England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel
by Joel Cook · English · Gutenberg #29787 · 1,094,710 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel
Author: Joel Cook
Release date: August 24, 2009 [eBook #29787]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLAND, PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE: A REMINISCENCE OF FOREIGN TRAVEL ***
Produced by Sigal Alon, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
[Illustration: _Frontispiece_
ALTON TOWERS.]
ENGLAND,
PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE.
A
REMINISCENCE OF FOREIGN TRAVEL.
By JOEL COOK,
AUTHOR OF "A HOLIDAY TOUR IN EUROPE," "BRIEF SUMMER RAMBLES," ETC.
[Illustration: OLD MILL AT SELBORNE.]
WITH NEARLY FIVE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS.
PHILADELPHIA;
PORTER AND COATES.
Copyright
By PORTER & COATES,
1882.
PRESS OF HENRY B. ASHMEAD, PHILADA.
ELECTROTYPED BY WESTCOTT & THOMSON, PHILADA.
TO
JOHN WALTER, Esq.,
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR BERKSHIRE,
AND
PROPRIETOR OF THE LONDON TIMES,
WHO HAS DONE SO MUCH TO WELCOME AMERICANS
WITH TRUE ENGLISH HOSPITALITY,
AND TO
GIVE ENGLISHMEN A MORE ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF,
AND MORE INTIMATE RELATIONS WITH,
THE UNITED STATES,
This Work on England,
BY AN AMERICAN,
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
INTRODUCTION.
No land possesses greater attractions for the American tourist than
England. It was the home of his forefathers; its history is to a great
extent the history of his own country; and he is bound to it by the
powerful ties of consanguinity, language, laws, and customs. When the
American treads the busy London streets, threads the intricacies of the
Liverpool docks and shipping, wanders along the green lanes of
Devonshire, climbs Alnwick's castellated walls, or floats upon the
placid bosom of the picturesque Wye, he seems almost as much at home as
in his native land. But, apart from these considerations of common
Anglo-Saxon paternity, no country in the world is more interesting to
the intelligent traveller than England. The British system of entail,
whatever may be our opinion of its political and economic merits, has
built up vast estates and preserved the stately homes, renowned castles,
and ivy-clad ruins of ancient and celebrated structures, to an extent
and variety that no other land can show. The remains of the abbeys,
castles, churches, and ancient fortresses in England and Wales that war
and time together have crumbled and scarred tell the history of
centuries, while countless legends of the olden time are revived as the
tourist passes them in review. England, too, has other charms than
these. British scenery, though not always equal in sublimity and
grandeur to that displayed in many parts of our own country, is
exceedingly beautiful, and has always been a fruitful theme of song and
story.
"The splendor falls on castle-walls
And snowy summits old in story:
The long light shakes across the lakes.
And the wild cataract leaps in glory."
Yet there are few satisfactory and comprehensive books about this land
that is so full of renowned memorials of the past and so generously
gifted by Nature. Such books as there are either cover a few counties or
are devoted only to local description, or else are merely guide-books.
The present work is believed to be the first attempt to give in
attractive form a book which will serve not only as a guide to those
about visiting England and Wales, but also as an agreeable reminiscence
to others, who will find that its pages treat of familiar scenes. It
would be impossible to describe everything within the brief compass of a
single book, but it is believed that nearly all the more prominent
places in England and Wales are included, with enough of their history
and legend to make the description interesting. The artist's pencil has
also been called into requisition, and the four hundred and eighty-seven
illustrations will give an idea, such as no words can convey, of the
attractions England presents to the tourist.
The work has been arranged in eight tours, with Liverpool and London as
the two starting-points, and each route following the lines upon which
the sightseer generally advances in the respective directions taken.
Such is probably the most convenient form for the travelling reader, as
the author has found from experience, while a comprehensive index will
make reference easy to different localities and persons. Without further
introduction it is presented to the public, in the confident belief that
the interest developed in its subject will excuse any shortcomings that
may be found in its pages.
PHILADELPHIA, July, 1882.
CONTENTS.
I.
_LIVERPOOL, WESTWARD TO THE WELSH COAST._
PAGE
Liverpool--Birkenhead--Knowsley Hall--Chester--Cheshire--Eaton
Hall--Hawarden Castle--Bidston--Congleton--Beeston Castle--The river
Dee--Llangollen--Valle-Crucis Abbey--Dinas Bran--Wynnstay--Pont
Cysylltau--Chirk Castle--Bangor-ys-Coed--Holt--Wrexham--The Sands o'
Dee--North Wales--Flint Castle--Rhuddlan Castle--Mold--Denbigh--St.
Asaph--Holywell--Powys Castle--The Menai Strait--Anglesea--Beaumaris
Castle--Bangor--Penrhyn Castle--Plas Newydd--Caernarvon
Castle--Ancient Segontium--Conway Castle--Bettws-y-Coed--Mount
Snowdon--Port Madoc--Coast of Merioneth--Barmouth--St. Patrick's
Causeway--Mawddach Vale--Cader Idris--Dolgelly--Bala
Lake--Aberystwith--Harlech Castle--Holyhead 17
II.
_LIVERPOOL, NORTHWARD TO THE SCOTTISH BORDER._
Lancashire--Warrington--Manchester--Furness Abbey--The
Ribble--Stonyhurst--Lancaster Castle--Isle of
Man--Castletown--Rusben Castle--Peele Castle--The Lake
Country--Windermere--Lodore Fall--Derwentwater--Keswick--Greta
Hall--Southey, Wordsworth, and Coleridge--Skiddaw---The Border
Castles--Kendal Castle--Brougham Hall--The Solway--Carlisle
Castle--Scaleby Castle--Naworth--Lord William Howard. 51
III.
_LIVERPOOL, THROUGH THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, TO LONDON._
The Peak of Derbyshire--Castleton--Bess of Hardwicke--Hardwicke
Hall--Bolsover Castle--The Wye and the
Derwent--Buxton--Bakewell--Haddon Hall--The King of the
Peak--Dorothy Vernon--Rowsley--The Peacock Inn--Chatsworth--The
Victoria Regia--Matlock--Dovedale--Beauchief Abbey--Stafford
Castle--Trentham Hall--Tamworth--Tutbury Castle--Chartley
Castle--Alton Towers--Shrewsbury Castle--Bridgenorth--Wenlock
Abbey--Ludlow Castle--The Feathers Inn--Lichfield Cathedral--Dr.
Samuel Johnson--Coventry--Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom--Belvoir
Castle--Charnwood Forest--Groby and Bradgate--Elizabeth Widvile and
Lady Jane Grey--Ulverscroft Priory--Grace Dien Abbey--Ashby de la
Zouche--Langley Priory--Leicester Abbey and Castle--Bosworth
Field--Edgehill--Naseby--The Land of
Shakespeare--Stratford-on-Avon--Warwick--Kenilworth--Birmingham
--Boulton and Watt--Fotheringhay Castle--Holmby House--Bedford Castle
--John Bunyan--Woburn Abbey and the Russells--Stowe--Whaddon Hall
--Great Hampden--Creslow House 70
IV.
_THE RIVER THAMES AND LONDON._
The Thames Head--Cotswold Hills--Seven
Springs--Cirencester--Cheltenham--Sudeley
Castle--Chavenage--Shifford--Lechlade--Stanton Harcourt--Cumnor
Hall--Fair Rosamond--Godstow Nunnery--Oxford--Oxford
Colleges--Christ Church--Corpus Christi--Merton--Oriel--All
Souls--University--Queen's--Magdalen--Brasenose--New
College--Radcliffe Library--Bodleian
Library--Lincoln--Exeter--Wadham--Keble--Trinity--Balliol--St.
John's--Pembroke--Oxford Churches--Oxford Castle--Carfax
Conduit--Banbury--Broughton
Castle--Woodstock--Marlborough--Blenheim--Minster
Lovel--Bicester--Eynsham--Abingdon--Radley--Bacon, Rich, and
Holt--Clifton-Hampden--Caversham--Reading--Maidenhead--Bisham
Abbey--Vicar of Bray--Eton College--Windsor Castle--Magna Charta
Island--Cowey Stakes--Ditton--Twickenham--London--Fire Monument--St.
Paul's Cathedral--Westminster Abbey--The Tower--Lollards and
Lambeth--Bow Church--St. Bride's--Whitehall--Horse Guards--St. James
Palace--Buckingham Palace--Kensington Palace--Houses of
Parliament--Hyde Park--Marble Arch--Albert Memorial--South
Kensington Museum--Royal Exchange--Bank of England--Mansion
House--Inns of Court--British Museum--Some London Scenes--The
Underground Railway--Holland House--Greenwich--Tilbury Fort--The
Thames Mouth 137
V.
_LONDON, NORTHWARD TO THE TWEED._
Harrow--St. Albans--Verulam--Hatfield House--Lord
Burleigh--Cassiobury--Knebworth--Great Bed of Ware--The River
Cam--Audley End--Saffron Walden--Newport--Nell
Gwynne--Littlebury--Winstanley--Harwich--Cambridge--Trinity and St.
John's Colleges--Caius College--Trinity Hall--The Senate
House--University Library--Clare College--Great St. Mary's
Church--King's College--Corpus Christi College--St. Catharine's
College--Queens' College--The Pitt Press--Pembroke
College--Peterhouse--Fitzwilliam Museum--Hobson's Conduit--Downing
College--Emmanuel College--Christ's College--Sidney-Sussex
College--The Round Church--Magdalene College--Jesus
College--Trumpington--The Fenland--Bury St. Edmunds--Hengrave
Hall--Ely--Peterborough--Crowland Abbey--Guthlac--Norwich Castle and
Cathedral--Stamford--Burghley House--George
Inn--Grantham--Lincoln--Nottingham--Southwell--Sherwood
Forest--Robin Hood--The Dukeries--Thoresby Hall--Clumber
Park--Welbeck Abbey--Newstead
Abbey--Newark--Hull--Wilberforce--Beverley--Sheffield--Wakefield--Leeds
--Bolton Abbey--The Strid--Ripon Cathedral--Fountains Abbey--Studley
Royal--Fountains Hall--York--Eboracum--York Minster--Clifford's
Tower--Castle Howard--Kirkham Priory--Flamborough
Head--Scarborough--Whitby Abbey--Durham Cathedral and Castle--St.
Cuthbert--The Venerable Bede--Battle of Neville's
Cross--Chester-le-Street--Lumley
Castle--Newcastle-upon-Tyne--Hexham--Alnwick Castle--Hotspur and the
Percies--St. Michael's Church--Hulne Priory--Ford Castle--Flodden
Field--The Tweed--Berwick--Holy Isle--Lindisfarne--Bamborough--Grace
Darling 224
VI.
_LONDON, WESTWARD TO MILFORD HAVEN._
The Cotswolds--The River Severn--Gloucester--Berkeley Castle--New
Inn--Gloucester Cathedral--Lampreys--Tewkesbury; its Mustard, Abbey,
and Battle--Worcester; its Battle--Charles II.'s Escape--Worcester
Cathedral--The Malvern Hills--Worcestershire Beacon--Herefordshire
Beacon--Great Malvern--St. Anne's Well--The River Wye--Clifford
Castle--Hereford--Old Butcher's Row--Nell Gwynne's
Birthplace--Ross--The Man of Ross--Ross Church and its Trees--Walton
Castle--Goodrich Castle--Forest of Dean--Coldwell--Symond's
Vat--The Dowards--Monmouth--Kymin Hill--Raglan Castle--Redbrook--St.
Briard Castle--Tintern Abbey--The Wyncliff--Wyntour's Leap--Chepstow
Castle--The River Monnow--The Golden Valley--The Black
Mountains--Pontrilas Court--Ewias Harold--Abbey Dore--The Scyrrid
Vawr--Wormridge--Kilpeck--Oldcastle--Kentchurch--Grosmont--The Vale
of Usk--Abergavenny--Llanthony Priory--Walter Savage
Landor--Capel-y-Ffyn--Newport--Penarth Roads--Cardiff--The
Rocking-Stone--Llandaff--Caerphilly Castle and its Leaning
Tower--Swansea--The Mumbles--Oystermouth Castle--Neath
Abbey--Caermarthen--Tenby--Manorbeer Castle--Golden
Grove--Pembroke--Milford--Haverfordwest--Milford Haven--Pictou
Castle--Carew Castle 337
VII.
_LONDON, SOUTH-WEST TO LAND'S END._
Virginia Water--Sunninghill--Ascot--Wokingham--Bearwood--The London
Times--White Horse Hill--Box Tunnel--Salisbury--Salisbury Plain--Old
Sarum--Stonehenge--Amesbury--Wilton House--The Earls of
Pembroke--Carpet-making--Bath--William
Beckford--Fonthill--Bristol--William
Canynge--Chatterton--Clifton--Brandon Hill--Well--The
Mendips--Jocelyn--Beckington--Ralph of Shrewsbury--Thomas Ken--The
Cheddar Cliffs--The Wookey Hole--The Black Down--The Isle of
Avelon--Glastonbury--Weary-all Hill--Sedgemoor--The Isle of
Athelney--Bridgewater--Oldmixon--Monmouth's Rebellion--Weston
Zoyland--King Alfred--Sherborne--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Coast of
Dorset--Poole--Wareham--Isle of Purbeck--Corfe Castle--The
Foreland--Swanage--St. Aldhelm's Head--Weymouth--Portland Isle and
Bill--The Channel Islands--Jersey--Corbière Promontory--Mount
Orgueil--Alderney--Guernsey--Castle Comet--The Southern Coast of
Devon--Abbotsbury--Lyme
Regis--Axminster--Sidmouth--Exmouth--Exeter--William, Prince of
Orange--Exeter Cathedral--Bishop
Trelawney--Dawlish--Teignmouth--Hope's Nose--Babbicombe Bay--Anstis
Cove--Torbay--Torquay--Brixham--Dartmoor--The River
Dart--Totnes--Berry Pomeroy Castle--Dartmouth--The River Plym--The
Dewerstone--Plympton Priory--Sir Joshua Reynolds--Catwater
Haven--Plymouth--Stonehouse--Devonport--Eddystone
Lighthouse--Tavistock Abbey--Buckland Abbey--Lydford Castle--The
Northern Coast of Devon--Exmoor--Minehead--Dunster--Dunkery
Beacon--Porlock Bay--The River Lyn--Oare--Lorna Doone--Jan
Ridd--Lynton--Lynmouth--Castle Rock--The Devil's Cheese-Ring--Combe
Martin--Ilfracombe--Norte
Point--Morthoe--Barnstable--Bideford--Clovelly--Lundy
Island--Cornwall--Tintagel--Launceston--Liskeard--Fowey--Lizard
Peninsula--Falmouth--Pendennis Castle--Helston--Mullyon
Cove--Smuggling--Kynance Cove--The Post-Office--Old Lizard
Head--Polpeor--St. Michael's Mount--Penzance--Pilchard
Fishery--Penwith--Land's End 384
VIII.
_LONDON, TO THE SOUTH COAST._
The Surrey Side--The Chalk Downs--Guildford--The Hog's Back--Albury
Down--Archbishop Abbot--St. Catharine's Chapel--St. Martha's
Chapel--Albury Park--John Evelyn--Henry Drummond--Aldershot
Camp--Leith Hill--Redland's Wood--Holmwood Park--Dorking--Weller and
the Marquis of Granby Inn--Deepdene--Betchworth Castle--The River
Mole--Boxhill--The Fox and Hounds--The Denbies--Ranmore
Common--Battle of Dorking--Wotton
Church--Epsom--Reigate--Pierrepoint House--Longfield--The Weald of
Kent--Goudhurst--Bedgebury Park--Kilndown--Cranbrook--Bloody Baker's
Prison--Sissinghurst--Bayham Abbey--Tunbridge Castle--Tunbridge
Wells--Penshurst--Sir Philip Sidney--Hever Castle--Anne
Boleyn--Knole--Leeds Castle--Tenterden Steeple and the Goodwin
Sands--Rochester--Gad's Hill--Chatham--Canterbury Cathedral--St.
