statesman,” says Sir Robert Naunton, “was the son of a younger brother
of the Cecills of Hertfordshire, a family of my own knowledge, though
now private, yet of no mean antiquity, who, being exposed and sent to
the city, as poor gentlemen used to do their sons, became to be a rich
man on London Bridge, and purchased (estates) in Lincolnshire, where
this man was born.” First he became Secretary to the Protector Somerset,
and afterwards, on the accession of Elizabeth, he was appointed
Secretary of State. In 1561 he was made President of the Court of Wards.
His great talent and assiduity won for him much regard at court, where
he was treated with great favour. In 1571 he was created Lord Burleigh,
and continued to maintain his distinguished position in the State till
his death, in 1598. He resided chiefly at Theobald’s, where he often had
the honour of entertaining his sovereign, who was “sene in as great
royalty, and served as bountifully and magnificently, as at anie other
tyme or place, all at his lordship’s chardg,” &c.
Robert, the youngest son of Lord Burleigh, became possessor of Hatfield
by exchange with the king, James I. He inherited much of his father’s
talent and wisdom, “with a more subtle policy and a superior capacity
for state intrigue.” For certain secret services to James, during the
life of Elizabeth, he was raised by the king to the peerage. Afterwards
he was created Viscount Cranbourn, and, in the year following, he was
made Earl of Salisbury. After filling the office of sole Secretary of
State, he succeeded, on the death of the Earl of Dorset, to the high
post of Lord Treasurer. “Shrewd, subtle, and penetrating,” he discharged
his duties with great ability, and while attending to the interests of
his country forgot not his own, having, “by various methods,” increased
his inheritance to a very ample extent. He died in 1612. The title and
estates then descended to his only son, William, who died in 1668, and
was succeeded by James, the third earl. The fourth earl, also named
James, died in 1694; his great-grandson, the seventh earl, was created
Marquis of Salisbury by George III., in 1789. He was the father of the
present noble representative of the family of Cecil.
Hatfield House is of vast extent; it is of brick, with stone dressings.
It was built between the years 1605 and 1611, by Robert Cecil, first
Earl of Salisbury. After being suffered to fall into decay, it was
restored and beautified by the sixth earl, about the middle of the last
century. In 1835, a great part of the west wing was destroyed by fire,
little being left of that part of the house besides the outer walls. On
this mischief occurring, occasion was taken to effect a general
reparation, which was brought to a close last year (1846). The house is
in the form of an half H, comprising a centre and two wings, the hollow
part being towards the south. The centre is a magnificent example of the
Palladian style, and, although of mixed architecture, presents, in its
totality, a design of great richness and beauty.
The basement-story contains an arcade, with eight arches, divided
externally by pilasters, whereof the upper parts are fluted, and the
lower parts enriched with Elizabethan arabesques. The lower pilasters
are Doric, the upper Ionic. The wings are massive, and comparatively
plain, supported at each corner by square turrets, seventy feet high to
the gilded vanes; the space between, comprising three stories, is
relieved by a fine oriel window, of two stories. The centre tower, over
the grand entrance, is also seventy feet high; it has three stories,
with coupled columns at the corners, the whole having an agreeable
pyramidal effect. The third story of the tower contains a clock, and
also the armorial bearings of the founder, with the date 1611, in which
year the present house was finished. The length of the southern front is
300 feet, the centre being 140 feet, and each wing 80 feet wide, with a
projection from the centre of 100 feet.
[Illustration]
The northern front is plain--a severe simplicity, nearly allied to
grandeur, being its chief characteristic; the centre compartment, with
its entrance-doorway below and noble clock-tower above, being the only
elaboration it contains. Of this front we give a view, as seen from the
avenue of trees which marks the approach on this side.
The south front contains the principal entrance, and, from its symmetry
and ornate character, is, architecturally at least, the principal one.
The east front has, however, certain advantages, which go far towards
making it the most interesting, as it is certainly the most picturesque.
The view in that direction, whether _from_ the house or _of_ it, is by
far the most pleasing, as the founder well knew when he caused the
principal apartments to be placed on this side. The view from these
rooms is of remarkable interest and variety: first there is a noble
terrace-walk, with an enriched parapet, over which the eye wanders at
will among the clustering flowers of the Elizabethan garden, and from
them to the Maze; beyond which is the Park, with its fine sheet of
water, surrounded by noble old trees, their deep green reflexions broken
ever and anon by the splash of leaping fish, or the sedate movements of
the stately swans.
