April 15, 1916. THE FIELD, THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S NEWSPAPER. 621 with Anthony Ashley Cooper, the first Lord of Shaftesbury, the Duke of\ Buckingham, and Lord Salisbury. He seems to have followed the ill-fated prince to Louis XIV. ’s Court, for we read that in 1683 the Duke of Monmouth rode a horse of Lord Wharton’s to victory for the King’s Plate at Echere, near St. Germain. In 1684 the Duke of York, writing to the Countess of Lichfield, mentions that “ Lord Godolphin’s horse lost all three hats to Mr Wharton’s grey gelding.” The successful owner alluded to was presumably the future Thomas Lord Wharton. In 1688 the account book of Child’s, the famous Fleet-street bankers, show an entry of seven guineas paid by Humphrey Lord Wharton as subscription for. the King’s Plate at Winchester. That Good Horse Careless. Thomas Lord Wharton, who came into the title in 1693, and was one of the famous “Junta” with Russell, the victor of La Hogue, and Montagu, the great financier, owned that good horse Careless, by Spanker out of a Barb mare. Careless was the sire of Betty Leedes, the dam of Flying Childers, by the Darley Arabian, whose blood still strongly influences the modern turf. At the Newmarket Spring Meeting in 1698 Careless ran a match with the King’s Stiff Dick, entered under the name of the famous Mr Frampton — five miles, a feather to nine-stone for £500 — • and was beaten, although the odds were 7 to 4 against Stiff Dick. At the same meeting Lord Wharton’s Snail was stopped by the spectators in finishing for a heat of the Plate, won by Sir John Parsons, the sporting Lord Mayor of London. At the Spring Meeting of the following year Careless did better, and won a match of six miles for £1900 a side, in which the Duke of Devonshire was a loser. Another horse of Tom Wharton’s running in those days was Colchester, and his name appears furthermore in the accounts of the Master of the Horse of that period as having sold horses to the Royal stud. He was Viceroy of Ireland in 1701, and is also mentioned as a member of the Kitcat Club. He was an admirable swordsman, and when Graham Viscount Cheyney, who was returned for Buckinghamshire by the Tories, tried to fasten a quarrel on Tom Wharton in order to dispose of him, he was disarmed in a few passes. Early Racing Studs. Thomas’s son and heir, Philip, who acceded to the title and was created a duke in the same year in which Flying Childers was foaled, owned Rake and Othello, got by Grey- hound, who was by Chillaby, King William’s White Barb, out of Slugey, a natural Barb mare. In 1718 his Snail was beaten at Newmarket for 200gs. by Mr Pelham’s Brocklesby Betty. Other horses of his were Stripling and Swallow, who* ran against that famous horse Fox, bred by Sir Ralph Ashton in the year of Queen Anne’s death, by Clumsy out of Bay Peg. Incomplete as are the records indicated above, they nevertheless reveal what good and prominent sportsmen the former beafers of the name of Wharton have been, and if in those future days when peace brings sport once more into its own the new Lord Wharton should take an active part in racing, he would but add a fitting sequel to the sporting traditions of his ancestors. THE GARDEN, THE WOBURN TREES. O F THE MANY DISTINGUISHED MEMBERS of the house of Russell, John, sixth Duke of Bedford, will always be remembered for the great services he rendered to botany, horticulture, and agriculture. This devotion to horticulture was particularly exemplified in the case of his Bedfordshire seat, Woburn Abbey, which in the earlier years of the last* century was the centre of great horticultural activity. In 1836 there were over 6000 species and varieties of plants in cultivation at Woburn, including rich collec- 'v-V’.r. %sMm BPi.: in*! apis THE WOBURN BEECH, 126FT. HIGH, 14FT. lOlN. IN GIRTH AT 5FT tions of grasses, heaths, cacti, orchids, and willows. These subsequently formed the materials for elaborately illustrated catalogues, which he had privately printed and distributed at his own expense. The duke, like many other great land- owners of his day, paid great attention to arboriculture, and was especially fond of conifers. The immense and finely timbered park of 5000 acres which surrounds Woburn Abbey abundantly testifies to his enthusiasm in this direction. Much of the earlier planting at Woburn was carried out by the fourth duke, who in 1743 laid out the large plantation of about 100 acres on the west side of the park known as the Evergreens. The Pinetum Woburnense, isssued by the sixth duke in 1839, with the assistance of his gardener, James Forbes, is an illustrated catalogue of the various conifers originally represented at Woburn; but a great many of the trees which flourished in Forbes’s time no longer exist. There are, however, a good number of noteworthy trees still remaining. Among these the palm must be given to the magnificent Lebanon cedars, which are among the finest in the country. The largest of them is 120ft. high, with an immense stem 20ft. in girth. Another probably of the same age is 115ft. high and 19ft. in circumference. Wellingtonia has done well at Woburn. There are several specimens over 90ft. high, some of which were planted in 1863, and others at a later date. Along a broad green drive known as the Pinetum there are two or three trees of special interest. These include the finest known specimens in England of the North American white spruce ( Picea alba), also Larix pendula, for- merly known as L. dahurica, which Professor Henry now considers to be a hybrid between the American tama- rach and the European larch. This tree is now 92ft. high and 7ft. 6 in. in girth; it has a cedar-like bark, and the cones, which it produces in abun- dance, are extremely variable in size. Several old Weymouth pines have been exceptionally fine trees, but are now much past their best. A feature of the evergreens is the fine old plantation of Scots pine, which contains some picturesque trees. There are well - grown trees of Abies magnifica and A. lowiana. The best specimen of the latter I"™ ° ver 70f *; hi & h u ntil its top was blown out during a . s orm. The rare Japanese fir A. jirma is represented by two examples of average size, and there are young and thriving plants of A. amabilis, A. balsamea, and A. veitchii several Corsican pines have reached a height of a hundred feet, and a Sitka spruce ( Picea stitchensis) is about as tall. The open part of the park is finely timbered with oak, elm, beech, and chestnut. Loudon, who first visited Woburn in 1825, was much impressed by the fine oaks he found there, and there are still many massive trees. One of the best is that shown in the photograph. It is about 98ft. high, 18ft. round the bole, and has a splendid head. The Abbot oak, on a limb of which, tradition says, the Venerable Abbot of Woburn was hanged in 1637 for refusing to give up his monastery, stands not far from the Abbey. When last measured in 1914 it was 90ft. high and 18ft. in girth. A large limb was blown off it during a recent gale. Two Huntingdon elms have attained an exceptional size, one being over 100ft. high and 15ft. in girth. The Woburn beech is, or rather was, the finest tree on the estate. It has a clean, straight ,bole for 50ft. up, and is' 14ft. lOin. in girth. The total height of the tree was about 100ft., and it contained over 600ft. of timber. During the violent gale of Dec. 27 last nearly the whole of the top was blown out, completely spoiling the appear- ance of the tree. This beech must be nearly 200 years old. There is an old woodcut of it in Pontey’s Forest Pruner, pub- lished in 1805, in which year the tree was about 70ft. high, with a clean bole of 50ft. Loudon also refers to this tree as the celebrated beech at Woburn which in 1837 was 100ft. high and 12Jft. in girth at 4ft. from the ground. These measurements show that the tree has only increased in girth since Loudon’s time. The photograph shows the tree before it was damaged by the gale. The black Italian poplar has been largely planted at Woburn, and grows every- where with great vigour. One of the largest trees of it is 130ft. high and over 20ft. in girth. The Japanese keaki ( Zelkora acuminata ; a fine Japan birch (Betula papyri} era) , 71ft. high by 7ft, in girth; a silver maple ( Acer dasycarpum) , 73ft. by 10ft. ; the white cedar ( Gupressus thyoides), Abies grandis, the American aspen (Populus tremulerdis), the one-leaved ash (Fraxinus mono- pliylla) ; the cut-leaved alder, Fraxinus angustifolia, Juglans regia, Pyrus pinnatifida, and Junipcrus virginiana are [Phots : E. J. Wallis. WOBURN OAK, HEIGHT 98FT., GIRTH 18FT. other interesting trees in this park. The pleasure grounds contain some splendid English oaks, one of these being 86ft. high, with a massive trunk nearly 19ft. in girth. One of the rarest trees is an old specimen of Liquidambar orientalis, 29ft. high. Among the deciduous trees are Gleditschia triacanthos, G. caspica, a large cut-leaved hornbeam, the Turkish hazel ( Corylus column), the white mulberry, the red and scarlet oaks Quercus ruba and Q. coccinea, Q. Toza, the maples Acer macropliyllum and A. pennsylvanicum, the ashes Fraxinus oregona and F. pennsylvanica, and the sweet buck- eye (Aesculus octandra). Two small trees of the beautiful Indian chestnut ( Aesculus indica), raised from nuts sent from Simla in 1887 by the present Duke of Bedford, are now making good growth. But it would take several pages of the Field to describe all the interesting trees at Woburn. It is satisfactory to learn that a catalogue of the whole collection is in contemplation. We are indebted to the Duke of Bedford for permission to reproduce the accompanying photographs. ' A. Bruce Jackson. WOMEN GARDENERS. W HATEVER DRAWBACKS there may be in farm- work for women, there are fewer in gardening. Women have been steadily pushing their way through the garden gate for the last twenty years, for it was in 1896 that they were first recognised and encouraged by admission into the journeymen gardeners’ ranks at Kew. Then there was no need of women’s assistance, and, indeed, until the war drew so many gardeners into the Army, there was always a glut of men gardeners — in this country, at any rate. Now, how’ever, there are so few men left to do the work of the garden that women with any training at all are eagerly sought after, whilst the few who have had experience are at a premium. There are thirty women gardeners now employed at Kew, and we are informed that their work, both in quality and quantity, is equal to that of the men whose places they have taken. Their conditions of employment are stated in the following memo : During the war a limited number of women are employed at Kew to replace gardeners who have enlisted. They are all women who have received a good training in professional horticulture, either in a horticultural college or in a garden of repute, a necessary qualification for the duties to be per- formed at Kew. The wages for women gardeners occupying the position of journeymen at Kew are 4s. per day. Their working hours are: Summer, 6 a.m. to 8, 8.45 to 12, 1 to 5 p.m. ; winter, 8 a.m. to 12, 1 to 4.30 p.m. ; Saturday afternoons generally free. Extra pay is allowed for Sunday duty and overtime. These particulars should serve as a guide to those who wish to employ women gardeners. There is evidence of a desire to pay women less than men for work of this character. On the other hand, we know employers who in fairness to the women have decided to pay them at a higher rate than men, for the very sufficient, reason that they are keen, pains- taking, and thoughtful, qualities which are too frequently wanting in the average young man gardener. This superiority in the women is easily accounted for. They are well educated, coming, as most of them do, from the well-to-do or middle classes, and they are gardeners from choice, not from necessity. Their training in the art is, as a rule, more theoretical than practical, but when afforded the opportunity they make up for lost time by application and attention to the practical side 1 . Hitherto gardening has been a kind of Cinderella among the industries of importance. It is unfortunate in its relation- ship with agriculture, and the man who keeps the garden, like the toiler in the field, is expected to work long, laborious "X, 622 THE EIELD, THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S NEWSPAPER. April 15. 1916. hours for low pay. In the competition for labour the higher paid industries naturally attract the youths that aim to get on. The advent of women in horticulture is of good omen. They bring intelligence and ambition, and they will insist on reasonable conditions of employment.. Another result of their taking up gardening as a suitable calling will be the separation of the heavy drudgery work from that which has a right to be considered art. The artisan has his man, his labourer, to wait on him. A trained gardener need not waste his time in mere digging, hoeing, pot-washing, &c. Such duties are no more gardening than road-making is, and in objecting to them the women are taking the line which men should have taken long ago. Gardening is a most productive and profitable art when practised on the right lines. We are thinking now of the production of plants of economic value rather than of mere decorative gardening, for, valuable as the latter may be when peace and plenty reign, in times of stress like the present it is of little account. Once upon a time the important requirements of the family, such as bread, beer, and clothing, were home made, just as fruit, vegetables, and flowers are in many establishments home provided to-day. The joy of the garden (we need not consider the other sides of worry and expense) has kept it as a part of the home. Yet there appears to be no good ’ reason why we should not get fruit, vegetables, &c., from the market gardener as we get bread from the baker, beer from the brewer, &c. Many owners of large gardens have solved this problem by letting their orchards and kitchen gardens to professionals, buying from them what is required. The garden in which the attempt is made with a jobbing or ill-trained help to provide the family with fruit and vegetables is very often as expensive as it is irritating. Flat residences have enabled many to get rid of this and other worries of the “ commodious residence, with large garden, &c. _ The weary gardener finds employment in the properly equipped market grower’s establishment when this happens. _ The more one thinks it over the nearer he gets to conviction that private gardens are a mistake. The produce of the garden will always be m demand. One of the effects of this war will be to cause our people to eat more fruit and vegetables and less flesh than formerly. The British gardener has something to learn from his con- tinental brethren with respect to vegetable growing, or rather to the production of greater variety and a continuous supply, though he has little to learn about fruit, except perhaps in the best methods of storing. And here the womens care and forethought should tell. They tram into habits of economy, of fitting ways to means, better than the average men do. Of all the callings which men have looked upon as unsuitable for women, gardening is perhaps the least so. A pioneer in the movement to prove that women make good gardeners, namely, Viscountess Wolseley, has recently published an interesting account (In a College Garden (J Murray), 6s.) of a training garden for women established by her in the South Downs, not far from Hastings, in which she shows how young ladies fresh Irom college take to garden work as young ducks take to water. The aim was to grow market garden crops, and the book contains much that should be really helpful to women who have gardening in them. Lady Wolseley thus writes of gardening for women : “ Until quite recently many looked down upon the profession of gardencraft, for they imagined it to be a narrow life, restricted as regards its intellectual possibilities; others considered that women were physically unsuited to it. As in all new professions, there were a certain number of failures at the outset, and these were due to a lack of perception on the part of employers, and partly to the fact that the right type of young woman did not take it up. After some sixteen years of buff etings and cold-shoulderings, a few brilliant examples of the right kind of women gardeners have worked themselves up successfully through a small army of non-competents, and the craft is now an established and coveted one for ladies. 1 he employer, meanwhile, is slowly learning a lesson and begins to realise that to have a lady as a gardener is a luxury, and must not be considered an economical way of reducing the payment of a living wage. . A woman gardener, like all head gardeners, should be paid m proportion to the amount of brain-fag, deception, and other disagreeables that by honesty and intelligent supervision, she rescued her employe! from being the victim of. Then, too, her practical, well - trained skill, her scientific education, deserve remunnr a It must not be understood from the above that men gardeners have all the viees and women gardeners all the virtues. As a class gardeners are entitled to lespect and admiration for what they have accomplished in the arts ot cultivation and breeding. There are black sheep amo g them, and the percentage of such is not likely to be appre- ciably lessened by the admission of women to the calling. Our experience of trained women gardeners has been on the whole agreeable. They prove the truth of the old saying that the mare is as good as the horse. We do not think they ought to be expected to do much digging, wheeling, mowing, or tree felling, though many of them are as physically capable as men are. Nor for that matter should trained men gardeners do such work. Navvies work for navvies, fighting for warriors, mining for miners each to the calling for which he or she is best suited physically and intellectually. Not that women are unable or unwilling to do these things, for they have done them all. Gardening is one of the peaceful arts, and the higher forms of it are. among the most enjoyable, when performed m the proper spirit. There- fore let women do all they feel inclined to do m the garden, 11 _ L d /v , 4- TTTA 1 I GARDEN NOTES AND QUERIES. BITTER PIT ON PEARS. — T had some Marie Louise pears growing on a very dry wall last year which were affected apparently with the above. I put it down to want of water. The fruit ripened prematurely, and was not eatable. W. A. Hamilton (Donegal). WATER LILIES. — Hardy water lilies require to be planted in May. They are portable plants, thanks to their fleshy perennial tubers, which will not perish even if kept dry for a month or more. Consequently it is easy to get them in spring from dealers, and to place them in position before they start into growth. One of the leading dealers in these and other hardy aquatics is Messrs R. Wallace and Co., Colchester, whose list of varieties is a very comprehensive one, no less than fifty being described and offered at prices varying from l a. to 63s. per tuber. Half a dozen of the best of them are Co'lossea, Ellisiana, Gladstoneana, Gloriosa, Marliacea carnea, and W. Falconer. They require a position where the sun would shine on them most of the day and a depth of water not less than 2ft. and not more than 6ft. The simplest plan for establishing them is to set each tuber in a withy basket of good loam, holding about a bushel, and fixing wire netting over the top to prevent waterfowl and rats from disturbing them. The basket should then be sunkwheie the plant is to grow, preferably over soil in which the roots can grow after the basket has rotted. Messrs Wallace give the following directions for the prevention of blanket weed, which frequently becomes a nuisance in water, especially where BARR’S VEGETABLE AND FLOWER SEEDS of Finest Selected Strains and Tested Growth. Awarded theR.H.S. Gold Medal and Two Silver-gilt Knightian Medals. Barr’s Hardy Border Perennials, Rock Plants, Lilies, Gladioli, Begonias, Cannas, Ranunculus, &c.. ,for Spring planting. Descriptive Catalogues free. — BARR & SONS, King-street, Covent Garden, London.— [Advt.] it is still. They say that the most efficient remedy is copper sulphate, but it is important to remember that, except in minute quantities, copper sulphate is poisonous to the water lilies as well as to the weed; 2|-oz. of sulphate are sufficient to treat a pond containing 10,000 gallons of water. The simplest method of applying is to tie the crystals in a canvas bag, which can then be trailed over the surface of the water. Another remedy that has been applied with success is per- manganate of potash ; 11b. of crystals should be used for a pond of 10,000 gallons. At the proportions given above neither remedy is harmful to water lilies or to fish ; in fact, beneficial results have often been observed in their action on fish. DAFFODILS POISONOUS?— I read in the Field, April 8, that people have been poisoned through eating daffodil bulbs. Are the tops also poisonous? We have a lot in our orchard (the common double ones), also crocuses and snowdrops. Two cows which have been fed on the hay made in the orchard have for no apparent reason died. They just dwindled away (“turned twint,” as they used to say; have you ever heard this expression?). Do you think the daffodils (the tops not having died in June) would have anything to do with this ? There are also a few Austrian pines, which, of course, drop their needles, and which might get into the hay. Would they be injurious? — K. F. (Oxon). [We do not believe the death of the cows was caused by the daffodil leaves or the pine needles being mixed in the hay, as. we have a meadow in which daffodils have been planted thickly for spring effect and by the side of which pine trees grow, and the hay from the meadow has been used for years as fodder for horses without any ill-effects. — E d.] BRACKEN FRONDS AS A VEGETABLE— I think I remember that some years ago you published an article on the use of young bracken as a vegetable and gave direc- tions for cooking it. In view of the large number of H.M. ships now based on the rorthern ports, where bracken is plentiful, but where the ordinary vegetables are very scarce, I think it might be of considerable value if you could reprint the article. The Field is taken in by practically every man- of-war, and I expect a large number of naval officers and men would .be glad to try bracken if they, could get informa- tion as to its preparation. — C. W. Ltjckham, Fleet Paymaster. [We cannot find any record of the use of the young fronds as a food vegetable, either in Japan or elsewhere, and the fact that no browsing animal will eat them may ■ be . taken as evidence that they are not palatable to > stock. It is stated that in former times green bracken was used as fodder, and the young fronds when boiled have been used to feed pigs. The rhizomes are evidentlly the most nourishing part of the plant, being rich in starch. It is said that bracken roots are eaten by the Maories in New Zealand. Possibly some of our readers may be able to say if the young fronds of bracken are eaten as a vegetable in this country. — E d.] STAR DAHLIAS. — The star dahlias raised by Messrs Cheal and Sons, Crawley, are a really valuable addition to summer bedding plants, being easy to grow, practically self- supporting, very free flowering, the flowers are on long stalks, and their form and appearance suggest the Japanese anemone. that is, there are several rows of florets loosely arranged round a small bright yellow disc in such a way as to be quite as decorative as the best of the wind flowers. There are three popular varieties, namely, Crawley Star, rose pink : White Star, pure glistening white ; and Worth Star, pink and white bars. Messrs Cheal advertise two new varieties of star dahlias for this year, namely, Yellow Star, primrose yellow ; and Northern Star, deep satiny rose. The plants when at their best are about 4ft. high, and they flower most freely and continuously. A large round bed in an open place on a lawn is an ideal place for them, and they are most effective when the three kinds are mixed in the bed. Another excel- lent quality of the flowers is that of lasting a long time after being cut and placed in water, so that thev have a special value for room decoration. Like other dahlias these star kinds should be planted in deep, well-manured soil not earlier than the first week in June, and they should be set quite a yard apart each way. By sprinkling lime or soot over the surface of the soil after planting slugs are prevented from eating the young plants. Dahlias enjoy moisture at the root, and in hot weather a mulch with rotted stable manure is good for them. MANURE FOR ROSES. — The American gardeners are very successful growers of roses on what is called the express system, that is more or less forcing, with the use of special fertilisers. Professor F. W. Muncie recently read a paper before the Illinois Florists’ Association in which he gave a summary of a bulletin on Fertilisers for Roses. The best time to apply an artificial stimulant is in spring, when the roses are making growth, and again in autumn, should they be in active growth then. Sulphate of ammonia and dried blood are both applied, but the former is apt to over stimulate, as also does nitrate of soda, which is sometimes used for roses. The Professor therefore recommended the use of dried blood only at the rate of 61b. per 100 square feet, two applications of this to be made at an interval of six weeks. He also recommended the use of superphosphate in the proportion of 401b. per 100 cubic feet of .j soil, with which it should be well mixed at the time of making up beds for forcing roses under glass. It may also be used as a top dressing, the only drawback to this being the tendency to cause the roots to form near the surface of the soil. The mixing of lime or limestone with soil intended for roses was not advisable. Rrses tieated as above recommended gave a large crop of flowers and good long stems, this latter quality being of importance in America, where the longer the stems of the flowers the higher the prices they fetch. For example, the prices of cut flowers of American Beauty rose in Chicago last month were, 48in. to 60in. stems, 20s. per dozen ; 36in. stems, 16s. per dozen; 30ih. stems, 12s. per dozen; 24in. stems, 10s. per dozen. A rose with a stem 6ft. long would-be a novelty in this country. The Emergency Voluntary Aid Committee. — With reference to our notice last week of the Cafe Chantant, we are informed that Queen Alexandra has given it her patronage, but has not promised to attend. LIEUT, P. RANDALL JUHhSON, 8TH DEVON REGIMENT. f ■\(o This brilliant New Zealand cricketer was in the Eton and Cambridge eleven-, and made all too short an acquaintance with county cricket. He played for Somersetshire, and in 1908 scored 603 runs fo his county in four games (eight innings the highest being 161'. w£%E&&BR *- -lyy- B§f£«Egi mg. JOITH FROS T OF AffltIBGE,AS IT ;WA.S BT 1768. THE HISTORY OF THE tftallt ft* of UonHjoittwro, AT IN THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM, FOUNDED IN THE YEAR 1276, BY EDMUND, EARL OF CORNWALL. COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS AND OTHER AUTHENTIC SOURCES. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT MANSION, ERECTED ON THE SITE OF THE ANCIENT COLLEGE. “ A pleasanter place than Ashridge is, hard were to find, “ As Skelton rehearseth with words few and plain, “ In his distichon, made in verses twain : “ Fraxinus in clivo frondet que viret sine rivo, “ Non est sub divo similis sine Jlumine vivo." Skelton’s Crown of Laurel, 'published in 1523. Hontron : PRINTED BY R. GILBERT, ST. john’s-square. 1823. - THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOl IN-WILLI AM, EARL OP BRIDGEWATER, VISCOUNT BRACKLEY, AND BARON OF ELLESMERE, THE FOLLOWING HISTORY OF THE Ancient Allege of ISonfjowmes, at Asfmtrge, WHICH IN LATER TIMES BECAME THE RESIDENCE OF HIS LORDSHIPS NOBLE ANCESTORS, AND UPON THE SITE OF WHICH HIS OWN SPLENDID MANSION HAS BEEN SINCE ERECTED, IS WITH THE MOST GRATEFUL RESPECT INSCRIBED, BY HIS LORDSHIP’S HIGHLY OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL CHAPLAIN AND SERVANT, HENRY JOHN TODD. Grand Staircase : 38x3d . Mud Sc r ants Hall China 10 $ $4 v o jo James WVatt, Arcli' R . A. Jeffiy "Wy-atville, Arch. 1 R.A deliu 1 Grotto §§slll§ ■ Ip M llt^lg; CoacA house S/no/dru7 7iou*i‘e Steward OJjfce ihousewMeaZ Wctsh Tioure broom 'Masons' , shed E TurreD ^yitiypp ii^SEks^ PREFACE. THE history of religious houses has afforded, and will long afford, employment equal to the ardour of the most industrious antiquary. The College of Ashridge has exercised the diligence of Dugdale and Tanner, of Kennet and Willis ; men, to whose exertions any super- structure of modern research must be indebted, both for strength and dignity. To intermix their treasures with some collections of later writers, and with new means of information which the Noble Owner of Ashridge has supplied, is therefore the object of the following pages. To the compiler of them it has been a pleasure thus to connect dispersed, and hitherto unexplored, materials ; a pleasure, however, diminished by the consciousness, that his narrative is not equal to the subject; and that perpetual citation requires the relief of ingenious disquisition. What was in his power, he has done faithfully. From records, belonging to the demesnes of Ashridge, with which he became acquainted through the Earl of Bridgewater’s friendly means, long before the death of the late possessor, the illustrious Duke of Bridgewater ; and from other documents, which passed, according to the Duke’s bequest of his books and manuscripts, to the present Marquis of Stafford; have been extracted many curious particulars of Ashridge while a Convent, and after it became the residence of Lord Chancellor Egerton and his b :-r - V ' ' -r&P? '£■ 'Alt’--: ' ■ : £'c .,.. h - """"ikHI ?<*n HH Us e?'ic2 % -' v&S£w $5'! VI PREFACE. descendants. Thus from the retiredness of monastick manners the reader will be led to many notices of courtly splendour; and finally, from the demolition of this ancient edifice, to the mansion erected on nearly the conventual site, perpetuating the venerable name of AsHKinoE. In closing the present compilation with a a description of this splendid mansion, the masterly design of that accomplished b architect, Mr. James Wyatt, I must not omit my respectful thanks to Mr. Jeffry Wyatt, his nephew ; who to the original plan and architecture, with great taste and skill, has c made several additions. H. J. T. a See Sect. VII. See pp. 74. 77. c See p. 77. r ':••• ■ ‘ i I Vv' . ■NT CONTENTS. SECTION I. THE FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGE. THE FOUNDER .... PAGE l SECTION II. THE ORIGINAL STATUTES OF THE COLLEGE 11 SECTION III. REMARKS ON THE STATUTES. CUSTOMS OF THE COLLEGE 14 SECTION IV. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE COLLEGE. THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF IT, TILL THE LANDS AND MANORS WHICH BELONGED TO IT, BECAME THE PROPERTY OF THOMAS, LORD ELLESMERE, THE FOUNDER OF THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BRIDGEWATER, OF THE NAME OF EGERTON SECTION V. THE NOBLE OWNERS OF ASIIRIDGE, FROM THE TIME OF THE DEATH OF LORD ELLESMERE TO THE PRESENT: TOGETHER WITH THE HOUSEHOLD BOOK OF THE SECOND EARL OF BRIDGEWATER ...... • SECTION VI. DESCRIPTION OF THE ANCIENT HOUSE, AND OF THE PARK . SECTION VII. OF THE PRESENT MANSION : APPROACH : EXTERNAL VIEW : DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR : DOMESTICK OFFICES : GARDEN AND SHRUBBERY ... APPENDIX No. I. ABSTRACT OF MINISTERS’ ACCOUNTS APPENDIX No. II. PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF AUGMENTATIONS, 3 HEN. VIIJ. APPENDIX No. III. ARMORIAL BEARINGS 87 CORRECTIONS. P. 1. in the notes, col. 2 .for 1721 read 1271. P. 25. for gentleman read gentlemen. P. 26. at the sum 416/. 