Thomas à Becket--Falstaff Inn--Isle of
Thanet--Ramsgate--Margate--North Foreland--The Cinque
Ports--Sandwich--Rutupiæ--Ebbsfleet--Goodwin Sands--Walmer
Castle--South Foreland--Dover--Shakespeare's
Cliff--Folkestone--Hythe--Romney--Dungeness--Rye--Winchelsea--Hastings
--Pevensey--Hailsham--Hurstmonceux Castle--Beachy Head--Brighton--The
Aquarium--The South Downs--Dichling Beacon--Newhaven--Steyning--Wiston
Manor--Chanctonbury Ring--Arundel Castle--Chichester--Selsey
Bill--Goodwood--Bignor--Midhurst--Cowdray--Dunford
House--Selborne--Gilbert White; his book; his house, sun-dial, and
church--Greatham Church--Winchester--The New
Forest--Lyndhurst--Minstead Manor--Castle Malwood--Death of William
Rufus--Rufus's Stone--Beaulieu
Abbey--Brockenhurst--Ringwood--Lydington--Christchurch--Southampton
--Netley Abbey--Calshot Castle--The Solent--Portsea
Island--Portsmouth--Gosport--Spithead--The Isle of Wight--High
Down--Alum Bay--Yarmouth--Cowes--Osborne
House--Ryde--Bratling--Sandown--Shanklin Chine--Bonchurch--The
Undercliff--Ventnor--Niton--St. Lawrence Church--St. Catharine's
Down--Blackgang Chine--Carisbrooke
Castle--Newport--Freshwater--Brixton--The Needles 463
[Illustration: MARKET-PLACE, PETERBOROUGH.]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Alton Towers _Frontispiece._
The Old Mill, Selborne _Title-Page._
Market-place, Peterborough _After Contents._
The Pottergate, Alnwick 16
Perch Rock Light 17
St. George's Hall, Liverpool 19
Chester Cathedral, Exterior 21
Chester Cathedral, Interior 21
Julius Cæsar's Tower, Chester 22
Ancient Front, Chester 22
God's Providence House, Chester 23
Bishop Lloyd's Palace, Chester 23
Old Lamb Row, Chester 23
Stanley House, Front, Chester 24
Stanley House, Rear, Chester 24
Phoenix Tower, Chester 25
Water Tower, Chester 25
Abbey Gale, Chester 26
Ruins of St. John's Chapel, Chester 26
Plas Newydd, Llangollen 28
Ruins of Valle-Crucis Abbey 29
Wynnstay 30
Pont Cysylltau 30
Wrexham Tower 31
The Roodee, from the Railway-bridge, Chester 32
The "Sands o' Dee" 33
Menai Strait 36
Beaumaris Castle 37
Bangor Cathedral 37
Caernarvon Castle 39
Conway Castle, from the Road to Llanrwst 40
Falls of the Conway 41
Swallow Falls 42
Llanrwst Bridge 43
Barmouth 44
Barmouth Estuary 45
Cader Idris, on the Taly-slyn Ascent 46
Rhayadr-y-Mawddach 46
Dolgelly 47
Owen Glendower's Parliament House, Dolgelly 47
Lower Bridge, Torrent Walk, Dolgelly 48
Bala Lake 48
Aberystwith 49
Harlech Castle 50
Old Market, Warrington 51
Manchester Cathedral, from the South-east 53
Assize Courts, Manchester 54
Royal Exchange, Manchester 55
Furness Abbey 56
Castle Square, Lancaster 58
Bradda Head, Isle of Man 59
Kirk Bradden, Isle of Man 59
Rhenass Waterfall, Isle of Man 60
Castle Rushen, Isle of Man 61
Peele Castle, Isle of Man 63
Glimpse of Derwentwater, from Scafell 64
Falls of Lodore, Derwentwater 65
Road through the Cathedral Close, Carlisle 68
View on the Torrent Walk, Dolgelly 69
Peveril Castle, Castleton 71
Hardwicke Hall 72
Hardwicke Hall, Elizabethan Staircase 73
Bolsover Castle 74
The Crescent, Buxton 75
Bakewell Church 76
Haddon Hall, from the Wye 77
Haddon Hall, Entrance to Banquet-hall 78
Haddon Hall, the Terrace 79
The Peacock Inn from the Road 81
Chatsworth House, from the South-west 81
Chatsworth House, Door to State Drawing-room 82
Chatsworth House, State Drawing-room 82
Chatsworth House, State Bedroom 83
Chatsworth House, the Sculpture-gallery 84
Chatsworth House, Gateway to Stable 85
High Tor, Matlock 85
The Straits, Dovedale 86
Banks of the Dove 86
Tissington Spires, Dovedale 87
Trentham Hall 89
Trentham Hall--on the Terrace 90
Shrewsbury Castle, from the Railway-station 93
Head-quarters of Henry VII. on his Way to Bosworth
Field, Shrewsbury 94
On Battlefield Road, Shrewsbury 94
Bridgenorth, from near Oldbury 95
Bridgenorth, Keep of the Castle 95
Bridgenorth, House where Bishop Percy was born 96
Lodge of Much Wenlock Abbey 96
Wenlock 97
Ludlow Castle 98
Ludlow Castle, Entrance to the Council-chamber 99
The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow 100
Lichfield Cathedral, West Front 101
Lichfield Cathedral, Interior, looking West 101
Lichfield Cathedral, Rear View 102
Dr. Johnson's Birthplace, Lichfield 103
Coventry Gateway 105
Coventry 106
Ruins of Bradgate House 108
Ruins of Ulverscroft Priory 109
Ruins of Grace Dieu Abbey 110
Leicester Abbey 111
Gateway, Newgate Street, Leicester 112
Edgehill 113
Edgehill, Mill at 115
Church and Market-hall, Market Harborough 117
Shakespeare's House, Stratford 118
Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shottery 119
Warwick Castle 120
Leicester's Hospital, Warwick 122
Oblique Gables in Warwick 122
Kenilworth Castle 123
St. Martin's Church, Birmingham 124
Aston Hall, Birmingham 125
Aston Hall, the "Gallery of the Presence" 126
The Town-hall, Birmingham 127
Elstow, Bedford 130
Elstow Church 130
Elstow Church, North Door 131
Woburn Abbey, West Front 132
Woburn Abbey, the Sculpture-gallery 133
Woburn Abbey, Entrance to the Puzzle garden 134
Thames Head 138
Dovecote, Stanton Harcourt 140
Cumnor Churchyard 141
Godstow Nunnery 142
Magdalen College, Oxford, from the Cherwell 143
Magdalen College, Stone Pulpit 144
Magdalen College, Bow Window 144
Gable at St. Aldate's College, Oxford 144
Dormer Window, Merton College, Oxford 144
Gateway of Christ Church College, Oxford 145
Merton College Chapel, Oxford 146
Merton College Gateway 146
Oriel College, Oxford 147
Magdalen College Cloisters, Oxford 148
Magdalen College, Founders' Tower 149
Magdalen College 150
New College, Oxford, from the Garden 151
New College 152
The Radcliffe Library, from the Quadrangle of Brasenose, Oxford 152
Dining-hall, Exeter College, Oxford 153
Trinity College Chapel, Oxford 153
Window in St. John's College, Garden Front, Oxford 154
Tower St. John's College, Oxford 154
St. Mary the Virgin, from High Street, Oxford 155
All Saints, from High Street, Oxford 156
Carfax Conduit 157
Iffley Mill 157
Iffley Church 158
Cromwell's Parliament-house, Banbury 159
Berks and Wilts Canal 160
Chaucer's House, Woodstock 161
Old Remains at Woodstock 162
Blenheim Palace, from the Lake 163
Bicester Priory 165
Bicester Market 166
Cross at Eynsham 166
Entrance to Abingdon Abbey 167
Radley Church 168
The Thames at Clifton-Hampden 170
Bray Church 171
Eton College, from the Playing Fields 173
Eton College, from the Cricket-ground 173
Windsor Castle, from the Brocas 174
Windsor Castle Round Tower, West End 175
Windsor Castle, Queen's Rooms in South-east Tower 176
Windsor Castle, Interior of St. George's Chapel 177
Magna Charta Island 178
The Monument, London 180
St. Paul's Cathedral, London 182
St. Paul's Cathedral, South Side 183
St. Paul's Cathedral, the Choir 183
St. Paul's Cathedral, Wellington Monument 184
Westminster Abbey, London 185
Westminster Abbey, Cloisters of 186
Westminster Abbey, Interior of Choir 187
Westminster Abbey, King Henry VII.'s Chapel 188
The Tower of London, Views in 191
The Church of St. Peter, on Tower Green 193
The Lollards' Tower, Lambeth Palace, London 194
St. Mary-le-Bow, London 195
St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London. 195
Chapel Royal, Whitehall, London 196
Chapel Royal, Interior of (Banqueting-hall) 197
The Horse Guards, from the Parade-ground, London 198
Gateway of St. James Palace, London 199
Buckingham Palace, Garden Front, London 200
Kensington Palace, West Front, London 201
Victoria Tower, Houses of Parliament, London 203
Interior of the House of Commons 204
The Marble Arch, Hyde Park, London 205
The Albert Memorial, Hyde Park 206
Principal Entrance New Museum of Natural History,
South Kensington, London 207
Royal Exchange, London 208
Bank of England, London 208
Mansion House, London 209
The Law Courts, London 210
Sir Paul Finder's House, London 211
Waterloo Bridge, London 212
Schomberg House, London 213
Statue of Sidney Herbert, Pall Mall, London 213
Doorway, Beaconsfield Club, London 214
Cavendish Square, London 214
The "Bell Inn" at Edmonton 215
The "Old Tabard Inn," London. 216
Holland House, South Side 217
Holland House, Dining-Room 218
Holland House, the Dutch Garden 218
Holland House, the Library 219
Holland House, Rogers's Seat in the Dutch Garden 219
Greenwich Hospital, from the River 221
London, from Greenwich Park 222
St. Albans, from Verulam 225
Old Wall at Verulam 226
Monastery Gate, St. Albans 226
The Tower of the Abbey, St. Albans 227
Staircase to Watching Gallery, St. Albans 227
Shrine and Watching Gallery, St. Albans 228
Clock Tower, St. Albans 229
Barnard's Heath 229
St. Michael's, Verulam 230
Queen Elizabeth's Oak, Hatfield 231
Hatfield House 232
Hatfield House, the Corridor 233
View through Old Gateway, Hatfield 234
Audley End, Western Front 235
Views in Saffron Walden 237
Town-hall.
Church.
Entrance to the Town.
Jetties at Harwich 238
Bridge, St. John's College, Cambridge 239
Hall of Trinity College, Cambridge 241
St. John's Chapel, Cambridge 242
Back of Clare College, Cambridge 244
King's College Chapel--Interior--Cambridge 245
King's College Chapel, Doorway of 246
Scenes in Cambridge 247
The Senate House.
The Pitt Press.
Great St. Mary's.
The Fitzwilliam Museum.
The Round Church.
Gateway, Jesus College, Cambridge 249
Hengrave Hall 250
Road leading to Ely Close 250
Ely Cathedral, from the Railway Bridge 251
Old Bits in Ely 252
Old Passage from Ely Street to Cathedral Ford.
Entrance to Prior Crawdon's Chapel.
Old Houses In High Street.
Peterborough Cathedral 253
Peterborough Cathedral, Aisle and Choir 254
East End of Crowland Abbey 255
Norwich Castle 257
Norwich Cathedral 258
Norwich Cathedral--the Choir, looking East 259
Norwich Market-place 260
Burghley House 261
Lincoln Cathedral, from the South-west 264
"Bits" from Lincoln 265
The Cloisters.
The Angel Choir.
The High Bridge.
Nottingham Castle 267
Southwell Minster and Ruins of the Archbishop's Palace 268
Southwell Minster, the Nave 269
Clumber Hall 271
Welbeck Abbey 272
Newark Castle, Front 274
Newark Castle and Dungeon 275
Newark Market-square 276
Newark Church, looking from the North 276
The Humber at Hull 277
House where Wilberforce was born, Hull 278
Beverley, Entrance-Gate 278
Beverley, Market-square 279
Manor House, Sheffield 280
Entrance to the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield 281
Edward IV.'s Chapel, Wakefield Bridge 282
Wakefield 283
Briggate, Leeds, looking North 283
St. John's Church, Leeds 284
Bolton Abbey, Gateway in the Priory 286
Bolton Abbey, the Churchyard 286
The Strid 287
Ripon Minster 288
Studley Royal Park 289
Fountains Abbey, the Transept 290
Fountains Abbey, Tower and Crypt 291
Fountains Hall 292
Richmond Castle 293
The Multangular Tower and Ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, York 294
Micklegate Bar and the Red Tower, York 297
York Minster 298
York Minster, the Choir 299
York Minster, Tomb of Archbishop DeGrey 300
Clifford's Tower, York 301
The Shambles, York 302
Castle Howard, South Front 303
Castle Howard, the Obelisk 304
Castle Howard, the Temple, with the Mausoleum in the distance 305
Gateway, Kirkham Priory 306
Scarborough Spa and Esplanade 308
Scarborough, from the Sea 309
Whitby Abbey 311
Durham, General View of the Cathedral and Castle 312
Durham Castle, Norman Doorway 313
Durham Cathedral, from an old Homestead on the Wear 315
Durham Cathedral, the Nave 316
Durham Cathedral, the Choir, looking West 317
Durham Cathedral, the Galilee and Tomb of Bede 318
Lumley Castle 320
Lumley Castle, Gateway from the Walk 321
Hexham 322
Alnwick Castle, from the Lion bridge 323
Alnwick Castle, the Barbican Gate 323
Alnwick Castle, the Barbican 324
Alnwick Castle, the Barbican, Eastern Angle 325
Alnwick Castle, the Percy Bedstead 326
Alnwick Castle, the Percy Cross 326
Alnwick Castle, Constable's Tower 327
Alnwick Castle, Earl Hugh's Tower 328
Alnwick Castle, Draw-Well and Norman Gateway 329
Alnwick Castle, Gravestone in the Churchyard of St.
Michael's and All Angels 329
Alnwick Castle, Font Lectern, St. Michael's Church 330
Hulne Priory, Porter's Lodge 331
Ford Tower, overlooking Flodden 331
The Cheviots, from Ford Castle 332
Flodden, from the King's Bedchamber, Ford Castle 333
Ford Castle, the Crypt 335
Grace Darling's Monument, Bamborough 336
Gloucester Cathedral, from the South-east 338
Gloucester, the New Inn 340
Gloucester Cathedral, the Monks' Lavatory 342
Tewkesbury 343
Tewkesbury Abbey 344
Tewkesbury Abbey, Choir 345
Worcester Cathedral, from the Severn 346
Worcester Cathedral, Choir 348
Ruins of the Guesten Hall, Worcester 349
Close in Worcester 350
St. Anne's Well, Malvern 352
Butchers' Row, Hereford 353
Out-house where Nell Gwynne was born, Hereford 353
Hereford Cathedral 354
Hereford Cathedral, Old Nave 355
Ross Bridge 355
Ross, House of the "Man of Ross" 356
Ross Market-place 357
Ross Church 358
Ross Church, the Tree, in 358
Ruins of Goodrich Castle 359
Bend in the Wye 360
Symond's Yat, the Wye 361
Monmouth Bridge 363
Monmouth Bridge, Gate on 363
Raglan Castle 364
Tintern Abbey, from the Highroad 365
Chepstow Castle 368
Pontrilas Court 370
The Scyrrid Vawr 371
Llanthony Priory, looking down the Nave 373
Llanthony Priory, the South Transept 374
Swansea, North Dock 377
Swansea Castle 378
The Mumbles 379
Oystermouth Castle 380
Neath Abbey, ruins 381
Bearwood, Berkshire, Residence of John Walter,
Esq., proprietor of _London Times_ 385
Salisbury Cathedral 387
Salisbury Market 388
Stonehenge 390
Wilton House 392
Wilton House, Fireplace in Double Cube Room 393
Wilton House, the Library 393
Wilton House, the Library Window 394
Bristol Cathedral 398
Norman Doorway, College Green, Bristol 399
Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol 400
Wells Cathedral, from the Bishop's Garden 401
Wells Cathedral, from the Swan Pool 402
Wells Cathedral, View under Central Tower 403
Wells, Ruins of the Old Banquet-Hall 404
Entrance to the Cheddar Cliffs, Wells 405
High Rocks at Cheddar, Wells 406
Glastonbury Tribunal 408
Sedgemoor, from Cock Hill 409
Weston Zoyland Church 410
The Isle of Athelney 412
Sherbourne 413
Corfe Castle 416
Studland Church 418
Ruins of Old Cross in the Churchyard 418
St. Aldhelm's Head 419
Portland Isle 420
Corbière Lighthouse, Jersey 422
View from Devil's Hole, Jersey 423
Exeter Cathedral, West Front 425
Exeter, Ruins of Rougemont Castle 426
Exeter, Old Houses in Cathedral Close 426
Exeter Cathedral, from the North-west 427
Exeter Cathedral, Bishop's Throne 428
Exeter Cathedral, Minstrel Gallery 429
Exeter, Guildhall 429
Babbicombe Bay 430
Austis Cove 431
Totnes, from the river 432
Berry Pomeroy Castle 433
A Bend of the Dart 434
Dartmouth Castle 434
The Dewerstone 435
Vale of Bickleigh 436
Plympton Priory, Old Doorway 437
Minehead 440
Dunster 441
On Porlock Moor 442
Doone Valley 443
Bagworthy Water 444
Jan Ridd's Tree 444
View on the East Lyn 445
Castle Rock, Lynton 445
Devil's Cheese-Ring, Lynton 446
Tower on Beach, Lynmouth 447
Ilfracombe 447
Morte Point 449
Bideford Bridge 450
Clovelly, Main Street 450
Clovelly, Old Houses on Beach 451
Fowey Pier 452
Pendennis Castle 454
Mullyon Cove 455
Lion Rock, with Mullyon in the distance 456
Cave at Mullyon 456
Pradenack Point 457
Kynance Cove 457
The Post-Office, Kynance 458
Polpeor 459
Rocks near the Lizard 459
St. Michael's Mount 460
Old Market, Penzance 461
Land's End 462
High Street, Guildford 464
Ruins of St. Catharine's Chapel 466
Leith Hill 467
Old Dovecote, Holmwood Park 468
White Horse Inn, Dorking 469
Pierrepoint House 472
Longfield, East Sheen 473
Ruins of Sissinghurst 475
Tunbridge Castle 476
Penshurst Place 476
Penshurst Church 477
Hever Castle 478
Leeds Castle, Gateway 478
Rochester Castle 480
Canterbury 481
Canterbury, Falstaff Inn 483
Sandwich, the Barbican 485
Dover Castle, the Pharos 487
Dover Cattle, Saluting-Battery Gate 487
Rye, Old Houses 488
Hurstmonceux Castle 490
Arundel Castle 494
Ruins of Cowdray 494
Selborne, Gilbert White's House 495
Selborne, Gilbert White's Sun-Dial 496
Selborne Church 496
Selborne, Rocky Lane to Alton 497
Selborne, Wishing-Stone 498
Greatham Church 499
Winchester, Cardinal Beaufort's Gate and Brewery 500
New Forest, from Bramble Hill 502
New Forest, Rufus's Stone 503
New Forest, Brockenhurst Church 505
Christchurch, the Priory from the Quay and Place Mills 506
Christchurch 507
Christchurch, Old Norman House and View from Priory 508
Portsmouth Point 510
Portsmouth, H.M.S. "Victory" 511
Cowes Harbor, Isle of Wight 512
The Needles, from Alum Bay, Isle of Wight 513
Yarmouth, Isle of Wight 513
Osborne House, from the Sea, Isle of Wight 514
Shanklin Chine, Isle of Wight 516
The Undercliff, Isle of Wight 517
Carisbrooke Castle, looking from Isle of Wight 519
Tennyson's House, Isle of Wight 521
The Needles, Isle of Wight 522
[Illustration: THE POTTERGATE, ALNWICK.]
ENGLAND, PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE.
I.
LIVERPOOL WESTWARD TO THE WELSH COAST.
Liverpool--Birkenhead--Knowsley Hall--Chester--Cheshire--Eaton
Hall--Hawarden Castle--Bidston--Congleton--Beeston Castle--The
river Dee--Llangollen--Valle-Crucis Abbey--Dinas
Bran--Wynnstay--Pont Cysylltau--Chirk
Castle--Bangor-ys-Coed--Holt--Wrexham--The Sands o' Dee--North
Wales--Flint Castle--Rhuddlan Castle--Mold--Denbigh--St.
Asaph--Holywell--Powys Castle--The Menai
Strait--Anglesea--Beaumaris Castle--Bangor--Penrhyn Castle--Plas
Newydd--Caernarvon Castle--Ancient Segontium--Conway
Castle--Bettws-y-Coed--Mount Snowdon--Port Madoc--Coast of
Merioneth--Barmouth--St. Patrick's Causeway--Mawddach Vale--Cader
Idris--Dolgelly--Bala Lake--Aberystwith--Harlech Castle--Holyhead.
LIVERPOOL.
[Illustration: THE PERCH ROCK LIGHT.]
The American transatlantic tourist, after a week or more spent upon the
ocean, is usually glad to again see the land. After skirting the bold
Irish coast, and peeping into the pretty cove of Cork, with Queenstown
in the background, and passing the rocky headlands of Wales, the steamer
that brings him from America carefully enters the Mersey River. The
shores are low but picturesque as the tourist moves along the estuary
between the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire, and passes the great
beacon standing up solitary and alone amid the waste of waters, the
Perch Rock Light off New Brighton on the Cheshire side. Thus he comes to
the world's greatest seaport--Liverpool--and the steamer finally drops
her anchor between the miles of docks that front the two cities,
Liverpool on the left and Birkenhead on the right. Forests of masts loom
up behind the great dock-walls, stretching far away on either bank,
while a fleet of arriving or departing steamers is anchored in a long
line in mid-channel. Odd-looking, low, black tugs, pouring out thick
smoke from double funnels, move over the water, and one of them takes
the passengers alongside the capacious structure a half mile long, built
on pontoons, so it can rise and fall with the tides, and known as the
Prince's Landing-Stage, where the customs officers perform their brief
formalities and quickly let the visitor go ashore over the fine floating
bridge into the city.
At Liverpool most American travellers begin their view of England. It is
the great city of ships and sailors and all that appertains to the sea,
and its 550,000 population are mainly employed in mercantile life and
the myriad trades that serve the ship or deal in its cargo, for fifteen
thousand to twenty thousand of the largest vessels of modern commerce
will enter the Liverpool docks in a year, and its merchants own
7,000,000 tonnage. Fronting these docks on the Liverpool side of the
Mersey is the great sea-wall, over five miles long, behind which are
enclosed 400 acres of water-surface in the various docks, that are
bordered by sixteen miles' length of quays. On the Birkenhead side of
the river there are ten miles of quays in the docks that extend for over
two miles along the bank. These docks, which are made necessary to
accommodate the enormous commerce, have cost over $50,000,000, and are
the crowning glory of Liverpool. They are filled with the ships of all
nations, and huge storehouses line the quays, containing products from
all parts of the globe, yet chiefly the grain and cotton, provisions,
tobacco, and lumber of America. Railways run along the inner border of
the docks on a street between them and the town, and along their tracks
horses draw the freight-cars, while double-decked passenger-cars also
run upon them with broad wheels fitting the rails, yet capable of being
run off whenever the driver wishes to get ahead of the slowly-moving
freight-cars. Ordinary wagons move upon Strand street alongside, with
horses of the largest size drawing them, the huge growth of the
Liverpool horses being commensurate with the immense trucks and vans to
which these magnificent animals are harnessed.
