ecclesiasticall, wheresoever they lay, or were, within the realm of
England.” The walls of the ancient college may be clearly traced, and a
small portion still endures, comparatively uninjured. It is a Gateway,
surmounted by the arms of the Cobhams, luxuriantly overgrown with ivy,
forming a fine example of picturesque antiquity. The present structure
was erected pursuant to the will of Sir William Broke, Lord Cobham, who
devised “all those edifices, ruined buildings, soil and ground, with the
appurtenances which sometime belonged to the late suppressed college,”
for the use of the “new” college. By an act of the 39th of Elizabeth the
wardens of Rochester Bridge, for the time being, were made a body
corporate, and declared to be perpetual presidents of the new college,
the government of which they retain to this day.
The dependent village of Cobham is one of the neatest and most pleasant
of the many fair villages of Kent.
Although in the course of our work we shall picture many nobler and more
perfect examples of the domestic architecture of “Old” England than is
supplied by Cobham Hall, we shall be enabled to call attention to few
that afford so rich a recompense at so small a cost:--taking into
account its genuine remains of antiquity, the magnificent works of art
that decorate its walls, its easy access from the Metropolis, and the
primitive character and surpassing beauty of the locality in which it is
situated.
[Illustration:
G. F. Sargent, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. L. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
HEVER CASTLE, KENT.]
HEVER CASTLE,
KENT.
[Illustration: H]EVER CASTLE is situated in that district of the County
of Kent called “the Weald.” It was erected in the time of Edward III.,
by William de Hevre, who had obtained the King’s license to embattle his
Manor-house; dying soon afterwards, the estate was inherited by his two
daughters; one of whom married a younger son of the Lord Cobham, who
purchased the remainder, and by whose grandson the whole was disposed of
to Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, a wealthy mercer of London, who was Lord Mayor
of the City in the 37th Henry VI. He was the founder of a family, whose
short-lived power forms a brilliant but melancholy page in British
History. His grandson, Thomas, the father of “the unfortunate Anne,” was
created, by Henry VIII., Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond; but dying without
issue male (his son having been executed during his lifetime), his
remorseless son-in-law seized on the estates “in right of his late
wife,” which in the 32nd year of
[Illustration]
his reign, he granted, for her life, to Anne of Cleves, the wife he had
then repudiated. Sir Thomas Boleyn is buried in the Church of Hever; his
tomb is in the chancel; a fine relic of ancient splendour, which time
and neglect have essentially impaired. After the decease of Anne of
Cleves, Hever passed successively through the hands of the Waldegraves,
the Humfreys, the Waldos, and the Medleys, in whose possession it is at
present.
The Castle is still in good condition, and is kept in sufficient repair.
A moat surrounds it, formed by the river Eden; over which a drawbridge
leads to the principal entrance--a centre flanked by round towers,
embattled and machicolated, and defended also by a portcullis. The inner
buildings form a quadrangle, inclosing a court. Our view is taken from
the entrance to the orchard, on the east side of the moat; thus
presenting the east and north sides of the building.
A “great staircase” conducts to the several apartments and “the long
gallery;” from
[Illustration]
this gallery there opens a small recess, said to have been the council
chamber of the eighth Henry during his frequent visits to the Castle.
Our print exhibits also the trap-door, from which there is a narrow and
gloomy passage to the dungeons and the moat. To this awful-looking
place, so suggestive of sad thought, tradition has given the name of
“the hunger hole.” A chamber, with which are associated feelings
scarcely less painful, is the antechamber that leads to the bed-room of
Queen Anna Boleyn. This suite is said to have constituted her prison
after her “disgrace”--if the term may be applied
[Illustration]
to the change of circumstances to which she was doomed by the inhuman
despot to whose merciless keeping a stern fate had consigned her
destiny. The Castle and its neighbourhood contain many traditions
connected with the sad story of the ill-fated Anne. Hever was the
residence of her earlier and happier years; in this Castle she was wooed
by her King; from hence she was conducted in triumph to a throne. And
from the lone chamber she here occupied, she was led to a still more
fatal prison and the scaffold. In the immediate neighbourhood, a hill is
pointed out, upon the summit of which it was the custom of King Henry to
wind his bugle-horn in token of his approach, when, with his retinue, he
drew near the dwelling of his “Lady-love.”
