its pleasing appearance to the quaint combination of its
parts, all of which are plain. There is nothing whatever to prevent its
being adapted to an entrance for workshops or a builder’s yard, and so
enlivening a dreary street. The only difficulty is in always being able
to find the architect capable of designing anything so picturesque.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CLOSE, ELY.]
The Rev. Mr. J. Petit raises the question of what constitutes
picturesqueness in architecture. An artist, he says, will instinctively
fall into the best method of treating his picture, and that, he says, is
the way with the best architects; their task either comes naturally, or
is so formed by study as to take its place, while at work, and the charm
of their designs is that they do not seem to be weighing or adjusting
every little bit of light or shade or projection. “An architect who thus
forms his taste, and then follows it without too apparent reference to
rule, produces works of far higher merit than one whose evident aim is
either fantastic grouping on the one side, or conventional correctness
on the other.”
This is, as Mr. Petit remarks, the real charm of mediæval work; and the
reason why our own imitations of it, clever and careful as they may be,
are seldom satisfactory. We cannot mediævalise our tastes, the
nineteenth century forbids it. “Lords of Misrule” or “Jesters” would be
intolerable in modern society, and even the revivals of religious rites
and ceremonies can never be quite separated from a feeling of burlesque,
perhaps almost among those who participate in them. So if we attempt
mediæval architecture, though less difficulties are in our way than
other essays at revival, we must have our copy before our eyes--and our
work looks like a copy too.
The same difficulties never lay in the way of a revival of the classic
styles. In all countries where this was attempted, great men were found
who could mould their works in harmony with their prototypes, and they
display a genius far beyond the mere imitator. In fact, the modes of
thought of the Romans of old were more in accordance with our own than
were those of mediæval monks. Roman laws are yet the models of advanced
European law, and Roman liberty is the father of our own liberty; and
though the fantastic attempts that prevailed in the reign of the
Georges, to imitate the externals of classic art and literature, when
every illiterate rustic was a Phyllis or a Corydon, may have reduced the
style to contempt, and cast, as has been said, a discredit upon all
classical architecture, this cannot sully the creations of such men as
Alberti, Michael Angelo, Wren, or Vanbrugh. In the item of
picturesqueness, however, to which further reference will be made
hereafter, our own mediæval architecture must bear the palm far away,
and the abandon about it makes it exactly suit our old cities and
towns.
[Illustration: PLOUGH INN, ELY.]
The Plough Inn at Ely is a fine old specimen of an English roadside
hostelry; it appears to date back to Henry VIII.’s time. The chimney is
peculiarly bold and striking, and the composition might very well be
adapted to any roadside building of the present day. The remaining
drawing of Ely is a very noble group of architecture. The College Chapel
occupies the foreground, beyond it is the Deanery, and above that the
Cathedral Tower. The chapel is splendidly carved inside, and the long
irregular grammar school is a fine example of Tudor architecture. The
chapel here shown appears to date back to the fourteenth century.
[Illustration: ROAD LEADING TO ELY CLOSE.]
Ely fair is a thing of the past, but it used to be a very picturesque
memorial of St. Etheldreda, the saint to whom the city owed its
importance in the first instance. It commenced at the latter part of
October, on the day that was dedicated to the saint, and lasted several
days. Many-coloured ribbons were sold, and called St. Audrey’s ribbons,
a corruption of the saint’s name, and their merit seems to have been
that they had touched her shrine. When we consider how very isolated Ely
was before drainage had improved the surrounding country, we can more
readily understand how Hereward held it so long against William the
Conqueror, and caused him so much loss. The monks of Ely were said to
have been at all times noted for their kindness and hospitality. On one
occasion when William had collected the principal gentry of the
neighbourhood to accompany him on an expedition to Normandy, he
quartered them in the monastery, and they soon became extremely friendly
with the ecclesiastics, though they were there hardly as invited guests;
but when the time for their departure came, the monks expressed the
deepest regret at losing their friends, and accompanied them in solemn
procession as far as Hadenham, a village about five miles distant.