Liverpool is of great antiquity, but in the time of William the
Conqueror was only a fishing-village. Liverpool Castle, long since
demolished, was a fortress eight hundred years ago, and afterward the
rival families of Molineux and Stanley contended for the mastery of the
place. It was a town of slow growth, however, and did not attain full
civic dignity till the time of Charles I. It was within two hundred
years that it became a seaport of any note. The first dock was opened in
1699, and strangely enough it was the African slave-trade that gave the
Liverpool merchants their original start. The port sent out its first
slave-ship in 1709, and in 1753 had eighty-eight ships engaged in the
slave-trade, which carried over twenty-five thousand slaves from Africa
to the New World that year. Slave-auctions were frequent in Liverpool,
and one of the streets where these sales were effected was nicknamed
"Negro street." The agitation for the abolition of the trade was carried
on a long time before Liverpool submitted, and then privateering came
prominently out as the lucrative business a hundred years ago during the
French wars, that brought Liverpool great wealth. Next followed the
development of trade with the East Indies, and finally the trade with
America has grown to such enormous proportions in the present century as
to eclipse all other special branches of Liverpool commerce, large as
some of them are. This has made many princely fortunes for the merchants
and shipowners, and their wealth has been liberally expended in
beautifying their city. It has in recent years had very rapid growth,
and has greatly increased its architectural adornments. Most amazing has
been this advancement since the time in the last century when the mayor
and corporation entertained Prince William of Gloucester at dinner, and,
pleased at the appetite he developed, one of them called out, "Eat away,
Your Royal Highness; there's plenty more in the kitchen!" The mayor was
Jonas Bold, and afterwards, taking the prince to church, they were
astonished to find that the preacher had taken for his text the words,
"Behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
[Illustration: ST. GEORGE'S HALL.]
Liverpool has several fine buildings. Its Custom House is a large Ionic
structure of chaste design, with a tall dome that can be seen from afar,
and richly decorated within. The Town Hall and the Exchange buildings
make up the four sides of an enclosed quadrangle paved with broad
flagstones. Here, around the attractive Nelson monument in the centre,
the merchants meet and transact their business. The chief public
building is St. George's Hall, an imposing edifice, surrounded with
columns and raised high above one side of an open square, and costing
$2,000,000 to build. It is a Corinthian building, having at one end the
Great Hall, one hundred and sixty-nine feet long, where public meetings
are held, and court-rooms at the other end. Statues of Robert Peel,
Gladstone, and Stephenson, with other great men, adorn the Hall. Sir
William Brown, who amassed a princely fortune in Liverpool, has
presented the city with a splendid free library and museum, which stands
in a magnificent position on Shaw's Brow. Many of the streets are lined
with stately edifices, public and private, and most of these avenues
diverge from the square fronting St. George's Hall, opposite which is
the fine station of the London and North-western Railway, which, as is
the railroad custom in England, is also a large hotel. The suburbs of
Liverpool are filled for a wide circuit with elegant rural homes and
surrounding ornamental grounds, where the opulent merchants live. They
are generally bordered with high stone walls, interfering with the view,
and impressing the visitor strongly with the idea that an Englishman's
house is his castle. Several pretty parks with ornamental lakes among
their hills are also in the suburbs. Yet it is the vast trade that is
the glory of Liverpool, for it is but an epitome of England's commercial
greatness, and is of comparatively modern growth. "All this," not long
ago said Lord Erskine, speaking of the rapid advancement of Liverpool,
"has been created by the industry and well-disciplined management of a
handful of men since I was a boy."
KNOWSLEY HALL.
A few miles out of Liverpool is the village of Prescot, where Kemble the
tragedian was born, and where the people at the present time are largely
engaged in watchmaking. Not far from Prescot is one of the famous homes
of England--Knowsley Hall, the seat of the Stanleys and of the Earls of
Derby for five hundred years. The park covers two thousand acres and is
almost ten miles in circumference. The greater portion of the famous
house was built in the time of George II. It is an extensive and
magnificent structure, and contains many art-treasures in its
picture-gallery by Rembrandt, Rubens, Correggio, Teniers, Vandyke,
Salvator Rosa, and others. The Stanleys are one of the governing
families of England, the last Earl of Derby having been premier in 1866,
and the present earl having also been a cabinet minister. The crest of
the Stanleys represents the Eagle and the Child, and is derived from the
story of a remote ancestor who, cherishing an ardent desire for a male
heir, and having only a daughter, contrived to have an infant conveyed
to the foot of a tree in the park frequented by an eagle. Here he and
his lady, taking a walk, found the child as if by accident, and the
lady, considering it a gift from Heaven brought by the eagle and
miraculously preserved, adopted the boy as her heir. From this time the
crest was assumed, but we are told that the old knight's conscience
smote him at the trick, and on his deathbed he bequeathed the chief part
of his fortune to the daughter, from whom are descended the present
family.
THE ANCIENT CITY OF CHESTER.
[Illustration: EXTERIOR.--CHESTER CATHEDRAL.--INTERIOR.]
Not far from Liverpool, and in the heart of Cheshire, we come to the
small but famous river Dee and the old and very interesting city of
Chester. It is built in the form of a quadrant, its four walls enclosing
a plot about a half mile square. The walls, which form a promenade two
miles around, over which every visitor should tramp; the quaint gates
and towers; the "Rows," or arcades along the streets, which enable the
sidewalks to pass under the upper stories of the houses by cutting away
the first-floor front rooms; and the many ancient buildings,--are all
attractive. The Chester Cathedral is a venerable building of red
sandstone, which comes down to us from the twelfth century, though it
has recently been restored. It is constructed in the Perpendicular style
of architecture, with a square and turret-surmounted central tower. This
is the Cathedral of St. Werburgh, and besides other merits of the
attractive interior, the southern transept is most striking from its
exceeding length. The choir is richly ornamented with carvings and fine
woodwork, the Bishop's Throne having originally been a pedestal for the
shrine of St. Werburgh. The cathedral contains several ancient tombs of
much interest, and the elaborate Chapter Room, with its Early English
windows and pillars, is much admired. In this gorgeous structure the
word of God is preached from a Bible whose magnificently-bound cover is
inlaid with precious stones and its markers adorned with pearls. The
book is the Duke of Westminster's gift, that nobleman being the landlord
of much of Chester. In the nave of the cathedral are two English
battle-flags that were at Bunker Hill. Chester Castle, now used as a
barrack for troops, has only one part of the ancient edifice left,
called Julius Cæsar's Tower, near which the Dee is spanned by a fine
single-arch bridge.
[Illustration: JULIUS CÆSAR'S TOWER.]
[Illustration: ANCIENT FRONT.]
[Illustration: GOD'S PROVIDENCE HOUSE.]
[Illustration: BISHOP LLOYD'S PALACE.]
[Illustration: OLD LAMB ROW.]
The quaintest part of this curious old city of Chester is no doubt the
"Rows," above referred to. These arcades, which certainly form a capital
shelter from the hot sun or rain, were, according to one authority,
originally built as a refuge for the people in case of sudden attack by
the Welsh; but according to others they originated with the Romans, and
were used as the vestibules of the houses; and this seems to be the more
popular theory with the townsfolk. Under the "Rows" are shops of all
sizes, and some of the buildings are grotesquely attractive, especially
the curious one bearing the motto of safety from the plague, "God's
providence is mine inheritance," standing on Watergate street, and known
as "God's Providence House;" and "Bishop Lloyd's Palace," which is
ornamented with quaint wood-carvings. The "Old Lamb Row," where Randall
Holme, the Chester antiquary, lived, stood by itself, obeying no rule
of regularity, and was regarded as a nuisance two hundred years ago,
though later it was highly prized. The city corporation in 1670 ordered
that "the nuisance erected by Randall Holme in his new building in
Bridge street be taken down, as it annoys his neighbors, and hinders
their prospect from their houses." But this law seems to have been
enforced no more than many others are on either side of the ocean, for
the "nuisance" stood till 1821, when the greater part of it, the timbers
having rotted, fell of its own accord. The "Dark Row" is the only one of
these strange arcades that is closed from the light, for it forms a kind
of tunnel through which the footwalk goes. Not far from this is the
famous old "Stanley House," where one unfortunate Earl of Derby spent
the last day before his execution in 1657 at Bolton. The carvings on the
front of this house are very fine, and there is told in reference to the
mournful event that marks its history the following story: Lieutenant
Smith came from the governor of Chester to notify the condemned earl to
be ready for the journey to Bolton. The earl asked, "When would you have
me go?" "To-morrow, about six in the morning," said Smith. "Well,"
replied the earl, "commend me to the governor, and tell him I shall be
ready by that time." Then said Smith, "Doth your lordship know any
friend or servant that would do the thing your lordship knows of? It
would do well if you had a friend." The earl replied, "What do you mean?
to cut off my head?" Smith said, "Yes, my lord, if you could have a
friend." The earl answered, "Nay, sir, if those men that would have my
head will not find one to cut it off, let it stand where it is."
[Illustration: THE STANLEY HOUSE, FRONT.]
[Illustration: THE STANLEY HOUSE, REAR.]
It is easy in this strange old city to carry back the imagination for
centuries, for it preserves its connection with the past better perhaps
than any other English town. The city holds the keys of the outlet of
the Dee, which winds around it on two sides, and is practically one of
the gates into Wales. Naturally, the Romans established a fortress here
more than a thousand years ago, and made it the head-quarters of their
twentieth legion, who impressed upon the town the formation of a Roman
camp, which it bears to this day. The very name of Chester is derived
from the Latin word for a camp. Many Roman fragments still remain, the
most notable being the Hyptocaust. This was found in Watergate street
about a century ago, together with a tessellated pavement. There have
also been exhumed Roman altars, tombs, mosaics, pottery and other
similar relics. The city is built upon a sandstone rock, and this
furnishes much of the building material, so that most of the edifices
have their exteriors disintegrated by the elements, particularly the
churches--a peculiarity that may have probably partly justified Dean
Swift's epigram, written when his bile was stirred because a rainstorm
had prevented some of the Chester clergy from dining with him:
"Churches and clergy of this city
Are very much akin:
They're weather-beaten all without,
And empty all within."
[Illustration: THE PHOENIX TOWER.]
[Illustration: THE WATER TOWER.]
The modernized suburbs of Chester, filled with busy factories, are
extending beyond the walls over a larger surface than the ancient town
itself. At the angles of the old walls stand the famous towers--the
Phoenix Tower, Bonwaldesthorne's Tower, Morgan's Mount, the Goblin
Tower, and the Water Tower, while the gates in the walls are almost
equally famous--the Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate, Bridgegate, Newgate,
and Peppergate. The ancient Abbey of St. Mary had its site near the
castle, and not far away are the picturesque ruins of St. John's Chapel,
outside the walls. According to a local legend, its neighborhood had the
honor of sheltering an illustrious fugitive. Harold, the Saxon king, we
are told, did not fall at Hastings, but, escaping, spent the remainder
of his life as a hermit, dwelling in a cell near this chapel and on a
cliff alongside the Dee. The four streets leading from the gates at the
middle of each side of the town come together in the centre at a place
formerly known as the "Pentise," where was located the bull-ring at
which was anciently carried on the refining sport of "bull-baiting"
while the mayor and corporation, clad in their gowns of office, looked
on approvingly. Prior to this sport beginning, we are told that solemn
proclamation was made for "the safety of the king and the mayor of
Chester"--that "if any man stands within twenty yards of the bull-ring,
let him take what comes." Here stood also the stocks and pillory. Amid
so much that is ancient and quaint, the new Town Hall, a beautiful
structure recently erected, is naturally most attractive, its dedication
to civic uses having been made by the present Prince of Wales, who bears
among many titles that of Earl of Chester. But this is about the only
modern attraction this interesting city possesses. At an angle of the
walls are the "Dee Mills," as old as the Norman Conquest, and famous in
song as the place where the "jolly miller once lived on the Dee." Full
of attractions within and without, it is difficult to tear one's self
away from this quaint city, and therefore we will agree, at least in one
sense, with Dr. Johnson's blunt remark to a lady friend: "I have come to
Chester, madam, I cannot tell how, and far less can I tell how to get
away from it."
[Illustration: ABBEY GATE.]
[Illustration: RUINS OF ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL.]
CHESHIRE.
The county of Cheshire has other attractions. But a short distance from
Chester, in the valley of the Dee, is Eaton Hall, the elaborate palace
of the Duke of Westminster and one of the finest seats in England,
situated in a park of eight hundred acres that extends to the walls of
Chester. This palace has recently been almost entirely rebuilt and
modernized, and is now the most spacious and splendid example of Revived
Gothic architecture in England. The house contains many works of
art--statues by Gibson, paintings by Rubens and others--and is full of
the most costly and beautiful decorations and furniture, being
essentially one of the show-houses of Britain. In the extensive gardens
are a Roman altar found in Chester and a Greek altar brought from
Delphi. At Hawarden Castle, seven miles from Chester, is the home of
William E. Gladstone, and in its picturesque park are the ruins of the
ancient castle, dating from the time of the Tudors, and from the keep of
which there is a fine view of the Valley of the Dee. The ruins of Ewloe
Castle, six hundred years old, are not far away, but so buried in
foliage that they are difficult to find. Two miles from Chester is Hoole
House, formerly Lady Broughton's, famous for its rockwork, a lawn of
less than an acre exquisitely planted with clipped yews and other trees
being surrounded by a rockery over forty feet high. In the Wirral or
Western Cheshire are several attractive villages. At Bidston, west of
Birkenhead and on the sea-coast, is the ancient house that was once the
home of the unfortunate Earl of Derby, whose execution is mentioned
above. Congleton, in Eastern Cheshire, stands on the Dane, in a lovely
country, and is a good example of an old English country-town. Its Lion
Inn is a fine specimen of the ancient black-and-white gabled hostelrie
which novelists love so well to describe. At Nantwich is a curious old
house with a heavy octagonal bow-window in the upper story overhanging a
smaller lower one, telescope-fashion. The noble tower of Nantwich church
rises above, and the building is in excellent preservation.
Nearly in the centre of Cheshire is the stately fortress of Beeston
Castle, standing on a sandstone rock rising some three hundred and sixty
feet from the flat country. It was built nearly seven hundred years ago
by an Earl of Cheshire, then just returned from the Crusades. Standing
in an irregular court covering about five acres, its thick walls and
deep ditch made it a place of much strength. It was ruined prior to the
time of Henry VIII., having been long contended for and finally
dismantled in the Wars of the Roses. Being then rebuilt, it became a
famous fortress in the Civil Wars, having been seized by the Roundheads,
then surprised and taken by the Royalists, alternately besieged and
defended afterward, and finally starved into surrender by the
Parliamentary troops in 1645. This was King Charles's final struggle,
though the castle did not succumb till after eighteen weeks' siege, and
its defenders were forced to eat cats and rats to satisfy hunger, and
were reduced to only sixty. Beeston Castle was then finally dismantled,
and its ruins are now an attraction to the tourist. Lea Hall, an ancient
and famous timbered mansion, surrounded by a moat, was situated about
six miles from Chester, but the moat alone remains to show where it
stood. Here lived Sir Hugh Calveley, one of Froissart's heroes, who was
governor of Calais when it was held by the English, and is buried under
a sumptuous tomb in the church of the neighboring college of Bunbury,
which he founded. His armed effigy surmounts the tomb, and the
inscription says he died on St. George's Day, 1394.
THE RIVER DEE.
[Illustration: PLAS NEWYDD, LLANGOLLEN.]
Frequent reference has been made to the river Dee, the Deva of the
Welsh, which is unquestionably one of the finest streams of Britain. It
rises in the Arran Fowddwy, one of the chief Welsh mountains, nearly
three thousand feet high, and after a winding course of about seventy
miles falls into the Irish Sea. This renowned stream has been the theme
of many a poet, and after expanding near its source into the beautiful
Bala Lake, whose bewitching surroundings are nearly all described in
polysyllabic and unpronounceable Welsh names, and are popular among
artists and anglers, it flows through Edeirnim Vale, past Corwen. Here a
pathway ascends to the eminence known as Glendower's Seat, with which
tradition has closely knit the name of the Welsh hero, the close of
whose marvellous career marked the termination of Welsh independence.
Then the romantic Dee enters the far-famed Valley of Llangollen, where
tourists love to roam, and where lived the "Ladies of Llangollen." We
are told that these two high-born dames had many lovers, but, rejecting
all and enamored only of each other, Lady Butler and Miss Ponsonby, the
latter sixteen years the junior of the former, determined on a life of
celibacy. They eloped together from Ireland, were overtaken and brought
back, and then a second time decamped--on this occasion in masquerade,
the elder dressed as a peasant and the younger as a smart groom in
top-boots. Escaping pursuit, they settled in Llangollen in 1778 at the
quaint little house called Plas Newydd, and lived there together for a
half century. Their costume was extraordinary, for they appeared in
public in blue riding-habits, men's neckcloths, and high hats, with
their hair cropped short. They had antiquarian tastes, which led to the
accumulation of a vast lot of old wood-carvings and stained glass,
gathered from all parts of the world and worked into the fittings and
adornment of their home. They were on excellent terms with all the
neighbors, and the elder died in 1829, aged ninety, and the younger two
years afterward, aged seventy-six. Their remains lie in Llangollen
churchyard.
[Illustration: RUINS OF VALLE-CRUCIS ABBEY.]
Within this famous valley are the ruins of Valle-Crucis Abbey, the most
picturesque abbey ruin in North Wales. An adjacent stone cross gave it
the name six hundred years ago, when it was built by the great Madoc for
the Cistercian monks. The ruins in some parts are now availed of for
farm-houses. Fine ash trees bend over the ruined arches, ivy climbs the
clustered columns, and the lancet windows with their delicate tracery
are much admired. The remains consist of the church, abbot's lodgings,
refectory, and dormitory. The church was cruciform, and is now nearly
roofless, though the east and west ends and the southern transept are
tolerably perfect, so that much of the abbey remains. It was occupied by
the Cistercians, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The ancient
cross, of which the remains are still standing near by, is Eliseg's
Pillar, erected in the seventh century as a memorial of that Welsh
prince. It was one of the earliest lettered stones in Britain, standing
originally about twelve feet high. From this cross came the name of
Valle Crucis, which in the thirteenth century was given to the famous
abbey. The great Madoc, who lived in the neighboring castle of Dinas
Bran, built this abbey to atone for a life of violence. The ruins of his
castle stand on a hill elevated about one thousand feet above the Dee.
Bran in Welsh means _crow_, so that the English know it as Crow Castle.
From its ruins there is a beautiful view over the Valley of Llangollen.
Farther down the valley is the mansion of Wynnstay, in the midst of a
large and richly wooded park, a circle of eight miles enclosing the
superb domain, within which are herds of fallow-deer and many noble
trees. The old mansion was burnt in 1858, and an imposing structure in
Renaissance now occupies the site. Fine paintings adorn the walls by
renowned artists, and the Dee foams over its rocky bed in a sequestered
dell near the mansion. Memorial columns and tablets in the park mark
notable men and events in the Wynn family, the chief being the Waterloo
Tower, ninety feet high. Far away down the valley a noble aqueduct by
Telford carries the Ellesmere Canal over the Dee--the Pont
Cysylltau--supported on eighteen piers of masonry at an elevation of one
hundred and twenty-one feet, while a mile below is the still more
imposing viaduct carrying the Great Western Railway across.
[Illustration: WYNNSTAY.]
[Illustration: PONT CYSYLLTAU.]
[Illustration: WREXHAM TOWER.]
Not far distant is Chirk Castle, now the home of Mr. R. Myddelton
Biddulph, a combination of a feudal fortress and a modern mansion. The
ancient portion, still preserved, was built by Roger Mortimer, to whom
Edward I. granted the lordship of Chirk. It was a bone of contention
during the Civil Wars, and when they were over, $150,000 were spent in
repairing the great quadrangular fortress. It stands in a noble
situation, and on a clear day portions of seventeen counties can be seen
from the summit. Still following down the picturesque river, we come to
Bangor-ys-Coed, or "Bangor-in-the-Wood," in Flintshire, once the seat of
a famous monastery that disappeared twelve hundred years ago. Here a
pretty bridge crosses the river, and a modern church is the most
prominent structure in the village. The old monastery is said to have
been the home of twenty-four hundred monks, one half of whom were slain
in a battle near Chester by the heathen king Ethelfrith, who afterwards
sacked the monastery, but the Welsh soon gathered their forces again and
took terrible vengeance. Many ancient coffins and Roman remains have
been found here. The Dee now runs with swift current past Overton to the
ancient town of Holt, whose charter is nearly five hundred years old,
but whose importance is now much less than of yore. Holt belongs to the
debatable Powisland, the strip of territory over which the English and
Welsh fought for centuries. Holt was formerly known as Lyons, and was a
Roman outpost of Chester. Edward I. granted it to Earl Warren, who
built Holt Castle, of which only a few quaint pictures now exist, though
it was a renowned stronghold in its day. It was a five-sided structure
with a tower on each corner, enclosing an ample courtyard. After
standing several sieges in the Civil Wars of Cromwell's time, the
battered castle was dismantled.
