Fondness prevailed, mamma gave way,
Kitty, at heart’s desire,
Obtained the chariot for a day
And set the world on fire.
This lady’s luck and happiness appear to vanish in later life, both her
sons meeting tragic deaths; the eldest, Viscount Drumlanrig, shooting
himself, the second, Lord Charles Douglas, dying of consumption at
Amesbury, having just escaped the perils of the great earthquake at
Lisbon.
The Duchess died July 19th, 1777, aged 77, and the Duke the following
year.
The title of Duke of Queensberry descended to the Duke’s cousin, William,
Earl of March and Raglin. In 1778 he succeeded his cousin Charles as 4th
Duke of Queensberry, and in 1786 was created a British peer, taking the
title of Baron Douglas of Ambresbury. This eccentric nobleman never
married, and was commonly known by the nickname of “Old Q.” He died in
1810, the Amesbury estate passing to Archibald, Lord Douglas of Douglas,
whose executors sold it in 1824 to Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart., my
husband’s great-great-uncle.
No record is to be found of the destruction of the Abbey, Lord Hertford
apparently building himself a house in Amesbury. In “Vitruvius
Britannicus” there is a picture of a fine mansion in the Palladian style,
built for Lord Carleton from designs by Inigo Jones, the architect being
Mr. Webb, nephew of Inigo Jones.
The Queensberrys added wings to this house, and caused a beautiful bridge
to span the river Avon, which runs through the grounds. A pretty old
house stands in the park, near an old entrance: tradition tells us the
Duchess of Queensberry used this lodge as a dairy. It possesses two
octagon rooms (one over the other), and an underground passage is
supposed to connect it with the river. The park is small, but extremely
pretty; one enters it through splendid old gates supported by Palladian
pillars.
Opposite the dwelling house is a high bank cut into a fantastic shape and
known as “The Diamond.” The cave in which the poet Gay loved to write is
hollowed in this bank. The wild-bird-frequented Avon {18} runs below,
and above it is crowned by a beautiful wood planted over what is called
“Vespasian’s Camp.” In this wood are found two avenues of beech-trees,
and walking through the old deer park and across the Downs, at a mile and
a half’s distance, glorious Stonehenge bursts upon one.
Returning to Amesbury, and following the course of the river in the
opposite direction, one comes upon a little house built of flints, with
quaint pointed roof and tower, in which the floor of a small upper
chamber is found to be movable; outside, over a door, the stone moulding
bears this inscription:
“Diana, her hovs—1600.”
Diana certainly possessed a picturesque dwelling, but I can find no clue
to her identity. After the death of the last Duke of Queensberry,
Amesbury House remained uninhabited for sixty years, except during the
tenancy of Sir Elijah Impey, and when some French nuns occupied it for a
short period.
My husband’s grandfather, on inheriting Amesbury from his uncle (the
first Sir Edmund Antrobus), wished to enlarge and restore the old house,
but finding it in too dilapidated a state, decided to pull it down, and
in 1838 began to build an entirely new house (closely resembling the old
one) of handsome cut stone, with a grand loggia, supported by beautiful
pillars and ornamented with carved stonework of fine design. This house
is supposed to stand on the site of the old Abbey, and many traces of
cells were discovered, underground, when digging foundations. To-day not
a single stone of the old Abbey remains above ground to remind us of its
former existence and splendour; it having once covered, tradition says, a
space of thirteen acres.
* * * * *
NOTE.—Some beautiful coloured tiles decorated with different intricate
patterns were dug up near the present house at Amesbury. We suppose them
to be from the cells of the old Abbey. Some have designs of the
_Fleur-de-lys_ on them.