16s. 4 d. add, there is the sum of 20/. wanting, in order to render the sum total in agreement with the salaries apportioned. A greater difference as to these salaries is observable in page 27, note a. col. 1. P. 2 5. for 173/. 10s. 3d. read 137/. 10s. 3d. P. 34 .for any manner service read any manner of service. HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE of ASHRIDGE. SECT. I. THE FOUNDATION OF THE COLLEGE. THE FOUNDER. Ashridge, formerly written Esserugge, Aescrugge, Asserugge, and Ascherugge , is in the parish of Pitstone, or Pichelestorne, and sometimes written Pichelesthorne, which is in the hundred of Cotslow, and deanery ofMuresley, in the county of Buckingham; and has been considered by some to have been a a royal residence before the foundation, as it is known to have been after the dissolution* of the College. The name is derived from b a hill set with ash-trees ; the oldest denomination of the place being Aescrugge , from aesc, as the ashen- tree was first called, afterwards ashche ; and from rugge , signifying a hill or steep place, afterwards written ridge . The College, c completed in 1285, was founded by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, son and heir of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and d King of the Romans, for a e rector and twenty brethren or canons, called Bonhommes , of whom thirteen were to be priests. Of this religious order there was no establishment in England before this event. The Earl of Cornwall 3 “ The house of Bonehommes, called Ascherugge, of the foundation of Edmunde, Erie of Cornewale, and owner of Berckhamstede Castel, is about a mile off ; and there the king lodged Leland, Itin. vol. i. p. 118. (ed. Ox. 1744.) b Norden’s Description of Hartfordshire, 4to. 1596 ; and Kennet’s Parochial Antiquities. Brown Willis, in his manu- script description of the College, gives the same derivation of the name of Ashridge ; but considers the place to have been of no account before the foundation of the College, on account of its being in various parishes : “ That it was of no account,’" he says, “ before the settlement of a Convent here, we may easily conceive from its lying in three or four different parishes, temp. Edw. I.” The modern historian of the Abbey of St. Alban’s follows those writers, who tell us that Richard, King of the Romans, chose the spot of Ashridge, in the midst of woods, for a house of pleasure, and perhaps as commodious for the sports of the field; and that it thus became the occasional residence of royalty. See Newcome’s Hist, of St. Alban’s, p. 301. c Though the Monasticon of Dugdale represents the foun- dation to have been established in 1276 ; yet, by what Kennet remarks, the endowment was not completed till 1283, and the structure of the College not finished till 1285. d This earl being a person of high repute for his heroic and noble endowments, certain nobles of Alrnain, arriving here, represented to the whole Baronage of England, then met in Parliament, that he was elected King of the Romans by una- nimous consent of the Princes of the Empire. Chauncy, Hist, of Hertf. p. 573. He was crowned King, and his Countess Queen, of the Romans, with great splendour, in the presence of the Archbishops of Cologne, Mentz, &c. Brady’s Compl. Hist, of Engl. p. 621. He died at Berkhamsted Castle in 1721. His heart ^as buried in the Church of the Friars Minors in Oxford, and his body in that which he built at his own charge for the Monks of the Cistercian Order de Hailes. Ibid. p. 665. Pope Innocent IV. offered him the kingdom of Sicily and Naples, but upon so many impossible conditions, that his agent at Rome observed, “ You might as well say to my lord and master, I sell or give you the moon ; climb up, catch it, and take it!” Camden, Rem. p. 336. Alexander, the successor of this Pope Innocent, sent to the Earl Richard to borrow a great sum of money; when the Earl answered, “ I will not lend to my superiour, upon whom I cannot distrain for the debts.” The Earl is said to have had so great treasure, that he was able to dispend for ten years an hundred marks a day, which according to the standard of that time was no small sum! Ibid. p. 337. e The superiours of the houses of the Bonhommes were called Rectors, and one of them was styled President of the Order. “ Quorum superiores Rectores vocabantur, et unus eorum erat et vocabatur Ordinis Praeses.” Reyneri Apostolat. Benedict, in Anglia, tr. i. 165. 2 HISTORY OF THE t introduced them into the kingdom : but their 8 influence was never extensive. They were brought out of the South of France, at a time when there prevailed in that country a sect, who called themselves Boni Homines, and were termed, in the Gascon dialect of the vulgar, bs Bos Homes. Mr. Newcome, in his history of the Abbey of St. Alban’s, terms them a sect of mysticks ; approaching, as some thought, to Manichmism, and by some confounded with the h Albigenses ; but, in truth, according to Mosheim, a remnant of the ancient Paulicians. That the Bonhommes of Ashridge, however, were nearly allied to the Albigenses, Mr. Newcome has been desirous to prove by what remained of the old paintings on the walls of the cloisters of this College ; where, though the figures when he saw them in 1794 or 1795, were much decayed, sufficient argument was exhibited that the subjects were all chosen to deride the Preaching Friars and the Minorites. “ These two orders,” he observes, “ having been introduced intoEngland about the year 1221, had affected superiour holiness and purity, and pretended to absolute poverty and self-denial ; yet they built nobly and lodged superbly. They had thus drawn oh them the odium of all the ancient orders, and were ridiculed on all occasions, where carving or painting could exhibit their true colours. And especially did these orders receive a double share of ridicule and contempt from the Albigenses ; because, against them, and to preach down their antipapistick doctrines, had these orders been at first instituted and encouraged.” It is believed that no more houses of the order were founded in England, except that of 1 Edingdon in Wiltshire ; though k some have considered that of Gaunts in Bristol to have been of this description. They followed the rule of St. Austin, and are said, but not accurately, to have 1 worn a sky-blue habit. So Sir Robert Atkyns has asserted in the begin- ning of his History of Gloucestershire ; and Sir Henry Chauncy has, in his History of Hert- fordshire, further asserted, that the Bonhommes “ were, according to the manner of the Eremitans , clad in shy-coloured garments.” Now the Monks, called Eremite or Eremicolce, wore a grey or ashy-coloured dress, as the brethren of Ashridge are expressly required by their Statutes to wear. This is illustrated in a very curious m work, exhibiting the figures and dresses of the monastick orders, published in 1585 ; with verses describing particulars of each ; and of the Eremites, the following* “ Si cinis omnis homo, in cinerem quandoque resolvi Debet, quis debet gratior esse color ? Yilia quam mea qua me inducere membra videtis Est vestis, semper me admonet ille mei.” The College at Ashridge was founded expressly in honour of the precious blood of the holy Jesus ; and the occasion of so remarkable a dedication is not omitted by our historians. “ n Edmund, the son and heir of Richard Earl of Cornwall, who was second son to King John, being with his father in Germany, and there beholding the reliques and other precious monuments of the ancient emperours, he espied a box of gold, by the inscription whereof he perceived (as the opinion of men then gave) that therein was contained a portion of the blood of our blessed Saviour. He therefore, being desirous to have some part thereof, by fair intreaty and money obtained his desire ; and brought the box over with him into England ; f Reyner falsely dates their introduction in 1290. Leland a Bonhomme of Edingdon. See the note preceding the list of and Kennet in 1283. the Rectors of Ashridge. 8 Harpsfield, however, has given this character of them, in k Reyner mentions no other than that of Edingdon. Leland, Bis Eccl. Hist. “ Revent multi nomini suo respondebant, in his Itinerary, and Kennet, after him, call the Society of Boni Homines .” The Bonnes Hommes, though planted in Gaunts, Bonhommes. Dr. Nasmith, in his elaborate edition monasteries, are represented to have borne in other countries of Bishop Tanner’s Notitia Monastica, rejects this designation ; the character of distinguished sanctity ; and to have retained which Tanner, however, had admitted. that character, when brought into this country. See New- 1 See the Statutes of the College, in the next Section of this come’s Hist, of St. Alban’s, p. 300. Work. h Boni Homines, Albigenses haeretici, qui ita se se ap- m Pontificiorum Ordinum Omnium omnino Utriusque Sexus pellitant, ut auctor est Monachus Vallis Sarnensis in Hist. Habitus, artificiosissimis figuris, quibus Francisci Modii Albig. c. 4. sub. fin.” V. Du Cange in voce. — Du Cange men- singula octosticha adjecta sunt, nunc primum Judoco Amraanno tions another order bearing the same name : “ Boni Homines, expressi. 4to. Francof. 1585. sign. G. ii. prseterea dicti Fratres Ordinis Grandimontensis.” « Holinshead, Chronicle of Eng. vol. ii. 475. 1 Dr. Bush, the last Visitor of the College of Ashridge, was il - COLLEGE OF A SHRIDGE. 3 bestowing a third part thereof, after his father’s decease, in the Abbey of Hailes, which his father had founded, and wherein his “father and mother were both buried ; whereby to enrich the sai monastery; reserving the other two parts in his own custody ; till at length, moved upon such devotion as was then used, he founded an abbey at Asserugge in Hertfordshire, a little iom die manor of Bercamsted, in which he placed the monks of the order of Bonhommes ( ood Men), being the first that had ever been of that order in England ; and assigned to them and their abbey the other two parts of the sacred blood” From the annals of the monastery of Hailes, or Hales, in the county of Gloucester, Reyner has described the ceremony with which the pretended treasure was deposited in that monastery, the Earl himself officiating on the occasion as the bearer of it ; the donation of part of it to this College of Ashridge; and the propriety of the veneration thus paid to it But his account differs from that of the preceding historian ; as it makes no mention of any part of the treasure having been reserved in the custody of the Earl, and asserts what was given to Ashridge to have been taken from Hailes. Whether this was intended to exalt the consequence of the latter, and diminish the celebrity of the former, would be now a hopeless inquiry ! Certain it is, that the notoriety of the blood in Hales at length occasioned it to be ranked among the oaths of our ancestors ; a distinction, to which the blood in Ashrido-e never arrived* Thus Chaucer, in the Pardoner’s Tale: Vengeance shal not parten from his hous. That of his othes is outrageous. By Goddes precious herte, and by his nailes. And by the blood of Crist that is in Hailes.” The account given by Reyner is extremely curious. p Nai ratio Edmundus, Gornubi® Comes, cum in Alemannia cum rege patre suo adliuc puer versaretur, et inter ornamenta imperialia firmaculum grande aureum conspexisset plenum reliquiis pretiosi Sanguinis Dominici, quod Carolo magno ex Grsecia summi muneris loco missum fuisset, obtinuisse ut inde sibi pars magna daretur, quam vasculo aureo inclusam secum in Angliam detulerit ; et, extructo in honorem ejus Monasterio de Hales ad cuius basilicam solenm processione, comitantibus utrinque conventu Halensi Cistertientium, et Wincheleumbensi Benedictinorum monachorum, ipsomet Edmundo comite devotionis causa bajuli officium faciente, vasculum pretiosum delatum est, ibique repositum ; unde postea partem desumptam in hoc Coenobio Esseruggiw Bonorum Virorum ob honorem ejusdem Sanguinis asdificato concessit. Nec debet alicui miram aut rem novam videri edificatam fuisse ab hoc nobilissimo Comite Ecclesiam et Coenobium in honore Dominici Sanguinis inibi conservandi. Non enim eo loco aut tempore primum, sed longe ante et in pluribus aliis Christiani Orbis ecclesiis, factum legimus, ut summo cum honore ac veneratione conser- varentur particular Dominici Cruoris ; sive ejus, qui simul cum aqua ex latere Christi Domini jam mortui defluxit; sive qui in circumcisione fuit decisus; quern ad fidelium suorum devotionem in terris voluit idem Dominus Christus relinqui, non quidem divinitati sum hypostatice unitum, sed tamen ob contactum pretiosi corporis sui, in quo aliquando fuerat, honorabilem ; quomodo crucem ejus sanctam ob eundem contactum veneramur. Sanguinem autem Christi in quibusdam adhuc ecclesiis servari perhibetur; ut Romse, in basilica Lateranensi : Et Brugis in Belgio annua et Celebris fieri consuevit supplicatio in honorem Dominici Cruoris , qui collectus dicitur a Nicodemo et Ioseph, cum Christum de cruce deponerent, et in monumento collocarent. De qua historia Molanus in Natalibus Sanctorum Belgii, ad 3. diem Maii. Sed et Nicephorus, lib. 1. historim c. 20. refert Beatam Virginem, et Beatum Joannem Evangelistam, sanguinem a Christi latere manantem vasculo decent! religiose excepisse; ut et Metaphrastes, ad 15. Augusti. Nec profecto ulli dubium esse debet, quin omne illud quod ad sacrum Christi corpus et vestimenta pertinuerit, prseserlim Passionis tempore, fideles Christiani magna cura conservaverint.” Nor was this the firsts import of the treasure, if we believe the Romish legends; which tell us, that Joseph of Arimathea brought into Britain two silver vessels filled with the blood of our Saviour ; which, by his order, were buried in his tomb. And to King Henry was sent 0 See the note A , p. 1. p Apost. Benedict, tr. i. 165, 166. s Rennet’s Paroch. Antiquities. history of the 1 c^, — ,- r f - - r -jz m xxx s “; — £ from the Bishops then present, the mdu g that y sacred reUc k. Thus Matthew Pans days, to all that should come to ^ visit and v ^ to ce , ebrate in 1249 the Feast of relates, that the King summoned his Noble ^ pn veneratione sa ncti Sanguinis St. Edward in St. Peter’s Churc i, a mg j n w j d ch this blood was kept, as related Christi nuper adepti. To the instances o c Abbey of Fescamp in Normandy, by Reyner, it may be added, that, among the ^ ^ N Ldemus wh en he took the was pretended to be the true blood of C n , Duke of Norma ndy, buried by bis body from the cross ; given to the said abb y atte nded with infinite miracles, own son Duke Richard, again discovered m 1 » brouo-ht multitudes to Hailes In the times of ignorance the imposition eX p 0 sed ; of which the and Ashridge. But at the Reformation the cheat was d.scove.ec. relation is thus given by Speed. -0*- r " '■■"’ r ~ -~r:~ - I 1 1 ’¥ \ IS •: 14 HISTORY OF THE simplicitate sua, remota qualibet ambicionis ac dissencionis materia, quantum poteiint el sciverint, studeant canonice celebrare. Factam vero eleccionem ab Episcopo postulent humiliter confirmari. “ 3[n decessu JftiJttUm pulsetur capituli campana ; et tunc jTtOttCS omnes convemant ad infirmariam, et egrotanti ministrentur ecclesie sacramenta ; qui si decesserit, officio com- mendacionis pacto, lavetur corpus, et postea, “involutum in suo habitu, cum reverencia ad ecclesiam deportetur; et media pars chori ante matutinas, et pars altera post matutinas, vigilet circa funus. In crastino vero, post missam pro defuncto solempniter celebratam, tradatur honorifice sepulture. Omnes quidem JFtatteS die illo celebrent pro eodem, ita tamen quod misse de die et beata Virgine nullatenus omittantur. “ 3ISti vero sunt, quorum sunt dies anniversarii solempniter celebrandi, videlicet. Bone memorie IRjtartmg, quondam Rex Allemamie, pater JFunDatOttg ; Regina * Senchia, mater ciuscicm ; Petrus, Comes Alcnsconie, jTlintHltOtiS consanguineus ; Beatrix, Richemundie Comitissa, ipgiug c onsanguinea ; et ipgemct JFmflatOt, qui hos dies amiversarios statuit observari. “ 3[Huti in fine pretermittendum nop est, quod semel in ebdomada, post Regulam beati Augustini, legantur dBongtltUttOneiS pteUtCte, sive in capitulo, sive ad mensam, ubi melius haberi poterit jFtdttUnt prcsencia, et intellectui ipsarum Re gule et Constitutionum melius vacari.” : < “r.- H SECT. III. REMARKS ON THE STATUTES. CUSTOMS OF THE COLLEGE. j i ; * THE preceding Section exhibits the Statutes of this College exactly as they are entered in a Martyrology or Register, which undoubtedly belonged to the Society. Yet, in the Copy of these Statutes preserved in the Episcopal Registry at Lincoln, there are found some circumstances, of which no notice occurs in those already cited, and which represent the early state of the College in a light somewhat different from that in which it has hitherto been viewed. , ; / These episcopal Statutes are clearly a revision and alteration of the original Statutes, which we have just perused. The preamble in the episcopal Copy ascertains the alteration. The more important variations in this Copy, are the statements, that originally the number of priests in this College was only seven, and that the number of twenty brethren is to be attri- buted to the subsequent bounty of Edward, Prince of Wales, and of other noblemen, together with that of the original founder, Edmund, Earl of Cornwall. The words are these. t£ Quomodo clare memorie quondam Edmundus, Comes Cornubie, dum agebat in humanis, pie desiderans terrena in celestia et transitoria in perpetua felici commercio commutare, Domum seu Capellam de Asherugge nostre djoc, ad laudem Omnipotentis Dei ac sub 6 One, so wrapped, and with lead over his dress, was dis- covered in digging for the foundation of a building at Ashridge a few years since. p Senchia, the second wife of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and King of Almain, was the mother of Edmund, the founder of Ashridge. Richard is said to have endowed this lady, on the marriage-day, with a third part of the lands which he then possessed. Our ancient historians describe their wedding as celebrated with great pomp and feasting, there being no less than 30,000 dishes provided for the dinner : “ triginta millia ferculorum prandentibus parabantur” Matt. Paris. She was the daughter of Raymond and Beatrix, Earl and Countess of Provence. * Here we see the term House , and presently that of College , applied to the place in which the religious persons of Ashridge lived. In the same way house, in our own language, is used for college or for a monastery. Ashridge, however, in the above episcopal instrument, is said to have been made “ ca- nonicti Collegium and appears to have preserved that dis- tinction at least more than a century and half from the date of this instrument. The Rental in 1534 bears the title both of “ Valor Collegii simply ; and also of “ Domus sive Collegium Bonorum Virorum de Ashridge, &c.” And so in a Deed, long before that time, by one of the Rectors, (which will presently be cited,) it is “ Domus sive Collegium. ,> ■ COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 15 honore et vocabulo sanguinis Christi preciosi fundavit, et in eadem ordinavit et institui fecit canonice Collegium sub exiguo septennario numero sacerdotum, et aliorum clericorum professorum sub nomine seu vocabulo Bonorum Hominum, qui sub regula sancti Augustini cum certis obseivanciis divinis laudibus insistentes ipsi Deo perpetuis temporibus deservirent, inter quas nonnulla eis imposuit observanda que (licet pertinuit) tanquam provida et utilia viderentur, ex cursu tamen et mutacione temporum jam r in quibusdam tanquam, animis gravia et nonnullis minus decentia seu convenientia solvi dispendium potius quam proficuum, inducerent nisi melius reformentur : Cumque etiam prefatum Collegium ex piis largicionibus serenissimi Principis domini Edwardi primogeniti illustris Regis Anglie et Francie, Principis Wallie, ducis Cornubie, et Comitis Cestrie, jam dicti Collegii fundatoris , et aliorum Nobi- lium Christi fidelium, tarn in possessionibus quam in personis usque ad numerum vicenarium fratrum professorum sacerdotum, videlicet clericorum competentium Deo jugiter in dicta Domo famulancium habundancia sic excrevit, ut ex majoribus rerum affluenciis religionis quam et loci illius pulcritudine, qua toto vicinia venustatur, honorabilius conderet majores gratiarum actiones et laudes Deo solempnius exhibere : Propter quod s Nos in hac parte dicte sacre Domui ac ipsius saluti et honori paterna sollicitudine prospicere cupientes, facta per Nos prius super hiis inquisicione diligenti in visitacione nostra ordinaria quam nuper in eadem Domo personaliter exercuimus, habita deliberacione et consilio jurisplaeitorum supradictas constitutiones et observationes antiquas per prefatum fundatorem, ut premittitur, institutas, in modum qui sequitur duximus ref ormandas, et easdem cum moderaminibus et addicionibus etiam infrascriptis mandamus et precepimus in Domo ipsa et ipsius Collegio a personis et ministris ejusdem ecclesiasticis prout ad eos attinet perpetuis temporibus de cetero inviolabiliter observari, antiquis constitutionibus consuetudinibus observanciis seu statutis non obstantibus ; que omnia quatenus hiis nostris infrascriptis obtinent, et non alias, auctoritate nostra ordi- naria, dicti serenissimi Principis eorum etiam patroni qui nunc est , et aliorum quorum interest concurrente consensu, certis de causis et ex certa scientia subducimus et revocamus expresse.” After these words, the Constitutions follow in the very same expressions as those which we find in the preceding Section ; except that the clauses, respecting confession, correction, the prohibition of strife, and the praying for the Founder and Benefactors, viz. from In capitulo , p. 11, to Comite Fundatore in the same page, are omitted. This copy bears date the 20th of April, 1376, the 6 thirteenth year of the Bishop’s consecration. On the 8th of July in that year, Edward Prince of Wales died ; and, in his will, makes a considerable bequest to his College of Ashridge ; which designation has induced the acute collector of Royal and Noble Wills to remark, that “ u what concern the Black Prince had in this foundation no further appears.” He knew not of the Constitutions before us. The bequests are these. “ x Item, nos donnons et devisons notre grand table d’or et d’argent tout pleyn dez pre- cieuses reliques, et en mylieu un croiz de ligno sancte crucis ; et la dite table est garniz de pierres et de perles, cest assavoir vingt cynk v balois, trentquatre safirs, cinqaunt paries grosses et pluso’s outres safirs, emeraudes, et perles petitz, a la haut autier de n’re meson d’Ashe- rugge 2 q’est de n’re fundatioun, a servir perpetuelement au dit autier, sanz james le mettre en autre oeps pur nul meschiefs ; et de ce chargeons les almes du rectour et du convent de la d’te meson a respondre devant Dieu.” It is evident then that the Black Prince considered himself, and was considered, (how justly besides the aforenamed legacy appears not,) the founder of this College ; which the Will, i ' * - * ’A •- ■ •• f - r This alludes to what respects confession* &c. From In * Nichols’s Collection of Royal and Noble Wills, 4to. Lond. capitulo, p. 11, to Comite Fundatore , &c, which directions 1780, pp. 71, 72. are expunged by the Bishop. v The balois, or ballass, is a species of rubies of a vermeil s “ Johannes Episc. Lincoln,” viz. John Bokyngham. See rose colour, the next note. z See the preceding paragraph. The Prince surely could £ John Bokyngham was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln in not mean to deprive the Earl of Cornwall of all merit in the June 1363. He died in 1398. Le Neve's Fasti, p. 140. establishment, and thus transfer the whole to himself. Later u Nichols’s Collection of Royal and Noble Wills, 4to. Lond. times, however, witnessed such conduct in King Henry the 1780, p. 71, note y. Eighth, in regard to Christ Church College, Oxford, and the founder, Cardinal Wolsey. history of the and the Statutes in the Episcopal Registry, evince. The fact probably was tins. The revenues of the College might not, in the Prince’s time, be sufficrent to support the whole number of ecclesiasticks, which, nearly a century before, had been appointed by the Ear of Cornwall. The Prince therefore became their patron, as indeed he is expressly called in the Episcopal statutes; and the revenues of the College, no doubt, were so augmented as to warrant the designation of a founder, which others conferred and himself admitted His benefaction to the Chapel of St. Nicholas in Wallingford is recorded with a similar form of appropriation ; “ • noire Chapelle de Saint Nicholas whereas this Chapel had subsisted m the beginning of King John’s reign, if not before ; and had been greatly augmented by Edmund Earl of Cornwall; though it is not denied, that the Prince encreased the revenues also of this religious house. But though the Statutes in the Register of the College take no notice of Prince Ed wan s bounty, a mandate of Ralph de Aston, the Rector, in 1379, records him among the bene- factors of the house, and shews that the members considered themselves bound to pray “ 0 specialiter pro animabus excellentissimi Principis Edwardi primogemti Edwardi tercii Reo-is Anglie, et Johannis de Grey militis, et omnium fidelium defunctorum, etc.” No further ^ ^ _ i -o"* • . • 1 * I.U r-v-P fir n 1 n fnof rloDrl IQ fllO fitll _ • of October, 1493. . After the Statutes, the Register of the College exhibits the customs attending the admission of brethren ; which are too curious to be here omitted. We have already seen d what were the impediments to admission. The candidates having replied to the Rector’s question, “ an aliquod impedimentorum habeant predictorum," that they had none: the direction of the rubrick is, that the Rector shall appoint a day, « quo, preparatis sibi omnibus necessariis suis, c radi debeard, et habitum sancte religionis assumere. Die igitur statuto, conveniant Rector et Conventus in locum ad hoc deputatum, sintque Recepti ibidem privati, regulariter prefer habitum vestiti, habentes pallium seculare circa se. Aptatis igitur eisdem ad rasuram, dicat Rector circa barbam tondendam banc oracionem . “ Domutug nohisfctun* ©remits* et quod ero obediens tibi tuisque successoribus usque ad mortem. “ Postea h benedicatur suus habitus, sc. tunica cum scapulari, ita dicendo. Oremus. Deus, qui tegimen nostre mortalitatis induere dignatus es, presta, quesumus, ut hoc genus vestimen- torum quod sancti patres nostri ad sanctitatis et innocentie indicium ferre sanxerunt ita bene dicere digneris, ut qui hoc usus fuerit mereatur te induere Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Et sic vestiantur vestimenta sua exuendo et habitum benedictum assumendo. “ ©hserhancie j^otuctorutm « Ut Novicii Ordinem Domus Sanguinis Jesu Christi de Assherugge ingredientes rite et religiose tractentur et custodiantur, Ordinatum est, inter Fratres loci eiusdem, quod Novicii quicunque fuerint post ingressum suum in licitis et honestis obediant magistro suo sibi per Rectorem deputando, ita quod sine ipso cum secularibus et maxime extraneis non habeant colloquium longum seu tractatum. Item nee litteras seu nuncios mittant alicubi sine magistro suo predicto. Nec eant spaciatum cum aliquo si sine ipso, vel saltern sine licencia eiusdem. Item non eant cum aliquo extra clausum Manerii de Assherugge, donee fuerint professi. 8 Here the bishop exercises his office, in conformity to of the tonsure, and also upon ecclesiastical vestments. See ancient practice, viz. “ ut nullus preeter episcopum clericis Miss. Rom. “ Benedictiones ab episcopis, vel aliis facultatem coronas benedicere praesumat, etc.” Concil. Pictav. canon. 1. habentibus, faciendae. There were, however, exceptions to this, in privileges granted h See the preceding note, to some abbots to pronounce the benediction at the ceremony F 18 HISTORY OF THE Ordinatum «t insuper, quod Novicii dicti qui periciam psallendi minus bene noverunt, quod reddant infra librum coram magistro suo predicto Antiphon’ et Gradale. Item omnes m is- tincte reddent corde tenus regtllam beat! 3ugUStini cum constitucionibus Bonorum Hommum loci eiusdem, et Commune Sanctorum, cum ympnis et psalmis suis : et commemoracionem beate Marie per totum annum, cum ympnis et psalmis suis ; et hystoriam de corpore et sanguine Jesu Christi, cum ympnis et psalmis suis. Preterea semper sint parati ad minis- trandum in ecclesia et alibi ubi necesse et decens fuerit. Et libenter legant pro JFmttibUS suis in mensa et collacione ciim ab eis fuerint requisiti. In premissis tamen potent EeCtOt dispensare addendo vel minuendo prout sibi viderit expedire. U agotius rectpientJi jFtatrea in otacionibus. « Correctionibus capituli peractis, Recipiendi in capituhim introducantur, et fraternitatem devote petant. Qua concessa. Rector fraternitatis observancias et utihtates exponant eisdem. Beinde eos recipiat hoc modo. # ^ “ In fraternitatem huius congregacionis te [vel tx»] suscipimus in presenti, ita quod ab isto die eris particeps omnium beneficiorum que de nocte vel die fiunt in hac Fratrum con- gregacione, veluti in missis, matutinis et aliis horis, diurnis et nocturms oraciombus, pecu- liaribus disciplinis, vigiliis, ieiuniis, et omnibus aliis beneficiis inter nos actualiter usitatis : que omnia prefata tibi concordi et unanimi concedimus voluntate. Et rogamus ut Deus, pro sua magna pietate, hanc fraternitatem sic tibi recipere tribuat, et amodo sic vitam tuam et devocionem penes ipsum Deum et istam ecclesiam continuare concedat, quod sibi cedat ad honorem istius ecclesie coinmodum et perfectum, et tam corpori tuo quam anime saluber- rimam medicinam. Amen. Beinde subiungatur a', Suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam tuam in medio templi tui. Ps. Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis. Totus dicatur psalmus cum Gloria Patri et Sicut erat. Quo dicto, repetatur tota a’, Suscepimus, etc. Beinde sequatur, Kyriel,’ Christel,’ Kyriel,’ Pater Noster, Et ne nos, Set libera, Ostende nobis Domme misericordiam tuam, Et salutare f. Memor esto congregacionis tue, Quam possedisti ab inicio, Tu mandasti mandata tua, Custodiri nimis, Ecce quam bonum et quam locundum, Habitare fratres in unum. Domine, exaudi oracionem nostram. Et clamor, Dominus nobiscum. Oremus. “ ©ratio* « Suscipiat vos Deus Pater in numero fidelium suorum ; et nos licet indigni suscipimus in oracionibus nostris ; concedatque vobis per Unigenitum suum Mediatoiem Dei et hominis locum benb agendi et instanciam bene perseverandi, et ad eterne vite hereditatem feliciter perveniendi ; et sicut nos hodie caritas fraternitatis specialiter coniungit in terris, ita divina pietas que fraterne dileccionis est auctrix et amatrix cum fidelibus suis coniungere dignetur in celis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. R° Amen. Et hec omnia stando dicantur, ita quod Recepti in fraternitate interim genufleccionem faciant. Quibus Jinitis , surgant et deosculentur Fratres. Et si mulieres sint, deosculentur manus Fratrum ; et sic recedant. “ Congtitucio pto jFratritmg tiefunctig* « XJniversis sancte matris eeclesie filiis istas observancias inspecturis, iuxta institucionem felicis memorie fratris 1 Ricardi de Watford IfrectOrig Domus de Asherugge et eiusdem loci Conventus institutas, presens scriptum explanat. Quia sanctum ac salubre est pro defunctis orare ut a peccatis solvantur, fragilem vitam nostram inspicientes et aliquo beneficio post decessum nostrum indigentes, decrevimus, quod cum JFtatCt aliquis istius Domus viam universe carnis fuerit ingressus, ut in illo die in quo sepelitur, una cum tricesimo die, defunctus habeat unum panem maioris ponderis et unam lagenam servisie de cellario et unum ferculum de coquina ; diebus vero aliis singulis per totum primum annum post obitum suum, habeat unum panem predicti ponderis et unam lagenam servisie tantum ; quod quidem pro anima sua decrevimus fore erogandum. * The first Rector of the College. COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. yg “ Decretnmug eciam, quod cum dies tricesimus adveniat, fiat commemoracio ipsius jFratrig defuncU proximo die sequenti, videlicet, quo decreverunt secundum Regulam suam pro ndelibus defunctis esse orandum, et sic sub uno comprehendantur. Et tunc tarn ad vigilias quam ad missam principalis oracio pro ipso defuncto dicatur. Vigilie eciam ad ipsius instanciam solempnius celebrentur. Idem vero de diebus anniversariorum suorum singulis annis decrevimus esse observandum. Hoc eciam generaliter observetur de omnibus anniver- sariis sive jFratrum sive aliorum defunctorum, salvis k quinque principalibus anniversariis in constitucionibus nostris contends. Quod si plura concurrant in una ebdomada, in uno die vel in divisis, quod celebrentur et comprehendantur omnia sub uno, in illo die quo jFrat£C0 iudicaverunt secundum Regulam suam pro defunctis esse celebrandum ; cum sancta ecclesia non iudicat pro uno tantum, set pro fidelibus defunctis esse postulandum. Solempnius tamen celebrentur, quo plura anniversaria supradicto modo fuerunt coadunata. Quod ne posteris veniat in dubium, et ne alicuius machinacione possit avelli, hanc constitucionem sigilli com- munis apposicione, una cum sigillo iRectOtlg duximus roborandam. Tandem ne aliquid pretermittatur, eo die quo JFrater sepelitur, scriptum istud in capitulo coram JftattitmS legatur. Dat.’ per manum dicti IRcctOtt#. Anno gracie mill’mo cc. mo nonagesimo p’rno.” These customs and constitutions are followed by ordinances respecting the obits and exequies of benefactors, and the foundation of chantries in which the masses for their souls should be celebrated; of John 1 Ludham, Canon of the Cathedral Church of London and Rector of Tring ; of Thomas de m Hatfeld, Bishop of Durham, together with King Edward the Third, “ sub cujus alis dictus verier abilis pater se asserit a iuventute fuisse nutritum ,” the Bishop’s father, mother, brother, and sisters, his predecessors as well as successors in the see, and the souls of all faithful people, for ever ; the College making the following reservations : “ Nisi legittimo et notorio impedimento per nos inevitabilem, utpote per communem pestilenciam in provincia Cant’ et locis vicinis dicte ecclesie nostre, aut discrimina guerrarum, vel invasionem k Viz. The Anniversaries of the Father and Mother of the Founder, of Peter Earl of Alenfon his kinsman, of Beatrice Countess of Richmond his kinswoman, and of the Founder himself. 1 Joh. de Ludham was instituted to the Prebend of Hoxton, in the Church of St. Paul’s, Non. Nov. 1363. See Newcourt’s Dioc. of London, vol. i. p. 163. m Tho. de Hatfeld was consecrated Bishop of Durham, July 10, 1345. He died in 1381 ; but where he was buried, Le Neve and Henry Wharton knew not. See Wharton’s Anglia Sacra, P. i. p. 773, and Le Neve’s Fasti, p. 346. The whole ordinance respecting this prelate, made while he was living, is curious ; and is copied from the Register of the College in the following words : “ flDmttfbltjaf hoc scriptum indentatum sexti- partitum visuris, vel audituris. Nos Rector Domfts de Asshe- rugge et ejusdem loci Convenes Lincoln* Dioc’ salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noverint universitas vestra, qubd nos pro pluribus beneficiis que venerabilis pater dominus Thomas de Hatfeld, Dei gratis Dunolmens ’ episcopus, in honore Om- nipotentis Dei, ac preciosissimi sanguinis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ob cujus reverenciam dicta Domus nostra fundata consistit, necnon sanctissimi Cuthberti, almi confessoris et patroni dicti venerabilis patris, in pios et utiles usus dicte ecclesie nostre contulit efficacius committenda ex unanimi voluntate, et consensu, ac sufficienti deliberacione previa, per presentes nos et successores nostros astringimus, et recognos- cimus nos astrictos, concedimus pro nobis et successoribus nostris, qubd in ecclesia nostra predicta ad altare sancti Jo- hannis Baptiste ex parte ecclesie nostre boreali ad hoc speciali- ter per nos deputatum, singulis diebus per unum Capellanum idoneum confratrem nostrum, seu alium religiosum, vel secu- lar em Capellanum vita et moribus sujfficientem, pro salute dicti venerabilis patris dum vixerit, et pro anima ejusdem cum ab hac luce migraverit: Necnon pro anima illustrissimi Principis domini Edwardi tercii, nuper Regis Anglic, sub cujus alis dictus venerabilis pater se asserit a juventute fuisse nutritum, animabusque Johannis patris sui, Margerie matris sue, domini Willielmi militis patris sui, Johanne et Margarete sororum suarum, predecessorum et successorum suorum Dunolmensium Episcoporum, ac animabus omnium fidelium defunctorum, missam absque fraude et dolo perpetuis temporibus faciemus celebrari, diebus cene Domini Parasceves et Sabbati sancti exceptis. u quia cooperante Spiritu Sancto penas in presenti scripto expressatas studebimus totis viribus evitare, promit- timus bona fide, qubd tenor presencium literarum, concessionum, et astriccionis nostre, semel in anno public b in capitulo nostro coram confratribus Domus nostre predicte, in domo capitulari nostra more debito et solito congregatis, perlegetur, presidens- que qui pro tempore fuerit ad servandum inviolabiliter conces- sionem nostram supradictam injunget et precipiet, in virtute sancte obediencie , omnibus et singulis confratribus dicte Domus, qui tunc presentes fuerunt, ad observandum inviolabiliter, pro- missa quatenus ad eos pertinuerit, in singulis suis articulis supradictis. “ <85t sicut nos Rector et confratres dicte Domtis nostre omnes et singuli ad promissa omnia et singula fideliter obser- vanda promisimus bona fide, successores nostri omnes et singuli perpetuis temporibus tempore professionis sue, vel infra annum eorum professionem immediate sequentem, pro- mittent consimiliter bona fide. “ Promtttllttttjei etiam bona fide pro nobis et successoribus nostris, qubd cum dictum venerabilem patrem per Omnipo- tentem Salvatorem ab hac vita vocari contigerit, diem anni- versarium obitus sui in Martilogio nostro inseremus et inseri faciemus, ac nos et successores nostri eundem diem anniver- sarium cum exequiis, et missarum solempniis, ac oracionum suffragiis, per Rectorem, vel Correctorem, aut aliam Domfis nostre venerabilem personam, per quam commodius et honora- bilius fieri poterit, sicut pro Rectore fieri est consuetum, so- lempniter et cum nota celebrabimus, et faciemus perpetuis tem- poribus celebrari. Ad que omnia et singula fideliter adim- plenda obligamus nos et successores nostros, ac Domnin nostram de Assherugge predictam et omnia bona nostra mo- bilia et immobilia, etc,” 20 HISTORY OF THE hoetium, vel per subitam combustic.em dicte Domus nostre :ita notonam et notabilem quod per aliquod huiusmodi impedimentum seu infortunia prenominata, (quod absit,) ade ^° dicte Domus nostre consumpta fuerunt, ut ad necessana onera ordmana, et sine quibu debita religio in dicta Domo nostra non poterit observari, sufficere non poterunt ; et tunc cessante huiusmodi impedimenta, absque dilacione seu contradiccionis obice faciemus singulis diebus per confratres nostros, aut alios capellanos idoneos, Missam in forma premissa absque fraude et dolo perpetuis temporibus celebrari, diebus Cene Domini, Parasceues, et Sabba i sancti exceptis.” This deed bears the date of 1380 : the preceding, in which the Black Prince is named, (as "already noticed), that of July 4, 1379. The next benefactor, whose memory is thus distinguished, is "Henry, Bishop of Lincoln ; the mass for whose soul, and for the souls of his parents and relations, is directed to be celebrated at the altar of Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Katherine m the Conventua Church ; near which the body of one of these relations had been buried. The Bishop was indebted' to the Convent for their affection, on account of having confirmed to it the appro- priation of the Church of Ambrosden. This instrument, which is written in a hand different from the preceding document in the Register, bears the date of January 5, 1336 ; and had, no doubt, been omitted to be duly entered by the regular transcriber of the book. After these are recited the donations of John p Thorpe, Priest, who gave fifty marks, besides other presents, in order that he might have the benefit of the prayers, and the privilege of being inserted in the martyrology, of the Convent. The munificence of Robert Newton, mentioned in general terms, is the next recorded act ; in which the Rector and Brethren engao-e that mass should be said for his soul. To this succeeds the gift of forty maiks, with . , t „r l.,- T'tinmas Rramnston. Priest: who, in consideration of his n See before, p. 16. 0 Viz. Henry Burwash, or de Burghersh, who was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln in 1320, and died in 1340. See Le Neve’s Fasti, p. 140. His instrument, by which the appropriation of Ambrosden, made by Pope Clement the Fifth to Ashridge, was confirmed, bears the date of September 29, 1334. Ken- net’s Parocb. Antiq. p. 423. p The following ordinance recites the benefactions of John Thorpe, Thomas Brampston, and Robert Newton ; and herein mention is made of one of the Mills at Hemelhemsted belonging to the College, with certain regulations respecting it. Where the reparaciones dicti molendini are directed, there occurs at the bottom of the page in the Register of the College the fol- lowing observation, written in a different hand : “ Notandum qu6d decimacio feni a molendino fullonum ad to-Waters usque ad molendinum quod vocatur Parcars mylle pertinet molendino conventuali, quod est situm inter ambo.” “ ©mnthttjS Christi fidelibus hoc presens scriptum visuris, vel audituris. Nos Johannes Whytton Rector Domus de Assh- rugg et ejusdem loci Conventus, Lincoln, Dioc’, Salutem in Domino sempiternam. Quum ex caritativa liberalitate bene- factorum nostrorum magistri Johannis Thorpe, magistri Thome Brampston, et Roberti Newton, quandam summam pecunie ad manifestam et notariam domus nostre utilitatem recepimus, et ad exorandum pro ipsorum salute animarum in sempiternum nos obligavimus, necnon certain pecuniam in eorum anniver- sariis diebus distribuere astricti sumus, et perpetualiter tene- mur prout in quibusdam literis indentatis inter nos inde con. fectis, sigilloque nostro communi signafis, plenius apparet. “ JjljtC eque nos prefati Rector et Conventus ex unanimi assensu, et voluntate, ac previa deliberacione habita, pro nobis et successoribus nostris decrevimus qu6d h. tempore conces- sionis nostre hujusmodi, et deinceps usque in sempiternum, totus redditus annualis ex molendino nostro inferiori apud Hemelhemsted proveniens tarn ad eonservacionem obligacionis nostre predicte per prefatam distribucionem annuatim facienda, quhm pro expensis reparacionum ejusdem molendini prout necessitas exigit, in cista communi una cum sigillo nostro con- ventuah per suspensionem Rectoris et seniorum secured servari faciemus. “ <&onC£3intU0 itaque qudd duo fratrum nostrorum per assignaeionem Rectoris et seniorum domus ad superintenden- dum reparaciones dicti molendini deputentur, quatenus chm aliquid reparari necesse fuerit quam citius convenienter fieri poterit reparetur, ne redditus ob defectum reparacionis dimi- nuatur, et quod singulis annis totus ejusdem molendini redditus bis, videlicet festa Pasche et Sancti Michelis, expensis repa- racionum deductis et allocatis, senioribus domus deliberetur in cista communi, ut supra dictum est, ponendus et custodiendus. “ £Uloa ne posteris veniat in dubium, et ne alicujus machi- nacione possit avelli ; sicut nos Rector et Fratres dicte domus ad premissa omnia fideliter observanda promisimus, successores nostri omnes et singuli perpetuis temporibus in professione sua promittent consimiliter bona fide, et ob hoc hanc ordina- cionem sigilli nostri communis apposicione una cum sigillo Rectoris duximus roborandam. Dat.’ per manum predicti Rectoris in Domo nostra capitulari vicesimo sexto die mensis Octobris anno Dominice Incarnacionis millesimo quadringen- tesimo nonagesimo tercio, et anno regni regis Henrici septimo nono.” 9 The following ordinance recites them : “ flltUfcSttff# sancte matris ecclesie filiis hoc presens scrip- tum indentatum visuris, vel legi audituris. Nos Johannes Rec- tor Domus sive Collegii de Asshrugge et ejusdem loci Con- ventus, Lincoln’ Dioc’, Salutem in Domino sempiternam. Quum magister Thomas Brampston, sacerdos, instinctu, ut pih creditur, divino, de anime sue salute non immemor, in publicam dicte domus nostre utilitatem quadraginta marcas argenti cum certis aliis muneribus nobis liberaliter donavit : Noveritis qu6d nos tantis pro beneficiis caritative nobis impensis, ceterisque humanitatis ojfficiis per ipsum in doctrina tarn fratribus quam pueris nostre domus clericulis per plures annos exhibitis , et ostensis, ad condignam recompensam devociones nostras ob- ligare volentes oracionum, jejuniorum, vigiliarum, discipli- narum, ac omnium spiritualium suffragiorum, que in ecclesia nostra fiunt, et in futurum nocte ac die fient, plenam partici- pacionem eidem, quantum cum Deo possimus, unanimi con- sensu nostro ac omnium domus nostre confratrum pro nobis et successoribus nostris damus, concedimus, bonaque fide proraittimus. COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 21 bounty, is admitted a confrater, and is promised the accustomed solemnity of a mass, as well as the annual observation of his obit by the Convent. Of this last ceremony a regulation piesents itself in the case of John Thorpe, just mentioned; where the deed recites that, on his funeial anniveisary, after the requiem is finished, (S Rector xii. ccm denarios, Frater saceidos viii. 1 denarios, quilibet Frater novicius quatuor denarios recipiet, ut pro prefati magistri Johannis anime et supradictarum animarum salute devocius intercedant.” The pieceding benefactions of Thorpe, Newton, and Brampston, are all of the fifteenth century. A benefactor of great importance appears in the next deed, viz. Richard Peteworthe, Clerk, one of the domesticks of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester ; who gave the Convent a hundred pounds for the repair, or rather the rebuilding, of the choir ; at a time too when they stood in pressing need of such assistance. For the Rector calls his bounty “ r relevamen ad presens nobis attends tarn onerosis reparacionibus Claustri, Dor- mitorn, et Chori nostrorum, quam aliis necessitatibus nostris quibus vehementer angimur et prevenimur” The commemoration of this munificent benefactor is followed by that of his master, the bishop of Winchester ; whose friendship to this Convent was exemplified in his bestowing on it the rectory of the Church of Ivingho, in the County of Buckingham. The licence for this donation, and for the appropriation which attended it, bears date the 27th of May, in the first year of king Henry the fifth. “ s 3R0£ omnibus ad quos, &c. Salutem. Sciatis quod de gratia nostra speciali concessimus et licenciam dedimus pro nobis et heredibus nostris, quantum in nobis est, venerabili patri Henrico, Episcopo Wynton, avunculo nostro carissimo, quod ipse de assensu Prioris et Con- ventus Ecclesie sue Sancti Swithini Wynton advocacionem Ecclesie de Ivyngho in Com. Buck, quam idem Episcopus de nobis tenet ut parcellam episcopatus sui predicti, ut dieitur, dare possit et assignare, pro se et successoribus suis, dilectis nobis in Christo Rectori et Fatribus de Assherugge in Com. predicto. Habend’ et tenend’ sibi et successoribus suis imperpetuum. Et eisdem Rectori et. Fratribus, quod ipsi advocationem predictam a prefato Episcopo de assensu antedicto recipere et dictam Ecclesiam de Ivyngho appropriare, et Ecclesiam illam sic appropriatam in * proprios usus tenere possint sibi et successoribus suis. " |3ro nobis eciam ac successoribus nostris concedimus qudd cum dictus magister Thomas ab hoc seculo migraverit, et ejus anniversarius dies obitus, quern nostro in Martilogio inscribi faciemus, singulis annis advenerit, eundem diem aut alium secundum usum Sar’ magis convenientem pro anima ejusdem magistri Thome , cum exequiis, et missarum solemp- niis, oracionumque suffragiis, honorabiliter cum nota cele. brabimus, perpetuisque temporibus faciemus celebrari, atque duodecem denarios cuilibet fratri professo annuatim erogabi- mus, et perpetualiter distribuemus. Ad que omnia et singula inperpetuum, ut predictum est, benfc et fideliter observanda obligamus nos et successores nostros per presentes. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum commune presentibus inden- tatis literis apposuimus, quarum unam partem penes nos, alteram verb partem penes prefatum magistrum Thomam et ejus assignatos volumus permanere. Dat.’ in domo nostra capitulari vicesimo sexto die mensis Octobris anno regni regis Henrici septimi nono.” T Registr. ut supriL s Tower Records. Rot. Lit. Pat. anno primo Regis Henrici quinti. p. 5. mem. 2. 1 The Bull of Pope Martin for this appropriation is dated March 5, 1420. Regist. Fleming, Ep. Lincoln. The bishop of Winchester, in his donation, decrees a competent salary for a vicarage at Ivingho. An attested copy of this appropriation from the Register of the Bishop of Lincoln is among the Earl of Bridgewater’s papers. In this parish of Ivingho , (in which also great part of the park at Ashridge is,) stood the Nunnery of St. Margaret; where there is now a small but neat modern house. Of the ancient building there is nothing remarkable remaining. In- deed in Browne Willis’s time, nearly a century since, there was little of the old edifice left; and the only thing then recorded as observable was the following coat of arms in a window : Gules a dragon pierced in the back with a sword , in his mouth a crucifix. See Br. Willis’s Mitred Abbies, vol. ii. p. 23. It does not appear that this religious house was, in any de- gree, dependent upon Ashridge. Being so near to the latter, I have thought it, however, not uninteresting to collect some scattered notices of this humble neighbour, and to incorporate them in these pages. It was a Benedictine Nunnery, founded by Henry de Blois, bishop of Winchester, about the year 1160, to the honour of St. Margaret, for the maintenance of nine re- ligious women. See Tanner’s Notitia Monast. ed. 1744. p. 27. These Nuns are called, in a Charter of king Henry the third, Moniales S. Margaretee de bosco de Ivingho. The spot is near five miles from Ivingho, and is woody and romantic. The possessions of this house were but small. In the first re- turn, made by king Henry the eighth’s commissioners, the survey exhibited a valuation less than was given in a subsequent one. “ The Priory or Nunnery of the Order of St. Benet, the clere value at first survey 13//. 3 s. 4 d. at the second survey 19//. 8 s. i)d. Nunnes there 5, whereof profest2; Novices 3 ; . desyring capacitys 3 ; Servants 4, whereof hinds 2 ; Wo- men Servants 2 ; bells, lead, and other buildings, worth 8//. 10s. 6 d. The house in competent estate: the entire value of the moveable goods worth 1 //. 13 s. 4 d. the woods 7 acres, all above 20 years growth. Debts, &c. none.” See Br. Willis’s Mit.. Abb. ut supr. The last valuation, however, ac- cording to Speed, was 22 //. 6 s. 7 d. but according to Dugdale, 14//. 3 s. 1 d. per annum. These possessions were granted to Sir John Dance, 29 Hen. VIII. The following is a list of Prioresses, collected from the dispersed accounts of Willis and Tanner : 22 HISTORY OF THE ad exonerand’ et faciend’ pro salubri statu nostro ac pro salubri statu dicti avunculi nostn dum vixerimus, et pro animabus nostris cum ab hac luce m.gravenmus, etc. Nor was this the only mark of The bishop’s attachment to the College of Ashridge. He contributed both to the repairs and the ornaments of it ; giving “ “ad Claustrum, Durmitorium, Infirmariam, et Sacristariam, a fundamentis de novo edificandas, quingentas libras aun ; duo eciam integra vestimenta cum capis optimo auro context*.” The tripartite instrument by which the College engages to celebrate his * exequies with the greatest solemnity, is dated the 7th day of July 1477 ; one copy of which is directed to be placed in the archives of the Cathedra Church of Winchester, a second in those of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, and the third m The memory of r Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, is also recorded among those, for whose souls the Rector and Brethren were to perform masse, ; be i without any particular specification of his bounty. We cannot, owevei, u con , Martvrology • benefactor ; as most probably all those were, whose names are inserted m the Martyiology , . . . - . . . .1 * If tViQ montinn nf thp rla.V OI tllGll 063,111. Dominus Thomas Knyghton, confrater. Wynsolaus Dorsteynor, confrater. Lucia Stamwolle. Thomas Stone, confrater. Henricus Attewod, confrater. Cristina Pott. Magister Johannes Thorpe, et parentes eius. Johanna Sapcot, et Domina Agnes Whytyngham. Willielmus Hylle, confrater. Jacobus Turnay, et Elyzabeth uxor eius, Willielmus et Margareta paientes eiusdem. Thomas Hawford, Alicia uxor eius, et dominus Symon Hawford filius eorum. z Rogerus de Martivalle, episcopus Sarisburiensis. Beatrix Richemundie Comitissa. Ricardus Rex Alemannie, pater Fundatoris. Robertas Newton, confrater. Petrus Comes Alensconie. Henricus Beaufort, episcopus Wynton. Johannes Wyleys, confrater. Alicia Brook. Johannes de Hale et Ricardus de Woluestone, confratres. Radulfus Falliwolle. Thomas de Hatfeld, episcopus Dunolmensis. Owinus Williams, confrater. Magister Thomas Brampston, confrater. Adam Gardiner, confrater. Isolda, who died in 1262. Cecilia, who died in 1274. Maud de Hoccliff, who died in 1296. Isolda de Beauchamp, elected Sept. 16, 1296. Sibilla de Hamsted, Avhose resignation is entered in the episcopal register at Lincoln in 1340. Matilda de Chendry, or Cheyne, occurs in 1341 . But no successor for the space of more than a century is recorded either by Tanner or Willis. Elenor Crosse is the next, who died in 1467. Elenor Tyms was chosen, in her room, on the second of June. Elizabeth Wyvell, who died in 1534. Margaret Hardwick was the last Prioress. u Registr. ut supr&. x He died on the 11th of April, 1447. Le Neve’s Fasti. p. 286. y Registr. ut supr&. In the same instrument which records the bounty of Richard Petkworthe. 2 Roger de Martival was consecrated bishop of Salisbury in 23 COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. Edwardus Princeps Wallie et Dux Cornubie. Frater Robertus, Monachus de Spalding. Nicholas de Seybrok. Johannes Byfeld, confrater. Johannes de Ludham, confrater. Johannes Hyll et Margeria uxor eius. Lucia Wyleis. Johannes Herteslee et Agnes uxor eius. Robertus Scote. Henricus Fallywolle. Rex Anglie Henricus quintus. Johannes Skegge et Alicia uxor eius, Ricardus Skegge et Juliana uxor eius Johanna Kele. Johannes Aygnel, confrater. Barnardus Brokes. Edwardus Conies Cornubie, Fundator. Thomas London, confrater. Robertus Cary. Willelmus de Wottone, confrater. Walterus de Rodham. Dominus Robertus Whityngham. Ricardus Peteworthe. a Senchia regina, mater Fundatoris. Thomas Chalton, confrater. b Johannes Hunden, episcopus Landavensis. Ricardus Kele, confrater. Johannes Cowper, confrater. Dominus Willelmus Forde. Willelmus Brook. Dominus Alanus Stokes. The names of many Brethren of the Convent are also found in this Register, as are those of several Rectors. The latter it will be proper to particularize ; as the list will both rectify and augment what has been i elated by our c antiquaries of these collegiate governours. I should premise that the College had a Visitor, by whom, as in Collegiate Bodies now, the disputes of the Brethren were settled ; of whom the last was d Paul Bush, a man of great learning, the first Bishop of Bristol, by the patent of erection in 1542. I. Ricardus, Rector soon after 1276. II. Willielmus [de Harwold,] Rector. III. Ricardus [de Sarret,] Rector 1335. 3 See before, p. 14. note (p.) treatyse in Englisshe, called the Exposy tyon of Miserere mei b John Hunden had the temporalities of the see of Landaff Deus, translated by me Paule Busshe, preest and bonehome restored in 1458. Godwin says, he resigned; but fixes no of Edyngton, the yere of our Lord, 1525.” Inverse. “ A year. Le Neve’s Fasti, p. 521. He held the Rectory of Lit- lytell treatise in English, called the extirpation of ignorancy, tie Gaddesden, C°. Herts, with his Bishoprick. Br. Willis’s &c. Compiled by Sir Paule Bushe, priest and bonhome of ^•SS. Edynden.” In verse also, without date. “ A lytell boke con- c Browne Willis, Mitr. Abb. Tanner, Not. Monast. And tanying certaine gostly medycynes agens the comon plage of Newcome’s Hist. St. Alban’s. pestilence.” Without date. He died in 1558, aged 68. Le d He had been a priest among the Bonhommes at Edingdon Neve’s Fasti, Ames’s Hist, of Printing, and Ritson’s Bibliogr. in Wiltshire, and was an author. " Here begynneth a lytell Poetica. 24 HISTORY OF THE IV. Gilbertus [de Bowelles,] Rector 1346. V Radulfus [de Aston,] Rector 1373, who died in 1396. There is a grant, among the Earl of Bridgewater’s records, made by 'Ralph Aston and the College to Richard Purcas of Pvchelestorne, of an acre of land in exchange, 43. Edw. III. having appended to it not the seal of the College, as some have supposed, but their particular seal for such purposes, their “ sigillum ad causas (See Du Cange in V. Cabs* ;) and inscribed simply “ SkgiUum Rectoris de Assherugge .” VI. Johannes [deTrenge] Rector 1396. VTT f Tr.VianriPS. Rector. VIII. Abel, Rector. IX. Robertus, Rector 1428. X. Johannes, Rector 1435. This was probably Johannes Audelee, who is expressly named in the Register of the College as Rector in the year 1445. There was a John Awdelay, who was canon of the monastery of Haghmon in Shropshire in 1426, and has been classed among our metrical writers of the fifteenth century. But as he is described, at that period, as old, it is not probable that he was the person who was Rector of Ashridge. XI. Johannes Whytton. He occurs as Rector in the ordinance cited in p. 20, which bears the date of the 9th year of Hen. VII. Probably he was the Johannes, Rector, by whom in the 2d year of Rich. III. was confirmed to the tenants of the honour of Walling- ford and the honour of Berkhampsted the grant of being toll-free. See before, p. 6. note ( d .) XII. Radulfus, Rector. XIII. Johannes [de Berkhamsted,] Rector. Resigned in 1521. XIV. Johannes [Malden,] Rector 1521. He died the 12th of July, 1529. XV. 6 Thomas Waterhouse, Rector 1529. With this person the name and office of Rector expired ; for by him the College was surrendered to king Henry the eighth, (of which event the next chapter presents a particular account,) and he survived the loss of this distinction many years. He was a gentleman of an h ancient family, and was Rector of Quainton in Buckinghamshire, as well as of this Society. He was brother of 1 John Water- house, of Hemelhemstedbury in Hertfordshire and of Whitchurch in Buckinghamshire, Esquire; and was termed by king Henry the eighth his Gentleman-Priest k ; “ for, says the author of this information, “ it hath alwayes been the opinion of the wisest. In heroicisfa- miliis vim natures preestantiorem esse qudm in reliqud multitudine .” He was buried in the Church of Hemelhemsted, of which place he was a 1 native ; and the monumental figure and inscription, designed to designate his burial-place, have been preserved in Morgan’s Sphere of Gentry ; of which a fac-simile is here given ; and this is the inscription. Hfc facet ^ljomais ofljatcrfjoug Cletfcug quontram St£agt'0ter gffie (Mernator CoUegff Beatae S^arfae nupec lie e “ ciant presentes et futuri qubd nos Frater Radulphus de Aston , Rector Domus de Assherugg et ejusdem loci Conventus dedimus, concessimus, et hac presenti carta nostra confirma- vimus, Ricardo Purcas de Pychelestorn, heredibus et assig- natis suis, unam acram terre jacent’ in campo oriental’ de Pychelestorn benethemore inter terram Ricardi JBesemle ex parte orientali, et terram quondam Johannis atte Brugg ex parte occidental^ unde dicta acra de tenement.’ quondam Thome Morannt, et alia dicta acra de ten.’ quondam Ricardi Eltrugge, in excambium pro uno bosco vocato Adekynescroft jac.’ inter terram quondam Ade Hod ex parte borial.’ et ten.’ Johannis atte Mede junioris ex parte austral.’ &c. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum nostrum ad causas huic presenti carte fecimus apponi, &c. Dat. apud Assherugg in festo Sancti Ambrosii anno regni Regis Edwardi tercii post conquestum quadragesimo tercio.” f It may be here observed, that for those of the name of Johannes and Radulphus, whose surnames are not known, the obituary-entries are on different days, and therefore designate different persons. s Thus fifteen Rectors are found ; whereas eleven only have hitherto been enumerated, including Thomas Waterhouse, whose obit is not among 1 the above, because indeed he flou- rished long after this Register had been written. h Morgan’s Sphere of Gentry, lib. 2. p. 71. Fuller’s Wor- thies, fol. 1G62. p. 31. 1 This John Waterhouse was auditor to king Henry VIII. and is said to have given that monarch a great entertainment at his house, which Chauncy supposes to have been that at Hemsted Bury. See Chauncy’s Hist, of Hertf. p. 547. k Morgan, ut supr. p. 71. 1 Fuller, ut supr. p. 31. Newcome, in his history of St. Alban’s, says that Waterhouse was buried at Little Berkhamp- sted or North Church : but we see that Waterhouse ordered in his will, that he should be buried at Hemelhemsted. I , . p !iir meet 'Obamas dfflaft’rtoi® Cilmrus quouiiaiit U>iciiltrr line Subermitor bitirrabifo (lolleqn Beater iparia' uupet i'c cUbernge: tier notv Hector (Fcrlcfiar be i^uuputiuvqui olnit IT"" ’ine iRnu Clnno iPcmtmt a^tlldhttio Qumqentdltmo ^utnqtraqelRmo quarto- cuius ammo: VVopitirtur X)cti6- Quueu. 25 COLLEGE OF ASHRI D G E. flg&entffffe : $ec non Kectou Ccclegtfae tie ®tm(nton : 3Du( ofcqt xxiii 0 . life 9l£en0f0 apaf) 3nno SDomfttf mille0imo qumpnte^lmo qufnquagegfmo quarto : Ctu'ug anfrnae propm'rtur £Deu 0 . 131. 14. 4. c Not. Monast. p. 312. col. 2. y Newcome, from a book in the Augmentation Office, repre- d See also Chauncy, Hist, of Hertf. p. 575. col. 2. concern- sents the amount of the Temporals at £322. 17. 0. And, the ing the Master of this Hospital. Spirituals being united, of the gross receipts at £435. 14. 10, c Tower Records. Newcome ut supr. from which he deducts reprisals £31. 1. 8, leaving the total f See before, p. 8, noteP. Rot. Pat. 18. Ed. I. valuation at £404. 13. 2. s Bacon, Liber Regis. z Newcome, ut supra. h See Rec. Excheq. MSS. in V. Ashridge. “ Clameum a Newcome, who, from the book in the Augmentation Office, Rectoris firmed in Com. Essexice, alloeatum in magno rotulo specifies the sums paid to fifteen Brethren ; of which two are Pipae. 6. Rich. II. — Item Recorda tangent’ Asherugge 8. Hen. £10, two £8, two £7, two £6. 13. 4, four of £6 ,two £5. 6. 8, VI. rot. 22. in Com. Berksciree, 200 acr. bosci ; et rot. 32. in and the fifteenth £2. 13. 4. to Edward Peacock, Novyce. Com. Wiltesc.” 