[Illustration: THE ROODEE, FROM THE RAILWAY-BRIDGE.]
The famous Wrexham Church, whose tower is regarded as one of the "seven
wonders of Wales," is three miles from Holt, and is four hundred years
old. Few churches built as early as the reign of Henry VIII. can compare
with this. It is dedicated to St. Giles, and statues of him and of
twenty-nine other saints embellish niches in the tower. Alongside of St.
Giles is the hind that nourished him in the desert. The bells of Wrexham
peal melodiously over the valley, and in the vicarage the good Bishop
Heber wrote the favorite hymn, "From Greenland's Icy Mountains." Then
the Dee flows on past the ducal palace of Eaton Hall, and encircles
Chester, which has its race-course, "The Roodee"--where they hold an
annual contest in May for the "Chester Cup"--enclosed by a beautiful
semicircle of the river. Then the Dee flows on through a straight
channel for six miles to its estuary, which broadens among treacherous
sands and flats between Flintshire and Cheshire, till it falls into the
Irish Sea. Many are the tales of woe that are told of the "Sands o'
Dee," along which the railway from Chester to Holyhead skirts the edge
in Flintshire. Many a poor girl, sent for the cattle wandering on these
sands, has been lost in the mist that rises from the sea, and drowned by
the quickly rushing waters. Kingsley has plaintively told the story in
his mournful poem:
"They rowed her in across the rolling foam--
The cruel, crawling foam,
The cruel, hungry foam--
To her grave beside the sea;
But still the boatmen hear her call her cattle home
Across the Sands o' Dee."
[Illustration: THE "SANDS O' DEE."]
FLINT AND DENBIGH.
Let us now journey westward from the Dee into Wales, coming first into
Flintshire. The town of Flint, it is conjectured, was originally a Roman
camp, from the design and the antiquities found there. Edward I., six
hundred years ago, built Flint Castle upon an isolated rock in a marsh
near the river, and after a checquered history it was dismantled in the
seventeenth century. From the railway between Chester and Holyhead the
ruins of this castle are visible on its low freestone rock; it is a
square, with round towers at three of the corners, and a massive keep at
the other, formed like a double tower and detached from the main castle.
This was the "dolorous castle" into which Richard II. was inveigled at
the beginning of his imprisonment, which ended with abdication, and
finally his death at Pomfret. The story is told that Richard had a fine
greyhound at Flint Castle that often caressed him, but when the Duke of
Lancaster came there the greyhound suddenly left Richard and caressed
the duke, who, not knowing the dog, asked Richard what it meant.
"Cousin," replied the king, "it means a great deal for you and very
little for me. I understand by it that this greyhound pays his court to
you as King of England, which you will surely be, and I shall be
deposed, for the natural instinct of the dog shows it to him; keep him,
therefore, by your side." Lancaster treasured this, and paid attention
to the dog, which would nevermore follow Richard, but kept by the side
of the Duke of Lancaster, "as was witnessed," says the chronicler
Froissart, "by thirty thousand men."
Rhuddlan Castle, also in Flintshire, is a red sandstone ruin of striking
appearance, standing on the Clwyd River. When it was founded no one
knows accurately, but it was rebuilt seven hundred years ago, and was
dismantled, like many other Welsh castles, in 1646. It was at Rhuddlan
that Edward I. promised the Welsh "a native prince who never spoke a
word of English, and whose life and conversation no man could impugn;"
and this promise he fulfilled to the letter by naming as the first
English Prince of Wales his infant son, then just born at Caernarvon
Castle. Six massive towers flank the walls of this famous castle, and
are in tolerably fair preservation. Not far to the southward is the
eminence known by the Welsh as "Yr-Wyddgrug," or "a lofty hill," and
which the English call Mold. On this hill was a castle of which little
remains now but tracings of the ditches, larches and other trees
peacefully growing on the site of the ancient stronghold. Off toward
Wrexham are the ruins of another castle, known as Caergwrle, or "the
camp of the giant legion." This was of Welsh origin, and commanded the
entrance to the Vale of Alen; the English called it Hope Castle.
Adjoining Flintshire is Denbigh, with the quiet watering-place of
Abergele out on the Irish Sea. About two miles away is St. Asaph, with
its famous cathedral, having portions dating from the thirteenth
century. The great castle of Denbigh, when in its full glory, had
fortifications one and a half miles in circumference. It stood on a
steep hill at the county-town, where scanty ruins now remain, consisting
chiefly of an immense gateway with remains of flanking towers. Above the
entrance is a statue of the Earl of Lincoln, its founder in the
thirteenth century. His only son was drowned in the castle-well, which
so affected the father that he did not finish the castle. Edward II.
gave Denbigh to Despenser; Leicester owned it in Elizabeth's time;
Charles II. dismantled it. The ruins impress the visitor with the
stupendous strength of the immense walls of this stronghold, while
extensive passages and dungeons have been explored beneath the surface
for long distances. In one chamber near the entrance-tower, which had
been walled up, a large amount of gunpowder was found. At Holywell, now
the second town in North Wales, is the shrine to which pilgrims have
been going for many centuries. At the foot of a steep hill, from an
aperture in the rock, there rushes forth a torrent of water at the rate
of eighty-four hogsheads a minute; whether the season be wet or be dry,
the sacred stream gushing forth from St. Winifrede's Well varies but
little, and around it grows the fragrant moss known as St. Winifrede's
Hair. The spring has valuable medicinal virtues, and an elegant dome
covering it supports a chapel. The little building is an exquisite
Gothic structure built by Henry VII. A second basin is provided, into
which bathers may descend. The pilgrims to this holy well have of late
years decreased in numbers; James II., who, we are told, "lost three
kingdoms for a mass," visited this well in 1686, and "received as a
reward the undergarment worn by his great-grandmother, Mary Queen of
Scots, on the day of her execution." This miraculous spring gets its
name from the pious virgin Winifrede. She having been seen by the Prince
of Wales, Caradoc, he was struck by her great beauty and attempted to
carry her off; she fled to the church, the prince pursuing, and,
overtaking her, he in rage drew his sword and struck off her head; the
severed head bounded through the church-door and rolled to the foot of
the altar. On the spot where it rested a spring of uncommon size burst
forth. The pious priest took up the head, and at his prayer it was
united to the body, and the virgin, restored to life, lived in sanctity
for fifteen years afterwards: miracles were wrought at her tomb; the
spring proved another Pool of Bethesda, and to this day we are told that
the votive crutches and chairs left by the cured remain hanging over St.
Winifrede's Well.
South of Denbigh, in Montgomeryshire, are the ruins of Montgomery
Castle, long a frontier fortress of Wales, around which many hot
contests have raged: a fragment of a tower and portions of the walls are
all that remain. Powys Castle is at Welsh Pool, and is still
preserved--a red sandstone structure on a rocky elevation in a spacious
and well-wooded park; Sir Robert Smirke has restored it.
THE MENAI STRAIT.
Still journeying westward, we come to Caernarvonshire, and reach the
remarkable estuary dividing the mainland from the island of Anglesea,
and known as the Menai Strait. This narrow stream, with its
steeply-sloping banks and winding shores, looks more like a river than a
strait, and it everywhere discloses evidence of the residence of an
almost pre-historic people in relics of nations that inhabited its banks
before the invasion of the Romans. There are hill-forts, sepulchral
mounds, pillars of stone, rude pottery, weapons of stone and bronze; and
in that early day Mona itself, as Anglesea was called, was a sacred
island. Here were fierce struggles between Roman and Briton, and Tacitus
tells of the invasion of Mona by the Romans and the desperate conflicts
that ensued as early as A.D. 60. The history of the strait is a story of
almost unending war for centuries, and renowned castles bearing the
scars of these conflicts keep watch and ward to this day. Beaumaris,
Bangor, Caernarvon, and Conway castles still remain in partial ruin to
remind us of the Welsh wars of centuries ago. On the Anglesea shore, at
the northern entrance to the strait, is the picturesque ruin of
Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I. at a point where vessels could
conveniently land. It stands on the lowlands, and a canal connects its
ditch with the sea. It consists of a hexagonal line of outer defences
surrounding an inner square. Round towers flanked the outer walls, and
the chapel within is quite well preserved. It has not had much place in
history, and the neighboring town is now a peaceful watering-place.
[Illustration: THE MENAI STRAIT.]
[Illustration: BEAUMARIS CASTLE.]
[Illustration: BANGOR CATHEDRAL.]
Across the strait is Bangor, a rather straggling town, with a cathedral
that is not very old. We are told that its bishop once sold its peal of
bells, and, going down to the shore to see them shipped away, was
stricken blind as a punishment for the sacrilege. Of Bangor Castle, as
it originally stood, but insignificant traces remain, but Lord Penrhyn
has recently erected in the neighborhood the imposing castle of Penryhn,
a massive pile of dark limestone, in which the endeavor is made to
combine a Norman feudal castle with a modern dwelling, though with only
indifferent success, excepting in the expenditure involved. The roads
from the great suspension-bridge across the strait lead on either hand
to Bangor and Beaumaris, although the route is rather circuitous. This
bridge, crossing at the narrowest and most beautiful part of the strait,
was long regarded as the greatest triumph of bridge-engineering. It
carried the Holyhead high-road across the strait, and was built by
Telford. The bridge is five hundred and seventy-nine feet long, and
stands one hundred feet above high-water mark; it cost $600,000. Above
the bridge the strait widens, and here, amid the swift-flowing currents,
the famous whitebait are caught for the London epicures. Three-quarters
of a mile below, at another narrow place, the railway crosses the strait
through Stephenson's Britannia tubular bridge, which is more useful than
ornamental, the railway passing through two long rectangular iron tubes,
supported on plain massive pillars. From a rock in the strait the
central tower rises to a height of two hundred and thirty feet, and
other towers are built on each shore at a distance of four hundred and
sixty feet from the central one. Couchant lions carved in stone guard
the bridge-portals at each end, and this famous viaduct cost over
$2,500,000. A short distance below the Anglesea Column towers above a
dark rock on the northern shore of the strait. It was erected in honor
of the first Marquis of Anglesea, the gallant commander of the British
light cavalry at Waterloo, where his leg was carried away by one of the
last French cannon-shots. For many years after the great victory he
lived here, literally with "one foot in the grave." Plas Newydd, one and
a half miles below, the Anglesea family residence, where the marquis
lived, is a large and unattractive mansion, beautifully situated on the
sloping shore. It has in the park two ancient sepulchral monuments of
great interest to the antiquarian.
CAERNARVON AND CONWAY.
[Illustration: CAERNARVON CASTLE.]
As the famous strait widens below the bridges the shores are tamer, and
we come to the famous Caernarvon Castle, the scene of many stirring
military events, as it held the key to the valleys of Snowdon, and
behind it towers that famous peak, the highest mountain in Britain,
whose summit rises to a height of 3590 feet. This great castle also
commanded the south-western entrance to the strait, and near it the
rapid little Sciont River flows into the sea. The ancient Britons had a
fort here, and afterwards it was a Roman fortified camp, which gradually
developed into the city of Segontium. The British name, from which the
present one comes, was Caer-yn-Arvon--"the castle opposite to Mona."
Segontium had the honor of being the birthplace of the Emperor
Constantine, and many Roman remains still exist there. It was in 1284,
however, that Edward I. began building the present castle, and it took
thirty-nine years to complete. The castle plan is an irregular oval,
with one side overlooking the strait. At the end nearest the sea, where
the works come to a blunt point, is the famous Eagle Tower, which has
eagles sculptured on the battlements. There are twelve towers
altogether, and these, with the light-and dark-hued stone in the walls,
give the castle a massive yet graceful aspect as it stands on the low
ground at the mouth of the Sciont. Externally, the castle is in good
preservation, but the inner buildings are partly destroyed, as is also
the Queen's Gate, where Queen Eleanor is said to have entered before the
first English Prince of Wales was born. A corridor, with loopholes
contrived in the thickness of the walls, runs entirely around the
castle, and from this archers could fight an approaching enemy. This
great fortress has been called the "boast of North Wales" from its size
and excellent position. It was last used for defence during the Civil
Wars, having been a military stronghold for nearly four centuries.
Although Charles II. issued a warrant for its demolition, this was to a
great extent disregarded. Prynne, the sturdy Puritan, was confined here
in Charles I.'s time, and the first English Prince of Wales, afterwards
the unfortunate Edward II., is said to have been born in a little dark
room, only twelve by eight feet, in the Eagle Tower: when seventeen
years of age the prince received the homage of the Welsh barons at
Chester. The town of Caernarvon, notwithstanding its famous history and
the possession of the greatest ruin in Wales, now derives its chief
satisfaction from the lucrative but prosaic occupation of trading in
slates.
[Illustration: CONWAY CASTLE, FROM THE ROAD TO LLANRWST.]
At the northern extremity of Caernarvon county, and projecting into the
Irish Sea, is the promontory known as Great Orme's Head, and near it is
the mouth of the Conway River. The railway to Holyhead crosses this
river on a tubular bridge four hundred feet long, and runs almost under
the ruins of Conway Castle, another Welsh stronghold erected by Edward
I. We are told that this despotic king, when he had completed the
conquest of Wales, came to Conway, the shape of the town being something
like a Welsh harp, and he ordered all the native bards to be put to
death. Gray founded upon this his ode, "The Bard," beginning--
"On a rock whose lofty brow
Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood,
Robed in a sable garb of woe.
With haggard eyes the poet stood."
This ode has so impressed the Conway folk that they have been at great
pains to discover the exact spot where the despairing bard plunged into
the river, and several enthusiastic persons have discovered the actual
site. The castle stands upon a high rock, and its builder soon after its
completion was besieged there by the Welsh, but before being starved
into submission was relieved by the timely arrival of a fleet with
provisions. It was in the hall of Conway Castle that Richard II. signed
his abdication. The castle was stormed and taken by Cromwell's troops in
the Civil Wars, and we are told that all the Irish found in the garrison
were tied in couples, back to back, and thrown into the river. The
castle was not dismantled, but the townsfolk in their industrious
quarrying of slates have undermined one of the towers, which, though
kept up by the solidity of the surrounding masonry, is known as the
"Broken Tower." There was none of the "bonus building" of modern times
attempted in these ponderous Welsh castles of the great King Edward. The
ruins are an oblong square, standing on the edge of a steep rock washed
on two sides by the river; the embattled walls, partly covered by ivy,
are twelve to fifteen feet thick, and are flanked by eight huge circular
towers, each forty feet in diameter; the interior is in partial ruin,
but shows traces of its former magnificence; the stately hall is one
hundred and thirty feet long. The same architect designed both
Caernarvon and Conway. A fine suspension-bridge now crosses the river
opposite the castle, its towers being built in harmony with the
architecture of the place, so that the structure looks much like a
drawbridge for the fortress. Although the Conway River was anciently a
celebrated pearl-fishery, slate-making, as at Caernarvon, is now the
chief industry of the town.
[Illustration: FALLS OF THE CONWAY.]
[Illustration: THE SWALLOW FALLS.]
There are many other historic places in Caernarvonshire, and also
splendid bits of rural and coast scenery, while the attractions for the
angler as well as the artist are almost limitless. One of the prettiest
places for sketching, as well as a spot where the fisherman's skill is
often rewarded, is Bettws-y-Coed. This pretty village, which derives its
name from a religious establishment--"Bede-house in the Wood"--that was
formerly there, but long ago disappeared, is a favorite resort for
explorations of the ravines leading down from Mount Snowdon, which
towers among the clouds to the southward. Not far away are the
attractive Falls of the Conway, and from a rock above them is a good
view of the wonderful ravine of Fors Noddyn, through which the river
flows. Around it there is a noble assemblage of hills and headlands.
Here, joining with the Conway, comes through another ravine the pretty
Machno in a succession of sparkling cascades and rapids. Not far away is
the wild and lovely valley of the Lledr, another tributary of the
Conway, which comes tumbling down a romantic fissure cut into the
frowning sides of the mountain. At Dolwyddelan a solitary tower is all
that remains of the castle, once commanding from its bold perch on the
rocks the narrow pass in the valley. It is at present a little village
of slate-quarriers. The Llugwy is yet another attractive tributary of
the Conway, which boasts in its course the Rhavadr-y-Wenol, or the
Swallow Fall. This, after a spell of rainy weather, is considered the
finest cataract in Wales for the breadth and volume of the water that
descends, though not for its height. This entire region is full of
charming scenery, and of possibly what some may love even better, good
trout-fishing. Following the Conway Valley still farther up, and
crossing over the border into Denbigh, we come to the little market-town
of Llanrwst. It contains two attractive churches, the older one
containing many curious monuments and some good carvings, the latter
having been brought from Maenant Abbey. But the chief curiosity of this
little Welsh settlement is the bridge crossing the Conway. It was
constructed by Inigo Jones, and is a three-arched stone bridge, which
has the strange peculiarity that by pushing a particular portion of the
parapet it can be made to vibrate from one end to the other. Gwydyr
House, the seat of Lord Willoughby de Eresby, is in the neighborhood, a
small part of the original mansion built in 1555 remaining. Near Trefriw
lived Taliesin, the father of Welsh poetry, and a monument erected by
that nobleman on the river-bank perpetuates his memory.
[Illustration: LLANRWST BRIDGE.]
The recollection among the Welsh of the life and exploits of the great
chieftain of former times, Madoc, is held very dear in Caernarvonshire,
and is preserved not only in many legends, but also in the thriving and
pleasant little seaport known as Port Madoc, which has grown up out of
the slate-trade. Its wharf is a wilderness of slates, and much of the
land in the neighborhood has been recovered from the sea. The geology as
well as the scenery here is an interesting study. In fact, the whole
Caernarvon coast, which stretches away to the south-west in the long
peninsula that forms Cardigan Bay, is full of pleasant and attractive
locations for student and tourist, and entwined around all are weird
legends of the heroes and doings of the mystical days of the dim past,
when Briton and Roman contended for the mastery of this historic region.
THE COAST OF MERIONETH.
[Illustration: BARMOUTH.]
Let us make a brief excursion south of Mount Snowdon, along the coast of
the pastoral county of Merioneth, where Nature has put many crags and
stones and a little gold and wheat, but where the people's best reliance
is their flocks. At the place where the Mawddach joins the sea is
Barmouth, where a fishing-village has of late years bloomed into a
fashionable watering-place. The houses are built on a strip of sand and
the precipitous hillside beyond, and the cottages are perched wherever
they can conveniently hold on to the crags, the devious pathways and
flights of steps leading up to them presenting a quaint aspect. The
bends of the Mawddach, as it goes inland among the hills, present miles
of unique scenery, the great walls of Cader Idris closing the
background. Several hilltops in the neighborhood contain fortifications,
and are marked by the old tombs known as cromlechs and Druids' altars.
On the sea-coast curious reefs project, the chief of them being St.
Patrick's Causeway. The legend tells us that a Welsh chieftain fifteen
hundred years ago constructed these reefs to protect the lowlands from
the incursions of the sea, and on the lands thus reclaimed there stood
no less than twelve fortified Welsh cities. But, unfortunately, one
stormy night the guardian of the embankments got drunk, and, slumbering
at the critical moment, the waves rushed in, sweeping all before them.
In the morning, where had before been fortified cities and a vast
population, there was only a waste of waters. St. Patrick, we are told,
used his causeway to bear him dryshod as far as possible when he walked
the waters to Ireland.
