elevation above, the river Avon. The building occupies three sides of a
quadrangle, the fourth being formed by a handsome central Gatehouse,
which, with its octangular turrets and oriel window, constitutes an
interesting portion of the façade, and as seen in the accompanying view,
backed out by the Mansion and connected by the terrace wings, presents a
very pleasing and picturesque appearance. The House retains its gables
and angular towers, but has suffered from the introduction of the large
and heavy sash-windows of the time of William III., or George I. The
entrance porch runs the whole height of the building, and is ornamented
by pilasters and a pierced parapet, having over the arched entrance the
family arms and the crest at each angle. From this porch or loggia, you
enter the Hall, of which Washington Irving in the “Sketch-book” gives a
graphic description as it existed at the period of his visit. The
present apartment, however, forms a portion of the extensive alterations
and additions carried into effect by the refined taste of the late Mr.
Lucy. The “Gallery” and “Organ” are gone, but the large and lofty
proportions of the room, as also the huge Bay Window, are preserved. The
interior--of which we have given an engraving--will convey an accurate
idea of this fine Hall. In the centre, on a highly polished marble
floor, stands a most elaborate and splendid table, purchased at the
price of 1500 guineas from the late Mr. Beckford’s collection at
Fonthill, composed of lapis lazuli, jasper, &c., intermixed with the
rarest marble: it is a worthy rival to that at Warwick Castle. The room
contains many family portraits--the most interesting of the collection
being one which represents Sir Thomas, his lady, and his children,
painted by Cornelius Jansen.[60]
The Fire-place is modern, but of Elizabethan design, and finely carved.
Above are busts of Sir Thomas Lucy the elder, and his son, and in the
centre is one of Queen Elizabeth. The chairs, tables, &c., are all
handsome, and strictly according in style with the Hall, which is
connected by folding-doors with a fine oak staircase. The new apartments
consist of a dining-room and drawing-room, serving also as a library.
From the House we cross the quadrangle. This is laid out as an
ornamental flower-garden, with very charming effect. From thence the
Park is entered, which is agreeably diversified by hill and dale, wood
and water. The Avon winds its way irregularly through the plain, while
ever and anon the “careless herd” come sweeping by, calling up
involuntarily to the mind remembrances of the “melancholy Jaques” and
his sad musings, as, in “the forest of Arden,”
“he lay along
Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out
Upon the brook that brawls along the wood.”
Under a close avenue of trees a private walk leads to a corner of the
Park, where, snugly embosomed among “scented limes” stands the little
Church of Charlecote--with
[Illustration]
its belfry, simple as a dovecote, and its somewhat grotesque exterior.
There are three monuments--each being of an elaborate and costly
character, with no inconsiderable pretensions to merit as works of art.
The one nearest the altar is that of the Sir Thomas Lucy who is reported
to have “threatened” Shakspere with punishment for deer-stealing, and is
said to have been the object of a lampoon penned by the “immortal
bard.”[61] The grave underneath contains also the ashes of his lady.
They are represented in the usual recumbent posture, on a tomb of
variegated marble, their hands uplifted in prayer. He is clad in armour,
the lady in the ruff and dress of the period. Two smaller figures are
kneeling below, and a tablet of black marble in the recess above their
tomb has the following touching and beautiful inscription:--
[Illustration]
“Here entombed lyeth the Lady Joyce Lucy, wife of Sir Thomas Lucy,
of Cherlecote, in the County of Warwick, Knight, daughter and heir
of Thomas Acton, of Sutton, in the County of Worcester, Esquire,
who departed out of this wretched world to her heavenly kingdome,
the tenth day of February in the year of our Lord God 1595, and of
her age lx and three. All the time of her life a true and faithfull
servant of her good God, never detected of any crime or vice; in
religion most sound; in love to her husband most faithfull and
true; in friendship most constant; to what in trust was committed
to her most secret; in wisdome excelling; in governing of her house
and bringing up of youth in the feare of God that did converse with
her, most rare and singular. A great maintainer of hospitality;
greatly esteemed of her betters; misliked of none unless of the
envious. When all is spoken that can be said, a woman so furnished
and garnished with virtue as not to be bettered, and hardly to be
equalled by any. As she lived most virtuously, so she dyed most
godly. Set down by him that best did know what hath been written to
be true.
“THOMAS LUCY.”
