THE 
 
 AND 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY 
 
 OF 
 
 ASHBOFEE, 
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE DOVE, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 ADJACENT VILLAGES; 
 
 WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT NATIVES, &c. 
 
 Sllttstratelj 
 
 BY NUMEROUS ORIGINAL DRAWINGS ON STONE, AND WOOD CUTS. 
 
 ASHBOURN: 
 
 DAWSON & HOESON; LONDON: SOLD BY SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO. 
 AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 
 1839. 
 
PRINTED BY DAWSON AND HOBSON, MARKET PLACE, ASHBOURN. 
 
TO 
 
 SIR WILLIAM BOOTHBY, BART., 
 
 LORD OF THE MANOR OF ASHBOURN, 
 THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 SSg ©iUged anil C^beUient Sftbants, 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS. 
 
f 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages are the results of an attempt to illustrate 
 in a popular manner the history and topography of that highly 
 beautiful and diversified tract of country. The Valley of the 
 Dove ; of which, from its locality, the town of Ashbourn may 
 be said to form the central point. The first seven chapters of 
 the work are confined principally to the general, parochial, 
 and family history of that town ; including also biographical 
 sketches of its eminent natives or residents, from sources in some 
 instances original, and in others scarce, or perhaps inaccessible 
 to the general reader; and such of its historical, antiquarian, 
 and literary reminiscences as were deemed worthy of preser- 
 vation. The eighth chapter is devoted to a similar illustration 
 of various hamlets, villages, and sites, immediately contiguous to 
 the town; the ninth and following divisions, of those on the 
 banks of the Dove, (traced downwards from her source), and 
 one or two of her tributary streams. 
 
 To account for any incongruity of plan which may appear, it 
 is proper to remark, that the latter chapters of the work form 
 an extension of or addition to the original design. In the 
 course of publication in a periodical form, the compilers 
 received a degree of support, as encouraging as it was (in 
 extent, at least) unexpected, from persons residing at a wide 
 distance from the locality. To such readers, lengthened paro- 
 chial details, connected with an isolated district, (which, had the 
 prospectus been adhered to, must have occupied a very consider- 
 able space,) would of necessity prove tedious and barren of 
 interest. That the work might sustain its popular character, and 
 not disappoint their fair expectations, it was resolved to abridge 
 much of that mere local information. A further inducement 
 to the adoption of this plan was the desire to insure some 
 remuneration for a large expenditure of labour and capital, 
 (incidental to topographical works on the smallest scale,) which 
 the support of the single district more directly interested, 
 however cheerfully tendered, has in the vast majority of in- 
 stances failed to secure. 
 
 Hence it was resolved to follow out in these historical and 
 topographical sketches, the entire Valley of the Dove,— a field 
 
vi. 
 
 which, in addition to its claims in a picturesque point of view, 
 presents some antiquarian remains, and other objects for illus- 
 tration, possessing interest as well to the general reader, as 
 to the local resident who has taste to appreciate what is beautiful, 
 or to search out and inquire into the curious usages of olden 
 times. And, after all, it is humbly believed, that the reader of 
 the latter class will find in these pages an amount of really- 
 important information, bearing upon his own particular locality, 
 as ample as any previous topographical work will afford. 
 
 How far the compilers have succeeded in the attempt to 
 blend what is curious with that which is really useful, their 
 subscribers and the public must determine. Imperfections of exe- 
 cution, and omissions, for some of which, however, they cannot 
 be held responsible, will doubtless appear ; perfect accuracy, too, 
 in a work involving so many dates and circumstances, is not per- 
 haps always attained, but the very favourable manner in which, 
 from their very commencement, these papers have been noticed 
 by the public press, leads the compilers to believe that their 
 strenuous exertions to render them as a whole worthy of general 
 acceptation, have not been unavailing. 
 
 One portion of this work, from the attention it has excited, 
 seems to require a passing allusion, — that is, the memoir of 
 Mr. Kichard Cadman Etches. Had the career of that enter- 
 prising individual been less extraordinary, and his services to 
 this country less important, it would have been needless for the 
 compilers to assert, that they believe every tittle of this narrative 
 to be literally and strictly correct; that no fact is exaggerated, 
 and that the testimony of his contemporaries will confirm a 
 statement derived from clear and incontrovertible documentary 
 evidence. 
 
 It should be stated that the descriptions of the scenery of the 
 Dove and of the country bordering upon it, as well as of those 
 other objects most prominently deserving of notice, are for the 
 most part the notes of an actual survey, undertaken during the 
 summer of the last and the spring of the present year. 
 
 The compilers, in conclusion, would offer their best thanks to 
 their numerous subscribers, and particularly to those among 
 them who have aided their labours by the communication of 
 articles of intelligence. 
 
 Ashhourn, June 20th, 1839. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. I. Introductory Remarks. First Historical Notice of Ashbotiril^ 
 Notices of the Earls Ferrers, and the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster, Lords 
 of the Manor, from the Norman Conquest, to the Reign of Edward IV. . . 3 
 
 Chap. II, History of the Early Possessors of Ashbourn, continued. The 
 Cokayne Family; Sir Aston Cokayne. Detail of Events that occurred in the 
 town and Neighbourhood of Ashbourn, during the Civil Wars ; Skirmishes 
 at Ashbourn, Tissington,&c. Blemoir of John Hieron, an eminent Noncon- 
 formist Divine 15 
 
 Chap. III. Rebellion of the Stuarts ; Entry of the Pretender and his Army 
 into Ashbourn ; Circumstantial Narrative of the Proceedings of the Rebel 
 Troops at Ashbourn and Derby. Lords of the Manor of Ashbourn, continued. 
 The Boothby Family ; Sir Brooke Boothby and his writings. Dr. JoUn Tay- 
 lor, the friend of .Johnson ; the latter visits Ashbourn 28 
 
 Chap. IV. Memoir of Mr. Richard Cadman Etches. His mercantile spe- 
 culations. Capture of his Vessels by the Spaniards in Nootka Sound, and 
 threatened rupture with Spain in consequence. Visits France, and procures 
 the Release of 12,0G0 British Prisoners. Detail of his services to the British 
 Government. Re-visits France, and succeeds in releasing Sir Sidney Smith 
 from the Temple, in Paris. Embarks as a Volunteer in an Expedition to the 
 Dutch Coast. Its success mainly owing to him. Devises a plan for the Dis- 
 persion of the French Flotilla. His genius and character. French Prisoners 
 stationed at Ashbourn c 41 
 
 Chap. V. Locality of Ashboura. Its ancient importance; Population and 
 Resources; Markets and Fairs. Ancient Game of Football. Ashbourn Hall. 
 The Church; Monuments; Banks's Monument to the Daughter of Sir Brooke 
 Boothby; Chantries; Endowments, living, &c. Ancient Chapel of St. Mary. 
 Dissenters' Chapels. Schools, &c 55 
 
 Chap. VI. The Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth; its Founda- 
 tion, Government, Instruction, and Endowments. Charities ; Alms Houses, 
 Schools, Lectureship, Sion Chapel ; Miscellaneous 73 
 
 Chap. VII. Ancient Families of Ashbourn ; Esseburne ; Beresford ; Hurt; 
 Dale. Mineral Inquisitions held at Ashbourn. Conference to suppress the 
 Tutbury Bull-Running. Bull-Baiting. The Mayor's Feast 88 
 
 Chap. VIII. Notices of Villages and Hamlets in the Vicinity of Ashbourn ; 
 Offcote and Underwood; Clifton; Edlaston; Yeaveley, ancient Hermitage; 
 Hungry Bentley ; Alkmanton, Hospital of ; Longford, families of Longford 
 and Coke, Church and Monuments; Brailsford; Shirley, and the ancient 
 family of that name ; Osmaston, family of Pegge; Yeldersley ; Sturston , Brad- 
 ley, families of Kniveton and Meynell, the poet Bancroft, Dr. Kennedy's work 
 on Astronomical Chronology ; Hulland; Atlow; Kniveton, ancient family of ; 
 Bradbourn, family of Buckston ; Tissington, family of Fitzherbert, Hall, &c. 
 Chu'-ch and Monuments, Well -Flowering, Rev. Richard Graves and his " Spi- 
 ritual Quixote;" Parwich, vestiges of an Encampment at; Fenny Bentley, the 
 
Vlll. 
 
 Beresford family, Church, &c, ; Broadlow Ash, the Boothby family ; Thorpe 
 and the Approach to Dovedale, &c , . 97 
 
 Chap. IX. The River Dove, characteristics of its Scenery, the Tour of 
 commenced ; Alsop in the Dale, Becon the Reformer, visits there ; Newhaven ; 
 Scenery of the Dove, Hartington, Tumuli, barrows, or lows, their structure 
 and uses; Beresford Hall, the seat of Charles Cotton, character of his father, 
 life and writings of Cotton; Narrow Dale; Ecton Mine described, notes of a 
 descent into, the deepest in Great Britain; Geology of Derbyshire; the River 
 Manifold, Scenery described; Thor's Cave; disappearance of the Manifold ; 
 the Dove; Alstonfield, Mill Dale, Dovedale Scenery, Accident to DeanLangton 
 and Miss La Roche, Botanical Specimens, Angling; Ham Hall, Scenery, the 
 Pictures and Works of Art, Gardens, Congreve's Grot, the subterranean rivers, 
 Hamps and Manifold, the Church, Sir F. Chantrey's Group in memory of the 
 late David Pike Watts, Esq.; Monumental Sculpture; the Meverells of 
 Throwley; Blore, ancient family of Bassett, Church and Monuments; Okeover, 
 ancient family of, the Hall and Pictures, Church and Monuments, Dudley 
 Duke of Northumberland, born near Okeover; Mappleton, &c 128 
 
 Chap. X. Fertility of the Banks of the Dove. Extract from a Sermon in 
 praise of Derbyshire. Mayfield, Moore's Cottage, the Church, &c. Stanton, 
 the birth-place of Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury. Snelston Hall, 
 the. Seat of John Harrison, Esq. Memoir of Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq. 
 M.P., a native of Snelston, his public career, writings and character .... 203 
 
 Chap. XI. Norbury, the ancient family of Fitzherbert, the Hall and 
 Church, Monuments and Stained Glass, Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, the Judge ; 
 List of his works. Rectory, School, &c. Chapelry of Snelston 222 
 
 Chap. XII. Calwich Abbey, ancient Hermitage, family of Fleetwood, the 
 Mansion and Pictures, Handel a Guest there; Sir Richard Greenville, intrepid 
 conduct of; Sir Bevil Granville, death of; Services of Sir John Granville. 
 Ellastone, Church and Monuments. Wootton Hall and the Vales of Wever ; 
 Mr. Gisborne's Lines upon ; Wootton Lodge and Park 238 
 
 Chap. XIII. Alton Towers, tlie Seat of Earl Shrewsbury ; Description of 
 the Gardens and Scenery; the Abbey, Pictures and Works of art; Catalogue of 
 Pictures; the Chapel, &c. ; Village and Church of Alton; families of Verdon 
 and Talbot; achievements of John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury 256 
 
 Chap. XIV. Croxden Abbey, translations of Charters and Extracts from the 
 Chronicles ; list of Abbots, anecdote of the Monks, King John a benefactor to 
 the Abbey, the Abbot the King's Physician; monastic manners, avocations, 
 and abuses. Dove Leys ; Barrow Hill ; Rocester, the Abbey, Charters, &c- 
 The Village 280 
 
 Chap. XV. Crakemarsh, the Seat of Sir Thomas Cotton Sheppard, Bart.. 
 Uttoxeter, its early History ; Events of the Civil Wars; Population and Re- 
 sources, Markets and Fairs; Church, Dissenters' Chapels, and Schools; the 
 families of Mynors, Kynnersley, &c. ; Hamlets in the Vicinity ; Eminent 
 Natives, Sir Simon Degge, Admiral Lord Gardner, Mary Howitt, &c.; anec- 
 dote of Dr. Johnson. Doveridge Hall, the Seat of Lord Waterpark; family 
 of Cavendish; Church and Monuments; Eaton Dovedale, West Broughton, 
 Marchington. Sudbury Hall, the Seat of I^ord Vernon ; family of Vernon ; 
 Church, Monuments, &c \ 300 
 
 Chap. XVI. Castle of Tutbury, Events at under the Earls Ferrers and the 
 Earls and Dukes of Lancaster; method of administering justice in the Feudal 
 Courts; Wager of Battle; Household Expenses of Thomas second Earl of Lan- 
 caster; Loss and subsequent Discovery of Coins in the bed of the river Dove ; 
 Tutbury becomes the residence of Constance Queen of Castile, the consort of 
 John of Gaunt; Ancient Minstrelsy; whimsical feudal tenure of the " Bacon 
 Flitch;" the Castle and Honor annexed to the Crown ; Anecdote of Henry VII. 
 Deer Stealing in the Forest of Needwood; survey of the Castle; Mary Queen 
 of Scots confined there; Charles I. visits Tutbury; Castle garrisoned ; its final 
 Demolition. Town of Tutbury, the Church, Chapels, Population, Trade, &c.; 
 Imposture of Anne Moore, the " Fasting Woman." Marston-on-Dove, Rol- 
 leston; Junction of the Dove with the Trent. Additions 325 
 
) 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1 Ashboum, from the Derby Koad to face Vignette, 
 
 2 View in Dovedale Vignette, 
 
 3 Ashboum Hall, the seat of Sir William Boothby, Bart 59 
 
 4 Ashboum Church, from the South , 61 
 
 5 Chancel of Ashboum Church 65 
 
 6 Ashboum, West Entrance, shewing the Grammar School 73 
 
 7 Seal of the Governors and Assistants of the Ashboum Free Grammar School 74 
 
 8 Tissington Hall, Derbyshire, the seat of Sir Henry Fitzherbert, Bart 117 
 
 9 Dovedale, North Entrance 165 
 
 10 Ham Hall, Staffordshire, the seat of Jesse Watts Kussell, Esq 175 
 
 11 Okeover HaU, Staffordshire, the residence of Eobeii; Plumer Ward, Esq.. f 199 
 
 12 Moore's Cottage, Majrfield, Staffordshire 209 
 
 13 Snelston Hall, Derbyshire, the seat of John Harrison, Esq. ^ 213 
 
 14 Norbury Church, Derbyshire ,. 229 
 
 15 Chancel of Norbury Church, Derbyshire 231 
 
 16 Calwich Abbey, Staffordshire, the seat of Court Dewes Granville, Esq. ^ .239 
 
 17 Wootton Lodge, Staffordshire 253 
 
 18 Alton Towers, Staffordshire, the seat of the Earl of Shrewsbuiy 257 
 
 19 Crakemarsh Hall, Staffordshire, the seat of Sir Thomas Cotton Sheppard, Bart ,...301 
 
 20 Uttoxeter Church, Staffordshire k 311 
 
 21 Doveridge Hall, the seat of Lord Waterpark .• 319 
 
 22 Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire, the seat of Lord Vemon ^ 323 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE ADJACENT VILLAGES, &c. 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Introductory Remarks. — First Historical Notice of the Town of Ashbourn. — 
 Notices of its Early Possessors from the time of William the Conqueror, down 
 to the I4th Year of the Reign of Edward IV. 
 
 For the most part the history of a town is written in 
 consequence of important, exciting-, or instructive events 
 that have had birth within its walls. Notwithstanding, the 
 history of a town may be both entertaining and useful, 
 although it has not been the stage on which splendid actions 
 have been performed. A town may be so situated, as never 
 itself to have been the scene of such great deeds as to have 
 acquired for it a Roman or a Punic celebrity, and yet be the 
 point from which the historian may, with perfect judgment, 
 choose to view remarkable events that have occurred in its 
 vicinity. It may be a town, connected, on account of the 
 local jurisdiction centered in it, with villages and sites 
 whose traditions are intei'woven with facts and circumstances 
 that claim the attention of the historian, and consequently 
 of each and every one of the enlightened or curious portion 
 of mankind. It may be a town so peculiarly and haj^pily 
 situated, having its locality so beautifully and bounteously 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 
 
4 
 
 HISTORY OF ASPlBOURNj^ 
 
 favoured by nature, and which locality has been therefore 
 chosen for the congregated residences of men; and it also 
 may be so far the centre of many lovely spots, whose fertile 
 soil, productions, and delightful scenery, make it, as it v/ere, 
 the minor metropolis of the villages and hamlets which lie 
 clustered around it, that the historian fixes upon it, not as 
 a subject for gorgeous description or highly- wrought recital, 
 but as one that affords scope for the relation of matters and 
 the painting of objects which come home to all men's 
 bosoms, but which interest more particularly, the affections 
 of those who have either been born in it, or in its neigh- 
 bourhood, or whom circumstances have caused to become 
 temporary or permanent residents in it or its vicinity. 
 
 The town of Ashbourn possesses these supposed pecu- 
 liarities and advantages; and for that reason it has been 
 deemed worthy of historical notice. 
 
 The period at which the first foundation of Ashbourn 
 took place, is not pointed out either by oral or written 
 tradition. It is buried in impenetrable obscurity. The first 
 mention of the town is to be found in Domesday-Book, and 
 its name in that celebrated survey is written Essehurne.^^ 
 
 * Domesday. Book, if not the most ancient, is yet the most venerable monu- 
 ment of Great Britain. It contains an account of all the lands in England, 
 except the four northern counties, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, 
 and Durham, and part of Lancashire ; and describes the quantity and parti- 
 cular nature of them, whether meadow, pasture, arable, wood, or waste land. 
 It mentions the rent and taxation, and records the several possessors of land, 
 their number and distinct degrees. King Alfred, about the year 900, compiled 
 a record of the like nature, of which this is in some measure a copy. The 
 reason assigned for the survey vras, that every man should be satisfied with his 
 own right, and not usurp with impunity what belonged to another. By it, also, 
 the King (Wm. I.) would acquire an exact knowledge of the property of the 
 crown, by the forfeitures of the lands of the English nobility who fell at the 
 battle of Hastings ; and he was thus enabled to remunerate his Norman fol- 
 lowers, by the grants of their confiscated estates. When it has been necessary 
 to distinguish whether lands were held in ancient demesne, or in what other 
 manner, recourse has always been had to Domesday-Book, and to that only 
 to determine the question. The record is written on vellum, and is comprised 
 m two volumes. It is now deposited in the Chapter-House, Westminster. — 
 
 Groses Anilqinlics. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 5 
 
 As in the reign of Edward the Confessor, nothing can he 
 traced to prove who w^as the particular possessor of the town 
 and manor of Ashhourn, it must he supposed that they 
 belonged to that prince ; and, in consequence, William the 
 Conqueror, who claimed the crov/n of England, which was 
 bequeathed to him by the former monarch, took possession 
 of Ashhourn, considering it a royal demesne. It is men- 
 tioned as being such in Domesday-J3ook, which was com- 
 piled about the year 1080, (fourteen years after the accession 
 of William,) and as it did not come into the possession of 
 William Ferrers until the 11th of July, in the first year of 
 the reign of King John, (1199) it remained to a certainty, 
 and without interruption, a royal demesne, for upwards of 
 the sj)ace of 133 years. Indeed it seems very probable that 
 under the Saxon domination, it always formed part of the 
 royal demesnes. 
 
 It wiU be a curious thing to trace, as far as correct 
 public and documentaiy information will permit, the 
 different sei'vices performed by the several individuals who 
 obtained, by royal charter, possession of the town and manor 
 
 The following is a translation of the passage in Domesday- Book which refers 
 to Ashhourn : 
 
 " In Essehurne there are three carucates of haul to be faxed. Land to three ]?loughs. 
 It is waste, yet it pays twenty shiUint/s. There is a j)ries[ and a church, tvith one caru- 
 catc of land to be taxed ; and he has there two rillanes and two bordars, having half a 
 plough. Himself has one plough, and one vassal tvho pays sixleen-jjence ; and twenty 
 acres of meadow. These five manors, Derelei, Metesford, Wercliesuorde, Esseburne, 
 and Peareunic, luitli their bcrewichs, paid in King Edward's time, thirty-two pounds, 
 and six sexlaries and a half of honey, noio forty pounds of pure silver." 
 
 [A villane held a small portion of land under his lord, and was bound to cer- 
 tain sei-vices in return ; a bordar was a cottager; and the term bereivick signified 
 a village or hamlet.] 
 
 The writer conjectures, that the term Esseburne simply means a^h brook. 
 It is a very common thing throughout England, and particularly in Derby- 
 shire and Stafibrdshire, to have the first syllable of the names of towns and 
 villages formed from the appellation of the things for which the vicinity of the 
 brooks or bourns on which they were first built were at the time I'emarkable. 
 Farcy remarks that some parts of Derbyshire are particularly favourable to the 
 growth of the ash, and that several places seem to have derived the prefix of 
 their names from it. 
 
6 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 of Ashboum. In doing so, it will of course be demon- 
 strated, for what good or evil deeds, supposed or real, those 
 demesnes were granted to, or wrested from the different 
 possessors. 
 
 During the early disputes between the baronial power 
 and the kingly, the possession of Ashbourn often changed 
 hands. The gift of the town and castle of Tutbury was 
 chiefly conferred by the crown as a recompense for eminent 
 services. The lords of what is called The Honor of Tutbury 
 were, in consequence of such right, lords of the manor and 
 town of Ashbourn, and it will not be incorrect to infer that 
 they ranked amongst the most distinguished, the most 
 powerful, and the most wealthy noblemen in the land. The 
 history of those individuals is therefore intimately linked 
 with that of Ashbourn; and, in consequence of that 
 connexion, it has been judged necessary to make brief 
 allusion to the events in which they were concerned. 
 
 In the well-known document, called "The Roll of Battell 
 Abbeie," which contains a list of the names of the noblemen 
 and gentlemen who fought under the Duke of Normandy, 
 at the battle of Hastings, is to be found that of Henry de 
 Ferraris or Ferrers. When, by chance of battle, the Duke 
 became the first of the Norman line that reigned in 
 England, Henry de Ferrers was an especial favourite with 
 that monarch, and the town and castle of Tutbury were 
 granted to him. The motives that induced the king to hold 
 this nobleman in such high estimation, proceeded from the 
 experience of his great political knowledge and integrity. 
 He was appointed under royal commission, to superin- 
 tend the general survey of the kingdom, the result of which 
 is to be found in Domesday-Book. It appears from this 
 survey, that besides Tutbury, he possessed seven lordships 
 in Staffordshire, thirty-five in Leicestershire, six in War- 
 wickshire, three in Nottinghamshire, and ninety -five in 
 Derbyshire. He left at his death but one son, named 
 Robert, his two other sons having died during the life-time 
 of their father. This Robert, in consequence of the personal 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 7 
 
 valour he displayed in repelling the invasion of David, King 
 of Scotland, was created an earl by King Stephen. Robert 
 de Ferrers led under him in this campaign, a body of 
 soldiers chiefly raised in Derbyshire, and he had recourse 
 to the following plan in order to animate his troops. He 
 promised a considerable grant of land in Needwood Forest 
 to the man who should most distinguish himself by daring 
 deeds of arms. The contending armies met near Northal- 
 lerton, and the encouragement held out produced the desired 
 effect, for the Scotch, though they made an obstinate resist- 
 ance, were routed with great loss. The Derbyshire men 
 greatly distinguished themselves throughout the battle, and 
 one of them, named Ralph, claimed and obtained the 
 promised grant of land. This earl was succeeded by a son 
 of the same name, who did not distinguish himself by any 
 remarkable action. He was succeeded by his son William, 
 who rebelled against Henry II. and participated in the 
 treason of the unnatural sons of that great but unhappy 
 monarch. 
 
 These were the immediate ancestors of WiUiam, Earl 
 Ferrers, created in consequence of his loyalty and great 
 services, Earl of Derby, by King John, in the first year of 
 that monarch's reign. This title was bestowed by a special 
 charter, at Northampton ; and it is said that on this occasion 
 the King himself girded him with a sword. He obtained a 
 grant of every third penny out of the pleas that came before 
 the sheriff of the county of Derby. He also received many 
 other royal grants, and among them, on the 11th of July in 
 the same year, (1199) the grant in fee-farm to himself and 
 his heirs, of the manors of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, 
 together with the whole Wapentake, on condition that he 
 paid to the Exchequer £70 at Michaelmas and Easter, by 
 even portions. In the fifth year of the same reign, he 
 obtained a grant of the inheritance of these manors, with 
 the Wapentake, for which grant he paid 50O marks. He 
 received many other valuable estates from King John, 
 and when the Pope had deposed that weak and vicious 
 
8 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Prince, tlie Earl proved to him his fidelity, and showed at 
 the same time, the great influence of his own character, by 
 becoming surety that John should adhere to those degrading 
 conditions to which the Pope had obliged him to submit. 
 He was also of great service to Henry the Third, and was 
 fixed upon as one of the arbitrators between that monarch 
 and his disaffected barons. He died in the year 1247, at an 
 advanced age. 
 
 He was succeeded by his son William, who was chiefly 
 remarkable for the prudence with which he managed his 
 vast estates. He died in the year 1254. 
 
 The last of this family that possessed the town and manor 
 of Ashbourn, was Robert, eldest son of the late Earl. 
 Unfortunately for himself, he was but a youth at the time 
 of his father's death. The early loss of a wise and virtuous 
 parent, proved to him, as it must do to all children, the 
 severest of misfortunes. Naturally fickle and perverse, his 
 disposition, uncurbed by parental authority, at length 
 became outrageous. No sooner had he obtained his majority, 
 than he threw off the shackles of restraint, openly rebelled 
 against the king, and yet was not prudent enough to act in 
 concert with the other powerful barons who opposed their 
 sovereign. His extensive estates furnished him with many 
 followers ; and the first use he made of their services was, 
 to enter Worcester, which city he pillaged, destroyed the 
 unoffending Jews that dwelt there, plundered both the 
 private and religious houses, and did much damage to the 
 crown lands in the neighbourhood. The King, to punish 
 the Earl for this outrage upon the royal property, sent his 
 son Edward with a large army against him. The castle of 
 Tutbury was demolished; the lands around it laid waste 
 w4th fire and sword, and the peaceful occupiers of them 
 thus suffered for offences of which they were guiltless. The 
 Earl, notwithstanding, continued to make war against the 
 King. When the King, by the bravery of Prince Edward, 
 was rescued, from the hands of the Barons, and his autho- 
 rity comparatively restored, he resolved to punish the Earl 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 9 
 
 of Derby. The Earl was charged with high crimes and 
 misdemeanors, and a day was fixed for his trial ; but anti- 
 cipating his conviction as certain, he acknowledged his 
 guilt, and appealed to the King's mercy. He received at 
 the monarch's hands more clemency and generosity than he 
 merited. On the following mild conditions he obtained 
 his pardon, viz : that he should present the King with a 
 cup of gold, set with precious stones, and pay a fine of 
 1,500 marks; with an express understanding, however, 
 that if ever he rebelled again, he should be totally disin- 
 herited. In the very face of these solemn engagements 
 with the King, the Earl of Derby once more rebelled, and 
 having raised an army in the northern parts of Derbyshire, 
 he took forcible possession of Chesterfield. His treason 
 and treachery did not long remain unpunished ; for Henry, 
 the eldest son of the King of Almaine, attacked him there 
 on the 24th of May, 1266, and completely routed his forces. 
 It was with difficulty that he escaped from the field of 
 battle to the church, in which he concealed himself under 
 some bags of wool. One solitary individual perceived him 
 in his retreat : this was a young female, whose lover had 
 been compelled to fight for the Earl, and had fallen in the 
 battle. Looking upon this perfidious nobleman as the sole 
 cause of her misfortunes, she pointed out to his enemies 
 the place of his concealment. He was immediately dragged 
 from it, and conveyed, under a strong escort, to London, 
 where he was thrown into prison. The same year he was 
 attainted, and his confiscated lands were given to Edmund, 
 the son of Henry the Third, by two grants from that King, 
 bearing date the 28th of June, and 5th of August, 1266. 
 It will be perceived, from the foregoing historical data, that 
 the town and manor of Ashbourn remained in possession 
 of the family of Ferrers, from the 11th of July, 1199, to 
 the 28th of June, 1266, a period of about 67 years.* 
 
 *Among the arms of the first possessors of the town and manor of Ashbourn, 
 painted on the windo^vs of the church, those of tlie family of Ferrers are still 
 visible. 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN, 
 
 Edmund of Lancaster, surnamed Crouchback, a scion of 
 lojalty, now becomes possessor of the town and manor of 
 Ashbourn. In his youth he was invested with the title of 
 King of Sicily, the symbol of his authority being a sancti- 
 fied ring, sent him by the Pope ; but this investiture was 
 only a pretence of his Holiness, to draw large sums of 
 money from this country. He was also made Earl of 
 Chester, and had the lands of Simon de Montford, ^vith the 
 Honor of Leicester granted him, on the death of that 
 nobleman at the battle of Evesham. He accompanied his 
 brother (Edward 1.) to the Holy land, and on his return he 
 had a renewal of the grant of the wapentake of Wirksworth, 
 with the manors of Wirksworth and Ashbourn, and again, 
 in the 13th year of the same reign, he received a further 
 confirmation of all the lands of Robert de Ferrers. In the 
 year 1297, he accompanied the Earl of Lincoln and others, 
 to the siege of Bayonne, where he died.* 
 
 *lt appears, that in tlie fourth year of the reign of Edward I. an inquiry- 
 was made into the state of the Royal Burgs, by certain officers of the Crown. 
 Tiie following document embodies the result of this inquiry, in reference to 
 Ashbourn; and it contains some curious particulars respecting the local govern- 
 ment of the town at this early period : — 
 
 " The officers declare, that the masters of the hospital of St. John de Yeveley 
 ha\'e tenants under them, from the other side of the water of Esseburne, called 
 Schole Brook, in the Wapentake of Lutchyrch, who sell bread and ale contrary 
 to the assize, and that the said masters receive the bread and ale so sold 
 unjustly, to the great prejudice and injury of the freemen and the Burg of 
 Esseburne, and they know not by what warrant. They also declare, that the 
 said masters of the hospital appropriate to themselves, and seduce persons from 
 the Royal Burg of Esseburne to be tenants under themselves and under their 
 protection, whence the lord the King loses toll and passage-fees from tenants of 
 this kind. And also the masters have made for themselves a new stamp and 
 stamp gallon and bushel measures, without such warrant as the inhabitants of 
 the Burg have been accustomed to. And the said masters have an oven for mak- 
 ing saleable bread, to the grievous loss of the aforesaid royal Burg of Esseburne. 
 Also they declare, that from that side of the aforesaid water, there is a certain 
 township called Campdene-street, [Compton] which ought to be as it were a 
 country village : and that men remain in the said township, and sell bread and 
 ale, contrary to the Assize, and without wan-ant. And that they put the said 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 11 
 
 bread for sale into their windows, and they use the aforesaid stamp for bread, 
 for bottles, and for bushels, without warrant, to the great loss of our said Lord, 
 the King, They also declare, that Robert de Mapleton has an oven in that part 
 in Campdene- street, and that he had spoken with a certain Robert of Esseburne, 
 who then possessed the said village, concerning a firm agreement ; and he con- 
 ceded to the said Robert of Esseburne, that for the space of one year he might 
 make bread for sale in the aforesaid oven ; whence on account of that oven, and 
 the oven of the above-named Masters of the Hospital, the said Burg of the lord 
 the King was greatly injured and aggrieved. And that Thomas, the son and heir 
 of the said Robert de Mapleton, holds the said oven for a yearly sum of money, 
 which sum of money ought to be paid yearly to our Lord, the King, on account 
 of an agreement sanctioned between Robert, Earl Ferrers, and Henry de 
 Esseburne, and this Agreement bears date in the reign of the late Lord King, 
 Henry III. and runs thus — ' Of those who possess liberties granted them by our 
 Lord, the King, &c.' [At this time, the Lords of Manors monopolised the privi- 
 lege of baking their tenants' bread, at the common fourne, or oven.] 
 
 " They also declare, that Thomas de Mapleton, Richard Hervi, Nicholas de 
 Mercinton, and Henry of Esseburne, Clerk, do not righth' exercise the freedom 
 of the town of Esseburne, as thej^ ought to do, for tliat they fine the bakers and 
 the brewers in their absence, and not in full court, as v/as customary to be done ^ 
 and that they fine them at their own discretion ; and that thei-e used to be in 
 the said town only two assessors, and that now there are four, contrary to the 
 liberty of the aforesaid town, and therefore to the grievous loss and detriment of 
 the aforesaid Burg of our Lord the King, who now reigns. 
 
 " And further, they declare, that a certain vicar, namely, of the Church of 
 Esseburne, obstructed a path-way near Lovedich, and that Peter de Wyneton, 
 now Rector of the Church, supports him in that injury. They also declare, 
 that a certain Ranulph of Mercinton, obstructed another path leading out of 
 the King's highway from Esseburne to Scholebrook, between the new place 
 and tenement of the said Ranulph : and Roger de Mercinton abets him in 
 the same injury. 
 
 " Of military tenures. Sec : — They declare that two messuages at the end of the 
 town of Esseburne towards Underwood, were given in charity to the Abbey of 
 Miravalli, [in the county of Warwick] to make for the monks of that place a 
 house of hospitality, by Lord William, the old Earl Ferrers, that nothing in 
 paid, and that the messuages are lying waste. 
 
 " Concerning the clergy and other magistrates : — They declare, that Thomas 
 de Gloucheswich was seized and detained in person, and put in chains, on 
 suspicion, and liberated by Henry Oweyn, then bailiff of liord Edraiuid, for 
 XLs. 
 
 ^Persons they fined and liberated in the time of the late King Henry: — They 
 also declare that Laurence, Clerk, and Nicholas of Mercinton in the time of the 
 late King Henry, by night seized two men and two women of Esseburne, upon 
 sui^picion, and took from them a certain quantity of wax and cloth of tlie value 
 of XXs. and more, and promised them to get a warrant respecting the wax and 
 cloth, which they have never restored." 
 
12 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 The town and manor of Aslibourn, next came into 
 the possession of Thomas, second Earl of Lancaster. 
 The readers of English history will recollect that this was 
 the famous Earl of Lancaster who, not being able to brook 
 the indignities done to the English barons, by Gavestone 
 and the Spencers, minions of Edward the Second, passed his 
 life in a state of open warfare with that weak and effeminate 
 monarch. He was at length taken prisoner, arraigned 
 before a council of the King's officers, tried by court- 
 martial, instead of by his own peers, and was condemned 
 to be hanged, drawn, and beheaded; which execution 
 he suffered near Pontefract, under circumstances of the 
 greatest indignity. 
 
 The King, after the death of this Earl, seized upon all 
 his estates, so .that Ashbourn once more became a demesne 
 of the Crown. It would appear that it did not remain 
 so long, as all the estates belonging to the late Earl of 
 Lancaster were consigned to the custody of Roger Beler, 
 of Kirkby Belers, in the county of Leicester, who was 
 attached to the King's person. This individual, however, 
 might only be a locum tenens for the King. The unhappy 
 Edward the Second in a short time became the captive of 
 Henry de Lancaster, brother to the late Earl; but it being 
 judged that this keeper's treatment of the deposed monarch 
 was too humane, he was delivered into less merciful hands, 
 and by them barbarously murdered at Berkeley. 
 
 In the first year of the reign of Edward the Third, 
 (1327) Henry de Lancaster, laid claim to the estates 
 possessed by his late brother ; and his claim rested upon 
 the ground that his brother had not been tried by his peers, 
 according to law and Magna Charta. His claim was 
 allowed, and an act of Parliament was passed, which 
 reversed the attainder of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. 
 Consequently, Tutbury, and the places within its Honor, 
 returned again into the possession of the house of Lancaster. 
 
 There are few transactions of the life of this Henry, Earl 
 of Lancaster upon record, which are at all connected with 
 the Honor of Tutbury. It is, however, completely certain 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 13 
 
 that he was lord of the manor of Ashbourn, since, as 
 superior lord of the Honor of Tuthury, he claimed the 
 manor and wapentake of Wirksworth, and a toll upon all 
 cattle and merchandise offered for sale in the town of 
 Ashbourn; and these claims were fully confirmed. He 
 died at Leicester, in the year 1345.* 
 
 The son of this Earl of Lancaster was the next owner 
 of the manor of Ashbourn. He was created, during his 
 father's life-time, Earl of Derby ; and in consequence of 
 the greater part of his life having been passed in foreign 
 service, there are few circumstances to record respecting 
 his connexion with the Honor of Tutbury. In 1351, 
 he was created a Duke, and was the first English sub- 
 ject, except those of royal blood, w^ho had been invested 
 with that title since the time of the Norman conquest. He 
 was one of the greatest captains of the age. His chivalrous 
 exploits formed a theme of exultation to every Englishman, 
 and produced a paralysing dread in the hearts of all his 
 opponents. He died of the plague, at Leicester, on the 
 24th of March, 1361. This nobleman left two daughters, 
 Maud and Blanch, between whom his extensive possessions 
 were divided. Blanch received for her portion those estates 
 which had previously formed the earldoms of Derby and 
 Lancaster. She became the consort of the renowned John of 
 Gaunt, and it seems more than probable, that through this 
 alliance, he became lord of the manor of Ashbourn. The 
 Honor of Tutbury certainly belonged to her. At her death 
 J ohn of Gaunt married Constance, Queen of Castile, and 
 that lady resided almost constantly at Tutbury; whence 
 it must be inferred, that by the death of his first wife, 
 Blanch, who inherited the estates of the Earls of Derby, the 
 Duke of Lancaster did not lose possession of those places 
 comprehended within the Honor of Tutbury. When the 
 Duke died, Richard the Second, who was his nephew^ 
 
 *It is stated by several writers, that Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, procured 
 from Edward III. for his son, a grant of Risley, and Ashbourn in the Peak.— 
 If the Earl of March did possess the manor of Ashbourn, it must have been for 
 a short period, during the boyhood of Edward Illr 
 
14 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 seized upon all his property, and gave orders that the rents 
 and revenues arising from his estates should be forthwith 
 paid to himself. It is therefore reasonable to suppose, that 
 the town and manor of Ashbourn once more became a royal 
 demesne. On the accession of Henry the Fourth, the 
 Castle and Honor of Tutbury, and the rest of the Duchy of 
 Lancaster, were annexed to the crown.* 
 
 It is satisfactorily proved, by a document, drawn up in the 
 second year of the reign of Henry V., called " The Coucher," 
 that the manor of Ashbourn at that time formed part and 
 parcel of the Honor of Tutbury. An officer, called a 'bailift'' 
 was then appointed to protect the interests of the Honor in 
 this town. 
 
 The next person to whom the manor of Ashbourn 
 belonged, was George, Duke of Clarence, chiefly known 
 by the whimsical choice of the manner in which he 
 wished to die, when adjudged guilty of high treason against 
 his brother, Edward IV. That choice was, to be drowned 
 in a butt of Malvoisie. When Edward IV. had obtained 
 ascendancy over the weak and unfortunate Henry VI., he 
 dissevered the Honor of Tutbury from the paternal estates 
 of the deposed monarch, and granted it, in the fifth year 
 of his reign, to George, Duke of Clarence, and his heirs : 
 it was not long, however, before that ambitious and fickle 
 prince joined the Earl of Warwick in rebellion against 
 his royal brother, and although a partial reconciliation took 
 place between them, Edward thought fit to annul the grant 
 he had before made ; and in the thirteenth year of his reign, 
 he issued a warrant to resume the possession of these estates, 
 and they were accordingly granted in that year, to Thomas, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, and other trustees, to hold for 
 the King, during his absence in France. The Honor and 
 Castle of Tutbury have ever since remained part of the 
 Duchy of Lancaster.f 
 
 *At some period in this reign, John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, is said to have 
 held the manor. 
 
 f See Sir O. Mosleys History of Tutbury, from which, and from public and 
 private documentary information, the preceding facts have been derived. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Continuation of the Histoiy of the Early Possessors of Ashhourn. — The Cokayne 
 Family. — Public Events which occurred in the town and Neighbourhood, 
 during the Great Rebellion. — Skirmishes between the Royalists and the 
 Parliamentarians. — Biographical Sketch of Mr. John Hieron, an eminent 
 Nonconformist Minister. 
 
 The Manor of Ashbourn, it is supposed, continued to be 
 annexed to the Earldom and Duchy of Lancaster, from the 
 reign of Edward the Fourth, until that of Charles the First. 
 There is, however, no doubt but that, between these periods, 
 the manor came into the possession of the heads of the very 
 ancient family of the Cokaynes. This family flourished in 
 the town as early as the reign of Edward 1. They sub- 
 sequently possessed considerable estates in the town and 
 neighbourhood, and Ashbourn Hall was, for several gene- 
 rations, their principal residence, but at what particular 
 time they held the manorial rights of the town, cannot be 
 clearly proved. 
 
 The following were the most distinguished members of 
 this ancient and honourable family.* John Cokayne, who 
 
 *Sir Aston Cokayne affirms, in one of his poems, that his ancestor, Cokayne, 
 a knight, was allied to the Conqueror, and lived in his reign, at Hemingham 
 Castle, where " lately hung his bow and arrows, his sword and buckler and 
 that all this was attested by " Mr. John Cokayne, of Rushton, my lord's cousin- 
 germane, who had an antient evidence to prove it." 
 
16 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 was chosen to represent the county of Derby in several 
 parliaments and councils, during the reign of Edward III. 
 His eldest son, Edmund, appears to have been the first of 
 the family that was knighted, and he added considerably to 
 the estates and influence of his family, by marrying Eliza- 
 beth, daughter of Richard de Herthill, and heiress to that 
 property. The brother of Sir Edmund was Sir John 
 Cokayne, ancestor of the Cokaynes of Hatley, in Bedford- 
 shire. He was one of the most celebrated of the family, 
 since it appears that he was Recorder of London, and 
 Parhamentary representative of the county of Derby, in the 
 reigns of Richard II. and Heniy IV. He was aftenvards 
 Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and one of the Justices of 
 the Court of Common Pleas. He steadily adhered to the 
 cause of King Henry IV. and was slain at the battle of 
 Shrewsbury. Thomas Cokayne chiefly resided at Pooley, 
 in Wanvickshire : he lived in the reign of Henry VII. and 
 was killed in Polcsworth church-yard, in a (piarrel with 
 Thomas Burdett, Esq. of l^ramcote. His son. Sir Thomas, 
 was present with King Henry VIII. at the sieges of Thero- 
 vcnne and Tournay, and in conseciuencc of his gallant 
 conduct, he was created a banneret in the ()i)en licld. His 
 grandson, Sir Thomas Cokayne, sei-ved under the Earl of 
 Hertford, and was knighted at the taking of Edinburgh, in 
 1544. He was several times High Sheriff for the counties 
 of Derby and Nottingham, and contributed £50 to the fund 
 that was raised to meet the expences of opposing the 
 Spanish Armada. He died in 1592.* 
 
 Sir Aston Cokayne, the most widely-known of the family, 
 was son of Thomas Cokayne,t by Anne, daughter of Sir 
 John Stanhope, of Elvaston. He received his education at 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, and aftenvards entered the 
 
 *Hc was the author of a short Treatise on Hunting, which is now extremely 
 rare. 
 
 f This Thomas Cokayne was born at Mappleton, where the family appear to 
 have had a seat. He resided in London, under the feigned name of Brown, 
 and was buried in the church of St. Giles's in the Fields. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHDOURX. 
 
 17 
 
 Inns of Court, in London. He married the daiigliter of 
 Sir Gilbert Kniveton, of Mercaston. Sir Aston suffered 
 much during the civil wars in the reign of Charles the First, 
 on account of his religion, which was that of the Churcli of 
 Rome. It seems, that either in consequence of his attach- 
 ment to the House of Stuart, or, more probably, on account 
 of his personal extravagance, that his propert}'^ became 
 greatly lessened long before his death. He retired to his 
 estate at Pooley, where he gave himself up to his books and 
 his boon companions. His literary acquaintances were 
 numerous, and they comprised the first writers and wits of 
 the age. In one of his epigrams, he boasts of his intimacy 
 with Donne, Suckling, Randolph, Drayton, Massinger, 
 Habbington, Sandys, May, Jonson, and others. This 
 epigTam is addressed to his cousin, the celebrated Charles 
 Cotton, better known by his treatise on angling, than by 
 his many other literaiy productions. The mind of Sir Aston 
 was evidently very highly cultivated, and his talents v/ere 
 great; though lie did not possess much of that rare capacity 
 which is understood by the vague appellation of * genius.' 
 His studies were chiefly confined to the poetry of his time, 
 and to that portion of it most deeply marked with cavalier 
 levity. His poems principally consist of addresses to his 
 literary contemporaries, and to the heads of families resident 
 in his own neighbourliood.^*^ Towards the end of his life 
 his pecuniary matters became extremely embarrassed, for 
 he was obliged to sell his lordship of Pooley to Humphrey 
 Jennings, Esq., reserving to himself, however, a small 
 annuity. In the year 1671, he joined with his son, Thomas 
 Cokayne, (the last male heir of this branch of the family) in 
 the sale of his " fair lordship of Ashboum," to Sir William 
 Hoothby, Bart., of Broadlow Ash : thus giving the finishing 
 
 ♦His works are now become very scarce, and are eagerly sought after. The 
 copy iVom wliicli this infurmation has chieily been derived, forms a part of 
 the vahiable collection of Derbysliire work^, in the library of Thomas Batemau, 
 Esq. (if .Middloton. 
 
18 
 
 HISTOJ'vY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Stroke to an old and venerable inheritance. Sir Aston then 
 retired to Derby, where he died in February, 1683, aged 76. 
 
 During the unhappy civil dissensions in the reign of the 
 first Charles, which have been before alluded to, several 
 skirmishes took place between the contending parties, in 
 the town and neighbourhood of Ashbourn. Sir John Gell 
 was commissioned by the Earl of Essex, leader of the 
 Parliamentary forces, to raise a regiment in support of their 
 cause.- Of this regiment, Sir John was appointed colonel, 
 and his brother, Thomas Gell, Esq., lieutenant-colonel. 
 From the parliamentarian accountsf of the transactions in 
 which the regiment was engaged, it appears, that Sir 
 Richard Fleetwood, on the side of the royalists, had 
 fortified his house (Wootton Lodge.) " Here," says the 
 narrator, "he increased very strong, both in horse and foot, 
 and did great hurt in plundering the traffique betwixt 
 Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derby, by robbing and stopping 
 of carriers, which went weekly from Manchester to London." 
 Another account says, that " this was one of the strongest 
 places in the county, exceedingly well provided with all 
 necessaries." As may naturally be supposed, the neigh- 
 bouring inhabitants suffered considerably from the depre- 
 dations thus committed. The fact having been made 
 
 *Wheii Sir John Gell had declared himself in favour of the parliament, he 
 assembled his regiment at Chesterfield ; upon which the Earls of Devonshire 
 and Chesterfield, the High Sheriff; Sir John Harpuv, Bart, of Calke; Sir John 
 Fitzherbert, of Norburv; Sir Edward Vernon, and many others of the nobility 
 and gentry of the county, who were mostly royalists, assembled at Tutbury, to 
 C(»ncert measures for preventing his further progi-ess. The result of the 
 c(mfereuce was a remonstrance against Sir John's proceedings ; to which he 
 replied, that " he was surprised they should so soon become jealous of him, who 
 was a countryman of their own, and well known to all of them; that his 
 intentions were honourable; and that his only desire was to clear the country of 
 thieves and robbers, who preyed upon the public ; and to maintain the laws of 
 the land and the liberties of the subject." — History of Tutbury, 
 
 Sir John Gell, Bart, was of tlie Hopton family, and the present Philip Gell, 
 Esq. is descended from him. 
 
 f Sir John Gell's and Sir George Gresley's MSS. Narratives ; These accounts 
 are chiefly confined to the proceedings of the Parliamentarian forces : conse- 
 quently, they make but little reference to the successful actions 'of the royalists. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 19 
 
 known to Sir John Gell, he dispatched his lieutenant- 
 colonel, with a force of about four hundred foot, and one 
 troop of horse, against Sir Richard Fleetw ood. They laid 
 siege to his house, took it by storm, and carried Sir Richard 
 and his whole party, in number about seventy, prisoners to 
 Derby. These transactions took place in the year 1643. 
 
 In the winter of that year, Colonel Gell ordered Major 
 MoUanus, at the head of a party of 250 horse, to proceed to 
 Leek, at which place Sir 1 homas Fairfax was expected to 
 join him. Major Mollanus, receiving intelligence, on his 
 route into Staffordshire, that the royalists' forces had fallen 
 upon the Moorlanders, at Hartington, immediately marched 
 to their relief. Before his arrival, however, the royalists had 
 taken all the infantry, in number about 240 ; but the cavalry 
 had effected their escape. These prisoners were afterwards 
 liberated by Colonel Gell. Resuming his march to Leek, 
 Major Mollanus overtook and attacked the royalists, who 
 w ere on their way to the same place. He succeeded in routing 
 them : killing five officers, and taking thirty-five prisoners. 
 The parliamentarian forces remained at Leek about fourteen 
 days ; Sir Thomas Fairfax not arriving, they then retreated 
 to Derby, and on their way to that town, took twenty-six 
 prisoners at Ashbourn. 
 
 In the month of Febmary, 1644, the royalists from 
 Bakewell, and other parts of the county, daily assembled at 
 Ashbourn, in such force as to obstruct all communi- 
 cation between the town and the neighbouring villages; 
 thereby preventing the country people from attending 
 the market. Information of this state of things having 
 been conveyed to Colonel Gell, he dispatched a party of 
 500 horse, vmder the command of Major Sanders, Avith 
 orders to disperse the royalists ; which orders were speedily 
 executed. The parliamentarian troops remained in the 
 town for some time, and the royalists formed the design of 
 surprising them ; for which purpose they assembled a strong 
 force. Major Sanders, having been apprised of their 
 intention, drew his dragoons into the lanes and hedges in 
 
20 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 the outskirts of the town, and falling upon the rear of the 
 royalists, he routed them, pursuing them as far as the 
 village of Tissington, where thej w^ere completely defeated, 
 with the loss of 170 prisoners, and numbers killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 The royalists soon afterwards assembled in great force, 
 in and near Lichfield, Burton, and Ashby-de-la-Zouch, with 
 the design of marching to the relief of "VVingfield Manor, 
 then closely besieged by Colonel Gell. That officer imme- 
 diately sent Major Sanders, with a party of dragoons, 
 into the neighbourhood of Derby, to intercept them. 
 Having had intimation that a detachment of the royalists, 
 under the command of Colonel Eyre, lay in Boylston 
 church, IMajor Sanders and his dragoons proceeded thither. 
 Alighting from their horses, they surrounded the church, 
 and captured the whole regiment : soe taking men, armes, 
 collours, and all, without loss of one man on either side." 
 Tlie Major then attacked the royalists, at Burton-on-Trent, 
 and, after some sharp fighting, succeeded in driving them 
 from the town. In this affair, the royalists had seventeen 
 killed, and many made prisoners ; the latter were marched 
 to ]3oylston, and, for security, were lodged in the church, 
 with those previously captured. The whole of these 
 prisoners were then conveyed to Derby. 
 
 At an early period of the war, the Castle of Tutbury was 
 garrisoned for the king. In the year 1644, Colonel Gell 
 formed the determination of stationing some of his own 
 troops in its vicinity, to watch the proceedings of the 
 garrison. For this purpose, he fortified Barton House,* 
 which was well situated for intercepting the communication 
 between the castle and the northern parts of the counties of 
 Derby and Stafford. From this garrison many attacks were 
 successfully made against the royalists, who also suffered 
 
 *Earton House is situated in the parisli of Barton Blount, about eight miles 
 
 from Ashbouni. The old hall was a castellated building, surrounded by a moat. 
 
 The present owner has enlarged and modernized the building. It stands in a 
 
 fintj open rountry, surrounded by excellent land, about four miles from Tutbury. 
 
 Glover. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOLRN. 
 
 21 
 
 considerably by the loss of their supplies. On the 12th of 
 Augvist, 1645, shortly after the fatal battle of Naseby, the 
 unfortunate Charles, with the remnant of his army, consist- 
 ing of 3,000 men, paid his last visit to his loyal garrison of 
 Tutbury.* The next day he proceeded to Ashbourn, but 
 during his march to this town, he was much harassed by a 
 party of 500 dragoons, from the garrison of Barton House, 
 who attacked the rear of his army. A sharp skirmish took 
 place, and the royalists appear to have had the advantage. 
 After they had lost fovir or live men, and had twenty 
 wounded, they joined the King at Ashbourn.f The parlia- 
 mentarian narrative states, that in this encounter, the 
 royalists lost twenty-six men. The King and his army then 
 proceeded on their march to Doncaster. The subsequent 
 events in the life of the unhappy monarch are well known 
 to every reader of history. 
 
 In this reign, the town of Ashbourn was favoured with 
 the ministerial labours of Mr. John Hieron, a divine of 
 the most exemplary character, and possessed of extra- 
 ordinaiy talent and acquirements. At that period, when it 
 was extremely hazardous for any minister to distinguish 
 himself by unflinching adherence to the strict letter of the 
 gospel, Mr. Hieron, rather than sweiTC from his already- 
 declared and fixed principles, preferred to sufl'er a very 
 severe and harassing persecution. 
 
 •This Castle was one of the last places within the county which held out for 
 the King : the natural strength of its situation, and the well-known bravery of 
 its garrison, rendered it almost impregnable. Incessant fatigue and badness of 
 diet, at length brought disease into the garrison ; and this calamity was followed 
 by the arrival of a large army, under Sir William Brereton, who closely invested 
 the castle. The gan-ison held out for about three weeks, when it sim-endered , 
 on the 20th of April 1646. The governor of the castle was Sir Andrew Kniveton, 
 of Bradley, neai- Ashbourn, and Mercaston, in the county of Derby. He was 
 so impoverished by the civil wars, that he sold the family estates, and the title 
 is now extinct. — Histurij of Tutbimj. 
 
 fit is said, that during his stay in the tOAvn,tlic King attended Divine service 
 at the church. The following is an extract from the church-register of tliis 
 period: — " 1615, August. King Charles came to the church, and many more, 
 and talked with Mr. Poacock,"[the vicar.] 
 
22 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 In order to rescue the memory of this worthy man from 
 oblivion, it has been deemed necessary to enter, at some 
 length, into the details of his life. As some of the events 
 in which he was concerned, are connected with the civil 
 commotions just noticed, these details are here introduced. 
 With the exception of some slight alterations, they are 
 presented in the language of his original biographer.* 
 
 John Hieron was born in the year 1608, at Stapenhill, 
 of which village his father was vicar. He received his 
 educMion at Repton School, " and here," his biographer 
 remarks, " he got that foundation of school learning, that 
 bore a very great superstructure of divinity, history, and 
 philosophy." He then entered Christ's College, Cambridge. 
 His first appointment was that of chaplain to Sir H. Leigh, 
 of Eggington. About the year 1632, Catharine, Countess 
 of Chesterfield, a pious lady, of noble extraction, wished to 
 engage Mr. Hieron to preach a weekly lecture at Bretby. 
 This additional duty he also accepted. In the ensuing 
 year, he removed to Ashbourn ; and the following are the 
 circumstances attendant on his introduction to the town. 
 
 'Mr. Joseph Taylor, Lecturer and Master ol" the Graraniai- School, being 
 disabled by sickness, from fulfilling his duties, had engaged Mr. Hieron to 
 supply his place. Mr. Taylor, wishing to resign the latter situation, set himself to 
 work, and improved his interest in the company, (consisting of three Governors 
 and twelve Assistants,) in whom the light of election lay, and engaged ten of 
 them for Mr. Hieron. But it being noised abroad that the situation would soon 
 become vacant, one Mr. Cox jjut in for it, who, though he could not gain the 
 majority of the Governors and Assistants, yet, through the influence- of some 
 great neighbours, obtained the support of a majority of the heirs of the 
 founders, who had power to stop the election. Mr. Taylor having resigned, 
 twelve out of the fifteen Governors and Assistants cho&e Mr. Hieron. But the 
 heh's of the founders not consenting, the election was not ratified, and so it fell 
 to the Bishop of the Diocese to choose. Mr. Hieron, was examined by Basier, 
 the Bishop's chaplain, who commended him much for his skill in the tongues. 
 The Bishop readily gave him his title. But a question now arose, whether 
 Bishop Merton, being then elect of Durham, could act as Bishop of Lichfield 
 and Coventry. Hereupon application was made to Archbishop Abbot, and he 
 gave Mr. Hieron his title. Then a new dispute arose, that it was only the 
 bishop of the Diocese that could give the title ; and that therefore it could not 
 
 *The Life of Mr. John Hieron, by Robert I'orter. London : 1691. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURX. 
 
 23 
 
 be (lone until the Bishoprick were filled. When Bishop Wright v^as installed, 
 each pai ty applied to him ; he recommended that both Mr. Hieron and Mr. Cox 
 should be set aside, which was accordingly done ; and a Mr. Mountney was 
 then proposed and elected. Mr. Hieron was content; " having the liectiire at 
 the truly honourable the Countess of Chesterfield's, (for which she promised him 
 ten pounds a year, but gave him twelve,") he deeemed that sufficient, and would 
 gladly have resigned at an early stage of the contest. 
 
 'After the Lectui-er's place was void, by the death of Mr. Taylor, the tmstees 
 chose Mr. Hieron as his successor. Mountney proved to be a most immoral 
 character, a gi-eat dishonour to the School, and a vexation to the town. Appli- 
 cation was made to the Bishop to remove him ; but he alleged he could not. 
 The Governors then stopped his salary, and afterwards articled against him in 
 the High Commission; but that way giving them no relief, they were at last 
 forced to sue him at common law. The cause came for trial before Judge 
 Hatton, or his colleague, and Mountney was cast and ejected.' 
 
 The malevolent feelings which this contest excited in 
 the minds of Mr. Hieron's opponents, were the cause of his 
 first troubles. In December, 1637, Mr. Hieron and Mr. Lees, 
 of Ashbourn, were summoned to appear before the High 
 Commission, at the Manor of Lambeth, to answer to such 
 articles as should be exhibited against them. The summons 
 was delivered by a * pursuivant, who had his fees : and 
 Mr. Hieron's share was four pounds. To London they 
 accordingly went, and made their way to Holt, who was 
 apparitor apparitorwn. He, when treated with sack and 
 paid with gold, shewed them the articles, which contained 
 trivial charges, incapable of proof: against Mr. Lees, it was 
 urged, " that when he was churchwarden, he had brewed 
 ale in the church /"* The charges against Mr. Hieron were, 
 that in preaching from that text, " Fear God, and honour 
 the king^'' he had said ""there were some who neither feared 
 God, nor honoured the king, hut walked the streets with 
 impudent faces whereby he meant as they suggested, my 
 lord Bishop and Andrew Kniveton. And that he had used 
 the expression, ^''removing mountains,'"' whereby he meant 
 to cast reflections on Mr. Mountney, the Governors of the 
 
 *' This charge had no other foundation than a remark of one of the workmen 
 employed in pointing the church steeple, " that the mortar should be tempered ivith 
 liquor made of malt /." ' 
 
24 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Grammar School having removed him from his situation/ 
 No prosecutor appearing to prove these ridiculous charges, 
 Mr. Hieron and Mr. Lees employed a proctor to move, that 
 since no prosecutor appeared, the Court would dismiss 
 them. ' He, like a proctor of such a Court, moved that the 
 Court itself w^ould appoint a prosecutor.' At length, 
 through the interference of Dr. Bray, the Archbishop's 
 chaplain, they obtained their discharge. 
 
 ' When the civil wars broke out, a party of the royalists, 
 under Sir Francis Wortley, came to Ashbourn. In the 
 dead of the night, Captains Bard and Dennis broke into 
 Mr. Hieron's house, and took him from his bed. Captain 
 Dennis said to Mr. Hieron, Gentlemen cannot drink the 
 King's health ; but you must reprove them for it." They 
 then conveyed him to their court of guard, and kept him 
 there until morning; when, urging him to speak of many 
 things, they lay at catch for matter to accuse him. Sir 
 Francis Wortley charged him with preaching against 
 episcopacy ; he answered "Never! but against the exorbi- 
 tancies of it." His wife's father passed his word for him, 
 which was at present satisfying. The next day he appeared. 
 Sir Francis inclined to release him; but would have him 
 call the parliament " a company of dissemblers :" this he 
 refused to do. In the upshot they discharged him. He then 
 desired his horse and saddle might be restored: "Nay," 
 saith Sir Francis, "you may be glad you are at liberty 
 yourself." During his imprisonment. Captain Bard had 
 been with an honourable person then living in Ashbourn, 
 Mrs. Cokayne, (half-sister to Philip, Earl of Chesterfield,) 
 a royalist, of highest elevation, yet a woman of sense, that 
 knew Mr. Hieron's worth, and bare a fair respect to him. 
 She represented him in his true character to Captain Bard, 
 which he credited, and was so convinced, that he came to 
 Mr. Hieron to excuse himself; and told him that they, (the 
 royalists) " did not molest him, until they had received some 
 scores of complaints against him : through which they 
 thought him to be one that had no fellow: but now he 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 25 
 
 (Captain Bard) perceived his mistake, and was sorry for 
 what had occurred. He then exerted himself to procure 
 the restoration of Mr. Hieron's horse, which he effected on 
 payment of twenty shillings for him. The Captain was so 
 ingenuous, that after his departure from' Ashbourn, he wrote 
 to Mr. Hieron, requesting his forgiveness.' 'Thus,' adds 
 the biographer, ' God brought forth this good man's right- 
 eousness, to the shame of his false accusers.' 
 
 This lawless outrage, it appears, was instigated by some 
 gentlemen of the town, whom Mr. Hieron had thought 
 proper to rebuke, for the licentiousness of their conduct, in 
 openly Mrinking healths' in the market-place, on the Sab- 
 bath-day. In these unsettled times, a general laxity of 
 opinion prevailed in reference to the observance of that 
 day. A book, professedly in defence of Sabbath-day sports, 
 now made its appearance ; and the people were not slow to 
 avail themselves of its authority. Bear-baiting, * shooting 
 at the butts,' and other out- door sports, were openly prac- 
 tised in Ashbourn, as in most country towns; Sunday- 
 trading, had also become general, and even the Bishop of 
 the Diocese had the indiscretion to encourage it in a parti- 
 cular instance. Mr. Hieron, however, who was eminently 
 zealous and faithful in the discharge of his ministerial 
 duties, failed not to reprove him. The facts of the case are 
 thus detailed : — 
 
 * Mr. Taylor, (Mr, Hieron's predecessor) preaching on the observance of the 
 Sabbath, took occasion to reprove certain tradesmen of Ashbourn, for selling 
 provisions on the morning of that day. When Bishop Wright afterwards 
 visited the town, some who were loath to forego that bad custom, dealt with him 
 in private about it, and so far gained upon him, that in his charge, or speech he 
 defended the practice ; using the following instance : — " Suppose," said he, " a 
 labouring man receives his wages so late on the Saturday night, that before he 
 can get home the shops are closed, and no meat then to be bought j shall not 
 the poor man therefore have a chop of meat to his dinner the next day?" With 
 great noise, the Bishop added, "God forbid!" Mr. Hieron well understood 
 this reflection. Nevertheless, when lecturing on the 4th Commandment, he 
 alluded, in pointed terms, to the Bishop's connivance at the sin of Sabbath- 
 breaking : " Some may say," remarked Mr. Hieron, " that my lord Bishop 
 gives us leave ; but suppose that were so, whether is it reasonable to regard 
 wliat one Bishop might say in a private place, more than what that Bi.sliop 
 4 
 
26 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 and all the Bishops in England had said in Parliament?" And having the 
 statute of the 3d of Charles, [prohibiting the selling of provisions on the Lord's- 
 day,] with him in the pulpit, he read it to his congregation, telling them, that 
 " there were but so many years past since this was enacted by King, Lords, 
 and Commons; and that this very Bishop on whose authority they so much 
 relied, was one of the number! (being then Bishop of Bristol.") * Whether the 
 tradesmen reformed or not,' says the writer,' I cannot well say, but Mr. Hieron 
 did his duty with zeal and courage.' 
 
 In revenge of his reproofs, Mr. Hieron's enemies repre- 
 sented him as a Roundhead ; and consequently the royalists 
 persecuted him with unrelenting severity. Twice was his 
 house broken open and robbed by them, and several times 
 he himself narrowly escaped faUing into their hands. — 
 The perpetual alarm and disquietude to which his family 
 were subjected through these continued outrages, at length 
 induced Mr. Hieron to quit the scene of his labours; and he 
 then took refuge in the town of Derby. Shortly after his 
 arrival, he was appointed by Sir John Gell, (the Governor 
 of that town,) to the ministry of Breadsall ; here he 
 continued in peace until the passing of the Act of Uniform- 
 ity, on the 24th of August, 1662, when he was ejected. He 
 then removed to Little Eaton, where he remained between 
 three and four years, ^ enjoying peace and quietness, and 
 doing good according to his opportunities.' 'And now' 
 adds the writer, * comes the hurricane of the Oxford Act, to 
 scatter those whom the Uniformity Act had removed. 
 Under this statute Mr. Hieron fell ; he was not likely to 
 swear what he could not, durst not, say.' He nevertheless, 
 continued to preach, though in so doing he exposed him- 
 self to much persecution, and to many trials. He resided 
 successively at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, at Newthorp, in Not- 
 tinghamshire, and at Losco, in Derbyshire, at which place 
 he died, on the 6th of July, 1682, in the 74th year of 
 his age ; having been an ordained minister fifty-two years. 
 During that time he had preached in ninety-six churches 
 and chapels in this and the adjoining counties, and at 4ittle 
 sanctuaries' innumerable, after his exclusion from the public 
 exercise of the ministry. The character and endowments 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 27 
 
 of this laborious and useful minister, are described in the 
 following passage, abridged from his biographer : — 
 
 * He was a good man, he -was a learned man j he had much of Egypt's gold and 
 treasure, and brought it all to God's tabernacle. He was well read in books and 
 good authors : a very studious man. He was well seen in histoiy, and very 
 frequently in converse made an excellent use thereof. He was a close and 
 wise reprover ; able and apt to teach. He was a mall of unsound opinions, 
 though he did not delight in preaching controversies. His sermons were no 
 flattering glosses, but true mirrors, to show men the complexion of their souls. 
 He had art enough but he concealed it ; he had much learning, but it all served 
 divinity ; he had logic and philosophy enough, but he planted no Aristotle's 
 grove by the side of God's Altar. If ever man prophecyed according to the 
 proportion of faith ; if ever man compared spiritual things with spiritual ; if 
 ever man spake as the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message, he did.' 
 
 It may be added, that Mr. Hieron's published works, 
 consisting of Letters, Sermons, and Lectures on Heads of 
 Divinity, are distinguished by all that force of style, and 
 fervour of piety, for which the writings of the most eminent 
 puritan divines are so remarkable. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Rebellion of the Stuarts. — Entry of the Pretender and his Army. — The Boolhby 
 Family. — Notice of Sir Brooke Boothby's Works. — Memoir of Dr. John 
 Taylor, LL.D. — His intimacy with Dr. Samuel Johnson, &c. 
 
 About one hundred years later than the visit of Charles I. 
 to Ashbourn, one of his descendants, no longer considered 
 by the party in power a rightful claimant to the throne, 
 marched through that town, to endeavour to enforce his 
 father's claims to the crown of England. Charles Edward, 
 (commonly called the Pretender,) at the time referred to, 
 was about twenty-five years of age : in person he was tall 
 and handsome ; he possessed, on some occasions, intrepidity, 
 and was imbued with an ardent love of enterprise. His 
 manners, though he was brought up amid the gaieties of 
 foreign courts, were rather reserved, and his intellect was 
 by no means of comprehensive character. His youth, his 
 hereditary claims, and the misfortunes of his family, pro- 
 cured him adherents, and even personal admirers ; but both 
 he and his counsellors seem to have wanted talent to 
 seize the advantages which the state of the nation then 
 afforded them. That state was one of wide suffering and 
 discontent, for many of the best constitutional securities of 
 the people's property and liberty had been sacrificed in 
 attempts to insure the stability of the new throne. How- 
 ever the people of England, and even the majority of the 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 29 
 
 lowlanders of Scotland, coidd not make up their minds to 
 believe that 57 years of exile had cured the hereditary vices 
 of the Stuarts. These vices were founded on the acknow- 
 ledged bigotry and despotism of the family. 
 
 The Chevalier de St. George, son of James II., and the 
 father of Charles Edward, had in his youth given instances 
 of great personal courage. He had the important command 
 of the household troops in the French service, and at the 
 battle of Malplaquet, he led his regiment twelve times to 
 the charge. He made two attempts upon Scotland, but did 
 not succeed in either of them. In the last attempt, which 
 took place in 1719, he was aided by the court of Spain; 
 but England, having shortly aftenvards concluded peace 
 with that government, the Chevalier de St. George returned 
 to the Papal States, where he lived in retirement, upon a 
 pension allowed him by the Holy See. 
 
 In 1744, an enterprise against this country was encou- 
 raged by the Court of France in favour of the Stuarts. 
 Prince Charles Edward was invited from Rome to be placed 
 at the head of it. The British dominions were in a state 
 of great agitation and alarm, aud the country was occupied 
 in the means of defence, when the gratifying intelligence 
 arrived, that the principal part of the French fleet had been 
 driven back with great loss, by storm and contrary winds. 
 Charles Edward was however at that period of life when 
 hope is seldom relinquished, when any probable means of 
 obtaining the object aimed at present themselves ; and his 
 partisans, who were certainly numerous, both in England 
 and Scotland, encouraged him to indulge the expectation, 
 that as soon as he should set foot on British territory, there 
 would be a general rising in his favour. In the summer of 
 1745, he found himself able, by the contributions of his 
 adherents, to purchase a quantity of arms, with which he 
 embarked -in a small frigate, and landed on one of the 
 little desert islands of the Hebrides. He gained several 
 minor successes, and afterwards the celebrated battle of 
 . Preston Pans. He took possession of Edinburgh, and his 
 
so 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 father was proclaimed king in the market-place The 
 Prince soon obtained possession of nearly all Scotland, 
 except the fortresses which he wanted artillery to reduce. 
 At the head of little more than five thousand men, he 
 resolved to make an expedition into England, and, at 
 the beginning of November he invested Carlisle, which 
 immediately surrendered. He then advanced to Penrith, 
 Preston, and Manchester, where he was joined by two 
 hundred English Catholics, under Colonel Townley. At 
 Manchester he was received with illuminations and other 
 public testimonies of congratulation ; but the English were 
 cautious in joining his standard, and he began to be aware 
 that his situation was extremely critical. However, he 
 resolved to advance, and passed through Stockport, Maccles- 
 field, and Congleton, and would probably have proceeded 
 onward by Birmingham and Oxford, towards London, had 
 he not been informed that the Duke of Cumberland, the 
 King's son, was awaiting him in that direction, ready to 
 give him battle. He therefore turned oft' suddenly to the 
 left, and marched to Ashbourn, where, during his short 
 stay, he took possession of Ashbourn Hall.* 
 
 The following memoranda, from the pen of an eye-wit- 
 ness, contain some interesting particulars relative to the 
 coming of the rebels to Ashbourn : — 
 
 "On Tuesday, the 3rd of December, 1745, at night, the 
 vanguard of the rebels came from Leek to Ashbourn, 
 
 *A curious anecdote connected with the Prince's visit to the town, is still in 
 circulation : — 
 
 ' A private, passing through the market-place, requested a lad to direct him 
 to a shop where he might purchase spirits. The lad accordingly pointed out a 
 spirit-shop, the proprietor of which happened to be standing by at the time. 
 He, fearing the visit of the Highlander, thought proper to deny the fact, and 
 accused the lad of lying. The Highlander having ascertained that the person 
 did keep a spirit-shop, reported the occurrence to his commanding officer. A 
 court-martial was instituted to inquii'e into the case, and the spirit-dealer being 
 adjudged guilty, was sentenced to lose his ears. His wife, a beautiful woman, 
 was horror-struck at the barbarous sentence. She flew to the Chevalier, and by 
 her tears and urgent entreaties, succeeded in obtaining her husband's pardon.' 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 31 
 
 They were in number about 2,000, (horse and foot.) On 
 Wednesday morning, they proclaimed their Prince at the 
 Market Cross ; and then proceeded to Derby. On the same 
 day another body came, (about 8,000, horse and foot.) 
 Their Prince, who was on foot, baited at the "Three Horse 
 Shoes," in Compton ; they went to Derby that night. On 
 the following Friday, the whole body returned to Ashbourn 
 (which put the inhabitants in the utmost confusion.) They 
 stayed all night ; and on Saturday morning, to our great 
 joy, they marched towards Leek. The Prince and his 
 retinue, quartered at Ashbourn Hall, on their return from 
 Derby. There were many fine men among them, (especially 
 in the vanguard,) which had a very fine appearance. They 
 had with them fifteen field pieces, each about three inches 
 diameter, and about fifty covered carts, containing ammuni- 
 tion, &c. As the rebels went through, they behaved better 
 than was expected ; but as they came back, they were very 
 insolent and impudent." 
 
 The Derby Mercury of December 12th, 1745, states, — 
 ^'During their stay in Ashbourn the rebels plundered some 
 gentlemen's houses to a great value. Two of them went 
 to Clifton, near Ashbourn, and demanded a horse of one 
 Humphrey Bown; upon his refusal, they shot him dead 
 upon the spot, and then took to their heels. They also shot 
 an innkeeper at Hanging Bridge, and plundered and 
 robbed all round the country." 
 
 The same journal gives a circumstantial account of the 
 conduct and proceedings of the rebel troops, during the 
 time they remained in Derby : — 
 
 " Derby, Dec. 12th. The chief business of late, among all ranks of people here, and in our 
 neighbourhood, has been concerning the progress the rebels have made in England since their 
 first step into it, little imagining they would have advanced so near the metropolis of the king- 
 dom, as the capital of our county ; though for several days before they approached near us, we 
 were not without our feai-s, and had proper persons constantly out to watch and bring us an 
 account of their motions. His Grace the Duke of Devonshire (who has been indefatigable in 
 his care for the preservation of his county) left Chatsworth about a fortnight ago, with the 
 Marquis of Hai-tington, his eldest son, and came to the George Inn here, where they continued 
 some days, waiting the event, and to concert the most proper measures for the safety of the 
 public at a time of so much danger. We had also in town near six hundred men, lately raised 
 by a subscription of the gentlemen of this town and county, besides above one hundred and 
 twenty raised by His Grace, and kept at his own expense; these were reviewed by His Grace, 
 
32 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 &c. on Tuesday, the 3d instant; and went through their exercise to the great satisfaction of all 
 present; His Grace also reviewed two or three other companies then in the field ; and we were 
 then all in high spirits, by some tidings just received that the Duke of Cumberland's army was 
 near the rebels, and 'twas expected a battle would ensue the next day. But alas ! how 
 soon were we thrown into the utmost confusion, on heai-ing about an hour after, of tlie 
 approach of the vanguard of the rebels towards Ashbourn : the hurry also was much 
 increased by the number of soldiers and their immediate orders to march out of town ; and 
 nothing but distraction was to be read on every countenance. The best part of the effects and 
 valuables had been secreted some days before, and most of the principal gentlemen and trades- 
 men with their wives and children, were retiring as fast as possible. About four or five o'clock 
 the same evening, all the soldiers were drawn up in the market-place, and stood tinder arms a 
 considerable time, when they were ordered again to their quarters to refresh themselves : and 
 about seven the same evening Captain Lowe of Hazlewood, marched into the town, at the head 
 of a company of brave men. About ten the drums beat to arms, and being again drawn up, 
 they all marched off by torch-light towards Nottingham, headed by His Grace the Duke of 
 Devonsliire, &c. The next morning (Wednesday) about eleven o'clock, two of the rebels' van- 
 guard rode into the town, and at their entrance gave a specimen of what we were to expect from 
 such villains, by seizing a very good horse, belonging to yoimg Mr. Stamford ; after which, 
 they rode up to the George, and there inquiring for the magistrates, demanded billets for 9,000 
 men or more. In a short time after the van-guard rode into the town, consisting of about thirty 
 men, clothed in blue, faced with red, most of "em had a scarlet waistcoat with gold lace, and 
 being likely men, made a good appearance. They were drawn up in the maj-ket-place, and sat 
 on horse-back two or three hours : at the same time the bells were rung, and several bonfires 
 made, to prevent any resentment from 'em, that might ensue on our showing a dislike to their 
 coming among us. About three in the afternoon Lord Elcho, with the life-guards, and many of 
 their chiefs, also arrived on horseback, to the number of about one hundred and fifty, most of 
 them clothed as above ; these made a fine show, being the flower of their army. Soon after their 
 main body marched into the town in tolerable order, six or eight abreast, with about eight stand- 
 ai-ds, most of them white flags and a red cross. They liad several bag-pipers, who played as 
 they marched along ; and appeared in general to answer the description we have long had of 
 them : viz't. most of their main body a parcel of shabby, pitiful looking fellows, mixed up with 
 old men and boys; dress d in dirty plaids, and as dirty shirts, without breeches, and wore their 
 stockings made of plaid, not much above half way up their legs, and some without shoes, or 
 next to none, and numbers of them so fatigued with their long mart;h, that they really com- 
 manded our pity rather tlian our fear. MTiilst the marketrplace was filled with tliem, they 
 ordered their pretended Prince, before he arrived, to be publicly proclaimed, which was accord- 
 ingly done by the common cryer: they then insisted upon the magistrates appearing in tlieir 
 go'WTis, but being told they had sent them out of the town, were content to have that ceremony 
 excused. Their Prince (as they called him) did not arrive till the dusk of the evening ; he 
 walked on foot, being attended by a great body of his men, who conducted him to his lodgings, 
 (the Lord Exeter's) where he had guards placed all round his house. Every house almost by 
 this time was pretty well filled (tho' they kept driving in till ten or eleven at night) and we tho't 
 we should have never seen the last of them. The Duke of Athol had his lodgings at Thomas 
 Gisboi-ne's, esq.; the Duke of Perth at Mr. Rivett's; Lord Elcho, at Mr. Storer's; Lord George 
 Murray at Mr. Heathcote's ; Lord Pitsligo, at Mr Meynell's ; old Gordon, of Glenbucket, at 
 Mr. Aldennan Smith's; Lord Nairn at Mr. John Bingham's; Lady Ogilvie, Mrs. Murray, and 
 some other persons of distinction, at Mr. Francey's: and their other chiefs and great officers 
 were lodged at the best gentlemen's houses. Many common ordinary houses, both public and 
 private, had forty or fifty men eacl*, and some gentlemen near one hundred. At their coming 
 in they were generally treated with bread, cheese, beer, and ale, whilst all hands were aloft, 
 getting their suppers ready ; after supper, being weary with their long march, they went to rest, 
 many of them upon straw, and others upon beds. Being refreshed with a night's rest, they 
 were very alert the next day, rumiing about from one shop to another, to buy, or rather steal, 
 tradesmen's goods, viz't. gloves, buckles, powder-flasks, buttons, handkerchiefs, shoes, &c.; and 
 thetoAvn being filled with them, looked like some fail- in the Highlands: nothing was more 
 common for them if they liked a person's shoes better than their own, to demand them off their 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 33 
 
 feet, and not to give them anythiug, or howi^ver what they pleas'd for 'em. The longer they 
 stayed the more insolent and outi-ageous they grew, demanding everything by threats, drawn 
 swords, and pistols clapped to the breast of many persons, not only by common men but by 
 their officers; so that several persons were obliged to abscond, to preserve their lives. They 
 appointed prayers to be read about six this evening at the great church, which was accordingly 
 performed by one of their priests. They ordered the cryer to make public proclamation about 
 the town, for all persons that paid any excise, to pay what was due by five o'clock the same 
 evening, on pain of military execution ; by which means they collected a considerable sum of 
 money. They also demanded what money the gentlemen had lately subscribed and paid, 
 towards raising men in this town and county, which many gentlemen were obliged to pay. 
 They also made a demand of i-'lOO upon the post-office, and aftenvards insisted upon £50, 
 which not being complied with, they took the post-chaise along with them. They broke open 
 closets, chests, boxes, &c. at several gentlemen's houses, took away all the guns, pistols, swords, 
 and all other arms they could find, in every house; pilfered and stole linen, stockings, shoes, 
 and almost e%'erything they laid their hands on. In short, they committed almost all manner 
 of outrages, which, were they to be particularized, would more than fill our paper. We esteem'd 
 them very civil fellows who did not threaten us, but went away quietly, ^vithout paying their 
 quarters : and those that did pay it was so small 'twas scarcely worth th' accepting. They beat 
 up for volunteers, offering five shillings advance, and five guineas when they came to London, 
 but met with very little success : only two or three loose fellows enter'd, who serv'd their master 
 but a short time, two being taken the next day, viz't. one Cooke, a journeyman blacksmith, who 
 we hear is in Nottingham jail : tlie other is one Sparks of this town, who was taken plundeiing 
 at Squire Meynell's, at Bradley, ahd brought here last Saturday night : and being examined 
 before our Justices, was the same night committed to jail ; when they were taking him thither, 
 the populace shcw'd so just an abhon-cnce of liis actions, tliat it was thought they would have 
 ty'd him up, before they could have got him into custody. The other is Hewitt, a butcher, who 
 we hear is still with them. Tliese and such fellows, it is thought, were our greatest enemies, by 
 informing the rebels of many particulars concerning the gentlemen in this town and neighbour- 
 hood. Early on Friday morning their drums beat to arms, and their bagpipers played about 
 the town; no one then knowing their route, but most people imagined they would march to 
 Loughborough for London, their advanced guard having secured the pass at Swarkstone bridge. 
 However we were soon undeceived by their precipitate retreat the same road they came, march- 
 ing off about seven o'clock in the morning. The reason for their return back was not known, 
 but thought to proceed from their fear of being surprised by the Duke of Cumberland's army: 
 their chiefs seeming much confused, and all in a gi-eat hui-ry ; many of their men left their 
 shoes, swords, pistols, targets, shot, powder, bullets, and other odd things behind them 
 where tliey quartered : a plain proof of their confusion. Their pretended Piince, mounted 
 upon a black horse, (said to )<e the brave Colonel Gardiner's) left his lodgings about nine 
 o'clock, and riding across the market-place, went through tlie Rotten-row, then turned down 
 Sadler-Gate towards Ashbourn , preceded and followed by the main body of his army. We were 
 rid of them all (except a few stragglers) by eleven o'clock. Their hussars were a parcel of 
 fierce and desperate rutTiaus, and were the last body that quitted the town. They rode out to 
 the neighbouring vilhxges, plundering most of the gentlemen's houses for arras and honses, of 
 which tliey got a great number. The honest farmers hereabout are all gieat sufferers, many of 
 em having scarce a horse left, and others forced to go with their artillery. We had little or no 
 market last Friday ; nor no divine service at any of the churches last Sunday. But as we are 
 now pi-ctly well settled again, hope we shall soon overcome our lute misfortunes, and see all 
 things roll again in their proper channel." 
 
 On their anival at Derby, the rebel chiefs held a council of war, but the only resolution they 
 appear to have formed, was that of levying money on the inhabitants, and they actually pro- 
 c uied a sum little short of £\i,000. On the evening of the second day, another council of war 
 was privately held at tlie head-quarters. Their situation by this time appeared critical, and 
 many of the chiefs assumed u bold and commanding tone. Tliey were overheard to complain 
 "that the English promises of support were delusive ; that they were extremely loyal to tlie 
 House of Stuart, when warmed by a good fire and good liquor: but tlie warmtli of their fire, 
 their liquor, and their loyalty, evaporated together. "—/fM«o//. 
 
34 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Prince Charles, on his departure from Ashbourn, retreated 
 northwards, through Yorkshire, to Carlisle, which city 
 he entered on the 19th of December; having, in thirteen 
 days, in the middle of winter, and in the vicinity of two 
 considerable armies, effected a retreat of more than one 
 hundred and eighty miles * He then led his Highland 
 followers across the border, into their native land, where he 
 took several towns, and obtained some important reinforce- 
 ments. In this condition, he attempted the siege of Stirling 
 Castle, and gained a complete victory over the English 
 general Hawley, who with a strong force, had undertaken 
 to raise the siege. Thus far, the affairs of the enterprising 
 Charles Edward were by no means unprosperous, but his 
 fate was ultimately decided at the sanguinaiy battle of 
 CuUoden, which took place in the month of April, 1746. 
 At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Duke of Cumberland 
 drew up the royal forces in order of battle, and his artilleiy 
 commenced a most destructive fire upon the enemy. The 
 conflict was severe, but of short duration. The Highlanders 
 made a furious charge, and threw the left wing of the royal 
 army into confusion ; at this critical moment, the dragoons 
 fell upon the Highlanders, sword in hand, and speedily put 
 them to flight. The carnage that ensued was terrific ; in 
 less than thirty minutes they were totally defeated, and the 
 field was covered with their woiuided and slain. The 
 Prince having thus witnessed the destruction of his hopes, 
 fled from the fatal plain. Disguised as a pe^tsant, and 
 without attendants, he wandered for several months among 
 the rocks and wilds of the country ; and although the sum 
 
 *The progress of Prince Charles from the borders of Scotland to the very 
 centre of England, at the head of little more than 7,000 men, and in the face 
 of regular troops, commanded by distinguished generals, is a curious fact; nor 
 is his retreat from Derby to the northern kingdom less worthy of attention. — 
 The very day previous to the entrance of the rebels into Ashbourn, the Duke of 
 Cumberland's army w as no further off than Lichfield. It seems that the royal 
 armies were little acquainted with tlie movements of each other or of the enemy, 
 and that the young Pretender, by turning his march towards Derby, baffled both 
 Marshal Wade and the Duke of Cumberland. — Glover. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 35 
 
 of £30,000 was offered for his apprehension, he succeeded 
 in eluding the pursuit of his enemies. At length, he 
 embarked on board a privateer, hired for the purpose by his 
 adherents, and landed in safety, at Roseau, in Bretagne. — 
 He died at Rome, in the year, 1788. 
 
 It has been shown in the preceding chapter, that in the 
 year 1671, the manor of Ashbourn came into the possession 
 of Sir William Boothby, Bart. ; in whose family it has ever 
 since remained.* Sir William was knighted on the field 
 by King Charles II., who renewed gratis, the patent of 
 baronetcy granted to his ancestor. Sir Henry Boothby, by 
 King Charles I., but which patent was prevented passing 
 the great seal, in consequence of the confusion of the times. 
 Sir Brooke Boothby, the sixth Baronet, was distinguished 
 for his varied literary and polite acquirements. In 1792, 
 
 *The name of Boothby can be traced to a very remote era in the history of 
 this country, — as far back as the reign of the Saxon King Egbert, who flou- 
 rished upwards of a thousand years ago. The name, therefore, is connected 
 with the first establishment of the Saxon Heptarchy. King Egbert caused the 
 Heptarchy to be divided into counties, hundreds, and wapentakes ; and it is 
 found that one of the wapentakes of Lincolnshire, is called Boothby, a conjec- 
 tural proof that it then, or originally, belonged to a family of that name. In 
 the county of Lincoln there is also a market-town called Boothby Poyndl, 
 and a manor-house bearing the same name. These are said, by the ancient 
 historians, Camden and Leland, to have received their names from the Boothby 
 family, who resided there. In the additions to Camden, by Mr. E. Wilson, it 
 is stated that the heir-general of the Boothby family married Paynell, Lord of 
 Bampton, in the county of Devon. The same coat of arms which is now borne 
 by the Boothby s, was lately to be found painted on the windows of the churcli, 
 and in the ancient hall at that place. The exact lineal succession of a family 
 of so ancient a descent, cannot, with precision, be traced through the earliest 
 generations. However, it is found that Adam dc Boothby was Abbot of Peter- 
 borough, in 1321. Theobaldus de Boothby was governor of Pontefract castle, 
 which he held a long time against the Lancastrians, during the civil wai" of 
 tlic rival Roses. 
 
 Sir William mamed the daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Brooke, 
 nephew and male heir of Henry Brooke, the last Lord Cobham. Charles IL 
 by special patent, 1665, granted that Lady Boothby, Lady Dcnham, and Lady 
 Whitmore, the daughters of Sir William Brooke, should have place and prece 
 dency due to the daughters of Barons, — Glonr. 
 
36 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 he wrote a pamphlet in two parts, entitled, " Observations 
 on the Appeal (Burke's) from the New to the Old Whigs ; 
 and on Paine s Rights of Man." In this pamphlet. Sir 
 Brooke combats, with much vigour of thought, and sound 
 argument, the extreme — diversely extreme — doctrines of 
 Mr. Burke and Paine ; and in so doing, exposes, with well- 
 merited severity, the destructive tendency of Paine's 
 writings. The following striking passages in reference to 
 a constitutional monarchy and an hereditary legislature, are 
 worthy of preservation : 
 
 " We love and venerate our limited monarch, because w e believe he preserves 
 us from a ferocious venal democracy, from a cruel haughty aristocracy, and 
 from the unlimited tyranny of a master ; because we trust that he is at this 
 moment, possessed of powers to withold (if it were necessary,) the hand of the 
 constitution from committing the desperate act of suicide recommended in this 
 ' Rights of Man from sacrificing our religion and laws, and morals, our 
 customs and manners, upon the altar of I know not what deaf and dumb idol." 
 ***** 
 
 " There have always existed, in greater or smaller degrees, two descriptions 
 of persons alike dangerous and unfriendly to the mixed government of England; 
 those who desire a republican form, and those who wish to give the King a 
 control over the laws ; and these two parties have at all times been opposed by 
 the constitutional Whigs, esteeming the constitution such as it is, fully adequate 
 to civil liberty, and the best adapted to the genius of the nation; and the 
 attachment of these men to the monarchy is strong and uniform, because 
 founded on the opinion of public advantage. As long as the King remains 
 within the limits of the constitution, he is sure of the respect and support of 
 these men; but they will not go a step further; for their attachment is adhe- 
 rence to the constitutional monarch, and not personal devotion to the man. 
 While he is a King according to the law, they venerate him as the palladium 
 of their liberties ; if he endeavours to become more, they will not only withdraw 
 their respect and veneration, but their allegiance also; they will, if necessary, 
 depose the monarch, to preserve the monarchy." 
 
 In defending an hereditary legislature. Sir Brooke remarks, " In an heredi- 
 tary body, consisting of the richer and better sort, the opt'nmtes, or primores, such 
 as the British House of Lords, the best education that the country affords is 
 sure to be given to the rising expectant members, and a majority of them will 
 be nurtured in the principles of honoiu", if not of virtue : if they are not all men 
 of genius, they are at least all men of liberal education ; so that with their 
 common chance for natural endowments, they have the superior advantages of 
 an education preparatory to their future destination ; as well as the greatest 
 interest in the preservation of the republic. And the experience of the fact is 
 conformable to this view of the subject. No public assembly has preserved a 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 37 
 
 higher character for wisdom and integrity, than the House of Peers : the judg- 
 ment of the Areopagus to which it is said the Gods might have appealed, were 
 not more just and pure, than the decision of this high court of dernier resort." 
 
 Sir Brooke Boothby's poetical talents were of no ordinary 
 character. If his works do not possess in an intense degree 
 the vis poetica, they are extremely, and, upon the whole, 
 exquisitely polished. In 1796, he published a collection of 
 sonnets, under the general title of " Sorrows sacred to the 
 Memory of Penelope." Penelope was the only daughter of 
 Sir Brooke, and he did all that a tender parent could do 
 to presei-ve from oblivion a child, that, from every account, 
 gave the surest prognostics, that she was one of those 
 " young Peris of the west" that would 
 
 " Not unbeseem the promise of their spring." 
 
 In order to perpetuate the memory of this beautiful and 
 amiable child, he employed, in addition to his own poetical 
 talents, the abilities of the greatest artists of the day, — 
 of Sir Joshua Reynolds, as painter, and of Banks, as 
 sculptor. Fuseli also was employed to increase, by an 
 allegorical painting, the fame of this lovely girl. 
 
 Of Sir Brooke's sonnets the following will perhaps best 
 show the extent of his poetical acquirements, and the 
 extraordinary poignancy of his grief. It refers directly 
 to the object of his sorrows, and the concluding lines 
 embrace a classical allusion, applied with excellent feeling 
 and pure taste : 
 
 " Death ! thy cold hand the brightest flower has chill'd, 
 That e'er suffused love's cheek with rosy dies ; 
 Quench'd the soft radiance of the loveliest eyes, 
 And accents tuned to sweetest music still'd • 
 
 The springing buds of hope and pleasure kill'd ; 
 Joy's cheerful measures changed to doleful sighs ; 
 Of fairest form, and fairest mind the ties 
 For ever rent in twain. — So Heaven has will'd ! 
 
 Though in the bloom of health, thy arrow fled. 
 Sudden as sure ; long had prophetic dread 
 Hung o'er my heart, and all my thoughts depress'd. 
 
 Oft when in flowery wreaths, I saw her dress'd, 
 A beauteous victim seemed to meet my eyes, 
 To early fate a destined sacrifice." 
 
38 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 On perusing Sir Brooke Boothby's writings, it is appa- 
 rent that he was a man of very extensive reading, and that 
 he had cultivated with ardour those abilities with which 
 nature had endowed him. He died at Boulogne-sur-Mer, 
 on the 23d of January, 1824, — the 80th year of his age.* 
 
 The present possessor of the manor of Ashbourn is Sir 
 William Boothby, Bart. 
 
 Ashbourn was the birth-place and residence of John 
 Taylor, D.D. who has acquired some celebrity as the school- 
 fellow and friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson. In the year, 
 1740, Dr. Taylor was presented to the valuable living of 
 Market Bosworth, and in 1745, he was installed a prebend 
 of Westminster.f He was many years in the commission of 
 the peace for the counties of Derby and Leicester. He 
 was the author of a * Letter to Dr. Johnson, on the subject 
 of a Future State he also published several Sermons, 
 but from the peculiarity of their style, it is supposed that 
 Johnson had some share in their composition. Dr. Taylor 
 received several visits from Johnson, and on two occasions 
 he was accompanied by Boswell, who has described, with 
 characteristic minuteness, the habits and conversation of 
 the two friends : X He writes — 
 
 "On March 26, 1776, there came for us [to Lichfield] an 
 equipage properly suited to a wealthy well-beneficed clergy- 
 man : Dr. Taylor's large roomy post-chaise, drawn by four 
 stout plump horses, and driven by two steady jolly postil- 
 lions, which conveyed us to Ashbourn ; where I found my 
 friend's school-fellow living upon an establishment perfectly 
 
 *In 1809, Sir Brooke published a work in two volumes, entitled" Fables and 
 Satires, with a preface on the iEsopean Fable." — He lies buried in the cemetery 
 of the family, in Ashbourn Church. 
 
 f By appointment from the Dean and Chapter, he received in succession, 
 the following preferments, all of which he held with his rectory of Market 
 Bosworth, viz. Preacher at the Chapel in the Broadway, Westminster; the 
 Curacy of St. Botolph, Aldersgate; and the Rectory of St. Margaret's, West- 
 minster. 
 
 JBoswcirs Life of Johnson. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 39 
 
 corresponding with his substantial creditable equipage : his 
 house, garden, pleasure-grounds, table, in short, everything 
 good, and no scantiness appearing. Dr. Taylor had a good 
 estate of his own, and good preferment in the church. He 
 was a diligent justice of the peace, and presided over the 
 town of Ashbourn, to the inhabitants of which I was told 
 he was very liberal : and as a proof of this it was mentioned 
 to me, he had, the preceding winter, distributed ^£200 
 among such of them as stood in need of his assistance. He 
 had consequently, a considerable political interest in the 
 county of Derby, which he employed to support the Devon- 
 shire family : for though the school-fellow and friend of 
 Johnson, he was a Whig. I could not perceive in his 
 character much congeniality of any sort with that of John- 
 son, who, however, said to me, 'Sir, he has a very strong 
 understanding.' His size, and figure, and countenance, and 
 manner, were that of a hearty English squire, with the 
 parson super-induced : and I took particular notice of his 
 upper servant, Mr. Peters, a decent, grave man, in purple 
 clothes, and a large white wig, like the butler or major 
 domo of a bishop." 
 
 At a subsequent visit in 1777, Boswell writes, "Taylor 
 thus described to me his friend Johnson : ' He is a man of 
 a very clear head, great power of words, and a very gay 
 imagination ; but there is no disputing with him. He will 
 not hear you, and having a louder voice than you, must 
 roar you down.' " 
 
 "On Sunday, Sept. 12, we went to the church of Ash- 
 bourn, which is one of the largest and most luminous that 
 I have seen in any town of the same size." 
 
 " Johnson and Taylor were so different from each other, 
 that I wondered at their preserving an intimacy. Their 
 having been at school and college together, might in some 
 degree account for this ; but Sir Joshua Reynolds has 
 furnished me with a stronger reason : for Johnson men- 
 tioned to him that he had been told by Taylor he was to be 
 
40 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 bis heir. I shall not take it upon me to animadvert upon 
 this ; but certain it is that Johnson paid great attention to 
 Taylor." 
 
 The intimacy between Taylor and Johnson continued, 
 without interruption, until the latter was removed by death ; 
 on the 13th of December, 1784. Dr. Taylor undertook the 
 mournful task of reading the burial service over the remains 
 of his lamented friend.* 
 
 *0n his departure from Aslibourn, Boswell remarks, " I took my post-chaise 
 from the Green Man, a very good inn, at Ashbourn, the mistress of which, a 
 mighty civil gentlewoman, curtseying very low, presented me with an engrav- 
 ing of the sign of her house; to which she had subjoined, in her own hand- 
 writing, an address, in such singular simplicity of style, that I have preserved 
 it pasted upon one of the boards of my original journal at this time, and shall 
 here insert it for the amusement of my readers : — 
 
 " ' M. Killingley's duty waits upon Mr. Boswell ; is exceedingly obliged to him 
 for this favour; whenever he comes this way, hopes for a continuance of the same. 
 Would Mr. Boswell name the house to his extensive acquaintance, it would be a singu- 
 lar favour conferrd on one who has it not in her power to make any otfier return but 
 her most grateful tlianks, and sincerest prayeis for his happiness in time and a blessed 
 eternity. 
 