No illustrations have been given of Cambridge, which is about fourteen
miles to the south of Ely, as the author hopes to be able to produce at
some future time a work of illustrations of that town. In some respects
it is more picturesque even than Oxford: the quaint old courtyards and
entries, and the old-fashioned gabled houses, give it a peculiar charm.
The University had a chancellor and masters many centuries before the
charter of incorporation in 1231, but up to the close of the thirteenth
century it contained no college buildings. St. Peter’s was the earliest,
and that was built by the Bishop of Ely; and Downing, founded by Sir
George Downing, the latest. The annual income of the colleges in all is
about £185,000.
Near the town of Huntingdon is the beautiful Hinchinbrooke House. It was
built by the Cromwell family, probably by Sir Henry Cromwell, the
great-uncle of Oliver Cromwell, and Queen Elizabeth was entertained here
by the “Golden Knight” as he was called. Oliver Cromwell’s house is
still pointed out, and the church of All Saints contains the register of
Cromwell’s birth. It is in Latin, and an exact translation would read,
“Oliver, son of Robert Cromwell, gentleman, and Elizabeth, his wife,
born on the 25th day of April, and baptized the 29th of the same month.”
Hinchinbrooke House is a very noble specimen of baronial architecture,
and it must often have been visited by Oliver Cromwell. There is a
description of Cromwell in the _Remains_ of Sir Philip Warwick that is
not often quoted, and may be interesting here. At the commencement of
the Long Parliament, he says, “I came one morning into the house well
clad, and perceived a gentleman speaking (whom I knew not) very
ordinarily apparelled; for it was a plain cloth suit that seemed to have
been made by a country tailor; his linen was plain and not very clean;
and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band which was
not much larger than his collar; his hat was without a hat-band; his
stature was of good size; his sword stuck close to his side; his
countenance swollen and reddish; his voice sharp and untunable; his
eloquence full of fervour.” The house at the farther end of Huntingdon
where Cromwell once lived is still pointed out, and the room where he
was born is preserved, but the building itself has been much modernised,
and ordinary sash-windows have been inserted.
Hinchinbrooke House used to be the residence of Sir Oliver Cromwell, the
uncle of the great Protector, and it was sold to Sir Edward Montague, in
whose family it has remained till the present day. There is one
magnificent room in it built by Sir Oliver Cromwell to entertain James
I. in, on his coming from Scotland to succeed to the English throne.
Oliver Cromwell’s mother was Elizabeth Stewart, and her brother left
him a good estate, valued at £500 per annum, of course an ample sum in
those days.
Part of the castle which Edward the elder built here in 917 is still to
be seen; traces of the outworks are very visible. Before the
Reformation, Huntingdon contained fifteen churches, but these are now
reduced to two.
The poet Cowper lived for some time in this town, and his house is still
called “Cowper House.”
[Illustration: ANCIENT BRIDGE, HUNTINGDON.]
The bridge here shown is six-arched, and connects Huntingdon with
Godmanchester. It is extremely massive and picturesque. The old inn at
the farther side has a steep roof with a break in it, to give more head
room to the upper floors, and that style is again being adopted in many
parts of England.
[Illustration: OLD GEORGE INN, HUNTINGDON.]
The George Inn, of which the quadrangle is shown, is a brewery as well
as a large hotel. The ancient part of it is here given, the more modern
portions resemble any first-class hotel. Here we have the same
arrangement as in other inns of the mediæval period--a gallery running
round an open court, approached by an external staircase. I was unable
to collect much information about this interesting hostelry; but,
doubtless, the scene here
[Illustration: LEICESTER ABBEY.]
given differs but little from what it did when Oliver Cromwell saw it.
St. Neots is an extremely interesting old town with a very noble church,
which contains a peal of eight bells, but it is often inundated by the
rising of the Ouse.