Except the effigy, there is no tribute of any kind to the memory of Sir
Thomas himself. On the opposite side of the chancel, in a small vestry,
or chapel, stands the tomb of his son Thomas, erected by Dame Constance,
his lady, daughter and heiress to Richard Kingsmill; but having no
inscription. It is one of the painted monuments of the period, and
represents him armed, and in the usual recumbent attitude. On a pedestal
in front, is a smaller-sized kneeling effigy of his lady, and in two
panels, one on either side, are the figures of eight daughters and six
sons in low relief. In the chancel, also, is another monument carved
very elaborately; where, under marble pillars and arches, are the
figures of his son Thomas and Alicia his wife, daughter and heiress of
Thomas Spenser, Esq., of Claverdon. The figures are gracefully disposed,
and most beautifully executed; all the details being highly finished.
Behind, on one panel, is a bas-relief of a figure on horseback, and in a
corresponding niche are sculptured shelves, on which are placed the
works of various authors, the central niche being occupied by a very
long Latin inscription, recording his virtues and death, which happened
the 8th December 1640. A further inscription states that the monument
was erected by his lady.
In the church there are a circular plain font, apparently of very early
date; two small brasses of the 16th century, on the floor of the nave,
and two bells in the wooden turret, one bearing the date of 1625. Beyond
these it contains nothing worthy of notice.
Yet, as long as one stone shall stand upon another, will the little
plain Church of Charlecote be linked with a glorious memory of the past;
the lofty trees that grow around it conceal it effectually from sight;
not so the Hall, which, standing on a gentle elevation above the Avon,
is seen from all points of the adjacent scenery. It adjoins the pretty
village of Wellsbourne; near to which, on the road between Warwick and
Stratford, commences a double avenue of finely-grown elm-trees, which
reaches, for more than half a mile from the public road, to the
house;--from Warwick it is distant six miles, and from Stratford five.
The Avon winds immediately around the mansion,
[Illustration]
through the Park; close to the entrance-gate it is crossed by a pretty
bridge, which heightens the striking effect of the landscape.
The whole neighbourhood, indeed, between Wellsbourne and Stratford, is
full of beauty; the land seems passing rich; while, here and there,
distant glances are caught of the Avon, or it accompanies the wayfarer
along the road; there are few more delightful walks in England--and none
so pregnant with “happy and glorious” associations. Amid these dells and
by these hill-sides, was Shakspere taught of Nature.
“Here, as with honey gathered from the rock,
She fed the little prattler, and with songs
Oft sooth’d his wondering ears; with deep delight
On her soft lap he sat and caught the sounds.”
Every step to the pilgrim seems “hallowed ground;” he crosses the
bridge, built by Sir Hugh Clopton during the reign of the 7th Harry, and
is at once “at home” with Shakspere, who must have trodden upon these
stones daily when a boy, and passed them often during his occasional
visits to his birth-place, or when--“good easy man”--he retired hither
from busy life, to die like the deer where he was roused. The very
mystery in which his whole career seems inextricably involved, gives the
fancy greater freedom: there is no check upon imagination as we tread
the streets of the Avon’s old town of Stratford, muse in the small
chamber where he was born, think in the school-house where he was
taught, or ponder in the church where his bones have lain for two
centuries and a half, “unmoved.”
Yet the often-quoted passage from Steevens is almost as correct to-day
as it was when he wrote it--notwithstanding every “hole and corner” in
England has been ransacked in the hope to find something that concerns
him--“all that is known with any degree of certainty concerning
Shakspere is--that he was born at Stratford-upon-Avon--married, and had
children there--went to London, where he commenced actor, and wrote
poems and plays--returned to Stratford, made his will, died, and was
buried.”
Of all the poet wrote, during a long and busy life, no scrap remains to
our time; and of his autographs but five are known to exist, three of
which are affixed to his will in the Prerogative Office, Doctors’
Commons. One of the latter is written in one corner of the three sheets
of paper which form that document, and is much injured in consequence,
the christian name only being in any degree perfect; the other two are
rather cramped in style, and one is much confused in the last letters,
as if an error had been made in the spelling. The finest and clearest
autograph is that upon the fly-leaf of the Montaigne of Florio, in the
British Museum, which has been known but a few years, and was secured to
the National Library at the cost of one hundred pounds. The fifth is in
the Library of the City of London at Guildhall, affixed to a deed of
bargain and sale of a dwelling-house, in the precinct of Blackfriars, to
one Henry Walker, dated 11th March 1613; it is written on the slip of
parchment inserted to hold the seal, and is therefore cramped; it,
however, cost the Corporation of London forty-five pounds more than was
paid for that now in the British Museum. There was a sixth known to be
in existence to the counterpart of this deed, of which a fac-simile was
published by Malone, and which came into the possession of Garrick, at
whose death it could not be found.