[Illustration:
S. Rayner, Delᵗ. on stone by W. Walton. M. & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
KNOLE, RETAINER’S GALLERY.]
KNOLE HOUSE,
KENT.
[Illustration: K]NOLE HOUSE adjoins the pleasant and picturesque town of
Sevenoaks. The principal approach is by a long and winding avenue of
finely-grown beech-trees, through the extensive Park--the road, sloping
and rising gradually, and presenting frequent views of hill and dale,
terminated by the heavy and sombre stone front of the ancient and
venerable edifice. Passing under an embattled Tower, the first or outer
quadrangle is entered; hence there is another passage through another
tower-portal, which conducts to the inner quadrangle, and so to the
“Huge Hall, long Galleries, spacious Chambers,”
for which Knole--one of the stateliest of the Baronial Mansions of
England--has long been famous. No precise date can be assigned to the
structure; it is certain that so far back as the Conquest there was “a
residence” here; we have, however, no authentic records of its occupants
until early in the reign of John, when “the Manor and Estate” were held
by Baldwin de Bethune, from whom they passed by marriage to the
Mareschals, Earls of Pembroke, one of whom--a “rebellious
Baron”--forfeiting, the lands were bestowed upon Fulk de Brent, a low
soldier of fortune--“a desperate fellow,” as Camden terms him, whose
arms had been useful to the King and his son, Henry the Third. Upon the
subsequent disgrace of this mercenary, the lands reverted to the Earl of
Pembroke; from whom they passed to the Bigods, the Grandisons, the Says,
and--in the reign of Henry the Sixth--to James Fienes, summoned to
Parliament in the twenty-fourth of that Monarch’s reign as Lord Say and
Sele; and murdered in Cheapside by order of “Jack Cade.” His son and
heir conveyed the estates to Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury,
who having “rebuilt the Manor-house, and enclosed a Park round the
same,” bequeathed it, in 1486, to the See. Knole thus became the
dwelling-house of the several Archbishops until the twenty-ninth of
Henry the Eighth, when Cranmer, “willing to surrender a part of the
possessions of the Church to preserve the remainder,” granted Knole and
its appurtenances to the King. By Edward the Sixth they were given to
the Dudleys: on the failure of the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on
the throne, they reverted to the Crown. By Queen Mary they were
presented to Cardinal Pole. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, after
having been held for a brief time by the Earl of Leicester, they were
bestowed upon Thomas Sackville, created Baron Buckhurst and Earl of
Dorset. In this family they have ever since remained; the present owner
of the noble Mansion and Estates being the Countess Amherst, relict of
the sixth Earl of Plymouth, and daughter of the third Duke of Dorset,
co-heiress, with her sister the Countess De la Warr, of her brother, the
fourth Duke, who died “of full age, but unmarried and without issue,” in
1815.[59]
Knole House is full of highly honourable and deeply interesting
associations with the past. Seen from a distance, the Mansion appears
irregular; but, although the erection of several periods, and enlarged,
from time to time, to meet the wants or wishes of its immediate
occupiers, it exhibits few parts out of harmony with the whole; and
presents a striking and very imposing example of the earlier Baronial
Mansions, such as it was before settled peace in Britain warranted the
withdrawal of all means of defence in cases of attack from open or
covert enemies.--The neighbourhood, as well as “the House,” is
suggestive of many sad, or pleasant, memories: from the summits of
knolls in the noble and well-stocked Park, extensive views are obtained
of the adjacent country; scattered about the wealds of Kent are the tall
spires of scores of village churches; Hever--recalling the fate of the
murdered Anna Boleyn and the destiny of the deserted Anne of Cleves;
Penshurst--the cradle and the tomb of the Sidneys; Eridge--once great
Warwick’s hunting-seat; the still frowning battlements of Tunbridge
Castle;--these and other objects, within ken, demand thought and induce
reflection; both of which obtain augmented power while treading the
graceful corridors and stately chambers of the time-honoured
[Illustration]
Mansion. The walls are hung with authentic portraits of the great men of
various epochs, who, when living, flourished here; not alone the noble
and wealthy owners of the old Hall, but the worthies who sojourned there
as guests--to have sheltered, aided, and befriended whom is now the
proudest, as it will be the most enduring, of all the boasts of lordly
Knole.[60]
Visitors are generously admitted into the more interesting and
