THE
BARONIAL HALLS,
AND
ANCIENT PICTURESQUE EDIFICES OF ENGLAND.
FROM DRAWINGS BY
J. D. HARDING, G. CATTERMOLE, S. PROUT, W. MÜLLER, J. HOLLAND.
AND OTHER EMINENT ARTISTS.
EXECUTED IN COLOURED LITHOTINTS, BY DAY AND SON AND HANHART.
THE TEXT BY S. C. HALL, P.S.A.
EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
WILLIS AND SOTHERAN, 136, STRAND.
MDCCCLVIII.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
HOLLAND HOUSE MIDDLESEX From a Drawing by _C. J. Richardson, F.S.A._
HOLLAND HOUSE, INTERIOR ---- ---- _C. J. Richardson, F.S.A._
BLICKLING HALL NORFOLK ---- _J. D. Harding._
BURGHLEY HOUSE NORTHAMPTONSHIRE ---- _T. Allom._
CASTLE ASHBY ---- ---- _F. W. Hulme._
KIRBY HALL ---- ---- _J. D. Harding._
WOLLATTON HALL NOTTINGHAMSHIRE ---- _T. Allom._
BENTHALL HALL SHROPSHIRE ---- _J. C. Bayliss._
PITCHFORD HALL ---- ---- _F. W. Hulme._
MONTACUTE, GREAT CHAMBER SOMERSETSHIRE ---- _C. J. Richardson, F.S.A._
CAVERSWALL CASTLE STAFFORDSHIRE ---- _H. L. Pratt._
INGESTRIE HALL ---- ---- _J. A. Hammersley._
THE OAK HOUSE ---- ---- _A. E. Everitt._
THROWLEY HALL ---- ---- _W. L. Walton._
TRENTHAM HALL ---- ---- _F. W. Hulme._
HELMINGHAM HALL SUFFOLK ---- _J. D. Harding._
HENGRAVE HALL ---- ---- _C. J. Richardson, F.S.A._
WEST-STOW HALL ---- ---- _W. Müller._
HAM HOUSE SURREY ---- _Henry Mogford._
LOSELEY HOUSE ---- ---- _F. W. Hulme._
ARUNDEL CHURCH SUSSEX ---- _Samuel Prout._
BOXGROVE CHURCH ---- ---- _S. Prout._
ASTON HALL WARWICKSHIRE ---- _A. E. Everitt._
BEAUCHAMP CHAPEL, WARWICK ---- ---- _George Cattermole._
CHARLECOTE ---- ---- _J. G. Jackson._
CHARLECOTE, INTERIOR ---- ---- _J. G. Jackson._
COMBE ABBEY ---- ---- _J. G. Jackson._
WARWICK CASTLE ---- ---- _J. D. Harding._
WROXHALL ABBEY ---- ---- _J. G. Jackson._
BROUGHAM HALL WESTMORLAND ---- _F. W. Hulme._
SIZERGH HALL ---- ---- _F. W. Hulme._
CHARLTON HOUSE WILTSHIRE ---- _C. J. Richardson, F.S.A._
THE DUKE’S HOUSE ---- ---- _C. J. Richardson, F.S.A._
WESTWOOD HOUSE WORCESTERSHIRE ---- _F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A._
FOUNTAINS HALL YORKSHIRE ---- _William Richardson._
HELMSLEY HALL ---- ---- _William Richardson._
[Illustration:
Day &c Son, Lithʳˢ to The Queen.
]
HOLLAND HOUSE,
MIDDLESEX.
Holland House stands upon rising ground, a little to the north of the
high-road which leads from Kensington to Hammersmith.[1] It is
interesting to all passers-by, as affording a correct idea of the
baronial mansions peculiar to the age of James I.; and, from its
vicinity to the metropolis, its examination is easy to thousands who
rarely obtain opportunities of viewing the “old houses,” with which are
associated the records and pictures of English hospitality as it existed
in the olden time. Although modern dwellings of all shapes and sizes
have grown up about it, the house retains so much of its primitive
character--its green meadows, sloping lanes, and umbrageous woods, in
which still sings the nightingale; with gables and chimneys bearing
tokens of a date two centuries back--that few traverse the highway
without a word of comment, and a sensation of pleasure, that neither
time nor caprice have yet operated to remove it from its place, or even
to impair its imposing and impressive features. It is almost alone in
its “old grandeur,” in a vicinity at one period crowded with ancient
houses; the baronial halls have, with this exception, that of Campden
House,[2] adjacent, and Kensington Palace, a comparatively recent
structure, been removed, to make way for “detached villas” and streets
of narrow dwellings; and there are many sad surmises that, ere long, the
park, and gardens, and venerable mansion, will be also displaced, to
supply building-ground for speculators in brick and mortar. This will be
a grievous outrage on taste, and a sore mortification to the antiquary,
and be another terrible inroad on the picturesque in a district which,
within living memory, was as primitive in character as if London had
been distant a hundred miles.
The approach to Holland House is by an avenue of venerable elms; the
entrance-gates are examples of wrought iron, remarkably elegant in
design and fine in execution. Within the demesne, small although it be,
all sense is lost of proximity to a great city: the close foliage
completely shuts out the view of surrounding houses, and the birds are
singing among the branches, as if enjoying the freedom of the forest.