The small chamber of the humble house in which he was born is still
preserved, comparatively unimpaired. It stands in Henley-street, and is
kept as “a show house,” by an aged woman who lives in the back
apartments. It was some years ago a butcher’s shop, and in possession of
Mrs. Hart, a lineal descendant of Shakspere by his sister’s side, who,
upon leaving the house, whitewashed the room to obliterate the names
which were pencilled over the walls by the many visitors. As this was
done “at the last pinch” in the evening before quitting, no size was
mixed with the wash, and the next occupant, with great patience,
re-washed the walls, took off the coat of white, and the pencilled names
became again visible; among them are those of Byron, Scott, the Countess
Guccioli, Washington Irving, and a host of others; the effect of the
pencilling upon the walls and ceiling, which is very low, is singularly
curious: it looks as if they were covered with fine spider-web, so very
close is the writing of the various names.
Of Shakspere’s house, “New Place,” where he retired after the turmoil of
London life, in the gardens of which he planted the famous
mulberry-tree, and from whence he was borne to his last home in the
venerable church, was totally destroyed in 1757 by a certain “Rev. Mr.
Gastrell,” whose want of reverence to all the world holds dear, will
ever deprive his name of any other share of it than the prefix it bears.
The whole history of the transaction is disgraceful in the highest
degree--the more so as the man was in holy orders. The house was sold to
him in 1751, on the death of Sir Hugh Clopton, who had resided in it.
Five years afterwards, Gastrell became tired of showing the
mulberry-tree, which Sir Hugh delighted in possessing, and by way of
saving himself any further trouble, as well as to vex the Stratford
people, with whom he was not on good terms, he cut it down, and sold it
for firewood. In the year following he rased the house to the ground for
the most discreditable of reasons--a refusal to pay poor’s rates.
But the church--the church in which, in 1564, he was baptised, and where
in 1616, just 52 years afterwards, he was buried--still exists, not only
uninjured but skilfully and judiciously renovated. Here the great object
of attraction is the famous bust, “by Gerard Johnson.” It was executed,
doubtless, by a literal copyist, who, if he had not the high talent of a
great sculptor who endows his work with traces of the mind, will, at
least, faithfully preserve all peculiarities of form and feature. The
head as here given, if not lit up with the soul of the great Poet, is
not unworthy of his calmer moments; the forehead is ample, and the brain
large, well-developed, and altogether characteristic of that evenness of
temper which, combined with unequalled genius, gave him the title of
“the gentle Shakspere.” The great breadth of the upper lip, which might
be objected to as unnatural, finds its fellow in that of another genius,
the Shakspere of the North--Walter Scott.
The “bones” moulder underneath the chancel; and the memorable
inscription remains uninjured upon the slab,--
“Good frend, for Jesus sake forbear,
To digg the dust encloased hear;
Blest be ye man yt spares the stones,
And cvrst be he yt moves my bones.”[62]
Although the history of Shakspere is not necessarily connected with our
subject--a visit to Charlecote, the seat of the Lucys--it was impossible
to consider the neighbourhood apart from the great genius who has made
it famous for all time.
[Illustration:
From a drawing by J. G. Jackson Day & Son, Lithʳˢ. to The Queen.
COMBE ABBEY, WARWICKSHIRE.]
COMBE ABBEY,
WARWICKSHIRE.
Combe Abbey, the ancient and venerable seat of the Earls of Craven, is
situate in a pleasant valley on the banks of the river, about five miles
from Coventry. The Lordship of Smite, of which the manor at the time of
the Conquest formed part, was, during the reign of “the Confessor,” in
the possession of Richard de Camvell, who, according to Dugdale, “being
a devout and pious man, and much affecting the Cistertian Monks, whose
Order had then been but newly transplanted into England; and finding
that part thereof which is situate in the valley to be full of woods,
and far from any public passage; as also low and solitary, and so,
consequently, more fit for religious persons, gave unto Gilbert, Abbot
of the Monastery of our blessed Lady of Waverley in Surrey, and to the
Convent of that place, all this Lordship of Smite, there to found an
Abbey of the Cistertian Order. Whereupon they presently began to build,
and out of their own convent planted some monks here, dedicating the
church thereof to the blessed Virgin also, and calling it the Abbey of
Cumbe, in respect of its low and hollow situation; the word Cumen in the
British signifying Vallis or Convallis, as doth Cumbe and Combe in the
Saxon.”
