Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/countyseatsofshrOOIeac THE COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE; A SERIES OF DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES, WITH HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN NOTES, OF THE PRINCIPAL FAMILY MANSIONS. EDITED BY FRANCIS LEACH, B . A. SHREWSBURY : "EDDOWES'S SHREWSBURY JOURNAL" OFFICE, No. 7, THE SQUARE. 1891. PRINTED AT THE SALOP PRINTING WORKS, CLAREMONT STREET, SHREWSBURY DEDICATED, BY SPECIAL PERMISSION, TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF BRADFORD, LORD LIEUTENANT AND CUSTOS ROTULORUM OF THE COUNTY OF SALOP. PREFACE. 'JpHESE sketches of the " County Seats of Shropshire " were originally designed for publication in Eddowes s Shrewsbury Journal, and a number of the earlier articles appeared in its columns. This arrangement was subsequently found, however, to be inconvenient, and their publication in this form was discontinued. The whole of the descriptive sketches — except the one dealing with Shavington Hall, which was contributed by H. D. Harrod, Esq., F.S.A., — were compiled by members of the staff of the Journal from authentic sources, the noblemen and^gentlemen owning the various mansions kindly affording every facility for the preparation of the literary matter and the production of the accompanying illustrations. The limit assigned to the work at its commencement has been found insufficient to allow of its embracing all the County Seats of importance or interest, but an effort has been made to include within its pages a fairly representative selection. F. LEACH, B.A. December, 1891. C O N T ENTS ACTON BURNELL . . ACTON REYNALD . . ALBRIGHT HUSSEY. . ALBRIGHTON HALL . ALDENHAM APLEY CASTLE . . . APLEY PARK .... ATTINGHAM HALL . BELSWARDINE . . . BENTHALL HALL . . BERWICK HALL . . BITTERLEY COURT . BOSCOBEL HOUSE . . BROGYNTYN .... BUILDWAS ABBEY . . BURWARTON HALL . CAYNHAM COURT . . CHETWYND PARK . . CONDOVER HALL . . DAVENPORT .... DELBURY HALL . . . EYTON HALL .... FERNEY HALL . . . HALSTON HARDWICK HALL . . HATTON GRANGE . . HAWKSTONE PARK . HENLEY HALL . . . HODNET HALL . . . ISLE, THE (Rossall) . KINLET HALL . . . LEIGHTON HALL . . LILLESHALL OLD HALL LILLESHALL HOUSE . Page. u * LINLEY HALL 81 LONGNER HALL 195 3<5o * LONGNOR HALL 89 7 LUDFORD HOUSE 35 lg LUDSTONE HALL 175 55 LUTWYCHE 395 MARRINGTON HALL .... 269 25 MOOR PARK 384 377 MORETON CORBET .... 74 3?6 MORVILLE HALL 323 , ' NETLEY 1 79 ,6 7 OAKELEY H3 6l OAKLY PARK 21 1 I2g ORLETON 305 36g OTELEY PARK 19 225 OVERTON 287 g3 PARK HALL 189 365 PITCHFORD HALL 15 4 g PLOWDEN HALL 65 I53 RUCKLEY GRANGE 335 38l SANDFORD HALL 229 2?5 SHAVINGTON HALL . . . .245 I25 SHIPTON HALL 161 386 STOKESAY CASTLE . . . .241 359 STOKESAY COURT 243 33I SUNDORNE CASTLE .... 99 7 SWEENEY HALL 389 373 TONG CASTLE 113 293 WALCOT 43 299 WENLOCK PRIORY 339 281 WESTON PARK 345 201 WHITEHALL (Shreavsbury) . .215 3 o 9 WHITTON COURT 159 ;i , WILLEY PARK nc ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. ACTON BURNELL CASTLE 219 HALL 220 CHURCH 222 ACTON REYNALD . 71 ALBRIGHT HUSSEY 360* ALBRIGHTON HALL , 147 ,, The Old Porch ......... 149 ,, The Entrance Hall ........ 150 ALDENHAM 183 APLEY CASTLE 55 ,, ,, From the Garden Front ....... 61 ,, Charlton Castle Ruins 57 APLEY PARK 109 ATTINGHAM HALL 25 ,, ,, The Entrance Gates ....... 26 ,, ,, The Picture Gallery ....... 27 BELSWARDINE 377 BENTHALL HALL 376 BERWICK HALL 1 ,, From the South-west ....... 2 BITTERLEY COURT 167 CROSS . ... . 176 BOSCOBEL . 361 BROGYNTYN 129 The Entrance Hall ......... 131 BUILDWAS ABBEY 369 BURWARTON HALL 225 CAYNHAM COURT 93 CHETWYND PARK 365 ,, ,, with the Old Church 367 CONDOVER HALL 49 DAVENPORT 153, 157 DELBURY HALL 381 EYTON HALL 275 FERNEY HALL 125 x ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. H ALSTON 386 HARDWICK HALL 359 HATTON GRANGE 33 1 „ Monks' Walk ......... 332 „ The Pools \. ji\ . . . . . 333 HAWKSTONE PARK 7 „ The Red Castle 10 HENLEY HALL . 373 „ The Drawing Room 374 HODNET HALL 293 ISLE, THE (ROSSALL) 299 KINLET HALL . .. ' 281, ,, ,, The Drawing Room ........ 283 LEIGHTON HALL 201 ,. The Entrance Hall ........ 202 LILLESHALL OLD HALL . . 309 LILLESHALL HOUSE . 317 LINLEY HALL ' . . . . . ' . 81 LODGE, THE (LUDLOW) . . . 291 LONGNER HALL 195 LONGNOR HALL 89 LUDFORD HOUSE 35 ,, ,, From the Churchyard ....... 38 LUDSTONE HALL . . . 175 LUTWYCHE . 395 MARRINGTON HALL 269, 270 „ ,, The Sun Dial ........ 270 ,, ,, The Lloyd Monument in Chirbury Church . . 272 MOOR PARK 384 MORETON CORBET CASTLE 73, 74 ,, ,, The Church of St. Bartholomew ..... 76 MORVILLE HALL 323 ,, The Church of St. Gregory ...... 324 NETLEY . ... . . . '., 179 OAKELEY . . . . " 143, OAKLY PARK 211 ORLETON . . . . . 305 OTELEY . . . . . . .... 19 ,, The Old Mansion .......... 21 ,, From the Mere .......... 22 OVERTON 287 1 ILLUSTRATIONS. xi Page. PARK HALL 189, 190 „ ,, The Drawing Room . ... . . . . 190 PITCHFORD HALL 15 PLOWDEN HALL 65 RUCKLEY GRANGE 335 SANDFORD HALL 229 SHAVINGTON HALL . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Ightfield Cross ......... 250 SHIPTON HALL 161, 162 STOKES AY CASTLE • •. . . . . 241 STOKESAY COURT • • 243 SUNDORNE CASTLE ' 99 ,, Haughmond Abbey ......... 104 ,, ,, Ground Plan ...... 101 ,, The Chapter House ..... 105 .,, . ,, ,, The Cloister Doorway . . . . 106 ,, „ „ From the Pool ." . . . . 106 ,, ,, ,, The Pool . . ' . . . . . 106 ,, Battlefield Church. . . . . . . . . 107 SWEENEY HALL 389 TONG CASTLE 113 ,, St. Bartholomew's Church . . . . . . . . . 117 ,, Reprint from the Book of Merlin ....... 118 The Priory 119 ^WALCOT .............. 43 WENLOCK PRIORY • 341 ,, Ruins with Holy Well 339 WESTON PARK Frontispiece. ,, South facade . . . . . . . . . 345 The Drawing Room ....... 352 The Library 354 WHITEHALL (SHREWSBURY) South-west View 215 ,, ,, The Gate House . . . . . 215 ,, ,, The Drawing Room . . . . . 216 WHITTON COURT . . 159 WILLEY PARK ■ • 13s _> 1. .. v> .. - -~ - ARMORIAL BEARINGS. Pa^e. Page. ACTON, The Right Hon. Lord . 187 KENYON-SLANEY, Mrs. W. ... 333 ALLCROFT T. D.. Esq . • . 244 KYN ASTON, Rev. W. C. E. 359 f KYNNERSLEY, T. F., Esq 210 BENSON, R. B., Esq. . . . 39 6 LEIGHTON, Stanley, Esq., M.P. . 393 BERWICK, The Right Hon. Lord . 33 LLOYD, Rev. W. V 272 BOROUGH, J. C. Burton, Esq. 368 LLOYD, the Ven. Archdeacon .... 218 isUYISJb, the Right Hon. the Viscount ,,0 220 268 LONSDALE, A. P. Heywood, Esq. BRADFORD, The Right Hon. the Earl of 357 BURTON, John, Esq. « . . -. 200 MAINWARING, S. K,. Esq. 23 MEYRICK, Sir Thomas, Bart. 63 MORE, R. Jasper, Esq., M.P. QQ 00 CHOLMONDELEY, Reginald, Esq. 53. . MOSELEY, Walter, Esq. (the late) 372 CORBET, Rev. John Dryden (the late) 107 MYTTON, family of (Shipton Hall) 165 CORBET, Sir V. R., Bart, (the late) . 79 CORBETT, E., Lieutenant-Colonel . 91 OAKELEY, John, Esq 146 CORNEWALL family (Delbury) ... 383 PARKINSON, J. L. M., (the late) 41 CORRIE, A. Wynne, Esq. ... ... !93 PLOWDEN, W. F., Esq 70 COTES, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles James 17 POWIS, The Right Hon. the Earl of (the late) 48 CURTIS, Sir W. M., Bart 97 PRICE-DAVIES, S. D., Esq 274 DAVENPORT, E. H., Esq. (the late) . 158 SALWEY, Alfred, Esq. . . .... 292 SANDFORD, Humphrey, Esq 303 EYTON, T. Slaney, Esq 280 SANDFORD, T. H., Esq. (the late) 240 SITWELL, W. G. W. Hurt, Esq. 127 FORESTER, The Right Hon. and Rev. Lord 141 SMITH, family of tMorville) .... 330 FOSTER, Miss Ethel Jane .... 385 SMYTHE, Sir C. F., Bart 223 FOSTER, W. 0., Esq in SPARROW, W. A., Esq 151 GASKELL, Charles Milnes, Esq., M.P. SUTHERLAND, His. Grace the Duke of 322 343 WALCOT, Rev. John J 73 HARLECH, The Right Hon. Lord 133 WALKER, C. C, Esq 3i6 HARTLEY, J., Esq. : 123 WATSON, James, Esq., M.P. 6 HEBER, Percy, A. C, Esq 298 WINDSOR, The Right Hon. Lord . 214 HERBERT, The Hon. R. C. ... 307 WOOD, J. B., Esq. 375 HILL, The Right Hon. the Viscount 13 WOOD, R. F. M., Esq. . . . . 379 HOPE-EDWARDES, Rev. St. L. F. 182 WRIGHT, E., Esq. 388 ARCHAEOLOGICAL REFERENCES. THE authorities consulted in the compilation of the historical portion of this work have necessarily been very numerous, records of families having been obtained from a wide variety of sources scattered through very many archaeological and topographical publications relating to the county. With the descriptions of the Seats is in each case given the history of the families to whom they belong, or who in past times have been closely identified with estates no longer in their possession. On these matters recent available information has been gathered from the many valuable papers in the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society ; while, in other respects, the several monographs on Shropshire families and places which are to be found in the archaeological collection presented to the Public Library at Shrewsbury bv the Society have been freely laid under contribution. For many special references we are indebted to a variety of genealogical works printed for private circulation among the families to whom they refer ; also to Turner's Domestic Architecture; the Journal of the British Archaeological Association; Collections of the Powys Land Club ; the Gentleman'' s Magazine ; Salopian Shreds and Patches ; Burke's Peerage and Landed Gentry; Foster's Peerage and Baronetage; and Burke's Visitation of Seats and Arms of Noblemen and Gentlemen. The general list of authorities consulted includes — Antiquities of Shropshire : R. W. Eyton. Arms and Lineages of Shropshire Families : F. W. Kittermaster. Border Counties Worthies ; E. G. Salisbury. Castles and Old Mansions of Shropshire : Mrs. Stackhouse Acton. Garrisons in Shropshire : Mrs. Stackhouse Acton. Shropshire Gazetteer [/axok$loxtc. ITU ATE in a northerly direction, some thirteen and a half miles from Shrewsbury, Hawkstone Park, the seat of Viscount Hill, is a delightfully attractive resort for lovers of nature, abounding in sites of historical interest, and possessing many scenes of almost fantastic loveliness. The main entrance is by Weston, where stands a Gothic Lodge, with handsome gates of wrought iron, the latter being the work of Messrs. Alltree and Lea, of Shrewsbury. Close at hand is the Hawkstone Hotel, a fine roomy place, where visitors are well accommodated by the courteous host, and where tickets of admission to the grounds may be obtained, as well as guides and guide books. The former pilot the visitor through the many weird subterranean passages which honeycomb the rocks in the park, and also describe other spots of interest to be met with on roaming through the grounds. Shortly after entering the magnificent park, the visitor is enraptured with the surpassing glories of nature to be seen on every hand. Before him rises a stretch of rugged rock of reddish hue, on his left stands the crumbling ruins of an ancient fortress, with a silvery lake shimmering in the distance, whilst, all around a fascinating aspect is given to the hilly ground by the varied beauties of the woods. Proceeding along the lengthy carriage drive, and soon after passing through a rugged archway, hewn out of the solid rock, the visitor catches a glimpse of Hawkstore Hall. The mansion is of red brick, relieved by white freestone facings, and occupies three sides of a quadrangle. The principal front is approached by a flight of steps leading through a stately portico, supported by four massive pillars, and set off by rich ornamentation. Sir Eowland Hill added the wings and made many other alterations to the building, which was the family mansion of the Hills as far back as the days of Edward VI., in which reign we find that Sir Eowland Hill, Bart., was Lord Mayor of London. This noble baronet, who is included in Fuller's " "Worthies of England," was a generous benefactor to his own and future generations, for he built churches and bridges — those of Atcham and Tern being among the latter — paved public highways, founded exhibitions of both Universities, clothed the poor, gave large sums of money to various hospitals, and, at his death, bequeathed £150 to the poor of all the wards in London. He owned large possessions in Salop and Cheshire, and his manly virtues and noble deeds are commemorated by a freestone column or obelisk standing on the highest point in the park. He was the first Protestant to occupy the distinguished position of Lord Mayor of London, and, having embraced the principles of the Eeformation, he was a zealous advocate of the Protestant cause. He was one of London's most wealthy merchants, but for a considerable time previous to his (7) COUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIBE. decease he gave up his mercantile occupations, and, having spent a long and generous life, died at the advanced age of seventy-eight. The Entrance Hall of this Ancestral Home is full of attractions, being adorned with fine old paintings, and military relics, many of the latter having been collected on the field of Waterloo, by the late General Lord Hill. Passing on, we enter the saloon, a spacious apartment fitted up in luxurious style, the walls decorated with many fine paintings, among them being " The siege of Namur," the five principal characters in which— William III., the Elector of Bavaria, the Duke of Marlborough, Count Cohorn, and the Eight Hon. Eichard Hill, (at that time Paymaster of the Army, Member of the Privy Council, and Envoy at the Court of Turin)— were taken from life. The Drawing Eoom is sumptuously furnished, and here, too, are to be seen many specimens of the work of the most celebrated artists. The walls and ceiling are exquisitely ornamented, and the furniture is of the most gorgeous description. In the Library is an extensive collection of costly volumes, also several valuable paintings, and in a large glass case are to be seen the sword and orders of General Lord Hill. The Billiard Eoom is an airy apartment, and in it are several highly -prized pillars, brought from Egypt by the famous warrior. The Chapel, which some five-and-thirty years ago underwent a complete restoration, forms the south-west wing of the Hall. It has richly-stained glass windows, illustrative of Scripture History, and contains a handsome marble pulpit. Many interesting objects are displayed in the Museum, including a rare collection of British birds, whilst close by is the Sculpture Gallery, in which are many fine specimens of statuary. The bedrooms and other apartments are elaborately furnished, and decorated with exceeding taste and skill. In the rear of the house are delightful gardens studded with ornamental trees, and containing a number of miniature lakes, upon which swim several richy-plumed acquatic birds. These charming grounds are of great extent, and adjoining them is the kitchen garden, in which are numerous glass houses, whilst close by stand the stables, built of red brick, and forming a very compact range of buildings. Traversing the grounds we ascend a gentle eminence, whereon is situate the Summer House, an imposing octagonal building of Grinshill freestone, the interior of which is painted in fresco, representing the Four Seasons. From the window there is a fine view of the beautiful lake, and in the distance rise the Broxton Hills and Delamere Forest in Cheshire. A pleasant walk leads from the Summer House to the Gulph, which separates the grotto rock from the opposite heights, and having ascended a steep pathway on the side of the rock, the traveller alights upon the entrance to the Grotto, a cleft in the rock which had lain for ages undiscovered, until the late Sir Eichard Hill had the spot excavated, when the present subterranean passage was discovered. After proceeding about a hundred yards along the dismal pathway, the visitor is introduced to the magnificent Grotto" a vast subterranean cave, in the midst of which is a spacious recess, fantastically inlaid with a great variety of shells, fossils, and other curious petrifactions. Having wended his way through a colonnade of rude pillars, the labyrinth is quitted by a door on the western side, which opens on an awe-inspiring precipice of lofty rocks and rugged crags, affording a pleasing contrast with the fertile valleys lying in the distance. Leaving the Grotto Hill, the visitor traverses the cliffs until he arrives at a natural cave known as the Retreat, the top of which is tinged with variegated copper ore. Having peeped at the Canopy and Indian Eock, which are surrounded by most romantic scenery, the visitor ascends a curiously hewn pathway along the rock until he reaches a little hut, which contains the figure of a hermit in sitting posture, with a table before him, on which lie a skull, a hour-glass, a book, and a pair of spectacles. The visitor is impressed by this peculiar scene, and a Latin inscription —procul i V rocul esie profani— warns him to keep a respectful distance from the ancient recluse. Another attraction is St. Francis' Cave, after emerging from which the visitor sees a detached (8) HA WKSTONE. piece of rock of spiral form, called the Fox's Head, this name being given from the circumstance of a fox, many years ago, leaping from the top to the valley beneath, and being followed by some of the hounds, pursuers and pursued perished together. Taking the path to the left, the visitor finds himself upon the summit of the Terrace, and having passsd along the lofty heights he is shown Reynard's Banqueting House, a natural cavern in which have been found the remains of hares, rabbits, and poultry, upon which many a hungry fox had obviously dined. On the highest point of the terrace is erected the noble obelisk previously referred to, which stands at a height of one hundred and twelve feet. On the top is the statue of Sir Rowland Hill in the quaint dress and Mayoral robes of his time, and holding Magna Charta in his hand. The statue' was copied from an ancient monument which stood in St. Stephen's Church, Walbrook, previous to the Great Fire of London. A stone staircase in the interior leads to the top of the obelisk, whence a magnificent view is obtained of the distant landscape for miles around. So extensive is the stretch of country to be seen from this commanding height, that on a clear day thirteen counties may be discerned, ranging from Derbyshire to Merionethshire, and from Herefordshire to Blackstone Edge. Such a stretch of lovely country is seldom to be seen from any point in England, and the magnificent prospect calls to mind Byron's descriptive lines : — A blending of all beauties, streams, and dells, Fruit, foliage, crag, leaf, mountain, corn-field, vine, And cbiefless castles breathing stern farewells, From grey but leafy wall, where ruin greenly dwells. Upon the base of the monument, the first stone of which was laid by Sir Richard Hill, Bart., in October, 1795, are inscribed the words — " The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance." — Psalm cvi., 6. In another part of the grounds we come upon the White Tower, a Gothic structure, a conspicuous object for several miles around. Not far from this tower is a cave in the rock, entered by means of steps along a narrow walk, noted for having been the hiding place of an ancestor of the Hill family, who was hardly pressed by the Parliamentary forces during the Commonwealth, and in memory of whom the late Sir Richard Hill caused a handsome urn to be placed close by the cave, bearing the following inscription : — Anno 1 7 84. This Urn Was placed here by Sir Richard Hill, Bart., Eldest son of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., One of the Knights of this Shire, As a token of affection to the memory of his much-respected ancestor, Rowland Hill of Hawkestonc, Esquire, A gentleman remarkable for his great wisdom, piety, and charity, who, being a zealous loyalist, hid himself in this glen, in the civil wars in the time of King Charles the First. But, being discovered, was imprisoned in the adjacent castle, commonly called Red Castle, whilst his home was pillaged and ransacked by the Rebels. The Castle itself was soon afterwards demolished. His son, Rowland Hill, Esq., coming to his assistance, also suffered much in the same loyal cause. The castle referred to in the inscription is an imposing feature in the park, being the ruin of a famous fortress. From its site on the summit of a rock of red sandstone it is known as the Red Castle, and its remains, as an old English Chronicler wrote in 1577, " still make a fair show." Its walls are now overgrown with ivy and moss, while stately trees and prettily wooded hills surround it. The legendary history of the stronghold goes back to the time of King Arthur and his gallant Knights of the Round Table, and the very name of the lofty tower which still remains — the Giants' (9) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Weil — recalls the hoary days of old when Sir Lancelot and his brethren in arms were wont " to ride abroad redressing human wrongs." This donjon or keep has its basement deep down in the rock, the depth from the top of the tower being over two hundred feet, whilst the diameter at the entrance is close upon ten feet. Dugdale tells us that the castle was built in the reign of Henry III., but an ancient manuscript in the possession of the Audley family proves it to be of greater antiquity, for it is therein stated that " Maud, or Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, gave to John de Audley, and to his heirs, the lands about Eed Castle, in the County of Salop, for certain services done by him to the State." This family appears to have owned the stronghold until the days of " bluff King Hal VIII,'' who granted the manor of Red Castle to Sir Andrew Corbet, Knight, and it was not until the eighteenth century that it was purchased by the Hill family. A fascinating valley divides the Eed Castle Hill from the Elysian Hill, which is exceedingly picturesque. About a mile from this spot is the Burgh or Bury Walls, the remains of a Roman encampment, said to be one of the most perfect now remaining in England, its area being about twenty acres. Alluding to this historical spot, THE EED CASTLE. «' Camden's Britannia " (edit. 1695) says that " scarce a mile from Eed Castle a small city once stood — Soman antiquities have often been here dug or ploughed up." The remains of copper mines, probably worked by the Eomans, arc near at hand, and coins of an early period have also been found in the Castle ruins. Hawkstone is as renowned for its historical associations as for the grandeur of its scenery, and is, undoubtedly, one of the prettiest spots in the county. To add to its charms, the graceful deer are to be seen bounding through the hollows and up the hill sides ; herds of shaggy Scotch cattle graze upon the plains, and numberless wild rabbits race about on every side ; whilst snow-white swans glide silently upon the glistening lake. To the genealogist, the history of the Hill family is peculiarly interesting. The earliest notice of them appears to be in the public records of Edward 1., in a grant by the prior and monks of Worcester. We also find that William de Mortimer, canon of Hereford, in the fifth year of Edward II., grants to William de la Hulle and Alice, his wife, lands in Eokhulle and Greate. William de la Hulle in the fifth of Edward III., grants lands to John Darel, his nephew, Chaplain of (10) g RAWKSTONE. t 3 Nash, to pray for the souls of himself and Alice, his late wife, his heirs and successors. Hugh de Hull, of Hull, son of William, removed to Buntingsdale, in the north-east of Shropshire, on his marriage with Eleanor de Wlonkeslow, sister and co-heiress with Isabel, wife of Thomas de Stuche, from whom are descended maternally the Clives of Styche. William, the eldest son of Hugh, was the grand-father of Humphrey Hill, Buntingsdale, from whom, in- direct descent, we find Thomas Hill, cf Soulton, who was sheriff of Shropshire in 1681. The third son of Humphrey Hill was Thomas, of Hodnet and Malpas, father of Sir Rowland Hill, the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London. Another member of the family, who achieved high distinction, was Richard, known in history as the " Great Hill," who was born in 1654, and educated at Shrewsbury School and St. John's College, Cambridge. He was the founder of the present family, as well as of the Hills of Attingham, and built the present mansion of Hawkstone for his nephew, who was sheriff of Shropshiie in 1732 ; for whom also he procured the baronetcy. Sir Rowland had a numerous family, his eldest son, Sir Richard, was for many years M.P. for the county. His second son, John, who succeeded to the family honours, was the father of Lord Hill, and his sixth son was the Minister of Surrey Chapel, the Rev. Rowland Hill. Previous to his accession to the baronetcy, Mr. John Hill lived at Prees Hall, and here was born the late General Lord Hill, (Rowland, the second son), on the eleventh of August, 1772. At the age of seven or eight he was sent to a school at Ightfield, whence at the expiration of a year, he was removed to Chester, where he remained until he was seventeen. Early in 1790, his parents wished him to make choice of a profession, and suggested the law. He, however, to their surprise, chose the army, and his father shortly afterwards obtained for him an ensigncy in the 38th Regiment. On the sixteenth of March, 1791, he was appointed lieutenant in the 53rd Shropshire Regiment of Foot, then commanded by Major Matthews, and thus commenced his brilliant career. While absent in the Peninsula, Sir Rowland Hill was elected M.P. for Shrewsbury in 1812, and issued an address of thanks to the electors on November 30th in that year, but he never took his seat, being raised to the peerage as Baron Hill, of Almaraz and Hawkstone, before he returned to England. Lord Hill arrived in London on the 27th of May, and on the 1st of June took his seat in the House of Lords. He subsequently received a sword of honour and a gold box with the freedom of the City of London, and was a short time afterwards presented with a sword at Birmingham. Lord Hill's visit to Shrewsbury was a triumph never to be forgotten. The streets were filled with thousands of people. The trees on the road by which he entered were adorned with flowers, and the road itself was strewn with them. Thirteen hundred children of the various charity schools greeted him with their plaudits. The Yeomanry were passed in review, and then formed part of the procession. The houses were decorated, and the windows filled with ladies, whose handkerchiefs waved over the heads of the exultant crowds beneath them. A grand banquet took place in the Guild Hall, at which the venerable Sir John Hill was present to witness the honours showered on his illustrious son. The freedom of the town was voted to Lord Hill and his gallant brothers, and to gratify the public it was arranged that the presentation should take place in the gardsn of Mr. Rocke, near the Quarry. A prodigious concourse had assembled, and when the ceremony was over his lordship addressed the vast assembly; and at the earnest wish of the people he was reluctantly induced to venture among them in the Quarry. He, however, was obliged to retreat, such was the overwhelming rush of the crowds who were anxious to shake hands with him. His lordship admitted that he had then run away for the first time in his life. " I never," said he " fled from the fury of my enemies, but I have now been obliged to fly from the kindness of my friends." To perpetuate the memory of the gallant General, a massive Doric column — known as Lord Hill's column — was erected in Shrewsbury in 1814-16, the first stone being laid towards the close of the former year by the (11) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. County Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. The material is Grinshill stone, and the total height is one hundred and thirty-three and a half feet, the height of the statue alone being seventeen feet. For the modest consideration of twopence the one hundred and seventy-two steps within the shaft can be ascended, and from the gallery at the top a charming view of the surrounding scenery may be obtained. The plain to the north-east is the scene of the battle of Shrewsbury (1403), where the gallant Falstaff fought his full hour by Shrewsbury clock. Slightly to the east of this are the ruins of the grand old abbey of Haughmond lying under the shadow of Haughmond Hill. The hill due east is the Wrekin, while to the north are Nesscliff, Selattyn, the Berwyn, and Grinshill. The base of the lofty obelisk bears the following inscription : — To Lieutenant-General Rowland Lord Hill, Baron Hill of Almaraz and Hawlcstonc, G.C.B. Not more distinguished for his skill and courage in the field During the arduous campaigns in Spain and Portugal, Than for his benevolence and paternal care Of his victorious countrymen, And for that humanity and generosity Which their vanquished foes experienced and acknowledged. The inhabitants of the town and county of Salop Have erected this column and statue As a memorial of their gratitude to the illustrious contemporary, and an incitement of emulation in Heroes and Patriots of future ages. A.D. MDCCCXVI. Roleia Arroyo Del Molinos Hillette Vimiera Almaraz Orthes Corunna Vittoria Aire Douro Pyrenees Tarbes Talavera Nive Toulouse Busaco Nivelle Waterloo Civi, Svo, Rolando, Domini Baroni Hill, Ab Almaraz Et Hawkstone, Columnam Hancce. Cvm. Statva. P.O. A. S. MDCCCXVI. Is in Re. Militari Qvemadmodvm Se Gesserit Festes. Sint. Lusitania Hispania Ualliae Xarbonensis Ac Bilgica Artvrivs, Dvx, A. Wellington Sociervin it Ividem Hostivm Exercitvs. The heroic soldier was present at Waterloo, his force being engaged in the thickest of the battle. His horse was killed under him, pierced by five balls ; he himself was rolled over and severely bruised, and until he rejoined his staff half-an-hour afterwards, it was feared that he was killed. His coolness and intrepidity never once forsook him, and he received, when the battle was over, the cordial acknowledgment of the Duke of Wellington for the important part he had performed. His two brothers, Eobert and Clement, were wounded, the former by a musket bal through his right arm, and the latter was pinned to his saddle by a sword through his thigh. A strong personaj friendship existed through life between himself and the Duke of Wellington, whose kindness and partiality to him were strongly evinced on many subsequent occasions. King George the Fourth was exceedingly attached to him, and selected him to bear the Eoyal Standard of England at his coronation in 1821. Lord Hill's military career, like that of his great chief, was now brought to a close, he having declined the command of the forces in India in 1827. In 1828, however, when the Duke of Wellington became the head of the Government and resigned the office of Commander-in. Chief, his grace offered him the vacant post, which handsome offer was accepted by his lordship, and on the fifteenth of February, 1828, he was appointed " General Commanding-in-Chief." The duties HAWKSTONE. of his office, however, proving too arduous for him, he on the ninth of August, 1842, tendered his resignation to her Majesty, and in consideration of his long and valuable services he was created a viscount. He had previously left London for Hardwicke Grange, and here, with occasional visits to Hawkstone, he passed the remainder of his life in the society of his family, whom he loved so well. He died on the tenth of December, 1842, declaring on his deathbed that he believed he had not an enemy in the world, and was buried in the little parish churchyard at Hadnal, amidst univeral manifestations of love and esteem. Sir Rowland Hill, fourth baronet, and father of the present viscount, succeeded his father as baronet in 1824, and his uncle— General Lord Hill— as second viscount in 1842. He was born on the tenth of May, 1800, and died January third, 1875, He entered the army at an early age, joining the Eoyal Horse Guards Blue, and subsequently became Lieutenant-Colonel of the North Shropshire Yeomanry Cavalry. In 1821, being then only twenty-one years of age, he was elected without opposition as member of Parliament for this county, in the place of John Cotes, Esq., and held the seat until 1842, when, on the death of his uncle, he was called to the House of Lords. On the resignation of the late Duke of Sutherland in 1845, the distinguished office of Lord-Lieutenant and Custos Eotulorum of the County of Salop were conferred upon Lord Hill. He was for many years one of the trustees of Shrewsbury School, and evinced a lively interest in the Salop Infirmary and other public charities. For many years he was master of the North Shropshire foxhounds, which he kept at his own expense, and afterwards a pack of Otter hounds. Standing in Hawkstone Park is a marble statue of the noble viscount, on which is inscribed the following : — " Viscount Hill, 1800-1875, beloved by his tenants and friends, who have erected this statue to his memory." His lordship was married July 21st, 1831, to Anne, only daughter of Joseph Clegg, Esq., of Peplow Hall, by whom he had two sons. The elder son is the present viscount, who succeeded his father as third viscount, in 1875. He was born in December, 1833, and has been twice married, his first wife, whom he married in May, 1855, being Mary, daughter of William Madox, Esq., by whom he had two sons ; and his second wife, to whom he was married in April, 1875, was the Hon. Isabella Elizabeth Wynn, fifth daughter of Spencer, third Baron Newborough, and by whom he has issue three sons and a daughter. (13) D CC O X o little village of Pitchford, which lies some six miles from Shrewsbury, takes its name from bituminous springs in its vicinity. Pleasantly situated near the old Parish Church, stands the Hall, a fine half-timbered mansion, in the Elizabethan style, the seat of Lady Louisa Harriet Cotes, who is Lady of the Manor, the records of which go back to Anglo-Saxon days. Domesday Book says that Edric and Leuric and Uluric, three freemen, held it for three manors in the time of Edward the Confessor, and that it was worth eight shillings per annum, and afterwards' sixteen shillings ; but at the time of the compilation of the record its value was forty shillings. In 1086, Turoldus held Piceford in Conodour Hundred of Eoger de Montgomery, and Sir Ealph de Pycheford was lord of the manor. Walter, Archbishop of York, had the manor in mortgage for the scutage of Wales, 37th Henry III., and 5th Edward I. John de Pycheford confessed that he held Pycheford by the service of one knight's fee. Ealph de Pycheford, and Margaret, wife of John de Pycheford, levied a fine 29th Edward I., to Walter de Langton, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and to his heirs, of the advowson of the church and of lands in Albrighton, and of the manor of Pycheford ; and that Bishop held the manor till his death. In 27th Edward III. a fine was levied between William de Pole, chivalier, and Margaret, his wife, complainants, John de Insula, Knt., Hugh de Bray, Warin, the son of Warin de Bassing- bourne, Knt., and William de la Dale, defendants, of the manors of Pycheford, Tassele, and Oldbury, and of the advowson of the churches of Pycheford and Tassele jus Margaretae et heredum. Another fine was levied 32 Edward III. between Sir Nicholas Burnel, Knt., complainant, and William the son of Eichard de la Pole, Knt., defendant, of the manor of Pycheford and of the advowson of the church, in the tenure of Eobert de Bradeston and Isabel, his wife, for her dower, the remainder for the said Sir Nicholas Burnel and his heirs. The manor was granted 3rd Henry V. to Eobert Bickdon and others, upon condition that Sir Hugh Burnel was to pay a sum of money for the redemption thereof , and in 1st Edward J.V., John, Lord Lovel had a confirmation of the manor in taile. James I. granted, in the fifth year of his reign, the reversion of the manors of Pycheford and Overton to Thomas Ottley, Esq., and his heirs. Sir Francis Ottley, of Pitchford, Knt., a zealous loyalist, was taken prisoner by the Parliamentary forces at the Battle of Worcester, and compounded for his estate to the Commonwealth for £1,200. In Pitchford Church are several monuments to the Ottley family, in the hands of whose descendants the property remains to the (15) COUNTY SEATS OF SEBOPSHIBE. present time. Ou the death, in 1851, of the Earl of Liverpool (who was descended maternally from the Ottleys), the estate passed into the possession of his daughter, Lady Louisa Harriet, who, in September, 1839, married John Cotes, Esq., of Woodcote. This gentleman, who, for some years represented North Shropshire in Parliament, left, on his decease, two sons and five daughters. The elder son, Charles Cecil, of Woodcote, represented the Borough of Shrewsbury in the Liberal interest from 1874 to 1885, and was Junior Lord of the Treasury in Mr. Gladstone's Administration ; the second son, Charles James, was born December 16th, 1847, and lives at Pitchford Hall. He was in the Grenadier Guards for about sixteen years, holding the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, which position he retained until 1883, when he relinquished his connection with the regiment. He went out to Egypt with the second Batallion Grenadier Guards during the Egyptian war, and was present at the Battle of Tel el Keber. He is a keen sportsman, and takes considerable interest in the preservation of foxes in the county. Pitchford Hall is approached through a delightful avenue of trees, whose overhanging boughs form a perfect natural arcade, extending from the entrance gates to within a few yards of the fine old English mansion. On entering the historic building, one soon finds himself surrounded with associations of the past. In the original Entrance Hall, for instance, the walls are pannelled with dark oak, and upon them hang specimens of armour belonging to the year 1500, or thereabouts, whilst the old fire-place stands exactly the same as when the place was originally built. In the Dining Room the mind is carried back to a similarly remote period by the finely painted portraits, encased in the panelling, of several members of the Ottley family, the most prominent picture being a group representing Sir Francis Ottley (Governor of Shrewsbury in .the time of Charles I.), his wife, and two of his sons. The Drawing Room is a spacious apartment, and here, too, are more specimens of finely-executed panelling. The room is well lighted by a large bay window which looks out over an extent of rising ground, and on clear days the Wrekiri can be seen in the far distance. In the Library, standing on the mantelpiece, is a mirror enclosed in an exquisitely carved frame the work of the master carver, Grinling Gibbons — whilst in the Sitting Room the feature of interest is a small cupboard, in the floor of which is an ingenious trap-door, through which one may descend by a small ladder into a secluded box-like apartment below. This was obviously built for hiding purposes, and many a hard-pressed fugitive probably took refuge therein during the troublous times of days gone by. The Colonel's Private Room is a bright and airy apartment, and contains many indications of being set apart for the transaction of business. The bedrooms are for the most part panelled similarly to those mentioned above, and are very tastefully fitted up. The exterior of the Hall has a very quaint and picturesque appearance. It is framed with timber, the interstices being filled with plaster. Some years ago, the roof was taken off and restored with the original tiles. Perhaps the prettiest aspect of the house is that facing east, immediately in front of which Pitchford Brook is seen rippling along to the rocky declivity over which it ultimately falls. A deeply dug moat in olden times surrounded the house, but it has been gradually filled up at intervals during the past two hundred years, and no traces of it now remain. The water was supplied from a large deep pond which is situated on the south-west side of the building, where the stables also lie, being built of red brick and fitted with every accommodation. Unfortunately, this Ancestral Home lacks the beauty of a park, for, although in former times one of considerable extent existed, this attractive feature was destroyed about the year 1700. In Norman days the wood at Pitchford is recorded as capable of fattening one hundred swine. Many stately trees, however, may still be noticed in the vicinity, amongst them being a noble cedar, whose substantial boughs stretch far and wide, whilst in another portion of the grounds is a gigantic tree, which, according to tradition, has (16) PJTCHFORD. been known for centuries, as " the tree with the house in it." The house, which is about eight feet square, is built of wood and plaster, and has been carefully maintained for the past two hundred years. Firmly fixed upon the spreading branches of a huge lime tree, it has a very peculiar appear- ance, and it would be difficult to say for what purpose this little structure was built in so extraordinary a position. There are, of course, the usual extensive kitchen gardens, and also an amount of glass, but there are no specially laid-out ornamental grounds. The bituminous well of Pitchford, at a short distance from the hall, has long been the subject of much curiosity, and doubtless formerly attracted the notice of the Roman conquerors, for a branch of their great highway passed in close proximity to it. On the surface of the water may frequently be seen a thick scum resembling pitch, and when the well runs dry, this exudation may be seen oozing from the crevices in the rocks. The learned Cambden compares the scum of this spring, with the matter found on lake Asphaltites, and says there are also similar springs in Sicily. Close by stands the ancient church, with its tower and walls long since overgrown with ivy. It is supposed to have been founded by Ralph de Pitchford, during the reign of Henry I. or Stephen, and therefore appears to date back to the twelfth century. A richly-stained window, illustrative of Scriptural history, is placed in the eastern end, erected by Lady Louisa Cotes to the memory of her father ; whilst on the walls are handsome mural monuments in memory of several other members of the Ottley family. Lying on a massive oaken chest is a wooden figure, which, according to tradition, represents Sir Hugh de Pitchford, though heraldry points rather to its being intended for Sir John de Pitchford, who died 1285. The figure, which is seven feet in length, is carved out of one solid piece of oak, is fully armed, and is dressed in knightly costume belonging to the latter end of the thirteenth century. The chest on which the figure reposes is finely carved, and around the sides are various armorial bearings. The Church, though small, is a fine old pile, and is supposed to have been dedicated to St. Michael. More than half a century ago, Pitchford Hall, then the seat of th« Earl of Liverpool, was honoured with a visit from royalty, the distinguished personages being their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria, the latter being now her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen. (17) fine mansion, the Shropshire residence of Salusbury Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., stands close by Ellesmere, on the east side of the charming lake or "mere" from which that town takes its name. It is beautifully situate in a well-wooded park of one hundred and thirty acres, and is approached from the main road by a drive about one-third of a mile in length. The park is one of those mentioned in Shirley's standard work on " English Deer Parks," and heads the list as principal and oldest of the few named as existing in Shropshire. The learned writer states that Oteley is an ancient park, said to have been imparked at the beginning of the 14th century; that is recognised by another authority, Saxton, and contains one hundred and sixty fallow deer. The present stately edifice, which was erected by Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., is built of Cefn stone, in the modern Gothic style, was commenced about 1826, and the maiu block was finished in about three or four years. An attached wing on the west front, meant (for a billiard-room, was the last portion built by this gentleman; it bears date 1840. His son, the present owner, altered and re-built a part of the house and offices, a date showing this on the exterior of the Dining Eoom, giving the year 1869. The house stands near the site of the half-timbered mansion (taken down in 1830) which was for many generations the dwelling-place of the Kynaston family, whose pedigree, dating from remote antiquity, is thus given by Sir Bernard Burke in his Landed Gentry : — The family of Kinaston descends from Iorweth Goch, Lord of Mochnant, Powysland, and through him from the royal line of Powys. John or Jenkin Kinaston Esq., (2nd son of Griffith Kynaston, Esq., of Stocks, seneschal of the lordship of Ellesmere in the time of Henry VI., and elder brother of Sir Eoger Kynaston of Hordley, ancestor of the Baronets Kynaston), had the estate of Stocks settled upon him and his heirs. He married Johanna, daughter of John Mainwaring, Esq., of Peover, Cheshire, son of Sir John Mainwaring, Knt., and left a son and successor. Peter Kinaston, Esq., of Stocks, who married Margaret, daughter and heir of Edward Morgan, Esq., of Arlhey, Flintshire, and was succeeded by his son, Humphrey Kinaston, Esq., of Stocks, living in the reign of Henry VIII., who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of William Oteley, Esq., of Oteley, Shropshire, by whom he acquired the estate of Oteley, and had a son and successor, (19) COUNTY SEATS OF SHEOPSHIBE. George Kinaston. Esq., of Oteley and Stocks, who married Jane, daughter of Sir George Grey, Kut., of Eaville, county Stafford, and died December the eighth, 1543, when he was succeeded by his son, Francis Kinaston, Esq., of Oteley, who married Margaret, daughter of Francis Charlton, Esq., of Apley, Shropshire, and relict of Arthur Chambre, Esq., by whom he left at his demise, the fourth of August in the 23rd year of the reign of Elizabeth, a son and successor, Sir Edward Kinaston, Kut., of Oteley, high sheriff for Shropshire 1599, who in the fortieth year of Elizabeth's reign had license from the Queen to keep a market in Ellesmere on Tuesday, and a fair. He married Isabella, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bagnall, Knt., marshal of Ireland, and dying 1611, was succeeded by his son, Sir Francis Kinaston, Knt., of Oteley, a celebrated scholar and poet, who translated the Troilus and Cressida of Chaucer into Latin verse. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Humphrey Lee, Bart., of Langley, Shropshire, and had a son Edward, his heir. Sir Francis, who was an esquire of the body to Charles I., died 1652, and was succeeded by his son, Edward Kinaston, Esq., of Oteley, who married Catherine, daughter of Sir John Hanmer, Bart, of Hanmer, and dying April, 1656, was succeeded by his son, Sir Francis Kinaston, Knt., of Oteley, who married Margaret, daughter of Sir Arthur Mai n waring, Knt., of Ightlield, and dying childless 1661, was succeeded by his brother, Edward Kinaston, Esq., of Oteley, who married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir Osbert Brooke, Bart., of Nacton, Suffolk, and was father of Charles Kinaston, Esq., of Oteley, who married Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Lacon, of West Coppice, Shropshire and had issue ; Edward, of Oteley, who married thrice, but died without issue, 17S1 ; Mary, married to James Main waring, Esq., of Bromborough, in Cheshire. This James Mainwaring, Esq., was third son of James Mainwaring, Esq., alderman of Chester (who purchased Bromborough, county Chester), and grandson of George Mainwaring, Esq., M.P., whose father, Bandel Mainwaring, colonel in the Army of King Charles I., was third son of Edward Mainwaring, Esq., of Whitmore. He died on the twenty-third of October, 1781, and was succeeded by his son, Charles Mainwaring, Esq., who was born 1723, married on the twenty-fourth of June, 1751, Mary, daughter of William Falconer, Esq., recorder of Chester, and died on the thirtieth of July, 1781, the Oueley p.'opjrty being inherited by his second son, the Rev. Charles Mainwahing, born September seventh, 1768. This gentleman married on the twenty-fourth of June, 1800, Sarah Susannah, daughter of John Townshend, Esq., of Hem House, county Denbigh, and had two sons and one daughter. On his death, the sixth May, 1807, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Kinaston Mainwaring, Esq., born the sixteenth of September, 1803. He was high sheriff 1829, and married on the twentieth of October, 1832, Frances, second daughter and co-heir of John Lloyd Salusbury, Esq,, of Galtfaenan, county Denbigh— ^his younger brother, Townshend Mainwaring, Esq., marrying the elder daughter of the same gentleman in 1837. He died in •June, 1862, and the estates passed to his son, Salusbury Kvnaston Mainwaring, Esq., the present owner, who was born on the eighth of September, 1844. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, was an ollicer in the North Shropshire Yeomanry, and high sheriff of the county in 1870. Mr. Mainwaring married, May 1869, Edith Sarah, second daughter of the lata Sir Hugh Williams, Bart., of Bodelwyddan, county Flint, and has two sons. (20) OTELEY. The Entrance Hall, whose walls are decorated with hunting trophies, is lighted by two stained-glass windows, containing the armorial bearings of the Welsh princes from whom the family derive their descent ; many ancestral portraits also hang here, and one quaint picture represents an ancient dame who was nurse to Sir Francis Kynaston, and who, as the inscription states, died at the advanced age of one hundred and two years. Further on is the Great Hall, from which the principal staircase leads to the upper storeys of the house ; this is lighted by a fine stained window of splendid proportion, showing in delicate tones of lovely colours the heraldic emblazonments of the family, the shields in the upper mullions being those of the Mainwarings, and those in lower mullions of the Kynastons of Oteley. The staircase walls are adorned with Flemish tapestry, depicting the seasons — such as grape-gathering in autumn and snow in winter. In the Hall is a splendid stone mantelpiece, over which is a fine piece of carving, supposed, on good grounds, to be an altar piece, the subject presumably being the Presentation in the Temple. It is of Spanish mahogany, but painted over. Among the furniture here are several fine oak cabinets, one rare example being carved from designs by Eubens, in whose house it originally stood ; its panels represent the Flight into Egypt, and the Holy Family. Over this hangs a copy of Eaffaelle's Madonna. Opposite the staircase is the Library, whose walls and ceiling are of panelled oak ; the fine cornice, carved by Dessoulavez, being dated 1638. The mante piece is of marble, flanked by angels carved in oak ; above it is a magnificent frieze in fine preservation, showing two incidents in the life of Samson — his removal of the gates of Gaza, and his breaking of the jaws of the Lion. Numerous pictures are suspended on the walls, chiefly portraits of the Kynastons, one of the most noteworthy being that of the cup-bearer to Queen Elizabeth — Sir Francis Kynaston, Knt., whose seal of office and Testament containing her autograph given him by the Queen are among the treasures of the present owner of Oteley. Another interesting portrait is that of General Lee, of the American War of Independence. The pictures in this room include two portraits by Sir Peter Lely, and a delicate crayon drawing by Sir Thomas Lawrence of the Rev. Charles Mainwaring, grandfather of the present owner. The Library also contains some rare and valuable oriental china, a screen decorated with many good drawings, among them being sketches by Vandyck, Kneller, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Angelica Kauffmann, and other famous artists. At the entrance hang curtains of fine tapestry from Poictiers, with elegant border of scrolls, figures, etc. Also adjoining the hall is a well-lighted Billiard Room, which has a fine ceiling and cornice ; the mantel is richly adorned in white and gold. In this room are many pictures by old masters, including Domenichino, a Jew's Head by Rembrandt, and portraits of Lord Clarendon and Sir T. Hanmer (sometime Speaker of the House of Commons) by Sir Godfrey Kneller. The room contains, among are articles of vertu, a cabinet of majolica, and a case of choice enamels. The Drawing Room is a fine apartment, having a smaller one en suite, entered by folding doors. It is richly upholstered in crimson and gold, and its ceiling is panelled in white and gold ; from it depend handsome chandeliers. The furniture comprises Buhl and Marqueterie tables and cabinets, and amongst them is a very fine ebony writing table which belonged to George IV. ; rare vases, Sevres jardinieres, Dresden tazze, and a case of choice enamels — twenty-one medallion portraits of the beauties of Louis Quatorze, One glass-fronted cabinet on the wall contains portions of a Dresden China service with a painted floral initial of the letter K., made for one of the Kynastons. Amongst various specimens of English and foreign porcelain is a beautiful dessert service of Sevres china painted with flowers and butterflies. This service was presented by Napoleon I. to his mother. H (21) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Like the other rooms, this is adorned with numerous valuable pictures, among the most noteworthy being Guido's original study of Aurora, for the fresco in the Eospigliosi Palace ; the Duke of Queensberry and his Secretary, by Hogarth : a Spartan Youth, by Reynolds ; a Holy Family, by Garofalo ; a small example of Sasso-Ferrato, and a Canaletti, as well a three early cattle pieces, by T. S. Cooper, R.A. , The spacious and well-appointed Dining Room has an old oak chimney-piece, containing three panels, of old Italian carving, the subjects being scenes from the life of Ca)sar, which are very fine. The dado and sideboards in this room are also of carved oak. Over the mantel is an excellent picture of Charles I. taking leave of his children— this is by Stothard, and was exhibited in a recent collection of old masters at Burlington House. Another fine picture here is a large work by Vandyck and Rubens, representing the Duke of Alva on horseback ; among others in this room are portraits of Inigo Jones by Vandyck, Fraus Hals by himself; Charles Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., and his wife, by Mrs. William Carpenter. and Salusbury Kynaston Mainwaring, Esq., by Lehmann, and Mrs Mainwaring, by Sant. At one end of the room is a large bay window ; and over the casements are carved cornices, noteworthy as excellent examples of local art. Mr. Mainwaring's extensive art collection embraces, in addition to the works already enumerated, a Magdalen by Carlo Cignani, "Noli me tangere," by Ciroferri ; David playing before the Ark, by Spagnoletto ; a Masquerade on the ice, by Schweikardt; St Cecilia, by Raphael Mengs : a Grand Duke of Austria and his attendant, by Zoffany ; The Falconer, by A. Frazer; View in the Campagna, by Penry Williams; a View of Bodelwyddan, by David Cox ; and many others. The pleasure grounds adjoining the mansion cover twenty acres, and the lawn is carefully laid out. On the one hand are magnificent flower beds, filled with choice flowers, plants, and mosses. On the other is a stately oak, under whose shade are seats where the visitor may linger and enjoy the scenery. The grounds descend in terraces to the edge of the (22) OTELEY. mere ; and overlooking its placid water may be seen the old tower of Ellesmere Church, in which edifice is the Oteley Chapel which was restored in 1881, at the cost of S. K. Mainwaring, Esq., who also inserted a stained window. This chapel contains a fine altar tomb with two recumbent effigies in marble, of Francis Kynaston and his wife, dated 1590. On either side the park stretches forth in its grandeur, and makes up a magnificent scene. A better site for a building would be difficult to tind. Looking toward the town on the right, is a ong range of greenhouses, in which plants and ferns are grown ; as well as a number of vines, whose rich clusters of grapes hang temptingly down. Farther to the right we come upon a piece of ground known as the " bog garden," laid out in old fashioned style, like a rockery, with large stones. In the centre of this is a pretty summer-house — a mimic Swiss chalet. The pathways along the terrace are paved with stones of various colours, artistically arranged in pattern like the Italian guilloche ornament. The whole of the charming grounds were designed and laid out by Charles Kynaston-Mainwaring, Esq., an enthusiastic amateur ih landscape gardening. An uncommon feature is the avenue of poplars, whose vista recalls scenes of France and Italy. (23) Jltthtgfjam <&all. i. s N DOMESDAY Book the church of St. Alkmund held Attingham, and the Manor of Atingeham subsequently became part of the possessions of the Abbey of Lilleshall, being given thereto by the Belmeis family, in the twelfth century. In the ninth and tenth years of Henry VIII, the Abbot and Monastery of Lilleshall demised to Boger Beist, of Attingham, the manor, lands, grange, and Sgss ^thes of Attingham, and lands adjoining the fields in Berwycke ; but the manor and 1 rectory were afterwards seized by the Crown at the dissolution of the greater monasteries (of which Lilleshall was one), and were granted, in the second year of the reign of Edward VI, to Sir Thomas Palmer, Knight, and his heirs, in compliance with the last will and testament of Henry VIII, " and for other considerations." The estate became again in possession of the Crown, being forfeited by the treason of the aforesaid Palmer ; and Queen Mary granted it to Sir John Gage, Knight, with reversion to the Crown. Queen Elizabeth granted the manor, rectory, etc., to John Biste, of Atcham, gent., and his heirs for ever ; and the property descended through his daughter to the family of Dawes ; and in 1677 John Dawes, Esq. executed a deed conveying the manor to his daughter's heirs. A recovery was suffered in 1693-4, of the manor of Attingham, alias Atcham, with the appurtenances and twenty messuages, three water mills, twenty gardens, two hundred acres of land, forty acres of meadow, two hundred acres of pasture, ten acres of wood, twenty acres of furze, and fishery in the Severn, in which recovery William Gower, Esq., and Hellen, his wife, were vouchers. By deeds executed in 1700, this William Gower conveyed the property to Bowland Hill, Esq., for £3,413 ; and in the first year of Queen Anne, an Act of Parliament affirmed and completed the sale of Attingham to the Eight Hon. Eichard Hill (son of the aforesaid Eowland Hill, of Hawkstone), and in 1703 this gentleman, in consideration of his regard and affection for his sisfer Margaret (who in 1680 had married Thomas Harwood, of Tern Hall), settled the estate upon her and her heirs. Her eldest son, Thomas Harwood, assumed her maiden name of Hill in 1727, he was M.P. for Shrewsbury 1749, 1754, 1761 ; was a Lord of the Treasury, envoy at Biussels and Turin, and declined an Irish peerage. He was twice married, his second wife being Mary, eldest daughter and co-heir of William Noel, chief-justice of Chester, and judge of the Court of Common Pleas; and their elder son Noel-Hill, of Tern, Salop, and Shenstone Park, Stafford, represented Shrewsbury in three Parliaments, and was created a peer of Great Britain by patent, 19th of May, 1784, as Baron Berwick, of Attingham, Salop. He died in January, 1789, leaving three sons, each of whom succeeded to the title; namely— Thomas Noel, second baron ; William Noel-Hill, third baron ; and Eichard, fourth (25) COUNTY SEATS OF SHEOPSHIRE. baron. The third lord, who succeeded to the peerage in 1832, w,as M.P. for Shrewsbury 1796, 1802, 1806, 1807 ; and was envoy at Naples. He assumed the name of Noel in addition to, and before that of, Hill, by Eoyal license, 1824, and died 1842 ; being succeeded by his brother, Richard Noel-Hill, who was rector of Thornton, Cheshire, and Berrington, Salop. This fourth baron was married in 3 800 to Frances Maria, daughter of William Mostyn-Owen, Esq., of Woodhouse, Salop ; and died in 1848, leaving four sons and two daughters. The two elder sons — Richard, fifth baron, and William, sixth baron, died unmarried ; the third son, Hon. Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, rector of Berrington, married in 1845, Harriet Rebecca, eldest daughter of John Humffreys, Esq., Llywn, Mont., and died 1st of March, 1870, having had two sons and two daughters. The elder son, Richard Henry, the present baron, was born 12th of November, 1847, married 9th of June, 1869, Ellen, eldest daughter of Herr Bruckspatron Nystrom, of Malmoe, Sweden ; and succeeded his uncle. William, 1883, as seventh baron. His twin-brother, the Hon. and Rev. Thomas Noel-Hill, rector of Berrington, is heir presumptive to the peerage. Lord Berwick has the right to quarter the Royal Arms on his family shield, enjoying triple royal descent in the female line. The Attingham estate extends over eight thousand acres, and the rent-roll is given as £11,500 per annum. The barony takes its name I nun the township of Berwick Maviston, a place of great antiquity and of historical interest, situate in the manor and parish of Atcham. It was part of the possession of Roger de Montgomery, and descended to the Norman Malveysins (hence the adjunct of Maviston), in which family it continued until the death of the last of the line, John Malveysyn, who was killed in hunting near the Wrekin in the reign of Henry IV. From his niece, Edith Malveysyn, the estate went into the family of Wydecomb, and has been subsequently owned by the families of Grant, Burton, Calcott, Russell, and others, from whom Noel-Hill, of Attingham (che first Lord Berwick) and his son became proprietors thereof, by purchase and exchange; and the same now forms part of the demesne of Attingham. Attingham Hall, the seat of the present Lord Berwick, is most delightfully situated in the midst of a well-wooded park of six hundred acres, well stocked with deer and ground game, distant about three-and-a-half miles from Shrewsbury, on the London road. The hall is approached by a drive which enters the park at a point immediately adjacent to the famous Atcham Bridge and the historical church of St. Eatta — a most picturesque spot, much frequented by artists and fishermen. At the principal entrance to the park are two handsome lodges, built of freestone, in the classic style, with gates of wrought iron, over which is inscribed a quotation from Terence, "Qui uti scit, eibona" — the family motto — "Let wealth be his who knows its use." Passing on through the extensive park a portion of the stately hall presents itself to view through a clump of trees which rise majestically on the left. A few yards further,! and we are face to face with one of those ancestral homes of which Shropshire has reason to be proud. The hall — which was built in the last century by the first Lord Berwick, partly on the site and partly annexed to the old mansion of Tern Hall — is a large rectangular pile of freestone, in the Italian classic manner, with a lofty portico, supported by four massive Doric columns. The front aspect — which may be seen to advantage from the bridge that spans the river Tern, on the main road— is decidedly imposing and picturesque. On the left the famous Wrekin, prominent in the distance, forms an appropriate background to the fine stretch of landscape scenery, which lies immediately in the front of the hall, while from the right an extensive view of the park, with (26) ATTINGHAM. its pretty nooks and dells, is obtained. On the east and west of the building branch off two wings connected with the main structure by colonnades. Thanks to the courtesy of Lord and Lady Berwick, we are enabled to give a description, though a necessarily brief and incomplete one, of the interior of the edifice. The entrance hall presents a magnificent coup d'oeil, and is acknowledged to be one of the finest in Shropshire. A more exquisite specimen of decorative skill is rarely to be met, even in the most palatial of our country residences. The walls, are for the most part, lined with marble panels and pilasters, and the upper portion is effectively adorned with seven decorative paintings in monochrome, which fitly harmonise with the surroundings. There are massive marble pillars for supports, and the ceiling is most artistically worked. Adjoining is the Library, which is beautifully furnished, and contains an extensive stock of books. Many valuable paintings adorn the walls — works of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Eomney, Hayter, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and other masters. These include a portrait of the first Lord Berwick, which was exhibited in a recent collection of old masters at the Boyal Academy. An older work is the portrait 1 of the celebrated Sir Rowland Hill, of Hawkstone, the first Protestant Lord Mayor of London, who is com- memorated by the obelisk in Hawkstone Park. The large Dining-Room is of exquisite beauty. The wall panels are coloured light red, lined with gold, the ceiling being adorned with classical figures. The mantelpiece and its supports are of solid white marble, while the window hangings are of black and gold. A fine portrait of William Pitt, by Hoppner ; Lord Rochester, by Sir Peter Lely ; Lord Wentworth, by Sir Joshua Reynolds ; George Canning and the Marchioness of Aylesbury, by Sir Thomas Lawrence ; and other works of the early academicians grace the walls of the apartment. Here also are some magnificent dishes, a portion of the gold plate, valued at £20,000, brought to England by the Hon. William Hill when Envoy and Minister-Plenipotentiary at Naples. The East Drawing-Room is a spacious apartment, furnished in the most luxurious fashion. The ceiling is picked out in delicate tones of salmon colour and blue, relieved with gold ; it has floral decorations, and a border of snow-white marble. The suite is almost fabulous in value and unequalled in beauty. The frameworks of the chairs are mounted in gilt, while the seats are covered in satin, worked with figures and flowers. The greater part of this magnificent furniture was brought from Italy during the time of the French war. Several large mirrors add much to the brilliancy of the effect. Fine portraits hang on the walls, among them being a choice example of Spain's great portrait painter, Velasquez, four Italian landscapes by Hackart, also examples of Angelica Kauffmann and Westall. Adjoining this is the Sultana Room, a small drawing-room sumptuously appointed in crimson and gold, a recess being fitted up as a sort of divan. Among the pictures in this room are two Canalettis, a Wouvermans, and a fine fresco of heads by Correggio ; all the rooms indeed are plentifully adorned with choice paintings. In the next apartment is a cabinet of rare china ; including a large jug — a relic of the memorable contest for the representation of the borough of Shrewsbury, which took place in the year 1796, between the then Mr. John Hill, of Hawkstone, and the Hon. William Hill, two cousins. A brief resume of the history of that election may be of interest here. The election commenced on Monday, May 30th, 1796, and, in addition to the two candidates named, Sir William Pulteney was also brought forward to contest one of the two vacant seats. When the respective candidates had taken their places on the hustings, business began with reading the precept, and the Acts against Bribery and Corruption and against Occasional Freemen. Sir W. Pulteney was nominated by Mr. Corbett, of Sundorne. Mr. John Hill was proposed by Mr. Corbett, of (27) COUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIBE. Shawbury Park, the Eev. Francis Leighton seconding the nomination. The Hon. W. Hill was put in nomination by Mr. Mytton, of Halston, and seconded by Mr. Corbett, of Longnor. Mr. Hunt, of Boreatton, expressed an earnest wish that an "accommodation" might take place, and some little debate ensued, which was closed by the Eev. Mr. Bather moving that the meeting proceed to a poll. A show of hands being called for, the Mayor declared it to be, in the first instance, in favour of the Hon. W. Hill, and in the next, of Mr. John Hill. A poll was then demanded for Sir William Pulteney, which took place, it being agreed to poll by tallies of five. The election continued for eight days, and resulted as follows : — For Sir W. Pulteney, 370; Hon. W. Hill, 242; Mr. John Hill, 153. What are described as "Occasional voters rejected by the Mayor " were given — For Sir W. Pulteney, 1,514 ; for Hon. W. Hill, 721; for Mr. John Hill, 854. It would appear that the last-named gentleman did not submit to his defeat very calmly, for, addressing a meeting of his supporters after the declaration of the poll, he said : — " As your chief magistrate has conceived it to be his duty to return my opponent to represent you in Parliament, I must submit for a short time to his decision : but as my learned friends do not entertain a doubt of my obtaining redress from a committee of the House of Commons, I feel myself pledged to lay our cause before that tribunal. And when I have there confirmed and completed our victory, I shall feel myself not only proud of having been the happy instrument of defending your rights, but look forward with confidence that no one will dare in future to make any attack against them." The two kinsmen were then chaired by their respective friends ; good humour and decorum prevailed on all sides, and this unexampled contest ended without any of those disturbances which at one time threatened to become serious. But to proceed with the description of the hall. Lady Berwick's boudoir is a charming room facing the river. This is a perfect gem, daintily furnished in soft tones of pale blue, its slightly-domed ceiling being decorated with nine exquisitely-painted lunettes ; and the furniture — splendid specimens of Italian art — is in admirable keeping. Here is a beautiful satin screen, worked with silk tapestry and peacock's feathers of glorious hue. Passing on we enter the spacious and well-lighted riCTUKE GALLERY whose walls are of deep red tones which form an appropriate setting for the many gems of the painter's art which the room contains. Upon its inlaid floor stand chairs of green and gold, with tables inlaid with lapis lazuli and other rare stones, and at the lower end is a fine chamber organ. One splendid table was specially pointed out as being similar to one which was sold at the Duke of Hamilton's great sale in 1885 for ten thousand pounds. In spite of the high and well-deserved reputations of the museums and picture galleries of the continent of Europe for their magnificent public collections, it is probable that the mansions and private houses of Great Britain contain more uncatalogued and all but unknown art treasures than can be found in the homes of any other country in the world; and the Attingham collection is one of the best in the west of England. It is numerous and comprehensive enough to enable us — while " each heavenly piece unwearied we compare," — to Match Raffaelle's grace with thy loved Guido's air, Carracci's strength, Correggio's softer line, Paulo's free stroke, and Titian's warmth divine. Now, to their honour be it said, our old families and their successors, who by purchase have acquired great places and their invaluable contents, are, as a rule, wonderfully (23) ATTINGHAM. generous in lending their heirlooms and priceless possessions for the benefit of the public at large— as, for example, the Annual Exhibitions of Paintings by the Old Masters, held under the auspices of the Eoyal Academy, abundantly prove ; and to the winter exhibition at Burlington House in 1885 five choice specimens were lent (at the request of the president of the Eoyal Academy, Sir Frederick Leighton, Bart.), by their present noble owner, among these being Sir Joshua Beynolds's portrait of Lady Broughton, Bomney's portrait of the first Lord Berwick, and the priceless Baffaelle — the famous portrait of the great artist painted by himself. This picture was also on view at the last Fine Art Exhibition in Shrewsbury over twenty years ago, and is of deep interest to connoisseurs. Baffaelle is also represented by another work, portrait of a man in black, and by copies of a "Holy Family" and "Fornarina;" and his pupil Gruilio Romano, is represented by two pictures of dancing girls and boys. The collection is rich in examples of Salvator Rosa — that bold painter who styled himself the " despiser of wealth and of death"; these include four of his powerful landscapes, also "A Roman View," A Musician," and " Christ with the Woman of Samaria." A small picture of great excellence is the "Queen Tornyris ordering the head of Cyrus to be dipped in blood" — artist not given. It is full of figures, and remarkable alike for its fresh colouring and masterly drawing ; in style it strongly reminds one of the earlier works of the modern pre-Raphaelite brethren. A famous Vandyck is the portrait of Lord Strafford and his secretary, a fine engraving of which is also in the print collection. Annibale Carracci is represented by a " Venus and Cupid," and by the "Incredulity of St. Thomas;" Andrea del Sarto by a portrait of a Doge of Venice; Paul Veronese by a " Holy Family " ; Correggio by an Archimedes, and by a fresco of heads, as well as by fine copies of "The Marriage of St. Catherine," an allegorical subject of " Heroism," and "Holy Family;" Guido by a "St. John," and a large historical work; Luini by " Herodias with the head of St. John " ; Holbein by two examlpes of his intense portraiture, Rembrandt by two heads. Other examples include works by Casare Van Loo (1794); Bonafaccio, Castrel, Paul Bordona, Sasso Ferrato, and B. Garofolo ; two copies of Titian's famous " Venus," and a " Temptation of St. Anthony," from Teniers. Among the numerous landscapes are two examples of Claude Lorraine, a Zuccatelli, a Ruysdael, as well as many others by men of more modern date; Canaletti is represented by five characteristic examples, Hackart by many Italian landscapes, and Daniel by three Indian scenes, and Westall by a view of Tivoli, and other works There are also fine landscapes by Pynaeker, Orizonti, Snevault, Romyn, St. Denis (1797), Tassa, and other artists of minor note. Carravaggio's impartiality in choice of subject is shown by a "Female Saint" and by a "Gamester"; sacred subjects comprise a "Virgin and a Child" by Parmigiano, another by Honthorst, a "Virgin's Head" and a "Head of Christ" by Carlo Dolce; another "Holy Family" (painted on panel) by Victor Carpaccio, and one by Albano. The gallery is especially rich in portraits by the great Sir Joshua, and by his predecessors, Sir Peter Lely and Sir Godfrey Kneller. Angelica Kauffmann, the woman academician, is represented by several specimens, as are also Romney, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and Hayter. The collections of prints and engravings includes many excellent portraits and other choice works. In the west wing of the Hall is a spacious apartment known as the museum, which contains various curios ; its ceiling is finely decorated. In the basement of the mansion is the Steward's Room, a large room with a stone ceiling supported on massive arches ; on its walls hang paintings of the celebrated Cronkhill herd of Hereford cattle. The Servants' Dining Hall is extensive and well-lighted, and the large and lofty kitchen is on a scale well (29) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. adapted to meet the demands of the house. Vast cellars contain well-stocked wine-bins, covered with ancient and ghostly spider's webs, and huge tuns of nut-brown ale, in the keeping of a venerable servitor, who has grown grey in the service of the family. From the region of still-rooms, dairies, sculleries, and other kitchen offices access is gained to the large quadrangular courtyard, which is bounded by commodious stables and coachhouses. At the back of these are shrubberies, planted with rhododendrons, and other choice evergreens. (30) Jltfing^am $all. ii. EAB to the Park entrance is the picturesque parish church dedicated to St. Eatta, a Saxon saint from whom the place derives its name of Attingham or Atcham. The church, with its ivy-mantled tower which forms so attractive a feature in the landscape, is built of red stone in the early English style ; and consists of a nave without aisles. The basement of the tower is flanked with broad shallow buttresses, and the west doorway is a deeply-recessed semi- circular arch supported on either side by five slender pillars ; above is an early lancet window, over which is another of smaller dimensions divided into two narrow lights a short pillar. The superstructure is of the sixteenth century style, and was formerly crowned with eight pinnacles, whose remains are scarcely visible above the battlements. The tower contains six bells. In the interior of the church is a screen of beautiful tracery, separating the chancel from the nave ; this was brought from the church of Worfield near Bridgnorth. On the south side of the chancel is a monument to the memory of Edward Jocosa Burton, 1524, brought from the ruins of old St. Chad's Church, Shrewsbury; the east window is of glass stained in two colours only — brown and yellow — depicting three figures ; and on each side of the chancel is a leper's window. The pulpit bears some fine old carving in oak, illustrative of the parable of the Prodigal Son (some of the carved work here is attributed to Albert Diirer) ; in the west gallery is a fine toned organ, built by the celebrated Father Schmidt. The living is a vicarage, at present held by the Eev. A. G. Kingsford, and is in the gift of John Burton, Esq., whose residence, Longner Hall, is about a mile and a half away. The village of Atcham once had the privilege of a fair, and its inhabitants were termed burgesses; it is remarkable as being the birthplace of one of the early English historians, Ordericus Vitalis. He was the son of Odelirius, a priest of Attingham, born (as he himself informs us) February the sixteenth, 1075, " and on the Easter Sunday following was baptised by Ordericus the priest at Ettingesham, in the church of St. Eatta the Confessor." "When five years old he was sent to the seminary of St. Peter at Scrobbesbyrig (Shrewsbury), to which his father was a large benefactor ; he received his elementary education from Siward the priest, and remained there until his tenth year, when he was sent to to the Benedictine Abbey of Uticum in Normandy. There he received the tonsure of his order, and was then (31) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. named Vitalis because his first acceptance of the rule of St. Benedict happened on that saint's day. His great ecclesiastical work is a history of his own times, of which a fragment was published in 1603 by Camden who called it the Caen fragment, supposing it to be written by an archdeacon of Lesieux. The whole work was printed by Du Chesne in his great edition of Norman writers. In the time of Thomas Hill of Tern Hall, the celebrated John William de la Flechere (better known " Fletcher of Madeley ") became in 1752 tutor to his two sons ; and after ordination in 1757, preached his first sermon in Atcham Church. In 1760, his two pupils having gone to Cambridge, Fletcher was presented to the living of Madeley, Shropshire. Near to the church is a large house, formerly an hotel, but now closed by Lord Berwick ; and about a mile away is the farm and residence of Cronkhill, where Noel, fifth Lord Berwick formerly resided. This baron was skilled in mechanical science, especially in regard to the construction of agricultural implements, and the manufacture of our modern weapon, the rifle. Of the latter he made a special study, and his workshop was replete with every needful appliance. His Lordship was one of the best shots in the kingdom, and and when the Minie rifle was introduced he suggested various alterations in its construction which were subsequently adopted by the Government. In the early part of 1860 he patented an improved rifle, which he called the " Cronkhill." As we have already intimated, this baron also devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, and was a most successful breeder of Hereford Cattle. His herd took first prize at the Norwich meeting of the Eoyal Agricultural Society in 1849, and for ten years he was a prize winner at each meeting of the same Soceity. At the Paris Exhibition in 1855 he took two prizes ; one a first prize of one thousand francs and a gold medal, the other a bronze medal ; and it is remarkable that, with one exception, every animal exhibited was bred by himself. The house at Cronkhill is at present occupied by the Hon. Mrs. Noel Hill, mother of the present Baron. Another family residence is Springfields, a house very pleasantly situate, (near to Shrewsbury,) on the Wenlock Boad, and which was the favourite dwelling of the late Lord Berwick, the sixth baron, who was born in 1802. He entered the army in 1817 and served in the Burmese war 1825-6, and was present at the battles of Prome and Tandwayu. He retired in 1855 with the rank of Colonel. The rectory of Berrington is in the gift of Lord Berwick, and has been held since 1874 by his brother, the Bev. T. N. Noel Hill, B.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge. At the front of the Hall, a short distance to the right, is the bridge over the little r iver Tern, which flows into the Severn close by, and the scene of the confluence is of exceeding beauty ; it is a favourite haunt of the brethen of the brush, who love to linger here on the river's reedy marge. Crossing Tern Bridge, and still skirting the park we reach a road branching off to the right of the old London Boad ; taking this walk we cross the Bell brook, and enter upon the site of the ancient Koman city of Uriconium — known to-day by the name of the contiguous village, Wroxeter. The most probable conjecture concerning the origin of this place is that it owed its foundation to the Britons, and that the Bomans, who probably adopted a Briiish name in their pronunciation of Uriconium, Wriconium, synonymous with the present Wrekm, greatly enlarged and strengthened it. It was a principal city, probably the capital, of the Cornavii ; and the period of its destruction is involved in nearly as much darkness as that of its origin. The city is mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy, and is consequently known to have been in existence as early as the beginning of the second century. 2t£ (32) A TTINGHAM. Leland's Itinerary says: "The destruction of Boxcester, by all likelihood, was the cause of the erection of Shrewsbury, for Eoxcester was a goodly-walled town until it was destroyed by the Danes;" but later writers think that Uriconium« perished by fire towards the middle of the fifth century in one of the raids of the barbarians, such as the Picts and Scots, who over-ran the country after the departure of the Romans. It is hardly probable that the Saxons could have penetrated so far at this early period, and no Saxon coins have been discovered here, though the site has yielded plenteous store of Roman money as well as many other remains of antiquarian interest. A splendid collection of these is in the Museum at Shrewsbury. The only portion of the buildings remaining above the ground is a a solid mass of masonry about seventy-two feet long and twenty feet high known as the Old Wall; all else has long been buried under the soil. Excavations have uncovered a considerable portion of the city, and have yielded rich harvests for archaeologists ; besides many urns and sepulchral inscriptions there have been found entire human skeletons in deep and capacious graves. The line of the ancient town wall is marked by a continuous low mound, running southward towards the Severn, the banks of which it follows for some distance, and then swerving to the east and north forms an irregular oval, over three miles in circumference. (33) < fiu6for6 $ousc. — a HIS fine old timber-framed mansion, the seat of John Lechmere Merrick, Parkinson, Esq., J.P., is situate in what has now become a suburb of Ludlow — the parish of Ludford, approached by descending Broad Street, and passing over the Eiver Teme by the ancient Ludford Bridge, which structure dates from the twelfth century, and was seriously damaged by the floods in May 1886. S=j||jP The visitor traversing the bridge cannot fail to be attracted by the' exceeding beauty ™ of the scene on either side, where the shallow stream, broken by little falls and weirs, glides swiftly on ; the spot has many charms, especially for artist and angler. Beside the stream, lower down, are two corn mills, one of which is supposed to occupy the site of a fulling mill which stood in the reign of Henry III. Ludford House is a buildnig of great extent, erected about the fourteenth century ; one wing, of a somewhat gloomy exterior, adjoins the road. A massive archway gives ingress to the quadrangle, in one corner of which is the principal entrance to this ancient dwelling-place of the Charltons. Leading from the entrance hall is the fine banqueting hall, a spacious apartment panelled, like most of the other rooms in the mansion, with oak, which presents some splendid examples of the early wood-carver's art. Over the mantel piece is a portrait of Bichard III. ; and on the polished oak floor stands a massive dining table, at the head of which is " King James's chair," said to be the favourite of the second monarch of that name when he stayed here in the time of Sir Job Charlton. It is a beautiful specimen of carved oak. In the Morning Boom is a rare series of old prints, brown with age, of the castles and abbeys of the west of England, dated 1732. The Dining Boom is also of panelled oak, but painted pea-green ; its large bay window overlooks the lawn. On the walls are several portraits of members of the Charlton family, among them being the portrait of the famous Sir Job Charlton, Speaker of the House of Commons in 1674, who was M.P. for Ludlow during 1676, Chief Justice of Chester, Judge of the Common Pleas, and last Chief Justice of the Court of the Marches of Wales. This portrait has recently been copied for Mr. Stanley Leighton, M.P. Above the mantel are two fine portraits in oval frames, and the other pictures in this room include portraits of Sir Blundon Charlton and his wife, and Colonel Lechmere ; also an example of Sir Joshua Beynolds and Vandyck. In the adjacent corridor are two portraits by Bembrandt, and a portrait of Francis Lechmere Charlton ; the Drawing Boom also contains several fine pictures, among them being a portrait of Lord Strafford by Sir Beter Lely, and two small landscapes by Buysdael, as COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. well as an old family group, and a cattle piece. The room is well-lighted by three windows, and has a finely -panelled ceiling, doubtless oak, the large beams being beautifully carved. Another Morning Eoom over-looks the lawn and flower garden ; it has a fine large window with stained glass in the upper mullions ; outside, a projecting gable, supported by pillars, is overhung with the luxuriant growth of a Virginian creeper. This room contains an inlaid cabinet, also two old paintings of Ludlow Castle and Ludford Bridge, and a series of old French engravings illustrating Don Quixote. On the staircase hangs another painting of Mr. F. L. Charlton, in hunting costume, with his face turned from the spectator; in another corridor are a series of decorative pictures of sacred subjects, also large terrestrial and celestial globes. The numerous and spacious bedrooms in the mansion are all of panelled oak, the ceiling whitened over ; one, known as King James's room, contains a large oak bedstead, painted similarly to those in Hampton Court, in which the King slept when on his visit to Ludford. Another bedroom, called the Oak Eoom, has a little Oratory in one corner, from whence a panel in the wainscot gave entrance to a secret passage (now bricked up) to the River Teme, which runs right below. In this room is an old print of Yandyck's famous picture, showing three views of the face of Charles I. ; an a large dressing room are some water colour sketches of sporting subjects, also an old coloured print of the house. Above the the chimney-piece here, hang the sword and military decorations of the present proprietor, when captain in the sixty-first Infantry. In another of the many corridors which lead through the roomy mansion are three rare old engravings of Milton, Ben Jonson, and Shakespere ; also a large picture of Ludlow Castle. An interesting object upon one of the tables here is an old beadwork basket, doubtless worked by some dame or daughter of the family centuries ago. A narrow stair leads up to the upper story of the house, full of large rambling rooms long untenanted save by the bat and the rat, who hold revels here, high up under the mighty beams of the old roof- tree. Descending to the ground floor we find the servant's hall and other large apartments devoted to the domestic purposes of the mansion. In this direction an open porch leads to another part of the grounds, where, only a few yards distant from the house, stands Ludford Church, an ancient erection consisting of chancel, nave, north transept, and a tower containing two bells. This church dates from the thirteenth century, and is dedicated to St. Giles ; it contains the chapel of the Charltons, wherein many of them sleep their long sleep. A conspicuous object here is the tomb of Judge (Sir Job) Charlton, surmounted by his effigy in the red robes of his order; there is also another large stone tomb, whose brasses have disappeared. Against a wall is a stone slab, removed from the floor, inlaid with memorial brasses (1554), of a knight and his lady, members of the Foxe family. The village and church are in Herefordshire, though much of the land of the parish is situate within the boundaries of Shropshire. We reprint the following interesting particulars from Gregory's Shropshire Gazetteer, 1824 : — "Ludford House, the old-fashioned seat of the Charltons, is conspicious, on a rising ground above the village of Ludford, about one mile north of Saltmore, and preserves an antique appearance, though considerably embellished by its present possessor, E. Lechmere Charlton, Esq. This gentleman is of the ancient family of the Lechmeres, of Hanley Castle, in the county of Worcester ; which family (as appears from Nash's history of that county) originally eame out of the low countries, and served under William the, Conquerer. Nicholas Lechmere (36) LUDFORD. Knight, Baron of the Exchequer in 1701. and Nicholas, Lord Lechmere, Baron of Evesham, who was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and of the privy council of George I., were of this family, which has besides repeatedly represented the county and city of Worcester. Edmund Lechmere, Esq., the son of Anthony, who was the elder brother of Lord Lechmere, married Elizabeth the sister of Sir Francis Charlton, bart., and by her had Nicholas, who on the death of his maternal uncle (Sir Francis dying without issue) came into the possession of this property, and assumed the name and arms of Charlton, which devolved on his son, the present possessor. This Mansion is without doubt of great antiquity, as is indicated by its approximation to the Church, its interior quadrangle, and its style of masonry ; particularly the parts fronting the Leominster road and the churchyard. Even in Sir Francis' time there were nothing but casements throughout the house, and so much did some parts of the building resemble a prison, that a Scotchman passing by, when the dairy maid was looking through the window, is reported to have exclaimed, " ah, ye be a bonny lassie, but I weel ken ye be there for nae gude." The proprietor has in his possession a deed in which mention is made of a house in the remote period of the eleventh century. Of what kind the house referred to in this deed was, does not appear but it is conjectured to have been a religious foundation ; and vestiges of cells (in the recollection of old people) with certain mural decorations, warrant this supposition, and also the presumption that it is even coeval with the erection of the Castle at Ludlow, and once, perhaps, partly dependent upon that ancient baronial palace ; a religious establishment however certainly existed here, and though in no account that we have been able to meet with can be traced any immediate connection between it and the Castle, yet in early days it was almost ever the custom to unite monastic institutions with magnificent castellated residences, as may be instanced in Priories or Abbeys, adjacent to Kenilworth, Warwick, Kirklees, &c. In the time of William the Conqueror this manor made part of the possession of Osborn the son of Bichard, Lord of Bichard's Castle. It was afterwards enjoyed by the family of Jordyen, (who deriving his name from the place, was called Jordsen) de Ludford. This Jordsen left two daughters, of whom one died unmarried, the other married Howell Vaughan, who gave or sold the manor and its appurtenances to the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, in Ludlow. The Hospital of St. John being seized by the Commissioners at the time of the general dissolution of religious houses, in the reign of Henry VIII. , this manor as appertaining to that foundation, was also conveyed to the crown ; it was afterwards granted by Edward VI. to John Earl of Warwick ; of whom it was purchased by William Foxe, and in the year 1607 it came into the possession of the Charlton family. This family had previously enjoyed extensive possessions in the county of Salop, and were resident at Apley Castle, near Wellington. Thomas Charlton was Bishop of Hereford in the year 1327. In the year 1337 he was appointed treasurer to Edward II. and soon afterwards made Chancellor of Ireland. He died in 1343, and was buried in Hereford Cathedral, where his effigy may be seen on an altar monument under an arch in the north transept Lewis Charlton became Bishop of Hereford in 1361. Bale calls him Caerleon, and it has been supposed that he ^was born in that ancient city ; but it is more probable that as we find this family name written Carleton in ancient records, it has originated from the progenitors of the house having assumed Caerleon as a surname. This prelate, before his elevation to -4 (37) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the See, had prosecuted his studies with much assiduity and success at each of the English Universities, and had been elected Chancellor of Oxford in the year 1357. He was a profound theologian, learned in mathematics, and had some knowledge of medicine. Dying in 1369, he bequeathed his books to the cathedral with forty pounds in money. His monument in the south- east aisle, though now much mutilated, presents an interesting appearance ; it is in the form of an altar, on which his effigy, mitred, is extended at full length ; over the recess in which it is enclosed is a rich fret- work Gothic canopy, much defaced, and the whole is surmounted with a highly wrought entablature ; on the wall, above the effigy, is the following inscription — Ludovicus Charlton, Epis : Heref : A.D. 1369. LiUDFORD, FBOM THE CHURCHYARD. On the tomb are four shields, on the first of which are engraved croslets fitchee, on the second and third a lion rampant, on the fourth the arms of the See. Sir John Charlton, born at Apley Castle in 1268, was gentleman of the bedchamber to King Edward II., and afterwards raised to the office of Chief Justice. He married Hawis Gadarn, sole daughter and heiress of Owen ap Griffith, the last Prince of Powis : her four uncles Llewellyn, John Griffith, Vaughan, and David detained her inheritance from her, whereupon Hawis complained to King Edward, who appointed Sir John to marry her, creating him, in (38) LUDFORD. her right, Baron of Powis : and being assisted with the King's forces he took three of her uncles prisoners, about 1320, and brought the fourth to composition, finally recovering all his wife's estate, procuring also the lands of her uncles in default of their issue male, to be settled on her. Isabel, sister to Sir John, married John Sutton Baron Dudley, from whom the Earls of Warwick and Leicester are descended. This barony after four generations devolved, in default of male issue, on Sir John Grey, Knight, who married the eldest daughter of Edward Charlton, fourth Lord Powis, by Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Hollands, Earl of Kent, and widow of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. But the property of Apley Castle and Whitton Court descended to a junior branch of this noble family. Sir Robert Charlton, who suffered much for his loyalty to Charles I., resided there. His son Sir Job, Chief Justice of Chester, and one of the Judges of the Common Pleas, bought Ludford, and being a gentleman remarkable for his hospitality and convivial disposition, during the time that King James II. resided at Ludlow Castle, had the honour of entertaining his sovereign at Ludford House, and his Majesty, by frequently repeating his visits, seemed to give an unequivocal proof of being pleased wth his reception. One David Davis, who died many years ago, at the great age of one hundred and four, was a domestick in the family and waited on them. The greyheaded old man, towards the decline of life, enjoying ease and plenty through the bounty of his employer, was used to dwell with rapture on the noble guests at Ludford, and the true British conviviality which reigned round the large table still remaining in the Hall. There are a few pictures at Ludford House of considerable merit — a Wouvermans, three Jacob Ruysdaels, two Bassanos, and a portrait of Lord Strafford, by Sir Peter Lely, are most conspicuous. To the south of the house lies the garden, which of late has undergone extensive improvements. Towards the west is a large park, well-stocked with deer, and remarkable for its fine luxuriant wood scenery ; and in a line with the Leominster road, under the park wall, is a pleasant and much-frequented walk called Hackluyt's Close, not far from the termination of which is a farmhouse called Huck's Barn ; only noticed on account of its having been the residence of the uncle of George Barnwell. Tradition says that in a piece of ground not far from this house, which still retains the name of Barnwell's Green, this wretched victim of seduction waited to rob and murder his friend and benefactor. Leland, the father of English antiquaries, whose writings are from actual surveys, visited Ludlow sometime between the years 1500 and 1550, and observes respecting Ludford : — " The suburb over Teme Bridge, by south, is called Ludford, and in it is a little parish church. There be three fayre arches in this bridge over Teme, and a pretty chapel upon it of St. Catherine. It is about one hundred years since this stone bridge was erected Men passed along by a ford a little below the bridge." Allowing for the change in appearance which modern additions and improvements would give, we may reasonably suppose that the present parish church is the same as that described in the above extract ; it is a plain building and immediately contiguous to Ludford House. The holy-water basons at the entrance and beside the altar, indicate that Catholicism had not declined at the time of its erection. The chancel was built by William Foxe, and is evidently a modern addition to the church : it is a family sepulchral repository, where we find, among others, two or three monuments of the Foxe family, and two or three of the (39) C0UNT1 SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE Charlton : Sir Job's, which is in a recess above his statue, reclining in his magisterial habiliments, we shall transcribe. Hie jacent reliquiae Honorabilis viri clomini Job Charlton, Equitis et Baronetti qui Imperante Caroli Secundo Justitiarius capitalis Cestriae fuit merito constitutus. Quo in munere Annos magis viginti elaboravit. Senatoribus minorum gentium Prolocutor, nec non unus ex Justitiarijs Domini Regis de Banco gravissimus hisce negotijs omnimode Par : quorum singula turn perspicaci ingenio, turn fide pertinaci explevit. JEque in Exulem Carolum atque Regnantem Pius: Causam Begiam etiam affl ictam adjuvit. Vir eximia Pietate, Justitia promptaque Benefice ntia plenus. Conjux Fidus, Pater Solicitus. Judex Integerrirnu-;. Obijit vicesimo quarto Maij 1697, Anno aetatis suae Octogesima Terito, Habuit promissum Piorum praemium; in terris nempe vitam diuturnam, per Jusum Christum in caelis aeternam. Huic in Opibus et Titulis successit Franciscus Charlton, Baronettus, filius natu maximus. On a mural marble monument, underneath a marble bust, is an inscription to the memory of Dorothy, the wife of Sir Job. In the Churchyard, against the north wall of the church is the following epitaph on Mrs. Holland :— Sweet was thy converse, all thy actions kind, Thy person beauteous, and thy soul resign'd ; In arts of social life thou didst excel, And what a wife should be did'st practice well. Tho' 'scap'd from life, and cast on that calm shore, Where pain and cares, and passion are no more, Yet fond affection oft shall drop a tear, Till silent time shall place thy mourner here. A little below the church is Ludford Hospital. This Hospital, which is probably on or near the site of the house which was called St. Giles', was founded by Sir Job Charlton in the year 1672, for six poor and impotent persons, one of whom was to be warden, and the incorporation by indenture, to bear the name or denomination " The warden and poor of the Hospital of Ludford." The said warden and poor, by their incorporate name, to have the power to purchase and hold lands, and be sued, and to have a common seal. The founder further provided that he and his heirs should have power to nominate the warden and poor as vacancies should occur ; and that in default of such heirs, the Bailiffs of Ludlow, and their successors, should have the nomination. By various indentures the said Sir Job Charlton conveyed to the warden and poor of the Hospital of Ludford, land and other possessions; property was also consigned to this charity by Sir Francis Charlton in 1774, since which time other benefactions have been added by the same Family. It appears that though the six places are kept constantly filled, the name and distinction of warden, as head of the corporation, have long ceased to exist. The latest instance of the use of the common seal is on a lease of Saunders' meadow in 1618, and the next subsequent lease bears the seal of Sir Francis Charlton. The "pretty Chapel of St. Catherine," which certainly did formerly stand on Ludford Bridge, has been forgotten for several generations; but the celebrated well of St. Julian is fresh in the memory of the inhabitants of the village, because of the wonderful cures of (40) L UDFOBD. diseases believed to have been miraculously performed by it ; connected with the ancient superstition are circumstances so strongly impressive that the fame of them continues for a long series of ages. This well used to be seen and resorted to, under the garden wall, near the Hospital." 