Yet Holland House is now enclosed on all sides--north, south, east, and
west--by brick houses of all sorts and sizes, upon which it seems to
look down, from its elevated position, with supreme contempt for the
convenient “whimsies” of modern architects.
Before we conduct the reader about the grounds and into the mansion, it
will be well to give some history of the several personages through
whose hands they have passed. As we have shewn in a note, the manor,
during the reign of Elizabeth, became the property of Sir Walter Cope, a
knight who became high in favour with her successor, James I., and who
obtained, partly by grant and partly by purchase, considerable
possessions in and around Kensington. By him the house, subsequently
called “Holland House,” was built. His daughter, Isabella, having
married Sir Henry Rich, the second son of Robert Rich, first Earl of
Warwick, this Sir Robert inherited the estates in right of his wife; in
1622 he was created Baron Kensington; and in the 22d James I. was
elevated to the dignity of Earl of Holland, and installed a Knight of
the Garter. Having taken part with the king during the civil wars, he
was tried by the Parliament, condemned to death, and beheaded on the 9th
of March, 1649.[3] His lady was, however, permitted to return to Holland
House, where she brought up her family, and where she was succeeded by
her son, Robert, the second earl, who, in 1673, became also Earl of
Warwick, by the death of Charles, the fourth earl. He was succeeded by
his son, the third earl, who married Charlotte, only daughter of Sir
Thomas Middleton of Chirk Castle, Denbighshire, who survived, and
subsequently took for her second husband, in 1716, the renowned Joseph
Addison; “but,” writes Dr. Johnson, “Holland House, although a large
house, could not contain Mr. Addison, the Countess of Warwick, and one
guest--Peace:” they lived on ill terms, which probably hastened the
death of Addison; an event which took place in the mansion on the 17th
of June, 1719.[4] Edward Henry, the fourth Earl of Holland, dying
unmarried, his cousin, Edward, succeeded as fifth earl; but he dying
without issue, in 1759, his honours and titles became extinct; but the
family estates were inherited by William Edwardes, Esq., son of the
sister of Edward, the third earl, created Baron Kensington of the
kingdom of Ireland in 1776. Holland House came into the possession of
the family to whom it now belongs (the family of Fox), first about the
year 1762, when the Right Hon. Henry Fox, Secretary of State (soon
afterwards created Lord Holland), became a tenant of the mansion, which
he subsequently purchased, together with the manor, from Mr. Edwardes.
Here the first Lord Holland resided until his death in 1774, and was
succeeded by his son, Stephen, the second peer,[5] who died the year
following, and was succeeded by his son, Richard Vassal; during whose
long minority the house was let to the Earl of Roseberry and Mr.
Bearcroft. On his death in 1840, he was succeeded by the present peer,
Henry Edward Fox, the fourth Lord Holland.
During the lifetime of the late peer, Holland House obtained a certain
degree of fame as the occasional rendezvous of the wits of the age; and
the fêtes at which they were assembled furnished brilliant themes for
the exercise of poetical talent; but the records of genius there
fostered and encouraged are singularly few. The historian, the poet, the
artist, and the man of science, became guests in the mansion when they
had acquired fame, but those who were achieving greatness, and stood in
need of “patronage,” were not permitted to share its enjoyments and
advantages.
The grounds and gardens of Holland House have been skilfully and
tastefully laid out; the trees are remarkably fine, and give a character
of delicious solitude to the place, keeping away all thought of the vast
city, the distant hum of which is at all times audible; and, although
“prospects fresh and fair” are in a great degree shut out, imagination
may easily follow the steps of Addison into this calm retreat, and quote
the lines of Tickell on the poet’s death, as applicable to the present
day as they were to a century back:--
“Thou hill, whose brow the antique structures grace,
Rear’d by bold chiefs of Warwick’s noble race;
Why, scene so lov’d! where’er thy bower appears,
O’er my dim eyeballs glance the sudden tears?
How sweet were once thy prospects fresh and fair,
Thy sloping walks, and unpolluted air!
How sweet the gloom beneath thy aged trees,
Thy noontide shadow, and thy evening breeze;
His image thy forsaken bowers restore,
Thy walks and airy prospects charm no more.
No more the summer in thy glooms allay’d,
Thy evening breezes and thy noon-day shade!”
The prospect, however, notwithstanding the multiplicity of houses by
which the grounds are surrounded, is not all destroyed; vistas are here
and there formed between the trees, which command extensive views; and
garden-seats still exist, to wile the visitor into “shady places,” where
the hill of Harrow and other striking objects are seen in the distance,
while the surrounding shadow enhances the value of the bright scene
beyond:--
“For loftie trees, y’clad with summer’s pride,
Did spread so broad, that heaven’s light did hide,
Not pierceable with power of any starre;
And all within are paths and alleies wide,
With footinge worne, and leading inward farre.”
But judgment, tastefully exercised, has made many openings among those
thick woods; and those who wander among them enjoy the feelings of
entire solitude--a feeling augmented if the time be evening; for, as we
have intimated, although scarcely two miles distant from the heart of
London, here the nightingale
“Supplies the night with mournful strains,
And melancholy music fills the plains.”