Katherine of Arragon, after her divorce from Henry VIII., resided much
in Huntingdonshire; sometimes at Kimbolton, now the seat of the Duke of
Manchester, and sometimes at Buckden, on the west side of the Ouse,
about five miles from St. Neots. This is a very interesting little
country town, and the ancient palace of the bishops of Lincoln (for the
Abbot of Ely granted the manor to the bishops of Lincoln) stands in the
middle of the village. The mansion is beautifully built in brick, and
had been erected about half a century before the divorce of Queen
Katherine. Kimbolton is a small market town on the Kym, a tributary of
the Ouse, and can of course boast of a fine old church. The second scene
of the fourth act of “Henry VIII.,” already alluded to, is laid here,
where Katherine hears from her attendants of the death of Wolsey at
Leicester Abbey. Very little is left of Leicester Abbey; it certainly
shows by the foundations that are left of it what a grand old building
it must at one time have been, but the gardens and park are
[Illustration: LADY JANE GREY’S HOUSE, LEICESTER.]
turned into a market-gardener’s premises. They are very comfortable, and
the excellently worked stone that lies about indicates pretty well how
carefully the Abbey had been built. Wolsey had reached Sheffield Park
when he was struck down by a mortal sickness, and then “by slow and easy
stages came to Leicester.” His last words to Lieutenant Kingston much
resemble his speech in Shakespeare, where the reverend Abbot
“With all his convent honourably received him,
To whom he gave these words--‘O father Abbot,
An old man broken with the storms of state
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye;
Give him a little earth for charity.’”
The recorded speech to Kingston doubtless suggested this passage in
Shakespeare. “I pray you,” he says, “have me commended most humbly to
his majesty, and beseech him, on my behalf, to call to his gracious
remembrance all things that have passed between us from the beginning,
especially respecting Queen Katherine and himself, and then shall his
conscience know whether I have offended him or not. He is a prince of
most royal courage, and hath a princely heart, for rather than miss or
want any part of his will he will endanger the one half of his kingdom.
And, I do assure you, I have often kneeled before him in his privy
chamber, sometimes for three hours together, to persuade him from his
appetite, and could not prevail. And, Master Kingston, this I will say,
had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, he would
not have given me over in my gray hairs. Howbeit, this is my just reward
for my pains and diligence, not regarding my service to God but only my
duty to my prince.”
[Illustration: GATEWAY AT NEWGATE STREET, LEICESTER.]
Market Bosworth is twelve miles west of the county town, and here the
last great battle of the Wars of the Roses was fought. The scene of the
battle was Redmoor plain, nearly two miles from the town. When the
conflict took place, in 1485, it was a moor grown over with thistles and
scutch grass. King Richard’s army encamped at Elmsthorpe and Stapleton;
they numbered some 16,000 men, and his officers made their head-quarters
at Elmsthorpe church. Richmond’s were at Atherstone in Warwickshire.
Here the seceders from Richard III.’s army met him, and joined their
forces before the decisive battle. The whole tale is tremendously told
in Shakespeare, and the well where Richard slaked his thirst during the
battle is pointed out on a farm in the neighbourhood. This place is well
worth a visit, and, singularly enough, the country people are tolerably
versed in the details of the conflict, and are able to point out the
localities with some probable accuracy. The house where Richmond stayed
on his road to Bosworth has already been engraved in the account of
Shrewsbury, and unhappily the “Blue Boar Inn” at Leicester, where his
stone coffin was used for a drinking-trough for horses and cattle, has
been pulled down; many persons are able to recollect it, and say it was
picturesque, but I have not yet found a drawing of it.
Bedford is built on both sides of the Ouse. The principal street is
about a mile in length, and it contains but little antiquity. The Ouse
was crossed by an extremely picturesque bridge taken down in the present
century; a gate-house at one end was
[Illustration: ELSTOW, BEDFORD.]
the jail where Bunyan was imprisoned.[7] This jail was the first to
excite the interest and compassion of Howard. Near Bedford is the
picturesque village of Elstow, where Bunyan was born; the house is
pointed out, though it has been refronted. Bunyan took the side of
Cromwell in the civil wars, and his escape from death at the siege of
Leicester is well known; we are indebted to his incarceration for what
Macaulay declares to be incomparably the finest allegory in our
language. There are several drawings of the jail preserved, and nothing
could be more picturesque: there are projecting roofs and overhanging
storeys, and apparently a quaintly-tiled roof of different levels. A
flat archway spanned the bridge, and there was a sundial over it. Such
gatehouses were not at all uncommon, and they were often used afterwards
for prisons.