[Illustration: BARMOUTH ESTUARY.]
Let us penetrate into the interior by going up the romantic valley of
the Mawddach and viewing the frowning sides of the chief Merioneth
mountain, Cader Idris, which towers on the right hand to the height of
3100 feet. It is a long ridge rather than a peak, and steep precipices
guard the upper portion. Two little lakes near the summit, enclosed by
cliffs, afford magnificent scenery. Here is "Idris's Chair," where the
grim magician, who used to make the mountain his home, sat to perform
his incantations, whilst in a hollow at the summit he had his couch.
According to Welsh tradition, whoever passed the night there would
emerge in the morning either mad or a poet. This mountain, like Snowdon,
is said to have been formerly a volcano, and legends tell of the fiery
outbursts that came from its craters, now occupied by the two little
lakes. But the truth of these legends, though interwoven into Welsh
poetry, is denied by prosaic geologists. A rough and steep track, known
as the "Fox's Path," leads to the summit, and there is a fine view
northward across the valleys to the distant summits of Snowdon and its
attendant peaks, while spread at our feet to the westward is the broad
expanse of Cardigan Bay. Lakes abound in the lowlands, and, pursuing the
road up the Mawddach we pass the "Pool of the Three Pebbles." Once upon
a time three stones got into the shoe of the giant Idris as he was
walking about his domain, and he stopped here and threw them out. Here
they still remain--three ponderous boulders--in the lake.
[Illustration: CADER IDRIS, ON THE TALY-SLYN ASCENT.]
[Illustration: RHAYADR-Y-MAWDDACH.]
We leave the Mawddach and follow its tributary, the little river Wnion,
as it ripples along over its pebbly bed guarded by strips of meadow.
Soon we come to the lovely "Village of the Hazels," Dolgelly, standing
in the narrow valley, and probably the prettiest spot in Wales. Steep
hills rise on either hand, with bare craggy summits and the lower slopes
richly wooded. Deep dells running into the hills vary the scenery, and
thus the town is set in an amphitheatre of hills, up whose flanks the
houses seem to climb. There is a little old church, and in a back court
the ruins of the "Parliament House," where Owen Glendower assembled the
Welsh Parliament in 1404. The Torrent Walk, where the stream from the
mountain is spanned by picturesque bridges, is a favorite resort of the
artist, and also one of the most charming bits of scenery in the
neighborhood of this beautiful town. Pursuing the valley farther up and
crossing the watershed, we come to the largest inland water of Wales,
the beautiful Bala Lake, heretofore referred to in describing the river
Dee, which drains it. It is at an elevation of six hundred feet,
surrounded by mountain-peaks, and the possibility of making it available
as a water-supply for London has been considered.
[Illustration: DOLGELLY.]
[Illustration: OWEN GLENDOWER'S PARLIAMENT HOUSE.]
[Illustration: THE LOWER BRIDGE, TORRENT WALK, DOLGELLY.]
[Illustration: BALA LAKE.]
There is an attractive place on the Merioneth coast to the southward of
Barmouth, at the mouth of the Rheidol, and near the estuary of the river
Dovey. A ruined tower on a low eminence guards the harbor, where now is
a fashionable watering-place, and is almost all that remains of the once
powerful Aberystwith Castle, another stronghold of King Edward I.
Portions of the entrance-gate and barbican can be traced, while the
modern houses of the town are spread to the northward along the
semicircular bay. The University College of Wales is located here, and
the town is popularly known as the "Welsh Brighton," while among its
antiquities in the suburbs is the ruined castellated mansion of Plas
Crug, said to have been Glendower's home. On the northern part of the
Merioneth coast is the entrance to the pleasant vale of Pfestiniog,
another attractive spot to tourists. Tan-y-bwlch and Maentwrog are
romantic villages adjoining each other in this pretty valley full of
waterfalls, among these being the renowned Black Cataract and the Raven
Fall.
[Illustration: ABERYSTWITH.]
About twelve miles north of Barmouth the picturesque Harlech Castle
stands on a promontory guarding the entrance to the Traeth. The cliff is
precipitous, with just enough level surface on the top to accommodate
the castle. The place is a quadrangle, with massive round towers at the
corners connected by lofty curtain-walls. Circular towers, protected by
a barbican, guard the entrance on the land side. Deep ditches cut in the
rock surround the castle where that defence is necessary. From this
fortress on the Rock of Harlech the view is magnificent. This crag is
said to have supported a castle as early as the third century, when Lady
Bronwen built it, and, being of most sensitive honor, died afterwards of
grief because her husband had struck her. Unhappily, she was in advance
of her age in her demonstration of woman's rights. Another castle
replaced the first one in the sixth century, and some of its ruins were
worked into the present castle, which is another achievement of the
great Welsh fortress-builder, Edward I. It has stood several sieges.
Owen Glendower held it five years against the English. When Edward IV.
became king, Harlech still held out for the Lancastrian party, the
redoubtable Welshman, David ap Ifon, being the governor. Summoned to
surrender, the brave David replied, "I held a town in France till all
the old women in Wales heard of it, and now I will hold a castle in
Wales till all the old women in France hear of it." But David was
starved into surrender, and then Edward IV. tried to break the terms of
capitulation made by Sir Richard Pembroke, the besieger. Sir Richard,
more generous, told the king, "Then, by Heaven, I will let David and his
garrison into Harlech again, and Your Highness may fetch him out by any
who can, and if you demand my life for his, take it." The song of "The
March of the Men of Harlech" is a memorial of this siege. Harlech was
the last Welsh fortress during the Civil Wars that held out for Charles
I., and since then it has been gradually falling to decay.
[Illustration: HARLECH CASTLE.]
We have now conducted the tourist to the chief objects in North Wales.
The railway runs on to Holyhead, built on the extreme point of Holy
Island on the western verge of Anglesea, where there is a fine harbor of
refuge, lighthouses, and an excellent port. Here comes the "Wild
Irishman," as the fast train is called that runs between London and
Ireland, and its passengers are quickly transferred to the swift
steamers that cross the Channel to Dublin harbor. Lighthouses dot the
cliffs on the coast, and at this romantic outpost we will close the
survey of North Wales.
"There ever-dimpling Ocean's cheek
Reflects the tints of many a peak,
Caught by the laughing tides that lave
Those Edens of the Western wave."
II.
LIVERPOOL, NORTHWARD TO THE SCOTTISH BORDER.
Lancashire--Warrington--Manchester--Furness Abbey--The
Ribble--Stonyhurst--Lancaster Castle--Isle of
Man--Castletown--Rushen Castle--Peele Castle--The Lake
Country--Windermere--Lodore Fall--Derwentwater--Keswick--Greta
Hall--Southey, Wordsworth and Coleridge--Skiddaw--The Border
Castles--Kendal Castle--Brougham Hall--The Solway--Carlisle
Castle--Scaleby Castle--Naworth--Lord William Howard.
LANCASHIRE.
[Illustration: OLD MARKET, WARRINGTON.]
The great manufacturing county of England for cotton and woollen
spinning and weaving is Lancashire. Liverpool is the seaport for the
vast aggregation of manufacturers who own the huge mills of Manchester,
Salford, Warrington, Wigan, Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Blackburn,
Preston, and a score of other towns, whose operatives work into yarns
and fabrics the millions of bales of cotton and wool that come into the
Mersey. The warehouse and factory, with the spinners' cottages and the
manufacturers' villas, make up these towns, almost all of modern growth,
and the busy machinery and smoking chimneys leave little chance for
romance in Southern Lancashire. It was in this section that trade first
compelled the use of modern improvements: here were used the earliest
steam-engines; here labored Arkwright to perfect the spinning machinery,
and Stephenson to build railways. To meet the necessities of
communication between Liverpool and Manchester, the first canal was dug
in England, and this was followed afterwards by the first experimental
railway; the canal was constructed by Brindley, and was called the
"Grand Trunk Canal," being twenty-eight miles long from Manchester to
the Mersey River, at Runcorn above Liverpool, and was opened in 1767.
The railway was opened in 1830; the odd little engine, the "Rocket,"
then drew an excursion-train over it, and the opening was marred by an
accident which killed Joseph Huskisson, one of the members of Parliament
for Liverpool. Let us follow this railway, which now carries an enormous
traffic out of Liverpool, eastward along the valley of the Mersey past
Warrington, with its quaint old timbered market-house, and then up its
tributary, the Irwell, thirty-one miles to Manchester.
MANCHESTER.
The chief manufacturing city of England has not a striking effect upon
the visitor as he approaches it. It is scattered over a broad surface
upon a gently undulating plain, and its suburbs straggle out into the
country villages, which it is steadily absorbing in its rapid growth;
the Irwell passes in a winding course through the city, receiving a
couple of tributaries; this river divides Manchester from Salford, but a
dozen bridges unite them. No city in England has had such rapid growth
as Manchester in this century; it has increased from about seventy
thousand people at the beginning of the century to over half a million
now; and this is all the effect of the development of manufacturing
industry. Yet Manchester is one of the oldest towns in England, for
there was a Roman camp at Mancunium, as the Cæsars called it, in the
first century of the Christian era; and we are also told that in the
days when giants lived in England it was the scene of a terrific combat
between Sir Launcelot of the Lake and the giant Tarquin. A ballad tells
the story, but it is easier read in prose: Sir Launcelot was travelling
near Manchester when he heard that this giant held in durance vile a
number of knights--"threescore and four" in all; a damsel conducts him
to the giant's castle-gate, "near Manchester, fair town," where a copper
basin hung to do duty as a bell; he strikes it so hard as to break it,
when out comes the giant ready for the fray; a terrific combat ensues,
and the giant, finding that he has met his match, offers to release the
captives, provided his adversary is not a certain knight that slew his
brother. Unfortunately, it happens that Sir Launcelot is the very same,
and the combat is renewed with such vigor that the giant is slain, "to
the great contentment of many persons."
The ancient Mancunium was a little camp and city of about twelve acres,
partly bounded by a tributary of the Irwell known as the Medlock. A
ditch on the land-side was still visible in the last century, and
considerable portions of the old Roman walls also remained within two
hundred years. Many Roman relics have been discovered in the city, and
at Knott Mill, the site of the giant Tarquin's castle, a fragment of the
Roman wall is said to be still visible. The town in the early Tudor days
had a college, and then a cathedral, and it was besieged in the Civil
Wars, though it steadily grew, and in Charles II.'s time it was
described as a busy and opulent place; but it had barely six thousand
people. Cotton-spinning had then begun, the cotton coming from Cyprus
and Smyrna. In 1700 life in Manchester, as described in a local
guide-book, was noted by close application to business; the
manufacturers were in their warehouses by six in the morning,
breakfasted at seven on bowls of porridge and milk, into which masters
and apprentices dipped their spoons indiscriminately, and dined at
twelve; the ladies went out visiting at two in the afternoon, and
attended church at four. Manchester was conservative in the Jacobite
rebellion, and raised a regiment for the Pretender, but the royalist
forces defeated it, captured the officers, and beheaded them. Manchester
politics then were just the opposite of its present Liberal tendencies,
and it was Byrom, a Manchester man, who wrote the quaint epigram
regarding the Pretender and his friends which has been so often quoted:
"God bless the King--I mean our faith's defender!
God bless (no harm in blessing) the Pretender!
But who Pretender is, or who is King--
God bless us all!--that's quite another thing."
[Illustration: MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL. FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.]
It was the rapid growth of manufacturing industry in Manchester that
changed its politics, and it was here that was first conspicuously
advocated the free-trade agitation in England which triumphed in the
repeal of the Corn Laws, so as to admit food free of duty for the
operatives, and in the Reform bill that changed the representation in
Parliament. That fine building, the "Free-Trade Hall," is a monument of
this agitation in which Manchester took such prominent part. As the
city has grown in wealth, so has its architectural appearance improved;
its school-and college-buildings are very fine, particularly Owens
College, munificently endowed by a leading merchant. The Manchester
Cathedral is an ancient building overlooking the Irwell which has had to
be renewed in so many parts that it has a comparatively modern aspect.
Other English cathedrals are more imposing, but this, "the ould paroch
church" spoken of by the ancient chroniclers, is highly prized by the
townsfolk; the architecture is Perpendicular and of many dates. Until
recently this was the only parish church in Manchester, and consequently
all the marriages for the city had to be celebrated there; the number
was at times very large, especially at Easter, and not a few tales are
told of how, in the confusion, the wrong pairs were joined together, and
when the mistake was discovered respliced with little ceremony. It was
in this Manchester Cathedral that one rector is said to have generally
begun the marriage service by instructing the awaiting crowd to "sort
yourselves in the vestry."
[Illustration: THE ASSIZE COURTS, MANCHESTER.]
Some of the public buildings in Manchester are most sumptuous. The
Assize Courts are constructed in rich style, with lofty Pointed roofs
and a tall tower, and make one of the finest modern buildings in
England. The great hall is a grand apartment, and behind the courts is
the prison, near which the Fenians in 1867 made the celebrated rescue of
the prisoners from the van for which some of the assailants were hanged
and others transported. The Royal Exchange is a massive structure in the
Italian style, with a fine portico, dome, and towers; the hall within
is said to be probably the largest room in England, having a width of
ceiling, without supports, of one hundred and twenty feet. Here on
cotton-market days assemble the buyers and sellers from all the towns in
Lancashire, and they do an enormous traffic. The new Town-Hall is also a
fine building, where the departments of the city government are
accommodated, and where they have an apartment dear to every
Englishman's heart--"a kitchen capable of preparing a banquet for eight
hundred persons." The warehouses of Manchester are famous for their size
and solidity, and could Arkwright come back and see what his
cotton-spinning machinery has produced, he would be amazed. It was in
Manchester that the famous Dr. Dalton, the founder of the atomic theory
in chemistry, lived; he was a devout Quaker, like so many of the
townspeople, but unfortunately was color-blind; he appeared on one
occasion in a scarlet waistcoat, and when taken to task declared it
seemed to him a very quiet, unobtrusive color, just like his own coat.
Several fine parks grace the suburbs of Manchester, and King Cotton has
made this thriving community the second city in England, while for miles
along the beautifully shaded roads that lead into the suburbs the
opulent merchants and manufacturers have built their ornamental villas.
[Illustration: THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, MANCHESTER.]
FURNESS AND STONYHURST
[Illustration: FURNESS ABBEY.]
The irregularly-shaped district of Lancashire partly cut off from the
remainder of the county by an arm of the Irish Sea is known as Furness.
It is a wild and rugged region, best known from the famous Furness Abbey
and its port of Barrow-in-Furness, one of the most remarkable examples
in England of quick city growth. Forty years ago this was an
insignificant fishing village; now Barrow has magnificent docks and a
fine harbor protected by the natural breakwater of Walney Island, great
iron-foundries and the largest jute-manufactory in the world; while it
has recently also became a favorite port for iron shipbuilding. About
two miles distant, and in a romantic glen called the Valley of Deadly
Nightshade, not far from the sea, is one of the finest examples of
mediæval church-architecture in England, the ruins of Furness Abbey,
founded in the twelfth century by King Stephen and Maud, his queen. It
was a splendid abbey, standing high in rank and power, its income in the
reign of Edward I. being $90,000 a year, an enormous sum for that early
day. The ruins are in fine preservation, and effigies of Stephen and
Maud are on each side of the great east window. For twelve reigns the
charters of sovereigns and bulls of popes confirmed the abbots of
Furness in their extraordinary powers, which extended over the district
of Furness, while the situation of the abbey made them military
chieftains, and they erected a watch-tower on a high hill, from which
signals alarmed the coast on the approach of an enemy. The church is
three hundred and four feet long, and from the centre rose a tower,
three of the massive supporting pillars of which remain, but the tower
has fallen and lies a mass of rubbish; the stained glass from the great
east window having been removed to Bowness Church, in Westmorelandshire.
The abbey enclosure, covering eighty-five acres, was surrounded by a
wall, the ruins of which are now covered with thick foliage. This
renowned abbey was surrendered and dismantled in Henry VIII.'s reign;
the present hotel near the ruins was formerly the abbot's residence.
The river Ribble, which flows into the Irish Sea through a wide estuary,
drains the western slopes of the Pennine Hills, which divide Lancashire
from Yorkshire. Up in the north-western portion of Lancashire, near the
bases of these hills, is a moist region known as the parish of Mitton,
where, as the poet tells us,
"The Hodder, the Calder, Ribble, and rain
All meet together in Mitton domain."
In Mitton parish, amid the woods along the Hodder and on the north side
of the valley of the Ribble, stands the splendid domed towers of the
baronial edifice of Stonyhurst, now the famous Jesuit College of
England, where the sons of the Catholic nobility and gentry are
educated. The present building is about three hundred years old, and
quaint gardens adjoin it, while quite an extensive park surrounds the
college. Not far away are Clytheroe Castle and the beautiful ruins of
Whalley Abbey. The Stonyhurst gardens are said to remain substantially
as their designer, Sir Nicholas Sherburne, left them. A capacious
water-basin is located in the centre, with the leaden statue of Regulus
in chains standing in the midst of the water. Summer-houses with tall
pointed roofs are at each lower extremity of the garden, while an
observatory is upon a commanding elevation. Tall screens of clipped
yews, cut square ten feet high and five feet thick, divide the beds upon
one side of the gardens, so that as you walk among them you are
enveloped in a green yet pleasant solitude. Arched doorways are cut
through the yews, and in one place, descending by broad and easy steps,
there is a solemn, cool, and twilight walk formed by the overarching
yews, the very place for religious meditation. Then, reascending, this
sombre walk opens into air and sunshine amid delicious flower-gardens.
On the opposite side of the gardens are walls hung with fruit, and
plantations of kitchen vegetables. This charming place was fixed upon by
the Jesuits for their college in 1794, when driven from Liège by the
proscriptions of the French Revolution. The old building and the
additions then erected enclose a large quadrangular court. In the front
of the college, at the southern angle, is a fine little Gothic church,
built fifty years ago. The college refectory is a splendid baronial
hall. In the Mitton village-church near by are the tombs of the
Sherburne family, the most singular monument being that to Sir Richard
and his lady, which the villagers point out as "old Fiddle o' God and
his wife"--Fiddle o' God being his customary exclamation when angry,
which tradition says was not seldom. The figures are kneeling--he in
ruff and jerkin, she in black gown and hood, with tan-leather gloves
extending up her arms. These figures, being highly colored, as was the
fashion in the olden time, have a ludicrous appearance. We are told that
when these monuments came from London they were the talk of the whole
country round. A stonemason bragged that he could cut out as good a
figure in common stone. Taken at his word, he was put to the test, and
carved the effigy of a knight in freestone which so pleased the
Sherburne family that they gave him one hundred dollars for it, and it
is now set in the wall outside the church, near the monuments.
LANCASTER CASTLE.
[Illustration: CASTLE SQUARE, LANCASTER.]
John of Gaunt, "time-honored Lancaster," was granted the Duchy of
Lancaster by his father, King Edward III., but the place which stands
upon the river Lune is of much greater antiquity. It was a Roman camp,
and hence its name. The Picts destroyed it when the Romans left; the
Saxons afterwards restored it, and ultimately it gave the name to the
county. King John gave the town a charter, and John of Gaunt rebuilt the
fortress, which became indissolubly connected with the fortunes of the
House of Lancaster. Though sometimes besieged, it was maintained more
for purposes of state than of war, and two centuries ago it still
existed in all its ancient splendor, commanding the city and the sea.
Lancaster stands on the slope of an eminence rising from the river Lune,
and the castle-towers crown the summit, the fortress being spacious,
with a large courtyard and variously-shaped towers. The keep is square,
enormously strong, and defended by two semi-octagonal towers. This keep
is known as "John of Gaunt's Chair," and commands a fine view of the
surrounding country and far away across the sea to the distant outlines
of the Isle of Man. This famous castle, partly modernized, is now used
for the county jail and courts, the prison-chapel being in the keep. In
the town several large manufactories attest the presiding genius of
Lancashire, and the inn is the comfortable and old-fashioned King's Arms
described by Dickens.