The interior well sustains the rich promise of the exterior. Convenience
of arrangement and sumptuousness of decoration are every where united.
Two grand staircases, one in the corner of each wing, lead to the
principal apartments. These staircases are of oak, richly carved. That
in the north-west angle was formerly called the Adam and Eve staircase:
much of it is of recent date, having been redecorated since the late
calamitous fire. The north-east staircase is all old, and exquisitely
carved. This staircase leads almost direct to King James’s Room, one of
the noblest apartments of the house, the extreme magnificence of which
no words can describe: in truth it is too rich, and the eye turns
involuntarily towards the grand oriel windows for relief. The ceiling is
of exquisite design, and was, till recently, plain white; now it is all
gold and colour. The chimneypiece is massive, of white marble; and a
central niche over the fire contains a life-size statue of James I. in
dark stone. The fire-dogs are of silver; the furniture and the six
chandeliers are gilt; the curtains are of white satin; the chair and
sofa coverings are crimson velvet; and the carpet, “patent Axminster,”
is of Elizabethan design, worked in brown, gold, scarlet, and blue. This
room contains some of the most important pictures. The Gallery extends
the whole length of the south front: it is about 160 feet long, and 20
feet wide. The ceiling is of remarkable beauty, one of the finest
examples of a period that was most prolific in such designs. The walls
are panelled with oak, and covered with a profusion of carving and other
embellishment. Our further remarks on the interior must be brief; many
interesting matters we must altogether omit. We hasten, therefore,
through the Winter Dining-Room, and pass into the Library, in which,
among other treasures, there are some rare old documents. From the
Library we may pass into the gallery of the Chapel, which contains a
curious old organ, a large window of richly painted glass, and some good
pictures. On the north side of the house is the Great Hall; it is 50
feet by 30, and is lighted by three bay-windows, rising the whole height
of the hall. At the eastern end is a massive screen, supporting a
gallery above, the whole covered with carvings of heraldic badges and
other decorations.
The Park is full of fine trees, which from many points offer beautiful
little pictures, more particularly when seen in combination with the
house or garden terraces. One of these “bits” we have engraved for the
initial letter.
[Illustration:
F. W. Hulme, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
KNEBWORTH, HERTFORDSHIRE]
KNEBWORTH,
HERTFORDSHIRE.
[Illustration: K]NEBWORTH Manor and Fort were granted at the Conquest by
William I. to his favourite counsellor and captain, Eudo, surnamed
Dapifer. Knebworth was fortunate in the rank or fame of its successive
owners during the early periods of our history. In the reign of Edward
I. its ancient fort was possessed by the powerful Robert de Hoo; in that
of Edward II. it had passed to Thomas de Brotherton, fifth son of Edward
I. by marriage with his daughter Margaret, afterwards created Duchess of
Norfolk. Its next owner was the famous Sir Walter Manny. It devolved by
heritage on Anne, daughter of the Duchess of Norfolk, and wife to John
de Hastings, Earl of Pembroke. In the reign of Henry IV. it became the
property of John Hotoft, Knight of the Shire for Herts; an eminent man
in that reign, and subsequently Treasurer to the Household of Henry IV.
His daughter married Sir Robert de Lytton, of Lytton in the Peak of
Derbyshire, Governor of Bolsover Castle, and Grand Agister of the
Forests in the Peak. His grandson (also named Robert), early in the
reign of Henry VII., purchased the property of his maternal ancestry,
and thus became Lord of Knebworth. This second Sir Robert de Lytton was
of great note and power in his time: his family had always espoused the
cause of the House of Lancaster; he fought with Henry VII. at the battle
of Bosworth, and was by that king made Keeper of the Great Wardrobe,
Under-Treasurer of the Court of Exchequer, one of the Privy Council, and
Knight of the Bath. He is mentioned by Perkin Warbeck, in one of his
manifestos, as exercising considerable influence in the councils of
Henry VII., and was one of the most powerful of that king’s supporters,
in point of possessions and descent. He held rich lordships in
Derbyshire, Cheshire, Northamptonshire, Herts, and Essex. Knebworth
became his principal residence. He enlarged the fortress, and changed
its character into the elaborate and enriched architecture, which the
part of the house now standing, and originally reconstructed by him,
still retains.
