One of the greatest show-places of England is Knole House, the seat of
the Sackville-Wests, near Seven-Oaks. The owner at the time of our visit
was the Lord Sackville-West who was British ambassador at Washington,
where he achieved notoriety by answering a decoy letter advising a
supposed British-American to vote for Grover Cleveland as being
especially friendly to England. The letter created a tremendous furor in
the United States, and the result was the abrupt recall of the
distinguished writer from his post.
No difficulty is experienced in obtaining admission to Knole House,
providing one pays the price. The thousands of tourists who come
annually are handled in a most businesslike manner. An admission fee of
two shillings, or about fifty cents, is charged, and at numerous stands
near the gateway photographs, post cards, souvenirs and guide-books
galore are sold. Motor cars are allowed to drive right up to the great
gateway, where they are assigned a position and supervised by an
attendant, all for the sum of one shilling. However, the show is well
worth the price, and the owner of the palace is entitled to no small
credit for making it so readily accessible.
The house is a fine example of the baronial residences erected just
after the period of fortified castles, when artillery had rendered these
fortress-mansions useless as a means of defense. It surrounds three
square courts and covers about five acres; it contains three hundred and
sixty-five rooms and has seven great staircases, some of them very
elaborate. The collection of paintings and mediaeval furniture is one of
the best in England. The pictures are of untold value, one room being
filled with originals by Gainsborough and Reynolds alone. Some idea of
the value of these pictures may be gained from the fact that an offer of
twenty thousand pounds for one of the Gainsboroughs was refused; and
there are other pictures quite as valuable, not only by English masters,
but by great continental artists as well.
King James I visited Knole House and preparations were made to receive
him as befitted his rank. The immense stateroom was especially furnished
for the occasion at a cost, it is said, of about one hundred thousand
pounds. This room has never been used since and it stands today just as
it did when it served its royal occupant, though the gorgeous hangings
and tapestries are somewhat dingy and worn from the dust and decay of
three hundred years.
It took nearly two hours to go through the parts of the house that are
shown, although the parties were accompanied by guides who kept them
moving along. On the afternoon of our arrival there were quite a number
of visitors, five motor cars and several carriages bringing them. Knole
House stands in a large park, which has the finest beeches in England,
and it is really more of a show-place than a family residence. The
Sackville-Wests are among the richest of the nobility and have other
homes which are probably more comfortable than this impressive but
unhomelike palace.
[Illustration: PENSHURST PLACE, HOME OF THE SIDNEYS.]
Something similar to Knole House is Penshurst Place, about ten miles
away, but with an atmosphere and traditions quite different from the
Sackville-West mansion. This great palace, just adjacent to the village
of Penshurst, was built in the Thirteenth Century, passing shortly after
into the hands of the Sidney family, with whom it has remained ever
since. Of the Sidneys, one only is known wherever the English language
is spoken--the gallant young knight, Sir Philip, who, when still below
the age of thirty, lost his life while fighting for a forlorn cause in
the Netherlands. Of all the brilliant array of statesmen, soldiers and
writers who graced the reign of Queen Elizabeth, none gave greater
promise than did young Sidney. Nothing is more characteristic of him
than the oft-told story of how, when suffering from his death-wound
on the field of Zutphen, he gave to a wounded soldier by his side the
cup of water brought to him with the greatest difficulty. There are few
who have received a higher or a more deserved tribute than that of the
poet Watson, when he mused upon
"the perfect knight,
The soldier, courtier, bard in one,
Sidney, that pensive Hesper-light
O'er Chivalry's departed Sun."
Naturally, we were interested in the ancestral home of such a man and
the many historical associations which have gathered round it. It was at
the close of a busy day for us when we reached Penshurst and learned
that half an hour remained before the house would be closed for the day.
Admission was easily gained and ample time given to inspect such parts
of the house as were shown. We entered the great park through a gateway
near the church where several members of the Sidney family are buried.
The palace stands in a large open space with a level lawn in front, and
the five hundred years which have passed over it have dealt kindly with
it. Few of the ancient places which we had seen in England were in
better state of preservation. Nor was this due so much to restoration as
in many cases. It had never been intended as a fortified castle and had
escaped the ravages of war which destroyed so many of the strongholds.
Its most striking feature is the baronial hall with its high,
open-raftered roof, maintained in general appearance and furnishing much
as it was five hundred years ago. It is of great size, and in early days
the tables probably furnished cheer to hundreds of revelers at a time.
At one end of the room is a gallery which the musicians occupied, and at
the other, our attention was called to a small opening through which the
lord of the establishment could secretly witness the doings in the hall.