 " ' Tuesday morn.' " 
 
 Dr. Taylor was remarkable for having the finest breed of milch cows in 
 Derbyshire, or perhaps in England. Boswell remarks, that he and Dr. John- 
 son rode out to survey their host's farm, and were shown one cow which he had 
 sold for 120 guineas, and another for which he had been offered 130 guineas. 
 Dr. Taylor died in April, 1788. The house in which he resided is situated in 
 Church-street, directly opposite the Grammai- School : it is shewn in the view 
 of the JFest Entrance into Ashbourn. A fine portrait of Dr. Johnson, by Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, is still to be seen there. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Memoir of Mr. Richard Cadman Etches, — His Mercantile Speculations. — 
 His exertions for the Release of 12,000 British Prisoners. — Capture of his 
 Vessels by the Spaniards, in Nootka Sound, and threatened rupture with 
 Spain, in consequence. — His Release of Sir Sidney Smith, when a Prisoner 
 in the Temple. — His Services to the British Government, 
 
 One of the most pleasing provinces of the historian is to 
 discover neglected merit, and to bring before the public, 
 extraordinary actions and eminent services, which, having 
 been neglected by the governments or individuals for whose 
 benefit they were performed, have remained unknown, 
 except to a few private persons. Ashbourn has been the 
 birth-place of a family, one of whom, even in the stirring 
 times of the first French revolution, distinguished himself 
 above others, by the most persevering activity to serve his 
 country, and by a daring, disinterested, and happily suc- 
 cessful effort to rescue from prison in a hostile land, one of 
 the most celebrated of our naval commanders. The person 
 referred to, was Mr. Richard Cadman Etches, son of Mr. 
 William Etches, formerly a wine-merchant, in the Market- 
 place, Ashbourn, and whose family have resided in the 
 town for several generations. He left Ashbourn whilst a 
 youth, and entered a large mercantile firm in London. In 
 process of time he became himself the head of an extensive 
 wine establishment, was a large and spirited ship-owner, 
 and for thirty-six years remained a livery-man of the cor- 
 
 6 
 
42 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 poration of London. He was the first merchant who per- 
 ceived the commercial advantages that were to be derived 
 from the discoveries made by Captain Cook, and his imme- 
 diate successors and coadjutors, in the South Seas. Captain 
 Cook had received from the barbarous natives of those 
 regions, with whom he had established a species of barter, 
 some valuable specimens of furs, for European commodi- 
 ties of a far inferior nature. The hope of procuring a con- 
 siderable quantity of these rare and costly skins, for the 
 sale of which a very advantageous market presented itself 
 at Canton, in China, was the principal inducement to Mr. 
 Etches to fit out an extensive expedition. Animated by 
 such views, and having received the most afiirmative marks 
 of the protection of government, previous to departure, 
 Mr. Etches caused to be fitted out from London, five ships, 
 in 1785, and the two succeeding years. Four of these ves- 
 sels, after doubling Cape Horn, arrived safely on the north- 
 west coast of America. The sanguine expectations that 
 had been entertained of efi^ecting a lucrative exchange of 
 commodities with the natives, were fully and speedily real- 
 ised. Cargoes of the finest furs were procured, and sold to 
 the Chinese, even under great commercial discouragements, 
 and pecuniary impositions, at so high a price, as amply to 
 reimburse and enrich the adventurers. Other attempts of a 
 similar nature were made from Bengal ; and two vessels were 
 successively dispatched from the Ganges to the same coast, 
 in 1786. A factory was established at Nootka Sound, and 
 possession of it was solemnly taken in the name of the 
 sovereign and crown of England. Amicable treaties were 
 concluded with the chiefs of the neighbouring districts, and 
 a tract of land wa^ purchased from one of them, on which the 
 new proprietors proceeded to form a settlement, and to con- 
 struct storehouses. Every thing bore the appearance of a 
 rising colony, and each year opened new sources of com- 
 merce and advantage. 
 
 Spain, however, claimed an exclusive right to the whole 
 of this part of the continent of America, and an admiral of 
 
HISTORV OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 43 
 
 that nation, M. Martinez, stated that he had the king of 
 Spain's authority to seize all vessels that should be found 
 trading on the coast. He seized some of the English ves- 
 sels, and in other ways interfered with the success of the 
 adventurers. This act of aggression nearly led to a rupture 
 between this country and Spain. In defence of the com- 
 mercial interests of the countiy, the British government 
 acted promptly and decidedly. Within one week after full 
 intelligence of the transaction had been received, a positive 
 demand of satisfaction aud restitution was sent to Madrid, 
 and the most active warlike preparations were made. At 
 the expense of three millions sterling, a formidable arma- 
 ment was fitted out. The nation awaited, in painful anx- 
 iety, the result of the pending negociation ; deprecating the 
 dreadful alternative of appealing to the sword for the vindi- 
 cation of their rights, yet confident of the justice and ulti- 
 mate success of their cause, when the agreeable intelligence 
 arrived, that an amicable convention had been agreed upon 
 between his Britannic Majesty and the King of Spain. 
 The plenipotentiaiy, by whom, on the part of Great Britain, 
 this important treaty was conducted and ratified, was 
 AUeyne Fitzherbert, Esq. (now Lord St. Helens.) 
 
 Mr. Etches, finding his views and speculations with res- 
 pect to the fur-trade with China obstructed, immediately 
 turned his attention to continental matters, both commer- 
 cial and political. Having been made a citizen of Denmark, 
 at Copenhagen, in 1789, he was enabled, as a Danish sub- 
 ject, to visit France frequently during the first great revolu- 
 tion, and he became personally acquainted with the different 
 ministers of Paris, their secretaries, &c., from whom he 
 ascertained, that far more might be effected with the French 
 government by private, rather than by public negociation. 
 He soon perceived that one of the gigantic projects of 
 France was, to separate the British wholly from commercial 
 intercourse with the continent ; and this was the reason that 
 the French Government resisted, with so much pertinacity, 
 every proposition, whether by exchange or otherwise, for 
 
44 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 the release of our merchant- seamen taken by them in the 
 commencement of the war. Our Government felt their 
 release to be a great national object, and Sir Frederick 
 Morton Eden received the fullest powers to treat with the 
 French government on the subject. Though a man of abi- 
 lity, he failed in his mission, and no representation he had 
 made, no language he had held, made any impression on 
 the mlers of France. Mr. Etches, through the medium of 
 his friend Mr. Nej^ean, made a proposal to Lord Spencer, 
 to the following effect : that he (Mr. Etches) was willing 
 to repair to Paris, at his own expense, to see what he could 
 do towards the release of the 12,000 prisoners. His pro- 
 posal was approved of, and in the summer of 1795 he went 
 to Palis, and had influence enough to procure a decree of 
 the Convention, for an exchange of prisoners, without any 
 interference on the part of the respective governments. 
 Before he quitted France, he had the satisfaction of seeing 
 upwards of 12,000 British prisoners restored to their 
 country, at an expense not exceeding six hundred pounds. 
 Mr. Etches was severely wounded whilst a spectator of the 
 dreadful carnage that took place in the streets of Paris, when 
 Buonaparte, under the order of the Directory, cannonaded 
 the sections, who were marching on the Convention. 
 
 Mr. Etches, never losing sight of commercial objects, 
 shortly afterwards visited Holland. The Dutch, he well 
 knew, could only be swerved from British interests by force. 
 Those of commerce, he considered, to be useful or profitable 
 ought to be mutual, otherwise they could not be lasting, 
 and Mr. Etches was determined to ascertain by the means 
 of personal observation, the true state of public feeling in 
 Holland with respect to this countiy. Whilst he was thus 
 engaged, he acquired a knowledge of the most important 
 military facts. 
 
 Residing as a merchant in Holland, he ascertained that 
 all the small craft throughout the United Provinces had 
 been put in requisition for transporting a large French army 
 commanded by General Boumonville, which was to be dis- 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 45 
 
 embarked on the coasts of Essex and Suffolk, with the 
 avowed intention of surprising and destroying the British 
 capital. The defenceless state of the coasts of those coun- 
 ties was well known to France. Possessed of this most 
 important information, Mr. Etches determined upon visiting 
 all the ports, and surveying the inland waters of Holland, 
 in order to ascertain a list of the vessels put in requisition, 
 their tonnage, and every preparation that was making for 
 the intended expedition. Having done so, he embarked in 
 a fishing-boat for England, and submitted to the English 
 government an ample detail of the means by which, judging 
 from accurate local knowledge, he conceived the expedition 
 might be frustrated. The lords of the Admiralty adopted, 
 forthwith, his ideas ; and an armament, commanded by Sir 
 Richard Bickerton, as chief naval, and by Colonel Doyle, 
 as chief military officer, was fitted out, and immediately 
 sailed for the Texel, with a view to attack and bring out 
 the fleet. Mr. Etches embarked as a volunteer on board 
 the Eamilies, and it was in a great measure through his 
 instructions, that the French project of invasion fell to the 
 ground. 
 
 In the following December, Mr. Etches again went to 
 Paris, and from thence communicated to his government 
 at home the real object of the immense naval and military 
 preparations that were taking place in France, and which 
 had been so long and so profoundly kept a secret. Our 
 East India possessions, according to French calculation, 
 were most vulnerable by attacking them through Egypt. 
 The English government, however, received subsequent 
 information, which it considered to be better founded than 
 than that of Mr. Etches ; but the landing of Buonaparte and 
 his army some months afterwards, in Aboukir Bay, his 
 movements from thence to Alexandria and Damietta, his 
 ascending the Nile to Cairo, his intention of proceeding to 
 the cities of Ginnah and Corsire on the Red Sea, convinced 
 the British ministers of the accuracy of Mr. Etches' details. 
 The practicability of transporting an army from the coasts 
 of the Red Sea to India may be doubted, but Mr. Etches 
 
46 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 was an eye-witness that many large prize- ships in the ports 
 of France were transferred to Americans, who were ap- 
 pointed to the command of them. These ships were man- 
 ned with Americans and with British prisoners, the latter 
 being furnished with certificates to prove them native 
 Americans, and they were dispatched, under American 
 colours, to sail round the Cape of Good Hope. They were 
 to rendezvous at the French islands, in the oriental ocean, 
 to await there the arrival of the French army, and to pro- 
 ceed up the Red Sea to the port of Corsire, and to transport 
 it to the coast of Malabar. In consequence of the failure 
 of the French expedition in Egypt, the further employment 
 of this fleet was rendered unnecessary. 
 
 It will be recollected, that in the year 1797, two distin- 
 guished British officers. Sir Sidney Smith and Captain 
 Wright, were prisoners in the Temple, at Paris. Every 
 effort had been made by the Transport Board at home to 
 effect their release, but in vain, and the project of obtaining 
 it by negociation was entirely abandoned. Mr. Etches 
 resolved, if possible, to liberate them. He learned at Rot- 
 terdam, from an American, whose brother was confined in 
 the Temple, the circumstances of Sir Sidney Smith's deten- 
 tion. He immediately repaired to Paris, and under guise 
 of being a friend to the American prisoner, he obtained 
 frequent access to the Temple. In that portion of the 
 gardens of the Temple allotted to English prisoners, he 
 repeatedly saw Sir Sidney, but dared not, for fear of dis- 
 covery, openly accost him. At length, by means of a note 
 inclosed within an orange, which he conveyed to Sir Sidney, 
 he informed that officer who he was, acquainted him with 
 his designs, and begged to be told how they could be most 
 surely carried into effect. Sir Sidney communicated to him 
 in reply, that the wife of the concierge, or gaoler, must be 
 bribed. Mr. Etches undertook to do so, and gained the 
 woman over to his views, by means of a splendid silver 
 coffee-service. She so far prevailed on her husband, that 
 Sir Sidney Smith, Captain Wright, and the French colonel 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 47 
 
 Philippeaux, also a prisoner, were allowed, though always 
 accompanied by the gaoler, to visit nightly the different 
 theatres of Paris. At those places of public resort, Mr. 
 Etches frequently met them, and concerted with them mea- 
 sures for their ultimate escape. Through the instrumen- 
 tality of a lady, he obtained a counterfeit order for their 
 release ; the order was intended for the release of others, 
 but the minister, in the hurry of signing it, took no 
 notice of the names of the prisoners that were inserted in 
 it. There was therefore little difficulty in getting them 
 out of the Temple, but the great point was, to procure them 
 disguises, and get them clear of the capital and its police. 
 Mr. Etches hired a mob, to assemble round the carriage 
 that was to await at the gate of the Temple ; to convey the 
 prisoners away. As soon as they were in the carriage, and 
 it began to move, a female, who was in the secret, threw 
 herself before the horses, and by her loud cries, intimated 
 that she had received a serious injury. The mob surrounded 
 her, the attention of all who were near the prison was im- 
 mediately directed to the supposed sufferer, and in the con- 
 fusion, Sir Sidney Smith, Captain Wright, and Colonel 
 Philippeaux quitted the carriage, and escaped to an appoint- 
 ed rendezvous in Paris. They then obtained the necessary 
 disguises, and Mr. Etches, who had preceded them to Lon- 
 don, having made every necessary preparation for their 
 flight through France, and for their embarkation at Calais, 
 they left the French Capital, adopted the plan and route he 
 had traced out for them, and safely arrived in England. 
 The Directory having learned that Mr. Etches was the 
 immediate instrument of their release, his return after that 
 time to Pa^-is, became impossible, as he was condemned, in 
 his absence, to be shot. The following is an extract of a 
 letter written in the decline of life, by Mr. Etches, and refer- 
 ring more minutely to the circumstances of the above-men- 
 tioned memorable escape : 
 
 "At the time Sir Sidney Smith and Captain Wright 
 were prisoners in Paris, in the Temple, I was at Rotterdam. 
 
48 
 
 HISTOEl OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Being present at a public dinner with a party of Americans, 
 one of whom had a brother imprisoned in the Temple, I 
 heard him say that Sir Sidney's usual money-allowance was 
 stopped, whereby he and Captain Wright, and several other 
 prisoners, who were intimate with him, were very much 
 inconvenienced. I immediately determined, on hearing this 
 information, to go to Paris, for the purpose of serving Sir 
 Sidney. On my arrival, I obtained an order for fifty 
 louis on Messrs. Herries & Co. and conveyed it to him, 
 with a note, enclosed in an orange. I resolved to ascer- 
 tain whether I could promote Sir Sidney's release by 
 nieans of bribery, and finding it certain that I could, 
 I hastened to London, to communicate with Lord Spencer, 
 and the other Lords of the Admiralty. They highly 
 approved of my proposed attempt, but as every endea- 
 vour and application hitherto made had failed, they 
 doubted the practicability of my efforts. I was confident, 
 however, that money, properly made use of in Paris, would 
 effect almost any undertaking. I returned, therefore, to 
 Paris, and soon got access to the Temple and the prisoners. 
 I so managed, that Sir Sidney and Captain Wright were 
 enabled to come out of the Temple at night, accompanied, 
 however, by the concierge. Aided by the advice of Colonel 
 Philippeaux, we had several private interviews, at which the 
 practicability of my plans was clearly ascertained, and Sir 
 Sidney delivered me a letter for Lord Spencer. I again 
 returned to London, in full confidence that the necessary 
 funds would be advanced to me, on account of the very flat- 
 tering manner in which my project had been received at 
 the Admiralty. It appeared that it was to the Transport 
 Board that any application for an advance of money for 
 such a project as that of mine ought to be made. I made 
 the necessary application to that Board, but it was refused, 
 on the ground that every feasible effort had already been 
 made unsuccessfully. I was, notwithstanding, assured by 
 Mr. Nepean, that if I could myself raise the funds, and 
 bring about the release of Sir Sidney, whatever amount of 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 49 
 
 money I should spend in the undertaking, would be repaid 
 to me by Lord Spencer. I once more returned to Paris, and 
 succeeded in all my arrangements. I confidentially engaged 
 Mr. Keith, cashier of the banking-house of Me&srs. Herries 
 and Co., and I introduced him to Sir Sidney at one of our 
 nightly meetings at the theatre ; and he was of the greatest 
 service in the proper management of the funds. This gen- 
 tleman afterwards accompanied Sir Sidney in the Tigre. 
 Just as every thing was ready, a lady in the secret, wife of 
 one of the French government secretaries, informed me that 
 I had been denounced, for having held certain communi- 
 cations with Sir Sidney, and that I must leave Paris next 
 day. On the following morning, I set off without a single 
 article of luggage, arrived safely at Calais, and instantly 
 embarked for my own country. Whilst off the pier, two 
 French couriers arrived from Paris with orders to arrest 
 me, which assuredly would have been effected, by recalling 
 the vessel in which I was, had not, fortunately, a British 
 cruiser been between us and the pier. Had T been taken, 
 my destination was certain, — I should have been shot, 
 without judge or jury. On my arrival in London, I com- 
 municated my arrangements [for the prisoners' release] to 
 Mr. Nepean ; and on the Saturday following, I received a 
 letter, in cipher, from my friend Keith, which had been 
 transmitted open in the dispatches of the French Minister 
 of Marine, to Mr. Otto, Commissioner for French prisoners 
 in London. Mr. Otto kindly affixed his official seal to it, 
 and sent it me by a confidential servant. I took it to the 
 Admiralty, where it was considered as a document that 
 referred to provisions, (for the names of different sorts of 
 meat were used to designate the fugitives. I deciphered 
 it, and confidently pronounced that Sir Sidney would arrive 
 within twenty-four hours. He did arrive, and dined the 
 following day at Wimbledon. I ascertained on the evening 
 of that day, at Camelford House, that he would sleep at 
 the Prince of Wales's Hotel, Conduit- Street. On Monday 
 morning I called at the Hotel. The instant Sir Sidney saw 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 me, he took me in his arms, and carrying me from one 
 extremity of the coffee-room to the other, he placed me 
 on a tahle, and embracing me affectionately, exclaimed 
 several times, in the presence of many gentlemen that were 
 in the room, ' Here is my Deliverer P 
 
 In 1797, Mr. Etches again proved how anxious and dis- 
 interested he was in his efforts to serve his country. In 
 that year, he repaired to Holland, and having ascertained 
 the force, military and naval, in that country, and having 
 obtained, from ofl&cial sources, manuscript charts of the 
 Zuyder Zee, and of the inland waters, together with plans 
 and drawings of the fortifications, the number and force 
 of the shipping, &c. belonging to the States of Holland, 
 he embarked for England with this body of most impor- 
 tant information. On his arrival in London, he sub- 
 mitted to the Lords of the Admiralty, a plan, not only for 
 an attack upon the Texel, but also a plan for conducting a 
 naval force, to be accompanied by troops, throughout the 
 inland waters, from the Texel to the Western Scheldt. 
 This plan had the merit of perfect originality, as the ques- 
 tion of the practicability of successfully attacking Amster- 
 dam from the Texel had never been previously agitated, 
 save to be decidedly negatived. But Mr. Etches was no 
 visionary schemer ; he never recommended a plan unless 
 he was thoroughly satisfied of its practical working, and on 
 this occasion he had ascertained the depth of the different 
 waters, the rocks, bridges, and shoals, from the entrance oi 
 the Texel to Flushing ; and every other point that would be 
 essential to the success of such an expedition. It is neces- 
 sary to remark, that at this time Amsterdam had adopted 
 no means of defence. 
 
 The plan was accepted by the Admiralty; and it was 
 immediately resolved, that an expedition, under the com- 
 mand of Admiral Mitchell and General Abercrombie should 
 forthwith sail. Mr. Etches accompanied the force, as a 
 volunteer ; and when at sea, on board the Isis, he had the 
 high satisfaction to find that the Admiral and General had 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 51 
 
 his identical plans, charts, and drawings on board, for their 
 guidance on the expedition. When oiF the Dutch coast, 
 the only doubt the Admiral had, was whether they could 
 obtain pilots acquainted with the Texel passages; upon 
 which Mr. Etches assured him, that as soon as the sand- 
 hills of the Helder Peninsula were carried, Texel pilots 
 could be procured, who would carry the fleets safely in. 
 Mr. Etches, in company with the General, was present at 
 the attack on these sand-hills, all of which were carried. — 
 The next morning, he went with Admiral Mitchell into the 
 Texel, and had the gratification of witnessing the complete 
 capture of Admiral Storey's fleet, and of every ship of war 
 specified in his own list. Their number amounted to forty- 
 four. Mr. Etches likewise volunteered his services in the 
 ensuing campaign ; he was present in every engagement, 
 and in one of them he received a severe wound. After the 
 retreat from Alkmaar, and before the General re-embarked 
 at the Texel, he sent for Mr. Etches, and asked him if he 
 had preserved his red book." This book was a diary of 
 the information he communicated to the Admiral and 
 General, and also contained the observations he (Mr.E.) had 
 made during the expedition. He informed the General 
 that he had preserved the book in question, upon which 
 the General said that he should give him a letter to Lord 
 Spencer, stating the importance of his services. The Ad- 
 miral, who put the same question to him, also gave him 
 a similar letter to Lord Spencer. On Mr. Etches' arrival 
 in London, he presented the letters to Mr. Nepean, and 
 informed him that he stiU presei-ved the book containing 
 the remarks he had made on the expedition. Mr. Etches 
 was then told that it was the order of his Majesty's minister 
 that he should retire into the country, and write his own 
 opinions respecting all the operations of the expedition. 
 He was also told not to conceal his sentiments as to the 
 conduct of any one engaged in the expedition, that he need 
 not fear the displeasure of any one connected with it, as his 
 observations were intended for the inspection of the highest 
 
52 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 authority in the empire. Mr. Etches obeyed the command, 
 and wrote a narrative of the expedition, extending to 70 
 pages, not a syllable of which has ever publicly transpired. 
 
 It was in consequence of Mr. Etches's suggestions that 
 so many successful attacks were made upon the Dutch 
 shipping within the Vlie, and also within the inlands north 
 of the Texel. The taking possession of Heligoland, which, 
 from his local knowledge, Mr. Etches represented to be a 
 Gibraltar in miniature, also entirely originated with him. 
 The commercial importance of this island throughout our 
 long struggle is well known. 
 
 On the fitting out of the expedition which had for its 
 object the attack on the Danish fleet in Copenhagen-roads, 
 Mr. Etches transmitted to the British Admirals, (Nelson 
 and Parker) some valuable information relative to the state 
 of the fortifications, and the naval preparations of the Danes. 
 
 In the year 1804, a project was submitted to the British 
 government, for ruining the navigation of the harbour of 
 Boulogne, and for dispersing the immense flotilla which 
 Buonaparte had there assembled, for the invasion of Great 
 Britain. Mr. Etches was requested by the Secretary of 
 State, to give his opinion of the project. From his know- 
 ledge of the flotilla, the harbour, the currents, and set of 
 the tides, he felt bound to state, that if such a plan were 
 adopted, the vessels by which it must be carried into execu- 
 tion would be removed during the ebb of a single tide. He 
 stated further, that if it were the intention of the govern- 
 ment to make an attempt of the kind, he would, if desired, 
 submit a project of his own ; and he was immediately 
 requested to do so. His proposal was, to equip three large 
 vessels, of small draught of water, and to erect on them a 
 solid body of masonry, united with cement, and so clamped 
 with iron plates, screws, collars, &c. as to withstand the ebb 
 of many tides : they were to be rigged as fire-ships, with a 
 heavy tonnage of floating fire- works on board of each. The 
 plan was highly approved by his Majesty's ministers, and 
 in the presence of several of them, Mr. Etches was asked, 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 53 
 
 * if it were adopted, whether he would superintend its exe- 
 cution ?' He answered, that ' he had never submitted a 
 project, which he had not volunteered his services to carry 
 into effect.' He was then ordered to attend on the follow- 
 ing morning, and to furnish an estimate of the probable 
 expense of the undertaking. He did so, and such was the 
 confidence which the ministers reposed in his ability and 
 integrity, that to enable him to commence operations, the 
 sum of £10,000 was placed to his credit, at the banking- 
 house of Messrs. Hammersleys & Co. on that very day. — 
 The project, however, was eventually given up by the go- 
 vernment, although there was little reason to doubt but 
 that it would have been successfully executed. It was 
 admitted that Mr. Etches had done his duty, and he was 
 completely exonerated from all responsibility in the affair. 
 
 From the foregoing narrative it will be seen that no 
 inconsiderable share of the success which attended the 
 British arms in their defence of the great commercial inte- 
 rests of the country, and in the efforts directed against the 
 common enemy at this eventful period, is to be attributed 
 to the ability, the zeal, the local and general knowledge, 
 the intrepidity and integrity, of Mr. Richard Cadman 
 Etches. It has seldom fallen to the lot of a biographer to 
 record a series of services of more real importance than those 
 which have now, for the first time, been detailed; there 
 is every reason to believe that had Mr. Etches chosen to 
 adopt the military profession, (for which, it is abundantly 
 clear, his genius was well ada^pted,) that his name would 
 long since have been recorded in the fairest page of his 
 country's annals. The compilers of this work feel gratified 
 that they are now enabled in some measure to do justice 
 to his memory. 
 
 Mr. Etches died in London, in the year 1817 — 18. 
 
 At the termination of the Peace of Amiens, in 1803, the 
 French troops then in possession of St. Domingo, were 
 compelled, through the general rising of the black popula- 
 
54 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 tion on the' one hand, and the blockade of the ports by a 
 British naval force on the other, to evacuate and abandon 
 that island. The French General Rochambau concluded a 
 treaty of capitulation with the British commodore, by which 
 it was agreed that the French officers and troops, amounting 
 to about 8,000, should be sent to Jamaica as prisoners of 
 war, and their wounded to France and America. About 
 5,000 of these prisoners were dispatched to England ; and 
 the General himself, with 300 of his officers, resided, for 
 several years, on parole, at Ashboum. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Locality of the Town. — Population. — Resources. — Markets and Fairs. — The 
 Church. — Monuments. — Dissenting Chapels, &c. 
 
 The town of Ashbourn is situated in a deep, rich, well- 
 wooded valley, in the southern and most fertile division of 
 the county of Derby ; 1 39 miles north north-west of London, 
 and on the great road from that city to Manchester. 
 Approaching Ashbourn from Derby, the traveller passes 
 through a pleasant, undulating country, whose general 
 aspect, however, presents no very remarkable features. 
 When he arrives within a mile of the town, he perceives a 
 striking change in the character of the landscape. In the 
 back-ground are visible, in bold relief, the abrupt hills of 
 Dovedale, forming the first portions of the mountainous 
 ridge which extends northward, through the Peak ; while 
 immediately beneath lies the town, well sheltered from the 
 boisterous winds, by the hills which appear to overhang 
 arid embosom it. The view from the descent has often 
 been characterised as extremely picturesque, and it is to 
 this point that allusion is made in the well-known and 
 often-quoted motto prefixed by Sir Walter Scott to the 
 first chapter of his * Heart of Mid-Lothian.' 
 
 " So, down thy hill, romantic Ashbourn, glides 
 The Derby dilly, carrying six insides."* 
 
 The Schoo, or Henmore, a small tributary stream of the 
 
 ♦See View of Ashbourn, from the Derby Road. 
 
56 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 river Dove, flows through the valley, dividing the town 
 into two parts that portion situated to the south of this 
 brook, is denominated Compton, anciently Campdene.^ 
 
 Ashhourn has usually been ranked immediately after the 
 two corporate towns of the county, but anciently, it was 
 equal in point of importance to either of those places. As 
 early as the 13th century the town contained 1,000 inhabi- 
 tants of the age of sixteen years and upwards ; and if to this 
 be added the number of children under that age, it will 
 appear, on the most moderate computation, that the popu- 
 lation at that time exceeded 2,000. This is a fact worthy 
 of particular notice, since it is found that in the reign of 
 Edward III., at least one hundred years later, the entire 
 population of the kingdom did not exceed 2,500,000. In 
 the year 1377, Richard II. caused a capitation-tax to be 
 levied on all persons above the age of fourteen years, beg- 
 gars only excepted. From the record which has been 
 preserved of the number of contributors to this tax, it is 
 inferred that the population of the metropolis did not then 
 exceed 35,000 ; and many ancient to^vns, were at that time 
 but little, if at all, in advance of Ashbourn. Among them 
 may be mentioned, Winchester, Worcester, Nottingham, 
 Ipswich, Exeter, Northampton, Hull, Carlisle, Newark, 
 Lichfield, and Derby, none of which places had more than 
 2,500 inhabitants, and several of them not exceeding 1,000. 
 Ashbourn, like many other inland towns in the centre of 
 agricultural districts, has not shared to any great extent in 
 the increase of population which has since taken place. 
 
 *In its ordinary course this is an insignificant ri\Tilet, but after heavy rains in 
 the uplands it becomes a furious torrent, completely flooding the lower parts of 
 the tovm, and occasioning the inhabitants much loss and inconvenience. 
 
 f Thomas Bedford, a non juring divine, the learned editor of * Simon Dunel- 
 mensis, and author of the ' Historical Catechism,* resided in Compton: he died 
 there in 1773, and was buried in Ashbourn church. 
 
 In 1782, died Francis Millward, of Compton, aged 108. He served under 
 William III. in the Irish wars, and afterwards with the Duke of Marlborough 
 and Prince Eugene. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 57 
 
 The following table exhibits the state of the population 
 of the parish of Ashbourn, in the years 1801, 1811, 1821, 
 and 1831, with the acreage of each township and hamlet, 
 and the estimated annual value of the real property as 
 assessed in April, 1815:* 
 
 PARISH OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 
 Population. 
 
 
 Acres. 
 
 Rental. 
 
 
 1801 
 
 1811 
 
 1821 
 
 1831 
 
 
 £. 
 
 
 2006 
 
 2112 
 
 2188 
 
 2246 
 
 55 
 
 4988 
 
 Clifton and Compton township .... 
 
 627 
 
 663 
 
 768 
 
 839 
 
 1002 
 
 2932 
 
 Hulland chapelry and township . . 
 
 146 
 
 214 
 
 221 
 
 234 
 
 909 
 
 1796 
 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 38 
 
 41 
 
 737 
 
 1410 
 
 Offcote and Underwood liberty. . . . 
 
 220 
 
 257 
 
 341 
 
 328 
 
 1809 
 
 5821 
 
 
 360 
 
 387 
 
 561 
 
 578 
 
 925 
 
 2779 
 
 Yeldersley and Painter's- Lane . . . . 
 
 187 
 
 210 
 
 202 
 
 226 
 
 1456 
 
 2085 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 405 
 
 
 
 3555 
 
 3858 
 
 4319 
 
 4492 
 
 7298 
 
 21811 
 
 The chief support of the town is derived from its well- 
 reputed markets and fairs, which afford a ready disposal 
 for the agricultural produce of the neighbourhood. J The 
 land for many miles round Ashbourn is principally occu- 
 pied by dairy farmers, and a large quantity of cheese is 
 made in the district. This article is of first-rate quality, 
 and obtains high prices in the London and other markets. 
 The market is held on Saturday, and is mentioned as exist- 
 ing in the year 1296, but as the charter has not been dis- 
 covered, the exact date of its establishment is not known. 
 The fairs were well attended in the reign of Edward I.,t at 
 which time there were two, each held for three days, at the 
 Festivals of St. Oswald and St. John the Baptist. The 
 
 *The Township of Ashboum is situated chiefly in the Hundred of Wirksworth. 
 The east or Sturston side of Compton-street and Spital Hill, is in the Hundred 
 of Applctree; and the west, or Clifton side forms part of the Hundred of Mor- 
 leston and Litchurcli. The Town of Ashboum (including Compton) contained 
 at the -last census 502 houses. 
 
 On the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, Ashboum was appointed a poll- 
 ing-place for the election of Members of Parliament for the Southern Division 
 of the County. 
 
 fThe Burgesses of Derby then complained that "the bailifFof Thomas Touchefc 
 distrained upon those who traded to the fair of E&seburne." 
 
58 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 charter of King Charles I. enumerates five fairs, but several 
 others have since been established.* 
 
 Sir William Boothby, as lord of the manor, receives a 
 toll upon all cattle and goods offered for sale in the markets 
 and chartered fairs. He holds a court-leet annually, at 
 which the constables and other town-officers are appointed. 
 
 The vicinity of the town to Dovedale, and the scenery of 
 the Peak, occasions an inSux of travellers during the sum- 
 mer months, and few places can boast of better inns for 
 their accommodation. Many genteel families reside in the 
 town and neighbourhood, and there are several highly- 
 respectable and well-conducted schools. 
 
 The air of the town, and particularly of the surrounding 
 hills, is very salubrious, and the water pure and wholesome. 
 
 The very ancient game of foot-ball still continues to be 
 played in Ashbourn, on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wed- 
 nesday. " The mode of playing this game in Ashbourn and 
 Derby," says Gloverf "differs very much from th^ usual 
 practice. The players are young men, from the age of 
 eighteen to thirty and upwards, married as well as single, 
 and many veterans who retain a relish for the sport are 
 occasionally seen in the very heat of the conflict. The game 
 commences in the market-place, where the partisans of each 
 parish are assembled, and, about noon a large ball is tossed 
 
 *Tlie Fairs are supplied with horses, horned cattle and sheep, and are attend- 
 ed by dealers from all parts of the kingdom. They are held on the 1st Tuesday 
 in January, 13th of February, April 3d, last Thursday in April, May 21st, (a 
 great pleasure-fair,) July 5th, August 16th, October 20th, November 29tb. 
 The February fair begins (with the sale of horses,) two days before the date ; that 
 in October three days before. The fairs of April and May are in great repute 
 for the sale of milch cows; those in August and November, for fat cattle. The 
 Cheese Fairs are held on the 2nd Tuesday in March and the 3d Tuesday in 
 September ; the day preceding each is a fair for horned cattle, sheep, horses, &c. 
 The statutes (and fair) are held on the 15th of December, and the annual wakes 
 commences on the First Sunday after August 16th. 
 
 No manufactures exist to any extent in the to\vn ; but at Hanging Bridge, 
 Mayfield, and Wood Eaves, in the immediate vicinity, there are Cotton Fac- 
 tories, which employ a number of hands. 
 
 f History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby, vol. 1. p. SIO. 
 
HISTORY OF ASPIBOURN. 
 
 59 
 
 up in the midst of them. This is seized upon by some of 
 the strongest and most active men of each party. The rest 
 of the players immediately close in upon them, and a solid 
 mass is formed. It then becomes the object of each party 
 to impel the course of the crowd towards their particular 
 goal. The struggle to obtain tlie ball, which is carried in 
 the aims of those who have possessed themselves of it, is 
 then violent, and the m_otion of this human tide heaving to 
 and fro, without the least regard to consequences is tremen- 
 dous. Broken shins, broken heads, torn coats, and lost hats, 
 are among the minor accidents of this fearful contest, and 
 it frequently happens that persons fall in consequence of 
 the intensity of the pressure, fainting and bleeding beneath 
 the feet of the surrounding mob. But it would be difficult 
 to give an adequate idea of this ruthless sport: a French- 
 man passing through Derby remarked, that if Englishmen 
 called this playing, it would be impossible to say what 
 they would call fighting. Still the crowd is encouraged by 
 respectable persons attached to each party, and who take a 
 surprising interest in the result of the day's sport. The 
 shops are closed, and the town presents the aspect of a place 
 suddenly taken by storm." The game is supposed to have 
 been played in Derby at a very early period. It was general 
 in England in the reign of Henry II., but its introduction 
 into Ashbourn is of more recent date. 
 
 AsHBOURN Hall, the seat of Sir William Boothby, Bart, 
 is situated at the eastern extremity of the town, on a gentle 
 declivity, overlooking the park and gardens, which are laid 
 out with so much taste, as amply to compensate for the 
 absence of more picturesque scenery. The house is of 
 modern erection, and although not possessed of any external 
 architectural decorations, its interior is elegant and commo- 
 dious. It contains some good pictures, among which is 
 that most extraordinary production of Fuseli's, The Night- 
 mare; and the allegorical painting by the same artist, in 
 memory of the daughter of Sir Brooke Boothby. 
 
eo 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 This picture is well described in one of Sir Brooke 
 Bootliby's sonnets: — 
 
 " My Fuseli ! before thy ken of thought, 
 Imagination's world expanded lies; 
 And to ideal shapes, in orient dies, 
 To give a breathing form thy art has taught. 
 
 Witness yon bright illusion though hast wrought 
 With pictured bliss to cheat these weary eyes. 
 And raise my drooping spirit to the skies, 
 On fancy's wing to scenes celestial brought. 
 
 'Tis immortality that sounds the call ! 
 Lo, the mild angel to receive her bends ! 
 
 From the dark disk of this terraqueous ball, 
 In spotless shade to her own heaven ascends. 
 The towering day-star, smiling points the way 
 To glorious regions bright with cloudless ray I 
 
 AsHBOURN Church. — At the remote period of the Nor- 
 man Conquest Ashbourn possessed *a priest and a church.' 
 The present edifice, which is supposed to have been erected 
 on the site of the ancient one, was probably completed 
 in the early part of the thirteenth century. This supposi- 
 tion is founded on a Latin inscription engraved on a brass 
 plate, discovered on repairing the church some years ago. 
 The following is a translation: — ^'In the year from the 
 incarnation of our Lord, 1241, on the eighth of the kalends 
 of May, this church was dedicated and this altar con- 
 secrated, in honour of St. Oswald, king and martyr, by the 
 venerable father, Hugh de Patishul, lord Bishop of Coven- 
 try."* The building, at its original foundation, was purely 
 gothic, and its chief parts present now specimens of the 
 Early English style of architecture, but they are very much 
 interspersed with various alterations, additions, and inser- 
 tions, of later styles. It is built in the form of a cross, with • 
 
 *"Anno ah incarnatione Ihro MCCXlj viii. die Maij dedicata est hoec eccia et hocal- 
 lare consecratum in honore sci Oswaldi regis et martins, a venerabili patre Dno Hugo- 
 ni de Patishull Covenirensi Episcopo" In the Harleian manuscript No 1486, folio 
 49, 6, is a copy of this inscription (differing in a few letters only) which is then 
 said to be written in an old Saxon character, in brass, in Mr. Cokaine's house 
 at Ashbourn. This brass was probably fixed up in the church at the time the 
 ancient hall was taken down. — Ghver. 
 
i 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOUEN. 
 
 61 
 
 a square tower in the centre, the battlements of which have 
 trefoil openings. The whole is surmounted by a lofty 
 octagonal spire, extremely light, and of beautiful propor- 
 tions, enriched with crockets at the angles, and pierced by 
 twenty Decorated windows. The chancel has lancet- 
 shaped windows north and south, also two in the Decorated 
 style, and a fine Perpendicular one of seven lights fills the 
 east end. The ancient acutely-pointed roof, the altitude 
 of which may be seen from the weather-moulding, has 
 given place to a flat one. The nave is in the transition 
 style between the Early Pointed and the Decorated; its 
 piers and arches, and those of the transepts are remarkably 
 fine ; several of the windows are modern insertions. The 
 North transept has two large Decorated windows; the 
 south transept another, and adjoining it is one in the Per- 
 pendicular style. The windows exhibit numerous shields 
 of arms in stained glass, of the Ferrers, the Cokaynes, the 
 Boothbys, and other eminent families. In the south wall 
 of the chancel are three stone stalls, and nearly opposite, 
 within the north wall, is a large canopied arch resem- 
 bling that of a tomb. This was the holy sepulchre, where 
 at Easter certain rites commemorative of the resurrection 
 were anciently performed with great solemnity. The font 
 dates with the earliest part of the fabric. The tower con- 
 tains a peal of eight fine-toned bells ; and there is a pow- 
 erful organ. 
 
 A thorough renovation of the interior is now (1839) 
 taking place, under the able superintendence of L. N. 
 Cottingham, Esq. The whole of the unsightly and ill- 
 arranged pews and galleries are removed, the mutilated 
 windows and pillars, with their elaborate ornaments, 
 restored, and the fabric re-pewed in oak. Under the new 
 arrangement a gallery is proposed to be carried round the 
 nave, and the organ placed in the south transept. The 
 partition which completely cuts off the nave from the 
 chancel (the earliest and best-preserved portion of the edi- 
 fice,) is to be removed and the whole thrown open, thus 
 presenting an uninterrupted view from east to west of 179 
 
62 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 feet in extent. Due effect will then be given to the massive 
 jiroportions of the edifice, and when completed, Ashhourn 
 Church will doubtless rank among the finest existing spe- 
 cimens (for a i3arish-church) of that beautiful style of 
 architecture, the Early English. At the same time, the 
 inconveniences resulting from the peculiarities of its struc- 
 ture are so far obviated, that the amount of accommodation 
 will be increased by several hundred sittings, a great pro- 
 portion of which will be free. The funds for effecting 
 these improvements are raised by voluntary contribution.* 
 
 MoNUMEKTs. — A portion of the north transept is screened 
 off, and forms the cemetery of the later lords of the manor. 
 Within it are several monuments to members of the Co- 
 kayne and Boothby families, some of which merit accurate 
 descriptions. One of the most curious of these monu- 
 ments is affixed to the wall, or within a window-place, 
 near the northern comer of the transept. It repre- 
 sents, in an arched niche, a knight and lady in antique 
 costume, kneeling opposite to each other, and with clasped 
 hands in the attitude of prayer, offering up their devotions 
 over what appears to be a miniature altar-piece. On a 
 tablet in front is inscribed, 
 
 Hie jacent sepulta corpora Tlwmcs Cokaini Militis et Dam Dorothea uxoris ejus. 
 Chr'tstl mors nobis inta " 
 
 On a lower compartment are ten little figures, in bas relief, 
 rudely sculptured, representing the ten children of the 
 knight and lady, three sons and seven daughters, kneeling 
 opposite to each other. The following is the inscription : 
 
 " Nomina liheronim ThomcB Cokaini Mil et Dom DorothcBa uxoris ejus, Franciscits, 
 Thomas, Edward, Florentia, Dorothea, Ha. Johannes, Johanna, Jane, Maud." 
 
 Beneath this monument, to the right as the spectator 
 examines it, is a large embattled altar-tomb, profusely 
 decorated on its sides with quartrefoils and shields of arms. 
 
 'During the alterations the remains of a stone coffin, and several large stone 
 slabs, bearing on the surface the cross and other sculptured devices, have been 
 discovered. Also, on the walls, traces of several inscriptions, chiefly passages 
 of Scripture, in large old English characters. The porch on the south side of 
 the nave (sho\m in the plate) is taken down, the inner doorway removed, and 
 a window inserted uniform vv-ith those on each side. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOUPvN. 
 
 63 
 
 On the upper surface of this altar-tomb lie, with their feet 
 towards the wall, two large and rude effigies, in alabaster; 
 the one to the right is meant td represent an armed knight 
 in plate armour, with pointed helmet, and having a richly- 
 mounted short sword by his side. His arms, three cocks, 
 are carved upon his breast, the figure of an animal, appar- 
 ently of a small lion supports his feet, and the pillow upon 
 which his head rests is supported by angels. On the left 
 side of this figure is represented another, that of an old man 
 in a close cap, with a short beard, dressed in a tunic, with 
 a robe enveloping his left shoulder and side. A purse and 
 dagger are suspended from his girdle, and his feet rest on a 
 dog couchant. It is evident that these figures are meant for 
 the representatives of some of the earlier members of the 
 Cokayne family, and it is probable that the figure of the 
 armed knight is that of John Cokayne, who was for a time 
 knight of the shire, and who died in 1375. 
 
 On the left side of the foiTner, is another altar-tomb, also 
 of alabaster, with full-length effigies of a knight of the 
 Cokayne family and of his lady. These figures are sculp- 
 tured more elaborately and less rudely than the former. 
 Each side of the tomb is richly decorated with gothic carv- 
 ing and tracery, and with figures of angels, bearing before 
 them shields of arms. The knight is habited in plate ar- 
 mour, with a collar round his neck. The head of this 
 figure is supported by a large close helmet, sunnounted by 
 the family crest (a cock's head) and lamberquin. The 
 costume of the lady consists of a close gown and mantle, 
 and a curious reticulated head-dress. These figures are 
 supposed to represent Sir John Cokayne, (who was slain at 
 the battle of Shrewsbury) and his lady. The following- 
 inscription is said to have been engraved on this tomb, but 
 no traces of it are now discernible : — 
 
 " Tumuli alnbnsirini Johnnnia Coknin prima capifalis Baronis dc Scarcorio, deindc 
 vnivs Justiciarum de Communi Banco sub rcge Henrico IV. accuraia effigies." 
 
 In the corner of the transept, adjoining the monument 
 last described, is a large and elevated altar-tomb ; on its 
 
64 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 upper surface are carved lines representing two whole- 
 length figures, with the following quaint inscription, in old 
 English characters: — f 
 
 "Here lyeth Sir Thomas Cockaine, 
 Made knight at Turney and Turwyne : 
 Who builded here fayre houses twayne, 
 With many pvofettes that remayne : 
 And three fayre parks impaled he, 
 For his successors here to be : 
 And did his house and name restore, 
 Which others had decay'd before . 
 And was a knight so worshipfull, 
 So vertuous, wyse and pitifull. 
 His dedes deserve that his good name 
 Lyve here in everlasting fame. 
 
 Who had issue III. sonnes and III. daughters." 
 
 Next to this tomh, nearer the door of the transept, is 
 another, apparently of greater antiquity than any hitherto 
 described. Its upper surface is inlaid with brass, on which 
 are traced several curious and intricate designs. This tomb 
 has suffered much from the hand of time ; and it is impos- 
 sible from the few remaining letters of the inscription, 
 accurately to discover to whom the frail tenement belonged. 
 The sides exhibit many traces of ancient carving, in a state 
 of rapid decay, together with the figures of eight angels, 
 holding shields of arms. 
 
 The most deservedly-celebrated monument in the church 
 is that executed by the sculptor T. Banks, R.A. in memory 
 of the only daughter of Sir Brooke Boothby. This exqui- 
 site piece of sculpture does the highest credit to the ack- 
 nowledged abilities of the artist. In consequence of a 
 wooden covering, kept constantly locked, the monument is 
 in the freshest state of preservation. It represents a child 
 of delicate and amiable features, who has long suffered from 
 slow and incurable disease, lightly but rather restlessly 
 reclining on her right side. The position of the meek and 
 lovely sufferer shows that she has but just assumed it in 
 order to seek temporary relief from pain, or from th^ 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 65 
 
 weariness that a protracted horizontal position, ev en on the 
 softest materials, eventually causes. The little patient is 
 extended in the posture just described, on a marble mattress 
 and pillow, to which the hand of the sculptor has commu- 
 nicated the apparent texture of the softest down. The 
 expression of the countenance is slightly indicative of pain, 
 felt even in the intervals of slumber, and the little hands 
 lifted towards that countenance, plainly show that the 
 slumberer has so placed them in order that they and the 
 arms may in some measure be a support to the body, and 
 relieve it from the aching tenderness caused by long contact 
 with the couch on which it rests. Around the head is 
 bound in loose folds a handkerchief, which allows the artist 
 greater scope to exhibit the child's features. The body- 
 costume of the lamented child is a low-fronted robe, with 
 short sleeves, and confined — but perhaps rather too tightly 
 for an invalid — around the waist, by a broad riband, most 
 gracefully sculptured. The whole of the drapery is exe- 
 cuted in the most finished style, and the ease and softness 
 of the folds are an admirable proof of the delicate chiselling 
 of the artist. He has also shown his natural and pure taste 
 in the manner in which he has placed the beautiful naked 
 feet. The entire position of the figure is faultless, and it 
 represents, with refined fidelity to nature, the female infant 
 form patiently and slowly perishing beneath the steady, 
 undermining progress of irresistible decay. He who has in 
 a mixed agony of hope and despair, long watched over an 
 infant withering beneath the blight of disease, will feel 
 grateful to the sculptor who had the talent to execute, and 
 to the parent who had the afi'ection to erect a monument 
 which faithfully places before his view the representation of 
 sufterings which time allows him to remember and to con- 
 template with melancholy satisfaction. 
 
 On the oblong-square pedestal and slab that support the 
 monument are four inscriptions, in English, Latin, French, 
 and Italian. 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 I. Left hand on the slab. — " I was not in safety, neither had I rest, and the 
 trouble came." 
 
 Beneath on the pedestal. — " To Penelope, only child of Sir Brooke Boothby 
 and Dame Susannah Boothby, bom April 11th, 1785 : died March 13th, 1791. 
 She was in form and intellect most exquisite. The unfortunate parents ventured 
 their all on this frail bark, and the wreck was total." 
 
 II. Latin side, at her head on the slab. — "Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia 
 nostra."* 
 
 Beneath on the Pedestal. — " Tu vero felix et beata Penelope mea. Quae tot tan- 
 tisque miseriis una morte perfuncta es."f 
 
 III. French side, end of the slab. — " Beavte, c'est done ici ton dernier azyle."+ 
 Beneath on the pedestal. — "Son cercueil, ne la contient pas toute entiere; II 
 
 attend le reste de sa proie : II ne I'atteudra pas longtemps."§ 
 
 IV. Italian side. — " Lei che'l ciel ne mosti-a terra n'asconde." 
 
 " Le crespe chiome d'or puro, lucente, 
 E'l lampeggiar dell Angelico riso, 
 Che solean far in ten-a un Paradiso, 
 Poca polvere son chfi nulla sente."|| 
 
 This monument probably suggested to Sir F. Chantrey 
 the execution of that master-piece of art, the group of the 
 two children, which is now the grace and ornament of 
 Lichfield Cathedral, and the boast of modern sculpture.!! 
 It appears that it was at an inn, in Ashboum, after a visit 
 to Miss l^ootliby's monument, that Sir Francis designed 
 that justly-celebrated group. 
 
 There are several other monuments to different members 
 of the l^oothby family ; two of them have remarkably pleas- 
 ing inscriptions, which are said to have been written by 
 Miss Seward and Sir Brooke Boothby : 
 
 *All our joys are perished with thee alone. 
 
 j-But thou art happy and blessed, my dear Penelope, who, by one touch of Death 
 hast escaped so many and so great miseries. 
 
 \Beauty,this then is thy last asylum! 
 
 ^Hcr tomb does not yet contain all ; it waits for the rest of its prey : — it ivill not 
 wait long. 
 
 \\Those that descend into the grave are not concealed from Heaven. Thy curling 
 locks of pure shining gold, the lightning of thy angelic smilie, tvhich used to make a 
 Paradise on earth, are now became only a little senseless dust. 
 
 :I:|Rhodes's Derbyshire Tourists' Guide. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 67 
 
 A monument of alal)aster, — " Sacred to the memory of Sir Brooke Boothby, 
 Bart, and Dame Phcebe his wife, daughter and heir of William Hollins, Esq. 
 of Moseley in the county of Stafford. He was born November 2nd, 1710, and 
 died April 9th, 1789. She was born October 4th, 1716, and died May 5th, 
 1788. They were manied in 1742, and left issue two sons and one daughter, 
 Brooke, born June 3d, 1744; William, born May 4th, 1746; Maria Elizabeth, 
 born Febmary 16th, 1758. 
 
 Here blameless pair, with mild affections blest. 
 Beloved, respected, much lamented, rest: 
 Life's sheltered vale secure in peace ye trod, 
 Your practice virtue, your reliance God. 
 TiOng days, long love, indulgent heaven bestow'd. 
 And sweet content to gild your calm abode : 
 Friends who through life theii' faith unalter'd kept ; 
 Children who loved, who honoured, and who wept; 
 Heroes and kings, life's little pageant o'er 
 Might wish their trophied marbles told no more" 
 
 A monument. — " Sacred to the memory of Hill Boothby, only daughter of 
 Brooke Boothby and Elizabeth Fitzherbert, his wife; born October 27th, 1708; 
 died .January 16th, 1756. 
 
 Could beauty, leaniing, talents, virtue, save 
 From the dark confines of th' insatiate grave ; 
 This frail memorial had not asked a tear, 
 O'er Hill's cold ashes, sadly mouldering here : 
 Friendship's chaste frame her ardent bosom fired, 
 And bright religion all her soul inspired : 
 Her soul too heavenly for a house of clay. 
 Soon wore its earth built mansion to decay. 
 In the last struggles of departing breath, 
 Slie saw her Saviour gild the bed of death ; 
 Heard his mild accents tuned to peace and love. 
 Breathe a blest welcome to the realms above; 
 To those bright regions, that celestial shore, 
 Where friends, long lost, shall meet to part no more. 
 " Blest Lord, I come," my hopes have not been vain : 
 Upon her lifeless cheek, extatic smiles remain." 
 
 In the south transept, is an old altar-tomb, without efligy 
 or date, probably belonging to some member of the Brad- 
 burne family. 
 
 To the right is another fine altar-tomb, in excellent pre- 
 servation, with whole-length effigies in alabaster, of Sir 
 Humphrey Bradburne, knight, of Lea, near Bradburne, 
 and Dame Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir William 
 Turvill, of Newhall, Warwickshire, knight. Obiit lo^l. 
 
68 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Adjoining this tomb is another, of greater antiquity, and 
 much dilapidated. On the wall immediately above it, is a 
 tablet inscribed to a member of the Bradburne family. 
 
 In the chancel is a white marble cenotaphic monument, 
 with an inscription 
 
 " In memory of Lieut. Colonel Philip Bainbrigge, fourth son of the late Thomas 
 Bainbrigge, Esq. of "Woodseats, Staffordshire. He commanded the 20th regi 
 ment of foot at the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, on the 6th of October, 1799, which 
 terminated the expedition to Holland, where he was killed, in the 44th year of 
 his age, leaving a widow and eight children to mourn their in-eparable loss. 
 His body was buried by his brother soldiers, in the church-yard near the field 
 of battle." 
 
 The church contains many other monuments; but those 
 which have now been described are the most remarkable. 
 
 In the reign of Richard II. a chantry was founded at the 
 altar of St. Maiy, in Ashbouni church, and endowed by 
 Henry de Kniveton, rector of Norbury. Another chantry^ 
 in honour of St. Oswald, was founded in or about the year 
 1483, by John Bradburne and Anne his wife. 
 
 These chantries were private religious foundations, esta- 
 ] dished for the purpose of keeping up a perpetual succession 
 v( prayers for the prosperity of some particular family while 
 living, and the repose of the souls of those members of it 
 who were deceased, but especially of the founder and other 
 j>ersons specifically named by him in the instrument of 
 foundation. Chantries were usually founded in churches 
 already existing; sometimes the churches of the monasteries, 
 sometimes the great cathedral or conventual churches, but 
 xery frequently the parish church, whether in a town or in a 
 rural district. All that was wanted was an altar with a little 
 area before it, and a few appendages; and places were 
 easily found even in churches of small dimensions in which 
 such an altar could be raised without interfering inconve- 
 niently with the more public and general purposes for 
 which the churches were erected. An attentive observation 
 of the fabric of the parish-churehes of England will often 
 detect where these chantries have been, in some small 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 69 
 
 remains of the altar, which was removed at the Reformation, 
 but more frequently in one of those ornamented niches, 
 called piscinas, which were always placed in proximity with 
 the altars. Sometimes there are remains of painted glass 
 which it is easy to see has once been the ornament of one of 
 these private foundations, and more frequently one of those 
 arched recesses in the wall, which are called Founders' 
 Tombs, and which in many instances no doubt were actu- 
 ally the tombs of persons to whose memory chantries had 
 been instituted. In churches which consisted only of a 
 nave and chancel with side aisles, the eastern extremities 
 of the north and south aisles were often seized upon for the 
 purpose of these foundations. [It is very probable that the 
 chantry founded by the Bradburne family, in Ashbourn 
 church, was situated in this position in the south transept.] 
 In the larger churches, having the platform resembling the 
 cross on which the Saviour suffered, the transverse beams 
 were generally devoted to the purpose'of these private foun- 
 dations. It was by no means unusual to have four, five, or 
 six different chantries in a common parish-church ; while 
 in the great cathedral churches, such as old St. Paul's, in 
 London, the Minster at York, and other ecclesiastical edi- 
 fices of that class, there were at the time of the Reforma- 
 tion thirty, forty, or fifty such foundations. When the fabric 
 of a church afforded of itself no more space for the intro- 
 duction of chantries, it was usual for the founders to attach 
 little chapels to the edifice. It is these chantry chapels, 
 the use and occasion of which are now so generally for- 
 gotten, which cause so much of the irregularity of design 
 which is apparent in the parish-churches of England. 
 Erected also as they generally were, in the style of architec- 
 ture which prevailed at the time, and not in accommodation 
 to the style in which the original fabric was built, they are 
 a principal cause of that want of congruity which is per- 
 ceived in the architecture of different parts of the parish - 
 churches. When chapels were erected for the special 
 purpose of the chantries, they were usually also the places 
 
70 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 of interment of the founder and his family, whence we 
 sometimes find such chapels belonging, even to this day, to 
 particular families, and adorned with monuments of many 
 generations."* 
 
 These ex-tracts are valuable, as they serve in some degree 
 to point out the causes which have led to the mixture of 
 styles in the architecture of Ashbourn Church. 
 
 The rectory of Ashbourn, together with the chaj)els, 
 lands, tithes, and other appendages, were granted by 
 William Rufus to the church of St. Mary, at Lincoln, and 
 to the bishop of that see and his successors ; but by some 
 arrangement at a later period, it was attached to the Dean- 
 ery of that see, and it is now leased out by the Dean. The 
 present lay impropriator is George Henry Errington, Esq. 
 and the annual amount of tithes from the whole parish 
 exceeds £2,000. 
 
 The vicarage has been augmented by a parliamentary 
 grant of £600, and its present value is about X'lOO per 
 annum. The rectory of Mappleton is annexed to the vicar- 
 age, and the Rev. Samuel Shipley has been lor many years 
 the incumbent. 
 
 There is an afternoon-lectureship attached to the church ; 
 the present lecturer is the Rev. Evan Thomas. 
 
 An evening service takes place in the chancel, which is 
 fitted up for public worship. The duty is performed gratu- 
 itously by the vicar. 
 
 Near Ashbourn Hall, there formerly stood a chapel dedi- 
 cated to St. Mary. Its remains were taken down some 
 years ago, previously to which time it had been used as a 
 malt-house. Sir John Cokayne, by will dated in the 13th 
 ^ ^ ' reign of Henry IV. charged his manor of Buds- 
 
 ley -i':or, in Warwickshire, "to find as many pjiests 
 singing to the world's end for his soul, his wifv' * ' chil- 
 dren's, and all his ancestors' souls, as the rent th< » > would 
 maintain, viz. in St. Mary's chapel, Poles worth, five pounds 
 to one pnest; in St. Mary's chapel, near Ashbourn, seven 
 
 *Cycloptcdia of the Society for the DifTusiou of Useful Knowledge. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 71 
 
 marks to another priest, and the remnant to be spent in 
 waxen vigils and alms deeds on the eve and day of his obit." 
 Sir Thomas Cokayne, (the warrior before-mentioned) " by 
 his testament, bearing date April 8th, in the 28th year of 
 Henry VIII. bequeathed his body to sepulture in our lady's 
 Quire at Ashbourn, (where his ancestors lie inteiTed) before 
 the image of St. Modwin." 
 
 The National and Sunday School, is a substantial 
 edifice of stone, situated on an eminence north of the church. 
 The expenses of its erection were defrayed chiefly by the 
 proceeds of a bequest to the Church Sunday School, from 
 a Miss Taylor, formerly a resident in Ashboum. This 
 bequest was augmented by the contributions of the inhabi- 
 tants, and by a grant from the National Society. The 
 operations of the school are conducted on the Society's plan. 
 The Sunday School is under the direction of members of 
 the Established Church. The building was opened in 1823. 
 
 Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel. — At the south- 
 east end of the town, on the Derby road, is a neat and 
 substantially-erected chapel belonging to the Countess of 
 Huntingdon's Connexion. This chapel and the six alms- 
 houses adjoining were erected and endowed in the year 
 1800, by Mr. John Cooper, a native of Ashboum. In early 
 life, Mr. Cooper followed the laborious occupation of brick- 
 making, but becoming disgusted with the employment, he 
 removed to London, and by frugality and persevering in- 
 dustry, acquired a considerable property. 
 
 The Chapel is well attended, and contains accommo- 
 dation for about five hundred worshippers. It is also pro- 
 vided with an organ. The Rev. Alexander Start is the 
 present minister. 
 
 Wesleyan M ethodist Chapel. — In 1822, a commo- 
 dious chapel was erected by the Wesleyan Methodists. It 
 is a neat brick building, situated in Compton, and contains 
 six hundred sittings. This chapel was built by voluntary 
 contribution, and its ministers are supported in a similar 
 manner. 
 
72 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 In connexion with both these chapels are Sunday Schools, 
 conducted gratuitously, on a similar plan to that belonging 
 to the Establishment. 
 
 The Presbyterians formerly possessed a place of worship 
 in Compton. The building is now converted into dwelling- 
 houses. 
 
 In 1826 a chapel was erected for the use of a congrega- 
 tion of General Baptists, but it has for some time been 
 closed. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Free Grammar School — Its Foundation and Endowments. — Almshouses, 
 and other Charitable Institutions. — Miscellaneons Notices connected with 
 the Town of Ashboum. 
 
 Near the church stands the Free Grammar School, a 
 fair specimen of the less-ornamented structures of the 
 Elizabethan age, and a noble evidence of the philanthropy 
 and munificence of the former inhabitants of Ashboum. 
 The School was founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
 under letters patent, dated the 1 5th of July, 1585. The 
 recital of the charter states that Sir Thomas Cokaine, of 
 Ashbome, knt., William Bradbome, of the Lee, Thomas 
 Carter, of the Middle Temple,* Thomas Hurt, and 
 William Jackson, of Ashbome, and other persons inhabit- 
 ing the same town, purposed to found and establish there 
 a free grammar school, for ' the better information, instruc- 
 tion, and education of the youth of the countiy near that 
 place.' Her Majesty, on the petition of the said Thomas 
 
 ♦By a passage from the ancient topographer Stow, it would appear that the 
 founders of the School were chiefly citizens of London: — 
 
 " Divers well-disposed citizens of London, desirous (as yet) not to be named 
 being bom in or near to Ashburne, in the Peake, in the county of Derby, com- 
 bining their loving benevolence together, have builded there a faire school - 
 house, with convenient lodgings for a master, and liberal maintenance allowed 
 thereto "—Stows Survey of London and Westminster. 
 10 
 
74 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 Carter, desiring to promote the said purpose, granted and 
 ordained that there should be a free grammar school in 
 Ashbourn, for the education and instruction of boys and 
 youths in grammar and other good learning, to continue 
 for ever, which should be called The Free Grammar School 
 of Elizabeth Queen of England. Her Majesty also granted 
 that there should be three discreet, good and honest men, 
 to be called Governors of the possessions, revenues, and 
 goods of such school ; and twelve discreet, good and 
 honest men, to be called Assistants to the said Governors, 
 Her Majesty also ordained that Thomas Cokaine, son of 
 the said Sir Thomas Cokaine, John Alsop, of Alsop-in-the- 
 Dale,* and Robert Hurt, vicar of Ashbourn, should be the 
 first Governors ; and that Robert Whithall, Thomas Alsop, 
 Roger Hurt, and nine others, parishioners of Ashbourn, 
 should be the first Assistants.f That the said Governors 
 and Assistants should be a body corporate, and when by 
 death or removal a vacancy should occur among the Gover- 
 nors or their successors, it should be filled up from the 
 Assistants; and that vacancies among the latter body 
 should be supplied from ' the more discreet and fit men in- 
 liabiting the parish of Ashbonie.' Her Majesty granted 
 that the said Governors and Assistants should have a 
 common seal, and that they and their successors should 
 have the power of making statutes for the management and 
 direction of the school. Her Majesty also granted to the 
 said Sir Thomas Cokaine, knight, William Bradborne, 
 Thomas Carter, Thomas Hurt, and William Jackson, and 
 the survivors and survivor of them, and after their death to 
 
 ♦Until the last few years Alsop-in-tlie-Dale formed part of the parish of 
 Ashbourn. 
 
 fThe present Governors are Mr. Christopher Harland, Mr, Robert Docksey 
 Goodwin, Sir William Boothby, Bart.; and Assistants, Mr. Thomas Wise, Mr. 
 Samuel DaMSon, Mr. John Whitham, Mr. Robert James Hartshorn, Mr. John 
 Nicholson, Mr. Rupert Toogood, Mr. William Tyson, Mr. John Dawson, Mr. 
 Septimus Bradley, Mr. Peter Bainbrigge Le Hunt, Mr. John Harry Buxton, 
 aiid Captain Thomas Archer; Treasurer, Mr. Philip Dawson. 
 
THE SEAL 
 
 ®f tlje (ffioijpvnovs auD Hsjsistants of tljc Esljliouvn jTvn ©vammar Stijool. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 77 
 
 the said Governors and Assistants and their successors, or 
 the greater part of them, with the advice and consent of 
 the heirs-male of the before-mentioned persons, power and 
 authority to appoint a master and under-master of the 
 school, so often as those offices should become vacant ; and 
 in case the said founders, and after their deaths the Gover- 
 nors and Assistants, should not, within thirty days after 
 such vacancy, appoint other fit and learned persons to per- 
 forai such offices, then the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry 
 for the time being should have the ^^ower of appointment. 
 It was also ordained that every master and under-master so 
 appointed, should hold and enjoy the said School, and 
 should remain and be without any other presentation or 
 investiture to be thereupon made, for the term of his life, 
 according to the ordinances and statutes of the school ; that 
 every master, under-master, governor, and assistant should 
 be removable, and might from time to time be removed, 
 according to the said ordinances and statutes ; and that the 
 school should be donative and coUative, and not by any 
 means presentative. 
 
 The first statutes for the government of the School 
 appear to have been made in the year 1796, in consequence 
 of certain abuses having crept into its management. A letter 
 previously addressed to the Bishop of the Diocese, by the 
 Governors and Assistants, requesting his advice and assist- 
 ance, states that the head-master had at that time only one 
 free-scholar, and had had only two or three for many years 
 past ; and that the under-master taught a private school in 
 his own house, and neglected the few free-scholars. These 
 statutes were revised and amended in the year 1836. 
 
 The school is open, under certain restrictions, to the 
 boys of the town and neighbourhood; and admission is 
 obtained by a certificate from one of the Governors or 
 Assistants. The scholars are to be instructed gratuitously in 
 the Greek and Latin classics, ancient and modern history, 
 geography, English grammar and com[)osition, the matHe- 
 matics, and the principles of the Christian religion; 
 
78 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 reference being duly had to the age, ability, and acquire- 
 ments of each boy. For writing and arithmetic, the under- 
 master receives a stated sum quarterly from each scholar. 
 
 The Masters are allowed to take as many boarders as 
 their houses will properly accommodate ; svibject to the 
 visitation and control of the Governors and Assistants. 
 
 The facilities which this school has afforded for the 
 acquirement of a sound classical education, — facilities per- 
 haps equal to those of any similar establishment, — have 
 obtained for it some reputation amongst the gentry of Der- 
 byshire and the adjacent counties. The edifice having 
 recently undergone considerable improvements, its means 
 of accommodation for boarders are thereby increased ; while 
 at the same time the views and intentions of its founders 
 with respect to gratuitous instruction are more effectually 
 carried out. 
 
 The Rev. George Edward Gepp, M.A. was appointed 
 head-master in 1837, and the Rev Thomas Gibbs, second- 
 master in 1818. 
 
 The whole annual revenue of the school amounts to 
 £255 Os. 4d. ; of which sum, (after deductions for the 
 repairs of the building, and other expenses,) two-thirds 
 are paid to the head-master, and the remaining third to 
 the under-master. Each master has besides a good house 
 and garden. 
 
 The Charity Commissioners' Report contains a length- 
 ened account — extending to nearly forty folio pages, — of 
 the donations and bequests which have at different periods 
 been made for the support of the Free Grammar School, 
 and the other charitable foundations belonging to the town. 
 That account is too diffuse for general readers, and a 
 careful abridgment of it, with such corrections and additions 
 as the lapse of time and other circumstances have rendered 
 necessary, will probably best serve the purposes of those 
 to whom it is of more immediate interest. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 79 
 
 CHAPJTIES. 
 
 Free Grammar School. — Thomas HuH gave the land (three roods) on 
 which the School is erected. 
 
 Sir Thomas Cockayne, Knt. by deed, on the 21st September, 1585, granted to 
 the Governors and Assistants of the School, a yearly rent-charge of £4 out of 
 all his estate in Ashbourn. This payment has long since ceased, and it is sup- 
 posed that Sir Thomas Cockayne substituted four tenements in the Middle Cale 
 for the rent-charge. The property now produces the yearly sum of £15 9s. 
 
 Thomas Carter, by deed, 13th September, 1586, granted a rent-charge of 40s. 
 for the support of the School and the Master and Under-master thereof, out of 
 his premises in Ashbourn. The sum of £1 12s. is now paid by the owner of 
 the premises in the Market-place late the property of Mr. William Sutton ; 8s. 
 having been deducted from the original sum for land-tax. 
 
 Philip Oheorcr, by deed, 15th September, 1586, granted a rent-charge of 20s. 
 annually out of his lands in Mappleton, for the support of the school and the 
 Master and Under-master thereof. This sum is now paid out of the same lands. 
 
 Gilbert, Earl of Shrewshimj, Robert Booth, and Thomas Cooke, by deed, granted 
 a rent-charge of £5 per annum for the tise of the school, out of an estate at 
 Glossop. It is paid by the Duke of Norfolk, the present owner of the estate. 
 
 Humphrey Street gave at different times, in or about the year 1608, as much 
 as £100 to the school. 
 
 Sir Anthony Ashley, and Mrs. Storer, in the year 1608, each granted a yearly 
 rent-charge of 20s. out of property in London, for the use of the school ; both 
 these payments have long ceased, and are now lost. 
 
 Roger Owjield, by will, dated 28th January, 1610, gave £70 to be laid out 
 in land for the benefit of the school. 
 
 Johane Denton (wife of Richard Denton) by deed, 10th June, 1619, granted, 
 for various charitable purposes, a rent-charge of £5 annually, out of lands in 
 Sturston, Compton, and Fenton, of which the annual sum of 10s. was to be 
 paid to the Governors and Assistants, for the use of the school. 
 
 Edward Shawe axidi Johane Denton, on the 1st of March, 1625, granted, for 
 charitable purposes, a rent-charge of £5 annually out of lands in Bradley, Sturs- 
 ton, Compton, and Fenton, of which the annual sum of 10s. was to be paid to 
 the Governors and Assistants, for the use of the school. This payment is now 
 made by Mr. Robert James Hartshorn, the owner of two fields in Compton. 
 
 Paul Taylor, by will, dated 24th December, 1640, gave several sums amount- 
 ing to £27, to be applied to various purposes connected with the School. He 
 also gave twenty nobles towards making a loft in the church for scholars and 
 others to sit in. Also three nobles and twelve crowns to buy fifteen handsome 
 walking staves, for the Governors and Assistants ' to put them in mind of his 
 desire and a consoionable performance of all things belonging to them in their 
 places.' 
 
 George Taylor, by will, dated 2nd May, 1668, gave out of his land in the 
 Long-Doles, £1 per annum for the increase of the school-master's salary. The 
 present tenant of the field pays £5 annually as rent for one-half of the land 
 
80 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 (about two acres) which is applied as directed by the will. The rent of the 
 remaining part is applied to another purpose. [See a subsequent page.] 
 
 Chrisiapher Pegg, by will, dated 12th June, 1669, directed certain premises 
 in Ashover and Wingerworth, to be conveyed to the trustees of the school for 
 augmenting the revenue of the head-master, usher, and under-master. In 
 1777, these lands were exchanged (by virtue of an Act of Parliament passed 
 for that purpose in 1772,) for an estate in the parish of Brailsford, containing 
 A. 157 Or. 19p. now in possession of Hamlet Yates, and producing the yearly 
 rent of £197. Two-fifths of this rent are paid to the school account; the 
 remainder is otherwise applied. [See page 81.] 
 
 John Hanson, by will, dated 13th January, 1678, gave to the Corporation of 
 the school, a yearly rent-charge of £6 13s. 4d. out of his tithes of lead ore 
 arising out of the parishes of Bakewell, Tideswell, and Hope, for increasing the 
 head-master's salary. This payment is now made by the Duke of Devonshire, 
 the owner of the tithes. 
 
 Elizabeth .B«.rtow,by will, dated 11th July, 1730, gave lOs. yearly to purchase 
 Bibles for the free- scholars. 
 
 The Estate belonging to the school, situated at Shirebrook, was purchased by 
 the trustees on the 8th of January, 1613, for the sum of £180, subject, however, 
 to an annuity of £5 payable thereout. This annuity was afterwards purchased 
 by the trustees, for £95. The estate comprises a farm-house, outbuildings, 
 and 103 acres of land, and is now held on lease by William Bowmar, at the 
 yearly rent of £141. 
 
 Owfield's Almshouses. — Eoger Owficld, by will, dated 28th January, 1630, 
 gave £100 to erect an Almshouse for poor inhabitants of Ashbourn, but that 
 sum not being suflficient, the buildings were completed by his widow, Thomasin 
 Owfield, at her own expense. 
 
 Thomasin Owfield, by deed, 28th January, 1630, made over the sum of £100 
 to the Governors and Assistants of the School, to be placed out at interest for 
 raising £8 per annum, to pay the eight poor alms-people £1 each. 
 
 Samuel Owjield, (son of Roger and Thomasin Owfield,) by deed, 2nd Novem- 
 ber, 1640, granted to the trustees of the School, the eight newly-erected alms- 
 houses, in trust, to maintain the same for eight poor people of the town of 
 Ashbourn. 
 
 Paul Taylor, by will, dated 24th December, 1640, gave £12 10s. that the 
 intei-est thereof, if it would make so much) should be paid by 2s. 6d, each to 
 the poor almspeople every Good Friday: but as it was not sufficient for that 
 purpose, it was made up by Robert Webster, as will be seen subsequently. 
 
 John Owfield and William Owjield, on the 1st of June, 1652, granted to the 
 Governors and Assistants of the School, in trust for the benefit of the inhabi- 
 tants of these almshouses, two pieces of land, situated in Mappleton, containing 
 about seven acres. This land is supposed to have been substituted for the 
 £100 given by Thomasin Owfield, as before mentioned. It is now occupied by 
 William Chawner, and the rent is applied as above directed. 
 
 Part of the ground belonging to these almshouses is let as a garden to 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 81 
 
 William Webster, Esq, at the annual rent of £4, which is equally divided 
 among the alms-people of this charity. 
 
 Robert Webster, by deed, 28th March, 1659, granted a rent charge of £1 yearly 
 out of a field in OfFcote, to the Governors and Assistants of the School, to enable 
 them to pay £1 yearly to the eight alms-people as directed by Paul 
 Taylor's will. This rent-charge is now paid by Sir William Boothby, Bart, 
 the owner of the field. 
 
 George Taylor, by will, dated 2nd March, 1668, gave to the Governors and 
 Assistants of the School £100 to be lent out at interest, and to pay thereout Is. 
 annually to each of the alms-people. It is not known how this £100 was dis- 
 posed of, but Mr. William Etches pays £5 yearly as a charge for interest out of 
 a field of his in OfFcote. 
 
 Jane James, by will, dated 13th July, 1669, gave a rent-charge of £2 yearly 
 out of two fields in Roston, for the benefit of these alms-people. The rent- charge 
 is duly paid by the tenant of the land, and is applied as directed in the will. 
 
 Richard Peters, v;\\\, dated 18th of May, 1708, gave out of his lands in 
 the parish of Uttoxeter, the yearly sum of £4, to be distributed to the eight 
 inhabitants of these almshouses, every Midsummer- day. This sum is paid by 
 John Harrison, Esq. of Snelston, the owner of the property at Uttoxeter, and 
 it is applied as directed in the will. 
 
 Niclwlas Spalden, by will, dated 16tli April, 1710, gave to the Governors and 
 Assistants his lands in Parwich, in trust, for the benefit of the inmates of these 
 almshouses. The lands contain a. 13 Or. 34p. and are held by William Ellis, 
 at the rent of £39 per annum. 
 
 The whole rents allow the weekly sum of 2s. 6d. each to the eight alms- 
 people, and the overplus of £5 is applied for repairs of the houses, &c. 
 
 These almshouses are situated on the south side of Church-street, and are 
 inhabited by eight poor persons, widows or widowers, of the township of Ash- 
 bourn. When vacancies occur either in these or the other almshouses under 
 the management of the Govei*nors and Assistants, they are filled up at a meet- 
 ing holden after notice given, at which the candidates attend, and the election 
 is decided by a majority of the Governors and Assistants present. The persons 
 thus chosen are such as are not in the receipt of pai'ochial I'elief. 
 
 Pegg's Almshouses. — Christopher Pegg, by will, dated 12th June, 1669, 
 directed six almshouses to be erected on property of his in Ashbourn, for six 
 poor persons inhabiting the town, to be chosen by the Governors and Assist- 
 ants of the School, with the consent of his trustees. And for their maintenance 
 he gave his fai-m, &c. at Ashover and Wingerworth, occupied by Matthew 
 Briddon, in tmst, that the Governors and Assistants should pay the rents there- 
 of by even portions to the six alms-people. He also gave another farm in Ash- 
 over and Wingerworth, in possession of William Needham, in trust, that half 
 the rent thereof should be paid in even portions to the said alms-people. 
 
 These farms were in 1777 exchanged, (as before stated) for lands in Brails- 
 ford. Three-fifths of the rent is applied towards the support of the alms- 
 people, and the remainder is paid to the school account. 
 
 11 
 
82 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 German Pole, by will, dated 6tli October, 1G82, gave to the Governors and 
 Assistants several pieces of land lying^ near Mercaston Mill, in trust, to apply 
 the rents towards the maintenance of these six almspeople. This property con- 
 tains A.29 Or. 30p. and is occupied by George Mounteney, and the rent is 
 applied as above directed. 
 
 Part of the ground belonging the almshouses is let as a garden to Edward 
 Walker, Esq. for two guineas a year, which sum is equally divided among the 
 six almspeople, and is in addition to seven shillings per week which they each 
 receive from the rents of the Brailsford and Mercaston estates. Twenty shil- 
 lings' worth of clothing is also given to each poor person every two years out of 
 the surplus. 
 
 These almshouses are also situated in Church- street, contiguous to the last- 
 mentioned. They are occupied by six poor widows or widowers of the township 
 of Ashbourn. The mode of choosing the almspeople in this and the other 
 foundations has been already described^ but as those in Pegg's almshouses 
 enjoy greater advantages than those in Owfield's, it is the practice, on the 
 occurrence of a vacancy in the former, to fill it up with the person who has 
 been the longest time in the latter. 
 
 Spalden's Almshouses. — Nicholas Spalden, by will, dated 16th April, 1710, 
 gave to the Governors and Assistants of the school, all his messuages, lands, 
 &c. in Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland, in trust, to purchase land, in Ash- 
 bourn, and build thereon ten almshouses, to keep the same in repair, and pay 
 each of the almspeople a weekly sum of 2s. 6d, and give them each yearly, 
 clothing of the value of £1. 
 
 Thomas Chatterton, by will, dated 20th February, 1811, gave money in the 
 funds to the Governors and Assistants, for increasing the allowance of the poor 
 persons in Spalden's almshouses. The only money, however, derived from this 
 bequest was £80 ; but through the gift of Mr. Chatterton's next of kin, and a 
 public subscription in the town of Ashboura, a sufiicient sum was raised to 
 purchase £500 stock in the then four per cents, now new three and half. 
 The dividends thereof, amounting to £17 10s. are paid in weekly sums of 8d. 
 each to the ten alms-people ; the balance is equally divided among them. 
 
 These almshouses adjoin the churchyard. The persons appointed to them 
 are married men belonging to the to\vn of Ashbourn ; but when an alms-man 
 dies, his widow is usually permitted to remain in the house in which her hus- 
 band resided, and to receive the benefit of the charity. 
 
 Clergymen's Widows' Almshouses. — Nicholas Spalden, by will, dated 
 16th April, 1710, directed the Governors and Assistants, in case there should be 
 any surplus arising out of certain property mentioned in his will, to purchase 
 land, and build thereon 'fom- neat and pretty houses for entertaining the 
 widows of four clergymen of the Church of England', and to pay £10 yearly to 
 each of such widows so long as each woman should continue a widow. 
 
 The surplus was sufficient for this pm-pose, and the four houses were erected 
 on the south side of Church- street. They are occupied as directed by the will, 
 and the £10 paid annually to each of the widows. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 83 
 
 Isaac Hawkins, by will, gave a sum of money to trustees, to be laid out in 
 charitable uses as they should think proper, and part thereof was in 1804, laid 
 out in the purchase of £400 stock in the four per cents, (now reduced to three 
 and half) in the names of three of the Governors and Assistants ; the divi- 
 dends, being £14, a year, are duly paid to the widows, in equal shares, as 
 directed by the will. 
 
 The clergymen's widows are appointed to these almshouses, by the Governors 
 and Assistants, as vacancies occur, without any restriction, or reference to the 
 place of residence of their deceased husbands ; notices of such vacancies are 
 given by public advertisement. 
 
 Spalden's Schools. — Nicholas Spalden, by his will, directed the Governors 
 and Assistants of the Free Grammar School, out of any residue arising from 
 his will, to purchase land, and build thereon a school house for the instruction 
 of thirty poor boys, children of the inhabitants of the town of Ashbourn, until 
 they should be fit to go to the Free School of Ashbourn ; and to pay the School- 
 master £10 yearly. Also to purchase land and build thereon another school- 
 house for the instruction of thirty poor girls, children of the inhabitants of 
 Ashbourn, until they should be twelve years old; and to pay the school- 
 mistress £10 yearly. — There was sufficient to establish these schools, and they 
 are carried on as directed by the will. The master and mistress have each an 
 allowance of 30s. a year out of the overplus, for coals. 
 
 Field-Rents. — In the year 1625, some disputes arose in consequence of 
 certain persons having claimed a right to enclose some open lands, near Ash- 
 bourn- Green, to which lands the inhabitants of Ashbourn alleged they had 
 a right of common. In order to settle these disputes it was decreed by the 
 Duchy Court of Lancaster, on 10th February, 1625, that it should be lawful 
 for all owners of lands within [or adjoining] the said open fields, to inclose 
 the same, on paying yearly for the benefit of the town of Ashbourn, to the Go- 
 vernors and Assistants of the Free Grammar School there, the sum of Is. 6d. 
 per acre for every acre of the said fields so inclosed within twenty years past. — 
 By another decree of the same Court, on the Sth May, 1630, it was ordered 
 that a further sum of sixpence per acre should be paid in addition to the 
 before- mentioned Is. 6d. 
 
 The quantity of land liable to this charge is a. 146 2r. 20p., and the annual 
 sum received is £14 8s. 8d., which is usually applied (together with the sur- 
 plus of Spalden's charity) in purchasing coals to be disti'ibuted to the poor 
 inhabitants of the town of Ashbourn, in the winter season, as ordered by the 
 vestry- meeting on Easter Tuesday. 
 
 Bread Charity, — Nicholas Hurt, by deed, in 1637, gave a yearly rent- 
 charge of £5 out of his estate at Castern, in Stafibrdshire, to the Governors and 
 Assistants, to be laid out in bread, to be distributed weekly to twelve poor 
 persons of Ashbourn and Compton. The rent-charge is applied as directed. 
 
 Paul Taylor, by will, dated 24th December, 1640, gave to the Governors and 
 Assistants £50 to be laid out in land, the yearly rent thereof to be given weekly 
 
84 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 in bread to six of tlie poorest people of the toAvn of Ashbourn, wbicli poor people 
 are to enjoy the same during their lives. — The proceeds of this bequest, 
 amounting to £4 16s annually, are paid out of Little Field Close, now the 
 pi'operty of Sir William Boothby, Bart. 
 
 Eclwaxd Pegge, by will, dated 31st March, 1666, gave £5 4s. annually out of 
 his lands in Sturston, one half to be given weekly, in bread, to six poor inhabi- 
 tants of Ashbourn ; the other half to be given in like manner to the poor of 
 Osmaston, near Ashbourn. The sum of £2 12s. is paid out of the Gravel Pits 
 Farm, in Sturston, the property of Miss Bradley, and is expended as directed 
 in the will. 
 
 George Taylor, by will, dated 2nd March, 1668, gave to the Govem(^rs and 
 Assistants, and inhabitants of Ashbourn £100 to be placed out at interest, and 
 from the profit thereof he gave £2 12s. yearly, to be dealt every Sunday in 
 bread, to twelve poor inhabitants of the town. 
 
 Lectureship. — About the year 1630, Robert Bateman, Esq. and 'divers 
 otlier charitable persons inhabiting within the city of London, and counties of 
 Derby and Stafford,' raised the sum of £400 by voluntary contributions, towards 
 purchasing an annuity for the maintenance of an kble, pious, and orthodox 
 preacher, who should weekly preach two Sermons or Divinity Lectures 
 in Ashbourn : but if anj'thing should happen that the said pious work 
 should be hindered, then the said Lectures should be preached at some 
 other convenient town in Derbyshire, not above five miles from Ashbourn ; 
 and incase of disturbance at Ashbourn, or in any other place as aforesaid, 
 then the said annuity to go towards the relief and maintenance of the poor 
 of the town of Ashbourn. The money was about the year 1651 increased 
 by other contributions, and laid out in the purchase of an annuity of £40 
 per annum, out of property at Walton, near Chesterfield, to be applied to 
 the maintenance of a preacher, to be appointed hy certain trustees or their 
 successors. The rent-charge is paid by Sir Henry Hunloke, the owner of 
 the property at Walton. 
 
 Paul Taylor, by will, dated 24th December, 1640, gave XlO towards the 
 maintenance of Thursday Lecture, but if the lecture did not continue, the 
 sum was to go towards the maintenance of the lecturer for the time being. 
 He also gave the sum of £20 towards the maintenance of the lecturer to 
 preach a sermon on Good Frida3% for ever. 
 
 Nicholas Spalden^ by his will, gave £340 to trustees to place out at inte- 
 rest, and to pay thereout the yearly sum of £8 to the lecturer for reading 
 divine service every day in the week next preceding the first Sunday in 
 every month, and preaching a Sermon in the parish church on the last 
 Friday in every month. [In case these directions should not be complied 
 with, see further instructions on a subsequent page.] 
 
 Miscellaneous Charities. — Johane Denton, (wife of Richard Denton,) 
 by deed, lOth June, 1619, granted a rent-charge of £5 annually out of 
 lands in Sturston, Fenton, and Compton, of which £3 was to be distri 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 85 
 
 buted (with the advice of the minister for the time being) amongst the 
 poor widows and fatherless children inhabiting Ashbourn and Compton. 
 Also to pay a preacher at Ashbourn 10s. yearlj. 
 
 To the Governors and Assistants, for the instruction of poor children 
 10s. yearly. 
 
 To the Churchwardens, for repairing the church, 10s. yearly. 
 To the Constables, for the repairs of the three Bridges, the Market- 
 Cross, the Common Well, and the Highways of Ashbourn, 10s. yearly. 
 
 Edivard Shaw and Johane Benton, out of the rent-charge before-mentioned 
 ordered the yearly sum of £2 10s. to be distributed, with the advice of the 
 Governors and Assistants and the Minister, amongst the poor widows and 
 fatherless children of Ashbourn and Compton ; and after the decease of 
 two persons mentioned in the deed, the further sum of 10s. yearly, to be 
 distributed in like manner. 
 
 Also to the Preacher at Ashbourn, 30s. yearly for ever. 
 
 To the Governors and Assistants, for teaching poor children, 10s. yearly. 
 
 Paul Taylor, by his will, gave the Governors and Assistants £20 towards 
 the maintenance of the Lecturer. 
 
 Also £15, the profit thereof to be distributed among the poorest widows, 
 widowers, and impotent people of Ashbourn, on Good Friday for ever. 
 
 Also 20 marks towards raising a stock to set poor people on work. 
 
 Also five marks to buy Books of Acts and Monuments, to be laid safe in 
 some convenient place in the church. 
 
 Robert Webster^ by deed, 28th INIarch, 1659, in consideration of a sum of 
 money paid to him by Paul Taylor's widow, granted a rent-charge out of 
 his land, 52s. of which was for bread for six poor people weekly ; 24s. for 
 poor widows, widowers, and impotent people, of Ashbourn, on Good 
 Friday; and 20s. for the poor of Ovvfield's Almshouses. The consideration 
 given to Robert Webster for this rent-charge, was the £12 10s. given by 
 Paul Taylor, for the use of the poor in Owfield's almshouses; the £50 for 
 bread ; and the £15 for the poor widows, &c. 
 
 The money is now paid by Sir William Boothby, Bart, the owner of the 
 land charged with the same. 
 
 George Taylor, by his will before-mentioned, gave to the Governors and 
 Assistants, and inhabitants of Ashbourn, £100 to be lent on good security 
 to ten young tradesmen, at five per cent, out of which interest 52s. was to 
 be paid weekly in bread, to twelve poor inhabitants of the town ; 8s. to the 
 poor in Owfield's almshouses ; 20s. to be given by the overseers to forty 
 poor housekeepers, yearly every Christmas; and 20s. yearly to the Vicar 
 or Minister to preach a sermon annually, in which the legacies given by 
 himself and his brother Paul Taylor, should be mentioned, to stir up the 
 charity of others. And in case good security could not be given for the 
 money, then he empowered his executors to buy so much land as would 
 pay £5 annually till his heir came of age, and then settle the said annual 
 rent out of his own lands for ever, he receiving the £100. 
 
86 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 It is not known how this £]00 was disposed of, but a yearly sum of £5 
 is paid by Mr. Etches, out of Sole Meadow, which formerly belonged to 
 the Taylors. 
 
 He also gave out of his Long.doles land, 20s. yearly for the repairs of 
 the church and steeple ; and 20s. yearly out of the same land for the 
 increase of the Schoolmasters' salary, provided that the said land should 
 never be inclosed, and the poor barred of the right of putting in their 
 cattle. Sampson Gather holds the land, and pays £5 as rent for two acres, 
 (one-half the field) which is applied to the Schoolmasters ; the rent of the 
 remaining half of the field, is received by the Churchwardens for the 
 repairs of the church, as directed by the will. 
 
 Christopher Pegge, by will, gave to the Governors and Assistants, certain 
 lands in Ashover and Wingerworth, (subsequently exchanged for land in 
 Brailsford,) of which half the profits were to be distributed yearly to the 
 most indigent people of Ashbourn. The sum of £18 18s 2d. (the propor- 
 tion) is paid in small sums to the poor of the town on St. Thomas's Day. 
 
 John Hamon^ by will, dated 13th January, 1610, charged his lands in 
 Ashbourn with the payment of £5 annually to the Churchwardens, to be by 
 them distributed at Easter and Michaelmas, to such poor of the town as 
 they should think in most need. 
 
 Nicholas Spaldcn, by will, gave £340 to Trustees to be placed out at 
 interest, to pay £8 yearly to the Vicar of Ashbourn, for reading divine 
 service morning and evening, every Wednesday and Friday throughout 
 the year. 
 
 Also to pay £8 yearly to the Lecturer. 
 
 Also to pay 20s. yearly to the person appointed to ring the bell on those 
 occasions. 
 
 If the above directions should not be complied with, then he gava 40s. a 
 year to the poor of Snelston, 20s. to the poor of Clifton, 40s. to the poor of 
 Mayfield, 20s. to the poor of Mappleton, and the remaining £11 to be laid 
 out in coal for the poor of Ashbourn in the winter season. 
 
 If there should be any sui-plus after all liis legacies and bequests were 
 performed, he gave the same to the Governors and Assistants, to be disposed 
 of by them, for the public benefit of the Town of Ashbourn, and they to give 
 an account in writing, of their management and transactions, every year on 
 Easter Tuesday, at a public meeting of the parish, in the church, to be read 
 and perused by the inhabitants of Ashbourn. 
 
 Catharine Port, by a coiicil to her will, 9th February, 1724, confirmed all the 
 charities given by her father, John Port, Esq., one of which was £5, to be 
 given in wool, or money, to the poor of Ashbourn, annually. 
 
 This payment is now made by Jesse Watts Russell, Esq. 
 
 Elizabeth Buxton, by will, dated the 11th July, 1730, gave to the Vicar of 
 Ashbourn, 10s. yearly, to preach a sermon ; also 5s. yearly to the Ringei-s, to 
 ring a solemn peal ; and 20s. yearly for forty poor housekeepers of the Town- 
 ship of Ashbourn, to be distributed bv the Overseers by 6d. each. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 87 
 
 Mr. Ralph Toplis of Winster, (the owner of the property in Ashbourn 
 charged with these payments) pays these sums for the sermon, &c., on St. 
 Swithin's day. 
 
 Gisborne's Charity. — This Charity was founded by the Rev. Francis 
 Gisbonie, by deed, dated 1817, and was afterwards augmented by will, dated 
 1818. It consists of a large sum of money in the funds; the dividends of 
 which are divided in equal portions, among one hundred rectories, vicarages, 
 and curacies, in the county of Derby, to be applied by each Rector, &c., in 
 the purchase of flannel and woollen cloth, to be distributed among the poor of 
 each pai-ish every Christmas. Among the places mentioned in the Schedule 
 is Ashbourn, the vicar of which receives the sum of £5 10s. annually, which 
 he distributes as above directed. 
 
 Dame Susannah Boothby, by will, dated 30th April, 1817, gave the 
 remainder of her money in the Stocks, after payment of her debts, to be 
 equally divided between four different Parishes there named, one of which 
 is Ashbourn. Nothing has yet been received from this source. 
 
 Cooper's Charity. — John Cooper, of Clerkenwell, London, by deed, dated 
 Jan. 5, 1801, gave £3,500 in the thi-ee per cents, stock, and a further sum of 
 £1000, to be invested therein ; to the trustees of Lady Huntingdon's College, Che- 
 shunt, Herts, in trust, for the maintenance, of six poor persons inhabiting the 
 six alms-houses, which he had previously erected; and for the support of the 
 Minister and the maintenance of divine worship, in the Zion Chapel, 
 adjoining. 
 
 Out of the dividends, the almspeople receive each ten guineas yearly; the 
 remainder is applied for the support of the minister, the maintenance of divine 
 worship and to defray other necessary expenses. 
 
 The minister of the chapel and the alms-people are appointed by the 
 trustees of Cheeshunt College. The committee for the management of 
 the chapel have usually the nomination of the person who succeeds to an 
 alms-house, on the occurrence of a vacancy. 
 
 In addition to the Charities already mentioned, there is a well-regulated 
 Dispensary for the poor of the town and neighbourhood. The number of 
 patients on the books in the year 1837, exceeded one hundred. 
 
 The Bible and Missionary Societies, and other religious Institutions 
 (connected both with the established Church and with congregations of 
 Dissenters,) have each their several branches in the town, and large sums 
 are annually contributed to their support. 
 
 There are in the town a flourishing Savings' Bank, and several Benefit 
 Societies. Also two News Rooms, a Moral and Religious Permanent 
 Library, two Book Societies, and several Circulating Libraries. 
 
 The Banking House of Messrs. Arkwright and Co., and the Commercial 
 Bank of England have branches in the town. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ancient Families, — Particulars of the Mining Inquisitions held in the Town. — 
 Conference for the suppression of " Tutbury Bull- Running" — Description of 
 the Sport. — Bull-baiting. 
 
 Among the first families besides those of the lords of 
 the manor already mentioned, that seem to have ac- 
 quired possessions or to have held estates in Ashbourn, 
 is that which derives its name from the place ; but the 
 times in which its first members lived being so remote, 
 but few particulars can be discovered relative to their 
 history. On the granting of a charter to the town of 
 Uttoxeter, in the 36th year of the reign of Henry III., by 
 William de Fen'ers, Earl of Derby, a Robert de Esseburne 
 is one of the principal witnesses. In the fourth year of 
 Edward I. this Robert de Esseburne or his immediate 
 descendant was possessed of Campdene Street, [Compton] 
 which was then a country village,* and had most likely 
 been granted to him or his ancestor by one of the lords of 
 Tutbuiy. A Robert de Essebourn represented the county 
 in three several parliaments of Edward I. In the succeed- 
 ing reign flourished Thomas Ashburae, a celebrated divine. 
 "He was bom" says Dr. Fuller, "at that well-known 
 market-town in the county of Derby, and not in Stafford- 
 shire, as others have mistaken. He became an Augus- 
 tinian, went to Oxford and took his degree of D.D. He 
 
 *See page 11. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 89 
 
 was a great opponent of Wickliffe, and in the synod where- 
 in his doctrines were condemned for heresie, by ten bishops, 
 twenty lawyers, and forty-four divines, he was one of the 
 latter number. Yet once he did some good, or rather 
 diverted much evil. It happened that one Peter PatishuU, 
 an Augustinian, preaching in London, had some passages 
 in favour of Wickliffe, which so displeased those of his own 
 order, that they plucked him out of the pulpit, dragged 
 him into the convent of Augustines, (near Broad-Street,) 
 intending more violence to his person. This allarumed the 
 Londoners, (amongst whom a considerable party of Wick- 
 liffites) to rescue poor Patishull ; In their rage they would 
 have burnt the convent about the friars' ears, had not our 
 Ashburne, with his tears and intreaties seasonably inter- 
 ceded."* 
 
 One of the numerous branches of the family oi Beresford 
 has long been settled in Ashbourn. The name of this 
 ancient family first appears in the train of William the 
 Conqueror ; and a John de Beresford was lord of Beresford, 
 in the county of Stafford, in the reign of William Rufus. 
 The illustrious Beresfords of Ireland are descended from 
 Humphrey, the seventh son of Thomas Beresford, a warrior, 
 who resided at Fenny Bentley in the time of Henry VI. 
 Other branches also resided at Broadlow Ash and Newton 
 Grange : the latter estate was sold by Richard, the father 
 of the late John Beresford, Esq. of Ashbourn.f 
 
 The elder branch of the opulent family of Hurt, of 
 Alderwasley and Wirksworth, (whose name is found in the 
 foregoing list of benefactors,) flourished in Ashbourn for 
 four generations previously to the visitation ordered by the 
 Heralds' Office, in the reign of Elizabeth, A.D. 1569. The 
 pedigree of the family was then entered by Thomas Hurt, 
 gent, of AshbouiTi. This branch terminated about the 
 close of the seventeenth century, by the marriage of the 
 
 ♦Fuller's Worthies. fFor a more particular account of the different 
 branches of the family, seo " Fenny Bentley" and " Broadlow Ash." 
 12 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 •heiress with a Byrom. The younger branches of the 
 family were seated at Kniveton, Casterne, and Alderwas- 
 ley. The latter estate has been in their possession for 
 above one hundred and eighty years, and is now the pro- 
 perty of Francis Hurt, Esq. M.P. 
 
 Another ancient family long resident in Ashbourn, is 
 that of Dale^ formerly of Flagg, in Derbyshire. Robert 
 Dale, Esq. of Ashbourn, served the office of High Sheriff 
 for the county in 1786. He was also commandant of the 
 late Ashbourn Troop of Volunteer Infantry. 
 
 Edward Manlove, Esq. Steward of the Barmote Court 
 for the lead mines within the Wapentake of Wirksworth, 
 in the seventeenth century, was a resident in Ashbourn. 
 He published a curious work in verse, on the customs and 
 rights of the miners of Derbyshire, compiled from the 
 Exchequer Rolls, and from inquisitions taken in different 
 reigns. 
 
 The lead-ore, which forms the chief natural product of 
 Derbyshire, was a very important article of commerce 
 under the government of the Romans. The fact is proved 
 by the numerous pigs or blocks of lead, bearing Latin in- 
 scriptions, which have been discovered in the mining dis- 
 tricts. " In Britain" says Pliny, "in the very upper crust 
 of the ground, lead is dug up in such plenty, that a law 
 was made on purpose t9 stint them to a set quantity"* 
 The mines in the Peak and in the Wapentake of Wirks- 
 worth were regarded as the peculiar domain of the crown 
 at a very early period, and as such they are mentioned in 
 Domesday-Book. 
 
 The Kings of England were always jealous of their mine- 
 ral rights, and several of them after the Conquest, would 
 not suffer their mines to be wrought. In 1246, Henry III. 
 executed a writ of enquiry as to his mineral possessions in 
 Derbyshire ; and the inquisition was held at Ashbourn. 
 It was then given for the King, that the mines in the 
 
 ♦Gibson's Translation of Camden. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 91 
 
 High Peak, in the county of Derby, and those in the forest- 
 of Mendip, in the county of Somerset, were the prerogative 
 royal of the crown, and not the property of those who had 
 long worked them; but the King permitted the miners to 
 proceed till further order, on condition that they paid to 
 him every thirteenth dish of lead-ore. In the 16th year 
 of Edward I. another inquisition was held at Ashbourn, 
 when it was again proved that the right to the minerals 
 was vested in the crown. The following is a translated 
 copy of the writ of inquisition, from the Exchequer Rolls : 
 
 ^' Derby. —Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, lord of Ireland, 
 and duke of Acquitain, to the sheriff of the county of Derby greeting : Know ye 
 that we have assigned our faithful and well-beloved Reynold of the Ley (Lea) 
 and William ofMemill (Meynell) to inquire by the oaths of good and lawful 
 men, of your county, by the which the truth may be best known, of the liberty 
 which our miners do claim to have in those parts, and which they have hither- 
 to been used to have, and by what means, and how, and from what time, and 
 by what warrant. And therefore we do command, that at a certain day and 
 place, which the said Reynold and William shall appoint thee, Thou shall 
 cause to come before them so many, and such good and lawful men of thy 
 bailiwick, by the which may there the best be known in the premises by the 
 inquiry, and that thou have there the writ. Witness our well-beloved cousin, 
 Edmund Earl of Cornwall, at Westminster, the 28th day of April, in the six- 
 teenth year of our reign. By William of Hamhleton, and at the instance of 
 Hugh of Cressingham, the day is appointed at Ashbourn, upon Saturday next, 
 after the feast of the Holy Trinity." 
 