141) rtvvt 3 ISfalcot ALCOT, the South Shropshire residence of the Earl of Powis, was formerly the seat of the Waleots, one of the oldest families in Shropshire, but it has been so built around as to be entirely modernised. The Waleots $r.4z derived their descent from one of the ancient Septs of Wales, and their surname from the marriage of an ancestor with the heiress of the knightly house of Walcot. An old manuscript, which was in the possession of the late Canon Newling, of Lichfield, states that the family is of Saxon origin, and that agg% the name is derived from Wald (nemus) and cote (tigurium). The family is at P present represented by the Eev. John Walcor, of Bitterley. In the Gentleman s Magazine, May, 1732, there is a record of the marriage of " John Walcot of Walcot, esq. M.P. for co. Salop, a gent of £3000 per annum, to a daughter of Sir Eras. Dashwood, bart., niece to Dr. King, master of the Charterhouse, with a fortune of £12,000." Walcot estate is beautifully situate on rising ground, near to the village of Lydbury North ; it is splendidly wooded, and almost surrounded by a vast amphitheatre of hills. It was purchased in the latter half of the last century from the Walcot family by the great Lord Clive, and much of the interest of the house now lies in its connection with that renowned Shropshire warrior. The substantial mansion, which is rather plain, built of brick, with stone dressing, has a massive Doric portico, which is approached by a fine avenue of limes and other lofty trees. It is environed by very extensive pleasure grounds — over one thousand acres ; and near to the house is a fine expanse of water — an artificial lake of considerable length, which contains plenty of fish. In the grounds is a rustic Indian Summer House, known as the Hermitage ; in its vicinity is a beautiful grove of cedars, and another avenue of limes. The park formerly contained a herd of deer ; these were, however, taken to Powis Castle in the severe winter of 1814. The mansion contains a great number of family portraits and other rare and valuable pictures; one large apartment, modestly termed "the Eicture Eoom," contains many gems of the collection. Over the doorway is a large Canaletti — a view of Verona, and above the mxntel-piece is a " Virgin and Child," by the renowned Venetian (Tintoretto), who inscribed over the portal of his studio the proud legend " II disegno di Michel Am,'elo, e'l colorito di Tiziano." The mighty Angelo himself is represented by Sebastiano del Eiombo's copy of his " Entombment of Chiist," and Titian by a " Holy Family. - ' There is another Tintoretto, (43) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. "The Connazo Family with St. Lawrence;" and another fine work is "The Salutation," by Paul Veronese. "St. John the Evangelist," by Titian and Bassano ; a "Virgin and Child," by Sassc-Ferrato ; another of the same subject, by Fra Bartolomeo ; a "St. Francis," by Carlo Maratti ; and two " Holy Families " — one by Baroccio, and one copied from Baffaele — are also here. Salvator Kosa — " ce condamne Salvator " — is represented by two of his powerful landscapes; and the rare German master, Albrecht Durer, by the "Descent from the Cross." There is also a "Holy Family" by Rubens, a "Finding of Moses" by Nicolo Poussin, and " Samuel going to anoint David," by Andreas Buthard. Conspicuous at the end of this fine well-lighted room are Dance's portraits of the Nabob of Arcot and his son, and Lord Clive. The Dining Boom has twenty-one pictures, including some fine landscapes — two by the Chevalier Tempesta, a " Calm " and a " Storm " by Horace Vernet, also one by Caspar Poussin. The Spanish painter Bartholomew Gonzales is represented by " Melchior di Stanza and his family;" Nicolo Poussin by "Alexander at the Tomb of Achilles." There is here a portrait of Henry Arthur, Earl of Powis ; and a large painting of an Arab horse, the property of Edward, first Earl of Powis. Over the mantel-piece is a large landscape with dead game, by Weenix, near which is a splendid portrait of a Venetian noble by Tintoretto. There are also two " Holy Families." A small Sitting Boom contains five choice landscapes, and the Indian Drawing Boom has also some good pictures, a figure subject over the mantel being very fine. Over the doors are two portraits, a striking work being the " Old Parr," copied by H. S. Day from the original picture by Bubens, by permission of the Duke of Northumberland, 1829. Inlaid tables and rare cabinets of Oriental design adorn this room, which also contains a large case of Indian trophies, firearms, inlaid and arabesqued, which formerly belonged to Tippoo Sahib. There are also some models of Indian fruits. In the well-fitted Library are tall copies of rare and costly works ; and an appropriate picture adorns one of the walls — an old philosopher giving a geometry lesson to his young pupils. The collection of ancestral portraits is of great excellence, and comprises examples of many distinguished artists. Among the principal works are Lord Clive, by Dance ; his daughter, by Romney ; Hon. Charlotte Clive, by Angelica Kauffman ; Hon. Rebecca Clive, by Romney ; Edward, Lord Clive, by Gainsborough ; Henrietta Antoma, Countess of Powis, by Sir Joshua Reynolds : a portrait by Sir Francis Grant, presented to Lucy, Countess of Powis, of her most esteemed lord, who was fifty yeai-s M.P.; and the same artist's portrait of Sir Percy Herbert in general's uniform. This was presented by the Walcot and Bishop's Castle tenants and neighbours in recognition of his distinguished services with the army in the Crimea. Other portraits include Margaret, Lady Clive ; Henrietta Sarah Clive (Mrs. Hussey) ; Watkin Williams Wynn, and Henrietta Williams Wynn (1822). There is also a portrait of Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury, copied by Lucy, Countess of Powis, from a painting by Isaac Oliver. Many valuable relics of the great Lord Clive are preserved here, including the palanquin used by him in his Indian campaigns ; and there is much fine old china, and various Indian gods, in bronze. In Lydbury Church, on the south side, is the Walcot Chapel, a modern structure, which has over it a chamber formerly used as a schoolroom ; the Chapel has several pews, belonging to the Walcot estate, in which yet remain various prayer books stamped with the name of Lord Clive. i (44) WALCOT. From Burke's Peerage and Baronetage we learn that Powis Castle — called at an earlier period, Bed Castle and Poole Castle, from which the Herberts, Earls of Powis and the present family derive their title — was purchased by the Herberts in the reign of Elizabeth. It had been the seat of inheritance of the Greys, Lords of Powys, and the C'herltons, Lords of Powis descended from the marriage of John de Cherlton, with Hawys Gadarn. daughter and heiress of Owen ap Griffith, last Prince of Powys-Wenwynwyn. The family of Olive assumed its name from the manor of Clive or Clyve, and has been settled in Shropshire since the reign of Henry II. Bichard Clive, of Huxley, Cheshire, and of Styche, county of Salop, was twelfth in descent from Henry de Clive, of Clive, and married Margaret, daughter of Sir Bichard Corbet, of Moreton Corbet, who derived, through the family of Towers, from the Saxon Earls of Mercia. The mother of Miss Corbet was a daughter of Sir Walter Devereux, K.G., created Lord Ferrers, of Chartley. Bichard Clive had with three daughters (one of whom married Bichard Lea, of Lea), three sons, the elder of whom, Bichard Clive, Esq., of Huxley and Styche, living temp. Henry VIII., married Jane, sister of Sir William Brereton, Knight, and who was descended through the Fitzalans and de Bohuns, from the Lady Elizabeth Plantagenet, daughter of King Edward I. Ho died in 1573, leaving, with live daughters, an only son, Sir George Clive, Knight, of Huxley and Styche, Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland, who married Susannah, daughter of Henry Copinger, Esq., of Buxhall. Sir George Clive had two sons, the younger of whom — Ambrose Clive, Esq., of Styche, was the father of Bobert Clive, Esq., M.P. in the Long Parliament. The latter- married a daughter of Sir E. Abyn, Knight, and had a son George, who married the daughter and heir of Martin Husband, Esq., of Wormbridge, Herts, and had issue — Bobert, successor to his grandfather ; George, cursitor Baron of the Exchequer ; Edward, of Wormbridge, whose eldest son, Sir Edward Clive, Knight of Wormbridge, became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Bobert Clive was succeeded by his grandson, Bobert Clive, Esq., of Styche, who, marrying Elizabeth, daughter of B. Amphlett, Esq., Four Ashes, Worcestershire, had Bichard Clive, Esq., who represented Montgomeryshire in several successive Parliaments. This gentlemen was the father of the celebrated Bobert Clive, to whose brilliant achievements in war, England, in a great measure, owes the establishment of her dominion in India. (45) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Eobert Give was born at the family seat, Styche, 24th February, 1726, and, after making himself remarkable at various schools, more for his fiery and undaunted spirit than his application, in 1744 entered the Civil Service of the East India Company; but nature had fitted him for a soldier, and in 1747 he quitted the civil for the military service of the Company. His first distinction was at the siege of Pondicherry, and at the attack of Devi Cotah, where, as a lieutenant, he commanded the forlorn hope that stormed the breach. In f751 he took Arcot, and after a long defence of that city, he signally defeated before its walls the enemy who came to re-take it. His health then required] his return to England, where, however, his repose was short. Oa his return to India he found the whole English population aroused by the atrocity of the Black Hole of Calcutta. Clive terribly avenged the deed on its perpetrator, the Surajah Dowlah, Subah of Bengal. He stormed Calcutta, and once master of it, brought the Surajah to immediate terms. He then entered into a plot to dethrone him, and with reckless energy carried out the conspiracy, the success of which was achieved by the famous battle of Plassey, fought on the 23rd June, 1757. Clive there, with three thousand men, utterly routed the Surajah Dowlah, at the head of troops amounting to seventy thousand. The result was the execution of the Surajah, the installation of his minister, Meer Jaffier, in his place, and the rapid ascendancy of the British power. Clive became Governor of Calcutta, and then, turning his arms against the Dutch, defeated them by sea and land, and compelled them to a treaty of infinite benefit to the East India Company. In 1761 Clive again came to England, and was elevated to the peerage of Ireland, 15 March, 1762, by the title of Baron Clive of Plassey, co. Clare ; his Knighthood of the Bath dates in 1764. In 1765 some disturbances in India once more took him there as President of Bengal ; these he settled to the Company's advantage, and finally returned to England in 1767. He was M.P. for Shrewsbury from 1760 to the end of his life, but seldom spoke, though on one memorable occasion he successfully vindicated his character and conduct with indignant and impressive eloquence. His untimely and lamented death, at Berkeley Square, London, 22nd November, 1774, was the work of his own hand, while in a fit of temporary insanity. Lord Clive was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, second lord, who was created Baron Clive, of Walcot, Salop, in the peerage of Great Britain, in 1794, and he was further created in 1804, Baron Powis, of Powis Castle, Welshpool ; Baron Herbert, of Cherbury, Salop; Viscount Clive, of Ludlow, Salop; and Earl of Powis, county of Montgomery, all in the peerage of the United Kingdom. His lordship married in 1784, Henrietta Antonia, daughter of Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis, and sister and heir of George Edward Henry Arthur, the last Earl of Powis of the family of Herbert, by whom he had issue — Edward, second Earl; Robert Henry, of Oakley Park, Salop, M.P. for South Shropshire, who married Harriet, Baroness Windsor. They had issue (1) Henrietta Antonia, who was married to Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., M.P., and died December, 1835 ; (2) Charlotte Elorentina, governess to the Queen, when Princess Victoria. She married in 1817, Hugh, third Duke of Northumberland. The Earl, who was Lord- Lieutenant of the county of Salop, died in 1839, and was succeeded by his son, Edward, second Earl, K.G., who was Lord- Lieutenant of Montgomeryshire, and married in 1818, Lucy, daughter of James, third Duke of Montrose. He died in 1848, leaving issue — Edward James, present Earl; Percy Egerton (Sir), K.C.B., P.C., M.P. for South Shropshire, Major-General in the Army, officer of the Legion of Honour, Knight of the Medjidie, and Commander of the Order of St. Maurice and WALCOT. St. Lazarus ; late treasurer to Her Majesty's household. Sir Percy Herbert married 4th of October, I860, Mary, only child of the late Earl of Kerry, and granddaughter of Henry, third Marquis of Lansdowne, and died 7th October, 1876, having had issue — Henry Edward, who only lived four years; George (heir presumptive to his uncle, the present Earl), Magdalene and Harriett. Other members of the family were — George, who took Holy Orders, and having obtained the M.A. degree, became in 1867, Dean of Hereford; he married in 1863, Elizabeth Beatrice, fourth daughter of Sir Tatton Sykes, fourth Baronet of Sledmere, county of York ; Bobert Charles, barrister-at-law, who married in 1854, Anne Maria, only daughter and heir of the late Edward Cludde, Esq., of Orleton, county of Salop; William Henry, now Major-General ; Lucy Caroline, married 14th September, 1865, to Frederick Calvert, Esq., Q.C., second son j of General Sir Harry Calvert, O.C.B.; G.C.H.; Charlotte married Hugh Montgomery, Esq., Grey Abbey, Ireland ; Harriet, who died 21st June, 1880. A few particulars as to the lineage of the Herbert family will be of interest here. The Marquesses of Powis and the Lords Herbert of Cherbury (both represented by the Earl of Powis), spring, with the extinct Earls of Pembroke, Huntingdon, and Torrington, and the extant Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, from Sir William Herbert, ap Thomas, of Baglan Castle, who had three sons — (1) William, first Earl of Pembroke, whose grandson, William, first Earl of the extant creation, was father of Henry and of Sir Edward of Powis Castle, father of William, first Baron Powis ; (2) Thomas ; (3) Sir Bichard, of Montgomery, whose eldest son, Sir William, was ancestor of the Colebrook family, whilst Sir Bichard, his second son, was father of Edward Herbert, Esq., who left three sons — (1) Bichard, father of Edward, first Lord Herbert of Cherbury, so created in 1629. This celebrated nobleman was born at Eytou, an ancient house of the Newports, in the parish of Wroxeter, now in ruins. He became K.B. Baron Herbert of Cherbury and Castle Island in Ireland 1625 and in England 1631. He was buried in St. Giles's-in-the-Felds, where his epitaph, written by himself, recorded that he was " Auctor libri cui titulus est de veritate. Beddor at herbac XX. die Augusti, A.D. 1648." He also wrote De religione Gentilium, Life and Beign of Henry VIII., memoirs of his own Life, and some poems. His eldest son, Bichard, second Baron, had two sons, who succeeded as third and fourth Barons, and a daughter and eventual heir, Florence, who married her cousin, Bichard Herbert, of Oakley Park. Sir Henry, youngest son of the first Baron, was father of (1), Henry, who had the title revived in his favour in 1624, but it became again extinct with his son, Henry, sixth Baron ; (2) Matthew, M.P. for Monmouth in 1564, father of Sir Matthew, created a Baronet in 1660 ; and of Francis, of Oakley Park, whose son, Bichard, married Floreuee, sole heir to the Lords Herbert of Cherbury, and the dignity was revived in 1743 for his son, Henry Arthur Herbert, who thus became seventh Lord Herbert of Cherbury ; (3), Charles, whose grandson, Sir Arthur, a famous Admiral, was created Bad of Torrington in 1689, dying in 1716. William, son of Sir Edward Herbert, of Powis Castle, was created Lord Powis in 1629. He married Eleanor, daughter of Henry, eighth Earl of Northumberland, and died in 1655, leaving issue — Percy, second Baron, who had been created a Baronet in 1622, and died in 1666, leaving an only son (by Elizabeth, sister of William, first Earl Craven), William, third Baron, created Earl of Powis in 1674, and advanced to the Marquisate of Powis in 1687. This nobleman accompanied James II. to France after the Bevolution, and was created Duke of Powis and Marquis of Montgomery by that monarch after his abdication. He died 2nd June, 1696, at St. Germain's, being then outlawed, and left, by COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Elizabeth, daughter of the second Marquis of Worcester, five daughters and an only son — William, second Marquis, whose outlawry was reversed in 1722. He married the daughter of Sir Thomas Preston, Bart., and died 1745, leaving two sons and four daughters. The second son, Edward, married Henrietta, daughter of Earl Waldegrave, by whom he had a daughter, who married her kinsman, Henry Arthur Herbert. The heir, William, third Marquis, died unmarried, 8th March, 1748, when his titles became extinct ; the earldom of Fowis, was, however, conferred on his nearest male heir, the aforesaid Henry Arthur, seventh Lord Herbert of Cherbury, who then became fiist earl of the new creation, 27th May, 1748. He died 1772, succeeded by his only son, George, second earl, who died unmarried 16th January, 1801, his titles becoming extinct, whilst the representation of the Herberts of Powis and Cherbury devolved on Henrietta, his only sister, who, as before mentioned, married Edward, second Lord Clive. The present Earl of Powis was born 5th November, 1818, and succeeded his father as third Earl, 17th January, 1848. He was M.P. for North Shropshire 1843-8, and has been high Steward of Cambridge University since 1863 ; he is a governor of King's College, London, and Lord Lieutenant of the county of Montgomery. c HIS fine old red-stone mansion was built in 1598 by Sir Eogev Owen, Judge of the King's Bench, whose father, Thomas Owen, had purchased the estate in the days of Henry VIII. The house, which is a perfect specimen of the architecture of the Elizabethan period, stands near the church and village of Condover, in a park extending over three hundred and thirty-five acres, through which flows the Cound brook. Condover was, in Saxon times, a manor of Foyal demesne, for we learn from Dbmesday that " King Edward held it." The first Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, was the sole lord of the hundred of Condover, retaining more than half the manor in his own possession. The curious and interesting record in Domesday Book is thus given by Eyton. (Antiquities VI. p. 8) : "The Earl himself holds Conendovre. King Edward held it. To this manor appertain ten Berewicks. Here XIII hides are subject to Geld. Jn demesne there are seven hides, and thereon are IIII ox-teams ; and VII Villains, and a Priest, with VII ox-teams ; and still there might be III additional teams thereon. Here are VII neat-hides, and a mill of 8s. 6d. (annual value)." " Two (out of every three) pence (arising) from the hundred of Conendovre used to belong to this manor. In King Edward's time, the manor yielded £10 (per annum). Now, together with the hundred, it yields £10." " Of the land of this manor Roger Venator holds I hide, Osborn I hide, and Edward IIII hides. Thereon is one team ; and IIII Villians, II Boois, III Radmans, and II neat-herds have among them all III ox-teams; and still there might be VIII teams more (on this portion). The whole (of this portion) is worth 41s. (per annum)." The greater part of the manor reverted to the Crown, probably by forfeiture, for Henry I. held the whole manor, except the tenement of Roger Venator, whose descendants had interest in Condover till the thirteenth century. This Monarch visited here several times, and it formed part of the Royal domains until 29th of August, 1226, when Henry III., being at Shrewsbury, informs the Sheriff of Shropshire that " he has committed to his beloved sister Joan, wife of his faithful and beloved Llewellyn, the Royal Manor of Cunedour, to be held by the said Joan so long as the King shall please." On May the 16th, 1228, the manor was again in the King's hands, though it was afterwards restored to the Princess, who held it (49) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. till Easter, 1231, when it again reverted to the King, who held it until the 11th of June 1238, when he gave it to Henry de Hastings and Ada his wife, in exchange for lands in Cheshire. A deed, dated 12th of Edward I., transferred the manor from John de Hastings to Eobert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and his descendants held it for several generations. In the sixteenth century the estate was acquired by the Owen family, whose ancestor, Bichard Owen, of Shrewsbury, married Mary daughter and co-heir of Thomas Ottley, Esq., of Condover. His grandson, who built the present house, was M.P. and High Sheriff in 1604 ; he was succeeded by his brother, Sir William Owen, Knt., who was High Sheriff in 1623 ; and the direct male line continued down to Thomas Owen, Esq., who dying unmarried 31st of January, 1731, devised his lands to his sister, Letitia Owen, who had married Kichard Mytton, Esq., of Halston. This lady bequeathed the estate to her granddaughter, Anna Maria Leighton, who married Nicholas Smythe, Esq., of Nibley, county Gloucester, High Sheriff of Shropshire, 1772, and had one son, Nicholas Owen Smythe, and three daughters, the youngest of whom married Charles Cholmondeley, Esq., of Overleigh, whose grandson is the present owner of Condover. Nicholas Owen Smythe assumed the surname and arms of Owen ; he died 30th of January, 1804, without issue, and was succeeded by his nephew, Edward William Smythe Pemberton, who adopted the surname of Owen. This gentleman, Edward William Smythe Owen, Esq., was High Sheriff in 1819, and was twice married ; on his death, in 1863, the estates devolved upon his cousin, Thomas Cholmondeley, Esq., who took the name and arms of Owen. This gentleman had married Victoria, daughter of John Cotes, Esq., of Woodcote ; and on his death, in 1864, the property passed to his brother, Reginald Cholmondeley, Esq., who was born 20th of Apr j 1 , 1826. He married 17th of October, 1867, the Hon. Alice Mary Egerton, second daughter of Lord Egerton, of Tatton ; this lady died 27th of November, 1868, leaving a daughter, who died 11th of December, 1868. Mr. Cholmondeley is M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, a justice of the peace, and was for some time Major in the North Shropshire Rifle A T olunteers. Condover Hall is at present occupied by Henry Gaskill Close, Esq., M.A., by whose courtesy we are enabled to give the following description of the interior. The Side Hall is panelled along the lower poition of the walls with richly-carved oak, the upper portion being painted deep red, ami having a moulded cornice. Seven portraits hang here, among them one of Sir William Owen. Some old ironwork contains the arms of the Cowper family, and upon an oak panel is painted the escutcheon of "Thomas Cholmondeley, Mayor 1761." The old chairs, with their leathern seats and backs studded with brass knobs, are in due keeping with their surroundings, and help to make up such an interior of the olden time as would in these days delight the eye of a Cattermole or Eyre Crowe. A short corridor leads into the Entrance Hall itself, which is decorated in a pale green tone, also with a dado of oak panelling ; at each end are two arches of stone, richly carved and gilt, the under portions of which are richly decorated in red, and blue, and gold. The side panels contain effigies in low relief of Queen Elizabeth, James I. and other important personages. On the walls of this magnificent hall are suspended specimens of Mr. Chopnohdeley's choice collection of armour and ancient weapons ; some of these are very curious and highly interesting. The examples include Italian, Spanish, and English rapiers of the sixteenth century, a fine Italian petronel, whose stock is inlaid with engraved ivory, battle axes with engraved and inlaid handles, an English mace of steel of (50) CON DOVER. the time of Henry VII., a double wheel-lock gun of the time of Henry VIII., Scotch basket-hilted swords, cross-bows, a large two-handed sword, helmets, gauntlets, spurs, and other warlike accoutrements of the days of old. The ensemble recalls the lines of the song : — The hall so old was hung around With pikes and guns and bows, And good old swords and bucklers That stood against old foes. The mantel over the large fireplace is of stone, picked out in colours, the jambs bearing two effigies, with armorial bearings in the ceutre. Bare inlaid cabinets stand on the floor ; the chairs are of carved oak, some fine examples having backs of embossed leather ; and the walls are adorned with many rare and valuable paintings. Among these are portraits of Heber by Copley and Hoppner ; a circular portrait of Viscount Malpas ; a copy of Sir Joshua Eeynolds's cherubs (in the National gallery) ; a French decorative picture in the Watteau style, by Vernis Martin ; two dogs by Zurburan ; a child by Huyghens ; and many other examples by famous artists. The Drawing Eoom has a dado of embossed leather work, with pale grey walls above ; its gilt chairs have painted backs, and among its noteworthy furuitare and bric-a-brac are rare vases of Oriental china, and a rosewood cabinet inlaid with ivory. The mantel piece is a splendid work, richly carved, the frieze representing the classic myth of Orpheus. Many fine examples of the Old Masters hang in this room, including Giorgione's " Eesurrection ; " a "Madonna and Child," by Jacopo Borgognone ; a "Holy Family," by Guilio Eomano ; a fine portrait of the immortal Tuscan, — Dante, by Jacopo Bellini; the "Adoration of the Shepherds," by Palma Vecchio ; a fruit piece by Jan David de Heem ; a portrait by Jean Mabuse ; two heads by Vandyck ; and other choice works by Titian Benozzo-Gozzoli, Andrea del Sarto, Bronzino, Carlo Crivelli, Sustermans, Canaletti, Van der Werff, Zuccarelli, and Loutherbourg ; as well as a small full-length portrait of a Spanish Prince, after Velasquez, by Sir D. Wilkie. The picture collection at Condover is one of the largest and finest in the county ; it embraces choice examples of the Italian, Spanish Flemish, and Dutch schools, as well as many British masters. One of the earliest works is a " Head of Christ," by Antonello De Messina ; Pollajuolo (1426 — 1498) is represented by a " Scriptural Battle " ; Palma (II Vecchio) by a " Holy Family," and by the' aforesaid sketch of the " Adoration " ; Bonifacio, by the " Supper at Emmaus " ; Fra Bartolomeo by a Vision — " the Madonna appearing to a Saint " ; Crivelli, by " an Archbishop " ; Jan Bellini, Moroni, Bronzino, Bassano, and Albrecht Durer, by portraits ; and Van der Heyden, Lingenbach, and Zuccarelli, by landscapes. Among other subjects is a still life piece, by Velasquez ; the "Vision of a a Pope," by Tiepolo ; "Peaches," and "A Barn-door Cock," by Campidoglio ; " Head of Christ," by Murillo ; " Head of a Monk," by Zurburan ; a " Dancing Girl," by Fragonard ; two examples of Greuze ; a " Flower Piece," by Van Huysum ; " the Crucifixion," by Lucas Cranach ; "a Fruit Shop," by Mieris ; and a sea piece by Van de Velde ; also works by Copley, Eomney, and Morland ; as well as Millais' fine portrait of Carlyle, painted for Mr. Cholmondeley in 1877, and which was included in the recent collection of Sir John Millais' works exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery. The Library is another fine room, with panelled ceiling : it] is lined with well-filled cases of books. The mantelpiece is a splendid piece of carved work ; the architrave bears the motto oea ne te rapiat mora, above which (51) COUNTY SEATS OF SHliOPSHUlE. is the Cholmondeley escutcheon, the side panels being filled with inscriptions in gilt letters. At one side of the room is an Italian coffer of excellent workmanship. The Dining Eoom is a spacious and lofty apartment, lighted ,bv a large oriel window. Like the other rooms of the mansion, it has a panelled ceiling and richly carved chimney piece. It is decorated in a deep maroon colour, with a dado of leather work ; nine portraits hang on its walls. Passing up the grand staircase, whose walls are lined with rare and valuable paintings of the Italian and other schools, the visitor traverses the corridors, which contain cases of of rare birds of gorgeous plumage. The walls here are also covered with valuable pictures, one of the most noteworthy being a small work depicting Dante, his illustrious successors Petrarch and Boccaccio, and three other worthies. The walls of the Gallery are panelled in oak, and on its polished oak floor are various inlaid tables, inlaid cabinets, oriental screens, and a brass-bound oak coffer on wheels. Many pictures "hang here, among the portraits being Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel (d. 1581), and Lord Keeper Bacon. The stone corridor, below, is decorated with mural paintings by Mr. Cholmondeley (who is himself an accomplished artist, both with brush and chisel) and his friends. One large picture represents fishes and other dwellers in the deep sea, another shows a zebra, another a stag. The fine gardens at Condover Hall are celebrated through Shropshire for their beauty and extent. The numerous flower beds are tastefully laid out, and in summer time are all ablaze with gorgeous colour, harmoniously arranged. A very uncommon and interesting feature is the luxuriant and well-trimmed box (buxus scmpcr-vircns) bordering of many of the larger and permanent beds. The ornamental grounds contain many fine trees, including cedars, and the evergreen oak (qucrcus ilex). The kitchen gardens cover more than three acres — attached are spacious vineries, hothouses, etc. Adjoining the grounds of the Hall is Condover Church, dedicated to St. Andrew. This dates from a very early period, for we find that Earl Eoger gave the Church in Condover to Shrewsbury Abbey. The present spacious edifice displays several examples of early Norman architecture, and contains fine monuments in memory of various members of the Owen family — one piece of sculpture being by Eoubilliac. There is also a monument to Colonel Scriven, who, on an old brass is described as " the faithful friend of his king." This was the gentleman to whom Charles I. sent from the scaffold his gloves, which are, we understand, still in existence in Condover. The chancel of the Church was rebuilt in 1868, and a mortuary chapel added by Mr. Cholmondeley, who also restored the interior of the nave and transepts in 1878, at a cost of four thousand pounds. The living which is a vicarage in the gift of the Lord of the Manor, has been held since 1873 by the Eev. Lionel Corbett, M.A., of Christ Church, Oxford. The village of Condover is the birthplace of Kichard Tarleton, a famous comedian of Queen Elizabeth's days. He was a witty actor and jester, and Fuller writes that " when Queen Elizabeth was serious and out of good humour, he could undumpish her at his pleasure." He died in 1588. One of the Owens who resided at Condover in the eighteenth century sent John Taylor (who was born in Shrewsbury, 1701) to Cambridge, where he graduated at St. John's, and afterwards became the Eev. John Taylor, LL.D., a learned critic and philologist. In ono of his visits to his native county he unfortunately offended his patron by refusing to drink a Jacobite toast on his bare knees, " as was then the custom among the Tory gentry (52) CONDOVEB. of Salop." This patron appears to have been Eoger Owen of Condover, whose beard and wigs Taylor's father used to dress. "Demosthenes" Taylor became, in April, 1744, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln, and subsequently entered into holy orders and was appointed Canon Kesidentiary of St. Paul's. (53) MILE and a quarter to the north of Wellington stands Apley Castle, the seat of Sir Thomas Meyrick, Bart., and the ancestral home of the representatives of the Knights and Barons Charlton, descendants of the Kings and Princes of Powys. " Castle " is the term at present % applied to the handsome mansion, embosomad in foliage and almost hidden 2§fSS' f rom the public gaze by stately elms and oaks which surround it. The approach from the main road is by a stone lodge, and then along the drive which extends a ile through a well wooded park. On the right is a piece of ornamental water, p shining through the thick' foliage ; elms and chestnuts thrive in abundance, and here and there are oaks of considerable dimensions. In the park are to be seen some of the finest cattle in Shropshire, grazing lazily on the abundant pasturage. The second gate gives access to the inner park and ornamental gardens, which are well kept and artistically arranged and will compare favourably with, if not surpass, any to be seen in the county. To the left a ueatly kept drive, hedged with yew and bordered with beautiful pines and sycamore trees, leads to the stables, and joins the main drive near the entrance. An avenue of cedars, standing about twenty or thirty feet from the roadway, is backed by pines, rhododendrons, Portugal laurels and English yews, with very pleasing effect, and following this drive, one comes into full view of the front entrance of the mansion. This entrance was built by St. John Chiverton Charlton in 1859, and leads through a massive stone portico, about twenty feet in height, supported by eight pillars, ornamented by chastely carved capitals. The other portion of the castle is of the Italian style of architecture, and is built of brick with stone facing. The left wing comprises the chief apartments, and the right wing the housekeeper's and servants' departments. On entering through the portico the visitor passes into the vestibule, which branches to corridors on either side and leads to the circular hall. The floor is beautifully tesselated, having in the centre ornament an inlaid representation of the armorial bearings of the Charltons, and the motto " Spero Meliora." The vestibule rises to a height of thirty-four feet, is beautifully arched, and ornamented with carved capitals and gilded moulding, and lighted with Norman windows ; niches in the walls are occupied by carved figures and cases of birds of gorgeous plumage, and the furniture is of carved old oak. Old china ornaments and ancestral portraits are arranged to advantage. (55) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. At the end of the vestibule is the circular hall, which has a polished oak floor, at opposite sides of which stand two large cases of books. This hall has entrances to the drawing room, library, and dining room, and a circular staircase of stone with iron railings leads to the upper stories. There are two tiers of passages, and the hall rises to the full height of the building, being lighted at the top by a fancy skylight. The walls are adorned with gilding, cases of birds, and some good oil portraits. Double doors lead from the hall to the library, which faces the north-west side of the mansion; and glass doors give egress to the ornamental grounds through a massive stone portico of the classic style, about thirty feet in height, supported by four large stone columns. The ornamental grounds were raised four feet during the late occupant's period of residence. Gazing from this portico, the full beauty of the flower beds can be seen to advantage ; they are laid in the form of a fan, and extend the full length of the castle ; beyond in the distance is the Apley lake in full view. Facing the south side of the mansion is an ornamental fountain standing in a bed of roses. Re-entering the house, glass doors lead into the large drawing room, furnished a la mode. The ceiling of the room is beautifully coloured and gilded, the centre ornament being a wreath of roses round a star of gold in plumes. Tne chief object of interest in this apartment is a full sized portrait group, in oil, of Colonel William Charlton and family, by Sir .Joshua Reynolds. Double doors lead into the small drawing room, which contains some family heir-looms and is magnificently furnished, the ceiling being also fittingly decorated. In the dining room are many hue paintings, including some by Sir Joshua's great rival, Gainsborough. A passage near this room leads to the staircase to the family bedrooms, and the same corridor joins the vestibule. Sir Thomas Meyrick has some rare old china and antique furniture, a complete library, and many ancestral portraits, and other valuable pictures by the old masters. Along a well-shaded terrace walk, to the south-west, is the site of the old castle, where the modern stables at present stand, about one hundred and fifty yards from the mansion. A portion of the original edifice is still to be seen in the coachmen's cottages. At the rear of stables was formerly the moat, where at the present time fruit trees and vegetables luxuriate ; pieces of masonry and other articles have been frequently found whilst digging in this portion of the garden. Another portion of the moat on the other side of the stables, facing the mansion, still contains water, in which fish thrive wonderfully and are very plentiful. This part of the moat is almost hidden from view by thick clumps of trees. Cne stately oak, on the edge of the pool, has a girth of fouteen feet and measures eighty-four feet from bough to bough ; this is supposed to be the oldest tree in the park, and its age may fairly be computed to date back to the days of the old castle. The vineries, stove greenhouses, fruit and fern houses are extensive, and contain many beautiful specimens, the vines being very productive. The kitchen gardens are well stocked and cultivated ; and there are excellent farm buildings, and gas works — where all the gas used at the castle and outbuildings is manufactured — which are al*o in splendid condition. Apley or Appeley, was sometimes spelt Appel ; there are attesting confirmations and charters applying to it in 1170, 1175, 1 177,3 and 1179. In 1179 Walter-de- Appel and John-de-Appel attested a charter of Simon Fitz-Simon, Lord of Wellington. Roger de Apley witnessed a Wonilnidge charter, and in 1242 he sat as a Verderer of the Forest (probably the forest of Mount Cilbert — the Wrekin — which then extended to Apley). On searching the records of the Charlton family we find that they hold high rank among the most ancient and honourable families in the kingdom. The surname of (56) APLEY. Cherleton, or Charlton as it is now written, appears to have been asumed from a place of that name, which formed a part of the Cherleton possessions immediately after the con- quest, and where the famous castle of the Barons Cherleton was afterwards erected. Charlton Castle, situate three miles west of Wellington, and two miles south-west by south of Wrockwardine, was anciently the manor house of the Lords of Powys. John de Charleton embattled it, in the tenth year of the reign of Edward II. According to tradition the old castle was demolished and rebuilt several times, and in the days of the wars of the Commonwealth it quickly changed hands. In the autumn of 1042, Sir John Memns wrote to Prince Rupert,, telling him of an unsuccessful attack on the Castle by the Parliamentary soldiers, who were defeated with loss. The letter is as follows : — " May it please your Highness you were no sooner gone, but the rebels began to swarm and come to Wellington, and took that, and came on to Apley Castle ; but were driven by some of Vaughan's horse from the castle and the town, and sufficiently scattered the rebels, and took and killed two hundred of them." But few fragments of the edifice remain, and these are mantled with ivy ; the moat may still be traced. Our illustration represents the ruins Charlton Castle. as they stood some half century ago, The first of the Cherletons of whom we have any specific account, is Richard de Cherleton who, in the year 1177, made a particular agreement with Walter, the Abbot of Lilleshul, which agreement was witnessed by Wido, the sheriff, and Reina, the sheriff's clerk. Without attempting to trace the whole lineage, we give a few particulars of some members of the Charlton family who have made for themselves a lasting name in history, and garnished the annals and fame of the county of Shropshire. Alan de Cherleton was knighted by King Edward I., and designated Sir Aleyn de Cherleton de Appley, Knight ; he was married to Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Fitz Stephen. In the year 1307, when the Scotch shook off the English yoke, Edward II. granted to this same Alan de Cherleton a license to build stone fortresses at (57) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Apley and Wytheford, which is as follows : — " Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to his loyal and faithful subjects to whom these present letters may come, greeting — Know ye that of our special favour we have granted and given license for us and our heirs to our beloved and faithful Allen de Cherleton, to fortify and embattle his mansions of Appleye and Wytheford, in the county of Salop, with a wall of stone and mortar. And these mansions so fortified and embattled to hold for himself and his heirs for ever, without let or hindrance of us or our heirs, - insticraries, escheators, sheriff, or others, or bailiffs, or servants, whomsoever, in testimony of which we have caused these our letters patent to be made. Witness, ourself at Topclif on the 10th day of July, and first year of our reign." Sir Thomas Meyrick still has the original royal license in his possession. This Sir Alan de Cherleton was in favour with the King, and beside his estate at Apley, he had an estate at Haughton, near Shifnal ; he was Lord of Walton, in Stottesden Hundred, and writs were addressed to him as custos of the castle and land at Wigmore, on the occasion of the forfeiture of Mortimer, who had been found guilty of treason, and was beheaded in 1322. Alan was also summoned in May, 1324. in two counties to attend a great Council at Westminster, and in 1324-5 several writs were addressed to him in con- nection with military levies in Shropshire and Staffordshire, and subsequently he was sent on active service. Of John, brother of Sir Aleyn de Cherleton, we find, in the Feodarium of the Hundred of Bradford, 24 Edward I., it recorded : — " Master John de Cherleton holds the Vill. of Chorleton, of the churches of St. Mary and St. Julian, of Salop, chapels of our Lord the King, rendering 16s. (annually) for all service." In a deed, dated Cherleton, September 18, 1308, a Sir John de Cherlton, Knight, is spoken of, but this is probably the son of Sir Alan, and nephew of the other John. Before Edward II. had been three months on the throne he granted him a chartor of free warren in all his demesne lands at Charlton and Pontesbury. Sir John married Hawyse, sister and heir of Griffen-ap-Owen, Prince of Powis, for which he had the license of the king (1309) ; he also had the livery of the Barony of Pole, now Welshpool. On the 17th of November, 1316, he obtained a royal patent to " embattle and surround with a stone wall " his mansion at Charlton ; and on the 14th of September, 1325, he also obtained one to fortify his house at Shrewsbury, called Cherlton Hall, which was an hostel, and the town house of the lords of Powis. The theatre, at Shrewsbury, now stands on the site of Cherlton Hall. John de Cherleton was not, however, allowed to retain peaceful possess- sion of his rights in the lordship of Powys, for the Parliament Polls of Edward III. record that " our Lord the King understanding that by reason of the feud which has long time been between Monsire John de Cherleton and Monsire Griffith de la Pole (of Pool), they on both sides assemble men of arms and collect force of war, whereby great evils and breach of the peace, and peradventure war may easily happen in Wales and on the Marches." The monarch formally ordered them to desist, adding to his admonition " that if either of them was aggrieved by the other he might lay his complaint before the King, who would administer a speedy remedy." In the same year John de Cherlton was engaged in a feud with Bichard Fitzalan, and the two barons were only hindered from making war on each other by the King's intervention. Two generations later the families of Cherlton and Fitzalan intermarried. (58) APLEY. Sir John was appointed King's Chamberlain, and was constituted baron of Buellt Castle. He was also summoned among the barons as Baron Cherleton, and immediately afterwards he was actively engaged in the Scottish wars. He became a partisan of the unhappy Lancaster, and was, with him, defeated at Boroughbrklge ; but Sir John was fortunate enough to escape, and was again taken into royal favour. In 1337 Edward III. appointed Baron Charlton Chief Justice and Governor of Ireland. The Baron eminently distinguished himself by his skill and valour in the wars of Fiance. He died suddenly, and inquest concerning his death was held at Welshpool, on the 3rd of January, 1354 ; and he was interred in the Grey Friars, Shrewsbury. He was pre-deceased by his wife, the Lady Hawys Cherleton, who is said to have been " the cause that the Gray Frieres College, in Shrobbesbyri, was builded, where she lyeth buriel under a fyte marble, by Chorleton's tnmbe." Lady Hawys built the church adjoining the college. The windows of the church were enriched with the portraits and arms of the Cherletons, and fragments of the same now adorn St. Mary's Church, having been taken thither from Old St. Chad's Church in 1791. Sir William Dugdale, who visited St Chad's Church in 1663, thus described the windows referred to : — " In the three panes towards the south are the hgures of three men kneeling, in theire surcote of armes (the Baron and his sons Sir John and Owen), and bearing banners. On the surcote and banner of the hrst the armes are or a lyon rampant ; gules ; the surcoat and banner of the second is the same armes, with a label of three points, vert, each [part chardged with a spread eagle, or ; the third hath also the same spread eagle and banner, but on the shoulder of the lyon is a lozenge, vert, chardgyd with a spread eagle, or. In the three other panes are three women, whose figures are kneeling, and like unto the men, saving that the two outmost have no armes in theire mantles, theire mantles being gold, and sleeves red." Underneath the panes was the inscription " Pray for Monsieur John de Cherleton who caused this giasing to be made and for dame Hawys, his companion." Baron Charlton's eldest son John, married Joane, daughter of Ralph, Lord Stafford, by Margaret, his wife, daughter and heir of Hugh, Earl of Gloucester. Sir John (2nd Baron Cherleton de Powys) succeeded his father as Chamberlain to the King ; he engaged in the wars of Gascony, and was in attendance on the Black Prince ; he is said to have married Elizabeth Percy, daughter of the Duke of Northumberland. Thomas de Charleton, of Appeley, Esq., had licence in the ninth year of the reign of Richard II. to go to Spain in the retinue of John of Gaunt, King of Castile. In the next century we find Edward de Cherlton, Lord of Powis ; he fought and defeated the redoubtable rebel Owen Glyndwr in person, and Henry Percy — the Hotspur of Shakespere — who was then justice of North Wales and Chester, wrote on the 14th of June, 1401, announcing the fact to the Privy Council. On the 15th August, 1402, Edward Cherlton, Earl of Powys, wrote from the castle of Pool representing the Welsh as becoming every day more active in their incursions in his neighbourhood, and pressed urgently for assistance. On the 16th of May, 1408, the King directed letters to Edward de Charleton, Lord of Powys, and other barons on the border, stating that he had heard that Owen Glyndwr and " John the pretended bishop of St. Asaph " had collected together many rebels and traitors, and joined themselves with " our enemies of France, Scotland, and other parts in the principality of Wales, continuing their rebellion and committing great havoc." COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. A worthy descendant of these warrior barons was William Charletou son and heir of Sir Richard Charletou of Apley, Knight, who was a man of such extraordinary carriage and valour that according to the Hare MSS. he was commonly called " Stout William." He became possessed of Wombridge Priory, from William the Abbot, as shown by a deed dated 22nd March, 1538. In the 10th year of the reign of Hen. VIII. he had a grant from St. Pyre, of lands in Wellington. William was buried in Wellington Church on the north side of the chancel beneath a monument of Alabaster. Dugdale, who visited i Wellington on the 11th August 1663, thus describes it : — " On the north side of the chancell a faire raised monument of Alabaster whereon is cut the portraiture of a man in armour, and by him, his wife, with this circumscription — " Hie jacet in Tumba coyms Will'nii Chorlton armigeri et Annie Uxor ejuis, que quidem Anna Obiit VII. die mences I Junii Anno D'ni miU'imo CCCCCXXIIII & dictus Will'm'3 Obiit p'mo die mencis I Julii anno d'n mill'imo CCCCCXLIIII quorum animal' p' picietur Deus." I sic. At the head of this monument is an angell holding before him (a shield of amies, quartly 1 and 4. Or a lyon rampant, gules, debruised by a bend. Argt, Charlton 2 and 3. Gules 10 besants, 4, 3, 2, 1, Zinch) and on either side the angell are the portraitures of two fryers. On the far side : First an angel holding this coate (Azrj. on a chief. Or, a raven proper. Horde.) At the feet an angell between two friers holding this coat of amies (that of Horde.) Then another frier and lastly another angel with is coate (that of Charletou and Zinch Quartly.)" The description of Dugdale is hardly correct ; it should be : — in the middle two angels holding a coat, on each side of them a friar, and next to each friar another angel holding a shield. On the demolition of the Wellington church in 1788, this altar-tomb was left in the churchyard for more than thirty years, and after enduring the attacks of wind and weather, it was renovated and removed to the south aisle of Holy Cross Church, Shrewsbury. Passim' over a long period we find that Andrew Charlton Esq. of Apley, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 1576, levied a tine, on behalf of his wife and issue. In 1605, King James I. granted him a pardon " of all crimes and offences committed before 20 March in the 45th of Elizabeth." This same Andrew after his ■ marriage with Margaret, daughter of James Barker, of Haghmond, Esq, added much to the external and internal embellishments of Apley castle. A fine massive piece of carving is still preserved at Apley of the arms of Andrew Charlton and Margaret his wife, and its date is about 1566. Walter Charlton, son of this Andrew, studied medicine and obtained his degree of M.D. He was a man of genius and wrote many useful works which are still preserved in the British Museum ; the full catalogue of his writings has not, unfortunately, been kept, but the following are some of his productions : — " De Walter Charlton's Mystery of Vintners," " Reflection on Life, Fevers, and Motion Voluntary," " Deomnibus symptomatibus cyniscumque facilitates corumque causis in genere and specie. Libri 11, 1642.'' " Pharmacopoeia Londinensis correct. Agualt Charleton," " Collectanea Medica," and " Exercitationes Anamaliuni." In the Harleian MSS. is a copy of the verses written by Dr. Walter Charlton on the back of his portrait, in the second edition of the " Exercitationes Anamalium ;" the original is in the library of Sir Hans Sloane. The great Dr. Charlton died without issue. (60, APLEY. His brother, William Charlton, was a member of Parliament, and one of the most dis- tinguished philosophers and politicians of his day, and his letters (166S), are now preserved in the British Museum. Among' his works were :— " Observations on morals," " Essays on the improvement of New England, to make it useful to the Crown," "Things remarkable to be seen in France," " Observations on Life and Death," and many others. Another brother, Andrew, was an alderman of the city of Bristol ; and another, Robert, was a barrister-at- law. This Robert was one of the Parliamentary Committee at Shrewsbury, who wrote to the Speaker after the capture of Shrewsbury. Another brother, Francis Charlton, of Apley, became heir to his father, who was Lord of Wytheforde, in 1618. In 1620 he was Sheriff of Shropshire, and afterwards, in his capacity of magistrate, levied a sum for the relisf of the p^or infected with the plague. Apley Castle, from the garden front. His daughter, Margaret, married the celebrated Nonconformist divine, Richard Baxter, and his only son was also named Francis. This latter, when a child, passed through some narrow escapes, as shown in a biography of the father, written by Baxter. The author described his father-in-law as "A grave and sober worthy man, who did not marry till he was aged and grey, and so died whilst his children were very young. He had one surviving brother, who, after his father's death, maintained a long and costly suit about the guardianship of their heir. This uncle Robert was a comely, sober gentleman, but the wise and good mother (Mary) durst not trust her only son in the hands of one that was his next heir. But it being in the heat of the civil war, Robert being for the Parliament, had the advantage of strength, which put her to seek relief at Oxford from (61) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the King-, and afterwards to marry one Mr. Hanmer, who was for the king, to make her interest that way." Robert, however, got possession of the children at the storming of Apley Castle, "but at last she, by great wisdom and diligence, surprised them and secretly conveyed them to one Mr. Bernard's, in Essex, and secured them against all his endeavours." The biography farther says that when the war terminated she repaired some of the ruins, and managed the estates until her son married and took over the property. During the civil disturbances in the reigns of Charles and James, Francis Charlton became a very distinguished personage, and he was the most intimate friend of Lords Shaftesbury, Essex, Russell, Leicester, and particularly of the great Lady Russell, who, in her published letters, speaks of him as her most intimate friend. The aggressions of James II. made him indignant, and he warmly engaged in the rebellion of Fitz Roy, Duke of Monmouth. He was one of the most active against the Government in 1683, at the time of the Ryehouse plot, and was committed to the Tower on the 11th August, 1683, but was liberated on the following 29th September, the