[Illustration]
The beautiful gates which open upon the avenue that leads to the
principal entrance to the mansion are pictured in the appended woodcut;
they were brought from Belgium by the late Lord Holland, and placed in
their present position about twelve years ago; they are of wrought iron,
and are considerably impaired by time. Recently they have been
repainted, and picked out with gold; and they now make a gay appearance;
they are, however, of a much later date than the venerable structure,
with which they would be out of “keeping,” but that they are separated
from it by considerable space--a long avenue of ancient and finely grown
elm-trees, which shadow the broad path that conducts to the house. The
immediate entrance is between two piers of Portland stone, designed by
Inigo Jones, and “executed by Nicholas Stone in 1629, for which he was
paid 100_l._;” they have no peculiar merit, but serve the purpose of
supporting “the arms of Rich quartering Bouldry, and impaling Cope.” The
pleasure-grounds are behind the house, “falling abruptly to the
north-east:” they were laid out by Mr. Hamilton in 1769. Scattered in
various parts are memorials to some of the personal friends of the late
Lord Holland: among others, the author of “The Pleasures of Memory” is
honoured by this poor couplet:--
“Here Rogers sat, and here for ever dwell
To me those pleasures that he sings so well.”
Some lines, scarcely better, have been appended by Henry Luttrell, Esq.;
but the genius of the place has essayed a flight no higher than that
which might grace a school-girl’s album. Nature has done more for the
domain than art; from various points, fine views are obtained of the
country that surrounds London; and although, of late years, they have
been sadly narrowed by “endless piles of brick,” when Tickell wrote his
lines on the death of Addison, no doubt they were “Fresh and Fair.”
Considerable alterations internally were made to the building by Inigo
Jones. The entrance-hall, the two staircases, and the parlour leading
out of the principal staircase, are the only parts of the mansion on the
ground-floor that still retain their original character. On the first
floor, beside the Gilt Room, is a noble long gallery, now the library,
and the late Lady Holland’s drawing-room or boudoir. All these rooms
preserve their ancient decorations, and are in the purest taste and the
most costly style of execution.
“The Gilt Room,” which forms the subject of the appended print, is
approached from the entrance-hall by a richly ornamented oak staircase.
From the style of the details it would appear that it was the work of
John Thorpe, and that the painted decorations were the produce of
Francis (or Francesco) Cleyn, a favourite artist of the time, who was
employed largely by the kings James I. and Charles I., from whom he
derived an annuity of 100_l._, settled on him during his natural life,
and which he enjoyed till the Civil War. The ceiling of the room was
originally painted by him in the same style as the other portions of the
apartment; being out of repair during the minority of his late lordship,
it was removed, and a plain one put up in its stead. In the view here
given, Mr. Richardson has supplied it from such fragments and sketches
as were obtainable several years ago.
[Illustration]
Notwithstanding the loss of its painted ceiling, the room
presents an appearance of elaborate magnificence, and of unique
singularity--carrying us back at once to that luxurious period, the
early part of the reign of Charles I. The paintings, the figures over
the fireplaces, deserve great praise, although we cannot entirely
coincide with Horace Walpole, who declares (in his life of Cleyn) that
they are not unworthy of Parmigiano. The paintings--such as remain over
the fireplaces and soffites of the arches--certainly are masterly,
though the architect might discover a little of the “contract style”
about them. Cleyn was employed by Charles I., whose good taste led him
to patronise only the most eminent men in art. The painter was
denominated “Il famosissimo pittore Francesco Cleyn, miracolo del
secolo, e molto stimato del Re Carlo della Gran Britania.”[6]
This cut represents some of Cleyn’s painting in the soffite of one of
the arches in the gilt-room; it is roughly painted--although in a free
and masterly style--in umber, on a white ground; the drapery, dress, and
hair of the figures, are gilt.
[Illustration:
From a drawing by C. F. Richardson, F.S.A. Day & Son, Lithʳˢ to The Queen.
THE GILT ROOM, HOLLAND HOUSE.]
The decorative panelling of the Gilt Room is continued round the four
sides, and in the large recess in the centre (immediately above the
entrance-porch); the interior of each panel has a small raised fillet,
about an eighth of an inch in thickness, forming an ornamental border:
this is gilt. In the centre of the panels are painted alternately
cross-crosslets and fleur-de-lis, charges in the arms of Cope and Rich;
they are surmounted by an earl’s coronet, with palm or oak branches, in
gold, shaded with bistre. The figures over the fireplaces have the flesh
painted, the rest is gold shaded; the lower columns of the fireplaces
are painted black, the upper being of Sienna marble: both have gilt
ornaments at the lower part of the shaft, and their caps and bases gilt:
for the rest, all the prominent mouldings, the flutes, caps, and bases
of the pilasters are gilt; the cima recta of the great entablature has a
painted leaf enrichment, with acorns between, the latter of which are
gilt. The groundwork of the whole is white. The busts in the room were
placed there by his late lordship: over the fireplaces are those of King
William the Fourth, and George the Fourth when Prince Regent. Arranged
on pedestals round the room are busts of the late Lord Holland, Francis
Duke of Bedford, Henry first Lord Holland, the late Duke of Sussex, John
Hookham Frere, the Duke of Cumberland (of Culloden), Napoleon, Henry the
Fourth of France, the Right Hon. Charles James Fox, by Nollekens, a
duplicate made for the Empress Catharine of Russia. In the bow-recess
are models of Henry Earl of Pembroke, and Thomas Winnington, Esq. The
painted shields in the corner of the room bear the arms of Rich of
Warwick, and Cope and Rich. Of the ancient furniture of the
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Gilt Room two chairs alone remain; these are mentioned by Horace Walpole
as being the work of Francesco Cleyn: they are painted white, and partly
gilt. A large bench, formed by three of these chairs placed together,
with one arm only at each end, was discovered by the artist some years
ago, in a lumber-place over the stable, where, probably, it still
remains. The Gilt Room, during the lifetime of his late lordship, was
used as the state dining-room: the state drawing-room, lined with silk,
and hung with paintings, led out of it by the door on the right--seen in
the print. Parallel to these rooms, at the back of the
[Illustration]
building, is another line of drawing-rooms, modernised, but which
contain a valuable collection of paintings. Among them is a celebrated
one by Hogarth--the amateur performance, by children of the nobility, of
“The Beggar’s Opera.” This painting is very large: the whole of the
figures are portraits. Another painting by Hogarth is in the collection,
which has never been engraved. It is a view of the entrance to Ranelagh
Gardens, Chelsea. The collection contains a few very fine Sir Joshua’s.