The family of Lytton had been settled in Cheshire and Derbyshire from
the period of the Conquest. Sir Giles de Lytton, nephew to the great
Hubert de Lacy, Earl of Chester, whose arms he quartered, followed
Richard III. to the Holy Land, and fought with him at Askalon. The
Lyttons continued to hold offices of state or trust under successive
monarchs till the reign of Elizabeth. Under Henry VIII., William de
Lytton was made Governor of Bulloign Castle. Under Elizabeth, Sir
Rowland de Lytton, Lord Lieutenant of Essex and Herts, commanded the
forces of those counties at Tilbury Fort; and was Captain of that flower
of English chivalry, the band of Gentlemen Pensioners, so renowned in
the reign of the Virgin Queen.[32] Sir Rowland Lytton married Anne,
daughter of Oliver, the first Lord St. John of Bletsoe, and
great-granddaughter of Margaret Beauchamp by her first husband, Sir
Oliver St. John. By her second marriage with the Duke of Somerset, this
Margaret was the grandmother of Henry VII.; so that Anne, Lady Lytton,
claimed the honour of a blood-relationship with Elizabeth, who favoured
Knebworth with several visits during her reign.
In the reign of Charles I., Sir William Lytton, Knight of the Shire for
Herts, adopted the popular cause, supported by Pym, Elliott, and
Hampden, and was one of the commissioners sent to treat with the king at
Oxford; those commissioners being chosen from the most powerful country
gentlemen of the party. He seems to have been a moderate man, and a
sincere patriot; for he opposed the ascendancy of Cromwell no less than
the despotism of Charles, and was one of the refractory members whom
Oliver confined in Hellhole. By his marriage with Ruth, daughter of Sir
Thomas Barrington, of Barrington Hall, Sir William Lytton allied his
house with the blood-royal of the Plantagenets; Ruth Barrington being
fourth in descent, through the Countess of Salisbury and Richard de la
Pole, Knight of the Garter, from George, Duke of Clarence, and Isabel,
daughter of Earl Warwick the King-maker.
In the reign of Anne, the heir-male of the Lyttons dying without issue,
the estate passed to his cousin, William Robinson, _ceu_ Norreys, of
Guersylt, Denbighshire, and Monacdhu, in Anglesey, who, on the maternal
side, descended from the Lyttons, and on his father’s, from a race still
more ancient; tracing, indeed, in a direct and acknowledged line, from
the heroes and princes of our earliest history,--Elystan Glodrydd, or
the Glorious (godson of King Athelstan), Prince of North Wales, and Lord
of all between Wye and Severn; Karadoc Vreicfras; Roderic the Great; and
Cadwallader the last of the British kings. His ancestor, Sir William
Norreys, married Anne, sister of Owen Tudor, and grand-aunt to Henry
VII. His son, Sir Robert, married Anne, daughter of Sir W. Griffiths,
Grand Chamberlain of Wales, and his name was of such eminence in the
wars of the time, that his son, according to Welsh custom, took the name
of Rob’s or Robin’s son, which was afterwards borne by the descendants
indiscriminately with the proper patronymic of Norreys. Through later
intermarriages this family claim also descent from the Norman houses of
Grosvenor, Stanley of Hooton, Brereton of Malpas, and Warburton of
Ardely. The great-granddaughter of this William Robinson, who took the
name and arms of Lytton on succeeding to the estates of his maternal
ancestry, was Elizabeth Warburton Lytton, who became sole heiress and
representative of the families of Lytton and Robinson. She married
William Earle Bulwer (brigadier-general), of Heydon Hall and Wood
Dalling, Norfolk; lands which had been in possession of his family since
the Conquest. (See Burke’s “Commoners,” and Bloomfield’s “Norfolk.”) By
this marriage there were three sons: 1st, William Lytton Bulwer, the
present possessor of Heydon; 2nd, the Right Hon. Henry Lytton Bulwer,
Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Madrid, to whom his grandmother
bequeathed a considerable fortune; and Sir Edward Bulwer, Bart., who
succeeded to his mother by will, in December 1843, and took the surname
and arms of Lytton.
The ancient house of Knebworth is described in an early number of the
“Gentleman’s Magazine.” It was a large quadrangular building, the front,
or east side, being part of the early fortress, and dating as far back
as the time of Edward III. Three sides of the pile were, however,
removed, as both too vast and too ruinous to inhabit, by the late Mrs.
Bulwer Lytton; and the fourth side, which was built in the reign of
Henry VII. by Sir Robert Lytton, forms the present residence. It was
repaired and restored by Mrs. Bulwer Lytton and the present possessor,
Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.
The house stands on what Sir Henry Chauncy calls “a dry hill in a fair
large park, stocked with the best deer in the county, excellent timber
and well wooded, and from whence you may behold a most lovely prospect
to the east.”