attractive of the apartments; and they are full of treasures of
art,--not of paintings alone, although of these every chamber is a
store-house, but of curious and rare productions, from the most
elaborate and costly examples of the artists of the middle ages, to the
characteristic works of the English artisan during the reigns of
Elizabeth and James, when a vast amount of labour was bestowed upon the
commonest articles of everyday use. The collection of Fire-dogs at Knole
is singularly rich; those which adorn “the Cartoon Gallery” supply us
with our initial letter; but every room throughout the Mansion contains
a pair equally curious and fine--the greater number being of chased
silver. The chairs and seats of various kinds, to be found in all parts
of the House, are so many models for the artist. The best are placed in
“the Brown Gallery”[61]--a long and narrow apartment, panneled, roofed,
and floored with oak; here the antique fastenings to the doors and
windows are preserved in their early purity; the stained windows are
fresh as if painted yesterday; while the walls are covered with historic
Portraits, giving vitality to the striking and interesting scene--and
seeming to remove two centuries from between the present and the past.
Similar wealth (wealth in the best and truest meaning of the word) is
[Illustration]
to be found in every chamber. The Great Hall has its “dais,” its
“Minstrels’ Gallery,” and even its oak tables where retainers feasted,
long ago. The bed-rooms are distinguished as, “the Spangled,” “the
Venetian,” “the King’s,” &c. &c. Of the last named we give an engraving.
The furniture here is entirely of silver; the state bed is said to have
cost £8000. The room was prepared and furnished for the reception of
James the First. The Portraits scattered through the various apartments
are, many of them, of rare value. They include the principal nobility
and statesmen of the reigns of Henry the Eighth and his children. Among
the other pictures are choice examples of Titian, Corregio, Vandyck,
Rembrandt, and Reynolds. In a window of the Billiard-room is a painting
on glass of a knight in armour, representing the famous ancestor of the
Sackvilles; and in the Cartoon Gallery are, also on glass, the armorial
bearings of twenty-one of his descendants, ending with Richard, the
third Earl of Dorset. Of the several “galleries,” and the drawing-rooms,
it is sufficient to state that they are magnificent in reference to
their contents, and beautiful as regards the style of decoration
accorded to each. There is, indeed, no part of the noble building which
may not afford exquisite and useful models to the painter; a fact of
which we understand the noble owners are fully aware, for to artists
they have afforded repeated facilities for study. It will not be
difficult to recognise, in some of the best productions of modern art,
copies of the gems which give value and adornment to the noble House of
Knole.
[Illustration:
J. D. Harding, Delᵗ. on Stone by W. Walton. M & N. Hanhart, Lithogʳˢ.
PENSHURST FROM THE PARK.]
PENSHURST,
KENT.
[Illustration: P]ENSHURST! How many, and how glorious, are the
associations connected with this ancient house--“the seat of the
Sidneys!” Every great name, memorable in the Augustan age of England, is
linked with it for ever; while its venerable aspect, the solemnity of
surrounding shades, the primitive character of the vicinity, together
with its isolated position--far away from the haunts of busy men--are in
perfect harmony with the memories it awakens. Here lived the earliest
and bravest of the Anglo-Norman Knights. Here dwelt the ill-fated
Bohuns--the three unhappy Dukes of Buckingham, who perished in
succession--one in the field, and two on the scaffold. And here
flourished the Sidneys! Here, during his few brief years of absence from
turmoil in the turbulent countries of Ireland and Wales, resided the
elder Sidney, Sir Henry, who, although his fame has been eclipsed by the
more dazzling reputation of his gallant son, was in all respects good as
well as great--a good soldier, a good subject, a good master, and a good
counsellor and actor, under circumstances peculiarly perilous. This is
the birth-place of “the darling of his time,” the “chiefest jewel of a
crown,” the “diamond of the Court of Queen Elizabeth.” Here, too, was
born, and here was interred the mutilated body of, the “later Sidney;”
he who had “set up Marcus Brutus for his pattern,” and perished on the
scaffold--a martyr for what he called “the good old cause,” one of the
many victims of the meanest and worst of his race. With the memories of
these three marvellous men--the Sidneys, Henry, Philip, and
Algernon--are closely blended those of the Worthies of the two most
remarkable Eras in English History. Who can speak of Penshurst without
thinking of Spenser!