Among them is his portrait of Joseph Baretti, well known from the
engraving. There are likewise a few first-rate pictures of the old
masters. The library contains a series of portraits of political and
literary friends of his late lordship; and, in the boudoir, are the
series of the late J. Stothard’s most exquisite compositions to
illustrate Moore’s poems. These drawings are very highly finished, and
are twice the size of the engravings which were made from them.
In “Lady Holland’s Boudoir,” among other curiosities, are two
candlesticks formerly belonging to Mary Queen of Scots; they are of
brass, each of eleven and a half inches in height. They are of French
manufacture; the sunk parts are filled up with an inlay of blue, green,
and white enamel, very similar to that done at Limoge. These
candlesticks are extremely elegant; one of them is represented in the
above woodcut.
[Illustration]
The accompanying woodcut represents the fireplace in “the ancient
parlour;” leaving the principal staircase in the ground floor; the door
on the left leads into this room. It is supposed to have been painted in
a similar style to the great chamber above-stairs. The fireplace in this
room is of the most excellent design and capital execution. A portion of
the framing of the room is shewn by the side of the fireplace: this is
likewise very elegant. One of the ancient windows of this apartment is
blocked up, and an ornamental arch placed in front of it by Inigo Jones.
It was in this room that plays were performed by the direction of the
first Lady Holland, when the theatres in London were shut up by the
Puritans: it is commonly called “The Theatre Room.”[7]
The other rooms will require but a brief notice. “The Journal Room” is
so named because a complete set of the journals of the Houses of Lords
and Commons are there preserved: it contains several portraits, among
which are three or four by Sir Joshua Reynolds. This is on the
ground-floor. Underneath the hall is the ancient kitchen, not long ago
fitted up as a servants’ hall. In the north-east wing is a large
apartment, formerly the chapel of the mansion: it has been disused for
half a century, having been converted into a bath-room.
The Libraries are spacious and “well stocked;” the principal, which
forms the west wing of the house, is styled the Long Gallery; it is, in
length, one hundred and two feet, and, in breadth, seventeen feet four
inches. According to Mr. Faulkner (“History of Kensington”), whose
account was written under the superintendence of the late Lord Holland,
in the year 1746, this fine apartment was entirely out of repair, and
even “unfloored:” it was, however, at that period completely restored,
and converted from its ancient use, as the gallery for exercise, into a
receptacle for books, of which it contains a rare selection. The first
Lord Holland had fitted it up for pictures; blocking up many of the
windows, and opening in lieu of them a large bow-window on the west
side. The “West Library” and the “East Library”--two rooms of moderate
extent--contain also several valuable folios--curious treasures of
antiquity. Mr. Faulkner enumerates some of the more remarkable of the
contents of the eastern library, which cannot fail to interest the
reader:--
“A curious copy of Camoens, to which the praises of Mr. De Souza,
the patriotic editor of the late splendid edition of that poet,
have given extraordinary celebrity. It is a copy of one of the
earliest editions, and Mr. De Souza alleges that it must have been
in the hands of the poet himself. At the bottom of the title-page
the following curious and melancholy testimony of his unfortunate
death is written in an old Spanish hand, which states that the
writer saw him die in an hospital at Lisbon, without even a blanket
to cover him.
“‘_Que coza mas lastimosa que ver un tan grande ingenio mal
logrado! yo lo bi morir en un hospital en Lisboa, sin tener una
sauana con que cubrirse, despues de aver triunfado en la India
oriental, y de aver navigado 5500 leguas por mar: que auiso tan
grande para los que de noche y de dia se cançan estudiando sin
provecho, como la arana en urdir tellas para cazar moscas!_’
“Specimens of all the types in the Vatican Library, printed in the
Propaganda press, A.D. 1640, on silk.
“The music of the ‘Olimpiade,’ an opera of Metastasio, well
authenticated to have been transcribed by J. J. Rousseau, when that
extraordinary man procured his livelihood by copies of this kind. The
hand-writing is so beautiful that it resembles copper-plate engraving.
“Four volumes of MS. Plays of Lope de Vega, the first containing three
plays in his own hand-writing, with the original license of the censor.