28 HISTORY OF THE Berks some rights and privileges ; of which I have been unable to find the exchange or SU Tterthe dissolution, Ashridge unquestionably became the residence of royalty. To what- ever tenant it might have been assigned, during the remainder of Henry’s days ; we shall find that it was bestowed on the princess Elizabeth by her brother king Edward, and we know that in Mary’s reign, it was occupied by that princess. Among the Harleian Manuscripts m the British Museum, there is a Latin > letter from her to Edward, dated Ashridge, the 20th of September, but without the date of the year, in which she speaks of the sickness then prevalent, and of the king’s being absent from London. This seems to fix the residence o Elizabeth at Ashridge as early as in 1551, when the “sweating sickness so raged, that in London 800 died of it in one week. There is also among the Lansdowne Manuscripts, in the same national repository, a 1 letter from her, dated at the same place, of no interest, to her wel beloved sister, the princess Mary. We now proceed to the reign of: Mary ; when, as an elegant writer has observed, “ m Elizabeth, being become the public an avowed object of Mary’s aversion, was openly treated with much disrespect and msu t. She was forbidden to take place, in the presence chamber, of the Countess of Lenox an the Dutchess of Suffolk, as if her legitimacy had been dubious. This doctrine had been insinuated by the chancellor Gardiner, in a speech before both houses of parliament. Among other arguments enforcing the necessity of Mary’s marriage, he particularly insisted on the failure of the royal lineage; artfully remarking, that none of Henry’s descendants remained, except the queen, and the princess Elizabeth, avoiding the term sister. Her friends were neglected or affronted. And while her amiable qualifications every day drew the attention of the young nobility, and rendered her universally popular, the malevolence of the vindictive queen still encreased. The princess therefore thought it most prudent to leave the Court ; and before the beginning of 1554, retired to her house at ” Ashridge in Hertfordshire. In the mean time. Sir Thomas Wyat’s rebellion broke out, in opposition to the queen’s match with Philip of Spain. It was immediately pretended, that the princess Elizabeth, together with lord Courtney, was privately concerned in this dangerous conspiracy, and that she had held a correspondence with the traitor Wyat. Accordingly, Sir Edward Hastings, afterwards lord Loughborough, Sir Thomas Cornwallis, and Sir Richard Southwell, attended by a troop of Horse, were ordered to bring her to court. They found the princess sick, and even confined to her bed, at Ashridge. Notwithstanding, under pretence of the strictness of their commission, they compelled her to rise. And, still continuing very weak and indisposed, she proceeded in the queen’s litter by slow journeys to London.”— There is enough, in the preceding abstract of Elizabeth’s situation, to stop the antiquary in his most eager researches, and bid him ponder upon the unstable condition of human greatness, thus exemplified in a princess so undeservedly exposed to injury and insult. This instance, indeed, is one of the spectacles in real life, which both humbles our unthinking pride, and calls forth our sincerest commiseration. Topography may be always allowed to explore those remarkable circumstances in the histories of persons, which are connected with the place described ; and to make them more obvious in description, than the often necessarily compressed page of general history exhibits. Ashridge derives great interest from its connection with the early part of Elizabeth’s days ; and therefore for what follows, however well known to inquisitive curiosity, no apology is necessary. Of the scenes, which now present themselves to notice, the first in order, and in interest, is the retirement of the princess to Ashridge, where we find her suspected of treason. But we know the malevolence of the queen to have been personal as well as political. Mary, before she came to the throne, ° treated her, upon all occasions, with the tenderness of a sister ; « p going no whither but would have her by the hand, and sending for her to dinner and i N°. 6986.15. the time of Wyatt’s attempte in queen Maryes dayes.” Nor- k Burnet, Hist, of the Ref. P. II. B. 1. den's Hertfordshire, 1596. i N°. 1236. 39. 0 Burnet, Hist, of the Ref. Vol. ii. p. 254. m Warton’s Hist, of Sir Tho. Pope, pp. 65, 66. * Fox, Acts and Monuments, B. ii. Elizabeth, when queen, n Wherein our most worthie and ever famous queen Elizabeth ordered Fox's book to be placed in the common halls of arch- lodged, as in her owne, beinge then a most stately house, at bishops, bishops, deans, archdeacons, and heads of colleges. COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 2 9 supper; but, after she was crowned, never shewing her any such kindness, but keeping her- self aloof from hers.” Of this altered mood the Lord Courtney has been supposed one of the powerful causes. With the Queen « he was much in favour ; and it was believed that she wished to marry him. But he affected not so high an honour, or rather he beheld her not wit i eyes of rapture. To Elizabeth he had made addresses, who of the ordinary share of beauty between them had much the better part, and was nineteen years younger. The fury of a woman scorn'd , we may therefore safely believe, was not wholly unconcerned in the neglect, and subsequent imprisonment, of a sister, together with her suitor. They were victims to pride and jealousy. For Wyat, at his death, entirely cleared them both from the unfounded charge against them. Nor was the charge revived ; although indeed they were both committed to the Tower. From this rude visit, then, to the Princess at Ashridge, where we look in vain, upon the occasion, for a spark of that enthusiastic zeal of courtesy, which was common in those days ; we shall now attend her till that event,* not without previously observing, that we are unac- quainted with the exact time of her abandoning the hope of marriage with Lord Courtney; and that some appear to have supposed them married. For a relation 8 exists, entitled, “ How one Cleber, 1556, proclaimed the Ladie Elizabeth Quene, and her beloved bedfellow Lorde Edward Courtneye Kynge !” The Princess has not recorded her sorrow at their separation; as at a very distant period she did upon the loss of another suitor, the Duke of Anjou, in 1581. And if we may judge from her impassioned strains, when she was fifty-two years old ; how would she have written, when Courtney urged his suit, at the age of twenty-five! Let the reader form his opinion from the curious * declaration which has come down to us. I “ I grieve, yet dare not shew my discontent ; I love, and yet am forc’d to seem to hate ; I dote, but dare not say I never meant ; I seem stark mute, but inwardly to prate. I am, and not ; I freeze, and yet am burn’d. Since from myself my other self I turn’d. II. ‘ * My care is like the shadow in the sun, Following me flying ; flies when I pursue it; Stands and lies by me ; does what I have done ; This too familiar care doth make me rue it. No means I find to rid him from my breast. Till by the end of things it be supprest. III. " Some gentler passions steal into my mind, (For 1 am soft, and made of melting snow ;) Or be more cruel, love, or be more kind, Let me or float or sink, be high or low. Or let me live with some more sweet content, Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant !” •a Burnet, and our historians in general. r She has been described as ** having a skin of pure white, and hair of a yellow colour; her eyes beautiful and lively, and her whole body well made.” See Bohun’s Charact. of Q. Eliz. He omits her high nose, which indeed several of the portraits of her Majesty improperly do. 8 In the Brit. Mus. M.S. Harl. 537. 25. See Warton’s Life of Sir T. Pope, p. 91. * In the Ashmole Mus. Ox. 6969. (781.) The lines are signed Eliza Regina upon Mount zeur’s departure . See An- drews’s Contin. of Dr. Henry’s Hist, of Gr. Brit. Headley’s, and Ellis’s, Specim. of Anc. Eng. Poetry. 30 HISTORY OF THE From this little digression, occasioned by her story, we return to the suspected Princess at Ashridee and to the commissioners sent thither to seize her. Their retinue and troop of horse- men it seems, consisted of “ 250 persons. Of these commissioners the behaviour appears to have’ exhibited the insolence of office unchastised by the decent attentions of civilized life. It was past the hour often at night, when they arrived. So boisterous were they in their demand, that being requested to stay, and come again in the morning to speak to the Princess, they instantly rushed into the chamber, when her gentlewoman left it with the request 1 hey then abruptly declared the pleasure of the Queen ; which was that she should be at London upon the seventh day of that, present month ; unfeelingly adding, that in obedience to then- commission they would take her with them, either alive or dead. Havino-, however, found her on their arrival sick ; they could not but ask her physicians. Dr. Owen and Dr. Wendie, whether she might be removed without danger of her life. These physicians probably dared to make no other answer than they did; that she might. The commissioners accordingly bade her prepare against the morning, at nine of the clock, for the melancholy journey. , At the prescribed time, they conducted her, faint and feeble as she was, to the Queen s litter ; so weak at the instant, as to be “ x ready to swoon three or four times betwixt them. Her progress, on that day, was no further than to Redborne, where she was guarded all night. On the next, to the house of Sir Ralph Rowlet at St. Alban's, where she tarried that night, “ y both feeble in body, and comfortless in mind.” From that place she passed to the house* of Mr. Dodd at Mims , where she remained that night. And thence she came to High gate ; where, “ z being very sick,” she tarried that night, and the next day. Fiom that place she was conveyed to the Court. Upon her arrival at the Court, she was immediately confined, and kept a close prisoner for the space of a fortnight; unvisited by King, or Queen, or any friend; and not until the twelfth day of this confinement examined by the Privy Council, who then indeed unjustly charged her with the conspiracy of Wyat and other treasonable matters, and she vindicated her innocence beyond dispute. Yet the Lords of the Council still declared it to be the plea- sure of her Majesty, that she should be sent to the Tower, till the matter might be further examined. After this determination, the Princess had scarcely returned to her prison in the Court more than an hour, when four of the Council, with a guaid, took possession of the loom next to that which she occupied ; secluding all her gentlemen, yeomen, ladies, and gentle- women. They appointed, in their room, one gentleman-usher, three gentlewomen, and two grooms of the chamber. Besides these, three other men of the Queen’s household, and three waiting women, were selected, to see that none should have access to the captive. So jea- lous were they of Elizabeth’s popularity. They even kept waiting in the gardens, all that night, a hundred northern soldiers, as if they suspected in this business the allegiance of the ordinary guard ; and rendered their suspicion more notorious, by appointing two noblemen also with their attendants to the same watch. After a few days, two of the Lords of the Council came to inform her, that she must im- mediately be carried to the Tower. And the barge being prepared for her, and the tide serving, she is said to have requested, in heavy mood, the favoui of waiting anothei tide 5 which was refused by the Lords with the churlish answer, “ a that neither tide nor time was to be delayed .” Yet importuning to write to the Queen, one of them so far was softened as to promise the delivery of her letter, and bring back her Majesty’s answer ; a circum- stance, however, which delayed her commitment only to the following morning ; when she was conveyed to the Tower by water, and landing, having one toot upon the staiis, she said, “ b n ere landeth as true a subject , being prisoner, as ever landed at these stairs ; and before Thee, O God, I speak it, having none other friends but Thee alone." She was then led into u Fox, Acts and Mon. B. 2. His authority is here minutely x Fox. y Ibid. z Ibid, followed, his language only being a little altered, till the Prin- a Ibid. b Ibid, cess is landed at the Tower of London. 31 COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. her r °om, and the doors were bolted upon her ; when she called to her gentlewoman for her rock whereby allhla ^ hi^ ^ f omdation u P on the sands > but upon the ’ . { atl hlasts and Mustering weather should have no power against her.” ere is a fine proof of the unbroken spirit of Elizabeth. It was accompanied with her resen ment of the studied insolence of one of the noblemen, who would make her land at t,Z Z °'“ k r '° u * t "" fro " rain 1 when ,he il “ d ~ k We have now brought her, as we proposed, from i\shridge to the Tower of London; and have no need to dwell upon the often told tales of all her subsequent hardships, and of herself and Courtney being at length indebted to Philip, not long after his nuptials with Mary, ior their liberation. Yet is there one circumstance, attending her first examination in the Tower, which cannot here be overpassed, as it both relates to the history of Ashridge, and is another illustration of her lofty mind. Gardiner, and others of the Council, it seems, at this interview, examined her “ c of the talk that was at Ashridge betwixt her and Sir James Crofts , concerning her removing thence to Dunnington Castle .” To whom she said, she remembered that M. Hoby, and her officers, and Sir James Crofts, used such words: “ But what is that to the purpose, my Lord, said she, but that I may go to mine own houses at all times /” We now revert to the fact of the house and demesnes of Ashridge having been d granted to Elizabeth by her brother, Edward the Sixth, in the fifth year of his reign ; as appears by the following document : “ iRer omnibus ad quos etc. Salutem. Sciatis quod Nos, de gracia nostra speciali ac ex certa sciencia et mero motu nostris, dedimus et concessimus, ac per presentes damus et con- cedimus, percharissime Sorori nostre domine Elizabetlie, (inter alia,) omnes illos redditus nostros tam liberorum quam custumariorum tenentium in Gaddesden Parva et Frythesden attingen’ ad summam sex librarum decern solidorum decern denariorum et unius oboli in Com’, nostro Bucks, nuper parcell’. terrarum et possessionum nuper Collegii de Asslieridge in dicta Com . nostro Bucks : Ac totum ill ud messuagium sive capitalem mansionem nostram de Asshemdge : Ac omnia domos edificia curtilagia ortos pomaria gardina ac cetera here- ditamenta nostra infra scitum, ambitum, circuitum, et precinctum ejusdem mansionis existen’. dicto nuper Collegio de Assheridge dudum spectan’. et pertinen’. Ac eciam totum illud tenementum nostrum vocatum le Bary house, ac omnes illas terras nostras vocat. Hodenhall alias Hundenhall parke, jacen . et existen’. in Edelborough in dicto Com’, nostro Bucks, modo vel nuper in tenura seu occupacione Roberti Erne vel assign’, suorum nuper parcell’. terrarum et possessionum dicti nuper Collegii de Assheridge existen’. etc. Dat. Westminster 24 April 5. Edw. 6.” Browne Willis says, that Edward had been nursed e here. We hear, however, no more of the Princess at Ashridge, after the events mentioned. But an existing document shews that she had assigned, in 1556, many parcels of the lands and demesnes, belonging to the late College, to Richard f Combe or Combes, of Hemelhemsted, gentleman. This grant, now among the many important and very curious articles in the archives of the present Earl of Bridgewater, is as follows. “ Cf)t# 3(ntientut0 made the 28 th day of Marche, in the thirde and fourthe yeres of the reignes of our sovereigne Lorde and Ladie Phillip and Mary, &c. betweene the right excel- lent Princesse the Ladie Elizabeth’s Grace, suster to our said soveraigne Ladie the Quene’s Majestie of th’on partie, and Richard Combe of Hemelhamsted, in the Countie of Herts, gent, of the other partie. Witnessithe that the said excellent Princess hath graunted, de- mised, betaken, and to ferme letten, unto the said Richard Combe, One pasture calid Ayshe c Fox. d Office Copy of the Grant in the present Earl of Bridge- water’s archives. e The western avenue is still called. The Prince's Riding; and perhaps took the name from Edward. f Between R. Combe or Combes, who is styled, not very cor- rectly, “ Rector of the Parish of Ashridge,” and R.Warde, Esq. “ Impropriator and Rector of Pychelestorne, and of the free Chapel of Nettleden thereto annexed,” there appears to have been a suite about tithes, upon which a decision was pro- nounced by Dr. B. Clerke, Official of the Arches Court of Can- terbury, in Feb. 1554. Bridgewater MSS. 32 HISTORY OF THE parke, One close of lande and pasture calid Hodendale parke One meadowe lyinge behind the dairie howse, and also One other meadowe lyinge before the dame howse aforesaid, One other meadowe callid the Launde lying behinde the stable, and those feddes of land called TuthiU ffeildes lyinge together, One ffeilde of arable land called Parke ffeilde, One close of arable land called Conygar ffeilde. One ffeilde of arable lande called Turners ffeilde, One close of arable lande calid Fyve Acres , and One feilde of arable land calid Lose ffeilde, and also the herbage and pannage of the woodes called the North woode the Bmhie parke, the South woode, Hamond hill, Stepmother woode, Thorney grene, and Hard hill. All which premisses with th’ appurtenances are lyinge and beinge in Ashrudge in the Countie of uc rs. And also all other the demayne landes whatsoever they be belonging to the late Monasterie of Ashrudge, &c. or of late in th’ occupieng of John Norris and Olyver Lowtlie late ffarmers ther with commen of pasture in the ffrith and else where, &c. And also the oversight and custodie of the said Colledge or Monasterie of Ashrudge with all the houses, barnes, stables, the dovehowse, orchards, and gardens, lyinge and beinge within the precincte of the said late Monasterie, &c. To have, hold, occupie, &c. from the feast of St. Michael last past unto the ende and terme of one and twentie yeres next ensuing. Yeldinge and paying there- fore yerelie, duringe the sayd terme, unto the said Excellent Princesse, her Graces successors and assignees, Sixe poundes and ten pence of lawfull money of Inglande, at two termes in the yere, by even porcions, &c.” Elizabeth, as Queen, granted Ashridge to William Gorge, one of her gentlemen pension- ers. There is the copy of a draft of such a grant, dated 10. January, in the fourteenth year of her reign, among the Earl of Bridgewater’s records. Afterwards she granted the Manor of Ashridge, dated Jan. 29. in the seventeenth year of her reign, to John Dudley, and John Ayscough, and their heirs. These persons, on Feb. 12. following, granted it to Henry Lord g Cheyney and Jane Lady Cheyney his wife, and to the heirs of the Lord Cheyney. There had been, before this transaction, a survey taken of Ashridge and Sherland aforesaid, with a view to exchange ; of which the following notice is preserved among the Memoranda of the Exchequer. “ De £79. 11.0. parcella £1260. 8. 8. de ValoreDomus de Assherudge, ac boscorum et arborum, super di versa Maneria infra scripta, in Com. Buck, et aliis, per Re- ginam Henrico, domino Cheyney, in Excambio assurata excedentem Valoiem Domus de Sherland, in Comitatu Kancise, ac boscorum super diversa alia, per eundem dominum Chey- ney, Reginas in Excambio concessorum, eidem Reginas respondenda which Henry Lord Cheyney did, by his Indenture, grant the Manor of Ashridge to Sir Robert Newdigate and others for the use of Jane Lady Cheyney and the heirs of her body ; and, in default of such issue, to the use of the lady and her heirs. The Lord Cheyney died without issue of his body, and so the Manor came to the Lady Cheyney and her heirs. The survey as well of Sherland as of Ashridge, exists among the Bridgewater manuscripts, but somewhat muti- lated. So much of Ashridge, as more immediately respects the purpose of these pages, is entire, and as follows. “ vertue of the Quene’s Majesties Comyssion out of her Highnes Courte of Exchequer hereunto annexed, to us directed, we John Thomson, William Hawtrie, Peter Graye , Es- quiers, etc. having called unto us divers and sundrie workemen of good skill and experience, have viewed, seen, and surveyed all the mansion house of Ayssheridge, etc. with all and singuler edifices, barnes, stables, dovehouses, and other buyldings aboute the same; and have according to the same Comyssion valued all and singuler the brick, stone, iron, leade, glasse, tymber, and tyle thereof, in suche sorte as if all the severall things shuld presently be pulled asunder, taken downe, and then solde ; and have also viewed and seene all the wooddes growing in and upon the demeasnes of the house. And so we finde the same man- sion house, with other the premisses, worthe to be solde, as hereafter ensueth. g Written Cheyne, in the old writings. h Jones’s Index to Records, etc. fol. 1795. vol. 2. sub voce Ashridge. 33 COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. In brick x 11 . xv s , stone liij u , xv 9 . viijV iron xxix 11 . x s . iij d , glasse xiij u . viij d , timbre ccxij u . xnij 8 . 1113 d , wainscot xxx 11 . xiij 8 . iiij d , l, cccclj. xiij. vii paving tyle vij». xxij d , tyle 1». xx d . In the j whole J 1 Ml 111* _ In leade xxviij. xxvj. foote, whiche after the rate of xviij. foote to a fodder amounteth to Ixxxix. fodder three quarters dim\ and f* clxiij. iij. iiij. xxv. foote, and valued at vij' 1 . xiij 8 . iiij d . the fodder, cometh to , li. St >- mcxiiij. xvij. j lymore and other trees growingin and' upon divers and sundrie places of the de- measnes there, viz. Sowthwood mmdcclxxxv, Northewood mdcccclxxxvi, Asshe park ccxxxviij, Hardhill Ixxxij, Stepmother wood r cccxlvij, Hamond’s kill mcclxxxvj, Turner’s ^ dlvij. *j* x - close ccxxxij, and Busshe park ccxcv ; in th’ hole ix thousand dli trees ; which valued at xiiij d . the tree, one with another, amounteth to li. y dlxxv. ij. X. " Bushiepark xxvij acres of underwood,*! ,i. valued at xiij 8 . iiij d . the acre J* xv »j Summa Totalis mdclxxxix. xix. x.” In the thii ty second year of her reign, queen Elizabeth 1 granted, by letters patent dated July 12, the Manois of Gaddesden Parva and Frithsden, with the appurtenances, to Jane Lady Cheyney and her heirs. The Lady Cheyney, Sir John Crofts, and Dame Mary his wife, k bargained and sold, by indenture dated 27. Nov. 44 Eliz. these Manors of Ashridge, Gaddesden Parva, and Frithsden, to Ralph Marshal and his heirs. Ralph Marshal conveyed them, by indenture inrolled dated 7. March, 45. Eliz. to Randolph Crew, Thomas Chamberlain, and their heirs; and, in Easter Term 1 Jam. levied a fine of them to the use of the parties; and in the same term the Lady Cheyney, Sir John Crofts, and Dame Mary his wife, levied another fine of the Manors of Ivinghoe, Ashridge, Gaddesden Parva, Frithsden, and Northwood, to the use of the same parties and their heirs. Randolph Crew, Thomas Chamberlain, and Richard Cartwright, 1 granted, by their indenture, dated 21. Oct. 2 James the first, the Manors of Ashridge, Gaddesden Parva, and Frithsden, to Sir Thomas Egerton Lord Ellesmere, and the heirs male of his body; and, for want of such heirs male, to the use of the right heirs of the said Lord Ellesmere for ever. What had passed from the College, returned also to Lord Ellesmere. For the Manor of Lucies, which belonged to Sir Geoffrey Lucy, and was conveyed to Edmund Earl of Cornwall and by him given to the College of Ashridge, passed after the dissolution to Henry Earl of Essex ; and afterwards to Sir Robert Dormer, who in 44. Eliz. conveyed it to John m Earnes and Robert James, and they sold it to "Lord Ellesmere. * Chauncy, Hist, of Hertf. p. 552. col. 1. year of her reign; which had been let by the Rector and Bre- k Ibid. J Ibid. thren, 29 Hen. VIII. for the term of 40 years. The land 14 m Among the Bridgewater MSS. there is a copy of a Lease acres with a tenement, out of the augmentation office, granted by Queen Elizabeth n Chauncy Hist, of Hertf. p. 552. col. 2. And Bridgewater to this John Eames, of Gaddesden Howe, part of the posses- MSS. sions of the College of Ashridge, dat. 21 June, in the 12th K 34 HISTORY OF THE The Manor of Great Gaddesden was granted to Thomas Lord Stanley, 1. Hen. VII. The coheirs of Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, sold it to Sir Robert Cecil, who granted it to Adolph Carey of Berkhamsted esq' from whom it passed to Sir Philip and Sir Henry his brothers, who sold it to ° Lord Ellesmere. Of this illustrious person, the founder of the House of Bridgewater, the fame, the talents, and the virtue are too well known to require much notice here. In the Biographia Bntanmca ("not to mention many smaller works in which his history occurs) the most curious and elaborate life of him may be found. And his memory, as a descendant has well observed, yet lives, not only in the Records of the Court of Chancery, but in the Annals of our General H He was son of Sir Richard Egerton, of Ridley, in Cheshire, by Alice, daughter of Richard Sparke, of Bickerton. This Sir Richard was son and heir of Sir Ralph, younger brother of John the ancestor to Sir Thomas Egerton, late Earl of Wilton. Sir Ralph was escheator of Cheshire, and ranger of Delamere forest for life *. He married Margaret, daughter and eu of Ralph Basset, of Blore, Co. Stafford, who was the second son of William Basset, of Blore, son and heir of William, of Blore, by Joan, daughter and coheir of Richard Byron. This ’is here stated, because the Basset arms are generally seen quartered with those of Eserton, as the windows of ancient Ashridge once abundantly testified, and the hall-window of C present mansion still exhibits. Sir Thomas was entered a Student of Brasen-Nose College, Oxford, about 1556, in his 17 th year, where he continued about three years; whence he proceeded to s Lincoln’s Inn, and soon became a distinguished Councellor. In 1581 he was appointed Solicitor General ; in 1592, Attorney General ; in 1593, Master of the Rolls ; and in May, 1596, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. While Lord Keeper, he took for his second wife, Alice, widow of the Earl of Dei by. On the accession of King James he was confirmed Lord Keeper, May 3, 1603 ; and in the July following he was raised to the peerage, by the title of Baron of Ellesmere, and constituted Lord Chancellor of England. In November 1610 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and in November 1616 was created Viscount Brackley. He died in the following Sprint, aged 77 , and was buried at Doddleston in Cheshire, where he had a seat. His many important observations and collections, in manuscript, preserved among the present Marquis of Stafford’s invaluable records, to whom they were bequeathed by the late Duke of Bridge- water ; and several letters to and from this great man, in other literary repositories; furnish means of adding interest to the copious and valuable Life of him, already noticed ; and of rendering considerable assistance to the future biographers and historians of our first James’s reign. The two following letters, one of which respects a proposal of marriage made to himselt, the other a match for his son, are so interesting in their way, as to require no apology for their insertion here ; and are copied from the originals, now belonging to the Marquis of Stafford. “ Maie it please your Lordship, « The unchangeable favor I have found in your Lordship at all occasions, evei since the decease of my Lord Chancellor Hatton, especially in tyme of trouble and adversitie, doth make me to catch at all shew of opportunity to do your Lordship anie manner service. And though the matter of service I now offer unto your Lordship be of such tender nature and dispozition, as happelie there need in your Lordship’s grave judgement a more fyne and delicate instrument than myself ; yet had I rather your Lordship should censure me as unfit, and wanting judgement, than as wanting good will or love anie waies. “ I am latelie credeblie geven to understand, that your Lordship hath a dispozition to be extraordinarily well thought of by a verie honorable feire yong widdow my kinswoman, and yet no more honorable and feyre than well knowne to hir Majestie, and all otheis, foi her ° Chauncy Hist, of Hertf. p. 560, col. four yeares’ time he was not out of the house. He had good p See the Topographer, vol. ii. p. 136. parts, and early came into good practice.” Aubrey’s Anecd. 2 “ He was of Lincolnes-Inne ; and I have heard Sir John vol. ii. p 339. Danvers say, that he was so hard a student, that in three ot Thomas Eeek.t©®', IL ©eud KEJBFiEm t© ^tehemn' Eilizabe m ..AM) Xi ©TFR1TO HlG-M keep e his office sweet and cleane; and give curteous entertainement to such strangers as are sent thither by myselfe, or my wife, or by our allowance ; not sufferinge any others to come within the office. I 52 HISTORY OF THE “ % Be carefull to view his vessels of all sorte often for fear of leaking. “ 3 . See there bee noe banquitting permitted in his office ; that soe the expence of it may be without waste or spoyle, and such as may best agree both with my honor, and my profit. “ 4. See the binnes for bread be kept cleane and sweet, and that there be not spoyle made by Ratts, or Mice ; and that there be noe bread given out to be eaten in Corners wastefully. “ 5. Deliver all things at the barre which are allowed out of his office, and not suffer any to come in to be their owne Carvers. “ 6. Weekly deliver a Note to the Clerke of the Kitchen of the expences of all things under his charge, that soe it may be justly knowne what remaines, and how what is spent hath gone away. ff Lastly, waite duly at the Table on which the glasses are sett, at meales, and not suffer any of the waiters to make any waste of any thing under his charge, either by eatinge or drinking there, or by carry- ing out breade or drink out of the roome, during the time the meale lasts. “ ORDERS FOR MY WARDROBE KEEPER. f ‘ The Wardrobe Keeper must. First, keep a perfect Inventory of all the housholde stuffe, of all sorte, in the house, and take notice carefully of any alteration that is made in the placinge of the stuffe, that soe he may knowe how, (when the occasion is past, that caused the remove,) to bringe in all to the right places againe ; and must have great care to keepe all sorte of housholde stuffe cleanely and neat, and to mend them when there is neede. “ 2 . Give diligente attendance upon strangers in their Chambers, at such tyme as any doe happen to lye at my house ; and both then, and at all other tymes, keep the roomes well swept, and the beds in goode order ; and see that any thinge, that may be liable to give offence, be removed at a due and convenient tyme. “ 3. Keepe the Chappell cleane and neate ; and, when there shall be any occasion of makinge fire there, must be sure to kindle it at a due season. ff Lastly, be ready to assist the yeoman huisher in his attendance at meales ; and, in the winter, must every eveninge, at prayer time, light up lights in the Chappell and be ready to carry a light, to light myselfe, and my wife, and such company as goe alonge with us to and from the Chappell. “ ORDERS FOR THE HUISHER OF MY HALL. “ The Huisher of the Hall must, “ First, be ready every morninge in Summer by Six of the Clocke, and by Seven at the farthest in Winter ; and then keepe the hall, and all places under his charge sweete and cleane ; and, in the Winter time, make fire there in the morning at a due season. “ 2 . Suffer none at prayer time to stay in the hall ; but must warne all that are either there, or any where there about, to come to prayers ; and, when meale is ready, must with a loude voyce call all the Servants togeather to carry it up to the Table. “ 3 . Attend diligently in the hall and cover the Table orderly at a due season ; and must more par- ticularly give his attendance at the Steward’s table, wheresoever that is kept ; and is to have an especiall charge of the roome. COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 53 4. Permit none, after meales are done, to sitt drinkinge in the hall ; but speedily make it cleane againe, that it may be fitt for Company to passe through ; and, if any thinge belonginge to any office be left there, must carry it backe to the place to which it appertaines. “ 5. Gather together the broken meate that remaynes after meales, and carry it to the gate ; that there it may be by himselfe, and the Porter, distributed amonge the Poore. “ Have a care that noe Gaminge be in the hall but at times allowed, nor no disorder there at any tyme. Memorand. that the Shuffle-board table is not forbidden by this order. ie Lastly, sett up lights at due times in such places, as are allowed in his charge to have any ; and, before bed-time, must be carefull that noe harme come by fire, or candle ; and must have a care that noe waste be made either of fuell, or candles in the hall. “ ORDERS FOR MY PORTER. “ The Porter must, ff First, attend diligently at the gates, and give curteous answers to all that have occasion to come ; but must not too suddenly admitt any into the gate, before he knowe either their persons or their business. “ 2. Keepe the gate and places aboute it cleane and sweete ; and must see that nothinge, neither houshold stuffe, plate, meate, or drinke be carryed forth, neither by any of the house, nor by strangers, but must staye the parties, and informe the Steward, that such miscarriages may be reformed. 