for dining. At the upper end remains the raised floor, where the table
for the lord and his principal guests was placed; and along one side of
the hall, and also over the screen at the lower end, is a gallery,
supported by pillars; from whence (when the lord and his company had
retired to the apartments above, and the inferior members of the family
had supplied their places) the country guests and their hospitable hosts
occasionally beheld the revels.
The Great Hall still contains the old oaken table, at which the lord
feasted his more
[Illustration]
favoured guests. The Minstrel’s Gallery is carved and panelled, and
ornamented in the true old fashion, with the antlers of stags--memorials
of the chase. There is no ceiling; the roof and rafters are exposed to
view; the fireplaces are large; and the walls are wainscoted all round,
to a certain height. From this great hall, at the upper end, in the
corner on the left hand, are two passages; one opening upon the terraces
in the garden, inviting the guests to refresh themselves; and the other
leading to the grand staircase, and the principal apartments above.
“This staircase is formed of large blocks of stone; which can hardly be
said to be
[Illustration]
either jointed or joined, and from the top of it, on the right, you
enter what we should now call a drawing-room, hung with arras, and
having a large bow-window as the only light to it, at one corner, and a
little door at the other, behind the arras, leading into the gallery
just mentioned, which goes round two sides of the hall. This room,
however, (whatever name we might now give it) was called the
_Dining-room_, and probably had that appellation because the lord of the
mansion did, even originally, on some particular occasions, _here_
entertain a few of his visitors of high dignity and rank; and because
afterwards, in latter ages, it became more commonly appropriated to that
purpose, when greater distinction was ordinarily made between the
guests.”
This room is low; the ceiling is divided by five beams, which were once
gilt and otherwise decorated. It has a rich cornice, and the walls are
covered with oak wainscoting. It contains a fine oriel window, decorated
with arms, emblems of the chase, and royal portraits, said to be those
of Henry VII. and his queen, whose son, Prince Arthur, as we have seen,
was partly educated here. In this room is a portrait of the king’s
jester, “Will Somers.” Under a carving of the royal arms is the
following pithy exhortation, in old English, Drede God and honor the
King; a right good old-fashioned mode of exhibiting moral precepts, a
custom more honored in the observance than the breach.
“On the left of the passage, at the head of the great stairs, you ascend
again by five or six enormous semicircular steps (framed of solid masses
of timber, as ill joined as the stone steps), to a fine long gallery,
110 feet in length, and 17 in width, which is now all wainscoted, in a
curious manner, with fine oak, the frieze being adorned with _boars’
heads_, _thistles_, and _roses_. This wainscoting, though modern in
comparison with the antiquity of the house, is yet become in these days
very ancient, and conveys an excellent idea of the magnificence of the
intermediate ages. There is a great square recess in the midst of the
gallery, of fifteen feet by twelve, besides several great bow-windows;
and the whole puts one very much in mind of the galleries in the old
palaces in France, so often mentioned by Sully and the French
historians.”
This magnificent Gallery, or ball-room, is said to have been erected in
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It occupies the whole south side of the
inner court. Its narrowness seriously impairs what is otherwise a very
beautiful design: its height is fifteen feet. The floor is of oak,
respecting which tradition gives a curious story; to the effect
[Illustration:
From a drawing by T. Allom. Day & Son, Lithʳˢ to The Queen.]
that the boards were all furnished from _one_ tree that grew in the
garden, and that its roots were cut into the circular steps by which
entrance to the gallery is gained. The windows contain the armorial
devices of the successive owners, and those of Prince Arthur. The
ceiling is extremely beautiful, graceful, and elegant, in a high degree,
[Illustration]
and is a fair specimen of an age that, more than any other, produced
wonderful designs of this description. The architecture of Elizabeth and
James had nothing to shew more beautiful than its ceilings. From this
gallery a short passage leads to a room named by Mr. King “My lord’s
parlour,” but on insufficient authority. From this apartment there is a
passage, through ill-framed doors, to a flight of stairs, leading down
to the principal terrace of the garden.