“The original copy, in MS., of the ‘Mogigata,’ a favourite play of the
celebrated Moratin, the first writer of Spanish comedy now living, but
who has been proscribed and exiled by Ferdinand the Seventh.
“There are several others of nearly equal interest, and among the MSS.
there are many curious autographs of Philip the Second, Prince Eugene,
Pontanus, Sannazarius, and others, and three original letters of
Petrarch.
“Also a voluminous MS. collection of the proceedings in Cortes, from the
earliest period, copied from the archives of the King of Spain. The
original correspondence of Don Pedro Ronquillo, the Spanish ambassador,
resident in London at the time of our Revolution; part in cypher, with
the translation by the side, with several others of equal value and
curiosity.”
The Long Gallery is ornamented with portraits of the Lenox, Digby, and
Fox families; Dryden and Addison; Sir C. H. Williams; Admiral Lestock;
Sir Robert Walpole; the Right Honourable Thomas Winnington; Cardinal
Fleury, by Rigaud; and Van Lintz, by himself. Scattered throughout the
apartments are King Charles II. and the Duchess of Portsmouth; Sir
Stephen Fox, by Sir Peter Lely; Henry, Lord Holland; Stephen, Lord
Holland, by Zoffany; the late Right Honourable C. J. Fox, when an
infant;--when a boy, in a group with Lady Susan Strangeways and Lady
Mary Lenox (by Sir Joshua Reynolds); and a fine picture of him in more
advanced life by the same artist. There are two busts, also, of him, by
Nollekens, one of which was taken not long before his death; and a
statue, seated in the entrance-hall.
We may not take leave of this fine old mansion without expressing a
fervent hope that the interesting work of two centuries may endure for
many centuries to come; that modern improvements--although they may
place the suburb of which it is the crowning gem in the centre of the
Metropolis--will not displace it to make room for petty structures of a
day, but that the tale of the Olden Time may be there told to our
descendants as it has been there told to our ancestors.
[Illustration:
From a drawing by J. D. Harding Day & Son, Lithʳˢ. to The Queen.
BLICKLING HALL. NORFOLK.]
BLICKLING HALL,
NORFOLK.
Journeying a dozen miles north of the city of Norwich, the Tourist
reaches the old town of Aylsham. A mile hence is the very ancient manor
of Blickling[8]--famous so far back as the time of the Confessor, when
it was in the possession of Harold, King of England; remarkable, in
after times, when occupied by the Bishops of the See, and celebrated, in
the history of various epochs, as a seat of the noble families of
Dagworth, Erpingham, Fastolff, Boleyne, Clere, and Hobart. From this
ancient house, Henry VIII. married the unfortunate mother of Queen
Elizabeth; here the virgin queen herself is said to have been a guest,
and here Charles II. and his consort were visitors--events referred to
by the court-poet, Stephenson:
“Blickling 2 monarchs and 2 queens has seen;
One king fetch’d thence, another brought, a queen.”
The mansion--Blickling Hall--is one of the most perfect examples
remaining of the time of James I.; the exterior has undergone few
changes; the bridge, the moat, the turrets, the curiously-formed gables,
and the double row of spacious and convenient out-offices--connected
with the mansion by an arcade--are characteristic of the period, while
elaborate finish and costly ornament indicate the wealth and rank of its
noble owners. The high-road passes the gates, and runs within a few
yards of the house; a small green sward only separating it from the
public pathway. The moat is crossed by a Bridge of remarkably light and
graceful proportions; on either side of this bridge are Pedestals with
bulls (the heraldic crest of the Hobarts) bearing blank shields. The
entrance-porch is exceedingly beautiful; the design is simple and
elegant; “it may be regarded,” according to Mr. Shaw, “as one of the
earliest attempts at the restoration of classical architecture, and
appears to be formed upon the model of the Arch of Titus at Rome.” In
the spandrels are sculptured figures of Victory. Over the entablature,
supported by two Doric columns, is an enriched compartment, bearing the
arms and quarterings of Sir Henry Hobart, Bart. (by whom the stately
mansion was erected). A massive Oak Door contains the date 1620; the
knocker of this door is peculiarly quaint; a copy of it acts as the
initial letter commencing this description. Passing a small quadrangular
court, we enter the Hall, from which opens the grand Staircase of Oak,
the newels of which are crowned with figures. Unhappily, the oak has
been covered with paint; and time having removed some of the figures,
their places have been supplied by others out of harmony with the
character of the venerable structure.[9] Of the several apartments, the
only one that demands particular notice is the Library--a noble room,
filled with the rarest and most valuable books. It measures one hundred
and twenty-seven feet; the ceiling is a magnificent collection of works
of art, unsurpassed by anything of the kind in Great Britain. It
consists of a series of models, representing the Senses, the Passions
and the Elements, in low relief--comprising a very large number of
subjects, no two of which are alike. The library is--as a private
collection--extensive; the books it contains are generally “large paper
copies,” and in the finest possible state. Some of its treasures are
unique--here are a volume of Saxon Homilies, and a Latin MS. of the
Psalter, certainly as ancient as anything we possess in the Latin
tongue, and several others, with and without illuminations, of very
remote dates. Here also are two copies (imperfect) of the Coverdale
Bible; an uncut copy of the diminutive Sedan New Testament, and a vast
assemblage of the choicest productions of the early English press. It
was formed by Maittaire for Sir Richard Ellys, Bart., of Norton, in
Lincolnshire, to whom he dedicated his “Anacreon,” in 1725. The
curiosities of the library were shown to us by the Rev. James Bulwer,
whose own family seat of Heydon is in the neighbourhood of Blickling
Hall.