 The rule established by Henry III. and confirmed by his 
 successor, was extended by other Kings till the time of 
 Philip and Mary. Queen Elizabeth, in the 16th year of 
 her reign, granted all her mineral possessions in this 
 county to a society or corporation. * 
 
 *The mineral laws and customs are very curious. They consist of a body of 
 regulations, framed upon ancient rights, customs, and immunities, applying 
 particularly to that portion of the county called " the King's Field," which com- 
 prises the hundreds of the High Peak and the Wapentake of Wirksworth, with 
 the exception of some few estates. These laws originally authorised any man 
 or set of men to enter at any time any part of the King's Field, to dig or search 
 for veins of lead-ore,' without being accountable to the owner or occupier of the 
 soil for iiny (l;uii;ige Mhich they did to the surface, or even to the growing crops_, 
 At present, however, it is held, that unless a miner procures ore enough from 
 
92 
 
 HISTOEY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 In the year 1778, a meeting or conference took place at 
 Ashboum, attended by fifteen deputies from each of the 
 counties of Derby and Stafford, to concert measures for the 
 suppression of a barbarous custom long practised in the 
 town of Tutbury. The custom alluded to, that called 
 ''bull-running,'' is supposed to have been instituted by 
 John of Gaunt, in imitation of the bull-feasts of Spain, the 
 native country of his Queen, who for some time resided 
 at the Castle of Tutbury j and it appears originally to have 
 formed the concluding scene of a festival held in that town, 
 denominated " The Minstrels' Court."* Though the more 
 pleasing part of that festival has long ceased to exist, its 
 cruel and revolting features have survived till a compara- 
 tively recent date. "As the minstrels' court fell into disuse, 
 a mixed multitude of the inhabitants of each county joined 
 in this dangerous amusement: all authority was set at 
 
 any search he may make after a vein to free the same, that is to pay the King 
 or his lessee a dish of ore, he is liable to the occupier for all damage he may 
 have done him. In the King's Field are certain officers appointed, called bar- 
 masters, and mineral courts are held, at which a jury of twenty-four miners de- 
 cide all questions respecting the duties payable to the King or his lessee, and 
 to the working of the mines by those to whom the bar-master has given pos- 
 session. When a miner has found a new vein of ore, provided it be not in an 
 orchard, garden, high-road, or churchyard, he may obtain an exclusive title to 
 it, on application to the bar-master. In general, a thirteenth part of the ore 
 is due to the King or his lessee, but the proportion taken is seldom more than a 
 twenty-fifth. The brazen-dish by which the measures of the ore are regulated, 
 is deposited in the Moot Hall, at Wirksworth. It bears the following inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 " This Dishe was made the iiij day of October the iiij yere of the Reigne of 
 Kyng Henry the viii before George Erie of Shrowesbury Steward of the Kyng's 
 most Honourable household and also Steward of all the honour of Tutbery by 
 the assent and Consent as wele of all the Mynours as of all the Brenners with- 
 in and Adioyning the iordshyp of WyrksAvorth percell of the said honour. This 
 Dishe to Remayne In the Moote Hall at Wyrliswyrth hangyng by a cheyne So 
 as the Merchanntes or Mynoui's may have resorle to the same at all tymes to 
 make the trw mesure after the same." 
 
 The mineral duties of the King's Field are let on lease, the present farmer 
 of those in the High Peak, is the Duke of Devonshiie; and of those in the Low 
 Peak, Richard Arkwright, Esq.-— G7oj;e?'s Hhtonj of Derbyshire — Beauties of 
 Eiigland and Waks^ 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 03 
 
 defiance ; this feast of harmony was disgraced by the dis- 
 cordant brawlings of drunken revellers ; the peace of the 
 place was perpetually broken ; and every friend to human- 
 ity and good order anxiously desired the abolition of a 
 custom equally productive of cruelty and outrage."* In 
 1778 the usual day of * running the buU' happened on the 
 Sunday, and although of course the ceremony was deferred 
 until the morrow, the bull was paraded round the town, 
 and the sacred day polluted by the drunkenness and quar- 
 relling of the assembled crowds ; during which one indivi- 
 dual lost his life. This occurrence afforded a fit opportu- 
 nity for attempting the suppression of the custom. A 
 petition setting forth the evil effects resulting from it, was 
 presented to the Duke of Devonshire,t who consulted the 
 king on the subject; and at the recommendation of govern- 
 
 *Sir O. Mosley's History of Tutbury. 
 The custom of the bull-running was celebrated on the feast of the Assump- 
 tion, in the following manner : " All the minstrels within the honor came early 
 on that (lay to the house of the bailiff of the manor of Tutbury, and from thence 
 to the parish church in procession ; the king of the minstrels for the yeai- past, 
 walking between the steward and bailiff of the manor, attended by the four 
 stewards of the king of the minstrels, each with a white wand in their hands, 
 and the rest of the company following in ranks of two and two together, with 
 the music playing before them. After service was ended, they proceeded in 
 the same order from the church to the castle hall, where the said steward and 
 bailiff took their seats, placing the king of the minstrels between them, whose 
 duty it is to cause every minstrel dwelling within the honor who makes default, 
 to be presented and amerced. The court of the minstrels is then opened in the 
 usual way, and proclamation made, that every minstrel dwelling within the 
 honor of Tutbury, in any of the counties of Stafford, Derby, Nottingham, Lei- 
 cester, or Warwick, should draw near and give his attendance ; and that if any 
 man would be assigned of suit or plea, he should come in and be heai'd. Then 
 all the musicians being called over by a court-roll, two juries are impanelled, 
 one for Staffordshire, and one for the other counties, whose names being deli- 
 vered in to the stewai'd, and called over, and appearing to be full juries, the 
 foreman of each is sworn, and then the rest of them in the manner usual in 
 other courts. The steward then proceeds to charge them, first commending to 
 their consideration the antiquity and excellency of all music, both on wind and 
 stringed instruments ; and the effect it has upon the passions, proving the same 
 
 f High Steward of the Honor. 
 
94 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 ment, the meeting at Ashbourn was called, which led to 
 its final abolition. 
 
 Another sport, that of bull-baiting, closely allied, in its 
 character and effects, to that just mentioned, was for many 
 years practised in Ashbourn. The period of its intro- 
 duction is unknown, but there is strong reason to suppose, 
 from the connexion anciently existing between the two 
 
 by various examples ; how the use of it has always been allowed in praising 
 and glorifying God ; and skill in it esteemed so highly, that it has always been 
 ranked amongst the liberal arts, and admired in all civilized states; exhorting 
 them, upon this account, to be very careful to make choice of such men to be 
 officers amongst them as fear God, are of good life and conversation, and have 
 knowledge and skill in the practice of the art. After the officers for the next 
 year have been elected, the jurors depart out of the court, and the steward with 
 his assistants, and the king of the minstrels, in the meantime partake of a ban- 
 quet, during which the other musicians play upon their several instruments: 
 but as soon as the jurors return, they present the new king whom they have 
 chosen ; upon which the old king, rising from his seat, delivers to him his wand 
 of office, and then drinks a cup of wine to his health and prosperity; in like 
 manner the old stewards salute the new, and resign their offices to their suc- 
 cessors. The court then rises, and all repair to another large room within the 
 castle, where a plentiful dinner is provided for them ; after which the minstrels 
 went anciently to the priory gate, but after the dissolution, to a barn near the 
 town, in expectation of the bull being turned loose for them. This bull was 
 formerly found by the prior of Tutbury, but afterwards by the Duke of Devon- 
 shire, who enjoyed the priory lands. The animals horns were sawed off, his 
 ears cropped, his tail cut off to the stump, all his body smeared over with soap, 
 and his nostrils blown full of pounded pepper : whilst this inhuman prepara- 
 tion is in progress, the stewai-d makes proclamation that all manner of persons 
 should give way to the bull, no person coming nearer unto him than forty feet, 
 except the minstrels; but that all should attend to their own safety, every one 
 at his peril: thus enraged to the utmost, the poor animal is then turned out to 
 be taken by the minstrels, and none else within the county of Stafford, between 
 the time of his being turned out, and the setting of the sun on the same day. 
 If the bull escapes, he remains the property of the person who gave him ; but if 
 any of the minstrels can take and lay hold of him, so as to cut off a small por- 
 tion of hair, and bring the same to the market-cross, in proof of their having 
 taken him, the bull is then brought to the bailiff's house, where a collar and 
 rope arc fastened to him, by which he is brought to the bull-ring in the high 
 street, and there baited with dogs ; after which the minstrels had him for their 
 own, and might sell, kill, and divide him amongst themselves, as they thought 
 fit—rioU's StnfforcMire. 
 
HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 95 
 
 places, that it was established in imitation of the " bull- 
 running" at Tutbury. The annual wake was the season 
 at which this disgraceful exhibition took place. The 
 bull, provided expressly for the purpose, was tied or chained 
 to a ring in the market-place, and in that situation was 
 subjected to the repeated attacks of dogs of the most 
 ferocious breed. The reader may be spared a recital of the 
 cruelties inflicted on the unoffending animal, or of the suf- 
 ferings of his canine assailants ; it is sufficient to state that 
 they were such as grievously outraged the feelings of every 
 friend of the brute creation. The town was on these occa- 
 sions the resort of the idle and the dissipated of the sur- 
 rounding countiy, and the scene presented was in many 
 respects analogous to that which has been described as 
 having occurred at Tutbury. 
 
 On a calm review of the past, it will appear surprising 
 to every unprejudiced mind, that a custom whose obvious 
 tendency was to foster and encourage the worst passions of 
 our nature, and whose practice was always productive of 
 intemperance and disorder, should in later times have been 
 supported or tolerated. Its existence for so long a period 
 after it had been rendered penal by act of Parliament, 
 shows in a remarkable manner how slowly and unwillingly 
 obedience is rendered to enactments which, as in this case, 
 are opposed to the mistaken prejudices of the people. 
 
 It is proper to remark, that the majority of the inhabi- 
 tants of Ashbourn participated not in the brutal pastime, 
 and that many strenuous though abortive efforts were 
 made by them to wipe away this stain in the character 
 of the town. More stringent legislative enactments have 
 at length effected its suppression, and since the passing of 
 Mr. Pease's act in 1835, the practice has been discontinued. 
 
 *Bull-baiting was prevalent in England as early the twelfth century. A still 
 more cruel sport was then sometimes exhibited, in which a horse, haltered to a 
 stake or tree, was baited by dogs. 
 
90 
 
 HISTORY OF ASHBOURN. 
 
 It has been supposed by some that Ashbourii had an- 
 ciently a mayor and corporation, and that evidence of 
 their existence may be traced in the annual celebration of 
 the mayor's feast ^ which formerly took place in the town. 
 This custom, however, it is well known, prevails in many 
 small towns and villages, which could never have been 
 incorporated. It was observed at Ashbourn in the year 
 1741, as appears from the following note of invitation, 
 addressed " To John Borrows, Esq. at Derby" : — 
 
 " Sir Nathaniel Curzon (pi-esent Mayor of Ashbourne) intends to have the 
 annual flfeast for the Corporation at the Black's Head, on Thousday, the 15th 
 Day of September, when and where he desires your company to dine with him 
 and assist in choosing his successor. Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 " 9th September, 1741." "Jo : Allsop, Recorder." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Notices of Offcote and Undei-wood, Clifton, Edlaston, Yeaveley, Hungi'y 
 Bentley, Alkmanton, Longford, Brailsford, Shirley, Osmaston, Bradley^ 
 HuUand, Atlow, Kniveton, Hognaston, Bradboum, Tissington, Parwich, 
 Fenny Bentley, Thorpe, and Broadlow Ash. 
 
 Offcote* and Underwood, a liberty belonging to and 
 adjoining Ashbourn, contains about 328 inhabitants, who 
 are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits. The manorial 
 rights of the liberty are vested in the daughter and heiress 
 of the late John Hayne, Esq. of Ashboum-Green Hall. 
 
 One mile north of Ashbourn, on the Buxton-road, (in 
 the same liberty,) is Sandy-brook Hall, an elegant modem 
 erection, the seat of Sir Matthew Blakiston, Bart.f 
 
 Clifton, with the west side of Compton, form a town- 
 ship and constabulary in the parish of Ashbourn, in a 
 detached part of the hundred of Morleston and Litchurch. 
 The village of Clifton is situated about a mile and-a-half 
 south-west of Ashbourn. At the time of the Domesday 
 survey it was found that " In Cliptune Leuric and Levenot 
 had three carucates of land to he taxed, land to three 
 
 *Ophidicotes, (Offcote,) a berwick of Ashboum, was in possession of the King 
 at the Norman survey. 
 
 fSir Matthew Blakiston, Bart, is descended from Matthew Blakiston, Esq., 
 an eminent merchant of London, who was elected an alderman of that city in 
 1750, sheriff in 1753, and lord mayor in 1760. In 1759 he was knighted, and 
 was afterwards created a baronet. — Debrctfs Baronetage. 
 1-6 
 
98 
 
 CLIFTON. — EDLASTON. 
 
 ploughs, eight villanes and Jive hordars have now there four 
 ploughs and four acres of meadow. Value in King 
 Edward^ s time 40^. now 106-., and then belonged to Ralph 
 Fitz Hubert:' 
 
 The manors of Great and Little Clifton belonged to the 
 Cokaynes,* of Ashbourn, in the reigns of Henry VII., 
 Henry VIII., and Queen Elizabeth; they are said to 
 have held them under the Fitzherberts, of Norbury. The 
 manors afterwards came to the family of Hayne, and Miss 
 Hayne is the present proprietor. 
 
 The ancient chapel at Clifton was taken down about 
 the year 1750, and part of the materials were used to repair 
 the chancel of Ashbourn church. 
 
 Edlaston, in Domesday-Book written Edolveston, a 
 village, township, and parish in the hundred of Appletree, 
 is about three miles south of Ashbourn. The manor was 
 given by one of the Ferrers family to the Priory of Tutbury. 
 Henry VIII. granted it to William, Lord Paget, who sold 
 it soon afterwards to Sir Edward Aston, knight. It then 
 came to the Eyres, of Hassop, who sold it to Mr. Daniel 
 Morley, of Ashbourn, and from his devisee in trust it was 
 bought by the ancestor of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne. The 
 
 ♦What is now termed " Ashbourn Lodge Farm," in the parish of Clifton, 
 was probably one of the " three fayre parks," impaled by Sir Thomas Cokayne, 
 in the time of Henry VIII. See ante p. 64. 
 
 Ashbourn and Clifton were in 1645 visited by that fearful malady the 
 Plague. In the accounts of the churchwardens and constables of Uttoxcter, the 
 following items occur : — 
 
 " 1645. August 26th: Paid to Ashbum by the Churchwardens of Uttoxeter 
 when the town was infested with the Plague, £3." 
 
 " Paid to the inhabitants of Clifton, when the Plague was there, £5." 
 
 A monumental inscription in Chesterfield Church, to the memory of Paul 
 Webster, a native of Ashbourn, states that * his removals from Ashbourn were 
 occasioned by the plague and civil wars.' [The ancient registers, and other 
 public documents of the parish of Ashbourn, which it is reasonable to suppose 
 would contain some information relative to these events, have most unaccount- 
 ably disappeared.] 
 
 Charities.— The sum of 13s. 4d. is paid annually by the lady of the manor 
 to the overseers of Clifton, who distribute it in bread to the poor of the township. 
 
YEAEVLEY. 
 
 99 
 
 present lord of the manor is John Harrison, Esq., of Snels- 
 ton Halh The church is an ancient structure, dedicated 
 to St. James. The parish, including the hamlet of Wyaston, 
 contains about 225 inhabitants ; and the annual value of 
 the property is assessed at £1,784. 
 
 Yeaveley, anciently Glieveli, is a chapelry and town- 
 ship in the parish of Shirley, (hundred of Appletree.) 
 Here there was formerly a Hermitage,* which with the 
 lands and appurtenances, were given in the reign of 
 Richard II. to the Knights Hospitallers, whereupon it 
 became a preceptory to that order. t It was dedicated to 
 St. Mary and St. John the Baptist. Sir William Meynell, 
 
 ♦Tradition states that this Hermitage stood by the road-side in the village ; 
 and a dwelling-house, evidently built on the foundation of an ancient building, 
 is still shewn as its site. 
 
 " Solitude was an essential characteristic of hermitages, and they were par- 
 ticularly seated in the forests. The hermitage of Warkworth was one of the 
 sweetest retirements in the known world, being a most elegant cavern hewn 
 out of a rock J but that at Tottenham was, I believe, a house with apartments, 
 unless these were modern. The hermitage of S. Briavel was a chaniry of two 
 monks; and had demesne lands, on which corn was grown. Gaidens were 
 appendages to them, and it seems hermits were in the habit of labouring in 
 agriculture. (Fiacre, the eminent hermit, thought it necessary " to make a 
 grete gardin, where he sholde have alle manere of herbs good for to make 
 potage with for to fede the poure." Wulfa, a Dane, near his hermitage cul- 
 tivated gardens. Another made a turning bridge over a ditch. Sometimes 
 they had allowances from the crown. Some were placed in churches to look 
 after them ; Godric, of Finchall, maintained himself by a small field, which 
 he dug himself and gave away as much besides as he could : they are also 
 coupled with laymen in respect to living by different trades and manual labour. 
 Alms-boxes were annexed to them. They were the gi'eat cmporia of the village 
 news : and were to be near towns or abbies, where they could meet M'ith suste- 
 nance. But sometimes they were neither the solitary nor comfortable habita- 
 tions which might from the preceding description, be supposed." — Fosbrooke's 
 British Monachism. 
 
 f Hospitals were originally designed for relief and entertainment of travellers 
 upon the road, and particularly of pilgrims : and therefore were generally 
 built upon the road's side. In later time they have always been founded for 
 fixed inhabitants. — Dugdales Monasticon Anglicanum. [The Hospital of 
 Yeavely or Stydd, appears to have been of the latter description. Its revenues 
 were partly derived from property in Ashbourn. See ante p. 11. The steep 
 ascent to the south of the town on the road to the Hospital, is termed in ancient 
 deeds, ' The \SpUaI Hili:] 
 
100 
 
 HUNGRY BENTLEY. ALKMANTON. 
 
 lord of the town, was in 1268, a great benefactor to this 
 hospital. At the dissolution of the monasteries in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. it was granted, together with the 
 preceptory of Barrow, in Cheshire, to Charles, Lord Mount- 
 joy. Some remains of a chapel which is supposed to have 
 belonged to the Hospital, are still existing near Stydd 
 Hall. They consist of part of the south wall, having seve- 
 ral pointed windows in the style of the thirteenth century, 
 with the pillars clustered, and their capitals beautifully 
 foliated; the whole being in fine preservation. Near 
 these ruins, and corresponding in date, is a remarkably 
 curious font. 
 
 Stydd Hall, once a substantial edifice, has been suf- 
 fered to fall into decay, and is at present tenanted as a 
 farm-house. 
 
 Hungry Bentley, so called to distinguish it from Fenny 
 Bentley, is a small village, township, and constabulary in 
 the parish of Longford, four miles south-west of Ashbourn. 
 The manor, at the Domesday SuiTcy was part of the 
 immense possessions of Henry de FeiTers. It afterwards 
 descended to the Blount family, and from them to the 
 Brownes, who had here ' an old house and a large park.' 
 The representative of the family now resides at Chester- 
 field. Sir Robert Wilmot, Bart, is the present lord of the 
 manor. 
 
 Alkmanton, is a village, township, and constabulary 
 also in the parish of Longford. This lordship was part of 
 the lands of Henry de Ferrers. In 25 Edward I. Ralf de 
 Bakepuize and his descendant Galfred de Bakepuize held 
 it. After which it came to the family of Blount, and 
 continued in it till it came either by marriage or purchase 
 to William Barnsley, Esq., of Alkmanton. The estate 
 afterwards came in succession to the Brownes, Earl Ches- 
 terfield, and Earl Stanhope ; by the latter it was sold to 
 the late Thomas Evans, Esq. of Derby, and it is now the 
 property of his grandson, William Evans, Esq. of AUestree,* 
 
 *See Glorcr's Derbyshire, Vol. i. p. lo, 16. 
 
LONGFORD. 
 
 101 
 
 Between the villages of Bentley and Alkmanton there 
 stood another religious house, — the Hospital of St. 
 Leonard. Walter Blount, (Lord Mountjoy,) in 1474, 
 bequeathed £10 per annum to the Hospital, for the main- 
 tenance of seven poor men, not under 55 years of age ; 
 (old servants of the lord of the manor of Barton, or other 
 lordships belonging to the patron of the college to be 
 preferred.) These pensioners were to have pasture for 
 seven cows in Barton Park, fuel from Lord Mountjoy' s 
 manors, and every third year a gown and hood of white 
 or russet cloth, alternately marked with a cross of red. 
 They were to pray for the souls of Lord Mountjoy, his 
 family and ancestors ; the Duke of Buckingham, Earl 
 Rivers, Sir John Woodville, and the ancient lords of the 
 hospital, and to repeat the psalter of the Virgin Mary 
 twice every day in the chapel of the Hospital. Lord 
 Mountjoy directed also that a chapel dedicated to Saint 
 Nicholas, shovild be built at Alkmanton, and that the 
 master of the Hospital should say mass in it yearly, on the 
 festival of St. Nicholas. Dugdale states that there are 
 now no remains of the Hospital or of the chapel of St. 
 Nicholas.* At Bentley, however, some vestiges of a church 
 are to be seen. 
 
 Longford, anciently, Laganford, a village, township, 
 and parish in the hundred of Appletree, was formerly the 
 seat of a family who seem to have derived their name from 
 the place. Nicholas de Langeford represented the county 
 in the seventeenth parliament of Edward II. ; Nicholas de 
 Longford in the 5th of Henry IV. and Sir Ralph Longford 
 was sheriff for Derbyshire in the year ISOl.f Some time 
 after the death of the last of the Longfords (in the early 
 part of the seventeenth century,) the seat came into the 
 possession of a descendant of Sir Edward Coke, Lord 
 
 •Monasticon Anglicanum. 
 
 f Longford, of Longford. Fourteen generations of this family are described 
 in the visitation of 1509. Magna Britannia, Derb. 
 
102 
 
 LONGFORD. 
 
 Chief Justice of England in the time of James I. Edward 
 Coke, Esq. of Longford, was created a baronet in 1641^ 
 and he served the office of Sheriff for the county in 1646. 
 He married Catharine, the grand-daughter of the Lord 
 Chief Justice Dyer; and was succeeded in his title and 
 estates by Sir Edward his elder son, who died without 
 issue. Longford afterwards became the property of Edward 
 second son of Edward Coke, Esq. of Holkham, a lineal 
 descendant of the Chief Justice Coke. Dying unmarried in 
 1733, he left the estate to his younger brother, Robert 
 Coke, Esq. who was vice-chamberlain to Queen Anne. 
 .He married lady Jane, eldest sister and co-heiress of 
 Philip, Duke of Wharton. On the death of the last- 
 mentioned possessor, the estate descended to his nephew, 
 Wenman Roberts, Esq., who took the name and arms 
 of Coke, and in 1772, was chosen one of the represen- 
 tatives in Parliament, for the Borough of Derby.* — 
 Thomas William, his eldest son, not only succeeded his 
 father in the possession of his estates in the counties of 
 Derby and Lancaster, but afterwards became heir to the 
 vast property of Viscount Coke, Earl of Leicester. The 
 estate and manor of Longford, were however, enjoyed by 
 Edward Coke, Esq., the second son, who for many years 
 represented the borough of Derby in Parliament, and who 
 was nominated High Sheriff of the county in 1819. On 
 his death the estate and manor again reverted to Thomas 
 William Coke, Esq. of Holkham, created, 21st July, 1837, 
 Earl of Leicester and Viscount Coke. 
 
 Longford Hall, the family seat, is a spacious fabric 
 with wings, and seems to have been erected at two different 
 periods. It is now undergoing great improvements. The 
 Park and grounds, pleasantly situated in an agreeable 
 country, are kiid out with considerable taste. 
 
 The church, an ancient structure, exhibiting marks of 
 several distinct styles, consists of a chancel, nave, and side 
 
 *Pilkington's view of the present state of Derbyshire, 1803. toI. 2. 
 
LONGFORD. 
 
 103 
 
 aisles, surmounted by a massive square tower. The arches 
 of the north aisle are semi-circular, supported by heavy 
 cylindrical piers, and apparently of early Norman construc- 
 tion: those of the south aisle, are pointed, in the style 
 immediately succeeding-. In the south wall of the chancel, 
 are the stone sedilia, or stalls, anciently appropriated in 
 Catholic worship, to the use of the officiating priest or 
 his attendant ministers, the deacon and sub-deacon, who 
 retired thither during the chanting of some parts of the 
 service. In a small niche adjoining, is the piscina, a hollow 
 and perforated basin of stone, into which the priest 
 emptied the water after washing his hands, which he was 
 accustomed to do during the ceremony. The holy water 
 which by any means had become defiled, was also dis- 
 missed through the same channel. In the north wall of 
 the chancel, within a gothic arched canopy of stone, is a 
 whole length effigy in alabaster, in a recumbent position, 
 greatly mutilated, and without date or inscription. In 
 the wall of the south aisle, is another gothic stone 
 canopy, of larger dimensions, and more richly and elabor- 
 ately ornamented, and within it a figure in alabaster, 
 repesenting a knight of the fourteenth century, in chain 
 armour, his head resting on a helmet, and his feet sup- 
 ported by a dog. Near this is an elevated altar-tomb, 
 of very early date, with another effigy of a knight in 
 armour, and a dog coiichant at his feet. Part of the 
 north aisle has been partitioned off, and is now used as 
 the vestry-room. It contains several monuments, and on the 
 wall is a mural tablet with this inscription : — 
 
 " Edwardo Coke Arm : de Longford Edwardi ex Agro Norfolciensi Filio 
 natu Secundo Qui ObiitXII. Auguste iEt : XXXII. A. D. MDCCXXXIII. 
 Robertas Regina Carolinae Vice Cainerarius Fralrii Meritissimo hoc Mon- 
 umcntum libens lubensq posuit." 
 
 On a stone slab in the floor is an inscription, partly 
 defaced, marking the burial place of Sir Edward Coke, 
 who died in 1669. Over another marble tablet is the 
 following : 
 
104 
 
 BRAILSFORD. 
 
 " Here lyes the body of Sir Edward Coke, late of lliis place, Bart, who died 
 the 20th September, 1727, aged 79, and by his will directed this monmnent to 
 be erected, in memory of Sir Edward Coke, Bart., his father, and of Dame 
 Catherine bis mother, wlio Avas grand- daughter to the Lord Chief Justice 
 Dyer; and of their children, whose names were Edward, Catharine, Robert, 
 Richard, Anne, the last Sir Edward, Clement, and Theophila, wlio all died 
 without issue." 
 
 In recesses in the west wall are three whole-length figures, 
 in alabaster, removed from their original recumbent 
 position, and standing upright. One represents a knight, 
 in armour, in good preservation ; another an old man, with 
 a beard, and the third a female. To none of these effigies 
 nor to those before described, can the slightest traces of 
 any date or inscription be discovered: and consequently 
 it is impossible to state with certainty to whom they 
 belonged. There can however be little doubt but that they 
 represent some of the Longford family before-mentioned. 
 
 The living is a rectory, and the church is dedicated to 
 St. Chad. It is said to have been given by Nicholas de 
 Griesly, alias de Longford, and Margaret his wife, to the 
 monastery of Kenilworth, in Warwickshire. 
 
 Brailsford, a considerable village, in the hundred of 
 Appletree, is situated nearly mid-way between Ashboum 
 and Derby. " In BrailerforcV (at the Doomsday survey,) 
 " Earl IVallef had lico carucates of land to he taxed. 
 Land to two ploughs. There are now in the demesne two 
 ploughs, and twenty-four villanes, and three hordars have 
 Jive ploughs. There is a priest and half a church, and one 
 mill of 10s. Sd., and eleven acres of meadow. Wood pas- 
 ture one mile long and one mile broad. Value in King 
 Edward's time 60,9. now 40.9. Elfin holds it.'" The manor 
 was given to Henry de Ferrers, under whom Elfin, ancestor 
 of the ancient family of Brailsford held it. In 25 Edward 
 I. Ralph de Bakepuize had this and other estates belonging 
 to the Ferrers family, under some agreement, to cover 
 them after Earl Robert's attainder, which lands were held 
 by Henry de Brailsford, who was fined in the reign of 
 Edward I. for refusing to be made a knight. About the 
 
BRAILSFORD. 
 
 105' 
 
 year 1380, Sir John Bassett, of Clieadle, married the 
 heiress of Sir Heniy de Brailesford, and became possessed 
 of the estate. Sir Ralph Shirley, hy his marriage with the 
 heiress of Bassett, of Cheadle and Brailsford, obtained the 
 manor: he died about* 1443, and left it his son, Sir 
 Ralph, who died in 1469, and is said to have been 
 buried at Brailsford. The manor remained in possession 
 of the noble family of Shirley, until within the last fifty or 
 sixty years. Earl Ferrers sold the manor and several 
 fai-ms to Mr. John Webster, a banker of Derby. The 
 estate then came into the hands of William Drury Lowe, 
 Esq., of Locko; and it has since passed by purchase 
 to William Evans, Esq. of Allestree, the present proprietor. 
 
 The parish, including the villages of Burroughs,* Cul- 
 land,t and Ednaston,^ contained in 183], about 780 
 inhabitants; and the estimated annual value of the build- 
 ings and land is £6,912. 
 
 The church is a Norman structure, with an embattled 
 tower, around the string courses of which are some rudely 
 sculptured heads. Between the nave and chancel is a 
 round pillar, of very ancient date, behind which there 
 appears to have been a passage to a confessionary. In a 
 wall of the chancel are three stone sedilia. On the floor 
 are several alabaster slabs ; two of them have effigies, in 
 scroll lines, of knights in armour ; and on a third is the 
 representation of a priest in his vestments. The inscrip- 
 tions are nearly eftaced, and but a few words of each 
 can now be decyphered. At the foot of one, " Rauf 
 
 •Over Burroughs Hall and estate formerly belonged to the Bradburnes. 
 Early in the seventeenth century they were sold to the Fen-ers family, who 
 appear not to have held them long, for the family of the present possessor, 
 William Osborne, gent, have been proprietors for about two centuries. 
 
 fCuLLAND, in I J9S, belonged to the family of Shaw, and afterwards to the 
 Drapers. It is now the property of Edward Soresby Cox, Esq. 
 
 JThe manor of Eduaston which had been given to the priory of Tutbury, 
 by Robert Earl Ferrers the elder, was granted in 1540, to Sir John Gifford, 
 who conveyed it to Francis Shirley, Esq. ancestor of the present noble pro- 
 prietor, Earl Ferrers. — Gloca: 
 
 U 
 
106 
 
 SHIRLEY. 
 
 Shirleij, esquire, and Dame Alice, his third wife, on whose 
 sowles God have mercy ^ The church is dedicated to All 
 Saints. The living is a rectory, and the Right Hon. Earl 
 Ferrers is the patron. 
 
 Shirley.— The village of Shirletj, (derived from the 
 Saxon,signi fying "a clear place or pasture") four miles 
 south-east of Ashboum, is memorable for giving name to 
 a family who for ages have been considered one of the most 
 honoural)le among the most ancient houses of the county 
 of Derby. This j^lace however, is not the original seat 
 of the Shirleys ; even before the conquest, as we learn from 
 Domesday-Book, they wjere seated at Eatington, in War- 
 wickshire ; and it is remarkable that both these places 
 still remain the inheritance of their first recorded lords; 
 the manor of Shirley being (anno 1838) the property of 
 the Right Hon. Washington Shirley, Earl Ferrers, who 
 represents the elder line; and Eatington, the seat of 
 Evelyn John Shirley, Esq., one of the Knights of the 
 shire for the county of Warwick, chief of the younger 
 branch of the family. 
 
 The first establishment of the Shirleys in the village 
 from whence they afterwards assumed their name, seems 
 to have been in the reign of Henry 1. when the Prior 
 and Convent of Tutbury granted to Fulcher, son of 
 Sewallis, with the consent of Robert Earl Ferrers, (his 
 lord) four ox-gangs of land in " Sirlei" (Shirley) and a 
 mill at Derby, at an annual rent of 10s. 8d. to be paid 
 on St. John Baptist's Day. Shirley did not however 
 become the principal seat of this family until the reign of 
 Henry III., nor does it appear to have long remained so, 
 for few houses obtained larger possessions by marriage 
 with heiresses than the ancient lords of Shirley; and 
 among other manors about the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, by the marriage of Ralph, son and heir of Sir 
 Ralph Shirley, with Margaret, sister and sole lieir of 
 Thomas Staunton, they became possessed of the manor of 
 
SHIRLEY. 
 
 107 
 
 Staunton Harold, in the county of Leicester, which has 
 ever since continued the chief seat of the Shirleys. 
 
 Sir Hugh Shirley, of Shirley, fought under Henry IV. 
 at the battle of Shrewsbury, (anno 1403 ;) and Sir Ralph 
 Shirley, of Shirley, accompanied the succeeding monarch 
 (Henry V.) to France, in 1415, and greatly distinguished 
 himself at the Battle of Agincourt. Of the Ferrers 
 family, so far as they were connected with the town of 
 Ashboum, some interesting particulars are recorded in the 
 first chapter of this work. 
 
 A moat, now partly filled up, sun-ounding a fann-house 
 which bears but few traces of autiquity, marks the site 
 of the ancient manor-house of Shirley : it lies in a hollow, 
 mid-way between the parsonage-house built by the present 
 Rev. W. A. Shirley, vicar of Shirley, and the village- 
 church which crowns the opposite hill. 
 
 The church, consisting of two aisles and a chancel, 
 contains but little to interest the antiquary, and the sepul- 
 chural remains at present existing here are few. In 
 the chancel, on an alabaster slab, the figure of an ecclesi- 
 astic can be traced, with the remains of an inscription in 
 black letter. In the principal or north aisle is a large 
 alabaster slab, whereon the word " quideirC^ can now alone 
 be made out: this is probably sufficient to identify it with 
 the tomb of William Pope and Agnes his wife, who died 
 about the year 1508, and were buried in this church.* 
 The font is octagonal, of the date of the fourteenth century. 
 The tower formerly of wood, was rebuilt in 1832. In 
 the churchyard, near the south porch, stands a remarkably 
 fine yew tree, — dating perhaps with the Conquest. 
 
 The family estates at Shirley, which formerly compre- 
 hended the whole parish, were much diminished by 
 Washington, fifth Earl Ferrers, who sold considerable 
 property here about fifty or sixty years ago ; and what is 
 particularly to be lamented, he alienated (to use the quaint 
 
 ♦Dodsworth's MSS. vol. 82, p. 55, B. 
 
108 SHIRLEY. — -OSM ASTON. 
 
 description of Sir Thomas Shirley, in the reign of Charles 
 I.,) '')the two antient stately parks, of a large extension, 
 and most pleasant to hehold, which for the large compass 
 of ground, and great plenty of high stately oaks in them, 
 may be more aptly termed a Forest."* 
 
 The parish of Shirley, including the townships of 
 Yeavely and Stydd, contained in 1831, 602 inhabitants : 
 and the estimated annual rental is £4,223. 
 
 OsMASTON, (Osmundestiine) a village, township and 
 parish in the hundred of Appletree, contains about 289 
 inhabitants. At the Conquest it was in the same hands 
 as Brailsford ; and it has usually been considered as form- 
 ing part of that parish, though not included therein in the 
 last population returns. Osmaston was long the chief 
 residence of the Pegges, branches of whose family also 
 resided in Shirley, Yeldersley,t and Ashbourn. Dr. 
 Samuel Pegge, the well-known antiquary, was of Osmas- 
 ton, where his ancestors had resided in lineal succession 
 for four generations. He died possessed of the patrimo- 
 nial estate there. Christopher Pegg, a considerable 
 benefactor to the poor of Ashbourn, was an eminent 
 attorney in that town. 
 
 The church, dedicated to St. Martin, is ancient, having 
 * square Norman tower. 
 
 The annual value of the property in the parish is assessed 
 at £1,752. 
 
 Yeldersley, a hamlet in the parish of Ashbourn, con- 
 tains about 226 inhabitants, and the estimated annual ren- 
 tal is £2,085. 
 
 *Eclward Soresby Cox, Esq. and Francis \Vriglit, Esq. have considerable 
 estates in Shirley Park. 
 
 fThomas Pegge, Esq., of Yeldersley, near Ashbourn, married a daughter of 
 Sir Gilbert Kniveton. Their daughter (Katharine) went abroad, and while 
 there became the mistress of Prince Charles, afterwards King Charles II. 
 She bore the prince two children : a son, named Charles Fitz Charles, created 
 in 1675, Earl of Plymouth, who died at the siege of Tangier 5 and a daughter 
 who died in her infancy. 
 
STURSTON.— BRADLEY. 
 
 109 
 
 Sturston, a hamlet in the parish of Ashbourn, belonged 
 at the Domesday survey to Henry de Ferrers, under whom 
 it was held by one Roger. Two pa.rts of the tithe of this 
 demesne were granted to the priory of Tutbury, and the 
 grant was confirmed and renewed by Robert de Ferrers, 
 the second Earl of that name * The Cokaynes had lands 
 here in the time of Henry VII. The estates afterwards 
 passed to the Meynells, of Bradley, and the manorial rights 
 of both Sturston and Yeldersley are still vested in that 
 family. The entire hamlet (including part of Compton,) 
 contains about 578 inhabitants, and the annual rental is 
 estimated at £2,779. 
 
 In this hamlet, one mile and a half north-east of Ash- 
 boum, is The Grove, formerly a seat of the Meynells, and 
 now the residence of John Silvester, Esq. 
 
 Bradley, a village, township and parish in the hundred 
 of Appletree, is seated in a valley three miles east of Ash- 
 bourn. The manor belonged to the Ferrers from the time 
 of the Doomsday survey till the fall of that great family, 
 when it became part of the possessions of the Duke of Lan- 
 caster, under whom it was held by Ralph de Shirley, in 
 21st Edward I. In the fourth year of the same reign 
 Ralph de Okeover held lands here. At a very early period 
 Bradley became the property of the ancient family of 
 Kniveton. After the elder branch of the Bradley Knivetons 
 had become extinct, the manor passed to Sir Gilbert Kive- 
 ton, bart. of Mercaston, whose ancestors had been there 
 settled for several generations. His son and successor. Sir 
 Andrew, (governor of the castle of Tutbury in the time of 
 Charles I.) suffered much in his fortunes through his devo- 
 tion to the royal cause. He sold Bradley in 1655, to 
 Francis Meynell, Esq. Alderman, citizen, and goldsmith, 
 of the city of London, and in his family it has ever since 
 continued. The first mention of the name occurs in the 
 *' Roll of Battle Abbeie and it is certain that a family 
 
 *Sii- 0. Mosloy's History of Tutbury, p. 218. 
 
no 
 
 BRADLEY. 
 
 of the Meynells were seated in Derbyshire as early as the 
 reign of Edward I., for the name of Giles de Meynell is 
 found among the very first recorded members of parliament 
 for the county. The Meynells of Bradley however, are 
 said to be descended from a very ancient family of the 
 same name seated at North Kilvington, in the county of 
 York. 
 
 Glover gives tbe following pedigree of the family from the time they became 
 possessed of the Bradley estates : — 
 
 Francis Meynell, esq. sheriff and alderman of London, who purchased this 
 estate, had three sons, Godfrey, Francis, and Richard, the two latter died 
 without issue. The eldest son, Godfrey Meynell, of Bradley, esq. married 
 twice : first, Margaret, daughter of George Vernon, esq. by whom he had no 
 issue ; secondly, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Edward Littleton, esq. by 
 whom he had issue one son and one daughter: he was sheriff in 1681, and 
 died in 1708.. Littleton Poyntz Meynell, esq. the only son, married Judith, the 
 
 daughter of Alleyne, of Barbadoes, esq. by whom he had three sons and 
 
 two daughters. To his eldest son, Godfrey, he left an annuity of £100, but 
 better provision was afterwards made for him by act of parliament, he married 
 and left three daughters; the eldest daughter was wife of E. M. Mundy, of 
 Shipley, esq.; the second daughter, Harriet, wife of Sir John Caldwell, of 
 
 Castle Caldwell, bart. ; and the third daughter, , wife of Bland, of 
 
 Kippax, esq. To Hugo Meynell, esq. his second son, he devised all his estates. 
 This gentleman was Member of Parliament for Lichfield, and high sheriff for 
 the CO. of Stafford in 1758 : he mai*ried twice ; first, Ann, the daughter of John 
 Gell, of Hopton, esq. by whom he had one son, Godfrey; secondly, Ann, the 
 daughter of Thomas Boothby Scrimpshire, of Tooly Park, Leicestershire, esq. 
 by whom he had t^vo sons, Hugo, and Charles. Godfrey Meynell, esq. the 
 late lord of the manors of Bradley, Yeldersley, &c. man-ied Susanna, the 
 
 widow of Estridge, esq. by whom he had no issue. Hugo Meynell, of 
 
 Hoare Cross, esq. the second son, and half brother to the said Godfrey, married 
 the Honoui-able Elizabeth Ingram, daughter and co-heii*ess of Lord Viscount 
 Irwin, and had issue Hugo Chai-les Meynell, now of Hoare Cross, esq., Eliza- 
 beth, and other children, and died in 1801. Charles Meynell, esq. the third son 
 
 lived at the Grove near Ashbourn; he married Elizabeth, daughter of , 
 
 and left issue. Hugo Charles Meynell, esq. married Georgiana, tlaughter of 
 F. Pigou, of Hill-Street, Berkley Square, esq. and has issue several children. 
 This gentlemen was high sheriff for the county of Stafford in 1826. 
 
 The old hall at Bradley, the seat of the family, was taken 
 down many years ago, and stables and offices were built 
 for an intended new mansion^ which however was not 
 completed. 
 
BRADLEY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The church, (dedicated to All Saints,) is a plain building 
 of early date. In the chancel are the arms of the Meynells, 
 and several monumental tablets to different members of the 
 family. There is also a fine circular gothic font. The 
 Dean of Lincoln is patron of the living, and the Rev, 
 William Skinner is the rector. 
 
 In the early part of the 17th century resided at Bradley 
 Thomas Bancroft, a poet and writer of epigrams. Sir 
 Aston Cokayne, of Ashbourn, w^ith whom he was on terms 
 of great intimacy, makes frequent allusion to him in his 
 writings. He (Sir Aston) remarks that Bancroft "was 
 surnamed the small poet, by way of ironie, but worthy to 
 be ranked among the best classicks." Many of his 
 epigrams have considerable point, and the poetry, though 
 tinctured with the alloy of the times, is far from being 
 destitute of merit. 
 
 In 1762, Dr. Kennedy, rector of Bradley, published an 
 elaborate and important work on the chronology of the 
 Scriptures.* It contains a long series of connected calcu- 
 lations, in which is attempted to be fixed the precise date 
 of the creation, and of some of the principal events 
 recorded in the sacred writings. Dr. Kennedy thus ex- 
 plains the leading proposition on which his reasoning is 
 founded : — 
 
 *" A complete system of Astronomical Chronology unfolding the Scriptures ; in 
 which the Clu-onology of the Masoretic Hebrew Text is proved, by astronomic 
 cal arguments, to be genuine and authentic, without en-or, and without cor- 
 nxption ; The date of the Creation is fixed ; The year, month, day of the 
 month, and day of the week, in which the Israelites went out of Egypt are 
 ascertained; It is clearly proved, that at the going out of Egypt the original 
 Sabbath was changed by Divine Legislative authority : It is proved that our 
 Saviour rose from the dead on the seventh day of the week, in the uninterrupted 
 Series of Weeks from the creation, and that the original Seventh Day or 
 Pati-iarchal Sabbath, revived with him ; It is proved that our Saviour gave up 
 the Ghost upon the cross, on the very month, day, hour and minute, on which 
 the Paschal Lamb was ordered, by the law, to be slain; The Chronology of 
 the five books of Moses is completed in all its particulars; The asti'onomical 
 Epocha of the Gospel, and the year, month, and day of Christ's death are 
 determined." 
 
BRADLEY: 
 
 "I liave employed many pages, and made a great variety of calculations 
 to prove tlie fundamental proposition of this scheme, which is, that Moses has 
 recorded in his Pentateuch, the position of the sun and moon to each other at 
 the creation, and in the first year after the flood, or in the beginning of the old 
 world and the new. This revealed position of the sun and moon at the creation, 
 I call the scriptural astronomical era. By the assistance of this era, together with 
 some other principles to he mentioned in another place, I find myself able to 
 keep even pace with the course of the two gi'eat luminaries, from the first 
 year of the world to that which is current. Nor will it be thought presump- 
 tion to take it for granted that no intelligent person will be inclined to call in 
 question the tnith of these conclusions, which ai-e con6rmed by the joint 
 attestations of the sun and moon, the two faithful witnesses in the heavens." 
 
 According to Boswell, the learned author received some 
 assistance from the powerful pen of Dr. Johnson: "In 
 1762" (says Boswell) "he wrote, for the Rev. Dr. Ken- 
 nedy, rector of Bradley, in Derbyshire, in a strain of 
 very courtly elegance, a dedication to the King, of that 
 gentleman's work, entitled, 'A Complete System of 
 Astronomical Chronology, unfolding the Scriptures.' He 
 had certainly looked at this work before it was printed ; 
 for the concluding paragraph is undoubtedly of his compo- 
 sition, of which let my readers judge :" 
 
 " ' Thus have I endeavoured to free religion and history from the darkness 
 and difficulties of a disputed and uncertain chronology; from difficulties which 
 have appeared insuperable, and darkmess which no luminaiy of learning has 
 hitherto been able to dissipate. I have established the truth of the Mosaical 
 account, by evidence which no transcriiDtion can conupt, no negligence can 
 lose, and no interest can perv ert. I have shewn that the universe bears 
 witness to the inspiration of its histoHan, by the revolutions of its orbs and 
 the succession of its seasons : that the stars in tlieir courses fight against incre- 
 dulity, that the works of God give hourly confirmation to the law, the 
 prophets, and the gospel, of which one day tclleth another, and one night cer'ifieth 
 another i and that the validity of the sacred wTitings never can be denied, while 
 the moon shall increase and wane, and the sun shall know his going down.' " 
 
 This extraordinary work on its first appearance was the 
 occasion of much controversy. If it be true that the 
 author's conclusions have never yet been satisfactorily 
 refuted, they are worthy of some attention in the present 
 day, when the assertions of certain geologists in reference 
 to the age of the earth, would seem directly to impugn 
 the accuracy of the scriptural account of the creation. 
 
H U LLAN D. — ATLOW. 
 
 113 
 
 Holland, or Holland, anciently Hoilant, a cliapelry 
 and township in the parish of Ashboura, was in the pos- 
 session of Geoffry Alselin at the Domesday survey. In 
 the seventeenth century a branch of the ancient family 
 of Borough or Borrow, originally De Burgh, settled here, 
 and became the owners of Hough Park, a manor lying 
 within Hulland. John Borrow, Esq. of Hulland, was 
 High Sheriff for the county of Derby in 1688. The pre- 
 sent proprietor of the estate is John Charles Burton 
 Borough, Esq. of Chetwynd Park, Salop. 
 
 Hulland had formerly a chapel of ease ; it was standing 
 and was used for divine worship in the year 1712. 
 
 The new district-church erected in 1837, is a stone 
 structure, in the plain gothic style, having a tower at the 
 west end. It is dedicated to Christ, and was consecrated 
 on the 29th of August, 1838. The interior contains about 
 300 sittings, of which 138 are free. The funds for its 
 erection and endowment (amounting to upwards of 
 £2,300,) have been raised by the voluntary contributions 
 of a few private individuals, aided by a grant of £245 
 from the Diocesan Church Building Society. This church 
 was built for the accommodation of the inhabitants of 
 Hulland, Hulland Ward, Ward-Gate, Biggin, and some 
 detached parts of Turnditch. The patronage is in the 
 alternate gift of J. C. B. Borough, Esq. and the represen- 
 tative of the late John Blackwall, Esq. of Blackwall. 
 The Rev. Charles Evans is the minister. 
 
 Richard Paul Joddrell, Esq. is lord of the manor of 
 Hulland and Hulland Ward. 
 
 At LOW, a village, township and constabulary in the 
 parish of Bradbourn, lies about three miles east of Ash- 
 bourn. The manor was held under Henry de Ferrers or 
 his immediate heirs, by the ancestor of the very ancient 
 family of Okeover, and it has ever since continued to form 
 part of the possessions of that family.^' The chapel is a 
 
 •See under the head " Okeover." 
 
 15 
 
114 
 
 KNIVETOIS . — HOGNASTON. — BRADBOUEN. 
 
 plain building, presenting little that is worthy of notice. 
 The living is a vicarage, in the gift of the Okeover family, 
 who have considerably augmented its revenues. The Rev. 
 R. E. Aitkens is the present incumbent. 
 
 The number of inhabitants is about 157, and the annual 
 rental is estimated at 1,603. 
 
 Kniveton, a village, township and parish in the hun- 
 dred of Wirks worth, is three miles north-east of Ash- 
 bourn. Its name at the time of the Domesday survey, was 
 written Cheniueton, and it was then in the hands of Hugh, 
 Earl of Chester. " Kniveton" says the learned antiquary 
 Camden, " hath given both name and seat to the famous 
 family of Kniveton, from whence the Knivetons of Mercas- 
 ton and Bradley, of whom is St. Loe Kniveton, [also an 
 antiquary] to whose study and diligence I am so much 
 indebted." The first recorded parliamentary representa- 
 tive for the county of Derby was Henry de Kniveton, who 
 served that office in the 23rd parliament of Edward I. 
 
 The parish contains about 342 inhabitants, and the 
 estimated annual rental is £*3,275. 
 
 The church is a plain building, and the living is a perpe- 
 tual curacy. 
 
 At Mudge Meadow, a short distance to the south of 
 Kniveton, is a sulphureous spring. 
 
 HoGNASTON, at the time of the Norman Conquest was a 
 berwick of Ashbourn, and as such was held by the King. 
 The church is ancient, but has nothing remarkable. The 
 living is a rectory, in the gift of the Crown. The number 
 of inhabitants is 271, and the annual value of the property 
 in the parish is assessed at £2,181. Philip Gell, Esq. of 
 Hop ton, is lord of the manor. 
 
 Bradbourn, a village, township and parish in the hun- 
 dred of Wirks worth, is six miles north-east of Ashbourn. 
 This manor belonged to the Earls Ferrers, and was held 
 under them at an early period by the family of Caus or De 
 Cmiceis. After the fall of the Ferrers family, it was held by 
 the Bakepuizes. In the reign of King John the manor was 
 
BRADBOURN. 
 
 115 
 
 conveyed to Godard de Bradburne, and it continued in that 
 family until the reign of Edward VI. In 1207, Roger de 
 Bradburne held lands in Hough and OfFdecote (Offcote) 
 and the manor of Bradburne. Henry de Bradburne, eldest 
 son of Roger, was executed at Pomfret, in 1322, for his 
 adherence to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster ; upon which the 
 manor passed to his younger brother, John, and his 
 descendants. The last male-heir of the family (Sir Hum- 
 phrey) lies buried in Ashbourn church. His co-heir, Jane, 
 marrying Sir Humphrey Ferrers, of Tamworth, was mother 
 of Sir John FeiTcrs, who died in 1633. From him the 
 estate descended to the Baroness de Ferrers, who married 
 George, Marquis of Townshend. In 1 809, the manor was 
 sold by the latter family to Philip Gell, Esq. of Hopton, 
 for the sum of £85,000. It has since been re-sold, and is 
 now in the hands of several proprietors. 
 
 The church is ancient, having an embattled Norman 
 tower. In one of the chancel windows are the arms of 
 Ferrers. There are several monumental inscriptions to 
 members of the ancient family of Buckston^ originally of 
 Buxton,* who settled here about two centuries ago. The 
 Rev. German Buckston, the representative of the family, is 
 the vicar. In the year 1205, the church was given to the 
 Priory of Dunstable, by Sir Geoffery de Cauceis, whose 
 gift was confirmed by William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, 
 as chief lord of the fee.f 
 
 •The first of this family on record is Henry de Bawkestone, mentioned in a 
 deed of the year 1256; and one Thomas Buxton was high sheriff for Derbyshire 
 in 1415 — ^Henry Buxton, Esq. of Bradborne, born in 1670, espoused Dorothy 
 sister of the Right Honourable Sir Richard Levinge, knt. and bart., lord chief 
 justice of the court of Common Pleas in Ireland, and daughter of Richard 
 Levinge, Esq. of Parwich, by Anne, his wife, daughter of George Parker, Esq. 
 of Park Hall, in Staffordshire. The Rev. George Buckston, M. A. Rector of 
 Shirland and Vicar of Bradbourn (who died in 1826) manied Frances, daughter 
 of Moreton Walliouse, Esq. of Hatherton, in Staffordshire, by Frances, his 
 wife, daughter of Sir Edward Littleton, bart. of Pillaton. — Burkes Cmmnoncrs. 
 
 f The Chronicle of the priory of Dunstable states, that " When the church 
 was given to the priory, it had a rector and two vicars. In 1214 the prior had 
 a suit in the court at Rome, with the rector and vicars, with a view, it is 
 
116 
 
 TISSINGTON. 
 
 The township of Bradbourn contains about 195 inhabi- 
 tants, and the annual rental is estimated at £3,624. 
 
 The parish includes the chapelry of Atlow, the townships 
 of Aldwark, Ballidon,* and Brassington, and the hamlet 
 of Lea Hall. 
 
 TissiNGTON, a village, township and parish in the hun- 
 dred of Wirks worth, is situated about four miles north-east 
 of Ashbourn. At the conquest, Tizmctun belonged to 
 Henry de Ferrers ; and the Herthulls and Meynells after- 
 wards held estates here. The manor of Tissington then 
 
 supposed of displacing tliem. It was alleged, that Robert, tlie rector, was son 
 of Godfrey, a former rector; that Henry, one of the vicars, was son of John, 
 his predecessor, in one mediety of the vicarage ; and that William, the other 
 vicar, kept a concubine publicly, and went a hunting, forsaking his tonsure 
 and clerical duties. When the church became vacant, the convent sent one 
 of their canons who resided at Bradbourn, under the name of a cwstos or warden, 
 accounted with the Priory for the profits, and provided for the church and its 
 chapels fhany years before the rectory was actually appropriated to the Priory." 
 The prior kept a great flock of sheep in this parish, and in the Annals before 
 referred to it is stated that 800 died in the year 1243. — Magna Britannia, Derh. 
 
 *Ballidon, a township in the parish of Bradbourn, six miles north-east of 
 Ashbourn, came into the possession of the Cokaines of Ashbourn early in the 
 fifteenth century, by the marriage of Elizabeth, heiress of Sir Giles Herthull, 
 to Edmund Cokayne of Ashbourn; a branch of whose family was settled at 
 Ballidon for several generations. The estates passed by sale into other hands, 
 and a large portion is now the property of William Webster, Esq. of Ashbourn, 
 to whom it was bequeathed by Dr. John Taylor. See Glovers Derh. vol. 2. p. 76. 
 
 Near the road leading from Brassington to Pike-hall is an ancient barrow 
 called Mininglow. Mr. Pilkington, who in 1788, described it, states " that the 
 higher part of the mount seems to have been removed, several of the vaults 
 being fully exposed to sight. The diameter is about forty yards, and the vaults 
 appear to be carried round the whole circumference. The stones of which 
 * they are formed are very large. One of the vaults which I measured is between 
 six and seven feet long, three wide, and six deep. It consists of only five 
 stones; one on each side and end, and the other for a corner. Some of them 
 are a foot, and others half a yard thick. What number of vaults there are, I 
 am not able to ascertain ; but I imagine, if they are continued throughout 
 the whole ch-cumference, they must amount to forty. If these vaults were 
 receptacles for the dead, it is evident from their size that many must have 
 been buried here. But I cannot positively affirm that they were used for this 
 purpose, having never heard that bones have been found in them." Pilhin<jloiU 
 Derbplnrc, vol. 2. p. 294—5. 
 
TISSINGTON. 
 
 117 
 
 came into the possession of a descendant of the ancient and 
 honourable family of Fitzherhert^ through his marriage 
 with the daughter and coheir of Robert Frauncis, Esq. of 
 Foremark. From this marriage Sir Henry Fitzherbert, 
 Bart, the present lord of the manor, is lineally descended.* 
 John, a younger son of Sir Nicholas Fitzherbert, of Tis- 
 sington, was High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1 602 ; his son, 
 Sir John, served the same office in 1624; William Fitz- 
 herbert, Esq. of Tissington, was member of Parliament for 
 the borough of Derby in 1762, and in 1768 Recorder for 
 the same place, and a lord of Trade and Plantations. He 
 was on terms of intimacy with Johnson, Burke, Garrick, 
 and many of the most eminent literati of the last age. His 
 only surviving son is the Right Honourable AUeyne Fitz- 
 herbert, Lord St. Helens. William, his eldest son was 
 Recorder of Derby, and in 1783 was created a baronet; he 
 was succeeded by Sir Anthony Perrin Fitzherbert, who 
 died in 1799. The title and estates then devolved upon his 
 brother, the present baronet. 
 
 The entrance-gate to the ancient family mansion opens 
 to a very fine avenue, more than half a mile in length. 
 The house is of stone, and was most probably erected in the 
 latter end of the reign of Elizabeth ; a few alterations in 
 the windows are observable, but otherwise its original cha- 
 racter is preserved. The carriage-front (towards the village) 
 has before it a court, enclosed by a wall, and a curious 
 gateway, coeval with the house, consisting of an arch sur- 
 mounted by a bold cornice, almost concealed by the wood- 
 bine which has entwined the fret-work of the parapet. 
 Over the entrance -porch on this side the mansion, is a 
 square compartment, sculptured with the family arms; 
 within the porch are several pieces of old armour, and the 
 heraldic bearing again, blazoned in proper colours. The 
 porch opens to a very handsome dining-room, panelled with 
 oak, but coloured white. The chimney-piece, (of Hopton- 
 
 *Burke's Baronetage. 
 
il8 
 
 TISSINGTON. 
 
 Stone, reaches to the ceiling, and is very much admired, 
 both for its elegance of design, and for the beauty of its 
 workmanship. The western drawing-room is of modern 
 construction, and is furnished in very good taste. Among 
 the pictures are — A very good copy of Raphael's Holy 
 Family — A portrait, by Hudson, of Mrs. Fitzherbert, wife 
 of William Fitzherbert, Esq. M. P., and daughter of Little- 
 ton Meynell, Esq. of Bradley Hall; [this is the lady of 
 whose understanding and talents Dr. Johnson speaks in 
 such high terms] — A portrait of the late Sir William Fitz- 
 herbert, painted at Rome by Battoni — A portrait of Sir 
 William's sister, Selina, wife of the late tienry Gaily 
 Knight, Esq. ; and another of Lord St. Helens ; both by 
 Angelica Kauffman — Two full-length portraits of George 
 HI. and his consort, by Romney — A portrait of the present 
 Lady Fitzherbert, by Sir William Beechey, — There is also 
 an excellent bust of Lord St. Helens, by Nollekens, one of 
 the latest works of that eminent sculptor.— The grounds in 
 the vicinity of the Hall are well- wooded, and on the garden 
 front is a fine open view of the country towards Ashbourn. 
 
 Tissington church is most picturesquely seated, on the 
 brow of a gentle eminence, nearly opposite the mansion. 
 It bears evidence of having been originally constructed in 
 the early Norman style, though in the repairs and renova- 
 tions of its interior almost every trace of antiquity has been 
 swept away. Like many other village churches of small 
 dimensions, it consists of a nave and small chancel, with- 
 out supporting pillars or side-aisles, and having a square 
 tower at the west end. The south doorway (within the 
 porch, which is of modern date) is clearly Noraian, having 
 underneath the semi-circular arch some grotesque heads 
 and figures, exhibiting the elaborate workmanship of that 
 age, in tolerable preservation. This church is the burying- 
 place of the Fitzherberts, and there are several highly- 
 wrought monuments to difi'erent members of the family. 
 The one that attracts most attention is extremely lofty, 
 reaching to the roof of the building. It is divided into two 
 
TISSINGTON. 
 
 119 
 
 compartments, in the lower of which are three figures, 
 hahited in dark costume, and kneeling-, in the attitude of 
 prayer, over a tahlet, hearing the following curious inscrip- 
 tion : — 
 
 " Francis Fitzherbert, Esq. departed this life the 4th of January, iEtatis 
 Suae 80, Anno Domini 1619. 
 
 " Love, justice honoure here 
 
 All at once in one appeare 
 
 Let the reader silent be 
 
 And do homage on his knee : 
 
 To this Reverend Esqvire 
 
 Yt hath now his full desire : 
 
 Of that peace he ever loved 
 
 In his life and death approved : 
 
 Layd here with his two loyal friends, 
 
 Most reno^vned in their ends." 
 
 In the upper compartment are two figures, kneeling over a 
 similar tahlet, inscrihed to Sir John Fitzherhert, Bart, who 
 died on the 2nd of August, 1642, aged 43. This monu- 
 ment has some very curious decorations, and the whole is 
 surmounted hy the family arms, carefully blazoned. 
 
 The church is dedicated to St. Mary; and Sir Henry 
 Fitzherbert, Bart, is the patron. 
 
 Tissington was the scene of a severe and decisive contest 
 between the royalists and parliamentarians, during the 
 civil wars in the reign of Charles I., in which the former 
 were completely defeated, with considerable loss.* 
 
 This retired village is perhaps best known as the seat of 
 a very pleasing rural custom, — a relic of the olden time — 
 (said once to have extensively prevailed in this country,) 
 called well-Jlowering or well-dressing. Holy Thursday is 
 the day chosen for the festivities. The wells or springs, 
 (five in number) that supply the villagers with water, are 
 tastefully decorated with the flowers of the season, disposed 
 in elegant and fanciful devices. The figure intended to be 
 represented, (often that of an architectural pediment) is first 
 cut out in Avood, the outer surface of which is then covered 
 
 *See page, 19, 20. 
 
120 
 
 TISSINGTON. 
 
 with moist clay; into this the stems of the flowers are 
 closely inserted, and a brilliant mosaic is thus prepared, 
 forming, as it were, a ground work for various orna- 
 mental designs, as of crowns and stars, and appropriate 
 mottoes, chiefly from scripture, which are most ingeniously 
 introduced. The devices when prepared, are so placed in 
 the spring that the water appears to issue from beds of 
 flowers. There is a service at the church, from whence 
 the inhabitants go in procession, preceded by a band of 
 music, to the different wells, where the collects for the day 
 are read in succession, and psalms and hymns are sung. 
 The villagers entertain their friends on the occasion ; and 
 the festival is numerously attended by the gay and the 
 fair of the surrounding country ; the green is covered with 
 booths, and the whole scene is one of extraordinary enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 The custom of well-flowering is undoubtedly of the 
 highest antiquity. It was common among the Greeks and 
 Romans. The latter had their Fontanalia^ in honour of 
 the nymphs of their wells and fountains: and "in 
 Catholic times" remarks a topographer of the last century,* 
 " great respect was paid to such wells as bore a reputation 
 for curing distempers upon the saint's day whose name the 
 well bore, the people diverting themselves with cakes and 
 ale, music and dancing." 
 
 The practice of well-dressing has some affinity to that of 
 sprinkling rivers with flowers, so beautifully alluded to by 
 the poet Milton : — 
 
 " The shepherds at their festivals 
 Carol her good deeds loud in rustic lays, 
 And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream, 
 Of pansies, pinks and gaudy daffodils." Comus. 
 
 The decorating of wells and fountains has lately been 
 revived or introduced at Bradley, Wirksworth, Belper, and 
 Youlgreave, in this county. 
 
 •Rev. Stebhing Shaw, in Gentleman's Mag. 
 
TISSINGTOX. 
 
 121 
 
 The Rev. Richard Graves, a writer of some talent, well 
 known in the literary world as an associate of the poet 
 Shenstone, resided for several years in the family of Mr. 
 Fitzherbert, of Tissington. He is the author of a humor- 
 ous burlesque, published in 1773, under the title of "The 
 Spiritual Quixote," several of the scenes in which are laid 
 in Ashbourn and Tissington. The work is based on that 
 of the renowned Cervantes, and its chief aim is to satirize 
 and expose the followers of Wesley and Whitfield, some of 
 whom at that time carried their enthusiasm on religious 
 subjects to a most extraordinary height. In the author's 
 * apology' prefixed to the work, its object is thus explained: 
 
 " The following nairative was intended to expose a species of folly which has 
 frequently disturbed the tranquillity of this nation. The author, indeed, by no 
 means considers ridicule as a proper test of religious opinions. But they are 
 the practices, rather than the principles, of the people in question, which he 
 tliinks exceptionable. And the following work is so far from ridiculing religion, 
 (as perhaps may be objected,) that he flatters himself it has a direct tendency 
 to prevent religion becoming ridiculous by the absurd conduct of such irregular 
 teachers of it. And he does not see how the honour of God is any more con- 
 cerned in an attempt to expose the ill-judged zeal of a frantic enthusiast, than 
 the authority of the king would be in our laughing at the absurdities of some 
 pragmatical country justice or petty constable."* 
 
 •Whatever might be the author's intention, and however plausible his rea- 
 soning, his warmest admirers must admit, that in ridiculing the practice 
 of these ' irregular teachers,' he has done much to bring religion itself into 
 contempt. He trifles systematically with all that is sacred, and his profane 
 irony is displayed by an indiscriminate travesty of the language of inspiration, 
 as well as of those peculiarities of expression, the use of which, in the opinion 
 of the admirable essayist, Foster^ is to be considered as one of the causes why 
 persons of taste have occasionally shown so lamentable an indifference to evan- 
 gelical religion. 
 
 A late writer remarks, that " it is to be feared he (the author) descended 
 into the grave without leaving behind him a single expression of regret 
 for having polluted the clerical name with a performance which directly 
 attacked Christianity, under the shadow of a pretence, merely to display 
 the human weaknesses of such persons as Whitfield, Wesley," &c.f 
 
 The talent for description, and the keen sense of the humorous evinced 
 throughout the work, will remind the reader of some of Goldsmith's happiest 
 efforts, and will cause him to regret that its tendency is of so reprehensible 
 a character. That portion of the work which appears to have been writ- 
 ten during the author's residence at Tissington, is for the most part a record 
 f Signature ".J. L." in Chmtian Observer, Jaai. 1831. 
 
 113 
 
122 
 
 TISSINGTON, 
 
 of actual occurrences;, and tlie characters wlio took part in tliem are represented 
 under feigned names. The hero of the tale, ( WiMgoose) in the course of his 
 pilgrimage arrives at ' Ashburne in the Peak,' attended by his trust}^ squire, 
 Tugivell. Here he has some curious adventures, and TiKjwell is taken into cus- 
 tody ; " for being in his political principles rather attached to the Stuai t family, 
 and the town of Ashburne, since the late march of the rebels through that 
 place, being divided into two parties (who persecuted each other with great vio- 
 lence), Tugivell, it seems had somewhat imprudently taken the part of an 
 honest barber, who, as he was drinking his morning cup [at the inn] had fallen 
 into a dispute about the rebellion, with a dissenting baker, that was ver}^ zea- 
 lous for the government, and upon Tugwell's interfering had charged the con- 
 stable with him as a disaffected subject." Wildgoose is also charged with being 
 a Jesuit in disguise, and both are carried before the magistrate, (Mr, Boothb}^,) 
 who, being a sensible man, and endeavouring as much as possible to preserve 
 peace among his neighbours, dismissed the case. ' The Jacobite barber, whose 
 cause Tugwell'b.di^ espoused, as soon as his worship was out of sight, clapped 
 Jerry (Tugwell) on the shoulder by way of triumph, and said as he himself was 
 acquainted with the butler, and Tugwell he found was a curious man, he would 
 shew him a curiosity. The barber then got his friend the butler to take him up 
 the back stairs into a long gallery, which led to the principal bed-chamber, on 
 the doors of which had been written by the quarter- master in chalk, (and after- 
 wards traced over with white lead by way of curiosity) the names of the 
 Prince, Lord Ogilvy, Pitsligo, and other rebel chiefs, who in their way to 
 Derby, having halted one night in Ashbourn, had been quartered in this gen- 
 tleman's house.' [This is strictly true : on the departure of the chiefs from 
 Ashbourn Hall, their names were found so written on the doors.] 
 
 The reverend author thus portrays the character of his host, Mr. Fitzherbert : 
 " Sir William Forester was a gentleman of fine sense ; and (what is not 
 always a consequence) of fine taste, not only in the polite arts, music, painting, 
 ai'chitecture, and the like, but in life and manners. He had the art of making 
 every company happy ; and the greater art of making himself happy in every 
 company. Some of his wise neighbours indeed were a little scandalized at his 
 admitting people of inferior rank so frequently to his table ; but Sir William, 
 like Swift's virtuoso. Who could exti-act sunbeams from cucumbers, had the skill 
 of extracting entertainment from the most insipid companions ; of discovering 
 humour in the most phlegmatic divine, or solid sense in (the most trifling of all 
 characters,) a country dancing-master." [Dr. Johnson has characterized his 
 friend in terms of similar import : — " There was" said he, " no sparkle, no bril- 
 liancy in Fitzherbert, but I never knew a man who was so generally accepta- 
 ble. He made every body quite easy, overpowered nobody by the superiority of 
 his talents, made no man think wOTse of himself by being his rival, seemed 
 always to listen, did not oblige you to hear much from him, and did not oppose 
 what you said. Every body liked him. He was an instance of the truth of the 
 observation, that a man will please more upon the whole by negative qualities 
 than by positive, by never offending than by giving a great deal of delight."] 
 
PARWICH. 
 
 123 
 
 The number of inhabitants in the parish of Tissington, 
 is about 459, and the estimated annual rental is £5,450. 
 
 Parwich, a village, township and parish in the hundred 
 of Wirksworth, seven miles north of Ashbourn, wsiS a royal 
 demesne at the time of the Norman survey. In this manor 
 was included a subordinate yet more valuable one, which 
 belonged to the Fitzherberts, of Norbury, and afterwards to 
 the Cokaynes, of Ashbourn, who sold it in the time of James 
 I., in whose reign it was purchased by Thomas Levinge, a 
 descendant of a Norfolk family. In the year 1814, Sir 
 Richard Levinge sold the manor, after it had long ceased 
 to be the seat of the family. The present proprietor is 
 William Evans, Esq. of AUestree. 
 
 At a place called Lombard's Green, about half a mile 
 north of Parwich, are some vestiges of what is said to 
 have been a Roman encampment.* The supposed camp or 
 station is of an oblong form, covering a level piece of 
 ground near the summit of a very high eminence. It 
 occupies a space of nearly half an acre, and consists of 
 several divisions made by walls, the foundations of which 
 have been dug up. About sixty or seventy years ago, 
 a labourer who was searching the ground for lead-ore, 
 found, at the depth of two feet and a half, a military 
 weapon, a considerable number of coins, and an urn of 
 great thickness, in which they had most probably been de- 
 posited. These coins, principally consisting of Roman 
 
 *A writer in the ArchcBologia has thrown some doubt on the supposition. 
 "It must be owned," he says, " that the names ' Lombard's- Green,' and 
 * Parwich,' {Parvus Vicus) might warrant the conjecture: and the dis- 
 tance, which is about half-way from Buxton to Little Chester, [Roman Sta- 
 tions] would suit well for an intermediate station. But with all these advan- 
 tages, the distance of two miles and a half from the Roman road, and an appa- 
 rent want of connexion with it, is an objection not to be got over. If, indeed, a 
 way from Buxton to Rocester should be found in the direction of the present 
 Ashbourn turnpike-road, Parwich, being then in the space between two Roman 
 roads, might have some right to be considered as a station to accommodate both ; 
 but until such a discovery is made, an antiquary of any experience must be in- 
 clined to suspend his opinion." 
 
124 
 
 PARWICH. FENNY BENTLEY. 
 
 denarii, were in good preservation , and seventy*four of 
 them were formerly in the possession of Mr. Rawlins, of 
 Ashbourn. They were stamped in the upper empire ; and 
 are some of them as high as the triumvirate of Octavius, 
 Lepidus, and Mark Antony; and others as low as the 
 Emperor Aurelian. Near the encampment, at the summit 
 of the hill, is a bank, about two feet high, running two 
 miles to the west into the Ashbourn-road, and half a mile 
 eastwards to a mere of water.* 
 
 Parwich was formerly a chapelry in the parish of Ash- 
 bourn. The church, a plain building, of very early date, is 
 dedicated to St. Peter. 
 
 The parish contains about 544 inhabitants; and the 
 estimated annual value of the property is ^65,0 80. 
 
 Fenny Bentley, a village, township and parish in the 
 hundred of Wirksworth, is situated two miles north of Ash- 
 bourn, in a valley watered by a small brook to which it 
 gives name. The manor of Bentley was part of the crown 
 lands at the time of the Domesday Survey ; and in the 25th 
 year of Edward I. Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, held it. — 
 In the reign of Henry VI. a younger branch of the ancient 
 family of Beresford, of Beresford, in the county of Stafford, 
 settled here, and their descendants for many generations held 
 the manor. Thomas Beresford, of Bentley, served under 
 Henry \1. in his wars in France, and he is reported to 
 have raised a troop of horse, consisting of his sons and his 
 own and their retainers, for the service of that unfortunate 
 monarch. He is also said to have been present at the 
 battle of Agincourt, in the preceding reign. The elder 
 branch of the Beresfords soon became extinct in the male 
 line ; the heiress married Edmund Beresford, Esq. of Beres- 
 ford ; whose daughter and heiress married Sir J ohn Stan- 
 hope, of Elvaston ; and the heiress of Sir John Stanhope 
 married the celebrated Charles Cotton, at whose death the 
 manor again came into the hands of the Beresford family. 
 In the ISthof Henry VII. William Basset, Esq. of Meynell 
 
 *Pilkington's Survey of Derbyshire. 
 
FENNY BENTLEY. 
 
 125 
 
 Langley, died possessed of lands here, which he had held 
 under the Honor of Tutbury. In the time of Henry VIII. 
 two families of Beresfords owned estates in the parish; 
 and the Bradburnes had also property here. The manor 
 passed away from the Beresford family, and is now in 
 various hands.* Sir Henry Fitzherbert, Bart, owns an 
 estate formerly belonging- to the Beresfords; and John 
 Goodwin Johnson, Esq. has considerable landed property 
 in the neighbourhood. 
 
 In Bentley Church there are several monuments to 
 members of the Beresford family. On the north side of 
 the chancel is a large altar-tomb, belonging to Thomas 
 Beresford, Esq. (the warrior before mentioned) and Agnes 
 his wife. On the upper surface are extended two alabaster 
 effigies, completely enveloped in shrouds ; at the sides are 
 twenty one smaller figures, habited in a similar manner, 
 representing their children. The inscriptions are in English 
 and Latin : 
 
 " Thomas Beresford, Esq. the sonne of John Beresford, late lord of Beresfordj 
 in the county of Stafford, esq. and Agnes, his wife, the daughter and heir of 
 Robert Hassel, in the county of Chester, esq. who had issue sixteen sons and 
 five daughters. Thomas died 20th March, 1473 ; and Agnes, 16th March, 1467. 
 Also Heughe, third sonne of the said Thomas and Agnes. 
 
 As you now are, soe once were wee. 
 And as wee are, soe shall you bee. 
 
 Quern tegat hoc marmor si forte requiris, 
 Amice, nobili Beresford tu tibi nomen 
 Habes, luce patrum clarus proprio sed 
 Lumine major, de gemino merito nomine luce capit Largus militis. 
 Doctus, amans, alvit, coluit recreavit musas : ius vinctos sumptibus, arte domo 
 excellens, strenuus dux, fortis et audax, Francice testatur, cmia testis Agen." 
 
 The church is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen. The 
 living is a rectory in the gift of the Dean of Lincoln, and 
 the Rev. Jervase Brown is the rector. 
 
 In 1831 the parish contained 308 inhabitants; and the 
 estimated annual rental is £2,000. 
 
 Fenny Bentley is a place of great antiquity. Degge? 
 the antiquary, who resided here, supposed that the Roman 
 
 ♦History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby, vol. II. 
 
126 FENNY BENTLEY. — BROADLOW ASH. 
 
 Road passed through the village, for he had an urn, some 
 coins, and other remains, which had heen found in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Part of the old manor-house, anciently the residence of 
 the Beres fords, is still standing, and is converted into a 
 farm-house. It appears to have been a castellated building, 
 and some traces of a moat are discernible. 
 
 At the hamlet of Woodeaves, a short distance north-east 
 of Fenny Bentley, is a cotton factory, in which a number 
 of hands are employed. 
 
 Broadlow- Ash, an estate and manor three miles north of 
 Ashbourn, is situated partly in the parish of Ashbourn, and 
 partly in that of Thorpe. This manor was a royal de- 
 mesne at the Domesday survey. It was afterwards held 
 by the Cokayne family, and in the 37th Henry VIII. George 
 Beresford held it. In 1608 it was granted, with other 
 estates, to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, in exchange for 
 lands in Hertfordshire. In 1613, the Earl sold the manor 
 to Dame Judith Corbet, widow of William Boothby, citizen 
 of London, by whose bequest it passed to her grandson Sir 
 William, who was created a baronet, in 1660. The Boothbys 
 had here a fine park, and a good mansion, which was for 
 several generations the chief residence of the family — In 
 1754 they sold the estate to Mr. Nicholas Twigge, and 
 two other persons. Mr. Twigge afterwards became sole 
 proprietor, and from him it descended to his grandson, 
 the Rev. Thomas Francis Twigge, late of Derby, who de- 
 vised it F. T. Foljambe, Esq. and the Spend-lane estate 
 to William Bourne, Esq. of Hull. — The ancient mansion 
 was taken down in 1795.* 
 
 ♦History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby, vol. II. 
 Robert Millward, a celebrated wanior, was born at Broadlow- Ash. He 
 served in Spain, and is said to have engaged in single combat with a Spaniard. 
 ' They first fought with quarter -staves and then betook themselves to sword and 
 dagger. The Spaniard soon afterwards lost the use of his left arm, and then his 
 life.' Robert was eldest son of John Millward, Esq. who died in 1632, and lies 
 buried in Thorpe Church. Colonel John Millward, of Snitterton, Derbyshire, 
 who served with the Royalists in the time of Charles I, was youngest brother of 
 the warrior. 
 
THORPE. 
 
 127 
 
 Thorpe, in Domesday Book called Torp, a village, town- 
 ship and parish in the hundred of Wirksworth, lies about 
 four miles north-west of Ashbourn. At the Norman survey 
 it was a royal possession, and it appears afterwards to have 
 belonged to the Ferrers family, for they granted five parts 
 of the tithe to the priory of Tutbury. Francis Cokayne, 
 of Ashbourn, who died in 1538, was possessed of this manor. 
 The present proprietor is Ralph Adderley, Esq. 
 
 The ancient church, being situated on the brow of a hill, 
 and surrounded with trees, is a very pleasing object. The 
 living is a rectory, and the patronage is in the hands of the 
 Dean, of Lincoln. The church is dedicated to St Leonard. 
 
 The tourist, approaching Thorpe from the south, will 
 mark an extraordinary and almost instantaneous change in 
 the aspect of the country. Leaving behind him the ' brown 
 heath and the richly-cultivated meadow,' he enters upon 
 new and very different scenes. From the rising grounds 
 which have grown, as it were, insensibly beneath him, 
 starts in bold abruptness, Thorpe Cloudy a detached, cone- 
 shaped hill, of steep ascent, and of considerable elevation. 
 At its base, winds the most frequented road to that 
 secluded and wildly-beautiful glen, Dovedale. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Dove — Its Rise — Character of its Scenery — How it will he descrihed.— • 
 lloutes for the Tourist. — Alsop-in-the-Dale. — Newhaven. — Biggin Dale. — 
 Hartington. — Beresford Hall— Family of Beresford — Memoir of Cotton. — 
 Narrow-Dale. — Ecton Mines. — Scenery around Wetton. — River Manifold. 
 Alstonfield. — Mill-Dale — Dovedale. — Ham — Ham Hall. — Throwley. — Blore. 
 Okeover. — Mappleton. 
 
 The river Dove, " one of the most beautiful streams that 
 ever gave charm to a landscape," takes its rise between 
 what are termed ^ the Great and Middle Axe-Edge hills,' 
 about four miles south-west of Buxton, near the point where 
 meet the three shires of Chester, Derby, and Stafford, 
 and it forms in its course one of the natural boundaries 
 between the two latter counties. There are, perhaps, few 
 districts in England, of a similar extent, that exhibit scenery 
 of a more diversified character, than the valley through 
 w^hich flows this romantic and far-famed river. At the 
 sterile region of its source, the tourist may contrast the bar- 
 ren elevations of the Peak, with the widely-extended, fer- 
 tile, and thickly-peopled plain, denominated, not inaptly, 
 "The Vale Royal of England." For several miles the Dove 
 
 *The Great Axe-Edge, is the highest point of a line of lofty hills, extending 
 across the houndaries of the county into StaiFordshire. Farey estimates its 
 height at 1875 feet ahove the level of the sea. Whitehurst states that it has an 
 altitude of 2,100 feet ahove the town of Derhy. 
 
THE DOVE. 
 
 129 
 
 is a small but rapid streamlet, and in its progress so far, 
 over a wild, uninteresting country, it bears a strong resem- 
 blance to most other rivers that have a mountainous origin. 
 Acquiring strength and vigour from its numerous auxiliary 
 springs, it then courses through rock-girt dells and deep 
 ravines, displaying combinations of scenery, — of w^ood, 
 water, and rock, — singularly wild, fantastic, and pictur- 
 es(j^. Escaping from its rocky confines, the Dove ex- 
 pands, and after enlivening and beautifying one of the 
 most fertile and luxuriant vales of which this country can 
 boast, pours its waters into another and a larger stream. * 
 But the Valley of the Dove has attractions apart from 
 its inherent natural beauties. The more southern portion 
 of this district, owing to its extreme fertility, and conse- 
 quent fitness for the abodes of men, would be peopled at a 
 very early era ;t and accordingly its antiquities, and the 
 historical incidents connected with them, are of an inte- 
 resting character, involving, as they do, much that is 
 curious and valuable in reference to the manners and cus- 
 toms, the religion and condition of its inhabitants in past 
 
 *" The Dove," says Cotton in ' The Complete Angler,' "is so called from the 
 swiftness of its current, and that swiftness occasioned by the declivity of its 
 course, and by being so strained in that course betwixt the rocks, by which, 
 (and those very high ones) it is for four or five miles confined into a very nar- 
 row stream ; a river, that from a contemptible fountain which I can cover with 
 my hat, by the confluence of other rivers, rivulets, brooks, and rills, is svrelled 
 before its fall into the Trent, a little below Eggington, where it loses the name, 
 to such a breadth and depth as to be in most places navigable, were not the 
 passage frequently interrupted with fords and weirs; and has as fertile banks 
 as any river in England, none excepted. And this river from its head for a 
 mile or two, is a black water, as all the rest of the Derbyshire rivers of note 
 originally are, for they all spring from the mosses ; but it is in a few miles' 
 travel so clarified by the addition of several clear and very great springs, big- 
 ger than itself, which gush out of the limestone rocks, that before it comes to 
 my house [Beresford Hall] which is now but six or seven miles from its source, 
 you will find it one of the purest crs^stalline streams you have seen." 
 
 f" The fertile vallies of the Dove and Trent were the favourite resorts of the 
 Mercian Kings." — History o/Tuf.hin/. — The small market-town of Repton,near 
 the junction of the two rivers, was the metropolis of the kingdom of Mercia, 
 and several of the kings were buried in the abbey there. 
 17 
 
130 
 
 THE DOVE. 
 
 ages. Some of the erections of modern date in its imme- 
 diate vicinity, and the objects of art contained within them, 
 displaying the opulence or taste of their respective proprie- 
 tors, are also of a highly attractive order. 
 
 It is these peculiar features that have obtained for the 
 Valley of the Dove such a w^ide-spread celebrity. The 
 painter, by the productions of his pencil, the poet,* through 
 the efforts of his muse, and the topographer, by his graphic 
 descriptions, have each and all contributed to disseminate a 
 knov^ledge of its beauties. But the sketches of most previous 
 writers have been in great part confined (perhaps of neces- 
 sity,) to that, the most picturesque division of this valley, 
 to which the name of Dovedale has been applied ; while 
 the scenery above and below that limited portion has been 
 overlooked, neglected, or at best but partially described. 
 In the present work it is the writer's intention to describe 
 the objects of attraction, natural and artificial, in the Y alley 
 of the Dove, as nearly as possible in the order they would 
 present themselves to one who had resolved to explore 
 the stream downwards, from its source to its fall.f 
 
 *" The Tour of the Dove," a poem by Edwards, has passages evincing great 
 descriptive power, and the versification is smooth and harmonious: take for 
 example, his stanza on reaching the source of the stream : — 
 
 " At length 'tis gain'd, the heathy cloud-capt mountain ! 
 
 Not at the hamlet of Dove-head I rest, 
 
 But higher up, beside a bubbling fountain. 
 
 That makes within a little well its nest. 
 
 Here springs the Dove ! and v/ith a grateful zest, 
 
 I drink its waters that first serve the poor. 
 
 O, when shall they repose on ocean's breast ? 
 
 How long must their rough pilgrimage endure ? 
 
 They ask not, but commence their wild romantic tour." 
 
 f This, though the obvious and natural route, can only be pursued by a pedes- 
 trian. It is here followed for the convenience of description. 
 
 Those who explore Dovedale only, commonly proceed through the pleasant 
 village of Mappleton, by Thorpe to Ham, where an excellent Inn, {The Izaak 
 Walton) has been erected specially for their accommodation ; or, they follow the 
 Buxton-road, and turning to the left at Sandy Brook, go through Spend-lane, 
 where there is anothei- well-known inn, The Dog and Partridge. 
 
 i 
 
ALSOP- 1 xN-THE- DALE. 
 
 131 
 
 Taking the Buxton road from Aslibonrn, through Fenny 
 Bentley, leaving Tissington (one of the most pleasing rural 
 seclusions in Derbyshire,) naif a mile to the right hand, we 
 enter upon a bleak, monotonous country, intersected by 
 stone walls. At no very distant period this was a wild open 
 waste, and even now, though the hand of improvement has 
 been exerted, its aspect is cheerless and cold. Near the fifth 
 mile-stone, the scene changes, a deep narrow dell, in a 
 high state of cultivation, opening to the east. At one 
 end of this dell, almost shut out from the traveller's 
 view, is a little village, consisting of a few farm-houses, 
 the church, and the remains of the ancient manor-house, to, 
 which has been given the appropriate name, of Alsop-in-the 
 Dale.^- In this neighbourhood it was that Thomas Becon, 
 one of the most laborious and useful preachers and writers 
 among the British Reformers, took refuge from the furious 
 persecution of his enemies during the reign of Henry VIII. 
 He was a disciple of Latimer, and was apprehended by 
 Bonner in 1544, when he was compelled to make a public 
 recantation at Paul's Cross, and to burn his little treatises, 
 which had then begun to attract some notice. Finding 
 there was no safety for him in London, Becon travelled into 
 Derbyshire and Staffordshire, where he remained in seclu- 
 sion till the accession of Edward VI. During this interval 
 " he educated children in good literature, and instilled into 
 
 *In 1086, Alsop and Eaton were berewicks to the manor of Parwicli. Alsop 
 which had been parcel of the ancient demesnes of the crown, was granted to 
 William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, who, in the reign of King John, granted 
 Alsop to Gweno, son of Gamel de Alsop, to hold by homage and service of 10s. 
 per annum, and suit to the wapentake of Wirksworth. His descendants enjoyed 
 the manor for seventeen generations, until the close of the seventeenth century, 
 when Anthony Alsop, Esq. sold estates here to John Borrow, Esq. of Derby, 
 aud Sir Philip Gell, Bart. The Beresfords and Milwards afterwards held it, 
 and having since passed by sale through various hands, it is now the property of 
 Walter Evans, Esq. Cold Eaton is said to have belonged to the Vernons, of 
 Haddon, and a fourth part was many years in the Boothby family. The 
 church at Alsop has some remains of Norman architecture. The living is a 
 perpetual curacy, in the gift of the freeholders. — Hi&t. 3f Gaz, of Derbyshire. 
 
132 
 
 AL^Or-IN-THE-DALE. 
 
 their minds the principles of Christian doctrine." " When 
 neither by speaking- nor writing," he remarks, " I could do 
 good, I thought it best not rashly to throw myself into 
 the ravening paws of those greedy wolves, but for a cer- 
 tain space to absent myself from their tyranny. Leaving 
 mine own native country, I travelled into such strange 
 places as were unknown to me and I to them.^- I found the 
 people of very good wits and apt understandings. In a 
 little village called Alsop-in-the-Dale, I chanced upon a 
 certain gentleman called Alsop, lord of that village, a 
 man not only ancient in years, but also ripe in the know- 
 ledge of Christ's doctrine. When we had saluted each 
 other, and I had taken a sufficient repast, he shewed me 
 certain books, which he called his jewels and principal 
 treasures. To repeat them all by name I am not able, but 
 of this I am sure, that there was the New Testament after 
 the translation of that godly learned man, Miles Cover- 
 dale,! which seemed to be as well worn by the diligent 
 reading thereof, as ever was any mass-book among the 
 papists. In these godly books, this ancient gentleman, 
 among the mountains and rocks, occupied himself both 
 diligently and virtuously. But all the religion of the peo- 
 ple consisted in hearing matins and masses, in superstitious 
 worshipping of saints, in hiring souls' carriers to sing 
 trentals,! in pattering upon beads, and such other Popish 
 pedlary. Yet the people where I have travelled for the 
 most part are reasonable and quiet enough, yea, and very 
 conformable to God's tmth. If any be stubbornly obsti- 
 nate, it is for want of knowledge, and because they have 
 been seduced by blind guides."§ 
 
 *At this period many of the inland secluded districts were scarcely accessible 
 to travellers, and far less known to the inhabitants of the southern counties 
 than some parts of the continent. 
 
 fHis was the first Testament in English, printed about twenty years before. 
 
 +Roraan Catholic priests who repeated masses for thirty days to deliver souls 
 from purgatory. 
 
 §Becon's Jewel of Joy. Lives of British Reformers. 
 
BIGGIN-DALE. 
 
 133 
 
 We now pursue our route, hitherto an almost continuous 
 ascent, to Newhaven, where we meet with a spacious inn, 
 erected by the late Duke of Devonshire, for the reception 
 of travellers to and from Buxton * A turn to the left 
 leads to the village of Biggin, whence we suddenly descend 
 into a deep glen, on the one hand rising a lofty verdant range 
 of hills, at intervals beautifully covered with wood, and on 
 the other grey and naked rocks, piled one above another, 
 having a dismal air of blank and lonely desolation. Down 
 this glen we wind for nearly three miles, its aspect becom- 
 ing continually more impressive; the hills lifting their 
 heads to a greater elevation, and their decorations of wood 
 and verdant declivities growing more animatedly beautiful. 
 At length we reach the Dove,t and now a scene breaks 
 upon us, which, under the influence of a poetic imagination, 
 has been termed * grand and bewildering.' Towers, and 
 spires, and rugged domes, crowned with pinnacles, are 
 some of the forms to which the rocks and precipices may 
 here be likened : showing in many points, a striking resem- 
 blance to the more imposing scenery lower down the dale. 
 
 At HartingtoNjJ a considerable village, a little to the 
 north-east of Biggin, there is said to have been in former 
 times a castle, and some remains of ancient works have 
 
 ♦Newhaven is well known for its fairs, two of which are held annually, and 
 notwithstanding the wildness of the country, they are attended by an immense 
 concourse of people. The gi-ound where the booths and tents are pitched is so 
 broken and diversified, as to resemble the site of an ancient encampment. 
 
 f Higher than Hartington there is but little to interest the tourist : from this 
 point then we descend with the sti-eam. 
 
 The reader will observe that the form of expression is occasionally changed. 
 
 ;|:Hartington, in Domesday-Book called Horledun, is a very lai'ge parish, 
 extending neai'ly twelve miles along the western boundary of Derbyshire. The 
 manor belonged to the Fen-ers family, and was afterwards annexed to the 
 Duchy of Lancaster. In the reigu of Charles I. Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 
 held it, but in the following reign it passed to the Cavendish family, and the 
 Duke of Devonshire (who also derives his second title from the village,) is now 
 the chief proprietor. The living is a vicarage, and the church is dedicated to 
 St. Giles. In 1831, the number of inhabitants in the entire parish was 2,103. 
 
134 
 
 HARTINGTON. 
 
 been discovered. Several traditions of battles having been 
 fought here are current among the inhabitants. On Hart- 
 ington common the Britons are reported to have had a 
 sharp conflict with the Roman general, Agricola, but the 
 tale is uncorroborated by any historical evidence.* It is 
 however certain that a skirmish took place here in the time 
 of Charles I.f Many musket-balls, washed from the hills 
 by heavy rains, have been found at different periods. 
 
 In the vicinity of Hartington there are several of those 
 primitive sepulchral monuments, which in the northern 
 districts are termed cairns, but in Derbyshire, harrows, or 
 more commonly, lows. The most remarkable of these, 
 situated on a hill, south-east of the village, is exactly 
 circular, and rises about three feet above the surface of 
 the ground. It is foiined by stones of various sizes, the 
 smallest being the most outward. Its circumference, mea- 
 sured at the base, is nearly seventy yards ; and its diam- 
 eter at the top is about ten yards ; in the centre there is a 
 cavity one yard deep, and three yards wide. 
 
 This and most other lows found in Derbyshire are sup- 
 posed to have been constructed by the ancient Britons, per- 
 haps even before the Roman invasion. Being among the 
 only remaining works of the aborigines of this country, 
 they possess a high degree of interest to the historian and 
 the antiquary. A short summary of the chief peculiarities 
 in the structure and uses of these and similar remains may 
 not be unacceptable to the reader : — 
 
 " Those affections that have cherished a friend or rela- 
 tive when living, are generally expressed for his lifeless 
 remains in a great variety of forms; and as love and 
 friendship are most intense among the uncivilized, the 
 rudest tribes are found to present the most striking indica- 
 tions of these passions, in their funeral ceremonies and 
 modes of burial. The intensity of their feelings on such 
 
 ♦Beauties of England and Wales. Piltington's Survey of Derbyshire, 
 f See page 19. 
 
HARTINGTON. 
 
 135 
 
 occasions, the ancient Britons have sufficiently announced 
 to posterity, in the numerous barrows and caims that exist 
 in the island. What particular ceremonies they used in 
 the interment of their dead we know not ; but from the 
 contents of the graves, we find that, like other rude nations, 
 they buried with the body whatever they accounted most 
 valuable. Weapons of war and of the chace, ornaments of 
 every kind, and even articles of jewellery were thus depo- 
 sited ; and frequently also the relics of dogs and deer, are 
 found mixed with human bones. All this had, doubtless, 
 a prospective view to the existence of the departed indivi- 
 dual in a future state ; he was thus not only arrayed for 
 that other scene in a manner befitting his rank and former 
 estimation, but furnished with the means of defence subsis- 
 tence, and amusement. The prodigious labour with which 
 the old British barrows were evidently constructed, by soil 
 in many cases brought from a great distance, and the care 
 and ingenuity displayed in their forms, excite the wonder 
 of modern ages. These strange sepulchres exhibit great 
 variety both in size and shape, and by this, in some cases, 
 we can conjecture not only the period of their construction, 
 but also the condition of those whom they were designed 
 to commemorate. Thus the immense mounds of earth of 
 an oblong form and rude construction, some of which are 
 about 400 feet in length, but containing few bones and 
 fewer valuable relics, were probably the earliest graves of 
 the island, and designed for chieftains, who could more 
 easily obtain the labour of a thousand vassals, than the 
 possession of a single trinket. Next to these may perhaps 
 be classed the bowl-shaped barrows, as they are called, 
 which are plain hemispheric mounds of earth. The bell- 
 shaped barrow is evidently of still later date, being an 
 improvement upon the former, having its sides gracefully 
 curved inward, immediately above the surface, and exhibit- 
 ing greater skill and labour in their construction. To these 
 may be added what have been improperly termed the 
 Druid-barrows; these are the most elegant of the whole 
 
180 
 
 HARTINGTON. — BERESFORD HALL. 
 
 series of graves, and appear to have been in general occu- 
 pied by females, from containing trinkets of a finer and 
 more feminine character, and bones of a smaller size than 
 those of the others. It is conjectured also that these vast 
 piles were reserved only for chiefs and personages of ele- 
 vated rank ; while the common people, as in other coun- 
 tries, were buried in those more humble receptacles whose 
 traces are soon erased. 
 
 " The bodies of the dead were placed in the tombs in a 
 variety of positions. It appears also that the practice of 
 consuming them by fire, sometimes prevailed, for in many 
 of the barrows, the half-burnt bones have been discovered. 
 A still more classical mode of burial was frequently fol- 
 lowed among the Britons. When the body had been 
 consumed on the pile, the ashes were carefully collected, 
 inclosed in a linen sheet, which was secured by a brass 
 pin, and deposited in an urn. Some of the barrows, on 
 being opened, are found to contain these urns, which are 
 placed, in most instances, with the bottom uppermost." * 
 
 To the south of Hartington, on an eminence in the 
 midst of meadows, two or three hundred yards from the 
 Dove, stands Beresford HALL,t once the residence of the 
 well-known Charles Cotton. The hall is a stone building 
 of very plain exterior, apparently erected about two cen- 
 turies ago, and it has for many years past been occuj^ied 
 as a farm-house. Some of the offices have fallen into ruins, 
 but the front is stiU kept in tolerable order. The ancient 
 furniture has disappeared, and the wainscotting, ceiling, 
 
 ♦Pictorial History of England, vol. i. p. 130, 131. 
 f The shortest and most convenient route for the visitor to Beresford Hall, is 
 (on quitting Ashbourn) to follow the Buxton-road as before dnected, but turn- 
 ing to the left near the fifth mile-st(?ne, for the village of Alstonfield, instead 
 of proceeding onward to Newhaven. The approach to Alstonfield is a steep 
 and narrow defile, skirted by rugged rocks, and from it we catch a pleasing view 
 of the church on the opposite hill. Beresford Hall is about a mile and a half 
 distant, and the foot path which leads to it, through several pasture-fields, rich 
 in so wild a situation, winds round the base of a hill, from which on the left 
 is seen a large circular valley, bounded by the lofty moorland elevations. 
 
BERESFORD HALL. 
 