The monastery having been thus founded, its power was augmented by
various other “pious and bountiful gifts;” among the rest, in the time
of Henry II., the Earl of Leicester became so liberal a patron, “that
the monks allowed the said earl to be reputed the principal founder,”
and agreed to “perform for him and his heirs such duties in his
life-time and death as for their chief founder.” Thus richly endowed,
and pleasantly placed among fertile fields, thick woods, and beside a
productive river, the monks of Combe continued to enjoy life until the
“killing frost” of the dissolution not only nipped the shoots, but
destroyed the root, of the flourishing tree.
The abbey with its estates then became the property of the Earl of
Warwick, to whom it was granted by Edward VI.; and after his attainder,
a lease of “the site, and divers lands belonging thereto,” was granted
to Robert Keylway, who dying (23d Elizabeth), left a sole daughter and
heir, who married John Harrington, Esq., afterwards Lord Harrington,[63]
whose daughter inheriting, became the wife of Edward Earl of Bedford;
from her, “in consequence of the profuse expenditure in which she
indulged,” Combe Abbey passed by purchase into the family of Craven, in
whose possession it has since remained.
The family of Craven was, at a very early period, seated at
Appletreewick, at Craven in Yorkshire. In 1611, Sir William Craven,
knight and alderman, was Lord Mayor of London; his son, William, having
served in the army with distinction, was knighted in 1626; soon
afterwards elevated to the peerage as Baron Craven of Hampstead
Marshall, Berks; and in 1663 created Earl of Craven. This heroic
ancestor of the family is immortal in romance as the leading champion of
Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, the eldest daughter of James I., who,
having married Frederic, the Elector Palatine, became for a short time a
queen, when the revolted states, in their attempt to shake off the yoke
of the Emperor Ferdinand II., advanced her husband to the regal dignity.
The battle of Prague was fatal to their fortunes, the result having been
to deprive the elector of his hereditary rank as well as his crown, and
to send him forth an outcast and a wanderer, asking the aid of such
cavaliers as sympathised with fallen greatness. The appeal was answered
by many brave knights, called around the banner of the dethroned monarch
chiefly by the charms and virtues of his British wife; and foremost
among them was the Lord Craven. They were foiled in their hopes,
however; the unhappy king died, and his widow returned to England,
where, it is said, she privately married her gallant champion, and to
whom she bequeathed a fine collection of paintings, chiefly portraits,
which still adorn the long gallery at Combe Abbey.
The earldom became extinct in 1690, but the barony continued in the
family; to which succeeded, in 1769, the sixth baron, who married
Elizabeth, daughter of Augustus Earl of Berkeley, afterwards the
Margravine of Anspach. William, his son, the seventh baron, was, on the
13th of June, 1801, created Viscount Uffington and Earl Craven; in 1807
he married Louisa, daughter of John Brunton, Esq. of Norwich--a lady who
had previously “graced the British stage,” whose talents and virtues
gave additional lustre to the position to which her marriage raised her,
and whose name was not more honoured and respected when elevated to high
rank than it had been when fulfilling the duties of a comparatively
humble station. This estimable lady became a widow in 1825; when, the
Earl of Craven dying, he was succeeded by his son, the present earl, who
in 1835 married the Lady Emily Grimston, the second daughter of the Earl
of Verulam.
The Abbey is, as we have stated, distant from Coventry about five miles;
a plain but neat stone erection forms the entrance lodge. For a short
distance the road winds through pleasant and truly English park scenery,
interspersed with clumps of trees of various sizes and forms; while
herds of deer sweeping across the path, give life and animation to the
scene. Adjacent to a large sheet of water stands the house, which forms
three sides of a quadrangle, originally the cloisters of the Abbey of
Combe.
On the east side of these cloisters five highly
[Illustration]
enriched arches still remain of the later Roman character, the most
northern being of the transition period. The openings towards the court
(now glazed) are of later date, probably about the fourteenth century.