The bridge over the Dee, leading from the Wrexham road to Chester at
Handbridge, had two similar gatehouses, but, from drawings that have
been preserved of them, they must have been immeasurably more
picturesque: one of them was gabled, and covered with tiles similar to
those that are common in Holland, and the other had a portcullis and
bastions, and a fine tower four storeys high, in which was a large
clock. Unfortunately, these were all demolished in 1782, and a new gate
called Bridgegate, a rather unsightly structure, given to us instead.
In a drawing by Randal Holme, made about the middle of the seventeenth
century, in which these gates are shown, are some curious water-mills.
It is difficult to form any very definite idea of the way in which they
are worked, or what their general appearance may have been, but the
wheels seem to have stood out from the sides not dissimilarly to the
paddles of a steamer, and probably could be lowered or heightened
according to the level of the water.
Ruskin has said that picturesque beauty cannot exist with any
manufacturing district where coal is the propelling power. The
requirements of such a condition effectually prevent it; but what would
be the saving, not only to the picturesque character of the landscape,
but the purses of millowners, if water power was more commonly taken
advantage of! It has long been a crying reproach to the country that all
round our coasts, and in our inland streams, water-power exists that
would drive all the machines in the world without exhausting a tithe of
its force, or even beginning to do so. This power also is ever at hand,
a ready servant, wanting no fee, depending on no forced prices from
colliers, and leaving the atmosphere it works in healthy and bright. In
one mill alone I know of, a saving of £5000 per annum could be effected
by using water-power, and yet this power is flowing by the doors of the
establishment; but coal was used sixty years ago, and things have
prospered, so why try to mend what is well? Not only would water be a
great economiser in works where force is necessary, but it might be a
great social reformer, and this is quite in concert with the opinions of
scientific men who have given the subject their study. The acrid nature
of an atmosphere among chimneys is depressing and exhausting, and is
often--too often--counteracted by a remedy which might be less
imperative if water-power were used,--a remedy too, indeed, in which
water does not play a very important part. The science of economy in
water-power is increasing continually; indeed, it can by turbine wheels
be used and re-used so often that a small stream might become a mighty
engine, and the saving in coal be placed to the credit of the
housekeeper. Every one knows this well, but there seems to be a general
dislike to put the knowledge they possess into practice; and though it
may be hardly in the scope of the present work to make the remark, there
can be no doubt that the sudden and high rise in the price of coals has
taught the value of economy in that article, much to the advantage of
the exteriors and interiors of our streets and homesteads.
At the time of the Norman conquest Lincoln was one of the wealthiest and
most populous cities in England. It has passed through many rulers, and
its commanding situation has always marked it out for a place of
importance. It was a city of the ancient Britons before the Roman
period, and the Romans built a wall round it with posterns. One of
these, Newport Gate, yet remains, and is a model of massive masonry. The
stones are cut to a radius to form the arch, and are extremely massive
and strong. The arch appears to have been built without mortar, and was
the portal of the celebrated Ermine Street, which is described in page
248. It is a very pleasant entrance to the city from the north. There
are some good trees about it, and the Cathedral towers rise high above
it, while several antique gables of neighbouring houses give it a very
picturesque effect. Lindum was the name the Romans gave it, and some
derive its present name (_Lindum-colonia_) from this. The Roman wall, of
which there are many traces, was quadrangular.
In few cities in England can ancient street architecture be better
studied than in Lincoln. There are not only traces of Roman work, with
baths and many other remains, but the Normans have left their mark here
also, as have many of the Kings of more recent date.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of Lincoln as it is approached from the
south, and nearly every step unfolds some grand picture that differs
from the last. There is a sort of harbour on the Witham, at the south
end of the city, which is generally pretty well filled with picturesque
barges, and the sails of these, red and white, reflected in the water,
are at all times extremely pleasant to see. A small island covered with
willows is in this harbour, and the city rises grandly above it, crowned
at the top by the full length of the cathedral. The only cathedral that
can compare with Lincoln for situation is Durham. As we enter the city
from this point we soon come to the Stone Bow, a very stately gateway
crossing the street, and finely carved towards the south side. There
seems to be some little uncertainty about the date and origin of this
structure; some accounts assert that it was built in 1592. This is,
however, obviously incorrect, and Britton attributes it to the reign of
Henry VIII. With all respect, however, for such an authority, it would
seem to be rather older than this. A French style of ornament often
appeared in England in the reign of Henry VI., and something very
similar to this may be noticed on the arch.