 137 
 
 and interior decorations, have suffered from tlie moul- 
 dering hand of time. The "hall," now used as the 
 house-jjlace, is of large dimensions, and on the ancient 
 carved- wood chimney-piece appears the cypher of Cotton. 
 The chief ohject of curiosity, especially to anglers, is 
 Cotton's fishing-house, a small building, situated on an 
 angle of the Dove. On the key-stone of the arch over the 
 door- way, the original cypher, C.V/.C. (the initials of 
 Walton and Cotton) still remains undefaced ; but the in- 
 scription above that, sacrum piscatorihus'^ (sacred to fish- 
 ermen,) has been lately renovated. Some idea of the 
 original state of the fishing-house may be formed from the 
 following description of it, written for Sir John Hawkins. 
 " It is of stone, and the room inside a cube of about fifteen 
 feet; it is also paved with black and white marble. In 
 the middle is a square black marble table, supported by 
 two stone feet. The room is wainscotted with curious 
 mouldings that divide the panels up to the ceiling ; in the 
 larger panels are represented in painting, some of the most 
 pleasant of the adjacent scenes, with persons fishing ; and 
 in the smaller, the various sorts of tackle and implements 
 used in angling. In the further corner on the left is a fire- 
 place, with a chimney ; and on the right a large beaufet 
 with folding doors, whereon are the portraits of Mr. Cotton, 
 his boy-servant, and Walton, in the dress of the times. 
 Underneath is a cupboard, on the door of which are the 
 figures of a trout, and also of a grayling, well portrayed." 
 All these decorations have disappeared, and nothing re- 
 mains of the furniture of the room but the marble table and 
 a few chairs. The site of this building is very happily 
 chosen, and the portion of the river that flows beneath it 
 has all the appearance of a good fishing-stream. In one of 
 the rocks that overhang the river, is a small cavern, of diffi- 
 cult approach, in which it is said Mr. Cotton used to 
 secrete himself when pursued at the suit of his creditors, by 
 the unrelenting perseverance of bailiffs. A faithful female 
 dependant, it is related, brought him his food while he was 
 
 18 
 
138 
 
 BERESFORD HALL. 
 
 in this place of concealment. The depth of the cave is 
 ahout fifteen yards, but even in this small space there are 
 several intricate windings, which being difficult to explore, 
 make it well adapted for Cotton's supposed purposes of 
 concealment. 
 
 Some years since Beresford Hall was purchased by Lord 
 Beresford, the general who distinguished himself in the 
 Peninsular war. By his orders some repairs and altera- 
 tions have taken place in the building, and several planta- 
 ations have been laid out around it. 
 
 The manor of Beresford, (anciently Berreford or Bar- 
 riesford,) was for several centuries the inheritance of the 
 family of Beresford, who first appear in the train of Wil- 
 liam the Conqueror; and a John de Beresford held the 
 manor as early as the year 1087. The illustrious Beres- 
 fords of Ireland are descended from this family. 
 
 In the reign of Edward IV. the manor was granted, in 
 trust, to John, Lord Audley, but was afterwards released, 
 and in course of time came into the possession of the 
 Cotton family. 
 
 Charles Cotton the elder, w ho married the daughter of Sir 
 John Stanhope, of Elvaston, (ancestor of the present Earl 
 Chesterfield,) was a person of great talents and varied 
 accomplishments. He w as on terms of friendship with the 
 celebrated Lord Clarendon, w^hose character of him is thus 
 elegantly expressed: — "Charles Cotton was a gentleman 
 born to a competent fortune; and so qualified in his person 
 and education, that for many years he continued the great- 
 est ornament of the town, in the esteem of those who had 
 been best bred. His natural parts were very great, his wit 
 flowing, in all the parts of conversation ; the superstructure 
 of learning not raised to a considerable height; but having 
 passed some years in Cambridge, and then in France, and 
 conversing always with learned men, his expressions were 
 ever proper and significant, and gave great lustre to his 
 discourse on any argument, so that he was thought by those 
 
MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 139 
 
 who were not intimate with him, to have heen much better 
 acquainted with hooks than he was. He had all those 
 qualities which in youth raise men to the reputation of 
 being fine gentlemen ; such a pleasantness and gaiety of 
 humour, such a sweetness and gentleness of nature, and 
 such a civility and delightfulness in conversation, that no 
 man in the court or out of it appeared a more accomplished 
 person : all these extraordinary qualifications being sup- 
 ported by as extraordinaiy a clearness of courage and fear- 
 lessness of spirit, of which he gave too often manifestation. 
 Some unhappy suits in law, and waste of his fortune in 
 those suits, made some impression on his mind: which 
 being improved by domestic afflictions, and those indul- 
 gences to himself which naturally attend those afflictions, 
 rendered his age less reverenced than his youth had been, 
 and gave his best friends cause to wish he had not lived so 
 long." 
 
 The younger Mr. Cotton was born at Beresford Hall, on 
 the 28th of April, 1630. He received his education at Cam- 
 bridge, and was esteemed one of the brightest ornaments 
 of that seat of learning. In 1656, before any patrimony 
 had descended to him, he married a distant relation, Isa- 
 bella, daughter of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, knight, of 
 Ow thorp, Notts. The distress in which this step might 
 have involved him, was in some measure averted by the 
 death of his father, in 1658, which gave him possession of 
 the family estates ; but from the character of his father as 
 given by I^ord Clarendon, it may well be supposed they 
 were encumbered with mortgages. In the year 1670 having 
 been honoured with a commission in the army, he visited 
 Ireland, which event he has recorded in some lines entitled 
 " A Voyage to Ireland^''"^ carelessly written, but abounding 
 
 ♦111 this poem, lie relates with singular pleasantry, that at Chester, coming 
 out of church, he was noticed by the mayor of that city, for his rich garb, and 
 particularly for a gold belt that he then wore ; and by him invited home and 
 very hospitably entertained. 
 
140 
 
 MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 ill liumoroiis description. Tempted by the vicinity of hk 
 residence to one of the finest trout streams in the kingdom, 
 Mr. Cotton chose angling for his chief recreation, and look- 
 ing upon it to he what Walton terms it, " an art," he ap- 
 plied himself to the improvement of that branch of it, fish- 
 ing with an artificial fly. To this end he made himself 
 acquainted with the nature of aquatic insects, with the 
 forms and colours of the flies that are found on or near 
 rivers, the times of their appearance and departure, and 
 the methods of imitating them with furs, silks, feathers, 
 and other materials : in all which researches he exercised 
 much patience, industry, and ingenuity. The publication 
 of Izaak Walton's " Complete Angler;' probably excited 
 in him a desire to become acquainted with the author, for 
 in the year 1676, they were united by the closest ties of 
 friendship. These were no doubt the inducements that 
 led Cotton to write the second part of the Complete A7tgler, 
 and therein more fully to explain the art of fly-fishing. 
 The book, as the author assures us, was written in the 
 short space of ten days ; and first came abroad, with the 
 fifth edition of the first part, in 1676, and ever since the 
 two parts have been considered as one book- The second 
 part of the Complete Amjler is apparently an imitation of 
 the first ; and besides the instruction there given, and the 
 beautiful scenery of a wild and romantic country therein 
 displayed, the urbanity, courtesy, and hospitality, of a well- 
 bred country gentlemen, are represented to great advantage. 
 This book might be thought to contain a delineation of the 
 author's character; and dispose the reader to think that he 
 was delighted with his situa-tion, content with his fortunes, 
 and in short one of the happiest of men ; but his next pub- 
 lication speaks a very different language ; for living in a 
 country that abounds, above all others in this kingdom, in 
 rocks, caverns, and subteiTaneous passages (objects that to 
 some minds, aflbrd more delight than stately woods and 
 fertile plains, rich enclosures, and other the milder beauties 
 of nature,) he seems to have been prompted by no other 
 
 I 
 
MEMOIR OF COTTON, 
 
 than a sullen curiosity to explore the secrets of that nether 
 world: and suiTcying it rather with wonder than philo- 
 sophical delight, to have given way to his disgust, in a 
 description of the dreary and terriffic scenes around and be- 
 neath him, in a poem, called "The Wonders of the Peak,'' 
 which he published in 1681. This has been with perfect 
 justice described as a mean, splenetic composition. During 
 the whole of his life Mr. Cotton was involved in diffi- 
 culties,* arising chiefly from the debts that incumbered 
 his paternal estate, and a certain easiness of disposition, 
 which laid him open to the arts of designing men. It is 
 said, that his pecuniary embarrassments drew upon him the 
 misfortune of personal restraint; and that, during his con- 
 finement in one of the city prisons, he inscribed on the 
 wall of his apartment therein the following lines: — 
 
 " A pi'ison is a place of care, 
 
 Wherein no man can tlu'ive, 
 A touch- stone sure to try a friend, 
 
 A gi-ave for man alive. "f 
 
 It might be supposed that Cotton's second marriage, with 
 the Countess Dowager of Ardglass, who possessed a join- 
 ture of fifteen hundred a-year, would have extricated him 
 from his difficulties ; but the supposition seems to be con- 
 tradicted by a fact which the administration of his effects 
 on his decease discloses, namely, that his estate was granted 
 
 *Tn his epistle to Sir Clifford Clifton, speaking of himself, arc the following 
 lines : — 
 
 " He always wants money which makes him want ease ; 
 
 And he's always besieged, tho' himself of the peace. 
 
 By an array of duns, who batter with scandals, 
 
 And are foemen more fierce than the Goths or the Vandals." 
 
 fin the notes to Cotton's Life in The Complete Angler, it is doubted whether 
 he really did write these lines : they ai-e said to have been found inscribed in 
 the Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh, with the following additional stanza :— 
 " Sometimes a place of right, 
 
 Sometimes a place of wrong, 
 Sometimes a place of jades and thieves, 
 And honest men among." 
 
142 
 
 MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 to his principal creditor, his widow and children first 
 renouncing. He died in the year 1687, in the parish of St. 
 James's, Westminster. 
 
 Mr. Cotton's moral character is to he collected, and does 
 indeed naturally arise, from the sentiments contained in his 
 writings, and more especially from his poems, which com- 
 prehend odes and epistles to his friends, translations from 
 several French writers, and some hurlesque verses. Many 
 of these are inexcusahly licentious, and will induce a sus- 
 picion that the author was but too well practised in the 
 vices of the town. On the other hand, there are, in his 
 " Poems on several Occasions,^'' verses, to ladies in particu- 
 lar, of so courtly and elegant a turn, that allowing for 
 their inconectness, they might vie with the productions of 
 Waller and Cowley. Others there are that bespeak him 
 to have had a just sense of honour, loyalty, and moral 
 rectitude. One of our most distinguished living poets 
 has adduced several passages of his ''Ode upon Win- 
 ter^'' for a general illustration of the characteristics of fancy. 
 " The middle part of this ode contains a most lively descrip- 
 tion of the entrance of Winter, with his retinue, as a 
 ^palsied king,' and yet a military monarch, advancing for 
 conquest with his anny, the several bodies of which and 
 their arms and equipment, are described with a rapidity of 
 detail, and a profusion of fanciful comparisons, which indi- 
 cate, on the part of the poet, extreme activity of intellect, 
 and a correspondent hurry of delightful feeling." This 
 recommendation from the hand of Wordsworth, will make 
 the reader anxious to become acquainted with a volume 
 which, " though stained with some peculiarities of the age 
 in which the author lived," ought yet to form a part of all 
 future collections of English poetry.* 
 
 The following verses, written at Beresford Hall, in one 
 of his happiest moods, will give some idea of his habits 
 and acquirements. 
 
 *Life of Cotton, prefixed to Sir John Hawkins's edition of Walton and Cot- 
 ton's Angler. Professor Ronnie's Notes. 
 
MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 143 
 
 THE RETIREMENT. 
 
 STANZES IRREGULIERS, TO MR. IZAAK WALTON. 
 
 Farewell, thou busy world, and may 
 We never meet again; 
 Here I can eat, and sleep, and pray, 
 And do more good in one short day 
 Than he who his whole age out- wears 
 
 Upon the most conspicuous theatres. 
 
 Where nought but vanity and vice appears. 
 
 Good God ! how sweet are all things here ! 
 How beautiful the fields appear ! 
 
 How cleanly do we feed and lie ! 
 Lord what good hours do we keep ! 
 How quietly we sleep ! 
 
 What peace, what unanimity ! 
 How innocent from the lewd fashion. 
 Is all our business, all our recreation ! 
 
 Oh, how happy here's our leisure ! 
 Oh, how innocent our pleasure 1 
 O ye valleys ! O ye mountains ! 
 O ye groves, and crystal fountains ! 
 How I love, at liberty. 
 By turns to come and visit ye ! 
 Dear Solitude, the soul's best friend, 
 That man acquainted with himself dost make. 
 And all his Maker's wonders to intend. 
 With thee I here converse at will. 
 And would be glad to do so still, 
 For it is thou alone that keep'st the soul awake. 
 How calm and quiet a delight 
 
 Is it, alone, 
 To read and meditate and write, 
 
 By none offended, and offending none ! 
 To walk, ride, sit, or sleep at one's own ease. 
 And, pleasing a man's self, none other to displease. 
 
 0 my beloved nymph, fair Dove, 
 Princess of rivers, how I love 
 
 Upon thy flowery banks to lie, 
 And view thy silver stream, 
 AVhen gilded by a summer's beam ; 
 And in it all thy Avanton fry, 
 Playing at liberty, 
 And with my angle, upon them 
 The all of treachery 
 
 1 ever learn'd industriously to try ^ 
 
144 
 
 MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 Such streams Rome's yellow Tiber cannot show. 
 The Iberian Tagus, or Ligurian Po, 
 The Maese, the Danube, and the Rhine 
 Are puddle water all compared with thine ; 
 And Loire's pure streams yet too polluted are 
 With thine, much purer, to compare ; 
 The rapid Garonne and the winding Seine 
 Are both too mean, 
 
 Beloved Dove, with thee 
 
 To vie priority ; 
 Nay, Tame and Isis, when conjoined submit, 
 And lay their trophies at thy silver feet. 
 O my beloved rocks, that rise 
 To awe the earth and brave the skies, 
 From some aspiring mountain's crown. 
 
 How dearly do I love. 
 Giddy with pleasure, to look down; 
 And from the vales, to \iew the noble heights above ! 
 
 O my beloved caves ! from dog-stai-'s heat. 
 And all anxieties, my safe reti-eat; 
 What safety, privacy, what true delight, 
 In the artificial night 
 
 Your gloomy entrails make. 
 
 Have I taken, do I take ! 
 How oft, when grief has made me fly, 
 To hide me from society. 
 E'en of my dearest friends, have I 
 
 In your recesses' friendly shade. 
 
 All my soiTOws open laid, 
 And my most secret woes intrusted to your privacy ! 
 
 Lord ! would men let me alone. 
 What an over-happy one 
 
 Should I think myself to be ; 
 Might I in this desert place, 
 (Which most men in discourse disgrace,) 
 
 Live but undisturbed and free I 
 Here, in this despised recess. 
 
 Would I, maugi-e w^inter's cold. 
 And the summer's worst excess. 
 Try to live out to sixty full years old ; 
 And, all the while. 
 
 Without an envious eye 
 On any thriving under fortune's smile. 
 Contented live, and then contented die. 
 
MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 145 
 
 It is sufficiently evident that the great defect in Cotton's 
 character was inconsistency. At one time he is devoted 
 to the innocent pleasures of retirement; at another, emulous 
 of distinction as a ribald and profane writer in the most 
 immoral period of our literary history.* 
 
 Of the future fortunes of his descendants little is known, 
 save that to his son, Beresford Cotton, was given a com- 
 pany in a regiment of foot raised by the Earl of Derby for 
 the service of King William ; and that one of his daughters 
 became the wife of that eminent divine, Dr. George Stan- 
 hope, Dean of Canterbury. 
 
 •The tone of pleasantry pervading the following passages from " The Com- 
 plete Angler," in which Cotton figures as Piscator, is strangely at variance with 
 the exhibition of spleen in his " Wonders of the Peak :" 
 
 " Piscator. You are happily overtaken, sir : may a man be so bold as to in- 
 quire how far you travel this way ? 
 
 Viator. Yes, sure, sir very freely; though it be a question I cannot very well 
 resolve you, as not knowing myself how far it is to Aslibom, where I intend to 
 night to take up my inn. 
 
 Piscator. Why then, sir, seeing I perceive you to be a stranger in these 
 parts, I shall take upon me to inform you, that from the town you last came 
 through, called Brailsford, it is five miles j and you are not above half a mile 
 on this side. 
 
 Viator. So much ! I was told it was but ten miles from Derby, and me- 
 hiuks I have rode almost so far already. 
 
 Piscator. Oh, sir, find no fault with large measure of good land, which Der- 
 byshire abounds in, as much as most counties of England. 
 
 Viator It may be so; and good land, I confess, affords a pleasant prospect: 
 but, by your good leave, sir, large measure of foul way is not altogether so 
 acceptable. 
 
 Piscator. True, sir; but the foul way serves to justify the fertility of the soil, 
 according to the proverb, " There is good land where there is foul way : " and is 
 of good use to inform you of the riches of the country you are come into, and 
 of its continual travel and trafiic to the county town you came from; which is 
 also very observable by the foulness of its road, and the load en horses you meet 
 every where upon the way. * * 
 
 But wo have already talked away two miles of your journey; for, from 
 the brook before us, that runs at the foot of this sandy hill, you have but 
 three miles to Ashborn. 
 
 Viator. I meet every where in this country, with these little brooks ; and 
 they look as if they were full of fish : have they not Trouts in them ? 
 19 
 
146 
 
 MEMOIR OF COTTON. 
 
 Piscator. That is a question which is to be excused in a stranger, as you 
 are : otherwise, give me leave to tell you, it would seem a kind of affront to our 
 country, to make a doubt of what we pretend to be famous for, next, if not be- 
 fore, our malt, wool, lead, and coal ; for you are to understand, that we think 
 we have as many fine rivers, rivulets, and brooks, as any country whatever; and 
 they are all full of Trouts, and some of them the best (it is said) by many de- 
 grees, in England. 
 
 Viator. I was first, sir, in love with you ; and now shall be so enamoured of 
 your country, by this account you give me of it, as to wish myself a Derbyshire 
 man, or, at least, that I might live in it: for you must know I am a pretender 
 to the angle, and, doubtless, a Trout affords the most pleasure to the angler, of 
 any sort of fish whatever; and the best Trouts must needs make Ifhe best spwt; 
 but this brook, and some others I have met with upon this way, are too full of 
 wood for that recreation. 
 
 Piscator. This, sir ! why this, and several others like it, which you have pass- 
 ed, and some that you are like to pass, have scarce any name amongst us ; but 
 we can shew you as fine rivers, and as clear from wood, or any other encum- 
 brance, to hinder an angler, as any you ever saw ; and for clear beautiful streams, 
 Hantshire itself, by Mr. Izaak Walton's good leave, can shew none such, nor, 
 I think, any country in Europe. 
 
 Piscator. Sir I think myself happy in your acquaintance ; aiid, before we 
 part, shall enti'eat leave to embrace you. You have said enough to recommend 
 you to my best opinion; for my father Walton will be seen twice in no man's 
 company he does not like, and likes none but such as he believes to be very 
 honest men, which is one of the best arguments, or at least of the best testimo- 
 nies I have, that I either am, or that he thinks me one of those, seeing I have 
 not yet found him weary of me. 
 
 Viator. You speak like a true- friend, and,, in doing so, render y0U3?self 
 worthy of his friendship. May I be so bold as to ask your name ? 
 
 Piscator. Yes, surely, sir; and, if you please, a much nicer question: my 
 
 name is , and I intend to stay long enough in your company, if I find 
 
 you do not dislike mine, to ask yours too. In the meantime, (because we are 
 now almost at Ashbourn,) I shall freely and bluntly tell you, that I am a bro- 
 ther of the angle too, and, peradventure, can give you some instructions how to 
 angle for a Trout in a clear river, that my father Walton himself will not dis- 
 approve, though he did either purposely omit, or did not remember them, when 
 you and he sat discoursing under the sycamore tree. And, being you have 
 already told me whither your journey is intended, and that I am better ac- 
 quainted with the country than you are, I will heartily aiid earnestly entreat 
 you will not think of staying at this town, but go on with me six miles farther 
 to my house, where you shall be extremely welcome; it is directly in your way; 
 we have day enough to perform our journey, and, as you like your entertainment, 
 you may there repose yourself a day or two, or as many more as your occasions 
 will permit, to recompense the trouble of so much a longer journey. 
 
 « * * 
 
 I will tell you, that my house stands upon the margin of one of the finest 
 
beresford's glen. 
 
 147 
 
 rivers for trout and grayling in England — that I have lately built a little fish- 
 ing house upon it dedicated to anglers, over the door of which you will see the 
 two first letters of my father Walton's name and mine, twisted in cypher — that 
 you shall lie in the same bed he has sometimes been contented with, and have 
 such country entertainment as my friends sometimes accept, and be as welcome 
 too, as the best friend of them all. 
 
 * * But sir, we are now going down the Spittle hill into 
 
 the town ; and therefore let me intreat you suddenly to resolve, and most ear- 
 nestly not to deny me. 
 
 Viator. In truth, sir I am so overcome by your bounty, that I find 1 cannot, 
 but must render myself wholly to be disposed of by you. 
 
 Piscator. Why that's heartily and kindly spoken, and I as heartily thank 
 you. And being you have abandoned yourself to my conduct, we will only call 
 and drink a glass on horseback, at the Talbot, and away. * * What will 
 you drink, sir, — ale or wine ? 
 
 Viator. Nay, I am for the country liquor, Derbyshire ale, if you please ; for 
 a man should not, methinks, come from London to drink wine in the Peak. 
 
 Piscator, You are in the right : and yet, let me tell you, you may drink 
 worse French wine in many taverns in London, than they have sometimes at 
 this house. What ! ho ! bring us a flagon of your best ale. — And now, sir, my 
 service to you : a good health to the honest gentleman you know of, and you 
 are welcome to the Peak." 
 
 The course of the Dove in the vicinity of Beresford is 
 marked by scenery of a prettily romantic character, — a kind 
 of miniature representation of a part of Dovedale. ' Pike- 
 Pool,' ' Beresford's enchanting gien,' and the objects adja- 
 cent, Mr. Edwards has thus described : 
 
 " But who can paint the beauties of Pike pool ? 
 
 Thy Duddon, Wordsworth, in its splendid route 
 
 Has nought so soft and green, so shadowy cool. 
 
 'Tis haunted by the grayling and the trout; 
 
 And from the sleeping water rising out — ■ 
 
 Fairer than workmanship of elfin hands — 
 
 Appears an obelisk, a rocky sprout; 
 
 Like those of coral seen on Indian strands; 
 
 Or shapely pine that sole in some deep valley stands. 
 
 " Shrubs and steep crags a crescent skreen have drawn, 
 That on its southern side the river bounds; 
 The fellow bank is a smooth slip of lawn. 
 Skirted abrupt by bold romantic mounds. 
 With foliage hanging as from gai'den grounds : 
 These lead the eye to open fields of grass 
 But loveliest is that pool the glen surrounds. 
 High above all rears a stupendous mass, — 
 A rock-built range of towers that frown upon the Pass. 
 
148 
 
 NARROW- DALE, 
 
 " Enough, methinks, is told of Nature's grace, 
 Poured freely on this stream, to anglers dear. 
 Diviner worth has sanctified the place. 
 That Fishing House amid those firs which rear 
 Their tops above it, leads me to revere 
 The seal of Friendship warm as filial love. 
 Twined in one cypher, on the front appear 
 Walton and Cotton's names ; there fixed to prove 
 A record of affection near their favorite Dove. 
 
 " Cheerful, sage, and mild, 
 Walton's discourse was like the honey balm 
 Distilled by flowers. Along these waters wild, 
 Smit with the love of angling, he beguiled. 
 With his adopted son, the hours away : 
 While Cotton owned the fondness of a child 
 For him, in whose glad company to stay. 
 Had made the whole year pass like one sweet month of May." 
 
 Leaving Beresford, and pursuing our tour in a south- 
 westerly direction, we enter a wild confined glen,| called 
 Narrow-dale, so very narrow. Dr. Plot, the historian of 
 Staffordshire affirms, Hhat the inhabitants there, for that 
 quarter of the year when the sun is nearest the tropic of 
 Capricorn, never see its face at all; and that at length, 
 when it does begin to appear, they never see it till about 
 one o'clock, which they call the "Narrow-dale noon," 
 using it proverbially, when they would express a thing 
 done late at noon.' 
 
 " Valley of Shadow ! thee the evening moon 
 
 Hath never visited : the vernal sun 
 
 Arrives too late to mark the hour of noon 
 
 In thy deep solitude." Edwards. 
 
 A portion of one of the elevated limestone ridges south- 
 west of Beresford, is termed ' Ecton Hill.' At the base of 
 this hill, on that side of it skirted by the Manifold, a river 
 having many characteristics in common with her sister- 
 stream, the Dove, is the entrance to the deepest mine in 
 Great Britain. That part of the hill in which the mine is 
 situated is of a conical form; its perpendicular height is 
 estimated at seven hundred feet, and the diameter at its 
 base, from the Manifold westward, is about half a mile 
 The mine was doubtless wrought at a very remote period; 
 
ECTON MINE. 
 
 149 
 
 tradition states, as early as the Conquest. Dr. Plot, in 
 the History of Staffordshire, published in 1686, informs us 
 that it was wrought by the Earl of Devonshire, in the early 
 part of the seventeenth century ; and afterwards by Sir 
 Richard Fleetwood and some Dutch miners, but they had 
 all given it up as unproductive. After their efforts had 
 ceased, it would appear from the accounts of a later topo- 
 grapher,* that all traces of the mine were lost.f He says 
 that in the following century it was again discovered by a 
 Cornish miner, who, passing over the hill, found a piece of 
 copper-ore, annexed to some fine spar, to which that metal 
 usually adheres. On examining the hill he concluded that 
 it might contain vast quantities of copper-ore, and that no 
 place could be more convenient for working it. He there- 
 fore communicated his discovery and his sentiments to 
 some adventurers at Ashbourn, who approved of the pro- 
 ject, and applied to the Duke of Devonshire for a lease to 
 search for copper in the hill. The required permission was 
 granted; upwards of ^13,000 were expended before any 
 profit was realized, and several of the adventurers, despair- 
 ing of success, sold their shares at a heavy loss. The re- 
 maining shareholders persevered in their researches, and 
 were more fortunate : for after sinking a shaft of about two 
 hundred yards deep, and driving in a level, they found 
 copper-ore in rich abundance, the quantity increasing, the 
 lower they descended. They thus acquired considerable 
 fortunes. At the termination of the lease, the mine reverted 
 to the Duke of Devonshire, and for many years it pro- 
 duced him from £8,000 to £10,000 per annum.J A 
 tourist who visited and explored the Ecton mine, about 
 fifty or sixty years ago, (the period of its highest prospe- 
 rity,) has furnished a description of the interior, as it then 
 
 ♦Beauties of England and Wales — Staffordshire, 
 f The accuracy of this statement may with good reason be doubted. 
 
 ;{:Popular report says much more : it is aflGlrmed and believed by some, that 
 the cost of erecting the range of buildings called the Crescent, at Buxton, was 
 defrayed out of one year's proceeds ! It is almost needless to observe that this 
 is an exaggeration. 
 
150 
 
 ECTON MINE. 
 
 appeared, together with some information on the manner 
 of working the mine :* — 
 
 "In descending to view this extensive mine, we enter 
 [as before remarked] at the base of the hill by the river, 
 and proceed almost four hundred yards in a direct line. 
 About sixty yards from the entrance, the level is nearly five 
 feet high, walled on each side with masonry. Beyond this 
 point its height varies, and in some places rises to six 
 feet. At the centre there is a spacious timber lodgment 
 for landing and receiving the ore from below. After being 
 drawn up to this lodgment, it is conveyed through the 
 level on four-wheel carriages, each carriage containing about 
 a ton and a half. These vehicles, which have brass wheels, 
 run along the passage in grooves, being drawn by boys. 
 Thus far it is easy to pass, with the assistance of 
 lights ; but below there is such a horrid gloom, rattling of 
 carriages, noise of workmen boring the rocks and blasting 
 the more obdurate and impenetrable strata, under the very 
 feet of the beholder ; while from this apparently frightful 
 gulph resounds the distant and hollow voices and murmur- 
 ings of labourers, that if Milton had wished for a place 
 from which to have drawn his picture of Pandemonium, he 
 could not better have described it, than by a representation 
 of this stupendous mine. From the platform the descent is 
 nearly two hundred yards, through different lodgments, by 
 ladders, steps, and cross-pieces of timber, let into the rock. 
 In passing down, the constant blasting of the rocks, 
 making a noise much louder than the loudest thunder, 
 seems to agitate the whole mountain. When at the 
 bottom, strangers take shelter in a niche, as the miners 
 generally give a salute of half a dozen blasts in quick 
 succession, by way of welcome to these horrid man- 
 sions. The monstrous cavern above, the glimmering light 
 of candles, and the suffocating smell of sulphur, all conspire 
 to increase the stranger's surprise, and to heighten his ap- 
 prehensions. 
 
 *Gcutleman's Magazine, vol. xxxix.. 
 
ECTON MINE. 
 
 151 
 
 " There is something in the position, situation, and incli- 
 nation, of this mine different, it is said, from any yet dis- 
 covered in the known world : for the amazing mass of 
 copper ore with which this hill abounds, does not run in 
 regular veins, courses, or strata, but sinks perpendicularly 
 down, widening, and swelling out at the bottom, in the 
 shape of a bell. Let the reader suppose himself nearly 
 three hundred fathoms deep, in the bov/els of a mountain, 
 in a great hollow, of immense diameter ; then let him sup- 
 pose an impenetrable wall of limestone rock, interspersed 
 with small veins of copper ore, yellow, black, and brown, 
 intennixed with spar, marcasite, mundic, and other sulphu- 
 reous compositions, of all colours ; and at the same time 
 figure to himself the dark complexions of the miners, their 
 labour, and miserable way of living in those subterraneous 
 regions, and he will then be apt to fancy himself in another 
 world. Yet these inhabitants being trained up in darkness, 
 labour and confinement, are not perhaps less hapj^y or less 
 contented, than those who possess the more flattering en- 
 joyments of light and liberty." 
 
 The writer states, that though the works were then 
 two hundred yards below the bed of the river, the quantity 
 of water was inconsiderable, and that four horses, working 
 six hours each at a common engine, were sufficient to keep 
 the mine clear. The number of men then employed was 
 about three hundred, who Avrought night and day, in 
 parties of seventy men each, relieving each other every six 
 hours. Besides these, many women and boys were occu- 
 pied in carrying, sorting, or washing the ore. 
 
 " When the ore is emptied from the carriages before 
 mentioned, it is broken into small pieces by large hammers, 
 and is then conveyed in hand-barrows, to a shed, where it 
 is sorted into three different qualities. Being then beaten 
 to a fine sand, the ore is removed to the buddies for wash- 
 ing, and is afterwards exposed for sale in the open air, in 
 heaps, ticketted according to the quality. It is sold to the 
 proprietors of the smelting-houses often in a manner 
 resembling a public auction." 
 
152 
 
 ECTON MINE. 
 
 Since the mine has ceased to yield that enormous amount 
 of mineral riches for which in past days it was so famous, 
 public curiosity has died away, and of late years but little 
 has been made known, respecting it. The scene described 
 by the writer just quoted cannot now be witnessed, the 
 operations of the few remaining adventurers being con- 
 ducted on a limited scale ; to the lover of enterprise, how- 
 ever, a visit to the mine in its present state will be amply 
 gratifying, though the descent is a task of difficulty, not 
 unattended with danger. 
 
 In the autumn of the present year (1838) we (the writer 
 and a friend) determined upon exploring it. On reaching 
 the entrance we prepared for the adventure by enveloping 
 ourselves in coarse miners' frocks; thus equipped, and 
 being furnished with lights, we entered the horizontal 
 shaft, or level, accompanied by two or three of the most 
 experienced miners. The passage for some distance is 
 floored with boards, placed across sleepers, beneath which 
 flows a current of water, a few inches deep. Proceeding 
 along this level for about three hundred yards, we arrived 
 at the point of descent, which is accomplished by the 
 ladders before mentioned. Their sides are formed of wood, 
 and the staves chiefly of iron, some of which are loose, and 
 others so worn away by the repeated treading of the 
 miners, as to convey a fearful sense of insecurity to those 
 who were unaccustomed daily to make trial of their 
 strength. We now found out the utility of the miners' 
 substitute for a candlestick, (a lump of moist adhesive clay 
 into which the candle is thrust ;) this we could place securely 
 against the side of the shaft, while the hand that held it 
 was at liberty firmly to grasp the iron hooks and stays, 
 which in the most hazardous situations have been driven 
 into the rocks to assist descent. After descending what 
 appeared to us an almost interminable number of ladders, 
 and after groping our way through several cavernous 
 passages, hewn out of the solid rock, and scarcely high 
 enough in some places, to admit of our standing erect, 
 
ECtON MINE. 
 
 153 
 
 we landed, within forty yards of the bottom of the mine, in 
 a gloomy excavation of great extent, and very considerable 
 height. In the dense and overwhelming obscurity which 
 reigned around us, scarcely broken by the feeble glimmer 
 of our lights, we were unable to form any probable esti- 
 mate of its proportions; if we state its altitude to be in 
 some parts not less than fifty or sixty feet, it is certainly 
 not overrated. We were now buried, as it were, in the 
 very bowels of a mountain, at the depth of at least fifteen 
 hundred feet beneath its summit. The situation itself is 
 one of appalling loneliness, and even in the company of 
 the miners, who, from the force of habit, beheld the scene 
 with careless indifference, it is hardly possible to shake off 
 the apprehensions which it is so well calculated to inspire. 
 But these imaginary dangers vanished before a real one. 
 Just before our arrival the miners had effected a blast, 
 the shock of which had loosened some pieces of rock, 
 suspended, and almost detached from the roof. Some of 
 these now fell within a few feet of the spot in which we 
 were resting, causing us, it is needless to say, to make a 
 hasty and precipitate retreat. The reverberation through 
 the cavern occasioned by these falling fragments of rock, 
 was loud and startling, what it would be in the case of an 
 explosion, we had not then an opportunity of discovering. 
 The rich bed of ore, in excavating which this vast chasm 
 has been formed, is now exhausted ; and thin leafy veins 
 are all that remain for the miners to work upon ; as one of 
 them remarked to us, (rather expressively) " the trunk 
 and the branches were exhausted, — they were then at 
 work on the twigs." The air of the mine is close, but to 
 those who are accustomed to it, not inconveniently so. We 
 were informed that the workmen are subject to no more dis- 
 ease, and perhaps even less, than those who are exposed to 
 every change of temperature in the open air. That this was 
 the fact, their muscular frames and healthy appearance 
 clearly indicated. One of our guides however stated, that in 
 the course of forty years' experience as a miner, he had seen 
 
 20 
 
154 
 
 ECTON MINE. 
 
 many of his fellow- workmen drawn up to the entrance in 
 a mangled and often lifeless state, arising from falls, or 
 from injuries received in the dangerous process of blasting. 
 Our guides next led us through a narrow passage on one 
 side the cavern, to the mouth of a shaft leading to the bot- 
 tom of the mine; but being told that the passage was 
 insecure, we did not risk a further descent. Proceeding 
 a short distance, we arrived at the great perpendicular 
 shaft; on looking upwards the sky at the summit of the 
 mountain was distinctly visible. Having gratified our cu- 
 riosity to its full extent, we prepared to retrace our steps. 
 The miners, in number perhaps a dozen, now left their la- 
 bour, and each with his feeble light, defiled up the ladders 
 before us. The effect produced by the motion of their dark 
 forms, brought into strong relief amid the thick gloom in 
 which all beside was enshrouded, was striking, — almost 
 unearthly, and we lingered some moments to observe it. 
 On reaching the upper level, we heard the sound of running 
 water, and turning off to one side were suddenly con- 
 ducted to an immense water-wheel, of extraordinary power ; 
 its diameter being thirty-two feet, and its width across the 
 staves about six. By a singular exercise of ingenuity, this 
 wheel is put into motion by the water collected in the upper 
 parts of the mine, while its power is employed in drawing 
 off that which would otherwise accumulate in the lower. 
 Nothing we had hitherto beheld surpassed, ^ for startling 
 effect, the scene now before us. The revolution of this 
 enormous wheel, and the action of its appendant machinery 
 over a dark and apparently unfathomable abyss, added to the 
 deafening roar of waters, increased in a ten-fold degree by 
 the echo of the cavern, might serve for the reality of some 
 one of those scenes deemed to exist only in the imagination 
 of the poet. It must be witnessed to be appreciated, — to 
 describe or to paint it is almost impossible. Near the wheel 
 there is a capstan, with a rope equal in strength to a ship's 
 cable, used for raising heavy weights. To preserve the rope 
 from the effects of damp, fires are sometimes kept burning, 
 
ECTON MINE. 
 
 155 
 
 often for months together. Passing along the level by 
 which we entered, we emerged into the light of day, after an 
 absence of about an hour and a half. 
 
 The actual depth of Ecton mine is stated to be 1,650 feet. 
 In the year 1835 an assertion, perhaps never yet contra- 
 dicted, was put forth in a newspaper, and from it copied 
 into other publications, that a shaft at Monkwearmouth 
 colliery in Sunderland was the deepest in the kingdom, 
 being then extended to 1,600 feet below the surface of 
 the ground.* This statement must have been made in igno- 
 rance of the Ecton shaft, which then exceeded it by fifty 
 feet, and has now it is believed, for aught that yet appears, 
 a perpendicular depth surpassing that of any mine in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 The supposition, founded on the existence of volcanic 
 fires and hot water springs, that the internal heat of the 
 globe becomes more intense, in proportion to the depth 
 we penetrate from its surface, has in Ecton as well as other 
 mines, received strengthening testimony. Under the direc- 
 tion of Mr. Hopkins, the able geologist, who has bestowed 
 so much labour in surveying the strata of Derbyshire and 
 the adjoining counties, some experiments by means of 
 thermometers, are now being conducted in diiferent parts of 
 the mine- The results already ascertained are decidedly 
 favourable to the truth of the supposition. These results 
 may be regarded as more conclusive than those obtained 
 from the like observations in coal-mines, in which other 
 causes have been assigned for an increase of temperature, 
 independently of the presumed subterranean heat. 
 
 The miners now engaged here have a lease from the 
 Duke of Devonshire, by which they are empowered to work 
 the mine for their own benefit, on paying to him a tribute 
 amounting to one-tenth of the ore procured. 
 
 The elevated ridges contiguous to Ecton are conceived, 
 with strong probability, to be rich in mineral treasures. 
 
 *Durliam Advertiser. 
 
156 
 
 GEOLOGY OF DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 Two companies, (" The Burgoyne" and " The North Staf- 
 fordshire,") are now prosecuting operations vigorously. 
 
 The geologist is here presented with a wide and interest- 
 ing field of observation and discovery. The strata, when 
 bared to view, are often found to lie in the utmost confusion, 
 exhibiting traces of some remote yet mighty convulsion of 
 nature. The course of the Dove passes thrice over what 
 geologists have termed ' the great limestone-fault,' con- 
 sequently intersecting rocks of the earliest formation. 
 Through Beresford-dale its course is upon the fourth lime- 
 stone ; but in the valley particularly denominated Dovedale 
 it rushes amid precipitous rocks, and opens to the inquisi- 
 tive eye of the scientific student more of the general series 
 of strata than is any where else to be contemplated in the 
 same limited extent throughout England.* To the miner, 
 and to those engaged in mining pursuits, a knowledge of 
 the facts revealed to us by geological investigation is of 
 the highest importance, when it is considered how materi- 
 ally it will aid their researches, and what a vast amount of 
 labour and capital it may hereafter save them. In the 
 notes of a very recent survey of this district, we are 
 presented with some details in reference to its aspect and 
 formation, which may interest the general reader: — f 
 
 " If we draw a line from Ashbourn to Derby, and continue 
 it thence to Nottingham, we shall have marked out a very 
 important and striking natural division of the district. Any 
 one who has passed through the country and crossed this 
 line, even on the top of a stage coach, must have been struck 
 v/ith the difference that exists in the aspect and character of 
 the country to the north of it and to the south. South of 
 that line, the country is a complete plain — fertile and beau- 
 
 * History and Gazetteer of Derbyshire, vol i. p. 36. 
 A Pvipular Sketch of the Geology of Derbyshire," by J. B. Jukes, B.A. 
 F.G.S. From Nos. 24 and 25 of " The Analyst" a valuable literary and scientific 
 journal. Our brief extracts from Mr. Jukes's survey are somewhat out of 
 order, inasmuch as they trench upon gi'ound we have akeady described ; but for 
 this little apology is requisite when the interest of the subject is duly estimated. 
 
GEOLOGY OF DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 157 
 
 tiful indeed, and frequently varied with gentle undula- 
 tions — but, upon the whole, a broad level space, stretching 
 east and west between the hills of Leicestershire on the one 
 hand, and those of the north of Derbyshire on the other. 
 In a level and cultivated tract, like this, wdiere every bank 
 is clothed with grass, and nothing deeper than a gravel-pit 
 is anywhere visible, a man may pass his life without a 
 thought of what lies beneath the soil he tills. If, however, 
 we cross the line before mentioned, towards the north, the 
 scene is quickly changed : the country becomes gradually 
 bolder in its features, till We find ourselves at length wind- 
 ing among the deep and lovely valleys of the Peak, en- 
 vironed on every side by lofty hills. Here every one becomes 
 a practical geologist, so far as the composition of the dif- 
 ferent rocks and their range at the surface goes ; and no 
 one, however unacquainted with the science he may be, 
 can traverse the country without having the subject forced 
 upon his mind. He will sometimes cross the high bleak 
 moors of gritstone, dark with the foliage of the fern and the 
 heather, or covered with long plantations of fir trees, where 
 dreariness itself has something of grandeur from its very 
 extent. From these he will look, on the one hand, over 
 the coal district, comjDosed for the most part of longitudinal 
 ridges, furrowed by transverse valleys, frequently well wood- 
 ed, and, where not actually deformed by smoky chimneys 
 and heaps of cinders and rubbish, containing many lovely 
 spots. Turning his back upon the coal-field, and proceed- 
 ing towards the limestone district, he will generally find 
 the gritstone terminate in an abrupt descent, with a line of 
 rough beetling crags overlooking a narrow fertile valley. 
 On the opposite side of this valley, the hills rise with a 
 smooth but sometimes steep ascent, to a height equal or su- 
 perior to that on which he stands. This valley is composed 
 of shale, and has most commonly a brook winding among 
 a strip of lovely meadows, and the hills opposite are lime- 
 stone, and on them is no heather, no fern, and but few trees ; 
 but they are clothed with a short light-green turf, and their 
 
158 
 
 GEOLOGY OF DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 outlines, though not peaked ; are yet lighter and more de- 
 licately traced than the heavy lumpish forms of the gritstone. 
 But the chief beauties of the limestone district are its dales. 
 The brooks and rivers run in narrow winding valleys, with 
 precipitous walls of white limestone hung with the richest 
 festoons of creepers, and from every ledge juts a dark yew, 
 or a bending ash, with thick woods of other trees on the 
 green slope at the foot of the cliffs. The flashing waters of 
 the brook as it foams over the ledges of rock that cross its 
 path below, and the hoar cliffs that rear their heads into 
 the sky above, form scenes to enchant the eye of the painter 
 or the poet, as well as to delight and instruct the mind of 
 the geologist." 
 
 After sketching each of the geological formations t>f the 
 district, the writer proceeds to show the situations they 
 respectively occupy, starting on a position which he appears 
 to have successfully established, that there is a sub-stratum 
 of mountain-limestone existing over the whole of Derby- 
 shire and the adjoining counties to the east, west, and 
 Iiorth, for an indefinite and unknown extent, sometimes 
 forming the surface of the country, at others buried to a 
 great depth under other materials. In examining the coal 
 measures, he expresses his positive conviction, " that in all 
 the country bounded by lines drawn through Wirksworth, 
 Ashbourn and Derby, there is not the most remote probabi- 
 lity of coal being got. Some persons, (he adds) deceived by 
 the resemblance of the limestone shale to coal measures, 
 and by the occurrence of nodules of coal in a diluvial clay 
 near Biggin, have been induced to sink and bore for coal 
 between Ashbourn and Turnditch — an absurdity, from the 
 expense and disappointment attendant on which the slight- 
 est knowledge of the structure of the district would have 
 saved them, and which sufficiently shows the want of a 
 greater spread of correct geological knowledge."* In 
 
 *A similar attempt with the like results, was made a few years ago, between 
 Ashbourn and Fenny Bentlev. . 
 
GEOLOGY OF DERBYSHIRE. THOR'S-CAVE. 159 
 
 concluding his survey of the formation and position of 
 the different strata, he remarks, " if we look from effects 
 to their cause, and let the facts we have examined briefly 
 speak for themselves, they tell us that over all this district 
 which is now the county of Derby (and did we extend our 
 examination we should be obliged to extend our expression 
 to nearly the whole of England), at the remotest period to 
 Avhich we can trace its history, there existed a deep sea. 
 In this sea abundance of animals lived and moved and had 
 their being, peopling its tranquil depths with the happiness 
 of existence, the old gradually dying, the young coming 
 into life, — life frequently cut short by accident or violence, 
 everything in short proceeding as we know the business of 
 existence now to proceed in similar situations. How long 
 this state of things existed we know not, but sufficiently 
 long for beds of limestone many hundred feet in thickness 
 to be deposited, and for generation after generation of these 
 creatures to be born, to live their appointed time, and perish 
 one after the other, each race leaving its relics entombed 
 in the successive beds of rock that gradually accumulated 
 at the bottom of the sea." 
 
 Resuming our tour, we will leave the ' silver Dove' for a 
 space, and follow the course of the Manifold. This river, 
 a little below Ecton, flows with glassy smoothness beneath 
 a perpendicular range of rocks, clothed with many-hued 
 foliage, forming a picture that strongly reminds us of 
 Matlock. Ascending the hill leading from the small vil- 
 lage of Wetton to Alstonfield, we enter upon a scene that 
 for bold and picturesque wildness may be fairly compared 
 with any in Dovedale — we had almost said, in Matlock. 
 High up in the face of an immense cliff, forming one 
 of the boundaries of a deep and richly- wooded, but wide 
 and bold-featured dell, opens a stupendous natural cavern, 
 having a lofty vaulted entrance. Crossing the once deserted 
 channel of the Manifold, whose sides exhibit several ver- 
 dant spots, of extreme fertility, we scale the precipice, — a 
 task more fatiguing than difficult — to explore the cavern. 
 
160 
 
 thok's-cave. 
 
 Its height, at the entrance, and for a little way inwards, is 
 probably between thirty and forty feet. The interior has 
 several divisions, and to the right, there opens a remark- 
 able fissure in the rock, of great height, but only wide 
 enough to admit of a passage, and to catch a glimpse 
 through it of the vale below. Further inwards, on an 
 elevated portion of the floor, is a detached mass of rock, 
 bearing some resemblance to an altar. The whole in- 
 terior has been likened, with more of fancy than reality, to 
 a gothic church. Tradition, with her often faithless tongue, 
 says that the cave was the resort of the ancient Druids. The 
 name given to it by the inhabitants of the district, (namely 
 " Thur's-house") has been interpreted to mean the ' house 
 of the god Thor,' and it is said that human victims were 
 here sacrificed to that idol.* No one, after inspecting the 
 place, will feel disposed to question the fitness of so wild 
 a situation for the performance of these sanguinary barba- 
 rities, but in the absence of confirmatory evidence, the truth 
 of the story has been doubted. That the ancient Britons 
 inhabited the district, is proved by the discovery of their 
 burial-places before mentioned, and from the fact that with- 
 
 These works of darkness Christianity extirpated ; yet has the place recently 
 become associated in the minds of the vulgar with new teiTors, by occasion of a 
 fatal catastrophe which happened here about February, 1825. Tissington My- 
 cock, a man of some notoriety as a coal-carrier, having neglected his charge to 
 indulge in liquor at the public alehouse, lost his asses. When the fit of inebri- 
 ation was over he went the next day in search of the strayed animals ; but in- 
 stead of finding them, he became himself bewildered in the snow which then 
 covered the gi-ouud; and wandering to the verge of the precipice above the 
 cavern, fell from its ti-emendous height. He was dashed upon one of the rocky 
 spines that branch out on the left side of the steep, and was thence hurled into 
 the recess of the aperture already described, where, after a lapse of four days 
 his mangled lifeless body was discovered. Since then, a report has prevailed 
 amongst the peasantry of the neighbourhood, that the place is haunted by his 
 ghost; strange noises, it is rumoured, have been heard issuing from the dark 
 cavities that extend within to unexplored heights and depths j and the farmer's 
 boy when at the hour of night- fall he collects the straggled herd, avoids with 
 superstitious dread the gloomy mouth and frowning precincts of this mountain 
 cavern." — Notes to " Edivards's Tour of the Dove." 
 
thor's cave. 
 
 161 
 
 ill a few miles' distance there exists a Dmidical circle.* 
 We learn too, from the testimony of the early Eoman writers, 
 that caves, woods, and the depths of forests, were the 
 chosen resorts of the British priesthood, and that a stream 
 of water was always essential to the performance of their 
 superstitious rites. With this strong collateral evidence in 
 support of the tradition, the charge of credulity brought 
 against Dr. Darwin, for having in the following lines as- 
 sumed its truth, cannot well be sustained : 
 
 " Where Hamps and Manifold, their cliffs among, 
 Each in his flinty channel winds along; 
 With lucid lines the dusky moor divides, 
 HuiTying to intermix their sister tides. 
 Where still their silver-hosomed Nymphs abhor, 
 The blood-smeared mansion of gigantic Thor, — 
 — Erst, fires volcanic in the marble womb 
 Of cloud wrapped Wetton raised the massy dome ; 
 Rocks reared on rocks in huge disjointed piles 
 From the tall turrets, and the lengthened aisles ; 
 Broad ponderous piers sustain the roof, and wide 
 Branch the vast rainbow ribs from side to side. 
 While from above descends in milky streams 
 One scanty pencil of illusive beams, 
 
 •The Arbor-Lows, near Middleton, between two and three miles north east of 
 Kewhaven. This interesting remain consists of an area, encompassed by a 
 hroad ditch, which is bounded by a high mound or bank : its form is that of an 
 ellipsis, or imperfect circle, measuring forty-six yai'ds from east to west, and 
 fifty-two from north to south. The width of the ditch which sm-rounds the 
 area on which the stones are placed, is six yards ; the height of the bank or 
 vallum, on the inside, is from six to eight yards ; but it vaiies throughout the 
 whole circumference. The bank seems to have been formed from the eaith 
 thrown up from the ditch ; which is not carried entirely round the area : but both 
 at the northern and southern extremities they terminate, and allow a level pas- 
 sage or entrance of about fourteen yards wide. On the east side of the northern 
 entrance, is a barrow standing in the same line of circumference, but entirely 
 detached from it. This barrow was opened some years ago, and in it were 
 found a stag's horns. The stones which compose the circle within the area are 
 rough and unhewn masses of limestone, about thirty in number. Most of them 
 are about five feet long, three broad, and one thick; these however are variable 
 and their respective shapes are different. They all lie on the ground and gene- 
 rally in an oblique position. In the middle of the area are three large stones, 
 which it is probable composed originally but one, the Maen Gorsedd, (Stone of 
 
 Assembly Davks, Pilkington, Beaut, of Evgland and Wales. 
 
 21 
 
162 
 
 THOR's cave. — THE MANIFOLD* 
 
 Suspended crags and gaping gulphs illumes, 
 And gilds the horrors of the deepened glooms. 
 — Here oft the Naiads, as they chanced to play- 
 Near the dread Fane on Thor's returning day, 
 Saw from red altars streams of guiltless blood 
 Stain their green reed -beds, and pollute their flood; 
 Heard dying babes in wicker prisons wail. 
 And shrieks of matrons thrill the affrighted gale ; 
 While from dark caves infernal Echoes mock, 
 And Fiends triumphant shout from every rock ! 
 — So still the Nymphs emerging lift in air 
 Their snow-white shoulders and their azure hait ; 
 Sail with sweet grace the dimpling streams along, 
 Listening the Shepherd's or the Miner's song; 
 But, when afar they view the giant -cave. 
 On timorous fins they circle on the wave. 
 With streaming eyes and throbbing hearts recoil. 
 Plunge their fair forms, and dive beneath the soil. — 
 Closed round their heads reluctant eddies sink, 
 And wider rings successive dash the brink. — 
 Three thousand steps in sparry clefts they stray, 
 Or seek through sullen mines their gloomy way ; 
 On beds of lava sleep in coral cells. 
 Or sigh o'er jasper fish, and agate shells. 
 Till, where famed Ham leads his boiling floods 
 Through flowery meadows and impending woods. 
 Pleased with light spring they leave the dreary night. 
 And mid circumfluent surges rise to light; 
 Shake their bright locks, the widening vale pursue, 
 Their sea-green mantles fringed with pearly dew ; 
 In playful groups by towering Thorp they move. 
 Bound o'er the foaming wears, and rush into the Dove. 
 
 — Botanic Garden. 
 
 A little below, and almost within sight of " Thor's Cave," 
 the Manifold, after a serpentine course of several miles, 
 forsaking the channel through which it has for ages flowed, 
 suddenly disappears beneath the cavernous fissures in the 
 limestone, and pursuing a subterranean route for about 
 four miles, emerges in the grounds at Ham. " The junc- 
 tion of the wet and dry channels of the river," says Mr. 
 Edwards, in the notes to his ' Tour,' " affords a most inte- 
 resting point of view. Below, is the empty water- course, 
 strewed with pebbles of every size, and fragments of rock, 
 worn with the attrition of the billows, and mellowed with 
 
THE DOVE. — ALSTONFIELD. 
 
 163 
 
 all the hues of vegetation, impressing the mind even in 
 their repose and silence with thoughts of agitation and tu- 
 mult : ahove is the refreshing gleam and the soft murmur 
 of the cool pellucid stream, flowing amid green meadows, 
 embayed with cliffs and copses, and backed by the lofty 
 grey, hills in the distance." Since this was written, some 
 attempts have been made, with partial success, to force the 
 river into its ancient course, by closing the fissures of the 
 rock through which it escapes. 
 
 For the distance of about two miles below Beresford, the 
 Dove is a succession of clear and rapid streams, forming 
 the chief charm in the somewhat dull scenery of this portion 
 of the valley. On the west, or Staffordshire side, stands 
 Alstonfield, a considerable village, containing some sub- 
 stantial farm-houses, and one or two respectable inns. 
 " Alstonfield" writes the old topographer, Erdeswick, " is 
 a great large seignorie, hath many hamlets ; hath also of 
 old time been forest-lands, and hath many privileges be- 
 longing unto it. Now man affecting to seat himself in that 
 wild country,* Alstonfield was divided into many parts. 
 For though in 9 Ed. 11. Hugo le De Spencer and Nichol 
 Audley are only said to be lords thereof, yet were there 
 divers other lords which, their purparty being but small, were 
 omitted to be spoken of in the record. The most whereof 
 
 *" The admiration of picturesque scenery which chai-acterizes the present age, 
 and the English nation in particular, has not at all times heen displayed, as 
 may he evidently shewn from the topographical writings which antiquarians 
 have left iis. If the splendid reign of Edward III. has, in the choice of situa- 
 tion for the numerous ahheys that were then founded, supplied sufficient 
 demonstration of fine taste and fondness for romantic seclusion; yet a strange 
 reverse of feeling must have heen in operation, during what has heen called the 
 golden age of our Elizaheth. The following extract from the " Survey of Staf- 
 fordshire, containing the antiquities of the County, " hy Sampson Erdeswick, 
 Esq. (who died in 1603) will show that this most heautiful dale of the Peak was 
 at that time held in no estimation." 
 
 " Dove having past hy the side of Alstonfield, for three or foiu* miles, without 
 any matter worth the noting, at last receiveth on the west side, a pretty hrook, for 
 its many turnings (hy reason of the mountains, and the unevenness of the ground) 
 called Manifold, which taketh its heginning within a mile of the head of Dove, 
 and, fellow-like, keepeth its course with it, not heing ahove two miles from it 
 until they meet." — Notes to^^ Edwards's Tour of the Dove," 
 
164 
 
 DOVEDALE. 
 
 are now come by purchase to Harper of Swareston, in 
 Derbyshire." The church is a gothic structure, with a 
 square tower, a nave, chancel, and side-aisles. The roof 
 is supported by large pointed arches ; and there is a fine 
 east window, richly ornamented. Alstonfield parish extends 
 to the length of fifteen miles, and has a population of 
 nearly 5,000 inhabitants. 
 
 The landscape improves as (following the stream) we ap- 
 proach Mill-Dale, a little hamlet, curiously situated on the 
 margin of the river, at the base of the hills that bound it 
 on the Staffordshire side. , ~ 
 
 In this romantic region wandering on, 
 (Where every living cry can stir the mind,) 
 Recurs the hold rock-scenery : anon, 
 A rustic bridge appears, and lodged behind, 
 A group of cottages, with mill to grind 
 Their slender harvest. Gladly did I hail 
 The sight, in this lone place, of human kind :"* 
 
 — Edwards, 
 
 From Mill-Dale, for the distance of rather more than a 
 mile, the sides of the valley exhibit occasionally round 
 tower-like rocks, with verdant slopes between them, other- 
 wise preserving their wild yet monotonous aspect. The 
 vale contracting, the river takes an abrupt turn ; and now 
 ' a change comes over the scene,' — we enter at once a glen 
 of surpassing beauty, furnishing an endless variety of ever- 
 changing ever- varying views. 
 
 The first remarkable object that presents itself is a tall 
 rocky precipice, on the left or Derbyshire side, perforated 
 at its base by two caverns, of inconsiderable depth. The 
 largest has a span of between fifty and sixty, and a per- 
 pendicular height of about thirty feet. These caverns 
 have obtained the local appellation of " the Dove-Holes."t 
 Seated on the turfy declivity that gently slopes to the 
 margin of the river, we see on its banks directly opposite, 
 several large masses of isolated rock, which seem to have 
 
 *Mr. Edwards, it must be observed, traces the stream upwards to its source. 
 
 f Beyond this point, travellers who ascend the stream rarely proceed. 
 A ravine on the left immediately above " Dove-Holes" leads into the BuxtoQ 
 roadj by the farm of Hanson -Grange. 
 
# 
 
DOVE DALE. 
 
 165 
 
 been hurled thither hy some effort of nature ; downwards, 
 to the south-west, the eye wanders over a lengthened and 
 winding range of mountains, profusely and thickly covered 
 from their summit to their base, with various plants, shrubs, 
 and trees, of mountain growth. The vale now enlarges, 
 the river assumes a wider and deeper aspect, and the foot- 
 path winds through a rich and verdant plot of ground, 
 skirted on the left by a grove of hazles. Lower down, on 
 the right side, is another curious detached rock, rising 
 to a considerable height from the very edge of the river, 
 so closely, that at a distance one would imagine it stood in 
 the middle of the stream. This cliff forms a kind of portal, 
 which is considered as a distinct entrance into another di- 
 vision of the dale. In consequence of its projection, the 
 stream is much contracted, and appears to force its way 
 onwards with difficulty. On the opposite side there is a 
 cluster of several remarkable rocks, one of which bears the 
 appearance of a lofty cone, having a small cavernous aper- 
 ture at its base. On a slope near the summit of one of the 
 largest and most elevated of these, is a large detached piece 
 of stone, of oblong-square form, apparently suspended by 
 so frail a thread that a blast of wind might precipitate 
 it into the bed of the river, or over the head of the specta- 
 tor below. This rock has been frequently described and 
 painted, and its parasite portion has received the fanciful 
 designation of " the watch-box." From the middle of this 
 ravine, which is in itself one of the most beautiful spots 
 in the vale, we obtain views on all sides uniting nearly 
 every object that can compose perfect landscape scenery. 
 Entering now a thickly-wooded glen, we perceive the hills 
 on the right to rear their heads to a greater elevation, and 
 to be more plentifully clothed with trees, than those on 
 the opposite side, still preserving that sylvan character 
 which has hitherto distinguished them. A little further 
 down we arrive at two stupendous cliffs, that rise abruptly 
 on each side the river. The chasm here is so very narrow, 
 that when by heavy rains the stream is swollen, the pass- 
 age through it becomes almost impracticable. This defile 
 
166 
 
 DOVE DALE. 
 
 is appropriately styled " Do vedale- Straits."^ Advancing a 
 few paces, we see the naked cliffs on the left, bearing a 
 singular resemblance to portions of ruined towers, take an 
 expansive sweep round the mountain to the verge of the 
 river, forming a wide natural amphitheatre. The Dove here 
 loses her general character of a swift-running stream, flow- 
 ing smoothly and placidly for several hundred yards. Just 
 beyond this amphitheatre of cliffs, and as it were in the 
 base of one of its wings, rises a vast and finely formed 
 natural arch, pierced through the solid rock. We pass 
 through] this arch by a very steep ascent over loose 
 sand and shale, to " Reynard's Hall," a large cavern, about 
 thirty feet in height and fifteen in breadth. For the space 
 of about forty feet this cave may be explored, but beyond 
 it contracts to a narrow opening, supposed by some persons 
 to communicate with other caverns, and to terminate near 
 Parwich, between two and three miles distant. To the left, 
 a little above, is another cavern, of smaller dimensions, 
 called "Reynard's Kitchen." Descending to the arch, 
 and looking through it we have views of the wildest and 
 most splendidly-picturesque description. Retracing with 
 the eye, as far as practicable, those divisions of the dale 
 already passed, they form a deep winding ravine, in which 
 the circular hill of the back ground — its outlines being 
 softened by the distance — contrasts strongly with the rugged 
 crested cliffs beneath and around. Far below is the Dove, 
 running placidly along through the ' woody wilderness,' 
 and sending aloft on the ' wings of the wind' her chasten- 
 ed murmurings. A little verdant island divides the stream, 
 and beyond on the opposite hills, rises a lofty pile of rocks, 
 with tall towering spires and pointed arches, — a group 
 which has been likened to ' a magnificent abbey in a beau- 
 tiful wood.' 
 
 " Thou venerable Fane I thy walls were reared, 
 Thy i\ied arches springing roofed the void, 
 Thy fretted spires above the trees appeared, 
 Ere Science one fair Order had employed, 
 One metal, gold or silver unalloyed. 
 
DOVEDAtE. 
 
 To shape and ornament her piles with grace. 
 And yet the high emotions here enjoyed, 
 The humbling thoughts that human pride abase, 
 Might well befit the service of a holier place. 
 
 " I glance around the dale from right to left ; — 
 It seems as Paradise were passing by, 
 And I beheld it from this secret cleft. 
 Flowers yield their fragrance ; trees, luxuriant, high, 
 Climb the rude rocks ; and in the orient sky 
 O'er yonder peak the sun reveals his fires. 
 The sparkling stream of Dove has caught his eye; 
 ^ His glory lightens all the 0116*8 and spires ; — 
 
 I see, I feel, my spirit glows with rapt desires." 
 
 — Edwards. 
 
 It is supposed that it was in attempting to scale an 
 acclivity near " Reynard's Hall," that Dean Langton met 
 with the accident that occasioned his end. The circum- 
 stances of the fearful catastrophe, as detailed in the jour- 
 nals of the time, are briefly these : — In July, 1761, Mr. 
 Langton, (then Dean of Clogher) being on a visit at Long- 
 ford Hall, the seat of Wenman Coke, Esq., formed one 
 of a party to visit Dovedale. After viewing the scenery, 
 and partaking of refreshment in a spot near " Reynard's 
 Cave," they prepared to return, by way of Tissington, it is 
 supposed, for the Dean proposed to ascend on horseback a 
 steep hill over which a path led to that village ; and Miss 
 La Roche a young lady of the party, agi'eed to accompany 
 him on the same horse. Mistaking the road, the Dean un- 
 fortunately followed a sheep-track on the right of the emi- 
 nence, which he found too steep to ascend. In attempting to 
 turn about, the horse, overpowered by the burden imposed 
 upon him, fell backward down the hill. The Dean being 
 precipitated to the bottom, was taken up so dreadfully 
 bruised that he died within a few days, and was buried in 
 Ashbourn Church. Miss La Roche, whose fall was broken 
 by her hair becoming entangled in a thorn bush, escaped 
 with some severe contusions, though for two days she con- 
 tinued insensible. The horse, more fortunate than his 
 riders, was but slightly injured. — Deiin Langton was of an 
 
108 
 
 DOVE DALE. 
 
 ancient family in Lincolnshire. He was chaplain to the 
 third Duke of Devonshire, when that nobleman was Lord- 
 Lieutenant of Ireland, and by him was presented with the 
 Deanery of Clogher.* 
 
 The Dove is now for some distance a varied succession 
 of almost still waters, rapid streams, and small cascades ; 
 occasionally intersected with little islands, and studded 
 with fragments of limestone-rock, torn apparently from the 
 cliffs above. Further onwards, we pass, (on the Derbyshire 
 side) a hill almost separated from the mountain-range, the 
 sides of which are surrounded by several divisions of rock, 
 curiously rising one above another, obtaining from their 
 form and locality, the appellation of " Tissington Spires." 
 The Staffordshire side the dale continues to preserve its 
 distinctive sylvan character ; its acclivities being shaded 
 with the rich foliage of the mountain-ash, the hazle and 
 the hawthorn ; its rugged cliffs clothed with lichens, the 
 creeping ivy, and an innumerable variety of odoriferous 
 flowering shrubs. To the botanist the whole valley teems 
 with attractions, and he may here enrich his collections 
 by specimens of many rare and indigenous plants and 
 flowers with which it abounds. The fickle and whimsical 
 Rousseau, who resided for a time at Wootton Hall, in his 
 occasional rambles visited Dovedale, and is said to have 
 sown the seeds of some curious foreign flowers in the 
 neighbourhood. Whether any of these are yet in existence 
 is a matter of uncertainty. 
 
 The path now winds upwards through a thick grove of 
 trees, by the ruins of a hovel, which with the exception 
 of a fishing-house on the other side the river, are the only 
 traces of the innovating hand of man to be met with in the 
 
 •The Dean preached at All Saints Church, Derby, on the Sunday before his 
 death. * His discourse' says a chronicler, ' was pathetic and much approved by 
 his hearers. The text was, " It is appointed unto all men once to die" — an 
 awful theme, prophetic of his end.' 
 
 He died on the 28th, July, 1761. An inscription on a flag in the south tran- 
 sept of Ashboiirn Church, marks the place of his interment. 
 
DOVEDALE. 
 
 1G9 
 
 dale. All else is nature, wild and unbroken — and long 
 may it so continue !* The path just mentioned leads 
 to a round elevation, covered with smooth and flowery 
 turf, and which overhangs, at an immense height, the 
 river. Here, again, is a spot that is often chosen as the 
 rendezvous and resting-place of visiters, and many a merry 
 rural repast has been enjoyed beneath the shade of the 
 clumjis of trees by which the hill is crowned. The view 
 from this point is perhaps the most extensive and impos- 
 ing in the dale, possessing it, has been said, some of the 
 bold and peculiar features characteristic of continental 
 scenery. As the southera entrance of the glen is approach- 
 ed, the precipices which form its boundaries are perceived 
 to lose their luxuriant aspect ; they are no longer covered 
 with trees, and but scantily clothed with verdure. The 
 Dove, however, widens in her course, and taking a sudden* 
 turn to the right, at the base of Thorpe- Cloud, escapes 
 from her confinement. Traversing several fertile meadows, 
 she then forms a junction with the Manifold. 
 
 Romantic beauty amidst unbroken wildness, is the great 
 charm of this far-famed dale. Its prominent and most strik- 
 ing features, — its rocks and precipices, — are bold, in some 
 degree approaching in magnitude to the vast ; but at the same 
 time the general effect of the whole cannot with propriety 
 be termed " awful," "sublime," or " transcendently grand," 
 — epithets which some writers have injudiciously and indis- 
 criminately lavished upon it. By the dim moonlight, in- 
 deed, when all is hushed save the never-ceasing murmur 
 of the waters, when the lengthened shadow of some tall 
 precipice casts a gloom, — a palpable obscurity, on the dell 
 below, — it may then impress the mind with awe by its 
 solitude ; it then possesses sublimity from its very indistinct- 
 ness; and when occasionally 'the queen of night' throws off 
 her mantle of dark black clouds, and illumines for a mo- 
 ment with a flood of pale and silvery light the scene around, 
 the eff"ect of the magical transition is indisputably grand. 
 At such a time, and under such aspects, the scenery of 
 
 22 
 
170 
 
 DOVEDALE. 
 
 Dovedale scarcely can be over-drawn. But Dovedale has 
 beauty at all times and in all seasons: at the still and 
 solemn hour of midnight, and in the broad and sunny glare 
 of open day ; at the dawn of the year and at its close ; in 
 the full bloom and luxuriance of summer, when vegetation 
 exhibits a thousand varied hues, and amid the naked wild- 
 ness and hoar frosts that march in the train of stern and 
 dreary winter. Whatever then is thus really and truly 
 beautiful, needs not the adventitious aid of highly- wrought 
 and over-strained description to bring into notice. We 
 have preferred therefore, to place the scene as it exists before 
 the reader, leaving him, (if he have a heart and an eye 
 to appreciate the picturesque) to form his own estimate of 
 it, rather than to heighten his expectations by indulging 
 at every stride in high-flown raptures, which to the sober 
 imagination are but so many foolish fantasies. 
 
 Of all those who, in describing this delightful scenery, 
 have evinced the possession of a high poetical tempera- 
 ment, no one appears to us to have painted its beauties in 
 more warm yet generally faithful colouring than the gifted 
 and imaginative William Howitt.* A native of and long 
 resident in the vicinity of the wild scenery of the Peak, 
 he has proved in his own inimitably graphic and pleasing 
 manner, that to the ' warm heart and the vivid imagination' 
 the contemplation of what is beautiful in nature never sati- 
 ates nor cloys : 
 
 "Dovedale (he says) is undoubtedly one of the finest parts 
 of the Peak. Its rocks do not, perhaps, equal in altitude 
 and individual magnitude some of those at Matlock, but the 
 scenes of Matlock wear a monotony, or at least a strong 
 resemblance to each other, which soon deprives them of 
 much of their effect, by familiarizing the eye, after seeing 
 a part, to the character of the whole. But here besides 
 the singular character of the scenery, its novelty is perpe- 
 tuated to the very last. You are at once transported into 
 
 ♦Author of " Rural Life in England," 2 vols. 12mo. Loadon: 1838, 
 
DOVEDALE. 
 
 171 
 
 a land of enchantment. Every object that surrounds you, 
 though you have but just left the other most striking parts 
 of the Peak, is strange and wild, and wondrously unlike all 
 other features of creation. The river, about every quarter 
 of a mile, takes a sudden turn round the feet of the moun- 
 tains, and throws open before you as you follow it, another 
 scene different from the last, so that your mind is continu- 
 ally exerted by fresh emotions of astonishment and delight, 
 — which can only be felt in silence, and that make us 
 sensible how poor, how feeble is all human language. 
 Upon the whole Dovedale is a place so full of romantic 
 beauty, that happy should I be to see the spot that 
 surpasses it. If the man who enters it possesses the 
 least latent admiration of nature ; if he have a soul capa- 
 ble of being moved in any degree by an assemblage of the 
 most wild, awful,* and sublime images, he will not see it 
 
 •Rather overdone — at least in our estimation. Professor Rennie, verging to 
 the opposite extreme, says that " it is utterly ridiculous to talk of the (jrandeur 
 of Dovedale. My impression (he continues) on visiting it in 1817 was, that 
 it was prettily romantic — on so small a scale that it might almost be artificially- 
 imitated." Truly the Professor has a gigantic soul ! As a set off to his flippant 
 remark, we adduce the opinion of Byron, than whom, all must admit, few men 
 were more capable of appreciating natural scenery. Writing to Moore, who 
 was then rusticating at Mayfield, the poet says, with an obvious reference 
 to Dovedale, " There are things in Derbyshire as noble as in Greece or Swit- 
 zerland." — Sir Richard Phillips calls Dovedale " one of the natural wonders of 
 the nation ; nothing (he adds) can be conceived more pictui'esque, astonishing, 
 and even sublime : and a visit will repay every traveller and lover of nature in 
 its rude and grand features. — " It is, perhaps, (observes Mr. Gilpin, in his ' Nor- 
 thern Tour,') one of the most pleasing pieces of scenery of the kind we any 
 where meet with. It has something peculiarly characteristic. Its detached 
 perpendicular rocks stamp it with an image entirely its own, and for that rea- 
 son it affords the greater pleasure. For it is in scenery as in life: we are most 
 struck with the peculiarity of an original character, provided there is nothing 
 offensive in it." — Mr. Edward Dayes, recapitulating the merits of Dovedale, 
 says that " it possesses an union of gi-andeur and beauty, not to be equalled by 
 anything I ever beheld. It is of that high cast of character which Pallas holds 
 among the females in poetry. Borrowdale in Cumberland, is sublime from its 
 magnitude; yet being destitute of wood, it wants the power to please : all there 
 is barren and desolate : but here beauty reigns triumphant. Happy is the man 
 who, divested of care, finds himself enabled to retire to such scenes as thes* 
 and who at the same time possesses sensibility to enjoy their excellence 
 
172 
 
 DOVEDALE. 
 
 witliout emotion. But to the warm heart and the vivid ima- 
 gination it is a world in itself. In this lonely and astonish- 
 ing seclusion, you cannot divest yourself of the impression 
 that it is all a dream, or a creation of magic : and the 
 awakened fancy speedily peoples it with a swarm of ideal 
 beings. I could almost fancy, as I reclined on a rock, and 
 looked down into the vale, that I saw ages pass before me, 
 with all their change of character. Do you not see here 
 the ancient Briton seeking an asylum from the Roman — - 
 the Saxon from the Dane } Do you not see the knight and 
 the peasant of feudal times pass wandering through its 
 then savage obscurity ? — the anchorite in his wretched 
 weeds, erecting his hut in its gloomy glens, or tenanting 
 its caves ? — * * * oi- 
 
 later and more lucid years, honest Izaak Walton and his 
 friend Cotton throwing into many a clear deep, some cun- 
 for their favourite trout, as they sauntered down 
 by the Dove banks from Beresford Hall ? Or the proud 
 and melancholy Bousseau, from his retreat at Wootton, 
 botanizing among its cliffs, and indulging delectable 
 remembrances of his native mountains. *' * * 
 There is nothing here to undeceive the sophisms of the 
 fancy; there are no traces of art to check its excursions, all 
 is wildness, loneliness, and peace, except when some bril- 
 liant party breaks in upon your musing ; for such parties 
 the justly-iiici easing celebrity of the place brings every day 
 in summer." In illustration of the last remark the tourist 
 adds " We were sauntering along, imagining ourselves the 
 only human beings in this sequestered place, except. an old 
 woman or two from Mill-Dale gathering sticks, when sud- 
 denly we saw scarfs, parasols, and feathers, glancing among 
 the rocks, and a troop of ladies climbing aloft over the 
 cliffs. In one place in the valley was a gay party, which 
 Horace and Burns would have liked to join, seated on the 
 turf, with music and the bottle, in all that merriment and 
 good humour which such scenes and times inspire: in 
 another, agile young lasses in white, sylyh-like, running 
 
BOVEDALE. 
 
 173 
 
 along by the river, witli tlieir bonnets in their hands, and 
 glowing with exercise; in another, portly dames, of a more 
 advanced age, walking sedately along the smooth path at 
 the bottom, wondering at the frolics of the young folks; in 
 another genteel youths handing girls up the stony heights 
 to the caves, — their companions at a distance calling to 
 them to take care ; — and laughter, and shrieks of moment- 
 ary terror, and silver voices heard from different rocks, that 
 at once converted this lately silent glen into a happy valley 
 of some brighter world."* 
 
 On the attractions of the Dove to the angler, and of its 
 celebrity as a fishing stream, it is not our province to dilate. 
 Not being an adept in the craft, w^e are unable to say 
 from experience wherein those attractions consist. If an 
 opinion may be formed from the reports of others, who are 
 well qualified to judge, it would be that there is scarcely 
 a river in the kingdom that surpasses it. From the time 
 of Cotton (and for aught we know long before) the Dove has 
 been the chosen resort of fishermen : 
 
 "Of all fair Theiis daughters none so bright, 
 So pleasant none to taste, none to the sight, 
 None yields the gentle angler such delight." 
 
 — Wonders of the Peak. 
 
 In later days, Sir Humphrey Davy, when visiting at Ham, 
 pursued his favourite recreation on the clear pools and lim- 
 pid rills in the vicinity. — The number of anglers who resort 
 hither during the season testifies that the reputation of the 
 stream is yet spreading far and wide. 
 
 We now (on leaving Dovedale) traverse a foot-path at 
 the base of Thorpe-Cloud, still keeping the left bank of the 
 river. Crossing the stream by a rustic bridge some distance 
 lower down, we soon reach a level road. An entrance- 
 gate to the right leads to that excellent hostelry erected by 
 the afiluent proprietor of Ham, and felicitously named after 
 *the prince and father of anglers.' From the carriage-drive, 
 
 * From " A Pedestrian Pilgrimage of Five Daj'S through some of the most 
 Romantic Parts of Derbyshire, by Wilfred Wender" (William Howitt.) North 
 Staffordshire Mercury, Augi^st, 1824. 
 
174 
 
 I LAM, 
 
 over the side of an elevation termed ' Bunster-Hill,' the 
 traveller is presented with a commanding view of the splen- 
 did and imposing exterior of Ilam Hall. 
 
 The site of this building is most happily chosen. Its 
 * towers, turrets, and embattled parapets' rise proudly out 
 of an angular valley, hounded and inclosed on all sides save 
 the front by hills of a nearly mountainous height and ap- 
 pearance, darkened and shaded by the sombre yet luxuriant 
 foliage of a thick overhanging wood. Partial glimpses of 
 the Manifold, sometimes a rapid brilliant stream, having 
 its banks skirted with ash and alder trees, complete the 
 harmonious whole of this delightful picture.* The prin- 
 cipal part of the building, with its large bay windows, octa- 
 gonal projections, and richly-ornamented parapets, is in 
 
 *Mr. Rhodes, who visited Ilam in 1820, (before the present mansion was 
 erected,) thus describes it : — " The hills about Ilam have a magnificent charac- 
 ter ; they are thrown together in irregular forms, and with one exception only 
 in connected masses. Some of their mighty steeps are covered with noble wood, 
 others with a smooth glossy verdure, and in the space between them lies the 
 sweet vale of Ilam. A village of a few houses only, scattered amongst trees, — 
 a country church, with a tower nearly covered with ivy — verdant meadows, 
 watered by a busy stream, everj'where sparkling with light — and on a gentle 
 eminence, a venerable mansion rising out of, and backed by luxuriant foliage, 
 are the principal features of this lovely spot, which is one of the most romantic 
 little vales that nature ever formed. No glen in the Alps was ever more beau- 
 tiful, more picturesque, or more retired. As I approached Ilam, and contem- 
 plated the landscape around me, I felt as if I had been treading on fairy 
 ground. The parts were so beautiful, and so exquisitely combined, and the 
 whole so rare and unexpected, that it seemed more like a scene of enchantment 
 that might soon pass away, than anything real and permanent. When this 
 train of feeling had a little subsided, I entered the house, which I found a 
 good commodious ' building made with hands,' and the residence of the elegan- 
 cies as well as the comforts of life. The principal entrance, agreeably to the 
 fashion that once generally prevailed, was a square hall, in the centre of the 
 building, which communicated with the adjoining apartments : a massy, old- 
 fashioned fire-place, admirably adapted for winter, with a huge, unlighted log 
 of wood, and some faggots of wood in the grate, occupied nearly one side of 
 the room; in a niche opposite hung a Chinese gong, whose loud and sonorous 
 sound summoned the company at Ilam to dinner : bows, arrows, and targets, 
 a fine old organ, and some antique chairs, completed the remaining part of the 
 furniture of this apartment.— Pcrt^ Scenery. 
 
TLAIVL 
 
 175 
 
 that peculiar style of architecture, which was fashionable 
 in the reign of Elizabeth ; but there are portions of this 
 structure that nearly assimilate with the gothic, both in 
 character and ornament, and these are decidedly the finest 
 and most imposing parts. The whole appears to be admi- 
 rably contrived both for picturesque effect and convenience ; 
 but the most beautiful feature in this noble mansion is the 
 circular gothic lantern by which it is surmounted. It is 
 not a paltry thing, made merely for the purpose of admit- 
 ting light ; its dimensions are ample, and perfectly in pro- 
 portion with the capacious base whereon it rests. The 
 circle of which it is composed presents to the eye a series of 
 pointed arches, resting on appropriate shafts: these, in 
 connexion with each other, describe a magnificent circle, 
 and constitute the frame-work of the lantern. Where light 
 is wanted in the central part of a building, the dome is 
 sometimes so constructed as to be a noble ornament ; but 
 the lantern at Ham is a more novel contrivance, and is one 
 of the most tasteful and elegant architectural ornaments 
 that ever adorned a building."* 
 
 The chief entrance to the mansion is not, as is usual, 
 constructed in its front, but rather on one side its principal 
 wing. A portal of gothic shape and fine proportions, sur- 
 mounted by the family arms in relief, leads the visitor im- 
 mediately to the hall. On each side the steps ascending 
 to it is a figure of natural size, in complete armour; one 
 wielding a formidable lance, and the other resting on a long 
 two-handed sword. The Jiall contains a curious and valua- 
 ble collection of ancient arms and armour — firelocks, swords, 
 dirks, lances, scymitars, cuirasses, helmets, shields, and all 
 the trappings and instruments pertaining to the profession 
 of the warrior. These are not a meagre or scanty collection, 
 but include specimens of various dates and nations. This 
 apartment is also enriched by some fine pieces of ancient 
 
 *Rhodes's Peak Scenery, Paxt iv. p. 93, 
 
176 
 
 ILAM. 
 
 carved furiiitiiie, — a set of massive, old, and elaborately- 
 ornamented oak chairs, are particularly deserving of notice. 
 To complete the scene, there stand on either hand of the 
 door-way at the further end, two other figures, armed cap- 
 a-pie, one hoisting the union -jack, and the other a large 
 yellow flag. 
 
 On quitting the hall^ the vestibule is entered. It is of 
 square form, and the pavement is of tesselated marble. 
 A large window, of coloured glass, on the right side, 
 throws a peculiarly soft and mellow light over the apart- 
 ment. 
 
 The dining-room, though not of very large dimensions, 
 is tastefully furnished. The objects that first strike the eye 
 are a magnificent Chinese screen, and a large dining table 
 of the finest grained oak, of divers natural colours, curi- 
 ously figured and inlaid. In this room is preserved the 
 massive silver candelabrum, presented to Mr. Watts 
 Russell, by the Conservatives of North Staffordshire, on 
 the 29th of August, 1834. From a tri -lateral pedestal, 
 around the extreme base of which sweeps a bold and 
 richly-worked scroll, rises the stem or shaft, terminated at 
 the summit by a foliage of Acanthus leaves, out of which 
 spring eighteen branches, richly wrought with intertwin- 
 ing tendrils and foliage, and each supporting a light. 
 Around the base of this stem is a classical group, executed 
 in full relief, representing the arming of Achilles for battle. 
 The hero is in a sitting posture, in the act of drawing the 
 sword conferred by his goddess-mother, who stands at his 
 side. The car and horses from which she has descended 
 complete the group. The latter are studies from the Elgin 
 marbles; and in composition and execution, the whole 
 group may be termed a chef-doeuvre of art. On one side of 
 the pedestal is a masterly hasso relievo, exhibiting the com- 
 bat of Hector and Achilles ; another shews the armorial 
 bearings of Mr. Russell ; and on a third is engraved the 
 following inscription: — 
 
I LAM. 
 
 177 
 
 A tribute of respect and gratitude to Jesse Watts Russell, Esq. of Ham 
 Hall, from a numerous body of friends and supporters in the contested elec- 
 tion for North Staffordshire, A. D. 1832, to perpetuate in his family their 
 sense of the public spirit which prompted him to undertake that contest, the 
 steady perseverance and strict honour with which he condu.cted it to its close, 
 and the opportunity he thus afforded to 3,387 electors to record by their votes 
 (of which 2,400 were undivided) their conservative principles, and their deter- 
 mination to maintain the ancient institutions of the British monarchy in 
 church and state." 
 
 The value of this splendid testimonial is estimated at £1,200. 
 
 The next apartment on the right, formerly the hilliard- 
 room, is now appropriated as a study, and leads to the 
 library. The books include a choice selection of ancient 
 and modern literature. Among the many costly and elegant 
 works of art, is a fine bust in Chantrey's best style, of the 
 late Mr. Watts; and another, by the same talented sculp- 
 tor, of the late Marquis of Londonderry. From the middle 
 window of this delightful apartment, the spectator com- 
 mands a view, extensive, varied, and beautiful, bounded 
 on the left by Thorpe-Cloud, and the wild scenery that 
 fronts the southern entrance into Dovedale ; whiletbefore 
 and around him lies a living landscape of hills, woods, and 
 verdant lawns. 
 
 The music-room is tastefully and elegantly furnished, 
 and contains, besides other instruments, an organ, of consi- 
 derable size, and of fine tone. 
 
 Connected with these apartments is the gallery. There 
 is scarcely a picture among the many costly ones in the 
 collection that is not a good one, and that does not merit a 
 special description ; our notices will however be confined 
 to a few of the principal ones. 
 
 A fine portrait of Mrs. Watts Russell, by Phillips, is 
 clearly and beautifully coloured, and has the reputation of 
 being an excellent likeness. 
 
 Over the door is a painting by Romney, from the col- 
 lection of the late Lord de Tabley, representing a scene 
 from Shakspeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," — Tita- 
 nia, Puck, and the Changeling : 
 
 23 
 
178 
 
 ILAM, 
 
 Puck : " She, as her attendant hath 
 
 A lovely boy, stol'n from an Indian king; 
 
 She never had so sweet a changeling : 
 
 And jealous Oberon would have the child 
 
 Knight of his train, to trace the forests wild ; 
 
 But she, perforce, witholds the lov'd boy, 
 
 Crowns him with flowers, and makes him all her joy." 
 
 The celebrated Lady Hamilton, painted so often by Rom- 
 ney, was tlie model for the representation of the fairy 
 
 queen. 
 
 On the right and left of the chimney-piece are two of 
 Howard's finest productions. One of them is a represen- 
 tation of the solar system, from Milton : 
 
 " Hither as to their fountain, other stars 
 Repairing, in their golden urns draw light, 
 
 « * • M: 
 
 * * * that move 
 
 In mystic dance, not without song resound 
 His praise, who out of darkness call'd up light." 
 
 The other picture, " The Pleiades disappearing," is espe- 
 cially worthy of the reputation of the artist. He has vividly 
 embodied the conception of our great poet : — 
 
 " First in his east the glorious lamp was seen. 
 Regent of day, and all th' horizon round 
 Invested with bright rays jocund to run 
 His longitude through heav'ns high road : the gray 
 Dawn, and the Pleiades before him danc'd. 
 Shedding sweet influence." 
 
 — Paradise Lost. 
 
 Near the last-mentioned picture hangs a large one by E. 
 La7idseer\ — "Alpine mastiffs reanimating a distressed tra- 
 veller." One of these mastiffs is said to be a portrait of 
 that famous one which received and had hung round his 
 neck, several medals, as a testimony of the number of per- 
 sons he had rescued from perishing, when exposed to sud- 
 den Alpine snow storms. It is still to be seen stuffed in the 
 convent of the charitable monks of Mount St. Bernard. 
 This dog is painted, the size of life, in the fore-ground of 
 the picture. A traveller, all but lifeless, lies nearly over- 
 
ILAM. 
 
 179 
 
 wlielmed in the snow. The dog, with a little keg of brandy 
 attached to his decorated collar, is licking the hands of the 
 dying traveller, and eagerly endeavouring, by all the means 
 in his power, to restore him to animation. Another mastiff, 
 of the same noble breed, is painted a little behind, seem- 
 ingly in the act of barking with all his might, and appears 
 to have aroused the attention of the monks, one of whom 
 is visible distant in the back-ground, hastening to the res- 
 cue. The landscape is a dreary one, befitting such a scene, 
 and it serves to heighten our admiration of the group in 
 their disinterested devotion to a high and generous purpose 
 — the preservation of human life. The graphic pencil of 
 Landseer, though it has since painted many more generally 
 popular subjects, has never undertaken a more noble one 
 than this. 
 
 The well-known description in Spenser's 'Faerie Queen;' 
 of " Una among the satyrs," is well embodied in a large 
 picture by Hilton, and it is said to be one of the most suc- 
 cessful efforts of that clever historical painter : 
 
 " So from the ground she fearlesse doth arise 
 And walketh forth without suspect of harm. 
 They, all as glad as birds of joyous pryme, 
 Thence lead her forth, about her dauncing round 
 Shouting and singing all a shepheard's ryme ; 
 And with green braunches strewing all the ground, 
 Do worship her as queene ; 
 And all the way their raeny pipes they sound, 
 That all the woods with double echo ring ; 
 And with their horned feet do weare the ground. 
 Leaping like wanton kids in pleasant spring." 
 
 A well-executed and very interesting piece, called "The 
 Fortune-Teller," by Owen, hangs near the picture last de- 
 scribed. The all-believing simplicity of the cottage-girl, 
 who no doubt expects to become the wife of her young 
 squire, is plainly delineated in the countenance of the beau- 
 tiful village victim. The assumed simple seriousness of the 
 gipsy woman, betrayed by the insuppressible cunning of 
 the eye, shews her to be a wolf well disguised in sheep's 
 
180 
 
 ILAM. 
 
 clothing ; and the artist has given a signal proof of his 
 skill, in softening down, as it were for the purpose of more 
 easy deception^ the generally sly expression of her features 
 into that of matronly interest and affection.* This is un- 
 questionably one of the best pictures in the gallery. 
 
 There are two small landscapes by Salvator Rosa, but 
 by far the best and most valuable painting of this wonder- 
 ful man, — this great painter, poet, player, musician, con- 
 spirator, (his admirers would say patriot) is his own por- 
 trait, painted by himself. The countenance is remarkably 
 noble, of a sombre and rather severe cast ; yet those who 
 look into it will see that it is one of those that at fitting 
 times could relax into buoyant hilarity. To surpass the 
 beauty of drawing and colouring evinced in this admirable 
 picture is, we think, scarcely possible. 
 
 There is a very beautiful marine painting, — " Dutch 
 Fishing-boats running foul," — and any comment on the 
 excellency of its execution will be unnecessary when it is 
 stated that Calcott is the painter. 
 
 A small picture by Fuseli, conveys a correct notion of 
 the wild and daring yet not very pleasing style of that 
 eminent painter. The incident which forms the subject is 
 selected from Milton, but the ideal being is better known 
 under the name of 'Eobin Goodfellow,- in the " Midsum- 
 
 *" Whilst black-eyed Susan ply'd her murmuring task, 
 A rural prophetess by chance pass'd by. 
 Now, now's my time ! — my future fate I'll ask : 
 
 Be seated, Dame, and tell my fortune try : 
 Her wheel within thy brain she twirls — that's known ; 
 Then with an idle elbow stopp'd her own ; 
 Her fingers, too full willingly resign. 
 Their open palm perused in every line. 
 We say no more, but if her ear's deceived, 
 Observe her eyes; the flattering tale's believ'd: 
 For though she tells of gibbets to the rabble rout 
 Of noisy laughing rogues who dare to doubt, 
 'Mongst anxious girls for ever in employ. 
 She tells a sweeter tale, and all their dreams are dreams of future joy." 
 
ILAM. 
 
 181 
 
 mer Night's Dream," and the artist appears in his deline- 
 ation more to have followed the dramatic poet : 
 
 " Fairy. Either I mistake your shape and making quite, 
 
 Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite, 
 
 Call'd E,ohin Goodfellow. Are you not he 
 
 That fright the maidens of the villag'ry, 
 
 Skim milk, and sometimes labour in the quern ; 
 
 And bootless make the breathless huswife churn ; 
 
 And sometimes make the drink to bear no barm, 
 
 Mislead night wanderers, laughing at their harm." 
 
 The following, among others, are of various degrees of 
 excellence : 
 
 Christ the Good Shepherd — J. Northcote, R.A. 
 View of the Castle of Dordrecht, with the river and 
 shipping — Vander CapeJla. 
 
 School-Mistress — J. Opie, R.A. 
 
 Portrait of Charles the First's Jeweller — Vandyke. 
 
 The Fisherman's Return ; A morning scene — Collins, R.A. 
 
 View on the Arno — R. Wilson. 
 
 The Cottage-Girl — Opie. 
 
 Portrait of two of Mr. Watts Russell's Children, and a 
 Favourite Pony — T. Phillips, R.A. 
 Cottage Girl — M.A. Shee, R.A. 
 
 Wood Scene; the church and village of Cornard, near 
 Sudbury, Suffolk, in the distance — T. Gainshoroiigh, R.A. 
 View of a Scene in Norway — Ruysdael. 
 Two Landscapes — Salvator Rosa. 
 
 Two Landscapes with Figures — Murillo. The onlj- 
 pictures of the kind by the master. 
 
 Portrait of Mr. Watts Russell — J. Jackson, R.A. 
 
 A View of Oxford, from the Abingdon-road — Turner, R.A, 
 
 Our Saviour and St. Peter — Sebastian Ricci. 
 
 Four Pictures — subject, the History of Tobit — Stothard. 
 
 Portrait of the late David Pike Watts, Esq.— *S*V W. 
 Beechey, R.A. 
 
 A View of the High-street, Oxford — Turner, R.A. 
 
 The Last Supper — Sebastian Ricci. 
 
 Sketch from the Ballad of Chevy Chase—^'. Bird, R.A. 
 
182 
 
 ILAM. 
 
 A Landscape — Claude Lorraine. 
 
 Portrait of the late Lord Kadstock — /. Northcote, R.A. 
 A Girl crossing the Brook — H. Thompson, R.A. 
 Copy from Vandyke — Old Stone. 
 
 A Baccante ; figures engaged in sacrifice occupy the 
 distance — Benjamin West. 
 
 The Fall of Phaeton— J. Ward, R.A. 
 
 Portrait of Lucius Francois, Painter — Vandyke. 
 
 A Cattle Piece — Van Stry. 
 
 A marble bust of George the Fourth, by Chantrey. 
 A bust of a Greek Girl, by Gibson. 
 
 An Ebony Cabinet (from the Fonthill collection,) the 
 folding-doors representing two well-known Roman histori- 
 cal subjects. 
 
 The gallery contains several fine models of ruins, 
 chiefly of structures famed iu classic story. Among them 
 are — Remains of the Sepulchre of Scipio Africanus ; Ruins 
 of part of the ancient walls of Rome ; Temple of Minerva 
 Medica ; Temple of Peace ; The Sepulchre of Coecilia 
 Metella in the Court of the Farnese Palace at Rome ; The 
 Temple of Vesta at Tivoli ; The Sepulchre of the Horatii 
 and Curiatii, at Albana ; The Temple of Janus, &c. 
 
 One of the chief curiosities in the gallery is the Font of 
 Raphael, originally in the Florence Gallery. The follow- 
 ing detailed description was written by the late Noel 
 Jennings, Esq. : " The magnificent laver of an oval form, 
 with a recurved edge and pointed bottom, which as well as 
 the raised zone on the belt encircles the middle of the out- 
 side, is wrought in fluted or gadrooned work. Each side 
 is ornamented with a laughing cornuted satyr's head ; two 
 grotesque sphinx-like figures, half satyr, and half dragon, 
 with each a double tail, serve as supporters : their anns are 
 extended to the edge, and their hind parts with wings 
 expanded underneath resting on an oval base which has a 
 hollow gadrooned edge. The whole is painted in the most 
 ively colours, and glazed. On the inside, w^ithin a gro- 
 
IL,\M. 
 
 183 
 
 tesqiie border, is represented a Roman naval eng-agement. 
 The boarding of two ships by a number of soldiers in boats, 
 sword and shield in hand ; sailors fixing their grappling 
 hooks, to facilitate the entrance of the assailants, who are 
 opposed by soldiers on board the ships, armed in like 
 manner. The exterior is enriched with grotesque figures, 
 supporting festoons of flowers, interspersed among which 
 are birds, military achievements, foliage, &c. &c." 
 
 The other apartments in this mansion of almost baronial 
 splendour, it is impossible, within our limits, properly to 
 describe. We must content ourselves ^vith saying that 
 they form parts of a w^ell-defined, comprehensive, and 
 magnificent plan, creditable alike to the genius of the 
 master-mind that designed it, and to the good taste of him 
 who had the perseverance to carry it into effect.* 
 
 From the terrace in front of the hall, the verdant lawn 
 slopes gracefully down to the river and the village church, 
 by which a path leads into the gardens and pleasure-ground. 
 Ascending several winding flights of rustic stone steps, 
 hewn out in the side of a mass of disjointed rocks, w^e 
 reach a splendid conservatory, well stocked with choice 
 exotic plants and flowers. In a calm sequestered recess in 
 the rocks below, is the grotto, with roughly-formed stone 
 seats, and table of the same obdurate material, in which 
 it is said, that Congreve, when a youth at the age of nine- 
 teen, wrote his celebrated comedy of the " Old Bachelor," 
 and a part of the " Mourning Bride."t Near this spot, 
 bubbles upwards from its dark fathomless channel, the long 
 hidden Manifold; and about twenty paces further on, 
 within a kind of cave at the foot of the rock, rises the 
 Hamps. The latter stream forsakes its natural course, and 
 disappears underground, in a way precisely similar to the 
 Manifold, at the Waterhouses, a village several miles dis- 
 tant, about mid-way between Ashbourn and Leek. The 
 
 *Ilam Hall was built from designs by J. Shaw, Esq. 
 fCongreve was of a Staffordshire family. Beaut, of England 5^Wale«. 
 
184 
 
 I LAM. 
 
 waters of both rivers now unite with that division of the 
 Manifold which has retained or been forced to retain its 
 ancient channel, round the amphitheatre of rock and wood 
 in front. The re-appearanee of these two subterranean 
 streams in this surprising manner, within a few yards of 
 each other, constitutes a j)henomenon that will by many 
 be deemed too marvellous to be real. The identity of the 
 two streams in their secret course, is said however to have 
 been correctly determined by experiment, — casting in corks 
 and other light floating bodies at the chasms where the 
 respective streams disappear, and which are stated to have 
 been found at the points where they emerge.* 
 
 "The united rivers (observes Mr. Rhodes) become a pow- 
 erful stream, that within a few yards of the place where 
 they first appear, is precipitated over an artificial barrier, 
 where it forms a cascade of considerable extent and great 
 beauty. This river is one of the beauties and one of the 
 blemishes of Ilam. From the cascade in the garden, to its 
 junction with the Dove it is all i)lay and sparkle ; above it 
 is an inactive pool, unless occasionally in winter, when it 
 is inundated with heavy rains, or the breaking up of a 
 snow-storm: then its subterranean passage, not being of 
 sufficient capacity to admit so large a body of water, it flows 
 into its former channel, and becomes an impetuous and 
 ample stream. It is then in harmony with the scenery of 
 Ilam, and the noble woods that decorate its banks ; but 
 during three-fourths of the year it is far from being an ob- 
 ject of beauty. Everything about it, with the exception 
 of water only, has the appearance and character of a 
 river. To behold this element still and lifeless, amongst 
 lofty and precipitous hills, with which the mind naturally 
 associates impetuous streams and foaming cataracts, seems 
 something like an anomaly in nature, and we are always 
 dissatisfied at her deviation from her accustomed habits,"t 
 
 •"That they do not intermingle is evident from the difference in their tem- 
 perature, which on trial with the thermometer in Octoher, 1802, I found to he 
 two degi'ee*." — Brayley's Notes to Dayes' Picturesque Tour. f Peak Scenery. 
 