The “garden at Haddon” has been time out of mind a treasure-store of the
English landscape-painter; one of the most favourite “bits” being
“Dorothy Vernon’s walk,” with the door out of which tradition describes
her as escaping to meet her lover, Sir John Manners, with whom she
eloped.[15]
“All these rooms, except the gallery, were hung with loose arras, a
great part of which still remains; and the doors were concealed
everywhere behind the hangings, so that the tapestry was to be lifted up
to pass in or out; only for convenience there were great iron hooks
(many of which are still in their places), by means whereof it might
occasionally be held back. Few of these doors fit close, and wooden
bolts, rude bars, and iron hasps, are in general their best and only
fastenings. Besides the gallery, the dining-room, and these three
apartments, there were only two others, and those but small ones, which
could be said to belong at all to the principal suite. One of these
apartments, however, is very remarkable; having an odd cornice, with a
deep quadruple frieze, three or four feet in depth, if not more, formed
of plaster, and adorned with a running foliage of leaves and flowers, in
four compartments, like bands, or fillets, one above another. The room
is hung with arras, as the others are; but from a quaint sort of
neatness appearing in the whole of it more than in them (we quote again
from Mr. King), “I am much inclined to call it _my lady’s chamber_.
There is, behind the tapestry, the door I mentioned, leading to a steep
flight of narrow steps, which descend into the great court, not far from
the arch belonging to the chapel, and which gave her an opportunity of
going thither rather a nearer way than the rest of the family, and
without crossing so much of the great court. All the rest of this great
pile of building (containing another large square court besides that we
have been speaking of) is filled with small trifling apartments, not one
of which deserves description, but which formed a labyrinth almost as
inextricable as that of Crete, and which could be of no use but to lodge
a vast host of dependents, retainers, and servants.”
The Chapel is placed at the south-west corner of the Hall. It is of
great antiquity, and
[Illustration]
contains many objects of interest, although it is of comparatively small
size. It has a body and two aisles: the pulpit and reading-desk are on
the left side. The pews of the family are high, of rich old oak, which
was originally gilt. There is, also, a rich Gothic window, which
formerly contained much painted glass, of old date, part of which was
stolen some years ago. The roof was reconstructed in 1624 by Sir George
Manners. Part of the chapel is exhibited in the appended engraving.
One remark only we have space to add. The evil hands that have fallen
upon so many of our national edifices have spared Haddon; the ruthless
improvements of “classic Goths” have been forbidden here. This we owe to
the noble house of Rutland: who claim, therefore, a debt of gratitude
alike from those who love nature and those who venerate antiquity.
[Illustration:
W. Walton, Del et lith. M & N Hanhart Lithogʳˢ.
HARDWICK HALL, DERBYSHIRE.]
HARDWICKE HALL,
DERBYSHIRE.
[Illustration: H]ARDWICKE HALL is situated about six miles from
Chesterfield, and the same distance from Mansfield, in the picturesque
and beautiful shire of Derby. The name does not occur in Domesday Book:
Hardwicke, at the Conquest, formed part of the manor of Steinesby, which
was granted to Roger of Poictou; by King John it was transferred to
Andrew De Beauchamp; in 1258 it passed to William De Steynesby, whose
grandson, John, died possessed of it in 1330. Soon afterwards, the
family De Hardwicke were here established, and remained in possession
for six generations: their pedigree closes with Elizabeth Hardwicke, the
wife of Sir William Cavendish; and Hardwicke, with its princely domains,
has continued in the possession of her lineal descendants, through the
noble family of Cavendish, to their representative, the owner of the
Mansion and Estate, His Grace the Duke of Devonshire and Baron Cavendish
of Hardwicke.
Previous to the erection of the present Hall, a still more magnificent
structure existed here; but, from vestiges of the ruins which yet
remain, its date is not placed at a very remote period from that of the
building we describe, which was erected between the years 1590 and 1597,
by the lady of Sir William Cavendish, then the relict of the Earl of
Shrewsbury.[16] The character of the founder is thus recorded by
Lodge:--“She was a woman of a masculine understanding and conduct;
proud, furious, selfish, and unfeeling; who lived to a great old age,
and died immensely rich, without a friend;” Fuller writes of her as “a
woman of undaunted spirit;” while her monument, in All Saints’ Church,
Derby, describes her as “beautiful and discreet.” She was the wife of
four husbands--but had issue by only one, the founder of the famous
family of Cavendish.