[Illustration: BRADDA HEAD.]
ISLE OF MAN.
[Illustration: KIRK BRADDEN.]
Let us go off from the Lancashire coast to that strange island which
lies in the sea midway between England, Scotland, and Ireland, and whose
bold shores are visible from "John of Gaunt's Chair." It stretches for
thirty-three miles from its northern extremity at the point of Ayre to
the bold detached cliffs of the little islet at the southern end known
as the Calf of Man. Covering two hundred and twenty-seven square miles
area, its coasts are irregular, its shores in several places
precipitous, and a range of mountains traverses the entire island, the
highest peak being Snaefell, rising 2024 feet, with North Barrule at one
extremity and Cronk-ny-Jay Llaa, or "The Hill of the Rising Day," at the
other. Man is a miniature kingdom, with its reproduction, sometimes in
dwarf, of everything that other kingdoms have. It has four little
rivers, the Neb, Colby, Black and Gray Waters, with little gems of
cascades; has its own dialect, the Manx, and a parliament in miniature,
known as the Council, or Upper House, and the House of Keys. It is a
healthful resort, for all the winds that blow come from the sea, and its
sea-views are striking, the rugged masses of Bradda Head, the
mellow-coloring of the Calf, and the broad expanse of waters, dotted by
scores of fishing-boats, making many scenes of artistic merit. While the
want of trees makes the land-views harsh and cold, yet the glens and
coves opening into the sea are the charms of Manx scenery, the high
fuchsia-hedges surrounding many of the cottages giving bright coloring
to the landscape when the flowers are in bloom. It is a beautiful place
when once the tourist is able to land there, but the wharf arrangements
are not so good as they might be. Once landed, the visitor usually first
proceeds to solve the great zoological problem the island has long
presented to the outer world, and finds that the Isle of Man does really
possess a breed of tailless cats, whose caudal extremity is either
altogether wanting or at most is reduced to a merely rudimental
substitute.
[Illustration: RHENASS WATERFALL.]
CASTLE RUSHEN.
[Illustration: CASTLE RUSHEN.]
Landing at the capital, Castletown, it is found that it gets its name
from the ancient castle of Rushen, around which the town is built.
Guttred the Dane is said to have built this castle nine hundred years
ago, and to be buried beneath it, although Cardinal Wolsey constructed
the surrounding stone glacis. The keep--into which the prisoners had to
be lowered by ropes--and several parts of the interior buildings remain
almost entire, but repeated sieges so wrecked the other portions that
they have had to be restored. At the castle-entrance were stone chairs
for the governor and judges. It was here that the eminent men who have
ruled the Isle of Man presided, among them being Regulus, who was King
of Man, and the famous Percy, who was attainted of high treason in 1403.
Afterwards it was ruled by the Earls of Derby, who relinquished the
title of king and took that of Lord of Man, holding their sovereignty
until they sold it and the castles and patronage of the island to the
Crown in 1764 for $350,000. With such a history it is natural that
Castle Rushen should have a weird interest attached to it, and the
ancient chroniclers tell of a mysterious apartment within "which has
never been opened in the memory of man." Tradition says that this famous
castle was first inhabited by fairies, and afterwards by the giants,
until Merlin, by his magic power, dislodged most of the giants and bound
the others in spells. In proof of this it is said there are fine
apartments underneath the ground, to explore which several venturesome
persons have gone down, only one of whom ever returned. To save the
lives of the reckless would be explorers, therefore, this mysterious
apartment, which gives entrance underground, is kept shut. The one who
returned is described as an "explorer of uncommon courage," who managed
to get back by the help of a clue of packthread which he took with him,
and was thus able to retrace his steps. He had a wondrous tale to tell.
After passing a number of vaults, and through a long, narrow passage
which descended for more than a mile, he saw a little gleam of light,
and gladly sought it out. The light came from a magnificent house,
brilliantly illuminated. Having "well fortified himself with brandy
before beginning the exploration," he courageously knocked at the door,
and at the third knock a servant appeared, demanding what was wanted. He
asked for directions how to proceed farther, as the house seemed to
block the passage. The servant, after some parley, led him through the
house and out at the back door. He walked a long distance, and then
beheld another house, more magnificent than the first, where, the
windows being open, he saw innumerable lamps burning in all the rooms.
He was about to knock, but first had the curiosity to peep through a
window into the parlor. There was a large black marble table in the
middle of the room, and on it lay at full length a giant who, the
explorer says, was "at least fourteen feet long and ten feet round the
body." The giant lay with his head pillowed on a book, as if asleep, and
there was a prodigious sword alongside him, proportioned to the hand
that was to use it. This sight was so terrifying that the explorer made
the best of his way back to the first house, where the servant told him
that if he had knocked at the giant's door he would have had company
enough, but would have never returned. He desired to know what place it
was, but was told, "These things are not to be revealed." Then he made
his way back to daylight by the aid of the clue of packthread as quickly
as possible, and we are told that no one has ventured down there since.
This is but one of the many tales of mystery surrounding the venerable
Rushen Castle.
PEELE CASTLE.
[Illustration: PEELE CASTLE.]
The Isle of Man derives its name from the ancient British word _mon_,
which means "isolated." Around this singular place there are many rocky
islets, also isolated, and upon one of the most picturesque of these,
where art and Nature have vied in adding strength to beauty, is built
the castle of Peele, off the western coast, overlooking the distant
shores of Ireland. This castle is perched upon a huge rock, rising for a
great height out of the sea, and completely inaccessible, except by the
approach which has been constructed on the side towards the Isle of Man,
where the little town of Peele is located. After crossing the arm of the
sea separating the castle from the town, the visitor, landing at the
foot of the rock, ascends about sixty steps, cut out of it, to the first
wall, which is massive and high, and built of the old red sandstone in
which the island abounds; the gates in this wall are of wood, curiously
arched and carved, and four little watch-towers on the wall overlook the
sea. Having entered, he mounts by another shorter stairway cut out of
the rock to the second wall, built like the other, and both of them full
of portholes for cannon. Passing through yet a third wall, there is
found a broad plain upon the top of the rock, where stands the castle,
surrounded by four churches, three almost entirely ruined; the other
church (St. Germain's) is kept in some repair because it has within the
bishop's chapel, while beneath is a horrible dungeon where the sea runs
in and out through hollows of the rock with a continual roar; a steep
and narrow stairway descends to the dungeon and burial-vaults, and
within are thirteen pillars supporting the chapel above. Beware, if
going down, of failing to count the pillars, for we are told that he who
neglects this is sure to do something that will occasion his confinement
in this dreadful dungeon. This famous castle of Peele even in its
partly-ruined state has several noble apartments, and here were located
some of the most interesting scenes of Scott's novel of _Peveril of the
Peak_. It was in former days a state-prison, and in it were at one time
confined Warwick the King-maker, and also Gloucester's haughty wife,
Eleanor; her discontented spectre was said to haunt the battlements in
former years, and stand motionless beside one of the watch-towers, only
disappearing when the cock crew or church-bell tolled: another
apparition, a shaggy spaniel known as the Manthe Doog, also haunted the
castle, particularly the guard-chamber, where the dog came and lay down
at candlelight; the soldiers lost much of their terror by the frequency
of the sight, but none of them liked to be left alone with him, though
he did not molest them. The dog came out by a passage through the church
where the soldiers had to go to deliver the keys to their captain, and
for moral support they never went that way alone. One of the soldiers,
we are told, on a certain night, "being much disguised in liquor" (for
spirits of various kinds appear in the Isle of Man, as most other
places), insisted upon going with the keys alone, and could not be
dissuaded; he said he was determined to discover whether the apparition
was dog or devil, and, snatching the keys, departed: soon there was a
great noise, but none ventured to ascertain the cause. When the soldier
returned he was speechless and horror-stricken, nor would he ever by
word or sign tell what had happened to him, but soon died in agony; then
the passage was walled up, and the Manthe Doog was never more seen at
Castle Peele.
THE LAKE COUNTRY.
[Illustration: A GLIMPSE OF DERWENTWATER, FROM SCAFELL.]
North of Lancashire, in the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, is
the famous "Lake Country" of England. It does not cover a large area--in
fact, a good pedestrian can walk from one extremity of the region to the
other in a day--but its compact beauties have a charm of rugged outline
and luxuriant detail that in a condensed form reproduce the Alpine lakes
of Northern Italy. Derwentwater is conceded to be the finest of these
English lakes, but there is also great beauty in Windermere and
Ulleswater, Buttermere and Wastwater. The Derwent runs like a thread
through the glassy bead of Derwentwater, a magnificent oval lake set
among the hills, about three miles long and half that breadth, alongside
which rises the frowning Mount Skiddaw with its pair of rounded heads.
In entering the Lake Region from the Lancashire side we first come to
the pretty Windermere Lake, the largest of these inland sheets of water,
about ten miles long and one mile broad in the widest part. From Orrest
Head, near the village of Windermere, there is a magnificent view of the
lake from end to end, though tourists prefer usually to go to the
village of Bowness on the bank, where steamers start at frequent
intervals and make the circuit of the pretty lake. From Bowness the
route is by Rydal Mount, where the poet Wordsworth lived, to Koswick,
about twenty-three miles distant, on Derwentwater.
[Illustration: FALLS OF LODORE.]
The attractive Derwent flows down through the Borrowdale Valley past
Seathwaite, where for many a year there has been worked a famous mine of
plumbago: we use it for lead-pencils, but our English ancestors, while
making it valuable for marking their sheep, prized it still more highly
as a remedy for colic and other human ills. There are several
pencil-mills in the village, which, in addition to other claims for
fame, is noted as one of the rainiest spots in England, the annual
rainfall at Seathwaite sometimes reaching one hundred and eighty-two
inches. The Derwent flows on through a gorge past the isolated pyramidal
rock known as Castle Crag, and the famous Bowder Stone, which has fallen
into the gorge from the crags above, to the hamlet of Grange, where a
picturesque bridge spans the little river. We are told that the
inhabitants once built a wall across the narrowest part of this valley:
having long noticed the coincident appearance of spring and the cuckoo,
they rashly concluded that the latter was the cause of the former, and
that if they could only retain the bird their pleasant valley would
enjoy perpetual spring; they built the wall as spring lengthened into
summer, and with the autumn came the crisis. The wall had risen to a
considerable height when the cuckoo with the approach of colder weather
was sounding its somewhat asthmatic notes as it moved from tree to tree
down the valley; it neared the wall, and as the population held their
breath it suddenly flew over, and carried the spring away with it down
the Derwent. Judge of the popular disgust when the sages of that region
complainingly remarked that, having crossed but a few inches above the
topmost stones of the wall, if the builders had only carried it a course
or two higher the cuckoo might have been kept at home, and their valley
thus have enjoyed a perennial spring.
The Derwent flows on along its gorge, which has been slowly ground out
by a glacier in past ages, and enters the lake through the marshy, flat,
reedy delta that rather detracts from the appearance of its upper end.
Not far away a small waterfall comes tumbling over the crags among the
foliage; this miniature Niagara has a fame almost as great as the mighty
cataract of the New World, for it is the "Fall of Lodore," about which,
in answer to his little boy's question, "How does the water come down at
Lodore?" Southey wrote his well-known poem that is such a triumph of
versification, and from which this is a quotation:
"Flying and flinging, writhing and wringing,
Eddying and whisking, spouting and frisking,
Turning and twisting
Around and around, with endless rebound,
Smiting and fighting, a sight to delight in,
Confounding, astounding.
Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound;
All at once, and all o'er, with mighty uproar--
And this way the water conies down at Lodore."
Thus we reach the border of Derwentwater, nestling beneath the fells and
crags, as its miniature surrounding mountains are called. Little wooded
islets dimple the surface of the lake, in the centre being the largest,
St. Herbert's Island, where once that saint lived in a solitary cell: he
was the bosom friend of St. Cuthbert, the missionary of Northumberland,
and made an annual pilgrimage over the Pennine Hills to visit him;
loving each other in life, in death they were not divided, for
Wordsworth tells us that
"These holy men both died in the same hour."
Another islet is known as Lord's Island, where now the rooks are in full
possession, but where once was the home of the ill-fated Earl of
Derwentwater, who was beheaded in 1716 for espousing the Pretender's
cause. It is related that before his execution on Tower Hill he closely
viewed the block, and finding a rough place which might offend his neck,
he bade the headsman chip it off; this done, he cheerfully placed his
head upon it, gave the sign, and died: his estates were forfeited and
settled by the king on Greenwich Hospital. Castle Hill rises boldly on
the shore above Derwent Isle, where there is a pretty residence, and
every few years there is added to the other islets on the bosom of the
lake the "Floating Island," a mass of vegetable matter that becomes
detached from the marsh at the upper end. At Friar's Crag, beneath
Castle Hill, the lake begins to narrow, and at Portinscale the Derwent
flows out, receives the waters of the Greta coming from Keswick, and,
after flowing a short distance through the meadow-land, expands again
into Bassenthwaite Lake, a region of somewhat tamer yet still beautiful
scenery.
The town of Keswick stands some distance back from the border of
Derwentwater, and is noted as having been the residence of Southey. In
Greta Hall, an unpretentious house in the town, Southey lived for forty
years, dying there in 1843. He was laid to rest in the parish church of
Crosthwaite, just outside the town. At the pretty little church there is
a marble altar-tomb, the inscription on which to Southey's memory was
written by Wordsworth. Greta Hall was also for three years the home of
Coleridge, the two families dwelling under the same roof. Behind the
modest house rises Skiddaw, the bare crags of the rounded summits being
elevated over three thousand feet, and beyond it the hills and moors of
the Skiddaw Forest stretch northward to the Solway, with the Scruffel
Hill beyond. Upon a slope of the mountain, not far from Keswick, is a
Druids' circle, whose builders scores of centuries ago watched the mists
on Skiddaw's summit, as the people there do now, to foretell a change of
weather as the clouds might rise or fall, for they tell us that
"If Skiddaw hath a cap,
Scruffel wots full well of that."
THE BORDER CASTLES.
At Kendal, in Westmorelandshire, are the ruins of Kendal Castle, a relic
of the Norman days, but long since gone to decay. Here lived the
ancestors of King Henry VIII.'s last wife, Queen Catharine Parr.
Opposite it are the ruins of Castle How, and not far away the quaint
appendage known as Castle Dairy, replete with heraldic carvings. It was
in the town of Kendal that was made the foresters' woollen cloth known
as "Kendal green," which was the uniform of Robin Hood's band.
In the northern part of the county, on the military road to Carlisle,
are the ruins of Brougham Castle, built six hundred years ago. It was
here that the Earl of Cumberland magnificently entertained King James I.
for three days on one of his journeys out of Scotland. It is famous as
the home of the late Henry, Lord Brougham, whose ancestors held it for
many generations. The manor-house, known as Brougham Hall, has such
richness, variety, and extent of prospect from its terraces that it is
called the "Windsor of the North." Lord Brougham was much attached to
his magnificent home, and it was here in 1860 that he finished his
comprehensive work on the _British Constitution_, and wrote its famous
dedication to the queen, beginning with the memorable words, "Madame, I
presume to lay at Your Majesty's feet a work the 'result of many years'
diligent study, much calm reflection, and a long life's experience." In
close proximity to the castle is the Roman station Brocavum, founded by
Agricola in A.D. 79. Its outline is clearly defined, the camp within the
inner ditch measuring almost one thousand feet square. Various Roman
roads lead from it, and much of the materials of the outworks were built
into the original Brougham Castle.
[Illustration: ROAD THROUGH CATHEDRAL CLOSE, CARLISLE.]
The Solway and its firth divide England from Scotland, and this
borderland has been the scene of many deadly feuds, though happily only
in the days long agone. The castle of Carlisle was a noted border
stronghold, built of red sandstone by King William Rufus, who rebuilt
Carlisle, which had then lain in ruins two hundred years because of the
forays of the Danes. Richard III. enlarged the castle, and Henry VIII.
built the citadel. Here Mary Queen of Scots was once lodged, but in
Elizabeth's time the castle fell into decay. In the town is a fine
cathedral, which has been thoroughly restored. In a flat situation north
of Carlisle are the ruins of Scaleby Castle, once a fortress of great
strength, but almost battered to pieces when it resisted Cromwell's
forces. There are several acres enclosed within the moat, intended for
the cattle when driven in to escape the forays that came over the
border. This venerable castle is now a picturesque ruin. Twelve miles
north-east of Carlisle is Naworth Castle, near where the Roman Wall
crossed England. This is one of the finest feudal remains in Cumberland,
having been the stronghold of the Wardens of the Marches, who guarded
the border from Scottish incursions. It stands amid fine scenery, and
just to the southward is the Roman Wall, of which many remains are still
traced, while upon the high moorland in the neighborhood is the paved
Roman Road, twelve feet wide and laid with stone. At Naworth there was
always a strong garrison, for the border was rarely at peace, and
"Stern on the angry confines Naworth rose,
In dark woods islanded; its towers looked forth
And frowned defiance on the angry North."
Here lived, with a host of retainers, the famous "belted Will"--Lord
William Howard, son of the fourth Duke of Norfolk--who in the early part
of the seventeenth century finally brought peace to the border by his
judicious exercise for many years of the Warden's powers. It is of this
famous soldier and chivalrous knight, whose praises are even yet sung in
the borderland, that Scott has written--
"Howard, than whom knight
Was never dubbed more bold in fight,
Nor, when from war and armor free.
More famed for stately courtesy."
[Illustration: VIEW ON TORRENT WALK, DOLGELLY.]
III.
LIVERPOOL, THROUGH THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, TO LONDON.
The Peak of Derbyshire--Castleton--Bess of Hardwicke--Hardwicke
Hall--Bolsover Castle--The Wye and the
Derwent--Buxton--Bakewell--Haddon Hall--The King of the
Peak--Dorothy Vernon--Rowsley--The Peacock Inn--Chatsworth--The
Victoria Regia--Matlock--Dovedale--Beauchief Abbey--Stafford
Castle--Trentham Hall--Tamworth--Tutbury Castle--Chartley
Castle--Alton Towers--Shrewsbury Castle--Bridgenorth--Wenlock
Abbey--Ludlow Castle--The Feathers Inn--Lichfield Cathedral--Dr.
Samuel Johnson--Coventry--Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom--Belvoir
Castle--Charnwood Forest--Groby and Bradgate--Elizabeth Widvile and
Lady Jane Grey--Ulverscroft Priory--Grace Dieu Abbey--Ashby de la
Zouche--Langley Priory--Leicester Abbey and Castle--Bosworth
Field--Edgehill--Naseby--The Land of
Shakespeare--Stratford-on-Avon--Warwick--Kenilworth--Birmingham
--Boulton and Watt--Fotheringhay Castle--Holmby House--Bedford
Castle--John Bunyan--Woburn Abbey and the Russells--Stowe--Whaddon
Hall--Great Hampden--Creslow House.
THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE.
The river Mersey takes its sources--for it is formed by the union of
several smaller streams--in the ranges of high limestone hills east of
Liverpool, in North Derbyshire. These hills are an extension of the
Pennine range that makes the backbone of England, and in Derbyshire they
rise to a height of nearly two thousand feet, giving most picturesque
scenery. The broad top of the range at its highest part is called the
Kinderscout, or, more familiarly, "The Peak." The mountain-top is a vast
moor, abounding in deep holes and water-pools, uninhabited excepting by
the stray sportsman or tourist, and dangerous and difficult to cross.
Yet, once mounted to the top, there are good views of the wild scenery
of the Derbyshire hills, with the villages nestling in the glens, and of
the "Kinder Fall," where much of the water from the summit pours down a
cataract of some five hundred feet height, while not far away is the
"Mermaid's Pool," where, if you go at the midnight hour that ushers in
Easter Sunday, and look steadily into the water, you will see a mermaid.