Mr. Harding’s print of this fine old mansion affords an accurate idea of
its elegance and grandeur. Its form is quadrangular--having a square
turret at each angle. Viewed from any point it is highly picturesque.
The Park, which surrounds it on three sides, contains above 1000 acres.
Its trees are celebrated for their exceeding beauty and prodigious
growth. A remarkably fine piece of water, shaped like a crescent,
adjoins the house, extending nearly a mile in length. Nature and Art
have both contributed to adorn this artificial Lake; gentle acclivities
rise from its sides, here and there fringed with evergreens infinitely
varied, while gigantic oaks, and elms, and beeches, rising at intervals,
seem the guardians of its banks.
We may sum up our account of Blickling Hall in the words of old
Blomefield:--“The building is a curious brick fabric, four-square, with
a turret at each corner; there are two good Courts, with a fine Library,
elegant Wilderness, good Lake, Gardens, and Park; it is a pleasant,
beautiful seat, worthy the observation of such as make the Norfolk
Tour.”
The erection of the existing structure was commenced by Sir Henry
Hobart, Bart., during the reign of James the First, but was not finished
until the year 1628, when “the Domestic Chapel was consecrated.” The
building, however, retained its original character, varying very little,
in external appearance and internal arrangements, from the old Mansion
in which Queen Anne Boleyne was born, and which had been famous for
centuries.
When the Domesday Survey was made, one part of the Manor belonged to
Beausoc, Bishop of Thetford (the seat of the See until 1088), the other
part being in possession of the Crown. Both moieties were invested with
the privileges of ancient _demesne_, were exempt from the hundred (of
South Erpingham) and had the _lete_ with all royalties. Having
successively passed through the hands of many distinguished families, in
1431 it was the property of Sir Thomas De Erpingham, by whom it was sold
to Sir John Fastolff, who, about the year 1452, sold it to Sir Geoffrey
Boleyne, Knt., who was Lord Mayor of London in 1458, and who made
Blickling his country-seat. From him inherited his second son, Sir
William Boleyne, Knight,
[Illustration]
who married Margaret, sister of James Butler, Earl of Ormond; dying in
1505, he was succeeded by his son, Sir Thomas Boleyne, who, the 18th of
Henry VIII., was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount
Rochford, and three years afterwards was created Earl of Wiltshire. His
daughter, Anne, was privately married to Henry VIII., on the 5th of
January, 1533. On the 19th of May, 1536, she was beheaded; her dismal
fate having been shared by her brother, Viscount Rochford; and the old
Earl died in 1538--it is believed of a broken heart. Soon afterwards the
estate of Blickling, having been for a short time in the family of the
Cleres, was purchased by Sir Harry Hobart, Bart., “a fortunate lawyer,”
who became Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He was succeeded by
his son and grandson, the second and third Baronets; the fourth Baronet
was created, by George II., Lord Hobart of Blickling, in 1728; and in
1746, Earl of Buckinghamshire. His son, the second Earl, died without
male issue, but left four daughters, one of whom married the late
Marquis of Londonderry, another William Lord Suffield, the third Lord
Mount Edgcombe, and a fourth the Marquis of Lothian, whose surviving
son, the fifth Marquis, died at Blickling in 1841, leaving a son, an
infant, who is heir-apparent to the estate, now in the possession of his
great aunt, the Dowager Lady Suffield.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The venerable Church of Blickling adjoins the mansion. It is built--in
the style of nearly all the Norfolk Churches--of flint, a material that
essentially impairs the solemn dignity of the structure. Many of the
Brasses and Tombs are of high interest; the one of which we append an
engraving (on the preceding page) is to the memory of Edward Clere. It
is described by Blomefield as “a most curious Altar Tomb, placed between
the Chancel and Boleyne’s Chapel. The Effigy which laid upon it is now
gone; but there remain the Arms and Matches of his family, from the
Conquest to the time that his son and heir, Sir Edward Clere, erected
this tomb.” As a work of art, the Tomb possesses considerable
excellence. The carved Armorial Bearings retain much of the original
brilliancy of their colouring. Among the Brasses is one for Anne
Boleyne, aunt of the unfortunate Queen, and another of Isabella Cheyne,
(date 1485) remarkable as exhibiting the earliest authentic example of
the necklace. An elaborately-wrought Oak Chest, of great size, strongly
banded with iron, and secured by five curiously formed locks and keys,
is preserved in Blickling Church; but a relic still more curious and
unique is a Poor-box, of very primitive character, heart-shaped, and
painted blue, the letters, “Pray remember the Pore,” being gilt. We give
engravings of both these peculiar and very interesting antiquities.