A remarkable feature is the fireplace, situated in the center of the
room and without chimney of any kind, the smoke being left to find its
way out through the windows or apertures in the roof, as the case might
be--a striking example of the discomforts of the good old days when
knighthood was in flower.
Queen Elizabeth, who was one of the greatest royal travelers of her
time, made a visit to the home of her favorite, Sidney, and the drawing
room which she honored as a guest is still shown, with much of the
handsome furniture which was especially made for the occasion of Her
Majesty's visit. On the walls are some examples of beautifully wrought
needlework and satin tapestry which tradition says is the work of the
queen herself and her maidens. In the picture gallery the majority of
the paintings are portraits of the Sidney family.
From Penshurst we returned to Tunbridge Wells, having covered in all
about one hundred miles since leaving that town--not a very long
distance for a day's motoring, but we had seen more things of interest,
perhaps, than on any other day of our tour. It was a fitting close to
our tour, since we had determined that we would at once return to London
and bid farewell to the English highways and byways. The next morning we
spent a short time looking about Tunbridge Wells. This town has been
known as a watering place since 1606 and has maintained great popularity
ever since. Its unique feature is the promenade, known as "The
Pantiles," with its row of stately lime trees in the center and its
colonade in front of the shops. It is referred to in Thackeray's
"Virginians," and readers of that story will recall his description of
the scenes on the Pantiles in the time of the powdered wigs, silver
buckles and the fearful and wonderful "hoop." Tunbridge Wells makes a
splendid center for several excursions and one might well spend
considerable time there. Our trip of the previous day had taken us at no
time more than thirty miles from the town and had covered only a few of
the most interesting places within that distance.
We were ready to leave Tunbridge Wells before noon, and it was with
feelings of mingled satisfaction and regret that we turned toward
London, about thirty miles away. Our long summer's pilgrimage through
Britain was over. Despite our anxiety to return home, there was, after
all, a sense of regret that we had left undone much that would have been
well worth while. Our last day on the English country roads was a lovely
one. A light rain had fallen the night before, just enough to beat down
the dust and freshen the landscape. We passed through a country thickly
interspersed with suburban towns. The fields had much the appearance of
a well kept park, and everything conspired to make the day a pleasant
recollection.
When we came into the immediate suburbs of London, I found that the
knowledge I had gained on our frequent trips gave me a great advantage
in getting into the city. I was able to avoid the crowded streets and to
select those where traffic was lighter, thus reducing the time of
reaching our hotel fully an hour. There is much difference in the
traffic on the eight bridges which cross the Thames. London Bridge,
which crosses near the Bank of England, is the most congested of all.
There is hardly an hour when it is not a compact mass of slowly moving
vehicles. The bridge by Parliament House is less crowded, but I should
say that Waterloo Bridge furnishes the best route for motorists in
getting across the river. It leads directly into the new boulevard known
as Kingsway, which has just been completed at an expense of many
millions of pounds. This is the broadest street in London and was opened
by wholesale condemnation of private property. It is little used for
heavy traffic and has a fine asphalted surface. It extends from the
Strand to Holborn, the two principal business arteries of London. The
street now presents a rather ragged appearance on account of the
buildings that were torn down to make way for it. However, new
structures of fine architecture are rapidly being built and Kingsway is
destined to become one of the handsomest boulevards in the world.
A little after noon we reached our London hotel, having spent ten weeks
in touring England, Wales and Scotland. We had not confined ourselves to
the highways, but had journeyed a great part of the distance through
less frequented country roads. In fact, many of the most charming places
we had visited could be reached only from the byways and were not
immediately accessible from railway stations. With the exception of the
first two weeks, when we had rain more or less every day, we had been
favored with exceptionally fine weather. During the last seven or eight
weeks of our trip, only light showers had fallen and we were assured
that the season had been an unusual one for England.
The matter of weather is not of great moment to the motorist in Great
Britain. The roads are not affected in the least, so far as traveling
is concerned, and dashing through the open air in a rain is not an
unpleasant experience. A closed top for the car is rarely necessary.
Plenty of waterproof coats and coverings answer the purpose very well
and the open air is much pleasanter than being cooped up in a closed
vehicle. Rubber tires do not slip on good macadam roads and during our
tour it was necessary to use chains on the wheels only a few times.
Altogether, the experience was worth while; nor was it so expensive as
many have imagined it to be. A party of three or four people with their
own car, if one of them drives, can tour Britain for less than it would
cost to cover the same ground, traveling first-class, by railway train.
As to the comparative satisfaction derived from the two methods of
touring, no comment whatever is needed. Making the trip by motor affords
so many advantages and so many opportunities of seeing the country and
of coming in touch with the people that there is really no other method
that can in any way compare with it.