[Illustration: RUINS OF BRADGATE HOUSE.]
We have now come into Leicestershire, and in that county, north of
Leicester City, is the outcropping of the earth's rocky backbone, which
has been thrust up into high wooded hills along the edge of the valley
of the Soar for several miles, and is known as Charnwood Forest. It
hardly deserves the name of a forest, however, for most of this strange
rocky region is bare of trees, and many of the patches of wood that are
there are of recent growth. Yet in ancient years there was plenty of
wood, and a tradition comes down to us that in Charnwood once upon a
time a squirrel could travel six miles on the trees without touching the
ground, and a traveller journey entirely across the forest without
seeing the sun. The district consists of two lines of irregular ridgy
hills, rising three hundred to four hundred feet above the neighboring
country. These ridges are separated by a sort of valley like a Norwegian
fjord, tilled with red marl. The rocks are generally volcanic products,
with much slate, which is extensively quarried. Granite and sienite are
also quarried, and at the chief granite-quarry--Mount Sorrel, an
eminence which projects into the valley of the Soar--was in former times
the castle of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester. In King John's reign the
garrison of this castle so harassed the neighborhood that it was
described as the "nest of the devil and a den of thieves." In Henry
III.'s reign it was captured and demolished; the latter fate is
gradually befalling the hill on which it stood, under the operations of
the quarrymen. Near these quarries is the ancient village of Groby,
which was quite a flourishing place eight hundred years ago, and has not
grown much since. This village belonged to the Ferrars family, and an
heiress of that family was the unfortunate Queen Elizabeth Widvile.
About two miles away is Bradgate, a spot of rare beauty and interest,
the history of which is closely connected with Groby. On the end of one
of the ridges of Charnwood, just where it is sinking down to the level
of the surrounding country, stands Bradgate House. The surrounding park
is quite wild and bare, but there are fine old oaks in the lower
portions. From the ancient house a beautiful dell, called the Happy
Valley, leads to the neighboring village of Newtown Linford. Bradgate
House was destroyed in the early part of the last century by its
mistress. The Earl of Suffolk, who then owned it, brought his wife, who
had no taste for a rural life, from the metropolis to live there. Her
sister in London wrote to inquire how she was getting on. She answered,
"The house is tolerable, the country a forest, and the inhabitants all
brutes." In reply the sister advised, "Set the house on fire, and run
away by the light of it." The countess took the advice, and Bradgate
never was rebuilt.