(_For the Mirror_.)
Mr. Ireland, in his "Picturesque views on the river Thames," observes that
"the fascinating scenery of this neighbourhood has peculiarly attracted
the notice of the clergy of former periods."
Hurley Place was originally a monastery. In the Domesday Book, it is said
to have lately belonged to Edgar; but was then the property of Geoffrey de
Mandeville, who received it from William the Conqueror, as a reward for
his gallant conduct in the battle of Hastings; and in the year 1086
founded a monastery here for Benedictines, and annexed it as a cell to
Westminster Abbey, where the original charter is still preserved.
On the dissolution of the monasteries, Hurley became the property of a
family named Chamberlain, of whom it was purchased, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, by Richard Lovelace, a soldier of fortune, who went on an
expedition against the Spaniards with Sir Francis Drake, and erected the
present mansion on the ruins of the ancient building, with the property he
acquired in that enterprise. The remains of the monastery may be traced in
the numerous apartments which occupy the west end of the house; and in a
vault beneath the hall some bodies in monkish habits have been found
buried. Part of the chapel, or refectory, also, may be seen in the stables,
the windows of which are of chalk; and though made in the Conqueror's time,
appear as fresh as if they were of modern workmanship. The Hall is
extremely spacious, occupying nearly half the extent of the house. The
grand saloon is decorated in a singular style, the panels being painted
with upright landscapes, the leafings of which are executed with a kind of
silver lacker. The views seem to be Italian, and are reputed to have been
the work of Salvator Rosa, purposely executed to embellish this apartment.
The receipt of the painter is said to be in the possession of Mr. Wilcox,
the late resident.
During the reigns of Charles II., and James, his successor, the principal
nobility held frequent meetings in a subterraneous vault beneath this
house, for the purpose of ascertaining the measures necessary to be
pursued for reestablishing the liberties of the kingdom, which the
insidious hypocrisy of one monarch, and the more avowed despotism of the
other, had completely undermined and destroyed. It is reported also, that
the principal papers which produced the revolution of 1688, were signed in
the dark recess at the end of the vault. These circumstances have been
recorded by Mr. Wilcox, in an inscription written at the extremity of the
vault, which, on account of the above circumstances, was visited by the
Prince of Orange after he had obtained the crown; by General Paoli in the
year 1780; and by George III. on the 14th of November, 1785.
The Lovelace family was ennobled by Charles I., who in the third year of
his reign, created Richard Lovelace, Baron Hurley, which title became
extinct in 1736. The most valuable part of the estate was about that time
sold to the Greave family and afterwards to the Duke of Marlborough: the
other part, consisting of the mansion house and woodlands, to Mrs.
Williams, sister to Dr. Wilcox, who was bishop of Rochester about the
middle of the last century. This lady was enabled to make the purchase by
a very remarkable instance of good fortune. She had bought two tickets in
one lottery, both of which became prizes: the one of 500_l_., the other of
20,000_l_. From the daughter of Mrs. Williams it descended to Mr. Wilcox
in the year 1771.--_Beauties of England and Wales._