Hardwicke has, for a very long period, derived romantic interest from
the popular belief that it was one of the prisons of the lovely and
persecuted Queen of Scots. It is, however, certain, that although for a
time in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, she never was immured at
Hardwicke, her prison having been one of the Earl’s “strong castles at
Sheffield;” where she passed twelve weary years in “melyncholy and
grefe,” in “sickness and despair”--the victim of unceasing suspicion,
“in the hopeless monotony of sedentary employment, with an impaired
constitution and a restless mind”--treated with so much severity by the
Countess as to extort from the more humane Earl, in one of his petitions
to the Queen, a complaint against his “wyked and malysious wyfe.”[17]
The House, which has undergone no material change since the time of its
erection, according to Lysons, “exhibits a most complete specimen of the
domestic architecture which prevailed among the higher ranks during the
reign of Queen Elizabeth;” and it remains in its original state, “with
little or no alteration.” The Poet Gray, adopting the popular error,
pictures it as so primitive in character that “one might think the
Scottish Mary was but just walked down into the Park;” and Mrs.
Radcliffe, who described the mansion at some length in her “Tour to the
Lakes,” (1795,) notes the “proud, yet gentle and melancholy look of the
Queen as she slowly passed up the Hall,” and contrasts it with the
“somewhat obsequious, yet jealous and vigilant air” of my Lord Keeper
Shrewsbury.
The name of the Architect who designed and superintended Hardwicke is
unknown; “Gerard Christmas, John Thorpe, and the Smithsons, father and
son, who built Wollaton Hall, in the vicinity, present a probable claim
to this monument of their professional talents.” It is built of stone,
and round the top is a parapet of open work, in which frequently appear
the initials of the founder--E. S.--“memorials of the proud Dame’s
vanity.” The principal front comprehends two hundred and eight feet in
extent.
The structure crowns the summit of a small hill, that commands an
extensive view of the adjacent country, and overlooks a valley of vast
extent, which combines every component of the best English scenery. The
eminence rises somewhat abruptly but very gracefully, and terminates in
a terrace, from whence the prospect is inconceivably grand and
beautiful. Looking over the tops of magnificently grown oaks and yews,
and other forest trees, with which the slopes, immediately beneath, are
thickly studded, the eye ranges over a wide-spreading landscape, to
which Nature has been abundantly bountiful; and the whole is bounded by
the far-famed Peak.
The mansion is of great extent--massive and firm in construction; solemn
and stately grandeur is the great characteristic of the time-honoured
pile; its general form is square; at each corner is a high tower, square
also. The exterior retains all the peculiar features of the age of its
erection. The Entrance Hall is large, and fitted up with oak
wainscotting and rich old tapestry--said to have been woven from the
designs of Rubens. It contains a statue, by Westmacott, of the unhappy
Queen whose melancholy history is so intimately associated with that of
the founder of Hardwicke. The Minstrel Gallery is still there, recalling
the days of its ancient hospitality and festivity. The litho-tint print,
from a drawing by Mr. Lake Price, exhibits one of the finest of the
apartments--the State-room, or Presence-chamber; the walls are partly of
wainscot and partly hung with tapestry--an adornment with which the
rooms at Hardwicke are profusely enriched. The cabinets, chairs, and
other articles of furniture, are in admirable keeping; and among them is
a large table of the time of Elizabeth, curiously inlaid with an odd
mixture of heraldic badges, musical instruments, and games. The
State-bed shown in the centre of the picture was brought hither from
Chatsworth; it is never used, but is kept “for show.” The Picture
Gallery extends in length 169 feet; and is filled with family portraits.
Scattered about this Gallery are
[Illustration]
curious specimens of ancient furniture. Among them is an interesting
couch, which is said to have belonged to the old House. It is of plain
but elegant design: the cushions being elaborately wrought in silk and
gold on velvet, that may almost be said to be falling to pieces with
age.
The passages and two principal staircases are broad, massive, and
commodious; here, as in all other parts of the mansion, every available
space is covered with tapestry, pictures, rich carved work, or subjects
in relief. The house may, indeed, be likened to a richly illuminated
black-letter history; every wall tells a story, and every piece of
furniture suggests one,--all being of a quaint but impressive character,
and in happy unison with each other and with the genius of the place. On
the whole, perhaps this famous house is, in all parts and points, as
deeply interesting a relic of the olden time as can be found in England.