The exterior consists of two wings of the purest Tudor architecture,
flanked by highly ornamented turrets, surmounted with cupolas and gilded
vanes. The windows are all in stone mullions with small panes, and most
of them in stained glass. At the east or entrance-front is a tall square
tower, with flag turret and massive projecting porch. The west or
garden-front is peculiarly elaborate, and covered with the profuse
heraldry of the period, in arms, rebuses, badges, &c. The centre is
formed by a circular tower, squared towards the base, with projecting
embayed window, and the initials R. L. (Robert Lytton), with the date
1499, over the door. On this side, a garden stretches into the park,
laid out in the style favoured in the reign of James I., with
stone-pierced balustrades, straight walks, statues, and elaborate
parterres. The other sides of the house, viz. the north and east, are
approached by stately avenues of limes and chestnuts.
On entering through the porch there is a narrow corridor, covered with
armour of different dates. Over a door leading to the butteries hang a
crusader’s chain-mail, and the gigantic double-handed swords of the same
age. But the chief part of the armour here is of the more recent date of
the Civil Wars.
On entering the park from the London road is a picturesque Lodge, which
formed part
[Illustration]
of the ancient gateway in front of the quadrangle, and was removed by
Mrs. Bulwer Lytton to the present site. The road winds through a richly
wooded deer-park for about three-quarters of a mile, and, skirting the
garden-front, approaches the house at the east.
The Mausoleum, a beautiful Palladian building of stone erected by Mrs.
Bulwer Lytton, and the grey, venerable Church, which stands within the
park, about one hundred yards from the house, partially serve to break
the wide prospect to which Sir Henry Chauncy refers.
To the left is the Screen Hall, about fifty-six feet long, twenty-four
broad, and thirty in height; the ceiling of this hall is of the date of
Henry VII., the screen was added in the reign of Elizabeth, and the arms
of Sir Rowland Lytton, quartering those of Booth and Oke, of which
families he was heir-male, are carved on the panels. Above the screen is
the Minstrels’ Gallery. The oak panels that surround the hall and ascend
to a considerable height, with the columns at the extreme end, are of
the date of Charles I., and above them are carved deers’ heads with
gigantic antlers. There are three figures in complete knight’s armour in
this hall, of the several dates of Henry VII., Henry VIII., and James
I.; and trophies, of the dates of Elizabeth and Charles I., are
suspended on the piers between three Gothic pierced windows. The
fire-dogs on the ample hearth are peculiarly massive, and of the time of
Henry VII., having the supporters assumed by Sir Robert de Lytton. One
of the doors at the extreme end is connected with a curious relique of
ancient manners, of which a few similar instances are still to be found
in our old halls; it leads to a spacious cellar raised on arches, to
which it was the custom, in the less sober age of our fathers, for the
revellers to retire after dinner, with the noble design to drink out a
bin undisturbed. The corresponding door gives access to the Oak
Drawing-room, a room thirty-six feet in length, paneled in deep
wainscot, with a curious and massive chimneypiece rising to the ceiling,
and carved with the arms and supporters of Lytton. The upper
compartments of the stone mullion windows are emblazoned with the arms
of Booth, Godmanston, and Oke; quarterings brought into the family by
the marriage of Sir W. Lytton (temp. Henry VIII.) with the heiress of
the Booths. This room is hung round with portraits, chiefly those of the
family, but with some of a more general interest. There are small heads
of Elizabeth, Mary Stuart, and Cardinal Wolsey, a fine portrait of
Algernon Sidney in his youth, another of Andrew Marvel, two by Rubens of
the Duke of Alba and Clara Eugenia, one of Galileo, and one of the
Elector Palatine, husband to Elizabeth Stuart. This room communicates
with the Library; a spacious apartment, with one large deep-set oriel
window, facing the garden. The bookcases, of carved Gothic work in dark
oak (surmounted by the crest of Norreys, the Cornish chough, which,
according to Welsh heraldry, denotes royal descent), line the room
throughout. The chimneypiece, of carved stone, is blazoned with the arms
of Grosvenor, Stanley, and Robinson, Beaufort, St. John, and Lytton; and
the stained glass of the windows contains other armorial bearings of the
joint descents of the families of Lytton and Robinson. In this room are
two antique tall bronze candelabra, with lamps inlaid with silver, which
were dug up in Apulia, and purchased by Sir Edward at Naples. The
Neapolitan government refused for a long time to permit them to leave
the country, and it was only upon the decision of a learned antiquary,
that they were of the date of Joan of Naples, and not Roman antiquities,
that they were consigned to their present proprietor. Assuming that date
to be correct, though there is strong evidence to believe them genuinely
Roman, they are wonderfully well preserved, and their shape and form are
of exquisite taste and workmanship. From this room we pass to the
Staircase, formed by a double flight of oak stairs, with curiously
wrought balusters, ornamented with lions supporting armorial shields.