3. Ring the bell when he is directed thereto by the Gentleman huisher, or yeoman huisher, to call all the family to prayers ; and must not then permitt any to stay about the gate, or in the lodge, but must send them all to prayers ; and must likewise send them all in at meale times, that they may be ready to give their attendance at the Table, accordinge to their duty ; and must keepe the gates shutt all the while the family is at prayers, or at meales. ee 4. Open the gate in Summer at Five in the Morninge, and in Winter between Six and Seven, and shutt it againe in Summer at Ten in the eveninge, and in Winter at Nine, and must enforme the Steward of all such, who, being appoynted to lye in the house, either lye abroad, or come in at unseasonable howers. “ 5. Be very carefull that no Gaming be permitted in the Lodge in the night time. ei Lastly, every eveninge, after the gates are shutt, have care of his fire and candle, and looke that noe Chimney about the house be on fire, and that there be noe hurt done by any fire cast out in any ashes or rubbish any where next the house ; and see that all barr gates be shutt, and then search the courte, and by-corners, to be sure there be none left in the house to doe any mischiefe in the night tyme ; and must be sure not to open the gates in night time, on a sudden, for feare of admitting any such kmde of danger, and must be very wary in all his imployment, because the safety of the family depends very much upon his care. “ And, for the more necessary furnishing them who shall have occasion to make fyres in the chambers above with billets, [each] is to have the assistance of the Porter to saw them into a fitting length ; and, after, [he] is to carry them up into the places appointed, which belong to the chambers where they are to be burnt, that so those places may be supply’d by him as occasion shall require. “ After table, walking with his white rod in his hand before the gentleman huisher, with the first Course, to the dining room door, and after taking off the meat, at both Courses, see it safely brought P 54 HISTORY OF THE back into the Kitchen ; and in the meane while to see that no part of the meate be taken out of the dishes, which if it be, then to inform the Steward who it was that committed that disorderly action. “ He is also to attend diligently at private Suppers to receive the meate at the yeoman huisher’s hands that comes from my table ; and place it orderly upon the parlor table for the gentlewomen, that what comes from my table they may make their suppers with. “ 1 Directions which I require to he observed not onely hy my Clerke of the Kitchen , and my Cooke , but likewise by all my Servants whatsoever, in such measure as they may be any way therein concern'd. That good Care be taken, that there be no Cutting of any meate, out of the Boyler, or from the Spitt, before it come up to my Table ; except onely for such who shall happen to be sick, or for whom I shall myselfe give, or send, a particular direction. “ That, after dinner is ended in the dining roome, the meate that remaines be sent wholly and intirely to the severall tables in the Parlour, and in the Hall, excepting onely such meate as, by the Clerke of the Kitchen, shall be thought fitt to be reserved for further use ; and that no meate be convayed to any other place, or to any other person whatsoever. “ For further explanation of this preceding direction I require that the Officers, which belong to my Buttery and Pantry, should not pretend their employment for a necessity of keeping them from dining in their proper places with their fellow Servants, but shall for the future lock up, in the Pantry, such things as relate to their Charge, as soone as dinner is ended in the dining roome ; and, when they have dined, then shall returne to the further Care and ordering of such things as relate to their Charge “ That the Larder Maid do not dispose of any meate out of the Larder, upon any occasion whatsoever, without the approbation of the Clerke of the Kitchen, or of my Steward ; that so the meate that is to be there preserved, may be always ready for the use of my table, if it shall be fitting to be brought thither againe. ff That in all things Care be taken to avoid wastefull expence ; and that more particularly the Clerke of the Kitchen, the Cooke, and the Larder Maid, be watchfull to prevent the wastefull expence of Butter, which hath hitherto beene both too little considered, and too little valued, and too much wasted. ff That the Clerke of the Kitchen, and the Cooke, be carefull to endeavour the execution of these my directions in their particular concernes ; and more immediately that they both take both great and constant Care to keepe the doores of the Kitchen shutt, from the first beginning to dresse any meate, till dinner be quite ended at the last table in the Hall, thereby to prevent not onely the slovenly accidents that may happen to the meate, either by the taking of Tobacco, or otherwise, but all other disorders, which have formerly too frequently happen’d upon the neglect of keeping shutt the Kitchen doores, as they ought to be. “ For the better performing not onely this last, but all the rest, of these Articles, I expect there should be a constant kind Correspondence between the Clarke of the Kitchen and the Cooke, and that the Cooke shall readily follow, and put in execution, such directions as he shall from time to time receive from the Clerke of the Kitchen, or from my Steward. * The following Directions form a Supplement to the preceding, at the distance of nearly twenty years, written by the Earl of Bridgewater himself. 55 ^ KJ JU Li ft lx r AOllKlUliE. “ If any of my Servants have beene guilty of so much Pride (as I doubt some have) as to exalt them- H In HI T w leCti0n tllerem rece,ved fr0m me ’ or m i' P Ieasure therein known) from the Table in the Jail to the Table m the Parlour, I expect they should withdraw from that place, unjustly assumed by them, to the place justly due to them; without putting me to further trouble, or themselves to greatel s .ame, bj being, by my order, remov’d to their proper place ; or, upon rebellious refusall to yeild obedience to my Orders, expell’d my Family. “ TI ’ e directions herein S^en in relation to Dinners I expect shall be pursued as to Suppers likewise. (C “ Aprillis 7. mo — 1670.” To these Orders were subjoined “ Memorials for Bulmer [his Steward] to put in execution when he should he gone to London,” dated Oct. 17, 1673. 1. That no others be suffer’d to eat of my meat but my owne and my sonnes’ servants, for whom it is provided ; for it is not fitt strangers should be admitted to meales, when there is no house kept. This, rigorously put in execution, will suddenly stop that resort, which hath hitherto beene so very expensive to me. If any of my servants be refractory, and after one warning given do againe introduce a stranger to meales, let me be informed of the person ; and I shall soone take course for his discharge, that he may neither further trouble me, nor give any more ill example to his fellow-servants. “ 2. That there be no strong beere, ale, or wine, at all spent in my absence ; for I keepe house at London ; and strangers must not expect to be entertain’d while I am away ; much lesse must it be suffer’d, that that sort of provision be wasted by my owne servants. That Sunday es, which have hitherto beene the dayes not onely of the greatest expence, but of the greatest disorder, be kept the most private of all other dayes. The employment, which best suites that day, is the service of God, and not debauchery abroad, much lesse at home. " That a11 the groomes be diligently lookt after, while both myselfe and the gentleman of my horse are away, that they do their duty, and keepe not themselves at an alehouse, nor their horses at the doore of one, while they make themselves drunke, and give their horses colds, to their destruction. " 5. That I do not onely intend that the groomes should be held to their duty, but all my servants should be taken care of; that none of them, neglecting their service, spend their time at alehouses, making themselves drunke, and so becoming uncapable to follow their businesse. “ 6. That whilst any of my sonnes are here, at any time, in my absence, these directions be still exactly observ’d, and no strangers admitted, but by their, or one of their, appointment. “ 7. That whensoever my sonne Brackley is here, in my absence, free accesse be allowed to whom- soever he will, and to no other. " 8. That the use of wine and strong beere, which my sonnes shall call for, when any of them are here is not intended to be forbidden by these directions ; but no other expence of wine, ale, or strong beere, is to be permitted, in my absence, but onely such as is directed by them, or one of them ; but more particularly by my sonne Brackley, if he be here.” III. From this second Earl of Bridgewater, of the name of Egerton, Ashridge passed to his son John, the third Earl ; a nobleman, distinguished by having worthily filled some of the highest offices in the State, and much lamented as a just and good man. 56 history of the IV. hi„ „ -« T « - - U.e great fire at Brid g .»ale,.Ho««e, i. Barbican, m April 1687. V. John, Marquis op Brackley, succeeded his father. Scroop, in his honours and pos- sessions, but died unmarried, at the age of twenty. VT He was succeeded by his only surviving brother, Francis, Duke op Bridgewater, the late possessor of Ashridge; by whom this piacc, ^with^ ‘t^^ 1 * ^"ishop^jf Diirham, bequeathed to his cousin Jo “ N ‘JT! L “ AM ‘fa^ord "the' fifth son of John the third Earl, and who was the son of Henry, lord bishop of Heretoid, tne nun sou brother of Scroop the first Duke of Bridgewater. magnificently di.lingui.had, in ,ha .me, ion of another “I * ^1, hi. ^ r nobleman, who even in the height of youth forewent the ’ luxury o " J ^ titles, and the splendour of courts, to benefit futurity by a des.gn o sublime as aloneto ^ the credit of the highest genius, and an execution » be > , ^y ^ ^ ^ ^ f f ^ rS^of Sf wL^oon hurSs Lost Lry thing else to the gulph SiS “eteTeil Which conveys his honours the greater strength as it goes, and bear it at last into the broad ocean of eternity. SECT. VI. description of the ancient house, and of the park. THF collate was surrounded by a most noble park, about five miles round consisting of THE dale / covere( i W ith a rich turf, and shaded with the finest trees ir tech 1 1. To to wan. of ...» h, fc h.....r, .he eld p c. SM.n it r ™, concluding will, a La.i, dhfich, on .he .nh.b.Unfi, » well as the place * n Of the Bonehoms at Ashrige beside Barcanstede, That goodly place to Skelton most kynde, Where the Sange royall is, Christis blode so rede, Whereupon he metrified after his mynde. A pleasanter place than Ashrige is, hard were to finde. As Skelton reherseth with wordes fewe and playne In his distichon, made in verses twayne : Fraxinus in clivo frondetque viret sine rivo. Non est sub divo similis sine flumine vivo. Topographer, vol. ii. p. 145. n Skelton’s Crowne of Lawrell. Skelton, who was himself a priest, flourished in the time of Henry the eighth. FRANCIS DUKE of BRIDGEWATER. ■\ COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 57 This park has still truly the appearance of an ancient park. It has been well observed, that “it is not like most modern ones, which are too often patchwork, where the late enlarge- ments are generally seen by the traces of former divisions, and the trees are the remains of old hedge-rows. This park, however, has repeatedly received additions, since the demesnes became the property of the Bridgewater family. There are grants for such enlargements among the records in the Chapel of the Rolls and in the present Earl of Bridgewater’s Archives. o what the park now is, in some point of view, may truly be applied the distinction which Milton gives the spicy forest of Eden, that it is sweetly wild. p Wild above rule or art.” What it was, rather more than a century since, may be partly gathered from a « poetical view of Ashridge written in 1699, from which I select first the description of the Prince's Riding, one of the rides or walks before the house. The poetry is not over-exquisite, but the scenery is correct enough, bating the hyperbole of the last line ! The stately beech, exactly in a row, On both the sides, in full proportion grow : Their lofty tops so even and verdant are You’d think them spacious pastures in the air !” I have been informed, that capability Brown, as he was called, employed his talents here, and probably with success ; for notwithstanding all the objections which of late have been made to the method of laying out grounds, pursued by Brown, it ought to be remembered, as an ingenious r critic has observed, that he was among the first who (in the early part of the' last century) approached towards nature, in discarding the artificial style and trim quaint- nesses which were considered the great ornaments of garden-scenery before their time. The front of the Mansion or College was enclosed within a court, to which the entrance was through a handsome gateway, formerly the porter’s lodge, but large enough to contain several good apartments, in which the late Duke of Bridgewater resided. His Grace, not many years after his accession to the title and estates, had intended to pull down the College, and build a new Mansion. And in order to this design many fine materials were accumulated. The lodge also formed part of a residence which the present Earl of Bridgewater occupied, some time after the death of the Duke, and there witnessed, what had been projected by his noble predecessor, a splendid renovation of Ashridge ; the College having been pulled down about three years before his Grace’s decease. I imagine this lodge not to have been built before Lord Ellesmere’s time. In the poem, just noticed, “ the lodge ” thus inspires the Muse : " The very anti-palace seem’d to be Sufficient subject for my muse and me : ’Tis fairly wrought throughout, and so compact. And every frosted stone laid so exact With such a symmetry, it may be sworn All the whole mass is but made up of one.” Being entered into the court, the principal front presented itself to the view. Along the middle part ran the seven high Gothic windows of the hall. On each side were wino-s projecting a little, and having each a large embattled bay window; beyond each of which 0 Topographer, vol. ii. p. 145. p Par. Lost, B. 5. ver 297. 9 Preserved among the Marquis of Stafford’s manuscripts, and entitled “ the Vision, or a Poeticall View of Ashridge, in the County of Bucks, the ancient Seat of the Right Honorable John, Earl of Bridgewater. Together with the history and characters of the most considerable members of that noble family. Written by one of the female sex in the year 1699.” It is dedicated to the Lady Mary Egerton. r Rev. W. Lisle Bowles, Pope’s Works, vol. iii, p. 333. 58 HISTORY OF THE extended two small wings®, supposed to have been erected in the reign of Elizabeth or James the first. The entrance was through a porch into the passage, (in a College called the Screens ,) on one side of which was the buttery hatch ; on the other, the two doors into the hall, which was part of the College itself. The account of this noble room, as preserved by Brown Willis, corresponds nearly with its last appearance, some of the painted glass only being then wanting ; but the beautifully fretted roof as well as the gallery over the screens escaped the notice of that learned antiquary : “ 1 The Refectory or Convent-Hall, which seems to answer to one area or side of the Cloisters is very high and lofty. ’Tis in length 44 feet, and in breadth 22, and a very well proportioned room. In the windows these arms are painted in the glass. “ 1. Sable on a Bend inter 2 Garbs argent three Escallops Azure on a Chief Or three Torteauxs. “ 2. Azure on a Chief Or three Torteauxs. “ 3. Argent a Lyon rampant Gules crowned Or within a Bordure Azure entoire de Besants. " 4. France quarterly Or 2 Barrs within a Bordure Gules impaling England. “ 5. Frette Or et Azure Semi de Fleur de Lis quartering Or 2 Barrs within a Bordure Gules impaling Gules three Lyons passant guardant. " 6. Frette Or Semi de Fleur de Lis Or quartering Or 2 Barrs within a Bordure Azure. “ 7, Argent within a Bordure 7 Mascles Gules. “ 8. Gules a Fess inter 6 Cross Croslets Or.” The next object of delightful curiosity, which here presented itself, was the Cloisters. These also were a part of the College itself. They formed a quadrangle. The length of them consisted, according to Browne Willis, of forty-one feet ; the breadth, of ten feet and a half. The Cloisters of the Church, as we shall presently see, exceeded this measurement. The College-Cloisters were neatly vaulted with good ashler work of u Toternhall stone, having the arms of the College in the centre, and two or three other bearings interspersed. On the walls were beautifully painted, in water colours, forty compartments ; almost all of which were entirely defaced in 1800; but the Crucifixion, and the taking down from the Cross, were those subjects which could still be ascertained. No less than fourteen of these divisions had been defaced, when Browne Willis, nearly a century since, visited the College. The damp, probably occasioned by the reservoir of water which these Cloisters surrounded, is believed to have occasioned much damage. The remarks of Browne Willis, however, fortunately preserve, in part, the history of what has been lost. The painted pannels were in the following order. £ ‘ 1. Defaced, but seemingly it represented Herod’s cruelty. “ 2. Our Saviour’s dispute in the Temple. “ 3. His Baptism. ff 4. His Temptation. " 5. The Healing of the Infirm at the Lake. 5 Topographer, vol. ii. p. 146. Bucks ; and there is yet a quarry of excellent stone there, * Brown Willis’s MSS. ut supra. belonging to the Earl of Bridgewater, which has contributed u Totternhall, Totternhoo, or Tottenhoe, as it is variously no small portion of materials towards the renovation of written, is in the county of Bedford, and on the confines of Ashridge. 59 COLLEGE OF A SHRIDGE. “ 6 * The Transfi guration : resplendebit facies ejus sicut etc. cc 7. The Raising Lazarus from the dead. 8, Our Saviour riding to Jerusalem. “ 9. The Driving the money-changers out of the Temple. “ 10. Psalm 2. “11* 0ur Saviour’s appearance to two of his disciples. 12. Celebration of the Passover. “ 13. Our Saviour betrayed by Judas. 14. His apprehension in the Garden, and healing the servant’s ear which Peter cut off’. " 15. His Trial before Pilate. “ 16. His crowning with thorns, and robing. “ 17. Pilate washing his hands. " 18. Defaced. “ 19. Defaced. " 20. Our Saviour carrying his Cross. " 21. Setting up the Cross. 22. The Crucifixion of our Saviour between two thieves. “ 23. His taking down from the Cross. “ 24. His Sepulture, laying him in the tomb. “ 25. His descent into Hell. fC 26. His appearance to one of his disciples. 27. His Ascension, seemingly. “ 28. His appearance to his eleven disciples. “ 29. Hii ires unum sunt ; being a representation of the Trinity. “ 30. This and the remaining ten x defaced.” The Conventual Church, according to Mr. Gough’s statement, stood in what was the garden, ranging with the Cloisters. What sort of a fabrick it was, says Browne Willis in a letter to Scroop, duke of Bridgewater, it y “ is not easy to guess, tho’ I presume it was 2 thirds longer than the Cloysters, which, in Religious Houses, generally made a third part of the Church, and always opened into it on the North or South side, and had on the East part commonly a Chapter-House. By a Legacy of 100 H of Cardinal z Beaufort, B? of Winchester, A° 1447, I judge the Cloysters and good part of the House now standing was built temp! Hen. 6. within less than 100 years before the Reformation, and being a good building occasioned its being preserved. In the Chapell of Nettleden, which I take to have been built about 1470, (because I have seen a Licence from the B? of Lincoln dated that year to John x Browne Willis’s MSS. ut supra. - See the Cardinal’s benefactions before enumerated in y Letter to the duke of Bridgewater, dated Whaddon Hall, the Register of the College. Sept. 26, 1723. 60 HISTORY OF THE Hunden B p of Landaff, who held L. Gaddesden Rectory in Commendam, to consecrate it, is on an altar or herse cloth of brown velvet the Arms of Ashridge Convent, viz. a On a Tomb Or bordured Gobone Argent # Azure a Lamb displaying a Banner Argent ; which Vest- ment no doubt belonged to the Convent before the dissolution, and was converted to this use at the dispersion of the goods of the Convent.” An b Inquisition, however, both of the house and lands, which was taken at Ashridge on the 20 th October, in the 17 th year of queen Elizabeth, before Sir Edmund Asshefyld and Richard Young, supervisors of her Majesty’s possessions, presents us with many curious particulars respecting the mansion and its appur- tenances. It is as follows. « Com . Hertf: \ JnqtUgittO indentata capta apud Asshridge in Com’, predictis vicesimo et Buck.' j die Octobris, anno regni serenissime domine nostre Elizabethe, Dei gratia Anglie, Francie, et Hibernie, regine, fidei defensoris, etc. sextodecimo coram Edmundo Asshfeilde milite, supervisore omnium terrarum et possessionum domine regine Com.’ sui Buck.’ et Ricardo Younge , supervisore omnium terrarum et possessionum dicte domine regine Com.' sui Hertf.’ virtute Commissionis dicte domine regine eis de Scaccario direct/ geren.’ dat.’ apud Westm. ultimo die Junii anno regni sui sextodecimo post diligentem supervisionem, perlustracionem, et perambulacionem, in, per, et circa tarn domum mancionalem de Assh- ridge pred.’ ac omnia structur.’ domos, et edificia, infra circuitum et precinctum scitus dicte domus mancionalis, quam omnia terr.’ pastur.’ boscos, subboscos, et alia hereditamen. dicte domni ad presens pertinen.’ per dictos commissionarios prius habit.’ et fact.’ vocatisque omnimod.’ operariis ad negocium illud exequend.’ necessariis per sacramentum Johannis Belfeild generosi, Thome Blackhead generosi, Johannis Eames generosi, Ricardi Whitley, Radulphi Feilde , Thome Allen , Willielmi Bysshop, Roberti Buncombe, Willielmi Axtell, Henrici Wetherhead, Matthei Bysshop, Johannis Grigge, Thome Dagnold, Willielmi Cocke, Thome Buncombe, Johannis Buncombe, Thome Putnam, Willielmi Higbey, Willielmi Roberts, Barnerdi Turney, Humfredi Shale, Thome Barnes, Johannis Wigge, Thome Bavers, Willielmi Allen, Thome Eltridge , et Thome Pynge : CltU JUtdtOtf# ptCtUCtt dicunt super sacramentum suum, Quod domus mancionalis sive hereditamen.’ de Assheridge est annui valoris ut sequitur, et continet in terr/ pastur/ boscis, et aliis hereditamen.’ ut particulariter inferius specificatur, viz. “ domus pred.’ continet octo acras: Quidam campus vocat.’ Turner ffeilde, continen.’ per estimacionem quinquaginta acras : Unum clausum eidem adjacen.’ continen/ quinque acras : Unus Campus voc.’ Coninger ffeilde, continen.’ quadraginta acras : Campus vocat/ the parke ffeilde, continen.’ quadraginta acras : Unus campus vocat/ Tothill ffeilde, cont.’ xxxij acras : Unus campus vocat.’ Asshe parke, cont/ octo acras : Certi campi vocat/ the loose ffeilds, continen/ octodecim acras : Parcus voc/ the Busshe parke, continen.’ lxxxiij acras : Campus vocatus Hudnoll parke, cont.’ octo acras. Que omnia continent in toto cclxxxxij acras, et sunt omnes terr/ arr.’ preter predictos parcos vocat.’ the Busshe parke, et Hudnoll parke, ac jacent et existunt infra Com/ Buck.’ preter xl ta . acras parcell/ diet/ parci vocat.’ Busshe parke, que pred.’ xl ta . acre sunt infra Com.’ Hertf.’ et dimittuntur Ricardo Combes, gen.’ pro cert/ annis adhuc duran.’ pro annuali reddit.’ vj H . x d . « ^Uttt eciam ibidem certi communes bosci, ut particulariter sequitur, viz. Stepmother wood, continen/ decern acras : Hardhill et Thorney grene continen.’ iij acras jacen.’ et existen/ infra Com/ Buck/: Northwood, continen.’ per estimac.’ cxliiij acras: Southwood, cont.’ per estim.’ cxlij acras : Hamonds hill, cont.’ per estimac.’ xxxij acras. Qui pred.’ Northwood, Southwood , et Hamonds hill, jacent et existunt infra dictum Com/ Hertf.’ Ac qui omnes pred/ communes bosci continent cccxxxj acras. « insuper super sacramentum suum quod Gaddesden cum Frythesden est integrum manerium, et est annui valoris ut sequitur, ac continet in ter/ arr.’ et aliis hereditamentis, ut particulariter inferius specificatur, viz. Unum tenementum et quatuor- a What the learned antiquary has here described as the arms the College of Heralds, that the arms of Ashridge should cer- of the College, will be found to differ from Tanner’s display of tainly have no boraure. them, in his Notitia Monastica, where the field is gules, and b Preserved among the Earl of Bridgewater’s title-deeds and there is no bordure. I am informed by a learned member of evidences, at Ashridge. j COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 61 decern acre terr.’ vocat.’ Gaddesden howe, infra Com.’ Hertf.’ in tenur.’ Johannis Earns , generosi, pro annuali redd/ xx s : Trescent. et quadraginta acre terr/ arr.’ quarum xxxij acre et dim.’ jacent et existunt in Hudnoll infra Com/ Buck/ resid.’ earundem cccxl ta . acr/ jacent et existunt infra Com/ Hertf.’ ac sunt insimul annui valoris vij h . x s . v d . obq. ultra dictam summam xx s . supra specificat.’ cujus summe vij h . x s . v d . obq. sunt cert.’ liber reddit.’ attingen.’ ad summam xiij s , ij d . ob. pro centum et viginti acris terre parcell/ diet/ cccxl acr.’ terr.’ arr.’ ac resid.’ redd.’ pred.’ est pro terr.’ custumar.’ tent.’ per Copiam Cur.’ sibi et hered.’ Est eciam quoddam servicium debit.’ annuat.’ pro tenentibus de Gaddesden domui de Asshridge , viz. opus octodecem hominum per unum diem in Autumpno, et opus unius hominis pro dimid.’ unius diei in Autumpno, necnon solvent annuat.’ ad festum Natalis Domini tres capones. In Frythesden parcell.’ died maner.’ de Gaddesden sunt cclx acre terr/ arr/ quarum maxima pars est infra Com.’ Buck.’ ac sunt annui valoris vj H . x s . x d . ob. unde vj u . x s . x d . ob. est pro terr.’ custumar.’ tent.’ per copiam Cur.’ sibi et hered.’ Est eciam quoddam servicium debit.’ annuat/ dicte domui de Assheridge per tenentes de Frithesden pred/ viz. opus viginti et quinque hominum per unum diem in Autumpno, et viginti galline ad festum Natalis Domini, ac centum ova ad festum Pasche. Communis finis de Gaddesden cum, Frythesden per annum iiij s . perquisiciones Cur.’ ibidem communibus annis v*. “ J?£000Utfint insuper super sacramentum suum, qu6d Willielmus Dormer miles tenet maner.’ suum vocat.’ Luces de maner.’ de Gaddesden cum Frithesden per servicium dimid.’ partis unius feod/ militis. “ PtC£0tttattt insuper nullam fuisse devastacionem bosc.’ aut subbosc.’ ibidem per longum tempus except.’ talibus bosc.’ aut subbosc/ que, sufficien.’ warrant.’ ibidem succisis, asportata fuere. “ lpt0£teUtattt insuper quod nulla devastacio aut spolium fact.’ fuit in vel circa domum mancional.’ de Assheridge predict.’ except.’ quibusdam ruinosis domibus, que racione vetustatis corruerunt, quorum maeremium ibidem adhuc existit, ad nihil utile nisi ad urendum ; Et aliqua pars domorum ruinos.’ ibidem dirut.’ fuit per quendam c — Stockwood , super- visor.’ operum dornine Regine, ac cum eisdem alias domos ibidem reparavit et emendavit. “ PtCtfCtttant insuper quod domus vocat.’ the owtehoivses , alia necessar.’ edific.’ vocat.' howses of office, que ad presens sunt aliquantutum in decasu, non possunt sufficienter reparari et emendari cum summa centum marcarum. ce insuper juratores pred.’ quod ipsi dicti juratores nullo modo possunt cognos- cere que domania, maner.’ aut hereditamen.’ dicte domui de Assheridge spectabant aut pertinebant, tempore dissolucionis ejusdem, aut certum redditum eorundem, aut quo titulo, vel per quem aut quos, eadem tenent, eo quod jacent in longis remotis locis ac in manibus permultorum hominum existunt, ita ut veritas inde admodum difficilis possit cognosci, eaque de causa (quantum ad illud) ignorant. “ IPtCStetltant insuper super sacramentum suum, quod sunt in quodam parco ibidem, vocat/ Busshe parke, sex acr.’ bosc.’ etatis circiter centum annorum : quelibet acra valet vendi vj u . — xxxvj 11 . In communi bosc.’ ibidem, vocat/ Northwood, continen/ cxliiij acras, (unde xliiij or . acr. sunt vast.’ sine boscis aut arbor.’ alicujus valoris,) sunt centum acr.’ bosc/ admodum sparsim posit/ cum fagis etatis circiter sexaginta annorum : quelibet acra valet vendi xij s . — lx H . In communi bosco ibidem, vocat.’ Southwood, continen.’ cxlij acr.’ (unde xlij acr.’ sunt terr.’ vast/ sine bosc.’ aut arboribus alicujus valoris,) sunt centum acr.’ bosc.’ etatis septuaginta annorum admodum sparsim posit.’ cum fagis : quelibet acra valet vendi xj s . — lv H . In communi bosco ibidem, vocat.’ Hamonds hill, continen.’ xxxij acr.’ sunt xxxij acr.’ bosc.’ sparsim posit.’ cum fagis etatis octoginta annorum: quelibet acra valet vendi viij*. — vij u . xvj\ In communi bosco ibidem, vocat.’ Harde hill et Thornegrene, continen/ duas acras et tres rod.’ bosci sunt arbor.’ et subbosc.’ ad valorem x*. In parco, vocat.’ Asshe parke, sunt arbor/ et subbosc.’ ad valorem xh Summa totalis valoris boscorum clxvj u . xvj\ « Presentant insuper juratores predicti quod est quedam pecia terr.’ vast.’ adjungen.’ parco per olde wynche gate side cont.’ per estimacionem tres acr.’ super quod sunt cert.’ arbor.’ valor.’ XX s . c Blank in the Inquisition. R 62 HISTORY OF THE r k ,c 3|tem presentant super sacramentum suum, quod cum firmar/ terr/ dominical.’ de Assheridge pro tempore existen.’ allocat.’ virtute literarum patentium sibi inde concess.’ habere sufficient ffyerboote annuat.’ de et super premissis, ideo juratores pred.’ pro meliori certitudinev alor.’ premissis deducunt annuat.’ xl s . pro leffyrehote firmar.’ qui annual is redd.’ xl s . in triginta tribus annis attingit ad summam lxvj h . Sic remanet clare pro boscis cli h , vj s . “ JptCl^Cntant insuper juratores pred.’ quod est quidam annuat.’ redd.’ sive feod.’ octo librarum et viginti denariorum exeuntium de domo de Assheridge pred.’ solubil.’ Johanni Noms armiger, durante vita sua per concess.’ illustrissimi nuper regis Henrici octavi, viz. xl s . annuat.’ pro custod.’ boscorum in Assheridge, et vj h . xx d . annuat.’ pro custod.’ domus ibidem. “ lpt000ntattt insuper quod est quedam quarrea lapidum apud Totternhall infra Com.* Bedf.’ pertinent dicte domui de Assheridge, que nunquam arrentat.’ fuit, eo quod supponitur esse aut parvi aut nullius valoris. f “ 3(nsfuper dicunt super sacramentum suum, quod domus mancionalis de Assheridge ac omnia structur.’ domus, et edific.’ infra scitum, circuitum, et precinctum, dicte domus ; ac plumbum, ferreum, maeremium, later.’ tegule, lapides, vitreum, le paning tyle, et omnia alia materia eorundem, si venderentur, valent, ut particulariter inferius specificatur. “ 3Impttmi0 est quoddam templum sive ecclesia ibidem, cuius inferior pars vocatur the body of the Church, continens in longitudine quinquaginta unum pedes et in latitudine triginta duos pedes : Una Capella vocata St. Jones Chappell continens in longitudine quinquaginta unum pedes et in latitudine viginti unum pedes : Una Capella vocata Our Lady Chappell continens in longitudine quinquaginta unum pedes et in latitudine viginti unum pedes : Australis insula dicti templi vocata le South lie continens in longitudine viginti sex pedes et in latitudine triginta duos pedes : Borialis insula vocata le North lie continens in longitudine xxvj pedes et in latitudine xxxij pedes : Cancella ejusdem ecclesie continens in longitudine octoginta et unum pedes et in latitudine xxxij pedes : Et le steple dicte ecclesie continens qualibet via triginta pedes. Quod quidem templum sive ecclesia cum membris suis predictis plumbo coopertum est, cuius maxima pars est admodum liquida et in multis locis nuper emendata cum le soder, et in diversis aliis locis opus habet d emendari.” cc quoddam e Claustrum ibidem plumbo coopertum, cuius Occidentale latus continet in longitudine nonaginta pedes et in latitudine decern pedes : Australe latus dicti Claustri continet in longitudine xxiiij pedes et in latitudine novem pedes : Boriale latus dicti Claustri continet in longitudine quadraginta duos pedes et in latitudine novem pedes. “ Presentant insuper super sacramentum suum, qudd sunt diversa alia loca plumbo cooperta, prout particulariter sequuntur, viz. Unus locus vocatus the Sextrye continens in longitudine triginta tres pedes et in latitudine viginti duos pedes : Unus locus vocatus the plate howse continens in longitudine octodecem pedes et octo polices, et in latitudine undecem pedes : Unus locus vocatus the dorter howse, continens in longitudine centum et octo pedes et in latitudine xxxiiij pedes : Unus locus vocatus the Librarye , continens in longitudine triginta tres pedes et in latitudine viginti tres pedes et dimid.’ Unus locus vocatus the howse of Evidence, continens in longitudine decern pedes et in latitudine octo pedes : Una aula vocata the Maynes hall, cum certis locis eidem annexis, continens in longitudine sexaginta quatuor pedes et in latitudine viginti quatuor pedes : Una magna camera vocata the greate Chamber, continens in longitudine quadraginta sex pedes et in latitudine viginti sex pedes : d Recapitulation of the measurement of the Conventual Church. Length. Breadth. The Body of the Church • • • • 51 feet St. John’s Chapel • 51 feet* ••*.... Our Lady Chapel • 51 feet The South aile • 26 feet The North aile • 26 feet The Chancel • 81 feet The Steeple • 30 feet each way • I remember an old drawing. in water colours. of Ashridge, in which the Church made the most conspicuous part of it ; which has been lost since the College was pulled down in 1000. e The Western side of this Cloister was probably the ambulatory or paradise of the Monks. See Du Cange in V. Paradisus, and Warton’s Hist, of Eng. Poetry, vol. i. p. 453. Measurement of the sides of this Cloister, as recited in the Inquisition. Length. Breadth. Western side 90 feet 10 feet. South side 24 feet 9 feet. North side 42 feet 9 feet. The dorter howse or dormitory appears to have measured 108 feet in length, and 34 feet in breadth. COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 63 Una camera vocata the pryve Chamber , continens in longitudine viginti octo pedes et in latitudine octodecem pedes : Una capella vocata the Lordes Chappell continens in longitudine viginti pedes et in latitudine decern pedes : Una magna aula vocata the greate Hall , continens in longitudine sexaginta sex pedes et in latitudine viginti octo pedes : Unus locus cognitus per nomen de Mr. Chamberlens lodging vocatus the Tower, continens utraque via triginta pedes, et le stayers ducentes ad dictum le Towre, continentes utraque via decern pedes : Una camera vocata the gromes Chamber, continens in longitudine xv pedes et in latitudine novem pedes : Quedam camera vocata the Bed Chamber, continens in longitudine xlviij pedes et in latitudine viginti quatuor pedes : Quedam capella adiungens dicte camere vocat/ le Bed- chamber, continens in longitudine octodecem pedes et in latitudine quotuordecem pedes et dimid.’ Unus locus vocatus the Taylery, continens in longitudine quatuordecem pedes et in latitudine duodecem pedes : Unus locus vocatus the Chapman's parlour, continens qualibet via xv pedes. Que omnia loca, claustra, camere, aule, et cetera edificia supra specificata, plumbo cooperiuntur et continent ut f supra.— “ IPtCtfCnt&nt insuper Juratores super sacramentum suum, quod lapides, fferrum, le seeling maieremium, vitreum, le pavingtyle, ostia, et fenestra Ecclesie predicte cum membris suis’ si diruantur et evellantur, valent vendi cli£. Claustrum a quodam loco vocato the Gromes Chamber usque le Sextre cum omnia materia eiusdem valet vendi iiij£. Item le Sextre edificat.’ super Claustrum australiter cum omni materia eiusdem valet vendi iiij£. Item le Dortery et quedam domus vocata the howse of Evidence cum omni materia earundem valet vendi \£. Item quedam aula vocata the Maynes hall cum omni materia eiusdem valet vendi vij£* Item magna aula ibidem vocata the greate hall cum omni materia eiusdem valet vendi xxx£. Item le Librarye cum quadam domo vocata the Chapter-howse subtus diet.’ le Library cum omni materia earundem valent vendi viij£. x 8 . Item quidam locus vocatus the gromes Chamber supra Claustrum cum omni materia eiusdem valet vendi xxxiij 9 . iiij d . Item magna camera ibidem vocata the greate Chamber supra quod est camera vocata the Chamber of presens, materia earundem camerarum voc/ the greate Chamber et the Chamber of presens valet vendi xx£. Item quedam camera vocata the Bed chamber supra quam est leffermery cum duabus Capellis adiungen’ cum omni materia eiusdem valet vendi x£. Item quedam camera vocata the pryve Chamber subtus quod est quedam Capella, que Capella et Camera predict.’ cum materia earundem valent vendi vj£. Item quidam locus vocatus the Taylery gate cum omni materia eiusdem valet vendi xl s . “ insuper Juratores, quod sunt diversa domus et edificia, vocata the owtehowses, que valent vendi ut particulariter inferius sequitur. Imprimis quedam domus vocata le Heyrey cum una veteri domo eidem adiungen.’ vocata a cartehowse valet vendi c s . Item Capella extra portam ibidem et domus vocata the hunters Lodge valet vendi xl s . Item domus vocata the porters Lodge valet vendi x£. Item quoddam stabulum ibidem valet vendi viij£. v j s . viij d . Item certa domus vocata the plommery howse et le chaundery howse valet vendi iij£. Item unum horreum ibidem valet vendi xx£. Item certa domus vocata the Bayliffs chamber valet vendi vij£. Item unum columbarium valet vendi iij£. vj 8 . viij d . Item domus vocata the well howse cum appendicibus valet vendi vij£. Item certa domus vocata le Boyling-howse et ffyshhowse cum una camera eisdem adiungen/ valet vendi vj^. viij\ iiij d . Item una domus vocata the drye Larder cum duabus cameris s eorundem valet vendi I s . Item una parva camera adiungen.’ diet.’ le dry larder valet vendi xxx*. Item coquina ibidem vocata the kechin valet vendi lxvj 8 . viij d . Item quedam domus vocata Callys valet vendi cvj\ vij d . Item quedam domus vocata h Copthall cum diversis cameris eidem adiungen.’ valet vendi vij£. x 9 . Item parva domus super murum ex australi latere Ecclesie valet vendi xxvj\ vii d . Item quedam vetusta domus vocata the Tower valet vendi lxvj 8 . viij d . Item quidam murus lapideus ducens circa domum de Assheridge predicta cum tegulis supra eundem valet vendi xiij£. Item due camere infra le Meynes hall valet vendi xh f After supra , in the Inquisition, the lead is reported in s The word, here wanting, is nearly obliterated in the Inqui- many parts damaged ; and blanks in two lines are left for the sition. value of it. h I think the word is Copthall, but it is not quite clear. 64 HISTORY OF THE “ ©alOt omnium dictorum domorum et edificiorum (ultra 1 plumbum) attingit ad summara ccclxiij^. xiij®. iiij d . In cujus rei testimonium, etc.” It is probable, that soon after this Inquisition had been taken, the Conventual Church was demolished. In it had been deposited the bodies of many eminent persons, besides those of the founder and of bishop Cantelupe, as I k have already noticed. Browne Willis has enumerated those also of Sir Robert Whittingham, Lord of Penley and Salden, in 1452 ; of Sir Thomas Brian, Lord Chief Justice, in 1500; of Sir Thomas Denham, Lord of Eythorp, in 1519 ; and of Sir John Denham, his son, in 1533. To the memory of these persons, and of several others, many sumptuous tombs 1 are believed to have been erected. But of such no record remains. Whatever injury this venerable house had sustained, during the reign of Elizabeth ; Lord Ellesmere seems to have been determined, very soon after he had acquired it, to repair and beautify it. There remain, among the Ashridge evidences, “ the names of such as did gratefie my Lorde Chancel or with carriage” of timber and stone in 1604 ; among whom is one of the commissioners directed to make the Inquisition which we have just seen. Sir Edmund Ashfield. There are also preserved, in the Chancellor’s own hand- writing, cf A remembrance for more buylding & reparacons at Ashridge and, in the respective hand-writings of several trades- men, “ estimates of all the charges for the newe byldinge, bothe for all manner of stuffe and workmanshippe, as also for carriages.” These designs, I should suppose, were completed in 1607. For there are also preserved minute and curious statements of furniture bought and exchanged for Ashridge, in that year particularly, more copious also than in preceding and succeeding years ; which seem to imply, by the variety, splendour, and costliness of the materials detailed in them, that the house had been rendered more fit for the residence of its noble owner. His disbursements also for more than half of the year 1607, and part of 1608, are entitled “ Disbursed for reparations for Ashridge, and caryages vnto Ashridge of the furnyture.” The statement of furniture fills twelve pages of the folio size, from which I will select some articles as serving to exhibit the taste of this kind at the beginning of the seventeenth century. a For twosuytes of tapistrye hanginges for the purple bedchamber and the withdrawinge chamber to yt ; the one of 7 peeces, \ „ (storye of Alexander, ) and the other, (story e of Elyas,) 5 peeces ; t cxxxij - xv - both 5 sticks deepe a peece ; at severall rates, ^ bill j For canvas and cord to packe them in, and portage of them ^ unto Ashridge, and for tenter hookes, etc. \ 8. d. xxxvij. ij. e i ForSirTho. Egerton his daughters, 15. May, 1607. [ These were the orphan daughters of the Chancellor’s eldest son Sir Thomas Egerton, who died at Dublin Castle in 1599.] For two bedds of blew and whyte carroll, furnished with feather bedds, and boulsters, pillowes, mattresses, matts, 4 kersey stooles, and a bed furnished for the chambermayd, ty* bill y j li. s. XXV. xvj i€ For the la: Frauncis’s Nurcerie, 22. May, 1607. [ This lady Trances was the wife oj the Chancellor’ s eldest surviving son , Sir John Egerton .] For three bedds of myngle colerd caroll, furnished with feather bedds and boulsters, pillowes, matts, mattresses, and 7 kersey stooles, bill y i*... s> xxxiij. vj. “ Payd to Mr. Markham a silkeman for gold and silver cawld ^ fringe, and purple silke fringe, for the table carpet and cup- V x j board carpet of purple and whyte damaske bill . • • j 1 See the note f in the preceding page. k Sect. I. p. 10. > Browne Willis’s MSS. \ COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 65 Payd to Rees Ellison the upholster for stuffe and workmanship ~ about the purple, gold, and silver bed, a skreene, one highe chayre, two high stooles, two lowe stooles and a footestoole, and two longe quisheons, with buccrome, curten rodds, and ringes y xij. x. for the bed, sey for the counterpoynte, ticke, neles, and feathers for the quisheons, chayre, and stooles ; and makeinge all this furniture, being laced, and cases of bayes for them bill Payd also to the upholster for stuffe and workemanshippe for ' the purple and silver furnyture, beinge, a high chayre, three i high stooles, two low stooles and a footestoole, and four longe quisheons, viz. red leather, etc. li. s. v j- xvj. “ Chappell. 7 longe quisheons of blacke wrought velvet, two low ' stooles suitable, 6 tapistrye quisheons. Payd to Mr. Markham a silkeman for tawnye stringes and tassells for the longe quisheons and stooles of blacke wrought velvet for the Chappell lix. “ For tickes for the baggs of the 7 long quisheons and two low 1 * s stooles, etc. and makeinge of the same . j li. s. v. xviij. “ For 6 tapistrye quisheons, hid with feathers “ For the Great Chamber. Payd for 8 peeces of hanginges, 5 ^ Flemish ells and half depe, storie Scipio and Hannyball, cont.’ y in the whole 247 Flemish ells and half, at 10 s . j For 40 elns of holland for 4 payre of sheets " Delivered to the ladye Frauncis, 23d. March 1607, to buy 36 ' yards of satten at 1 5 3 the yard, in exchaunge of the bezar cloth of silver and skye-color cloth of silver for the longe gallery furnyture the somme of * “ For a m handbell for the Chappell “ For vj. black Jackes for the Buttry, two great and 4 smale The house continued, no doubt, to exhibit a splendour worthy of the owner, till the din of the civil war reached this peaceable spot. The loyalty of the Earl of Bridgewater then experienced the temporary resentment of the rebels, in the plunder of his property and in the injury done to his mansion. In "June 1643 the soldiers of the Parliament began to kill his deer. On the tenth of that month, they took away arms and ammunition, horses, carts, and corn , and set guards about the house all night ; and on the sixteenth, notwithstanding two Orders of the Lords in Parliament prohibiting such proceedings at Ashridge, they repeated their predatory visit ; their commander. Captain Washington, informing Thomas Williams, the trusty and sensible servant ot the Earl, that u he °was come by command from my lord Generali to seize on all the oates, and pease, and horsemeat and another Captain adding further threats. On that day, part of his lordship s plate was also added to their booty. On m The hand-bell was formerly a common church-utensil ; a n From documents and letters, indorsed, among the Ashridge name, perhaps, of the little bell rung before the host. Thus in the evidences. Concerning the destruction made by the Parliament return of bells, made in 1552, there were at Ashby de la Zouch Army at Ashridge. “ five bells and a hand-bell.” And at Hathorne, “ three bells ° From Mr. Williams’s letters to the Earl, and two hand-bells .” B. Willis, Mitred Abbies, vol. ii. App. Ii. "j* li. s. cxxiij. xv. li. V. li. _ xxvij. s. viij. s. d. vi j* vj. S 66 HISTORY OF THE the next day, the Earl of Bridgewater wrote to the Earl of Clare, thanking him for procuring the " noble Order of the Lords upon his Petition preferred to them and gave a relation, at the same time, of what the rebels had done at Ashridge ; adding, that on the Sunday they went to the Parish Church of Little Gaddesden, where his late wife was interred, and broke open the vault, (for what purpose he could not imagine,) in which she and one of her daughters were laid. The Earl’s Petition stated, “ p that Captain Washington, Captain Kemsey, and Captain Burre, with their soldiers, entered into his Parke and House at Ashridge, detained his servants prisoners, beat down the cielings, broke open and hewed down all the doors in the house, notwithstanding they had been set open to them, searched his evidence rooms, studies, and closets, took away plate and arms, besides what houshold stuff he knows not, etc.” On the eighteenth, the plunder was q continued. On the 27th there was an Order of Parliament for witnesses to be examined in respect to abuses committed by Captain Washington and others. It may be curious to remark, that on the 18th the rebels had received Warrants for a visit of plunder from Lord Essex, and Sir Samuel Luke, the Hu- dibras, as is generally supposed, of Butler. The Earl of Bridgewater probably purchased the quiet possession of his mansion soon afterwards ; for I find no further details of assault. If the Earl had been acquainted with a receipt , the efficacy of which is very gravely asserted by Aubrey, here was a fine opportunity to have tried it, and at the same time to have shewn the value of the Library at Ashridge in having possessed a manuscript containing such choice intelligence ! He might have dissipated the evil spirits of his enemies in the most easy and quiet manner ; but alas ! he knew not of the treasure which the College enjoyed! “ * At Ashridge in Buckinghamshire,” says the learned s Aubrey, who, however, was occasionally somewhat fanciful ; “ At Ashridge was a Monastery, (now in the possession of the Earl of Bridgewater,) where are excellent good old Paintings still to be seen. In this Monastery was found an old Manuscript, intituled 4 Johannes de Rupescissd , since printed, (or part of it,) a chimical book, wherein are many Receipts; among others. To free a house , haunted with evil spirits , hy fumes : Mr. Marsh had it, and did cure houses, so haunted, by it !” We are now to return to the description of the house. At the upper end of the Hall was a door, through which a passage led to several rooms, on the left of it, greatly injured by the damp, and absolutely uninhabitable long before the late duke of Bridgewater had resolved on the demolition of the College. It is a just remark u , that while these rooms were in good repair, there must have been in them a gloom peculiarly soothing to romantic imaginations. This passage also led to the Stair-case, which was hung with old portraits, neglected and decayed, as an ingenious x visitor long since observed. Hence was the opening into the Gallery, which had two sides, over two sides of the quadrangular Cloister. Of these one was called the Billiard Gallery, and contained the following ? arms in the windows ; most of which are preserved, and form part of the ornaments in the Ashridge of our own time. 1. The Royal arms, repeatedly. 2. Carey, with 16 quarterings. 3. Gray of Wilton, with its quarterings, impaling Gray of Ruthin, quartering (as usual) Hastings and Valence. 4. Cecil, with 6 quarterings. p From the documents, ut supra. s The deposition to this purpose is preserved. T Aubrey’s Miscellanies, 8vo. 1696. p. 136. 8 “ I know not,” says an elegant critic, “ that Aubrey is ever fantastical, except on the subjects of chemistry and ghosts. Nor do I remember that his veracity was ever impeached. His Monumenta Britannica is a very solid and rational work, and its judicious conjectures and observations have been approved and adopted by the best modern antiquaries.” T. Warton, Note on Milton’s Eleg. I. ver. 15. t The Prophecies of this John de Rupescissd are printed in Browns Fasciculus Rerum Expetendarum et Fugiendarum, fol. Lond. 1690. tom. 2. p. 493. And a character of the au- thor is there prefixed, which, as given by different writers, re- presents him both as a man of learning and a trifler. “ Nec amici nec inimici desunt Johanni de Rupescissd, &c,” u Topographer, vol. ii. p. 146. x Topographer, ut supra. This gentleman, as I have been informed, was the late Rev. Stebbing Shaw, the learned, the elegant, and indefatigable historian of Staffordshire. A de- scendant of the Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, of great taste and abilities, has been also thought to have been the Topographer. y See also Topograph, ut supr. COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 67 b. Egerton and Basset of Blore, quarterly, both within one bordure engrailed, sable, which was the coat Lord Chancellor Ellesmere always used, as the seals on his letters, the windows in Lincoln’s Inn, and the family-pedigrees shew. This coat was often repeated in these windows. 6. Dudley, with its quarterings, impaling Russel, date 1568. 7. Powlet, with the 16 following quarterings, impaling Howard, and its quarterings, date 1578* 1. Powlett 9. St. John 2. Credy 10. Port 3. Delamar 11. Aurevall 4. Hussey 12. Hay 5. Poynings 13. Ross 6. Rokesley 14. Skelton 7. Keriol or Criol 15. Irby 8. Crevequer 16. Delamar. This Gallery might also be reckoned a picture-gallery, as well as the other part called the Cedar Gallery, to which it joined; many portraits having once adorned their walls. What remained, when the writer of these pages visited the College in 4800, were almost irreparably injured by time. There were mutilated pictures without frames, and mouldering frames without pictures. Some portraits, however, were preserved ; most of which are now at Cleveland House. The other two sides, over those of the Cloister, were divided into suites of rooms; of which the most distinguished was that called queen Elizabeth’s apartment, which possessed an ancient bed, said not only to have belonged to her, but to have been most of it of her work. In this room there was also a kind of toilet remaining. Among other curious articles two pair of sumptuous shoes remained, which probably belonged to Elizabeth. They are now in the possession of the Earl of Bridgewater. Most of the bed-rooms were hung with old tapestry ; and we see, in the Lord Chancellor's account of z furniture, what were some of the subjects which the tapestry exhibited. There was, in a small passage-room, a splendid genealogical tree of the family, with portraits and arms ; and with the paternal coat at the bottom, displaying 84 quarterings ; which is also in the possession of the present Earl of Bridgewater. A small Chapel was entered from the Cloisters; a neat, but not an ancient structure. It appears to have been built in 1699 ; for there is, among the Ashridge Manuscripts now belonging to Lord Stafford, “ A Sermon preached at the opening of the new Chapell at Ashridge, Aug. 27, 1699, by George Burghope ;” a divine of great merit, and the chaplain of the family. The House was entirely surrounded by walls, within which was a Garden, displaying, though much neglected and grown wild, specimens in abundance of that absurd taste, to which, in the first James’s reign, and long afterwards, gardening was carried. Plans of the strangest invention, the meander, and the maze, were visible, though in ruins. The Garden was once, no doubt, a counterpart to that of Eden, so minutely pourtrayed by a a poet in the first Earl of Bridgewater’s time, in which Adam, like a country-gentleman of that period, is described thus recreating himself : “ Musing, anon through crooked walks he wanders. Round-winding rings, and intricate meanders, False-guiding paths , doubtful beguiling strays , And right-wrong errors of an endless maze ; Not simply hedged with a single border Of rosemary, cut-out with curious order , In satyrs, centaurs, whales, &c.” Indeed, the maze at Ashridge was considered, nearly a century after this poetical horticulture z See before, pp. 89, 91. French Du Bartas, which he published in 1621, the follow- * Joshua Sylvester, from whose complete translation of the ing lines are taken. 68 HISTORY OF THE was exhibited, as a fit abode for Eve, as the inspirer of poetry and love, and, as was before observed, a rival of Eden ! For thus the fair poetical historian of Ashridge has described it : / When the delightful Garden past my view, Surely it might with Eden’s well compare. And Eve in innocence be mistress there : She’d want no walks nor solitary bowers, But live as pleas’d as then, besett with flowers : Yes, and more pleas’d by far, if it can be ; No serpents there, nor yet forbidden tree : The very maze itself e these truths might prove , Since it inspires with poetry and love ! A bliss Tiot much unlike the joys above : So much inspires, you’d think the tuneful Nine Had set each branch, whilst Cupid drew the line !” So much for the Garden. But, as connected with the subject, the rural retirement, at about two miles distance from the College, may here be mentioned. This romantic spot, is in a beautiful valley, having on one side the fine-turfed hills which lead towards Ivinghoe ; and there are yet the remains, undoubtedly, of ornamental cultivation having been here employed. The bay-windows in front of the House were occupied on one side by a very large and noble room, which was entered out of the gallery ; on the other by the Library, which consisted of three rooms, known by the distinctions of the great Library, the lesser Library, and the little Closet. The two latter were small rooms. But the first was a large and well- proportioned apartment, yet injudiciously contrived, by doors resembling a pannelled wainscot throughout, to conceal the literary treasures within it. The case was much the same in one of the other apartments. It happened, that many books were irreparably injured, and many wholly perished, in consequence of such enclosure, by the unnoticed ravages of damp and vermin. Of late years, the Library was not permitted to be shewn to strangers ; but I am unable to state the reason of this prohibition. The books, which were brought from this Library to his Grace’s house in London, became, after his death, by bequest, the property of his nephew, the present Marquis of Stafford ; to whose second son. Lord Francis Egerton, they are to descend. In curious English literature more especially, of the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries, these books may defy competition. Of very great value also are the manu- script collections of Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, and some of the old conventual treasures, which accompanied them. And now, having walked over the ground, “ b where mus’d of old The cloister’d brothers 5” “ c Where ancient Art her daedal fancies play’d In the quaint mazes of the crisped roof; In mellow glooms the speaking pane array’d. And rang’d the cluster’d column, massy proof ; Where Learning, guarded from a barbarous age, Hover’d awhile, nor dar’d attempt the day ; But patient trac’d upon the pictur’d page The holy legend, or heroic lay having, I say, faithfully recalled to memory those scenes and many other circumstances of the ancient pile, I banish from the mind the beguiling images of elder times in adverting to the present state of Ashridge : “ FROM THE DEMOLISH’D DOME NEW GLORIES RISE !” b T. Warton’s Pleasures of Melancholy, ver. 38. c Id. Ode written at Vale Royal Abbey, ver. 61. s I It (i I |f f Socfion, of Sadi and* Sfzi?~cy IRX C A! A."R,X) LANE .from, the Original Drawing Ly HENST COB.B OTTLD Primmed, loy C .Pullmjuxdel . -id :\v ±j a 'i' A't a.o r> r _r • # / 3E, BWAEB fii BILA,(SIL PlllOIi, 8C BB^BIAjCTOXL TO TIDE COIMUEG^E OJF ASHIULB &JS Dxa-vrzx oxl Stoxte Xy XIX C XL AXXX) XAXXIli £nom tlie OTiginalX>xa-wi-n.g Xy HEXXXtTX COJI'BOUIjD. TxrmtrecL Xy G.B.-uJL»Laii.3-ol . "xX - £ 2 * imisTOM). 'S’ M ® a (OJ^lSrP S^XPJPISi - ;: , ,, 5SJEIB OI EDMrSB.IOUJBIROI THE COIMGE 0IASSMDK Ixa-.-.-i om- Stoive &y iyllClAM IATs T E,from tAe Original Drawing JrizvtecL Py C .HT'-li^n.f 1 -'^'-— 6 EX . 0 p P OTJLI) • ST BIiI®I€T . T1ITE1AB. S.AiH’TT OP TIE COIXBGE OE ASHLUIBGE Dram oirStone by JRICDADD I*A.!N"E from tlie Original Dra-wiirg by JfEbTDlT CORDOUXD Driirt e cL by C . Hu-llma n. d e 1 • ^-E isTMA£OTT~j£;£7W'c CTXi'p'xC’ 1 ?' Dra.-vm on St< me iy RICHARD DANE , from tRe Original Drawing hy HEART CORE OTTiD iri^vt e 3. Toy C . HoHm axt d cX . COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 73 to the eastern terrace ; from which is a descent by a broad flight of steps to a parterre of flowers. BILLIARD-ROOM AND ANTE-ROOM. Adjoining to the Library are a Billiard-Room and Ante-Room, lighted to the North, which form a communication wijh the eastern wing. This wing, running in a diagonal direction to the North-East, is appropriated to the private apartments of the Earl and Countess. THE APARTMENTS OF THE EARL AND COUNTESS. Thus commodiously detached from the general intercourse of the house, the Earl of Bridge- water’s Sitting-Room commands a view over the Park to the North and West, and along the entrance front : and that of the Countess commands the parterre before mentioned with a very extensive view to the South and East. The foliage of a beautiful valley, and of a richly wooded bank ascending opposite, and perceived between the stems of the majestic and vener- able row of lime trees, before noticed, give additional interest and beauty to the scene. GREENHOUSE AND ORANGERY. Having passed these apartments, a short descent leads to a Greenhouse and Orangery, in three compartments, covering a space of one hundred and thirty feet in length, by thirty feet in breadth. The glass roof is supported by iron tracery, and is divided like the nave and side- aisles of a church. The building is thus so well lighted, (the glass not being visible on the outside over the battlements,) that scarcely a shadow is formed within. It is terminated by an open arcade, and by an octagonal tower fifty feet high, forming the eastern extremity of the whole line both to the North and South fronts, as shewn in the respective Views. TERRACE, AND ARCADE TO THE LIBRARY. Returning from the eastern end, along the South front of the Greenhouse, passing under the windows of the family apartments, and ascending the steps to the Terrace, an external view is presented of the Arcade to the Library, and includes the whole of the East end of the Mansion. This Terrace is ornamented by a statue of Queen Elizabeth in Malta stone, ex- ecuted by Westmacott, which is placed in a niche decorated with a carved corbel, panelled octagon towers, and rich canopy ; and fronts the South. At the extremity of this Terrace, turning to the South front of the Mansion, the bold projections and various tracery of the bow windows of the superior apartments exhibit a pleasing effect ; and the elaborately ornamented front of the closed Cloister formed into a Conservatory, and leading to the Chapel, which pro- jects its length to the South from the Terrace, is an object of great grandeur. DINING ROOM. Entering again at the centre of this front of the Mansion into the Ante-Rooms, the doors, to the western side, open into the Dining Room, which is of the same dimensions as the Draw- ing Room ; and (with the intervening Ante-Room) is furnished in the same manner with Oak, crimson damask, and gold mouldings. The tables and sideboards in this room are of solid rose-wood, exquisitely carved. Over the chimney-piece is a large picture (one of the series already mentioned) representing the entertainment given in Guildhall , by the Corporation of the City of London , to the Allied Sovereigns on the 18th of June, 1814. It is remarkable, that on the same day in the following year was fought the Battle of Waterloo , which accom- plished the great purposes for which these Sovereigns had been united. The picture is painted by Clennell, but unfinished: it contains portraits of many of the guests present at this magnificent banquet ; and is admitted to be executed, even in its imperfect state, so as to command general admiration : while it waited only for the completing touch of his masterly hand it is melancholy to relate, the artist was afflicted with the loss of reason. U 74 HISTORY OF THE From the middle of the Dining Room to the middle of the Drawing Room, was situated the original Hall of the College ; the Crypt of which is still in existence beneath. The western end of the Dining Room is the precise spot of the old Buttery. CONSERVATORY. A plate-glass window at the western end of the Dining Room opens into the large Conser- vatory ; into which there is a descent of two steps : it is 107 feet in length, twenty feet at each end, and thirty feet in the centre in width, with an open- worked oak roof; and is lighted by eleven large Gothick windows. In the spaces are Malta stone vases, and China jars ; and in the centre a large bronze vase, supported by four termini , and surrounded by festoons and flowers, of superior workmanship. The door, seen at the end of this Conservatory, leads to the Ante-Chapel. PASSAGE TO THE CHAPEL: THE CHAPEL. On the North side of the Dining Room a door opens to a Corridore leading through a long line of