evidence against him being insufficient He afterwards returned to his estates, and died in 1698. His son John became the intimate friend of Lady Russell, of the Duchess of Devonshire, the Duke of Schomberg, Earls Bolingbroke and Carlisle, and Lord Russell, and on the 11th July, 1689, he was appointed by royal command assistant and deputy to the Lieutenant-General of Ordnance. He afterwards became a distinguished member of the Government, and married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Richard Chiverton, Knight, Alderman and Lord Mayor of London, the match being made by his uncle, the famous Richard Baxter. By this connection the families of Charlton, of Apley Castle and Wytheforde, are the representatives of the Earl of Devon and the Marquis of Exeter's families. Captain St. John Charlton, of Apley Castle, R.M., M.P., was second son and heir of the Hon. John Charlton, and he greatly distinguished himself in skill and uudaunted bravery. One instance may be mentioned. On the 16th October, 1716, whilst in com- mand of H.M.S. " The Lively," he gallantly captured the " Duke de Vendome," which was stored with arms for the Pretender, and the vessel was afterwards given him as a prize. He was a member of the first Parliament of George II., and held several commands in the Navy. He was sometimes called Captain St. John Charlton Chiverton Charlton, R.N. After his death he was succeeded in the Apley estates by his brother, William, who was an officer of the Dragoon Guards, and rose to the rank of Colonel, and went on active service. A nephew of William's named Captain St. John Charlton, of the 14th Light Dragoons, greatly distinguished himself in the Indian wars. It was whilst he was in residence at Suddyah that he was first to make the important discovery that the tea plant was indigenous to Assam, and, in consequence of the discovery, he was presented with the gold medal by the Agricultural Society of India. A very able article on the subject appeared at the time in No. 73 of the Indian Review which speaks of him as " one who has been a national benefactor." It was through observations made in Australia of the China tea plant, that he became convinced it was the same plant he had seen in Assam, and on returning to India in 1834 he took steps to identify the plant and make known the discovery. The plant which he discovered to be the genuine tea plant, had up to then been supposed lo be the camellia. It is thus to a member of the Charlton family of Apley Castle that India is indebted for the wealth derived from tea cultivation. APLEY. Colonel William Charlton died on the eleventh of January, 1838, and was succeeded by his son, St. John Chiverton Charlton, who was born on the twenty-ninth of May, 1799. This gentleman was twice married, his first wife being Jane Sophia, only child and heir of Thomas Meyrick, Esq., of Bush, Pembrokeshire; this lady died on the twenty-sixth of March, 1837, having had two sons and five daughters. The elder son, St. John William Charlton, was a captain in the First Royals, and served in the Crimea ; he died, unmarried, on the thirtieth cf October, 1864 ; and at the death of his father on the twenty-third of February, 1873, the second son inherited both estates, and is the present proprietor. Sir Thomas (who assumed the name of Meyrick, and quartered the arms of his mother's family, by Eoyal licence on the thirty-first of March, 1858), was born on the fourteenth of March, 1837, and married, on the tenth of April, 1860, Mary Rhoda, second daughter of Colonel R. Frederick Hill (brother of Rowland, Viscount Hill), and has four sons and four daughters. He is colonel of the Shropshire Militia ; was M.P. for Pembroke boroughs from 1868 to 1874, and High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1877. He was created a Baronet on the fifth of May, '1880. (63) vJf^ LOWDEN, the Shropshire seat of William Francis Plowden, Esq., at Lydbury North, is situate in the midst of charming scenery, about a mile from Plowden station, on the Bishop's Castle Eailway, and a distance of some seven miles from Craven Arms, on the Shrewsbury and Hereford Eailway. The place was included in the Bishop of Hereford's manor of Lydbury North, which extended over eighteen thousand acres on the border, and of necessity compelled the Bishop to become a Lord Marcher — hence the foundation of the Bishop's Castle, from which the neighbouring town takes its name. According to Burke, the family of Plowden has been connected with Shropshire from a period anteceding the earliest records extant in the vicinity ; and from another writer (Notes mid Queries, October 25th, 1851) we learn that the family can claim its descent from the Saxon Kings of England, and by a Saxon Charter granting them lands in Salop it appears that the family had large estates in that remote period. The name is said to be of Saxon origin, from plean deen, or " kill the Dane." Eoger de Plowden, the first recorded ancestor, is said to have served as a Crusader under Eichard Cceur de Leon; to have been present at the siege of Acre in 1191, and for some distinguished services to have received the augmentation by two Jteurs de lys of the family arms, (azure, a /esse dancette, or) borne ever since by his descendants. Another account ascribes this addition of the lilies on the shield to the favour of Philip of France ; but Eyton suggests that their origin, with those borne by the Walcots of Walcot and the Oakeleys of Oakeley, may be traced from the fieurs de lys on the shield of the Bishops of Hereford, which prelates were the suzerains of the three families. Eoger de Plowden probably joined the Crusaders as the vassal of one of the Bishops of Hereford, William de Vere, whose zeal for the cause is known on independent evidence to have been ardent ; and he was perhaps attached to the contingent commanded by Baldwyn, Archbishop of Canteibury, and Hubert, Bishop of Salisbury. Father Charles Plowden, S.J., told Dr. Cox, who resided at Eaton Bishop, Herefordshire, that he recollected seeing, when a boy, a suit of armour hanging in Lydbury Church, which belonged to Eoger de Plowden, who, when in the Holy Land, was imprisoned by the Saracens, and made a vow that should he obtain his liberty he would build a chapel at Lydbury ; and the north chapel in Lydbury Church COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. is said to have been built by him, and has belonged to the family ever since. Dr. Cox related this fact to the late William Plowden, who died 1870. " At the Assizes of October 1203, William de Ploden was sued by one Henry Fitz Roger for four acres of land and one acre of box in Ploden. Henry claimed the premises as heir of his father Roger. William de Ploden's defence, he being sick, was taken by Visors sent to him for that purpose. They were Walter de Mineton, Osbert Purcel, and Stephen de Acle, before whom he declared that he claimed nothing in the premises, which were, in fact, being held by his mother in dower. The plaintiff was non-suited." "Philip de Plowden, probably the son and successor of William, may have been so christened in reference to the tradition above discussed. He occurs as witness of local deeds about 1215-30. In August, 1252, an inquest was ordered as to immunities theretofore enjoyed by the men of Ludlow in the Markets of Montgomery. Six of the jurors belonged to the districts now under notice, viz., Roger de Walcote, Roger de Ploueden, Walter de Borchton, William de Muneday, Roger Fitz- Celestria, and William Pleweden. Roger de Ploeden stands second juror on the inques; which in 1254 surveyed the tenures and estates of Roger de la More deceased. In the hundred Roll of 1255, Ploeden is accounted to be one fourth of a hide. The above Roger de Ploeden held it and part of Whitcott under the Bishop of Hereford, by service of doing forty days ward at Bishops' Castle in time of war, and by doing suit to the Castle Court, the said ward to be performed by a service with a bow and two arrows, whose charges were to be paid by the Bishop. At the Assizes of 1272, William de Plouden sat as second and Philip de Plouden as fifth juror for Purslow hundred. The latter I take to have been lord of Plowden, but a much younger man than William, who was perhaps Philip's uncle. A mere fragment of a deed which I suppose to have passed about 1280, shows Philip de Ploudene granting a third of Preenslege to Roger de . . . . witnesses, Philip, Lord of Edgeton, William Bagard, and Roger, son of William de Ploulene. An inquest held at Eaton-under-Heywood in July, 1283, was attended by Philip de Plouden. About the same "time Philip de Plowden stands first witness of an Edgton deed hereafter to be noticed, and this is the latest occurrence of his name." " Meantime, that is from about 1282 to 1306, we have mention of a John de Plouden, but he occurs chiefly in connection with the neighbourhood of Much Wenlock. However, about the year 1285, Richard de Swinfield, Bishop of Hereford, John de Ploweden, and William de Eyton were joint defendants in a suit. The Feodary of 1316 gives John de Ploudon and Robert de Beyton as lords of the vill of Ploudon, by which is meant the villages of Plowden and Eyton. This John de Plowden was living in 1342, and his estate is still held by his lineal descendants." — Eyton. At this time the family had possessions in Wilderhope, and one member in the 16th year of the reign of Edward II. (1322-3), is described as John, son of John de Ploweden of Wilderhope. In later generations we find Edmund Plowden, the distinguished serjeant-at-law. Two incidents in the life of this great jurist may fitly find place in this notice of his ancestral home. In the reign of Mary he headed a glorious band, composed of Catholics as well as Protestants, who seceded bodily from the House of Commons in disgust at the penal laws which lighted the torturing fires for Protestants; and when offered the Lord Chancellorship by Queen Elizabeth, he replied :— " Hold me, dread Sovereign, excused. Your Majesty well (66) PLOWDEN. knows I find no reason to swerve from the Catholic faith in which you and I were brought up. I can never, therefore, countenance the persecution of its professors. I should not have in charge your Majesty's conscience one week before I should incur your displeasure, if it be your Majesty's royal intent to continue the system of persecuting the retainers of the Catholic faith." Fuller, in his English Worthies, says that Edmund Plowden was " one who excellently deserved of our Municipal! Law, in his learned writings thereon ; but consult his ensuing epitaph, which will give a more perfect account of him : — : Couditur in hoc Tumulo corpus Edmundi Plowden Armigeri. Claris Ortus Parentibus, apud Plowden in Comitatu Salop, natus est ; a pueritia in literarum studio liberaliter est educatus, in provectiore vero setate legibus et jurisprudential operant dedit. Senex jam factus, et annum setatis sua) agens 67, mundo valediceus, in Christo Jesu sancte obdormivit, die sexto mensis Februar. anno Domini, 1584.' " I have rather inserted this Epitaph inscribed on his Monument on the north side of the east end of the Quire of Temple Church in London, because it hath escaped (but by what casualty I cannot conjecture) Master Plowden, in his ' Survey of London.' We must add a few words out of the character Mr. Camden gives of him : ' vita;, integritate inter omnes siuc piofessionis nulli secundus !' And how excellent a medley is made, when honesty and ability meet in a man of his profession! Nor must we forget how he was treasurer for the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, anno 1572, when their magnificent Hall was budded ; he being a great advancer thereof." On the tomb is his recumbent effigy, and his statue, — the lineaments of which were taken from the bust at Plowden — now adorns the quadrangle of the Middle Temple. In one of the windows of the hall are Ins arms, with the date 1576. Edmund Plowden married Katherine, daughter of William Sheldon, Esq., of Eeley, county of Oxford, and had issue ; his second son was Francis Plowden, who married Mary, daughter of Thomas Fermor, Esq., of Somerton, Oxfordshire, by whom he had several children, and died on the 11th of December, 1652, aged ninety, being succeeded by his eldest son, Francis. .e second son, Edmund Plowden, of Wanstead, Hants, married Mabel, daughter and heiress of Peter Marriner, Esq., and granddaughter and heiress of John Chatterton, of Chatterton, Lancashire ; he appears to have had eighteen children, and was the progenitor of the Chichele Plowdens, of Lassam and Ewhurst, Hants. This Edmund Plowden was an important personage in his day, and his career demands more than ordinary notice. He sailed for America, in or about the year 1620, with a band of emigrants, to establish the plantation of New Albion, and twelve years later he petitioned Charles I. for a grant of that territory ; and on the 24th of July, 1634, a royal warrant was issued fulfilling his request. A charter dated on the 21st of June, 1634, and confirmed on the 24tli of July, 1634, completed his possession of the land " in the nature of a county palatine," and conferred on Edmund and his heirs " free and full power graciously to confer favours and honours upon the well-deserving citizens and inhabitants within the province aforesaid with whatever titles and dignities he shall choose to decorate (in such manner as they may not now be usurped in England), and to cut and stamp different pieces of gold such as shall be lawful, current, and acceptable to all the inhabitants." He assumed the title of Earl Palatine, and resided with his wife and family as Governor of New Albion six years ; he then revisited England and disinherited his eldest son, who had previously returned there to look (67) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. after the paternal property, but who had abused the trust. Edmund Plowden seems to have had a patent of peerage in Ireland; and in his will, dated July 29th, 1655, he was styled " Sir Edmund Plowden, Lord Earl Palatine, Governor and Captain-General of the province of New Albion in America." This document is signed " Albion," and bears two seals. Sir Edmund's elder brother, Francis Plowden, of Plowden, married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Allan Butler, Esq., of Aston-le-Wells, Northamptonshire, and died January 18th, 1661, being succeeded by his son Edmund Plowden. This gentleman married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Cotton, Esq., of Bedhampton, Sussex, and had several children, one of whom, Francis Plowden, became comptroller of the household to King James II. He married Mary, daughter of the Hon. John Stafford Howard, the grand-daughter of Viscount Stafford, who was beheaded in 1678. Mr. Plowden died at St. Germains, in France, leaving (with a son Francis, a celebrated divine and controversial writer) a daughter and eventual heiress, Mary Plowden, who was married to Sir George Jerningham, Bart., of Cossy Hall, Norfolk, and was mother of Sir William Jerningham, whose son and heir, Sir George Jerningham (the attainder of Viscount Stafford being reversed in 1824) was restored to the barony of Stafford. Mr. Edmund Plowden, who died in 1666, was succeeded by his son, Edmund Plowden, of Plowden and Aston, who died in 1677, and was succeeded by William Plowden, of Plowden and Aston. This gentleman held the rank of Colonel in the Life Guards of King James II. His property was confiscated, but pardon being subsequently obtained, he became repossessed of his estates through the influence, it was believed, of the Countess of Sutherland. Colonel Plowden was thrice married, and, dying in 1740, was succeeded by his son William Plowden, who married in 1726, the Hon. Frances Dormer, a daughter of Charles, 5th Baron Dormer, and died on the 27th of August, 1754, being succeeded by his son, Edmund Plowden, of Plowden and Aston, who married on the 20th of July, 1755, Lucy, daughter of William Thomson, Esq., of Leicester Square, London, and granddaughter and co-heiress of Sir Berkeley Lucy, Bart., Broxbourne,- Hertfordshire. He had several children, and at his death on the 9th of January, 1768, he was succeeded by his son Edmund, who married the daughter of Robert Barton, Esq., of Longner, and his only child, Anna Maria Plowden (grand-daughter of Robert Burton, Esq.), married the Rev. John Eyton, vicar of Wellington and rector of Eyton, and left at her decease (1825) six sons and three daughters. Edmund Plowden died in 1838, and was succeeded by his nephew, William Henry Francis Plowden, who was high sheriff of Shropshire in 1848. He married Barbara, eldest daughter of Francis Cholmeley, Esq., of Brandsby Hall, York, and by her had several daughters, and one son. He died July 23rd, 1870, and was succeeded by his heir, William Francis Plowden, Esq., who at the present time occupies the family . residence. Mr. Plowden was born 3rd of June, 1853, and married 12th of October, 1874, Lady Mary Dundas, daughter of the Hon. John Charles Dundas, brother of the second Earl of Zetland, and sister of Lawrence, the present Earl ; and has three sons, the eldest being William Edwin, born on the 21st of May, 1876. Looked at from the exterior, Plowden Hall has not much to commend it to more than ordinary notice, but a closer inspection reveals the fact that, like many buildings of its own particular type, it has played a prominent part in the history of bygone ages. Its exact age is unknown ; but it is an ancient half-timbered mansion of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and probably stands upon the site of the older edifices which have been PLOW DEN. the dwelling-place of the Plowden family since the eleventh century. Sir Eoger de Plowden, who is supposed to have built the chapel at Lydbury North, resided there in 1194 ; and the place was subsequently occupied by Edmund Plowden, the renowned lawyer, who built a great great portion of the present house, which stands in the midst of an extensive park, bounded on two sides by thickly-wooded plantations ; these form an appropriate background to the beautiful stretch of country lying immediately in front of the mansion. Passing along a short drive the Hall itself is reached. Although by no means large, it is a picturesque edifice— all the more interesting by reason of the history, which — like many other residences of the old Catholic families — it possesses ; and we find here antique pillars and panels of carved oak, tapestried chambers, old family pictures and other precious relics, the domestic Chapel, and the hiding places which gave concealment to hunted priests and other religious refugees of Queen Elizabeth's day. The Entrance Hall is a commodious apartment ; its walls, from ceiling to floor, are panelled in oak, some portions, particularly that surrounding the fireplace, being richly carved. The whole is in a sound state of preservation, and is greatly admired by visitors, of whom not a few find their way to Plowden in the course of the year. The oak panelling is also a noticeable feature in the Drawing Eoom, which is furnished in a very chaste style. Here many old family portraits adorn the walls, including the celebrated Edmund Plowden, a bust of whom is also in the room ; Sir Maurice and Lady Drummond, by Vandyck, and their daughter, by Sir Peter Lely. There are here also two portraits of William Plowden (1677),— the famous Jacobite who fought at the battle of the Boyne, one of these, a full length, is said to be by Sir Peter Lely ; Francis Plowden, comptroller of the household of James II.; Sir John Perrot, lord lieutenant of Ireland in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; a full length of the present owner's great grandfather; and portraits of W. H. F. Plowden and Barbara his wife, by Dubufe. Among many other valuable works in this room is a small cabinet picture by Gartner, on copper, of the Sacking of Constantinople. The Dining Boom and Study also contain numerous ancestral portraits, among them being Mary Morley, 1687, and William Plowden and his wife, 1736. This Plowden was a skilful artist in pen and ink; some fine, examples of his work adorn the walls of one of the corridors of the mansion. Two paintings depict Mary Stonor, 1696, and Elizabeth, Lady Dormer, 1736. Other portraits here are Queen Marie Beatrice, wife of James II., by Lely ; and the Bev. John Hall, court preacher to the same monarch. A fine work by Hanskirk represents a Dutch Market, crowded with figures ; and there are several good crayon drawings, and some small* classic subjects in landscapes, which were originally intended for fans. The furniture in the Dining Boom is in admirable keeping, the richly carved chairs being upholstered in crimson velvet. Oq the staircase are many line works, including a portrait by Angelica Kauffmann, of the Misses Phillips, the elder of whom married Francis Plowden, who wrote the History of Ireland. Two other portraits show this lady, and her daughter (in fancy dress) who married t he Earl of Dundonald ; another represents the Duchess of Portsmouth. There is also a large picture of spaniels. Two of the Bedrooms are hung with old tapestry (landscape subjects) which was once papered over ; and in the corridor opposite are some of the queer pegs on which the wigs of former generations were suspended when their wearers retired to rest. A portrait of Lady Jerningham, 1750, is also here. Another Bedroom contains some old prints, one very curious example on satin ; another print shows the tomb of the great lawyer in the Middle Temple. There is also a print of Madam Plowden, and an old view of Botherwas. On the same floor is the Library, full of rare and costly volumes, (69) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. among them one of the early works printed by William Caxton, and a fine copy of the famous Commentaries (1571) by Edmund Plowden, its margins being enriched with annotations in his own hand. Another corridor contains the pen and ink drawings, views of Rome in 1727, by the William Plowden already mentioned ; adjoining is the Private Chapel, dedicated to St. Francis d' Assisi, whose fine portrait, attributed to Michael Angelo, adorns its walls. To the left of the altar is a copy of a picture by Sasso Ferrato, and on the side walls are some rare engravings of the Beatitudes. Over the mantel are some old brasses to the memory of Humphrey Plowden _ and his daughters, removed from Bishop's Castle Church. There are also some fine examples of ancient tapestry, ecclesiastical vestments, and other articles, including a chalice veil said to have once belonged to St. Thomas a Becket, which renowned prelate was present with the royal forces at Bridgnorth when Henry II. invested that place. The house contains some of the queer hiding places for priests and other proscribed persons in the days when Protestant zeal prohibited the celebration of Mass ; one of these descends by the side of a chimney from the top to the bottom of the pile ; another, below the floor of one of the bed-chambers, affords just space enough for a man to stand upright. It has also a shelf upon which his food might be placed, and a seat to give a change of position. As already indicated, on the north side of Lydbury Church is the Plowden Chapel, which has a stone altar of the pre-Reformation period, as well as many floorstones inscribed to the Plowden, Dormer, and Stonor families. ' The Chapel has two old Norman windows ; it also contains a hearse, formed of iron, on which coffins were placed, the spikes being decorated with plumes at funerals. (70) Jtcfon "glegitalfc. CTON Eeynald Hall, situate about seven miles north of Shrewsbury, in the parish of Shawbury, is the seat of Sir Vincent Eowland Corbet, Bart., who is the present head of an old Shropshire family, which is, indeed, one of the most ancient in the kingdom. Camden, tbe historian, mentions it as famous at the time of the conquest, and Blakeway, in his Sheriffs of Shropshire, says that the ancestry of the Corbets ascended to a very remote antiquity. The genealogy of the present family is traced from a Norman noble, Corbeau or Corbet, who came from Normandy with two sons, Eoger and Eobert, at the time of the conquest. An old authority describes him as Hugh Corbet, Knight, but the Domesday Book does not record Corbet as a surname, although two sons are therein described as "Eobert, son of Corbet," and "Eoger, son of Corbet." The eldest brother, Hugh, remained in Normandy ; Eoger, second son, and Eobert, both settled in Shropshire. At the general survey the former held twenty-four lordships, and Eobert held fifteen manors, which chiefly lay about the Stiperstones and Longmynd, under Earl Eobert de Montgomery. These two brothers survived the conquest at least fifty-five years, for both attested the Charter of Henry I. to the Abbey of Shrewsbury in 1121. Eobert was a Crusader; one of his descendants settled in Flanders, and another founded a family in Spain. Eoger left a son, William de Corbet, of Caus Castle and Wattlesborougb, who was father of Sir Eobert de Corbet, among whose descendants was Peter Corbet, of Caus Castle, who distinguished himself in the wars of Edward I., and was summoned to parliament, as a Baron, by that monarch. The title descended to Peter and John, second and third Barons Corbet, and at the decease of the latter the barony became extinct. Thomas Corbet, eldest son of Sir Eobert, was great-grandfather of Eichard Corbet, who settled at Moreton Corbet. In addition to the extinct barony, there was a second peerage in the family ; for in 1679, Dame Sarah Corbet, widow of Sir Vincent Corbet, of Moreton Corbet, was created, for life only, Viscountess Corbet, of Linchdale, Bucks. There have been as many as six baronetcies in the Corbet family. The baronetcy of Corbet, of Stoke, in this county, was conferred by Charles I., on the 19th of September, 1627, upon John Corbet ; it became extinct in May, 1750, when the sixth baronet, the Eev. Sir Henry Corbet, rector of Adderley, died unmarried, leaving his estate to his nephew, Corbet D'Avenant, Esq. On the 14th of July, 1623, the baronetcy of Corbet of Spronston was created ; this became extinct on (71) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the death of the third baronet. The baronetcy of Moreton Corbet was created on the 29th of January, 1642, when the title was conferred on Sir Vincent, whose widow, already mentioned, was created Viscountess Corbet ; his son succeeded as second baronet, leaving a son, Sir Vincent, who died at Oxford in his nineteenth year on the 6th of August, 1688, when the title became extinct. This Sir Vincent was succeeded in the family estates by his great-uncle, Richard Corbet, Esq,, of Shawbury, who married Grace daughter of Sir William Noel, of Kirby Mallory, Leicestershire ; he died in 1690, and was succeeded by his son Richard Corbet of Moreton Corbet, who married Judith, daughter of Sir John Bridgeman, Bart., of Castle Bromwich, and was succeeded in 1718 by his son Andrew Corbet. This gentleman married Frances, only daughter and heiress of William Prynce, Esq., of Shawbury, and died in 1757, leaving two sons and four daughters ; the elder son, Andrew, was born in 1720 and died unmarried in 1796, the younger son, Richard Prynce Corbet of High Hatton, was born in 1735 ; he married Mary, daughter and heiress of John Wickstead Esq., of Wem, and died 13th of January, 1779, being succeeded by his son Andrew Corbet of Moreton Corbet, who was born on the 17th of December, 1766, and who inherited the family estates on the death of his uncle. The baronetcy of Moreton Corbet was revived in his favour on the 3rd of October, 1808. Sir Andrew, who was twenty-second in descent from Roger, son of Corbet, who came over with William I., was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1793, and married, on the 22nd of April 1790, Mary eldest daughter of Thomas Taylor, Esq., of Lymme Hall, Cheshire, by whom he had four sons and one daughter. He died on the 6th of June, 1835, and was succeeded by his eldest son Sir Andrew Vincent Corbet, second baronet, who was born on the loth of June, 1800, and married on the 19th of September, 1820, Rachel Stevens, eldest daughter of Colonel John Hill, of Hardwicke, and sister of Rowland, second Viscount Hill, by whom 'he had four sons and three daughters, the eldest son being Sir Vincent Rowland, present baronet, who inherited the title and estates at the death of his father, 13th of September, 1855. Sir V. R. Corbet, third baronet, was born on the 11th of August 1821, and married, on the 9th of May, 1854, Caroline Agues, third daughter of Vice- admiral the Hon. Charles Orlando Bridgeman, of Knockin Hall, and has two sons and eight daughters. Sir Vincent was a Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards Blue ; and was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1862. The latter office has been filled by many of his predecessors ; these were, Thomas Corbet, Sheriff in 1249 ; Robert Corbet, 1288 ; Robert Corbet, 1419 ; Sir Robert Corbet, Knight, 1507 ; Roger Corbet, 1530 ; Sir Andrew Corbet, Knight, 1551 ; Richard Corbet, 1561. In addition to these, other members of the Corbet family (though not of the direct line, which the present baronet represents) have been Sheriffs ; and many of them have sat in Parliament. Sir Vincent is very popular among his tenantry and neighbours, as was his father before him ; his coming of age 11th of August, 1842, is commemorated by an obelisk erected by the tenautry of Besford and Lee Bridge. It bears the following inscription : — • : May there be Corbcts and Hills this obelisk to pass So long as time and it doth last." The Hall is approached by a drive, running through an extensive and well-wooded park ; this terminates at the main entrance to the structure, which Is a fine, handsome building, occupying a commanding position. A portico, supported by small columns of Griushill (72) ACTON BEYNALD. stone, gives access to the outer portion of the entrance hall, with its floor of polished oak and carved oak fire-place. On the walls hang several family portraits, including Lord Keeper Bridgeman ; Andrew Corhet, of Shawbury Park ; and Judith Corbet, who died unmarried in 1776. A curtained doorway divides this outer hall from the inner hall ; this apartment is tastefully furnished, its floor and chimney-piece being also of oak ; the family portraits which adorn its walls comprise, among others, Sir Andrew Corbet, Knight ; Captain Richard Corbet of Shawbury Park, ob. 1G90 ; and Sir Vincent Corbet, who died 1650. From this room a handsome staircase leads to the bedrooms, and around the landing a number of shields are displayed. The spacious dining room contains more family portraits ; among these are Judith, daughter of Sir John Bridgeman, Bart.; Andrew Corbet of Shawbury Park, who MOKETOX CORBET : VIEW FROM THE ROAD. died in 1751, aged sixty-three ; Andrew Corbet, bom in Merionethshire, and " Captain in ye army of King Charles ye First : was slain in ye storming and taking of Lichfield Close " ; Sir Vincent Corbet, who died 1688, aged nineteen ; and Sir Robert Corbet. The floor is of polished oak and the mantelpiece of marble. The Drawing Room commands a charming view of the surrounding country ; it is furnished in chaste style, the general effect being enhanced by the delicate tone of the wall decorations. The principal fire-place is of fine white marble, above which is a costly mirror of large dimensions. Near the second fire-place — composed of painted tiles — is a print with the inscription, " Richard Corbet, Bishop of Norwich, from an original picture at Christ Church, Oxford." Near to this room is the Library, containing a well-selected stock of books. (73) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. From the picturesque grounds which surround the hall, fine views are obtained; a conspicuous feature in the landscape is the far-famed Grinshill Hill, whose peculiar formation is of great interest to geologists, and whose light coloured freestone is of great repute. MOEETON CORBET. This place, which was for many centuries the seat of the Corbet family, came into its possession by the marriage, in the time of Richard Hi., of Sir Richard Corbet of Wattlesbury with the heiress of the Saxon family of Turet, in whose possession it had remained since the conquest. The manor was called Moreton Turet as late as 1516. From the extensive ruins, still standing, the castle of Moreton Corbet appears to have been originally a magnificent pile ; the remains consist of two houses of different character, though from the dates on each it does not seem probable that many years could have elapsed between their respective erections. Over the massive portal of the old castle are the initials SAC 1576, 1578 ; also IRC, and the family crest. These initials are probably those of Sir Andrew Corbet, Knight, who died in 1578, and his son Robert, who was a great traveller, and is said to have brought from Italy the design for the mansion. Camden writes : — " Upon the same River, Roden, appears Moreton Corbet, a castle of the Corbets, where, within the memory of man, Robert Corbet, to gratify his curiosity in architecture, began a noble building, much more large and splendid than the former (viz., the castle), but death, countermanding his designs, took him off, and so his project was left unfinished." He was buried at Moreton, on the 28th of July, 1583. The castle does not present the appearance of having been intended for a fortress, as its windows are unusually large and unlike those of castles in general ; its exterior walls are of stone lined with brick, the lower story is of the Doric and the upper of the Ionic order ; on the frieze of each is an inscription olled 1515, ARC, and on a pedestal, 1578. Mrs. Stackhouse Acton gives some interesting particulars of the place and states that Campden thus describes it, " Moreton Corbett, anciently a house of the Turets afterwards a castle of the Corbetts showeth itself where within our remembrance Robert Corbett, carried away with the affectionate delight of architecture, began to build in a barraine place a most gorgeous and stately house after the Italian model, but death prevented him, so that he left the new work unfinished and the old castle defaced." Robert Corbet is said to have only survived his father four years, for according to a MS. Chronicle " Mr. Robert Corbett goinge up to London to vyset his uncle Mr. Walter Corbett who anon commynge dyed of the plague and the sayed Robert Corbett by reason of the infection died also and thus death countermanded his designs took him off and so his project was unfulfilled." Robert Corbet died childless and his estates passed to a cousin, Sir Richard, who died in 1606, and was succeeded by his brother Sir Vincent, who was created a baronet in January, 1612. He was distinguished for his loyalty, for which he had to compound his estates in the sum of £1588 13s. 4d., by which, and many heavy charges brought upon him by his zeal for the cause of his sovereign, he was so impoverished as to be under the necessity of selling some of his estates, and among them Moreton, but it was redeemed in 1743 by Andrew Corbet of Shawbury Park. The house seems never to have been completed, though in 1644 it must have been (74) ACTON BEYNALD. capable of defence, for it was garrisoned for the King, and is stated in a contemporary account to be "very strong." It was captured by a party of Parliamentarians sent from Shrewsbury on the 20th of September in that year. Besides the injury resulting from the siege, it is said that further damage was caused by fire. The place is now unoccupied, a beautiful gray ruin whose garment of bright green reminds us that The stateliest building man can raise Is the ivy's food at last. Various legends attach to Moreton Corbet ; the following is a version of the one generally accepted. The episode relates to the reign of James I. The king cherished a deep hatred of the puritans, whose doctrines, essentially democratic, made them the violent enemies of arbitrary power. His ministers counselled him to pursue them to death, all the easier to do as they had few partisans among the people, who resented their dislike of all amusements. Nevertheless, a small number of the members of the aristocracy protected them secretly. Vincent Corbet, who had continued the building of the mansion begun by his brother, Sir Kichard, had taken under his special protection an old puritan, named Paul Holmyard, who lived in a cottage a short distance from the baronial hall. He was of the fanatical type, healthy and vigorous, notwithstanding his age ; his harsh features, his cold grey eye, the muscles of his face, like cords, all showed in him determination of character, and the absence of all human sympathy. Denounced to the government as dangerous, he only owed his safety to the influence of Mr. Corbet. But a long impunity had so emboldened him that his protector threatened to withdraw his protection. Little intimidated by this threat, in the fulfilment of which he did not believe, the old sectary continued to preach openly what he called the precepts of the gospel, but what the authorities called those of rebellion. One cold winter's night he was just going to bed, when some one knocked at the door. He opened the window, and recognised by the light of the moon, then at its full, one of his most devoted disciples. The man insisted on entering, and, as soon as Paul opened the door, warned him that the otficers of justice were on his track, and that he had not a moment to lose ; he must fly for his life. Paul hesitated. The other pressed him. " Well," said he, " I will gain the hills, and hide myself there until my persecutors have gone away." " Impossible ! They would track you, and would follow your footprints on the snow, which is deep, and extends over several miles. You would be taken before reaching the heights." "What is to be done then?" asked the bewildered puritan. "Advise me, Jonathan; for you are well known to be a light among the Gentiles, and a flaming torch before the Lord. Tell me how to escape the nets of the hunters, who will kill me if I fall into their snares." " I see but one chance," said the man, " and perhaps you will not like that." " Tell me, and I will judge." " Fly to the ruins of the old chapel. No one would care to pursue you there. The subterranean passages are so numerous and so winding that, if some of them did venture in, they might well search for a year without discovering you, at least if you did not help them." (75) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Now the ruins had a bad reputation ; and as Jonathan assured him, no one would care to risk himself there. Some strong-minded people had tried the adventure, and had never reappeared. It was supposed that, wandering about these interminable passages, they had there died of starvation. There existed in the country a legend which peopled these caverns with the wandering souls of suicides. Deserting the places of burial formerly assigned them at the place where four roads met, they had taken up their abode under these inextricable vaults, and the imprudent who violated their asylum was immediately seized, dragged on hurdle, and roasted before a fire of sulphur. The superstitious, fanaticism of Paul disposed him to sinister forebodings, and though his reason protested against these MORETON CORBET CASTLE. popular reports, he could not think of them without a vague terror. It was only reluctantly that being fortified with a Bible, a wax candle, flint and steel, he took his way towards the ruined chapel. Hardly had he arrived there, when across a gaping wall he perceived the troop of soldiers in full pursuit, and following his tracks on the snow. He had not yet gone down into the subterranean passages, but the sight of the enemy so near decided him. He offered up a short prayer, and descended, groping his way until he reached a point where he believed himself in safety. There he stopped to take breath. A few minutes after a distant light shone at the entrance cf the passage he had followed. He beat a retreat. The light continued to advance slowly but steadily. He plunged further into the cavern. (76) ACTON REYNALD. The light bore down on him, appearing and disappearing in the winding of the passage, turning sometimes at right angles. All at once the noise of a report shook the vaults. A fragment of rock was detached, striking the fugitive on the forehead, and his face was covered with blood. Had he been seen? It was almost impossible from the position of the soldiers in the narrow way. Perhaps, in their fright, they had fired at random? However it might be, he judged it prudent to quicken his steps. He ran, his foot slipped, he fell, and rolled down what seemed to him a rapid descent. Stunned by the fall, he was conscious of danger without the power of saving himself. At length a jutting piece of rock, scarcely higher than half a foot from the ground, arrested him suddenly. He sat up and listened. He no longer heard the footsteps of men, but a dull, low murmuring sound seemed to come out of some depth straight before him. He could not define the nature of the noise. Certain of being now beyond the reach of his enemies, he ventured to strike the flint and light his candle. He then saw with horror that he was at the verge of a precipice ; at the bottom ran gloomily a mass of black water. The noise of the fall of these waters into a second abyss was what he heard. Terror rendered him motionless. When he was able to move, he crawled on his hands and knees, and dare not raise himself until he had left the precipice some distance behind him. Mean virile the blood-hounds who were on his track had not abandoned the chaise. The sound of their voices still reached his ears. Moved by a natural instinct of self- preservation, he extinguished his light and turned down another branch of the subterranean passages, feeling his way until worn out with fatigue, he dropped down. Hour succeeded hour. ... A day or night rolled by (he did not know which) ; he was conscious of having slept a long time ; his provisions were exhausted. He must choose his course. To remain buried in these caverns was to give himself up to a frightful death ; but on which side to turn ? Even with the aid of a light he would have had few chances of extricating himself from this vast and winding labyrinth, where innumerable passages intercrossed. He resolved to go on further, in the hope of discovering an egress, perhaps the passage by which he had descended. Another day passed, to judge by the hunger and exhaustion which he felt. Forcing himself, he lay down and slept. This forced repose made him forget for some minutes the horrors of his position, which returned to him — more terrible — on awaking. Darkness further aggravated his anxiety. He feared at each step meeting the waters which followed their murky course in the depth of the cavern. More than once he heard, or thought he heard, their dull roaring. It might be the whistling of the wind making its way through some crevice and winding through the narrow galleries. He believed it was the seventh day of his cruel trial, though, in reality, only three had gone by since his disappearance. A fervent prayer which in his distress he raised to the Most High, gave him new courage, and became, as he said later, the means of his salvation. Be-animated and full of hope, he again took his way. Suddenly a noise from the outside reached him. He could not define it, but he turned towards it. Soon a light, the light of day, illuminated the one side of the cavern. A few minutes after he emerged from the vaults underground through an opening situated in the midst of the hills, at a great distance from the place by which he entered. A peasant, a puritan like himself, received and harboured him in his cottage, but he was not a man to remain there long. One day, as Mr. Vincent Corbet was inspecting the (77) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. mansion which he was building, he saw before him the tall form and pale vindictive face of the old puritan, whose long white beard and haggard eyes attested to his sufferings. "Woe to thee, hard-hearted man," he cried, in the tone and with the accent of a prophet, "The Lord has hardened thy heart, as he hardened the heart of Pharaoh to his ruin and thine. Rejoice not in thy riches, nor in the monuments of thy pride, man, for neither thou, nor thy children, nor thy children's children, shall inhabit these halls. They shall be given up to desolation ; snakes, vipers, and unclean beasts shall make it their refuge, and thy house shall be abandoned to them." The prophecy of the old man was fulfilled. Whether it was that the proprietor had outlived his means, or whether it was through the civil wars which followed, the mansion — occupied a short time by the royal troops — could not be finished. A part of the wall still standing shows what would have been the style of the whole, but the roofless remains only form a picturesque pile of ruins devoted to destruction by the old puritan outlaw. The historian Blakeway gives the following tradition of the Pilgrim of Moreton : — "The real progenitor of all the Shropshire Corbets had but one son that we know of, William, who left issue. Ebraid and Simon occur as granting lands in Wentnor to the Abbey of Shrewsbury, but we know nothing of them. William Corbet is stated to have made Wattlesborough his residence, and no doubt dwelt in that ancient castle, of which, however, there are no remains so old as his age. He had three sons, Thomas Corbet of Wattlesborough, Robert of Caus, and Philip. Several circumstances concur to show that the former was the eldest, though Robert became much the more considerable personage. A tradition still subsists that the heir of Moreton Corbet went to the Holy Land, and was kept in captivity so long that he was supposed to be dead. In consequence of this his younger brother engaged to marry, that he might continue the line. On the morning of his marriage, says the tradition, a pilgrim came to the house to partake of the hospitalities of that festal occasion. After dinner he revealed himself to the assembled company as the longdost elder brother ; but when the bridegroom would have surrendered the estate, he declined the offer, and desired only a small portion of the land, which he accordingly received, Such incidents are related of other families, and were perhaps not unfrequent in a romantic age ; and some were doubtless feigned. I am inclined to think the present has a basis of truth, for we are assured that Thomas Corbet of Wattlesborough went beyond sea, and left his lands in the custody of his brother Robert ; and this may have given rise to the tale I have just related. The primogeniture of Thomas is established by the armorial bearings of his posterity — the single raven. The descendants of Robert bore two such — a proof that they were a younger line ; but they were barons 1 of the realm, an elevation never attained by the Wattlesborough branch ; and Caus, the seat of their barony, appears to have been carved out of the elder line, Westbury, where it lies, having been granted by Earl Roger to their progenitor, Roger, son of Corbet. All these coincidences, with the tradition above mentioned, afford it some support. Moreton, indeed, has in this case, been made prematurely the scene of tradition." Close to the ruins of Moreton Corbet Castle is the pretty church of St. Bartholomew, built of freestone ; this is an ancient structure in mixed style, though chiefly decorative ; it consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch, and a low, massive tower, containing six bells. The tower was restored in 1779 by Andrew Corbet, Esq., and the church was re-pewed and otherwise restored in 1883 at the cost of Sir V. R. Corbet, Bart., the seats (78) ACTON REYNALD. being re-constructed from the old material. The Corbet Chapel (south aisle) contains various family monuments ; one has a recumbent effigy of Sir Vincent Corbet, first baronet, this is richly decorated with festoons of oak leaves, finely carved in marble, each corner is supported by the heraldic emblem of the race, a raven, surmounted by the crest, the elephant and castle. The latter is said to have been the cognisance of the Scottish Oliphants, one of whom was taken prisoner by a Corbet in a war between the two kingdoms. Another magnificent tomb has the effigy of Viscount Corbet, wife of the above ; and a stone in the floor is inscribed to the memory of the second baronet, 1680. The east window contains a few remnants of old stainged glass ; in the south wall of the chancel is a hagioscope, and opposite an aumbry and piscina. The living is a rectory in the gift of the lord of the manor, and is held by the Rev. J. Legh, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge. (79; ■ ■ Sinlev. INLEY Hall, one of the Shropshire seats of the ancient family of More, is situate about three miles from Bishop's Castle, in one of the most picturesque parts of the county. It stands six hundred and twenty-five feet above the sea level, one and a half miles from the Montgomeryshire border, where the Linley brook constitutes part of the boundary between England and Wales. This elevated position commands magnificent views on all sides, and the surrounding scenery is charming ; stretching away on the right is the Lungmynd range of volcanic lava, which countless ages have clothed with moor ; to the left are the Stiperstones, Shelve Hill, and the Brown Clee, — the last mentioned being the highest hill in Shropshire, near which the present owner of Linley, Kobert Jasper More, Esq., M.P., has a residence at Cleobury North. In the very heart of " Siluria," Linley was the working centre, for seven years, of the great historian — Sir Eoderick Murchison— of that geological kingdom ; he wrote here several portions of his celebrated work on the Silurian system, and the last visit but one of his : life was paid to this place. The principal approach to the mansion is by a long drive which is planted with Oaks, in double, and, in some places, triple lines. This magnificent avenue extends over a mile in length, and is known as the "Oak Avenue"; on the right of the Linley end a lane leads to the site of the old shooting butts, where the two hundred archers kept (as the condition of the tenure, grand sergeantry, of the estate) to accompany the King in expeditions against Wales, practised in the reigns of Henry II. and Henry III.; the owner of the estate being standard-bearer to the King. Here are two fine avenues of Beeches, the one of which leads to the top of Linley Hill, a hill of the same geological character as the Longmynd. The lower avenue leads towards the Stiperstones, which are, according to Murchison, almost the oldest rock formation in the world. To the left of the Stiperstones is Shelve Pool ; and from Shelve Hill, above the Roman Gravels, can be seen the two peaks of Snowdon, while from the top of another hill (Heathmynd) the prospect stretches almost to Aberystwith. Shelve Church is one thousand one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea — there are believed to be only three churches higher in situation in England. Under the trees which extend into the field at the Linley end of the Oak Avenue are the remains of a (81) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSH I EE. Roman Villa, discovered and excavated by the Rev. T. F. More. The villa was of considerable extent, but unfortunately the floors lay so near the surface that they have been all destroyed. Where a fragment of the concrete of the floor remained, it was scarcely six inches under the ground. An aqueduct extending some distance conveyed water to the villa from a spring which lay above the hall. Close by was a large mound — probably a Roman tumulus ; and near this there was a hypocaust which had been supplied by the aqueduct, the heating apparatus being just below. There were nine or ten pillars, similar in form and position to those at Wroxeter, only that they were of solid stones instead of tiles as at the latter place. These remains were inspected by the British Archaeological Association in August, 1860. The Hail is in the Palladian style, and was built by the same architect and workmen who erected Blenheim Palace. The former house, a black and white mansion, occupied the site of the piece of water in front of the present building ; there was also a house near the lodge pool. The mansion is solidly built of stone, a square with four fronts. Though the exterior does not appear very imposing, the hall is, interiorly, a very spacious and well-appointed dwelling, of much greater extent than an outside view would lead one to imagine. In the interior of the building the staircase and landings are excellently well furnished, the walls being adorned with fine engravings of some of England's