ILAM. 
 
 185 
 
 Mr. Rhodes then asks ' whether the river where it first 
 commences its subterraneous career cannot be divided, and 
 a part of it made to flow continually along its obvious 
 channel ?'* To this, Mr. Edwards remarks, ' it may be 
 replied, that probably it is the case with the Manifold as 
 with the Hamps, that there is a number of fissures occur- 
 ring in the course of its passage, which w ould render the 
 proposed attempt abortive. Neither, (he adds) in my hum- 
 ble opinion, is such a change desirable. The whole of the 
 stream would afford but a scanty pittance':for the supply 
 of the channel here, which the volume of its occasional 
 floods has rendered both ample and deep. The floods 
 sometimes happen very suddenly : in the midst of summer 
 when the bed of the stream is dry, a heavy thunder-storm 
 on the hills above wiU bring down in thej^space of ten or 
 fifteen minutes a tide of water several feet in depth, impe- 
 tuously rolling its billows beneath the amphitheatre of 
 woods that incloses the upper part of the vale. But this 
 noisy spectacle disturbs the harmony of the secluded pas- 
 toral nook, and serves to w^eaken the impression of its own 
 romantic charms. The sandy stony track of the empty 
 channel is prevented by the bushes and trees growing along 
 its banks from being an obtrusive object ; and a casual 
 glimpse of this phenomenon in British scenery, strikingly 
 accords with the strangeness and novelty here displayed.'f 
 
 From the level plot of open verdant meadow, forming the 
 left bank of the river, the eye takes in a picture of mingled 
 wildness, beauty, and repose. Mr. Rhodes, whose de- 
 scription of Ham scenery is at once accurate and poetical, 
 portrays it with his accustomed force and feeling: ''It was 
 morning ; the sun shone brightly in the heavens, and the 
 rain which had fallen in copious showers the preceding 
 day, had given a delightful freshness to the verdure of the 
 fields, and a livelier tone of colouring to every object 
 around me. My right, looking towards Thorpe, was a 
 
 •As we have stated, the attempt has since been made, 
 f Notes to « The Tour of the Dove," 
 
 24 
 
186 
 
 I LAM. 
 
 Steep and lofty hill, covered with wood, and involved in 
 shadow ; another wood, still more heautiful, that glowed 
 with the bright effulgence of the newly-risen sun, lay on 
 my left : in distance, rising behind a mass of trees, Thorpe 
 Cloud reared his magnificent head ; a beautiful light rested 
 on the side of this lofty eminence, and some thin white 
 clouds played about its summit. The cattle that were 
 grazing near — the freshness of the herbage on which they 
 fed — the smoke rising slowly from a cottage chimney at the 
 extremity of the wood on my right — were all pleasing in- 
 cidents in the delightful morning picture that was here 
 presented. Delight was not the only emotion with which I 
 gazed upon this tranquil scene. I heard around me accents 
 of joy and sounds of pleasure only. Every object that had 
 life seemed to be freely and fully partaking of the benefi- 
 cent gifts of heaven, and for a while I forgot the works, the 
 employments, and the cares of man, in the contemplation 
 of that Being who has made so fair a world, and filled it 
 with happiness ; who reared the mightiest barriers of rock 
 and hill with a word — adorned the vales with verdure — 
 clothed the woods with beauty, and led the streams through 
 pleasant pastures."* 
 
 In the churchyard, which is separated from the grounds 
 by an ornamental border of flowering plants, there is a 
 stone pillar, of great antiquity, bearing traces of some 
 rudely-sculptured decorations. This monument is supposed 
 by some to be of Danish, and by others of Saxon construc- 
 tion.f The church, originally a structure of early date, con- 
 sisting of a tower, nave and chancel, is an extremely pictur- 
 esque object. A thick mantling of ivy almost obscures the 
 stone-work of the tower, and the dial of the clock is nearly 
 buried in foliage. The interior contains some remains of 
 
 *Peak Scenery, Part iv. p. 91. 
 f Alfred the Great, who divided England into counties, hundreds, and 
 tvthings, erected a number of crosses or landmarks, which no man was per- 
 mitted to remove, and, to give them a sacred character, they were sculptured 
 with religious allusions, and the symbols of his faith." — Ibid. 
 
ILAM. 
 
 187 
 
 high antiquity. A capacious and curiously-figured gothic 
 font will immediately attract the visitor's notice. Near it 
 is a large altar-tomb, without effigy, date or inscription, 
 which popular tradition affirms is the tomb of St. Bertram, 
 who is said to have led an eremitical life in this village.* 
 On a very curious altar-tomb there are two full-length 
 figures in alabaster, and on a tablet beneath is inscribed: 
 
 "Here lyeth the bodies of Robert Meverell, Esq. and Elisabeth bis wife, 
 daughter of Sir Thomas Fleming, knt. and lord Cheife Justice of the King's 
 Bench, by who he had issue only one daughter, who married Thomas, Lord 
 Cromwell, Visconte Lecaile, which Robert died the 5th of February, an. 1626, 
 and Elisabeth departed the 5th of August, 1628." 
 
 Above this monument, attached to the wall, is a kind of 
 marble canopy, beneath which kneels an effigy, habited in 
 crimson, with a dark flowing head-dress ; on a pedestal are 
 four smaller figures, representing children, with clasped 
 hands. 
 
 On a tablet affixed to the wall in the chancel, is an in- 
 scription (almost illegible) to Mary, wife of a member of the 
 Port family, of Ham, and "daughter of William Fitzher- 
 bert, Esq. of Tissington, and his vertuous lady. Lady Mary 
 Cromwell, of the familie of Throwley." She died the 23d 
 May, 1685. 
 
 Among other monuments of the Port family is one " To 
 the memory of Lieutenant George Howe Port,t of the Royal 
 Navy, and of Lieutenant Beville Port, J of the 19th Light 
 Dragoons, who were snatched away in the morning of life, 
 in the service of their country." 
 
 Ham parish is also noted for the tomb, well, and ash of St. Bertram, who 
 is said to have confirmed the truth of his religious faith by many stupendous 
 miracles in this county. The sacred ash was formerly much venerated, and 
 taken great care of by the common people, who had a notion that it was highly 
 dangerous to break a bough of it. Little, however is now thought of either the 
 saint, or his tomb and well.' — BeauU of Eng. ^ TFales, Staff. 
 
 f Died at Antigua, June, 1794. + Died at Bangalore, June, 1801. 
 The ancient and loyal family of Port have been seated at Ham for several 
 generations. Rowe Port, Esq. sei-ved the office of High Sheriff for the countr 
 of Derby, in the reign of George II. (anno 1730.) 
 
188 
 
 IL\M. 
 
 On a tablet to the memory of Robert Port, Esq. is in- 
 scribed a copy of verses from the pen of Charles Cotton : 
 
 " Virtue, in those good times that bred good men, 
 
 No testimony craved of tongue or pen ; 
 
 No marble columns nor engraven brass, 
 
 To tell the world that such a person was ; 
 
 For then each pious act, to fair descent. 
 
 Stood for the worthy owner's monument : 
 
 But in this change of manners and of states, 
 
 Good names, though writ in marble, have their fates j 
 
 Such is the barbarous and irreverent rage 
 
 That arms the rabble of this impious age. 
 
 Yet may this happy stone, that bears a name 
 Such as no bold survivor dares to claim, 
 To ages yet unborn, unblemish'd stand. 
 Safe from the stroke of an inhuman hand. 
 Here, reader ! here a poet's sad relics lie. 
 To teach the careless world mortality ; 
 Who while he mortal was, unrivall'd stood, 
 The crown and glory of his ancient blood ; 
 Fit for his prince's and his country's trust; 
 Pious to God, and to his neighbour just ; 
 A loyal husband to his latest end, 
 A gracious father and a faithful friend : 
 Beloved he lived, and died o'ercharged with years, 
 Fuller of honour than of silver hairs. 
 And, to sum up his virtues, this was he 
 Who was what all wc should, but cannot be." 
 
 To the northern part of the chancel a small gothic 
 chapel has been added, destined to be the burying-place of 
 the family of Russell. This chapel is the receptacle of one 
 of the most successful efforts of modern monumental 
 scidpture, — a group in white marble, by Sir Francis Chan- 
 trey, to the memory of the late David Pike Watts, Esq. 
 The principal figure (representing Mr. Watts) rests in a 
 half-risen, half-reclined posture on his couch of sickness. 
 He holds a Bible open in one hand, and is in the act of 
 giving his final blessing to his daughter (the present Mrs. 
 Watts Russell,) who is kneeling by the couch. By her side 
 stand three little children, the two eldest of whom and the 
 lady have their countenances turned towards their sire, in 
 the attitude and with the expression of breathless attention. 
 
I LAM. 
 
 189 
 
 The youngest clmgs to his mother's knees, and affected 
 with sorrow or affright at the melancholy scene, hides his 
 little face in her dress. The whole group represents most 
 naturally one of the most touching earthly circumstances, 
 — the departure of the revered and venerable head of a 
 family from his intensely-afflicted descendants. The first 
 criticism that a stranger might make would perhaps be, 
 that the dying figure is not sufficiently emaciated for one 
 who is about to breathe his last. Such a judgment, which 
 in cases of death from the ravages of slow and lingering 
 disease would be correct, must be altered, when it is 
 known that Mr. Watts' sufferings were not of a protracted 
 or emaciating nature. This apparent defect is therefore a 
 real beauty. An exception might also be taken against 
 the attitude of the two elder children, who have their backs 
 turned towards the spectator. A moment's reflection will 
 convince any one that this too is a proof of the artist's con- 
 summate skill, and profound knowledge of nature. Called at 
 an age when the faculties are just budding into existence, 
 to take their final leave of a fondly-attached and indulgent 
 grandsire, the children cannot repress, even in the in- 
 tensity of their grief, that curious, inquiring disposition 
 which nature has imj)lanted in all. Lost to every other 
 object, they stand with their faces turned full upon the 
 dying figure, as if in the midst of sorrow they would 
 know something of that mysterious visitant death, whose 
 coming, they have been taught, is approaching, but of 
 whose nature they are yet ignorant, and whose terrors the 
 innocence of childhood has not yet learned to comprehend 
 or to dread. 
 
 James Montgomery, in one of his eloquent lectures,* 
 asserting the pre-eminence of poetry among the fine arts, 
 asks his audience " whether, among a hundred of the monu- 
 ments in our cathedrals, and the statues in our public 
 places, they ever met with more than one or two that laid 
 
 ♦"Lectures on Poetry and General Literature." 
 
190 
 
 MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE. 
 
 hold of their imagination, so as to haunt it both in retire- 
 ment and in society, — or most unexpectedly to 
 
 flash upon that inwai-d eye, 
 Which is the bliss of solitude." — Wordsworth. 
 
 The poet instances, as one of these rare productions, ' the 
 simple memorial of the two children in Lichfield Cathedral.' 
 If his remark he true of that celebrated monument, it is 
 emphatically so of the one we have been attempting to 
 describe. The same master-hand is present, working as by 
 a mystic spell, the same effects on our feelings, sympathies, 
 and affections, hurrying us from the examination of a 
 perishable evanescent work of art, to the contemplation of 
 the awful reality — the suffering, the tears, the solemnity of 
 the chamber of death ; and leaving us not here, the sculptor 
 conducts us in imagination to that ' undiscovered clime,' 
 that 
 
 *' brighter world on high, 
 Where hearts that here at parting sigh, 
 
 May meet to part no more !" — Barton. 
 
 It is perhaps necessary, and may not be altogether un- 
 interesting, in illustration of the memorials of the dead 
 contained in our churches, briefly to trace the progress of 
 monumental sculpture from its first rude and simple efforts, 
 to the age that has produced those splendid compositions 
 of which the nation (and the county of Derby in parti- 
 cular*) has so just a reason to be proud. Monumental 
 remains, as specimens of art, are to the antiquary the con- 
 necting links between past ages and the present, and they 
 are further important from the information they furnish 
 relative to the costume and decorations of the times in 
 which they were executed. 
 
 Stone coffins are probably the earliest sculptured tombs 
 with which we are acquainted. They were sunk into the 
 ground, no lower than their depth, and the covering-stone, 
 of an angular shape, standing above the pavement, they 
 thus served for a memorial as well as receptacle of the dead. 
 
 •Sir Francis Chantrey, it will be remembered, is a native of Norton, a little 
 village of Derbyshire, bordering closely upon the county of York, 
 
MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE. 
 
 191 
 
 The sign of the cross, and other religious emhlems, were 
 their first ornaments. These stone coffins were in general 
 use among the higher classes in the eighth, ninth, and 
 tenth centuries. They were often placed entirely above 
 ground, in which case the sides were sometimes sculptured. 
 This may he considered as the earliest form of the altar- 
 tomb.* Monumental effigies were at first sculptured on the 
 covering slab in low relief, the ground being sunk into the 
 stone ; but a bolder st^le was soon adopted, and the effigies 
 of the twelfth century are mostly in half relief. On the in- 
 troduction of the Early English style of architecture, the 
 arched stone canopy was introduced. This being united 
 with the altar-tomb, which had now become general, and 
 in which the body was deposited above ground, the mode 
 of sepulture became a perpetual lying in state. The sides 
 of these tombs are panelled, and filled up with shields of 
 arms. Niches, containing effigies of the family of the de- 
 ceased, were added before the end of the thirteenth century. 
 The effigies of this and the following century are numerous 
 and interesting. The sculptor Flaxman remarked of some 
 of them, that though ill-drawn and deficient in principle, 
 yet in parts there is a beautiful simplicity, and sometimes 
 a grace excelling more modern productions.f Very little 
 opportunity was given to the artist to expand and improve 
 his ideas, as a slavish custom prevailed of placing all the 
 figures in a posture of all others the most rigid and un- 
 graceful, which was on their backs : under this obvious 
 disadvantage our ancient sculptors executed many very 
 excellent and interesting figures in beautiful transparent 
 alabaster, although nearly all the males are represented in 
 armour. As the effigies of distinguished persons are fre- 
 quently accompanied by those of their consorts, more scope 
 for genius and variety prevailed in the latter, and conse- 
 quently we find females in the habits of the times, and 
 represented in the rich ornaments of the sex and making 
 
 ♦Stone coffins have been discovered at Alstonfield and at Hungry Bentley. 
 f Pictorial Hist, of England. 
 
192 
 
 MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE. 
 
 due allowance for the stiffness of their cumhent position, 
 the drapery is frequently placed in true and well-conceived 
 folds. The has-reliefs on the sides of these tombs, repre- 
 senting the deceased person's children, bearing- shields of 
 arms, or monks and nuns telling their beads, are frequently 
 well executed, and so far as to make us wish the artist had 
 been indulged to the full extent of his abilities * 
 
 The engraved and inlaid monumental brasses which 
 abound in our churches, came into use about the year 1380. 
 The designs and embellishments of many of these me- 
 morials are extremely elegant.f 
 
 During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the recum- 
 bent effigy was varied by the introduction of the kneeling 
 attitude, and, exhibiting less taste and skill in execution 
 than those of the preceding era, the monuments of this 
 class were often disfigured by painting and gilding the 
 drapery. This mode of decoration was carried to the height 
 of excess.! 
 
 In the indiscriminate destruction of church ornaments 
 at the Reformation, the memorials of the dead did not en- 
 tirely escape ; and there are few monuments of a date 
 prior to that event that do not bear marks of violence. 
 Sculpture, like her sister arts, had now lost between the 
 fury of persecution and the excitement of a great and tri- 
 umphant mouvement, the ascendancy she had so slowly 
 acquired. The highest and noblest department of the art, 
 — that of preserving and perpetuating the memory of the 
 mighty, illustrious or benevolent, — had well nigh sunk 
 into oblivion. 
 
 At the Restoration, the practice of the art revived, but 
 in monumental effigies the taste had grievously degenerated. 
 
 *Introd. to Gould's Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, &c. See the churches 
 of Ashbourn Longford, Norbmy, &c. 
 
 f Some fine remains and specimens will be found in Blore, Okeover, and 
 Ashbourn churches. 
 
 J See Ashbourn, Tissington, Blore, &c. 
 
THROWLEY. — BLORE. 
 
 193 
 
 They are mostly clad in Roman armour, their heads and 
 shoulders sustaining enormous wigs! From this date 
 the fondness for large tombs with elaborate and fanciful 
 decorations sensibly declines. Symptoms of an improved 
 feeling now become apparent, though the eye is yet offend- 
 ed by exhibitions deficient in point of taste, as they are 
 miserable in execution. The altar-tomb was nearly laid 
 aside, and mural tablets, of every conceivable form, were 
 substituted ; some of which, and a few of the larger me- 
 morials in our cathedrals, are elegant in design, and rich 
 in embellishment. But as yet monumental sculpture did 
 not rise above mediocrity; and it was not till Bacon, Flax- 
 man, Nollekens, Westmacott, Banks, and Chantrey had 
 arisen, that the noblest branch of the art came to be un- 
 derstood or to be appreciated. It was reserved for these 
 gifted names, and especially for the last mentioned, to 
 show that a successful appeal to our sympathies is 
 produced, not by gorgeously-wrought allegorical combina- 
 tions, but by representations of nature, simple, free, and 
 unadorned. 
 
 The hamlet of Throwley, a short distance west of 
 Ham, was the seat of the MeverelU, " a very antient house 
 of gentlemen, and of goodly living, equalling the best sort 
 of gentlemen in the shire."* This family is of high anti- 
 quity, and appears to have been seated at Throwley for 
 several generations. Arthur Meverell, of Throwley, was 
 Prior of Tutbury, at the dissolution of the monasteries 
 in the reign of Henry VIII. In the seventeenth century 
 Wingfield, Lord Cromwell, Earl of Ardglass in Ireland, 
 became possessed of the manor of Throwley, by inheritance 
 from his mother Elizabeth, daughter and sole heiress of 
 Robert Meverell, Esq.f 
 
 Blore, a village on the brow of the hill south-west of 
 Ham, is chiefly remarkable as being the site of the ancient 
 baronial mansion of the illustrious family of Bassett, In the 
 
 •Erdeswick. fBeaut. England and Wales, Staff. 
 
 25 
 
194 
 
 ELORE. 
 
 reign of William the Conqueror Edricus held it of Robert 
 de Stafford, and in 33d Henry III. William de Blore was 
 lord of the manor. The founder of the family of Bassett, 
 into whose possession it afterwards came, was Thurstan a 
 Norman baron. His son, Ralph Bassett, of Colston and 
 Drayton, was Lord Chief Justice under Henry I. 
 
 The following is an extract from the pedigree of that 
 branch of this illustrious family that was seated at Blore : 
 
 " Rafe Bassett New Place, (and Blore) and after of Cheadle, 9 Henry IV- 
 who married Maud, daughter and heir of Thomas Beke, and Alice his Jfirst 
 wife who died 9 Henry V. and had issue, Ralph Bassett of Cheadle, and Blore 
 and Grendon, who married Margaret, daughter and sole heir of Sir Reginald 
 Dethick, Knt. (son of William, Treasurer of England) by Thomasine his wife, 
 daughter and coheir of Sir Hugh Meynil, Knt. (who was seised of the manors 
 of Langley, Kingley, Newhall, Hartishorne, and Staunton.) She afterwards 
 remarried Nicolas Montgomery son of Sir Nicolas Montgomery, knt. and died 
 1466. By her first husband she had issue Ciceley, wife of Hugh Erdeswicke, 
 (son of Henry) and William Bassett of Chedle, Blore, and Grendon, and of 
 Langley, Co. Derb. 34 Henry VI. who was father of William Bassett, sheriff of 
 Co. Stafford. 6 Edward IV. who died Nov. 12, 1498. He married Joan daughter 
 and coheir of Richard Byron, son of Sir John, and had issue by her John Bassett 
 eldest son, who married Elinor, daughter and heir of Sir John Aston, S. P. 
 Ralph third son who married Elenor, daughter of Hugh Egerton, of Wrine-hill, 
 and had Margaret his daughter and heir, wife of Sir Ralph Egerton of Ridley 
 (grandfather of lord Chancellor Egerton.) Nicolas Bassett, fourth son who mar- 
 ried E.inor daughter of Sir Nicolas Montgomery, S. P. 1492. And William 
 Bassett of Langley and Blore, (second but eldest surviving son,) who in 21 Henry 
 VII. gave lands to Rocester Abbey, for the souls of William his father and Joan 
 his mother. He mairied Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Meverell, the younger 
 of Throwley (remarried to Henry Coleyne) by whom he had Thomas, father of 
 Thomas Bassett of Hintes in Staffordshire, (who married the daugliter of 
 Chetwynd, 1583,) and Sir William Bassett, of Blore, Grendon, and Langley 
 (his son and heir) who married I. Anne, daughter of Thomas Cockayne of 
 Ashbouni, Co. Derby, Knt. and 2. Isabel daughter and heir of Sir Richard 
 Cotton, by his third wife Helen, daughter of Thomas Littleton, by whom was 
 Maud wife of Ralph Oakover, ofOakover; but by his first he had Margaret, 
 wife of Richard Copwood of Tokeridge. Thomas Bassett (who mamed Helen, 
 daughter of Cotes of Wodcote, Salop, and was father of Thomas Bassett of Fald 
 Co. Staff, living in 1583) and William Bassett of Blore, Grendon, and Langlej^, 
 (his son and heir,) who married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert 
 of Norbury, knt. and had issue. 
 
 " William Bassett of Blore and Langley, living 1588, who married Judith, 
 daughter of Thomas Osten of Oxley in Staffordshire, Esq. (widow of William 
 
BLOHE. 
 
 195 
 
 Boothby, ancestor of the Boothbys, of Broadlow Ash, &c. baronets; and after 
 her second husband's death, remamed to Sir Richard Corbett,) by whom he 
 had issue — Elizabeth his sole daughter and heir, first manied to Hon. Henry 
 Howard, a younger son of the earl of Suffolk; and 2ndly to Sir William Cav- 
 endish, K. B. afterward duke of Newcastle, to whom she carried this estate, and 
 of whose children she was mother. The Duke's 2nd wife, who wrote his life, 
 says " that when he was 22 years old, his mother was desirous that he should 
 marry, in obedience to whose commands he chose, both to his own liking and 
 his mother's approving, the daughter and heir to William Bassett of Blore, Esq. 
 a very honourable and ancient family in Staffordshire, by whom was added a 
 great pai-t of his estate." * 
 
 The ancient mansion was standing in the year 1662, but 
 its site is now occupied hj a modern farm-house. 
 
 The church, a gothic structure, with a square tower, 
 nave, and small chancel, contains considerable remains 
 of former embelHshments. On the right side of the south 
 door-way are the fragments of the stoiip, or receptacle for 
 holy water, into which each Catholic dipped his finger and 
 crossed himself, when entering the sacred edifice. The 
 roof is supported by pomted arches, and the chancel is 
 separated from the nave by some fine carved oak screen- 
 work. Of the richly-painted glass that once adorned the 
 windows, only a few portions remain. In one of the south 
 windows, was (in 1662) the effigy of William Bassett, in 
 his surcoat of arms, with the arms of Cokayne quartered 
 with Herthull, kneeling before a crucifix, and beneath an 
 inscription in old English characters: — 
 
 " Orate Pro Bono Statu Willielmi Bassett armigeri et Anne uxoris ejus qui 
 istam fenestram fieri fecerunt, et istam Cancellai'iam Reedificaverunt Anno 
 Domini MDXIX." 
 
 The same inscription, under a different coat of arms, 
 was placed at the bottom of the east window ; and at the 
 bottom of the east window of the north aisle were the 
 effigies of William Bassett, Esq. and Joan his wife ; he in 
 his surcoat of arms, and she with the arms of Biron on her 
 mantle, both kneeling before Sir William, with this scroll 
 on their lips : — 
 
 " O Sancte Willielme, Ora pro me." 
 
 •Beaut. England and Wales, Staff. 
 
196 
 
 BLORE. 
 
 On a marble slab in the north aisle, are the remains of an 
 inlaid brass monument, with the effigies of a male and 
 female, and around the edges are some portions of the fol- 
 lowing inscription: — 
 
 *' Orate Pro Animabus Willielmi Bassett Armigeri, Domini de Blore et 
 Langley et Joanne uxoris ejus unius filiarum et heredum Ricardi Buryn armiger 
 filii et heredis Johannis Buryn militis. Qui quidem Willielmus obiit xii die 
 Mensis Nov. Anno Dni Millimo Dlxxxviii, et eadem Joanna Obiit Die Mensis 
 ** Anno Dni *** Quorum Animabus Propitietur Deus. Amen."* 
 
 At the upper end of the north aisle, mthin a kind of 
 chantr}' -chapel, is a noble altar- tomb of statuary marble. 
 Extended on a mattress, beneath a large square canopy, 
 are two effigies, one representing a gentleman in complete 
 armour, another, by his side, a lady in the costume of the 
 times ; and a third figure of an old man in armour, is ele- 
 vated on a slab about a foot higher than these. At the 
 heads of the two lower figures, are two females, in a kneel- 
 ing attitude, both habited in beautiful flowing costume, 
 with girdles, pointed handkerchiefs, and easy veils over 
 their faces. One of these ladies appears to be in the bloom 
 of youth and beauty, but the other is considerably older. 
 There is a chastened freedom of execution in these figures 
 by no means usual in the age of Elizabeth, when we may 
 presume the monument was executed. On the pillars and 
 sides of the canopy are disposed numerous shields of arms, 
 and heraldic devices, fully blazoned. Many of these orna- 
 ments have been sadly mutilated, and their gilding is tar- 
 nished or effaced through continued exposure to the action 
 of damp. On a tablet at the back of the tomb is the 
 epitaph — 
 
 " Here lyes a courtier, souldier, handsome, good, 
 
 Witty, wise, valiant, and of pure blood 
 
 From William's conquest, and his potent sword 
 
 In the same lyne many a noble Lord, 
 
 That time hath lost in paying thus Death's debt, 
 
 In this unparallell'd William Bassett, 
 
 But thy high virtues with thy antient name 
 
 Shall ever swell the cheeks of glorious fame." 
 
 *Sir Egerton Brydges, and Rev. Stebbing Shaw in " The Topographer." 
 
OKEOVER. 
 
 197 
 
 The monument is without date, but there is every rea- 
 son to believe that it was erected in memory of William 
 the last male heir of the Bassett family, who was living in 
 1588. 
 
 " Dove beginning at Blore to enlarge his banks, passelh 
 on to Okeover, where is another fair old house, and a 
 goodly demeasne."* The estate and manor of Okeover have 
 been in possession of the family bearing that name for more 
 than seven hundred years. At the Conquest, Ormus, 
 or Orme, was lord of Acover and Stretton. From him the 
 manor of Okeover descended in a right line to Thomas de 
 Okeover, who died in the reign of Henry VI. possessed 
 also of lands in Mappleton and Atlow. Members of this 
 fomily are found to have filled offices of honour and trust 
 in the counties of Derby, Stafford, and Nottingham, from 
 a very early period. Philip de Okeover represented the 
 county of Derby, in the fifth and fifteenth parliaments of 
 Richard II. ; Thomas de Okeover, in the ninth parliament 
 of Henry IV., and in the eighth and ninth of Henry V. ; 
 Sir Philip Okeover, knight, was high sheriff for the coun- 
 ties of Derby and Nottingham in 1465, and Philip Okeover, 
 Esq. in 1474. Humphrey Okeover, Esq. was sheriff for the 
 county of Derby in 1631 ;t and Haughton Farmer Okeover, 
 Esq. for the county of Stafford, in 1800. Among the 
 many ancient and honourable houses with which this family 
 became allied, are those of Bassett, of Blore ; Bradburne, 
 Aston, of Tixall ; Leech, of Chatswortb ; Longford, Dun- 
 ham, Cheney, Cokayne, Ashley, (ancestors of the Earls 
 Shaftesbury ;) Bagot, Shirley, Hurt, Walhouse, Littleton, 
 
 •Erdeswick's Staffordshire, 
 f Bancroft, " the small poet," addresses one of his epigrams to " Humphrey 
 Okeover, Esq. :" — 
 
 *' I sometimes heard a kind of prophisie. 
 That yoixr name should in fair longevity 
 Equal the tree of Jove — which may it bide 
 Like royal cedar, (never putrified) 
 Nor othenvise impaired : so sound a fame 
 To you I wish, and your well-timbered name." 
 
198 
 
 OKEOVER. 
 
 Addeiiey, Anson, and others. The present heir to the 
 estates is Charles Haughton Okeover, Esq.* 
 
 The vale of Okeover, seen from the hills which environ it, 
 forms a landscape rich and luxuriant, and not the less 
 pleasing hecause it is thoroughly English in its character ; 
 Overlooking a fertile undulating park, thickly wooded, 
 and well stocked with deer, stands the family mansion, a 
 goodly structure of the last century, and close by, the vil- 
 lage church, with its perpetual covering of ivy; the dark 
 hills of Dovedale close in the back-ground, — beneath and 
 to the south, scattered over the wide domain, are groups of 
 cottages and detached homesteads; and the winding Dove, 
 losing none of her power to charm, wanders in soothing- 
 majesty, o'er a lengthened vista of 'fertile vales and dewy 
 meads' — 
 
 "The stately homes of England! 
 
 How beautiful they stand ; 
 Amidst their tall ancestral trees, 
 
 O'er all the pleasant land ; 
 The deer across their green sward hound, 
 
 Through shade and sunny gleam ; 
 And swan glides past them with the sound 
 
 Of some rejoicing stream." — Hemans, 
 
 The chief attraction in the hall is the celebrated picture, 
 ascribed to Raffaelle — " The Holy Family." The group 
 consists of five figures: the infant Jesus on his mother's lap ; 
 St. Ann standing near — her eyes intently fixed on the holy 
 child; St. John behind; and Joseph still further in the 
 back-ground. At the first glance this picture may not ap- 
 pear to possess that transcendent degree of excellence 
 with which a previously-excited imagination will have 
 invested it. This absence of dazzling effect has been 
 remarked of other productions of the gifted painter whose 
 name it bears, and is attributed by some to a want of 
 
 •Pedigree of the family. Hist, of Derbyshire, vol. ii. p. 63, 4, 5. 
 Okeover Hall is now (1839]( the residence of llobert Plumer Ward, Esq. the 
 talented author of " Tremaine." He married the widow of the Rev. Charles 
 Gregory Okeover. 
 
OKEOVER. 
 
 199 
 
 strength in his colouring, and by others, with more justice, 
 
 to his extreme fidelity to nature. It has been well observed, 
 
 that ^an uncommon expression, strong colouring, or odd j^^' j^^^'y^^ 
 
 and singular attitudes of an inferior painter strike us at ' ' >v/l**J 
 
 first sight because we have not been accustomed to see 
 
 them elsewhere.' But in " The Holy Family," all is ease, 
 
 grace, and dignity, and the longer we examine it, so much 
 
 the more do its merits become apparent. 
 
 The value of this gem of art has been variously estimated 
 — at from 1,000 to 2,000 guineas. It is said to have been dis- 
 covered in an old lumber-room, where it is conjectured to 
 have been hidden during the civil wars. 
 
 The dining-room contains several other good pictures, 
 among which are Vandervelde' s well-known pieces, " The 
 Calm" and ''The Storm;" "St. Veronica with the sacred 
 handkerchief," by Titian ; " Christ meeting the Women in 
 the Garden," by Rubens ; and others of less note. 
 
 The church, a small building with a square tower, is in 
 good repair, and is furnished with an excellent organ.* 
 The sepulchral remains are few ; on an alabaster slab is 
 inscribed — 
 
 " Hie jacet Joliana Port, uxor Johannis Port Armigeri, filia omfredi Okor 
 Armigeri, quas quidem Joliana obiit Til. die Februarii, Anno Dni MDXXIIII. 
 cujus animas propitietur Deus. Amen." 
 
 ♦Rowland Okeover, Esq. by indenture bearing date October, 1727, granted 
 £60 yearly out of the rents of certain property in Atlow and Mappleton, for 
 the support of an organist for the parish-church of Okeover, and also of 
 twelve fit boys or girls to be choristers. He further directed his trustees to 
 erect and endow out of the residue of the rents and profits of the said property, 
 a neat and convenient house, divided into three dwellings for three widows of 
 clergymen of the Church of England. These dwellings are pleasantly situated 
 at Mappleton ; the inmate of each receives the annual sum of £30. The ap- 
 pointment is vested in the trustees, and is made without limitation as to the 
 county or diocese in which the deceased clergymen may have resided. About the 
 year 1736, some proceedings are reported to have taken place in the court of 
 Chancery respecting this charity, when it was established, except as to the 
 maintenance of boys and girls as choristers. Twelve boys and girls of different 
 parishes are now clothed out of the funds of this chaiity .—CAan^y Commis- 
 sioners' Report, July, 1827. 
 
200 
 
 OKEOVER. 
 
 Near this slab is a very fine inlaid brass monument, in 
 excellent preservation, tlioug-b the inscription round the 
 edge is partly effaced. From what remains may be deci- 
 phered — 
 
 " Here under thys stone lyeth Oker Esqueyer sumtyme Lord of 
 
 Oker & Isabell hys vryfe daughter of John Aston Esquyer and Dame Elsabeth, 
 hys wyfe the whiche Humfr. . . .decessyd the xxii. day of Aprell the yere of our 
 Lord Amen." 
 
 In the centre of the slab are engraven the effigies of the 
 deceased ; the head of the male rests on the trunk of a pros- 
 trate oak tree, on his left is a coat of arms, inscribed " The 
 Armys of Oker and Aston." Underneath are the effigies of 
 his children, viz. : " Philyp, Rauf*, John, Willm. Roger, 
 Nicolas, Robt. Thoms. Jane, Elsabeth, Mrgre," and two 
 others not legible. 
 
 There are, besides, several mural monuments to members 
 of the Okeover family, and in the chancel window are 
 some remains of painted glass. 
 
 On an eminence about a quarter of a mile south of the 
 hall is a square intrenchment, called the Hallsteads. The 
 trench or moat is crossed on the north side by a stone arch 
 in good preservation. This is evidently the site of a for- 
 tified building, — probably a seat of the ancient lords of 
 Okeover. 
 
 The parish of Okeover contains about sixty inhabitants, 
 and the annual value of the property is estimated at 
 £1,029. 
 
 It is stated by a writer in " The Beauties of England and 
 Wales," and by other topographers, that at some place in 
 the vicinity of Okeover was born John Dudley, Duke of 
 Northumberland, the accomplished statesman who acted so 
 remarkable a part in the transactions of the eventful times 
 of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., and who, in the follow- 
 ing reign, perished on the scafi'old for his unconstitutional 
 attempt to raise Lady Jane Grey to the throne. This pow- 
 erful nobleman, it will be remembered, was the son of 
 Edmund Dudley, who, as a lawyer and statesman, rose to 
 
OKEOVER. 
 
 201 
 
 eminence under Henry VII., and who was the chief instru- 
 ment employed by that monarch in the arbitrary extortions 
 practised in the latter part of his reign. The character of 
 the elder Dudley, and of his associate Empson, with their 
 modes of procedure, are thus described by Lord Bacon : — 
 "As kings do more easily find instruments for their will 
 and humour, than for their service and honour, he (Henry) 
 had gotten for his purpose two instruments, Empson and 
 Dudley, bold men, and careless of fame, and that took 
 toll for their masters grist. Dudley was of a good family, 
 eloquent, and one that could put hateful business into good 
 language, but Empson, that was a son of a sieve-maker, tri- 
 umphed always in the deed done, putting all other res- 
 pect whatever. These two persons being lawyers in science, 
 and privy councillors in authority, turned law and justice 
 into wormwood and rapine. For first their manner was to 
 cause divers subjects to be indicted for sundry crimes, and 
 so far forth to proceed in form of law, but when the bills 
 were found then presently to commit them : and, neverthe- 
 less, not to jjroduce them in any reasonable time to them; 
 but to suffer them to languish long in prison, and by sun- 
 dry artificial devices and terms to extort from them great 
 fines and ransoms which they termed compositions and 
 mitigations." Soon after the demise of Henry VII. the 
 popular clamour against Dudley and his associate became 
 so strong, that they were attainted of high treason, and 
 being found guilty, were both beheaded. 
 
 Contiguous to Okeover, on the opposite or Derbyshire 
 side the river, is the pleasant village of Mappleton. At 
 the Domesday survey Mapletiin was a berewick of Ash- 
 bourn, and as such belonged to the crown. The Cokaynes 
 of Ashbourn, had a seat here, and i^'rancis Cokayne died 
 possessed of the manor in 1558. In 1641, William Caven- 
 dish, Earl and afterwards Duke of Newcastle, (who mar- 
 ried the heiress of Bassett of Blore) possessed lands in 
 Mappleton and Thorpe. The manorial rights are vested 
 in the Okeover family. 
 
 16 
 
202 
 
 MAPPLETON. 
 
 Mappleton Church is a small oblong building, surmount- 
 ed by a dome and lantern. In the floor of the aisle is an 
 alabaster slab, having round the edges some traces of an 
 inscription in old English characters, and one of the win- 
 dows contains a curious design in painted glass. — The 
 living is a rectory, annexed to the vicarage of Ashbourn. 
 
 The parish contains about 180 inhabitants, and the esti- 
 mated annual value of the property is £2,000. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Banks of tlie Dove — Their Extraordinary Fertility — Extract from a Ser- 
 mon in praise of Derbyshire— Mayfield — Stanton, the Birth-place of Arch- 
 bishop Sheldon— Snelston—Snelston Hall— Memoir of Michael Thomas 
 Sadler. 
 
 It has been previously remarked, that the tract of country 
 we have undertaken to describe, (the Valley of the Dove) 
 in its general aspect is of a highly diversified character. 
 Its climate, soil, and degree of fertility are not less varied 
 and remarkable. The lofty elevations amid which the 
 Dove and some of her tributary streams "ake their rise 
 are bleak, cheerless, and barren in the extreme; but over 
 the limestone-district of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, 
 which these streams intersect, a pasturage is produced of 
 excellent quality. On their junction in the vale of Ham, 
 the full tide of luxuriant fertility sets in, and Dove Banks, 
 (which, setting aside the local limitation of the term, may 
 be vmderstood to comprehend the whole valley from Ham 
 downwards) are a succession of meadows and pastures, of 
 unexampled richness and beauty. The soil is a deep mellow- 
 loam, the greater part strongly impregnated with a cal- 
 careous deposit from the overflow^ing of the river ; the 
 herbage is very fine, with scarcely any admixture of rushes 
 or aquatic plants. A sudden rain, or the melting of snow 
 on the Moorland or Peak hills, is sujfficient to inundate 
 large breadths of this valley, and the river, in the space of 
 
204 
 
 DOVE BANKS. 
 
 twelve hours, has swollen so rapidly, as to produce the 
 most devastating effects, carrying off sheep, cattle, and 
 produce, to the great loss of the inhabitants. The floods, 
 however, owing to the declivity of the river's channel, 
 speedily subside. 
 
 In the very midst of winter (writes Dr. Plot, in his Natu- 
 ral History of Staffordshire, anno 1680) the banks of the 
 Dove are adorned with a pleasant verdure, " and when 
 the river overflows them in the spring, it enriches them as 
 the river Nile doth Egypt, and makes them so fruitful 
 that the inhabitants thereabout usually chante this joyful 
 ditto : 
 
 * In April Dove's flood, is worth a king's good.' 
 
 " From which limestone hills, and rich pastures and mea- 
 dows, the great dairys are maintained in this part of 
 Staffordshire that supply Uttoxeter mercat [market] with 
 such vast quantities of good butter and cheese, that the 
 cheesemongers of London have thought it worth while to 
 set up a factorage here for these commodities, which are 
 brought in in so great plenty, that the factors many mercat 
 days (in the season) lay out no less than five hundred 
 pounds a day in these commodities only." 
 
 To these remarks, which have reference chiefly to the 
 Staffordshire side the Dove, we may append an eulogitim 
 of higher antiquity, on the county of Derby generally, 
 part of which, at least, may apply with peculiar force to 
 the vale we are describing. This quaint panegyric is an 
 extract from a sermon said to have been preached in Lon- 
 don, before a congregation of Derbyshire men, by Dr. 
 Gardiner, rector of Eckington. It is a fair specimen of the 
 strange digressions in which preachers of the day some- 
 times indulged : 
 
 " If you fall out amongst yourselves, you'll discredit the 
 country that bred ye. For give me leave to tell you, there 
 is hardly a county in England where faction and division 
 lesse thrive than in Derbyshire. Nay, you will also disho- 
 
DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 205 
 
 nour this honourable city, as if this place and aire, (which 
 has great influence on men's bodyes and mindes, say physi- 
 cians) had much altered your naturall temper and disposi- 
 tion. It was the county of Derby (as I am credibly 
 informed) that first of all revived these love-feasts,* which 
 by reason of our late civill dissensions, were layd aside. By 
 this you may see the naturall genius and disposition of your 
 county, and may easily judge how like ye are still unto 
 yourselves. 
 
 " And now I have mentioned Derbyshire, it may possibly 
 be expected by some that I should make a long description 
 and commendation of it. But that is the business rather 
 of a topographer than of a preacher, of the mappe than of 
 the pulpit. And indeed, why should I goe about to de- 
 scribe or commend it unto you, who know it as well as, yea 
 better than myselfe. Yet if any one be desirous to have a 
 sight of Derbyshire, they may see it as in a landskip, de- 
 scribed by Moses, Deut. viii. 7, 8, 9, whilst he is setting 
 forth the choicest excellencies of that country that God 
 chose out of all the world to enfeoffe his own beloved peo- 
 ple in : 
 
 7. " ' It's a good land, a land of brookes of water, of 
 fountains and depths, that spring out of the" hills. 
 
 8, 9. "*A land of wheate and barley, where ye may 
 
 eat bread without scarceness it's a land whose stones 
 
 are iron. A land wherein thou shalt not lack anything." ' 
 
 " What's this but a description as in a type of our own 
 county, Derbyshire ? What pen could have drawen it forth 
 more graphically and exactly ? Ifs a good land, not a 
 hungry soile, that eates up the inhabitants, but one that 
 feedes even where it's most barren, in the mountainous 
 Peake, thousands of sheepe, and imploys a far greater 
 number of men. 
 
 " It's a land there richest where it's poorest by its mines 
 
 *" The party seem to have dined together after a sermon. In one place he 
 mentions in the margin, ' as condescending to mix with the inferior sort,' H. L. 
 Mansfield, Sir S. Sleigh, Sir J. Curzon, Jer. Poole, Esq. and Alderman Ireton.** 
 
206 
 
 DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 and grooves : where its surface promises least, it yields 
 most, and what is wanting- in nature, is supplied by- 
 miracles or wonders. 
 
 " It's a land also (like that which flowed with milke and 
 honey) full of brookes of waters, of depths and fountaines, 
 that springe out of the hills. It is not like the dry deserts 
 of Arabia, or the barren sands of Lybia, but like the 
 delicious plaines of Jordan. A land well watered even like 
 Paradise, the garden of the Lord. Quot tuhera, tot uhera. 
 Every exuberant hill is as one of nature's springing duggs, 
 always running to meete and refresh the thirsty traveller. 
 In short naturoe gaudentes opus, a country wherein nature 
 sports itself, leaping up and down, as it were, in the 
 pleasant variety of hills and valleys, imtil being weary it 
 recreate itselfe, at Chatsworth, Boulsover, or Hardicke. 
 
 " It's a land whose stones by indefatigable industry are 
 turned ii)to iron, and by labouring men, for their own work 
 and sustenance, into bread. Out of whose hills more lead 
 is digged in a yeare, than Canaan afforded brass in ten. 
 
 " What shall I say more ! for time would fail me sooner 
 than matter. A land of wheate and barley, oates, and 
 pease, that affords seed to the sower, and bread to the 
 eater, who takes paines to get a good stomacke. 
 
 " In a word, and what can be said moi*e ! Derbyshire 
 is a county where there is a lacke of nothing, sihi sufficit 
 turns. It's England's cornu-copiae, having almost all ne- 
 cessaries within itselfe, and supplying with its abundance 
 the wants of other places. It enjoys good aire, fertile 
 ground, pleasant waters, fire and fuel of the best ; neigh- 
 bouring counties fetch her coals from farr, who being 
 warmed by her fires, cannot but wish and call her blessed. 
 Cattell, corne, sheepe, mill-stones, iron, lead of all sorts 
 and colours, these are her native commodities, which enrich 
 even the Indies, and visit the uttermost coastes of the earth. 
 
 " I might go on even to the tyring both of you and myself, 
 yet after all I must still leave Derbyshire even as it is, 
 most of her worth and riches hid under ground, in the 
 
DERBYSHIRE. — MAYFIELD. 
 
 •207 
 
 place of silence. In truth it's almost a pity to breake up 
 so rich a Haddon Field- of discourse, unless we had more 
 time to worke it. I shall onely adde that Derbyshire is a 
 county that lyes in all counties, yea, in all parts of Christ- 
 endome, and beyond ; the sun's county, where it never 
 setts, but upon which it shines perpetually. She parts 
 with her entrayles, and without complaintes suffers her 
 bowells to be continually torne out, to serve the necessities 
 of all nations under heaven." 
 
 It is supposed that a collection was made at the feast 
 for the benefit of the poor natives of the county resident in 
 London, for after the last observation there follows, as very 
 naturally to be expected, an inference or exhortation : — 
 
 " Let us be children resembling our deare mother. Let 
 us draw forth our soule, [Isa. Iviii. 10.] our bowels of 
 mercies, our purses at least, to supply out of our sufficiency 
 the necessitie of others : I shall not propose, much less 
 prescribe, I would have it a free-will offering."t 
 
 From Okeover the Dove rolls on to Mayfield, (in 
 Domesday Book written Mavre veldt, afterwards Mather- 
 Jield, and Mathjield,) a considerable village chiefly occupy- 
 ing a rising ground on the Stafi'ordshire side the river. 
 There is reason to suppose that the Romans had a settle- 
 ment here. I To some of the numerous harrows formerly 
 existing in the vicinity, traces of which may yet be disco- 
 vered, antiquaries have assigned a Roman origin ; coins, 
 
 ♦Haddon Pastures are famed for their excellent herbage. 
 fGentleman's Magazine, April, 1776. 
 
 J' It may reasonably be concluded, from the Roman coins that have sometimes 
 been found in Dale close, between Oakover and Mmffield, and a Roman urn dug, 
 now about one hundred years ago, out of a bank in Church Townfield in Upper 
 Mayfieldy &c. that the barrows hereabouts may for the most part, be es- 
 teemed Roman. Particularly Harloio Greave, a little north-west of Mayfield, 
 and that other in a field near the left hand the way as you pass between May- 
 field and Ellaston, near Colwlch Commmij without name, and another larger over 
 against it, at the other end of the common, which they call Roivlow, perhaps 
 the sepulchre of some petty king, Rowlow importing as much as Regale Sepul- 
 chrum:-^Plo(s Staff.— Beaut. England ^ Wales, Staff. 
 
208 
 
 MAYFIELD. 
 
 also, and other tokens of equal antiquity have been found 
 implying, at least, that the place was known to the 
 Romans, and that conflicts have occurred here between 
 the native Britons and their invaders. The reasons why 
 barrows and warlike instruments, certainly Roman, are 
 foimd so remote from the great military ways, may be 
 accounted for on the supposition that the natives drew their 
 assailants off, and skirmished with them as occasion pre- 
 sented.* At the Norman conquest Mayfield was a demesne 
 of the crown, but was granted to Henry de Ferrers, who, 
 about the year 1080, bestowed the church, tithe, and what- 
 ever belonged to them, on the Priory of Tutbury. In the 
 taxation of Pope Nicholas, taken in the year 1291, (temp. 
 Edward I.) that religious house was found to possess 
 
 L. S. D. 
 
 " At Mayfield, one plough land of the annual value of ... . 1 0 0 
 
 A mill there, worth by the year 2 0 0 
 
 Pleas and perquisites there, producing yearly 0 4 0 
 
 The rent of assize there annually 2 0 0 
 
 Profitable stock there annually 2 0 0 
 
 One of the heirs of Henry de Ferrers made a further 
 grant to this Prioiy of the manor of Mayfield, and certain 
 privileges attached thereto, which in the 18th and 22nd of 
 Edward II. are thus stated : — 
 
 S. D. 
 
 The manor of Matherfield 11 16 6 
 
 The clear annual value of the church there exclusive of 
 £6 13s. 4d. received by the Canon of Lichfield from 
 
 thence 2 0 0 
 
 The free-rent of Matherfield 6 7 8^ 
 
 The rents of the naifes or natives there 9 0 0 
 
 The rents of the cottages there 1 10 8 
 
 At the dissolution of the Priory under Henry VIII., that 
 monarch granted its possessions at Mayfield, in exchange 
 for other lands, to Sir Edward Aston, knight, from whom 
 they passed into various hands.f 
 
 •Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire. 
 fHistory of the Town, Castle, and Priorjr of Tutbury. 
 
MAY FIELD. 
 
 209 
 
 The cottage in which Moore wrote his celebrated 
 " Lalla Rookh" is a small, plain-looking tenement, stand- 
 ing on an eminence, in Upper Mayfield. The poet appears 
 to have resided here at intervals between the years 1813 — 
 1817* 
 
 The traveller by the old mail-road between Manchester 
 and London, witnesses, on approaching Mayfield, one of 
 those agreeable and very striking changes of scenery pecu- 
 liar to the district. From the town of Leek his route lies 
 over a wide expanse of inclosed moor-lands, dreary, cold, 
 scantily wooded, and as thinly inhabited, reaching almost 
 to the verge of the hills that bound the vale of Dove, into 
 which he passes by a rapid descent. From this declivit} his 
 eye roams over a landscape that, for rural splendour, may 
 vie with the brightest and fliirest spots even Dove's famed 
 banks present. Its constituent parts — the towering peaks 
 of Dovedale, the rich seclusions of Okeover and Map- 
 pleton, Ashbourn in the distance, the sparkling stream, the 
 busy village below, and the vale to the right stretching 
 into obscurity — already feebly painted, here vuiite in one 
 delightful picture, that claims and will receive the admira- 
 tion of every sincere admirer of beautiful landscape scenery. 
 
 The river is crossed by a long stone bridge, of five arches, 
 from which we have (looking in the opposite direction'^ i 
 charming near view of part of the village, — in front some 
 
 •Lord Byron's letters to Moore during his residence here contain several 
 playful allusions to the country. One of these epistles concludes, " Ever, my 
 dear Moore, your'n (isn't that the Staffordshire termination ?)" Another com- 
 mences " When you next imitate the style of * Tacitus,' pray add, ' de moribus 
 Germanorum;' this last [letter] was a piece of barbarous silence, and could 
 only be taken from the Woods, and, as such I attribute it entirely to your syl- 
 van sequestration at Mayfield Cottage." In a third, (quoted before, p. 171) 
 dated" Venice, March 31st, 1817," he says, " I don't know whether to be glad 
 or sorry that you are leaving Mayfield. Had I ever been at Newstead during 
 your stay there (except during the winter of 1813 — 14, when the roads were 
 impracticable,) we should have been within hail, and T should like to hav 
 made a giro of the Peak with you. I know that country well, having been a 
 over it when a boy." — Moore's Life of Byron. 
 
210 
 
 MAYFIELD. — STANTON. 
 
 beautiful overhanging nursery-grounds, on the right and 
 left several neat cottage residences, and a row of picturesque 
 tenements partly excavated out of a rock of red sand-stone 
 that crowns the hill. 
 
 The current of the Dove is here available for manu- 
 facturing purposes, and is employed in two cotton spinning 
 establishments, which afford occupation to a number of 
 the inhabitants. J. D. Cooper, Esq. is the present proprietor 
 of the Hanging Bridge factory, and J. Chambers, Esq. of 
 the one at Mayfield, lower down the river. 
 
 Mayfield church is a neat structure, supported by semi- 
 circular Norman arches. The tower, windows, and 
 exterior walls are additions or alterations of later date. 
 The living is a vicarage, in the gift of William Greaves, 
 Esq. M.D. late of Mayfield Hall: the Rev. Court Granville 
 is the present incumbent. 
 
 The parish, including Upper Mayfield, Middle Mayfield, 
 and Church Mayfield ; the townships of Butterton, Wood- 
 houses, and part of Calton, contains 1,366 inhabitants, and 
 the property therein is assessed at £7,151. 
 
 Stanton, a small village in the parish of EUaston, two 
 miles west of Mayfield, was the birth-place of Gilbert 
 Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born on the 
 19th of July, 1598. His father was a menial servant to the 
 Earl of Shrewsbury, who stood sponsor for him at his 
 baptism, and gave him the name of Gilbert. Under the 
 patronage of this nobleman, young Sheldon received a 
 classical education, and took the degree of B.A. in Trinity 
 College, Oxford, in the twentieth year of his age, and that 
 of M.A. in 1620. He was elected Fellow of All Souls 
 College, in the year 1622, entered into holy orders, and 
 having attracted the notice of Lord Keeper Coventry, he 
 was appointed domestic chaplain by that statesman, and in 
 consequence of his abilities, employed in various affairs 
 relating to both church and state. Lord Clarendon 
 observes that Sheldon soon became distinguished for his 
 
MEMOIR OF ARCHBISHOP SHELDON. 
 
 211 
 
 uncommon abilities and attainnaents, and was considered 
 by competent judges to be fully qualified to shine in any 
 ecclesiastical preferment. Lord Coventry recommended 
 Sheldon to Charles I. as a person versed in political as 
 well as theological knowledge. He was preferred to 
 several valuable livings, and in 1635, was appointed Chap- 
 lain in ordinary to the King, and afterwards Clerk of the 
 Closet. During the wars between the King and Parlia- 
 ment Sheldon adhered conscientiously to the cause of his 
 royal master, and in 1644, was deputed by his Majesty 
 to attend his commissioners at the treaty of Uxbridge, where 
 he argued earnestly and zealously in favour of the Church. 
 
 In April, 1646, he attended the King at Oxford, and 
 was witness to a vow made by his majesty, that if it should 
 please God to re-establish his throne, he would restore to 
 the church all lands or impropriations, which were taken 
 from any episcopal see, cathedral, &c. 
 
 In 1648, he was ejected from his wardenship of All 
 Souls College by the Parliamentary Visitors, and impri- 
 soned by order of Parliament, with Dr. Hammond, at 
 Oxford. He was confined about six months, and then 
 liberated, on the hard conditions that he should not come 
 within five miles of Oxford, nor go to the King in the Isle 
 of Wight, and that he should appear before the Reforming 
 Committee at fourteen days' warning. 
 
 Dr. Sheldon now retired to the village of Snelston, 
 where he collected money by contributions from his 
 friends, for the use of the exiled King. Here he pur- 
 sued his studies without interruption till the approach of 
 the Restoration. On the return of Charles II. Sheldon 
 met him at Canterbury, where he was most graciously 
 received by the sovereign whom he had so faithfully served. 
 Soon afterwards he was made Dean of the Royal Chapel, 
 and when Bishop Juxon was translated to the see of .Can- 
 terbury, was elected Bishop of London, October 9, 1660. 
 He also held the Mastership of the Savoy, where the 
 famous Conference between the episcopal and presbyterian 
 
212 
 
 MEMOIR OF ARCHBISHOP SHELDON. 
 
 clergy was held at his lodgings in 1661. At this confe- 
 rence Dr. Sheldon exerted himself with his usual zeal and 
 ability in favour of the established church. Upon the death 
 of Archbishop Juxon in 1663, he was elected to the see of 
 Canterbury; and thus, by a series of preferments most 
 honourably obtained, did the son of a lowly peasant 
 arrive at the very summit of episcopal power and authority. 
 
 In the year 1665, Archbishop Sheldon gave unequivocal 
 proofs of his magnanimity and charity by continuing at his 
 palace at Lambeth during the plague, and exerting himself 
 to the utmost of his power in aid of many afflicted and ne- 
 cessitous individuals. 
 
 On the 21st of December, 1667, the Archbishop was 
 elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford, which high 
 office he resigned in July, 1669. After a long and active 
 life, the venerable prelate died at Lambeth, November 9th, 
 1677, in the eightieth year of his age. His remains were 
 interred at Croydon Church, Surrey, where a monument 
 was erected to his memory, by his nephew and heir. Sir 
 Joseph Sheldon, the son of his elder brother, Ralph Shel- 
 don, of Stanton. 
 
 From an impartial review of contemporary writers 
 respecting the public and private character of this eminent 
 man, it appears that he was more distinguished as a poli- 
 tician than as a divine. His zeal for the church, made 
 him take a decided and severe part in the enactment of 
 penal laws against the non -conformists. 
 
 Parker says, "Archbishop Sheldon was a man of un- 
 doubted piety ; but though he was very assiduous at 
 prayers, yet he did not set so great a value on them as 
 others did, nor regarded so much worship as the use of 
 worship, placing the chief point of religion in the practice 
 of a good life. His advice to young noblemen and gentle- 
 men, who by their parents' command resorted daily to him, 
 was always, " Let it be your principal care to be honest 
 men, and afterwards be as devout and religious as you will. 
 No piety will be of any advantage to yourselves or any 
 
r 
 
MEMOIR OF AttCHBISHOP SHELDON. 
 
 213 
 
 body else, unless you are honest and moral men." His 
 worthy notions of religion meeting with an excellent tem- 
 per in him, gave him that even tranquillity of mind by 
 which he was still himself, and always the same, in adver- 
 sity as well as in prosperity ; and neither overrated nor 
 despised life, nor feared nor wished for death, but lived 
 agreeably to himself and others." 
 
 On the Restoration of Charles II. when the former mem- 
 bers of the University of Oxford returned to their places 
 and re-established the ancient institutions, Archbishop 
 Sheldon liberally founded a theatre for the acts and exer- 
 cises of the students, at a cost of £17,000. It appeared, 
 by his private accounts, that in fourteen years he had 
 bestowed ^£60,000 in public and private charities. 
 
 Dr. Plot says, that " going to visit the house of his na- 
 tivity, in the very room where he was said to have drawn 
 his first breath, he found the following iambics : 
 
 " Slieldonus illoe preesulum p-imus Patevy 
 Hos inter ortus aspicit Incem Lares, 
 O ter heatam Stantonis villcB casani ! 
 Cm canita possunt invidere Marmora." 
 
 These lines, it seems, were left there by the right Rev. 
 father in God, Dr. John Racket, lord bishop of Coventry 
 and Lichfield, who, out of his extraordinary devotion to 
 this great prelate, had purposely made a journey thither 
 not many years before, to visit the place of his birth, " where, 
 after he had given God thanks for the great blessings he 
 had afforded the world in that place, he sate him down 
 and wrote these verses."* 
 
 Snelston Hall, the seat of John Harrison, Esq., three 
 miles south-west of Ashbourn, is an imposing modern 
 structure, in the richly -ornamented gothic style. It was 
 built from designs by L. N. Cottingham, Esq., and 
 developes the talents of that architect, in the elaborate 
 style which he has so successfully cultivated. The site 
 of this mansion — in every way fitl^ chosen, and suffici- 
 
 •Biog. Brit. Beaut. England and Wales. Plot's Staflordshire: 
 28 
 
214 
 
 SNELSTON HALL, 
 
 ently retired to harmonise with the character of its archi- - 
 tecture, was yet susceptible of improvements essential to 
 a well-ordered domain, the want of which the eye of taste 
 would not fail to discover. These improvements the 
 proprietor has effected, regardless of labour or expense, 
 and with a degree of success seldom equalled. Under his 
 judicious management the grounds have assumed a park- 
 like aspect, and the profusion of thriving timber by which 
 they are clothed, adds to the charms of the scenery, and as 
 it flourishes will complete the embellishment of this 
 representation of ancient splendour. The interior arrange- 
 ments exhibit a corresponding degree of attention to 
 elegance and propriety. Some of the principal apart- 
 ments are fitted up with ancient carved oak furniture, of 
 the most costly and curiously- wrought description. Nor 
 must we omit to notice the splendid stair-case — that noble 
 feature in the olden mansions of the great — it is an object 
 on which taste, skill, and elaborate workmanship have been 
 exerted, with a very pleasing effect. There is, too, a com- 
 prehensive unity of design pervading every part of this 
 seat, extending to the offices, lodges, and farm-buildings 
 erected on the estate, all of which are strictly in keeping 
 with the Hall. 
 
 A reference to our engraving of the mansion, will con- 
 vey^a better idea of its structure than pages of mere archi- 
 tectural description. Its bay windows, parapets, turrets, 
 and groups of picturesque chimneys, viewed from the south, 
 or from almost any other point, form a striking object in 
 the landscape. 
 
 The village church is a pleasing structure, clothed with 
 ivy. Within all is neatly arranged, but the antiquary v>dll 
 find nothing of interest. 
 
 Snelston is a parochial chapelry in the parish of Norbury, 
 and co^mty of Derby. John Harrison, Esq. is lord of the 
 manor. The number of inhabitants is about 484, and the 
 property is assessed at £'2,969.* 
 
 *See Norbury. 
 
MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 
 
 215 
 
 In a plain farm-house, on Siieiston Common, that ami- 
 able and accomplished senator, the late Michael Thomas 
 Sadler, Esq., first drew breath. He was descended, on 
 the side of his father, a respectable farmer, from the 
 celebrated Sir Ralph Sadler,* one of Queen Elizabeth's 
 ministers, and an important instrument in bringing about 
 the Reformation. His mother's family were French refu- 
 gees, at the revocation of the edict of Nantes.f The date of 
 his birth is ascertained from the register of the parish, to 
 be January 30th, 1780. He was educated principally at 
 home, and exhibited extraordinary powers of mind in 
 very early youth. His father intended him for one of the 
 learned professions, but when about eighteen years of age, 
 he was induced to join his brother in business at Leeds. 
 The only memorial of his youthful days with which we are 
 acquainted, is the following effusion, in which he gave vent 
 to his overcharged feelings on leaving his native home. 
 His affectionate parent to whom they refer, and to whom 
 he was tenderly attached, died while he was very young : — 
 
 " Adieu to the Banks of the Dove, 
 My happiest moments are fiovvn, 
 I must leave the retreats that I love 
 For scenes far remote and unknown. 
 
 But wherever my lot may be cast, 
 
 Whatever my fortune may prove, 
 I shall think of the days that are past; 
 
 I shall sigh for the Banks of the Dove. 
 Ye friends of my earliest youth, 
 
 From you how reluctant I part ; 
 Your friendships were founded in truth, 
 
 And shall ne'er be erased from my heart. 
 
 Companions, perhaps, I may find. 
 
 But where shall I meet with such love. 
 With attachments so lasting and kind, 
 
 As I leave on tlie Banks of the Do\^e ? 
 
 *The family of Sadler, or Sadleir, is of considerable antiquity; they were 
 seated at Standon, in the county of Hei'tford in the reign of Henry VIII. 
 
 f She was a daughter of the Rev. Michael Ferebee, rector of Kolleston, in 
 the county of Stafford. 
 
•216 
 
 MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLEB. 
 
 Thou sweet little village, farewell ! 
 
 Every object around tliee is dear. 
 Every woodland, and meadow, and dell. 
 
 Where I wander'd for many a year. 
 
 Ye villas and cots so well known, 
 
 Will your inmates continue to love ? 
 Will ye think on a friend, when he's gone 
 
 Far away from the Banks of the Dove ? 
 But oft has the Dove's crystal wave, 
 
 Flow'd lately commixt with my tears. 
 Since my mother was laid in her gi'ave, 
 
 Where yon hallow'd turret appears. 
 
 O Sexton, remember the spot. 
 
 And lay me beside her I love. 
 Whenever this body is brought 
 
 To sleep on the Banks of the Dove. 
 
 Till then, in the visions of night, 
 
 O may her loved spirit descend; 
 And tell me, tho' hid from my sight, 
 
 She still is my guardian and friend. 
 
 The thoughts of her presence shall keep 
 
 My footsteps, when tempted to rove; 
 And sweeten my woes while I weep 
 
 For her, and the Banks of the Dove." 
 
 Mr. Sadler continued at Leeds, engaged in mercantile 
 pursuits, but not to the exclusion of more congenial lite- 
 rary labours, till lie was called into public life, by the 
 ministerial proposition of the Catholic Relief Bill. He 
 sat in two successive Parliaments for Newark-upon-Trent, 
 and in a third, till the passing of the Reform Bill, for the 
 ancient borough of Aldborough, in Yorkshire, and he 
 afterwards contested the representation of Huddersfield and 
 Leeds. In his public career, Mr. Sadler was generally 
 associated with the old constitutional Tories, and with 
 them he powerfully opposed the admission of the Roman 
 Catholics to power, in one of the most eloquent and im- 
 pressive speeches ever delivered within the walls of the 
 British Parliament. By the confession of Lord Plunkett, 
 an opponent in politics, yet a competent judge, Mr. Sadler 
 was the most accomplished orator heard in the House 
 
MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER, 217 
 
 of Commons, by the present generation. While, as a 
 member of the legislature, he was the enemy of all those 
 innovations, no matter how popular, which he regarded as 
 dangerous to our institutions, he was the determined advo- 
 cate of every measure which he believed would contribute 
 to the happiness of the mass of the people, whose real 
 interests he considered to be the main concern of every 
 good government ; and in and out of Parliament he ever 
 spoke with indignation of those pretended patriots, who 
 sought popularity by extending mere political privileges 
 to the labouring classes, while they resisted every proposi- 
 tion for substantially bettering their condition. Under the 
 influence of these feelings, he took very little share in any 
 mere party measures, but was chiefly occupied in support- 
 ing whatever he thought would advance the happiness 
 of the mass of society. The measures which he himself 
 introduced into the legislature for this benevolent object 
 were most comprehensive and important. He brought in 
 a Bill to provide agricultural parishes with funds for allot- 
 ting small portions of ground to their deserving poor, which, 
 though it did not become a legislative enactment, was 
 extensively circulated, and has been acted upon in several 
 parishes with the happiest results. 
 
 For Ireland Mr. Sadler always expressed the deepest 
 interest and sympathy. He twice introduced into Parlia- 
 ment the important measure of a Poor Law for that 
 country, on the last occasion losing his proposition, against 
 the overwhelming strength of the government, by a nomi- 
 nal majority only. Of this humane measure he was in 
 public and private the powerful and unwearied advocate, 
 and undismayed by the general opposition it provoked, he 
 brought the cause of those who had none to plead for 
 them again and again before the British public. 
 
 Mr. Sadler's propositions for the amelioration of Ireland, 
 were given to the world in a deservedly popular work, en- 
 titled, " Ireland ; its Evils, and their Remedies." This 
 work was an introduction to a more voluminous one on 
 
'218 MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 
 
 " The Law of Population," written principally with a view 
 to controvert the theories of Malthus. " In his convincing 
 refutation of the Malthusian system," writes one of his 
 most enthusiastic friends, " he has overthrown a most ela- 
 borate series of dangerous arguments and insidious plausi- 
 bilities, and in doing so, has justified the ways of God to 
 man with an ability worthy of the cause he advocated. 
 Yes, the system which represented the Creator of the uni- 
 verse as having constituted no other checks to the supposed 
 superabundant population of his rational creatures, than 
 vice and misery, famine, discord, and murder, is a libel on 
 the power, the knowledge, and the beneficence of that 
 Almighty Being, and therefore, the man who first dissi- 
 pated the impious yet delusive reasonings of Malthus, 
 merited the gratitude of the whole human race." The 
 main 'dogma on which the Malthusian theory hinges, — 
 that " there is a tendency in all animated life to increase 
 beyond the nourishment prepared for it," Mr. Sadler con- 
 ceived to be unscriptural in principle, and to disprove its 
 truth he devoted the energies of his powerful mind. With- 
 out offering an opinion on the merits of a question which 
 has been, on both sides, so warmly and so forcibly argued, 
 it may be asserted, that " The Treatise on Population" is 
 conceived and executed in a spirit of earnest, unfettered 
 benevolence, before which the cold reasoning of his adver- 
 saries sinks repulsive into the shade.* 
 
 During the last session he sat in Parliament, Mr. Sadler 
 was almost wholly occupied in prosecuting a Bill for the 
 protection of children employed in our manufactories, — 
 " The Ten-Hour Bill," as it was familiarly termed. This 
 measure was referred to a select committee, of which Mr. 
 Sadler was chosen chairman, and the toil and responsi- 
 bility thus imposed upon him of collecting the vast mass 
 of evidence contained in their report, probably laid the 
 
 *While health was continued to him, Mr. Sadler was diligently occupied in 
 preparing materials for a third and concluding volume of this able treatise, 
 which, however, he did not live to complete. 
 
MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 
 
 219 
 
 foundation of his long and fatal illness. Neither did he 
 succeed in passing this measure of mercy, although his 
 opponents, in a subsequent session, brought one forward 
 professedly similar. 
 
 Mr Sadler died (of disease of the heart, which he had 
 for some time laboured under,) at his seat. New Lodge, 
 near Belfast, July 29th, 1835, aged 55 years. 
 
 " Rich in science, replete with historic lore, Mr. Sadler's 
 mind was a perfect treasury of sterling literature — a store- 
 house, as it were, of interesting facts, and such was the 
 charm of his diction, such his pleasing facility of commu- 
 nicating knowledge, that it was impossible for any man of 
 clear intellect to cultivate his society without deriving the 
 most valuable information and the purest delight from his 
 conversation. Persuasion dwelt upon his tongue — truth, 
 candour, philanthropy, virtue and religion, were the trea- 
 sured inmates of his heart. Mr. Sadler's virtues endeared 
 him to a large and admiring circle of friends — he was 
 affectionate, generous, affable, accessible, and an utter 
 stranger to pride. His appearance was remarkably that of 
 a man of genius ; and there was an enthusiasm and an 
 energy in his manner strikingly characteristic of an elevated 
 and powerful mind. It was said by Lord Bacon, at the 
 close of life, " The poor have ever been precious in mine 
 eyes," and no man could more fully adopt that sentiment 
 than Mr. Sadler. Public men have always been public 
 property, but he ever felt himself emphatically the property 
 of the poor, and his charity to them was unfailing, scarcely 
 measured by his means, and he not merely gave the soli- 
 cited alms, but made the sorrows and sufferings of the 
 afflicted his own, and wept with those that wept— their 
 wrongs, their sufferings, their privations, were his hourly 
 conversation, and his days and his nights, and finally his 
 life itself, were sacrificed to his intense and unwearied exer- 
 tions to redress the grievances of unfriended poverty." 
 
 "Who" asks the editor of The Standard, in his obituary 
 of Mr. Sadler, " does not forget his eloquence in the 
 
220 MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 
 
 memory of that enthusiastic benevolence perfectly without 
 example in the history of the world ! As Burke said of 
 Howard, Mr. Sadler's philanthropy had as much of genius 
 as of virtue. It was a love of his fellow creatures on so 
 great a scale, that none but a great mind could have con- 
 ceived it; and oh! how far was it from that benevolence 
 which is ever suspended in abstraction ! It was our hap- 
 piness and our greatest pride to enjoy his acquaintance, 
 and we can truly say, that whatever he sought for and 
 wished for on behalf of the whole human race, he no less 
 earnestly and vigilantly conferred by manners and conduct 
 upon all within his sphere. Without pretending to any 
 extraordinary sensibility, we declare it too painful to pursue 
 our recollection of the unrivalled charms of Mr. Sadler's 
 society. He has had his best earthly reward — he has died 
 " the death of the righteous," and almost without presump- 
 tion, we may anticipate that he has realised what a friend 
 predicted of him on that day when he was led into Man- 
 chester by 30,000 living and rejoicing infants, — " Sadler 
 will witness but one more such scene as this, and that will 
 be when he shall receive his reward in the resurrection of 
 the just." On this last point his friend, before quoted, 
 speaks decisively: "To all his estimable and endearing 
 qualities, Mr. Sadler added a far higher and more impor- 
 tant distinction — he was a Christian, his mind was im- 
 bued with the deepest reverence for the will of God, and 
 his works abundantly testify that 'His word was his 
 meditation day and night;' and in his long and dreary 
 illness, when * the daj s of darkness,' and they were many, 
 came upon him, his soul was sustained and comforted with 
 the hopes and promises of the Gospel, with the presence 
 and blessing of his God — and his end was peace."* 
 
 Mr. Sadler was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 
 June 7th, 1832. He married the daughter of the late 
 
 ■J 
 
 •The foregoing memorials of Mr. Sadler's life are derived chiefly from an 
 article in the Belfast Guardian, contributed by one who knew him well. 
 
MEMOIR OF MICHAEL THOMAS SADLER. 221 
 
 Samuel Fenton, Esq. of Leeds, who, and a family of seven 
 children, survive him. 
 
 Mr. Sadler published a work under the title of "Jura 
 Iniuriisque Pauperum ; or, a Defence of the Principles of 
 the Poor-Laws of England; with Suggestions for their 
 Essential Improvement." 
 
 Appended to his Treatise on Population is a Dissertation 
 on " The Balance of Food and Numbers of Animated 
 Nature,"— the substance of two lectures delivered before a 
 literary society of which he was a member. — He is said 
 also to have left behind him a number of manuscripts on 
 various interesting subjects, some of which, it is hoped, 
 may yet see the light. 
 
 S9 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Nor bury, — The very ancient Family of Fitzherbert. — Norbury Hall. — Norbury 
 Church. — Its monuments and stained glass. — Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, the 
 judge. — Notice of his works. 
 
 The Manor of Norbury is situated within the parish of 
 Norbury, which also comprises the parochial chapelry and 
 manor of Snelston, the Hamlets of Darley-Moor, Kosch- 
 intone, Rossington, or Roston, and Birchwood — in the 
 Hundred of Appletree and Deanery of Ashbourn, from 
 which town it is four miles distant. 
 
 In the reign of Edward the Confessor it belonged to the 
 grea t Saxon thane Si ward,* of which he was dispossessed 
 by the Conqueror, who bestowed Norbury, together with 
 113 other manors in Derbyshire alone, upon Henry de 
 Ferrers, and is thus described in Domesday Book : — 
 
 " In Norhiiry and Rossington Siwarcl has three carucates 
 of land paying tax. The land contai)is three carucates. 
 There are now two carucates in demesne^ and seventeen ml- 
 lanes borderers having four carucates. There is a priest 
 
 *" Siward being a potent Englishman, was kept prisoner with divers other 
 persons of quality, till the end of the Conqueror's reign, who on his death-bed 
 gave orders for their enlargement." Boger Hoveden, Dugdales Warwickshire. 
 
NORBURY. 
 
 223 
 
 and a church, a mill* paying ten shillings, and twenty-four 
 acres of meadow. A wood for pasture one mile in length 
 and breadth.^- In the time of King Edward, worth one 
 hundred shillings, now sixty. Henry holds it. 
 
 " In Rossington one carucate paying tax. It belongs to 
 Rocester. There are now two villanes.^^ 
 
 Henry de Ferrers founded the monastery of Tutbury 
 about the year 1080, but the first charter of foundation 
 was not granted before the reign of William Rufus, (A.D. 
 1087 — 1100) by Robert, first Earl Ferrers. Among the 
 numerous manors with which he endowed it, Norbury was 
 included, but did not remain long in the possession of the 
 Convent, for William the Prior of Tutbury by his charter, 
 dated in the year 1125,1 granted the manor of Norbury to 
 William the son of Herbert,§ and to his heirs, to be holden 
 in fee of the Priory of Tutbury, subject to the yearly fee- 
 farm rent of one hundred shillings, and of five shillings 
 annually in lieu of tithes for the lands in demesne and two 
 bovates ; subject also to the other feudal incidents of suit 
 at the Prior's Covirt, and to contributing a proportionate 
 aid towards the redemption of the body of the superior lord 
 of Tutbury in the event of his captivity, towards the mar- 
 
 No description of building is so frequently mentioned in Domesday-Book 
 as water-mills. They were in every case the property of the lord of the manor, 
 and his tenants were not permitted to grind at any other mill ; a restriction 
 which has not been abolished in some cases even at the present day." Pic- 
 torial England. 
 
 f The owners of woodland were accustomed to let at a fixed sum the right of 
 turning in swine, which fed on the acorns and beech. mast; and the value of 
 the wood was ascertained by the number of swine it would support. 
 
 Anno ab incamacione Dni milesimo centssimo vigesimo quto Willmo por 
 Convent eccle sci mario Siotesbri dedit WiLmo filio Herbii Norberiam in feodo 
 et heredihus suis," &c. — The Original Charter at S'lvgnnerton. [This deed is at- 
 tested by Robert, the Bishop j Geoffrey, Abbot of Burton; Robert de Ferrers, 
 Lord of Stotesbury (Tutbury) Hawise his wife, Robert his son, and William 
 Piperell (Peveril ?) 
 
 §It was a prevalent custom among the Normans to describe themselves as the 
 son of some eminent ancestor, thus Filim Herherti (Latin) Fils (Norman) or 
 Fitz Herbert became the patronymic of the family. 
 
224 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 riage of his eldest daughter, and towards his " redeeming 
 his honour," Honorum suum re emerretD * 
 
 Sir William Fitzherbert, Knight, fifth lord of Norbury, 
 by letters patent of 4th September, 1252, (36 Henry III.) 
 obtained a grant of free warren in his manor of Norbury 
 and Rossington, 
 
 Sir John Fitzherbert, Knight, seventh lord of Norbury, 
 on a quo warranto" tried at Derby in June, 1330, (4 Ed. 
 III.) established his right to free warren in Norbury and 
 Rossington, which had been granted to Sir William, his 
 grandfather. 
 
 John Fitzherbert, thirteenth lord of Norbury, 16th|^ July, 
 1493, (8 Henry YII.) procured letters patent exemplifying 
 the record of pleadings on a ''quo warranto'''' dated 1330, 
 which was tried at Derby, when the verdict of the judge 
 established the right of John Fitzherbert to free warren in 
 Norbury and Rossington, which had been granted to his 
 ancestor, before mentioned. 
 
 John Fitzherbert, lord of Norbury, obtained a license to 
 inclose 300 acres of land in Norbury, Rossington, Snelston, 
 and Cubley,t in the county of Derby, for a park and war- 
 
 In 26 Henry VI. Nicholas Fitzherbert and llalph his son and heir appa- 
 rent, gave to Thomas Gedney, the then Prior of the Monastery of the Blessed 
 Virgin at Tuthury, all their lands, tenements, and rents in Osmaston, in the 
 county of Derby, besides one messuage called the Hall Place, and 57 acres of 
 land in Foston ; one other messuage and twenty acres ; one acre and two parts 
 of an acre in Church Broughton, in the same county; in e:s;change for the 
 reserved rent and other services which Avere due to the said Prior and Convent, 
 out of the estates at Norbury."- — Register of Tuthury Priory. Sir 0. Mosley's 
 History of Tuthury. 
 
 fCubley, an agricultural village about seven miles south-west of Ashbourn, 
 was anciently the seat of the family of Montgomery. William Montgomery, in 
 1251, obtained a grant of a market, which was held here on Mondays, together 
 with a fair for three days at the festival of St. Andrew. The market has long 
 been discontinued, but the semblance of a fair is still held on the 30th of 
 November. John Montgomery, the last heir male, died in 1513, leaving three 
 daughters, co-heirs, one of whom (Dorothy) brought (jubley and other estates 
 to her husband, Sir Thomas Gifiord, of Chillington, with whose heiress 
 (Elizabeth) they passed to Sir John Port, of Etwall. Sir John Port had three 
 daughters, co-heii'esses, one of whom (Margaret) brought Cubley to Sir Thomas 
 
NOKBURY. 
 
 225 
 
 ren, by letters of Privy Seal, dated 4th October, 1506, 
 (22 Henry VII.) This was doubtless the origin of Birch- 
 wood Park, the inclosure of which has long* since been 
 thrown down, and the land departed, and cultivated as a 
 farm. 
 
 There are, no doubt, numerous houses in Eng-land of 
 equal antiquity to the knightly family of Fitzherbert, of 
 Norbury. It is, however, to be apprehended that very 
 few of them can establish, from authentic documents 
 in their own possession, such irrefragable proofs of a 
 lineal male descent from an ancestor living at the Con- 
 quest. We have seen that William, the son of Herbert, 
 had a grant of the manor of Norbury from the Prior of 
 the Convent of Tutbury, in 1125, bestowed upon him, we 
 cannot doubt, at the instance of his and their superior 
 lord, Robert, Earl Ferrers — that identical valuable grant,* 
 as well as the manor itself, are still, after a lapse of 714 
 years, fortunately in the possession of his twenty-sixth 
 lineal descendant, the present Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq. of 
 Swynnerton. During this long interval, they have invari- 
 ably intermarried with families of their own knightly rank, 
 without 'making a single derogatory misalliance.f They 
 can boast of being able to make the proof, once so enviable 
 
 Stanhope, ancestor of the Earl of Chesterfield, the present lord of tlie manor 
 and patron of the rectory. 
 
 The church, a gothic edifice, dedicated to St. Andrew, has a broad embattled 
 tower, surmounted by pinnacles, and ornamented with thirteen shields of the 
 armorial bearings of the Montgomery family and its alliances, and other sculp- 
 tured devices. In the church were formerly some inscriptions to members of 
 this family, and a rich altar tomb yet remains. 
 
 Michael Johnson, the father of Dr. Samuel Johnson, was a native of Cubley, 
 where his family lived as day labourers. — Glovers Derbyshire. 
 
 *This precious document, and many other ancient deeds, together with ths 
 pedigree of the family, &c., have been admirably arranged in two M.S. volumes 
 by Michael Jones, Esq. F.A.S. 
 
 f See Pedigree of the family, in " Burke's Commoners," furnished by Michael 
 Jones, Esq. F.A.S. 
 
226 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 and desirable in Germany, France, Italy, and other parts 
 of the Continent, of " sixteen quarters without a window." 
 They executed' the honourable office of Sheriffs and Repre- 
 sentatives in^Parliament, and filled other stations of dignity 
 in their counties, till the laws of their country excluded 
 the professors of the Roman Catholic faith from all offices 
 of state. 
 
 On the 8th of May, 1818, an Act received the Royal 
 Assent for inclosing certain waste-lands in the manor of 
 Norbury, amounting to about 100 acres, in which it was 
 stated that Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq. was lord of the 
 manor ; the Rev. Thomas Bingham, Clerk, was rector of 
 Norbury cum Snelston; and Mrs. Sneyd patron of the 
 living.* 
 
 Norbury Hall, the ancient mansion of the family, stands 
 upon a lofty cliff, which rises precipitously from the left 
 (Derbyshire) side of the river Dove, and was most probably 
 built by Sir Henry Fitzherbert, Knight, sixth lord of Nor- 
 bury, about the period when in the 13th Edward 1. he 
 obtained the King's license (the original at Swynnerton) 
 dated at Langley, 8th May, 1305, empowering him to ob- 
 struct and close a way through the court of Norbury from 
 
 * One fourteenth part of the waste was allotted to Mr. Fitzherbert as lord of 
 the manor, and the remainder was divided between the rector and other landed 
 proprietors of the parish. In consequence of this Act a map and survey were 
 completed in 1821, from which survey it appears that the manor contains 
 altogether 2298 acres, 1 rood, 28 perches ; of which 1011 acres, 1 rood, 6 perches 
 belonged to Mr. Fitzherbert. In the year 1824, March 31st, an Act received 
 the royal assent, for inclosing the waste lands in the manor of Snelston, (in 
 the parish of Norbury) containing about 160 acres. Sarah Ellen Evans and 
 Elizabeth Evans wife of John Harrison Esq. in her right, claimed to be lord 
 and lady of the manor, Mrs Sneyd claimed to be patron of the living of Norbury 
 cum Snelston; the Rev. Thomas Bingham rector. One-fourteenth of the waste 
 allotted to the lord of the maner. 
 
 The manor is bounded on the north and west by the river Dove, which 
 separates the counties of Derby and Stafford, by the manor of Snelston on the 
 east, by the parish of Cubley on the south, by the parishes of Rocester, Marston, 
 and Cubley, on the west. 
 
NORBURY. 
 
 227 
 
 Yeovely to Ethelaston, (Ellastone) to enable him to enlarge 
 " his said court, so that he made another road, through his 
 own lands, equally commodious for travellers."* The arch 
 and mullions of the upper windows in the wall facing the 
 west are of the form prevalent in the reign of Edward I. 
 
 There is an upper apartment which has, by constant tra- 
 dition, borne the name of "Sir Anthony Fitzherbert's 
 study." On a great number of the panels are inscribed 
 sentences of scripture ; on one of them is a death's head, 
 and " memento moriP 
 
 An ancient barn still stands, probably built by Nicholas 
 Fitzherbert. The ends of the three principal beams are 
 ornamented with carved work, representing a quatrefoil, 
 a grotesque head, and an angel holding a blank shield, in 
 the style of the ceiling of the church. 
 
 In the year 1581, Laurence Bastock, a herald, or rather 
 perhaps a person in the employ of the College of Arms, 
 (for his name does not appear in Noble's History of the 
 College) in his progress from London into Cheshire, look 
 notes of the coats of arms then existing in the stained 
 windows in Norbury Hall. From their number, it is really 
 difficult to imagine where they were all placed. 
 
 The edifice has undergone much alteration, and is now 
 occupied as a farm-house. When in perfect repair, and in 
 the occupation of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert, in 1581, the 
 windows " so richly dight" must have presented a gorgeous 
 and beautiful display of heraldic devices. 
 
 Norbury Hall continued to be the residence of the Fitz- 
 herbert family until the death of Sir John Fitzherbert, 
 eighteenth lord of Norbury, which occurred at Lichfield, 
 January 13th, 1648. He died without issue, when Norbury 
 passed to William Fitzherbert, Esq., of Swynnerton, the 
 fourth in descent from William, a younger son of Sir 
 Anthony Fitzherbert, of Norbury, (the judge) who married 
 Elizabeth, youngest daughter and co-heir of Humphrey 
 
 •The original charter is preserved at Swynnerton. See also, " Rymer's 
 Federa," and " Abbreviatio Rotulorum Originalium." 
 
228 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 Swynnerton, of Swynnerton, in the county of Stafford, and 
 died 1578. The two estates have ever since the year 1649, 
 been united, and Swynnerton Hall, the principal family 
 residence. 
 
 The church of Norbury, from its situation, architecture, 
 and beautiful stained glass, is one of the most remarkable 
 in the county, and must be equally admired by the anti- 
 quary and the lover of the picturesque. From the various 
 styles which it comprehends it has evidently been erected 
 at different periods. The greater part, consisting of the 
 nave, the walls, the windows of the chancel with curvi- 
 linear tracery, and the tower, are of the fourteenth century. 
 The two chapels and entire roof, and the battlements of the 
 south side of the chancel, which are differently formed 
 
 from the usual battlements, thus are fashioned 
 
 in the shape of the heraldic bearing of Vaire, 
 evidently copied from the coat of arms of the Fitzherbert 
 family, — "Argent a Bend Sable, over a Chief 
 Vaire," and were added by Nicholas Fitzher- 
 ^ bert, who died November 19th, 1473, on 
 whose beautiful monument of alabaster, still 
 in fine preservation, or perhaps on a white 
 marble floor-stone, near to it, there existed the following 
 epitaph, transcribed from " Le Neve's Monumental Inscrip- 
 tions" : — 
 
 " An. CCCC. seventy and three 
 
 Years of our Lord passed in degree 
 
 The Body that bury'd is under this stone 
 
 Of Nichol Fitzherbert Lord and Patrone 
 
 Of Norbury with Alis the daughter of Henry Bothe 
 
 Eight sonnes and five daughters he had in sothe 
 
 Two sonnes and two daughters by Isabel his wife 
 
 So seventeen children he had in his lyfe 
 
 This Church he made at his own expense 
 
 In the joy of Heaven be his recompense 
 
 And in moone of November the nineteenth daye 
 
 He bequeathed his soule to everlasting joy." 
 
f 
 
 4 
 
NORBURY. 
 
 229 
 
 The statement that ^' he made this church at his own ex- 
 pense," can only apply to his addition of the two chapels, 
 and the roof, which is of the flat form prevalent in the 
 fifteenth century, and was substituted for a previous roof of 
 a much more acute pitch, which is manifest from the oak 
 beams of the actual roof resting upon, and partly conceal- 
 ing- the apex of the great east window, which point, no 
 doubt, was many feet below the original high-pitched roof« 
 The initials N. F., which appear on a great number of the 
 lozenge panes of stained glass, clearly prove that the altera- 
 tions and repairs of the church were made at the cost of 
 Nicholas Fitzherbert. 
 
 The chancel extends 48 feet in length from the oak screen 
 separating it from the nave, and 20 feet in width, and is 
 lighted by eight large pointed windows, of three bays, with 
 curvilinear tracery, four on each side, divided from each 
 other by only the breadth of the buttresses which support 
 the walls. The brilliant stained glass with which these 
 windows are almost completely filled, is disposed in various 
 beautiful devices, representing circles, frets, flowers, lozen- 
 ges, and coats of arms of noble individuals, (among them 
 the Fitzherberts) probably contributors to the erection of 
 the church.* The great east window, occupying the whole 
 width of the chancel, is divided by four mullions into five 
 bays, the centre one wider than the others, and terminate 
 in acute arches, without cusps. This window, no doubt, 
 was originally filled with stained glass, like the eight 
 lateral windows, but has unfortunately been destroyed, and 
 the spaces are now filled up with plaster in a most un- 
 seemly manner. The clerestory windows abound with 
 heraldic bearings and monumental portraits of the Fitzher- 
 bert family. In the window of the chapel at the south- 
 west extremity of the nave, is a very curious representa- 
 
 *" The remains of painted glass in Norbury Church are in good taste, and 
 evidently coeval with the building, which is of the style of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury." See " Lysons' Magna Britannia," in which work appear some beautiful 
 engraved specimens, selected from the different windows. 
 30 
 
230 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 tion of the Trinity, in stained glass; and many of the 
 lozenge panes contain the letters J. F., doubtless the initials 
 of John Fitzherbert, whose monument is situated in the 
 chantry chapel, which is supposed to have been built or 
 founded by him. In the windows to the north of the west 
 entrance, and in the four windows of the north aisle are 
 represented the full-length figures of the twelve Apostles, 
 and in scrolls above their heads, the Apostle's Creed, in 
 Latin, written in old English characters, very perfect. 
 
 Among the armorial devices that appear in the windows, 
 (besides the Fitzherberts') are those of Burgh, Earl of 
 Ulster; Warren, Earl of Surrey; Plantaganet, Earl of 
 Lancaster ; the Constable of Chester ; Kevelioc, Earl of 
 Chester ; Clare, Earl of Gloucester ; Mandeville, Poynings, 
 Acton, Audley, Bruce, St. Philibert, Heyforde, Chevent, 
 Mowbray, Bassingbourn, Morville, Montgomery, Corbet, 
 Somery, England, and others, unknown. In many of the 
 windows the alternate lozenge pane of glass is ornamented 
 with a golden star, rose en soleil, the cognizance of Ed. IV. 
 
 MoNUME^^TS. — On the north side of the chancel, near 
 the east end, is a rudely-chiselled effigy of stone, the monu- 
 ment of Sir Henry Fitzherbert, sixth lord of Norbury. The 
 figure, a recumbent one, is habited in chain mail, which 
 envelopes nearly the whole body, and over it is thrown 
 a surcoat; the right hand grasping a sword hilt, and the 
 left bearing a shield. The head rests on a cushion, 
 and the feet are supported by a lion. — Sir Henry Fitzher- 
 bert was Knight of the Shire of Derby in 1298 and 1307. 
 The date of his deatli is not known. — On a stone five feet, 
 in length, near this monument, appears a large cross.* 
 
 On a white marble floor-stone is engraved the figure of 
 a lady, with a reticulated cap. Part of the inscription is 
 
 legible : — " whos soule att off Henry Bothe Pa- 
 
 trone of yis place viii sones v daughters who had by 
 
 *Lysons in his " Magna Britannia," (Derbyshire) states that in the chancel 
 of Ncrbury Church is the effigy of a crusader, in the act of drawing Ms sword. 
 This is a mistake. Sir Henry Fitzherbert was not a crusader. 
 
NORBURY. 
 
 231 
 
 bye " — Most probably the monument of Alice Bothe, 
 
 daughter of Henry Bothe, the first wife of Nicholas Fitz- 
 herbert. 
 
 Several other marble floor-stones in the chancel have 
 their inscriptions defaced, except on one of them the words 
 "sci mauri." Another bears the figure of a child, drawn 
 in strong lines. 
 
 On the south side of the nave, beneath the eastern arch, 
 is the fine altar-tomb of Nicholas Fitzherbert, who died in 
 1473. The effigy, a recumbent one, wears plate armour ; 
 the head rests on a helmet, and the vizor is punctured 
 with round holes ; lamberquin on a wreath ; the crest, a 
 clenched left hand within a gauntlet ; chain gorget and 
 reins ; the belts ornamented with rosettes, from which 
 are suspended the sword and dagger, both perfect. A 
 chain of jewels, stars, and roses round the neck, to which 
 is suspended the figure of a dog. The feet rest upon a 
 lion. On one side of the tomb, beneath eight arched com- 
 partments, are the figures of eight monks in high relief, 
 the first bearing on his dress several Maltese crosses. On 
 the opposite side are similar small figures, the first repre- 
 senting a man in armour — an exact counterpart of the 
 effigy on the upper surface of the tomb. The west end 
 exhibits two figures of nuns, bearing blank shields. 
 
 On the northern side of the nave, opposite the last-men- 
 tioned tomb is the monument of Ralph Fitzherbert, son of 
 Nicholas, and his lady. The cumbent male figure, ex- 
 actly resembles that of Nicholas, excepting some differ- 
 ence in the chain armour about the neck ; the crest also is 
 a right hand, and he has no dagger. The right foot rests 
 on the figure of a monk, seated on the back of a dog or 
 lion. The chain round the neck is composed of roses and 
 stars alternately, (the cognizance of Edward IV.) to which 
 is suspended a figure resembling a boar. The lady wears 
 a close bodice and gown, which have been painted green, 
 and a robe painted red. Her cap is reticulated and gilt; 
 the head-dress high and double-peaked. Encircling her 
 
232 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 neck is a chain, and jewel attached, representing the Vir- 
 gin and Child. A row of beads is suspended from her 
 girdle, and two little dogs at her feet bear her train in their 
 mouths ; figures of angels support the cushion on which 
 her head rests. Effigies of females and angels bearing 
 shields, occupy the canopied sides of the tomb. 
 
 Both these altar-tombs are of alabaster, and exhibit 
 traces of rich gilding and painting. They are in good 
 preservation, but no arms nor inscriptions are now visible.* 
 The following inscription, belonging to that last described, 
 is preserved in Le Neve's Collection : — 
 
 " The dai-t of death that no man may flee 
 Nay the common Law of Mortalitie 
 Hath demanded to be buried here 
 The body of E-afe Fitzherbert Squiere 
 Patrone of this Church and of this Towen Lord 
 The whiche deceased yeares of our Lord 
 1483 
 
 Of March the second day parted hee 
 With him is laid upon this Sepulture 
 Elsabeth his Wife begon in sure 
 Daughter of John Marshall 
 Esq. Lord of Upton and Sedsall 
 7 sonnes 8 daughters they had in fere 
 In this lyfe together that whilst that they were 
 Merciful Jesu that pitiest mankind 
 In thy Blysse grant them a place to fynd© 
 Prestes ambobus Kequiem Deus." 
 
 The name of Ralph Fitzherbert appears in the list of 
 two Lords, nine Knights, fifty-eight Esquires, and twenty 
 Gentlemen, who in the reign of Edward IV. 1474, en- 
 tered into an indenture to aid and assist William, Lord 
 Hastings, and his part to take against all persons, &c.* 
 
 •These monuments have, with the sanction of Mr. Fitzherbert, been lately 
 removed by the present incumbent, the Rev. Clement F. Broughton, from the 
 situations they are described as occupying, where they were unprotected, and 
 consequently liable to injury. They have been cleaned and repaired, and are 
 now placed at the eastern extremity of the chancel, along with other monu- 
 ments. It is intended to portion off the space which they occupy, and to 
 restore in a measure the appearance it exhibited when it formed a Lady 
 Chapel. The altar is to be brought more forward into the chancel. 
 
NOKBUKY. 
 
 233 
 
 On a white marljle floor-stone, covering the remains of 
 Elizabeth Marshall,* only daughter and heiress of John 
 Marshall, of Sibbesden, in the comity of Leicester, is en- 
 graven an effigy enveloped in a winding sheet. At the 
 four angles are shields of arms of the Fitzlierberts and 
 Marshalls. 
 
 In the south aisle, adjoining the chapel, is an altar-tomb 
 of stone, on which is fixed a brass plate, inscribed 
 
 *' Hie jacet corpus Johnis Fitzherbert, Armigeri quondam Deus huj. man- 
 neri q. obiit in Vigilia Sancti Jacobi Apostoli Ann. Dora. MCCCCC. trice- 
 simo pmo. cuj. die. propiciet. De. Amen." 
 
 On a floor-stone in the north-east chapel, is inscribed 
 
 " Here lyeth the body of Ann Fitzherbert wife of William Fitzherbert Esq. & 
 eldest daughter of Sir Basill Brook of Madely, in the county of Salop, she had 
 seven sons and four daughters, and deceased the 9th of July, 1653." 
 
 At the east end of the nave is the monumental floor- 
 stone of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, Knight, the Judge, and 
 of Matilda Cotton, his second wife. The inlaid brass 
 figure of Sir Anthony has been removed ; all but the head 
 of his lady remains, whose tabard exhibits the armorial 
 bearings of Fitzherbert, Cotton, Ridware, &c. The fol- 
 lowing inscription, some fragments of which now only 
 remain, is found in Le Neve's Collection: — 
 
 " Of your charitie pray for the soule of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert knight one 
 of the King's Justices of the common bench and sometyme lord and patrone of 
 this towne and Dorithie his wife daughter of Sir Henry Willoughby knt. and 
 dame Maude his last wife one of the daught. and heyr of Rychad Coton of 
 Hamstall Rydware by which he had five sonnes and five daughters, which Sir 
 Anthony deceased the XXVII of May, A, Dm. MCCCCCXXXVIII. and the 
 said dame Maude." ......... 
 
 Sir Anthony Fitzherbert was born at Norbury in the 
 year 1470. He was sent to pursue his studies at Oxford, 
 
 *Her will is dated October 20, 1494, in which she desires to be buried in the 
 church of St. Barlok, in Norbury, near her husband Raufe Fitzherbert, or in 
 the church of St. Sebastian near her father and mother, (probably in Sibbesden 
 church.) She died in I49I. A figure of St. Barlok is represented in stained 
 glass, in the window of the chapel on the south side or aisle. His name is not 
 inserted in " Butler's Saint's Lives." 
 
234 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 and from thence to one of the Inns of Court. By his great 
 talents, judgment, and diligence, he rose rapidly in his pro- 
 fession. I In 1511, he was called to the bar as a sergeant-at- 
 law, and in 1516 received the honour of knighthood. He 
 was afterwards made one of the Justices of the Common 
 Pleas, in which honourable situation he spent the remain- 
 der of his life, discharging the duties of his office with 
 such ability and integrity that he was universally respected 
 as the oracle of the law. Two remarkable things are related 
 of his conduct, — one, that he openly opposed Cardinal 
 Wolsey in the height of his power, although chiefly on the 
 score of alienating the church lands ; the other, that fore- 
 seeing on his death bed, the changes that were likely to 
 happen in church as well as state, he pressed his relations 
 in very strong terms, to promise him solemnly neither to 
 accept grants nor to make purchases of abbey lands. He 
 died May 27th, 1538. Sir Anthony was author of the fol- 
 lowing works : — 
 
 Le Graunde Abridgment collecte par le Judge tres 
 reverend Monsieur Anthony Fitzherbert." London : 20th 
 Aug. 1577. 
 