It is a treasury of antiquities, where, in a brief hour or two, a rich
store of knowledge may be gained of the size, general character,
furniture, and appointments of an English mansion of the seventeenth
century.
The old Hall, as we have observed, stands very close to that which, for
the purpose
[Illustration]
of distinction, is styled “the new;” although much of it remains in a
tolerably safe condition, it is somewhat perilous to explore the
interior. A correct idea may be formed of its present state from the
annexed engraving. Some of its windows still contain the old rough glass
of diamond shapes set in lead; but, for the most part, they offer free
ingress and egress to the winds, and succour to the ivy that twists
luxuriantly about the mouldering mullions and broken walls, reaching
above the ruins of even the highest summits. The only specimens of its
interior decorations now existing, are
[Illustration]
subjects in relief over the fire-places, and the most remarkable of
these is in a large room on the upper floor. We engrave one of them,
taken from a lower room.
The gratitude of all who venerate Antiquity, and enjoy the refreshment
derived from ancient Art, is due to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire,
who freely permits the visits of those who desire to examine the two
structures--the old and the new. Unceasing care and vigilance are
exercised to keep them in order, and prevent as far as possible the
inroads of Time. This object is not achieved without great expense;
expense incurred entirely to give pleasure to others--the thousands by
whom the seat of his ancestors is examined every summer. We deeply
lament to add, that utterly unworthy persons occasionally obtain access
to the apartments--that fellows who richly merit a flogging at the
cart’s tail, have defaced many of the decorations by scrawling upon
them, not only their own degraded names, but words even more deserving
the epithet “infamous.”
[Illustration:
F.W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
FORD HOUSE, DEVONSHIRE.]
FORDE HOUSE,
DEVONSHIRE.
[Illustration: F]ORDE HOUSE, surrounded by lofty hills, rests in the
centre of a lawn of considerable extent, having at its eastern extremity
a beautiful sheet of water, distant about a mile from the town of Newton
Abbott, at the foot of Milbourne Down. Although this ancient and
celebrated mansion is not externally profuse in architectural
decoration, it affords an accurate idea of the residences of the gentry
in the reign of James I. Its elevation exhibits great simplicity, with a
tendency to decoration, shewing an immense improvement in the style of
building, compared with the heavy and incongruous houses of the previous
era; its principal front having a centre with two wings, the central
[Illustration]
projection being ornamented with a cupola or belltower; whilst numerous
large windows, having their compartments divided by stone mullions, give
to it a character which time has not altered.
It was erected in the year 1610 by Sir Richard Reynell, Knt., second son
of Richard Reynell, Esq., of East Ogwell. Risdon, in his “Survey of
Devon,” gives the following account of Forde:--“Within the parish of
Wolborough is Forde, fairly seated, which, at the surrender of such
structures, was purchased by Taverick, whose heirs were wedded to Drew,
Marshall, and Hayman; they alienated their estate to Sir Richard
Reynell, Knt., a flourishing branch of the house of Ogwell, who has
beautified the old buildings with new edifices; and having issue one
only daughter, Jane, wedded her according to her worth, to Sir William
Waller, Knt., descended from an ancient family in Kent.” The daughter
and heiress of Sir W. Waller, Margaret, married Sir W. Courtenay, a
direct ancestor of the present Earl of Devon, a nobleman universally
beloved; since which period it has continued in the Courtenay family.
Respecting the interior of the house, although much has been done to
render it adapted to modern habits, still much remains of its former
state to give a correct idea of byegone days; its magnificent ceilings,
its oaken staircase, its panelled hall, and massive doors, tend to
recall those times when grandeur and security were more considered than
the finished decorations of the present day. The Hall is entered by a
low stone porch, which forms the central projection of the house; it is
thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. It is lighted by two large
mullion-latticed windows, having inserted in stained glass the arms of
Reynell, Waller, and Courtenay. It is wainscoted throughout, and the
fireplace stands in relief, having for its base two doric columns, which
support a superstructure of smaller
[Illustration]
columns, with elaborate decoration. The ceiling is formed into a variety
of geometrical figures, and ornamented with numerous allegorical
subjects, whilst a deep frieze, consisting of winged horses in plaster,
meet the wainscoted sides of the Hall.