[Illustration]
BURGHLEY HOUSE,
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
Burleigh, or Burghley House, the princely seat of the Marquis of Exeter,
is one of the most magnificent mansions of its period; it has come down
to us intact, and is perhaps more interesting--from its associations
with the “glorious days”--than any other edifice now remaining in the
kingdom. The halls are still standing where the famous Lord Treasurer
entertained his Sovereign and her dazzling court; while Nonsuch,
Theobalds, and Cannons have vanished--their sites are ploughed over; and
Kenilworth has become a venerable antiquity, a moss-covered ruin.
In the reign of the Confessor, Burghley was let to farm by the Church of
Burgh, to Alfgar, the king’s chaplain, for his life. The crown having
seized it at his death, Abbot Leofric redeemed it for eight marcs of
gold. In Doomsday Book it is rated at 40s. As usual in the feudal ages,
it often changed hands, when treasons and rebellions were every-day
occurrences. In the 9th of Edward II. Nicholas de Segrave was possessed
of Burleigh, which had descended to Alice de Lisle, as part of the
inheritance of John de Armenters. The successor of Nicholas de Segrave
was Warine de L’Isle. He was one of the great men who, in the 14th of
Edward II., took up arms against the King, under the command of Thomas
Earl of Lancaster; was made prisoner with him at the battle of Barrow
Bridge, and the week following executed at Pontefract. In the 1st of
Edward III., Gerard de Lisle, son of the above Warine, was restored to
his father’s possessions, and accompanied several times the King in his
wars with Scotland and France. After undergoing many of the usual
changes to which property was subjected in such uncertain times, it
finally passed into possession of a family named Cecil, as we now spell
it, although it appears to have enjoyed many variations of orthography
in its transition. The founder of the house and family was a gentleman
named William Cecil, who accompanied the Duke of Somerset to Scotland.
At the battle of Musselburgh field he narrowly escaped being killed, a
gentleman who out of kindness pushed him out of the level of a cannon,
having his arm shattered as he withdrew it. On his return he was made
Secretary of State, and in some political trouble was sent prisoner to
the Tower: but no charge being brought against him he was released from
his captivity, again made Secretary of State, became a Privy Councillor,
and received the honour of knighthood. During the reign of Mary, he
attached himself much to the fortunes of her younger sister, Elizabeth.
When she ascended the throne, fresh honours were lavished on him: he
became Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Master of the Court of
Wards, Baron Burleigh, Lord High Treasurer, and Knight of the Garter. He
was much afflicted with gout in his latter years, and on one occasion
when he was confined with an attack of it, at his house in the Strand
(called Burleigh House, where a street of that name is now built), the
Queen condescended to visit him. On one of these occasions, coming with
a high head-dress, and the servant, as she entered the door, desiring
her to stoop; she replied, “For your master’s sake I will stoop, but not
for the King of Spain.” He died in 1598, having been Lord High Treasurer
twenty-six years, and was buried in the parish-church of St. Martin,
Stamford. A superb white alabaster monument, sixteen feet high, is
raised over his tomb; his figure lies under a canopy supported by
several black marble columns. It is in the style of the period, and
stands under the arch of the north aisle and body of the church.
Thomas, Lord Burghley, the Lord Treasurer’s eldest son, was created Earl
of Exeter in 1605; and Henry, tenth Earl of Exeter and eleventh Lord
Burghley, his lineal descendant, was created Marquis of Exeter in 1801.
His son, Brownlow Cecil, the second Marquis, who succeeded his father in
1804, is the present possessor of the princely mansion and estates.
The mansion we are about to notice is built on ground where there is but
little undulation of surface, and stands about a mile and a half from
the old town of Stamford, in Northamptonshire, separated from
Lincolnshire by the river Welland, which runs through Stamford. At the
northern extremity of the domain stand the park lodges: they are
extremely handsome erections, and more than usually important buildings
for such purposes. Although built so recently as the year 1801, by Henry
the tenth Earl, they are in perfect harmony of design with the main
edifice. The cost of their erection exceeded 5000_l._ The park is about
two miles in length and a mile and a half in width. It was arranged and
planted by the famous “Capability Brown,” and is well adorned with fine
ash, elm, chestnut, and other trees, as well as plantations of
shrubberies. A temple, grottos, and picturesque buildings for domestic
or agricultural services, add to its beautiful character. It is well
stocked with deer. On entering the park to proceed to the house, a noble
piece of water, three quarters of a mile in length, is spanned by a
handsome bridge of three arches, having the balustrades decorated with
four statues of lions couchant. In the park enclosure are the remains
of the ancient Roman road, called Ermine Street, from Stilton through
Castor to Stamford: it is easily traceable in many parts.