 "L'Office & Auctorite des Justices de Peas." London, 
 1538 : 12mo. The first work on the subject ever printed. 
 
 " L' Office de Viconts, Bailiffes, Excheators, Constables, 
 &c." London: 1538. 4to. 
 
 " Of the Diversity of Courts." 
 
 " Natura Brevium Novel." London : 1534. Afterwards 
 translated into English, and often published, having been 
 always in very high esteem. 
 
 "Of the Surveying of Lands." London: 1539, 8vo. 
 
 " The Book of Husbandry, very profitable and necessary 
 for all Persons." 1534, 8vo. 
 
 The living of Norbury cum Snelston is a rectory, the 
 annual value of which in the King's Books is estimated at 
 £15 16s. Ojd,, and yearly tenths £l lis. 7^d. It is con- 
 sidered one of the most valuable in the neighbourhood, 
 
NORBURY. 
 
 235 
 
 being endowed with the great and small tithes, and up- 
 wards of 100 acres of glebe-land. The Rev. Clement F. 
 Broughton is the present incumbent, and also patron of the 
 living ; his family have possessed the advowson for a 
 considerable time. The rectory-house stands near the 
 church, and is a very good and commodious one, with ex- 
 tensive gardens and pleasure-grounds.* The situation is 
 most beautiful, and for extent, richness, and variety of 
 scenery, can be surpassed by few residences in the country. 
 The lofty eminence on which it stands, looking down upon 
 the Dove, is surrounded by a rich verdant lawn, sloping 
 precipitously to the water's edge, delightfully broken 
 by an abundance of remarkably fine timber-trees. The 
 Valley of Dove at this point forms an angle, and the win- 
 dows of the Parsonage command it in both directions. The 
 tall spires of Ashbourn and Uttoxeter are seen at either 
 extremity, and the towers of Hocester and Mayfield about 
 midway in the valley; in front, Wever rears his lofty 
 head, and forms a noble outline ; Wootton Hall, and its 
 romantic scenery lie on his sunny breast ; while the pictur- 
 esque village and church of Ellastone, and Calwich Abbey, 
 with its lake and extensive ornamented grounds, are seen 
 at his feet. 
 
 " The Vales of Wever," a descriptive poem, by John 
 Gisborne, Esq., contains some very pleasing passages de- 
 scriptive of the scenery in this neighbourhood, enlivened, 
 too, by the introduction of such historical and antiquarian 
 reminiscences as the locality affords. Of Norbury, Mr. 
 Gisborne thus writes : — 
 
 " Sweet Norbury, deck'd with rural smiles, 
 Gleams faintly through these silvan aisles ; 
 'Mid Gothic grandeur soars serenef 
 O'er bold varieties of scene ; 
 Sees Wever arch his giant crest, 
 And give the south his lawny breast; 
 
 ♦The parsonage was built by the late rector, Mr. Mills, whose happy taste 
 in selecting the present situation cannot be disputed. — Mr. Gisborne s Notes. 
 
 f'3Iid Gothic grandeur. The church at Norbury is a venerfible pile of building, 
 aad from the banks of the Dove has a beautiful and highly picturesque effect. 
 
236 
 
 NORBURY. 
 
 Or when imperious winter scowls, 
 
 " And loud and long" the whirlwind howlsj 
 
 With naked majesty control* 
 
 The frenzy of the northern pole; 
 
 Sees the connected vales unfold 
 
 Labour's rich realms of green and gold ; 
 
 Sees at her feet the waters toil, 
 
 And drinks the thunder of Britannia's Nile."f 
 
 The following passage from a celebrated poet so nearly applies to the general 
 scenery about Norbury, that I cannot refrain from quoting it at length : 
 
 " O ye dales 
 
 Of Tyne, and ye most ancient woodlands; wiiere 
 
 Oft as the giant flood obliquely strides, 
 
 And his banks open and his lawns extend, 
 
 Stops short the pleased traveller, to view 
 
 Presiding o'er the scene some rustic tower 
 
 Founded by Norman or by Saxon hands." — Akenside. 
 
 * With naked majesty. The summits of Wever occasionally assume a singular 
 and beautiful appearance during a violent snow-storm, when it happens that 
 the clouds are so directed by the currents of wind, that, while the vales are lost 
 amidst the driving vapour, these summits enjoy the full splendour of a meridian 
 sun. 
 
 \And drinks the thunder of Britannia's Xile. Dr. Plot and other writers have 
 given tho Dove, in consequence of the great fertility of its waters, tlie appel- 
 lation of the British Nile : 
 
 " Down yon mid vale tlje British Nile, 
 Fair Dove, comes winding many a mile." — Mundy. 
 
 — Mr. Crisbornes Notes. 
 
 Norbury School. — Thomas Williams, by his will bearing date Jan. 26th, 
 1687, devised to the Rev. Anthony Trollope, rector of Norbury, Godfrey Meynell 
 Esq., and Christopher Ley, gentleman, and (heir heirs, two closes called Bill's 
 Neather Meadow and the Under Town Intack, in trust, to dispose of the rents and 
 profits thereof for the maintenance of a school-master, to teach in the parish 
 church of Norbury all such children as should be born and resident in Norbury, 
 Roston and Snelston, to be disposed of amongst them at the discretion of the 
 Parson of Norbury for the time being, and he directed that in case the said 
 Godfrey Meynell and Christopher Ley should survive the said Anthony Trol- 
 lope, that then they should convey the said two closes to the Parson of Norbuiy 
 for the time being in such a manner that he should be equally interested with 
 them or the survivor of them in disposing of the profits of the said closes upon 
 the trusts aforesaid, and the Parson of Norbury for the time being should be 
 always one of the said trustees, for disposing of the profits of the said closes. 
 
 Since the date of this will a house has been built for the school master, and 
 recently a school room for both boys and girls, erected with aid from the National 
 Society to which it was then united, and a mistress as well as master have since 
 been appointed. The annual rental of the closes named in the will is about £18. 
 
NORBURY. 
 
 237 
 
 The parochial chapehy of Siielston, (parish of Norbury) 
 was held by Walter de Montgomery, under the Earl of 
 Lancaster, in the reign of Edward 1. It appears that 
 Robert Docksey, Esq. was lord of the manor of Snelston in 
 1599. A good estate and mansion were purchased here 
 in the year 1682, of the family of Bennet, by Ralph 
 Docksey. About 1770—80 they passed to the daughter of 
 Mr. William Bowyer, wife of the Rev. Thomas Langley, 
 who describes himself as resident at Snelston, in 1 799, in 
 which year he published "A Serious Address to the Head 
 and Heart of every Unbiassed Christian."* 
 
 31 
 
 * Pilkington's Derbyshire. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Calwicli Abbey — Handel a Guest there — The Granville Family. — Ellastone. — 
 Wootton and the Vales of Wever — Wootton Hall, the retreat of Jean 
 Jacques Rousseau — Wootton Scenery — Wootton Lodge. 
 
 Calwich Abbey,' the seat of Court Dewes Granville, Esq, 
 four miles west of Aslibourn, is the site of a Hei-mitage 
 which belonged to the Priory of Kenil worth. To that re- 
 ligious house it was given (says Tanner)* before the year 
 1148 by Nicholas de Gresley Fitz Nigell; and therein was 
 placed a small Convent of Black Canons (Carthusians. )t 
 The only names of Priors or Masters of this house which 
 have occurred are those of Hugh Bily, and Thomas de 
 Famcote, the latter of whom appears in the register of the 
 see of Canterbury about A. D. 1388. This house was 
 given, (27 Henry VIII.) to the monastery of Merton, Surrey, 
 in exchange for the manor of East Molsey, and as parcel of 
 
 *Notitia Monastica. Dugdale's Monasticon. 
 f The Carthusian monks w ere a branch of the Benedictines, whose rule, 
 with the addition of iiiiiny austerities, they followed. Their discii^line was the 
 most strict of any of the religious orders: never eating flesh, and being obliged 
 to fast on bread, water, and salt, one day in every week. None of the monks 
 were ever permitted to go out of the bounds of the monasteries, except the Priors 
 and Procurators, and they only upon the necessary affairs of their houses. Their 
 habit was all white, except the outward plaited cloak, which was black. — Dugdale's 
 Monasticon A vglicamim . 
 
4 
 
CALWICH, 
 
 239 
 
 the same, was again granted (34 Henry VIII.) to John 
 Fleetwood, a member of the ancient Lancashire family of 
 that name, and in the possession of his descendants it con- 
 tinued for several generations.* The concise topog- 
 rapher, Erdeswick, writes (1660) " From Mayfield Dove 
 passeth to Calwich, whereof I can only make this report, 
 that being or belonging to a cell or house of religion, now 
 a Lancashire gentleman is owner thereof, who (as I have 
 heard) hath made a parlour of the chancel, a hall of the 
 church, and a kitchen of the steeple, which may be true, 
 for I have known a gentleman in Cheshire which hath done 
 the like."t 
 
 From the Fleetwoods Calwich passed to a branch of the 
 illustrious family of Granville, and afterwards to that of 
 Dewes, who have taken the name of Granville, and are 
 its present possessor?.]: 
 
 The present mansion is of modern date, and is supposed 
 to occupy the site of the church that belonged to the Her- 
 
 •Harwood's Erdeswick's Staffordshire, 
 f A very curious letter, addressed to George Digby, Esq. of Sandon, entitled 
 " Observations upon the possessors of Monastery Lands in Staffordshire," by Sir 
 Simon Degge, (a zealous catholic) is appended to " Erdeswick's Staffordshire." 
 Sir Simon remarks — " 'Tis a wonder to see, that in sixty years (it being no 
 more since Mr. Erdeswick wrote this tract) one-half I believe of the Lands in 
 Staffordshire have changed their owners : not so much, as of old they were wont, 
 by maiTiage, as by purchase, and if it were not that I should tire out your pa- 
 tience, I could give you my conjecture of the reason : * * * The first reason I 
 conceive to be ; for that our ancient gentrv^ were so guilty of Henry the Eighth's 
 sacrelegious robbing the church, that this mingled church lands with their 
 ancient inheritances, and 'tis no wonder to see the eagle's nest on fire that steals 
 flesh from the altar for her young ones." — Sir Simon then enumerates the mis- 
 fortunes, veal or supposed, which have befallen the possessors of Abbey-lands, 
 and among thera the Fleetwoods of Calwich : " Calwich (he writes) is next in 
 order, bought by Six Richard Fleetwood's grandfather, how unhappily it pros - 
 pered with the grandson you have seen, and the children of that family have 
 been unfortunate." 
 
 . jMr. Dewes having married Miss Granville, who was mother to the last and 
 grandmother to the present possessor of the property, on which account they 
 took the name of Granville. 
 
•240 
 
 CALWICH. 
 
 mitage, and which was converted by the Fleetwoods into a 
 family seat. It ^stands at the base of a lengthened, woody 
 knoll, which, stretching east and west, forms the right 
 boundary of the vale of Dove. The situation is rather 
 low, like that ol monastic buildings in general, but 
 it is in no degree less beautiful on that account. A rich 
 screen of fine forest trees shelters it on the north, and be- 
 neath is a fine verdant expanse of ornamental grounds, en- 
 livened by a broad artificial sheet of water, fed from the 
 now ample current of the serpentine Dove.* 
 
 *Mr. Gisborne, in his "Vales of Wever" thus describes Calwich (1796) : 
 " Come Granville, thou whose fostering hand 
 Guards the slow growths of Albion's land j 
 For thee, O friend, the placid spring 
 Wafts her pure balm on sweetest wing ; 
 Thy lake's clear azure whispering curls 
 And Flora's tissued veil unfurls, 
 For thee the woodland kings display 
 The silvery gem, the golden spray, 
 Weave o'er thy banks a pensile wreath, 
 And cool thy twilight walks beneath. 
 Here amid black sequestered shades 
 That darkened once those sunny glades, 
 Frown'd a gray pile !f The grass-grown walkfi 
 (Dire superstition's gloomy halls) 
 The roof, the towers, with ivy crown'd, 
 Damp hoiTor spread his arms around. 
 Oft has this vale, when midnight drove 
 Her car in silence through the grove 
 Seen tremulous lights within the pile, 
 Pass and repass the cloister'd aisle ; 
 Seen the funereal pall and bier, 
 Bedew'd with friendship's parting tear. 
 Seen the sad slowly moving bands 
 Pale tapers glimmering in then hands ; 
 Heard the loud choir within the cave 
 Chant the sweet requiem o'er the grave." 
 f " There was formerly a large monastery at Calwich, and a part of the monk's 
 garden, and some of their fish-ponds are, I believe, still to be seen. During the 
 alterations in the grounds about Calwich in the late Mr. Granville's life, num- 
 bers of skulls and human bones were frequently discovered; and large quantities 
 have lately been found by the work-people now employing at Calwich.— Ifr. 
 Gisborne's Notes, 
 
CALVVICH. 
 
 241 
 
 The ancient Hermitage has been converted into stables, 
 but some portions of the original fabric yet remain. The 
 north wall, with pointed gables, is nearly entire. 
 
 The interior of the mansion is commodiously arranged. 
 From the windows of the front, (south-east) a fine prospect 
 is obtained, taking in the vale, with the church, mansion 
 and parsonage of Norbury, on the opposite heights. 
 
 The library comprehends an extensive selection of the 
 best works in British, Continental, and classical literature. 
 The possession of one memorial, which is here preserved, 
 a prince might covet, namely — a large collection of the 
 original manuscript music of Handel. The immortal 
 harmonist was a frequent visitant at Calwich ; and a fine- 
 toned organ chosen by him, yet stands, surmounted by his 
 bust, in the drawing-room of the mansion. On this instru- 
 ment Handel was accustomed to perform ; and there is 
 perhaps nothing romantic in the assumption, that to his 
 occasional residence in this calm seclusion, surrounded 
 by the beauties of nature, and in the enjoyment of social 
 intercourse with esteemed and admiring friends, we are 
 indebted for some of those sublime compositions which 
 are at once the delight and the admiration of all who have 
 a soul to be moved by the 'concord of sweet sounds.' 
 
 The gallery and drawing-room — tastefully furnished 
 apartments, contain a number of good pictures, and many 
 excellent family portraits. A list of some of the most valua- 
 ble we subjoin : — 
 
 A landscape by Rembrandt^ — a lovely scene in some 
 southern clime, is perhaps the gem of the collection. The 
 colouring is warm, yet soft, and almost illusive in effect, 
 perfectly characteristic of the style of the master. 
 
 Several smaller landscapes by Ruysdael^ Segers, Vandort, 
 Poussin, and Wynants ; a " St. John in the Wilderness," by 
 Ludovico Carracci, A Sleeping Child," and " Boys with 
 Fruit," from the pencil of Murillo, are of high degrees of 
 excellence. 
 
242 
 
 CALWICH. 
 
 A fine portrait of Vice Chancellor Coke, by Vandyck, 
 claims particular notice. The countenance is a noble one, 
 clear, thoughtful, and expressive, displaying that indescri- 
 bable air of dignified ease, which the painter could so hap- 
 pily impart. 
 
 The Crucifixion — Andrea Sacchi. 
 
 The Holy Family — Palma. 
 
 Madonna and Child — Howard: a copy from Caravaggio. 
 
 Virgin at Prayer — Velasquez. 
 
 The Sacrifice of Iphigenia — Santa Peranila. 
 
 Two Monkeys — Tenters. 
 
 Man with a Flute — Stone. 
 
 Trumpeter — Gerhard Douw. 
 
 A Manege Horse — Wouvermans. 
 
 Narcissus — Laurence de la Hire. 
 
 Sir Richard Delabere presenting to the Black Prince the 
 arms taken from the King of Bohemia, at the Battle of 
 Cressy. 
 
 Portrait Michael Angelo, in crayons, by his own hand. 
 Portrait of John Duke of Argylle. 
 
 A very fine miniature portrait of Shakspeare, in water 
 colours, by Ozias Humfrey, miniature painter to the 
 Duchess of Portland in 1775, copied from an undoubted 
 original. This drawing was given by the Duchess of 
 Portland to Mrs. Delany, known for her botanical drawings, 
 and as having spent her last years with the Royal Family. 
 
 A " Holy Family," a " Madonna and Child," and a por- 
 trait of Charles 1 . after Vaitdyke, are from the pencil of 
 Mrs. Delany, who appears to have been a lady of versatile 
 talent. 
 
 A portrait of the late Rev. John Granville, and its com- 
 panion, a portrait of Mrs. Granville, both by Barher. 
 
 Portrait of John Granville, Esq., their son — Hoppner. 
 
 Portrait of Colonel Granville, of Coulston, brother to 
 Lord Lansdowne — Wissing. 
 
 Portrait of the Lady of Colonel Granville — Soldi. 
 
CALWICH. 
 
 243 
 
 Portrait of Mary, the wile of Dr. Delany, Dean of Down, 
 and the daughter of Bernard Granville, Esq. 
 
 Portrait of George Granville, Baron Lansdowne, of Bid- 
 deford, in the county of Devon, one of the twelve peers 
 created by Queen Anne, on the 2nd of January, 1711. 
 
 Portrait of Lady Stanley when a child, daughter of 
 Bernard Granville, Esq., and niece to Sir Bevil. — House- 
 man. A finely -painted Cupid is introduced. 
 
 Portrait of Lady Joanna Thornhill — Wright. 
 
 Portrait of Vice Chancellor Coke's second lady — Jervas. 
 
 Portrait of Bernard, son of Bernard Granville, Esq. of 
 Coulston, Wiltshire, and nephew to George, Lord Lans- 
 downe. 
 
 Portrait of Sir Richard Greenville (or Granville) the 
 intrepid seaman — Cavalier o Moro. 
 
 Portraits of Sir Bevil Granville, the warrior, and of his 
 lady, Mary, the daughter of Sir George Smyth, Knight,^of 
 Exeter. 
 
 Portrait of Sir John Granville, created first Earl of Bath, 
 in 1661. 
 
 Sir Richard Greenville, the friend and companion of 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, was created Vice- Admiral, and entrust- 
 ed with the command of two expeditions of discovery in 
 America, in the last of which, during an engagement with 
 the Spanish fleet, he lost his life. " This action of Sir 
 Richard Greenville" says Hume, " is so singular as to merit 
 a more particular relation. He was engaged alone with 
 the whole Spanish fleet of fifty three sail, which had ten 
 thousand men on board ; and from the time the fight began, 
 which was about three in the afternoon, to the break of day 
 next morning, lie repulsed the enemy fifteen times, though 
 they continually shifted their vessels, and boarded with 
 fresh men. In the beginning of the action he himself re- 
 ceived a wound; but he continued doing his duty upon 
 deck till eleven at night, when, receiving a fresh wound, 
 he was carried down to be dressed. During this operation 
 he received a shot in the head, and the surgeon was killed 
 
244 
 
 CALWICH. 
 
 by his side. The English began now to want powder ; all 
 their small arms were broken or become useless ; of their 
 number, which were but an hundred and three at first, 
 forty were killed, and almost all the rest wounded ; their 
 masts were beat overboard, their tackle cut in pieces, and 
 nothing but a hulk left, unable to move one way or other. 
 In this situation Sir Richard proposed to the ship's com- 
 pany, to trust to the mercy of God, not to that of the 
 Spaniards, and to destroy the ship with themselves rather 
 than yield to the enemy. The master-gunner and many of 
 the seamen agreed to this desperate resolution, but others 
 opposed it, and obliged Greenville to surrender himself 
 prisoner. He died a few days after, and his last words 
 were : ' Here die I, Richard Greenville, with a joyful and 
 quiet mind : for that I have ended my life as a true 
 soldier ought to do, fighting for his country, queen, reli- 
 gion and honour. My soul willingly departing from this 
 body ; leaving behind the lasting fame of having behaved 
 as every valiant soldier is in his duty bound to do.' The 
 Spaniards lost in this sharp but unequal action, four ships, 
 and about a thousand men. And Greenville's vessel pe- 
 rished soon after, with two hundred Spaniards in her." 
 
 Sir Bevil Granville distinguished himself by his perso- 
 nal valour and activity in the service of Charles I., to 
 whose cause he was devotedly attached. Sir Bevil, with 
 other gentlemen of note and influence in the county of 
 Devon, had raised an army for the king, and after some 
 skirmishing, and a sharp engagement, in which the royal- 
 ists had the advantage, the contending forces met on Lans- 
 downe Heath, where they fought a pitched battle, with 
 great bloodshed, but no decisive result. In this conflict, 
 the gallant Sir Bevil was killed. His character is thus 
 described by Lord Clarendon : " He was indeed an excel- 
 lent person, and his temper and afi'ections so public that 
 no accident which happened could make any impression on 
 him, and his example kept others from taking anything 
 ill, or at least from seeming to do so. In a word, brighter 
 
CALWICH. — ELLASTONE, 
 
 245 
 
 courage and a gentler disposition were never married to- 
 gether to make the most cheerful and innocent conversa- 
 tion." 
 
 The grandson of Sir Bevil, George Granville, Marquis 
 of Lansdowne, was a nobleman of high attainments, a fact 
 which his poetical works sufficiently attest. 
 
 Sir John Granville, also a firm adherent to the royal 
 cause, acted a conspicuous part in the negociations between 
 the last Parliament of the Commonwealth, and Charles II., 
 which led finally to the Restoration. After the monarch 
 had been proclaimed, the Commons voted Sir John, who 
 was the bearer of His Majesty's most welcome proposals, 
 the sum of £500 to purchase a jewel.* 
 
 Calwich is a township in the extensive parish of Ellas- 
 tone, a village situated on the turnpike-road between Uttox- 
 eter and Ashbourn, and distant about five miles from the 
 latter place. In the 20th of William the Conqueror, the 
 manor of Elacheston was held by Woodman and Alfi, 
 under their superior lord, Robert de Stafi'ord. In the reign 
 of King John, William de Audley held of Robert de Staf- 
 ford, Atkelarton, with Blore, and Grendon. In the time of 
 Henry III. Nigellus de Langford held it of the Baron of 
 Stafford ; and in the 9th Edward II. Nicholas de Langford, 
 and Theobald de Verdon were lords of Athelarton.\ Henry 
 VIII. in the 34th year of his reign, granted to John Fleet- 
 wood, the rectory of Ellastone, and all lands and tithes be- 
 longing thereto. That family eventually became possessed 
 of the entire parish, and they afterwards sold the manors of 
 Ellastone and Wootton to Lord Bathurst, by whom they 
 were resold about the year 1728, to Richard Davenport, 
 Esq. of Calveley, Cheshire, who built Wootton Hall. 
 The manorial rights are now vested in Davenport Bromley, 
 Esq. 
 
 The church is very pleasantly seated on the summit of a 
 rising-ground, and with the parsonage-house immediately 
 
 *Hiime. fErdeswick's Staffordshire. 
 
 9St 
 
246 
 
 ELLASTONE. 
 
 contiguous, has an extremely picturesque appearance from 
 the road beneath. The tower is of the sixteenth century, 
 but the nave ^nd other portions of the structure were 
 rebuilt in 1830. On the south side of the chancel is 
 large altar-tomb of alabaster, bearing the recumbent effigies 
 of a knight in armour, and his lady in a flowing figured 
 robe, both greatly mutilated. The sides of the tomb are 
 sculptured with shields of arms, but no inscription can now 
 be discovered. It belongs most probably to one of the early 
 members of the Fleetwood family. A tablet affixed to the 
 opposite wall of the chancel is inscribed to the memory of 
 Richard Fleetwood, of Calwich, who died in 1721. 
 
 Beneath a decorated niche in the same wall, is a monu- 
 ment of black marble, with an inscription to Abel John 
 Kan, a lineal descendant of Thomas E-an, Bishop of Ferns 
 in the reign of Elizabeth. He died at Calwich Abbey in 
 1822. There are also other monuments of the Fleetwood 
 and Granville families. 
 
 The living is in the gift of Davenport Bromley, Esq. 
 The Rev. George Hake is the present incumbent. 
 
 The parish of Ellastone, including the townships of Cal- 
 wich, Prestwood, Ramsor, Stanton, and Wootton, contains 
 1344 inhabitants, and the annual value of the real property 
 therein is assessed at £'9,161. 
 
 A short distance north of Ellastone Church, stands 
 WooTTON Hall, the seat of Davenport Bromley, Esq. 
 There is perhaps scarcely a spot within or bordering on 
 the entire range of the Vale of Dove that is more fitly 
 adapted for a noble mansion. Its situation is a lofty 
 sloping bank, rising from a forest-like seclusion, and com- 
 manding an almost unbounded landscape of mountain, 
 meadow, and sylvan scenery, whilst the demesne itself, and 
 the contiguous districts are hardly less varied in character. 
 
 Mr. Gisborne, whose lines, " The Vales of Wever," were 
 written for the most part during a residence here, sketches 
 it with a poet's fervour : — 
 
WOOTTON. 
 
 217 
 
 " From my bold terrace bursts the scene, 
 Rob'd in a waving vest of green ; 
 Swift slopes my foreground's velvet lawn, 
 Late glistening with the tears of morn; 
 Bends o'er the shelving cliffs, or shrinks, 
 And tufts with fern the giddy brinks ; 
 While mingling oaks in rude arcades 
 Chequer the green expanse with shades. 
 Fronting, a sister lawn displays 
 Umbrageous promont'ries and bays; 
 With grace superior swells sublime, 
 And marks the mouldering wi-ecks of time ; 
 Sees the disjointed crags dissolve, 
 Or down the echoing banks revolve; 
 Sees the wild torrent's maddening tide 
 Her grass- enamell'd lap divide. 
 Grow with the storm, disclose huge caves, 
 Scoop out an empire for his waves : 
 Or marks, as now, with happier smile. 
 Nor tempest rave, nor torrent boil, 
 But sunshine clothe her birchen crest, 
 The white rill gleaming down her breast. 
 Then o'er the dark embowering trees 
 Wind the green slopes with graceful ease ; 
 Culture each sidelong bank inlays. 
 And 'mid the scatter'd umbrage plays. 
 High on those undulating lands 
 Half lost in leaves the village stands,* 
 Lifts her gray tower with age o'erspread, 
 And light reposes on its head : 
 Then branches wide the vale below. 
 And all the opening landscapes glow; 
 In reaches bold, in grand removes, 
 Sweep hamlets, lawns, and cluster'd groves. 
 Till the sky-tinctur'd distance fades 
 Beyond those dim retiring glades. 
 Where, floating wide, cerulean haze 
 Empurples Eaton's leafj^ maze."f 
 
 In this mansion the historian Hume procured a retreat 
 for his gifted, but capricious friend, Jean Jacques Rousseau. 
 A victim to imaginary terrors, Rousseau fled from his na- 
 tive country and his friends to take refuge in England. 
 
 *Ellastone. f Eaton Woods. 
 
248 
 
 WOOTTON, 
 
 He at first intended taking up his residence in Wales, but 
 in April, 1766, he settled at Wootton. "Here" he says, 
 " I have arrived at last, at an agreeable and sequestered 
 asylum, where I hope to breathe freely and at peace." 
 This retreat might indeed have been supposed every way 
 in consonance with his romantic and melancholy disposi- 
 tion. But who can 'minister to a mind diseased?' In the 
 month of April following he abruptly quitted his " seques- 
 tered asylum," and returned to the continent, after a violent 
 quarrel with Hume and others, his most disinterested 
 friends. To allure him into this country, the rent of 
 Wootton Hall had been reduced, and his wounded pride on 
 the discovery of this circumstance, was probably the cause 
 of his sudden departure. On one occasion, whilst here, 
 he received a present of some bottles of choice foreign wine, 
 but being a gift, his pride would not permit him to taste 
 it, and he left it in the house untouched for the next 
 comer. For some unknown reason, he had formed a deter- 
 mination not to see Dr. Darwin. Aware of his prejudice, 
 the Doctor placed himself on a terrace which Rousseau had 
 to pass, and occupied himself seemingly in the examina- 
 tion of a plant. " Rousseau," said he, " Are you a bota- 
 nist .^" They entered into conversation, and were intimate 
 at once. But Rousseau, on reflection, imagined that this 
 meeting was the result of design, and he discontinued the 
 intimacy.* Botany was Rousseau's favourite pursuit, and 
 amidst the sylvan groves and forest glades of Wootton he 
 had ample space ta prosecute the study. A circular cluster 
 of oaks, termed locally, "The Twenty Oaks," beneath 
 whose shade a glimpse of some beautiful scenery was ob- 
 tained, was formerly shown as one of his chosen retreats: 
 
 " Lo ! where those oaks encircling meet, 
 There genius formed his rural seat. 
 Oft in calm solitude the sage 
 Compos'd his fascinating page ; 
 Or hending on the turf survey 'd 
 
 With nice regard, each flower and blade." — Vales of Wever. 
 
 •Rhodes* s Tourists' Guide. 
 
WOOTTON. 
 
 249 
 
 The Vales of Wever are an extension, as it may be called, 
 of that beautiful series of wild romantic dells, which mark 
 the course of the Dove, the Hamps, and the Manifold. 
 Let the reader picture to himself another of those winding 
 rocky chasms, where silence and solitude reign supreme, 
 save when dispelled by the feeble bleat of the mountain 
 sheep, the hoarse cawing of the raven, or the warblings of 
 the innumerable tribe of feathered songsters, which here 
 revel in gladness and security ; at whose base flows a purl- 
 ing rivulet, or mayhap, at certain seasons, an impetuous 
 foaming torrent ; whose sides are screened by broad masses 
 of shady wood, the prospect opening at intervals, through 
 rich glades, or from rocky summits, into a more extended 
 and cultivated vale beyond; he will then realise to his 
 mind's eye one of the many beautiful spots over which dark 
 Wever rears his towering outline.* These dells are verdant 
 and fertile, but the surface of the steeps and high lands by 
 which they are environed, being exposed alike to the chill 
 blast of winter and the withering sun of summer, are 
 sterile and unprofitable. An ancient distich, expressive 
 of their barrenness, quoted by Dr. Plot, and other topog- 
 raphers, is yet prevalent : 
 
 " Wootton under Wever, 
 Where God came never." 
 
 "It is high time," says the shrewd Dr. Fuller, in his 
 * Worthies of England,' " this old prophane proverb should 
 die in men's mouths for ever. I confess, in common dis- 
 course, God is said to come to what he doth approve; to 
 send to what he only permits ; and neither to go nor send, 
 to what he doth dislike and forbid. But this distinction, 
 if admitted, will help nothing to the defending of this pro- 
 phane proverb, which, it seems, took its wicked original 
 
 * Wever Hills are a very elevated situation, overlooking, or at least as high as 
 any of the Moorland or Derbyshire Peak hills, which may be seen from their 
 summits. I believe them to be from one to two hundred yards higher than any 
 of the hills in the south of the county. The fall even from the foot of those 
 hills to the highest part of the Dove or the Churnet, is very great, and those 
 rivers are very rapid. — Pit(s Survey of Staffordshire. 
 
250 
 
 WOOTTON. 
 
 from the situation of Wotton, so covered with' hills from 
 the light of the sun, a dismal place, as report representeth 
 it. But were there a place indeed where " God came never 
 how many years' purchase would guilty consciences give 
 for a small ahode therein, therehy to escape divine justice 
 for their offences." 
 
 For a few passages illustrative of the scenery around 
 Wootton, viewed under the varied aspects of the revolving 
 seasons, by a close and accurate observer, we again quote 
 
 The Vales of Wever 
 
 " When bleak December's arctic breath 
 Urges the giant " work of death," 
 Prone from these crags, high-roofed with snow, 
 Pellucid piles incessant grow :* 
 Vast columns deck'd with fret-work nice, 
 Glimmer on pedestals of ice, 
 The sun, the whelming whirlwind brave, 
 And seem to prop the pensile cave. 
 * * » * 
 
 *" The incessant droppings from many of the cliffs in the vicinity of Woot- 
 ton produce in the course of a severe winter some of the most singular and beau- 
 tiful pillars of ice that imagination can devise. In the month of January, 
 1795, I measured many of them that were from four to eleven feet in altitude, 
 and from six inches to four feet in circumference. Some of these columns 
 were of unequal periphery, and jagged and fluted in a fantastic manner. Those 
 that were of uniform thickness appeared as elegant supporters to the impend- 
 ing shelves and canopies of rock. The surfaces of the adjacent crags are 
 beautifullj'^ glazed and decorated with a bright coating of ice, through which 
 the marchantia polijmorpha and several species of moss and fern displayed the 
 luxuriancy of spring. From the ceiling of the celebrated cavern in Dovedale 
 (well known by the name of Reynard's Hall) vast pendants of ice were clus- 
 tered together, many of which, I believe, were full four yards in length j and 
 these were tapered down to so fine a periphery, that their extremities were as 
 sharp as the point of a sword. Others were twisted in a singular mode, and 
 variegated with white incrustations of ice and snow, and the sides of the ca- 
 vern were partially embossed with crystal nodules. The floor of this spacious 
 cavern appeared decorated by the hand of magic. Wherever the droppings 
 fell upon it they became congealed, and hence one drop freezing upon 
 another produced eccentric pillars of ice. These were of various dimensions, 
 and of different colour. Had the frost continued a month longer, it is probable 
 that these pillai-s would have come into contact with the growing pendants 
 from the roof. — Mr. Gisbornes Notes. 
 
 \ 
 
WOOTTON. 
 
 '251 
 
 " O Wootton ! oft I love to hear 
 Thy wintry whirlwinds loud and clear ; 
 With dreadful pleasure bid them fill 
 My listening ears, my bosom chill. 
 As the sonorous North assails 
 Wever's bleak wilds and leafless vales, 
 With awful majesty of might 
 He bursts the billowy clouds of night, 
 Booms the resounding glens among, 
 And roaring rolls his snows along. 
 In clouds against my groaning sash 
 Broad feathery flakes incessant dash. 
 Or wheel below, and mingling form 
 The frolic pageants of the storm. 
 Hark! with what aggravated roar 
 Echo repeats her midnight lore ; 
 Rends her dark solitudes and caves, 
 And bellowing shakes the mighty graves,* 
 Appals with horror Fancy's mind. 
 While ghosts disturb'd shrill- shriek upon the wind. 
 Couch'd on her seat the timid hare 
 Listens each boisterous sweep of air, 
 Or peeps yon blasted furze between, 
 And eyes the snow-bewildered scene ; 
 Instant retracts her shudd'ring head, 
 And closer nestles to her bed. 
 All sad and ruflled in the grove, 
 The fieldfare wakes from dreams of love ; 
 Hears the loud north and beating snow. 
 Regards the drifted brakes below. 
 Swift to her wing returns her beak, 
 And shivers as the tempests break. 
 Up starts the village dog aloof. 
 And howls beneath his rifted roof : 
 Looks from his den, and blinking hears 
 The driving tumult at his ears. 
 Instant withdraws his fear- froze breast, 
 Shrinks from the storm, and steals to rest. 
 So shrinks the pining fold and sleeps 
 Beneath the valley's vaulted deeps ; 
 ■»«• * * -X- 
 
 *Alluding to the numerous barrows on Wever and the adjacent hills. One 
 of them Mr. Gisborne saw opened, when several large urns of burnt clay were 
 discovered. When removed they broke in pieces, and disclosed a quantity of 
 ashes, bones, and teeth, and a piece of brass or copper, apparently the head of 
 a spear. 
 
25-2 
 
 WOOTTON. 
 
 Or crops the sescue's dewy blade, 
 And treads unseen the milky glade. 
 
 " Thus night rolls on, till orient dawn 
 Unbars the purple gates of morn, 
 Unfolds each vale, each snow-clad grove, 
 Mute founts and glossy banks above. 
 Thin streaky clouds unvex'd by storms 
 Slowly expand their tissued forms. 
 Long bars of gray and crimson bright 
 Divert the golden threads of light; 
 Till glory's nascent curve displays 
 One splendid orb, a world of rays ! 
 Then lighten^ heaven's ethereal bound, 
 And all the spangled country twinkles round. 
 
 " But leaves the Muse her flowery plain 
 For surly Wintw's drear domain. 
 Her babbling founts, her spacious shades, 
 For leafless groves and dumb cascades ? 
 Come, let us range yon winding wood, 
 Where nature frowns with aspect rude ; 
 Wild drapery hangs her craggy seat. 
 And silver chills her lone reti-eat. 
 * * * * 
 
 " Now as we climb our Alpine way, 
 Wide bursts around the vault of day. 
 Blaze not so fierce, ye torrid beams. 
 Assuage your scintillating streams ; 
 Hither difi'use, ye summer clouds, 
 Your lucid veils, your fleecy slirouds ; 
 Breathe cool, ye pausing airs, and sweep 
 Earth's thyme-wove hills and emerald deep : 
 So shall my flowers their gems unrol, 
 And stud with golden stars each knoll ; 
 O'er these aerial heights disclose 
 A brighter blush when evening glows. 
 
 "See how majestic Wever's brow 
 Swells from each broken scene below? - 
 O'er the wide vales he bends sublime, 
 And triumphs in his polar clime ; 
 Basking and tann'd, the landscapes hail 
 His frown the shade, his sigh the gale. 
 Sunk on the cushion'd moss I view 
 Hills half-immers'd in vapours blue; 
 
WOOTTON. 
 
 253 
 
 There his pale "barrier Malvern rears, 
 And here ambitious Wrekin peers;* 
 Buoy'd on a sea of mist he soars, ' 
 And looks o'er Cambria's winding shores ; 
 Lifts his tall crest with jealous fear, 
 And seems to prop the leaning sphere. 
 Stretch'd at my feet, what prospects glow ! 
 A world of verdure smiles below. 
 Smooth'd in one vast expanse of green, 
 Hamlets, and hills, and woods are seen : 
 And where yon far-famed valley leads 
 Her velvet o'er a thousand meads. 
 Dove wanders with increasing force, 
 And threads of silver mark his course. 
 But north of these encircling graves, 
 "Where Bunster's ridgy outline waves, 
 Fresh from his boiling source he guides 
 Round fringed isles his infant tides ; 
 Or chill'd with awful shadows sweeps. 
 And murmuring rolls his glossy deeps : 
 Shoots o'er the shoals, and bounding steers 
 Long lines of foam from rock-built wears. 
 Then far beyond rude hills aspire, 
 Range above range, in blue attire; 
 Where the lost eye pursues in vain 
 Gigantic Grindon's bleak domain,f 
 Where yawning Thor the vale alarms. 
 And Beauty sleeps in Horror's arms. " 
 
 Leaving Wootton Hall on the right, a turn westward 
 leads to the entrance-gates of Wootton Lodge, a fine old 
 castellated mansion, said to have been designed by Inigo 
 Jones. The principal entrance is by a broad and ample 
 flight of stone steps, through a curiously-ornamented door- 
 way, surmounted by the arms of Sir Richard Fleetwood, 
 who is believed to have built the mansion, and by whom 
 it was garrisoned for the royalists in the civil wars of 
 Charles l.X For the purposes of defence it is far better 
 
 * The Wrekin, in Shropshire, and the Malvern Hills, in Worcestershire, 
 may be seen from the summit of Wever, on a clear day. 
 
 f The village of Grindon is situated on a hill of remarkable elevation. 
 iSee page 18. 
 
 33 
 
•254 
 
 WOOTTON. 
 
 adapted than might, at a passing glance, appear, both from 
 the natural advantages of its situation, and the massive 
 strength of its walls. Tradition indeed, affirms, that des- 
 pite of the facilities for cannonading afforded by the hills 
 that nearly on all sides surround it, the parliamentarian 
 ^artillery v^^ere never able to effect a breach in the front. 
 The building extends from the level lawn to the very edge 
 of a lofty and precipitous rock, on which its foundations 
 are laid, and this side, at least, presents a bold front to an 
 enemy. The structure retains, for the most part, its ori- 
 ginal character, though it appears to have been at one 
 time of greater extent. The principal rooms have been 
 modernised, and the whole is in excellent repair, large sums 
 having been expended in restoring and improving it by 
 the family of the proprietor, the Rev. Edward Unwin, 
 of Derby. His son, James Wheeler Unwin, Esq. is the 
 present occupier. 
 
 About the close of the seventeenth century, Sir Richard 
 Fleetwood, a descendant of the former baronet of that name, 
 sold Wootton Lodge to John Wheeler, Esq., of Stourbridge, 
 in the county of Worcester, from whom it descended to 
 the family of Unwin. 
 
 Part of the demesne belonging to Wootton Lodge was 
 once inclosed as a deer-park, estimated to contain a 
 thousand acres. It was stocked with deer till about the 
 year 1750, and some vestiges of the wall are yet standing. 
 
 The Lodge was formerly approached by a remarkably 
 fine avenue of trees, (an indispensable appendage to a 
 building of note in ancient times) now unfortunately de- 
 stroyed. The park-grounds, however, are uncommonly 
 beautiful, — beautiful in the absence of art, for even now 
 the 'monarch of the forest' and his stripling progeny flourish 
 side by side, in all their native wildness and luxuriance, 
 here forming open winding groves, and there arrayed in 
 dark sombre masses; while, perhaps, surmounting all, a 
 
WOOTTON. 
 
 255 
 
 pile of rugged cliffs, that has withstood the blast of 
 ages, starts boldly from the edge of the overhanging 
 acclivities : 
 
 "Dark from these heights a wood impends, 
 And round the dizzy bank extends, 
 Shoots down the tangled vale beneath, 
 Hangs o'er the brook a verdant wreath ; 
 Then forms each hill's continued screen, 
 And paints with verdure all the scene. — 
 Welcome, ye forest glens ! ye bays ! 
 Ye crags that glimmer in the maze ! 
 Welcome, ye paths through winding shade ! 
 (Where oft your musing Rousseau stray'd ;) 
 High o'er your mix'd attractive powers 
 Yon venerable mansion towers; 
 Swells from the dusky depths between, 
 And gloomy grandeur crowns the scene. 
 Fix'd on a rock, the castled pile 
 Hears unconcern'd the whirlwinds toil, 
 Bids her embattled walls defy 
 The vollied storms of Winter's sky." 
 
 — Vales of Wever. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Alton Towers, Staffordshire, the seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury— The Gardens 
 and Scenery — Loudon's Description of — The Abbey — Pictures and Works of 
 Art — The Chapel — Village and Ancient Castle of Alveton. 
 
 Pursuing the road to tlieleft ofWootton Lodge, in a wes- 
 terly direction, the tourist approaches Alton Towers, the 
 magnificent domain of the Earl of Shrewsbury * The 
 
 Alton Abbey, for effect, should always be approached by the Earl of Shrews- 
 bury's private carriage road. Pass through Ellastone, and pursue the Uttoxeter 
 road one mile farther, where a turn to the right leads to the park gates, the en- 
 trance into this privileged drive. Here the beai^tiful scenery of this noble 
 demesne commences. On passing along, several openings occur amongst the 
 trees on the left, that let in some delightful views of the scenery about Alton. 
 Within about half a mile of the house, on the right, is a conservatory, orna- 
 mented with statues, busts, and vases ; and on the left a lake of water. Visitors 
 should here stop their carriage, and, for a short time, enjoy the scenery before 
 them. A little farther on, there is a gothic temple, close to the road side. At 
 this point, Alton Towers and the intervening gardens burst upon the eye in all 
 their beauty and magnificence. It is a peep into a terrestrial paradise. Pro- 
 ceeding onwards another quarter of a mile, through a plantation of pines, this 
 noble mansion stands before you in all the fulness of its splendour. The lake, 
 the lawn, the arcade bridge, the embattled terrace, the towers, and the sur- 
 rounding foliage, come broadly and instantaneously upon the view — a splendid 
 and imposing picture — a place to be gazed on and wondered at. This approach 
 to Alton Towers is decidedly the best; the house and grounds are seen in- 
 creasing in effect at every step, until they open upon the spectator in one 
 magnificent combination of architectural grandeur and sylvan beauty." 
 
 — Ehodes's Tourists' Guide. 
 
ALTON TOWKilS. 
 
 "257 
 
 village of Farley, half a mile distant from the Abbey, is the 
 visual rendezvous of visiters, and at the inn there (Orrell's 
 Hotel) tickets to viev^^ the gardens are obtained * The 
 Abbey is a gothic castellated structure, of great extent and 
 commanding exterior, occupying the rising ground of a 
 lawn, that slopes with an easy declivity to the level of 
 a lake, on the opposite side of which stands a large pile of 
 farm-building or stabling, with a castellated front. The 
 gardens are entered through one of the principal arches 
 of a lofty gothic arcade, which separates them from the 
 lawn and lake, and forms a highly ornamental feature of 
 the scenery when viewed from below. 
 
 The site of these gardens is one of the numberless 
 deep narrow valleys which we have before described as 
 the distinguishing feature of the district. Here, in a spot 
 originally romantic, but presenting few natural advantages, 
 has been produced a combination of garden building and 
 garden scenery, which is characterised as one of the most 
 extraordinary in Europe.f 
 
 "The late Charles, Earl of Shrewsbury (writes Mr. 
 Loudon) J began to ornament it with walks and garden 
 buildings, about 1814, and continued employing in it hun_ 
 dreds of labourers, mechanics, and artizans, from that 
 day to his death in 1827, consulting numbers of artists, 
 and amongst others, ourselves. The architects employed 
 were chiefly Thomas Allason and Thomas Abraham, Esqrs. 
 
 " We visited Alton Towers in 1826, and again in 
 1831. By the road leading from Uttoxeter we came unex- 
 pectedly close to the house, and near the head of the north 
 side of the valley, which contains the chief wonders of the 
 
 *It should be observed that admission to this princely seat is restricted to 
 parties coming in private cai-riages. 
 
 fLoudon's " Observations on Cottage and Villa Architecture." 
 i We quote this tolerably minute description (with slight abridgment,) from 
 " The Enclyclopedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture." 
 
258 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 place. The first objects that met our eye were the gothic 
 bridge, and the embankment leading to it, with a huge 
 imitation of Stonehenge beyond, and a pond above the 
 level of the bridge along side of it, backed by a mass of 
 castellated stabling. Further along the side of the valley 
 to the left of the bridge, is a range of architectural conser- 
 vatories, with seven elegant glass domes, designed by Mr. 
 Abraham, richly gilt. Further on, still to the left, and 
 placed on a high and bold native rock, is a lofty gothic 
 tower or temple, also designed by Mr. Abraham, consist- 
 ing of several tiers of balconies round a central staircase 
 and rooms, the exterior ornaments numerous, and resplen- 
 dent with gilding. Near the base of the rock is a cork- 
 screw fountain of a peculiar description, which is amply 
 supplied from an adjoining pond. Behind, above, and be- 
 yond the range of conservatories, are two lakes ; and beyond 
 them is another conservatory, curiously ornamented ; below 
 the main range of conservatories, are a paved terrace- 
 walk, with a Grecian temple at one end; and a second 
 terrace containing a second range of conservatories. The 
 remainder of the valley to the bottom, and on the opposite 
 side, displays such a labyrinth of terraces, curious architec- 
 tural walls, trellis-work arbours, vases, statues, stairs, 
 pavements, gravel and grass walks, ornamental buildings, 
 bridges, porticos, temples, pagodas, gates, iron railings, 
 parterres, jets, ponds, streams, fountains, seats, caves, 
 flower-baskets, waterfalls, rocks, cottages, trees, shrubs, 
 beds of flowers, ivied walls, moss-houses, rock, shell, 
 and root-work, old trunks of trees, &c., that it is utterly 
 impossible for words to give any idea of the efi'ect. There 
 is one stair of one hundred steps ; a cottage for a blind 
 harper, as large as a farm-house ; and an imitation cottage- 
 roof, formed by fixing dormar windows, and two chim- 
 neys, accompanied by patches of heath, to imitate thatch, 
 on the sloping surface of a large grey mass of solid rock. 
 This, seen from a distance, protruding from a steep bank 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 259 
 
 of wood, bore naturally some resemblance to the roof of a 
 cottage, grey with lichens, and the chimney tops and 
 windows were added to complete the idea. As the sand- 
 stone rock protrudes from the sides of the valley in im- 
 mense masses, abundant use has been made of it to form 
 caves, grottoes, caverns, and covered seats; it has even 
 been carved into figures : in one place we have Indian 
 temples excavated in it, covered with hieroglyphics ; and in 
 another a projecting rock is formed into a huge serpent, 
 with a spear-shaped iron tongue and glass eyes. There is a 
 rustic prospect- tower over an Indian temple, cut out of 
 solid rock, on the highest point of the north bank ; and in 
 the lowest part of the valley there are the foundation and 
 two stories (executed before the death of the late Earl,) of 
 an octagon pagoda. This pagoda was intended to be 
 88 feet high. It is placed on an island in the centre of 
 a small lake, and was to have been approached by a Chi- 
 nese bridge, richly ornamented. The diameter of the base 
 of the pagoda, is forty feet, and there were to have been 
 six stories, the lower one of stone, and the others of cast- 
 iron. From the angles were to have been suspended forty 
 highly enriched Chinese lamps, and these were to be 
 lighted by a gasometer in the lower story. Besides the 
 lamps there were to have been grotesque figures of mon- 
 sters projecting over the angles of the canopies, which were 
 to spout water from their eyes, nostrils, fins, tail, &c., a co- 
 lumn of water was also to have been projected perpendi- 
 cularly from the terminating ornaments on the summit of 
 the structure, which from the loftiness of the source of sup- 
 ply, would have risen to the height of seventy or eighty 
 feet. This fountain was designed by Mr. Abraham, but 
 only the lower story has been executed. The pagoda, the 
 gothic temple, the range of gilt conservatories, and the 
 imitation of Stonehenge, form the leading artificial features 
 of the valley. The valley itself is upwards of a mile in 
 length ; it gradually widens from its commencement at the 
 
260 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 Stone bridge, with tlie pond above it, till it terminates by 
 opening into the wide valley containing the Churnet, (there 
 a considerable stream) and a navigable canal. This im- 
 mense valley, it is said, the late Earl intended to cover 
 entirely with water; and as it would have saved the canal 
 company several miles of canal, they offered to form the 
 dam or head at their own expense. This lake of some 
 thousands of acres would have been as easily produced as 
 that of Blenheim was by Brown. In approaching from 
 Cheadle we arrive in front of the castellated stables, and 
 see the Abbey across the pond, above the level of the 
 bridge. Proceeding a little further towards the dry 
 bridge, Stonehenge appears in the foreground, and the 
 tops of the seven gilt glass domes of the main range of con- 
 servatories below. Raising the eyes, the lofty gothic tem- 
 ple appears on the left of the picture ; and on the right, 
 across the valley, the harper's cottage. In the centre of 
 the picture, over the domes in the fore-ground, the valley 
 loses itself in a winding bank of wood, in a style of great 
 grandeur and seclusion. None of the details of the valley 
 here obtrude themselves, and the effect, after passing 
 through a wild country, exhibiting no marks of refinement, 
 is singularly impressive. It fills the mind with astonish- 
 ment and delight to find so much of the magnificence of 
 art and the appearance of refined enjoyment amidst so 
 much of the wildness and solitary grandeur of nature. The 
 imitation of Stonehenge, too, is a feature in artificial land- 
 scape which we have not elsewhere seen ; and a stranger is 
 puzzled and confounded by finding a stream and a small 
 waterfall supplying a lake on what he conceives to be the 
 highest point of ground." 
 
 The gothic temple, in the structure of which great taste 
 is displayed, contains a fine marble bust of the late Earl 
 Shrewsbury, from the chisel of Campbell. A pedestal be- 
 neath bears the appropriate inscription, — He made the 
 desert smile.'''' 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 •261 
 
 To the foregoing account of these famed gardens there is 
 little to be added, though since it was written much has 
 been done in the way of improvement. No effort of the 
 pen can convey a satisfactory idea of the gorgeously magni- 
 ficent scene here displayed. ' Detail and description' it 
 is well observed, ^ are useless in such a place.' The fasti- 
 dious visiter, selecting particular objects or detached scenes, 
 may cavil and criticise, but no one, Ave should think, be 
 his ideas of taste and beauty ever so refined, can be in- 
 sensible to the charms of this Elysian dell, when its floral 
 beauties are fully developed. " Those who have read the 
 'Arabian Nights' Entertainments' (says Mr. Rhodes,) and 
 been blinded with the splendour of the scenes in that popu- 
 lar romance, have only to imagine a series of gardens and 
 grottos, and temples, almost equal in magnificence, and 
 the visionary picture their fancy creates, may, perhaps, 
 shadow forth a faint resemblance of the gardens at Alton." 
 
 After the gardens, visiters who are fortunate enough to 
 obtain tickets of admission, are usually conducted to the 
 Abbey. For the following description of the interior we 
 are indebted to Mr. Rhodes :* 
 
 "A broad flight of steps leads through massy folding 
 doors to the Hall of Entrance, a lofty but not very large 
 apartment, hung round with swords, spears, helmets, shields, 
 and various other implements of war. Here, seated in an 
 ancient gothic chair, may generally be found an old Welch 
 bard, the minstrel of the mansion, habited in a picturesque 
 costume, striking his harp to songs of other days. This is 
 a pleasing incident in the arrangements of the place, and 
 prepares the mind for the scene that immediately follows. 
 
 * From his " Derbyshire Tourists' Guide," an excellent companion to the 
 ' Wonders of the Peak,' as well as to Alton Towers. It abounds with information 
 indispensable to the tourist. The illustrations to the quarto edition of Mr. 
 Rhodes's " Peak Scener}'," engraved by Georgfe Cooke, chiefly from drawings 
 by Sir Francis Chantrey, are worthy of all praise for their graphic fidelity 
 — those of Dovedale in particular. 
 
 34 
 
262 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 This Hall communicates with the Armoury. The numerous 
 and rare assemblage of objects which are here displayed, 
 in one continued range of about three hundred feet, (includ- 
 ing the long perspective of the Saloon and Picture Gallery,) 
 is, perhaps, unrivalled in effect in any mansion in the 
 kingdom. The first compartment, the Armoury, is divided 
 from the Picture Gallery, by a pierced-work ornamental 
 bronze screen, which extends across the whole width of 
 the apartment, and is composed of halberds, spears, lances, 
 and other implements of war, so arranged as to form but 
 little obstruction to the view. The figures of fifty knights, 
 placed on pedestals, and armed cap-a-pie, in polished suits 
 of mail, are disposed along the walls, and on the floors ; 
 and hung on the sides of the room are sundry specimens 
 of bows and arrows, ordnance, musketry, &c. of various 
 fashions, and belonging to different periods of time. The 
 broad battle-axe of ancient warfare, the richly ornamented 
 Turkish yhatagan, and polished stiletto, — 
 
 " Helmet and hauberk, targe and spear, 
 Cuirass, and sword, and culverin, 
 In dread array are gleaming here." 
 
 "This apartment is perfect in its kind: seats of dark 
 carved oak are placed at intervals ; and the roof, in style, 
 ornament, and colour, is in perfect consistency with all 
 below. The light, which is admitted through stained glass 
 windows only, is of that dubious kind which throws over 
 every object a half defined, unreal, and visionary effect. 
 Nothing is palpably and distinctly seen, but sufficient is 
 developed to fill the mind with images of days, and scenes, 
 and customs long since departed. 
 
 " The next apartment, the Picture Gallery, in form and 
 dimensions, is similar to the Armoury. The ceiling, which 
 is flat, is divided, by richly ornamented gothic tracery, into 
 different compartments of ground glass, so disposed as to 
 admit of an equal distribution of light ; and, therefore, ad- 
 mirably calculated to give effect to an exhibition of pictures. 
 I should not envy the feelings of any man who could enter 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 268 
 
 such a place as this, and gaze upon the splendid works 
 before him with indifference. They are not the emanations 
 of common minds. An accurate knowledge of character, 
 through all its varieties and inflexions — a nice perception 
 of beauty of form and colour — a sovereign power of expres- 
 sion to excite and sway the sympathies of the heart — an 
 entire mastery in the use of his materials, and much pre- 
 vious study — all these, and more than these, are requisite 
 to form a painter in the higher classes of the art : and here 
 these qualities are all combined. Sentiment, passion, pa- 
 thos, grace, and beauty, speak from the living canvass that 
 adorns these walls. 
 
 The busy grouping and luxuriant colouring of the Ve- 
 netian and Flemish style of painting, are here contrasted 
 with the still, sober, and more dignified character of the 
 schools of Rome, Florence, and Bologna. Some of the 
 finest pictures here, how^ever, are by Spanish masters, par- 
 ticularly those by Murillo and Velasquez. Others of the 
 first note, belonging to the same high class of art, liberally 
 contribute to the splendour of this collection. These schools 
 have each their peculiar excellencies. The first, lively, 
 bright, and sunny as a summer's day ; the latter, quiet, un- 
 obtrusive, still and matronly as autumn. The w^orks of art 
 with which the Earl of Shrewsbury has enriched Alton 
 Towers are now so numerous, that a mere catalogue of 
 them, with brief notices only, would fill a volume. A se- 
 lection of even a small portion of the best, would occupy 
 more space than can be here afforded. A list, however, 
 unaccompanied by critical observations, will be appended 
 to this detail. In this rich depository of art, there are pic- 
 tures of such rare excellence, as scarcely to admit of 
 competition. The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Giacomo 
 Bassano; and the Adoration of the Magi, by Garofalo, are 
 wonderful productions. The Madonna and St. Francis, 
 by Alonza Cano, is, if possible, of a still higher character 
 of excellence: the figure of the Saint, in drawing, colouring, 
 and expression, is the perfection of art. The Madonna is 
 
264 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 feminine and graceful; and the infant Jesus is the most 
 beautiful, the most heavenly, and yet the most natural nude 
 form that ever painter imagined. In this masterly pro- 
 duction, the realities and sympathies of life are so success- 
 fully portrayed on canvas as to wear the very semblance 
 of nature. Amongst the many other fine pictures that we 
 particularly noticed, the following are, perhaps, the best : — 
 A Madonna by Fra Bartolomeo, a lovely production; a 
 Holy Family, by Giorgione ; a Magdalen, by Guido Eeni ; 
 a Magdalen, by Guercino, very fine; two pictures by Wou- 
 vermans. Hawking, and Hunting, the latter masterly ; and 
 the^portrait of Philip the Fourth, by Velasquez. The num- 
 ber and value of this fine collection of works of art have 
 lately been greatly increased by the Earl of Shrewsbury's 
 purchase of nearly the whole of Madame Lsetitia Buona- 
 parte's picture gallery at Rome. 
 
 " To this splendid apartment the Saloon, or Sculpture 
 Gallery, succeeds: it is a noble room, of an octagonal form, 
 and in structure and ornament has altogether the character 
 of a gothic Chapel, or Cathedral Chapter-house. A clus- 
 tered column rises in the centre, from the foliaged capital 
 of which the ribs that sustain the roof ramify, and form 
 different compartments along the ceiling. It is lighted by 
 tall lancet-shaped windows of painted glass, rich in colour, 
 and beautiful in design and execution. The finest work 
 in this apartment is a statue of Rafl'aelle, by Cecarini, a 
 Roman sculptor, and pupil of Canova's. The countenance 
 is intelligent, imaginative, and expressive; the position 
 graceful, and the drapery is free, easy, and natural. The 
 figure is seated, and the left hand supports a tablet, on 
 which Raffaelle's famous picture of the Transfiguration is 
 portrayed. 
 
 " The sculptures in this room are not numerous : there 
 are, however, some busts in this collection which any one 
 might be proud to to call his own. Two colossal heads, a 
 Juno and a Jupiter, from the antique, are worthy a dis- 
 tinguished place in any gallery of art, however exalted its 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 265 
 
 reputation. In the countenance of Juno, dignity and gran- 
 deur are tempered with the milder and more fascinating 
 graces of feminine beauty. Jupiter seems formed to govern 
 and keep a world in awe : — 
 
 " The stamp of fate and fiat of a God" 
 
 seem enthroned upon his brow. Between these noble works 
 is placed a bust of the late Premier, William Pitt — a head 
 doubly colossal ; a bad subject, certainly, for a bust, and 
 only worthy of notice on account of its size. Nearer the 
 entrance into the conservatory are two masterly busts, by 
 Campbell, of the present Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury : 
 they are eminently beautiful, and, in style and manner, 
 strongly resemble some of Sir F. Chan trey's most successful 
 efforts. Cardinal Gonsalvo, by the same admirable sculptor, 
 is a finely executed head, and so like Thorwaldsen's bust of 
 this amiable prelate, in the gallery at Chatsworth, as to be 
 mistaken for a copy. The style of this head is peculiarly 
 chaste and simple, and the expression of the countenance 
 bland and benevolent in the highest degree. It is a pleasure 
 to look on such a face, even in marble. 
 
 " The next room, the House Conservatory, is one of the 
 glories of the place. This apartment, one hundred and 
 fifteen feet in length, is, in general character, not unlike 
 the aisle of a Cathedral ; it is lighted by tall ornamented 
 windows, with light and tasteful mullions on both sides ; 
 and, midway, it is divided into two sections, by the inter- 
 vention of an octagonal compartment of greater altitude 
 and broader dimensions. In this elegant and delightful 
 retreat, the refinements of art are skilfully blended with the 
 loveliest productions of nature. The various shrubs and 
 plants ; the tender germs of Spring, the flowers of Summer, 
 and the fruitage of Autumn, expand their beauties and 
 breathe their fragrance amongst some of the choicest and 
 finest works of art. Busts and statues, of the purest marble 
 and the most exquisite workmanship — urns and vases, ele- 
 gant in form and rich in ornament, are associated with a 
 variety of other tasteful and beautiful objects: nothing. 
 
2(56 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 indeed, seems to have been omitted which could add to the 
 splendour of the scene. Glass globes, with gold and silver 
 fish in continual motion — magnificent gilt cages, with birds 
 of the finest song and the richest plumage, hung amongst 
 the leaves and branches of the choicest exotics, all combine 
 to produce and perfect one of the most brilliant pictures 
 ever realized within the narrow confines of an earthly abode. 
 The chief attraction, however, of this splendid place is the 
 exquisite sculpture with which it is enriched : these pro- 
 ductions are a lasting and invaluable treasure, which neither 
 " the churlish chidings of the wintry wind," nor the hot 
 suns of summer can affect for ages. A bust of Napoleon, 
 and another of Cicero, both masterly works, are the first 
 objects that present themselves on the right and left of the 
 entrance from the Saloon. Near these, a statue of Ceres, 
 a beautiful copy of the celebrated Greek original in the 
 Vatican, occupies a pedestal on one hand ; and a figure of 
 Winter, finely draped and exquisitely sculptured, is placed 
 on the other. These are succeeded by two other statues of 
 decided excellence : the first is a figure of Plenty ; the next, 
 Minerva Medica ; and, a little farther, are the Flora of the 
 Capitol, and Mnemosyne, the mother of the Muses. These 
 four statues are copies from the celebrated Greek originals, 
 now in Rome. Nearer the drawing room transcept, placed 
 amongst flowers and foliage, are isolated statues of the 
 Nine Muses, and a fine copy of Canova's Flora. 
 
 " On the left of the Conservatory is a court or garden, 
 well stored with hardy shrubs and flowers, that seem 
 scarcely divided from the more favoured tribe within. The 
 right, looks, almost uninterruptedly, upon what may be 
 termed the pet garden of the establishment, which contains 
 the rarest and most beautiful flowers, so arranged as to pro- 
 duce a singularly beailtiful effect. These two gardens, con- 
 nected with the Conservatory, form one continued and 
 united picture — each is a portion of the same design. 
 
 "Both the entrance and the exit from this delightful 
 spot is through folding doors, which have the semblance 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 267 
 
 of Cathedral windows; the frame-work is ornamented in 
 the gothic style, and the panels are stained glass. 
 
 " From the Conservatory we entered the Transcept Gal- 
 lery, a noble apartment, spacious, lofty, light, and cheer- 
 ful. The furniture is uncommonly splendid ; the pictures 
 numerous, and of the first class of art : the Vandykes are 
 admirable. There are in this gallery twelve ivory chairs, 
 elaborately carved : they were a present from Warren 
 Hastings, Governor General of India, to the late Queen 
 Charlotte. 
 
 " From this " splendid gallery" we passed through Lady 
 Shrewsbury's Library into the Music Room, the first of the 
 new suite of apartments that form the western wing of 
 Alton Abbey. The Northern Library succeeds, and at the 
 further extremity, a door on the right opens into the 
 Square Tower Library, a small, but very elegant apartment: 
 it is lighted by stained glass windows, and the sides and 
 ceilings are richly embellished. The ceiling is divided 
 into numerous compartments ; the ground is a delicate pale 
 blue, the rosettes and mouldings are of burnished gold, 
 and the extremities of the border of each division are re- 
 lieved by what painters call pickings out^ in bright crim- 
 son. The effect is peculiarly beautiful. Immediately on 
 the left of this rooift are the Western Library, the principal 
 Staircase, and the State Bed Room, with Dressing Rooms 
 annexed, one of which occupies a lower story of the Octa- 
 gonal Tower, at the South-west extremity of the house. 
 The style and finish of this fine suite of apartments are not 
 exactly uniform ; the details are tastefully varied, especi- 
 ally in the ceilings, but the same general character, both 
 in colour and ornament, prevails throughout the whole ; 
 and all are novel in design, and chaste and beautiful in de- 
 coration. The walls are coated over with a composition, to 
 imitate richly variegated wood; and being covered with 
 French polish, the figure or flower appears vividly beneath 
 the varnish. These rooms were not entirely finished at the 
 
268 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 time we passed through them : they have since been most 
 magnificently furnished. 
 
 "From a digression to this new part of Alton Abbey, 
 we returned into the Transcept Gallery, and from thence 
 passed into the Drawing Room, a long and beautiful 
 apartment, which extends to the northern extremity of the 
 building, and is so connected with the Transcept as to 
 appear to be a part of it, although distinguished by 
 another name. It is furnished in the same superb style? 
 and contains many choice and valuable pictures. The 
 porcelain scent-jars and vases, which are placed in these 
 apartments, are magnificent specimens of this beautiful 
 ware. England, France, Saxony, and China, have all con- 
 tributed to enrich this collection ; but in drawing, pencil- 
 ling, and artist-like execution, France may justly claim 
 the pre-eminence. We particularly noticed, in this room, a 
 tea service from the celebrated manufactory of Sevres, of 
 rare and exquisite beauty. The designs with which the 
 different pieces are embellished are by some of the first 
 artists in France; the gold ornaments are of the most 
 brilliant polish, and the paintings, to which they form a 
 kind of frame, are wrought to the highest perfection of the 
 art. They include a series of portraits of some of the most 
 distinguished personages in the records of French history, 
 and are so elaborately and exquisitely finished as almost to 
 rival some of Bone's finest enamels. As specimens of 
 miniature painting they are decided gems. This last 
 apartment is lighted by large stained glass windows, in 
 one of which is a whole length figure of Edward the Black 
 Prince, in armour, painted in a very masterly style. 
 
 "We were next conducted along a corridor, gay with 
 brilliant lights from variously coloured glass, to the Old 
 Dining Room, and from thence, down a singularly elegant 
 flight of stairs, into the new one — a spacious and lofty 
 apartment, upwards of forty feet high, lighted^by a grand 
 cathedral-like window, of fine proportions and beautiful 
 workmanship. This magnificent room contains some 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 269 
 
 good pictures, one of which is remarkable for its dimen- 
 sions, being above twenty-three feet by fourteen, exclusive 
 of the frame. The subject is, the Coronation of Barbar- 
 ossa, by Rippenhansen. It is a splendid composition, and 
 well painted; the figures, both men and horses, are as 
 large as life. A very clever picture, by Davis, occupies the 
 opposite side of the room. It represents the Earl and the 
 Countess of Shrewsbury, with their daughters, Lady 
 Mary Talbot, and the Princess Sulmona, receiving the 
 Papal benediction. The ceremony took place at Rome, and 
 all the personages introduced into the picture were present. 
 On the right are the Pope, Gregory XVI., Cardinal Con- 
 salvo, Gibson, the sculptor, and Canova, in the princely 
 costume which he wore on State occasions. The left of 
 the picture is occupied by the Shrewsbury family. The 
 likenesses are all considered excellent. There are several 
 other pictures in this apartment, of considerable merit, par- 
 ticularly the portraits of the Earl and Countess of Shrews- 
 bury, by an artist of the name of Flore. 
 
 "Reascending the stairs, we passed through another 
 corridor, to Lady Shrewsbury's Boudoir, which is by far 
 the pleasantest apartment in the whole establishment, and 
 commands an uninterrupted view of the most beautiful 
 scenery about the place. The lawn, the lake, the arcade 
 bridge, the gardens, the conservatories, the gothic temple, 
 and the abundant foliage around, are all included in the 
 prospect. 
 
 " From Lady Shrewsbury's room we proceeded to the 
 Chapel, a fine Abbey-like structure of magnificent dimen- 
 sions, and surmounted by a lofty square tower. It is 
 ninety feet long, thirty wide, and fifty-six feet high ; well 
 pewed with carved oak below, and has a very handsome 
 gallery. This capacious Chapel is chiefly lighted by a 
 large stained window at the east end, under which is the 
 altar, surmounted by a sculptured image of our Saviour on 
 the Cross, and surrounded with the usual accompaniments 
 of Catholic worship. The pictures are not numerous. 
 
 3d 
 
270 
 
 ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 The largest and most important is a copy, but a masterly 
 one, by Durantini, of Raffaelle's Transfiguration. St. 
 J erome receiving the Sacrament, also a copy by Durantini, 
 and nearly the same size as the Transfiguration, occupies 
 another part of the walls. Among other good pictures, of 
 less note, are — Christ Healing the Blind, a production of 
 the Bolognese school; Monks receiving a Mantle; the 
 Head of a Female Saint, surrounded by a wreath ; and two 
 subjects, the Fathers of the Church, from Pietro Perugino. 
 
 " At the back of the gallery, fronting the altar, we no- 
 ticed a very extraordinary achievement of the pencil. The 
 subject represents the interior of a Church, with Monks at 
 devotion. The only light in this picture is from a window 
 at the farther end ; the figures on which it falls are so 
 strongly relieved, that they absolutely appear to stand out 
 from the canvass, and the effect is complete deception. 
 The original of this picture is by Granet. 
 
 From the gallery of the Chapel, a narrow corridor leads 
 to a long and lofty terrace, with embattled parapets, at the 
 East end of the building, along which, at short intervals, 
 there are gothic towers or keeps, with their portals guarded 
 by figures of armed men in complete suits of mail. I 
 know not whether it is the custom of the place to admit 
 casual visitors to this terrace ; but unless this be allowed, it 
 is scarcely possible fully to appreciate the surpassing beauty 
 of the gardens at Alton Abbey. The floral richness of the 
 view from this elevation, combined with the splendid archi- 
 tectural objects scattered about the grounds, present alto- 
 gether a scene of enchantment. The Swiss cottage, the 
 residence of the minstrel of the mansion, embosomed in 
 foliage, is the nearest prominent object; a deep valley, 
 with a bright lake, from which rises a sparkling fountain, 
 lies below. The other side of the valley, from the very 
 margin of the water to the topmost boundary line of the 
 gardens, is covered with flowers of every variety and every 
 hue. Terraces, temples, grottos, arbours, urns, vases, co- 
 lumns, busts, and statues — splendid conservatories, and 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 271 
 
 bright parterres, constitute altogether an assemblage of ob- 
 jects, as cheerful, as brilliant, and as gay, as ever the eye 
 beheld." 
 
 Concluding his description, Mr. Rhodes remarks, — " In 
 hastily passing through such a place as Alton Towers, 
 though much is seen, little comparatively can be remem- 
 bered. Many objects worthy of notice will escape observa- 
 tion altogether: and others, perhaps, which ought to have 
 fixed attention and excited admiration, be only briefly 
 glanced at, or superficially observed. There is no compress- 
 ing a year into a day, nor can all that is deserving of notice 
 at this magnificent place be either fully seen or adequately 
 estimated in the short space of four or five hours. Alton 
 Abbey is, indeed, altogether one of the most splendid and 
 interesting places in the kingdom. All the most important 
 improvements in this noble mansion have been made by 
 the present Earl ; and yet there is an unity of design in the 
 interior arrangements that might induce the supposition 
 that the whole had been erected at one period of time. The 
 same prevailing idea is evident throughout the whole ; 
 and to carry this similarity of style and unity of design into 
 ejfiPect, other considerations may, perhaps, in some instances 
 have been sacrificed. The principal rooms are long and 
 lofty, like the aisles of a gothic edifice, and succeed each 
 other in a straight line ; the doors by which they are 
 separated have generally more the character of open 
 screens than doors ; they form mere stages, or resting- 
 places for the eye, without materially interrupting the 
 view. From East to West, one continued vista of apart- 
 ments extends in long perspective, to the distance of more 
 than three hundred feet ; and another division of one 
 hundred and sixty feet is now in progress. In the direc- 
 tion from South to North, the line of apartments extends 
 upwards of two hundred and sixty feet, the whole width of 
 the present structure. Of this latter range, the House 
 Conservatory forms a part." 
 
 The catalogue of pictures is here subjoined: — 
 
272 
 
 ALTON TOWEKS. 
 
 Portrait of a Lady 
 St. Mary of Egypt 
 Madonna 
 Still Life 
 
 Paul Moreelze 
 Venetian School 
 Pontormo 
 Peter Boel 
 
 Madonna JRaffaellino del Garbo 
 
 Annunciation Tintoretto 
 Portrait of Raffaelle Paris Bordane 
 Holy Family ditto 
 Portrait Elliger 
 St. Peter Spagnoletto 
 Portrait Amberger 
 St. Jerome Albert Durer 
 
 Portrait Gennari 
 View in Holland Berhheyden 
 Descent from the Cross Le Sneun 
 
 St. Sebastian Loir 
 Madonna Penni 
 Portrait School of Bologna 
 
 Portrait ditto 
 Belisarius David 
 Holy Family A. Caracci, after Garofalo 
 Magdalen Carlo Dolci 
 
 St. Catharine ditto 
 Madonna Fra Bartolomeo 
 
 St. Jerome ^ N. Loir 
 
 Portrait Unknown 
 Ditto Tinelli 
 Erminia // Prete Genovese 
 
 Ecce Homo School of Carlo Dolci 
 
 Madonna Carlo Maratta 
 
 Adoration of the Magi Seh. Ricci 
 
 Portrait Gherardo della Notte 
 
 A Doge . Tintoretto 
 
 Birth and Death of Adonis Giorgione 
 Historical Group ditto 
 Ditto Unknown 
 Prodigal Son Bonifaccio 
 A Bambochade Seb. Bourdon 
 
 The Eternal Father Guercino 
 St. Agnes ditto 
 View of Rome Van Lint 
 
 View of Rome ditto 
 Landscape ^tto 
 St. John the Baptist ^tto 
 Lot and his Daughters ditto 
 Ecce Homo di(io 
 
 The Annunciation Lanfrancs 
 Our Saviour in the House of the Pha- 
 risee Paid Veronese 
 A Martyr J. C Procaccin 
 Portrait Garofalo 
 Adoration of the Magi ditto 
 Christina of Sweden Malo 
 Flowers Rachel Ruisch 
 A Pope Unknown 
 Frank Hals Himself 
 Annunciation Paul Veronese 
 Madonna Sasso Ferato 
 Portrait School of Bologna 
 Portrait ditto 
 Portrait Paris Bordone 
 Angels appearing to Shepherds 
 
 Tintoretto 
 
 Moonlight Vanderneer 
 The Prodigal Son T. Rombauts 
 
 Family Group Palamedes 
 Interior of a Church Steinwyck 
 Rembrandt's Daxighter Rembrandt 
 A Lady Cranach 
 Peasants, &c. Zucharelli 
 Tancred and Erminia Tiarini 
 Guercini Himself 
 Flowers Mignon 
 A Duke of Burgundy Govacrt Flink 
 Pope Paul Third Titian 
 Child and Dog Gaspar Netscher 
 
 Adoration of the Magi Girol, da Carpi 
 A White Deer Fltmish School 
 
 Still Life J. Weeninx, younger 
 
 Prodigal Son Franks 
 Spagnoletto Himself 
 Holy Family Vandyck 
 Landscape Ruysdael 
 Landscape, with Cattle A. Cuyp 
 Landscape, with Figures, &c. ditto 
 Ditto ditto 
 Family Group Quellinus 
 Landscape J. B. Weeninx, elder 
 Fruit and Flowers David de Heem 
 Portrait Dornenichino 
 Ecce Homo Gherard della Noite 
 Portrait Paul Veronese 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 273 
 
 Abraham entertaining the Angels 
 
 Vandyck 
 
 Judith with the head of Holofernes 
 
 Cristofaro Alloni 
 Interior of the Church 11 Redentore, 
 
 Venice J. P. Pannini 
 
 Exterior of ditto ditto 
 Finished Sketch of one of the Angels 
 
 for the Dome of the Cathedral at 
 
 Parma Correggio 
 Family Portraits John M abuse 
 
 Madonna and Infant Pietro Pemgino 
 Madonna Rajfaelle 
 Madonna Ber Butinone 
 
 Holy Family, &c. Beccafumi 
 Madonna, &c. Dion Calvert 
 
 Romulus and Remus Vandyck 
 Madonna Domenichini 
 Cupid Eliz. Sirani 
 
 Engagement at Sea Joseph Vernet 
 
 St. Joseph and Infant ditto 
 Original Sketch of the Martyrdom of 
 
 St. Cecilia Domenichino 
 Portrait Gonsala Cogues 
 
 Holy Family D. Puligo 
 
 Martyrdom of St. Sebastian Lanfranco 
 A Page with the Head of St. John the 
 
 Baptist Guido 
 St. Augustine ditto 
 Artemisia ditto 
 Magdalen ditto 
 Hagar in the Desert ditto 
 Ecce Homo ditto 
 Portrait ditto 
 Landscape and Cupids ditto 
 Jacob's Dream Domenica Feti 
 
 Holy Family Agostino Carracci 
 
 Portrait Slingelandt 
 Madonna Murillo 
 Last Supper C. Coello 
 
 Madonna and St. Francis Alonzo Cano 
 Columbus Pandits 
 Holy Family Annihal Carracci 
 
 Ditto Giacomo Francia 
 
 Portrait of Mengs Himself 
 Old Man spinning Annibal Carracci 
 
 Portrait 
 Pius V. 
 Portrait 
 Portrait 
 
 Mayno 
 L. Bassano 
 Giorgione 
 ditto 
 
 Entombment of our Saviour 
 
 Ludovico Carracci 
 Martyrdom of St. Stephen ditto 
 Madonna John Mabuse 
 
 Holy Family Lagrini 
 Card Players Moya 
 Madonna and Infant Murillo 
 Spagnoletto looking in a glass Himself 
 Death of Mary Magdalen Schidone 
 Philip the Fourth of Spain Velasquez 
 Birth of St. Catharine of Sienna 
 
 Ludovico Carracci 
 
 Animals and Fruit 
 
 Snyders SfD.de Heem 
 Portrait of a Boy Pessey 
 Christ at the Pillar Divino Morales 
 A Caravan Castiglione 
 A Fox seized by Dogs Snyders 
 Dogs fighting ditto 
 Tigers, &c. ditto 
 Lion Hunt ditto 
 Magdalen Luca Cambiaso 
 
 Holy Family Angelo Bron. Allori 
 Portrait ditto 
 Descent from the Cross Unknown 
 Tintoretto Himself 
 Madonna Innocenza d'Imola 
 
 Archimedes Spagnoletto 
 St. John the Baptist Vicenza Catena 
 Passage of the Red Rea 
 
 Pilidore da Caravaggio 
 Adoration of the Shepherds 
 
 Giacomo Bassano 
 St. Mai'k Schidone 
 St. Mark Vicenza Catena 
 
 Peter Martyr Titian 
 St. George and Dragon Ilazzi 
 Children and Fmit Gobhodei Frutli 
 Pope Paul the Fifth Alex, Bron Allori 
 Pope Pius the Fourth Titian 
 Poultry Hondecooter 
 Ditto e^to 
 
274 
 
 ILTON TOWBRa. 
 
 David with the Head of Goliah Tobar 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Herrlein de Fulda 
 
 Madonna, &c. Andrea del Sarto 
 
 Sea Piece 
 
 Von Antem 
 
 Eliazar presenting Jewels to Rebecca 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 
 Mocyart 
 
 Five Senses 
 
 Lttbienetski 
 
 Portrait 
 
 Lucini 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Peter Breughel 
 
 Martyrdom of St. Erasmus 
 
 Plundering a Convent Schellinks 
 
 
 Gasper Crayer 
 
 Flight into Egypt 
 
 Snellinks 
 
 Vandyck's Marriage 
 
 Legers 
 
 Holy Family reposing ditto 
 
 A Fruit Woman 
 
 Spanish School 
 
 Pasticcio 
 
 Teniers 
 
 Holy Family and Saints 
 
 Seb. Bourdon 
 
 Batils Piece 
 
 Flugtenburg 
 
 Fall of Simon Magus 
 
 Subleyras 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Sketch for Portrait of Pope Julius II. 
 
 Hunting Piece 
 
 Wouvermans 
 
 
 Giulio Romano 
 
 Hawking ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Holy Family 
 
 Titian 
 
 Aman disgraced by Assuerus 
 
 Sixtus Fifth 
 
 
 
 Gerard LairesSe 
 
 Madonna and Saints 
 
 Vandergoes 
 
 The disobedient Prophet Breemburg 
 
 Sketch 
 
 Salvator Rosa 
 
 Cattle 
 
 Ommaganck 
 
 Sea Port 
 
 ditto 
 
 Grotto 
 
 Hoock 
 
 Landscape and Figures 
 
 ditto 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Herman Swanfeld 
 
 St. Francis 
 
 ditto 
 
 The Prodigal Son 
 
 Luke of Leyden 
 
 Sea Port 
 
 Beerestraten 
 
 Dutch Boors 
 
 Teniers, younger 
 
 Dead Game 
 
 Biltius 
 
 A Garden 
 
 Van Artois 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Pastoral scene 
 
 Gauhau 
 
 Ballad Singers 
 
 Molenser 
 
 Interior of a Cabin 
 
 Dusart 
 
 Triumph of Love 
 
 Rottenhammer 
 
 Boy and Owl 
 
 Mieris 
 
 Olindo and Sophronia 
 
 Houbraken 
 
 Siege by Moonlight 
 
 Thielle 
 
 Interior of a Church 
 
 Morgenstern 
 
 Flowers 
 
 Trechsler 
 
 Portrait 
 
 Denner 
 
 Boy and Girl 
 
 Hoet 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Claude Lorraine 
 
 Madonna and Saints 
 
 Van Eyck 
 
 Cattle 
 
 Teniers, father 
 
 Cmcifixion and Twelve Apostles 
 
 Sunset 
 
 Both 
 
 
 Goltius 
 
 Landscape 
 
 ditto 
 
 Interior of Church, with Figures 
 
 Burning of Troy 
 
 Breuzel d' Enfer 
 
 Neefs and Franks 
 
 Cattle 
 
 P. Potter 
 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 ditto ditto 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Berghem 
 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 school of Neefs 
 
 Head of St. Sebastian Razzi 
 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Winter Scene 
 
 Vollerht 
 
 Solomon adoring an Idol 
 
 Portrait of a Boy 
 
 Titian 
 
 Franks, younger 
 
 St. Teresa 
 
 Murillo 
 
 Tailor's Shop 
 
 Slingelandt 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Lint, C" studio") 
 
 Gaming 
 
 Janstein 
 
 Children Playing with Cards Coypel 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Lint, (" studio") 
 
 Animals 
 
 Rondhara 
 
 St. Catherine 
 
 Goltsius 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Religion trampling on a Dragon 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 
 ditto 
 
 Hawking 
 
 Singelhack 
 
 The Yirgiii 
 
 ditto 
 
ALTON TOWERS. 
 
 275 
 
 Landscape and Cattle 
 
 Koninck 
 
 Landscape and Figures Michau 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Mile 
 
 Ditto ditto ditto 
 
 Dead Birds 
 
 Hamilton 
 
 View in Venice Canaktti 
 
 Shells 
 
 Kohell 
 
 Ditto ditto 
 
 Flowers, with Medallion 
 
 Segei's 
 
 Interior of a Stahle TFouvermans 
 
 View of the Rhine 
 
 Slmltz 
 
 Ditto Peter de Laar 
 
 Dead Game 
 
 Biltius 
 
 Landscape and Cattle Ruysdael 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Madonna Buroccis 
 
 Moonlight 
 
 Dorfmeister 
 
 Sunset Hue 
 
 Sea Port 
 
 J. Vemet 
 
 Landscape Dontenichino 
 
 Sea Coast in a Mist 
 
 ditto 
 
 Ditto Sinmifphl 
 
 Sea Storm 
 
 ditto 
 
 Ditto Peter Breughel, father 
 
 Landscape 
 
 ditto 
 
 Ecce Homo A. Durer 
 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto 
 
 Portrait 'Pprhnvn 
 
 Landscape and Figures 
 
 
 St. Jerome S'chalcken 
 
 Glauber and Lairesse 
 
 Portrait of one of the Medici Family 
 
 Ruins 
 
 P. Brill 
 
 Alloii. 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Brinkmann 
 
 Circumcision J. Bellini 
 
 The Angel releasing Peter 
 
 Pereda 
 
 Cattle p. Potter 
 
 Sea Piece J. yandervelde 
 
 Children of Charles the First 
 
 Ferry over the Rhine 
 
 yan Goyen 
 
 Vandyek 
 
 *The pictures in the Transcept Gallery, the Dining Room, and the Chapel, 
 and a number of others, are not included in this catalogue. 
 
 West of the Abbey, is a lofty prospect tower,^of massive 
 proportions, formerly the receptacle of a museum of rarities, 
 comprehending ancient armoury, coins, minerals, and cu- 
 rious natural productions of almost every nation. This 
 tower, now dismantled of its contents, was an object of 
 great attraction to visiters. 
 
 The manor of Alton, written anciently Alveton^ (the 
 Elveton of Domesday,) was a demesne of the crown in the 
 time of the Conqueror. In the reign of Henry II. it came 
 into the possession of the Norman family of Verdon, by the 
 marriage of Bertram de Verdon, (whose first wife, Maud, 
 daughter of Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, died,) with 
 Rohais or Rosia, to whom, as heiress of a former possessor, 
 it appears to have descended. Bertram de Verdon was the 
 founder of Croxden Abbey. He resided at the Castle of 
 Alveton, originally a place of great strength and extent, 
 the ruins of which are yet standing on the summit of a 
 
276 
 
 ALTON. 
 
 bold and lofty rock, on the banks of the Churnet, overlook- 
 ing the village and vale. He served in the vrars of the 
 Crusades, and, dying at Joppa, in 4 Richard I. 1192, was 
 buried at Acre. His son, Thomas de Verdon, married 
 Eustachia, daughter of Gilbert Bassett, and died in Ire- 
 land (without issue) in the year 1199. The manor and 
 castle of Alveton descended to Nicholas, his brother, and 
 from him to his only daughter and sole heir, Rosia, who 
 retained the name of De Verdon, and was the founder of the 
 Cistercian Abbey of Grace Dieu, Leicestershire. She mar- 
 ried Theobald de Buttiler, of the noble Irish family of But- 
 tiler, and died in 1347. Theobald de Verdon was Constable 
 of Ireland ; he died without issue at Alveton Castle in 1309, 
 and was buried at Croxden Abbey. A Theobald de Verdon, 
 who also died at Alveton, (10 Edward II.) was Lieutenant 
 of Ireland. His daughter and heiress, Joan, who married 
 Thomas Lord Furnival, inherited the castle of Alveton, 
 with its members, Wootton, Stanton, Farley, Ramsor, Cot- 
 ton, Bradley, Spon, Denston, Stramshall, and Whiston. She 
 died in 8 Edward III. and was buried before the high 
 altar at Croxden. Alveton afterwards passed to Thomas 
 Neville, who married Joan, the daughter and heiress, (it is 
 supposed,) of William, Lord Furnival. The famous Lord 
 John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, married Maud, eldest 
 daughter and coheir of Thomas Neville. To her descended 
 the manor and castle of Alveton, and their dependencies, 
 with all Verdon's and Furnival's lands in other counties.* 
 Alveton has ever since formed part of the inheritance of the 
 noble house of Talbot. 
 
 John Talbot, surnamed for his bravery, " the English 
 Achilles," was the second son of Richard, Lord Talbot, of 
 Blechmere, in Shropshire. He served in France in the 
 reign of Henry V. and distinguished himself at the sieges 
 of Caen, Rouen, Mans, and Pontoroso. At the ever me- 
 
 • From a M.S. Pedigree of the Verdons, in the possession of the Rev. J. P. 
 Jones, Vicar of Alton. 
 
ALTON. 
 
 277 
 
 morable siege of Orleans, Talbot displayed such resistless 
 valour, that his courage became proverbial even with the 
 enemy. On the surrender of the Earl of Suffolk, he was 
 invested with the command of the English forces. Being 
 closely pressed by the enemy, on his march to Paris, he 
 was advised to make an expeditious retreat ; but he refused 
 to show his back to his foes, and was in consequence taken 
 prisoner after a sharp conflict, with the loss of twelve hun- 
 dred men. After a captivity of three years and a half, he 
 was exchanged for a French officer of great reputation. 
 He now again hastened to the field, and exerted his accus- 
 tomed skill and bravery in the taking of several fortified 
 places. The capture of Pontoise was effected by him in a 
 singular manner. In the beginning of 1437, the weather 
 was so extremely cold that the generals on both sides sus- 
 pended military operations. But Talbot having collected 
 a body of troops, and caused them to put white clothes or 
 shirts over their uniforms, in order that they might not 
 easily be distinguished from the snow with which the 
 ground was then covered, brought them by a night march 
 up to the w alls of Pontoise, and making an unexpected 
 attack upon the garrison, made himself master of that im- 
 portant place. For this and other important services dur- 
 ing the campaign, he was advanced to the dignity of Earl 
 of Shrewsbury, in May, 1442. He was afterwards ap- 
 pointed to the command in Ireland, with the title of Earl 
 of Wexford. But his presence was soon found indispen - 
 sable for carrying on the war in France. His promptitude 
 and valour protracted the fall of Houen a brief space. Per- 
 ceiving that the French had gained a rampart which had 
 been entrusted to the charge of the citizens, he rushed to 
 the spot, precipitated himself upon the assailants, hurling 
 the foremost of them into the ditch beneath, and having 
 repelled the enemy, put the treacherous sentinels to the 
 sword. In 1452, the veteran warrior, now in his eightieth 
 year, again took the field, performing his usual wonders. 
 Landing with four thousand men, and supported by the 
 
 86 
 
278 
 
 ALTON. 
 
 good- will of the Gascons, he advanced upon Bourdeaux, 
 whereupon the French garrison, frightened, as Fuller 
 quaintly observes, by the bare fame of his approach, fled 
 from the spot. Chatillon having surrendered soon after- 
 wards to his arms, Charles despatched a formidable force 
 to recover it, and Talbot hastened to sustain his capture. 
 By the celerity of his movements, he surprised and cut to 
 pieces a French detachment ; but on approaching the body 
 of the enemy, he found it advantageously posted and well 
 prepared to sustain his attack, being strongly entrenched, 
 and provided with a field of artillery. Undismayed, how- 
 ever, by the fearful odds, and flushed by his recent success, 
 the veteran hazarded an assault, and was so gallantly sup- 
 ported by his men, that for a time the balance of victory 
 hung in suspense. But a shot having struck down their 
 general, and fresh troops coming up at the critical moment, 
 the English gave way and retreated on all sides. Talbot 
 was first buried at Rouen, but his body was afterwards 
 removed to Whitchurch, in Shropshire.* 
 
 Charles Talbot, twelfth Earl Shrewsbury, (created also 
 Marquis of Alton and Duke of Shrewsbury) filled several 
 important offices of state under James II., William and 
 Mary, and Queen Anne. 
 
 Alveton Castle was gari'isoned during the civil wars, 
 with a force of about forty or fifty men. In February, 
 1C45, a Mr. Thomas Salt was Governor, apparently for the 
 Parliamentarians ; and a tradition is current in the village, 
 that the castle was destroyed by the firing of their artillery 
 from the opposite hills. 
 
 The parish-church, near the castle, is a plain struc- 
 ture, with a square tower. Those portions of the original 
 fabric that remain, are in the later Norman style. It was 
 repewed in 1831, and is now in excellent repair. The living 
 is a vicarage, in the gift of Earl Shrewsbury ; the Rev. 
 J. P. Jones is the present incumbent. 
 
 * Cunningham's Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen. 
 
ALTON. 
 
 •279 
 
 The parish is a large one, containing about 8,000 acres, 
 and extending nearly ten miles from north-east to south- 
 west. The manor is co-extensive with the parish. The 
 Earl of Shrewsbury holds a court-leet annually in the 
 moot-hall. 
 
 In the population returns, Cotton, Denston, and Farley, 
 are included with Alveton ; the number of inhabitants is 
 stated to be 2,391, and the annual value of the real property 
 is assessed at ^8,726. 
 
 The ancient custom of presenting garlands of flowers to 
 newly-married couples on leaving the church, is prevalent 
 among the villagers of Alton. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Ancient Abbey of Croxden — Its Foundation and Endowments — Extracts 
 from tbe Charter and Chronicle. — Barrow Hill, — Rocester — Ancient Abbey 
 — Extracts from the Charter, &c. — The Church and Village. 
 
 The ruins of the once extensive Abbey of Croxden are 
 situated in a narrow valley watered by a small rivulet, in 
 the hamlet of Croxden, about two miles south of Alton, 
 and seven miles south-west of Ashbourn. In the year 
 1176, Bertram de Verdun gave to the Cistercian monks of 
 Aulney, in Normandy, a piece of ground at Chotes where- 
 on to build an Abbey of that order, which was in three 
 years removed to Crokesden or Croxden. Chotes or Cho- 
 tene. Bishop Tanner supposes to have been Cotton or 
 Cawton, a member of the lordship of Alveton, the seat of 
 the Verdons. Erom De Verdun's charter,* a translation of 
 which is annexed, it appears that the monastery was dedi- 
 cated to the Blessed Virgin, and styled, ^ Abbatia de Valli 
 Beatse Marise de Croxden': — f 
 
 *The original (Latin) in "Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum". 
 f The circumstances of its foundation are curiously set forth in the following 
 ancient rhymes : — 
 
 . " Bertram son of the noble Norman Verdon 
 Founded the famous Abbey of Croxden 
 W^hen Henry the Second was England's King 
 He did perform this very great thing 
 
CROXDEN ABi5EY. 
 
 281 
 
 "Bertram de Verdun to all his men and friends, clerks 
 or laics, present and future, greeting. Know ye that I 
 have given and consigned, and by this my present charter 
 confirmed to God, and St. Mary, and to the Abbey of the 
 Valley of St. Mary at Crokesden, which I have founded, 
 and to the Monks there serving God, in pure and perpetual 
 alms, for the souls of Norman de Verdun my father, and 
 Lucelina my mother, and of Richard de Humez who edu- 
 cated me, and of my predecessors ; and for my own salva- 
 tion, and that of Rochais my wife, and of my successors, all 
 my land of Crokesden, with all its appurtenances, to found 
 an Abbey there, with the exception of the out-assarts 
 which my men [tenants] of Uldehure have made; and 
 except that the monks of the aforesaid Abbey shall take 
 no multure from my men for grinding at their mill of 
 Crokesden ; and except that I have retained for myself and 
 my heirs the right to have as many fisheries and preserves 
 as we think proper, in the rivulet that divides the land of 
 Crokesden and the land of Bretlee ; and also the right of 
 taking earth or ground to make causeways from any part 
 of the Abbey land near those causeways. 
 
 " This my land of Crokesden, and whatever I have in 
 the same village, and all the fee of Alveton, and the fee of 
 Madelie, and the fee of Crakemerse, I have given to the 
 monks of the aforesaid Abbey, in alms, on the condition 
 that the Abbey shall remain in the same village of Crokes- 
 den, founded in the territory of my patrimony. Besides I 
 have given to the same Abbey all my land of Moseden, 
 with all its appurtenances ; and all my land of Aka, with 
 
 In the 3'ear one thousand one hundred and seventy-six 
 
 Upon this great work his mind he did fix 
 
 He dedicated it unto St. Marj- 
 
 Of the order of Bernardino monks to he 
 
 One hundred pounds six shillings and seven pence 
 
 In lands he gave for its defence 
 
 Besides many other great gifts given 
 
 By persons devout for to gain heaven." 
 
282 
 
 CROXDEN ABBEY. 
 
 the wood or grove belonging to it, and all its other appur- 
 tenances; and my salt- work at Middilwich; and all the 
 service that Achard de Stanfort and his heirs owe to me for 
 the tenement which he holds of me in the village of Stan- 
 fort, and in the village of Castretone ; and my mill of 
 Stanfort, which is between the bridge and the castle, with 
 all its appurtenances ; and all the land which I have in the 
 same village of Stanfort ; and the service of Ralph de Nor- 
 manvile and his heirs for the land which he holds of me in 
 the village of Burtone : viz. seven shillings a year, half to 
 be paid at Easter, and half to be paid at Michaelmas; and 
 all my demesne of Tokebi, in the village and without the 
 village, wood and plain, meadows and pastures, waters and 
 ways, and foot-paths, and the whole of the herbage belong- 
 ing to the demesne ; except that I have retained for me 
 and my heirs all the villanage, and all the farms of the vil- 
 lage, and all the customs and services which the men of that 
 village have been used to do for me, and the rights which 
 those men have in the woods of that village, and all the aisia- 
 ments and common lands which I have been accustomed 
 to have in it. I have also given to the monks of the afore- 
 said Abbey the half of my grove of Greth, nearest to the 
 Abbey, with all its appurtenances; except that I have 
 reserved for myself and my heirs the site of the preserve 
 which is between Greth and Bretlee, and as much ground 
 as that preserve with all its appendages may require ; and 
 I retain the right for me and my heirs to raise the causeway 
 of that preserve, as we may think proper. The monks, 
 however, shall not inclose the moiety of the grove of 
 Greth, on account of the common of pasture which my men 
 of Bretlee and of Alveton ought to have in that grove of 
 Greth. Besides I have given to those monks the moiety of 
 my grove of Crakemerse, nearest to the Abbey, with all its 
 appurtenances ; and one carucate of land in the village of 
 Herteshorne, with all its appurtenances, which is called 
 Lees; and the church of Alveton, with all its appurte- 
 nances; and the church of Tokebi, with all its appurte- 
 nances. 
 
CROXDEN ABBEY. 
 
 283 
 
 " Wherefore, I will and firmly ordain, that the aforesaid 
 Abbey and the monks in it serving God, have and hold 
 all these my donations and alms, well and peaceably, freely 
 and quietly, in integrity, abundantly and honourably, in 
 wood and in plain, in meadows and pastures, and commons, 
 in high-ways and by-ways, in passages and waters, within 
 village and without village, and in all things, and places 
 and liberties to them pertaining, — free, discharged, and 
 quiet, from every service and custom, and secular exaction, 
 to me and my heirs pertaining : and I prohibit on the part 
 of God, and on my own part, any of my heirs from pre- 
 suming to contravene or otherwise disturb this my dona- 
 tion." Witnesses, Robert, Prior of Kenilworth, Robert de 
 Verdun, W. de Canville, &c. 
 
 The charter of Henry II. confirms the above-mentioned 
 donations of Bertram de Verdun ; also a grant of forty 
 acres of land in Troseli, by Robert de Beausay. 
 