A finely carved oaken staircase, of considerable width, the balustrades
of which are massive and highly decorated, leads to the Great
Drawing-room, and to King Charles’ Bed-chamber. Its disused bed and
antique chairs add to the interest of the place, and remind the visitor
of its former illustrious occupant. It may be justly said of Forde, that
it has lost little of its pristine interest by the modern alterations it
has undergone.
For many years past Forde has had various occupiers. At present it is
let on lease to Henry Cartwright, Esq., a gentleman much respected. In
1844, Mr. Cartwright served the office of high-sheriff, and since then
has continued an active Justice of the Peace.
The family of Cartwright is among the most ancient of the British
Commoners; as we find that Sir Hugh Cartwright, temp. Edward, led the
van at the battle of Poictiers; and in the reign of Henry VII., 1485, by
the marriage of Hugh Cartwright with Matilda Cove, four great branches
sprung; one of whom, William, Captain in the Navy (temp. Charles I.),
obeying the authority of his Royal Master against that of the
Parliament, was by the latter deprived of his honours, and, dying in
poverty, left an only son, William, the great-great-grandfather of the
present occupier of Forde, who settled in Devonshire soon after the
Reformation. By maternal descent, Mr. Cartwright is joint representative
of the ancient and ennobled family of Anson. His grandfather, W. Anson,
was first cousin of the Hon. Lord Anson, and last male branch of the
Anson family. Mr. Cartwright married Miss Minet, daughter of J. Minet,
of Baldwyn’s Park, Kent, Esq., and grand-daughter of Sir Charles Pole,
Bart., of Wolverton, by whom he has issue Anson, Reginald, and others.
[Illustration:
F.W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
SHERBORNE LODGE, DORSET.]
SHERBORNE LODGE,
DORSETSHIRE.
[Illustration: S]HERBORNE LODGE, now the seat of Earl Digby, stands upon
a rising ground, at a little distance from the ancient castle. It is
surrounded by a large park, which, according to Leland, was in his time
“inclosed with a stone waulle.” The Lodge is built on a singular plan,
in the form of the letter H, with hexagonal towers at the four corners,
and two others on each side of the centre of the principal front. The
general appearance of the building is peculiar rather than picturesque;
but, notwithstanding, it offers much that is interesting and worthy of
admiration. The centre part is said to have been built by Sir Walter
Raleigh, who, “by his merit and the royal favour,” obtained a grant of
the Manor and Castle of Sherbourne, and many other lands belonging to
the See of Sarum. He is said to have spent much time here, beginning
“very fairly to repair the castle” (the ruins of which still remain);
but, altering his purpose, “he built in the park adjoining to it, from
the ground, a most fine house, which he beautified with orchards,
gardens, and groves of much variety and delight,” so that for the
“pleasantness of the seat and the delicacies belonging to it, it is
unparalleled by any in these parts.” Notwithstanding these laudations of
what Sir Walter had done, he appears to have left much of his plan
incomplete.[18] Two wings were added soon after the Restoration, by the
Earl of Bristol, who appears to have drawn freely on the ruins of the
castle for the required materials.
The house contains many interesting and valuable pictures, chiefly
portraits of remarkable historical personages. Among them is a good
specimen of Cornelius Jansen; a portrait of Elizabeth, Countess of
Southampton; also a portrait of Henry, first Earl Digby, by Sir Joshua
Reynolds. But the most remarkable is a picture of the famous procession
of Queen Elizabeth to visit Lord Hunsdon, at Hunsdon House, in
Hertfordshire; she is carried in an open sedan by eight of her principal
noblemen. Vertue ascribes this picture to Gerard, her majesty’s
painter.
Sir Walter is said to have used unfair means to gain possession of this
property, “being
[Illustration]
charged with having persuaded Bishop Coldwell to pass it to the Crown,
on his election to the See of Salisbury, after which Sir Walter obtained
a grant of it;” which, however, in the end proved a snare to himself,
for it excited envious and malignant feelings in his fellow-courtiers,
whose machinations were not without influence in promoting his
subsequent disgrace and death. In a letter to his wife, written after
his condemnation, he desires her to procure his dead body, and lay it
either at Sherborne or in Exeter church, by his father and mother. It
does not appear that he was buried at either place.