arches, under a decorated Gothick ceiling, lighted from the inner Court, so as to give a solemn appearance to the whole. On arriving at the end of this Corridore, there are a pair of high pointed Gothick oak doors, curiously carved, which, according to tradition, had belonged to the ancient College. Passing through these into a richly groined Lobby, and turning to the left, the Ante-Chapel is entered through an arch under the Organ. The interior of this Chapel has been justly considered as the master-piece of the late James Wyatt; a perfect model of its kind. From the point, at which the Chapel is entered, it is difficult to say what most excites our admiration. The perforated oak skreen, which divides it from the Ante-Chapel ; the highly wrought Gothick ceiling ; the windows filled with beautiful painted glass, and throwing around their various-coloured and subdued light ; the elaborately carved Altai -piece, and the Gothick brass rail which encloses it ; — all at once demand our particular notice. From the Altar the view towards the entrance of the Chapel is equally striking. The Pulpit and the Reading Desk are well placed, opposite to each other ; and somewhat elevated above the highest seats, which are in the stalls on each side. These stalls are terminated by two very richly carved canopies at the North end of the Chapel, which form the seats of the Earl and Countess of Bridgewater; and beneath these stalls are the seats for servants. From the Altar is also seen, through a beautifully proportioned Gothick arch over the skreen, the Organ placed above the entrance into the Ante-Chapel. This instrument, which often offends the eye by rising up in the middle of the great aisle of our Cathedrals, and interrupting the strik- ing effect of the continued Gothick arch, is here placed at the extremity with peculiar effect, and in no degree disturbs the exquisite symmetry of the interior ; but, ornamented in the same style of carving as the rest of the Chapel, contributes much to its beautiful effect. In this Chapel the first Sermon was preached, in November, 1817, by the Chaplain to the Earl of Bridgewater, who has had the honour of compiling the pages of this History. DOMESTICK OFFICES, STABLES, etc. By the same passage at the back of the Conservatory, which conducted to the Chapel, is a direct communication from the Kitchen to the Dining Room, to the Butler’s and Under But- ler’s apartments, to the Plate Closet and Silver Scullery. Returning to the Hall of Entrance, there is a passage on the left hand leading directly westward, at the back of the range of building forming part of the North front ; the first room in which on the right hand is called the North Breakfast Room , and serves as a Dining Room also to such persons as may desire to dine before or after the regular hour of dinner. Adjoining is a Bed-Chamber to accommodate any guest, who may find inconvenience in ascending a staircase. On the left hand of the passage is one of the back staircases, and a flight of steps which lead directly to the Servants’ Hall beneath. This staircase is carried to the top of the house. Continuing along this passage, on the right hand, are the Still Room, Housekeeper’s - ' Drawrb by F. Maikesuie. . - m Fnyrray&l by WWogT/iotF. YM« 2£NJ) OF. THE CHAPEL , AT ASHHIB GE F- Mad-cenzle OP THE CHAPE L. AS HBID OB; X.OO.KIWO TOWARDS THE ALTAR T.dfttadsmzie del VIEW 0E THE AIL T AIR IE" THE CHAFER „ ABHRII>GE = A.FreebaJrrv fcidp . bunted CSKYPT. A SWTt.ro R-R COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 75 Room, Servants’ Entrance, Steward’s Room, House-Steward’s Office, Clerks’ Room, and tho Evidence Room ; the whole of which are lighted to the North. The Evidence Room is arched over, and within is uniformly fitted with oak cases and iron safes ; great care having been taken to render it fire-proof, as a security for the important documents contained in it. On the left hand of the passage are Store Rooms, several inferior offices, and a staircase from the Servants’ Hall to the back entrance. A passage also turns to the left, running North and South, and connecting with the passage leading to the Dining Room. In this cross passage a door opens, on the left hand, to an octagonal Game-Larder within the inner Court, surmounted with a double roof, and ventilated on all sides. Opposite is the door to the Kitchen. The Kitchen is 36 feet by 21, and 36 feet high to the ridge of the open-work roof. Attached to the Kitchen are a Meat-Larder, a Pastry, and Scullery, opening to the Kitchen Court ; in which one side is the Dairy with its Scullery, and the depositories for coal and wood ; and on the other the Bakehouse, and various storehouses. On the West side, and running parallel with the Kitchen, is a line of building terminated by two high towers, each 29 by 21 feet within, the North-west being the Laundry, and the South-west the Brewhouse. Each of these towers has a small Court within. The engraved view shews the interior of the Court with the North side of the Chapel. To the westward of these towers are situated the Weighing Engine, the Watchmen’s Room, the apartments of the Coachmen and Grooms, the Saddle Rooms, and the Stables. Con- nected with these, and surrounding a spacious Court, are the Coach-houses, Harness Rooms, Hay Places, (there being no Lofts over the Stables,) Granaries, Smiths’ Shops, and Shoeing House. By a large College-like covered Gateway the Stable-yard is entered, with a foot door on one side. This Gateway stands with an inclination from the line of the North front towards the East, and forms a very picturesque feature in that front. At this point an open gate, facing eastwards, leads to the timber-yard, and to the shops of various workmen. This space is surrounded by an irregular high embattled wall, terminated by a tower at the western extremity. At a certain distance from the North front, the eye may include in its view this termination, as well as the before mentioned eastern tower, and the long and varied line of towers, turrets and pinnacles. Turning southward by the western tower, we then see the arched Gateway to the Timber- yard, the Dog-kennel, Cow-yard, and Gardener’s-yard, placed at the back of the Stable Court, and completing the number of Domestick Offices. These are all enclosed with an embattled wall. There is a convenient range of pavement on the North side of the house, five hundred feet in length, and in width from five to fifteen feet, as varied by the breaks of the building ; and in front of this is the gravelled Coach-road of the same length, and TO feet wide. CELLARS, CRYPT, etc. On the basement story of the house are servants’ apartments and capacious cellars ; and here are placed the stoves which warm the hall, staircases, and passages. The ancient Crypt on this floor deserves particular attention. From the old College Hall and Buttery, above, a staircase descended to this Crypt. It is built of stone, and has a range of octagonal pillars down the centre, from which the groins diverge: they descend from aline in the centre, and converge at answerable points on the external walls : in these walls recesses have been made, which are used for the purposes of wine-bins. BED CHAMBERS. Having viewed the basement story and the ground floor, we now come to that of the Bed- chambers. On ascending the grand stairs, a short flight of steps branches off to a range of Bachelors’ apartments, which form a Mezzonine, in the body of the Mansion, to the West and North fronts ; in the latter of which they extend, so as to form the upper story over the Housekeeper’s and Steward’s Rooms, as shewn in the engraved North view. Continuing up the grand stairs, the two flights meet upon a long landing, which projects from thiee open Gothick arches leading to the Corridore. This Corridore is continued on each side of the 1 v&i . . . C •• - - . - • I 76 HISTORY OF THE staircase, and forms the communication to all the principal bed rooms, which are arranged with every accommodation. There are three open arches, similar to those which lead to the Corridore, in each of the remaining sides of the staircase hall ; which produce a most beautiful effect, in viewing the scenery from below. THE ATTICK STORY. This story contains numerous bed-rooms, and is ascended by the back staircase. Still higher is a large space, which opens to the suspended Gallery occupying the four sides of the Staircase Hall, immediately under the windows. The back staircase further ascends, until it reaches the roof of the high centre tower, on which is a large lead flat ; whence are seen directly to the South, in the extreme distance of 40 miles, the Surrey Hills ; inclining to the West, Windsor Forest; and directly West, the wooded mounds of Buckinghamshire . The lengthened and majestick avenues in the Park form a grand feature in the views. Here also are seen the Chiltern Hills, at the verge of which rises Crawley Wood, a high clump of trees, which may be seen from every county in its circle, and is said to be a sea-mark from the East. In this direction is a distant view into Warwickshire ; and towards the East are seen the hills of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire . I GARDEN AND SHRUBBERY. At the eastern tower, under the majestick branches of the old lime trees, a gravel walk commences, which continues round the Garden. From the limes, by a gently undulating line to the South, we arrive at an ash tree, of which the extraordinary dimensions of the trunk and branches sufficiently mark its age, though it appears to have lost little of the vigour of youth. From this point the various lines of the building, its towers, turrets, and spire, are seen to great advantage. The engraved South view of the House is taken nearly in a line with the ash tree, but at a greater distance. Proceeding on this walk, and inclining to the West, we find from a dell another walk branching off in one direction to a circular rosary, in the centre of which is a fountain of plain yet elegant design ; and in another direction leading through a subterraneous passage, of which the western end opens into large masses of rock intermixed with flowers and shrubs. In the interstices of the rock-work is a small pool of water, abound- ing with gold and silver fish. The walk continuing northwards by an antiquated flint wall, through a small Flower- garden, in which there is a stove-house for exotick plants, leads to the lengthened Conventual Barn, with its enriched dormer windows and centre turret ; the front wall having been set back a few feet, and the original oak-posts being placed under the beams of the roof, a long arcade is formed open to the South. The walk has now reached a square, which is divided into regular parterres of flowers ; and in the middle is a Gothick cross upon an octagonal foundation. In this cross, at different heights, are small compartments formed for the purpose of holding pots of flowers, which contribute much to the decoration of this interesting spot. The profusion also of flowers which abound here, as w r ell as in the walks and conservatories, together with the elegance of their arrangement, sufficiently indicates the care and attention bestowed by the Countess of Bridgewater upon the delightful pursuits of the garden. From the arcade a winding covered way leads, by the dairy building, to the western side of the Chapel ; and a parallel strait walk is continued from the parterre to the South end of the Chapel. This passes through what is called the Monks ’ Garden , (being an oblong square with high box hedges, and supposed to have been the entrance to the western end of the old Conventual Church,) and under a rough archway of large pudding-stones, the upper- most of which is called the County Stone, as marking the boundary of the Counties of Buck- ingham and Hertford . This walk then follows the line of the South front, and finishes the perambulation at the eastern tower, the point at which it began. As far as the Garden has been described, the original idea and design of it were suggested by the late Mr. Repton ; which yet, in many respects, were varied by the directions of the Earl and Countess of Bridgewater. ^v>- gm. • mm ,,x~ I : 'A ’ - w . -V’- . • j v' COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 77 The Mansion is built externally with stone from the quarry of the Earl of Bridgewater at Totternhoe, in the county of Bedford , about seven miles distant from Ashridge , of which mention has been made 1 in the preceding pages. This stone is of a soft chalky nature. Of its durability, however, on a flat surface, there are sufficient proofs in the instance of the old College of Ashridge, and of other buildings in the neighbourhood. But the copings of the battlements of the Mansion, and such carved or projecting parts as would be most liable to injury, have been executed in Portland stone. The house was nearly in a state for habita- tion, from the Library on the East to the Brewhouse and Laundry towers on the West, when an accident occasioned the instant death of the architect. His loss has been most ably supplied by his nephew, Mr. Jeffry Wyatt, who completed the unfinished parts, and from whose designs have been executed the Entrance Porch, and external Great Window above it ; the arched Seat in the East front to the Conventual Barn ; the Cross in the Garden, and the Foun- tains and Vases ; the niche of the Statue on the staircase ; the finishing of the Altar in the Chapel, (the five centre niches only having been previously and in part executed,) the altar- rail, the reading desk and pulpit, the front seats, the oak skreen, the Earl and Countess of Bridgewater’s stalls and canopies, and the organ. He likewise designed and executed the new buildings forming the family apartments, and the green-house reaching from the corner of the library to the lime-trees on the East ; the entrance to the stable-yard ; the stables, and coach-houses. Ashridge cannot fail to gratify the inquisitive and liberal mind, recalling as it does the devotion and austerity of the cloister, as well as the generous virtues of our ancient nobility. In no spot in the kingdom have more beneficial changes been made, within modern recollec- tion, than in this. It had been for some years past somewhat neglected. After it came into the hands of its present possessor, Churches in the neighbourhood of this ancient place, several of which were under the jurisdiction or in the patronage of the College, have been repaired and beautified, or wholly rebuilt; new roads of communication have been opened . neatness has become the character of the peasant’s cottage ; and villages, which before pre- sented a picture of want and misery, now offer that of cleanliness and comfort. The activity of benevolence has here also been most conspicuously displayed, by the present pro- prietor, in adopting the true mode of relieving poverty, by encouraging industry. Employ- ment has been readily found for all persons of good character, who have presented themselves from the neighbouring villages ; and at the time of writing this description, it came to the knowledge of the compiler, that the number of those, to whom the Earl of Bridgewater was paying weekly wages, were upwards of eight hundred. Thus while the face of this part of the country has been embellished, the condition of its inhabitants also has been meliorated, and their morals (we may hope) have been improved. It is by such means that the mansions of the great and wealthy may be always made to con- stitute at the same time the advantage, and the ornament, of the Nation. 1 See preceding History, p. 58. note u . X APPENDIX. N°. I. ■ ABSTRACT OF MINISTERS ACCOUNTS, 32 HEN. VIII. Comitatus Buckinghamie, Compota omnium et singulorum Ballivorum Pirmariorum ac omnium aliorum ministrorum Domini Regis nunc Henrici 8 vi . Dei gracia Anglie et Francie Regis fidei defensoris Domini Hibernie et in terra supremi Capitis Anglicane Ecclesie de omnibus et singulis dominijs manerijs villis villatis necnon omnibus alijs possessionibus et hereditamentis quibuscunque diversis nuper Monasterijs et Prioratibus in Comitatu predicto tarn virtute et auctoritate parliamenti suppressis et dissolutis quam ratione sursumredditionis ac voluntarie tituli et juris donationis diversorum nuper Abbatum priorum et Conventuum eorumdem nuper Monasteriorum et Prioratuum modo in manibus dicti Domini Regis existentibus spectanti- bus sive pertinentibus a festo Sancti Michaelis Archangeli anno regni Regis Henrici 8 vi . 31 mo usque idem festum Sancti Michaelis extunc proximo sequens anno regni ejusdem Domini Regis 32 d0 . scilicet per unum annum integrum. Terre et Possessiones nuper Collegio de Assherugge pertinentes. Pythelesthorne et Nethelden parcell revencionum dicti nuper Collegij de Assherugge. Redditus tam liberorum quam custumariorum tenencium ibidem - • Redditus mobiles Minute Firme Perquisita Curiarum * • * * Summa totalis Recepte £17 4 9 £8 3 4f 0 0 8 8 8 8 | 0 11 10 Hemelhamsted. Redditus assisi cum Redditibus custumariorum tenencium ibidem Molendinum de Hemelhamsted vocatum Burn-hyll - Firma Yaccarie cum quodam Molendino vocato Bury Myll et alia Perquisita Curiarum Fi rme Molendinorum vocat. le Covent Myll , Pykerdys Myll et le Fullyng Myll Summa totalis Recepte £207 3 9|; 195 1 3* 2 6 8 0 12 0 9 3 9J Null. . See the Rental of the College, in the preceding History, p. 26. et seq. ; /' 1 i { 80 APPENDIX. Rectoria de Ivyngho et Clypdon , cum decimis in Chedyngton, Horton, Cowpermede, parcell. Rectorie de Ivyngho predicta. Redditus tam liberorum quam custumariorum tenencium ibidem £2 12 8j Redditus mobiles cum consuetudinibus 0 1 7 Firma decimarum in Ivyngho et Clypdon * 22 6 0 Messuagium ejusdem Rectorie de Ivyngho 3 6 8 Decima Granorum in Chedyngton parcella Rectorie de Ivyngho 3 6 8 Portio decimarum in Cowpermede 1 0 0 Porciones decimarum de Ivyngho et Pythelesthorne infra parochiam de Horton 3 0 0 Perquisita Curiarum Null. Vendicio Bosci Null. Summa totalis Recepte £35 13 7J Gaddesden Parva, Frythesden , Aldebury, Hudnall, Gaddy sden-Howe, et Barkamsted. Redditus assisi cum Redditibus custumariorum 7 14 5- Redditus tam liberorum quam custumariorum tenencium in Frythesden 6 10 lOj- Redditus assisi manerij de Aldebury 8 0 0 Firma de Hudnall in parochia de Edlesborow 3 6 8 Terra vocata Gaddesden-Howe in Comitatu Hertfordie 1 o 0 Burgagium in Berhamsted quondam vocat. the Larnbe in Comitatu Hertford • • • • 1 0 0 Perquisita Curiarum 0 13 4 Summa totalis Recepte £28 5 4|- Ambresden cum Blakethorne. Redditus custumariorum tenencium in Ambresden 8 9 5 Redditus assisi in Ambresden 0 3 5 Quoddam pratum vocatum Styrwyke in Campo de Ambresden 0 7 0 Redditus custumariorum tenencium cum Redditibus assisis in Blakethorne 19 4 10 x a* Perquisita Curiarum j g g Summa totalis Recepte £29 7 2j- Rectoria de Hemelhamsted. Firma Rectorie de Hemelhamsted cum membris, viz. Bovyngdon et Flaundenl cum omnibus decimis granorum / Molendina de Hemelhamsted . Firma molendinorum infra parochiam de Hemelhamsted, viz. unius molendini} aquatici vocat. le Covent Myll. Alij molendini aquatici vocat. Pykerdysmylle\ 6 0 0 alias Pygotts Mill et alij Molendini vocat. the Fullynge Myll • • « J Porcio decimarum de Pedynton parcell Rectorie de Ambresden. Firma portionis decimarum de Pedyngton pertinentium Rector, de Ambresden ) . r, ~ J 6 13 4 Rectoria et Firma de Ambresden alias diet. Rectoria de Blakethorn. Firma dicte Rectorie cum decimis ejusdem ac cum portione in Arnecotts in dictof Comitatu Oxon j ^ ^ ^ h I! I 49 lHWUlPCr^ - • IftW#**** * . ... . appendix. 81 Rectoria de Chesterton. Pirma dicte Rectoriecum omnibus decimis ejusdem ...... £10 0 0 Maneria de Ambresden et Chesterton. Ambresden et Blakethorne Chesterton , Null, quia concessit Thome Pope Mil. Rectoria de Pichelesthorne. Firma dicte Rectore cum omnibus decimis 27 11 IQ* 16 7 10 Firma unius tenementi vocati le Hoden-Hall Parke cum alijs Dayre-house necnon certarum terrarum vocat. } 6 19 4 The preceding document has been obligingly communicated by John Caley, Esq. to whom the Earl of Bridgewater is also indebted for the copy of the beautiful seal, in this page, appended to the acknowledgement of the King’s supremacy in 1534, which is preserved in the Chapter House of Westminster ; of the Records in which this learned antiquary is the Keeper. There is a small variation in the arms ; the lion, which the Earl of Cornwall bore, being also apparent under the usual bearing of the College. Y 1*1 1 i 1 \ APPENDIX. N°. II. N°. I. PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF AUGMENTATIONS, 34 HEN. VIIJ. To y e , ryghte Wurschyppefull S r . Rycherd Ryche Knyghte Chauncellyrf off y e . Kyngf honor- able Courtf off hys agmentacyons off y e . Revenuyz off hys Crowne and other hys Consell ther. Humbly schewyth and compleynyth unto yo r . Wurschypfull Masterschyppe yo r . orator and headman Robte Erne y\ Whereas one Thomas a Watrouse late go^ner off the house & College of Asheruge comonly called the Rector off the College off Asheruge in the Counte off BukynglPm and the Covent off y e , same was seased in ther demeane as off fee off and in one Dary house sytuatf and bylded wkmte the Gatez off the sayd late house or Mones?y and off and in certen other housez Barnys and Byldyngf therto belongyng and off and in iij Medowe Grondf wheroff one behynd y e . Dayry house aforesayd the second lyeth before the sayd Dayry house and thurd called the Laund lyeng behynd the stablys off y e . sayd late House or Mones?y conteynyng by estymacyon vij acrez off Medow and also off and in certen se^all foldf that ys to say Two lyttyll feldf called Tothyll feldt lyeng together w‘. a ptycyon betwen them con- teynyng by estymacyon xx acrez and off & in iij other groundf or feldf wheroff one ys called pke feld another Conygarthe feld the thurd ys called Turnar felde conteynyng by estymacyon vj skore acre off arrable land and off and in ij other placf off arrable land called the lose feld£ conteynyng by estymacyon x acrez set lyeng and beyng in y e . pyshe off Netylden in the sayd Counte off Buckynghm and the sayd Rector and y e . Covent off y e . same House so seased off y e . ]? myssez in y e . demeane as off fee in y e . ryghte off y e . said late Mones?y or House off Asheruge aforesayd by ther Indentur und^ y e . Covent seale off y e . sayd late House dated and dely^ed y e . vij day off November y e . xxix yere off y e . Reygne off o r . So^aygne Lord Kyng Henry y e . viij th . demysed and lessed y e . same Dayry House Messuagf Barnez Byldyngf Landf Feldf Medowys & all other y e . }? myssez to y e . sayd Copleyniit to have and to holde y e . same to y e . sayd Copleyniit fro y e . date off y e . sayd Indentur for certen yerez then next insuyng wheroff pcell off them ben yet to come yeldyng and payeng therefore yerely to y e . Rector & Covent ther successors & assygnez vjZ. xiijs. & iiijcZ. at ?mez expressyd in y e . same Indentur and other Covinntf to be done by y e . same Copleynntf beyng lesse fermor as more plenly aperythe by y e . same Indentur by force wheroff y e . sayd Copleyniit was possessyd off y e . p^ myssez accordyngly and y e . pfyghtf theroff hathe taken pesably to suche tyme as yo r . sayd Orrator broughte y e . sayd Indentur afore one Wyiim Candysche one off y e . Kyngf Audytors off y e . sayd heyghe Courts off Agmentacyons to be beward by hym and inrolled and delyvW y e . same to y e . sayd Candysche to be inrolled & to be sene wyche Wyftm Candysche dothe un- a The last Rector of the College. See the preceding History, p. 24. These Proceedings have also been communicated by J. Caley, Esq. APPENDIX. 83 lawfully leteyne and kepe y e . sayd Indentur off Covent Seale fro yo'. sayd Orrator and by moste lyke- lyod Imth delyved y. same to one John Norrys Gent, who bathe nowe y. Custody & Rule off y% sayd late Monesty or house & oftentymez the sayd Wyttm Candysche and John Norreys hathe instanced and specially labored y\ sayd Compleynnt for to graunt & sell y. sayd John Norreys y. sayd Indentur lesse and forme off y\ p myssez wyche yo'. said Orrator never was consentyd so to doo and by Color off havyng y yd Indentur y . sayd John Norreys dayly unquyetythe & pturbythe y e . possessyon off yo'. sayd Oiratoi so y . yo . sayd Orrator ys not able to pay y. Kyngf Hyghnez hys ferme and yerely Rentf for y. p myssez In consyderacyon wheroff & for y*. the sayd John Norreys ys a Man off Wurschyppe & yo'. sayd Orrator a pore Man y . may therfore please yo'. Mas?schyppe the ]? myssez tend^Iy consydered to giaunt yo . said Orrator y e . Kyngf moste gracyus Wrytt off preve seale oute off thys honorable Courtf to be dyrected to y e . sayd John Norreys and Wyttm Candysche & to e$y off them Comandyng them & e9y off them by y e . same psonally to apere afore yo r . Mas?schyppe in thys sayd honorable Court to aunswer to y . p myssez & further to stand ther to suche order and dyrecyon as schall stand w th . equyte and con- cyence and y . the sayd John Norreys may be copelled and inyoyned by thys honorable Court to suffre y e . sayd copleynntf to occupye y e . p 9 myssez unto suche tyme as y e . sayd John Norreys hathe proved a suf- fycyent tytle to y e . p 9 myssez in thys honorable Court and yo r . sayd Orrator schall daly p 9 y to God for y e . {?s?vacyon off yo r . Mas?schype long to contynewe. N°. II. PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF AUGMENTATIONS 34 HEN. VIIJ. Thanswer of John Norreys Gent, to the bill of complaynt of Robert Erne. The said Defendnnt by ptestacon saith that the said bill of complaynt ys incerten and insuffycyent in the lawe to be answered unto for dyvers causes in the said bill specyfyed and the maters comprysed in the said bill of complaynt ben untrewly and slaunderusly immagyned by the said coplaynnt only to the intent to put the said Defendht to wrongfull vexacon suyt and troble in the lawe and for no just cawse and further the said defendnt for pie and answer to the said bill saith that our Sovereigne Lord the Kyng that now ys by his most gracyous Lfes Patents dated Westmest? the xix day of November in the xxxij year of his most noble and victorious reigne by thadvys of his Cownsell of the Corte of thaugmentacon of the revenewez of his most gracyous Crowne ded dymyse graunt and lete to the said John Norreys by the name of John Norreys Esquyer one pasture called Ashe Parke conteyning by estymacon x acres one close of Land and Pasture callyd Hodendale Parke concernyng by estymacon iiij acres one Medowe lying behind the Deyre howse conc 9 nyng by estymacon one Acre Also one Medowe lying befor the Dary- house cont 9 nyng by estemacon iij Rood one other Medowe called the Launde lying behynd the stabylls conteyning by estymacon ij acres and those Felds of Land called Toothall Fyldys lying guyther con- teynyng by estymacon x Acres one feld of arabyll Land callyd Park f eld conteynyng by estymacon Forty Acres a feld of arabyll Lond callyd Connygar fylde con?nyng by estymacon forty Acres one feld of ara- byll land callyd Turnars feld conteyning by estymacon forty Acres on eclose of arabill lond callyd Fyve Acres and on Fylde of arabyll lond callyd Loose feld conteyning by estymacon ix acres and the Herbage and Pannage of these Wood? callyd the Northzvode the Busshy Parke the Sowthwoode Hamond-hill Stepmotherwoode Stornye grene and Har dehill all wich said p?mysses lye and bene in Ayshrige in the Cowntye of Buks and to the late Monastery e or Colledge of Ashridge in the same cownty then dys- solved lately did belong and appteyne and in the hand? teno r . and occupacon of the late Recto r . of the said late Monasterye at the tyme of the Dissolucon therof to thuse of his house were reservyd and oc- cupyed to have and to hold the forsaid Land? Medowes and Pastures and other the j? myssis w h . ther appurtenncf to the forsaid John Norreys and his assignes from the feast of Saynt Mvchell tharchnngell next befor the date of the said Letters Patent? unto the ende and terme of xxj yeres fully to be copleted -m. mmmmw i i : ■ ■ \ s ■-- --• ■ '/v-r ■ % 84 appendix. and endyd yeldyng therfor yerely to owr said Sovereigne Lord the Kyng his Heires and successors vj 1 '. and x d . of good and lawfull money of Ynglond at the Feaste of thannuncyacon of o', blyssyd Lady and Saynt Michell th’archaungell or w*\ in on moneth next after eyther of the said Feast? to the Corte afor- said by evyn porcons to be paid as by the said Letters Patent? redye to be shewyd more playnly apith and further the said John Norreys saith that the said Pcell of loud? & tent? mencyoned in the said bill of complaynt the said Dayrye House and other the said Houses Barnes and Buyldyng? mencyoned in the said Bill of complaynt only excepted bene pcell of the said p^myssis dymysed and letted by o', said Sove- reigne Lord the Kyng to the said John Norreys by his most gracyous ires patent? and further the said defendnt saith that sins the said leas to hym made as ys aforsaid The said defendnt hath made too severall dymyses of the same premyssis mencyoned in the said bill of complaynt the said Howses only excepted to the said compleynnt reSvyng certen rent by force of wiche Lesses the said complaynnt hath peasably taken the pfytt? and yet dothe of the same and hath payd his yerely rent and ferme therfor to the said defendnnt w'.owt y*. y*. the said recto', and covent ded dymyse and lete the said premyssis men- cyonyd in the said bill of complaynt or any pcell therof to the said coplaynnt to the knowledge of the said Defendnt in maS and forme as in the said bill of complaynt yt ys untrewly surmylted or that the said coplaynnt to the knowledge of the said defendnt ded ever delyv' any suche Indentur of Leas to the said Wiitm Cavendysh to be inrolled or to any suche intent or purpose as in the said bill of compleynt yt ys also untrewly surmylted or that the said Wiitm Cavendyshe to the knowlege of the said John Norrays deteyneth and kepeth from the said complaynnt any suche Indenture as in the said bdl of complaynt yt ys also untrewly surmytted or that the said Wiitm Cavendysh and John Norreys did c'v J labo'. the said coplaynnt for to grunt and selle to the said John Norreys any suche Indenture lesse and ferme as in the said bill of complaynt yt ys also untrewly surmytted or that the said John Norreys by colo'. of havyng of any suche Indenture as in the said bill of coplaynt ys specyefyed doth dayly unquyet and perturbe the possession of the said coplaynnt in any suche wyse as in the said bill of coplaynt yt ys untrewly surmytted or that there ysany other thing alledgid in the said bill of coplaynt maPiall to be answered unto and in this answer ys not confessed & avoyded or otherwise trapsed ys trewe all wiche maters the said John Norreys wilbe redy for to prove as this honorable Corte will award and prayeth to be dysmyssed owt of the same with his reasonablecost? and expenc? to him in this behalf sustevned. N°. III. PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF AUGMENTATIONS 34 HEN. VIIJ. To the Kinge o\ SovWn Lord. In most humble wise compleynynge shew* unto yo r . Highnes your true and faithfull S 9 vant and Subject John Torres That where it hathe stonde w* the pleasure of your moost excellent Maiestie to graunt unto your said S 9 vant the govWnnce and kepinge of yo\ Graces Howse of Asshmdge in your Countie of Buk the ovVsight whereof your said S 9 vaunt by Inventory indented before your Grac? Comyssioners hathe comytted to one Olyver Lowthe his S 9 vaunt w‘ all suche Evidence mynument? and writing? lede ireon glasse lok? bolt? and hengys w\ d$se other necessaries therein remaynynge as in the said Inventory manifestly apperethe, Sithe what tymee in thabsens of the said Oliver one Robert Emys late fermer ther hathe not only broken upe the Dors where the p 9 misses dide remayne but hathe also at se^all and sundrye tymes imbesillid thens as well divW Evidence and writing? as led iron glasse lok? bolt? and heng? w*. d$se othe r thing? therein remaynynge to no smalle value in substaunce to the no littill detrement of your highnes whiche upon ret\ the pleasure of your