greatest statesmen . In the entrance hall is a view of Abdon Burf ; and there are several fine pictures, including family portraits by Sir Peter Lely, Cornelius Jansen, Pickersgill, and other well-known artists ; some of these have been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery. Here also is a large picture of Lions by Rubens — that courtly painter who amused himself by playing the ambassador; it is a study for his famous work Daniel in the Lion's Den. The saloon is a fine commodious apartment, furnished with exquisite taste and in costly style ; among the bric-a-brac are some 'cases of rare china. The floor is of polished oak ; and the room is well-lighted by large windows which overlook a fine stretch of landscape. The cornices are very line specimens of the Ionic order, and were modelled from some found in the ruins of Palmyra. The Saloon contains nine paintings, and two small friezes of classic subjects; they include portraits of Rubens's second wife, Cardinal Bentivoglio, Duke of Buckingham, and Vandyck (by himself). The last named master is also represented by a print of his picture of Charles I. which was burnt in the fire at Whitehall, 1697. The other pictures in this room are two allegorical pieces, illustrative of the passions common alike to animals and men ; and a fine copy in water colour of Murillo's " Holy Family." [n the Dining Room are eight pictures— among them Holl's portrait of Mr. R. Jasper More presented to Mrs. More on the '28th of March, 1883. This was subscribed for by his tenantry and the leading agriculturists of the district in recognition of his eminent services to agriculture, and his personal qualities generally. Over the mantel-piece is Sir Godfrey Kneller's portrait of the great philosopher, Isaac Newton. The Drawing Room is a fine apartment, whose windows command extensive views. It is decorated in pale blue or grey, relieved with panels in white and gold. The hangings are of yellow silk. Here is some rare china, and a line amethyst. A smaller Drawing Room is exquisitely furnished. Its walls- are adorned with several water colour drawings — three views at Linley by Mr. Walter Severn ; and sketches by Talfourd, Cooke, Eastlake, and Bell, R.A.'S., made at the time of the visit of the Roval British Bowmen to this place in 1855. Here also are two drawings of LINLEY. Constantinople by the British Consul. The Library contains portraits of Archbishop Land, Locke, and some of the Myttons, of Cleobury North, which family is now represented by the present proprietor of Linley. The fine collection of books includes many rare and valuable works, precious in the eyes of virtuosi. Mr. More has here several hundreds of old deeds relating to his family estates at Linley, More, Shelve, and Larden, some of which date from the reign of Henry III., and which have been recently inspected and reported upon by the Parliamentary Historical Commission. The Abbot and Convent of Haughmond are mentioned in several of the deeds. At Shipton Hall, Mr. More has also many valuable ancient records, including a letter of James I. to the Emperor of China, asking for leave for his subjects to trade with China. The grounds surrounding the house are laid out in a charming manner. A feature of special interest is a larch tree, reported to be the first planted in England, and close by is a pretty little avenue leading to a well-stocked kitchen garden, from which a splendid view of the surrounding country is obtained. Either by mistake or design the avenue was planted on one side of the house, at a time when the then proprietor, Robert More, Esq., M.P., was with Linnaeus in Sweden. This gentleman was Mayor of Shrewsbury, and M.P. for that borough, where his residence was the house belonging to the Rev. J. Yardley. The Quarry avenues were planted while he lived there. Some of the oaks at Linley are said to have been planted in imitation of the trees placed at Blenheim to show the disposition of the Duke of Marlborough's troops in the battle from which his palace takes its name. About three miles from Linley is the ancient borough of Bishop's Castle, which was a fortified place of the Bishops of Hereford, whence its name. The town has just received a new Charter of Incorporation, the former Charter dating from James I.; up to the Reform Bill of 1832 it sent two members to Parliament, and the last election was remarkable from the fact that all four candidates received an equal number of 'votes, one Liberal (Douglas Kinnaird) and one Conservative (Holmes) being finally returned. Offa's Dyke runs within two miles and a half of the town, and at the Bishop's Moat is an ancient tumulus and ditch, probably of the same period as the more celebrated Bury Ditches, which are three miles distant. The Bishop's Castle Railway, which runs through very picturesque country from Craven Arms, terminates at the town ; it was left incomplete in 1865, owing to the failure of Messrs. Overend and Gurney, and a law suit. This line is alluded to in the commencement of Mr. Shorthouse's romance " John Inglesant." The family of More is very ancient in Shropshire, and its members have on many occasions taken active part in the politics of the county. Thomas de la More came from Normandy with Duke William, and lost his life at the battle of Hastings. He was "seigneur" of lands near Rouen, which bear the name still; and his name is found on the list of St. Vallery. He left a son, Sir Thomas de la More, who, according to Camden, "built faire houses at Launceston, in Cornwall; Halton, in Cheshire; and More, in Shropshire ; giving to the latter place his paternal name.'' Of the Cornish property all trace is lost • and the Cheshire Estates were sold by Sir Edward More in the fourteenth centurv, and now comprise part of Liverpool, where the remembrance of the family is perpetuated by " Old Hall Street," where their residence stood, and by " Morefields Street " which crossed it. More is a parish about three miles north-east from Bishop's Castle, and one and a half north from Lydham Heath Station, on the Bishop's Castle Railway ; the (83) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. site of the castle at More still remains ; this was probably the pla2e built by Sir Thomas de la More, in whose family the property remains to this day. The family lineage is also traced from this knight, who married a daughter of the Lord de Tours. By inquisition, taken in the eleventh and twelfth years of Henry III. (1227), it is found that the ville and manor of More were held by Sergeantry by Roger de la More ; and the services to the King, from whom he held it in ccqnte, are recorded to be his attendance as commander (constabularius) of two hundred foot soldiers as a body-guard (in castis domini regis) to protect the monarch whenever he should be present for service in Wales. In 1201 we find Roger, Lord of Mora, witnessing a deed whereby the Abbot of Haughmond and the Prior and Religious of Cherbury came to an agreement concerning Mucklewick in the Parish of Hissington. The property in Corvedale was acquired by the family in 1330, in which year Sir Roger de la More, of Morehouse appears as feoffee of the manor of Patton and dying without issue, his nephew William continued the line, his son Richard being the first who lived at L.xrden, 1132, which place is also still in possession of the family. John de la More appears as Sheriff from 1367 to 1369. In 1491, William More, of Larden, grandson of Richard More, of More and Larden, married a daughter of John Berkeley Esq., by whom he had two sons— Edward, his heir, and Thomas, of Nedham, Suffolk. In the reign of Henry VIII., Millichope appears as a family seat of the Mores; and in the reign of James I., Stephen More, who settled in Ireland, was raised to the peerage as Montcashell of More Park. Richard More, the son of Robert More of Nedham and Linley, by Susan Davenport, of Weston, Warwick, was M.P. for Bishop's Castle in the long Parliament, and was the intimate friend of Sir Richard Harley, ancestor of the Oxford family, who represented Hereford. The funeral sermons of these two men, which are extant, are interesting documents in the political history of their time. The before mentioned Edward More married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Cludde Esq. of Orleton, and had issued — Thomas, his heir ; John, who was Clerk of the Exchequer, and father of Sir Edward More, Knight, of Odiham, Hampshire ; and thirdly, Eustace. Thomas succeeded his father at Larden, and left at his deceased a [successor in the person of Jasper More, who died in the year 1613, having three daughters, one of whom subsequently became the wife of Samuel More, the Parliamentarian. Richard More, Cousin to Jasper More, then became possessed of the More and Larden estates and thus re-united the ancient e state of the family. Richard who married a sister of Sir Thomas Harris, Bart., of Boreatton, was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1619, and represented Bishop's Castle in the Long Parliament of Charles I. The part he took is said to have been anti-monarchical and he was certainly one of the earliest and most active part partisans of the Parliament within the county, but he died in December , 1643 before the triumph of his party was accomplished, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Samuel More, of More, Linley, and Larden, who took an active part in the civil commotions in Shropshire. Almost before he had paid the last rites to his father, he was appointed commander of Hopton Castle, one I of the few Shropshire fortresses then in the interest of the Parliament ; and he courageously substained a month's siege, with but thirty-one men, against five hundred assailants, horse and foot. When the party with which Mr. More (or, as he was more frequently called, Colonel More) identified himself, was eventually crowned with success, he was actively engaged in the internal regulation of Shropshire, one of whose four representatives he was in the Parliament summoned by Cromwell, for September, 1656. His first wife was a (84) LIN LEY. daughter of his kinsman, Jasper More, by whom he had three children ; and by a second marriage he had three sons and four daughters. The sons were — Kichard (heir), Thomas, M.D., who died unmarried in 1G97 ; and Robert, of Linley, who married Sarah, daughter of John Walcot, Salop, and had an only son, Robert, successor to his cousin, Thomas More, of More and Larden. Richard More, the eldest son, who was born in 1627, was M.P , for Bishop's Castle from 1688 up to the time of his death, which occurred ten years later. In 1659 he married Anne, daughter of Isaac Pennington, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1613 ; but by this lady, from whom he was divorced, there was no issue, and he married econdly, Dorcas Owen, and had (with a younger son, Richard, slain in battle 1709), another son, Thomas More, Esq., of More and Larden, upon whose 'death in 1731, the estates passed on to his cousin-german, only son of Robert More (third son of Colonel More). Robert More, Esq., of Linley, born in May, 1703, in addition to being an M.P. and a F.R.S., distinguished himself as a traveller and a botanist; he was also a pupil and intimate friend of Linnajus. He was twice married, firstly to Ellen daughter of Thomas Wilson Esq., of Trevallyn Denbighshire; secondly to his cousin Catherine More, of Millichope who had another sister married to Colonel Acland of the Devonshire family, and two brothers, killed in war, to whom the Mausoleum is erected at Millichope. Mr. More died on the 5th of January, 1780 his son Thomas succeeding him at Larden, and Robert at Linley. The latter, who was of More, Linley and Shelve, was High Sheriff in 1785. Four years previously he married a daughter of James Taylor, Esq., of Much Hadham, Herts., and had three sons and daughters ; being, at his death on the 12th of January, 1818, succeeded by his eldest son, four Robert Bridgeman More, who was Sheriff in 1822, and died unmarried in 1851, when the property passed to the second son, the Rev. Thomas Frederick More, who was born on the nineteenth of January, 1790, and married in 1831, his cousin, Harriet Mary, daughter of Thomas More, Esq. This gentleman was the school companion of Talfourd and Austin at Reading, and was subsequently educated at Exeter College, Oxford. In early life he travelled extensively, and was a man of considerable attainments. He gained a prize medal in the geological department at the Great Exhibition for a model of the mineral district of Shropshire, made by his own hands. He devoted the first part of his life to active service in the Church, and he rebuilt both the parish edifices of which he had charge. Later, on accession to the family estates, he resigned his living ; and died on the 7th of December 1869, leaviug a daughter, Harriet Louisa, married to the Rev. Maurice Lloyd, and a son, the present proprietor of the family estates, Robert Jasper More, Esq. Mr. Jasper Moie was born on the 30th of October, 1836, and was educated at Shrewsbury School, and Balliol College, Oxford, of which University he is M.A., and B.C.L. He is a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Shropshire, of which county he was Sheriff in 1881; he is also a magistrate for Montgomeryshire and for the borough^of Wenlock; from 1865 to 1868 he represented South Shropshire in Parliament, but was defeated at the election in the latter year, and again in April 1880 ; in November 1885 he was again returned to the House of Commons by a majority of five hundred and sixty-four votes over his opponent, Sir Baldwyn Leighton ; and in July, 1886, he was returned unopposed. The following interesting record of Linley is quoted from a learned writer in the Gardeners' 1 Chronicle, December 11th, 1880: — "In a remote corner of Shropshire, close to the Welsh border, and accessible only at infrequent intervals by a primitive railway, lies one of the seats of the old family of More, now represented by Mr. R. Jasper More. How long (85) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the Mores have been known in this part of the world is a matter of uncertainty. There are records of them as far back as the time of Henry II., and what position they held may be gleaned from the fact that the lord of the manor of More was constable of the King's host, and was called on, in acknowledgment of his tenure, to provide two hundred men-at-arms whenever the King inarched across the border into Wales, to place himself at their head, and to bear with his own hand in the vanguard of the army the Royal standard. There are no architectural relics to serve the purpose of records, the existing mansion having been built by Inigo Jones ; but there are in the woods hard by Oaks whose rugged boles show that they may have witnessed the gathering of the men-at-arms, and the unfurling of the King's standard prior to the short march over the border. There are, too, tenants on ths estate who have farmed the same holdings for four hundred years, son succeeding to father in direct descent for all this lengthened period. But we are not concerned here with the general history of the family, its allegiance to the King in one century, nor its resistance to Royal authority in Cromwellian times. Suffice it to say, we have in it one of those links which bind into one continuous sequence the times and personages of the Norman era with these of the nineteenth century. We might go further back still, for on a hill but a few miles away, forming part of the More estates, the Romans dug for lead, leaving their successors of this century the task of digging deep into the bowels of the earth for ore, which originally was found near to the surface. It is interesting and suggestive to see in the hall at Linley two Roman spades and a pig of lead bearing in good bold relief the name of the emperor Hadrian. The • spades, the ore, the " pig," the hill-side, the miners even do not tell of much change since the second century. It is steam which has effected the great difference between the lead-mining, Hadrian being Emperor, and the lead-mining as practised in the time of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and ' Ireland, Empress of India. It should be added that the process of extracting the ore and separating it from the quartz in which it is embedded is in essence the same as in Roman times, but modern ingenuity has improved upon it without essentially altering its character. The smelting — the pig-making that is — is now done far away at Swansea. We presume, in Roman times, it was done on the spot, and if so it was not improbable that the bare hill-sides owe their denuded appearance to the need there was for fuel. It is a long leap from Hadrian to Dillenius and Linnasus, yet as both have been more or less connected with Linley, and both have contributed in a degree to make it what it is, we may be excused for being a little discursive. Dillenius, the German Professor of Botany at Oxford, must himself, or vicariously, have searched the Linley wood for mosses, as the locality is mentioned in many places in his celebrated Historia Muscorum. Linnaeus, when a young man, it is well known, visited Dillenius at Oxford in 1736, but there is no trace, so far as we know, of his having penetrated into Shropshire. Be this as it may, it is certain that among the " externi " who betook themselves to Sweden " ut Linnseum audiren" w r as, in "1751, More Robert, Esq., Soc. Reg. Angl. Socius," as may be seen' from the Egerton MSS. in the British Museum, n. 2037, f. 41. This was the beginning of a friendship between the great Swedish naturalist and the then head of the More family, Robert More." This gentleman, after having served in Parliament as a member for Shrewsbury, betook himself to Spain, where his researches were so highly thought of that The Linna?an papers contain references to Robert us More Salopiensis as stayi Sweden with Linnanis. (86) LINLEY. the Government offered him an escort for his greater safety and comfort. From Spain Mr. More is said to have introduced to this country the seeds of the Musk Eose, or Eosa moschata sempervirens, Eosa hispanica, and other plants, which he sent to Phillip Miller, as detailed in his Gardeners' Dictionary. Botany was not in a very forward state in Spain at that time, and some remarks to that effect made by Linnaeus seem to have stimulated the Spanish Government] to take some means for its improvement. The Government was still further influenced, as it appears, by Mr. More, who, dining on one occasion with the Prim e Minister, Don Joseph de Carravaijal, took occasion to confirm the statement of Linnaeus. The consequence was that, much to his surprise, the learned Swede was shortly after applied to by the Spanish Government to recommend a botanist to undertake a Flora of that country, and it is on record that Loaning visited Spain in 1751, at the instigation of his teacher. It has already been stated that the Musk Eose was introduced from Spain by Mr. More. As he was a correspondent of Phillip Miller, and, like him, a Fellow of the Eoyal Society, it is probable, nay, it is known for a fact, that other plants were introduced into this country by his agency. In the course of his travels, More contributed various notes to the Eoyal Society, some of which were published in the Philosophical Transactions. Among them is a note on the method gathering of manna at Naples (Phil. Trans. 1750, vol. x.). In this paper Mr. More identifies the tree producing the manna with " what our gardeners call the flowering Ash ; the complexion of the bark and bud agrees with one of them he had in his garden at Linley." This tree, it is supposed, still exists at Linley. But what specially concerns us now is his connection with the larch It is certain, both from the appearance of the trees now [ existing and from the tradition of workmen on the estate, that some of the very earliest planted Larches, if not the earliest, are at Linley. On one tree that had been blown down Mr. Boscawen tells us that he counted one hundred and twenty rings, and these did not represent the full age of the tree. There is a fine specimen on the lawn with, as usual with Larches of that age, one or more of its principal branches much larger than the rest, and abruptly bent upwards. This tree in particular has the local reputation of being the first Larch planted in England. Moreover, in the plantations to be presently mentioned, a group of fine Larches may be seen which may well be contemporary with those at Dunkeld ; there is a tradition indeed that they were really planted about the same time. The Duke of Athole and [,Mr. More were fellow members of the Council of the Eoyal Society, and the story runs that More planted them the week before those at Dunkeld, and that hence the Linley Larches and those at Dunkeld came from the same batch. The flower garden and ornamental shrubberies have for the most part to be made or re-constructed, the special feature of the place consisting in a long valley, which recalls the Trosachs, and through which brawls a noisy trout stream flanked on either side by dense woods, and terminated by a noble heather-clad hill, which in Scotland would certainly be called Ben More were it not that that appellation is preoccupied. It might not inappropriately be so designated in Shropshire ! The woods on either side of this charming valley consist principally of Oaks, British and scarlet, and Beech, and white-barked Birch, with an admixture of Larch, Scotch and Silver Fir and Spruce. The admixture of the towering spires of dark-leaved Conifers amid the Oaks is very beautiful, and when, as when we saw them, the branches of the Oaks were picked out by the silver film of the lightly fallen snow, illumined by a "glorious sun, and set in a background of azure sky, the effect was specially beautiful. Among these woods there are some trees whose stately form and COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. noble proportions demand special notice — in particular a Silver" Fir, whose giant bole, straight as a dart, and relatively short lateral branches, recalls the pictures of the Californian Sequoias when full grown. There is also a Spruce of noble proportions and beautiful symmetry. Scotch Firs exist in abundance, their richly-coloured bark and spreading black tops giving them a most characteristic appearance. But the most surprising feature, perhaps, is the clump of Larches before referred to, of about the same size and age as the famous Larches of Dunkeld. The planting of this beautiful valley was evidently done by a man of knowledge, judgment, and taste, the groups being placed with a view to effect. Monotony of form and colour has been avoided by the disposition of the masses, and the admixture of deciduous with Coniferous trees. "Where, owing to the lie of the land, a long straight line was inevitable, the uniformity has been broken up by an isolated tree, judiciously placed to vary the line and convey a sense of distance. The plantations have been more or less neglected in the course of years, so that many of its finer features have been allowed to be overgrown and concealed. This is being remedied under the superintendence of Mr. Boscawen, whose excellent taste, knowledge of trees and their requirements, and experienced judgment are called into play to the removal of old useless timber which has been allowed to block up the finer features of the original design, and which it is his aim once more to bring into view. Climbing the hill on one side of the valley, getting as we ascend fine views of the neighbouring hills, we come to a long avenue of beech running along the hill-side and doubling back along its crest. The trees are of considerable age, and at some time or other have been pollarded. Near one end of this avenue a tax-gatherer was murdered and the money taken from him hidden beneath a bush hard by. The murderers were in due course hanged on a gibbet not far off, but — whether by accident or design we know not — they were not immediately killed by the act of the hangman, but remained suspended in a living state and were kept alive for a time by an old woman from a neighbouring village, who ministered to them at night and fed them with candle ends ! We tell the tale as we heard it, and fear that in any case the sympathy was not with the tax-gatherer. From this avenue the road descends to the public road which crosses the oak avenue not far from the front of the house. 1 (88) £oncjitor ONGNOR Hall is a fine brick mansion of the seventeenth century, beautifully situated in a well-wooded park of sixty acres, eight miles south of Shrewsbury. The exterior of the structure is somewhat plain, but the interior exhibits splendid workmanship. The entrance hall is large and airy, and on the walls hang twelve valuable portraits of different members of the -Corbett family, including Sir Richard Corbett, in armour, and Archdeacon Corbett. From the ceiling — across which run several massive oak beams — to the floor is a stretch of fine oak panelling, and the floor is also of oak. highly polished. At one end stands a magnificent screen of Oriental design, whilst in another part are an ancient settee and several chairs of carved oak, which obviously belong to an early period. Another interesting feature is an admirable specimen of the arabesque decoration of the Moors, in red, blue, and gold — probably a piece or copy from the Alhambra at Granada. To the right is the library, whose walls are well lined with books ; over the mantelpiece hangs a family portrait, and over the door is a Dutch flower piece. Leading from the centre of the entrance hall is the drawing room, a beautifully furnished apartment whose ceiling is also panelled with large oak beams, in the centre of which is a carved wreath of beautiful design and workmanship, whilst other exquisite specimens of the carver's art are seen on the mantelpiece and doorways. This room contains twelve pictures, including four female portraits, two small Dutch landscapes, two figure subjects, Honthorst's fine r picture, " Peter denying Christ " ; and a three-quarter length portrait of Margaret, widow 7 of James, Earl of Shrewsbury, and daughter of John, Earl of Rutland. The paintings ac Lpngnor are described by Pennant, and writing of this portrait lie says that it presents "the countenance dejected but extremely beautiful.'" Adjoining is the small drawing-room, a well appointed apartment which contains twelve pictures ; among them four fine Dutch flower pieces, two female portraits, and one " of a youth, a painting of a white horse, and a view of the Colosseum. A most attractive feature here is a grotesque piece of oriental carving in wood representing a quaint figvre of a mail apparently in a state of ecstacy at the movements of a creature in the gnarled bough of a tree. (H9) COUNTY SKATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Leading from the drawing-room is another entrance hall in what is now the rear of the mansion, and from whence a magnificent staircase leads to the upper rooms. This 13 splendidly carved, the steps heing beautifully inlaid in wood mosaic, in the centre of which are figured groups of flowers and various monograms. Around the landing and on the staircase walls hang several large mural p lintings of scenes of revelling, groups of birds, and classic landscapes. From the windows is a fine view of the Stretton Hills. The dining room is a large apartment panelled in oak, looking over a portion of the park. It contains eight pictures, large compositions of game, birds of gorgeous plumage, fish, a dead stag — subjects somewhat appropriate for a salle-a-manger. Over the mantelpiece is a large picture of fruit ; and on the adjoining wall are two Canal scenes in Venice. Several other pictures are in the house, among them being Guilio Komano's " Raising of Lazarus." In 1300 Roger Sprenchosu was lord of Longnor, and in 1426 the Corbetts of Albrighton became settled there, and have since remained. The family is said to have bean of Norman origin ; one of its members, Sir Edward Corbett, of Longnor and Leightoii, Knight, was Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, and was created a baronet June 20th, 16-42. He had seven sons and four daughters, and Ins successor, Sir Richard Corbett, built the present house in 1670. He was Chairman of the Committee of Elections in the reign of Charles II, and married Victoria, daughter of Sir William Uvedale, of Wickham, Hants; he died August 1st, 1683, aged 43, and there is a monument to his memory in St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. Sir Richard had two sons, Sir Uvedale Corbett, of Longnor, and Thomas: the former married in 1693, Lady Mildred, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, and his son, Sir Richard Corbett, who was born April 24th, 16915, was M.P. lor Shrewsbury lor more than thirty years, and died, unmarried, September 24th, 1774. \\ ltli him expired the senior branch of the line, and the title devolved upon Charles Corbett, of London, who was descended from Waties Corbet, of Elton, Herefordshire, youngest son of Sir Edward, first baronet. His father, Thomas, was a bookseller in Eleet Street, and Charles succeeded to the business, and was also a lottery office keeper and publisher of the Whitehall Evchliuj Post. The estates, however, were, devised by Sir Richard Corbett to his kinsman Robert Flint, who was descended maternally 'from the first baronet, and who assumed the name of Corbett. Upon his decease, in 1804, Archdeacon Plymley succeeded to the property by virtue of the entail, being descended through his mother from Sir Edward, first baronet ; and as a necessary condition of the entail the archdeacon changed his surname to Corbett. .The validity of his holding was challenged in 1813 by Sir Richard Corbett, Baronet, son of the above-mentioned Sir Charles, but a trial in the Court of Chancery in the same year only confirmed his title to the estates. He was twice married, and wrote a work on the Agriculture of Shropshire. At his death, 22nd June, 1838, lie was succeeded by his eldest son, Panton Corbett, Esq., who was M.P. for Shrewsbury in the three last Parliaments of George IV. ; he was High Sheriff in 1849 ; this gentleman died November, 1855, leaving one son (the present owner of Longnor), and one daughter — his eldest son Richard having died, unmarried, in May, 1843. The estates then passed to the present respected proprietor, Edward Corbett, Esq., who was born oQth 1 )ecember, 1 M17, and married 24th February, 1842, Elizabeth Anne Teresa, daughter of the late Robert Shell, Esq., by whom he has several sons and daughters. He served for some eihgt years in the line, an 1 in 1832 joined the Shropshire Militia, of which he subsequently (90) LONGrNOB HALL. became Lieutenant-Colonel, retiring in 1884. On Monday, May 23rd, 1887, the past and present officers and non-commissioned officers of the Militia presented their old comrade with his life-size portrait, by Leslie Ward, as< a token of their esteem and affection. Colonel Corbett is a justice of the peace and a deputy-lieutenant of Sluopslnie, and represented the Southern division of the county in Parliament from 1868 to 1876, when he retired from House of Commons. (91) Qamxljam ©oxtrf. HIS substantial mansion, the seat of Sir William Michael Curtis, Bart., is situate about two and three quarter miles south-east of Ludlow. It occupies a commanding position and the grounds afford great diversity of picturesque scenery, fern-clad dells and leafy glades meeting one at almost every turn. Many fine trees adorn the landscape, conspicuous among these being some magnificent cedars, beeches, and poplars near the house. Immediately in front of the mansion is a piece of rising ground, known as the Catholic Hill, near which are the beagle kennels and the keeper's cottage ; from this site a very pretty view of Caynham Court is obtained. The estate was formerly a possession of the Calcott family, from whom it was purchased in 1852 by the late Sir William Curtis, who renovated the interior of the house, and made some additions to it. Prior to possession by the Calcotts, the place seems to have belonged to the Oldham family, for in 1789 we find Joseph Oldham, of Caynham Court, Sheriff <>f Shropshire. The large entrance hall is adorned with hunting trophies and many good pictures : among the latter is a full length portrait of the first baronet, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and another striking picture is a portrait group of the uncles of the late Sir William. From this square hall the principal staircase ascends ; its walls are also well-lined with pictures, and the various corridors are likewise adorned with many unframed canvases. The dining room is spacious, and well-lighted by a large bay window of three lights, which extends across one end ; this commands a charming view across the park, right opposite being a magnificent cedar, which adds to the beauty of the landscape. The walls of this apartment are of a red tone, and the white ceiling has a moulded cornice ; the doors are of polished maple. Eleven pictures adorn the walls ; conspicuous over the marble mantel-piece is a fine portrait, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, of Ceorge IV., among whose personal friends the second Sir William Curtis was included. A portrait of the father of the first baronet, by Chamberlayne, also hangs here, and a portrait of the present dowager Lady Curtis is by Phillips. Another work by Chamberlayne is a portrait of Miss Betty Lamb. The third Sir William was himself an artist of considerable repute, and his skill is shown by many fine landscapes which adorn the walls of Caynham Court — two note- worthy examples hang in the dining room, the one being a view in the park of Netheravon. (93) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. in Wiltshire, the residence of Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, to whom the dowager Lady Curtis is related. On a table near the window is a fine polished oak coffer, made from timher cut down in the year of the present baronet's birth and presented to him on attaining his majority. An oak sideboard of similar character stands in a recess between two doorways at the end of the room ; two columns, with moulded bases and capitals, rise to the ceiling on either side. The drawing room is another fine apartment ; its ceiling is decorated in white and gold, and numerous pictures hang on the walls. The panels of the window frames are delicately painted with pretty landscapes — the work of the Sir William Curtis previously mentioned. The smoking room is a cosy apartment which commands a good view; its walls are nearly covered with pictures, many of which appropriately indicate the favourite pastimes of their owner. These include various water-colour hunting sketches of a humorous character, and oil paintings of hounds and horses. There are also one or two good oil landscapes, and on either side of the fireplace are well-filled book-cases ; and above the mirror are four trophies of sport by flood and held in the shape of otters and fox heads, etc. Between the dining and drawing rooms is the library, which, before the alterations made by the late Sir William Curtis, was the entrance hall ; tl lis is a most comfortable, home-like, and cheerful room, from whose windows a charming view is obtained towards the high Vinnals, and below runs the Ledwych river, a stream famed for good trout fishing. The present owner of Caxnham Court is a keen sportsman, and has recently become master of the Ludlow hounds on the retirement of the late master, Mr. C. W. W. Wicksted. His family lineage is traced from James Curtis, who is said to have come from the (9L CAYNHAM COURT. neighbourhood of Nottingham ; he was twice married, but had issue only by his first wife — Sarah Clowden, of Croydon. He died in 1731, and was buried at Wanstead, in Essex, where, on his tombstone, which terms him " Esquire," are carved his family arms and crest. His eldest son. Joseph, married Mary, daughter of Timothy Tennant, of London (ancestor of Tennant, of Little Aston Hall, county of Stafford), and died on the li 1st of March, 1771. having had. with other issue, five sons. The third son, William Curtis, who was horn on the 25th of January, 1752, sat in the House of Commons for thirty live years as one of the representatives of the City of London, and finally for Bletchingley in Surrey ; lie was one of the Sheriffs of London, 1789-90. and Lord Mayor in 1794-5. He was created a baronet on the 23rd of December, 1802, when he was granted augmentation of arms ; he was subsequently nominated a peer, as Lord Tenterden, which honour, however, he ultimately] declined. He married on the 9th of November, 1776, Anne, youngest daughter and coheir of Edward Constable, Esq., of London, by whom he had three sons and two daughters ; he died on the 18th of January, 1829, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William, who was born on the 2nd of March, 1782. This second baronet married on the 19th November, 1803, Mary Ann, only child of George Lear, Esq., of Leytonstone, Essex, and had seven sons and eleven daughters ; he died on the Kith of March, 1847, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William, third baronet, who was born on the 26th of August. 1804. lie married on the 18th June, 1831, Georgina Maria, eldest daughter of John Stratton, Esq., of Farninghoe Lodge, county of Northampton, and died on the 7th of November, 1870, having had three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, William Edmund, who was horn on the 22nd October, 1833, was lieutenant in the 1st Royal Dragoons, and married on the fOth of February, 1859, Ariana Emily, daughter of the 1 te Colonel Master, of Knole Park, Gloucestershire. He died on the 11th of May, 18G0, leaving an only child, Sir William Michael Curtis, who succeeded his grandfather, on the 7th of November. 1870, as fourth baronet. Sir William, the present owner of Caynham Court, was born on the 11th November, 1859; and his coming of age was duly celebrated at Caynham on the 11th November. 1880, when great rejoicings took place, and the young baronet was presented with a silver epergne and candelabra of magnificent workmanship. This was enclosed in the box of pollard oak already mentioned, and which hears on a brass plate the following inscription : — " Presented to Sir W. M. Curtis, Bart., by his tenants and friends, and the tradesmen of Ludlow, on his attaining his majority, November 11th, L880." The epergne, which weighs about seventy ounces, bears a similar inscription. Sir William married on the 14th April, 1887, Mabel, fourth daughter of Somerville Arthur Gurney, Esq., North Runcton Hall, King's Lynn About ten minutes' walk from the Court is the old parish church of Caynham, dedicated to St. Mary. This edifice, which comprises nave, north aisle and chancel, was restored throughout in 1885, the entire fabric, with the exception of the lower portion of the tower, having been completely rebuilt ; and it was re-opened for service on the 5th of March, 1886. The outer walls are of stone obtained from a local quarry, the facings being of red Grinshill, [of which the porch is also built; the door is of stained oak, with massive ornamental fittings of wrought iron. The interior walls from below the window sills are of red Grinshill stone, and the pillars which separate nave from aisle are of the same material ; the roof timbers are of red pine. The old Norman mouldings have been preserved, as well as the triple pointed arch which divides the nave from the chancel. (95) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. The chancel itself has a groined roof of stone, and a very fine reredos of carved stone bearing various Christian symbols. In the large central niche is a crucifix, and in the two side niches are the Virgin Mary and St. John. A carved inscription states that " To the glory of God and in loving memory of Sir William Curtis, third Baronet, died Nov. 7th, 1870, this reredos was erected by his children.'" The south window is of stained glass ; in the centre of the lights, in oval panels, aie representations of the Annunciation and the Nativity. Tbe window at the west end of the aisle is also of stained glass, with scenes from the Resurrection ; this is erected " In memory of William Edmund Curtis, Born Oct. 22nd, 1833. Died May 11th, I860." The floor of the church is laid with encaustic tiles, and the seats are re-made from the old oak ; the reading desk is also of oak, and the remaining windows are filled with cathedral glass, with stained borders. In the churchyard, on the south side of the church, is a fine stone cross of the fourteenth century : its base consists of three steps, the top one being a single slab of considerable thickness. The shaft had crockets along its angles, but it is now almost worn smooth by time's effacing fingers ; it has lost the crowning cross, but still shows traces of its rich design. At the lower corners are figures of the four Evangelists, and, on the east side, in a shield, are the nails of the Crucifixion ; on the western face is a tabernacled niche, and a cable moulding runs along the upper edge. In the history of the foundation of Wigmore Abbey, there is a record of the death, about 1171), of Achelard, parson of Kaynham, which church the canons received of the free gift of Sir Hugh [de Mortimer] ; " and Sir Hugh subsequently gave the manor of Caynham to the abbey. In 1291, the church of Caynham yielded the abbot, as lector, £3 Gs. 8d., the vicar's portion being under £4, The parish was -assessed only £3 s. 8d. in 1341, because two virgates lay untilled. The Valor of 1534-5 represents the vicarage as worth £4 9s. Od. per annum, less Is. for synodals. The history of Caynham goes back to early days ; traces of its occupation by the ancient Britons still remain in the shape of a highly interesting fortification known as Caynham Camp. This is placed on a gentle eminence, and a learned writ >r informs us that " It is a double camp, fortified by a high vallum, and a fosse ; the latter is only at that end where the two camps join. The entrance is at the east, and is about six paces wide, and the relief of the walls rises nearly twenty feet above it. On thre sides the land falls somewhat precipitously. The mound is highest on the eastern si le, where the slope is easiest. At the western end of the easterly camp there are two openings into the other. The top of the vallum is planted. The shape of the ci ■) is a parallelogram, running due east and west, and measuring four hundred yards in length with an average width of ninety yards." The Domesday record concerning Caynham runs thus :—" The same Badulf hold- bynham. Earl Morcar held it. Here viii hides geldable. In demesne are iiii hides thereon are ii -teams; and there are ii serfs, x villains, and v boors, with iiii teams. Here is a mill, an I two horse loads of salt from Wich [belong to the Manor.] The wood will fatten two hundred swine; therein are iii haves. In the whole manor the arable land is capable of employing xix i < teams Of the said land of this manor Robert Veci holds iii hides, and Walter i hide of , ilf. In' demesne they have ii teams, and vii serfs; and there are iiii villains and iiii boor . yith one team only. The whole manor in King Edward's time was worth 60s. Now, that win Radulf (96) CAYNHAM COURT. de Mortimer holds is worth 40s. That which his Knights hold is worth 38s." The ruins of the mill mentioned in Domesday may still be traced ; and not far from the mansion is the site of an ancient castle, which occupied the summit of a hill about two miles south-east of Ludlow. This castle appears to have been deserted from a very remote period, and of its history we are entirely ignorant. It was " very old and the gates rotten," when Joce de Dinan and the Warines established their troops in it when they arrived to besiege the castle of Ludlow, which had been seized in their absence by Walter de Lacy. They were unsuccessful in their attempt to regain possession of Ludlow, and were themselves besieged three days in Caynham. Leland writes that in his time " Kainsham or Kensham Castle" was " clene down." In Cromwell's time, when numerous bands of soldiers encamped in this locality, there was doubtless a depository here for stores and horses, as several acres of land encircled with a ring fence of woods indicate. Cainham was the only manor in Overs Hundred that Ealph de Mortimer held of Roger de Montgomery. Respecting the moiety of Cainham, including its member Snitton, which in the time of the Conqueror, Ralph de Mortimer held in demesne, we learn from the "French Chronicle" that "Hugh de Mortimer gave Caynham to the said Abbey of "Wigmore (which he founded), with his body," in anticipation, doubtless, of his burial Wigmore. But Roger, his successor, challenged the title of the monks to Caynham, and took from them Snitton, it being a convenient halting place between Wigmore and Cleobury. Upon a certain occasion, however, it happened that whilst journeying between these places, Mortimer's wife, Isabel, was suddenly seized with the pangs of childbirth at Snitton. The infant died. The mother's own danger was great ; superstitious dread mingled with solemn reflection, and so the circumstances presented exactly that opportunity which the churchman of the Middle Ages was so skilled in turning to profit. In short, Isabel was led to believe that she was suffering on account of the sacrilege of her husband, when, at his wife's earnest entreaty, the baron restored Snitton to the abbey, to hold with Caynham for ever. In the Hundred Rolls, 39 Henry III. (1255), we find that Cainham was possessedby Roger de Mortimer to whom it had been given by the abbot of Wigmore. Hope Baggot was the portion held either by Robert Veci, or Walter, at the time of the Conqueror's survey; it never passed to Wigmore Abbey, but was held under Mortimer as a district manor, by feoffees, whose name Bagard, accounts for the distinctive title by which the place is now known. (97) gmufcorne ©ctstle. i. "Vt~ 5> UNDORNE Castle is a substantial and handsome structure of red stone, delightfully situate in a well-wooded park of about eighty acres, three miles from the County Town. It stands in the extra parochial precinct of Haughmond Abbey, to which the estate formerly belonged, being granted after the Dissolution of Monasteries to Sir Rowland Hill, whose sister and co-heiress was married to John Barker. The estates continued for several generations in in the Barker family, and are at present held by the Rev. John Dryden Corbet, the representative of one of the branches of a very ancient Shropshire family, whose, genealogy is traced from a Norman noble, Corbeau, who, with two of his sons, accompanied Duke William in his invasion of England in 1066. John Corbet Lee was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1526. One of his descendants, Pelha::\ Corbet, married a daughter of the Moreton Corbet family, and had a son, Robert, born in 1629, who removed from the ancestral seat at Lee to Albright Hussey. This Robert Corbet married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Kynaston, of Hordlev, by whom he had five sons and five daughters. This marriage brought to the Corbets the Sundorne, Upton and Uffington estates of the Barkers, which were devised by Corbet Kynaston to his second cousin, Andrew Corbet, who dying on the 15th of April, 1711, was succeeded by his brother John. John Corbet was twice married, his second wife being Barbara Letitia, daughter of John Mytton of Halston, by whom he had two sons and one daughter. The elder son, John Corbet, was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1793, and represented Shrewsbury in the House of Commons from 1774 to 1780 ; he married on the 15th September, 1774, Emma Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Charltoe Leighton, Bart., by whom he had issue John Kynaston Corbet, and Emma Elizabeth, who married on the 19th February, 1800, Sir Richard Puleston, Bart. John Kynaston Corbet died at Eton in his sixteenth year ; his father had previously married a second wife, — Anne, second daughter of the Rev. William Pigott of Edgiuond, by whom he had four sons and one daughter. Mr. John ' Corbet died on the 19th May, 1817, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Andrew William Corbet, Esq., who was born on the 22nd September, 1801, and married on the 14th June, 1823, Mary Emma, sister of Viscount Hill, dying, without issue, in 1856, when the family estates devolved on his brother, Dryden Robert Corbet. This gentleman was born in 1805, and died in 1859, when the representation (99) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. of the family passed to his sister Annabella, who had married on the 18th March, 1841, Sir Theolore Biinckman, Bart. This lady died on the 23rd January, 1864, leaving no issue, when the property passed to the Rev. John Dryden Pigott, as devisee under the will of his cousin, Andrew William Corbet, Esq. Mr. Pigott assumed the name of Corbet by royal licence, 28th March, 1865, and is the present respected owner of Sundorne. Some half-century ago considerable additions were made to the structure, and it is now surrounded by artistically arranged gardens and shrubberies, some distance in front being an artificial pool of large area. The edifice is approached by a drive leading from the lodge gates to a porch, which gives access to the fine entrance hall, on whose walls are arranged breastplates, helmets and other pieces of armour dug from the site of the Battle of Shrewsbury. A curiously carved table and several chairs — -said to be almost unique — attract attention ; and there is a clock, supposed to have been made by Louis Phillipe, afterwards King of France, when he came over to England t in distress. Here hangs a portrait of Emma Elizabeth, wife of John Corbet, 1774. The drawing room is a spacious and skilfully decorated apartment ; one of its most noteworthy adornments is a Venus, brought from Italy by the above-mentioned John Corbet. This statue, which has just been excavated from the soil where it had lain long buried, he purchased for a hundred guineas ; when discovered it was nearly perfect, but was slightly damaged during its transit to England. Some eminent sculptors have pronounced this statue to be of rare excellence, and almost equal to the famous Venus de Medici at Florence. On the walls of this room hang valuable paintings by old masters, including examples of Salvator Eosa, Sasso-Ferrato, Rubens and Van Huysum ; and there are cases of curious shells collected from various parts of the world by members of the family. The library contains a large and varied selection of books, and from the window is obtained a splendid view of the picturesque ruins of Haughmond Abbey. Here is a portrait of John Corbet, painted in Rome when he attained his majority, 1773 ; there is also a handsome chair of Italian workmanship, above which hangs a portrait of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. Among other portraits is one of Richard Baxter, the Nonconformist divine, by Vandyck, and there are several examples of Batoni's skill, as well as a portrait of the present squire, by Dickinson. An amusing picture represents a number of English gentlemen, who meeting on the Continent, had a wager as to who was the possessor of the best leg. The competitors were Corbet, Tollemache, Earl Talbot, Bynes, Rous, Staples and Donwall, the successful, one bein^; John Corbet. Among other articles in this room are several statues of classic heroes, and three gold and two silver cups won in yachting races by the Corbets. Among other interesting antiquities preserved here is the Chapter-roll of Haughmond Abbey, and the seal of the Abbot. In the morning room are two views of the Castle as it stood' seventy years ago; also portraits of John Corbet and his two sons and daughters. This room also contains a handsome Venetian mirror, and an antique statue brought from Italy some forty or fifty years a°o Adjoining the library is a small room especially devoted to sporting pictures, including that of "Trojan," a famous foxhound of his day. The dining room, a most handsome apartment, was the last ionn added to the house ; it was designed by John Corbet second wife and the then Archdeacon of Shrewsbury. It contains a large number of family portraits, includ ng Sir Andrew, Sir Rog^r, and Sir Vincent Corbet, Baronets ; Pelham Corbet (1634), who (100) SUNDOBNE CASTLE. (101) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. defended Shrewsbury Castle against Oliver Cromwell, and who had also a small detachment of troops in his house at Sundorne at the time ; two portraits of John Corbet (1759) father of the great fox hunter, John Corbet, who is also depicted ; Corbet Kynaston, who left the Barker property to the