“For Sidney heard him sing, and knew his voice;”--
of Shakspere--of Ben Jonson, the laureate of the Place--of Raleigh, the
“friend and frequent guest”--of Broke, whose proudest boast is recorded
on his tomb, that he was “the servant of Queen Elizabeth, the
Counsellor of King James, and THE FRIEND of Sir Philip Sidney”--of the
many other immortal men, who made the reign of Elizabeth the glory of
all Time!
Reverting to a period less remote, who can think of Penshurst without
speaking of the high spirits of a troubled age?--
“The later Sidney, Marvel, Harrington,
Young Vane, and others who called Milton--friend!”
Although its glory is of the past, and nearly two centuries have
intervened between the latest record of its greatness and its present
state,--although it has been silent all that time,--a solemn silence
broken only by the false love-note of an unworthy minstrel, for the
names of “Waller and Sacharissa” dishonour rather than glorify its gray
walls--who does not turn to Penshurst as to a refreshing fountain by the
wayside of wearying History?
Penshurst--“the seat of the Sidneys”--adjoins the village to which it
gives a name. It is situated in the weald of Kent, nearly six miles
south-west of Tonbridge, and about
[Illustration]
thirty miles from London. The neighbourhood is remarkably primitive. As
an example of the prevailing character of the houses, we have copied a
group that stands at the entrance to the Church-yard--a small cluster of
quiet cottages, behind which repose the rude forefathers of the Hamlet,
with brave Knights of imperishable names; and facing which, is an Elm of
prodigious size and age, that has seen generations after generations
flourish and decay. The sluggish Medway creeps lazily round the Park,
which consists of about 400 acres, finely wooded, and happily
diversified with hill and dale. A double row of Beech-trees of some
extent, preserves the name of “Sacharissa’s Walk;” and a venerable Oak,
the trunk of which is hollowed by Time, is pointed out as the veritable
tree that was planted on the day of Sir Philip’s birth; of which Rare
Ben Jonson thus writes,--
“That taller tree which of a nut was set,
At his great birth when all the Muses met:”
--to which Waller makes reference as “the sacred mark of noble Sidney’s
birth;” concerning which Southey also has some lines; and from which a
host of lesser Poets have drawn inspiration.
Until within the last twenty or thirty years, the house was in a sadly
dilapidated state. Its utter ruin, indeed, appeared a settled thing,
until the present proprietor, Lord De L’Isle, set himself to the task of
its restoration. It is now rapidly assuming its ancient character--a
combination of several styles of architecture, in which the Tudor
predominates. One of Mr. Hoarding’s drawings represents it “under
repair,” as it now is; the other gives a view of the Mansion, from the
principal approach, through the Park. In the first, the back-entrance to
the Hall is seen between two rude buttresses, and the roof of the Hall
is shown above the broken wall. Opposite, is the old Court-yard Bell,
which bears the date of 1649. It is supported on a wooden frame, richly
covered with ivy. A print of it forms the Initial Letter to this
History. In Mr. Harding’s second view is exhibited the West Front, the
north front being seen in quick perspective; on the left, is “Sir
Henry’s Tower,” containing his arms, and an inscription stating that he
was Lord Deputie General of the Realm of Ireland in 1579. This Tower
terminates the north wing, the only part of the building as yet
completely restored. In the north wing is the principal entrance, by an
ancient gateway leading through one of the smaller Courts to the great
Hall. Over this Gateway is an antique Slab, setting forth that “The most
religious and renowned Prince, Edward the Sixt, kinge of England, France
and Irelande, gave this house of Pencestre, with the Manors, landes and
appurtenaynces therunto belonginge unto his trustye and well beloved
servant syr William Sidney, Knight Banneret.”