Two long mullion windows with richly stained glass, illustrating the
descent of Ruth, Lady Lytton, from the Neviles and Plantagenets, light
this interesting part of the house. The walls are covered with armour,
banners, and portraits; among the last is a full-length of the Regent
Murray, another half-length of Henry, Prince of Wales, and a vast
equestrian portrait of the Emperor Charles V.: the rest are family
portraits, including one of Sir Edward by Von Holst. Ascending the
flight to the right, we pass through a carved screen-work into the
lobby, leading to the State Apartments, four in number. The first is a
small square room, extremely curious from the antiquity of its
decorations. The wainscot, in oak carving, represents the Cardinal
Virtues; the walls are covered with gilt stamped leather, and the
ceiling is blazoned with heraldry. In this room are some interesting
portraits, viz. of the Earl of Strafford and his widow, of Lord Darnley,
of Sir Philip Sidney, said to be given by him to Sir Rowland Lytton, of
Sir Robert Cecil (first Lord Salisbury), said also to be a gift, of
Bussy d’Amboise, _homme de sang et de feu_, and Sir Francis Russell, who
married a daughter of Sir William Lytton. There is a curious oak
cabinet, of the reign of Henry VIII., in this room. Passing through a
carved oak door we enter the next in the suite, a somewhat long but
narrow room, hung with rich tapestry glitteringly wrought in bugles.
Between the windows is a superb Venetian cabinet, in tortoiseshell and
silver. There is a picture by Rembrandt, called “_The Magician’s
Study_,” over one of the doors; and above the high oak chimneypiece is a
portrait of the young Duke of Gloucester, son of Charles I.
Folding-doors open from this room into the oval room, and thence into
the principal drawing-room, formerly called the Presence Chamber. These
rooms are decorated en suite; the ceilings represent nearly ninety
quarterings, and the frieze the principal descents, by alliance, from
the Tudors and Plantagenets; corresponding heraldic devices are blazoned
on the windows of the whole suite. The walls are in green and gold,
depicting the crests, badges, and motto of the family. There are several
excellent pictures in these rooms; viz. a “_Magdalene_,” by Carlo Dolce,
in his best manner; a most beautiful “_Madonna_,” by Gallego, a Spanish
artist little known in this country, but of high repute in his own: he
was a pupil of Albert Durer. Nothing can exceed the finish and exquisite
colouring of this lovely picture. There is also a “_Holy Family_,” by
Albert Durer; the head of the Virgin is beautiful. “_The Flight into
Egypt_,” by N.Poussin; a portrait of Marie de Medici by Tintoretto; and
the celebrated masterpiece of Lancret, so often engraved, of “_The
Dancing Group_.” There is also a charming bit by Charles le Brun; a
portrait of Edward VI., given by him to Sir William Lytton; an
“_Oriental Fair_,” finely painted, the artist unknown; a
“_Battle-piece_” by Wouvermans; a landscape by Salvator Rosa, “_Acis and
Galatea_;” and four full-length family portraits connected with the
genealogical decorations of the apartments.
The furniture throughout this suite corresponds with the antiquity of
the apartments and character of the decorations, comprising some rare
and genuine examples of the taste of our forefathers. There are, in
particular, two tables in ivory and ebony of the reign of Henry VIII.;
two cabinets in oak and gold of that of Henry VII.; an early Venetian
table of extreme beauty; and several chairs in the old Genoese cloth of
gold, as fresh as if wrought but yesterday. Here are also two of the
ivory and gold chairs formerly belonging to Tippoo Saib, presented by
Lord Wellesley to Queen Charlotte, and sold after her death; and some
fine specimens of sculpture on marble pedestals: the “_Laura_” of
Canova; the “_Mercury_,” and “_Shepherd’s Boy_” of Thorwaldsen; the
“_Flora_” of Gibson, presented to Sir Edward by that exquisite artist;
and the busts of the four Italian poets, Petrarch, Ariosto, Dante, and
Tasso, in alabaster. At the end of the old Presence Chamber formerly ran
the Picture Gallery, removed by Mrs. Bulwer Lytton. The suite now
terminates by a stained glass window, on which is painted the
full-length of Henry VII. with the subjoined inscription:--