Highnes to direct your most drade Lfes of Prevay unto the said Robert Emys co- maundinge hym by 9tue of the same psonally to appere beforyou'. grace Counsaillers in your honorable Au s mentacon and theie to answer not only his contemptuous demeanure ther comytted and doen unto your Maiestie but also for to discharge your said S 9 vant who accordinge his bownden dewtis shall dayly praye to God for the p's'vacoti of your most noble and riall estate Ionge to endure. N". IV. PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF AUGMENTATIONS 34 HEN. VI1J. The Aunswere off Robte Eme to y e . bill off Compleynt off John Norreys Esquyer. The sayd Robt Eme sayeth y\ y e . sayd byll off compleynt ys unSten and insuffycyent in y e . lawe to be aunswered unto and the mat? theryn conteyned ys craftely untruly and slaunderously devysed by y e . sayd compleynnt and hys adherent? off malyce and to the intent to cloke and hyde suche hys manyfeste iniurez and wrong? done to y e . sayd Robte Eme by the sayd John Norreys and by other by hys pcure- ment and means and for answere to the sayd byll of compleynt the sayd Robt Eme sayethe that trouthe y\ ys that y e . sayd 01y$ Louth named in the sayd byll off compleynt had and hathe the rule and go$- nance off the house off the sayd late Mones?y or Colledge by the apoyntement off the sayd compleynnt and also had the rule and go$nance off certen stuffe and good? beyng w\in y e . sayd House and for that the sayd 01y$ solde dy$se pcell? off the same good? and catells to many and dy$se psons and the sayd Robte Eme thykyng verely that the sayd Oly 9 had good autoryte to sell suche good? ther the sayd Robte Eme boughte off y e . sayd 01y$ thyez pcell? off good? followyng that ys to say iij olde Dorez w*. the lokk? upon them for the whyche the said Robte Eme dyd truly pay unto y e . sayd 01y$ v s . offlawfull money off Ynglond the whyche iij Doyrez lokk? and Hook? aforesayd the sayd 01y$ Louthe dely$ed to the sayd defend w l .owte y\ the sayd Robte Eme in y e . absence off the sayd 01i$ at ony tyme dyd take away the sayd Doyrez or that the sayd Robt Eme at ony tyme dyd breke the Housez off y e . sayd late Mones?y or College or the Dorez off the same or interyd into the same unlawfully in mar? and forme as ys untruly surmysed in the sayd byll of compleynt or that the sayd Robte Eme at se9all tymez or at ony tyme hathe lmbeseled as well dy$se Evydenc? Wrytyng? Lede Iron Glasse lokk? bolt? and heng? w\ dy$se other thyng? theryn remanyng to no smale value in substance to no lyttyll detrement off y e . Kyng? sayd Hyghnez or ony pt or pcell theroff as ys untruely and slaunderusly allegyd in the sayd byll of compleynt or that the said 011$ fiyndyng the Dorez off y e . sayd House open and suspectyng to be the acte off the sayd Robte Eme caused the constable to surche the House of the sayd Robte Eme for the sayd Robte Eme saythe that the sayd 01y$ Louthe off hys owen wrong w 4 .oute ony cause the same Robte Eme beyng the Kyng? constable off that Towne and pysche where the sayd late Monas'ty or College ys off hys owen wrong and malycyus mynd most lykely by y\ commandent of the sayd complaynant interyd into the house off the sayd Robte Eme beyng a dary house pcell of the sayd late Mones?y or College and f. very ppre ferme for certen yerez yet to cume off the sayd Robte Eme and than and ther moste inicestely vyolently and forcy- bly arestyed the sayd Robte Eme and Elezabeth hys Wyff and dy9se other beyng s'vntf off the sayd Robte Eme than and ther beyng in the house off the sayd Robte Eme for fellony sayeng they were fellons and had comytted fellony where no suche fellony was and than and ther them and e9y off them moste unlawfully dyd arest for fellony and intoned se^ally and in se9al chambz w‘.in y. sayd late Honesty or College and ther the Wyff off the sayd Robte Eme was kepte in p 9 son by the space off tj dayez and ij nyofitf by y. sayd Oly9 wherby the sayd Elezabeth ys lykely by suche durans off Imp sonment to dye and also y. sayd OIyS> kept and deteyned the sayd Robte Eme in p°son by f. space ofTa nyghte and one day or ther aboute and kepte the s'viiie off y\ sayd Robte Eme in p'son ther unlaufully y 1 . ys to say Z 86 APPENDIX. Thomas Saunders Elyce Ball Arthur Dagnall and Agnez Stambryge by y e . space of x ourez or theraboute & so cruelly dyd Intreate y e . sayd Arthur Dagnall beyng a chylde off y e . age off xij yere in suche facyon and man 9 insomuche y\ he dyd hang y e . sayd Arthur uppe by the hand? and af? y\ the sayd Olyv 5 had thus arestd and imp^oned the sayd Robte Erne and other before namyd for fellony as before ys sayd y\ sayd Oly 9 dyd lette them goo at large wyllyngly and af? y\ for that the said Oly 9 pseyved hys owen wrong and hym repented off that y\ he had so done insomuche y\ he the sayd Olyv^ intreated the mat? and wolde have had the mat? in co{?myse and yet af?ward the sayd Olyv 5 w*. thyez iniurez not contented came before the Kyngf gracf Justycf of assyse and gaole dely9y in that ptyez y\ ys to say before y . Lord Cheyff Justyce of Yngland and the Lord Cheyff Justys off the Comon Place Justycf off Assyse and gaole dely^y in y e . sayd ptys & Counte of Bukkynghm wher the sayd late Mones?y or College ys and than and ther layd fellony to the sayd Elezabeth for takyng off certen goodf oute off the sayd House or late Mones?y & put in dyv'se byllez ther afore the sayd Justycf off Fellony agenst the sayd Elezabeth Wyff off the sayd defend and other the sayd s 9 vhtf of the sayd defend Robte Erne whyche byllez were not found by the xij men bycause the mat? was not true nor wolde sv^e by y e . lawez of thy s Realme as the Kyngf Justycf ther declared nother agens? the sayd Robte Erne nor agens? the sayd Elizabeth and the other sayd psons sVntf to the sayd Robte Erne nor agens? any off them nor ony suche mat? was or coulde be pved and the sayd Robte Erne sayeth that yff y e . sayd 01y$ lakkythe ony goodf or cattells y*. were w\in the sayd late Mones?y or house the sayd Oly V hathe them hymselff or canne tell where he hathe done them or solde them as the sayd defend supposythe and the Robte Erne sayeth y\ by vertue of a Covent Seale whyche he the sayd Robte Erne hathe off the sayd late go^ner and Covent of the sayd late Mo- nes?y or College whyche Covent Seale ys off ye demyse and lesse off y e sayd Dary House and other $ten Landf and Tentf as it aperyth by a byll off Compleyntf exhybytf in thys Honorable Courtf for the same agenst the sayd John Norreys and Wytim Candysche by y e whyche lesse the sayd Robte Erne hay the a good autoryte to en?. into the sayd Mones?y or House and free Eygiess and Regiesse into y e same whyche sayd Covent Seale ys wrongfully deteyned and w\holden ffro the sayd Robt Eme by y e sayd John Norreys w\oute y\ there was ony Constable at y e sayd unlaufull surchyng off the house off y e sayd Robt Eme by y e sayd Olyv 5 but onely the sayd Robte Eme hym selff as ys untruly allegyd in the sayd byll off compleynt or that ther lakkythe ony glasse Iron goodf or Cattellf oute off y c sayd Mones?y or College by y e imbasylment off y e sayd Robte Eme or by ony other hys Wyff or Svntf as ys untruly allegyd in the sayd byll off compleynt or y i ony other thyng ma?yall or answerable in the sayd byll of copley nt allegyd and not by thys aunswere confessed avoyded trapsed or denyed ys true all whyche mat?j the sayd Robt Eme ys redy to averre and pve as thys honorable Court shall award and prayeth to be dysmyssed oute off the same w*. hys reasonable Costf damagf for hys wrongfull vexacyon by hym susteyned in thys behalf. APPENDIX. N°. III. ARMORIAL BEARINGS, [Referred to, in the last Section of the preceding History.'] The south division of the frieze, opposite the entrance, and under the music gallery, contains twenty- one shields, whereon are depicted the armorial ensigns of royal and illustrious personages, from whom the Earl of Bridgewater is lineally descended, as will appear by the annexed Table. IN THE CENTRE ARE, 1. The Royal Arms of King Henry the Seventh, Quarterly, France and England, impaling the like bearings for his Queen, Elizabeth of York. The distinguished privilege of quartering these Arms, without difference, in consequence of the extinction of issue from King Henry the Eighth, devolved, in 1625, upon John, Viscount Brackley, afterwards second Earl of Bridgewater, in right of his mother Frances, who died in that year and was one of the daughters and heirs of Ferdinando Stanley, Earl of Derby, the son of Henry, Earl of Derby, by Margaret Clifford, who was sole heir to her mother, Eleanor, Countess of Cumberland, daughter and heir of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by the Princess Mary, relict of Lewis XII. King of France, and daughter of King Henry the Seventh. Six Shields, diverging from the dexter of the Royal Achievement, represent the illustrious line of York, ascending from the Queen of Henry VII. viz. 2. The Royal Arms of King Edward IV. Quarterly, France and England, impaling those of his Queen, Elizabeth Widvile, viz. 1. Argent, a Lion rampant , queue forche Gules , crowned Sable, being the Arms of her mother’s father, Peter of Luxembourg, Count of St. Paul : 2. Quarterly , Gules an Estoile Argent, and Azure semee of fleurs de lis Or, for Baux, being the Arms of the Queen’s grandmother, Margaret, daughter of Francis de Baux, Duke of Andree : 3. Barry of ten, Argent and Azure , over all a Lion rampant Gules, for Lusignan : 4. Gules, three bendlets Argent, a chief party per fess Argent charged with a red Rose, and Or, for Ursins : 5. Gules, three pallets vaire, on a Chief Or a Label of Jive points Azure, for St. Paul ; and, 6. Argent, a Fess and Canton, Gules, for her paternal Coat of Widvile. 3. Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, Quarterly, France and England, differenced by a Label of three points Argent each point charged with three torteaux, impaling the Arms of Cecilia Nevil, his Wife, viz. Gules a Saltire Argent. 4. Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cambridge— the Arms of his Father, as above, within a bordure Argent charged with ten Lions rampant purpure , impaling the Arms of Anne Mortimer, his Wife, viz. Quarterly, 1st. and 4th., Barry of six, Or and Azure, on a Chief, of the first, two pallets be- tween as many squares base dexter and sinister , of the second, an inescocheon Argent, for Mortimer; 2nd. and 3rd. Or, a Cross Gules, for Burgh. 5. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March.— Mortimer and Burgh, as before, impaling the Arms of Eleanor Holland, his Wife, viz. England, within a bordure Argent. 88 APPENDIX. 6. Edmond Mortimer, Earl of March. Mortimer, as before, impaling the Arms of his Countess, Phi- lippa Plantagenet, viz. Quarterly, France and England, differenced by a Label of three points Argent, each charged with a Canton Gules. 7. Lionel Plantagenet of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. The Royal Arms, differenced as the last, im- paling those of his Consort, Elizabeth de Burgh, Or a Cross Gules. Four Shields, diverging from the Sinister of the Royal Achievement, are of the illustrious line of Lancaster, ascending from King Henry the Seventh. 8. Edmond Tudor, Earl of Richmond. Quarterly, France and England, within a bordure Azure, charged with Fleurs de Lis and Martlets, alternately, Or, impaling the Arms of Margaret Beau- fort, his Wife, viz. France and England, within a bordure gobony Argent and Azure. 9. John de Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Beaufort, as before, impaling the Arms of his Wife, Mar- garet Beauchamp, viz. Gules, a Fess between six Martlets Or, and a Mullet for difference. 10. John de Beaufort, Earl of Somerset. Beaufort, as before, impaling the Arms of Margaret Hol- land, his Wife, England within a bordure Argent. 11. John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Quarterly , France and England, differenced by a Label of three points Ermine , impaling Roet, viz. Gules , three Katherine Wheels Or, being the Aims of his third Wife, Katherine Swynford. The remaining Shields are selections from among the illustrious Ancestors of the Earl of Bridge- water. ON THE DEXTER SIDE. 12. William Paulet, Marquess of Winchester. Sable, three Swords in pile proper, pomels and hilts Or, impaling the Arms of Elizabeth Cape], his Wife, viz. Gules, a Lion rampant Or between three Cross Crosslets fitch&e Argent. 13. William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle. Quarterly 1st. and 4th. Cavendish, Sable, three bucks heads caboshed Argent, attired Or : 2d. and 3d. Ogle, Argent a Fess between three Crescents Gules * impaling the Arms of Elizabeth Basset, his Wife, Or, three Piles Gules, on a Canton Argent a Griphon segreant Sable. 14. Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby. Quarterly 1. Stanley, Argent, on a bend Azure three bucks heads caboshed Or : 2. Man, Gules three legs couped and conjoined at the thighs in Armour Argent. 3. Brandon, Barry often Argent and Gules, a Lion rampant Or, crowned party per pale of the first and second , with Clifford on a Canton, Checque Or and Azure, a fess Gules : 4. France and England quarterly : impaling the Arms of Dorothy Howard, his Wife, 1. Howard, Gules, on a bend, between six Cross Crosslets fitchee Argent, the Augmentation of part of the Scottish Arms : 2. Brotherton, England, differenced by a label of three points Argent : 3. Warren, Checque, Or, and Azure : 4. Mowbray, Gules, a Lion rampant Argent. 15. John Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater. Argent a Lion rampant Gules between three Plieons Sable, a bordure engrailed of the last ; impaling the Arms of Frances Stanley, his Countess, the quai- terings of Stanley as before. ON THE SINISTER SIDE. 16. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Brandon, as before, impaling the Royal Arms, for the Princess Mary Tudor, his Consort. 17. Henry Clifford, Earl of Cumberland. Clifford, as before, impaling the Arms of his Wife, Eleanor Brandon. Brandon, as before, and the Royal Arms, quarterly. 18. Sir John de Grey. Quarterly, 1. Grey de Ruthin, Barry of six Argent and Azure, in chief three torteaux : 2. Hastings, Or, a Maunch Gules : 3. Valence, Barry of twelve, Argent and Azure, an Orle of Martlets Gules : 4th. as 1st. impaling the Arms of Constance Holland, his Wife, England , within a bordure Azure, semee of fieurs de lis Or. 19. William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Cecil, Barry of ten, Argent and Azure, six escocheons, three appendix. S9 too undone Sable, each charged with a Lion rampant of the second, impaling the arms of his first Wife, Mary Cheeke, Argent three Crescents Gules. 20. William Bentinck, Earl of Portland. Azure, a Cross moline Argent; impaling the Arms of ane Temple, his second Wife, viz. Sable, a Cheveron Ermine between three Martlets Argent. 21. John Egerton, Lord Bishop of Durham. Egerton, as before, without the bordure, impaling the Arms of Anna-Sophia de Grey, his Wife. viz. 1. De Grey, Barry of six. Argent and Azure. 2. Hastings. 3. Valence. 4. Lucas, Argent a Fess between six Annulets Gules. The East Division of the Frieze contains forty-four Shields, commencing at the South East Angle of the Hall, whereon are depicted the several quarterings of Stanley, to which the Earl of Bridgewater is entitled in right of his descent from that noble House, viz. 1. Stanley, Argent, on a bend Azure three bucks heads caboshed Or. 2. Aldithley, Gules, fretty Or, a label of three points Azure. 3. Baumvile, Or, on a Chief Gules three treffoils slipped Argent. 4. Stourton, Argent, a Tree eradicated Vert. 5. Latham, Or, on a Chief indented Azure three plates. 6. Man, Three Legs, couped and conjoined at the Thighs in armour Argent. 7. Gowsell, Barry of six. Or and Gules, a Canton Ermine. 8. Fitzalan, Argent, a Chief Azure. 9. Albiney, Gules, a Lion rampant Or. 10. St. Hilary, Argent, on a Chief Azure two Saltires couped Or. 11. Kevelioc, Azure, six Garbs, three two and one , Or. 12. Gernons, Gules, a Lion rampant Argent. 18. Meschines, Or, a Lion rampant Gules. 14. Lupus, Azure, a Wolfs head erased Argent. 15. Algar, Sable, an Eagle displayed Or. 16. Hamelin, Azure, semee of fleurs de lis Or, a bordure Gules charged ivith eight Lions passant guardant of the second. 17. Warren, Checque Or and Azure. 18. Marshal, Per pale Or and Vert, a Lion rampant Gules. 19. Marshal, Gules, a bend lozengy Or. 20. Strongbow, Argent, on a Chief Azure three Crosses patSe fitchee of the Field. 21. Clare, Or, three Chevronels Gules. 22. Gilford, Gules, three Lions passant in pale Argent. 23. M'Murrough, Sable, three Garbs Argent . 24. Strange, Gules, two Lions passant in pale Argent. 25. Somery, Or, two Lions passant in pale Azure. 26. Albiney, as before. 27. Kevelioc. 28. Gernons. 29. Meschines. SO. Lupus. 31. Algar. 32. Montalt, Azure, a Lion rampant Argent. 33. Mohun, Or, a Cross engrailed Sable. 34. Mohun, Gules, a Maunch Ermine, therefrom a hand proper grasping a fleur de lis Or. 35. Brewer, Gules, two bendlets wavy Or. 36. Widvile, Quarterly, 1st. and 4th. Argent , a Fess and Canton Gules, 2nd. and 3rd. Gules , an Eagle displayed Or. 37. Bedlesgate, Or, on a bend Sable, three Mallets Argent. 38. Beauchamp, Varry Argent and Azure. 39. Brandon, Barry of ten. Ar- gent and Gules, a Lion rampant Or ducally crowned per pale of the first and second, with Gilford on a Canton, Checque Or and Azure, a fess Gules. 40. Brune, Azure, a Cross moline Or. 41. Rokele, Lozengy Ermine and Gules. 42. Pole, Azure, a Fess between three Leopards faces Or. 43. Handlo, Argent, a Lion rampant, Azure, gutte d'eau, ducally crowned Or. 44. King Henry VII., Quarterly, France and England. The West Division of the Frieze contains also forty-four Shields, commencing at the South West Angle of the Hall, and terminating under the great Window, whereon are represented the several Quarterings of the noble House of Grey, to which the Earl of Bridgewater is entitled in virtue of his maternal descent. 1. Grey, Barry of six Argent and Azure. 2. Fitzosborn, Gules, a bend Argent over all a Fess Or. 3. Yvery, Or, three Chevronels Gules. 4. Pontdelarch, Argent, semSe of Cross Crosslets, a Lion rampant purpure. 5. Bardolph, Azure, three Cinquefoils Or. 6. Grey of Eton, Barry of six Argent and Azure, a Label of five points Gules. 7. Glanvile, Argent, a Chief indented Azure. 8. Fitzhugh, Azure, three Chevrons interlaced , a Chief Or. 9. Longchamp, Or, three Crescents Gules, each charged with a Mullet pierced Argent. 10. Grey de Ruthyn, Barry of six Argent and Azure, in chief three torteaux. 11. Hastings, Or, a Maunch Gules. 12. Scot, or Huntingdon, Or, three Piles Gules . 13. Scotland, Or, a Lion rampant within a double tressure flowered and counterfiowered Gules. 14. Saxon Kings, Azure, a Cross flory between five Martlets Or. 15. Waltheof, Argent, a Lion rampant Azure, a Chief Gules. 16. Aldred, Paly , and barry indented, of six, Argent and Gules. 17. Kevelioc, as before. 18. Gernons, A A WA I ,38 V i u I > i - — . -r. - - 90 APPENDIX. as before. 19. Meschines, os before. 20. Lupus , as before, 21. Algal-, as before. 22. Can- tHupe, Gules, three Leopards faces jessant de lis Or. 23. Brewse, Barry of six, Vaire Gules and Ermine, and Azure. 24. Milo, Gules, two bendlets, the one Or, the other Argent. 25. Newmarch, Gules, a Fess fusily Or. 26. Totenais, Or, two Lions passant guardant Gules. 27 Brewer Gules, two bendlets wavy Sable. 28. Marshal, as before. 29. Marshal, as before. 30. Stronghow , as before. 31. Clare, as before. 32. Gifford , as before. 33. M*. Murrough, as before. 34. Valence, Barry of twelve Argent and Azure, an Orle of Martlets Gules. 35. Engoulesme, Bendy of ten. Sable and Argent. 36. Boteville, Barry of ten, Or and Sable, a Label of five points Azure. 37. Montchency, Argent, three Escocheons barry of six, Vair and Gules. 38. Marshal, as before. 39. Marshal, as before. 40. Stronghow, as before. 41. Clare, as before. 42. Lucas, Argent, a Fess between six Annulets Gules. 43. Moneux, Gules, a Bend Argent, billety Sable. 44. Brampton, Gules, a Saltire between four Cross Crosslets Jitchee Argent. WEST SIDE OF THE HALL. Five Shields on the Ogee Branches, viz. 1. On that nearest the Window are the Arms of Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley and Lord Elies- mere. Lord High Chancellor of England, viz. 1st. and 4th. Egerton. Argent, a Lion rampant, Gules between three Fheons Sable ; 2nd. and 3rd. Basset of Blore, (as borne by him) Or, three Piles Gules, on a Canton Argent a Griphon segreant Sable ; all within a bordure engrailed of the last : impaling the Arms of his first Wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ravenscroft of Bretton, (by whom only he had issue.) Argent, a Cheveron between three Ravens Heads erased Sable. 2. The Arms of John Egerton, the first Earl of Bridgewater, Son and Heir of the said Thomas, Vis- count Brackley, by Elizabeth Ravenscroft, viz. Egerton singly, within the bordure as before, im- paling the Arms of Frances, his Wife, daughter and coheir of Ferdinando Stanley, Earl of Derby. Argent, on a bend Azure three Bucks Heads caboshed Or. 3. The Arms of John Egerton, second Earl of Bridgewater, Son and Heir of John, the first Earl, by Frances Stanley, viz. Egerton (without the bordure, he being the first of the Family who appears by the Records to have omitted it)— quartering Stanley, and impaling the Arms of Elizabeth, his Wife, second daughter of William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle. Sable, three Stags Heads caboshed , two and one , Argent , attired Or. 4. The Arms of John Egerton, third Earl of Bridgewater, Son and Heir of John, the second Earl, by Elizabeth Cavendish, viz. Egerton quartering Stanley, as before, and impaling the Arms of Jane, his second Wife, daughter of Charles Paulet, Duke of Bolton. Sable , three Swords in pile , proper , pomels and hilts Or. 5. The Arms of Scroope Egerton, fourth Earl and first Duke of Bridgewater, Son and Heir of John, the third Earl, by Jane Paulet, viz. Egerton quartering Stanley, as before, and impaling the Arms of Rachel, bis second Wife, daughter of Wriothesley Russel, Duke of Bedford. Argent, a Lion rampant Gules , on a Chief Sable three Escallops of the Field. EAST SIDE OF THE HALL. Five Shields on the Ogee Branches, viz. I The Arms of John Egerton, second Duke and fifth Earl of Bridgewater, Son and Heir of the first Duke, by Rachel Russel, viz. Egerton quartering Stanley, as before. 2. The Arms of Francis Egerton, third Duke and sixth Earl of Bridgewater, Brother and Heir of John, the second Duke, viz. Egerton quartering Stanley, as before. 3. The Arms of Henry Egerton, Lord Bishop of Hereford, fifth, but third surviving Son of John, the third Earl, by Jane Paulet, eldest daughter of Charles Duke of Bolton, viz. Egerton quartering Stanley, a Mullet for difference, and impaling the Arms of Elizabeth-Ariana, his Wife, daughter of William Bentinck, Earl of Portland. Azure, a Cross moline Argent. K55 APPENDIX. 4. The Arms of John Egerton, Lord Bishop of Durham, Son and Heir of Henry, Lord Bishop of Hereford, by Elizabeth-Ariana Bentinck, viz. Egerton quartering Stanley, with the difference as before, and impaling the Arms of Anne-Sophia, his Wife, daughter and at length coheir of Henry de Grey, Duke of Kent. Barry of six Argent and Azure . 5. The Arms of John- William Egerton, seventh Earl of Bridgewater, Son and Heir of John, Lord Bishop of Durham, by Anne-Sophia de Grey, and Heir Male of Francis, the third Duke, viz. Quarterly 1st. and 4th. Egerton, 2nd. Stanley, 3rd. Grey, impaling the Arms borne by the Family of Charlotte-Catherine-Anne, Countess of Bridgewater, his Wife, daughter and heir of Samuel Haynes, Esquire, viz. Or, on a Fess Gules three Plates , in Chief a Greyhound current Azure , collared of the First. In the Pediment over the Great Window of the Hall are the Arms of Edmund of Almaine, Earl of Corn- wall, Founder of the Ccenobium of Ashridge, on a Shield pendent from the beak of an Eagle (in memory of his Father, Richard, King of the Romans, second Son of John, King of England.) Argent a Lion rampant Gules ducally crowned Or, being the Arms of Poictou, of which Province he was Earl, within a bordure Sable , bezantee , the Arms of Cornwall. In the opposite Pediment, over the Musick Gallery, are the Arms of the College or Coenobium of Ash- ridge, viz. Gules , on an Altar-Tomb a Lamb passant guardant Argent, carrying a Banner of the last charged with a Cross of the First, the dexter fore foot resting on a Mound Or. I I m JIOififN SE YE ITI E A MIL OF Engraver to tile King. BIO B GEOFATE R .Flushed dzyzur-fii fry Fi. ' filter y FFMn'i Sqiw^ -V. SHEWING THE DESCENT OF THE EARL OF BRIDGEWATER FROM THE ILLUSTRIOUS AND NOBLE PER frieze in the e N B. The Numbers refer to the accompanying Description of the sett iSUtoa lionel=elizabeth de burgh, Of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. Ob. 1368. Daughter and heir of William, Earl of Ulster. Ob. 1363. ( 6 ) | EDMOND MORTIMER, =PHILIPPA PLANTAGENET, 3d. Earl of March. only issue of Lionel, Duke ot Ob. 1381. I Clarence. i (5) ROGER MORTIMER, =ELEANOR HOLLAND, 4th. Earl of March, Daughter of Thomas, Earl of Kent. V (4) Ob. 1405. I RICHARD PLANTAGENET, = ANNE MORTIMER, Earl of Cambridge, Son of Edmond of Langley, Duke of York. Ob„ 1415 Daughter of Roger, and Sister and heir of Edmond, Earls of March. J (3) RICHARD PLANTAGENET, ^CECILIA NEVIL, Duke of York. Ob. 1460. V Daughter of Ralph, Earl of Westmorland. Ob. 1495. KING 01 0 i EDWARD IV King of England. Ob. 1483. ELIZABETH PLANTAG1 of York,. Daughter of King Edward CHARLES BRAK Duke of Suffolk. Ob. 1545. ( 12 ) WILLIAM PAULET,== ELIZABETH CAPEL, 1st. Marquess of Winchester. Daughter of Sir William Capel. Ob. 1571-2. J Ob. 1558. / ( 19 ) (14) EDWARD STANLEY, =DOROTHY HOWARD, Earl of Derby, K.G. Ob. 1574. John Paulet, 2d. Marquess of Winchester. Ob. 1576. WILLIAM CECIL, =MARY CHEEKE, Daughter of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. Lord Burghley, Ob. 1598. j Daughter of Peter Cheeke, Esq. William Paulet, 3d. Marquess of Winchester. Ob. 1598. Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter. Ob. 1622. William Paulet, =Lucy Cecil, 4th. Marquess of Winchester. Ob. 1628. Daughter of Thomas, Earl of Exeter. John Paulet, 5th. Marquess of Winchester. Ob. 1674. Charles Paulet, Duke of Bolton. Ob. 1699. L HENRY CLIFF Earl of Cumber] Ob. 1569 Henry Sta Earl of Derby, 1 Ob. 1594. Ferdinando Sta Earl of Der O b. 1595 JOHN EGERT 1 st. Earl of Bridgew Ob. 1649. f John Egee 2d. Earl of Bridgev Ob. 1686 Jane P. Daughter of C] Duke of Bol Henry Ege Lord Bishop of Hen Ob. 1746 1 JOHN EGER’ Lord Bishop of Du JOHN-W1 Earl 93 ABLE BR.SONAGES WHOSE ARMS ARE DEPICTED ON TWENTY-ONE SHIELDS IN THE SOUTH DIVISION OF THE ! HALL AT ASHRIDGE. several Armorial Bearings in the pages immediately preceding this Table. uarti IM. i OF ENGLAND. Ob. 1377. (*) ) IV.=ELIZABETH WIDVILE, Daughter of Richard, Earl Rivers. ■AND I (11) JOHN of GAUNT, =KATHERINE SWYNFORD, Duke of Lancaster. Ob. 1399 Daughter of Sir Payn Roet. Ob. 1403. JOHN DE BEAUFORT, Earl of Somerset, Ob. 1410. J ( 10 ) MARGARET HOLLAND, Daughter of Thomas, and Sister and co-heir of Edmond, Earls of Kent. Ob. 1440. JOHN DE BEAUFORT, Duke of Somerset. Ob. 1444. / (9) ^MARGARET BEAUCHAMP, Daughter of Sir John Beauchamp, of Bletsoe. \ (8) I EDMOND TUDOR, =MARGARET DE BEAUFORT, Earl of Richmond Ob. 1456. only Daughter and heir of John, Duke of Somerset. Ob. 1509. CD I AGENET, =HENR Y VII. King of England. ward IV. Ob. 1509. (16) RANDON, =M AR Y TUDOR, oil, Daughter of King Henry VII. and Relict of Lewis XII. King of France. Ob. 1533. V (17) LIFFORD, =ELEANOR BRANDON, mberland. 1569 . 2d. Daughter and co-heir of Charles, Duke of Suffolk. Stanley, =Maugaret Clifford, by, K.G. . 591 . i Stanley: Derby. Daughter of Henry, Earl of Cumberland, and heir to her Mother, Eleanor Brandon. \ Alice Spencer, Daughter of Sir John Spencer, of Althorpe. (15) | [ERTON,=FRANCES STANLEY, (18) SIR JOHN DE GREY, K.G.=CONSTANCE HOLLAND iigewater. 619 . Egerton,: idgewater, 1686 . J Daughter and co-heir of Fer- dinando, Earl of Derby. Ob. 1625. (13) WILLIAM CAVENDISH, =ELIZABETH BASSET, Duke of Newcastle. Ob. 1673 Daughter of William Basset, of Blore. V Elizabeth Cavendish, Daughter of William, Duke of Newcastle. Ob. 1663. s e Paulet,= John Egerton, 3d. Earl of Bridgewater. Ob. 1701. ( 20 ) WILLIAM BENTINCK,=JANE TEMPLE, 0 fCharles, if Rolton Earl of Portland, K.G. Ob. 1709. Daughter of Sir John Temple, Bart. Ob. 1751. / Egerton, == Elizabeth- Ariana Bentinck, f Hereford. 1 ? 16 . Sophia Bentinck, =Henry de Grey, J Daughter of William, Earl of Portland. Daughter of William, Earl of Portland. Duke of Kent, K.G. Ob. 1740. ( 21 ) | GERTON,=ANNE-SOPHIA de grey, ( f Durham.' Daughter, and at length co- heir of Henry, Duke of Kent. Ob. 1780. ^ILLIAM EGERTON, gjijt of Bridgewater. 1823 .. Son and heir apparent of Reginald, Lord Grey de Ruthyn. Ob. 1436. Daughter of John, Duke of Exeter. Ob. 1438. / Edmond de Grey, Earl of Kent. Ob. 1439. George de Grey, Earl of Kent. Ob. 1505. Anthony de Grey, 3d. Son of George, Earl of Kent. George de Grey, only Son of Anthony Grey. Anthony de Grey, Earl of Kent, Ob. 1643. Henry de Grey, Earl of Kent. Ob. 1651. Anthony de Grey, Earl of Kent. Ob. 1702. 1 he preceding pages were scarcely finished, when the noble owner of Ashridge was lost to the world. And great indeed has been that loss. For though the Earl of Bridgewater had attained the Scriptural limitation “ of our age to threescore years and ten,” society would have rejoiced to witness the continuance of his useful life to the utmost extent of human strength. The respect, which was paid to him even by persons of opposite opinions, at once bespeaks the general estimation of his character. To his zeal and discretion, indeed, as a magistrate ; to his liberality, in executing works of publick utility ; to his taste, in improving local scenery ; and to his discernment, in promoting every effort of honest diligence ; the country round his residence has been deeply indebted. From his judicious benevolence the industrious poor derived credit as well as comfort to themselves and families ; since while their industry was amply encouraged by him, their morals also by his means were improved. And as in his bounty he was never influenced by ostentation, so in his general demeanour he was con descending as well as kind to all. To frankness and warmth of heart he united so much real humility, that when he had gratified the suitor with the advantage which had been sought, he wished to shun even the tribute of common thanks, and for his kindness preferred silence to publick acknowledgement. His time was rarely past without benefit to others. The best of his days were employed in advancing plans, which were to serve either his tenantry, or his neighbourhood, or the country at large. Activity indeed from his youth upwards distinguished him, and left him only in the last year of his life, when illness first confined him to his chair, then to his bed, and finally brought him to the grave. He died, as he had lived, with the hope of a sincere Christian ; and bore the painful disease, that overpowered him, with the patience and fortitude which that hope so abun- dantly supplies. In the Christian school too he had learned real charity : no man sooner forgave an injury. In domestick life he was affectionate, and cheerfully attentive to all its duties ; and in his intercourse with society desirous to recommend and enforce, by his own example, the advantage of adhering strictly to the principles of right : “ Just of his word, in every thought sincere.” He was a true friend to the Church of England, and a valuable member of the State ; anxiously promoting many excellent institutions, originated by the former ; and in respect to the latter proving himself, through a long period, a firm supporter of those judicious measures, which, under Providence, have not only saved the country from disgrace and ruin, but have raised it to an unexampled height of glory and prosperity.