[Illustration]
On arriving opposite the mansion, the eye is bewildered at its unusual
extent: its numerous turrets, and the spire of the Chapel rising above
the parapets, give it the aspect of a town comprised in comparatively
diminished area, rather than a single abode. The appended engraving
exhibits a portion of the west front. The mansion stands in an extensive
lawn. Mr. Gilpin, in his “Tour to the Highlands,” thus describes
it:--“Burghley House is one of the noblest monuments of British
architecture of the time of Queen Elizabeth, when the great outlines of
magnificence were rudely drawn, but unimproved by taste. It is an
immense pile, forming the four sides of a large court, and although
decorated with a variety of fantastic ornaments, according to the
fashion of the time, before Grecian architecture had introduced
symmetry, proportion, and elegance into the plans of private houses, it
has still an august appearance. The interior court is particularly
striking: the spire of the Chapel is neither, I think, in itself an
ornament, nor has it any effect, except at a distance; when it
contributes to give this immense pile the consequence of a town.” Horace
Walpole says, John Thorpe was the architect; and that he superintended
the erection of the greater part of this stupendous building. This
assertion is corroborated by the plans, still extant, in this celebrated
architect’s collection of designs, now in the Soane Museum. It is built
of freestone and forms a massive parallelogram, enclosing a court 110
feet long and 70 feet wide. The principal entrance is on the north side,
[Illustration]
and offers a frontage of nearly 200 feet, pierced with three ranges of
large square-headed windows, divided by stone mullions and transoms. The
outline is varied by towers at the angles surmounted by turrets with
cupolas; the frontage is varied by advancing bays between the towers; a
pierced parapet, occasionally embellished with ornaments that mark the
Elizabethan era, crowns the walls. The chimneys are constructed in the
hollows of Doric columns, which are in groups, connected by a frieze and
cornice of the order; as they are very numerous, and of fine
proportions--rising loftily in the air--they combine with the turrets,
&c. to give a great variety of forms to the superior portion of the main
design. In the arched roof under the passage to the interior court,
which was in the first instance intended to be the chief entrance, are
escutcheons of the family arms, on one of which is inscribed “W. DOM de
Burghley, 1577,” being the year when that part of the house was built.
On the opposite side of the court, over the dial and under the spire, is
carved the date 1585, which indicates when that part was erected; and on
the present entrance, on the northern side, stands the date 1587 between
the windows. The house has been much adorned by various successive
possessors, and at the present time few seats, either in England or on
the Continent, can vie with Burghley House.
Queen Elizabeth frequently visited her favourite minister, her Lord
Treasurer, here; and on April 23, 1603, James I., on his journey from
Scotland, came to Burghley: the next day, being Easter Sunday, he
attended divine worship at the parish church, St. Martin’s, Stamford,
when the Bishop of Lincoln preached before him.
[Illustration]
Entering the court, the beauties of the architecture become apparent.
The appended engraving represents the entrance from the courtyard. The
eastern side is the most highly decorated, and its three stories adorned
with the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, in super-position. Above
the last are two large stone lions, supporting the arms of the family.
Over an arch before the chapel is a bust of King William III.; the
balustrades are enriched with a variety of sculptured vases. Four large
gates from the various sides open into the court, and give entrance to
the several portions of the building, which contains nearly one hundred
and fifty apartments, many of them of great dimensions, all furnished
suitably for their purpose, and a considerable number in gorgeous
profusion of decorative ornament and splendid furniture. It is one of
the few palatial mansions of a refined, gay, and brilliant period, which
remain carefully preserved, and undisturbed by modern upholsterers. It
is impossible to speak too highly of the elegance and splendour of the
interior. The first apartment on entering is the spacious Hall: from
some of the remaining features of its construction, it has been imagined
that the great Lord Treasurer did not build a new house from the
foundation, but that an edifice existed to which he imparted vastness
by the additions he made. The dimensions of this Hall show at once that
it includes a noble space, being sixty-eight feet long and thirty feet
broad. It receives light from two large windows, and has a fine
open-worked timber roof, springing from corbels, very similar in idea to
the roofs of Westminster Hall, and the Parliament House at Edinburgh.
The chimneypiece is in perfect keeping with the Baronial Hall, and is of
stone, finely sculptured, bearing for its principal device in the centre
the shield and supporters of the founder of the family; it is also
ornamented by a number of pictures, some of which are portraits. There
are statues in marble of life size, one of which, very much esteemed,
represents Andromeda chained to the rock, and the Sea-monster. It was
purchased in Rome, a century ago, by the fifth Earl of Exeter, for
300_l._ “Drakard’s Guide” attributes it to Peter Stephen Monnot; but
Brydges, in his “History of Northamptonshire,” says it is by Domenico
Guidi.
From the Hall, visitors pass through the Saloon, and up the ancient
grand vaulted stone staircase in the north-west part of the house, to an
apartment called the Chapel Room, which contains nearly fifty pictures,
mostly of sacred subjects. A true description of the numerous pictures
in the different rooms is sadly wanted, as we find one here called
_Titian’s Wife and Son, attributed to Teniers!_ in “Drakard’s Guide,”
published at Stamford. Here also stands a model of the Holy Sepulchre at
Jerusalem, curiously inlaid. The Chapel, to which the preceding serves
as an ante-room, is spacious, being forty-two feet long, thirty-five
feet wide, and eighteen feet high. The ceiling is panelled and studded
with devices; the side-walls are wainscoted half-way up, and at
intervals are placed, on pedestals, ten antique bronzed figures, of life
size, each holding a lamp. Festoons of fruit and flowers, carved by
Grinling Gibbons, are its principal ornaments. Many of the finest
apartments in the house, such as chimneypieces, are profusely decorated
with his valuable carving. A seat on the left-hand side, nearest to the
altar, is pointed out as having been occupied by Queen Elizabeth when on
a visit to Burghley. There are some large pictures placed on the walls
of another space, which forms also a portion of the Chapel at the
western end. This part, thirty-one feet long and twenty-four feet broad,
is wainscoted to the ceiling, and is filled with open seats, for
servants and others connected with the family to attend divine service.