The Exterior of the Mansion is, however, an assemblage of erections of
various times, and furnishes some examples of singular incongruity. But
the “restorations” are proceeding
[Illustration]
in good taste and with sound judgment; and the Seat of the Sidneys will,
in the course of a few years, regain its rank as one of the finest and
most extensive edifices of the County of Kent.
The Interior is also in progressive improvement; but the new and the old
are at present awkwardly and ungracefully mingled. The “Hall” is still
comparatively untouched, and the more interesting of its characteristic
features are in no peril of further destruction; the business of the
architect being limited to repairing the inroads of time. The pointed
timber Roof, upon which the slates are laid, is supported by a series of
grotesque figures (corbels), each the size of life. The Screen of the
Gallery is richly carved and panelled. The Gallery--“the Minstrels’
Gallery”--fills the side opposite the Dais. The Gothic Windows are
narrow and lofty. Every object calls to mind and illustrates a Feudal
age. The oak Tables, on which retainers feasted, still occupy the Hall;
in its centre are the huge Dogs, (pictured on the preceding page), in an
octagonal enclosure, beneath the louvre, or lanthorn, in the Roof, which
formerly
[Illustration]
permitted egress to the smoke. A stone Staircase (indicated in the
appended print) leads from the Hall to the Picture Gallery and the State
Apartments. They are filled with family Portraits, all of which possess
considerable interest, although few are of much worth. Among them are
several of Sir Philip and Algernon Sidney; one of Sir Philip’s sister,
the Countess of Pembroke, to whom he addressed the “Arcadia,” and who is
immortalised by Ben Jonson in his famous Epitaph to “the subject of all
verse;” and one, by Lely, of the “Sacharissa” of the muse of Waller. A
small Chamber in the Mansion contains, however, a few treasures of rarer
value than all its copies of “fair women and brave men.” Among some
curious family relics and records, is a lock of Sir Philip Sidney’s
hair; it is of a pale auburn. A lock of the hair of the ill-fated
Algernon is also with it; in tint it nearly resembles that of his
illustrious great uncle.
But “Penshurst Place” is interesting chiefly because of its
associations; and these are indeed of a high order. Our history of the
family is, necessarily, brief. Until the reign of Edward the Sixth, the
Manor of Peneshurste[62] had received a rapid succession of lords. In
the reign of Edward the First, it was in the possession of Sir Stephen
de Peneshurste, or Pencestre--“a very learned man,” according to Harris,
and a “famous warden of the Cinque Ports.” In that of Edward the Second,
it was the property of Sir John de Pulteney, who “had licence to
embattle it,”--and who was four times Lord Mayor of London. In that of
Richard the Second, it was sold to the Regent Duke of Bedford. On his
death, his brother, “the good Duke Humphrey,” inherited; and on his
death--by murder, at Bury, in 1446--the estate reverted to the Crown,
and was granted by Henry the Sixth to his kinsman, Humphrey de Stafford,
Duke of Buckingham. In his family it remained until the reign of Henry
the Eighth, when, by the attainder of Edward Duke of Buckingham, it fell
again to the Crown. By Edward the Sixth, it was given to Sir Ralph Fane;
but on his execution, as an accomplice of the Protector Somerset, it was
by letters patent granted to Sir William Sidney (one of the heroes of
Flodden Field) and his heirs--Sir William being lineally descended from
Sir William Sidney, Knight, Chamberlain to the Second Henry, “With whom
he came out of Anjou.” In 1553, his son, Sir Henry, inherited. Sir Henry
was from infancy bred at Court, being “a companion, and many times a
bedfellow,” to the young Prince, afterwards Edward the Sixth, by whom he
was knighted. He was twice Lord Deputy of Ireland in the reign of
Elizabeth--a period of trouble and continual danger; during which he
discharged his duty as an energetic soldier, a sound practical reformer,
and a merciful man. The Historians of his time describe him as “of a
very public spirit, of great abilities, modest, pious, and patient; and
in his younger years, for comeliness and beauty, the ornament of the
Court.”