The man who ventures upon that treacherous bogland by night certainly
deserves to see the best mermaid the Peak can produce. This limestone
region is a famous place. In the sheltered valley to the westward of the
Kinderscout is the village of Castleton, almost covered in by high hills
on all sides. It was here upon a bold cliff to the southward of the
village that "Peveril of the Peak" built his renowned castle at the time
of the Norman Conquest, of which only the ruins of the keep and part of
the outer walls remain. Almost inaccessible, it possessed the
extraordinary powers of defence that were necessary in those troublous
times, and here its founder gave a grand tournament, to which young
knights came from far and near, the successful knight of Lorraine being
rewarded by his daughter's hand. In the time of Edward III. this "Castle
of the Peak" reverted to the Crown, but now it is held by the Duke of
Devonshire. Under the hill on which the ruins stand is the "Cavern of
the Peak," with a fine entrance in a gloomy recess formed by a chasm in
the rocks. This entrance makes a Gothic arch over one thousand feet
wide, above which the rock towers nearly three hundred feet, and it is
chequered with colored stones. Within is a vast flat-roofed cavern, at
the farther side being a lake over which the visitors are ferried in a
boat. Other caverns are within, the entire cave extending nearly a half
mile, a little river traversing its full length. There are more and
similar caverns in the neighborhood.
[Illustration: PEVERIL CASTLE, CASTLETON.]
BESS OF HARDWICKE.
[Illustration: HARDWICKE HALL.]
One of the great characters of the sixteenth century was Elizabeth,
Countess of Shrewsbury, familiarly known as "Bess of Hardwicke," where
she was born, and who managed to outlive four husbands, thus showing
what success is in store for a woman of tact and business talent. She
was a penniless bride at fourteen, when she married an opulent gentleman
of Derbyshire named Barley, who left her at fifteen a wealthy widow. At
the age of thirty she married another rich husband, Sir William
Cavendish, the ancestor of the Dukes of Devonshire, who died in 1557,
leaving her again a widow, but with large estates, for she had taken
good care to look after the proper marriage settlements; and in fact,
even in those early days, a pretty good fortune was necessary to provide
for the family of eight children Sir William left her. She next married
Sir William Loe, who also had large estates and was the captain of the
king's guard, the lady's business tact procuring in advance of the
wedding the settlement of these estates upon herself and her children--a
hard condition, with which, the historian tells us, "the gallant
captain, who had a family by a former marriage, felt himself constrained
to comply or forego his bride." But in time the captain died, and his
estates all went to the thrifty lady, to the exclusion of his own
family; and to the blooming widow, thus made for the third time, there
came a-courting the Earl of Shrewsbury; the earl had numerous offspring,
and therefore could hardly give Bess all his possessions, like her other
husbands, but she was clever enough to obtain her object in another way.
As a condition precedent to accepting the earl, she made him marry two
of his children to two of hers, and after seeing these two weddings
solemnized, the earl led her to the altar for the fourth time at the
age of fifty; and we are told that all four of these weddings were
actual "love-matches." But she did not get on well with the earl, whose
correspondence shows she was a little shrewish, though in most quarrels
she managed to come off ahead, having by that time acquired experience.
When the earl died in 1590, and Bess concluded not again to attempt
matrimony, she was immensely rich and was seized with a mania for
building, which has left to the present day three memorable houses:
Hardwicke Hall, where she lived, Bolsover Castle, and the palace of
Chatsworth, which she began, and on which she lavished the enormous sum,
for that day, of $400,000. The legend runs that she was told that so
long as she kept building her life would be spared--an architect's ruse
possibly; and when finally she died it was during a period of hard
frost, when the masons could not work.
[Illustration: ELIZABETHAN STAIRCASE, HARDWICKE HALL.]
Hardwicke Hall, near Mansfield, which the renowned Bess has left as one
of her monuments, is about three hundred years old, and approached by a
noble avenue through a spacious park; it is still among the possessions
of the Cavendish family and in the Duke of Devonshire's estates. The old
hall where Bess was born almost touches the new one that she built, and
which bears the initials of the proud and determined woman in many
places outside and in. It was here that Mary Queen of Scots was held in
captivity part of the time that she was placed by Queen Elizabeth in the
custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and her statue stands in the hall.
There is an extensive picture-gallery containing many historical
portraits, and also fine state-apartments. The mansion is a lofty oblong
stone structure, with tall square towers at each corner, the
architecture being one of the best specimens of the Elizabethan Period;
on the side, as viewed from the park, the hall seems all windows, which
accounts for the saying of that neighborhood:
"Hardwicke Hall, more glass than wall."
The ruins of the old hall, almost overgrown with ivy, are picturesque,
but from everywhere on the ancient or on the modern hall there peer out
the initials "E. S.," with which the prudent Bess was so careful to mark
all her possessions.
BOLSOVER CASTLE.
[Illustration: BOLSOVER CASTLE.]
The noted Bolsover Castle, which Bess also built, though her son
finished it after her death, stands in a magnificent position on a high
plateau not far from Chesterfield, overlooking a wide expanse of
Derbyshire. The present castle replaced an ancient structure that had
fallen into ruin, and was supposed to have been built by "Peveril of the
Peak;" it was fortified during King John's time, and traces of the
fortifications still remain; it was repeatedly besieged and taken by
assault. The present building is a square and lofty mansion of
castellated appearance, with towers at the corners built of brown stone;
in it the Earl of Newcastle, who subsequently inherited it, spent on one
occasion $75,000 in entertaining King Charles I., the entire country
round being invited to come and attend the king: Ben Jonson performed a
play for his amusement. Lord Clarendon speaks of the occasion as "such
an excess of feasting as had scarce ever been known in England before."
It now belongs to the Duke of Portland, and has fallen into partial
decay, with trees growing in some of the deserted apartments and ivy
creeping along the walls. Visitors describe it as a ghostly house, with
long vaulted passages, subterranean chambers, dungeon-like holes in the
towers, and mysterious spaces beneath the vaults whence come weird
noises. When Mr. Jennings visited Bolsover recently he described it as
like a haunted house, and after examining the apartments, in which most
things seemed going to decay, he went down stairs, guided by an old
woman, to the cellars and passages that are said to be the remains of
the original Norman castle. A chamber with a high vaulted roof was used
as a kitchen, and an ancient stone passage connected it with a crypt;
beneath this, she told him, there was a church, never opened since the
days of Peveril. Their voices had a hollow sound, and their footsteps
awakened echoes as if from a large empty space beneath: the servants,
she said, were afraid to come down where they were, excepting by twos
and threes, and she added: "Many people have seen things here besides
me: something bad has been done here, sir, and when they open that
church below they'll find it out. Just where you stand by that door I
have several times seen a lady and gentleman--only for a moment or two,
for they come like a flash; when I have been sitting in the kitchen, not
thinking of any such thing, they stood there--the gentleman with ruffles
on, the lady with a scarf round her waist; I never believed in ghosts,
but I have seen _them_. I am used to it now, and don't mind it, but we
do not like the noises, because they disturb us. Not long ago my
husband, who comes here at night, and I could not sleep at all, and we
thought at last that somebody had got shut up in the castle, for some
children had been here that day; so we lit a candle and went all over
it, but there was nothing, only the noises following us, and keeping on
worse than ever after we left the rooms, though they stopped while we
were in them." The old woman's tale shows the atmosphere there is about
this sombre and ghostly castle of Bolsover.
THE WYE AND THE DERWENT.
[Illustration: THE CRESCENT, BUXTON.]
These two noted rivers take their rise in the Derbyshire hills, and,
coming together at Rowsley near the pretty Peacock Inn, flow down to the
sea through the valleys of the Wye, the Trent, and the Humber. Rising in
the limestone hills to the north of Buxton, the Wye flows past that
celebrated bath, where the Romans first set the example of seeking its
healing waters, both hot and cold springs gushing from the rocks in
close proximity. It stands nine hundred feet above the sea, its nucleus,
"The Crescent," having been built by the Duke of Devonshire; and the
miraculous cures wrought by St. Mary's Well are noted by Charles Cotton
among the _Wonders of the Peak_. From Buxton the Wye follows a romantic
glen to Bakewell, the winding valley being availed of, by frequent
tunnels, viaducts, and embankments, as a route for the Midland Railway.
In this romantic glen is the remarkable limestone crag known as Chee
Tor, where the curving valley contracts into a narrow gorge. The gray
limestone cliffs are in many places overgrown with ivy, while trees find
rooting-places in their fissures. Tributary brooks fall into the Wye,
all flowing through miniature dales that disclose successive beauties,
and then at a point where the limestone hills recede from the river,
expanding the valley, Bakewell is reached. Here are also mineral
springs, but the most important place in the town is the parish church,
parts of which are seven hundred years old. It is a picturesque
building, cruciform, with a spire, and is rich in sepulchral remains,
containing the ancestors of the Duke of Rutland--who owns the town--in
the tombs of a long line of Vernons and Manners. In the churchyard are
several curious epitaphs, among them that of John Dale and his two
wives, the inscription concluding,
"A period's come to all their toylsome lives;
The good man's quiet--still are both his wives."
In this churchyard is also the well-known epitaph often quoted:
"Beneath a sleeping infant lies, to earth whose body lent,
More glorious shall hereafter rise, tho' not more innocent.
When the archangels trump shall blow, and souls to bodies join,
Millions will wish their lives below had been as short as thine."
[Illustration: BAKEWELL CHURCH.]
HADDON HALL.
Three miles below Bakewell, near the Wye, is one of the most famous old
mansions of England--Haddon Hall. This ancient baronial home, with its
series of houses, its courtyards, towers, embattled walls, and gardens,
stands on the side of a hill sloping down to the Wye, while the railway
has pierced a tunnel through the hill almost underneath the structure.
The buildings surround two courtyards paved with large stones, and cover
a space of nearly three hundred feet square. Outside the arched
entrance-gate to the first courtyard is a low thatched cottage used as a
porter's lodge. Haddon is maintained, not as a residence, but to give as
perfect an idea as possible of a baronial hall of the Middle Ages. To
get to the entrance the visitor toils up a rather steep hill, and on the
way passes two remarkable yew trees, cut to represent the crests of the
two families whose union by a romantic marriage is one of the traditions
of this famous place. One yew represents the peacock of Manners, the
present ducal house of Rutland, and the other the boar's head of Vernon.
Parts of this house, like so many structures in the neighborhood, were
built in the time of "Peveril of the Peak," and its great hall was the
"Martindale Hall" of Scott's novel, thus coming down to us through eight
centuries, and nearly all the buildings are at least four hundred years
old.
[Illustration: HADDON HALL, FROM THE WYE.]
Entering the gateway, the porter's guard-room is seen on the right hand,
with the ancient "peephole" through which he scanned visitors before
admitting them. Mounting the steps to the first courtyard, which is on a
lower level than the other, the chapel and the hall are seen on either
hand, while in front are the steps leading to the state-apartments. The
buildings are not lofty, but there are second-floor rooms in almost all
parts, which were occupied by the household. There is an extensive
ball-room, while the Eagle Tower rises at one corner of the court. Many
relics of the olden time are preserved in these apartments. The ancient
chapel is entered by an arched doorway from the court, and consists of a
nave, chancel, and side aisle, with an antique Norman font and a large
high-back pew used by the family. After passing the court, the
banquet-hall is entered, thirty-five by twenty-five feet, and rising to
the full height of the building. In one of the doorways is a bracket to
which an iron ring is attached, which was used, as we are told, "to
enforce the laws of conviviality." When a guest failed to drink his
allowance of wine he was suspended by the wrist to this ring, and the
liquor he failed to pour down his throat was poured into his sleeve. A
tall screen at the end of the room formed the front of a gallery, where
on great occasions minstrels discoursed sweet music, while at the
opposite end the lord and his honored guests sat on a raised dais. Here
still stands the old table, while behind the dais a flight of stairs
leads up to the state-apartments. Stags' heads and antlers of great age
are on the walls. Another door opens out of the banquet-hall into the
dining-room, the end of which is entirely taken up with a fine Gothic
window displaying the Vernon arms and quarterings. This room is
elaborately wainscoted. The royal arms are inscribed over the fireplace,
and below them is the Vernon motto carved in Gothic letters:
"Drede God and Honour the Kyng."
An exquisite oriel window looks out from this room over the woods and
grounds of Haddon, the recess bearing on one of its panels the head of
Will Somers, who was Henry VIII.'s jester. The drawing-room, which is
over the dining-room, is hung with old tapestry, above which is a frieze
of ornamental mouldings. A pretty recessed window also gives from this
room a delightful view over the grounds.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE BANQUET-HALL, HADDON HALL.]
The gem of Haddon is the long gallery or ball-room, which extends over
one hundred feet along one side of the inner court: the semicircular
wooden steps leading to this apartment are said to have been cut from a
single tree that grew in the park. The gallery is wainscoted in oak in
semicircular arched panels, alternately large and small, surmounted by a
frieze and a turreted and battlemented cornice. The ceiling is
elaborately carved in geometric patterns, and the tracery contains the
alternating arms and crests of Vernon and Manners: the remains are still
visible of the rich gilding and painting of this ceiling. In the
anteroom paintings are hung, and from it a strongly-barred door opens
upon a flight of stone steps leading down to the terrace and garden:
this is "Dorothy Vernon's Door;" and across the garden another flight of
steps leading to the terrace is known as "Dorothy Vernon's Steps." It
was the gentle maiden's flight through this door and up these steps to
elope with John Manners that carried the old house and all its broad
lands into the possession of the family now owning it. The state bedroom
is hung with Gobelin tapestry, illustrating Æsop's fables: the state
bed is fourteen feet high, and furnished in green silk velvet and white
satin, embroidered by needlework, and its last occupant was George IV.
The kitchen and range of domestic offices are extensive, and show the
marvellous amount of cooking that was carried on in the hospitable days
of Haddon; the kitchen has a ceiling supported by massive beams and a
solid oak column in the centre; there are two huge fireplaces, scores of
stoves, spits, pothooks, and hangers, large chopping-blocks, dressers,
and tables, with attendant bakehouses, ovens, pantries, and larders;
among the relics is an enormous salting-trough hollowed out of one
immense block of wood. Beyond the garden or lawn, one hundred and twenty
feet square, extends the terrace, planted with ancient yews, whose
gnarled roots intertwine with and displace the stones. This terrace
extends the full width of the outer or upper garden, and gives a
charming view of the southern front of the hall.
[Illustration: THE TERRACE, HADDON HALL.]
More romance hangs about Haddon than probably any other old baronial
hall in England, and it has therefore been for years an endless source
of inspiration for poets, artists, and novelists. Mrs. Radcliffe here
laid some of the scenes of the _Mysteries of Udolpho_. Bennett's "King
of the Peak" was Sir George Vernon, the hospitable owner of Haddon.
Scott has written of it, a host of artists have painted its most
attractive features, and many a poet has sung of the
"Hall of wassail which has rung
To the unquestioned baron's jest:
Dim old chapel, where were hung
Offerings of the o'erfraught breast;
Moss-clad terrace, strangely still,
Broken shaft and crumbling frieze----
Still as lips that used to fill
With bugle-blasts the morning breeze."
But, unlike most baronial strongholds, the history of Haddon tells only
the romance of peace, love, and hospitality. It came by marriage into
the possession of the Vernons soon after the Conquest; one of them, Sir
Henry Vernon of Haddon, was appointed governor of Prince Arthur by Henry
VII. His grandson, Sir George Vernon, lived in such princely
magnificence at Haddon that he was known as the "King of the Peak;" his
initials, "G. V.," are carved in the banquet-hall. Around his youngest
daughter, Dorothy, gathers the chief halo of romance. The story in brief
is, that her elder sister, being the affianced bride of the son of the
Earl of Derby, was petted and made much of, while Dorothy, at sweet
sixteen, was kept in the background. She formed an attachment for John
Manners, son of the Earl of Rutland, but this her family violently
opposed, keeping her almost a prisoner: her lover, disguised as a
forester, lurked for weeks in the woods around Haddon, obtaining
occasionally a stolen interview. At length on a festal night, when the
ball-room was filled with guests summoned to celebrate the approaching
nuptials of the elder sister, and every one was so wrapped up in
enjoyment that there was no time to watch Dorothy, the maiden,
unobserved, stole out of the ball-room into the anteroom, and through
the door, across the garden, and up the steps to the terrace, where her
lover had made a signal that he was waiting. In a moment she was in his
arms, and rode away with him in the moonlight all night, across the
hills of Derbyshire, and into Leicestershire, where they were married
next morning. It was the old story--an elopement, a grand row, and then
all was forgiven. Sir George Vernon had no sons, and his daughters
divided his estate, Haddon going to Dorothy, who thus by her elopement
carried the famous hall over to the family of Manners. Dorothy died in
1584, leaving four children, the oldest, Sir George Manners, living at
Haddon and maintaining its hospitable reputation. Dying in 1679, his son
John Manners, who was the ninth Earl of Rutland, became the master of
Haddon, and "kept up the good old mansion at a bountiful rate," as the
chronicler tells us. He kept one hundred and forty servants, and had so
many retainers and guests that every day the tables in the old
banquet-hall were spread as at a Christmas feast. The earl was raised to
the rank of duke, and his son John, Duke of Rutland, known as the "Old
Man of the Hill," died in 1779, since which time the family have not
used the hall as a place of residence, having gone to Belvoir in
Leicestershire. Its present owner is the sixth Duke of Rutland, Charles
Cecil Manners, and the descendant of the famous Dorothy. There are few
places, even in England, that have the fame of Haddon, and it is one of
the chief spots sought out by the tourist. The duke maintains it just as
it existed centuries ago, with the old furniture and utensils, so as to
reproduce as faithfully as possible the English baronial hall of his
ancestors.
CHATSWORTH.
[Illustration: THE "PEACOCK," FROM THE ROAD.]
[Illustration: CHATSWORTH HOUSE, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.]
[Illustration: MARBLE DOORWAY TO STATE DRAWING-ROOM.]
[Illustration: STATE DRAWING-ROOM, CHATSWORTH.]
Below Haddon Hall the valley of the Wye broadens, with yet richer
scenery, as it approaches the confluence of the Wye and Derwent at
Rowsley, where the quaint old Peacock Inn, which was the manor-house of
Haddon, bears over the door the date 1653, and the crest of the ducal
House of Rutland, a peacock with tail displayed. Ascending for a short
distance the valley of the Derwent, which washes the bases of the steep
limestone hills, we come to Chatsworth. In sharp contrast with the
ancient glories of Haddon is this modern ducal palace, for whose
magnificence Bess of Hardwicke laid the foundation. This "Palace of the
Peak" stands in a park covering over two thousand acres; the Derwent
flows in front, over which the road to the palace is carried by a fine
bridge. From the river a lawn gently slopes upward to the buildings, and
the wooded hill which rises sharply behind them is surmounted by a
hunting-tower, embosomed in trees. A herd of at least a thousand deer
roam at will over the park, and have become very tame. Chatsworth is a
brownish-yellow building, square and flat-topped, with a modern and more
ornamental wing. Its front extends fully six hundred feet, and in parts
it is of that depth. The estate was bought in the sixteenth century by
Sir William Cavendish, who built the original house, a quadrangular
building with turrets, which was greatly extended by his wife. It was
used as a fortress in the Civil Wars, and was considerably battered. The
first Duke of Devonshire about the year 1700 rebuilt the mansion,
employing the chief architects, artists, designers, and wood-carvers of
his time, among them Sir Christopher Wren. In the grounds, not far from
the bridge over the Derwent, is the "Bower of Mary Queen of Scots."
There is a small, clear lake almost concealed by foliage, in the centre
of which is a tower, and on the top a grass-grown garden, where are also
several fine trees. Here, under guard, the captive was permitted to take
the air. In those days she looked out upon a broad expanse of woods and
moorland: now all around has been converted into gardens and a park.
Entering the house through a magnificent gateway, the visitor is taken
into the entrance-hall, where the frescoes represent the life and death
of Julius Cæsar; then up the grand staircase of amethyst and variegated
alabaster guarded by richly-gilded balustrades. The
gorgeously-embellished chapel is wainscoted with cedar, and has a
sculptured altar made of Derbyshire marbles. The beautiful drawing-room
opens into a series of state-apartments lined with choice woods and hung
with Gobelin tapestries representing the cartoons of Raphael.