The view here given is after the archway has been passed some little
distance, and the scene alters. The house on the left is the celebrated
Jews’ house that has so often figured in song and fable. This is a fine
specimen of a Norman town residence, the most perfect specimen in fact
that we have left. It is built of stone, and not wood as many of the
houses of that period were, and until lately there were numbers of
immense beams in the recesses of Lincoln streets hidden away in cellars
and back premises that dated to the Norman period. Indeed some few parts
of wooden fronts also that have been swept away by improvement.
[Illustration: JEWS’ HOUSE, LINCOLN.]
Winwall House is detached, and dates back to the same age as the Jews’
house. It is much less elaborately carved, but the two form the most
complete picture that is left us of Norman domestic architecture.
Winwall should have appeared in these pages, but Britton has engraved it
well in his fifth volume of _Architectural Antiquities_, from a sketch
by the late G. Cattermole, and as this volume is not found in every
library I venture to quote some extracts as illustrating the
accommodation of a Norman mansion.
“Winwall House,” says Britton, “may be considered the most ancient and
most perfect specimen of Norman domestic architecture in the kingdom. I
visited it with the Rev. Mr. Forby, a well-informed antiquary, about ten
years ago. It must suffice to remark that the walls, the buttresses,
with cylindrical shafts at the angles, the form and situation of
fire-hearth and chimney-piece, the moulding and angular columns, are all
indicative of Norman design. The ground-floor is entered by a small
doorway on the south side, and lighted by three windows,” etc. etc.
Britton then mentions that a thick partition wall cuts off a chamber
which some have supposed to be a chapel, though Britton doubts it; but
the most suggestive part of this house is its size and importance, and,
if this is borne in mind, many things we come across in history will be
more readily understood. The total length of Winwall House is 35 feet,
about the frontage of a small semi-detached villa, and its breadth 27
feet; from this walls of 3 feet in thickness must be deducted, and then
we shall have some idea of its small size. Yet William the Conqueror
granted the manor of Wereham, of which this forms a part, to one of his
followers, who sold it to the Earl of Clare, or from whom, at any rate,
it passed to that family, and we find that the Earl of Clare in King
John’s reign held a court here. There is little wonder that great
baronial castles might take the place of such houses where there was so
much insecurity, in the same way that a great landowner will sometimes
absorb cottage holdings into a larger farm, to the mutual advantage of
every one on his estate. Remembering the size of this manor-house, we
can the more easily understand how it is that chroniclers state that, in
order to clear the ground for Lincoln Castle, 166 mansions were
destroyed, and furthermore, in order to give this castle the advantage
of standing alone, 74 more were also demolished, yet this is on the
authority of Domesday Book.
Lincoln Castle yet retains externally many of its ancient features,
disfigured, probably, and dilapidated, but yet presenting the general
appearance of a Norman fortress of the first class. “Its plan,” says
Britton, “was accommodated to the area selected for its site, which
comprehends the south-west quarter of the Roman city, consequently it
approaches to a quadrangular figure, though not one of its sides is
strictly regular. There are two principal entrances, one opening to the
town towards the east, the other to the fields on the west; and it is
worthy of notice that neither of these gates is placed opposite to the
middle of the area, nor do they stand in a line facing each other, but
one is set near the southeastern corner of the castle, the other to the
northwestern one. The mode of placing the gates was probably contrived
for strength; or it might be connected with some internal divisions that
cannot now be traced. The eastern gate is the one now made use of. Its
original architecture is covered by a pointed arch and turrets, probably
erected in the reign of Edward III.” The other gate to the castle has
often been supposed by old antiquaries to be one of the Roman gates
utilised for the purposes of the castle, but this can hardly be
substantiated, as the portcullis grooves and other mediæval traces can
be detected.