Corbets. The fireplace here is of white marble, and from the window is a fine view of the lake and portion of the park. Passing from this room into the library and from thence into a small hall containing several cases of stuffe and beasts, the private chapel is reached. This building has five stained glass windows. The terrace around the exterior of the house is beautifully laid out with flowers, and the .gardens and vineries are very extensive and well stocked. Round the estate is a " drive " extending five miles, made by the John Corbet of fox-hunting fame. The avenues of lofty trees extend to the foot of Haughmond Hill. (102; ii. — — 3 ITHIN the demesne of Sundorne (which comprises about 1,100 acres), stand the picturesque remains of Haughmond Abbey, a venerable pile, founded in the early part of the twelfth century by William Fitz-Alan. Leland's Itinerary says — "The founder and his lady lie buried tbere. There was an hermitage and a chapel on this spot before the Abbey was built. It is situate on a rising ground, backed by an extensive chase or forest," which still presents a wild and romantic aspect, and forms a fitting background to the imposing ruins. The learned author of " The Antiquities of Shropshire " (Rev. R. W. Eyton), concludes that the Augustine House of Haughmond was founded as a priory between 113C and 1138, and that it developed into an abbey in or before 1155, and that its founder in all respects was the first William Fitz-Alan. The ground plan of the abbey has been traced out, and the building was found to have been, like Buildwas Abbey, cruciform, with a short chancel or choir. The principal approach to the Abbey is on the western side, and there is an extensive range of range of buildings on its front. To the north is a long blank wall of considerable height, which originally formed one side of a large block of buildings to the w : est of the cloister square ; then comes a gable end with a central archway, now the main entrance to the premises, with an arch on each side filled in with masonry. This is said to have been the refectory, with an "undercroft;" next is a length of wall broken up by two projections which formed the kitchen fireplaces, and at the southern end the gable of a building flanked by turrets which now forms the most prominent feature in the ruins, and said to be the infirmary. At the extreme north of this range stood the church, the southern wall of the nave of which still in part remains. Its outline may be tolerably well defined from excavations which were made some years ago. It seems to have consisted of a nave with a north aisle only, with a projection near the west end, either of a porch or tower transepts with eastern chapels and chancel. The foundations of the west end of the church are traceable, also some of those of the south transept, < and in a degree the rough mounds appear to indicate the general outline of the building. The doorway on the south side of the nave from the cloister is complete, and in the south wall are the remains of a later doorway, inserted near to the original (103j COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. one, and at about the centre of this wall the lower part of the side of a recess is visible. On the south side of the floor of the choir are two monumental stones enclosed by an iron railing. These bear the following inscriptions in old Norman French : — "Ye that pass this way pray for the soul of John Fit/. Alan. who lies here ; God on his soul have mercy, Amen." " Isabal de Mortimer, his wife, here lyeth by him; God on their souls have mercy, Amen." The persons thus commemorated were the sixth Earl of Arundel (great grandson of the founder of the monastery) who died 1269, and Isabel his wife, and daughter of Sir Eoger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore. To the south of the church is the cloister square ; to the east of it is the front wall of the chapter house, with its three elaborate openings ; to the north the enriched doorway in the south wall of the church ; to the west the long wall which originally Hanked a western range of buildings, and in it. at the north end, are two doorways, one blocked up, and HAUGHMOND ABBEY. the other converted into a window opening, at a period much later than the original building. At the south end are two lofty arched recesses, which have been called " the lavatories," but there has been a doorway in each recess, and at present there are no indications of lavatory troughs or drains. The chapter house is in a good state of preservation ; the front parallel with the cloister consists of a fine entrance, through a semi- circular arch, flanked on either side by a window in the same style. Its graceful arches and delicate pillars have been tenderly touched by the rude hand of time, for they are more perfect than in the other parts of the building, though most of the statues have, long since fallen from their canopied niches. Among, however, the mutilated figures still remaining in tlie walls of the portal are the angel, Gabriel, and St. Catherine ; also St. John the Evangelist, to whom the abbey was dedicated. This ivy-mantled chapter house has a timber ceiling of the fourteenth century ; and in the floor is a stone coffin. The most perfect portion now left of the Abbey buildings is the infirmary hall, which has early mullioned windows ; its western gable is turreted, and contains a large (104) SUNDOBNE CASTLE. •window, whose tracery has been destroyed — this is shown in our illustration. In the interior of the hall are a fireplace and brasses of a screen. The burial ground was probably to the far north of the Church. The walls are generally built of rubble from the rocks on which the edifice stands. The dressings (probably of Grinshill stone) bear the marks of the mason's tool, and of his own distinguishing sign. The water supply came from the hill side to the east, where on the slope behind the chapter house is a small stone conduit, embosomed in the dark, dank, wood ; and opposite this, in a luxuriant wilderness of brambles and ferns and flowers, rises a wall enclosing the garden, where the monks of old doubtless mused and meditated how " Each floral bell that swingeth And tolls its perfume on the passing air. Makes Sabbath in the fields, and ever ringeth A call to prayer." To the right of the Abbey, and beyond the deep, still moat, is a long avenue, which traverses the foot of Haughmond Hill ; it is full of lovely trees — the tall ash and spreading beech being mingled in graceful profusion among slender birches and sturdy oaks and elms. THE CHAPTER HOUSE, HAUGHMOND ABJiEY. The "drive" itself would afford an artist occupation enough for a whole summer, — it is a continual panorama of lovely nooks. The soil is of a deep red tone, which broken here and there with patches of bright grass, grey rocks, and tufts of fern, adds to the beauty of the landscape. As we pass along " More dark And dark the shades accumulate. The oak, Expanding its immense and knotty arms, Embraces the light beech. The pyramids Of the tall cedar, over arching, frame Most solemn domes within ; and far below, ' Like clouds suspended in an emerald sky, The ash and acacia, floating hang, Tremulous and pale." The hill is a conspicuous feature in the landscape surroundings cf the county town ; it is 850 feet above the sea level, and on its summit stands a shooting box, in the form of (105\ COUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIBE. a battlernented turret which is locally known as the " Castle." The ascent to this spot is comparatively easy, and from it a magnificent view is obtained, which tempts hundreds of visitors here in summer to enjoy the charming scenes. Down the steep crag in front of this castle the renowned Scottish Earl, Douglas, leaped in attempting to elude his pursuers from the battle of Shrewsbury. He was severely injured in the attempt, and was captured, but afterwards generously set free by his victorious foe, Henry IV. Close under the hill and about a mile from Sundorne, is the pretty village of Uffington, charmingly situate on the left bank of the Severn, it is a great resort of anglers and pleasure-seekers, who find ample accommodation at the Corbet Arms Hotel, which directly faces Haughmond Hill, and whose tastefully-planted gardens and orchards adjoin the river. The village church is a modern building in the early English style, and consists of chancel, nave, and north aisle; adjoining it is the vicarage, occupied by the Eev. T. Dodgson, M.A., who holds the living— which like Battlefield, Upton Magna and Edgmond, is in the gift of the owner of the Sundorne estate. THE ClOISTER DOOHWAY, HAUGHMOND ABBEY. At Haughmond, was born, in 1696, William Clarke, an eminent divine, who was educated at the Free Grammar School, Shrewsbury. He was a man of profound learning, and wrote several scholarly works ; and at his death he left valuable manuscripts to the library of Shrewsbury School — many of these were, however, inadvertently burned, and with other early documents, scattered and neglected. A notice of Sundorne would not be complete without a reference to the important battle which took place in its domain — the battle of Shrewsbury. The fight began in the morning of St. Magdalen's eve, July 22, 1403, when the two hostile armies were arrayed at a place then called Oldfield, Bullfield, Haitefield, and subsequently Battlefield. The engage- ment extended over three miles, and, after terrible slaughter, Hotspur's army was defeated by the Royal forces, led by Henry IV. in person. Percy fell, and his followers fled in every direction. His ally, Douglas, performed feats of incredible valour, but all >in vain. (106) HAUGHMOND ABBEY, FROM THE POOL THE POOL. HAUGHMOND ABBEY. SUNDOENE CASTLE. There were slain no less than 2,300 gentlemen, and about 6,000 private soldiers ; these were chiefly buried in a great pit, over which the present church of Battlefield was subsequently erected. An old manuscript (by Walsingham, monk of St. Alban's) states that the church was " erected to commemorate the conflict between King Henry IV., in the command of a force of 30,000 men, and an adversary every way worthy, the brave and gallant Henry Percy (surnamed Hotspur), with the undaunted Douglas, at the head of 14,000 men, among them a considerable part of the chivalry of Cheshire. Douglas, who has gained BATTLEFIELD CHURCH. renown by many a bloody battle and almost incredible acts of valour, was, in ' military title, great.' " The church was collegiate, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen ; it had a pastor and five^ secular chaplains, and also possessed a hospital for the poor. The battle, which fixed the house of Lancaster on the throne for three reigns, is immortalized by the genius of Shakespere in his "Henry IV.", wherein Falstaff figures as having fought one hour by " Shrewsbury clock." (1-07) 5 !?3ridgitorft). — hr'/ — s PLEY Park, the seat of William Orrne Foster, Esq., occupies one of the finest sites in South Shropshire, overlooking the Severn near Bridgnorth. The park itself extends over four hundred acres, and possesses abundant wealth in timber ; it has an undulating surface, and is surrounded by thickly wooded hills, among its other attractions being a fine herd of deer. The Hall is an elegant structure of Grinshill freestone, in the castellated style of architecture, with octagonal turrets at the angles, and a massive porch of three arches at the entrance to the eastern front ; the left side is surmounted by a lofty tower, and at the north end stands the chapel. The building is a fine specimen of architectural skill and excellent workmanship, and is one of the most costly and imposing structures in the county. The interior of the mansion is appropriately fitted and decorated in accordance with its external character. The pleasure grounds are of great extent, and are beautifully planted with a profusion of choice flowers and ornamental shrubs. On the south side of the hall are artistically arranged gardens, below which is a sloping lawn supported by a fine stone balustrade ; from this a flight of steps leads to an open space of greensward, whose borders are planted with various shrubs and flowering plants. The eastern end of the slope is thickly planted with ornamental trees and fragrant flowers. At the western end of the grounds lies a pretty pool, with a fountain in its centre, surrounded by beds of flowers. Close by is a rockery of huge blocks of stone, hidden by clusters of ferns, moss, and ivy, surmounted by additional trees and graceful shrubs. The gardens extend some distance to the west of the mansion in which direction are magnificent rhododendrons. The south-east portion of the hall is fronted with little lawns bordered by flowers. The terrace, which extends two miles, commands extensive views ; its hanging woods rise to a great height above the Severn, of whose lovely valley it has a splendid prospect. Prior to the reign of Henry III. this manor was in possession of the Huggeford family, one of whose female decendants in the reign of Henry IV. married Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecpt, and so, upon the death of her niece, Margery Huggeford, conveyed the property to that family, in whose possession it remained until 1551, when Sir Thomas Lucy (the 109) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. knight who is " damned to everlasting fame, in connection with an incident of Shakespere's youth), with Joice his wife, and Thomas his son, sold the manor of Stockton, Apley and Huggeford with other property to William Whitmore, of Balmes House. This gentleman was a freeman of the Haberdasher's Company in London, and had amassed a large fortune by trading in fine cloth with Spain. His abundant wealth laid the foundation of the future prosperity of bis family, who subsequently increased their possessions around their ancient partrimony, as well as in other counties. Of the Whitmore family, Burke says that they were originally seated at Whytemere on the west side of the parish of Bobbington, in the manor of Claverley, and that records of the family are still extant upon the ancient rolls of that; manor. These are deposited in an oak chest, which is itself a great curiosity, being hewn out of a solid tree. The Whitmores afterwards removed to Claverley, where they acquired considerable possessions. The ancestry dates from John, Lord of Whytemere who lived in the reign of Henry III. and Edward I., having been born probably early in the thirteenth century. Various members of this ancient family have figured prominently in English history. William Whitmore, of London, was created a knight, and became High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1620 ; twelve years later he was member of Parliament for Bridgnorth- He was a staunch Royalist, and in 1644 his house at Apley was captured by a party of Roundheads under command of Sir John Price. Whitelock's Memorials record that " a party of Sir William Brereton's, under Sir John Price, a member of Parliament, took Apseley House in Shropshire, and in it Sir William Whitmore, Sir Francis Oatley, Mr. Owen and other Commissioner? of array there sitting, and about sixty common soldiers." The property of Sir William was forfeited and all his personal goods were sequestrated and sold for the benefit of the state for the sum of £583 3s. 2d. His estates were seized, but he was afterwards allowed to compound for them by paying the sum of £5000. His brother, Sir George Whitmore, Knight, of Bahnes, in the parish of Hackney Middlesex, was also a devoted adherent of the King, and was — according to a republican newspaper published in January 1643 — greatly persecuted during the Civil Wars, being, with others, carried by sea to Yarmouth, because he would not contribute money "for the •defence of the King and Parliament," or, in other words, find funds to support the parliamentary forces. He became subsequently Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London. Sir William Whitmore's son and successor at Apley was born on November 28th, 1612, and created a baronet (June 28th, 1641) in his father's lifetime; this dignity, however, was only enjoyed by himself and his son Sir William Whitmore, who died without issue in 1699, when the baronetcy became extinct, the estates passing to his kinsman, William Whitmore, Esq., of Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire, who represented the borough of Bridgnorth, one seafc for which was held by the Whitmore family, with few exceptions, for nearly two centuries. His descendant in the fourth generation was Thomas Charlton Whitmore, Esq., of Apley, who was born on January 5th, 1807, and married, on April 11th, 1833, Lady Louisa Annie Douglas, eldest daughter of Charles, Marquis of Queensberry. He died on March 13th, 1865, when the estates passed to his eldest son, Thomas Charles Douglas Whitemore, who was born on May 2Gth, 1839, and became a Captain in the Royal Horse Guards. This gentleman on his removal to Leicestershire, where he purchased the Gumley Estate, ;ii 1867, sold the Apley property to Mr. W. O. Foster, to whose care the present admirable condition of 'the park and estate is almost wholly due. Mr. Foster was M.P. for South (11<>) A] 'LEY, BRIDGNORTH. Staffordshire from 1K67 to 1869; he married Isabella, daughter of Henry Grazebrook, Esq. of Liverpool, and his eldest son, William Henry Foster, Esq., who was born in 184C' represented Bridgnorth in the House of Commons for fifteen years, being the last M.P. for that ancient borough. Mr. W. H. Foster married in 1874, Henrietta Grace, eldest daughter of H. S. Packenham Mahon, Esq., of Stokestown House, Roscommon. Mr. W. O. Foster is a magistrate for Northamptonshire (in which county he holds an estate — Spratron Grange) as well as Shropshire ; in the latter county he is a Deputy Lieutenant. (Ill) Ul _1 h < o o z o I- rich in ancient associations is the manor of long, that the mere mention of its name carries one's thoughts far hack down the vista of centuries — so far hack, indeed, that we pass almost heyond the range of actual history, and get dim visions of the enchanter Merlin. The tradition relative to the origin and etymology of long, is mentioned in Phillips's History of Shrewsbury ; it is that, on Heugist the Saxon proving successful in the task for which Vortigern invited him to Britain, he hegged of the king, as a reward, as much land as he could compass with an oxdiide. This apparently modest request being granted, Hengist cut a hide into fine thongs, and obtained this manor, upon which he erected a castle (afterwards his residence;, and which from this circumstance was called "Thong" Castle. Our zealous and cautious local historian, Eyton, makes no allusion to this tradition, but other authorities deem it not only credible, but founded on fact. There seems to be little doubt that the prophet Merlin, or Ambrosius, was during his life associated with Shropshire as well as other parts of the border, and there is still in existence a portrait, probably a copy of a rare print, which represents the wizard reclining under a tree, having in his lap an open book with the heading " The lied Dragon." In the background are various savage as w T ell as monstrous animals, and a representation of a castellated building, with the superscription " Thony Castle," as shown in our illustration on page 118. Under the engraving are these lines — Merlin well versed in many an hidden spell, His countries omen did Long since Eoretell. Grac'd in ins rime by sundry kings In- was, And all thai lie predicted came to pass. In a life of Merlin by Thomas Heywood, the same story of the building of Tong appears ; and it is worthy of note that the author apparently gives the venerable Bede and William de Regibus as authorities for this tradition, as well as for other particulars relating to the Saxon brothers. Now Hengist landed in Britain in the year 449, and died in 48S ; consequently he flourished contemporaneously with Merlin, and when the identity of the locality is admitted, and the strange coincidence of the mention of the building of Ton" in (113) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the life of the prophet, and the representation of it on the same print with his portrait is considered, there would seem to be fair grounds for accepting the tradition, and acknowledging its probability. ' The present edifice is the third, if not the fourth, erected on the same site. It was built in the last century by George Durrant, Esq., and its predecessor is said to have been a re-building of the first, or possibly the second castle, by Sir Henry Vernon, about the year 1500. There may thus have been four castles at Tong, for it is scarcely probable that the castle of Hengist was still standing at the end of the fifteenth century ; and in confirmation of the tradition of the Saxon warrior's structure there, it is noteworthy of remark that in a deed of the fourteenth century, wherein Sir Fulk de Pembruge nominates one Nicholas de Taylour his attorney, mention is made of some land, which he calls the "Old Castle." In Leland's day " there was an olde Castel of Stone caullid Tunge Castel. It standeth half a mile from the Toune on a Banke, under the wich rinneth the Broke that cummith from Weston to Tunge." In the civil commotions of Charles I.'s time, Tong Castle was garrisoned for the king ; it was, however, taken by the Parliamentarians, from whom it was re-captured, 6 April, 1644, by the Royalists, under Prince Rupert. The Royalist garrison was subsequently withdrawn, and is said to have fired the place. There is still extant Buck's representation, 1731, of the "East View" of the castle of Sir Henry Vernon, some of whose gabled front windows may yet be seen in the top room of the present structure — thus showing that Mr. Durrant must have placed the frontage of his building some twelve or fifteen yards in advance of its predecessor, and there is no doubt but that a considerable portion of Sir Henry Vernon's castle must have been built in, and incorporated with, the new edifice; and the thickness of the wall visible between some of the bedrooms seems to support this opinion. There is some very early stone carved work inserted in a comparatively modern building by the stable, and this is probably the only remnant of the castle of the De Belmeis, La Zouche, and Pembruge families. The entrance hall, which is in the centre of the East front, presents an imposing appearance ; to right and left rooms extend along the whole frontage, and when the doors are opened throughout, some appropriate notion may be gained of the length of the structure. The hall is fittingly adorned with spears and other weapons, hunting trophies, etc., family arms being suspended over the centre doorway. Various pieces of good statuary stand on pedestals in semicircular niches. The drawing room is a spacious apartment, lighted by three windows; it has a. fine moulded ceiling, and nine oil pictures adorn its walls. Between two windows are two large mirrors, and the appropriate furniture includes inlaid tables, a harp, piano, and an embroidered screen in gilt frame. The paintings comprise two Madonnas, the Infant Christ, a Magdalen, and the Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, in large massive frame ; and there are several small statuettes. Adjoining is the billiard room, lighted by two windows ; in the centre of the ceiling is an oval fresco, and various old portraits and other good pictures hang on the walls. Next come two ante-rooms, in one of which are three views of the castle ; the other has sixteen pictures on its walls, and is said to be the scene of a tragic occurrence some years ago. Another apartment has a large bay window, and a fine moulded cornice and ceiling. Next is the ladies' morning room, which also has a (114) TONU CASTLE. richly-decorated ceiling and moulded architrave ; adjoining is the Saloon, a large room in the centre block of the mansion ; it is lighted by a large bay and two side windows. The floor is of polished oak, and along the walls are seats cushioned in crimson. The ceiling is richly moulded, and many fine landscapes and other pictures adorn the walls, as well as numerous sporting trophies, stags' heads, etc. In the large dining room are various portraits of the family of the present occupiers of the Castle ; two full-lengths, depicting Mr. and Mrs. Hartley, are by Tonneau, 1872. The mantel piece is of marble of various colours ; the carved sideboard and chairs are of mahogany, and there are three fine bronzes. From the vestibule to the left of the entrance hall, a massive staircase, whose walls are well covered with paintings, leads to the upper floors, the principal room being the upper saloon, on whose walls are also many pictures. On the landing outside is a large and characteristic example of Snyders, and there is also a painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds. TONG CASTLE. Between the doors of two of the spacious bedrooms the thickness of the massive walls is shown ; in it is built an iron door, which gives access to a subterranean passage. This is said to lead to the Church or the Hermitage, and was used by the monks of old, and probably by parish priests of Tong, for in 1697 we find in a deed by Gervas, Lord Pierrepont, a covenant which recites "that the minister should enjoy a chamber in Tong Castle." The Castle, which is situate about four miles east of Shifnal, is partly surrounded by deep artificial canals, formed both for defence and irrigation. The grounds surrounding the mansion are of considerable extent and beauty ; they are well wooded and watered. The " one league of wood " of Domesday time has doubtless its modern successor in the present wood, which extends from the end of the pool. From Tong Knoll, which is crowned with a group of Scotch firs, a delightful view is obtained across the beautiful wooded park of "Weston-under-Lizard, Lord Bradford's seat. (115) S8 OOUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIBE. Within the Tong Castle domain, near to the high road, Btands the picturesque Church of St. Bartholomew, an ancient huildiug of stone in the perpendicular style of the fourteenth century. As we have already said, it was originally founded hy Eoger de Montgomery, and appears to have heen rebuilt m 1410 hy Isahel de Pembruge. It consists of chancel with side chapel, nave, aisles, south porch, and a central tower of two stages, the lower being square, with an embattled octagonal belfry story above it, ornamented with pinnacles, and containing a clock and peal of bells. The exterior of the edifice is adorned with a sun-dial. Most of the interior of the church remains as it was left three hundred years ago, and forms one of the most curious and valuable relics of the art of that period. There is some magnificent wood screen work, with the colours well preserved and only mellowed and toned down by time ; fine oaken stalls, with admirable carving, excellently preserved ; and ancient benches, with " carved panels and canopies. This fine interior is said to be the one drawn by Cattermole, and described by Dickens in the Old Curiosity Shop. , The Communion table is of alabaster, being principally taken from a very rich tomb in the church. The chalice is worthy of inspection, the bowl being formed out of a ring of crystal. The carved rood-screen is nearly perfect, and in the chancel are eight stalls richly wrought on each side ; all the windows retain fragments of ancient stained glass. The Golden Chapel, a beautiful chautry, the roof of which is an admirable specimen of fan vaulting, was added to the south aisle in the sixteenth century. In this chapel is a panelled altar tomb of alabaster, with recumbent effigies of a knight in armour, and his lady ; these are believed to represent Sir Richard Vernon and Benedicta, his wife, 1451. Over this tomb is a fine open screen, about ten feet high, with four rich tabernacles, which retain their original painting and gilding. In the nave are four monuments, invaluable as representing a series of perpendicular work, each specimen being characteristic of the period to which it belongs. The first, though executed with great care (the minutest details of costume being elaborately worked), is comparatively severe and simple in its design, having more a massive than an ornate character. The second is decidedly florid, yet all its enrichments are of a strictly architectural description. The third, though it also has openwork canopies, depends much for its richness upon the spaces filled with minute and intricate panelling. The last, equally rich with any of the others, has the Burgundian or wide elliptical arch, and shows other decided symptoms of the decline of the style. These four altar-tombs, all of alabaster, are to the memory of the renibruges and Vernons, Lords of Tong. Under the east window, in the south aisle, is a magnificent tomb, with full-length effigies of Sir Thomas Stanley (second son of the third Earl of Derby) and Margaret, his wife. It bears the following epitaph, which Dugdale and other antiquaries ascribe to Shakespeare in his youth :— Not monumental stone preserves our fame, Nor skie-aspiring Pyramid our name ; The Memory of him Eor whom this stands Shall outlive marble and Defacer's hands : When all to Time's consumption shall be given Stanley, for whom this stands, shall stand in Heaven. On the right of the chancel door is a monument with a female figure kneeling before a table ; this is in memory of Mrs. Wylde, 1624, oddest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas Harris, Bart. Immediately under the pulpit is an alabaster monument with effigies (1165 TONG CASTLE. of Sir Kichard Vernon, 1517, and Margaret, his wife, 1500. On the opposite side is a large tomb of grey marble with brass effigies and marginal inscription to Sir William Vernon, Kt. Constable of England, 1467, and Margaret Swynfen, his wife. Another effigy commemorates Ealph Elcock, a brother of the college of Tong, 1510 ; and over the vestry door is a marble tablet to Elizabeth Pierpont, only daughter of Gervaise Pierpont, Esq. On the north side of the communion table is a pyramidal monument of white marble to George Durrant, Esq., 1780, and several other members of his family. There is also a fine monument to his son, George Durrant, who died on November 29th, 1844 ; and on the south side of the communion table is a grey marble slab, with inscribed brass, to William Skeffington, of White Ladies, 1550 ; and under the communion table is a. family vault of the Pierreponts. There are also many other tablets and memorials to persons of distinction. st. Bartholomew's, tong. Various possessions in Tong Norton were held of the lord of the manor by the tenure of presenting yearly a chaplet of roses, which was to be placed on the image of the Virgin in Tong Church ; this quaint tenure continued many years after iconoclastic zeal had removed the image, and the garland was then placed on the Vernon effigy. The custom apparently continued to the end of the eighteenth century, for in 1801 we find an inquiry in the Gentleman's Magazine as to its origin, and reply was made by quotation of the following passage from the appendix to the History of Staffordshire : — " Eoger de la Zouche, being antiently lord of this manor of Tonge, granted to Henry de Hugefort three yard lands, three messuages, and certain woods lying in Norton and Shaw, (117) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. in the parish, with other privileges, renderiug yearly to hirn and to his heirs a chaplet of roses on St. John Baptist's day, in case he or they should be then at Tong : if not, then to be put upon the image of the Blessed Virgin in the church of Tonge for all services. But since the removal of such images, the Fosters, the owners of the said land, every year put the said chaplet about the work of the statue of the man lying upon the monument." There ere six bells in the tower, in addition to the great bell of Tong, which was broken by the Parliamentary forces, and was re-cast in 1720. On it was inscribed : — Ad laiulcm dei patris omnipotent is beatre Marise et Sancti Bartholomew — Hexricus Vernon miles istam campanam fieri fecit. Founder's bell, 1518." It was cracked while chiming for service in Lent, 1848. FROM THE BOOK OF MERLIN IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Tradition relates that Mrs. Fitz-Herbert was born at Tong ; whether this be true or not there seems to be no accurate information, but it is singular that one house should be the reputed birthplace of three women so conspicuous in the secondary annals of English history, Venetia Digby, Mary Wortley Montagu, and Maria Fitz-Herbert ; and as a distinguished local antiquary has observed, " if there be a place in Shropshire, calculated alike to impress the Moralist, instruct the Antiquary, and interest the Historian, that (118) p TONG CASTLE. place is Tong. It was for centuries the abode or heritage of men great either for their wisdom or their virtues, eminent either from their station or their misfortunes. The retrospect of their annals alternates between the Palace and the Feudal Castle, between the Halls of Westminster and the Council Chamber of Princes ; between the battlefield, the dungeon and the grave. The history of the Lords of the Manor is in fact the biography of princes and prelates, earls and barons, statesmen, generals, and jurists. These are the great names and reminiscences with which the place is associated ! — the Saxon Earls of Mereia, brave, patient, and most unfortunate — victims of inexorable progress : then then- three Norman successors, one wise and politic, another chivalrous and benevolent, the last madly ambitious and monstrously cruel ; — then the Majesty of England represented by Henry I., a prince who, in ability for ruling, almost equalled his father, and has been surpassed by none of his successors. Then the sumptuous and vice-regal pride of De Belmeis, bishop, general, statesman, and withal very priest — his collateral heirs, with their various and wide-spread interests dim in the distance of time, but traceable to a common origin ; the adventurous genius and loyal faith of Brittany represented in La Zouche ; tales of the oscillating favouritism and murderous treachery of King John ; — overweening ambition and saddest misfortune chronicled in the name of De Braose ; — a Harcourt miscalculating the signs of his time and ruined by the error; — a race of Pembruges, whose rapid succession tells of youth and hope and the early grave ; — then the open-handed and magnificent Vernons ; — lastly, Stanley, a name truly English, and ever honourable in English ears, yet for one of whom it was fated to add a last flower to this chaplet of ancestral memories, to cut short the associations which five centuries had grouped round this fair inheritance. From Domesday we learn that in the time of Edward the Confessor— the middle of the eleventh century — Tong was held by Morcar, Earl of Northumberland, by whom it was declared to be forfeited, but more probably from whom it was wrested, in 1071, m which year the Conqueror conferred it, with other lands, on Eoger de Montgomery. The record runs thus :— " The same earl [Eoger] holds Tuange. Earl Morcar held it. There are iii hides geldable. In demesne are iiii ox-teams, and [there are] viii serfs and iii villains and ii bcors with iii ox-teams. Here is one league of wood. In time of King Edward [the manor] was worth £11 [annually], now it is worth £6." Like the Norman Baron of Longfellow's poem, the Conqueror's kinsman seems, towards the end of his life, to have been anxious to make atonement for past misdeeds, and so we find that among other sacred edifices, he founded the churches of Tong and Donnington. On the death of his successor, Earl Hugh, his vast possessions passed into the hands of Earl Robert de Belesme, who, however, forfeited Tong and all his other tenures by his treason against Henry I, who thus became one of the Lbrds of Tong. It is uncertain how long the manor remained in the royal hands, but that monarch eventually granted it, with Donnington, to the great and powerful Richard de Belmeis, who, as an old chronicle informs us, was " cheefe dooer about Roger de Mountgomery, Earl of Salop." He is prominent among the great men who attested the charters of Earl Roger and Earl Hugh ; and in 1108 he was consecrated Bishop of London. This prelate died on January 16th, 11:27, and was buried in the Priory of St. Osyth, which he had founded. On his death-bed, conscience seems to have smote him, too, for we find him directing restitution of the manor of Betton to Shrewsbury Abbey. His successor in Tong— his (119) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. nephew, Philip de Belmeis — however, ignored his instruction, and refused to relinquish Betton. This Philip seems to have been an unscrupulous man, and he had many actions-at-law with the clergy ; he afterwards adopted the usual practice of mediaeval sinners, and sought to make atonement for his misdeeds by some outwardly religious act ; consequently, about 1138, he made an important grant to Buildwas Abbey, and some years later, in conjunction with his brother Richard (who like his uncle, had entered the church and was then Dean of the church of St. Alkmund, and became afterwards Bishop of London), founded Lilleshall Abbey. Philip de Belmeis married Matilda, daughter of William Meschin, and at his death, about the year 1150, was succeeded by his son, Philip, who confirmed the grants made to the Canons Regular of St. Mary, Lilleshall. Dying without issue in 1159, he was succeeded by his brother Ranulph de Belmeis, whose conscience seems to have been touched by the transgressions of his family, for we find him acknowledging that he " wrongfully held Betton, which belonged to the Monks of Shrewsbury, and which his ancestors had unjustly held." He restored the possession to the rightful owners, and became himself a monk. Ranulph served Henry II. in Wales, and died before 1167, for in that year we find the Sheriff of Salop accounting to the Crown for £3 10s. 6d. " of the ferm of Twanga, the land of Randulf de Belmeis." In the same year " Tonge et Norton Randulfi " (Tong and Tong Norton) had been amerced one merk by Allan de Nevill for an offence against the forest laws. With Ranulph terminated the elder male line of his race, though a junior branch of the family appears to have been seated at Donnington till the fourteenth century. He was succeeded by his sister Alice or Adeliza, wife of Alan La Zouche, son of Geoffrey, Vicomte de Rohan, who was of the princely house of that name. Alice and her children seem to have indiscriminately used the name of De Belmeis (or De Beaumeis) and La Zouche. The Mill of Tong was given by Alice to Lilleshall Abbey, and in conjunction with her husband she confirmed and considerably augmented the grants of her ancestors to that religious house. Alan la Zouche and his wife were succeeded by their eldest son, William, who confirmed the grants to Lilleshall. This lord of Tong contested the right of the monks of Shrewsbury Abbey to the presentation of Tong, which he himself claimed, and forcibly ejected a priest who had been inducted by the bishop at their nomination. He died without issue about 1199, when his estates passed to his brother, Roger la Zouche, who, in June 1199, was fined £100 for his lands, and the Sheriffs of Shropshire, Devon, and, Sussex, were each ordered to take security for a third of this debt. The Sheriff of Devon received the last instalment of £10 at Michaelmas, 1201. This Roger La Zouche, in October, 1203, excused his attendance at the Salop Assizes on the ground of being beyond sea before the issuing of the summons, and it is supposed that he was then actually engaged with Philip Augustus in Brittany, in the attack against King John to avenge the murder of his nephew, Arthur, and which resulted in the loss of Normandy to England in 1204. John, however, was avenged on La Zouche, for he seized his possessions and granted his Shropshire estates to William de Braose, upon the unsupported assertion that they were held of the house of Brecknock and Barony of Braose. Tong was thus held by this great but unfortunate feudal baron; his tenure however was not of long duration, for La Zouche was again taken into favour, and on his lauds being restored, he was fined seizin of them, the fine being remitted on his undertaking to serve the king a vear in Poictou, with another knight. La Zouche then borrowed fifty merks of John, for the repayment of which William Fitz-Warin was surety. Lor various purposes he (120) TONG CASTLE. received from the Crown, grants of land in several counties, and his fidelity to John was continued to Henry III. The manor of Betton seems still to have been a bone of contention to the lords of Tong, for in 1221, Roger went to law with Shrewsbury Abbey for its recovery, and the action, after the [manner of law-suits, " continued for years." At the same time he brought another unsuccessful suit to try the right of presentation to Tong. He died about 1238, in which year his son, Alan la Zouche, received license to pay his father's debts by annual instalments of forty-five merles. This Alan, about twelve years later, gave the Manor of Tong to his sister Alice, in frank marriage with William de Harcourt, who no sooner became possessed of the property than he was embroiled in the litigation which seemed to have been an inseparable consequence of the heritage. The Abbot of Lilleshall called him to account for laying waste three hundred acres of wood, by the sale of three thousand oaks, and the gift of three thousand more, tbereby deteriorating his privilege of Estovers, to which the abbey had been entitled from its foundation. This difference was made up, but De |Harcourt's troubles increased, finally culminating in the forfeiture of all his estates, in consequence of taking part against the King, in 1265. Two years later, however, through the powerful influence of Alan la Zouche, their uncle, Orabell and Margery daughters of Sir William de Harcourt, and heiresses of their mother, Alice la Zouche, were re-instated in possession of Tong and another forfeited estate. The elder lady conveyed Tong, by her marriage, to Henry de Pembruge, to whom, in 1271, Henry III. granted a charter for the holding of a market at Tong, every Thursday, as well as an annual fair, to be held on the Vigil, the day, and the morrow of St. Thomas the Apostle. Henry de Pembruge and his wife both died about this tune, leaving Fulk de Pembruge, an infant, successor to Tong, who had his share of legal difficulties during a short life of twenty-four years. Djing in 1296, he left by Isabel, his wife, a son, Fulk de Pembruge who thus became owner of Tcng at the age of five years, though his mother appears to have held the castle in dower for [niany years, Oliver de Bordeaux not being appointed guardian to the minor till the fourth year of the reign of Edward II. (1310-11). Arriving at manhcod he must have been knighted, as he claims that degree in a deed of quit-claim bearing date 1314. He represented Salop and Gloucester in two Parliaments held at York in 1322, and died in 1326, being succeeded by his son, a third Fulk de Pembruge, who was bom 1310, and died about 1334. The descent of Tong at his death is not recorded, but Mr. Eyton assumes that it passed to a Robert de Pembruge, whose name occurs 134(1, and whom he supposes to have been a younger brother of Fulk. And, in 1371, we find, as Lord of Tong, a fourth Fulk de Pembruge, who is presumed to be son of Robert. Isabel, second wife and relict [of this fourth Fulk de Pembruge, built the present church at Tong in 1410, and dedicated it to St. Bartholomew. The male line of the Pembruges ended at the death of the fourth Fulk in 140P, and his widow probably held the Castle in dower until her death in 1446, when it passed to Sir Richard de Vernon (sometimes called " De Pembruge.") who was grandson of Juliana, sister of the last Fulk de Pembruge by her n aniage with Richard de Veinon of Harlaston. This Sir Richard Vernon of Tong, was Speaker of the Parliament, in the fourth year of the reign of Henry VI., held at Leicester; he was also Treasurer of Calais. He was buried at Tong in 1452, being succeeded by his son Sir William Veinon, knight, who was Knight-Constable of England and Treasurer of Calais. His wife, who was of the Swynfen family, was ccdieiress of Sir Robert Pype, and at his death (121) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. in 1167, his son, Sir Henry Vernon, knight, K.B., became Lord of Tong and Haddon. He was Governor to Arthur, Prince of Wales, who consequently spent much of his time with Sir Henry Vernon, whose guest he was also probably at Tong as well as at Haddon. Sir Henry Vernon died in 1511, 1 and five, years later his eldest son, Sir Richard, also deceased leaving an only son, Sir George Vernon, who married Margaret, daughter of Lord Talboys. He died in 1565, being seized of thirty manors at his death, and left two daughters, codieiresses. Haddon was the portion of the elder daughter, Dorothy, who married Sir John Manners, ancestor of the Dukes of Rutland ; and Tong was conveyed by the younger daughter, Margaret, to Sir Thomas Stanley, knight, whom she married. Sir Thomas was second son of Edward, third Earl of Derby, and died in 1576, being succeeded by his only sou, Sir Edward Stanley, knight, K.B., who married Lady Lucy Percy, daughter and codieiress of Thomas, seventh Earl of Northumberland, and had two daughters, the elder of whom, Frances, married John Fortescue, of Salden. The younger daughter, Venetia, became the renowned and lovely wife of Sir Kenelm Digby. The early years of this celebrated woman were doubtless spent at Tong, for it was not until she was twenty-three years of age that her father sold it (1623) to Sir Thomas Harries, . Knight, an eminent lawyer of Queen Elizabeth's time. Sir Thomas Harries was created a baronet in the year he became owner of Tong, and left at his death a daughter and eventual heiress, Elizabeth, who married the Hon. William Pierrepoint, of Thoresby, Lincolnshire, (second son of Robert, first Earl of Kingston), who thus became lord of Tong Castle. This gentleman was succeeded by his son, Robert Pierrepoint, Esq., who married a daughter of Sir John Evelyn, and left a son, Robert, who became third Earl of Kingston on the death of his great-uncle; but dying without issue in 1628, he was succeeded in his title and estates by his brother William, fourth Earl of Kingston, Lord of Tong. William also left no issue at his death, in 1690, and his family honours reverted to his youngest and only brother, Evelyn, fifth earl of Kingston, who was created a duke in 1715, and K.G. He married a daughter of the Earl of Denbigh, by whom he had a son and three daughters, the eldest of whom was the celebrated Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who is said to have been born at Tong Castle, although in some biographies Thoresby is given as her birth place. Whatever be the fact, the association of her name with the former place cannot be disputed, as it was the residence of her father, who died in 1726. His son Lord Dorchester having predeceased him, the first duke was succeeded in his title and estates of Tong and Thoresby by his grandson Evelyn, second duke. His wife was the Duchess of Kingston, who, three years after his death, was tried for bigamy in having married 1 lis grace during the life-time of her first husband. Captain Hervey, afterwards Earl of Bristol. In 1762 the duke sold the Castle and minor of Tong to George Durant, Es [., a gentleman of ancient lineage who, as paymaster to the forces at the Havannah, had amassed a considerable fortune. Mr. Durant demolished the castle built by Sir Henry Vernon in 1500, and erected the present one in a somewhat fantastic style of amalgamated architecture — a mixture of Gothic, Moorish, and Turkish, whim, however, presents a picturesque and stately appearance. Mr. Durant represented Evesham in Parliament, and married Maria daughter of Mark Beaufoy, Esq., He died 1th August, 1780, aged forty-six., and was buried at Tong, where there is a monument to his memory. He was succeeded by his son, a child of four years, George TONG CASTLE. Durant, Esq., known subsequently, from having commanded a troop of yeomanry, as Colonel Durant. The eccentric character of this gentleman is amply evidenced in his domain. Inscriptions, hieroglyphics, quaint buildings, and monuments, alike to deceased friends, eternity, and favourite animals, meet one in almost every path. He married, firstly, a daughter of Mr. Eld, of Seight'ord, Staffordshire, by whom he had a son, George Stanton Eld, who predeceased his father, leaving a son, George Selwyn Durant. On the 25th September, 1830, Mr. Durant married, secondly, Celeste, daughter of M. Caesar Lefevre, of Lorraine, by whom he had five daughters and one son. He died aged sixty-nine on November 29th. 184-1 ; being succeeded by his grandson, above-mentioned during his minority. This heir subsequently joined a cavalry regiment and became Captain Durant; he never lived at Tong Castle, which, with an estate of three thousand acres, he sold in 1855 for £190,000 to the second Earl of Bradford, who thus became fortieth Lord of Tong from the time of E Iward the Confessor. The advowson of the living was also sold, as well as the contents of the mansion, which comprised a fine collection of paintings, many rare and curious cabinets, kc. It is said that Lord Bradford contemplated pulling down the castle, and the non-execution of his project was probably due to the antiquarian spirit of Captain Thorneycroft, who, conjointly with his brother-in-law, John Hartley, Esq, became the tenant of the noble possessor. Mr. Hartley, whose family came originally from Yorkshire, was born February 11th, 1813, and married, on August 20th, 1839, Emma second surviving daughter of G. B. Thorneycroft, Esq., of Hadley Park, Shropshire, and had three sons and four daughters. He had residences at the Oaks, and Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire, of which county he was Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant. (123, N the high road from Onibury to Clungunford, about a mile and a half from the former place, is Ferney Hall, the seat of William George Willoughby Hurt Sitwell, Esq. From the road, entrance gates by a neat lodge give access to the drive leading to the mansion, which is an elegant structure in the Elizabethan style, built of red bricks with Bath stone facings ; it stands a little to the right of the site of the old Hall, which was pulled down by ijffjP Mr. W. Hurt Sitwell in 185S, when the new Hall was built. The previous mansion Jl^ was about three centuries old ; a portion of its leaden water pipe is still preserved near the tower entrance of the new edifice ; the head of the pipe bears a shield of arms and the date 1722. Of this former "Ferny Hall," Felton's Ludloxu records that " this ancient mansion, together with the surrounding lands, belongs to Mrs. Sitwell, and is now the residence of John Elliot, Esq. This elevated situation commands very extensive and exquisite prospects over a charming country, full of rich and pleasing scenery, particularly in the south-east aspect, which includes the town of Ludlow, bounded in by the distant hills of Abberley, Malvern, &c, in Worcestershire, ar.d the Clee Hill in Shropshire. The House is neatly furnished and contains some curious paintings. The garden is well laid out." The view in front of the mansion is indeed very hue, embracing the Titterstone and the Brown Clee, with the tower of Ludlow Church in middle distance to the right ; and on a clear day the Worcestershire Hills are distinctly seen. The flower gardens which adjoin the Hall are charmingly laid out, and the surrounding domain, well-wooded and well-watered, is of surpassing beauty and picturesqueness. Oaks and Beeches, Mountain Ash and Elms abound ; and one path — appropriately called " The Dark Walk," is overshadowed by large yews, which form a long avenue. Part of the domain is in Herefordshire, a little stream being here the boundary between that county and Shropshire. In several directions — known as " the Pits" are rocky precipices, overgrown with delicate mosses and soft grass, while, down below, the soil is covered with countless generations of dead leaves ; these lovely spots would delight the heart of a pre-Raphaelite painter. Ferns abound on all sides — indeed, it is probable that the place derives its name from its luxuriant wealth of the lovely oak and beech ferns. From these rocks it is said that an underground passage extends to Ludlow ; but we know not whether there is any foundation in fact for this local tradition. (125) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. As we have already stated, the