Alton Towers, the superb home of the Earl of Shrewsbury, is also in
Staffordshire, and is one of the famous seats of England. The estate
stands on the Churnet, and the house and grounds are on one side of its
deep valley. The present mansion, a modern Gothic structure, was built
about fifty years ago on a rocky plateau overlooking the valley. An
extensive park surrounds the mansion, and there are several entrances.
Of these Quicksall Lodge ushers the visitor to a magnificent approach
known as the "Earl's Drive," extending three miles along the valley of
the Churnet, and having its natural advantages increased by the profuse
distribution along the route of statues, busts, and ornamental vases.
Another entrance is from the railway-station, where is a lodge of great
beauty, from which the road, about a mile in length, gradually ascends
to the eminence where the mansion stands. The approach by both roads is
fine, and through the intervening foliage the Towers open upon the
view--rich in spire, dome, and gable, and with their fair proportions
enhanced by the arcades that adorn the house and the antique stone
setting that brings out the majesty of the Gothic architecture. The
gardens of this fine place are beautiful, their extent being made
apparently greater than in reality by the artificially-formed terraces
and other resources of the landscape artist. The grounds are most
lavishly ornamented with statuary, vases, temples, and fountains, while
gardening is carried to perfection. There is a grand conservatory,
containing a palm-house and orangery. From the top of an elaborate
Gothic temple four stories high there is a fine view, while the Flag
Tower, a massive building with four turrets, and six stories high, is
used as an observatory. There is a delightful retreat for the weary
sightseer called the Refuge, a fine imitation of Stonehenge, and Ina's
Rock, where Ina, king of Wessex, held a parliament after his battle with
the king of Mercia. The picturesque ruins of Alton Castle and convent
are in the grounds, also the ruins of Croxden Abbey and the charming
Alton Church, which was of Norman foundation. The castle existed at the
time of the Conquest, and the domain in 1408, through the marriage of
Maude Neville to John Talbot, was brought into the possession of the
present family. Talbot having been afterwards made the first Earl of
Shrewsbury. This was the famous English warrior who was so feared in
France, where he conducted brilliant campaigns, that "with his name the
mothers stilled their babes." He was killed at the siege of Chatillon in
his eightieth year. It was the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury who married Bess
of Hardwicke and made her fourth husband. It was the fifteenth Earl of
Shrewsbury who erected the present magnificent structure, with its
varied turrets and battlements, for his summer residence, where before
stood a plain house known as Alton Lodge. Upon his tomb, in memory of
the wonderful change he wrought in the place, is the significant motto:
"He made the desert smile." The nineteenth earl is now in possession.