Nothing more clearly shows the absorbing nature of the feudal system
than these old castles; they were in fact often, as one might say,
villages in themselves; but we are left much in the dark as to the way
in which they were supported. Tribute was exacted in the form of produce
and labour, but money must have been very scarce, and probably it is
impossible to estimate the relative value of money now and in those
days. The common estimates of ten to one or twenty to one break
hopelessly down the moment they are tried by known criteria; indeed,
there is not a little discrepancy between these two favourite estimates
themselves, without going much further. Some of the commonest
necessaries of life are even cheaper now than they were then, such as
books, or cloth, or travelling, or elaborate iron work, where, at least,
cast-iron may be said to stand in place of wrought; but, again, other
things, especially labour, are probably so much dearer now, that all
kinds of comparison are useless. The remuneration of a first class
professional man would be often inadequately stated if pounds were put
for pence, and labour differed astonishingly in every part of England.
Even now, when we consider that in domestic servants’ wages we find a
difference amounting to perhaps 100 per cent in various parts of
England, what must that have been in those days?
If, as is stated, Gundulph, the bishop of Rochester, built the keep of
Rochester Castle at a cost of sixty pounds--and if this is true, quite
as remarkable things are on record--it is clearly hopeless to attempt to
reconcile any known money value of things with prices we are familiar
with. Even if the amounts paid to great dignitaries were to be assessed
according to any scale that has been named, they would be ridiculous,
and yet that would seem to be the most natural and neutral test. If the
Lord Chief-Justice of England were now offered in the way of fee for his
annual labours ten or even twenty times the value of the sum that was
paid to Chief-Justice Gascoigne in Henry IV.’s time, he would probably
look quite as severely as that judge ever did on the Prince of Wales; so
that, when we say the forfeited estates of a monastery, or the rent-roll
of a nobleman, were say £500 a year, it is entirely beside the question
to attempt to arrive at the value by any rough-and-ready method of
multiplication. Perhaps most of this was paid in kind, and very little
gold passed, and great allowance must be made for isolation. Of course,
leaving railways on one side, we must remember what the state of roads
was before the present century. Certainly, when ecclesiastical
architecture was in its glory in England, a journey from Liverpool to
London would have entailed as much manual labour as from London to
Calcutta for each traveller, and this is very much within the mark. In
many counties in England £10 in those days would represent £500 now,
and in some, of course, the difference would be much less striking.
This is introduced here, because, unless such variations are kept in
mind, we shall always be at fault in trying to arrive at any comparative
estimate of the value of money, and be continually led astray in
assessing the nominal rent-rolls of abbeys or manors.
Near the spot where the view of the Jews’ House is taken stands the
conduit, a small pretty little building like a chapel, that in all
probability was constructed out of the spoils of some ecclesiastical
remain. Leland describes it as newly built when he saw it about the
middle of the sixteenth century; and as the ornaments, such as the
cuspings and other enrichments, belong to a period of some two centuries
earlier, this is probably its history. Then as the convent of the
Carmelites or White Friars stood on the opposite side of the street, the
materials most probably came from there. Some of these conduits still
remain in England, and are in use at the present day; and when we
remember that only two centuries ago they formed the principal means of
supplying water to the citizens, our march of improvement does indeed
seem wonderful. The amount now considered necessary for the health and
comfort of a city is at least twenty-five gallons per diem for each
person, and, even with rain water, we may judge how far short the
mediæval supply must have been.
[Illustration: ON THE WITHAM, NEAR STONE BOW.]
As we ascend the hill the road becomes steeper, and we wind through the
remains of the bishop’s palace, which are very grand, now broken into
picturesque fragments and shrouded with ivy. The next scene is on the
Witham as it runs through Lincoln, and wonderfully picturesque it is.
The archway is of great antiquity. There is a strange resemblance to
some of the Rotterdam scenes in this, the “vulgar Venice,” as Hood
called it, hardly with strict justice, even though there may be a vein
of truth in the simile.
In Camden’s work, edited by Gough, it is stated that the original
magnificence of Lincoln may be gathered from the circumstance that so
many Norman doorways and other splendid architectural remains (he says
Norman and _Saxon_) are to be found in Lincoln. Every street, he states,
contains some, and he says that few private dwellings have not some
trace of Norman architecture inside or outside. Certainly this statement
is from Camden, but it passes without challenge in Gough’s edition, and
Gough died in the year 1809, though then advanced in years.