new hall was erected hy the present proprietor, between the years 1855 and 1858 ; before many years had elapsed it was destroyed by an incendiary fire on the 11th June, 1875, when the greater portion of the contents of the library, including many old and procious volumes, was destroyed. A large portion of the furniture, pictures, and plate was fortunately saved ; and the mansion was subsequently restored by Mr. Hurt Sitwell in 1878. The entrance hall contains a fine massive staircase of carved oak, the bottom pilaster of which supports the family crest ; it is well lighted from an open roof in the centre. On one wall is a large portrait o; the present squire, in hunting costume, by Stephen Pearce, presented to him in 1863, when he retired from the mastership of the Ludlow hounds. The apartment is heated by a large German stove in enamelled pottery, above which is a stag's head. The chairs are of old oak, with open carved backs ; and there is an old sideboard in black oak richly carved. There are here some valuable old prints after Vandyck, in ebony frames. Three drawing-rooms en suite extend along the whole front of the mansion, these are separated by folding doors. In the first room, near the door, is an oak cabinet with a fine panel of Abraham offering Isaac, on either side is a figure of an apostle and a pope. This seems originally to have formed part of a pulpit or some other church furniture. This room, which opens to a spacious conservatory, has a richly-moulded cornice, and a mantel of white marble ; it is lighted by a large bay window, and on the walls hang several good landscapes— reminiscences of Mr. Sitwell's travels in Spain. In the adjoining apartment are four pictures, a small painting of two beggars being by Teniers. Various cabinets and buhl and ormolu tables adorn this room, which has a richly veined marble mantel — over which hangs a large landscape and three small pictures, evidently very ancient, of the Adoration of the Magi, a Virgin and Child, and a Holy Family. There are also four small miniatures, as well as some good views of Ludlow and its neighbourhood. A large book on one of the tables contains a choice collection of water colour drawings by various eminent artists. The third drawing room has a chimneypiece of white marble, over which is a large mirror ; two fire screens of embroidery in gilt mounts stand on either side. This apartment is lighted by a large bay window, commanding lovely views of the surrounding country. On the walls are family portraits and other pictures, including Spanish landssapes by Frey, cattle pieces and other subjects ; a bookcase supports bronze candelabra, and an octagonal table has a top of black marble inlaid with birds and flowers in malachite. The dining room has a fine mantelpiece of black and red marble, on which stands a marble clock with bronze, and bronze candelabra. The chairs and large sideboard are of oak ; over the latter is a large picture of a Spanish bull fight, of which stirring scene Mr. Sitwell was a spectator. The window opens to the terrace and flower gardens ; on the right and left hang oval portraits of the grandfather and grandmother of the present owner. A three-quarter length life-size picture represents Mr. Price, uncle of Mrs. Sitwell, and there is also a portrait of Mrs. Price, as well as other good paintings. On the oak staircase are some good prints of salmon and otters, and, on the landing, whose walls have a moulded cornice, some old prints of Sir Watkin Wynn's family. On the floor is a large Oriental vase, and oak chairs fitted in red leather. In the corridor are some old Vandyck prints, old sporting prints, and a view of Cader Idris after Eichard Wilson. The walls of the various bedrooms are adorned with many pictures, some spirited sketches in water colours are otter-hunting (126) FERNEY BALL. scenes, in which Mr. Sitwell took part, and which his own pencil has thus illustrated ; among other pictures are an Ecce Homo, and a portrait of the sixth Duke of Devonshire', godfather of the present squire of Ferney. The well-lighted and spacious billiard room has a mantelpiece of dark marble, and on its walls are various good prints. In the study are cases of stuffed birds, etc. The family of Sitwell is recorded by Sir Bernard Burke as being of very ancient standing in the northern counties of England. The eventual heiress, Catherine, daughter of William Sitwell, Esq., married Jonathan Hurt, Esq., of Sheffield, and by him (who died in 1732) left a son, Francis Hurt, Esq., who assumed by sign-manual the surname and arms of. Sitwell, on succeeding to the estates of his maternal uncle, William Sitwell, Esq., of Renishaw, Derbyshire. He married Mary, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Warneford, of York, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Sitwell Sitwell, was created a baronet, 3rd October, 1808; the second son, Francis Sitwell, was of Barmoor Castle, Northumberland, and the third son was Hurt Sitwell, of Ferney Hall. Mr. Hurt Sitwell, who married Anne, daughter of Simon Francis Hardy, Esq., of Huntingdon, died in Portugal, 3rd March, 1803, leaving an only son, Francis Hurt Sitwell, born 1801, who married 17th October, 1826, Harriet, daughter of Sir Joseph Hoare, Bart., of Annabella, Cork, which lady died 8th October, 1827, having had a son, the prcssnt owner of Ferney, who succeeded to the property at the death of his father, 22nd August, 1835. Mr. William Willoughby George Hurt Sitwell was born 2nd October, 1827, and married, firstly, 29th September, 1853, Harriet Margaret, only daughter of William Henry Harford, Esq., of Barley Wood, Somersetshire. This lady died at the birth of her son, Willoughby Harford Hurt Sitwell, 18th May, 1855. Mr. Hurt Sitwell married, secondly, 8th July, 1858, Eliza Harriet Burton, only daughter of the late Richard Burton Phillipson, Esq., of Dunston House, Staffordshire, by whom he has a son, Francis Hurt (born 14th January, 1860), and a daughter, Ellinor Harriet Hurt, married to Sir William Grenville Williams, Bart., of Bodelwyddan, Flintshire. Mr. Hurt Sitwell was formerly lieutenant in the Shropshire Yeomanry, and was High Sheriff of the county in 1855. He is a popular and enthusiastic sportsman, and was for ten years Master of the Ludlow Hounds. Mrs. Sitwell is a grand-daughter of William Wynne, Esq., of Peniarth, Merionethshire. I ■ 1?8*oggttf2tt. BOUT a mile north-west of Oswestry, in an extensive well-timbered park, stands Brogyntyn, the Shropshire seat of the family of Ormsby-Gore, whose head is Lord Harlech. The place derives its name from an old fortress of Madoc ap Meredith, last Prince of Lower Powis, whose chief residence was at Oswestry ; his son Owen Brogyntyn ap Madoc acquired the cognomen of Brogyntyn from this fortress, Castell Brogyntyn, whose ruins can still be traced y in the shrubberies of tho present mansion. The circular castle was environed by a large embankment, and a deep fosse ; this fosse is now filled in with soil and forms a garden walk. Owen Brogyntyn was an important personage in the twelfth century ; he was a gallant warrior, and took a prominent part in the dissensions of his time, being one of the chieftains whose allied army defeated Henry II. in 1165 at Chirk. The warlike chief resided here, and his son after him, as we learn from a deed of Henry III. in 1218, which records that Bleddyn, son of Owen de Porkenton, had performed the service he owed the Crown. The name of the place gradually became corrupted until it was known as Porkington — its original title of Brogyntyn has, however, now been restored. The house was formerly also known as "Constable's Hall," but the date of the change of name is lost. The present mansion is built in the Grecian style, and has a fine portico of the Ionic order ; it appears to have been erected at various periods, though its present elegant appearance is due to the alterations and improvements made by Miss Ormsby, heiress of Owen Ormsby, Esq., who died in 1801. For many generations the Porkington estate was part of the family possessions of the> Lacons, from whom it passed by marriage of the heiress to Sir William Wynne Maurice of Clenneneu, Carnarvonshire, whose daughter and heiress, Ellen, married John Owen, Esq., secretary to Lord Walsmgham. This gentleman accumulated a considerable fortune, and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son, John, who was born in 1600, and who subsequently gained great renown in the civil wars of Charles I.'s days. He entered the royal army and soon distinguished himself as a valiant captain, and became Colonel Sir John Owen, Knight, of Clenneneu, and vice-admiral of North Wales. In 1648 he besieged Carnarvon, then held for the Parliament by General Mytton and Colonel Mason, but having withdrawn part of his force to intercept troops advancing to its relief, he was defeated at Llandegai, near Bangor, (129) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. and taken prisoner. The Parliament thought so much of this victory that they awarded £200 from Sir John's estate to the officer who brought the news of his capture. Owen was taken to Windsor, where four other prominent loyalists were imprisoned, namely the Duke of Hamilton, the Earl of Holland, and Lords Goring and Capel ; they were put upon trial, and Sir John being asked by the Court for his defence replied that " he was a plain gentleman of Wales who had always been taught to obey the King, that he had served him honestly during the war, and finding many honest subjects endeavouring to raise forces, whereby they might get him out of prison, he did the like." The gallant gentleman was condemned to lose his head, and after receiving sentence bowed, and thanked the Court. Being asked what such conduct meant he answered that " it was a great honour to a poor gentleman of Wales to lose his head with such noble lords, for he was afraid they would have hanged him." Powerful efforts were made in Parliament to avert the doom of the condemned peers, but none advocated the cause of Sir John Owen, until Ireton rose and told the House that " there was one person for whom no one spoke a word, and therefore he requested that he might be saved by the sole motive and goodness of the House." After a few months imprisonment he was pardoned, and allowed to return to Wales, where he died in 1666. He had married Jennet, daughter of Griffith Vaughan, Esq., of Corsygedol, Merionethshire, and was succeeded by his son, William Owen, Esq., of Porkington. Sir John's brother, Colonel William Owen, garrisoned Harlech Castle for the King ; this was the last fortiess in North Wales which held out for the Royal house, and it was finally taken in March, 1647, by General Mytton. William Owen married Katherine, only daughter and heiress of Lewis Anwyl of Parke, Merionethshire ; this lady brought the Herbert estates into the Brogyntyn family, as her mother was daughter of Edward Herbert of Cemmes. The issue of the marriage was a son, Sir Robert Owen, Knight of Porkington and Clenneneu, who married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Owen Wynne, Esq,, of Glynn, Merionethshire, and this union added the Glynn estate, near Harlech, to the Brogyntyn possessions. At the death of Sir Robert, the estates passed to his son, William Owen, of Porkington, who married Mary, only daughter of Henry Godolphin, Dean of St. Paul's, Provost of Eton, who was brother of the famous Lord Treasurer, Earl Godolphin; this lady inherited considerable property from her sister, Margaret Godolphin, who died on the 6th of October, 1766, aged 90. Of this Margaret the Gentleman's Magazine of that year records that " her funeral was, according to her desire, attended by as many old women dressed in white flannel gowms as she was years of age, and followed by her tenants to Llanyblodwell Church, where she was interred." Mary Owen died in 1768, leaving two sons and two daughters, who, with the exception of the elder daughter, Margaret, all died unmarried. Margaret Owen, who was born on the 3rd of January, 1738, married in 1777, Owen Ormsby, Esq., of Willowbrook, county Sligo, whose father, William Ormsby, was M.P. for that county. Mr. Ormsby was born in April, 1749, and was Sheriff of Merionethshire, 1794-5 ; he died on the 24th of August, 1804, leaving his widow (who died on the 2nd of March, 1806), and an only child, Mary Jane Ormsby, who thus became heiress of the Brogyntyn domains. This lady was born on the 17th of September, 1781, and married, on the 11th of January, 1815, William Gore, Esq., of Woodford, who was descended from a common ancestor with the Gores, Earls of Arran, and the Earls of Ross, and Barons Annaly. His father, William Gore, represented county Leitrim, as he himself did in 1806. Mr. Gore, who was born on the 14th of March, 1779, assumed upon (130) BBOGYNTYN. his marriage the additional surname and arms of Ormsby, and was in 1830 elected M.P. for the Carnarvon Boroughs, and subsequently sat for North Shropshire from 1835 to 1857. He was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1817, and died on the 4th of May, 1860, leaving his widow, who died on the 10th of September, 1869, and two surviving sons. The eldest son, John Ralph Ormsby Gore, Esq., was born on the 3rd of June 1816, and married, on the 4th of June, 1844, Sarah, youngest daughter of Sir John Tyssen Tyrell, Bart., of Boreham Essex, by whom he had an only child, Fanny Mary Catherine, who married on the 21st of February, 1863, the Hon. Lloyd Kenyon, eldest son of the third Baron Kenyon, whose son is the present Lord Kenyon. Mr. Ormsby-Gore was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, and was a J. P. and D.L. for the counties of Salop and Carnarvon ; he was elected M.P. for Carnarvonshire in 1837, and sat for that constituency until 1841. From 1859 to 1876 he represented North Shropshire, and he was some time a Groom-in-Waiting to the Queen. On the 11th of January, 1876, he was raised to the House of Lords by the style of Baron Harlech, with special remainder, failing his own male issue, to his brother and his heirs. The title of Mr. Ormsby-Gore's peerage was appropriately chosen from the venerable fortress, Harlech Castle, with which his family had been long connected, and which his kinsman, William Owen, already mentioned, governed in the time of Charles I. The first baron Harlech did not long enjoy his new dignity, for he died on the 15th of June, 1876, when the title passed to his brother, William Richard Ormsby-Gore, Esq., the present peer, who was born on the 3rd of March, 1819, and educated at Eton. Prior to inheriting the Barony he had been M.P. for county Sligo from 1841 to 1852, and for county Leitrim from 1858 to 1876 ; he was also High Sheriff of Leitrim in 1857, and is Lord Lieutenant of that county. He entered the army and attained the rank of Major in the 13th Light Dragoons ; and married, on the 10th of September, 1850, Lady Emily Charlotte, eldest surviving daughter of Sir George Francis Seymour, G.C.B., G.C.H., admiral Brogyntyn. (131) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. of the fleet, and sister of Francis, fifth Marquis of Hertford, and has three sons and two daughters. From a paper recently contributed to the Montgomeryshire Collections by the Eev. George Sandford, M.A., we quote the following passage : — " Tbe house of Brogyntyn has taken a prominent part in the Parliamentary returns of Shropshire, Carnarvonshire, Sligo, and Leitrim, and has an intimate connection with Montgomeryshire through its descent from the Herberts, and its broad acres in Powysland. It is also allied to the aristocratic families of Maurice, "Wynn, Anwyl, and Owen, who have boldly upheld the principle of the Church, the State, and the Constitution in many a contest, and through successive centuries. Its political influence bas been often and powerfully felt, and the nobility to which it has attained has been fairly won. It has made of late rapid strides to eminence and distinction, and surpassed even the expectations of its members and friends, and has profited by every revolution of the wheel of fortune. It has been singularly fortunate in its matrimonial alliances." The hall is approached by two drives passing handsome lodges. The path from Oswestry, known as "The Terrace Walk," commands magnificent vie as of the surrounding country and distant hills; this leads to the front of the mansion, where the massive portico gives ingress. The pediment of the portico bears in high relief the arms of the late Mrs. Ormsby-Gore. The doors open into the entrance hall, which has a fine mantel piece of carved oak, on either side of which are trophies of swords and old armour. (See plate.) To the right a vestibule opens to the staircase, lighted by an octagonal skylight, this was formerly lighted by a dome of stained glass, exhibiting the names and arms of different proprietors, with the dates of their occupancy, and the names and arms also of various heiresses connected therewith. This glass was, however, removed by the late Lord Harlech. In the staircase there is a curious painting on panel, it is the only portion saved of the altar-piece of Yalle Cruris Abbey. The walls of the staircase are lined with many pictures, •ncluding a portrait of the present Lady Harlech. Leading from the staircase is a long corridor, which forms a sort of gallery of family portraits. Upon its polished floor stand rare and valuable cabinets, containing old china and other treasures. The portraits include Owen Ormsby, Mary Jane, his daughter; William, son- of Sir Bobert Owen; Arthur, son of the same knight; Bobert Gore, M.P. for Leitrim; Elizabeth, widow of Balph Gore; Anne, daughter of Owen Wynne ; Jane, daughter of William Ormsby, of Willowbrock, and Hannah his wife, their son, Owen Ormsby, of Porkington ; the Earl Godolphin ; Francis Owen, who died of a fall from his horse, in November, 1774 ; and many others. A beautiful full-length picture represents a young girl with a dog, with landscape back ground, and there are several smaller pictures here. At the end of the corridor is the smoking room, comfortably fitted ; over its marble mantel is a water-colour view of Harlech Castle. Various landscapes and portraits adorn the walls, and on an easel, in large frame, is a portrait of William Gore, M.P. for Kilkenny, who died 1747. Various cases of books stand here, and there are old prints of busts of Pitt and Nelson, as well as two naval pictures by B. S. Thomas, B.N., 1848. The chairs are of carved oak, fitted in Utrecht velvet ; and above the heating apparatus are some Parian vases and statuettes ; on the wall is a child's head in marble. The dining room is lighted by a large bay window ; the walls are decorated in pale, warm tones, and the chairs are upholstered in leather bearing the family monogram. Ten pictures, some sacred subjects, adorn the walls ; one represents Bose, the royal gardener, presenting to Charles II. the first pine apple grown in England. The library has an oak mantel piece BROGYNTYN. over which is a large portrait, by Kneller, of Sir Eobert Owen ; the walls are lined with cases of rare and valuable books, above which are arranged various china plaques and ancestral portraits. Here is the oldest family portrait in Brogyntyn, that of Margaret, daughter of John Wynn Lacon, Esq., of Porkington, and wife of Sir William Maurice of Clenneneu, Knight, M.P. for Carnarvonshire, in the eighth Parliament of Queen Elizabeth. Of that monarch's successor he was a personal friend, and he is believed to have first suggested the title of King of Great Britain, when the Scottish monarch succeeded to the English Crown, in 1603. The other portraits include Lewis Anwyl, Sheriff of Merionethshire, 1640; and Ellen Maurice, mother of Sir John Owen. A Japanese cabinet in black and gold supports Oriental vases. This room is also lighted by a large bay window. In one corner of the room is a marble bust of Lord Harlech, by Prince Victor Hohenlohe. On the parquetry floor are cases of china and miniatures, while on one of the tables are cabinets of choice curios. The library opens into the music room, a pretty apartment, which has an octagonal ceiling, slightly domed in the centre, from which is suspended a brilliant lustred chandelier. On the wall is a full-length portrait, by Phillips, of Lord Harlech in military costume. Among other portraits in the family collection are those of John Owen, Esq., of Penrhos, by Kettle ; Francis Owen, Esq., M.P. for Helston ; two chalk drawings by Sir Thomas Lawrence, the one depicting Mary Jane, wife of William Ormsby, Esq., M.P., the other, Margaret, wife of Owen Ormsby, Esq. ; Sir John Owen, of Clenneneu ; Col. William Owen, Governor of Harlech ; William Owen, son of Sir John ; Katherine Owen, the daughter of Lewis Anwyl, Esq.; these are in the study. In the morning room are portraits of Robert Godolphin Owen ; Elizabeth Lyster, and Sidney Godolphin, governor of the Scilly Isles. (133) ILLEY PAEK, the residence of the Eight Hon. and Eev. Orlando Watkin Weld, fourth Baron Forester, is a handsome mansion of freestone, in classic style, delightfully situate about two miles south of Broseley and five miles north-by- west of Bridgnorth. The Hall stands in a richly- wooded park of one hundred and fifty acres, which contains a succession of fine pools ; the pleasure grounds are admirably kept and arranged, and the house is approached by two avenues, the trees composing which are of great variety and beauty, the cedars being especially fine. A massive portico stands in front of the principal entrance doors, opening into a vestibule, which contains many cases of stuffed birds, etc., also two large equestrian portraits of the Duke of Wellington and his great contemporary, Napoleon. This vestibule leads into the entrance hall which presents a magnificent appearance, being certainly a very fine example of its style. A gallery extends along its walls, supported on fine columns of Scagliola marble, and the richly-moulded ceiling is partially open to the roof, where large glass lights are inserted. Opposite the entrance is a large conservatory, approached through three large windows, in whose upper mullions are the family crests On either side are two tall French clocks of antique design, and two cabinets of rare old china, miniatures and other valuable curios. At this end of the apartment two large stair- cases lead to the upper storey, over each is a domed trellis-work. The floor is paved with slabs of polished marble, and the gallery and staircase are enclosed by ornamental railings of burnished brass, which are said to have cost £2,000. The walls of this upper portion are covered with oil paintings, chiefly portraits, which include Sir William Forester, Oliver Cromwell, the Duke of Monmouth, and many others. The cornice and frieze are of beautiful design, the subject of the latter being taken from Greek history. At the end of the gallery is a very fine buhl cabinet with plate glass doors and ormolu mounts : on the top of this is an old chiming clock, which is considered by competent judges to be of rare excellence. On the floor below, marble pedestals support various beautiful vases, and in four angles of the apartment are choice examples of statuary from the antique — the Apollo Belvidere, Diana with a stag, the Venus de Medici, and a Bacchante with grapes. The chairs are of carved oak, upholstered in crimson Utrecht velvet ; some of these came from (135) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the old Hall. There are costly buhl tables here and there ; a large one has brass mounts and leather top, another is of French marqueterie with ormolu mounts, and there are four buhl and ormolu cabinets. One of these tables supports a magnificent Hunting Trophy, in oxydised silver. This commemorates a famous run of the Belvoir Hounds on the 15th January, 1851, and the six figures are all portraits, including Lord Forester, the Duke of Rutland, Sir Thomas Whichcott, and Mr. Lechford. This splendid piece was presented to the late Lord Forester on his marriage in 1857, and was exhibited at the International Exhibition in London, 1862. On the walls of the entrance hall are various family portraits, including the Duchess of Rutland, her daughter, who married the first Baron Forester, the third and fourth Earls of Salisbury, William and Robert, sons of James, third Earl of Salisbury, several of the Welds, in Elizabethan costume, and some Townshends of Elmley Lodge. There are here two fireplaces with chimney pieces of carved marble, on which stand two large bronze equestrian groups on marble bases, also four smaller bronze ornaments. Over one fireplace hangs a portrait of the Duchess of Rutland, and, on the opposite side of the hall an equestrian portrait of Charles I., copied from the original in the National Gallery. This splendid saloon is lighted by bronze candelabra, which are fitted with gas The drawing room is a splendid and richly-furnished apartment ; its walls are hung •with silk damask of a greenish tone, and the cornice is richly decorated, its mouldings being relieved with gold. In the four corners is the intertwined monogram of the family; and the polished oak floor is covered with a fine prize carpet from the Exhibition of 1851. The mantelpiece is of white marble, it has four carved panels of the seasons ; over this is a fine portrait of the Lady Adine Forester, by Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A. There are many fine works in this room, including a rare Cuyp — wild ducks, landscapes by G. Poussin, Ruysdael, Berghem, Dietrich, and Richard Wilson, the last-named being a very fine example. Some beautiful specimens of the sculptor's art also adorn this room, including a Psyche, and a Cupid and Psyche, the latter standing on a square marble-topped table, richly inlaid. On a buhl table inlaid with tortoiseshell stands a beautiful group of Aurora driving her four-horse chariot ; this is of Dresden china, as are also many other valuable pieces including clocks, plaques, etc. Many beautiful tables and cabinets stand around the room these are of buhl, and ormolu, and ebony, and inlaid marble. In one corner of the room is a magnificent gilt screen, and a table in ebony with gilt mountings is bordered in relief with fruit in various coloured stones. Another beautiful table is supported by a vine in gilt ; the top bears the representation of a parrot in a cherry tree, inlaid in various marbles. Flanking the fire place are two crimson banners of the Royal Horse Guards, mounted as screens, these bear the words "Waterloo" and "Peninsula." On the mantelshelf are four Dresden vases, and a centre piece, as well as two candelabra, and at the end of the room near the window are two bronze figures supporting other gilt candelabra. Two fine ebony cabinets have richly carved fronts, near these are two scrap fire screens, the work of the first Lady Forester. On another ebony table is a fine group in marble, and between the side windows are two mirrors in broad gilt frames. Under these stand ebony cabinets bearing candelabra and jardinieres. On one table stands a capacious bowl with lid and stand containing pot-pourri, and a Wedgwood plaque. On an ebony and ormolu cabinet with glass doors stand three large Dresden vases and four figures, and over the door, which is of solid mahogany, is a gilt clock. An octagonal table, inlaid with pearl, bears several china dishes in blue and gold — one of turquoise blue, with handles, being, as WILL El' PARK. its inscription testifies, Domic par la Boy. There is much other china of rare value here including Dresden, old Sevres, Chelsea, Wedgwood, and Worcester. Besides the various candelabra, this beautiful room is lighted at night by a richly gilt chande ier suspended from the centre of the ceiling. The dining room has a chimneypiece of black marble, on either side of this hangs a portrait of the first Lord and Lady Forester, by Sir William Beechey, and directly over the fireplace is their son, the second lord, by Sir Francis Grant, 1811. Other pictures include a portrait of Queen Anne, a Hunting Scene interior, and an old portrait of a child ; these are above the large sideboard, which occupies one end of the room and supports two busts. This room is lighted by three windows, and on its walls are several Weld and other portraits, including an Earl of Salisbury, and William III. and his Queen Mary. The chairs are upholstered in red leather, and the ceiling has a fine moulded cornice. The library is a spacious room with semi-circular ends, at one of which is the large window ; the ceiling has a moulded anthemion cornice. Over the door is a youthful portrait of the Lady Mary Brooke Forester, daughter of Sir William Foresteiv of Dothill, who was the heroine of a romantic episode. She was betrothed in childhood to Sir George Downing, (afterwards the founder of Downing College), who subsequently going abroad, made his fiancee- promise not to become a Maid of Honour to Queen Anne, about whose court her father held office. Years later he returned, and on attending court he found his lady in attendance on the Queen ; he then vowed he would have no more to do with the faithless fair. An action at law was brought against him but failed, and the lady donned widow's weeds without ever being a bride ; her portrait in this mourning costume hangs in the gallery. There are seven other portraits in the room, whose walls are well-lined with cases of books. On either side are mantel pieces of grey marble, on which stand tall oriental vases; above are portraits of Lady Mary Forester, and Lady Ranelagh, daughters of the Earl of Salisbury. On the bookcases are four busts of the poets ; and on one of the tables is a fine equestrian bronze. Another fine bronze represents Francis I. at a boar hunt— this is by T. Gechter, 1842 — and there is a marble Venus, a bust of the Earl of Beaconsfield, and tw r o vigorous groups in terra cotta, of a brigand carrying off a woman. The last named masterly examples of technical skill are the work of an Italian artist, Pinelli. On a massive chest stand two large jugs in blue and gold, under glass cases. Among the muniments preserved here is the ancient register of Wenlock Priory. The ladies' morning room is a charming apartment to the right of the entrance hall, it has an opening into the conservatory. The walls are adorned with many good pictures, including cattle-pieces by T. S. Cooper, B.A., and Van Stry ; a candle-lighted interior by Van Skendal ; landscapes by Barrett, Stanfield, and Lee ; over one door is a Troubadour, and over another the interior of an artist's studio. Above the fireplace is a female portrait Anne Romeo ; on the mantel is a pretty clock, with Apollo driving his chariot, at the back of which stands Pallas; beside this are hanging candlesticks of Dresden ware. At one side of the room is a case of miniatures, chiefly ladies of the Forester family, and above this is a watercolour portrait of Lady Cunningham. The miniatures include Mary Isabella, Duchess of Rutland, the Hon. Henrietta Maria, Selina, Henry, John George, Charles, and Orlando Forester; also Lady Katherine Mary Manners, and Lady Elizabeth Maimers. An interesting object here is the christening bowd, of Coalport china ; this bears a painted view of the old Hall and church. A gem of the picture collection in this room is a (137) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. portrait by Sir Joshua Eeynolds ; it is one of the chaiming child-pictures for which the great master is so justly renowned, and represents Lady Katherine Manners, daughter of the fourth Duke of Rutland. There are here six excellent copies of the Marriage-a-la-mode, made by a contemporary of Hogarth ; and there is a fine large painting of the Dauphin craving charity. There are also portraits of the Hon. Selina Forester, the Hon. Emilia Forester, the Hon. Isabella Forester, and John George, Lord Forester. A corresponding apartment on the opposite side of the entrance hall is Lord Forester's Morning Room. Its walls are covered with choice prints and other pictures. The Bedrooms and various lobbies are well adorned with valuable paintings, including some excellent examples of George Morland. Willey Hall. Eyton thinks that the true Saxon name of this place is mere likely to be represented by the usual and very old forms Wililey or Wilileg. Domesday records that " The same Turold holds Wilit, and Hunnit [holds it] of him. This same [Hunnit] held it [in time of King Edward] and was free. Here is half a hide geldable. There is arable ■ land sufficient for ii ox-teams. Here those ox-teams are, together with ii villains and ii boors. Its value was, and is, v shillings." Hunnit and his brother Uluiet had in Saxon times held other Shropshire manors. Blakeway states that Turold was a Saxon, but Eyton dissents from that opinion. The latter authority says that Willey followed the ordinary descent of Turold's manors (he held thirteen manors under the Norman Earl), and that in the thirteenth century it was held of the Fee of Chetwynd, and by Chetwynd, under Fitz-Alan. In the 29th year of the reign of Henry III. a fine was levied between William Mareschal and Alice his wife, complainants, and Nicholas le Dispencer and Christiana his wife, tenants de medietate virgatae terrse in Willey, being the inheritance of Walter le Salter father of Alice and Christiana. In the 31st year of the same monarch Hugh Batyn had a grant of the land of Willy qua fuit Roberti Mallet (Bellom or Bellot) Normanni ; and two (138) WILLEY HALL. years later Paulinus Peynre had a similar grant. Lands in Wyleley were held by Andrew Wyleley, who was slain in the battle of Evesham, 1265, and whose daughter and heiress, Burga, was married to Philip de Stapleton. She married secondly, Eichard de Harley, who had a grant of free warren here, and in the hands of whose family the manor remained for several generations, eventually passing through the Peshalls, to the Lacon family. Sir Francis Lacon, of Willey and Kinlet, Knight, married Jane, third daughter of Anthony Brown, Viscount Montague, and had a son, Eowland, who is recorded as his heir in the Heralds' Visitation of 1623. Sir John Weld (descendant of William Weld, Sheriff of London, 1352) purchased Willey from the Lacon Family between 1612 and 1623 ; and his descendant in the fourth degree, Elizabeth Weld, married, in 1748, Brooke Forester of Dothill, whose son, George, dying unmarried, 1811, bequeathed his estate to his cousin, Cecil Forester (afterwards first baron Forester) with an injunction to adopt the name of Weld, which he did by royal licence in 1821. Of the Forester family, we learn from Blakeway's Sheriffs of Shropshire that its members " were originally Foresters, an office much coveted by our ancestors, which latter seems probable, from the fact that on the Pipe Eolls of 1214, Hugh Forester accounts for a hundred merks that he may hold the bailiwick of the forest of Salopscire, as his father held it before him." In 1160, Alexander the Forester witnessed a grant of fishery of Sutton, by Eobert, Abbot of Salop, to Philip Fitz-Stephen ; and in 1221, Henry III., then at Bridgnorth, issued his precept to the chief Forester of Salop. From the researches of another local antiquary we find that Thomas, a son of Eobert Forester of Wellington, in the Hundred Eolls, 1254, is said by the king's justices itinerant to hold half a virgate of the king to keep the Hay of Wellington. Eoger le Forester of Wellington, who succeeded Eobert, appears to have died 1277-8, and to have left two sons, Eobert and Eoger. Eobert had property in Wellington and the Bailiwick of the forest of the Wrekin, and is supposed to have succeeded his father, whom he did not long survive, having died the year following, 1278-9. Eoger his brother succeeded to his possessions, and held also the Hay of Wellington, of which he died seized in 1284-5. Eobert, the Forester of Wellington occurs in the Hundred Eoll of Bradford in 1287, and is shown to have held Hay of Wellington till 1292-3, when Eoger, son of Eoger, proving himself of age, paid the king one merk a.3 a relief for his lands in Wellington held by sergeantry, to keep Wellington Hay, in the forest of the Wrekin, etc. This is the Eoger de Wellington mentioned as one of King Edward's foresters by fee, recorded in his Great Charter of the forests of Salopssier, in the perambulation of 1300. He died 1331. John le Forester, son and heir of Eoger le Forester de' Welynton, succeeded to the property, and proved himself of age in the reign of Edward III., 1335. With John de Eyton he attested a grant in Wellington, and died in the 24th year of Edward III., 1350. William le Forester succeeded his father, John, in 1377, and died 19th of Eichard II., 1395. In 1397 Eoger Forester de Wellington is described as holding Wellington Hay and Chace. He died in 1402. Eoger, his son and heir, was in 1416 appointed keeper of the same haia by the Duchess of Norfolk and the Lady Bergavenny, sisters and co-heiresses of the great Thomas Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel. His son and successor, John, died 5th Edward IV- (1465), seized of lands, etc., in Wellington, and the custody of the forest of the Wrekin. He had three sons William, John and Eichard ; and W'illiam, son of the above, appears to have been the father of another John, the former John having died without issue. John, in 1506, witnessed a deed of Thomas Cresset, as John Forester the younger, ; he married (139) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Joice Upton, the heiress of Philip Upton, of Upton under Haymond, and obtained the estate at that place, which is still inherited by his descendants. This John Forester first resided in Watling Street, where his ancestors for several generations had lived in an old timbered mansion, but he afterwards removed to Easthope, whilst his son William resided at Upton ; and Richard Forester (alias Forster of Sutton Maddock, secretary to Bishop Bonner, who built the old Mansion at Bridgnorth, called " Forester's Folly," which was burnt down during the siege of the Castle, when the high town became a heap of ruins), appears to have been a son of John Forester, of Easthope ; and Anthony Fcrester, or Foster, who figures in one of Sir Walter Scott's novels, was a son of his, born about 1510. Francis Forester, of Dothill, married Mary, daughter of Richard, Lord Newport of Ercall, having a son, Sir William Forester, Knight, of Dothill, who married Cecil, daughter of James, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. He was succeeded by his son, William Forester, Esq., who, in 1714, married Catherine, daughter of William Brooke, Esq., of Madeley Court; the issue of this marriage was the above-mentioned Brooke Forester (who married the heiress of the Weld family), and Cecil, who married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Robert Townshend, Esq., by whom he had several children, the eldest son being Cecil Weld, who inherited the estates of the famous Willey squire. This gentleman married, 16th of June, 1800, Catherine Mary, second daughter of Charles, 4th Duke of Rutland ; and on 17th of July, 1821, he was raised to the Peerage as Baron Forester of Willey Park, county Salop. Lady Forester died 1829, having had eleven children : 1st, John George Weld, afterwards 2nd baron; 2nd, Anne Elizabeth, Countess of Chesterfield; 3rd Elizabeth Catherine, who married the second Lord Carrington ; 4th, Isabella, who married General the Hon. George Anson ; 5th, George Cecil Weld, afterwards the 3rd Lord Forester ; 6th, Henrietta Maria who married the first Lord Londesborough ; 7th, Major the Hon. Charles Forester, who died 16th September, 1852 ; 8th, O. W. W. Forester, the 4th and present Lord ; 9th Col. Emilius John Weld Forester; 10th, Selina Louisa, the present Countess of Bradford; 11th, the Hon. Col. Henry Townshend Forester. Lord Forester died 23rd May, 1828, being succeeded by his eldest son, who was born 9th August, 1801, and married 10th June, 1856, the Countess Alexandrina, daughter of Count Von Maltzan, and relict of the last Viscount Melbourne. His lordship died 10th October, 1874, when the title and estate passed to his brother, George Cecil Weld, who was born in London on the 10th of May, 1807, and was educated at Westminster School. He entered the army in 1824, as Cornet in the Royal Horse Guards, in which regiment he became Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding in 1853, Lieutenant-General in 1871, and was placed on the retired list as General in October, 1877. He represented Wenlock in the House of Commons from 1828 till his succession to the peerage on the death of his brother in October, 1874. He married 8th November, 1862, the Hon. Mary Anne Jervis, third daughter of Edward, second Viscount St. Vincent, and widow of Colonel D. O. Dyce-Sombre. He was formerly a Groom of the Bedchamber to the Queen, was Controller to the Household from March to December, 1852, when he was made a Privy Councillor, and again from February, 1858, to July, 1859. He died 14th February, 1886, being succeeded by his brother, Orlando Watkin Weld, 4th and present Baron Forester. His lordship was born on the 18th of April, 1813, and married, firstly, on the 14th July, 1840, Sophia Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Norman, Esq., which lady died 2nd April, 1872, having had a son, Cecil Theodore, born 3rd August, 1842, who (140) WILLEY PARK. represented the Wenlock Boroughs from 1874 until the extinction of that seat by the Redistribution Act. Lord Forester married, secondly, 5th October, 1875, Emma Maria, eldest daughter of William Tollemache, Esq., and has a son, Orlando St. Maur Forester, born 13th October, 1877. (141) BOUT a mile from Bishop's Castle stands the ancestral home of the Oakeleys, who have held large domains in this part of Shropshire from ancient days. From the high road plain massive entrance gates open, hy the lodge, to the drive, which is sheltered by numerous trees, wherein rooks abound. The mansion is a square white block three storeys high ; from this a wing branches off at each side, terminating in an octagonal chamber ; each wing is surmounted by a balustraded balcony, and a classic portico is the principal entrance. The main portion of the structure was built about one hundred and fifty years ago, the two wings being added about half a century later. The entrance hall is not very large, but is richly decorated, its walls and floor being of oak. The wainscot is beautifully carved, and is a magnificent example of old work ; one portion of it bears the date 1637, though some is of later date. This was probably brought from the old mansion, which is a short distance away, being, like many other ancient residences, now used as a farmhouse. Four massive antique chairs stand here, the backs of which are carved in quaint fashion ; two of these have figures of Justice and Faith, and the others bear sea-horses or dragons. Suspended from the walls are various weapons, chiefly the warlike paraphernalia of a New Zealand chief ; these were gained at considerable risk by the present Mr. OakeJey's father, who was a naval officer. A pair of duelling pistols here are said to have been once used in Oakeley woods ; and there are several cases of birds from the Falkland Isles, as well as other local specimens — trophies from flood, field, and fell, of the prowess of various members of the family. To the left of the entrance hall is the drawing room, a large apartment tastefully furnished in crimson and gold ; on its walls hang many pictures, some of these being family portraits. The chief of these is a fine oval portrait, probably by Sir Joshua Eeynolds. It pourtrays the lady who married Richard Oakeley, more familiarly known in his family as " Merry Dick." Another gallant was said to be his rival for the hand of the fair lady, and she settled the delicate question of choice between them by getting on her horse and galloping off, saying that whoever caught her first should be the happy man, and Mr. Oakeley was the fortunate wooer. A record at the back of the picture gives the date of the lady's death, 1750 ; another portrait depicts her as a child. A small figure on panel by some old master (143) COUNTY SEATS OF SHliOPSHIliE. hangs near, also a small sea-piece (dated 1828) of considerable excellence ; four other marine paintings by the same artist hang on the opposite wall over the fireplace, on whose mantel- board stands some rare Indian porcelain, resplendent in gold and rich colour. Other valuable old china stands on a cabinet at the end of the room, which is lighted by two windows looking from the front and one on the side ; two classic columns divide the room, round whose ceiling runs a richly-moulded cornice. A small full-length water-colour represents John Oakeley, in military dress, and another small picture is a portrait of Elizabeth Oakeley. Between the front windows hang five miniatures, three of these are small ovals of great excellence, family portraits, and there ia one silhouette. The dining room is square and lofty; its two windows command a fine stretch of landscape; the walls are painted in a light warm tone. Over the mantel-piece is a large powerful sea-piece, suspended on either side of which are two foxes' brushes, with a fox's head above. Many other of these trophies of the hunting field hang on the walls, reminiscences of some good runs ; a seal's head is also here. Various old prints and another sea-piece, with two family portraits, hang in this room ; the chairs are upholstered in red leather, and on a massive sideboard stands a magnificent china vase commemorative of Priam, winner of the Derby, 1830. The morning room is a cosy, daintily furnished apartment, its door-panels are charmingly decorated with flowers painted on deep gray backgrounds ; over the mantel-piece are two illuminated addresses, and between the two windows is a large mirror. Over an oak carved cabinet is an old coloured print, and a painting of a favourite horse ; two small landscapes, and a spaniel, are by Gill, and several water-colours show some scenes in the arctic regions where Henry Oakeley, father of the present squire, accompanied one of the expeditions in search of the North- West Passage. The library is an octagonal chamber in the right wing of the mansion, it is lighted by two windows ; four cases of books stand here, and in this room are preserved some of the numerous and valuable archives of the family. An ancient pedigree on parchment shows the family tree from Eowland Oakeley, 1550 ; and three most interesting records are deeds under the great seal of England. These relate to the manor of Lydham, and are issued by Queen Mary, James I., and Charles I., the impressions of the great seals of those monarchs being in excellent preservation. From the inner hall the staircase leads to the upper storeys. On one of the landings is a queer framed panel, in high relief, of two wrestlers. The house commands a splendid prospect, such far-away heights as Cader Idris and Snowdon being visible on a clear day. Oakeley itself stands on an elevated spot, being over seven hundred feet above the sea level ; in the well-wooded grounds surrounding the mansion are some magnificent pollard oaks, some of these patriarchs of the wood being of giant girth. Spruce, cedars, beeches, and other fine trees abound, and there is much valuable timber in the Oakeley Woods, which are immediately opposite. Ehododendrons and other flowering plants border the various paths, and there is a tennis court in front of the house. The extensive kitchen gardens are well stocked with choice fruit trees; and there is a considerable extent of greenhouses and vineries. Adjoining the mansion are the commodious stables, the old portions of which are still standing, though now used as dog-kennels. The Oakeleys are of very ancient date in Shropshire, and in 1203 we find Stephen (144) OAKELEY. de Acle, who is probably one of the ancestors of the family which has held Oakeley from that to the present time. In 1255 Acliche was reputed to contain one-fifth of a hide. William fitz Eoger and Madoe fitz Llewellyn held it under the Bishop of Hereford by a rent of 2s. 8d. per annum, and by doing suit to the Castle Manor Court. In 1292 Eobert, Clerk of Oclee sat at the assizes as eighth juror for Purslow Hundred. The family name was subsequently spelt Ockley ; and it is conjectured that its armorial bearings originated at the time of the Crusades, together with those of the two neighbouring families of Plowden and Walcot, who also bore the fleur de hjs. In the Heralds' Visitation of 1623, the pedigree then recorded begins at John Ockley de Ockley, and ends, nine generations afterwards, in the direct male line at William Oakeley, who married Alice, daughter of John Madocks. The following portion of the family history is probably a fragment of the Heralds' Visitation of Shropshire in 1664 ; it is taken from a paper preserved at Oakeley, which bears at the top a sketch in colours of the family arms. " He beareth Argent on a Fess between three crescents Gules as many Fleurs de lis or by the Name of Oakley. This Coat belongeth to the Oakleys, of Oakley, in the County of Salop." "Rowland Oakley, of Oakley, in the County of Salop, married Mary, daughter of William Crowther, of Betson, in the said County, and had issue by her four sons and three daughters. The Sons were Richard, eldest son, Samuel, second son a Merchant in London, John Oakley, third son of the City Westminster ; Jeremiah, fourth son a divine. The Daughters were Judith, wife of Maurice Tanner, of Bishop's Castle, eldest daughter ; Mary, wife of Rowland Oakley, of Pentrenant, in the County of Montgomery ; and Martha, 3rd daughter, wife of John Ambler, Clerk. Richard Oakley, of Oakley, in the County of Salop, eLlest son, and heir of Rowland aforesaid, married two wifes, the first was Mary, sister of John Combes, of Greys Inn, in the county of Middlesex ; the second wife was Margaret, daughter of Wormal, but by her he had no issue, though by his first wife Mary aforesaid, he had two sons and five daughters. The sons were William Oakley of Oakley, Esq., eldest son, at the date hereof one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the said county of Salop, age 32, the 6th of September, Anno 1664. He married Mary, second daughter to Walter Wareing of Oldbury in the county of Salop and Rowland Oakley second son in Hamborough Merchant. The Names of the Daughters were Martha, eldest daughter, wife to Richard Owen, of Rhusayson, in the county of Montgomery, Esq. ; Mary, second daughter, wife of John Newton, of Highley, in the county of Salop; Margaret, third daughter, wife of Thomas Crump, of Ludlow, Esq. ; Judith, fourth daughter, wife of Edward Herbert, of in the county of Merioneth ; and Ann, fifth daughter. William Oakeley was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1660, and M.P. for Bishop's Castle ; by his marriage above mentioned, he had no surviving issue ; he married, secondly, Barbara, eldest daughter of Charles Walcot, Esq., of Walcot, by Anne, his wife, fourth daughter of James, eighth Lord Chandos, and sister of James, first Duke of Chandos. By this union he had three sons, Richard, the heir ; John, of the Middle Temple, who died unmarried ; and William, ancestor of the family of Oakeley, of Plas Tan-y-Bwlch, and of Sir Herbert Oakeley, Bart. The eldest son, Rich d Oakeley of Oakeley, was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1724, and married Margaret, daughter of Sir Herbert Croft, Bart., by whom he nau two sons; at his death, in 1738, the elder, Richard, succeeded him, but this gentleman dying (145) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. without issue the family estates passed to John Oakeley, son of his younger brother Herbert, who had married Anne, daughter of Eobert Loder, Esq., who died in 1778. John Oakeley of Oakeley was succeeded by his son, the Eev. Herbert Oakeley, rector of Lydham and Prebendary of Worcester, who married on the 29th of November, 1804, Catherine, daughter of John Bolland, Esq., of Clapham. This lady died on the 7th of April, 1858, having had six sons and four daughters. The eldest son, William, married, in 1834, Alicia Mary, daughter of General Sir Evan Lloyd, of Eerney Hall. He was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1832, and died without issue in June, 1851, being succeeded by his brother, the Eev. Arthur Oakeley, who died unmarried 2nd January, 1870, when the estates fell to the next brother, Henry Oakeley, who was born on the 28th of December, 1816. This gentleman married, on the 1st of June, 1847, Emily Letitia, third daughter of Colonel Hamlin Trelawny, E.A., of Trelawny, Cornwall, and had two sons and two daughters. As already stated, he was in the Eoyal Navy ; and at his death, on the 9th March, 1877, he was succeeded by his son, John Oakeley, Esq., the present proprietor of the ancestral