Magnificent carvings and rare paintings adorn the walls, while the
richest decorations are everywhere displayed. Over the door of the
antechamber is a quill pen so finely carved that it almost reproduces
the real feather. In the Scarlet Room are the bed on which George II.
died and the chairs and footstools used at the coronation of George III.
On the north side of the house is another stairway of oak, also richly
gilded. In the apartments replacing those where Mary Queen of Scots
lived are her bed-hangings and tapestries. There is an extensive library
with many rare books and manuscripts, and a sculpture-gallery, lined
with Devonshire marble, containing many statues and busts, and also two
recumbent lions, each nine feet long and four feet high and weighing
four tons, and carved out of a solid block of marble. The final
enlargement of Chatsworth was completed about forty years ago, when
Queen Victoria made a state visit and was given a magnificent reception
by the Duke of Devonshire.
[Illustration: STATE BEDROOM, CHATSWORTH.]
[Illustration: THE SCULPTURE-GALLERY, CHATSWORTH.]
The gardens at Chatsworth are as noted as the house, and are to many
minds the gem of the estate. They cover about one hundred and twenty-two
acres, and are so arranged as to make a beautiful view out of every
window of the palace. All things are provided that can add to rural
beauty--fountains, cascades, running streams, lakes, rockeries,
orange-groves, hothouses, woods, sylvan dells--and no labor or expense
is spared to enhance the attractions of trees, flowers, and shrubbery.
From a stone temple, which it completely covers, the great cascade flows
down among dolphins, sea-lions, and nymphs, until it disappears among
the rocks and seeks an underground outlet into the Derwent. Enormous
stones weighing several tons are nicely balanced, so as to rock at the
touch or swing open for gates. Others overhang the paths as if a gust of
wind might blow them down. In honor of the visit of the Czar Nicholas in
1844 the great "Emperor Fountain" was constructed, which throws a column
of water to an immense height. The grounds are filled with trees planted
by kings, queens, and great people on their visits to the palace. The
finest of all the trees is a noble Spanish chestnut of sixteen feet
girth. Weeping willows do not grow at Chatsworth, but they have provided
one in the form of a metal tree, contrived so as to discharge a deluge
of raindrops from its metallic leaves and boughs when a secret spring
is touched. The glory of the Chatsworth gardens, however, is the
conservatory, a beautiful structure of glass and iron covering nearly an
acre, the arched roof in the centre rising to a height of sixty-seven
feet. In this famous hot-house are the rarest palms and tropical plants.
It was designed by Joseph Paxton, the duke's head-gardener, and,
enlarging the design, Paxton constructed in the same way the London
Crystal Palace for the Exhibition of 1851, for which service he was
knighted. Besides this rare collection of hot-house plants, the famous
Victoria Regia is in a special house at Chatsworth, growing in a tank
thirty-four feet in diameter, the water being maintained at the proper
temperature and kept constantly in motion as a running stream. The seed
for this celebrated plant was brought from Guiana, and it first bloomed
here in 1849. Some fifty persons are employed in the gardens and
grounds, besides the servants in the buildings, showing the retinue
necessary to maintain this great show-palace, for that is its chief
present use, the Duke of Devonshire seldom using it as a residence, as
he prefers the less pretentious but more comfortable seat he possesses
at Bolton in Yorkshire. North of Chatsworth Park, near Baslow, on top of
a hill, is the strange mass of limestone which can be seen from afar,
and is known as the Eagle Rock.
[Illustration: GATEWAY TO STABLE.]
MATLOCK AND DOVEDALE.
[Illustration: HIGH TOR, MATLOCK.]
[Illustration: THE STRAITS, DOVEDALE.]
[Illustration: BANKS OF THE DOVE.]
Retracing the Derwent to the Wye again, the valley of the latter is open
below for several miles, and then as Matlock is approached a mass of
limestone stretching across the valley seems to bar all egress, and the
river plunges through a narrow glen. The bold gray crags of the High Tor
rise steeply on the left hand, and the gorge not being wide enough for
both river and railway, the latter pierces a tunnel through the High
Tor. The river bends sharply to the right, and the village makes a long
street along the bank and rises in terraces up the steep hill behind.
These are the "Heights of Abraham," while the pretty slope below the
High Tor is the "Lovers' Walk." Matlock is beautifully situated, and its
springs are in repute, while the caves in the neighborhood give plenty
of opportunity for that kind of exploration. The Derbyshire marbles are
quarried all about, and mosaic manufacture is carried on. It was near
Matlock that Arkwright first set up his cotton-spinning machine, and
when fortune and fame had made him Sir Richard Arkwright he built
Willersley Castle for his home, on the banks of the Derwent. The valley
of the little river Dove also presents some fine scenery, especially in
the fantastic shapes of its rocks. The river runs between steep hills
fringed with ash and oak and hawthorn, and Dovedale can be pursued for
miles with interest. One of its famous resorts is the old and
comfortable Izaak Walton Inn, sacred to anglers. In Dovedale are the
rocks called the Twelve Apostles, the Tissington Spires, the Pickering
Tor, the caverns known as the Dove Holes, and Reynard's Hall, while the
entire stream is full of memories of those celebrated fishermen of two
centuries ago, Walton and his friend Cotton.
[Illustration: TISSINGTON SPIRES.]
BEAUCHIEF ABBEY.
Before leaving Derbyshire the ruin of Beauchief Abbey, which gave the
name of Abbey Dale to one of the pleasant vales on the eastern border of
the county, must not be forgotten. It was built seven hundred years ago,
and there remains but a single fragment of this famous religious house,
the arch of the great east window. Singularly enough, under the same
roof with the abbey was built an inn, and at a short distance there is a
hermitage: the hermit's cave is scooped out of a rock elevated above the
valley and overhung with foliage. We are told that a pious baker lived
in the town of Derby who was noted for his exemplary life: the Virgin
Mary, as a proof of his faith, required him to relinquish all his
worldly goods and go to Deepdale and lead a solitary life in Christ's
service. He did as he was told, departed from Derby, but had no idea
where he was to go; directing his footsteps towards the east, he passed
through a village, and heard a woman instruct a girl to drive some
calves to Deepdale. Regarding this as an interposition of Providence,
the baker, encouraged, asked where was Deepdale; the woman told the girl
to show him. Arrived there, he found it marshy land, distant from any
human habitation; but, seeking a rising ground, he cut a small dwelling
in a rock under the side of a hill, built an altar, and there spent day
and night in the Divine service, with hunger and cold, thirst and want.
Now, it happened that a person of great consequence owned this
land--Ralph, the son of Geremund--and coming to the woods to hunt, he
saw smoke rising from the hermit's cave, and was filled with
astonishment that any one should have dared to establish a dwelling
there without his permission. Going to the place, he found the hermit
clothed in old rags and skins, and, inquiring about his case, Ralph's
anger changed to pity. To show his compassion, he granted the hermit the
ground where the hermitage stood, and also for his support the tithe of
a mill not far away. The tradition further relates "that the old Enemy
of the human race" then endeavored to make the hermit dissatisfied with
his condition, but "he resolutely endured all its calamities," and
ultimately he built a cottage and oratory, and ended his days in the
service of God. After his death, Ralph's daughter prevailed upon her
husband to dedicate Deepdale to religious uses, and he inviting the
canons, they built the abbey. We are told in Howitt's _Forest Minstrel_
of the wonder caused by the construction of the abbey, and also how in
later years the monks became corrupted by prosperity. A place is shown
to visitors where the wall between the chapel and the inn gave way to
the thirsty zeal of the monks, and through an opening their favorite
liquor was handed. The _Forest Minstrel_ tells us they
"Forsook missal and mass
To chant o'er a bottle or shrive a lass;
No matin's bell called them up in the morn,
But the yell of the hounds and sound of the horn;
No penance the monk in his cell could stay
But a broken leg or a rainy day:
The pilgrim that came to the abbey-door,
With the feet of the fallow-deer found it nailed o'er;
The pilgrim that into the kitchen was led.
On Sir Gilbert's venison there was fed.
And saw skins and antlers hang o'er his head."
STAFFORD AND TRENTHAM.
[Illustration: TRENTHAM HALL.]
The rivers which drain the limestone hills of Derbyshire unite to form
the Trent, and this stream, after a winding and picturesque course
through Midland England towards the eastward, flows into the Humber, and
ultimately into the North Sea. Its first course after leaving Derby is
through Staffordshire, one of the great manufacturing counties of
England, celebrated for its potteries, whose product Josiah Wedgewood so
greatly improved. The county-seat is Stafford, on the Sow River, not far
from the Trent Valley, and on a high hill south-west of the town are the
remains of the castle of the Barons, of Stafford, originally built a
thousand years ago by the Saxons to keep the Danes in check. This
castle was destroyed and rebuilt by William the Conqueror; again
destroyed and again rebuilt by Ralph de Stafford in Edward III.'s reign.
In the Civil Wars this castle was one of the last strongholds of King
Charles I., but it was ultimately taken by Cromwell's troops and
demolished, excepting the keep; a massive castellated building of modern
construction now occupies its place. The river Trent, in its winding
course, forms near Trentham a fine lake, and the beautiful neighborhood
has been availed of for the establishment of the splendid residence of
the Duke of Sutherland, about a mile west of the village, and known as
Trentham Hall. The park is extensive, the gardens are laid out around
the lake, and the noble Italian building, which is of recent
construction, has a fine campanile tower one hundred feet high, and
occupies a superb situation. The old church makes part of Trentham Hall,
and contains monuments of the duke's family and ancestors, the
Leveson-Gowers, whose extensive estates cover a wide domain in
Staffordshire. Trentham, which is in the pottery district and not far
from Newcastle-under-Lyme, was originally a monastery, founded by St.
Werburgh, niece of Æthelred. She was one of the most famous of the
Anglo-Saxon saints, and some venerable yews still mark the spot where
her original house stood, it being known as Tricengham. These yews, said
to have been planted about that time, form three sides of a square. The
religious house, rebuilt in William Rufus's reign, was given, at the
dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., to his brother-in-law,
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and it afterwards came into possession
of the Levesons. From the marriage of a daughter of Sir John Leveson
with Sir Thomas Gower sprang the family of the present ducal house of
Sutherland, the head of it being created Marquis of Stafford in 1786 and
Duke of Sutherland in 1833. The present duke is the third who has held
the title, his mother having been the daughter of the Earl of
Carlisle--the famous Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland. The old Trentham
Hall was built in 1633, being rebuilt and enlarged by Sir Charles Barry
about fifty years ago.
[Illustration: TRENTHAM HALL--ON THE TERRACE.]
TAMWORTH AND TUTBURY.
Staffordshire contains some famous places. In the eastern part of the
county, bordering Warwick, is the ancient town of Tamworth, standing
upon the little river Tame; this was originally a fortification built
for defence against the Danes, and its castle was founded by Marmion, of
whom Scott writes,
"They hailed Lord Marmion,
They hailed him Lord of Fontenaye,
Of Lutterward and Scrivelbaye,
Of Tamworth tower and town."
Tamworth is also Shakespearian ground, for here Richmond halted on his
march to Bosworth Field, and made a stirring address to inspire his
forces for the coming combat. In later years Tamworth sent Sir Robert
Peel to Parliament, and his bronze statue adorns the market-square; the
ruins of the ancient castle are almost obliterated, and the present
castle is upon higher ground, its architecture being of various periods.
Tutbury Castle, of which little is left but a straggling mass of ruins,
stands on an eminence overlooking the Dove, and crowns a ridge of red
sandstone rock: it was a great stronghold, founded by John of Gaunt,
covering several acres, and was demolished after the Civil Wars. This
castle, like so many other famous places, was also one of the
prison-palaces of Mary Queen of Scots; although the castle is destroyed,
yet near by is its parish church of St. Mary, founded by Henry de
Ferrars in the reign of William Rufus, and known then as Ferrars Abbey:
its west end is one of the most perfect Norman fronts remaining in
England, and it has been carefully restored. Tutbury is known for some
of its ancient customs, among them the annual bull-running. A minstrel
band, after devotions and a long sermon in the abbey, had an excellent
dinner in the castle, and then repairing to the abbey-gate demanded the
bull; the prior let the bull out, with his horns and tail cut off, his
ears cropped, his body greased, and his nostrils filled with pepper to
make him furious. The bull being let loose, the steward proclaimed that
none were to come nearer than forty feet, nor to hinder the minstrels,
but all were to attend to their own safety. The minstrels were to
capture the bull before sunset, and on that side of the river, but if
they failed or he escaped across the stream, he remained the lord's
property. It was seldom possible to take him fairly, but if he was held
long enough to cut off some of his hair it was considered a capture, and
after a bull-baiting he was given to the minstrels. Thus originated the
Tutbury bull-running, which ultimately degenerated into a scene of wild
debauchery, often resulting in a terrible riot. The Duke of Devonshire,
when he came into possession of Tutbury, was compelled to abolish the
custom. About six miles from Stafford is Chartley Castle, dating from
the Conquest, and belonging to the Earls of Chester and Derby, and
subsequently to the famous Earl of Essex, who here entertained Queen
Elizabeth, and afterwards planned the plot for which she signed his
death-warrant. This castle has been many years in ruins: it had a
circular keep about fifty feet in diameter, and the present remains are
chiefly the fragments of two round towers and part of a wall twelve feet
thick, with loopholes constructed for shooting arrows at an attacking
force. Queen Mary was also imprisoned here, and a bed said to have been
wrought by her is shown in the village. This unfortunate queen seems to
have had more prisons and wrought more needlework than any other woman
in Britain.
ALTON TOWERS.
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.
SHREWSBURY.
[Illustration: SHREWSBURY CASTLE, FROM THE RAILWAY-STATION.]
[Illustration: HEAD-QUARTERS OF HENRY VII. ON HIS WAY TO BOSWORTH FIELD,
SHREWSBURY.]
[Illustration: ON BATTLEFIELD ROAD, SHREWSBURY.]
Westward of Stafford is the land of the "proud Salopians," Shropshire,
through which flows the Severn, on whose banks stands the ancient town
from which the Earls of Shrewsbury take their title. We are told that
the Britons founded this town, and that in Edward the Confessor's time
it had five churches and two hundred and thirty houses, fifty-one of
which were cleared away to make room for the castle erected by Roger de
Montgomery, a kinsman of William the Conqueror. The Norman king created
him Earl of Shrewsbury long before the present line of earls began with
John Talbot. Wars raged around the castle: it was besieged and battered,
for it stood an outpost in the borderland of Wales. It was here that
Henry IV. assembled an army to march against Glendower, and in the
following year fought the battle of Shrewsbury against Hotspur, then
marching to join Glendower. Hotspur's death decided the battle. The
Wars of the Roses were fought around the town, and here Henry VII., then
the Earl of Richmond, slept when going to Bosworth Field; and in the
Civil Wars King Charles had Shrewsbury's support, but Cromwell's forces
captured it. The town is on a fine peninsula almost encircled by the
Severn, and the castle stands at the entrance to the peninsula. Only the
square keep and part of the inner walls remain of the original castle,
but a fine turret has been added by modern hands. In the neighborhood of
Shrewsbury are the remains of the Roman city of Uriconium, said to have
been destroyed by the Saxons in the sixth century. Shrewsbury has always
been famous for pageants, its annual show being a grand display by the
trade societies. It is also famous for its cakes, of which Shenstone
says:
"And here each season do those cakes abide,
Whose honored names the inventive city own,
Rendering through Britain's isle Salopia's praises known."
The great Shrewsbury cake is the "simnel," made like a pie, the crust
colored with saffron and very thick. It is a confection said to be
unsafe when eaten to excess, for an old gentleman, writing from
melancholy experience in 1595, records that "sodden bread which bee
called simnels bee verie unwholesome." The Shropshire legend about its
origin is that a happy couple got into a dispute whether they should
have for dinner a boiled pudding or a baked pie. While they disputed
they got hungry, and came to a compromise by first boiling and then
baking the dish that was prepared. To the grand result of the double
process--his name being Simon and her's Nell--the combined name of
simnel was given. And thus from their happily-settled contention has
come Shrewsbury's great cake, of which all England acknowledges the
merit.
BRIDGENORTH AND WENLOCK ABBEY.
[Illustration:
BRIDGENORTH.
1. From near Oldbury.
2. Keep of the Castle.
]
Following down the Severn River from Shrewsbury, we come to Bridgenorth,
an ancient town planted on a steep hill, full of quaint houses, and
having an old covered market where the country-people gather on
Saturdays. The lower part is of brick, and the upper part is
black-and-white-timbered, but the human love for what is old and
familiar is shown by the way in which the people still fill up the old
market-house, though a fine new one has recently been built. The most
prized of the old houses of this venerable town is a foundry and
blacksmith shop standing by the river; it was in this house that Bishop
Percy, author of the _Reliques_, was born. On the promontory of
sandstone, which steeply rises about one hundred and eighty feet above
the river, the upper part of the town is built, and here are the ruins
of Bridgenorth Castle, which stood in an exceptionally strong situation.
The red sandstone predominates here, but not much of it remains in the
castle, there being little left excepting a huge fragment of the massive
wall of the keep, which now inclines so much on one side from the
settlement of the foundation as to be almost unsafe. This castle was
built eight hundred years ago by the third and last of the Norman Earls
of Shrewsbury: it was held for King Charles in the Civil Wars, and
underwent a month's siege before it surrendered, when the conquerors
destroyed it. Bridgenorth is the most picturesque of all the towns on
the Severn, owing to the steep promontory up which the houses extend
from the lower to the upper town and the magnificent views from the
castle. The communication with the hill is by a series of
steeply-winding alleys, each being almost a continuous stairway: they
are known as the "Steps." A bridge with projecting bastions crosses the
river and connects the higher with the lower parts of the town, thus
giving the place its name.
[Illustration: HOUSE WHERE BISHOP PERCY WAS BORN, BRIDGENORTH.]
[Illustration: LODGE OF MUCH WENLOCK ABBEY.]
About twelve miles south-east of Shrewsbury is the village of Much
Wenlock, where there are remains of a magnificent abbey founded by the
Black monks, and exhibiting several of the Early English and Gothic
styles of architecture, but, like most else in these parts, it has
fallen in ruin, and many of the materials have been carried off to build
other houses. Portions of the nave, transepts, chapter-house, and
abbot's house remain, the latter being restored and making a fine
specimen of ecclesiastical domestic architecture built around a court.
An open cloister extends the entire length of the house. There are
beautiful intersecting Norman arches in the chapter-house. There are
some quaint old houses in the town--timbered structures with bold
bow-windows--and not a few of them of great age. Roger de Montgomery is
credited with founding Wenlock Abbey at the time of the Norman Conquest.
The site was previously occupied by a nunnery, said to have been the
burial-place of St. Milburgh, who was the granddaughter of King Penda of
Mercia. This was a famous religious house in its day, and it makes a
picturesque ruin, while the beauty of the neighboring scenery shows how
careful the recluses and religious men of old were to cast their lots
and build their abbeys in pleasant places.
[Illustration: WENLOCK.]
LUDLOW CASTLE.
[Illustration: LUDLOW CASTLE.]
The most important of all the castles in the middle marches of Wales was
Ludlow, whose grand ruins, mouldered into beauty, stand upon the river
Tame, near the western border of Shropshire. It was here that the lord
president of the Council of Wales held his court. Its ruins, though
abandoned, have not fallen into complete decay, so that it gives a fine
representation of the ancient feudal border stronghold: it is of great
size, with long stretches of walls and towers, interspersed with thick
masses of foliage and stately trees, while beneath is the dark rock on
which it is founded. It was built shortly after the Conquest by Roger de
Montgomery, and after being held by the Norman Earls of Shrewsbury it
was fortified by Henry I.: then Joyce de Dinan held it, and confined
Hugh de Mortimer as prisoner in one of the towers, still known as
Mortimer's Tower. Edward IV. established it as the place of residence
for the lord president of the Council that governed Wales: here the
youthful King Edward V. was proclaimed, soon to mysteriously disappear.
From Ludlow C
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