There is a house in Lincoln called John of Gaunt’s Stables, but it is
said that it ought more properly to be called his palace, and whether it
was his or not seems by some persons to be disputed; one thing, however,
is certain, it is an extremely valuable relic, and, though it is in a
shocking state of neglect, the rooms may be easily traced. “Fronting the
street we have a round archway that immediately arrests attention, a
very fine one of the period. The upper storey is gone, that contained
the chief apartments; the lower is only lighted by loopholes, as usual;
we pass under the archway, and in its sullen shade dungeon-like portals
appear on each side. But the archway admits us to a quadrangle or square
court, round the sides of which are hidden, as it were, the stables, a
sort of long, low, vaulted, and pillared hall, and the various offices,
all of a gloomy confined character, that belonged to such an
establishment. It has been thought that the idea of such specimens of
domestic architecture might be improved in our palaces, that of
concealing all the miscellaneous rooms round enclosed courtyards, and
placing the principal apartments connectedly on one grand storey over
the ground-floor, and thus the custom, originally prompted by danger,
might be made, with modification, to promote harmony and convenience.”
The account just quoted says, “Another feature in the Norman residences
was the movable staircase on the outside of the house.” This is even yet
continued in some of the old farms in Cheshire. I have seen the
labourers go to their loft to sleep, and the farmer remove the staircase
regularly each night. Surely the necessity for such a precaution has
long passed away, as now labourers may rest as securely in any part of
England as if they were in barracks. This custom, however, I have
repeatedly seen, certainly within the last twenty years.
Another palace, said to be John of Gaunt’s, is still remaining at
Gainsborough, in this county. It is used as a corn exchange, assembly
rooms, mechanics’ institute, and part of it is a spacious smithy. There
is a large amount of “post and petrel” work, as it is called, or oak and
plaster, but there is also some magnificent brickwork, which of course
in every way fulfils the requirements of design already spoken of for
this material. The octagonal tower, of brick, is beautifully designed,
and indeed the enormous buildings bristle over with nearly every kind of
device to please. The window, which forms a tailpiece to this chapter,
is a splendid piece of work, but evidently rather later than John of
Gaunt. This quiet old country town, that is nothing but an agricultural
mart now, has seen some stirring times. Sweyne, the King of Denmark,
sailed up the Humber and Trent, and landed at Gainsborough, remaining in
the neighbourhood for two years, and only being bribed with difficulty
to go away; nor did the marauders remain more than one year absent.
Alfred the Great was married here in 868; and in 1643 Cromwell routed
the Royalists under the command of General Cavendish, the brother of the
Duke of Newcastle.
Grantham is an important town on the Witham.
[Illustration: GRANTHAM.]
The church is one of the most beautiful in England, and the spire rises
to the height of 274 feet from the ground. The Grammar School, here
engraved, was founded by Bishop Fox of Winchester in 1528, and within
its walls Sir Isaac Newton was educated, nor does his career seem to
have been very brilliant as a scholar, at any rate for the first part of
his time there.
[Illustration: CHURCH STREET, GRANTHAM.]
Stamford is a town of great antiquity, and is situated on the Welland;
its south side reaches over the border into Northampton. The name is
said to be derived from “Stean-forde,” as the ford which crossed the
Welland here was paved with stones. Stamford was the meeting place of
several parliaments in the fourteenth century, and there were no less
than five monasteries there. Gables figure in great variety and
shapeliness here, and afford many studies for an architect. The streets
are irregular, but well paved and very clean, and the town reminds one
generally of an old city on the Rhine; quaint fronts crowd each other
down to the water’s edge, and the red-tiled roofs break through in
pleasing variety. These are reflected in the river, and interspersed
with trees and gardens.
[Illustration: HOUSE WITH NORMAN DOOR, STAMFORD.]