 The following are Extracts from the Chronicle of Crox- 
 den, by William de Shepsheved, one of the monks of that 
 monastery : — * 
 
 A.D. 1176. Bertram de Verdun, by the grace of God, 
 for the welfare of his soul, in redemption of all his sins, 
 gave to the Monks of Alney the land of Chotes, to found 
 an Abbey in the Vale of St. Mary ; but he, who agreeably 
 [sweetly] disposes all things, pre-ordained that they should 
 elsewhere praise the name of the Lord. 
 
 1178. Thomas, the first Abbot of this monastery, by na- 
 tion an Englishman, while yet a Deacon, on the day of 
 Pentecost, about the third hour, as a pure receptacle of the 
 Holy Spirit, was chosen Abbot. And for fifty-one years 
 and a half he is supposed to have sustained many labours 
 [laboured much] in the house of the Lord. And besides 
 many works of building, he wrote with his own hand, as 
 a perpetual memorial of his name, two excellent volumes. 
 
 ♦Dugdale's Monasticon. Cotton MS. British Museum. 
 
^84 
 
 CEOXDEN ABBEY. 
 
 forming a commentary on the greater part of the Bible. 
 
 1179. The convent removed from Chotene to Croxden. 
 
 1181. Dedication of the place of Croxden. 
 
 1192. Bertram de Verdun of pious memory, the founder 
 of the monastery, died, and was buried at Acre in Pales- 
 tine, on St. Bartholomew's Day. 
 
 1199. Thomas de Verdun died in Ireland, and his 
 brother Nicholas succeeded him as heir. 
 
 1210. King John extorted presents, at his pleasure, 
 from all his subjects, both clerics and seculars, except from 
 certain poor monasteries. He despoiled the Cistercian 
 monks. 
 
 1229. Thomas the first Abbot of this monastery rested 
 in the Lord on the 2nd nones of December, and he was 
 
 ' interred in the chapter-house, where he lies between two 
 other Abbots, Walter de Shalcumbe, and John de Billes- 
 don. 
 
 1230. Walter de Chaucumbe or Shalcumbe chosen Ab- 
 bot of this house. 
 
 1237. William de Esseburne, the third Abbot of this 
 house, on the 10th of the kalends of October died here, 
 and was interred abroad. And to him succeeded John de 
 Tilton, who resigned his office in 1242. 
 
 1242. Walter London, Prior of , by divine permis- 
 sion was chosen Abbot of this house, and on Sunday after 
 the Ascension Day he assumed the government. To him 
 we owe the special blessing of God on this place, for on his 
 coming he wonderfully improved the Convent of Croxden ; 
 many very fair houses there, namely, the middle gates of 
 the Monastery, the Church, the Chapter-house, and Refec- 
 tory, the Kitchen, the Dormitory, the Infirmary, the Clois- 
 ter, and the Muniment-house, and various other houses, 
 [buildings] in his time he artificially erected ; and for his 
 successors and the rest of the officials of the Convent, 
 he laudably prepared. Also in his last days he encircled 
 half the cemetery of the Abbey with a stone wall, the 
 remainder of which Heniy de Measham, the seventh Abbot 
 sufficiently completed. 
 
CROXDEN ABBEY. 
 
 285 
 
 1248. Lady Roysia de Verdun, foundress of the Abbey 
 of Croxden, died on the 4th ides of February ;>nd was 
 succeeded by her son. Lord John de Verdun. 
 
 1267. Humfrey de Verdun born, on the eve of Pentecost. 
 
 1268. Walter London, fifth Abbot of this house, in. 
 whose days the Abbey was fully perfected, departed this 
 life. 
 
 William de Howton was the next Abbot, who, among 
 the memorable things he performed, finely built an upper 
 and lower chamber, for the cutting and laying the polished 
 stones for which he gave ^100 sterling; and he purchased 
 of Master Solomon, Archdeacon of Leicester, the whole 
 Bible, with glossarial notes, in nine volumes, for fifty 
 marks sterling. 
 
 1274. W. de Howton, sixth Abbot of this Monastery, 
 went the way of all flesh, on the 16th of the kalends of Oc- 
 tober, at Dijon, in France, and was interred at Cisteaux^ 
 and at his exequies and funeral more than four hundred 
 Abbots were present. He was succeeded in the govern- 
 ment of the Abbey, on the day of St. Lucia next ensuing, 
 by Henry de Meysham, who presided over this house ten 
 years. 
 
 1284. Henry de Meysham, the seventh Abbot of this 
 house, gave up the office on account of weakness, on St. 
 Barnabas-day ; when John de Billesdon was elected Abbot, 
 
 1293. John de Billesdon, Abbot of this Monastery, 
 died on the eighth ides of July, The office remained va- 
 cant nearly a year, after which Richard de Twyford was 
 chosen Abbot. 
 
 1297. Richard de Twyford, of pious memory. Abbot of 
 this house, died on the day of the Holy Trinity ; and the 
 office was vacant six months. 
 
 William de Evera was elected Abbot on the 3rd of the 
 kalends of January. 
 
 1308. William de Evera died, and was succeeded by 
 Richard de Esseby, as Abbot of the house. 
 
 Q7 
 
286 
 
 CROXDEN ABBEY. 
 
 1309. Theobald de Verdun, patron of this Abbey died; 
 and was buried at Crokesden, on the 3rd ides of October. 
 
 1313. R. de Esseby, Abbot of this house, resigned his 
 office ; and Thomas de Casterton, Prior of the Monastery, 
 was chosen in his place. 
 
 1320. R. de Esseby was again made Abbot of this house, 
 on St. Barnabas-day. 
 
 1329. Eichard de Esseby, the eleventh Abbot of this 
 Monastery, freely resigned his office on account of weak- 
 ness. On the morrow Richard Schepesheved was raised to 
 the honour, in his room. 
 
 1335. Richard de Schepesheved, the thirteenth Abbot of 
 Crokysden, began to construct a new chamber for himself 
 between the Kitchen, the Infirmary, and the Dormitory ; 
 and the next year, at great cost, he completed it. 
 
 Among the subsequent Abbots of Croxden, whose names 
 are recorded, are Alexander de Cowley, Philip Ludlow, 
 John Bromefield, Ralph Layland, Stephen Cadde, William 
 Gunslow, Roger Prestone, William Burton, John de 
 Chekewalton, John Shipton, and lastly, Thomas Chawner, 
 who was Abbot at the Dissolution. Tanner says that be- 
 \ sides the Abbot, the foundation consisted of twelve Monks.* 
 
 Of the seal attached to the surrender, being the Common 
 Seal of the Abbey, there is a neat impression on red wax 
 remaining in the Augmentation Office. The subject is the 
 Blessed Virgin and her Infant ; she is seated under an or- 
 
 *Tlie temporalities of the Abbey were thus recorded in the taxation of 1291 : 
 Dioces. Lincoln. In HuntiMgdon, 8s. ; in Decanat. Roteland, £6 9s. 6d. ; in 
 Decanat. Staunford, Goscote, Gudlakton, et Roteland, £46 13s. 4d. Dioces. 
 Coventr. et Lichf. In archdiac Stafford, £36 19s.; in Decanat de Ripendon, 
 £20 ; apud Hertescot. in Decanat. de Scarvesdale, 18s. 
 
 In the 26th of Henry VIII. the yearly revenues amounted in the gross to 
 £103 6s. 7d. : in the clear income to £90 5s. lid. They were derived chiefly 
 from the tithes of grain and hay of the churches of Alveton, (co. Stafford) and 
 Tokebi, (co. Leicester); from lands in Alveton, Chetill, Leke, Uttoxeter, 
 Okyer, Glaston, Musden Grange, Calton, Onecote, and other places in the 
 county of Stafford; Assheburn, Longford, &c. in the county of Derby ;' and from 
 property in London, Chester, and the counties of Leicester and Northampton. 
 
CROXDEN ABBEY. 
 
 287 
 
 namented canopy, having on her right side a shield with 
 the arms of Bertram de Verdun, the founder ; Or^fi^etty 
 gules. Within an arch underneath the Virgin, is an Abhot 
 standing with his crosier. Legend : s. abbatis. et. con- 
 
 VENTVS. ECCLIE. BEATE. MARIE. DE. CROKESDEN. 
 
 The site of the Abbey was granted in the 36th of Henry 
 VIII. to GeofFery Foljambe, of Walton, in Derbyshire. 
 
 The west end of the church, the south wall of the tran- 
 sept, part of the cloister, the outer walls of the chapter- 
 house, and some parts of the offices may still be traced. 
 The style of architecture corresponding with the date of the 
 foundation, the windows being lancet-shaped, and the 
 capitals of the columns foliated. 
 
 The parish church or chapel of Croxden is a small 
 building, of a date coeval with the Abbey. 
 
 Stow, in his annals, has recorded an anecdote relating to 
 Croxden Abbey, in the time of Edward III. Under the 
 year 1331, he says, " Such a wet summer, with exceeding 
 rain, was this year, that the corne in the field could not 
 ripe, so that in many places they began not harvest till 
 Michaelmas. The House of Croxton got not in their wheat 
 till Hallontide, and their pease not before St. Andrew's- 
 tide. The Monks, on AUhallown-day and Martlemas, 
 were served with pease green in the cods, instead of peares 
 and apples."* 
 
 King John was a benefactor to the Abbey of Croxden in 
 lands to the amount of £10 a year. The historical reader 
 will recollect, that when this monarch's opposing barons, as 
 a last and desperate effort for the preservation of their rights 
 and liberties, had invited over as their sovereign, Louis, 
 the eldest son of Philip of France, John assembled a pow- 
 erful army to resist this intended usurpation of his throne ; 
 and that on the passage of his forces across the Wash, on 
 the eastern coast, the returning tide overwhelmed and 
 swept away the whole of his baggage, carriages, and trea- 
 
 •Monasticon Anglicanum. 
 
288 CROXDEN ABBEY. MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 sure. In an agony of disappointment John retired to the 
 Cistercian Abbey of Swineshead, where he took up his 
 abode for the night. Here he was seized with a violent 
 fever, the effect, perhaps, of gluttony and excess on a frame 
 already inflamed and enervated, though the common be- 
 lief was, that he received poison at the hands of a monk. 
 He was conveyed the next day to the castle of Sleaford, 
 and thence to that of Newark-upon-Trent. The Abbot of 
 Croxden, who appears to have united in himself the func- 
 tions of both physician and divine, was summoned to ad- 
 minister to the declining monarch. He, it is said, arrived 
 in time to witness John's repentance, but his medical skill 
 availed nothing, for on the 1 8th of October, 1216, the tyrant- 
 king expired. His last words were, " I commit my soul 
 to God, and my body to St. Wulstan. His heart was buried 
 at Croxden, and his body in the Cathedral of Worcester, of 
 which St. Wulstan was the patron saint. 
 
 In connexion with the foregoing notice of the ancient 
 religious house of Croxden, we subjoin some particulars, 
 from the best authorities, relative to monastic manners, 
 customs, and discipline. 
 
 Monastic institutions, it is well known, were originally 
 designed as retreats for those who, being devoutly inclined, 
 wished to retire from the cares, troubles, and anxieties of 
 the world. They were founded chiefly by the gifts and 
 bequests of wealthy individuals, who believed, (as their 
 charters of endowment seem to imply,) that by such an 
 appropriation of their substance, they would secure to 
 themselves, their friends, and sometimes their ances- 
 tors and successors, an immunity from punishment 
 in a future state. At an early period in the history 
 of this country, when the Roman Catholic religion was in 
 its supremacy, we find the monastic houses numerous, 
 wealthy, and powerful, and exercising no inconsiderable 
 share of influence over the character and destinies of the 
 nation. In the midst of much debasing ignorance, and 
 
MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 289 
 
 c-onsequent vice — perhai^s the inevitable result of a system, 
 which locked up the affections of its followers, entailing- 
 upon them seclusion from the world, a painfully rigid 
 discipline, and a perpetual round of superstitious cere- 
 monies — the monks attained to no ordinary proficiency 
 in the chief arts that minister to the luxuries and necessities 
 of life. As conservators of those arts, and to some extent 
 of the literature of our country, in periods when her pros- 
 perity and improvement were threatened or disturbed by 
 internal broil or foreign contention, they have obvious 
 claims to our notice. To the monks we are indebted for 
 the compilation and preservation of several valuable histor- 
 ical records. They were the registrars of public events, and 
 it was their duty to record the succession of the king, and 
 the births of the royal family. The writing of books was 
 a monastic employment in the very earliest eras. The 
 Anglo-Saxon monks were eminently skilful in the execu- 
 tion of their books, and the character they used gave rise 
 to the beautiful modern small Roman letter. A class 
 of monks termed Antiquarii, were principally employed 
 in transcribing the fathers and classics, either for the 
 use of the monasteries, for their own emolument, or for 
 presents. The illuminations of their beautifully-written 
 missals, and other books of devotion, are splendid speci- 
 mens of their skill in colouring and blazonry, though at 
 the same time they bespeak an ignorance of the first prin- 
 ciples of drawing. The binding of their most valuable 
 books (also the work of their own hands,) often in wrought 
 velvet, with gold and silver ornaments, was exceedingly 
 sumptuous ; but the most common binding was a rough 
 white sheep-skin, pasted on a wooden board, sometimes 
 with immense clasps and bosses of brass ; and occasionally 
 the covers were of plain wood, carved in scroll and similar 
 work. The study of architecture, however, was the pursuit 
 of all others, that produced the most splendid results. In 
 the numerous remains of the ancient abbatial structures, 
 in our cathedrals and parish-churcheS; we have palpable 
 
290 
 
 MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 evidence of a purity of taste, a loftiness of conception, and 
 a magnificence of design, which could only follow from a 
 knowledge the most profound of the intricacies, harmonies, 
 and sublimities of the art. If, on a survey of one of those 
 ancient temples, the pride and boast of our land, we take 
 into reflection, what varied acquirements were necessary 
 (not in the mechanical arts merely) to plan and to mature 
 them, we shall at least confess, that the accusation of 
 unbounded ignorance and indolence preferred against their 
 founders, cannot, in justice, be sustained. The monks pro- 
 bably cultivated a taste for the study of the arts before that of 
 letters, for their original works in the latter department are 
 few and unimportant. To their various employments they 
 added the important one of educating youth. In accord- 
 ance with the prevalent superstition of the age, their pupils, 
 the novices, were first instructed in the rule and observ- 
 ances of their respective orders ; and were required to com- 
 mit to memory the entire psalter. A knowledge of the 
 Latin language was indispensable, as was also French, 
 which had been introduced at the Norman Conquest. They 
 were, besides, as the monastic discipline relaxed, allowed 
 to join in hunting, and other popular pastimes of the day, 
 which were deemed conducive to health. 
 
 In this brief sketch of the avocations and attainments of 
 the monks, we have examined, for the most part, the bright 
 side of the picture. " Monachism" says the learned Fos- 
 brooke, " was an institution founded upon the first prin- 
 ciples of religious virtue, wrongly understood and wrongly 
 directed. Superstition has its basis in the will, and there- 
 fore monachism never succeeded but when it was an act of 
 volition. As soon as its duties became mechanical ope- 
 rations, the work was performed, and the principle disre- 
 garded, while the heart left open to the world, was con- 
 stantly prompting those aberrations which naturally result 
 from the opposition of sentiment to duty. Shame is of no 
 avail, where security is to be gained from coparceny, eva- 
 sion, or secresy. Hence the vices of the monks : gluttony. 
 
MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 291 
 
 their grand crime, is the natural pleasure of those who are 
 debarred from other enjoyments, whether by physical or 
 moral causes. Who does not know the noble institution of 
 monks ? says an old poet ; the fame of them has pervaded 
 the whole world ; they consume all things, and yet they are 
 not satisfied with the birds of heaven, and the fishes of the 
 sea; they seek many dishes, and a long time in eating 
 them ; another adds, ' Feed them but well, they care for 
 nothing else.' Nigel de Wireker charges them with hiding 
 many things, and pocketing provisions to eat on fast-days ; 
 and one of their own body says, ' All fowlowe our own 
 sensyalitie and pleser, and thys religyon, as I suppose, ys 
 alle in vayne glory.' Avarice, accompanied with villainy, 
 sometimes characterized them. A certain knight had left 
 1 00 marks by will to a certain house, and lay there sick ; 
 upon getting well, the monks, that they might not lose the 
 money, plotted his death by poison or suff'ocation. Barclay 
 reproaches their avarice for begging alms over the country, 
 though wealthy ; and Nigel Wireker says of the Cistercians, 
 who are elsewhere censured for singularity, avarice, and 
 little communication with the world, that " they wished 
 their neighbours to have landmarks, and none themselves.' 
 Nor from this avarice can it excite wonder, that, as says an 
 antient poet, ' they neither loved, nor were beloved by any 
 one.' They were detractors, disobedient, proud, dissatisfied, 
 rebellious, and otherwise criminal. Alas ! says Alfred of 
 Rievesby, I am ashamed to say how they get together, and 
 abound in detractions and contentions. For, to be silent of 
 lovers of the world, whose whole discourse is of gain or 
 baseness ; what shall I say of them, who, having professed 
 to renounce the world, only dispute and converse of the 
 belly, I will not say the delight of it, but burden.' When 
 they were at leisure they were always revolving temporal 
 matters. * Sometimes,' says an ancient sermon, addressed 
 to them, * when a monk goes out under pretence of serving 
 the convent, he becomes an importunate suitor to great 
 persons, calling profit, however made, piety; and, when 
 
292 
 
 MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 he returns, he carefully enquires the hour of the day, lest 
 he should be obliged to go to the common table and 
 church ; and though he professes to do all this from public 
 good, the true cause is, he does not like the half boiled ve- 
 getables of the convent, and wine mixed with water, and 
 thinks silence and sitting in the cloister a prison. He 
 wants to eat better, drink more savorily, speak more freely, 
 lye more softly, watch more seldom, pray less.' They were 
 ambitious and intriguing. ' An ass is introduced into the 
 church,' says Nigell Wireker, ' a silly animal, that wishes 
 to have a different and larger tail than nature has given 
 him. Thus a religious not content with his condition, no 
 more than the ass with his tail, scorns the claustral life, in 
 which he ought to continue to the end, seeking by every 
 method to be plucked away and transplanted from it ; that 
 he may be able to increase himself with a new and long 
 tail, lay hold of a priory or abbacy, and insert nearer him a 
 long suite of relatives ; who, afterwards, wherever he goes, 
 may rejoice in dragging his tail for him.' They were fond 
 of law. Peter of Blois says, "There is not a seat of justice 
 in which religious men have not a concern, and eagerly ob- 
 trude themselves ; for deceiving the world with a specious 
 appearance of relgion, they are wretchedly deceived; and 
 while dead to the world, barter for and hunt after what be- 
 longs to it.' It seems they were in the habit of attending 
 to law concerns for parents and friends, and being bail for 
 seculars. Their neighbourhood was dreaded much on ac- 
 count of this litigious spirit, since they took the property of 
 others away. Pawning was not an, uncommon thing among 
 them. From the levity of indolence they indulged them- 
 selves in writing lampoons, or hunting after news ; and, to 
 conclude this catalogue of vices, that they might go on with 
 impunity, persecuted those who led better lives than them- 
 selves."* 
 
 ♦British Monachism ; or, Manners and Customs of the Monks and Nuns 
 of England. By Thomas Dudley Fosbroolce, M.A„ F.A.S. 
 
MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 293 
 
 "The duties of Monks were these. ' To pray, groan and 
 weep for their faults ; to subdue their flesh ; to watch and 
 abstain from pleasures ; to bridle their tongues, and shut 
 their ears from vanities ; to guard their eyes, and keep 
 their feet from wandering ; to labour with their hands, ex- 
 ult with their lips, and rejoice at heart in the praises of 
 God ; to bare the head, bow down, and bend the knees at 
 the feet of the crucifix; to obey readily, never to contradict 
 their superiors ; to serve willingly, and assist speedily, the 
 sick brethren ; to throw off cares of the world, and attend 
 to celestial concerns with their utmost endeavours ; not to 
 be overcome by the arts of Satan, and to do everything 
 with prudence.' To monastic perfection it seems eight 
 things were requisite; keeping the cloister, silence, no 
 property, obedience, no detraction or murmuring, mutual 
 love, performance of the appointed duties, and confession. 
 Besides, the monks were to be imitators of Christ, love an 
 abject and lowly habit, be cloathed in vile garments, walk 
 simply in discipline, upon rising to mattins meditate upon 
 their actions ; to bear patiently the injuries of others; to 
 him that struck upon one cheek, to turn the other, so that 
 such a change of character would be produced, ' that they 
 who were prone to quarrels, and passionate, would now 
 bravely endure the curses of others ; nor be broken by con- 
 tempt or injury, but bear all things with a resolute heart, 
 and preserve their peace of mind and rest amidst reproaches ;' 
 to converse of and meditate the last judgment, wait for the 
 Lord, and dread the anger of the judge ; never to laugh, be- 
 cause being charged with the sins of the people as their 
 own, constant lamentation was their duty ; to have no pri- 
 vate friendships, because prejudicing the concord of the 
 community, by generating parties, and causing detraction ; 
 to be silent and solitary, because dead to the world ; to use 
 private prayer, when under a vitious impulse, and, because 
 such prayer reminded them of their crimes, and made them 
 think themselves more guilty ; to have respect for their 
 habit in act, speech, and thought : not to be querulous, 
 
 3S 
 
294 
 
 ROCESTER. 
 
 angry, slanderous ; not to regard rashly the lives of their 
 superiors, nor to become rebellious, by beholding their 
 faults; and to walk with their heads down, a custom bor- 
 rowed from the Pharisees."* 
 
 The Dove, whose course we have previously followed as 
 far as the village of EUastone, rolls on to Rocester, without 
 presenting in its vicinity any object particularly worthy of 
 notice, if we except — 
 
 Dove-Leys, a pleasant mansion, seated on the right or 
 StaflFordshire side of the river, and formerly the residence 
 of Colonel Riddlesden, now of Benjamin Heywood, Esq. ; 
 and, half a mile lower down, 
 
 Barrow-Hill, the seat of Mrs. Whyte, occupying an 
 eminence on the same side the river. In this mansion 
 there are some valuable pictures. Among those most 
 worthy of observation, is a subject by Raffaelle, (from 
 the Orleans Gallery) — The Dead Body of the Saviour 
 reposing on the Virgin's lap. Also a very beautiful land- 
 scape, in the tints of evening, by Van dei' Neer. 
 
 RocESTER, anciently Rocetter or Roucestre, is a consi- 
 derable manufacturing village, situated about seven miles 
 and a half distant from Ashbourn, and four miles from 
 Uttoxeter. In the reign of the Conqueror (says Erdeswicke) 
 Hervey held it of Robert de Stalford. " And some of the 
 Staffords of Sandon, either founded there (as I take it) the 
 Priory, or were thereunto great benefactors. For in that 
 part of the Church which yet standeth for the parish 
 church, there are monuments yet remaining of them, and 
 very few of any others. The sight [site] of the House with 
 the demeans being both pleasant and very profitable, for 
 that it stands between Dove and Churnet, a good pretty 
 water. Where it enters into Dove, is now the seat of 
 Francis the son of Thomas Trentham, which Thomas his 
 father, being in Henry the Eighth's time a favourite, ob- 
 
 *Fosbrooke's British Mouacliism. 
 
ROCESTER ABBEY, 
 
 295 
 
 tained it of the King. The Trenthams derive themselves 
 from a house of the Trenthams in Shropshire, which in 
 Henry the Sixth's time were of good account, but now 
 quite decayed or gone, for I know none of the house re- 
 maining, ' this of Rowcester excepted, which it pleaseth 
 God to advance in good sort." 
 
 The monuments of the Stafford family, mentioned by 
 Erdeswicke, as well as the ancient parish-church, have dis- 
 appeared. The present structure is of modern erection, 
 and the only traces of antiquity are a few fragments of 
 stained glass in the south windows. 
 
 It is rather singular, that the name of Stafford does not 
 once occur in the notice of Rocesler Abbey given in 
 " Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum." The charters in- 
 serted in that work, translations of some of which are 
 annexed, show that the Abbey was founded by Richard 
 Bacon, for Black Canons, (Canons of the order of St. Au- 
 gustine) ; and the date of its foundation is fixed by Bishop 
 Tanner, in the year 1146: — 
 
 Charter of Richard Bacun, concerning the Foundation 
 and Endowment of the Priory. — " To Will, by the grace of 
 God, Archbishop of York, R. Bishop of Chester, R. Earl 
 of Chester, and to all the faithful of the Holy Church of 
 God, as well laics as clerks, Richard Bacun wisheth health 
 in the Lord. Know all ye, that for the salvation of my 
 soul, and also for the salvation of my uncle Ranulf Earl of 
 Chester, and of my predecessors and successors, I have 
 given and granted, and by this my present charter confirmed 
 to God and the church of the Blessed Mary, and to the 
 Canons Regular of Roucestre of the order of St Augustine, 
 all the village of Roucestre, and of Combrigge, with all 
 my villanes [villagers] and their families, and all their 
 chattels ; with all my demesnes in Roucestre, Combrigg, 
 and Wotton, with all appurtenances and liberties in Nor- 
 thulle, Denstone, QuickesuUe, Rosintone ; and together 
 with an oxgang of land in Bredley, with its appurtenances; 
 and with four oxgangs of land in Waterfall, with the ap- 
 purtenances J together with the advowson of the church of 
 
296 
 
 ROCESTER ABBEY. 
 
 St. Michael in Roucestre, and the dependent chapels of 
 Bredley and Waterfal : and with all and all kinds of their 
 appurtenances,- in Roucestre, Combrigg-e, Northulle, Wot- 
 ton, Denston, Quickisull, Rossington, Bredley, Waterfall, 
 Calton ; together with eight carucates and two oxgangs of 
 land, and the third part of two mills in Bruggeford, with all 
 their appurtenances — to have and to hold, for themselves 
 and their successors, in free, pure, and perpetual alms, for 
 ever, as well and freely as any alms whatever can be given 
 or granted. I also give and grant to the said Canons and 
 their successors that all the men of Roucestre, of Combrigge, 
 and of Northull, and Wotton, and of Rossintone, and Wa- 
 terfall and Bredley, and all who hold of the custom of Rou- 
 cestre, shall perform at Roucestre all those customary 
 duties, usages, and works, which they have done for me in 
 my time, and likewise for Ranulf, Earl of Chester, in his 
 time ; who for my service, gave to me the said lands of 
 Roucestre, and of Combrigge, and of Wotton, with all their 
 appurtenances, and all the customary dues, usages, and 
 works, to be done by the men of the aforesaid other 
 villages : namely, that they shall frequent the court of 
 pleas and halimot, for all and all kinds of disputes and 
 complaints, and for grindings of grain, and rade and lade, &c. 
 and for all other liberties and free customs. Also that this 
 my donation and confirmation of my pure and perpetual 
 alms may obtain strength in perpetuity, I have corroborated 
 the present writing by the impression of my seal: and I 
 have asked the guarantee of my uncle R. Earl of Chester, 
 to the said Canons and their successors, in confirmation of 
 this grant." Witnesses, Hugh Wac, &c. &c. 
 
 Charter of Ranulf, Earl of Chester, reciting and confirm- 
 ing the above-specified donation of Richard Bacun. — " To 
 all the Sons of Holy Mother Church to whom the present 
 , page shall come, R. Earl of Chester wisheth health in the 
 Lord : Know all ye that I have granted, and by this my 
 charter confirmed the donation made by Richard Bacoun 
 to God and the Blessed Mary, and to the Canons of St. Mary 
 
ROCESTEPv ABBEY. 
 
 297 
 
 of Roucestre: [Here follows the list of lands, &c., as given 
 in the foregoing charter.] After promising to guarantee 
 and defend the donations, in perpetuity, the charter thus 
 proceeds : — " Wherefore I will and firmly ordain that the 
 Canons shall hold the aforesaid gifts, as well and peaceably, 
 freely and quietly, as any other alms ever were held : and 
 that they shall have all their customs, and liberties, and 
 rights, and quittances, in all things, in city and without, in 
 borough and without, in village and without, in market and 
 without ; in fields and pastures, in meadows, and ways, and 
 places, and passages ; in wood and plain, in waters and 
 mills, in lakes and fisheries ; in sok and sak, in tol and 
 theme, and infange-thef, and waif and wreck, and other 
 customs and liberties." Witnesses, Roger, Constable of 
 Chester; Roger de Montealt, Seneschal of Chester ; Thomas 
 the Clerk, the writer of the deed, and many others : at 
 Nottingham. 
 
 Charter of Foulque Fitz Foulque [Fulcher fil. Fulcheri,] 
 relative to the Church of Edneshoure. — "To all the faith- 
 ful, &c. Foulque Fitz F. greeting : Know all ye that I have 
 given, and by this charter confirmed to God and St. Mary, 
 and St. Michael the Archangel, and to the Abbot of Rou- 
 cester, and the Canons of Leyes, their dependents, for the 
 soul of Jordan my brother, and for the souls of my father 
 and my mother, and for the soul of my spouse [spousa] 
 Margaret; and for me and my wife, and for my sons and 
 and my brothers, the church of St. Peter of Edneshoure, 
 with all its appurtenances, in perpetual alms. Wherefore 
 I ordain that they shall have and hold the church freely 
 and peaceably, &c. under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of 
 Lichfield, and the archdeacon of Derby." Witnesses, Wil- 
 liam Avenel, with many others. 
 
 Charter of William Basset, relative to the Church of 
 Wodeford. — "William Bassett, to all the faithful, &c. greet- 
 ing: Know all ye that for the salvation of my own soul, 
 and that of my wife, and for the soul of William Bassett, 
 my father ; and for the souls of all my predecessors and 
 
298 
 
 ROCESTER ABBEY. 
 
 successors, I have given, and by this charter confirmed, in 
 pure and perpetual alms, to the church of St. Mary of Rou- 
 cester, and the Canons Regular there, the church of Wode- 
 ford, with all its appurtenances and liberties ; thus ratifying 
 the gift of the same church to the Canons of Roucester, by 
 my father Will. Bassett, and Osmund Bassett." Witnesses, 
 Thomas, Abbot of Crokesdene, &c. 
 
 Three other charters of the Abbey are inserted in the 
 Monasticon: one of William de Greselei, relative to his 
 gift of certain lands in Kingston, and the advowson of the 
 church in that village ; another, of Patrick de Modberley, 
 concerning the moiety of the church of Mobberly, in Che- 
 shire, and certain lands there, with which he endowed the 
 Abbey ; and lastly, the charter of Henry III. confirming 
 the donation of Richard Bacun. 
 
 In the 16th Richard II. Sir Rob. Belknap, Knight, 
 defunct, gave the manor of Sharstede, near Roucester, a 
 moiety of Lydesinge, and other lands to this Convent, to 
 find a priest to sing for his soul. 
 
 There were two Cells belonging to this House, Lees, in 
 Staffordshire ; and Halywell, in Warwickshire. 
 
 The names of the Abbots in succession from July 3 1st, 
 ] 255, to the Dissolution, are — Richard, Walter, Walter de 
 Dodelle, Robert Prior of Greseley, Roger de Lughteburgh, 
 Walter de Aston, Gilbert de Bosco, Henry de Hopton, 
 William, Thomas de Roucestre, John de Chesewardin, 
 Robert de Bawkewelle, Henry Smith, John Hanbury, 
 Robert Twys, and William Grafton. 
 
 No remains of the Abbey are now in existence. 
 
 An impression of the seal of this Priory is yet remaining 
 in the Augmentation Office. The subject is a prior hold- 
 ing a crosier in his right hand and a book in his left ; on 
 each side of him are monks praying, and over his head a 
 representation of the Virgin Mary, with the divine infant, 
 having an angel on each side of them; legend imperfect. 
 
 The site of Roucester was granted, in the 31st Henry 
 YIII. to Richard Trentham, Esq. The reversion of it had 
 
ROCESTER. 
 
 299 
 
 been previously granted to Robert Southwell and Margery 
 his wife.* 
 
 Near Rocester is Woodseat, formerly a demesne of the 
 ancient family of Bainbrigge. 
 
 In the population returns of 1881, the number of inha- 
 bitants in the parish of Rocester is stated to be 1,040. They 
 are employed chiefly in the cotton- spinning factory be- 
 longing to Thomas Houldsworth, Esq. 
 
 The annual value of the real property in the parish is 
 assessed at ^6,374. 
 
 A branch of the Grand Junction Canal passes by the 
 village. 
 
 The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the 
 devisees of the late Thomas Bainbrigge, Esq., in whom also 
 the manorial rights of the parish are vested. The Rev. 
 George Hake is the present incumbent. 
 
 •The revenues of the Abbey at the Dissolution amounted in the gross to 
 £129 12s. 2d.— derived from property in Rocester, Waterfall, Cambrigg, Elas- 
 tone, Quykesell, Denston, Stanton, Swynscoo, (co. Stafford); Clowmans, Hog- 
 naston, Sedsall, Kynston, Somersall, Scropton, Edynsor, (co. Derby); and 
 Woodford, (co. Northampton.) — Monasticon Anglicamm. 
 
CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 Crakemarsh, the Seat of Sir Thomas Cotton Sheppard, Bart, — Uttoxeler — ■ 
 Its Antiquity and Early History — Chronology of Events that occurred here 
 during the Civil Wars — Population and Resources — Markets and Fairs — 
 Church, and Dissenting Chapels — Charities — Ancient Families, and Dis- 
 tinguished Natives or Residents. — Loxley Park. — Doveridge Hall, the Seat 
 of Lord Waterpark — The Church and Village. — Sudbury Hall, the Seat of 
 Lord Vernon — The Church, Village, &c. 
 
 Leaving Rocester, the course of the Dove leads to Crake- 
 marsh Hall, the seat of Sir Thomas Cotton Sheppard, Bart., 
 an elegant and commodious modern structure, very agree- 
 ably situated in the centre of a wide domain of fertile 
 meadow land. " Crakemerse" says Erdeswicke, is a goodly 
 and profitable lordship, lying in a very good soil between 
 Tene water and Dove, at their meeting." Before the Con- 
 quest, it was a demesne of Algar, Earl of Mercia. In the 
 20th year of the Conqueror's reign it was in the hands of 
 the crown, and was granted to Henry de Ferrers. Robert 
 de Ferrers gave Crakemarsh to his daughter Maud, on her 
 marriage with Bertram de Verdon. The estate afterwards 
 passed to Lord Burghersh, then to the family of Delves, and 
 from them to Lord Sheffield, whose descendant sold it to 
 his brother Christopher Sheffield. It was then purchased 
 by a Mr. Gilbert Collier, and by his son sold to Sir Gilbert 
 Gerard, Master of the Rolls, in whose family it remained 
 
rTTOXP:TER. 
 
 301 
 
 many years. It passed afterwards to the Cottons, the 
 heiress of whom (Elizabeth daughter of William Cotton, 
 Fsq. of Crakemarsh) married in 1774, Thomas Sheppard, 
 Esq. of an ancient Bedfordshire family. He was created a 
 haronet in 1809, and on his death in 1821, was succeeded 
 in his title and estates, by his son, the present Sir Thomas 
 Cotton Sheppard, Bart.* 
 
 The market-town of Uttoxeter, formerly Uttoxeshather, 
 and Utcesire, is finely situated near the west hank of the 
 Dove, locally within the Hundred of Totmonslow South, 
 in the Northern Division of the county of Stafford, four- 
 teen miles distant from the covmty-tovvn, nearly twelve 
 miles from Ashbourn, eighteen from Derby, and 138 
 north-west of London. This town is of great antiquity, and 
 from the fertility of its site was doubtless known to the an- 
 cient Britons, but the earliest existing records that have re- 
 ference to it are those connected with the Honor of Tutbury, 
 of which it formed a part, and was consequently included 
 in the extensive grant of lands made by the Conqueror to 
 Henry de Ferrers. Under this nobleman's son and suc- 
 cessor, Robert de Ferrers, Uttoxeter was greatly improved, 
 and we find there were at that time (the twelfth century,) 
 one hundred and twenty-seven burgages in the town, the 
 inhabitants of which were employed chiefly in the manu- 
 facture of iron. William de Ferrers, in the year 1251, 
 granted to the town a charter of privileges, of which the 
 following is a translated copy : — * 
 
 " To all men that shall see or hear this present deed, William de Ferrars 
 Earl of Derby, sendeth greeting in the Lord : Know ye, that we have granted 
 and by this present deed confirmed for us and our heirs, to all our burgesses of 
 Uttoxeshather, that they hold from henceforth freely their burgage and bur- 
 gages, with the appurtenances in the same town of Uttoxeshather, as some of 
 them have formerly been assessed, and others hereafter shall happen to be, wiili 
 free ingress and egress, to be lield of us and our heirs to them and their heirs or 
 assigns and their heirs for ever, as freely and as decently they shall and may 
 hold the sxme as free burgesses, with all liberties, free common, and easements, 
 
 *Debrett's Baronetage. 
 
302 
 
 tJTTOXETER 
 
 to a free borough belonging. Yielding to us yearly and to our heirs for every 
 burgage separately twelvepence sterling at two terms of the year, viz. : one half 
 at the Annunciation of our Lady, and the other half at the feast of St. Michael, 
 for all secular service, custom, and exactions to us and our heirs belonging. 
 We have granted also to the said burgesses and to their heirs as abovesaid, that 
 they may take within themselves upon their burgages aforesaid, chapmen and 
 other freemen whom they will, enfeoffing them or granting them other easements 
 within the said borough without injury to the same, and without hindrance of 
 us and our heirs, saving our service in all. And further we will, that none carry 
 on any trading within the said free common or liberty without reasonable and 
 accustomed toll. We have granted also to the said burgesses and their heirs as 
 aforesaid, and to all being within their commonalty, that they shall be within 
 all our own lands and liberties free from toll wheresoever they shall pass for 
 ever, saving other men's charters and liberties made and used before this deed. 
 All these things aforesaid we have granted within the said commonalty of the 
 aforesaid burgesses for ever, saving to us and to our heirs a reasonable toll of 
 all our said burgesses and their heirs or assigns, and of all within their com- 
 monalty being, when as our lord the king that for the time shall be shall tax 
 all his boroughs throughout England, so as the said tax be gathered by the 
 hands of two burgesses to the use of us and our heirs, and also saving to us and 
 our heirs the ovens and market, with their profits, and the site of the borough 
 and market and of the court-leet also from them with pannage and all] other 
 liberties without our said borough, but so as the said burgesses and all within 
 their commonalty being, have common and herbage within the ward of Uttox- 
 eshather, where the men of the said town have been wont formerly to outcom- 
 mon without our hindrance, so as it may be lawful, for us and our heirs to 
 make our profit of all other lands and tenements, meadows, pastures, woo^, 
 marshes, moors, and in all other places within the aforesaid town and ward, 
 without contradiction of the said burgesses or their heirs. And if it happen that 
 any burgage belonging to us or our heirs, by any means or by fire shall be in 
 lack of occupation or service by the space of one year, then for want of a tenant 
 the whole commonalty of the burgesses of the said town's street after the year 
 shall take the said burgage into their hands, and make the best profit thereof, 
 and answer to us and our heirs for the farm and service thereof, without any 
 claim of him or, his, who first held the said burgage : wherefore we will and 
 grant for us and our heirs, that all things aforesaid be observed and kept to the 
 said burgesses and their heirs for ever. In witness whereof this my present 
 writing with the strength of my seal for me and my heirs I have f6rtified. 
 These being witnesses, Hugh de Meynell, Kobert de Essebourn, Robert de 
 Punchardun, Richard de Mortimer, Jeffrey de Caudrey, Robert de Merinton^ 
 Thomas, (then rector of the church of Uttoxeter) Robert de Stretton, clerk,, 
 Jordan de Grindon, John de Twyford, clerk, and William de Rolleston. Dated 
 at Uttoxeter on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the year of 
 the reign of king Henry, son of king John, the six-and-thirtieth."* 
 
 ♦History of Tiitburvj, appendix, p. 384, 5, 6. 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 ■ 303 
 
 About the year 1255, Robert de Ferrers, the last Earl of 
 Derby, gave to John de Sulney, and his heirs and assigns, 
 120 acres of land upon the Brends, in the wood of Uttox- 
 eter, with the timber growing thereon, to be held of him 
 and his heirs, unless they should be religious men or Jews, 
 freely with house-boote and hay-boote, throughout the 
 Ward of Ultoxeter, and rights of common in his forest of 
 Needwood. In the same year he granted letters patent to 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, of Uttoxeter, (a direct ancestor of the 
 celebrated statesman and soldier), and his heirs, empow- 
 ering them ' to hunt and course the fox and hare within the 
 precincts of his forest of Needwood, with eight braches and 
 four greyhounds.' 
 
 The town and manor of Uttoxeter passed with the rest 
 of the Honor of Tutbury, from the Earls of Derby to 
 Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, who in 21 Edward L, (1292) 
 claimed free warren in Uttoxeter, a market on Wednesday 
 in each week, and a fair annually on the eve and nativity 
 of the Blessed Virgin. These liberties appear to have been 
 confirmed by grant from the crown to Thomas, second Earl 
 of Lancaster. Li this reign the number of burgages had 
 increased to 140, and there were in the town two forges. 
 The free fishery of the Dove, with another fishery in the 
 pool of Uttoxhather, was estimated at £\ 5s. annually. 
 There was a payment of 12s. by ancient custom at the two 
 great courts; and at the feast of St. Martin another pay- 
 ment of 5s. as a poll-tax upon young men ; the sum total 
 payable from the town to the .Lords of the Honor, including 
 the rents of assize of free tenants, and other customary 
 dues, was £Ql 5s. 5d. The advowson of the church was 
 valued at £66 13s. 4d. 
 
 Henry IV., on whose accession the Honor of Tutbury 
 was annexed to the crown, granted to Sir John Bagot, 
 ancestor of the present Lord Bagot, an annuity of forty 
 marks, payable from Uttoxeter. Others received similar 
 grants, it being the policy of Henry thus to attach his 
 most powerful nobles, by giving them an interest in the 
 
804 
 
 UTTOXETEK, 
 
 maintenance of liis possessions against tlie aggressions of 
 the disaffected. On tlie rising of the Earl of Northumber- 
 land, however, a body of that nobleman's partisans, at the 
 head of whom were three brothers of the names of Mynors, 
 of an ancient family residing in Uttoxeter, committed 
 various outrages on the persons and property of the King's 
 tenants at Uttoxeter and other parts of the Honor, and for 
 a time put a stop to the collection of the rents. These 
 commotions after continuing about twelve months, were at 
 length suppressed by the parliament. 
 
 From this period down to the reign of Charles I. there is 
 little to be recorded of the town of Uttoxeter. On the 24th 
 of May, 1625, Charles sold the manor to William, Lord 
 Craven ; Sir George Whitmore, Sir William V/hitmore, and 
 Mr. Gibson, who resold it again to several of the inhabi- 
 tants, for ^3,120; and these inhabitants conveyed to the 
 various occupiers their interest in the same.* 
 
 The Ward of Uttoxeter, one of the five divisions of 
 Need wood Forest) on which the inhabitants enjoyed rights 
 of common, v*^as about this time inclosed by the crown, 
 not, however, without a strenuous opposition on the part of 
 the freeholders. One-half the Ward was at length appor- 
 tioned to them in lieu of their rights of common ; and the 
 King's moiety was granted in 1639, to Mr. Nevil, one of 
 the officers of the royal household.f 
 
 This town appears to have shared to some extent in the 
 alarm and privation consequent upon the civil dissensions 
 in the reign of Charles. The first notice we have of the 
 
 *Sir O. Mosley's History of Tutbury. 
 
 For several years" continues Sir Oswald, " Mr. Nevil received rent for 
 liis portion without interruption ; but a few years before the commencement of 
 the civil wars, a party of soldiers, who had been impressed against their will, 
 burnt the rails, destroyed the fences, and laid the ground waste : yet for this 
 trespass several of the townspeople were prosecuted in the Star-chamber, and 
 had not the political convulsion which followed put a stop to the proceedings, 
 the greatest part of the inhabitants would have been subjected to a continuanc<? 
 vexatio.us law-suits respecting it." 
 
UTTOXETEK. 
 
 305 
 
 occupation of the town by the forces of either party, is 
 when, early in the war, the royalists had possessed them- 
 selves of Stafford. From the parliamentarian narrative* of 
 these transactions, it appears that the Moorlanders applied 
 to Sir John Gell, (then at Derby,) for his assistance to 
 dislodge the enemy from the position they had taken up : 
 " Sir John asked them what assistance they would have ; they 
 said two hundred musquetiers and one saccer, not doubting 
 but that they had men enough with that assistance to 
 regayne the tow^ne, and to save themselves. Hee com- 
 manded his Major MoUanus immediately with two hundred 
 ffoot and one saccer to march towards their appointed ren- 
 dezvous att Uttoxeter. His Major being there two or 
 three dayes, and nobody coming to assist him, and hear- 
 ing that the enemy increased, was forced to retreat in the 
 night to Derby." Sir John Gell himself, joining his force 
 with that of Sir William Brereton, soon afterwards marched 
 upon Stafford. At Hop ton Heath, near that town, he 
 came up with the enemy, " whereupon hee sett his ffoot in 
 order of battalis, and Sir William his horse, the enemy 
 advancing in a full body with above one thousand, two 
 hundred horse, whereof the Earl of Northampton was 
 general, and soe setting upon their horse. Sir William's 
 horse presently ran away, and left Sir John Gell alone with 
 the ffoot. The enemy drew his horse into a body againe, 
 and charged his ffoot, but hee gave them such a salute, 
 that the enemy, in a disordered manner, drew off and 
 marched away towards Stafford, but left many dead bodies 
 behind them, whereof my lord of Northampton was one, 
 Captayne Middleton and many other brave commanders of 
 horse, and at least one hundred dragoones ; and of our side 
 three carters and two souldyers were slayne ; wee lost two 
 casks of drakes, which the dragoones had drawne a greate 
 distance from the ffoot, under the hedges to save themselves, 
 
 *Narrative of the Services of Sii* Joliii Gell. See Glover's Derby sliirCj vol. 
 i. appendix, p. 62, 3. This narrative, it must be remembered, was written for 
 the parliamentarians. ^ 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 and soe Colonell Gell retreated with my Lord's dead body 
 towards Uttoxeter, with his fForces, and Sir William Brere- 
 ton with his forces towards Cheshire. And att Uttoxeter 
 Colonell Gell remayned three dayes, and set Staffordshire 
 in as good posture as hee could; within the said three 
 dayes their came a trumpetter to him from my younge Lord 
 of Northampton, for his father's dead body, whereupon hee 
 answered, if hee would send him the drakes which they 
 had gotten from their dragones and pay the chirurgeons 
 for embalming it, hee should have it : but hee [the Earl of 
 Northampton] returned him an answer, that hee would do 
 nither th' one nor th' other, and soe Colonell Gell caused 
 him to be carried in his company to Derby, and buried him 
 in the Earle of Devonshire's sepulcher in All Hallowes 
 Church." 
 
 The accounts of the churchwardens and constables of 
 the parish present some very curious memoranda in refer- 
 ence to the events that took place in the town, at this and 
 subsequent periods. The following are extracts: — 
 
 1642. Paid to them that swept Mr. Ward's hall for Xing Charles the First, Is. 
 Trained soldiers' pay here, and to Stafford to wait on the King, £34 6s. 
 Charges when the country went against Stafford the first time, 3s. 4cl. 
 Doveridge men's charges when they came to guard the town, Is. 
 Paid for match, powder, and coals, for some of the town-ends, in Fehruary, 
 £1 OS. Id. 
 
 John Sherratt, for leading clods five days to the bulwarks, 16s. 
 
 Bestowed on the countrymen when they came to guard the town, when the 
 soldiers went to Lichfield, 2s. 3d. 
 
 Paid to carpenters and labourers at the bulwarks, £5 13s. 2d. 
 
 For watching Lord Stanhope and his son at the Crown, lis. 
 
 To a prisoner who came from Hopton battle, 4d. N.B. Fought near 
 Stafford. 
 
 Paid for match, powder, candles, bullets, and coals, for some of the town-ends, 
 in March, £2 10s. 9d. 
 
 For removing one of the bulwarks, and for entrenching, 12s. 4d. 
 
 Bestowed on Loxley men when they came to trench, 4d. 
 
 November. Paid for drink bestowed on Loxley and Tean men when they 
 came to help the tewn against Worthley, 2s. 
 
 Paid for drink for Marchington, and Crakemarsh, and Creighton men, 2s. 
 
 •1642. Paid to Johnson for prisoners which were Worthley's men, 6s, 7d, 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 307 
 
 1643. Fire and candle for the watch, being Derby men, Is. 5d. 
 
 Paid for butter, cheese, five quarters of pease, and oats, to Tutbury and Lich- 
 field, £19 2s. 8d. 
 
 Paid two men for going to Tutbury with provisions, Is. 4d. 
 
 Paid William Ferrall and others who watched the ordnance at the Crown 
 door, Is. 6d. 
 
 Paid Richard Cartridge for watching on the church, 8d. 
 
 February. Charges when the country went against Stafford twice, £5 lis 4d. 
 Paid to the ringers when ting Charles the First was here, 5s. 
 June. Paid to a townsman when he went to guard a field-piece to Tutbury, 8d. 
 Charges to Wooton-Lodge with a horse-load of bread. Is. 
 July. Paid to workmen for pulling down the bulwarks and taking them 
 away, 10s. 
 
 October. Paid down when Colonel Hastings was in the to^vn, £5. 
 
 December. Ale for the Captain and his men, who brought a warrant from 
 Lord Loughborough for fifty pounds, — 3s. 
 
 For 25 strikes of oats, which were sent for by warrant to Tutbury, £2 4s. lOd. 
 
 Provisions sent to Ashburn by warrant from Colonel Dudley, in the king's 
 army, £3. 
 
 For ale, tobacco, wood, coals, and hay for guards and centinels, £2 10s. 4d. 
 
 1644. January. Paid Captain Vernon what he laid upon the township, £11. 
 February 26. Paid to the Committee's Treasurer at Stafford, for weekly pay 
 
 in money and returns, £100. 
 
 March 11, Paid to Tutbury Castle in money and returns, £50. 
 
 April. For a rope to hang the man who killed John Scott, and for a cord to 
 pinion the prisoner, Is. 
 
 May 7. For 8 cwt. 2 qrs. 7 lbs. cheese to Tutbury, £7 15s. lOd. 
 
 September. Levies upon the town of Uttoxeter, £608 13s. 2d. 
 
 1645. January 1. The parishioners of Uttoxeter paid £6 2s. 4d. weekly, be- 
 sides extraordinary expenses to a considerable amount. 
 
 Paid to Prince Rupert's cook for his fee, 5s. 
 
 Hay, oats, beer, tobacco, wood, and coals for the guard three nights, wlwjn 
 the Parliament forces went against Tutbury Castle, £1 19s. 8d. 
 For guides to go a scouting three nights, 9s. 
 
 October. For a sheet, making the grave, ringing, beer, and for burying the 
 soldier that was slain in the street, 4s. 
 
 1646. February 5. The constables' accounts amounted to £975 7s. Id. 
 October 6. Paid to two men for blocking up the town-ends with carts, 6d. 
 Beer for soldiers for barricading the town ends, Is. 
 
 February 8. Paid Commissary Ward three weeks' contribution, £14 13s. 8d. 
 Paid General Egerton, at Tutbui-y, £30. 
 
 Febi'uary 14. For two horses and a man to carry bread and cheese to Tut- 
 bury in the night, being in great want, 3s. 4d. 
 
 February 22. For can-ying two soldiers to Caverswall, who were maimed in 
 the High Wood beyond Uttoxeter, 2s. 6d. 
 
308 
 
 UTTOXETER. 
 
 Paid to Parson Langley's soldiers in bread and beer, 3s. 
 
 March 30. For provisions to the leaguers at Tiitbury, £7 4s. Cd. 
 
 April 8. Ditto, £11 2s. 9d. 
 
 April 20. Paid Captain John Cloyd for pulling down the bulwarks at Tut ■ 
 bury, £3. 
 
 August 26. Paid to Ashburn by the Churchwardens of Uttoxeter when the 
 town was infested with the plague, £3. 
 
 Paid to the inhabitants of Clifton when the plague was there, £5. 
 October. For quartering General Fairfax's soldiers, £20. 
 October 13. For quartering Colonel Cromwell's soldiers, £20. 
 December. Quartering Colonel Oakley's men, £13 2s. 6d. 
 
 1647. May 12th. To 15 men for pulling down »Tutbury Castle, £2 10s. 4d. 
 October. To 46 travellers, or Egyptians, with a pass from Parliament, to 
 
 travel by the space of six months together to get relief, 4s. 
 
 1648. May. For two men watching in the steeple when the town was fearful of 
 an insurrection, Is. 4d. 
 
 For quartering 15 of Colonel Monk's soldiers, 13s. 
 
 1651. For a warrant to fetch in and search for Papists' and^ delinquents' 
 arms, 4d. 
 
 August 20. To ale, bread, and pottage, to relieve the Scotch prisoners, taken 
 by Lieutenant Colonel Downes, whilst in custody, £2 8s. 
 To another body of Scotch prisoners, £1 10s. 
 
 1658. Note. — £67 10s. was paid to the army yearly for seven years. 
 For proclaiming the Lord Protector, Is. 
 
 1660. May. Paid the ringers when King Charles the Second was pro- 
 claimed, 5s. 
 
 1667. Royal aid at Christmas, £44 Is. At Midsummer, £44 Is. 
 1672. One month's pay to the Government, £14 13s. 6d. 
 April 8th. Two months' pay, £29 7s. 
 
 1672. July 30th. A great fire happened in the rear of Richard Cludd's 
 house, which consumed most of the lower part of the town. 
 October 6. Repairing stocks and cuckstool, 10s. 
 
 The population of llie parish, including the townships of 
 Crakemarsh, Creighton, Stramshall, Woodlands, and the 
 liberty of Loxley, according to the official returns for the 
 respective periods, was in 1801, 2,779; in 1811, 3,155; 
 in 1821, 4,658; in 1831, 4864;* exhibiting an increase of 
 2,085 inhabitants in thirty years. The parish contains 
 about 10,000 acres of land, of which 2,440 are in the 
 township of Uttoxeter; 1,066 in Crakemarsh; 1274 in 
 Stramshall and Creighton ; 1,735 in Loxley; and 2,419 in 
 
 *0f this number about 3,500 reside in the town. 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 309 
 
 Woodlands. The annual value of the real property in the 
 entire parish is assessed at ^24,257. 
 
 Among the principal landowners, are Thomas Sneyd 
 Kynnersley, Esq., Sir Thomas Cotton Sheppard, Bart., 
 (who is lord of the manors of Crakemarsh, Creighton, and 
 Stramshall) ; Thomas Hart, Esq,, Lord Bagot, James 
 Henry Clough, Esq,, Thomas Bladon, Esq., and others ; 
 who also possess the manorial rights. 
 
 Much of the opulence of this town is derived from the 
 rich and beautiful agricultural district of which it forms the 
 central point. A fine open plain of many thousand acres, 
 chiefly pasture-land, extends eastwards for a mile in width, 
 from the town to the banks of the Dove, and opens north 
 and south-east with the course of the stream into a con- 
 tinuous winding vale of boundless fertility ; and scarcely 
 less fertile is the district sweeping round from the reclaimed 
 forest-lands on the south, to the bleak northern ridge, the 
 hills of Wever. 
 
 Uttoxeter seems to have been remarkable for the longe- 
 vity of its inhabitants, attributable, no doubt, to the salu- 
 brity of its situation. 
 
 The markets are in great repute, being well attended, 
 and plentifully supplied with corn, cattle, and provisions. 
 A cattle-market is held every fortnight, and there are annu- 
 ally eight fairs, (including three for the sale of cheese.)* 
 
 The canal north of the town, opens an advantageous 
 communication with the coal and limestone districts, and 
 with the Trent and Mersey navigation. 
 
 The town is lighted with gas, and is supplied v»^ith water 
 by conduits from Bramshall Park, a distance of two miles. f 
 
 ♦Cattle fairs, May 6, Sept. 19, Nov. 11 and 27; a colt fair, Sept. 1 ; cheese 
 fairs, Thursday after the second Tuesday in March, the first Thursday in Sep- 
 tember, and the second Thursday in November. The market-day is Wednesday, 
 
 f These water- works were established and are repaired out of the yearly profits 
 of the aftermath of Nether Wood and Broad Meadows (about 120 acres,) which 
 are applied to the repairs of bridges, causeways, and other public uses ef the 
 iown and its vicinity, and now yield about £50 a year. 
 40 
 
310 
 
 tJTTOXETER. 
 
 The church is a neat and very convenient edifice, with a 
 square tower surmounted by a spire, of early date. The 
 nave, chancel, and aisles were entirely rebuilt in 1828, at 
 the cost of d£6,061 Is. lid. — the style of architecture being 
 the Decorated English. The interior is extremely well 
 arranged, and is pewed with substantial British oak. It 
 now affords 1,414 sittings, of which 422 are free. 
 
 Mr. Pitt, who described this church in its former state, 
 mentions several ancient monuments, and an altar- tomb, 
 with a mutilated effigy in alabaster. A chapel of the 
 Mynors family was then (1817) used as a vestry-room. 
 
 There are several monuments of the Kynnersley family, 
 and others ; a mural tablet is inscribed to 
 
 " Thomas Oldfield, Esq., Major in the Marines, who fell during the memor- 
 able defence of St. Jean d'Acre, in Syria, by Sir Sydney Smith, against 
 General Bonaparte and the army of Egypt, while leading a sortie made by the 
 garrison on the 7th April, 1792, for the purpose of destroying the enemy's ap- 
 proaches, ^tat. 43." 
 
 A tomb-stone in the church-yard^ over the cemetery of 
 the Gardner family, bears the following epitaph : — 
 
 " In memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Gardner, late of his Majesty's eleventh 
 regiment of Dragoons, in which he served with honour from a cornet, and died 
 lamented, Aug. 1. 1762, aged 91 years. His widow, for the sincere affection 
 she had for him, caused this stone to be erected." 
 
 The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Dean 
 and Canons of Windsor. The Rev. C. F. Broughton is the 
 incumbent, and the Rev. H. W. G. Armstrong is curate. 
 
 Joseph Bladon, Esq. is the present lay-improprietor of 
 the tithes, which produce annually about £725. 
 
 The Wesleyans, the Society of Friends, the Independents, 
 Baptists, and Primitive Methodists have their respective 
 places of worship in the town ; and a chapel is now being 
 erected for the use of the Roman Catholics. 
 
 There is here a free-school, founded and endowed in 
 1558, by Thomas Allen, a priest, and celebrated mathema- 
 tician; an Infant-School, a National School, built by 
 subscription in 1829; and there are Sunday-Schools in 
 connexion with most of the places of worship. 
 
1 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 311 
 
 Charities. — The gifts and bequests to the poor of this 
 town, produce, according to the Commissioners' Report, a 
 yearly sum amounting to about ^£309, which (deducting 
 expenses) is applied to the support of the ahnshouses, and 
 to other public purposes, in accordance with the intentions 
 of the respective donors. The trusts are generally executed 
 by the churchwardens and overseers.* 
 
 The Mynors family, already mentioned, were anciently 
 seated at Hollingbury Hall, near this town. " At Utcestre'* 
 says Erdeswicke, "is a house of the Myneres, very ancient 
 gentlemen they are." They were distinguished for their 
 attachment to the naval service. Captain Richard Mynors, 
 who flourished in the seventeenth century, served with 
 great bravery in the Dutch wars, and also against the 
 rebels at Colchester. His relative, William Mynors, 
 sailed eleven times to the East Indies. 
 
 Loxley Park, between two and three miles south-west of 
 Uttoxeter, is the inheritance and chief seat of the Kynners- 
 ley family, who, according to Erdeswicke, were established 
 here at least as early as the 18th of Edward III. Thomas 
 Kynnersley, Esq. of Loxley, was High Sheriff for the 
 county of Stafford in the reign of Charles I. ; and C. Kyn- 
 nersley, Esq. served the same office in the reign of George 
 III. Thomas Sneyd Kynnersley, Esq. is the present 
 representative of the family. 
 
 •The Almshouses are Mastergent's, Wright's and Lathropp's, m Carter-Street. 
 Among the charity estates are, the Talbot public-house, a small house adjoin- 
 ing, and Bothara's croft, producing together, £68 per annum ; Dynes Lane 
 farm, near Marchington, (about 20 acres) now let for £40 per annum ; the 
 Parks, let for £18; Thorney Field and Russell's Spring, £25; Red Hill Field, 
 £10; Wilgs Croft, £5; Swetholme Close, £14; Mansholme, £14 ; and others 
 of smaller rents; together with several rent-charges. 
 
 Uttoxetei*is the centre of a Union under the New Poor Law, comprising tli» 
 parishes of Uttoxeter, Rocester, Croxden, Leigh, Bromshall, Marchington 
 Marchington Woodlands, Draycott, Newborough, Abbot's Bromley, Blithfield, 
 Kingstone, Gratwich, and Field, (co, Stafford) ; and Doveridge, Somersall, 
 Sudbury, and Boylston, (co. Derby.) The Union Workhouse is a commo- 
 dious and extensive building, occupying a sit« nearly three roods in extent. 
 
31.2 
 
 UTTOXETER. 
 
 Bramshall, two miles west of Uttoxeter, was formerly a 
 lordship of the Staffords, and it passed afterwards to the 
 families of Erdeswicke, Willoughby Lord Brooke, and Sir 
 Fulke Greville. T. S. Kynnersley, is now the chief pro- 
 prietor. 
 
 A short distance south-west of the town is Blount's 
 Hall, "whereof" in Erdeswicke's time, "Blount, of Os- 
 baston, in Leicestershire, was owner. A man would think, 
 (continues this topographer,) that it should by the name, 
 be the ancient seat of the Blounts, but that is not so. For 
 this is a house of no great account, and but lately built by 
 one that being a little glorious, would have it called by his 
 name." 
 
 Thomas Allen, the mathematician, (whom we have be- 
 fore mentioned as the founder of a free-school,) was a native 
 of Uttoxeter, and was born on the 21st of December, 1542. 
 He was admitted scholar of Trinity College, Oxford, in 
 June, 1561, and in 1567, took his degree of master of arts. 
 In 1580 he quitted his college and fellowship, and retired 
 to Gloucester Hall, where he studied very closely, and be- 
 came famous for his knowledge in antiquity, philosophy, 
 and mathematics. Upon the invitation of Henry Earl of 
 Northumberland, he resided for some time at that noble- 
 man's house, where he became acquainted with some of 
 the most celebrated mathematicians of the age, among 
 whom were, Thomas Harriot, John Dee, Walter Warner, 
 and Nathaniel Torporley. Robert, Earl of Leicester, had 
 a particular esteem for Allen, and would have conferred a 
 bishopric upon him, but his love of ease and retirement 
 caused him to decline the offer. His great skill in the 
 mathematics made the ignorant and vulgar look upon him 
 as a magician or conjuror ; the author of a book called 
 " Leicester's Commonwealth" has accordingly accused him 
 of using the art of figuring, to procure the Earl of Leices- 
 ter's unlawful designs, and endeavouring by the black art 
 to bring about a match between him and Queen Elizabeth. 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 313 
 
 The absurdity of this accusation is manifest; but it is cer- 
 tain that the Earl placed such confidence in Allen, that 
 nothing material was transacted in the state without his 
 knowledge; and the Earl had constant information by 
 letter from Allen, of what passed in the university. Allen 
 was very curious and indefatigable in collecting scattered 
 manuscripts relating to history, antiquity, astronomy, phi- 
 losophy, and mathematics; these collections have been 
 quoted by several learned authors, and are mentioned as 
 having been deposited in the Bibliotheca Alleniana. That 
 the character of Allen for talents and erudition stood very 
 high, is clear, from the testimony of contemporary and suc- 
 ceeding writers. Selden says, "He was a man of the most 
 extensive learning and consummate judgment, the bright- 
 est ornament of the University of Oxford." Cam^den 
 affirms that he was skilled in most of the best arts and 
 sciences;" and Mr. Burton, who wrote his funeral sermon, 
 styles him "not only the Coryphaeus, but the very soul and 
 sun of all the mathematicians of his time." Having lived 
 to a great age, he died at Gloucester Hall, on the 30th 
 of September, 1632.* 
 
 Uttoxeter gave birth to Sir Simon Degge, the antiquary. 
 He is principally known for his topographical notes, and 
 the curious paper on the possessors of Staffordshire abbey - 
 lands, appended to Erdeswicke's survey of this county. He 
 lived to the age of 92. The family sunk into obscurity, and 
 finally became extinct, by the death of the last male de- 
 scendant, about the year 1812. 
 
 That distinguished naval officer. Admiral Lord Gardner, 
 was bom at Uttoxeter, on the 12th April, 1742. He was 
 the eighth son of Lieutenant-Colonel Gardner, of the 11th 
 Dragoons. Having early expressed an ardent wish to enter 
 the naval service, he was rated, when fourteen years old, as 
 a midshipman on board the Medway of sixty guns, then 
 under the immediate orders of Captain Peter Denis. In 
 
 •Chalmers's Biographical Dictionarj. 
 
314 
 
 UTTOXETEE. 
 
 this vessel he remained two years, during which time he 
 was present in an action, when the Due d'Aquitaine French 
 ship of the line w^as taken. After several years' service, 
 he was appointed Lieutenant on hoard the Bellona. In 
 this station he distinguished himself at the capture of the 
 Courageux, whereupon he was raised to the rank of com- 
 mander, and appointed to the Raven of sixteen guns. 
 He was afterwards made post in the Preston of fifty guns, 
 and on the breaking out of the American war, he was 
 nominated to the command of the Maidstone frigate, in 
 which he sailed for the West Indies early in 1778, and in 
 the course of that year was so fortunate as to make a rich 
 capture on the coast of America. On the 4th November 
 he fell in with the Lion, a French man of war, having on 
 board fifteen hundred hogsheads of tobacco, and after a 
 severe action, compelled the enemy to surrender. With 
 this prize he sailed for Antigua, where he was promoted by 
 Admiral Byron to the command of the Sultan of seventy- 
 four guns. In the drawn battle which was fought some 
 time after with the French fleet under Count de Estaing, 
 off the island of Grenada, Captain Gardner led the van, 
 and greatly distinguished himself. His ship, however, 
 suffered so much, that he was ordered to Jamaica, whence 
 he sailed for England. The Sultan having been discharged, 
 Captain Gardner was appointed to the Duke, with which 
 ship he sailed to join the fleet in the West Indies, then 
 under the orders of Sir George Rodney, and arrived in 
 time to participate in the glorious victory of the 12th April, 
 1782. On that memorable day, his ship was the first to 
 break through the enemy's line of battle, according to the 
 new plan of attack, then for the first time, put in practice. 
 At one period of this action the Duke, in conjunction with 
 the Formidable and Namur, had to sustain the fire of 
 elev^en of the enemy's ships. At the termination of the 
 war, Captain Gardner acted as commodore on the Jamaica 
 station, and in 1790 was appointed a lord of the Admiralty, 
 when he likewise obtained a seat in Parliament. In the 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 815 
 
 year 1793, having been raised to the rank of Rear- Admiral 
 of the Blue, he hoisted his flag on board the Queen, of 
 ninety-eight guns, in which he sailed as commander-in- 
 chief to the Leeward Islands. He then returned to Eng- 
 land, and the following year, bore a part in the action of the 
 1st June, under the gallant Earl Howe. On this occasion 
 his bravery was conspicuous in the extreme, and, in conse- 
 quence, he not only received the thanks of the commander- 
 in-chief, but was appointed major-general of marines, and 
 created a baronet of Great Britain. On the 2*2nd June, 
 1795, Sir Alan Gardner was present at the action oS Port 
 rOrient. Two years after this event, when a dangerous 
 mutiny had broken out at Portsmouth, he manifested a 
 degree of firmness and resolution during that trying period, 
 worthy of his high character as a British naval officer. 
 From this time he continued to serve in the Channel fleet, 
 till the close of the year 1792, when he was sent with six- 
 teen sail of the line, to reinforce the fleet off Cadiz. He 
 was afterwards appointed to succeed Admiral Kingsmill, 
 the naval commander in Ireland, being previously raised to 
 the dignity of an Irish peer. This post he continued 
 to hold till the year 1807, when he was appointed Admiral 
 of the Channel fleet, a command which ill health soon 
 compelled him to relinquish. He died in 1810, and was 
 buried in the abbey church of Bath, with the grandeur 
 and solemnity due to his rank and merit. — He sat in three 
 successive parliaments. In 1790 he was returned for the 
 town of Plymouth; and in 1796, he was colleague to Mr. 
 Fox, in the representation of Westminster, on which oc- 
 casion he was opposed by the celebrated John Horne 
 Tooke, whose wit, satire, and eloquence, were more alarm- 
 ing to the Admiral than a shower of cannon-balls from an 
 enemy's fleet. Notwithstanding, he once more offered him- 
 self for the same city, and was again successful. At this 
 time, Mr. Fox, in addressing the electors said, " A noble 
 Admiral has been proposed to you. I certainly cannot 
 boast of agreeing with him in political opinions ; but whom 
 
316 
 
 UTTOXETER. 
 
 could the electors pitch upon more worth of their choice, 
 than the noble lord, in his private character universally 
 respected, and a man who has served his country with a 
 zeal, a gallantry, a spirit, and a splendour, that will reflect 
 upon him immortal honour." Admiral Gardner married 
 early in life, Susannah Hyde, only daughter of Francis 
 Oale, Esq., a planter in Liguania.* 
 
 Mr. Samuel Bentley, of Uttoxeter, published in 1774, a 
 volume of poems, one of which is entitled, " The River 
 Dove : a Lyric Pastoral," — a kind of rhyming description 
 of the river and its scenery.f 
 
 Mary Howitt, the delightful poetess, whose writings, 
 especially those for the young, are so favourably known to 
 the world, is a native of Uttoxeter, and the greater part of 
 her early life was spent here. Her maiden name was 
 Botham,J and her parents were members of the Society of 
 
 *Imperial and County Annual Register, for 1810. 
 f The following is a specimen of Mr. Bentley 's style : — 
 
 " Uttoxeter, sweet are thy views ! 
 
 Each scene of my past boyish days, 
 Past pleasure in fancy renews, 
 
 While gratitude sings in thy praise ; 
 Here Plenty with copious honi. 
 
 Dispenses her bounties around, 
 And rosy thy sons, like the mom, 
 
 In health, and in spirits abound. 
 
 " Thy buildings, what tho' they are plain , 
 
 And boast no magnificent dome. 
 Enough for the wise may contain. 
 
 Enjoying true pleasure at home j 
 How happy the poor who enjoy ! 
 
 Possessions o'er want to prevail ; 
 AVhose hills daily bread can supply, 
 
 And sweet milky tribute the vale." 
 
 +" She is, by her mother's side, directly descended from Mr. William Wood, 
 the Irish patentee, about whose halfpence, minted under a contract from the 
 government of George IT., Dean Swift raised such a disturbance with his 
 ' Drapier's Letters,' preventing the issue of the coinage, and saddling Mr. Wood 
 with loss of £600,000. Sir Robert Wapole, the minister, resisted all recom- 
 
UTTOXETER. 
 
 317 
 
 Friends. She first became known to the public as an 
 authoress, shortly after her marriage, about the year 1822, 
 when in conjunction, with her partner, William Howitt, 
 himself a poet of congenial taste and disposition, and of the 
 same religious persuasion, she published a volume of poetry, 
 under the title of "The Forest Minstrel, and other Poems," 
 This production is characteristic of both its writers in the 
 particular walks of poetry in which they were hereafter to 
 excel, the one in delineating natural scenery and rural life, 
 the other in reviving the tradition and the legend of ancient 
 times. 
 
 A singular circumstance is related of Dr Johnson, as hav- 
 ing occurred in this town. His father, Michael Johnson, 
 who was a bookseller at Lichfield, was accustomed to attend 
 the weekly market at Uttoxeter, with a stall for the sale of 
 books. Samuel sometimes accompanied him, but on one 
 occasion, from motives of pride, he positively refused to do 
 so. This act of disobedience afterwards preyed so acutely 
 on his conscience, that he could not rest satisfied until, by 
 a kind of self-imposed penance, he had endeavoured to 
 expiate it. He accordingly proceeded to Uttoxeter, in very 
 inclement weather, and stood for an hour, bare-headed and 
 in the rain, upon the very spot which his father's stall used 
 to occupy, the boys all the while hooting him in the street. 
 
 The village of Doveridge, (co. Derby,) in Domesday- 
 Book called Duhrigge, is situated on the banks of the Dove, 
 one mile and a half east of Uttoxeter. The parish com- 
 prises also the hamlets of Eaton Dovedale and West 
 Broughton. The manor of Doveridge, which had belonged 
 to Edwin, Earl of Mercia, was held by the Prior of Tut- 
 bury under Henry de Ferrers. It appears to have been 
 given to the Priory by Bertha, the wife of that nobleman. 
 
 pense for his loss, although Sir Isaac Newton, who was appointed to assay the 
 coinage, pronounced it better than the contract required, and Mr. Wood, of 
 course, justly entitled to remuneration. His son, Mr. Charles Wood, the grand* 
 father of Mrs. Howitt, and who became assay-master at Jamaica, was the first 
 who introduced platina into Europe.— T/je Naturalist, 1839. 
 41 
 
318 
 
 DOVERIDGE. 
 
 The monks not long afterwards became possessed of an 
 estate in this parish, called Holt Park, to which Sir Wil- 
 liam de Eytoh and Henry Deneston quitted claim. In 
 1552, the manors of Doveridge and Doveridge Holt were 
 granted to Sir William Cavendish, then Treasurer of the 
 Chamber. Henry Cavendish, Esq., his descendant, held 
 some important offices in the revenue department ill Ire- 
 land, and was created a baronet in 1755. Sarah, the lady 
 of his son. Sir Henry Cavendish, was in 1792 created 
 Baroness Waterpark, of the kingdom of Ireland. The 
 Doveridge estate was inherited by her eldest son, Richard, 
 Baron Waterpark, on whose decease the title and estates 
 devolved to Henry, his eldest son, the present Baron. His 
 Lordship is descended from a branch of the same family 
 as the Dukes of Devonshire. 
 
 A market on Thursday, at Dovebrugge, was granted in 
 in 1275, to the Prior of Tutbury, but it has long been dis- 
 continued. 
 
 Doveridge House, the seat of Lord Waterpark, is a spa- 
 cious and substantial edifice, chiefly remarkable for its fine 
 situation, — the crowning point of a rising ground which 
 overlooks the river, and commands a fine open view of the 
 vale and town of Uttoxeter, bounded by a distant range of 
 hills. The building was commenced in 1769, by the Right 
 Hon. Sir Henry Cavendish, Bart. The basement story is of 
 stone, and from it rise six pilasters, also of stone, which 
 support a pediment ; the rest of the front is brick. 
 
 Doveridge had a priest and a church at the time of the 
 Norman survey. The present ancient structure is in the 
 Early English style of the thirteenth century, with some 
 alterations of a later date, and consists of a square em- 
 battled tower, surmounted by a spire ; a nave, chancel, and 
 aisles. The chancel has a fine perpendicular window ; on 
 the north wall is the gothic arched recess, termed in Roman 
 Catholic times, the holy sepulchre ; and on the opposite 
 wall, the piscina, in good preservation. Affixed to this 
 wall, is a very large monument, in two compartments, the 
 uppermost of which exhibits two figures, male and female, 
 
DOVE RIDGE, 
 
 S19 
 
 clothed in black, in the attitude of prayer. In the lower 
 compartment are the effigies of three females, in similar 
 costume, also kneeling, and an infant, in repose. On a 
 tablet below, are two inscriptions, one of which is scarcely 
 legible ; the other reads thus : — 
 
 " Gloria Deo in Excelsis. To the memory of William Davenport, of Hen- 
 bury in the County of Chester, Esq., who hy Mary his wife had issue, William, 
 Grace, Isabel, and Thomazen, and died the 24th of June, 1640, in the 27th 
 year of his age." 
 
 An alabaster floor-stone bears the effigies, partly defaced, 
 of Ralph Okeover, Esq., who died A.D. 1495, and Agnes, 
 his wife : he is represented in plate-armour, his head un- 
 covered, resting on a helmet. 
 
 There is a monument to Sir Thomas Milward, Chief 
 Justice of Chester, who died in 1658 ; also one in memory 
 of the Rev. John Fitzherbert, formerly incumbent of the 
 living, who died in July, 1785 ;* and several others to 
 various members of the Cavendish family. 
 
 In 1392, a chantry was founded in this church, by Sir 
 Robert Kniveton, the vicar, in honour of the Virgin Mary, 
 and for the sustenance of poor people ; the revenues were 
 valued in 1547, at £6 per annum. 
 
 The church is dedicated to St. Cuthbert. The living is 
 a vicarage, in the patronage of the Duke of Devonshire. 
 The Hon. & Rev. Thomas Cavendish is the incumbent. 
 
 The manor of Eaton Dovedale belonged in the reign of 
 Edward I. to the family of St. Pierre, whose heiress, about 
 the year 1356, brought it to Sir Walter Cokesey, and Sir 
 Hugh Cokesey, his grandson, died seised of it in 1445. 
 One of the sisters and co heirs of Sir Hugh, married John 
 Greville, whose grandson. Sir Thomas Greville, otherwise 
 Cokesey, died without issue about the year 1499. This 
 estate, in consequence, devolved to the Russels, descended 
 from the other sister and co-heir of Sir Hugh Cokesey. 
 Sir John Russel died possessed of it in 1 556. A few years 
 
 ♦He was the second son of William Fitzherbert, Esq. of Tissington. 
 
320 
 
 SUDBURY. 
 
 afterwards it appears to have passed by sale to the Mil- 
 wards, whose heiress brought it to the Clarkes of Somersall, 
 and it was in 1817 the property of their representative, the 
 Marchioness of Ormond.* 
 
 The old mansion in which Sir Thomas Milward is said 
 to have entertained Charles I. is now taken down. 
 
 The manor of West Broughton, which in the reign of 
 Queen Elizabeth belonged to the family of Palmer, is now 
 the property of Lord Vernon. In 1544, William Parr, 
 Earl of Essex, is said to have possessed an estate here. 
 
 The population of the parish in 1831, was 792, and the 
 annual value of the property therein is assessed at £10,412. 
 
 Passing the village of Marchington,t situated on the 
 south-east bank of the Dove, (county of Stafford) we next 
 approach 
 
 Sudbury, a village, township, and parish in the hundred 
 of Appletree, and Southern Division of the county of 
 Derby, nine miles distant from Ashbourn, five from Uttox- 
 eter, and thirteen from the county-town. The parish 
 includes the villages of Aston and Hill Somersall. The 
 manor formed part of the grant to Henry de Ferrers, who 
 had here a fine park. It was held at an early period under 
 the Earls Ferrers, by the Montgomery family. John 
 Montgomery, who in the reign of Henry II. gave part of 
 his demesne at Sudbury and Aston to the Priory of Tutbury, 
 is supposed to have been the immediate ancestor of this 
 family. In the reign of Heniy VIII. a co-heiress of Sir 
 .Tohn Montgomery brought these manors to Sir John, son 
 of Sir Henry Vernon, of Haddon Hall. John Vernon, 
 grandson of Sir John, dying without issue, this branch of 
 the family beceme extinct, and the manors of Sudbury and 
 
 •Lyson's Magna Britannia — Derbyshire. 
 
 f Marchington formed part of tlie demesne of Heniy de Ferrers, and was one 
 of the five Wards of the forest of Needvrood. In the time of Henry III. William 
 Chamherlen, or (Camden, held it of Ferrers, Earl of Derby. Earl Talbot is the 
 present lord of the Manor. Lord Bagot has an estate here, and within the 
 ehapelry is Houndhijl, manor belonging to Lord Yernon. 
 
SUDBURY. 
 
 Aston, with other estates, passed under his will to his 
 widow, Mary, daughter of Sir Edward Littleton, with 
 remainder successively to her sons hy her first husband, 
 Walter Yernon, of Houndhill, descended from one of the 
 elder brothers of Sir John Vernon, who married the co- 
 heiress of Montgomery. From Sir Edward Vernon,* the 
 elder of these sons, Sudbury and Aston passed to his imme- 
 diate descendant, George Venables Vernon, who in 1762, 
 was created Lord Vernon. He was succeeded in 1780 by 
 his eldest son, George Venables, on whose decease, with- 
 out male issue, in 1813, the title and estates devolved to his 
 half brother, Henry Venables, and from him to George 
 Charles, his eldest son, the late Lord Vernon, who died in 
 1835, and was succeeded by his son, George John, the 
 fifth and present Lord Vernon. 
 
 The family of Veraon has claims to great antiquity. 
 William de Vernon assumed his name from the town and 
 district of Vernon in Normandy, of which he was sole 
 proprietor in 105*2. Richard de Vernon, his eldest son, 
 came over with the Conqueror, and was one of the seven 
 barons, created by Hugh Lupus, the great Earl of Cliester. 
 The first connection of the family with the county of 
 Derby, was by the marriage of Richard, a younger son of 
 one of the Barons Vernon of Shipbrooke, in Cheshire, with 
 a co-heiress of the Avenells, of Nether Haddon. This 
 Richard died without male issue, leaving a daughter and 
 heiress, married to Gilbert le Francis, whose son Richard 
 took the name of \"ernon, settled at Haddon Hall, and was 
 common ancestor of the Vernons of Haddon, Sudbury, &c. 
 
 Sudbury Hall, the seat of Lord Vernon, is a very pleasing 
 specimen of the domestic architecture of the seventeenth 
 century. It is built of red bricks, intermixed with others 
 
 •This Sir Edward Vernon married the heiress of a younger branch of the Ver- 
 nons, who were of Hilton, in Staffordshire; Henry, his son, mamed the heir- 
 ess of Sir George Vernon, of Haslington, in Cheshire, one of the Justices of 
 Common Pleas, by which match his posterity became the representatives of the 
 original elder male line of the Venions, Barons of Shipbrooke, His grandson, 
 Henry, married the heiress of Pigot, and representative of the ancient family 
 of Venables, Barons of Kinderton, in Cheshire. — Mge/na Brit. Derh. 
 
322 
 
 SUDBURY. 
 
 of a darker colour, and has two small wings. The centre has 
 a handsome pediment, of elaborate construction, rising to 
 the roof. The original style is well preserved throughout, 
 and the interior arrangements are tasteful an4 convenient.* 
 Among the pictures in the gallery are portraits of the 
 Lords Cromwell and Strafford, and Sir John Vernon, 
 (three of the favourites of Charles I.,) with others of the 
 Vernon family. 
 
 The front of the Hall shewn in our view, overlooks a fine 
 deer-park of six hundred acres, stocked with nearly one 
 thousand head of deer. The opposite front commands 
 an extensive prospect across the contiguous lake, over a 
 country richly-wooded, and of great beauty and fertility. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the Hall, on the right, 
 within the grounds, is the village- church, a venerable 
 edifice, with a square tower, mantled over with ivy. It 
 contains a number of monuments of the Vernon family. 
 
 A large monument of alabaster, within an arched recess, 
 exhibiting the recumbent effigies of a male and female, 
 bears an inscription in old English characters, as follows : 
 
 " Here lyeth the bodye of John Venion, Esquier, the sonne of Henrys 
 Vernon, sonne of Sir John Vernon, knight, and of Hellen, one of the 
 Daughters and Co-heirs of Sir John Montgomery, by the which Hellen the 
 manor of Sudbury and divers other lordships and lands lineallir descended unto 
 
 the said John Vernon who deceased at in the Countie of Essex,[the 8th 
 
 day of July, A.D. 1600, from whence his body was conveyed and here interred 
 and this monument erected by Mary his Wife, Daughter of Sir Edward Little- 
 ton, of Pillaton Hall, in the County of Stafford, knight." [Underneath is an 
 inscription to the lady.] 
 
 The other monuments are chiefly tablets of marble, and 
 among the inscriptions are the following : — 
 
 " Near this place lyes buried the body of Sir Thomas Vernon, Knight, de- 
 scended from the ancient family of the Vemons, of Haddon, for many years 
 Representative in Parliament for the City of London. He departed this life 
 10th February, 1709." 
 
 " In memory of the Honourable Ann Venables Vernon, surviving daughter 
 of George Venables Lord Vernon, by his third wife, Martha, daughter of the 
 Honourable Simon Harceurt. Born March 2nd, 1754, died April 10th, 1837, 
 aged 83 years. This token of the most sincere affection was placed here by her 
 brother, the Archbishop of York." 
 
 *It was built by Mrs. Mary Vernon, who died in 1622. 
 
SUDBURY. 
 
 323 
 
 " Here lie the bodies of the Reverend Doctor Addenhrooke, Dean of Litch- 
 field, and Rector of this parish, who died 25th February 1776, aged 84 years. 
 Also of Dorothy his wife." 
 
 " The Honourable Anne Venables Vernon consecrated this tablet to the 
 memory of her lamented sister, the Honourable Martha Venables Vernon, third 
 daughter of George first Lord Vernon and Martha daughter of the Honourable 
 Simon Harcourt. She was bom Dec. 25, 1751, (O.S.) and died June 6, 1808. 
 The following lines were written by her elder sister, the Honourable Elizabeth 
 Venables Vernon, Countess Harcotu't: — 
 
 " Accept, lov'd shade, the tributary tear 
 
 That fond affliction sheds upon thy bier. 
 
 Ah, justly lov'd ! thine was the noblest mind. 
 
 Thine manly sense with female softness join'd ; 
 
 Thine warm benevolence, the generous heart. 
 
 Anxious to all its blessings to impart; 
 
 Bright beam'd in thee affection's purest rays. 
 
 With modest diffidence that shrunk from praise. 
 
 Oh ! while we mourn thy loss, thy worth revere, 
 
 May holy hope, faith, piety sincere, 
 
 Teach us, like thee, our wishes to resign. 
 
 In meek submission to the Will divine." 
 
 On a marble tablet to the memory of the Hon. Catharine 
 Vernon, (second daughter of the first Lord Vernon,) who 
 died in 1775, are inscribed some pleasing lines from the 
 pen of William Whitehead, the Poet Laureat : — 
 
 " Mild as the opening mom's serenest ray, 
 Mild as the close of summer's softest day; 
 Her form, her virtues, fram'd alike to please, 
 With artless charms and unassuming ease. 
 On every breast their mingling influence stole, 
 And in sweet union breath'd one beauteous whole. 
 This fair example to the world was lent 
 As the short lesson of a life well spent : 
 Alas ! too short ! but bounteous Heav'n best knows 
 When to reclaim the blessings it bestows." 
 
 An elegant mural monument of white marble, with the 
 busts of the late Lord and Lady Vernon, is thus inscribed : 
 
 " Under a yew tree in this church-yard, in a spot chosen by himself, are 
 deposited the mortal remains of George Charles Lord Vernon, who died at 
 Gibraltar, 18th November, 1835, aged 55 years. A man without guile or 
 selfishness, a Christian in mind and action ; following the steps of his Lord and 
 Master, he humbly endeavoured to glorify his God by doing good unto all 
 men. 
 
324 
 
 SUDBURY. 
 
 " In the same place also are interred the remains of Frances Maria Warren 
 Lady Vernon, relict of George Charles Lord Vernon, daughter of Sir Johri 
 Borlase Warren, Bart, of Stapleford Hall, Notts. Having sustained a long 
 series of ill health and suffering, with truly Christian fortitude and resignation, 
 she died at Poynton Hall, Cheshire, 17th September, 1837, aged 53 years, 
 lamented and beloved by all." 
 
 Beneath the organ-gallery are two sculptured effigies, of 
 stone, formerly in a recumbent position, but now placed 
 upright, and belonging, it is probable, to some early mem- 
 bers of the Montgomery family. 
 
 The church was re-pewed a few years ago, and is now 
 in excellent repair. It is furnished with a handsome organ, 
 the gift of the late Lady Vernon. 
 
 The living is a rectory, in the gift of Lord Vernon, and 
 the Rev. Frederic Anson, Jun. is the present incumbent. 
 The church is dedicated to All Saints. 
 
 By the munificence of the Vernon family two schools 
 have been founded and are maintained for educating the 
 children of the parish in the principles of the Established 
 Church. The school-buildings are very neatly arranged, 
 and the number of children now under instruction is 
 about 130. A valuable parochial library is also established. 
 
 The number of inhabitants in the parish is about 642, 
 and the estimated annual value of the property therein is 
 £6,701. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Castle of Tutbury — Its History under the Earls Ferrers, and the Earls 
 and Dukes of Lancaster. — Loss and subsequent Discovery of Coins in the 
 bed of the River. — Tutbury the Residence of the Queen of Castile, the Con- 
 sort of John of Gaunt. — Ancient Minstrelsy. — Whimsical Tenure of" The 
 Bacon Flitch." — Tutbury Castle and Honor annexed to the Crown. — Anec- 
 dote of Henry VII, — Deer- Stealing. — Mary Queen of Scots confined here. — 
 Demolition of the Castle. — Ancient Priory — Church, Town, &c. — Conclusion. 
 
 Among the objects of interest to the historian and anti- 
 quary connected with the town of Ashbourn and the 
 valley of the Dove are the relics of the ancient and once 
 famous Castle of Tutbury. When the feudal system pre- 
 vailed in England, and the internal polity of the kingdom 
 was regulated entirely according to the laws and usages of 
 that social institution, Tutbury was a place of importance 
 as the capital of an extensive territory called the Honor* of 
 
 •The term Honor, according to Spelman, was introduced into England by 
 the Normans, to denote a baron3'',or the patrimony of a feudal baron ; deriving 
 its specific appellation from its capital, (as in the case of Tutbury,) or some- 
 times from the family name of the baronial proprietor. As a manor might 
 comprehend several knights' fees, tenements, customs, and services, — so an 
 Honor comprised many manors, many knights' fees, many royalties, &c. It 
 was likewise termed a royal fee, (feodum regale)^ because it was always held of 
 the King in capile ; while a noble fee simply was more commonly held under 
 a mesne Lord than immediately from the crown. — V. Glossar, drchailog. Ed, ill, 
 1687. p. 300. 
 
 4t 
 
326 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 Tutbury. This Honor, it has been already observedy 
 comprised a great number of towns, hamlets, and places, 
 chiefly in the counties of Derby and Stafford, and including 
 all those described in this work ; and hence some account 
 of Tutbury itself, and of the transactions of consequence, 
 civil or military, which took place in or near it, may be 
 deemed an appropriate addition.* 
 
 The site of the Castle is a commanding eminence on the 
 south bank of the river, within the township and parish of 
 Tutbury, in the Hundred of Offlow, and Northern Division 
 of the county of Stafford, about twelve miles south of 
 Ashbourn, and five miles north-west of Burton-on-Trent. 
 
 Some have conjectured that Tutbury was the site of a 
 town and castle in the time of the Saxon Heptarchy ; and 
 that they were destroyed by the Danes in the ninth century: 
 but there is nothing of importance recorded concerning this 
 place till after the middle of the eleventh century, when a 
 castle was erected here by one of the dependents of William 
 1. usually styled the Conqueror. Nearly the whole of 
 South Britain was by this Norman prince distributed into 
 feudal demesnes of various extent, many of which were 
 retained as the property of the Crown, forming one grand 
 source of the royal revenue ; the others were granted under 
 various terms to the King's officers, civil and military, to 
 ecclesiastical bodies, and to divers individuals who had the 
 means of purchasing or otherwise obtaining the bounty of 
 the monarch. 
 
 From the ancient record of territorial property called 
 Domesday Book it appears that when the survey prepar- 
 atory to that work was made (about 1080) Henry de Ferrers 
 had the Castle of Toteherie (Tutbury) : and in the burgh 
 or town within the verge of the Castle there were forty- two 
 men w^ho lived by merchandize ; whose rents, with those 
 
 *Some of the following particulars relating to these eA'ents are derived from 
 Sir Oswald Mosley's " History of the Castle, Priory, and Town of Tutbury." 
 Octavo, London : 1832. 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 327 
 
 of the market yielded their lord £4 10s. a year.* Henry 
 de Ferrers Avas one of the commissioners appointed by the 
 King- to superintend the Domesday Survey ; and he was 
 himself one of the greatest landed proprietors in the king- 
 dom, possessing a vast number of lordships in the counties 
 of Stafford, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, and Warwick, 
 besides other estates in different parts of England. He was 
 not however the first Norman grsintee of Tutbury, for King 
 William is said to have given the town and castle to Hugh 
 of Avranches, (Hugo de Abrincis,) who soon afterwards, 
 upon acquiring the more ample domains of the Earls of 
 Chester, surrendered this lordship to the royal donor, who 
 bestowed it on his favourite Henry de Ferrers. This great 
 Norman Baron was led by its central situation and other 
 local advantages to fix on Tutbury as the seat of his power 
 and the capital of his wide-spread territories. On one side 
 was an unreclaimed tract of forest and woodland, adapted 
 for the pleasures of the chase, constituting the all-absorbing 
 amusement of the princes and nobles of that period in a 
 time of peace ; and in another direction stretched a fine 
 valley of fertile meadows, along the banks of the Dove, as 
 far as the eye could reach, affording abundant pasturage 
 for flocks and herds, and furnishing other produce for the 
 support of the household of the feudal lord, as well as for 
 that of his numerous tenants and retainers. We accord- 
 ingly find that he founded, or rather rebuilt the Castle, on 
 the site of the ruinous fortress of Tutbury ; but on a plan 
 much more capacious and magnificent than that of the 
 antecedent edifice. However there are no traces of the 
 work of Ferrers remaining, and the noble ruins that now 
 arrest the attention of the traveller formed portions of a 
 structure raised by a subsequent proprietor of the Honor of 
 Tutbury. 
 
 *Terra Henrici de Ferrieres. In Pireholle Hand. Henr. de Fenieres liabefc 
 Castellum de Toteberie. In Burgo circa Castellum sunt 42 Homines de mer- 
 cato suo tantum vivantes: et reddibant, cum Foro, 4 lib. et 10 sol." — Domesd. 
 Sf^ordsL 
 
328 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 The Castle, together with the princely domain to which 
 it belonged, was held by the lineal descendants of Henry 
 de Ferrers till ^the reign of Henry III. when Robert de 
 Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and lord of the Honor of Tutbury, 
 having repeatedly joined in the insurrections of the Barons 
 against the reigning monarch, he was attainted of treason, 
 and all his estates became forfeited to the crown. King 
 Henry having thus acquired a legal right to the ample 
 territories of the ancient Earls of Derby, took advantage of 
 the circumstance to form an appanage for his younger son 
 Prince Edmund, afterwards Earl of Lancaster, and titular 
 King of Sicily, to whom the demesnes of the rebellious 
 noble were transferred by royal charters. The Honor of 
 Tutbury was now vested in the Lancastrian branch of the 
 royal family of Plantaganet. After a few regular descents 
 through male heirs, Tutbury came into the possession of 
 John (Plantaganet) commonly styled John of Gaunt, the 
 fourth son of King Edward III., in consequence of his 
 marriage with Blanch, one of the daughters and co-heiresses 
 of Flenry Duke of Lancaster, the grandson of Prince 
 Edmund. From this period, the reign of Edward III., the 
 Honor and Castle of Tutbury became part and parcel of 
 the Duchy of Lancaster ; and Henry, the son and heir of 
 John of Gaunt, by his consort Blanch, having ascended 
 the throne, under the title of Henry IV. after the deposition 
 of his cousin Richard II., the Duchy with all its appen- 
 dages, and Tutbury among the rest, was annexed to the 
 crown. Edv/ard IV. in 1465 gave the Honor of Tutbury 
 to his brother the Duke of Clarence ; but in a very few 
 years the grant was resumed ; and ever since, except during 
 the suspension of the regal government after the fall of 
 Charles 1. it has continued to form a part of the demesnes 
 of the crown. 
 
 Notices of the early lords of Tutbury, the Earls Ferrers 
 of Derby, and the Plantaganets, Earls and Dukes of Lan- 
 caster, have been given in a preceding part of this work 
 
 •See Chapter T. p. 6, &c. 
 
TUTBURY, 
 
 329 
 
 most of those personages having been lords of the manor 
 of Ashbourn : it is not necessary therefore to enter 
 further into the general history of those princes and 
 nobles : but there are some facts and statements especially 
 pertaining to the Castle of Tutbury, and the feudal autho- 
 rity of its proprietors, which are of too much importance to 
 be omitted. 
 
 An account of the rights and privileges enjoyed by 
 Robert de Ferrers, the last Earl of Derby of his name and 
 family, occurs in a tenure-roll of the Hundred of Offlow, of 
 the reign of Henry III. about 1255. It states that the 
 " Earl of Derby holds of the King, Tutbury, Rolveston, 
 Marching ton, and Barton [under Needwood.] He hath a 
 free court at Tutbury, in which are pleaded all pleas but 
 such as are specially excepted. And he hath a view of 
 frank pledge independent of the Sheriff. And there are in 
 the said liberty seven hydes and a half, besides the viil of 
 Barton, where there is one hyde. And he hath there a 
 market and a fair ; but it is not known by what warrant, 
 or from what time. And he hath the right of waif there."* 
 
 Edmund Earl of Lancaster, the successor of this noble- 
 man as lord of the Honor of Tutbury, possessed the same 
 feudal power, and the right of holding courts of judicature, 
 within his demesne, at which his officers presided. The 
 manner in which justice was administered, or rather the 
 mal-administration of judicial proceedings in the feudal 
 court of Tutbury, seems to have been by no means credi- 
 table to the presiding judges. This may be inferred from 
 the following extract from the Hundred Rolls in the Tower 
 of London, which also exhibits an example of the summary 
 punishment of a culprit worsted, and thus convicted in 
 the trial by battle, as it took place under the sanction of the 
 baronial court of Tutbury, in the reign of Edward 1. : — 
 
 " The Bailiffs of the Lord Edmund, amongst whom was 
 Clement the Clerk, and others of the Castle of Tutbury, 
 
 *K. 10 : Bibliot. Harleian. 
 
330 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 in the second year of King Edward, immediately after the 
 Feast of St. Michael, (1273,) took prisoner a certain robber, 
 named William Knout, who became an approver, [or 
 turned king's evidence]; and these Bailiffs kept the said 
 approver in custody, and he charged Richard Astell as 
 being one of his accomplices, which Richard having been 
 apprehended, he gave the said Bailiffs ten shillings, that 
 he might escape. The same approver also accused Ralph 
 de Aunsedley of robbery ; he was likewise arrested, and 
 gave money to the said Bailiffs that he might be set free. 
 John Walcepot also was indicted on his evidence, and after 
 being apprehended by the said Bailiffs, was acquitted in 
 the court of the Lord Edmund. There moreover came one 
 Ralph le Young of Rolleston, and charged the said 
 approver with robbery in having stolen a cow, which the 
 approver then had in his possession ; and the accuser and 
 the accused fought together at Tutbury, and the said 
 Ralph having vanquished the said William, the latter was 
 hanged. Also Gilbert Brende being accused by the afore- 
 said approver, gave four shillings to the said Bailiffs on 
 that account."* 
 
 It may fairly be concluded that the officers belonging to 
 the Court of the Honor of Tutbury were not more corrupt 
 than those of many (perhaps most) other feudal courts 
 throughout the kingdom. It was doubtless in consequence 
 of a knowledge of the abuses that existed in these courts, 
 that King Edward 1. to a certain extent superseded their 
 authority by the appointment of Justices of Assize, or 
 judges sanctioned by the King himself, and empowered to 
 make circuits through the realm twice a year, and hold 
 sessions for the trial of causes civil or criminal, such as 
 had been heretofore decided in the feudal courts, or those 
 of municipal establishments, or else prosecuted with great 
 trouble and expense before the royal judges at Westminster 
 or other places where the King kept his court. To this 
 
 *Rotul. Hundred. An. 4. Edw. I. 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 331 
 
 prince, who has been styled the English Justinian, we owe 
 in a great measure not only this valuable improvement in our 
 legal polity, but also the regular institution of a popular 
 legislature 4 for it was in his reign and under his auspices 
 that the parliament took its present form, as consisting of 
 a House of Peers or Nobles, and a House of Commons, or 
 Delegates from the People at large ; for though Knights 
 of Shires, Citizens, and Burgesses had occasionally assisted 
 in national councils in the reign of Henry III. and perhaps 
 at an earlier period, it was not till that of Edward I. that 
 they permanently constituted any integral part of the legis- 
 lature. 
 