After the Reformation, on the property falling into the hands of the
first Lord Harrington, he built the Elizabethan portion of the mansion,
preserving, no doubt, the cloisters as a means of communication with the
several apartments; and, on the whole, with the manors of Combe, Smite,
and Binley, being transferred by sale from his daughter and heiress,
Lucy Countess of Bedford to Dame Elizabeth Craven, widow of Sir John
Craven (which transfer bears date 24th October, 1622); it fell in due
time into the hands of the famous William Earl Craven, her son, who made
considerable additions to the building, his architect, it is said, being
the no less famous Inigo Jones.[64]
To attempt a formal description of the rooms would far exceed our
purpose and limits; we shall, therefore, content ourselves with pointing
out a few of the more remarkable objects, commencing with the north
parlour, a very handsome room, in which are the fire-dogs, forming the
subject of the annexed vignette. This room contains very fine
whole-length
[Illustration]
portraits of the King and Queen of Bohemia, by C. Honthorst; and of
Charles I. and the Princes Maurice and Rupert, by Vandyck. There is also
a very fine bust of the present earl, by Behnes. Adjoining this room is
the grand staircase, the ceiling of which is enriched by an oval garland
of fruit and flowers, modelled with the most exquisite taste and
delicacy of execution. Around the walls of the landing are suspended
whole-lengths of William the first Earl Craven, Charles II., James I.
and II., and others. From thence we enter the Elizabethan room, the
subject of our illustration. It is said to have been fitted up for the
reception of Queen Elizabeth, and is well worthy of such repute. The
fire-place, of most elaborate design and execution, contains on each
side the initials E. R. The ceiling is richly ornamented, and on the
walls are hung five very fine landscapes, by J. Lootens, with other
pictures of considerable merit. In the window is the bust of the
Princess Elizabeth, with the following inscription:--
“Ælis Reg.
Boh
Fil Jac Rex Mag Brit
1641.”
And also another bust, on the base of which is carved,--
“La Sereniss
Princ Sophia
Pal. Fig: Di: Fred.
A D 1643
Re Di Boenia
Æ S 17.”
From thence, passing a small ante-room, which contains a most curious
picture of the “Decollation of John the Baptist,”
[Illustration]
said to be by Albert Durer, the long gallery is entered--one of those
apartments so judiciously attached to the houses of the wealthy of this
period, for the purposes of recreation and exercise during inclement
weather. It is about one hundred feet in length and sixteen in width,
lighted from the court-yard side, and filled with portraits of the early
part of the sixteenth century. M. Mirèveldt and G. Honthorst are the
principal contributors, and in the historical series here presented to
view are subjects for much reflection. The Queen of Bohemia, whose
destiny seems so closely interwoven
[Illustration]
with the house of Craven, appears more than once.[65] The gallant and
chivalrous William Earl Craven--the wise Chancellor Oxenstern--Charles
XII. of Sweden, grim, stern, and forbidding--Archbishop Laud,--all are
here; and last, not least, are the painters; besides many others, whose
names are registered in the pages of history. Connected with this
apartment is the elegant porch which forms the subject of our vignette,
and was, no doubt, a garden-approach to the principal apartments. “It is
constructed of very friable stone, the same apparently as that used in
the principal buildings at Coventry. Some of its enrichments can no
longer be made out.”
Descending to the opposite wing we find the dining-room, which is fitted
up in panelled compartments of oak, and contains some beautiful carving
in the sideboard, &c. Fine portraits of the Craven family, the Duke of
Richmond, and Prince Henry (son of James I.), adorn the apartment, which
also contains two transcendent pictures by Rembrandt. Adjacent to this
room is a very handsome
[Illustration]
apartment, ornamented by columns, and containing two pictures by
Canaletti, which may be classed with the finest examples of that master.
There are numerous other rooms particularly rich in old carved
fire-places, bedsteads (of which we give a specimen), tapestry, antique
furniture, and all things which correct taste and refined judgment could
accumulate.
We may recur to the almost romantic interest which attaches itself to
this house, from the chivalrous exertions of one of its early possessors
in behalf of the illustrious but unfortunate princess, who is frequently
recalled to memory within its walls. At each step we are reminded of the
fact; and it is a melancholy, yet most pleasant reflection, in looking
back through the vista of two centuries, to find the youthful and early
devotion of Earl Craven not merely a transient and evanescent impulse,
but enduring to the end, and manifesting itself in studious care to
protect and soothe that royal lady in the decline of her fortunes and
the close of her life. Well did he establish the truth of his family
motto,--
VIRTUS IN ACTIONE CONSISTIT.
[Illustration:
From a drawing by J. D. Harding. Day Son, Lithʳˢ. to The Queen.
WARWICK CASTLE, WARWICKSHIRE.]
WARWICK CASTLE,
WARWICKSHIRE.