The description of a ride into Stamford in _Nicholas Nickleby_ is very
graphic. The scene is supposed to be at night, when the snow was
[Illustration: GABLES, STAMFORD.]
beginning to fall, in January, and right well Dickens has hit off the
description of a snow-storm in those regions. “The night and the snow
came on together, and dismal enough they were. There was no sound to be
heard but the howling of the wind, for the noise of the wheels and the
tread of the horses’ feet were rendered inaudible by the thick coating
of snow which covered the earth, and was fast increasing every moment.
The streets of Stamford were deserted as they passed through the town,
and its old churches rose dark and frowning from the whitened ground.”
The George Inn, here given, is a good example of an excellent old
hostelry, and the signboard across the street is very characteristic of
some of the older inns. “Twenty miles farther on” Dickens says, “two of
the front outside passengers, wisely availing themselves of their
arrival at one of the best inns in England, turned in for the night at
the George at Grantham.”
[Illustration: GEORGE HOTEL, STAMFORD.]
The Angel Hotel, here shown, is a fine piece of Tudor architecture, with
bow windows, and an oriel over the doorway. It is situated at the head
of the principal street, and overlooks the celebrated market cross.
The Romans, during their tenure of the island, constructed dykes, one of
which in part remains at Wainfleet. The car-dyke, also a canal sixty
feet wide and twenty miles long, reaching from near Bourn to the
Sleaford Canal, and the Foss Dyke, extending from the Witham to the
Trent, are the works of Roman hands.
Lincolnshire is celebrated for the number and grandeur of its
ecclesiastical remains. Every one is familiar with the celebrated
Croyland Bridge, built, it is said, long before the Conquest; this is
triangular in form, and the arches meet at the centre, but the style of
building points to a somewhat later date than tradition ascribes to it.
Croyland is situated in one of the dreariest spots in England, and,
excepting the bridge, has nothing of interest.
The Danes have left their mark in Lincolnshire, as the number of places
ending in _by_--like Spilsby, Wragby, Grimsby--testify.
Boston was at one time second only to London itself in commercial
importance, and in the reign of Edward III. it was made a staple port
for wool, tin, lead, and other commodities. A staple town, from which
the word staple is derived, was a town fixed by authority and privilege,
to which merchants of foreign countries brought their ventures--cloth or
manufactures--and they were either sold or bartered away for English
goods or produce. The celebrated church of Boston is dedicated to St.
Botolph, and the name Boston is said to be a corruption of St. Botolph,
a Saxon saint, who established a monastery here. The tower of Boston
church is nearly 300 feet high, and can be seen at a great distance
either by land or sea. From its blunt appearance it is familiarly called
“Boston stump.”
Oakham is a quiet old country town, in the middle of an agricultural
district, and it contains many highly respectable houses, inhabited by
local gentry. The market-place is here shown, and the covered market is
built of strong oak. There is another old oak market in the town, of
very singular construction; it is octagonal, and is supported on strong
oak uprights; the roof rises to a point, and is shingled strongly with
oak. This second market-place, over which the great church spire rises,
is extremely picturesque, and on market days it would form a splendid
subject for an artist’s brush. There is a singular custom at Oakham:
every peer of the realm, on first passing through the town, has either
to pay a fine, or else present the town with a shoe from his horse; the
shoe is then nailed up on the castle gate, or in some conspicuous part
of the building. Queen Elizabeth has left a memento of this nature
behind her, as also have George IV. and her present Majesty. These shoes
are often gilt and stamped with the name of the donor and his arms. The
scene here given is taken from the windows of the Crown Hotel, and is
very characteristic of the place.
[Illustration: MARKET PLACE, OAKHAM.]
Uppingham is a clean neat market town, to which a railroad has not as
yet penetrated. It consists principally of one long street, nearly at
the middle of which is a large square used for markets. There is a fine
old grammar school here, founded by the Rev. Robert Johnson, archdeacon
of Leicester, in 1584; he also founded one at Oakham, and became rector
of North Luffenham in this county, where he died and was buried in 1616.
The property with which he endowed it has increased in value enormously,
and the funds are very large. The celebrated Jeremy Taylor was rector of
Uppingham.
[Illustration: WINDOW, GAINSBOROUGH.]
[Illustration: SARACEN’S HEAD, SOUTHWELL.]