 Thomas, who succeeded his father Edmund Plantaganet, 
 as the second Earl of Lancaster, paid homage to the King, 
 and had livery of his estates in the twenty-sixth year of 
 Edward 1. ; and he afterwards obtained licenses for holding 
 markets and fairs at different places within the Honor of 
 Tutbury. He repaired and embellished the Castle, and 
 made it his principal residence; and finding that the 
 people around had been impoverished and distressed 
 through the interference of their former lord, the Earl of 
 Derby, in the civil wars which had convulsed the kingdom, 
 he turned his early attention to a redress of their grievances, 
 and the promotion of their prosperity, and thus contributed 
 to the improvement of his own revenues. These were so 
 abundant that his great wealth must have added conside- 
 rably to the influence he possessed as a prince of the blood 
 royal, and he seems to have lived in a style of magnificence 
 suited to his exalted station. The splendour and costliness 
 of his establishment may be estimated from the ensuing 
 statement of his domestic expenditure for one year (1313) 
 as furnished by Henry Leicester, his treasurer : — * 
 
 The charge of the pantry, buttery, and kitchen c 3495 0 0 
 
 To 184 tuns and 1 pipe of red or claret wine, and 2 tuns of 
 
 white wine 104 17 6 
 
 To grocery 180 17 0 
 
 •History of Tutbury, p. 39, &c. 
 
382 
 
 TUTBUHY. 
 
 To 6 barrels of sturgeon 19 o 0 
 
 To 6,800 stock- fish (so called), and for dried fish of all sorts, 
 
 such as lings, haberdines, &c 41 6 7 
 
 To 17 14 lbs. of wax, vermilion, and turpentine 314 7 4-| 
 
 To 2319 lbs of tallow candles, for the household, and 1870 of- 
 
 lights for Paris candles, called perch ers 31 14 3 
 
 To charge of the Earl's great horses, which were generally more 
 
 than 1500, and servants' wages 486 4 3^ 
 
 To linen, for the Earl and his chaplains, and for the pantry. . 43 17 0 
 
 To 129 dozen of parchment and ink 4 8 3^ 
 
 To 2 cloths of scarlet, for the Earl's use ; 1 of russet, for the 
 Bishop of Anjou ; 70 of blue, for the knights ; 28 for the 
 esquires J 15 of medley, for the clerks ; 15 for the officers; 
 / 19 for the grooms; 5 for the archers; 4 for the minstrels and 
 
 carpenters; with the sharing and carriage of the Earl's 
 
 liveries at Christmas 460 15 0 
 
 To 7 furs of valuable miniver, or powdered ermine, 7 hoods of 
 purple, 395 furs of budge, [the dressed furs of lambs] for the 
 liveries of barons, knights, and clerks; 123 furs of lambs, 
 
 bought at Christmas, for the esquires 147 17 8 
 
 To 65 saffron- coloured cloths, for the barons and knights in sum- 
 mer; 12 red cloths, for the clerks; 26 ray cloths, for the 
 esquires; 1 for the officers; and 4 ray cloths, for carpets in 
 
 the hall 345 13 8 
 
 To 100 pieces of green silk, for the knights; 14 budge furs, for 
 surcoats; 13 hoods of budge, for clerks; 75 furs of lambs, in 
 
 summer, with canvass and cords to truss them 72 19 0 
 
 To saddles for the Lord's summer liveries 51 6 8 
 
 To 1 saddle, for the Earl, of the Prince's arms 2 0 0 
 
 To several items (unknown) 241 14 If 
 
 To horses lost in the Earl's service 8 6 8 
 
 To fees paid to earls, barons, knights, and esquires 623 15 5 
 
 To gifts to Knights of France, the Queen of England, nurses to 
 the Countess of Wan-en, esquires, minstrels, messengers, and 
 
 riders 92 14 0 
 
 To 168 yards of russet cloth, and 24 coats, for poor men, with 
 
 money given to the poor on Maundy Thursday 8 16 7 
 
 To 24 silver dishes, 24 saucers, 24 cups, a pair of Pater-nosters, 
 
 1 silver coffer, all bought this year 103 5 6 
 
 To divers messengers about the Earl's business 34 19 8 
 
 To sundry things in the Earl's chamber » 5 0 0 
 
 To several old debts paid this year 88 16 Of 
 
 The expenses of the Countess, at Pickering, in the pantry, but- 
 tery, kitchen, &c 285 13 4f 
 
 In wine, wax, spices, cloths, furs, &c. for the Countess's wardrobe 154 7 4f 
 
 Total...... 7449 13 Of 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 333 
 
 The sum of £7,500 a year would not be thought very 
 extraordinary as the expenditure of a nobleman of the 
 highest rank at the present time ; but considering the dif- 
 ference in the price of silver, the above sum must be at 
 least tripled to make it correspond in value with modern 
 money. 
 
 This nobleman, who during the reign of his uncle, 
 Edward I. saw the kingdom flourishing in wealth and 
 power under the administration of that great and wise 
 monarch, must have witnessed with mingled anger and 
 contempt the profligate w^eakness and folly of his cousin, 
 Edward II. and the unbounded extravagance and daring 
 insolence of the King's favourite minister. Piers Gaveston, 
 created Earl of Cornwall. With a mixture of patriotism 
 and ambition often apparent in public characters, the Earl 
 of Lancaster engaged in active opposition to the measures 
 of the court, and became the chief of an association of the 
 leading men in the kingdom, who resolved to displace the 
 royal minion, and rectify the disorders in the government. 
 The King was obliged to submit to the requisition of this 
 powerful confederacy, and Gaveston was banished, but 
 speedily recalled by his doting master; he was banished a 
 second time and again recalled, but only to meet with his 
 deserved fate ; for the Barons, headed by Lancaster, again 
 appeared in arms, and having taken Gaveston prisoner, 
 they at once put him to death. For this irregular proceed- 
 ing they with some difficulty extorted a formal pardon 
 from the King. But he never really forgave these ministers 
 of a nation's vengeance on a great criminal. The Earl of 
 Lancaster, as having been the leader of Gaveston's foes, 
 was marked as the principal object of the King's displea- 
 sure, which was manifested in various ways. Lancaster 
 had married the heiress of the Earl of Lincoln, who was 
 prompted to elope from her husband, and seek a divorce on 
 the pretext of a previous contract with a retainer of the 
 Earl Warren. King Edward had adopted a new favourite, 
 Hugh le Despencer, who like Gaveston soon rendered him- 
 
 43 
 
334 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 self obnoxious to the old nobility of the kingdom. He 
 took forcible possession of some lands on the Welsh border, 
 belonging to the Earl of Hereford; and this act ofinjustice^ 
 in which he was supported by the King, was the signal for 
 a new confederacy of the Barons, under the Earl of Lan- 
 caster. They collected a body of forces, and having 
 marched to London, where Parliament was then sitting, a 
 charge of high crimes and misdemeanours was brought 
 against Despenser and his father, who were sentenced to 
 the forfeiture of their estates and banishment for life. A 
 few months afterwards, however, the King procured a 
 revocation of the sentence ; and acting with more energy 
 than usual, he raised an army, and seized the castles and 
 estates of the Barons who had opposed him. The Earls of 
 Lancaster, Hereford, and other nobles, on their part col- 
 lected troops, and made preparations for resistance. They 
 took their stand at Pontefract, where Lancaster waited for 
 some time in the hope of receiving assistance from the 
 King of Scotland, with whom he had made a secret alliance. 
 Meanwhile the people flocked in great numbers to join the 
 King, who was preparing to advance from his quarters at 
 Coventry towards Tutbury, threatening to lay waste the 
 feudal territories of the Earl of Lancaster. That chief, dis- 
 appointed of the expected aid from Scotland, hastily aban- 
 doned the siege of Tickhill Castle, garrisoned by the royal- 
 ists, and marching southward, with all his forces, amount- 
 ing to thirty thousand men, he arrived at the Castle of 
 Tutbury, in the beginning of March, 1320. Here he pur- 
 posed to make a stand till the arrival of reinforcements from 
 the north. But the royalists acted with unexpected promp- 
 titude, and having passed the Trent, and taken the town of 
 Burton, they prepared to attack the Castle of Tutbury, 
 whither their defeated antagonists had retired. The diffi- 
 culties and misfortunes of Lancaster and his associates 
 rapidly multiplied. Deprived of the hope of succour, and 
 unprepared to sustain a regular siege at Tutbury, the Earl 
 determined to return to Pontefract. 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 335 
 
 Previously to his defeat, Lancaster had caused a consi- 
 derable quantity of Scottish coin to be forwarded to Tut- 
 bury, concluding that it would be wanted to pay the 
 soldiers whom his allies had promised to send him. Not 
 having had occasion to use it for such a purpose, he in- 
 trusted it, together with a large amount of English aud 
 Flemish money, to the care of his treasurer, Henry Leices- 
 ter, with directions for the transmission of it as speedily as 
 possible to Pontefract. The hasty approach of the royalists 
 obliged the Earl to flee from Tutbury, before the arrange- 
 ments for the transport of the treasure were perfected. The 
 military-chest was sent off under the guard of a strong- 
 detachment ; and Lancaster with his troops left the Castle 
 but a very short time before the King's forces entered that 
 fortress. In the alarm and confusion w^hich attended the 
 passage of the river Dove, (below the town of Tutbury,) by 
 the fugitives, the chest with the money it held was lost. 
 Leicester was obliged to abandon his charge ; and the trea- 
 sure, buried beneath a deep bed of sand and gravel, the 
 deposit of successive floods, remained concealed from 
 human eyes for more than five "centuries, when it was once 
 more brought to light by accidental circumstances. 
 
 In the year 1831, Mr. Webb, the proprietor of cotton- 
 mills at Tutbury, being desirous to procure a greater fall 
 for what is technically termed the tail-water from the 
 wheel that works the machinery of his mill, he with that 
 view extended an embankment between the mill-stream 
 and the river much further below the bridge than it had 
 formerly reached ; and for this purpose it became requisite 
 to take a considerable quantity of gravel out of the bed of 
 the river, from the end of the water-course, as far up as the 
 new bridge. While the workmen were engaged in this 
 operation, on the 1st of June, 1831, they met with several 
 pieces of small silver coin, about sixty yards below the 
 bridge: as they proceeded up the river, they continued to 
 find more lying about half a yard below the surface of the 
 gravel, apparently having been brought by the stream from 
 
336 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 a higher situation. On the 7th of June the men suspended 
 their work to seek for more coin, and they were not disap- 
 pointed, for several thousand pieces of money were obtained 
 on that day ; as they advanced up the river they became 
 more successful, and the next day they struck on the grand 
 deposit of coins, whence those already found had been 
 washed, about thirty yards below the bridge, and from four 
 to five feet beneath the surface of the gravel. The coins 
 were here so abundant that one hundred and fifty were 
 turned up in a single shovel-full of gravel, and nearly five 
 thousand of them were collected by two of the individuals 
 who were thus employed on that day. They were sold to 
 the by-standers at from six shillings to eight and sixpence 
 a hundred ; but on the day following, as the quantity found 
 decreased, the prices advanced. The great bulk of the 
 coins was found within an area of about three yards square, 
 near the Derbyshire bank of the river. More than three 
 hundred persons were engaged in this search at one time, 
 and the idle and inquisitive were attracted from various 
 quarters to the spot. Disputes, as might have been ex- 
 pected, took place, and the magistrates interfered; but the 
 officers of the Crown having obtained intelligence of the 
 discovery, set up a claim on the part of the King to all the 
 coin which might in future be found in the bed of the river, 
 as treasure- trove, appertaining to the Duchy of Lancaster. 
 A commission was issued by the Chancellor of the Duchy, 
 prohibiting all unauthorised persons from searching the 
 river ; and at the same time ordering a further search on 
 behalf of the Crown ; in consequence of which, between 
 the 28th of June and the 1st of July, more than fifteen 
 hundred additional coins were procured. The excavation 
 whence the coins were chiefly taken was then filled up, and 
 gravel spread over the bed of the river so as to impede any 
 further examination. The following list of the coins dis- 
 covered is furnished by Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart, (from 
 whom the preceding statement is derived,) on the authority 
 of Mr. Edwards, solicitor, of Burton-on-Trent : — 
 
TUTBUIIY. 
 
 337 
 
 The English coins were those of the first coinage of 
 Henry III. and of that in the thirty -second year of his 
 reign ; those of the seventh and twenty-eighth of Edward I. 
 and those of Edward II., who does not appear to have had 
 any great coinage, although during the course of his reign 
 he coined largely. The series of coins of Edward 1. is 
 quite complete at Tutbury, presenting those coined at Lon- 
 don, Canterbury, York, Durham, Chester, Lincoln, Exeter, 
 Bristol, St. Edmunds, Berwick, Kyngeston, and Newcastle, 
 in England ; and at Dublin, Waterford, and Cork, in Ire- 
 land. The prelatical coins of Durham are also complete 
 durmg the reigns of Edward I. and II.: namely, those of 
 Bishop Beck, Bishop Kellar, and Bishop Beaumont. Some 
 prelatical coins of York were also found, and others with 
 the name 'Rob. de Hadley' upon them, which Mr. Ed- 
 wards conjectures to have been struck at the mint of the 
 Abbot of St. Edmunds. The Scotch coins are those of 
 Alexander III., John Baliol, and Robert Bruce, besides 
 which there are a number of foreign sterlings of Brabant, 
 Lorraine, Hainault and the [German] Empire. — The total 
 number of coins thus found is supposed to have been, on 
 the most moderate computation, one hundred thousand."* 
 
 On the flight of the Earl of Lancaster, the King entered 
 the Castle of Tutbury without opposition ; and after having 
 rested there five days, he gave orders that it should be dis- 
 mantled, and marched northwards, in pursuit of his oppo- 
 nents, whom he branded, by public proclamation, with the 
 guilt of treason and rebellion. They fell before him. The 
 Earl of Hereford was killed in battle ; and Lancaster, being 
 taken prisoner, was executed as a traitor, with more than 
 the usual marks of ignominy and cruelty to which such 
 state criminals were exposed. The King determined to glut 
 his vengeance for the death of Gavestone, shewed no mercy 
 to the adherents of his fallen foe : several of the nobles 
 were beheaded, many knights were hanged in chains, and 
 great numbers confined to a prison. 
 
 •History of Tutbury, p. 325, &c. 
 
338 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 On the execution of Earl Thomas, Tutbury with his 
 other estates devolved to the crown ; but Henry Plantaganet, 
 the brother o£ the late Earl, in the reign of Edward III. 
 procured a reversal of the attainder, and recovered his pa- 
 trimony. Some account of this nobleman, and of his son 
 and successor, Henry, the first Duke of Lancaster, may be 
 found in a previous part of this work. 
 
 The Duke left no male issue ; and his title, with the 
 Honor of Tutbury, was inherited by his son-in-law, John 
 of Gaunt, as elsewhere stated. This Prince rebuilt nearly 
 the whole of the Castle, which had remained in ruins ever 
 since the death of Thomas Earl of Lancaster, a period of 
 more than forty years. The present gateway, and the 
 northern front of the apartments afterwards occupied as a 
 presence-chamber by Mary Queen of Scots, are the only 
 subsisting portions of John of Gaunt's edifice. " We are 
 now (says Sir Oswald Mosley) arrived at a period of un- 
 common splendour in the annals of Tutbury : the inhabi- 
 tants of that town had suff'ered most severely from the 
 effects of the rebellion of Thomas Earl of Lancaster ; and 
 the removal of the subsequent proprietors from the 
 long-frequented residence of their predecessors, had tended 
 much to increase the depression under which they lan- 
 guished; anew scene was now about to open, surpassing 
 in gaiety and magnificence any thing which they had before 
 witnessed. The mouldering turrets of their ancient castle 
 arose, phoenix-like from their ashes, with redoubled glory; 
 the rank weeds no longer flourished within the neglected 
 area of its walls ; the breeze no longer sighed sorrowfully 
 through the shattered casement ; crowds of attendants were 
 now beheld bustling through the paved courts ; knights 
 and squires, in gorgeous apparel, were now seen passing 
 and repassing from the gates on well trained steeds, whose 
 trampling hoofs made the massive walls resound ; mirth 
 and festivity once more resumed their sway in the baronial 
 hall, and a state of prosperity, greater than was ever 
 before known, now exhilarated the happy tenants of John 
 of Gaunt." 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 This prince possessed both talents and virtues, but his 
 public career was by no means faultless, and his private 
 character was in many respects obnoxious to censur . He 
 was married to his first wife at the early age of twenty ; 
 and interest rather than affection may well be supposed to 
 have been his inducement to wed the co-heiress of one of 
 the richest and most powerful of the English nobility. 
 Blanch of Lancaster was not distinguished either for per- 
 sonal attractions or mental acquirements : her health was 
 indifferent, and her retiring disposition but ill accorded 
 with the aspiring views of her ambitious partner. She 
 lived with him ten years, and the latter part of her life was 
 embittered by the knowledge of an intrigue that subsisted 
 between her husband and one of her attendants, named 
 Catharine Roet. This young lady was the daughter of Sir 
 Payne Roet, a native of Hainault ; and having when young, 
 together with her sister Philippa, been taken into the 
 family of the Duchess, she was through the interest of her 
 patroness married to Sir Otes Swinford, while Philippa 
 became the wife of the celebrated poet Chaucer. 
 
 The fair but frail Catharine Swinford, preferred her lover 
 to her husband, and attended the Duke of Lancaster in his 
 foreign campaigns for three successive years, in the course 
 of which she became the mother of several children, who 
 received the surname of Beaufort, from the place in which 
 they were born, a castle in Normandy. Upon the return 
 of the Duke to England, in November, 1369, he found that 
 his consort Blanch had died of the plague in the preceding 
 September, and had been interred in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
 London, where he caused a splendid monument to be 
 erected for her, the chief material of which was alabaster 
 procured from Tutbury; and the expense of the structure, 
 including the carriage of the stone, amounted to c£486. 
 By this Duchess he had a son, who afterwards reigned 
 under the title of Henry IV., and two daughters, whom the 
 Duke, with little regard for decency, placed under the 
 tuition of Catharine Swinford. His attachment to this 
 
340 
 
 TUTBURY, 
 
 favourite concubine did not however prevent him from 
 contracting a new and splendid matrimonial alliance. For 
 in 1372, while residing at Bourdeaux, where he kept a 
 court in almost regal magnificence, as Governor of Gascony, 
 John of Gaunt heard that Don Pedro, King of Castile and 
 Leon, had died, leaving two daughters, who resided at 
 Aire, a city about sixty-five miles from Bourdeaux. By 
 the persuasion of the Gascon barons he was induced to 
 espouse the eldest of the royal sisters, and endeavour to 
 wrest the crown to which she was heiress from Henry de 
 Trastamere, the illegitimate brother of Don Pedro, who 
 had taken possession of the kingdom. The nuptials were 
 celebrated by splendid feasts and entertainments at the 
 Duke's castle at Bourdeaux. The knights and nobles of 
 Gascony presented to the royal pair many rich jewels, and 
 medals were struck in honour of the union.* But how 
 much soever the pride of the prince might be gratified by 
 this alliance, in consequence of which he assumed the title 
 of King of Castile, he found his ambitious views disap- 
 pointed ; and after some attempts to vindicate his claims to 
 the crown by force of arms, he was obliged to submit to the 
 superior fortune of his rival. 
 
 John of Gaunt on his return from Gascony to England, 
 with his Queen-Duchess, gave her the choice among his 
 various castles that she might select one for her future 
 abode, and she gave the preference to Tutbury, which was 
 accordingly fitted up for her reception. On the 23d of 
 
 *One of these medals is now in the possession of Godfrey Meynell, Esq. of 
 Meynell Langley. An engraving of it is given in " The History of Tuthury." 
 p. 74. The front exhibits a representation of the Duke of Lancaster, with a 
 wreath of roses upon his head, his left hand resting on the Bible, while his 
 right hand clasps that of his royal bride ; she wears a crown upon her head* 
 to which, as Queen of Castile and Leon, she was justly entitled. Above them 
 is a radiated sun, and around the mai-gin a legend in Latin, which, translated, 
 reads, "We join our right hands with mutual desire under a friendly compact;" 
 on the reverse, within a circle of roses, " A chaste wife is a sweet rose and 
 round the margin, " As the sun of God when it ariaes, so is a good woman the 
 ornament of his house." 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 341 
 
 April, in the 47th year of the reign of Edward III. Sir 
 Robert Attemore, the receiver of Tutbury, had orders to 
 repair the Castle there, and make the building fit for the 
 residence of the Queen, and the children of John of Gaunt? 
 by his first wife, before the next Whitsuntide, as also to 
 lay in two tons of good wine, sixty quarters of wheat, and 
 a sufficient quantity of wood and coal for the use of the 
 household. Additional repairs were also made to the 
 Castle, in the autumn of the following year; a garden and 
 a vineyard were planted for the use of the Queen, and a 
 new park formed under the Castle walls, called Tutbury 
 Park, which was stocked with ten bucks and twenty does, 
 from the park of Castle Hay. 
 
 Tutbury Castle was now at its highest prosperity, enli- 
 vened and adorned by the Queen's court, the number of 
 strangers who daily resorted thither, and the magnificent 
 liberality of the princely proprietor. The town of Tutbury 
 was enlarged beyond its ancient dimensions ; the agricul- 
 turist here found a ready market for the produce of his 
 land, the merchant for his goods, and everything contri- 
 buted to enrich the inhabitants, and augment the value of 
 property in their vicinity. 
 
 Among the amusements of the rich and great in the 
 fourteenth century, music held a distinguished place ; and 
 though it was not of so refined or complicated a character 
 as modern taste approves, it seems to have afforded equal 
 if not greater delight to less fastidious ears. The reward 
 assigned to the minstrel in those days was circumscribed, 
 but the attention and respect he obtained shewed the high 
 estimation in which the art he cultivated was held by those 
 who patronised him. A chair was set for him at the upper 
 end of the hall, w hich he never failed to occupy on all festal 
 occasions; and hence he excited the feelings of the guests, 
 by the recital of mysterious legends, tales of the battle- 
 field, or simple ballads presenting interesting pictures of 
 domestic life. Many such bards had from time to time 
 found a hospitable asylum beneath the roof of the lords of 
 
342 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 Tutbuiy ; but now when a regal court was established at 
 the Castle, under the presidency of the Queen, who was 
 passionately fond of music, and had endeavoured to improve 
 the taste of the English by the introduction of singers from 
 her own romantic country, the number of minstrels who 
 flocked to Tutbury became so great, as to render requisite 
 some rules for the maintenance of peace and order among 
 them. With this view, John of Gaunt appointed a governor 
 over them, with the title of " King of the Minstrels." Sub- 
 sequently to this appointment a court was established for 
 the decision of disputes which might arise between minstrels, 
 styled " The Minstrels' Court." It was held before the 
 Steward of the Honor of Tutbury, on the morrow of Ascen- 
 sion Day, when the jury, consisting of musicians, elected 
 four stewards, one of whom was to be King of the Minstrels 
 for the ensuing year. These officers had full power and 
 authority to enforce the payment of all such fines and 
 amerciaments as were inflicted by the jury of the court 
 upon any minstrels, for the infraction of such orders as were 
 made for the government of that society; and the amount 
 of such fines was returned at every audit, by the stewards, 
 one moiety of which went to the Duke of Lancaster, and 
 the other to the stewards, for their trouble. Among the 
 orders for the regulation of the minstrels are several 
 enacted as recently as the fifth year of the reign of Charles 
 I., to the effect, " that no person shall use or exercise the 
 art and science of music, within the said counties [of Derby 
 and Stafford] as a common musician or minstrel, for benefit 
 and gains, except he have served and been brought up in 
 the same art and science by the space of seven years, and 
 be allowed and admitted so to do at the said court by the 
 jury thereof, and by the consent of the steward of the said 
 court for the time being, on pain of forfeiting for every 
 month that he shall so offend, three shillings and fourpence. 
 And that no such musician or minstrel, shall take into his 
 service, to teach and instruct any one in the said art and 
 science for any shorter time than for the space of seven 
 
TVTBURY. 
 
 34S 
 
 years, under the pain of forfeiting for every such offence 
 forty shillings."* 
 
 The usages of feudal times afford some singular examples 
 of broad humour, which are curious as indications of the 
 character of the age. Such are the strange customs by 
 which manors were sometimes held in lieu of rents or bene- 
 ficial services. Few of these have attracted more notice 
 than the tenure of the manor of Whichnor, in Staffordshire, 
 which required that a flitch of bacon should be kept by the 
 lord of the manor, until claimed by a wedded pair, who, 
 after having worn the chains of Hymen a year and a day, 
 had yet known no repentance. It has been supposed that 
 ^>r the purpose of reconciling his Queen to a residence 
 so remote from court, John of Gaunt instituted at the 
 period of her abode at Tutbury Castle several whimsical 
 customs connected with feudal tenures within the Honor of 
 Tutbury ; and among them the premium for matrimonial 
 happiness. 
 
 Sir Philip de Somerville, whose vivacity and good hu- 
 mour had long rendered him a welcome guest at the Castle, 
 inherited the manors of Whichnor and Sirescote, which his 
 ancestors had held since the Conquest, as one knight's fee 
 and three parts of another : like other lands held by mili- 
 tary service, these were subject to reliefs and aids paid to 
 the superior lord of the fee upon stated occasions ; but the 
 Duke of Lancaster was now pleased to remit, to his favou- 
 rite and his heirs, one moiety of these claims for ever, upon 
 the following singular condition: namely, that he. Sir 
 Philip de Somerville, should "find, maintain, and sustain 
 one bacon flyke hanging in his hall at Whichnor, ready 
 arrayed all times of the year but in Lent, to be given to 
 every man or woman married, after the day and year of 
 their marriage be passed ; and to be given to every man of 
 religion, archbishop, bishop, prior, or other religious, and 
 to every priest, after the year and day of their profession 
 
 •History of Tutbury, p. 76, &c. 
 
344 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 finislied^ or of their dignity received, in form following: 
 Whensoever that any such before named will come for to 
 inquire for the bacon, in their own person, or by any other 
 for them, they shall come to the bailiff or to the porter of 
 the lordship of Whichnor, and shall say to them in the 
 manner as ensueth ; " Bailiff, or Porter, I do you to know, 
 that I come for myself (or if he be come for any other, show- 
 ing for whom he demands) to demand one bacon flyke, 
 hanging in the hall of the Lord of Whichnor, after the form 
 thereunto belonging." After which relation, the bailiff or 
 porter shall assign a day to him upon promise by his faith 
 to return, and with him to bring twain of his neighbours. 
 And in the meantime, the said bailiff shall take with him 
 twain of the freeholders of the lordship of Whichnor, and 
 they three shall go to the manor of Rudlow belonging to 
 Robert Knyghtley, and there shall summon the aforesaid 
 Knyghtley or his bailiff, commanding him to be ready at 
 Whichnor the day appointed, at prime of day, with his car- 
 riage, that is to say, a horse and a saddle, a sack and a 
 pryke, for to convey and carry the said bacon and corn a 
 journey out of the county of Stafford at his cost. And then 
 the said bailiff shall, with the said freeholders, summon all 
 the tenants of the said manor to be ready at the day 
 appointed at Whichnor, for to do and perform the services 
 which they owe to the bacon. And at the day assigned, all 
 such as owe services to the bacon, shall be ready at the 
 gate of the manor of Whichnor, from the rising of the sun 
 to noon, attending and awaiting for the coming of him 
 that fetcheth the bacon. And when he is come, there 
 shall be delivered to him and his fellows, chaplets, and to 
 all those who shall be there to do their services due to the 
 bacon. And they shall lead the said demandant, with 
 trumpets and tabours and other manner of minstrelsy, to 
 the hall door, where he shall find the lord of Whichnor, or 
 his steward, ready to deliver the bacon in this manner : 
 
 He shall inquire of him who demandeth the bacon, if he 
 has brought twain of his neighbours with him ; and he 
 
TUTBUIIY. 
 
 345 
 
 must answer, "They be here ready." And then the stew- 
 ard shall cause these two neighbours to swear, if the said 
 demandant be a wedded man, or hath been a wedded 
 man; and if since his marriage one year and a day 
 be passed; and if he be a freeman or a villain. And 
 if his neighbours make oath, that he hath for him 
 all these three points rehearsed, then shall the bacon 
 be taken down, and brought to the hall door, and 
 shall there be laid upon half a quarter of w^heat, and upon 
 one other of rye. And he that demandeth the bacon, shall 
 kneel upon his knee, and shall hold his right hand upon a 
 book, which book shall be laid above the bacon and the 
 corn, and shall make oath in this manner: "Hear ye, Sir 
 Philip de Somerville, Lord of Whichnor, main tain er and 
 giver of this bacon, that I (A) since T wedded (B) my wife, 
 and since I had her in my keeping and at my will, by a 
 year and a day after our marriage, I would not have 
 changed for any other, fairer or fouler, richer or poorer, nor 
 for any other descended of greater lineage, sleeping or 
 waking, at any time. And if the said (B) were sole and 
 I sole, I w^ould take her to be my wife before all the 
 women in the world, of what condition soever they be, 
 good or evil, as help me God and his saints, and this flesh 
 and all fleshes." 
 
 And his neighbours shall make oath, that they trust 
 verily he hath said truly. And if it be found by his neigh- 
 bours before named, that he be a freeman, there shall be 
 delivered to him half a quarter of wheat, and a cheese; 
 and if he be a villain, he shall have half a quarter of rye 
 without cheese. And then shall Knyghtley, the Lord of 
 Rudlow, be called, for to carry all these things afore re- 
 hearsed : and the said corn shall be laid upon horse, and 
 the bacon above it ; and he to whom the bacon appertain- 
 eth, shall ascend upon his horse, and shall take the cheese 
 before him, if he have a horse, and if he have none, the 
 Lord of Whichnor shall cause him to have one and a sad- 
 dle, until such time as he has passed his lordship ; and so 
 shall they depart the manor of Whichnor, with the corn 
 
M6 
 
 TUl'BURY. 
 
 and the bacon, before him that hath won it, with trumpets, 
 tabrets, and other manner of minstrelsy; and all the free 
 tenants of Whichnor shall conduct him past the lordship of 
 Whichnor ; and then all shall return, except him to whom 
 appertaineth to make the carriage and journey out of the 
 county of Stafford, at the costs of his lord of Whichnor. 
 And if the said Robert Knyghtley do not cause the bacon 
 and corn to be conveyed as is rehearsed, the Lord of 
 Whichnor shall cause it to be carried, and shall distrain 
 the said Robert Knyghtley for his default, for one hundred 
 shillings, in his manor of Rudlow, and shall keep the dis- 
 tress so taken irrepleviable." 
 
 Whether any claimants ever appeared for the Whichnor 
 bacon we are not informed, but we find that Sir Philip duly 
 performed the singular service thus imposed upon him. 
 In the 16th of Edward I. he granted to Hugh de Newbold 
 several small pieces of land in Dunstall, upon condition 
 that he should render him and his heirs eight hens annu- 
 ally at Christmas, and one chaplet or nosegay of white 
 and red roses, to decorate the bacon at Whichnor, on the 
 feast of St. John the Baptist ; also that the bacon should 
 be dressed in a similar manner, with flowers or ever- 
 greens, at ten other stated times in the year.* 
 
 Another feudal custom which prevailed in the Honor of 
 Tutbury, was that of " Bull-Running," a popular amuse- 
 ment, which connected as it was with the Minstrels' Court, 
 long remained as a memorial of the olden time. This 
 ancient usage, like the preceding, may be traced to the 
 period when John of Gaunt was lord of Tutbury, and to 
 him, we presume, it owed its origin. But this practice, 
 more honoured in the breach than the observance, has been 
 already described, and therefore requires no further notice.f 
 
 •Histoiy of Tutl)ury, p. 79, &c. John of Gaunt is said to have boiTOwed 
 this curious tenure from Dunmow, in Essex, where a similar custom was insti- 
 tuted in the reign of Henry III. The Spectator, No. 608, contains a humor- 
 ous account of supposed candidates for the Whichnor bacon. 
 
 f See page 92, 95. 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 347 
 
 After the death of his brother, Edward the Black Prince^ 
 and during the minority of his nephew, Richard II., the 
 Duke of Lancaster took an active part in the affairs of 
 government. Very little of his time was devoted to the 
 society of his Queen Constance, who continued to hold her 
 secluded court at Tutbury Castle. The visits of the Duke 
 to that place were few and transient. He was there from 
 the 10th to the 21st of August, in 1374; and again from 
 the 10th to the 20th of the same month in 1380; but the 
 attractions of Catharine Swynford had such influence over 
 him as to prevent him from paying even a decent attention 
 to his royal consort, who was in every respect worthy of a 
 happier fate: for she has been justly characterized as "a 
 lady, above ladies innocent and zealous."* Her whole es- 
 tablishment was regulated with the utmost propriety : the 
 expense of her private chamber and her wardrobe did not 
 exceed five hundred marks annually ; and the stipends of 
 the few friends and attendants who formed her court were 
 no more than sufficient to enable them to keep up a res- 
 pectable appearance. She passed her time at Tutbury 
 amidst the quiet amusements and avocations of domestic 
 life, happier, probably, notwithstanding the desertion of 
 her husband, than if she had been burthened with the 
 splendid cares of royalty. 
 
 When he visited Tutbury in 1380, the Duke was sud- 
 denly called away to march against the Scots, who had 
 invaded England, and wasted the counties of Westmoreland 
 and Cumberland with fire and sword. This expedition 
 led to a truce between the two nations; and when it was 
 nearly expired, the Duke of Lancaster went as ambassador 
 to the Scottish court, to make further arrangements for the 
 preservation of peace. It was while he was absent on this 
 mission that the memorable insurrection under Wat Tyler 
 took place. John of Gaunt at that time was by no means 
 popular; and the destruction of his noble palace of the 
 
 ♦Mills's Catalogue of Honour. 
 
348 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 Savoy in the Strand, between London and Westminster, 
 was one of the prominent atchievements of the infuriated 
 mob. 
 
 The alarm arising from the outrageous proceedings of 
 the rabble extended even to the solitary Castle of Tutbury, 
 and the Queen of Castile sought refuge in the fortress of 
 Pontefract. Such however was the cowardice or treachery 
 of those who held that place, that though they were in the 
 service of the Duke of Lancaster, the Queen, his consort, 
 was refused admission ; and she was consequently obliged 
 to advance seven miles further, in the midst of a dark and 
 cheerless night, by torch-light, to the castle of Knaresbo- 
 rough, where she fortunately remained unmolested till the 
 re-establishment of the public peace enabled her to return 
 to Tutbury. 
 
 During the reign of so weak and tyrannical a sovereign 
 as Richard II. and amidst the frequent and serious commo- 
 tions that consequently occurred among the people, it was 
 almost impossible for a prince so nearly connected with the 
 crown as John of Gaunt to remain a passive observer of 
 the state of public affairs. His rank and station as first 
 prince of the blood royal rendered him an object of sus- 
 picion to the King and his favourites ; and at length a 
 direct accusation of disloyalty was brought against him. 
 The Duke was at that time at his Castle of Tutbury, in 
 consultation with the Queen about a plan which he had 
 formed for the invasion of Spain, and the vindication of 
 their joint claim to the crown of Castile. On receipt of 
 intelligence warning him of the King's hostile intentions, 
 he prudently resolved to leave Tutbury, and summoned a 
 band of well-armed followers to protect him in his retreat 
 to Pontefract, which fortress, he could in case of necessity 
 render secure against any sudden assault from his adver- 
 saries. Here he remained till the storm passed over ; and 
 through the active interference of the Princess Joan of 
 Kent, (widow of the Black Prince, and mother of Richard 
 II.) a reconciliation between the King and his uncle was 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 349 
 
 eiFected. The Scots having again invaded the northern 
 part of England, the Duke of Lancaster was sent against 
 them. King Richard also himself at the head of a large 
 army, marched across the Tweed, and captured and burnt 
 the city of Edinburgh, It is a favourable trait in the cha- 
 racter of John of Gaunt, that in gratitude for the hospita- 
 lity with which he had been treated by the Abbot of the 
 monastery of Holyrood, when on his embassy to Scotland, 
 he persuaded the King to preserve that establishment from 
 the fate of the surrounding buildings. 
 
 Not long after a circumstance occurred which revived 
 the long-cherished purpose of the royal Duke to make a 
 new attempt to obtain possession of the throne of Castile. 
 John King of Portugal, having derived important assistance 
 from a body of English troops in his wars with the French 
 and Spaniards, was induced to apply to King Richard for 
 further aid. The Duke of Lancaster exerted all his influ- 
 ence in support of the application of the Portuguese 
 monarch, and the King, anxious to divert the attention of 
 his powerful and ambitious uncle from objects nearer home, 
 was ready to yield to his advice. A large armament was 
 collected at Bristol in the following spring ; and on Easter 
 Sunday the Duke and Queen Constance took leave of the 
 royal family ; when his Majesty presented the Duke with 
 a crown of gold, and the Queen Anne of Bohemia gave 
 another to Constance. This expedition proved ultimately 
 unsuccessful. The King of Castile yielding to the impetuos- 
 ity of the invaders, abandoned the open country, and 
 directed his chief attention to the preservation of the walled 
 cities and fortresses, leaving the enemy exposed to all the 
 inconveniences of protracted warfare in a foreign and hos- 
 tile land. The result was fatal to the English army, which 
 suffered so much from the heat of the climate and the 
 scarcity and badness of provisions, as to render the prosecu- 
 tion of the undertaking hopeless. A negociation was 
 opened between the contending powers, and the war was 
 terminated by a treaty of marriage between Henry^ son and 
 
 45 
 
350 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 heir of the King of Castile, and Catharine, the only child 
 of the Duke of Lancaster hj the daughter of Don Pedro of 
 Castile. The treaty being concluded, in November, 1390, 
 the Duke of Lancaster returned to England, and attended 
 King Richard at Heading, where he held a council of state. 
 The same year J ohn of Gaunt was created Duke of Aqui- 
 taine ; and soon after he held a grand hunting party at 
 Leicester, where he entertained the royal family, with a 
 great number of the nobility of both sexes. After these 
 amusements were over, the Duke appears to have passed 
 a short time at Tutbury Castle, then again become the 
 abode of his Castilian consort. Her health had suffered 
 from fatigue and disappointment during the recent visit to 
 the land of her nativity ; and her illness was aggravated by 
 the severity of her devotional exercises. The scene which 
 presented itself at Tutbury was much too solemn to be 
 pleasing to the Duke, whose opinions as to religion were 
 tinctured by the doctrines of Wycliffe, of whom he had 
 been at one time the active partizan and protector, though 
 probably by no means aware of the tendency of the notions 
 propagated by that divine. Little interested therefore, in 
 the pursuits of his consort, for whom he had never enter- 
 tained a very tender affection, he soon afterwards took his 
 final leave of her. She died within an interval of two 
 years, while he was absent in France : and it does not ap- 
 pear that he ever after visited the place of her long abode. 
 
 John of Gaunt was succeeded in the possession of his 
 Lancastrian estates, including the Castle and Honor of 
 Tutbury, by his son Henry, surnamed of Bolingbroke, who 
 on the deposition of Richard III. in 1390, was chosen 
 King of England, under the title of Henry IV. Upon this 
 event Tutbury, with the other estates and feudal pos- 
 sessions of the new proprietor, becam^e annexed to the 
 crown, as appertaining to the Duchy of Lancaster. During 
 a few years in the reign of Edward IV. the Honor of Tut- 
 bury was held by the Duke of Clarence, the King's 
 brother, but the grant made to that prince was recalled in 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 351 
 
 1374; and it has ever since been vested in the crown, ex- 
 cept during the interregnum. 
 
 After the termination of the long and sanguinary contest 
 for the English sceptre, between the rival houses of York 
 and Lancaster, Henry Tudor, called Henry VII. into whose 
 hands it fell, had the good fortune to enjoy a comparatively 
 peaceful reign. His leisure was devoted to the pcmusement 
 of hunting ; and the Castle of Tutbury was sometimes the 
 resort of the King and his court, when he pursued this 
 diversion in the adjacent forest of Needwood. The con- 
 nexion by blood of Henry of Richmond with the House of 
 Lancaster, must have endeared to him this seat of their 
 former residence, whilst the woods and lands surrounding 
 it presented him with ample facilities for indulgence in the 
 pleasures of the chase. Hence he seldom visited his mother 
 the Countess of Derby, who resided at Lathom House, in 
 Lancashire, without enjoying on his way thither, a short 
 respite from the cares of state at the seat of his forefathers. 
 On one occasion a somewhat singular adventure occurred 
 to him, which is thus related by Sir Oswald Mosley: — 
 
 " One day during the ardour of the chase, he was separ- 
 ated from all his companions, and having in vain sought to 
 join them again through the thick masses of wood with 
 which the forest abounded, he determined at length to ex- 
 tricate himself from his difficulties by proceeding to the 
 nearest village, and inquiring his way from thence to Tut- 
 bury : it so happened, that for this purpose he stopped at 
 the house of a poor man named Taylor, in the village of 
 Barton-under-Needwood, whose wile had not long before 
 presented him with three sons at a birth ; the father volun- 
 teered his services to conduct the King, who did not disclose 
 his rank, to the place of his inquiry, and whilst he was 
 making himself ready for that purpose, the mother intro- 
 duced her three little babes to the stranger at the cottage 
 door : the King was much pleased with the adventure, and 
 in reward for the poor man's services, undertook to pay for 
 the education of the three children, if they should live long 
 
352 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 enough to be put to school. Taylor expressed his grateful 
 thanks, and the King did not forget his promise. When 
 the three children attained man's estate, they had made 
 such good use of the learning thus afforded them, that they 
 all became doctors of divinity, and obtained good prefer- 
 ment. John Taylor, the eldest of them, became archdeacon 
 of Derby, rector of Sutton Coldfield, and clerk of the parlia- 
 ment that sat in the seventh year of the reign of Henry the 
 Eighth. He was made Master of the Rolls in 1528, and 
 died in 1534 ; but not before he had proved his gratitude to 
 the Almighty disposer of events for the singular mercies 
 extended to himself and his brothers, by erecting the pre- 
 sent church of Barton near the site of the cottage w^here 
 they first saw the light."* 
 
 Since the time of Henry YII. Tutbury seems to have 
 occupied but little of the attention of the proprietors ; and 
 in the reign of Henry VIII. partly in consequence of 
 alterations in the state of society, and partly from other 
 causes, the feudal rights and privileges of the lords of 
 Tutbury were sometimes but little respected by their 
 tenants and retainers. A system of license was introduced, 
 which was continued under succeeding reigns ; and from a 
 survey of Tutbury in the reign of Philip and Mary, we find 
 that the keepers of the various wards and parks had been 
 for many years committing sad devastation of the property. 
 As wood at that time formed the only kind of fuel which 
 the inhabitants of this part of the kingdom could obtain, 
 the temptation to commit excesses of this nature were great, 
 and it is supposed that young timber-trees were often cut 
 down without restraint, to be used for fire-wood. 
 
 ''A number of encroachments had from time to time 
 been made at the edge of the forest, upon which cottages 
 had been erected ; and these were inhabited by a race of 
 men not very delicate in committing further trespasses : 
 they were in general indolent and poor in the extreme, and 
 
 *Historyof Tutbury, p. 133, 4. 
 
TUTBURY, 
 
 353 
 
 as they depended entirely upon the produce of the forest 
 for subsistence, they were often regardless of the manner in 
 which they obtained it. Not only the timber, but the deer 
 and game suffered much from their lawless plunder; and 
 when the use of fire-arms had been introduced, these depre- 
 dations were carried on with greater ease. In deer-stealing 
 many of them were particularly expert ; and every kind of 
 stratagem was resorted to in evading the vigilance of the 
 keepers. Under the pretence of driving his cow or swine 
 home at the decline of day, the forest peasant would fre- 
 quently watch the deer browsing in their accustomed 
 haunts, and when a well-fed buck could be singled out with 
 the least risk of detection, the loaded barrel was soon with- 
 drawn from its concealment beneath his frock, and applied 
 to the rude stock which had often served a similar purpose. 
 In the event of a successful shot, the stricken deer was 
 quickly despatched, and carefully deposited amongst the 
 gorse or brambles near the spot where he had fallen ; but 
 during the night, or in any case before the middle of the 
 following day, the prize was conveyed to the larder of some 
 opulent neighbour, whose power could awe, or liberality 
 avert, the dreaded vengeance of the keepers. Reward was 
 the sure attendant of such a capture, and his innate pro- 
 pensity to plunder was willingly indulged, whenever any 
 of his wealthy protectors required an addition to the luxury 
 of his table. Besides, exploits like these were a theme of 
 praise amongst the forest peasantry ; that man who could 
 perform them with the most cunning and dexterity, was 
 looked upon in the adjacent villages as a sort of hero; the 
 fear of disgrace, which is generally the most powerful 
 preventive of crime, attached itself not to him. His equals 
 gave him credit for sagacity and valour ; his superiors pro- 
 tected him from future harm ; and the daring acts of his 
 life were not confined to the simple annals of his native 
 village, for they often formed one of the most enlivening 
 topics of conversation at the hospitable table of his patron. 
 But these marauding expeditions were not unattended with 
 
354 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 danger ; the pride of the keepers was occasionally offended 
 at being so frequently foiled in detecting the stealers of 
 their deer, and bloody encounters between these rival 
 parties occasionally ensued; the offender was sometimes 
 apprehended, fined, and imprisoned; nay, perhaps, even 
 forfeited his life to his temerity. 
 
 " A fatal instance of this kind will appear in the follow- 
 ing traditional account of the death of a deer-stealer, which 
 was related to me [Sir Oswald Mosley] by one of his 
 descendants about twenty-five years since; [1807] and the 
 truth of his story is corroborated by the circumstance of 
 two places at the time of the inclosure of the forest being 
 distinguished by his name, which was in each instance 
 coupled with an allusion to the particular occurrence that 
 there took place * Upon the verge of the forest, near Ta- 
 tenhill Gate, there stood within memory a small cottage, 
 the owners of which had for several generations borne the 
 name of Wilmore, and more recently Witmore. The latter 
 designation was that by which my informant was known ; 
 and he stated that one of his ancestors, to whom the same 
 property formerly belonged, supported himself and his 
 family for many years upon the fruits of the spoils which 
 he obtained from the forest. He had two small cows 
 depastured there in the summer, for which he provided a 
 little hay from the land around his cottage; his fuel he 
 obtained from the neighbouring woods ; and his food was 
 in a great measure supplied by his successful attacks upon 
 the deer and game with which they also abounded. His 
 strength and activity were more than a match for any 
 single keeper; and his company so agreeable, that the 
 under-keepers themselves found it irresistible, whenever 
 they chanced to meet with him in an ale-house. Often would 
 he engage them in drinking at such places, and when he 
 saw a convenient opportunity, he would steal away from 
 his unsuspecting companions, to kill a buck or doe in the 
 
 *"Tlie spot vrhere lie engaged the keepers is called ' Wilmore Fouglit,' and 
 the bog where he was lost was called ' Wilmore Drowning.' " 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 355 
 
 recesses of the forest. A screw-barrelled gun was always 
 his companion upon these occasions, the greater part of 
 which was concealed within the lining of his coat ; a dog 
 was also taken with him, the diminutive size of which 
 was supposed to render it harmless, but this little creature 
 had been so well trained by its master, that upon it in a 
 great measure depended the success of his expedition. 
 Thus attended, he used to ascend a tree on the border of 
 one of the small plains with which the forest abounded ; 
 and by a well-known signal, his dog would ramble about 
 until it met with a herd of deer ; the instant it had attracted 
 their attention, this cunning animal would run away, ap- 
 parently in great alarm, and the finest bucks, together with 
 a principal part of the herd, soon joined in the chase after 
 so insignificant an intruder. When it had thus amused 
 them for a short time, it would skulk ofl" to the tree in 
 which it knew its master to be fixed, and would take its 
 stand just below it, whilst the deer stood at a short dis- 
 tance from it, gazing with unsuspecting curiosity. This 
 was the moment that Wilmore seized upon to mark the 
 fattest buck ; his aim was certain , the devoted prize was 
 soon secured ; his faithful dog immediately ran home, and 
 he then ascended the tree again, in which he staid till dusk, 
 watching his prey; at night he would take it home, and 
 conceal it in a part of his cottage which he had formed on 
 purpose, and with such skill, that whenever his house was 
 searched, this secret chamber was always overlooked. The 
 next day a ready customer was sure to be found amongst the 
 richer yeomen, with whom he was acquainted. He had 
 carried on a lucrative trade of this kind for some years, when 
 one evening, in the month of September, he was detected 
 in the act of killing a deer, almost within view of Byrkley 
 Lodge, where the woodmote courts were then held, and the 
 chief forester occasionally resided ; four under-keepers sud- 
 denly rushed upon him ; he sprang from their grasp and 
 dashed through Lint Brook, which was then swollen from 
 the effects of a thunder-storm ; but the treacherous bank on 
 
856 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 the opposite side gave way beneath his weight ; he fell, 
 and before he could recover himself two of his assailants 
 had reached the spot ; one of them he laid senseless by a 
 blow from the stock of his gun ; with the other he had a 
 long and severe struggle ; but after receiving and returning 
 some dangerous blows, he succeeded in escaping up the 
 steep woody bank which rose to a considerable height 
 above the brook in this place, and directed his steps home- 
 wards as expeditiously as his wounds would permit him. 
 In the direction he went there was a deep bog, over which 
 he was obliged to pass, unless he had taken a more circui- 
 tous route, which might have exposed him to the other 
 keepers who were still in pursuit ; and he therefore ventured 
 to cross over the quaking ground, an attempt he had often 
 succeeded in before. The windows of his cottage were full 
 in sight ; his thoughts were already fixed upon his secret 
 chamber, as a proper place in which to conceal himself 
 from the vigilance of his pursuers ; although bruised and 
 dispirited he was still anxiously anticipating an escape 
 from present danger, and greater success upon future occa- 
 sions, when suddenly he missed his footing, fell headlong 
 into the liquid mass, and sank to rise no more."* 
 
 The survey above mentioned as having taken place in 
 the reign of Philip and Mary was followed by one pursuant 
 to a commission issued by Queen Elizabeth, in the first 
 year of her reign, in which it was intended that all the 
 castles, lordships, manors, and other territorial property 
 belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster should have been 
 included ; but from some vmknown cause the survey was 
 never completed. It afi'ords, however, some interesting 
 information concerning Tutbury itself, at the time when it 
 was drawn up. It states that " The castle, sometime the 
 lord's habitation and capital mansion, is situated very 
 stately within a park, on the north side of the town of 
 Tutbury, upon the height of a round rock of alabaster, and 
 
 ♦History of Tutbury, p. 146, &c. 
 
TUTBURY, 
 
 357 
 
 inclosed for the most part with a stone wall embattled, 
 whereupon may be seen all the lordships and manors ap- 
 pertaining to the Honor in the counties of Stafford, Derby, 
 and Leicester, very delightfully situated both for pleasure 
 and profit ; for as the river Dove from Uttoxeter to the 
 river Trent divides the counties of Stafford and Derby, so 
 did it also at the beginning divide Champain and Wood 
 Land ; that on the one side of the water, in the county of 
 Derby, being all champain and very good and beneficial 
 for meadows, pastures, and corn, extending from Tutbury 
 to the Peak, in distance twenty miles ; and all the Peak is 
 high and moor lands, yet parcel of the said honor, good 
 sheep pasture, and large wastes ; and on the other side of 
 the river, in the covinty of Stafford, for the most part it was 
 all wood land, as appears probable from divers ancient 
 grants, made from the Lords Ferrers, sometime Earls of 
 Derby, in the reigns of Richard the First, King John, and 
 the beginning of Henry the Third ; but it is now by men's 
 industry converted into tillage and pasture."* 
 
 The Castle though now deserted by its regal proprietors, 
 and except in the case of James and Charles I. not honoured 
 even by a transitory visit, was twice for a brief and melan- 
 choly period the residence of a crowned head, fallen indeed 
 from her high estate to the miserable condition of a cap- 
 tive in the power of a jealous and perhaps justly-offended 
 rival. Mary Queen of Scots, the victim of her own impru- 
 dence, was forced to flee from the land in which she had 
 exercised sovereign power, and become a suppliant for 
 protection from her rebellious subjects, in the dominions of 
 the English Queen, Elizabeth. On the 17th of May, 1568, 
 she took refuge in England, with a few attendants ; and 
 one of her first measures was to address a letter to Eliza- 
 beth, requesting an interview, apparently with a confident 
 expectation of obtaining her friendship and support. But 
 «he was accused of heinous crimes by her own subjects, and 
 
 •History of Tutbury, p, 149, 150, 
 
 4S 
 
358 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 was the object of both political and personal jealousy in 
 the opinion of Elizabeth. That princess and her ministers 
 therefore soon -after the arrival of Mary in England, appear 
 to have decided on treating her as a dangerous prisoner of 
 state. Thus woefully disappointed in her hopes of assist- 
 ance, without friends or advisers who could yield her 
 effectual service, the tedious remnant of her life and capti- 
 vity was employed in brooding over misfortunes which she 
 doubtless believed to be undeserved, and in contriving 
 schemes to secure her escape and safety by the destruction 
 of her too-powerful rival. 
 
 The Scottish Queen resided for a while at Bolton Castle, 
 in Yorkshire, which belonged to Lord Scrope ; and while 
 there she entertained the addresses of Thomas Duke of 
 Norfolk, who through ambitious motives secretly solicited 
 her hand ; but the intrigue having been discovered by 
 Elizabeth, it cost that nobleman his life. In January, 
 1569, Mary was removed from Bolton to Tutbury Castle, 
 where she was in the custody of George Earl of Shrews- 
 bury. An account has been preserved of the preparations 
 made at Tutbury for the reception of the Scottish Queen : 
 
 "20th January, llth of Queen Elizabeth, wardrobe stuff sent to Tutbury 
 Castell, by Rafe Rowlandson, groom of the removeing warderobe of balls, for 
 sei'vice of the Scottish queen. 
 
 " From the Tower. Six peeces of tapistry hangings, of the history of the 
 passion, lyned with canvas. Six peeces of tapistry hangings, of the story of 
 ladyes, lyned with canvas. Seven peeces of hangings of tapistry, of the story 
 of Hercules, lyned. Fowre great carpets, of Turky making. Fowre beds and 
 bolsters of tyke, filled with fethers. Fowre counterpoints of verdure, lyned with 
 canvas. Fowre payre of fustians. Three chaires, of crimsin clothe of gold. 
 Eight cushins of clothe of gold. Towe stooles, the seats embroiderid with 
 clothe of gold upon crimsin sattin. Three foote stooles covered with tissue, 
 Towe bare hydes of oxe leather, to cover carts. One standard. 
 
 " From the Removing Wai-derobe. Twelve small carpets of Turky making. 
 One fynare stoole covered with tissue. 
 
 " From the great Warderobe. Towe payre of sheetes, of fyne Holland clothe. 
 Towe payre of pillow beeges of assay, of Ijke Holland. Eight payre of pallet 
 sheetes, of coarse Holland. Towe cart canvasses of seven bredthes of canvas. 
 Towe thousand hookes, one thousand crockets, towe hammers, one bolt of cords 
 to trusse beds, towe clothe sacks, and one case of leather for a bedstead." 
 
TUTBITRY. 
 
 359 
 
 The period of Mary's first residence at Tutbury Castle, 
 was by no means the most unpleasant part of her captivity. 
 She appears to have had no reason to find fault with the 
 accommodations provided for lier ; and though she could 
 not help perceiving that her motions were closely watched 
 by those placed around her, yet she was treated by her 
 host and hostess with the respect and deference due to her 
 exalted rank, and indulged with amusements which tended 
 to relieve the tedium of existence in the peculiar situation 
 in which she was placed. 
 
 Few subjects have afforded more scope for discussion 
 than the life and character of the Queen of Scots; and 
 those who are interested about them may derive amusement 
 if not conviction from the researches of Goodhall, Robert- 
 son, Tytler, Whitaker, and other writers. All that is 
 intended here is to present the reader with a few notices of 
 the, history of this unfortunate princess while she resided 
 at Tutbury. To the restless intrigues of her partizans 
 Mary owed much of the rigour of her confinement. To- 
 wards the end of November she was conveyed under a 
 strong escort to Coventry, where she was kept for two 
 months under the superintendence of the Earls of Shrews- 
 bury and Huntingdon, after which she was brought back 
 to Tutbury Castle. During her stay at Coventry no person 
 except such as were employed by her attendants was per- 
 mitted to have access to her, nor was she ever suffered to 
 appear abroad. On the 22nd of January, 1570, we find 
 her again at Tutbury, for there is extant a letter of hers, 
 dated from that place. Soon afterwards she was at Wing- 
 field; and thence during the summer of 1570 she was 
 removed to Chatsworth. Here the rigour of her imprison- 
 ment was somewhat relaxed. She was permitted to ride 
 out in company with the Earl of Shrewsbury, over the 
 adjoining moors, and upon the whole it may be concluded 
 that her visits to that place were attended with more real 
 enjoyment than any other part of her long captivity. For 
 the next fourteen years she resided principally at Sheffield, 
 
360 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 occasionally visiting Chatsworth and Buxton. In the 
 year 1584 Mary was again at Wingfield, under the charge 
 of Sir Ralph Sadler, who had succeeded Lord Shrewsbury 
 as keeper of the royal captive. 
 
 After the death of the Duke of Norfolk, the machina- 
 tions of Mary's partizans were suspended for several years, 
 or were conducted with such caution and secresy as hardly 
 to attract the notice of the English ministry. At length 
 that princess worn out with anxiety and suspense, and be- 
 come careless of consequences, gave her sanction to fresh 
 projects and conspiracies, the discovery of which involved 
 herself and her friends in utter ruin. While thus the crisis 
 of her fate was approaching, she was not deprived of 
 the indulgences to which she had been accustomed, and 
 though a captive was yet suffered to retain much of the 
 stately pomp of royalty. We learn from the papers of Sir 
 Ralph Sadler, that at this period her domestic establish- 
 ment consisted of forty-seven persons : namely, five gentle- 
 men, fourteen servitors, three cooks, four boys, three attend 
 ants of her gentlemen, six gentlewomen, two wives, ten 
 wenches and children. She had four coach-horses of her 
 own, and six horses for her attendants. There were at 
 Wingfield about two hundred and ten persons employed in 
 guarding her ; but on her removal to Tutbury, the number 
 was reduced to one hundred and fifty. Her ordinary diet 
 consisted of sixteen dishes, at both courses. Her two 
 secretaries, the master of her household, her physician, and 
 Monsieur de Prean, had a mess of seven or eight dishes ; 
 and they always dined before the Queen. Her female 
 attendants also had two messes of meat, each day, of nine 
 dishes at both courses, for those of high degree; and five 
 dishes for the others. There were about ten tons of wine 
 consumed in the year, besides what was used for the 
 Queen's bath, for bathing in wine was by no means an un- 
 usual luxury in those days. 
 
 Soon after her arrival at Tutbury, the Scottish Queen 
 transmitted to Elizabeth a most dismal account of the fur- 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 361 
 
 niture of the castle: she accused those who had the order- 
 ing of it of a base intent to annoy her, By rendering her 
 habitation uncomfortable ; and she sent a long list of articles 
 requisite for her accommodation. Her complaint met with 
 attention ; new furniture was procured ; and the Queen 
 wrote a letter to Sir Ralph Sadler, which conveyed some 
 gentle reproaches for having entrusted the fitting up of the 
 castle to negligent persons, and at the same time communi- 
 cated the welcome intelligence that his rejDcated solicita- 
 tions to be relieved from the burthensome charge confided 
 to him would be no longer disregarded. 
 
 While Queen Elizabeth appears to have been anxious 
 that her unhappy prisoner should be provided with all the 
 conveniencies and even luxuries due to her former rank 
 and station, the utmost jealousy was still manifested with 
 respect to her amusements, lest they should afford her 
 opportunities for the prosecution of new schemes for the 
 recovery of her liberty. Hence it was, that during this last 
 residence at Tutbury, Sir Ralph incurred the displeasure of 
 his sovereign by permitting the Scottish Queen to ride out 
 with five or six attendants, in the vicinity of the Castle, 
 that she might join in the amusement of hawking. This 
 levity procured for the old knight a sharp reprimand from 
 the Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham. In his 
 reply, Sadler stated that he had sent for his hawks and fal- 
 coners for the purpose of amusing himself during the irk- 
 some period he was destined to remain at Tutbury, and 
 that the captive Queen had so earnestly intreated permission 
 to accompany him that he could not deny her, adding, 
 however, that on all such occasions he had been attended 
 by forty or fifty of his servants, retainers, and others, on 
 horseback, many of whom were armed with pistols.* In 
 
 *In a letter subsequently addressed to the treasurer, Lord Burleigh, he refers 
 again to the subject : — 
 
 " I am sorry her Majestye mislyketh of the lybertye pernsytted to this queen 
 of late in hawking upon the ryver not far from the castell, wherein I have 
 much exceeded my commission, having always ben well assured to answer the 
 
362 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 April, 1585, Sir Ralph Sadler resigned his charge to Sir 
 Amias Poulet and Sir Drewe Drury, under whose surveil- 
 lance the Queen of Scots remained till death terminated 
 her protracted misery. It was on the 21st of December 
 that she took a final leave of Tutbury, whence she was 
 removed to Chartley, a house belonging to the Earl of 
 Essex.* During her residence there was concocted the 
 conspiracy of Anthony Babington and others, her concur- 
 rence with which furnished abundant grounds for the trial 
 to which she was shortly after exposed. The concluding 
 scenes of the life of this princess, in which she appeared 
 
 charge comytted unto me, as indede, I see no maner cause of feare of her 
 fourthcomying, so long as this countrey remayneth in so good quyetness, as 
 it is now. And now for the tyme of my contynuance here, which I hope shall 
 he very shorte, I will do what I can to kepe her more pryvately from intelli- 
 gences, which I assure your Lordship is very harde to do, having so many 
 ahout her as she hathe, both English, French, and Scottishe, as well men as 
 women, which have so many errants and occasions to go aboute their necessary 
 busynes, that all the souldiours here ar to few to attends upon them, which 
 nevertheles shal be loked unto as well as Mr. Somer and I can desire, whereof 
 both he and I have ben, and will be, most carefull according to my dueties." 
 
 *Mr. Edwards, in his " Tour of the Dove," alludes thus beautifully to Mary's 
 residence at Tutbury : — 
 
 " The palace prison once of Scotland's queen ! — 
 
 Ah, hapless Mary, hurried to the tomb 
 
 By bloody hands, the tools of jealous spleen ! 
 
 Henceforth, whoever treads the shadowy gloom 
 
 Of yon proud ruins, will bewail thy doom 
 
 And long captivity: — Thou wast a gem 
 
 Of royalty, in beauty's roseate bloom : 
 
 Thy nobles would have kissed thy garments' hem ; — 
 Yet thou upon the block didst bow thy diadem ! 
 " The pilgrim's motto, "Earth is not our home," 
 
 On yonder walls is doubly written : Time 
 
 In broken lines, and History from her tome 
 
 Have scribed it. Like the exile's speech sublime 
 
 Who sate on ruined Carthage, their deep chime 
 
 Of meaning awes me. — Oh, within these walls, 
 
 Roofless, defaced, and sullied now with slime. 
 
 Is there no ghost doth rise to tell the thralls 
 Of her that sate enthroned in Edin's regal halls V 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 363 
 
 perhaps to greater advantage than at any other period, 
 took place at I'otheringhay Castle, in Northamptonshire, 
 where she was beheaded, in February, 1587. 
 
 From this time to the reign of Charles T. there is little 
 of importance to he recorded concerning Tutbury, if we 
 except an occasional visit of James I. who came hither to 
 enjoy the diversion of hunting in the adjoining forest of 
 Needwood. 
 
 In 1634 Charles 1. is said to have passed a fortnight at 
 his Castle of Tutbury ; and he made another visit to this 
 place in the month of August, 1636. In the civil war 
 which broke out a few years after, a royal garrison was sta- 
 tioned at this Castle, under the government of Lord 
 Loughborough. The fortress was repeatedly assaulted or 
 threatened by the parliamentarians, but its defenders suc- 
 cessfully resisted their opponents till the declining state 
 of the King's affairs rendered all further attempts to sup- 
 port his cause unavailing. One of the most active adher- 
 ents of the parliament among the gentry of Staffordshire 
 and Derbyshire was Sir John Gell, who, after the garrison 
 of Tutbury had remained for some time unmolested, deter- 
 mined to station a party of his own men in the neighbour- 
 hood to watch the proceedings of the royalists. The 
 further measures he adopted, and the contests that subse- 
 quently took place in this part of the country, have been 
 already briefly noticed in former chapters of this work. 
 
 After Sir John Gell had placed a garrison at Barton 
 Blount, many skirmishes took place from time to time be- 
 tween the soldiers of this fortress and the King's troops at 
 Tutbury. The supplies of the garrison within the Castle 
 were frequently intercepted, and more peremptory orders 
 were issued by the officers in command there to the con- 
 stables of the adjoining townships, who not unfrequently 
 excused the disobedience of their orders, through the 
 danger to which they were exposed. The following is a 
 specimen of the warrants issued upon these occasions : — 
 
364 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 " To the Constable or Headborough of Marchington cum membris. — These 
 are in his Majestie's name to charge and command you, immediately upon 
 sight hereof, to bring to Tedbury castle to me foure sufficient able horses, or 
 twenty pounds in money, to provide the same towards the recruitinge of my 
 troope. And if any of your parishioners refuse to contribute to the same, you 
 are hereby required to bringe them to me, to answer their neglect. Fayle not, 
 as you will answer the contrary att your utmost perills. Given under my hand 
 the 6th of March, 1645." « GILBERT GERARD."* 
 
 On the 24th of May, 1645, the King himself, at the 
 head of a large army, accompanied by Prince Rupert, came 
 to Tutbury. Sir Andrew Kniveton, the Governor of the 
 Castle, afforded his majesty the best accommodation that 
 circumstances would permit ; but the town being too small 
 for quartering any other than his body guard, the main 
 army proceeded to Burton. 
 
 The last visit of the unfortunate Charles to his garrison 
 of Tu.tbury, was on the 12th of August, 1645, when on 
 his way from Lichfield, and the following day he proceeded 
 to Ashbourn. The defeat of the royalists at Naseby, which 
 occurred in the month of June preceding, was the prelude 
 to the ruin of the King's interest. Protracted resistance 
 became useless, and Sir Andrew Kniveton, after having 
 witnessed the fall of the neighbouring fortresses of his 
 party, surrendered the Castle of Tutbury on honourable 
 terms, April 20th 1646, to the parliamentary general. Sir 
 William Brereton. In the articles of surrender it was 
 agreed that the fortifications of the Castle should be 
 destroyed. 
 
 " The neighbouring peasants were engaged in crowds to 
 level this majestic pile. Some, indeed, had so great a 
 reluctance to the task, that they rather submitted to be 
 fined, than to yield obedience to the hateful summons ; 
 others, however, were f^und less scrupulous, and came fully 
 armed with pick-axes, jjjjattocks, and bars of iron, to carry 
 on this work of spoliation ; perhaps a few might even be 
 found, who, smarting under the recollection of recent 
 
 •History of Tutbury, p. 256, &c. 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 365 
 
 exactions, secretly rejoiced at the prospect of thus exone- 
 rating themselves and their posterity from similar demands. 
 The buildings within the area of the castle walls were 
 principally composed of wood-work, framed together and 
 filled up w ith plaster panels ; these, since they could be 
 thrown down with the least difficulty, were the first to 
 suffer from this ruthless attack: the apartments formerly 
 occupied by Mr. Dorell, the Scotch and French Secretaries, 
 and the Queen of Scots herself, were speedily levelled to 
 the ground, and exhibited one indiscriminate heap of rub- 
 bish ; but when these rude assailants attempted to disturb 
 the massive stones of the presence-chamber, high tower, 
 and other buildings situated near the walls, the compact- 
 ness of the masonry resisted their efforts to such an extent, 
 that they were glad to abandon their unprofitable employ- 
 ment, and fortunately for the gratification of the admirer of 
 picturesque beauty, left the present relics of their former 
 grandeur. Part of these ruins, about the middle of the last 
 century, were injudiciously converted into a farm-house. 
 Within the walls is an area of about three acres, on the 
 western side of which is an elevated mound, on which the 
 Juliet, or Julius' Tower, as Sir Ralph Sadler calls it, for- 
 merly stood, the site of which is now occupied by an 
 artificial ruin ; on the lower and more level part of this 
 space is the castle well, forty-three yards deep, and bearing 
 marks of great antiquity. The remains of a broad and deep 
 foss still surround three sides of the castle, over which (at 
 the gateway 1 should imagine), Dr. Plott states, there had 
 been ' a large bridge standing within memory, that was 
 made of pieces of timber, none of them much above a yard 
 in length, and yet not supported underneath either by 
 pillars or arches, or any other prop whatever/ "* 
 
 Henry de Ferrers, ancestor of the Earls of Derby, about 
 the year 1080 founded a priory here for monks of the 
 order of St. Benedict. This religious house was amply 
 
 ♦History of Tutbury, p. 233, 235. 
 
 47 
 
366 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 endowed by its founder, his wife Bertha, and his successors, 
 and by the grants from time to time of various other indi- 
 viduals, all of which are recorded in the registers and 
 foundation charters. At the Dissolution, the value of its 
 revenues was estimated at £242 15s. 3d. Queen Eliza- 
 beth granted the site ofHhe priory to Edward Earl of 
 Lincoln, and William Raven, of Horsepool Grange in the 
 county of Leicester, who sold it to Thomas Crompton and 
 Edward Clement, from whom it passed to Sir William 
 Cavendish, the direct ancestor of the Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 The only portion of the priory now existing is the church, 
 a large edifice with a square embattled tower, (situated 
 within three hundred yards south-east of the Castle,) on 
 the north side of which, adjoining, stood the cloisters, dor- 
 mitory, and other monastic offices, covering a site more than 
 three acres in extent. The church exhibits some fine 
 specimens of Norman architecture, the most remarkable of 
 which is the grand western door-way. The southern aisle 
 is of later date, the windows being in the pointed style, and 
 the walls of less massive construction. Henry de Ferrers, 
 the founder of the priory, who died about the year 1089, 
 was buried in this church. 
 
 The great tithes of the parish passed a few years ago 
 from the Cavendish family to John Spencer, Esq. of Rol- 
 leston Park, who devised them to Robert Stone, Esq. of 
 Needwood-House. The advowson of the church was given 
 by the Duke of Devonshire in exchange for the patronage 
 of the new church at Buxton, to the vicar of Bakewell, 
 who has the right of presentation. The present annual 
 value of the vicarage is about £200. 
 
 There is here a free-school, founded in 1730, by Richard 
 Wakefield, now educating about fifty scholars ; and a large 
 Sunday- School attached to the Establishment. The Inde- 
 pendents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, have 
 ther respective chapels in the town. 
 
 The ancient trade of the town, that of wool-stapling, is 
 extinct; but there are on the Dove, a corn-mill, a cotton- 
 
TUTBURY. 
 
 367 
 
 factory, and an establishment for cutting and working 
 glass. Three fairs for horned cattle are held annually, on 
 Feb. 14th, Aug. 15th, and Dec. 1st.; a statute-fair for 
 hiring servants on the second Monday after Michaelmas. 
 A weekly market, formerly held on Tuesday, has long been 
 discontinued. 
 
 At the census of 1831 the number of inhabitants in the 
 parish was 1,553, and the annual value of the real property 
 is assessed at £5,472. 
 
 The manorial rights and a fine estate of 2,000 acres, are 
 still vested in the crown, whose lessees are, Lord Vernon, 
 (of the Castle) ; John Spencer Stone, Esq. (of the demesne, 
 with Stockley Park) ; and Earl Dartmouth, (of the Castle- 
 Hay Park. 
 
 The Duke of Devonshire was appointed Steward of the 
 Honor of Tutbury by letters patent under the Duchy Seal, 
 in 1812. He appointed John Philip Dyott, Esq. to the 
 office of Steward of the Honor, who presides over the 
 Court of Record which is held at Tutbury every third 
 Tuesday throughout the year. All persons residing within 
 the Honor have a right to sue at this Court for the 
 recovery of debts and damages under forty shillings. 
 Robert Hinckley, Esq. of Lichfield, is Steward of the manor, 
 and holds a Court Leet for the Crown, annually. 
 
 The offices of Escheator and Coroner throughout the 
 Honor are still claimed by the singular tenure of a hunting- 
 horn, which is now (or was lately) in possession of the 
 Rev. Francis Foxlowe, of Staveley, whose father purchased 
 this horn and the grant attached thereto, from Charles 
 Stanhope, Esq., and the Coroners of the High Peak have 
 been ever since appointed by them.* 
 
 Among the memo7'ahilia of Tutbury some notice may be 
 expected of the imposture of Anne Moore, called the 
 
 •The reader who wishes to derive further information respecting the feudal 
 government of the ancient lords of Tuthury, and the duties of the various 
 officers of the Honor, many of whose appointments have been long obsolete, 
 may consult Sir Oswald Mosley's History, the Appendix to which contains a 
 number of documents, amply sufficient to gratify his curiosity. 
 
368 
 
 TUTBURY. 
 
 "Fasting Woman of Tutbury." In 1807, this female, 
 whose appetite had been for some years declining in conse- 
 quence of ill health, had the hardihood to assert that she 
 was able to live without any sort of nourishment. Her 
 motive doubtless was the hope of attracting the charitable 
 compassion of the public, as a source of pecuniary emolu- 
 ment, and as a blind to her deceitful purpose, she made a 
 great profession of religion. To put her veracity to the 
 test, a surgeon, of Lane-End, subjected her to a strict 
 watch for sixteen days ; at the termination of which the 
 medical men who watched her, and many inhabitants of 
 the town firmly believed that she had not tasted solid food 
 during the whole of that time, nor liquid of any kind for 
 thirteen days. The story soon spread, and the Fasting 
 Woman of Tutbury became an object of notoriety. She 
 had crowds of visitors, whose liberality rendered the impos- 
 ture sufficiently profitable to induce her to persevere ; and 
 for six years no further attempts were made to detect the 
 fraud. But she overrated her powers of abstinence ; and 
 rashly agreed to submit to a second trial, for a period of four 
 weeks. The watch commenced on tlie 21st April, 1813, and 
 was conducted with such strictness that she found it impos- 
 sible to elude the vigilance of the watchers. The signs of 
 exhaustion became manifest, her countenance gradually 
 grew paler and more sickly, her flesh wasted, and she ap- 
 peared to be labouring under the usual symptoms of catar- 
 rhal fever, which increased to such an akirming degree, 
 that her life was endangered, and on the 30th of April it 
 was deemed advisable to discontinue the watch.* Her 
 imposition was now soon brought to a close, though she 
 still for some time persisted in her former statement. At 
 length she signed a dechiration before a magistrate of the 
 county, acknowledging her guilt and falsehood ; and shortly 
 
 *See " A Statement of Facts relative to the supposed Abstinence of Ann 
 Moore, of Tutbury, Staffordshire," by the Rev. Legh Richmond ; and an " Ex- 
 amination of the Imposture of Ann Moore, &c." by Alexander Henderson, 
 M.D. 1813. 
 
MARSTON-ON-DOVE — ROLLESTON. 
 
 369 
 
 afterwards quitted the town amidst the jeer sand execrations 
 of the populace - 
 
 The river Dove, winding round the base of the hill on 
 whose summit stand the proud ruins of Tutbury,^passing, 
 in her course over a wide and fertile plain, the village of 
 Marston* on the one hand, and the demesne of Rollestonf 
 on the other, unites her waters with the Trent at Newton 
 Solney. 
 
 *Marston on-Dove, in the hundred of Appletree and deanery of Castillar, 
 about eight miles and a half from Derby. The parish comprises the townships 
 of Marston, Hatton, Hilton, and Hoon. 
 
 The manor of Marston on-Dove, which had been given to the priory of Tut- 
 bury by its founder, Henry de Ferrers, was granted, after the Reformation, to 
 the Cavendish family, and is now the property of his Grace the Duke of 
 Devonshire. In the parish church are some memorials of the family of WoUey. 
 
 The manor of Hatton is held on lease by Lord Vernon, whose ancestor, 
 Henry Vernon, Esq. was lessee in 1660. 
 
 In 1712 the manor of Hilton belonged to the Earl of Chesterfield, and is now 
 the property of William Eaton Mousley, Esq. There was formerly a chapel 
 of ease at Hilton. 
 
 The manor of Hoon was held at the time of the Domesday SuiTey by 
 Siwallis, ancestor of the Shirley family, who continued to possess it in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. In the 17th century it was purchased by John Pye, Esq. 
 (younger son of Sir Robert Pye, of Farringdon, Berks.) He settled at Hoon, 
 and was created a baronet in 1664. His son Sir Charles Pye, was a great 
 traveller. The two sons of Sir Charles, Richard and Robert, successively en- 
 joyed the title and estate. The title became extinct on the death of Sir Robert, 
 the younger, who was in holy orders, in 1734. The manor afterwards passed 
 by inheritance to a family of the name of Watkins, and was purchased from 
 them by Mr. W. J. Lockett, who sold it in severalties. — Lysons, ^c. 
 
 f The seat of Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., three miles and a half north-west of 
 Burton -on- Trent, in the county of Stafford. The manor was anciently held by 
 a family of its own name, from whom it passed to the knightly house of Mosley. 
 On the failure of male issue of Sir Edward Mosley, Bart, who married Catha- 
 rine, daughter of William Lord Grey, of Wark, the baronetcy became extinct; 
 and his widow marrying Charles, son of Dudley Lord North, he became pos- 
 sessed of this manor, and in the 25th Charles IT. was summoned to Parliament 
 by the title of Lord North and Grey, of Rolleston. Oswald Mosley, Esq. a 
 descendant of a second branch of the family, afterwards became possessed of 
 Rolleston, and was created a baronet in the 6th of George I. The title and 
 estates descended to Sir Oswald, the present baronet, who is also lord of the 
 manor of Manchester. The Rev. J, P. Mosley is rector of the living, which is 
 worth about £300 per annum, and is in the patronage of the family. — Whiles 
 fSUiJJbnhliiie, ^c. 
 
ADDITIONS. 
 
 Page 27. John Hieron made some collections for a Parochial 
 History of Derbyshire, which are now in the possession of 
 Godfrey Meynell, Esq. of Langley. 
 
 Page 38. The present Sir William Boothby, Bart, married in 
 1805, Fanny only daughter of John Jenkinson, Esq. of Win- 
 chester, brother of Charles first Earl of Liverpool. She died on 
 the 2nd of January, 1838. 
 
 Page 57. The Deanery of Ashbourn, one of the six ecclesias- 
 tical divisions of the county of Derby, includes Ashbourn, 
 Edlaston, Norbury, Bradley, Mappleton, Thorpe, Fenny Bent- 
 ley, Parwich, Kniveton, Hognaston, Tissington, Bradbourn, Kirk 
 Ireton, Carsington, Wirksworth, Cromford, Matlock, Bonsall, 
 Hartington, and their dependent chapelries. 
 
 Chap. VII. Beilby Porteus, afterwards Bishop of London, 
 married (13th May, 1765) Margaret, eldest daughter of Brian 
 Hodgson, Esq. of Ashbourn. 
 
 Chap. VII. Thomas Blore, Esq. a native of Ashbourn, made 
 considerable collections for a topographical History of Derby- 
 shire. In 1793, he published a History of the Manor and 
 Manor House of South Wingfield, as a specimen of his intended 
 work. He was also the author of several other topographical 
 fragments. 
 
 Page 104. The church registers of Longford parish are pre- 
 served from the year 1538. Some of the entries are curious : 
 
 1599. ''Elizabeth Stanford daughter of Robert registered 18th 
 of April; she was [brought] to the Church of Langford, by 
 
372 
 
 ADDITIONS. 
 
 Ellen Baker daughter of Nicholas, & Elizabeth & Henry Lead- 
 beater, who gate down upon their knees at the church door of 
 Langford, & begged Christendom for Jesus sake to that infant." 
 
 In August 1745, are registered the burials of several soldiers 
 slain in the civil wars ; also of John Malley, who " had his house 
 broken in sundry places by souldiers, the first of November in 
 the night, and because they could not get in, and he would not 
 yield they fired at him with a slugge into the head. He died 
 and was buried the 2nd day of November, 1645." 
 
 Page 106. The Rev. A. Norman, curate of Brailsford, was 
 the author of a work on the Christian Evidences, entitled 'Literae 
 Sacrae', and another ' On the Necessity of a Revelation,' both of 
 which display much critical acuteness and power of argument. 
 
 Page 108. At the Domesday survey, the manor of Yelders- 
 ley, {Geldeslei) was held under Henry de Ferrers, by Cole, 
 whose son Robert conveyed it to Sewal de Monjoy. This family 
 possessed it for several generations, and from them (temp. Ed. 
 III.) it passed to the Irelands, who held it in the reign of Henry 
 VII. The Montgomerys soon afterwards possessed the manor, 
 from whom it passed to the Vernons, and then to the Meynells. 
 The Shirleys at a remote period held this as a mesne manor, 
 under its early lords. — Lysons. 
 
 Page 1 10. The supposition that the Meynells of Bradley are 
 descended from the family of the same name seated at North 
 Kilvington, Yorkshire, is incorrect. Authentic documents prove 
 them to be of Derbyshire from the time of Henry I. ; and this 
 proof is confii-med by the difference in the heraldic bearings of 
 the two families. 
 
 Page 1 14. The living of Kniveton is a perpetual curacy. 
 
 Page 198. Charles Haughton Okeover, Esq. is present oivner 
 of the Okeover estates. His mother, (the lady of Robert Plumer 
 Ward, Esq.) is daughter of General Sir George Anson, G.C.B. 
 M.P. for Lichfield, and brother to the late Viscount Anson. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Alkmanton, manor, village, and parish of ... 100 
 
 Allen Thomas, the mathematician, notice of ... 312 
 
 Alstonfield, village of ... .,, 153 
 
 Alsop in the Dale, hamlet of ... ... 131 
 
 Alton Towei-s, approach to ... ... 256 
 
 Gardens, Abbey, and Chapel, description of 261 
 
 Pictures and Works of Art, at ... 263 
 
 Village, manor, and parish of ... 275 
 
 Ancient Castle of ... ... 278 
 
 Church of, described ... ... 278 
 
 Angling on the Dove ... ... I73 
 
 Angler, The (Walton and Cotton's) ... 140,145 
 
 Arbor Lows, the ... jgj 
 
 Ashbourn, early possessors of ... ... 5 
 
 Report of justices of assize relating to ... 10 
 
 Situation of ... 55 
 
 Population and ancient importance ... 56 
 
 Resources, markets, fairs, & extent of parish 57 
 
 Hall, described ... ... 59 
 
 Church, monuments, chantries, & living 60 
 
 Chapel of St. Mary at ... ... 70 
 
 National and Sunday Schools ... 71 
 
 Dissenters' Chapels ... ... 7^ 
 
 Grammar School, foundation, government, &c. 73 
 
 Endowments of ... 79 
 
 Charities, almshouses, &c... ... 79 
 
 Libraries, news-rooms, banks, &c. ... 87 
 
 Deanery of ... 37 j 
 
 Ancient Families of ... ... gg 
 
 Visited by the Plague ... ... 93 
 
 48 
 
374 INDEX. 
 
 Pagff 
 
 Ashburne Thomas, anecdote of ... ... 88 
 
 Atlow, manor of ... ... 113,380 
 
 Ballidon, manor "of v ... ... 116 
 
 Bancroft the small poet" .... ... HI 
 
 Bancroft's Epigrams quoted ... ... 197 
 
 Banks's monument to Penelope, daughter of Sir Brooke 
 
 Boothby described ... ... 64 
 
 Bard Captain, anecdote of ... ... 24 
 
 Barton House fortified by the parliamentarians ... 20 
 
 Barrow Hill ... ... 294 
 
 Barrows or lows ... 116, 134, 207 251 
 
 Bassett, of Blore, ancient family of ... ... 193 
 
 Becon Thomas, the reformer, notice of ... 131 
 
 Bedford Thomas, notice of ... ... 56 
 
 Bentley Fenny, parish, village, and church of ... 124 
 
 Hungry, manor of, and ancient Hospital ... 100 
 
 Bentley 's lines on the Dove quoted ... ... 316 
 
 Beresford Hall ... 136 
 
 Beresford, ancient family of ... 89, 124, 138 
 
 Blakiston, Sir Matthew ... ... 97 
 
 Blore, Staffordshire, village and church of ... 193 
 
 Blore, Thomas Esq. notice of ... .... 371 
 
 Blount's Hall, Staffordshire ... ... 312 
 
 Boothby, Sir William ... ... 35, 58 
 
 Family of ... ... 35 
 
 Sir Brooke, extracts from his works, ... 36, 60 
 
 Boylston Church, capture of royalist troops in ... 20 
 
 Bradbourn, parish, village, and church of ... 114 
 
 Brailsford, parish, village, and church of ... 104 
 
 Bradley, parish, village, cimrch, hall, &c. ... 109 
 
 Bramshall, Staffordshire ... ... 312 
 
 Brassington, manor of ... ... 116 
 
 Brereton, Sir William, actions of ... ... 305 
 
 Broadlow Ash, manor of ... ... 57, 126 
 
 Buckston, of Bradbourn, ancient family of ... 115 
 
 Bull Running at Tutbury, suppression of ... 92 
 
 Bull Baiting, at Ashbourn ... ... 94 
 
 Burroughs, manor of ... ... 105 
 
 Byron's Letters to Moore, quotation from ... 209 
 
INDEX. 375 
 
 Page 
 
 Calwich, ancient Hermitage at ... ... 238 
 
 Abbey, pictures, &c. ... ... 241 
 
 Charles Edward (the Pretender) enters Ashbourn ... 29 
 
 Charles I. visits Ashbourn ... ... 21 
 
 Tutbury ... ... 363 
 
 Chantrey's monument to the late David Pike Watts, 
 
 Esq. described ... ... 188 
 
 Chesterfield, battle at ... ... 9 
 
 Clarence, George Duke of, lord of Tutbury ... 14, 328 
 
 Clifton and Compton, manors of ... ... 57,97 
 
 Cokayne of Ashbourn, ancient family of ... 15 
 
 Sir Aston, notice of ... ... 16,111 
 
 Mrs. Anecdote of ... ... 24 
 
 Coke, of Longford, ancient family of ... ...101, 380, 
 
 Constance, Queen of Castile, ... 13, 340, 347 
 
 Cotton, of Crakemarsh, family of ... ... 301 
 
 Cotton Sheppard, family of ... ... 301 
 
 Cotton Charles, the elder, character of ... 138 
 
 the celebrated, memoir of ... 139 
 
 Verses by ... 143, 188 
 
 Crakemarsh, manor of ... ... 300, 308 
 
 Creighton, manor of ... ... 308 
 
 Croxden Abbey, situation, foundation, & endowments, 280 
 
 Charters and chronicles of, translated 283 
 
 King John a benefactor to ... 281 
 
 Culloden, Battle of ... ... 34 
 
 Culland, manor of ... ... 105 
 
 Dale, ancient family of ... ... 90 
 
 Darwin, Dr. anecdote of ... ... 248 
 
 His " Botanic Garden" quoted ... 161 
 
 Davy Sir Humphrey ... ... 173 
 
 Deer Stealing in Need wood Forest ... ... 353 
 
 Degge's, Sir Simon, remarks on possessors of Abbey 
 
 lands in Staffordshire, quoted ... ... 239 
 
 Degge, Sir Simon, notice of ... ... 313 
 
 Domesday Book, account of ... ... 4, 223 
 
 Dovedale, river and scenery described, 128, 133, 164, 204 
 
 William Howitt's description of ... 170 
 
 Dove, the Banks of, verses by Michael Thomas Sadler 215 
 
376 INDEX. 
 
 Pag? 
 
 Dove, Tour of the, by John Edwards, quoted, 130, &c. 
 
 Dove Leys ... 294 
 
 Doveridge, parish; manor, village, hall, church, &c. 317 
 
 Dudley John, Duke of Northumberland, notice of ... 200 
 
 Eaton Dovedale, manor of ... ... 319 
 
 Ecton Mine, Description of ... ... 148 
 
 Notes of a descent into ... ... 152 
 
 Edlaston, parish and manor of ... ... 98 
 
 Ednaston, manor of ... ... 105 
 
 Ellastone, parish, village, manor, church, &c. ... 245 
 
 Esseburne, family of ... ... 11,88 
 
 Etches, Richard Cadman, original memoirs of ... 41, to 53 
 
 Ferrers, the Earls, (lords of Tutbury) ... 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 327 
 
 Fitzherbert, Alleyne, Esq. (late Lord St. Helens) ... 43 
 
 of Tissington, ancient family of ... 117 
 
 of Norbury, ancient family of ... 223 
 
 Sir Anthony, memoir of ... ... 233 
 
 Fleetwood, Sir Richard, fortifies Wootton Lodge, ... 18, 253 
 
 of Calwich, family of ... ... 239 
 
 Gardner, Admiral Lord, notice of ... ... 313 
 
 Gell, Colonel Sir John ... 18, 26, 305, 363 
 
 Geology of Derbyshire, remarks on ... ... 156 
 
 Graves, Rev. Richard, notice of ... ... 121 
 
 Granville, of Calwich, ancient family of ... 239 
 
 Sir Bevil, loyal conduct and death of ... 244 
 
 Sir John, services of ... ... 245 
 
 Greenville, (Granville) Sir Richard, intrepid action of 243 
 
 Hacket, Dr. Bishop of Licliiield, anecdote of ... 213 
 
 Handel, George Frederic, a visitor at Calwich ... 241 
 
 Hamps river ... ... 183 
 
 Hartington, battle at, &c. ... ... 134 
 
 Hatton, Hilton, and Hoon, manors of ... 369 
 
 Henry VIL anecdote of ... ... 351 
 
 Hermitages and hospitals, characteristics of ... 99 
 
 Hieron, John, passages in his life ... ... 21 
 
 Hognaston, township and manor of ... ... 114 
 
 Hopton Heath, Staffordshire, battle of ... 305 
 
 Howitt, Mary, notice of ... ... 316 
 
 Hulland township, manor, and church 57,113 
 
INDEX. 
 
 '5 4 4 
 
 
 Page 
 
 XlUlX, ctllClcIll/ Icllllllj Ul •<• 
 
 89 
 
 T TT 
 
 ILAM Hall, 
 
 1 '7/1 
 
 1/4 
 
 XTlClUlCO dllU. WUiKo Ul dlL, 111 
 
 
 Gardens and scenery 
 
 183 
 
 Church, village, &c. 
 
 186 
 
 Johnson, Dr. Samuel, and Boswell, visit Ashbourn ... 
 
 38 
 
 Anecdote of ... 
 
 317 
 
 Kennedy, Dr. his ''Astronomical Chronology" 
 
 111 
 
 Killingley, Mrs. anecdote of, related by Boswell 
 
 40 
 
 Kniveton, Sir Andrew, notices of ... 21, 23, 109, 364 
 
 of Kniveton and Bradley, family of 
 
 109, 114 
 
 parish, living, &c. 
 
 114, 372 
 
 -Kynnersley, ancient family of 
 
 311 
 
 Lancaster, Edmund Earl of 
 
 10, 329 
 
 Thomas, second Earl of ... ... 
 
 12, 331 
 
 Henry, Earl of 
 
 12, 338 
 
 Henry, first Duke of 
 
 13, 338 
 
 Tnlrn frfinnt l~)nlf^p nf 
 
 
 TiOncforfl i"»nvi«:}i plinrph hall F^o 
 
 
 Ancient family of ... ... 
 
 101 
 
 Extrnrts from narish vpfistei's of 
 
 371 
 
 Loxley, manor of ... ... 
 
 308, 311 
 
 Mappleton, village, church, &c. 
 
 201 
 
 Manlove, Edward, notice of 
 
 90 
 
 Manifold river and vale, scenery of ... 
 
 159 
 
 Disappearance of, 162, reappearance of 
 
 183 
 
 Marston-on-Dove, manor and parish of 
 
 369 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots confined atTutbury 
 
 357 
 
 Marchington, village of. 
 
 320 
 
 May field, parish, village, church, &c. ... 
 
 207 
 
 Mayor's feast at Ashbourn 
 
 96 
 
 Meverell, of Throwley, family of 
 
 193 
 
 Meynell, of Bradley, &c. ancient family of 
 
 109, 372 
 
 Mill ward Robert, the warrior, anecdote of 
 
 126 
 
 Mill Dale 
 
 164 
 
 Mineral Inquisitions held at Ashbourn 
 
 90 
 
 Laws and Customs 
 
 91 
 
 Minstrelsy, ancient 
 
 341 
 
 MoUanus, Major, actions of 
 
 19 
 
378 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Monumental sculpture, progress of ... ... 190 
 
 Monks, the Carthusian, their observances ... 238 
 
 Avocations and habits of the ... ... 289 
 
 Monastic institutions ... ... 288 
 
 Moore, Anne, the Fasting Woman of Tutbury ... 367 
 
 Moore's Cottage, Mayfield ... ... 209 
 
 Mortimer, Roger, Earl of March, ... 13 
 
 Mosley, of Rolleston, ancient family of ... 369 
 
 Mudge Meadow, medicinal spring at ... 114 
 
 My nors, family of ... ... 304,311 
 
 Narrow Dale ... ... 148 
 
 Newhaven ... ... 133 
 
 Newton Grange, hamlet of ... ... 57 
 
 Norbury, parish and manor, 223, hall, church, &c. ... 226 
 
 Norman, Rev, A. works of ... ... 372 
 
 Northampton, Earl of, his death ... ... 305 
 
 Northallerton, battle of ... ... 7 
 
 Offcote and Underwood, hamlet of ... 59, 97 
 
 Okeover, manor, hall, pictures, church, &c. ... 197 
 
 Ancient family of ... ... 197,372 
 
 Painter's Lane ... ... 57 
 
 Parwich, parish, manor, village, &c. ... ... 123 
 
 Roman Encampment, and coins discovered at 124 
 
 Pegge, of Yeldersley, Osmaston, &c. family of ... 108 
 
 Prisoners, French, stationed at Ashbourn ... 54 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, of Uttoxeter ... ... 303 
 
 Rochambeau, General, a prisoner of war at Ashbourn 54 
 
 Rocester, parish, village, &c ... ... 294 
 
 Abbey of, its endowments, charters, &c. ... 295 
 
 Rolleston, manor of ... ... 369 
 
 Rousseau, Jean Jacques, resides at Wootton Hall . . . 247 
 
 Sadler Michael Thomas, memoir of ... 215 
 
 Sandy Brook Hall ... ... 98 
 
 Sermon in praise of Derbyshire, extract from ... 204 
 
 Sheldon, Archbishop, memoir of ... ... 210 
 
 Shirley, manor, village, church, &c ... ... 106 
 
 Ancient family of ... ... 106 
 
 Smith, Sir Sidney, release of, from the Temple, Paris 46 
 
INDEX* 379 
 
 Page 
 
 Somerville, Sir Philip de ... 343 
 
 Snelston, hall, church, manor, &c. ... ... 213^ 237 
 
 Spiritual Quixote, Graves's, notice of ... 121 
 
 Stanton, village of ... ... 2 10 
 
 Storey, Admiral, capture of a Dutch fleet by ... 51 
 
 Stramshall, manor of ... ... 3 18 
 
 Sturston, manor of ... ... 57 109 
 
 Sudbury, parish, village, manor, hall, church, &c. ... 320 
 
 Talbot, John Earl of Shrewsbuiy, heroic actions of 276 
 
 Taylor, Dr. the friend of Johnson, notice of ... 38 
 
 The three brothers, anecdote of ... 352 
 
 Thorpe, manor, village, and church ... 127 
 
 Thor's Cave described ... ... 193 
 
 "Throwley, hamlet of ... ... I93 
 
 Tissington, Village, hall, church, &c. ... 116 
 
 Well-Flowering, custom of ... 119 
 
 Skirmish at ... .... 20 
 
 Tutbury, Honor and Castle of ... ... 6,326 
 
 History of, under its early lords ... 327 
 
 Loss and Discovery of coins at ... 335 
 
 Annexed to the crown, 14, 350, Survey of 356 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots confined at ... 357 
 
 Castle garrisoned by the royalists ... 363 
 
 Visits of Charles I. to, 363, castle demolished 364 
 
 Priory, church, town, ancient courts, &c. ... 366 
 
 Uttoxeter, town, parish, manor, early possessors of, &c. 301 
 
 Invested by troops during the civil wars 306 
 
 Extracts from the parish accounts of ... 305 
 
 Population, markets and fairs, &c. ... 308 
 
 Church, chapels, schools, charities, &c. 310 
 
 Vales of Wever, their scenery described ... 250, 254 
 
 Gisborne's Poem on the, quoted, 235, 247, 252 
 
 Verdon, of Alveton, ancient family of ... 275 
 
 Vernon, of Sudbury, ancient family of ... 320 
 
 Wager of battle, instance of ... ,., 329 
 
 Wirksworth, manor of ... ... 7 10 
 
 Wootton-under Wever ... ... 249 
 
 Wootton Lodge ... ... jg^ 253 
 
 Hall, and adjacent scenery ... ... 246 
 
380 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 I>ag5 
 
 West Broughton, manor of ... ... 320 
 
 Whichnor Bacon, the whimsical tenure of ... 343 
 
 Woodlands, mknor of ... ... 308 
 
 Wortley, Sir Francis, a royalist officer ... 24 
 
 Yeaveley, manor, hospital, ruins, &c. ... 99 
 
 Yeldersley, manor of ... 57, 108, 372 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 38, line 9, for D.D. read LL.D. 
 
 43, — '^^ifor now Lord St. Helena, read the late Lord 
 
 St. Helens. 
 60, — 7, for though, read thou. 
 87, — 28, for Cheeshunt, read Cheshunt, 
 89, — 25, for father, read uncle. 
 102, — 1 1, /or Anne, re«c? Caroline. 
 107, — 19, for sepulchural, read sepulchral. 
 1[4, — 2, (Atlow) /or vicarage, rea</ perpetual curacy. 
 124, — 34, for the celebrated Charles Cotton, read Charles 
 
 Cotton the elder. 
 161, — 19, for from, read form. 
 168, — 36, (note) for south, read north. 
 224, — 2, for Honorum suum re-emerreC ) , read ("Ho- 
 nor em suum re-emeret." ) 
 292, — 23, (in 'part of the impression only) for relgion 
 read religion. 
 
 In the lettering of the plate facing page 229, ( part of the im- 
 pression only) for Norbury Church, Staffordshire, read Norbury 
 Church, Derbyshire. 
 
 ASHBOURN : 
 
 Dawson and Hobson, Trinters, Market-Place.