estates. Mr. Oakeley was born on the 7th November, 1856, and married, on the 23rd of October, 1880, Mary Catherine, daughter of the Eev. C. Kent, of Dinham Hall, Ludlow, and has issue John Henry, born August 11th, 1881, and died December 26th, 1882 ; Kathleen Emily, born January 10th, 1884, and Evelyn Mary, born August 21st, 1885. (146) little township of Albrighton is pleasantly situate on the Whitchurch Eoad, about three miles north of Shrewsbury ; and in the centre of the parish, which comprises about seven hundred and fifty acres, stands the Hall, the subject of our present article. The name of the place was variously spelt in old times as Etbritone, Etburton, Adbrichtone ; and in the |P Domesday record we find it was held of Warin by Alcher, who appears to have given it to Shrewsbury Abbey prior to the Domesday Survey, and his grant was duly recited and confirmed by various charters of Henry I., Henry II., Stephen, and Henry III. From its possession by the Abbey, the place acquired the name of Monk's Albrighton ; and between 1161 and 1182, Bishop Peche in his confirmation to the Monks of Shrewsbury allows them the tithes of Adbrichtone as tithes of their own proper demesnes. The Pimhill Hundred Roll of 1255 states that "the Abbot of Shrewsbury holds two hides in Adbrichton Monacliorum in capite of the King " ; and in December 1296, an inquest decided that it would not be injurious to the King if he permitted the Abbot to enclose a number of acres in Adbrighton and Shetershawe within the Forest of Hawemon, and the Jurors recorded that these places were not much frequented by beasts of chase. Albrighton remained ecclesiastical property until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII., when it was confiscated with the other possessions of Shrewsbury Abbey ; it was subsequently purchased by Thomas Ireland, of Shrewsbury, to whom a grant was made 31st October in the thirty-fifth year of that monarch's reign. We quote the opening passages of the document : — " Henry the Eighth, by the grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and on Earth supreme Head of the English and Irish Church. To all to whom these present Letters shall come, Greeting. Know ye that we for the Sum of Two Hundred and ninety-two pounds six shillings and nine pence of good and lawful Money of England, paid into the hands of our Treasurer, of our Court of Augmentation of the Revenues of our Crown to our Use by our well beloved Thomas Ireland, Gentleman, with which Sum indeed, we confess ourselves to be fully satisfied and contented and the same Thomas Irelande, his Heirs and Executors thereof, to be acquitted and discharged by these presents — of our special Grace certain Knowledge and mere Motion have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant to the aforesaid Thomas (147) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Irelande all that our Manor of Albrighton, in the County of Salop, with all its rights, Members, and Appurtenances to the late Monastery of Shrewsbury, in the said county of Salop, now dissolved, lately belonging and appertaining, and heretofore being parcel of the possessions and Eevenues of the same late Monastery, and also all and singular our Messuages, Mills, Houses, Buildings, Lands, Tenements, Meadows, Feedings, pastures, Eents, Eeversions, Services, rent charges, Dryrents, and the Eents reserved upon Leases and Grants whatsoever, Farms, Fee Farms, Waters, Fisheries, Fishings, Woods, Underwoods, Heath, Furze, Moors, Commons, Ways, Waste Grounds, Natives and Villians, with their retinue Wards, Marriages, Escheats, Beliefs, Herietts Courts, Court Letes profits, Views of Frankpledge, and all things which appertain or hereafter may seem or ought to belong to Views of Frankpledge, Goods, and Chattels, Waifs, Estrays, profits, Commodities, Emoluments, and Hereditaments, what- soever, lying, being, coming, growing, or renewing in the Town, Fields, Parish, or Hamlets of the blessed Mary, within our Town of Shrewsbury, in our said County of Salop, or anywhere else in the same County, to the said Manor belonging, or appertaining, or heretofore esteemed, known, taken, used, reputed, demised, or lett as being Member, part or parcel of the same Manor and to the said late Monastery of Shrewsbury, of late belonging and appertaining " Of this Thomas Ireland the following record is preserved in Taylor's MS. Chronicle : — " 1554, This yeare dep'tyd this p'sent lyffe master Thomas Ireland, of Salop, mere' a right p'testant and a dylygent favowrar of the woorde of God and was also a verteous and charitable man unto the poore zelows & carefull in p'vydinge for them and yf he had lyved he wold have brought hys mynde to pas in ye same for his perpetuall memorie." The Ireland family were living at Oswestry in the reign of Eichard II., for about 1390, John Abbot of Haghmond leased Hethmill to Eichard Irlond of Oswaldstre ; they had a large mansion in the High Street of the County town, where it yet stands, a fine example of half-timbered architecture, bearing still the name of " Ireland's Mansion." This is said to have been built by Eobert Ireland, about whom the aforesaid MS. Chronicle records thus : — " 1599, Oct. 6th. Mr. Eobart Ireland Esquire departid this present lyffe who was a stowt protestant and a furtherar of the poore, a good housekeeper and one yt keptt greate countenance in his proseedings in this towne he died godly in good remembraunce unto the last ennde and was solemly burieed in Sainct Chadds Churche in Shrewsbury for whom were many weepinge teares & great moane. He will be myssid of his kinsfolke and freeunds. " In the Heralds' visitation of Shropshire, 1623, the pedigree of the family is traced from the Jays, of Jay, in the county of Salop; and in the twenty-third year of Henry VII., 1358, is recorded David Ireland of Shrewsbury ; this was the father of the aforesaid Thomas Ireland, whose grandson, Thomas, was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1632, and it is probable that the Hall was built by him. This Thomas Ireland married Jane, daughter of Eowland Dutton, of Hatton, Cheshire, and had one son, Eobert, who was eleven years old at the Visitation, and two daughters. For five generations Albrighton was the dwelling-place of his descendants, the last being Thomas Pershall Ireland, who left only a natural daughter, at whose decease without issue the property escheated to the Crown, but was granted to the next heir male, John Ireland, nephew of the above-meutioned Thomas ; shortly afterwards the property was then sold, and in 1853 it was bought by William Hanbury Sparrow, Esq., grandfather of the present proprietor. The family is a branch of the Sparrows of Bishton, Staffordshire, and Burke in his Landed Gentry traces the pedigree from Thomas Sparroy of Audley, in the sixteenth century. The family held large (148) ALBBIGH TON. collieries near Wolverhampton, and one member of it was the first person in South Staffordshire who erected a steam engine for the purpose of raising water from the mines. William Sparrow of Pattingham, Staffordshire, married Mary, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Hanbury, of Birmingham, a member of the Hanburys of Hanbury, Worcestershire, and at his death, on the 15th of February, 1834, was succeeded by his eldest son, William Hanbury Sparrow, who was bom on the 6th of January, 1789. This gentleman was twice married, and had several children ; at his death on the 20th of January, 1866, his estates passed to his three sons, William Mander Sparrow, Esq., who succeeded to the Penn Court, Albrighton, and Woollaston properties ; Frederick Turton Sparrow, Esq., who inherited Habberley ; and Arthur Sparrow, Esq., who succeeded to the paternal property of Church Preen, Eaton-uuder-Haywood, and Eushbury. Mr. W. M. Sparrow, who was born on the -16th THE OLD PORCH, ALBKIGHTON. of November, 1811, married on the 10th of May, 1848, Alice, daughter of Thomas Eogers, Esq., of Liverpool and Frixton, Lancashire, and died 9th February, 1881, leaving no issue, being succeeded in the Albrighton estates by his nephew, William Arthur Sparrow, Esq. whose Shropshire seat is the subject of our notice. The Hall is a plain unpretentious edifice of red and blue bricks, very substantial and spacious, as its long corridors and lofty well lighted rooms testify. The surrounding land covers about eight hundred and thirty-five acres, the grounds immediately adjoiniug the mansion being tastefully laid out in lawus, pleasure gardens, and pretty paths bordered by rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs. On the south side is a square pool, which is approached by descending terraces ; it is edged with rhododendrons, firs, and other trees. (149) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. In another portion of the grounds, near a conservatory, is a sort of open summer house, formed of old black oak, carved ; and a short distance from this is the old Bath or pump house, which supplies the hall with water. The stables are large and well-fitted in comfortable fashion, access to the courtyard leading to these being gained from a door-way at the back of the house, where stands a remarkable example of carved oak, darkened by time. This is a fine old gabled porch, richly carved, as shown in our illustration. The entrance hall is a large, well-lighted, oblong apartment, panelled all round with oak wainscot (similar to that in the old house of Albright Hussey) to within three feet of the ceiling, where the walls are painted of a pale greenish-gray tone ; over the doorways are stags' heads and ether hunting trophies, and above the window cornices is some good old THE ENTEANCE HALL, ALBRIGHTON. embroidery. The large chimney piece is finely carved, and bears the heraldic emblazonment of the arms of Lady Puleston, who resided here some years ago ; the escutcheon of the Ireland family is carved above the architrave. In one corner of this hall stands a fine white jug of remarkable capacity : it has a loose lid, and its large bowl is decorated with subjects showing the pleasures of the chase and the fruit of the vine. To the left is the morning room, a spacious well-appointed room lighted by three windows ; its walls are adorned by various landscapes — the most important of these being Wood's " Shades of Evening," — and other pictures. The chairs are upholstered in green velvet and there is a fine clock in a tall, old-fashioned marqueterie case. At the opposite end of the entrance hall is the library, a comfortable apartment, which, with those already mentioned, formed part of the old house ; round the fireplace are some fine examples of (150) ALBBIGHTON. old carved oak, one portion of which bears the date 1664. The octagonal centre-table and the chairs are also nicely carved, the latter being appropriately fitted in dark red leather. The dining room is large and lofty, and is panelled all round with oak, some of its carved pilasters being of remarkable excellence ; this was formerly the kitchen of the old mansion, which was considerably enlarged and altered by Mr. W. M. Sparrow. Its large bay window overlooks the terraced lawn and the pool, and on the walls hang seven portraits, two by Sir Francis Grant, P.E.A., depicting Mr. W. H. Sparrow and Mr. W. M. Sparrow, grand- father and uncle of the present owner, whose father is also pourtrayed by E. R. Taylor, another example of whose work also hangs here. There are several landscapes and a figure subject from Thackeray's Virginians. The carved furniture is in admirable keeping. From the hall a massive staircase ascends to the top of the building, and on the first floor gives access to the drawing room, which is also a portion of the old structure. This is a commodious, daintily-furnished apartment, whose doors are decorated in white and gold ; the cornices are also gilt, and the curtains blue, which is also the dominant tone of the rich upholstery of the chairs, some of which are gilt. Like the other rooms it has a fireplace of carved oak, the centre panel being adorned with cherubs' heads ; above the mantel stand three large china' jars. The three windows of this room look over the lawn and pleasure grounds at the front of the house ; on the walls hang four oval water-colour drawings (modern French) of roses, poppies, etc., delicate in colour and admirable in execution. On the ground floor is the billiard room, whose walls are also adorned with various pictures, still-life studies of fish, game, and roses, and some landscapes, one fine example of the latter being by Poingdestre. The church or chapel of Albrighton dates from early days, though all ancient records appear to have been lost. The present edifice consists of nave, porch and bell turret, built in the early Norman style ; it contains a Norman font. The register dates from the year 1684 ; the earlier register, dating from 1583; being lost. The living, which is a vicarage, is in the gift of W. A. Sparrow, Esq., and is held by the Eev. Frederick John Walker, M.A., of Magdalen College, Cambridge, who was inducted in 1878. Albrighton was formed into an ecclesiastical parish, from the parish of St. Mary, Shrewsbury, in 1860. (151) jAEGE square edifice, solidly built of brick with stone facings, is Davenport, the seat of Edmund H. Davenport, Esq., situate in the parish of Worfield, the spire of whose pretty church is seen through a fine avenue of elms leading from the front of the house. The mansion, which is built on the top of a hill overlooking the valley of the Worfe, a tributary of the Severn, stands in well-timbered undulating grounds, commanding extensive and picturesque views of the surrounding country, and was built in 1727 by Henry ^Davenport, who demolished the former house, which stood some distance from the present site. The main block shown in our illustration comprises three storeys, with parapet, upon which are stone vases ; four semi-detached blocks of similar shape but smaller dimensions are covered with ivy ; these are connected by corridors with the house itself. The architect was Smith of Warwick,— a pupil of Inigo Jones. The front entrance hall is decorated with armour, weapons, and hunting trophies ; two enamelled shields are in green and crimson and gold. Over the central inner doorway are emblazoned the family arms, which also appear with various quarterings in stained glass over the entrance door. The oak chairs also bear the Davenport escutcheon, and the mantel piece has an emblematic frieze, over which is a large picture of Mary Queen of Scots ; two bronzes — Hercules and a Venus de Milo — are here ; and there are several good pictures. In the vestibule are cases of rare birds ; a sea piece by John Van Hagen, 1714, and game, by Peter Eysbrack, 1704. A table inlaid in ivory with two figures in Elizabethan costume, supports a splendid vase. Two marble topped oak tables have the family crest carved upon their fronts. Here are also the two brass-bcund mahogany chests brought from India full of specie by Henry Davenport. To the right of the entrance-hall is the large dining room, panelled in oak, and lighted by four windows. Eighteen family portraits adorn the walls. The mantelpiece is a fine piece of alto relievo in the manner of Grinling Gibbons, the shelf being supported by two male figures nearly life size ; the frieze above is elaborately carved with the crest in a medallion attached by chains of flowers, wheat ears, etc. Above, the centre is occupied by a portrait in panel, the frame forming an integral part of the design. The whole is (153) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. surmounted by a broken pediment filled by a shield charged with the coat of arms, and suspended by wreaths. The saloon or drawing_ room is a fine apartment, with walls and doors of mahogany inlaid ; over the marble mantel is a portrait, and over the doorways are inlaid the heraldic insignia of the family. The floor is also inlaid, and the room, which is lighted by three windows, is remarkable for the lavish use of valuable Indian woods, the walls and floor being almost entirely [composed of them. Some of the panelling is of very beautiful Eenaissance design. What was formerly the little dining room is now used as a study ; on its wall hangs a large portrait of the Eev. E. S. Davenport with his pony; and over a bookcase above the mantel is a bust of Gratiana Davenport, 1753. In the gunroom are six quaint hunting pictures, and 'the various corridors contain family portraits and other works. The grand staircase is of oak ; [it has a moulded cornice, and four windows ; on brackets from the walls are ten busts, and the walls themselves are panelled like a stone exterior. Vases, inlaid cabinets, and cases of rare birds are here, many of the last-named being brought from Australia and New Guinea by the present proprietor in 1875. Various pictures are here, including two large portrait groups, and the spacious bedrooms are equally well adorned with water-colour drawings and prints. In one of the corridors are some Hogarth prints dated 1733. The bedrooms are well fitted with fire escapes, etc. Among other valuable pictures in the house is a fine game piece by Peter Casteels, 1732, evidently painted for some member of the family, as the Davenport shield appears on a tankard in the picture. The drawing room is lighted by three windows overlooking the grounds at the front of the mansion ; it has a splendid moulded cornice, and above its marble mantel is a frieze of eight figures. A gilt centrepiece in the ceiling suspends lustred candelabra, and over the doorways are two busts. The estate was formerly known as Hallon, and is said to have been so named after a Saxon chief, who fought a battle in the fields below, and crossed the Worfe at the spot now called Hallon's Ford. Of its ancient possessors we gather the following' account from the Eev. S. B. James's " Worfield on the Worfe :'" BARKER OP HALLON. The name of this family first appears in the records of the manor of Hallon towards the close of the reign of Edward II. The first member named is William le Barker, and it seems highly probable that he was a member of another family which had been situated in the north of the county, and being driven thence through the political troubles of that time, had obtained land in Hallon, and assumed the above name for purposes of conceal- ment. This appears from the evidence of the Visitations of the County, which all commence the genealogy of the family with Eandulph de Calverhall, and afterwards continue the line as Barker alias Calverhall, or Coverall. Now Calverhall was a member of the ancient Manor of Adderley, near Ightfield, and from the history of that Manor it appears that it was held m capuc of the king by Bartholomew de Badlesmere, in the time of Edward II. This Baron had the misfortune to displease Isabella, the imperious Queen of that monarch, when, as Governor of Ledes Castle in Kent, he refused admission to her retinue, on their (154) DAVENPORT . way to Canterbury. So great was the displeasure of the King that he pursued the unfortunate Baron with unrelenting hostility, until he was finally beheaded, and all his estates forfeited to the crown. Probably at this time, the undertenants shared in the disgrace of their lord, and one of them, William de Calverhall, fled from the north of the county, and reappeared at Hallon under the assumed name of William le Barker. At all events this person is found in possession of the manor of Hallon, and was succeeded in the early part of the reign of Edward III. by his son, Roger le Barker, who died in the year 1368 seised of this manor, which upon his death vested in Alice, his wife, for in 1369 she settled half a messuage and nook of land upon each of her sons, William and Roger. William Barker of Hallon, her son, died in 1411, having married Margery, daughter of William Whorwood, a family of distinction in that neighbourhood, and was succeeded by Henry Barker of Hallon, who in 1403 obtained from William Whorwood and Joan his wife, a toft called Chamberlain's Yard, and half yard land called Massey's Land with other estates, and died there in 1438, having married Margery the heiress of Stephen Lovestick, of Hallon, who appears to have brought with her considerable property. Henry Barker had likewise a brother, Robert Barker, who shared with him the paternal inheritance, since we find his descendants for nine generations possessors of land there, the last on record dying in the reign of James II. William Barker, son and heir of Henry, seems to have possessed the bulk of heritage, and having, before 1425 married Ann, the daughter of John Colynson Rowley, of Rowley, in the parish of Worfield, died in the year 1480, leaving two sons. John Barker, the second son, married the heiress of William Grene, of Aston, in the parish of Clewerly, and became progenitor of the Barkers of Aston, a family who continued in possession of that estate for ten generations, the youngest sons always inheriting, according to the custom of the Manor, while the elder became the founders of families at Calverhall, Coulchurst, Wolverton, etc., in the north of the county, at Haghmond Abbey, near Shrewsbury, and at Hopton Castle in the south. The eldest son, however, George Barker, continued in possession of the Manor of Hallon, and having married Ellen, the daughter of — Cumber, of Rimer, co. Stafford, left Ann, an only daughter and heiress, who married first William Day, by whom she left no issue surviving, and secondly, William Waverton, son of John Waverton by the daughter of — Leighton, of Leighton, co. Salop, and left Joan, only daughter and heiress, who married George Bromley, Justice of Chester in 1581. He was descended from a family long resident in the parish of Worfield, and had a son, Francis Bromley, of Hallon, who married Joyce, the daughter of Sir Edward Leighton of Wattlesborough in the county of Salop, and left an only daughter and heiress, Jane Bromley, who married William Davenport, descended from the ancient family of Davenport, in the county of Chester, who founded the family of that name which still possesses the property in this parish. The Davenports derive their name from Danus or Davenus-port in Cheshire, which in the time of Edric I, was taken by Settericus, [King of the Danes. In the time of Athelstan (one hundred years before the Conquest) they are mentioned as flourishing and being celebrated for their military valour. The Bromley Davenports of Capes- thorne, Cheshire, have a long roll, very ancient, containing the names of bandit chiefs taken in the time of Vivian and his son Roger and his grandson Thomas de Davenport, in the reigns of William I, Stephen, and Henry III. The lineage of the family is traced in an unbroken male line from the time of m (15.5) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. William I. In the reign of Henry VII. we find Thomas Davenport, second son of Sir Ralph Davenport, knight; he married Alice, only daughter and heiress of Robert Handford, Esq., of Chorley ; and his son, Robert Davenport, of Chorley, married Anne, daughter of — ■ Bellot, of Bellot, Cheshire, by whom he had .a son and heir, William. William Davenport, of Chorley, married Grace, daughter of Fowke Dutton, Esq., of Dutton, Cheshire, and was father of Henry Davenport of Chorley, who married Jane, daughter of William Leicester, Esq., of Toft. His son, William Davenport, sold the Chorley estate, and settled himself at Hallon, Salop, the family estate of his wife, Jane Bromley. This lady, as we have already stated, was the daughter and heiress of Francis Bromley, of Hallon, heir of Sir George Bromley, knight. Their son Henry Davenport, of Hallon, married Lettice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Haddocks, Esq., of Bridgnorth, and died in February, 1664, leaving an only surviving son, Henry Davenport, who married, 22nd October, 1665, Elizabeth, daughter of Sharington Talbot, Esq., of Lacock, Wiltshire, by whom he had several children. He died in July, 1698, and his elder son, Sharington Davenport, who was a major-general in the army, died unmarried in Ireland, 5th July 1719, when the estates passed to his brother Henry Davenport, who was baptised 26th February, 1677-78. This gentleman was twice married, firstly, to Mary Lucy, daughter of Daniel Charden, Esq., and secondly to Barbara, second daughter of Sir John Ivory ; he died 6th April, 1731, being succeeded by the only son of the first marriage, Sharington Davenport, who married Gratiana Rodd, of Hereford, and died in 1744, leaving several children. This lady was celebrated for her beauty ; she was introduced by the witty Beau Nash at the rooms in Bath, as a " rod that would flog them all ;" and the poet Shenstone dedicated to her some lines in the woods which were laid out by him. Their third son, William Yelverton Davenport of Davenport, was born 17th February 1750, and married Jane Elizabeth, daughter of Crawley, Esq., of Bath, and relict of — Blythe, Esq. ; he died in February 1834, when the estates passed to his nephew, the Rev. Edmund Sharington Davenport, who was born 18th May 1778. Like his father, this gentleman was vicar of Worfield ; he married, 7th August 1806, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Tongue, Esq., of Hatton, which lady died 21st September 1850, having had several children. Her husband, who had died 27th February 1842, was succeeded by his son, William Sharington Davenport, Esq., who was born 30th July 1808, and married, 22nd December 1835, Catherine Louisa, only daughter of Samuel Peter Marindin, Esq., of Chesterton, Salop. This lady died 17th July, 1865, having had four sons and one daughter. The present owner, Edmund H. Davenport, Esq., who succeeded in 1871, is nineteenth in direct descent from King Edward II. through the families of Fitz-alan, Howard, and Talbot. He is a Justice of the Peace for Shropshire, and Captain Q.O.R. (Staffordshire) Yeomanry Cavalry. He is also patron of the living of Worfield, which was a rectory until 1320, but is now a vicarage, which since 1872 has been held by the Rev E. P. Nicholas, M.A., of Exeter College, Oxford. The lofty spire of the Church is a landmark well known to travellers by the high-road from Bridgnorth to Shifnal or Wolverhampton, and to* all who have driven along the wide, sandy lanes within some miles of it. It is the only object which marks where the village stands amid the trees; it marks, too, the spot where a Christian fane has stood from Saxon times to the present day. Domesday records the existence of a priest, which, as the Rev. R. W. Eyton says, naturally indicates a church ; and he adds that Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who (156) DAVENPORT. held the manor, would scarcely leave it spiritually unprovided for. In the thirteenth century the advowson appears to have been in the hands of the Crown ; King John twice gave incumbents to the church ; whilst Henry III. ordered the constables of Brug to see that it received tithes of Pendleston Mill, situated at the confluence of the Worfe with the Severn. Edward II. gave, and Pope John XXI. confirmed, the grant of the advowson to Walter de Langton, Bishop of Lichfield, who, exercising his patronage upon the death of the rector, 1321, gives, as the motives which influenced him in the choice of a successor, the following: " (1) That the church, on account of the great cure of souls annexed thereto, needed no little and discreet management (regimine non modico et discreto) ; (2) that he himself could not at present make any final arrangement about its management, as he was impeded from doing so by certain legitimate causes; (3) lest in course of time the church itself should suffer loss spiritually and temporally, and its cure be neglected; (4) that its buildings, chancel, and embellishments should be repaired in the best manner, and properly maintained." Under Bishop Langton's successor the church became a vicarage, and the rectorial tithes were transferred to the dean and chapter of Lichfield. In 1341 the parish was assessed at " twenty merks only, because the growing corn was destroyed by storms and a very bad season ; because there were fewer sheep than formerly in the parish ; because the small tithes, tithes of mills, offerings, heriots, glebe, and other profits of all the church were not to be reckoned as increasing the assessment ; because, lastly, many tenants had quitted under stress of poverty, and their land lay untilled." Two centuries since the rectorial and vicarial incomes were thus stated : — Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, £51 per annum on an average, namely, the vicar, £16 16s. lOd. as under ; house and garden 10s. ; in Easterbrook ? £6 13s. 4d. ; tithes of two mills, 14s. ; oblations of Chesterton Chapel, 18s. ; oblations of Eoughton Chapel, 12s. ; corn tithes of Chesterton, £5 ; oblations of the ' three days,' 14s. ; in geese, young swine, and other small j^'oduce, £1 13s. 4d. ; in candles 2s. 2d." The living is now commuted at £138. Among its incumbents have been men famous in their time. Henry, Archdeacon of Stafford, presented by King John, became Archbishop of Dublin in 1213. Waiter de Cantilupe, who was also presented to the living by King John, was elected Bishop of Worcester in 1236. Wm, de Kilkenny, presented by Henry III., was Lord Chancellor, and his successor at Worfield was another Lord Chancellor, Henry de Wengham, who was also prebendary of Alveley, in the Collegiate Church of Bridgnorth. Many old families of distinction still linger in the parish, and the history of several is told by the handsome mural memorials the church contains. In a side chapel, separated by a richly- carved screen, is an altar tomb, with recumbent figures of Sir George Bromley and his lady, with the date 1588 ; this tomb was erected, as the inscription shows, by their two sons, Sir Edward, who had succeeded his father in the estate, and Sir Thomas, then Lord Chancellor of Queen Elizabeth. Beneach a canopy of beautiful workmanship are other figures of Sir Edward Bromley, Knight, and his wife, with the date 1626. Costly mural monuments also perpetuate the names of the Davenports, Broughtons, Vickers, Marindins, Fletchers, Masons, Johnsons, and others. Several of the vaults, in one of which Archdeacon Vicars lies entombed, are cut out of the solid rock. Worfield has many, and some important, charities — charities which testify not only of large-hearted, but of enlightened benevolence on the part of the donors. Lands have been left for schools and schoolmasters, funds for purchasing lands for the use of the poor, for distributing alms in money, bread, and Bibles ; in all amounting to as much as £250, yearly value. fl57) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. The crest of the Davenports is "a man's head, couped at the shoulders, and side- faced, proper, with a rope round the neck, or ;" and there is a tradition that an ancestor of the family in early days accidentally shot a king's messenger, an act of high treason punishable by death. In consideration, however, of the honourable position and good services of the family the penalty was not enforced, but to mark the gravity of the offence, the Davenports were henceforth to use as their crest the head of a man with a halter round his neck. Tradition further goes that so much of the rope is removed every hundred years. (158) (^vwct^" 1^, Q,- sMSBr^ ^j le little township of Whitton, about foiu - miles north of Burford, of which parish it forms part, stands Whitton Court. Its site, not far from the Worcestershire border, commands extensive views of distant hills in several counties. The house, which faces south-west, is built of red bricks with stone L'essings ; its venerable walls, as shown in our plate, are covered with ivy, wild vine, roses, clematis, jessamine, and other climbing flowers, which give additional ghtness to this ideal of an old English home. From the gravel path of the drive, a low wall extends about half way along the front ; this also is over-grown with luxuriant vegetation, and the cracks of its stones are filled with ferns and flowers. The terraced lawn in front is bordered with old-fashioned flowers, and two small flights of scone steps lead down from the porch, which stands out near the right bay of the mansion. The massive iron-studded door opens into a vestibule, which is, on the left side, partitioned off by an ancient oak screen, with large thick panels, from the entrance hall, to which a curtained archway gives access. This large apartment is wainscocted to within two or three feet of the ceiling, which is divided transversely by four beams into nine compartments on wdiich are stencilled floral decorations. The floor is of red bricks, laid herring-bone wise, and the sides of the large open fire-plaoe are filled with enamelled bricks ; above the plain stone mantel-piece is a painting of a stag hunt, and the upper portion of the wall at the end of the room is adorned with various shields of arms and floral ornament painted on the plaster. One of these shields bears the inscription — Anno Dom 1682, another has the initials C.F.D., and others bear the rampant lion of the Charltons. An old oak chair is inlaid with a Moorish design, ami another quaint chair, evidently of great antiquity, has a triangular seat. Right and left of the tire-place are two mullioned windows of two lights each, partially tilled with stained glass bearing the monogram of the present owner, and the date (1881) of her restorations. From the wainscot is suspended an old-fashioned lantern, and the whole interior presents a picturesque and ancient aspect. To the right of the vestibule is the dining room, whose large mullioned window commands extensive views of the garden and distant hills ; in its recess are old fashioned (159) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. cushioned benches, and there are two other large windows on the left side of the apart- ment, as well as two smaller lights. Like the other rooms, this has oak wainscot on its walls, and the whole of the furniture is appropriate to the surroundings. The mantelpiece is of plain stone, and another old-fashioned steel lantern hangs from a bracket on the wall. A corner cabinet contains various vases and other choice pieces of pottery. In the corresponding wing of the mansion is the drawing room, lighted by three windows ; its stone mantel has an oak architrave in whose recesses are china plates and vases ; the panelled walls are painted in a light colour. The staircase leads from the entrance hall ; in a corner at the foot of the steps is a spinning-wheel, and the walls are partly covered with tapestry. A large four-windowed room here is also decorated with tapestry covering a considerable portion of the wainscot, which extends from the floor to the corniced ceiling. On the plain oak floor stands a massive table, three chairs, and an old oak chest. On the tapestry — from which this apartment is called the " tapestry room " — are worked ornamental garden scenes, with fountains, human figures, birds, monkeys, and various grotesques. A portion of the buildings adjoining the house is now occupied as a farmhouse ; the side looking into the courtyard is a fine example of old half-timbered work. On the east side of the house the old gardens may still be traced, though now over- grown with grass. They are laid out in terraces sloping down to three fish ponds, only one of which is now filled with water. Whitton Court was the seat of the Charlton family anterior to their occupation of Ludford ; and the present house is supposed to have been built by Sir Eobert Charlton in the early part of the reign of Charles I. Among the muniments preserved at Ludford House are many deeds relating to Whitton; among them is a grant, early in the 13th century, by William de Whitton to Joan his daughter, for her marriage, of half a virgate of land at Whitton. This document, which has a fragment of a large seal attached, is attested by Sir E. Abbot of Wigmore, William Carbonel, and twelve others named. In the 29th year of Edward I. there is a release by Henry le Moneour, of Ludlow, to his son, John le Moneour, of all his right in the manor of Whytton ; this is witnessed by Eoger, lord of Bitterley, Walter de Clifford, and five others, and has a seal attached, with the legend " Sigillum Henrici Monetarii." In 1546 there is probate of the will of John Wytton. The mansion is at present occupied by its proprietor, Miss Mills. (160) / a picturesque part of South Shropshire, on the road between Wenlock m) and Ludlow, about six miles south-west from the former town, stands Shipton Hall, the ancient seat of the Myttons. The venerable mansion is built of grey stone in the Elizabethan style, and the mullioned windows of its ivy-clad exterior somewhat remind one of the contemporary pile — -now in ruins — of Moreton Corbet. The structure fronts the road and commands an extensive view of the Brown Glee Hdl ; several stately trees close at hand add to the beauty of the landscape surrounding the ancient house, whose lichen-stained stones speak silently of the past. Rhododendrons and other shrubs adorn the grounds in front of the Hall, to the left is a group of tall firs, and some distance behind is a rookery. Through a well-kept flower garden two flights of stone steps, flanked with vases, lead up to the porch, which is at the base of . the square tower shewn in our illustration. The Myttons, of Shipton, were a branch of the very ancient Shropshire family, which bore that name. In the early part of the sixteenth century we find Thomas Mytton, of Ryton, Condover, whose will bears date 7th April, 1557 ; he was succeeded by his son, Richard, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Lutwyche, by whom he had a son, Edward Mytton, of Shipton, who married, firstly, Eleanor, daughter of Robert Wigfall, of Worcester, and of Sutton, Staffordshire ; and secondly, Eleanor, relict of Christopher Dighton. He died, 4th June, 1620, leaving by the former lady a son, Henry Mytton, who married firstly, Mary, daughter of Christopher Dighton, Esq., of St. Helen's, Worcester. This lady died 1640, and Mr. Mytton subsequently married again ; on his death, 17th September, 1663, he was succeeded by his son Henry, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Powys, Esq., of Snittou, and relict of Richard Hunt, Esq., of Milson. At his decease in May, 1688, he was succeeded by his son, Thomas Mytton, barrister-at-law, who married Martha, daughter of Bonham Amies, Esq., of Stottesden, by whom he had two sons, the younger of whom, Thomas, was ancestor of the Myttons of Cleobury North. Mr. Mytton died 6th May, 1752, and was succeeded by his elder son, Henry, who married Martha, daughter of Walter Gough, Esq., of Perry Hall, aud of Oldfallings, co. Stafford, leaving at his death, in 1757, a son, Thomas, who was born 5th March, 1736. This gentleman married, 24th May, 1759, Mary, third daughter of Sir Henry Edwardes, Bart., of Shrewsbury, by whom he had four daughters (161) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. and one son, Benjamin, who married 7th May, 1788, Miss Eleanor Eussell, and had a son Thomas. Mr. Thomas Mytton died in July, 1787, and his son Benjamin also deceased 6th November, 1790; and the Shipton estate was enjoyed by the widow until her death in 1830, when it devolved upon her aforesaid grandson, Thomas Mytton, who was born 11th February, 1789. He married on the 20th June, 1840, Harriet, eldest daughter of William Downes, Esq., of Newhouse, and died 9th September, 1874. His aunt, Margaret, had married in 1795, Thomas More, Esq., of Larden Hall, who died in 1804, when the estates passed to his son, the Eev. Robert Henry Gayer More, from whom they were inherited by his nephew, Robert Jasper More, Esq., M.P., the present owner. The entrance hall has a floor of polished oak, and a finely moulded ceiling ; the stone mantelpiece has carved pilasters, and above this is a foliated escutcheon. At each end of the apartment are two doorways, above which are four busts ; and an ancient time- piece is suspended on the wall. A door to the left of the fireplace leads to the massive staircase, which has a magnificent ceiling. The bedrooms have walls panelled in oak— these with their mullioned casements and tall bedsteads present a sombre old-fashioned appearance. One large apartment is panelled with plain oak, unstained and unvarnished ; over its fire- place is an old painting of the daughter of Herodias exhibiting the head of John the Baptist. Outside, on the landing, are two oak coffers. On this upper floor is the library, a fine room with large bay window; its mantel is of marble, richly carved, its pilasters being decorated in green and white. The walls are partially lined with well-filled bookcases, and over the fireplace is a portrait of a boy in blue dress. Here are preserved many valuable books and MSS. Among the latter is a sheet of vellum, richly illuminated in gold and silver, bearing the following letter :— " James by the Grace of Almightie God the Creator of Heaven and Earth, KiDg of Great Britaine, France and Ireland, Defendor of the Christian Faith, etc. To the High and Mightie Monarch, the Great Emperour of China, etc., Greeting. The report of the greatness of your power and dominion in those Easterne parts of the World hath stirred up a great desire in our Subjects to undertake a Voyage into your Countrey, to sollicite your friendshippe towards the settling of a Trade and Commerce with your people as they have already done with dyvers other Nations, as farr dissident from you ; Wherein as Wee have willinglie offered them our Royall approbation, as a matter which tendeth to the Honour of Almightie God, and advancement of the Weale Publique, So Wee hold it our part not to deny them anything that may add eyther respect and countenance, or protection and safetie, in such their laudable endevours : Upon which induce- ments, Wee have bene pleased to offer these desires of our Subjects to your favourable construction, Perswading our selves, that as a Prince of Honour, and sence of your Subjects good, you will embrace this offer, and for their better encouragement, afford them libertie and safetie within your Dominions, for the settling of Trade and Commerce with your Subjects, with such Conditions of securitie and safetie as may be most convenient and necessarie for the Advancement and Mutuall profitt and utilitie of each others Countries and People ; in which respect Wee have given them power and autoritie to contract with you or your Officers, and Wee do not doubt but that their proceedinges will prove as acceptable to you as they have bene to other your Neighbour Kings and Countries, with whom they have traded, to their good contentment ; And that in Couformitie thereof you shall Charge and Coinmaund your Officers and Governors friendlie to receyve, ayde, and assist our People, and protect them against the Envy and Malice of others, that would goe about to wrong or (162) SHIPTON HALL. interrupt them ; And so Wee Committ you to the merciful Direction of Almightie God ; From our Pallace of Westminster, seaventh of Februarie, 1613, and in the eleaventh Yeare of our Eaigne of Great Britaiue, France and Ireland. (Sign Manual) James E." There are marks of sewing, but not of any seal. The outside, which is also adorned with golden scroll-work, bears the direction '.'To the High and Mightie Monarche, the Great Emperor of China, etc." It is supposed that this Document was brought to Shipton by a member of the Mytton family who visited India and China in the eaYly part of the reign of George III. A roll of three membranes, closely written on both sides, contains an account of the fines paid to the Priory of Wenlock in the time of Prior Guichard, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Edward II. Some extracts from this are given in Eyton's " Antiquities of Shropshire," vol. hi., p. 262. Two books contain the Eegister of Shipton Church from 1538 to 1792; and a small folio volume contains fragments of three different works, written on vellum and adorned with ornamental capitals, etc. The first gives some of the Sibylline prophecies, and the prophecies of Merlin. The second forms part of a bestiary, or treatise on natural history, illustrated by forty curious illuminations, the siren forming the subject of one paragraph and picture. The third forms part of a treatise on precious stones. There is also a transcript of a book formerly in the possession of Francis, Lord Newport, at Eyton, co. Salop, containing the Visitation of the county of Salop made by Eobert Treswell, Somerset Herald, and Augustine Vincent, Eougecroix, A.D. 1623, that made by Eichard Lee, Portcullis, A.D. 1584, and certain other genealogies. Another interesting record is a letter from Charles I. to Henry Mytton, who was then resident at Shipton Hall, requesting a loan of thirty pounds ; this is dated at Oxford, February 14th, 1643-4. In the small dining room are five old Hogarth prints ; the drawing room contains seven family portraits, chiefly in oval frames, gilt, a small portrait of the late Mr. H. G Mytton, and a large fruit piece, which is flanked by two oval mirrors. This room is well lighted by a large window to the front of the mansion ; it has a marble mantel, whose architrave has moulded ornament, over this are portraits of the aunt and cousin of Mr. H. G. Mytton. The large and lofty kitchen has a stone floor ; along the shelves of an old oak kitchen- piece or dresser are rows of old pewter dishes bearing the family crest. The laundry has also a stone floor, and mullioned casements ; a massive oak table here has carved sides. To the right of the mansion are the commodious stables, erected in the last century. To the left of the Hall a pathway leads to the quaint old Church of St. James which stands scarcely one hundred yards distant from the mansion. It is an ancient edifice of stone, in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, and a wooden belfry containing three bells. The exterior walls of the lower portion of the nave have been coated with rough-cast cement, and coloured red, and this contrasts strangely with the venerable, appearance of the ivy-covered chancel. On the floor of the chancel are several tombstones bearing armorial insignia ; and on the south wall an old escutcheon commemorates Mary, wife of Henry Mytton, wdio died 1640. The inscription runs thus: — " Neare unto this place resteth in hope of a glorious resurrection ye body of Mary, late wife unto Henry Mitton, of Shipton, in ye county of Salop Esqr., who died on ye 17th day of September 1640 leavinge issue Henry, Mary, Martha, and Hellena." On the north wall a modern brass is affixed in memory of the Eev. R. H. G. More; it bears the following inscription: — "In loving memory (163) COUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIRE. of Eobert Henry Gayer More, M.A., born June 20th, 1797, died April 28th, 1880, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Succeeding to his father's estate when a child, he took holy orders on reaching manhood to increase his powers of unobtrusive usefulness, and gave his gratuitous services for fifty-four years to Shipton — from 1826 to 1880 — and to Bourton for thirty-six years — from 1833 to 1869. His unaffected kindness won the hearts of rich and poor. The words of St. Paul were eminently set forth in his life — ' Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance ' (Gal. v. 22). For all Thy servants departed this life in Thy faith and fear, we bless Ihy Holy Name, Lord." In the little graveyard is a large space enclosed by tall iron railings ; this is the tomb where members of the Mytton family sleep their last sleep. This Church is of great antiquity. In a Synod at " Yistanesstouh " (Wistanstow), about 1110, the great Bichard de Belmeis, Bishop of London, adjudicated upon the claim of one Grenta on St. Milburg's Sciptune ; and held the same to be unjust. More than a century and a half later the registers of the See of Hereford record the institution of John de Wyno to this church on presentation of the Prior and Convent of Wenlock. This incumbent was subsequently deprived of the living, for on June 29th, 1284, Bichard de Swiufield, Bishop of Hereford, recorded that he had inspected certain Papal Letters which declared the Chapel of Shipton, with others, to pertain to the Church of the Holy Trinity of Wenlock and the right of the Priory ; and the prelate deprived the various occupants of the chapels and committed their Cures of Souls to the Vicar of Wenlock. In 1291 the Church of Shipton is returned as belonging to the Prior of Wenlock, and as of £6 annual value. In 1369 the revenues had increased, for the then Prior was receiving £13 6s. 8d. The Prior of Wenlock was Lord of Shipton till the Dissolution of the monasteries. John Cressage, Prior of Wenlock, by indenture bearing date 1535, did grant unto Adam Clift the Chapel of Shipton. In 1549 Edward VI. presented the Manor of Shipton and its appurtenances, with the great and small tithes to Sir Thomas Palmer, whose estates were afterwards forfeited to the Crown. Queen Elizabeth by her letters patent, 15th February, 1560, demised to Jasper More a tenement in the church-yard of Shipton, called the curate's house, with all manner of tithes, and 26s. 8d. allowed the curate ; and in 1580 6he granted the great and small tithes to John Lutwych, paying the curate 53s. 4d. Two years later the Queen granted the same tithes to Sir Christopher Hatton, who in 1586 sold the same to John Lutwych, who left them in 1615 to his cousin Edward Mytton, to the use of his sons and his heirs. From the Mytton family they descended to Mr. Bobert Jasper More, M.P., of Larden, Much Wenlock, the present owner of Shipton and patron of the living. A monument in the Church records that "This Chauncell was reedihed and builded of newe from the foundacon and glazed at the chardges of John Lutchwich yongest sonue of Bichard Lutwich of Lutwiche in the xxxi. yeare of the Gracious reign of Queen Elizabeth 1589." Eyton thinks that " Sceaptun was probably the Saxon name of this place; and it is one of the multitude of local names which originated with a race devoted to pastoral and agricultural pursuits." In Saxon days the place was held by the Church of St. Miiburg^ which retained possession at the date of Domesday. " Here was half a hide not geldable, and iii hides geldable. There was in demesne one ox-team, and there were iiii villains and v boors, with v teams, and there were ii serfs." Its former value had been 30s. per annum, which at Domesday was increased by 4d. per annum. Its Domesday measure was preserved for a considerable period, for in 1255 the Inquest of Wenlock Liberty records 164) SHIPTON HALL. Shipton as a Vill of the Prior, which, with its appurtenances, contained three hides and a half of land. In 1322, the Prior of Wenlock allowed Hugh Lovekyn of Schipton to give up all his land to William le Kyng, who was to "do the ploughing, and shall give Hugh the tenth garb of his share of produce in aid of Hugh's Cornmot." It was further stipulated that " Hugh shall yearly find half of the seed of all sorts, and do customs and service " to the Prior, who was also to be [paid 2s. for his consent to his tenant's arrangement. In the same year, Eoger de Esthope resigned the Mill of Schipton, which was taken by Roger Schakel of Syenton. The Domesday manor of Shipton, had, as one of its appurtenances, More House, an ancient holding of the family of More, from which place, indeed, their name is supposed to have originated. In 1306, Richard, son of Henry of the Morehus, covenants with the Prior of Wenlock for the liberty of taking marl in the field of Cyptone, for which he agreed to pay a third part of the goods of every tenant dying in his (More's) tenements of Merhus and Larden. An undated memorial in Shipton Church bears the following record: — "Here lieth buried the bodies of Lawrence Ludlowe of ye Morehouse Esquire, and Anne his wife daughter of Thomas Cresset of Upton Esquier, whch said Lawrence and Anne had issue Thomas Morris Richard Gryffyth Will'm Rowland George Will'm Katheryne Johun Elizabeth Marye Margaret t Jane Agnes Dorothye and Margery." The Lawrence Ludlowe who is here commemorated was one of the Regicides. (165) BOUT four miles east-by-north of Ludlow stands the picturesque residence of the Eev. John Walcot, rector of the extensive parish of Bitterley. As will be seen from the accompanying illustration, the mansion is built in a lp|p||# commanding position, near to the Titterstone Clee Hill, whose peak is shown in our plate. The entrance hall is panelled in oak, and has a fine old carved mantel- piece, the massive pilasters of which bear, in high relief, figures of St. Peter with a huge 'and primitive key, and St. Andrew. Several family portraits hang on the walls, including Rev. John Walcot and his wife ; Charles Walcot, Sheriff of Shropshire 1710, and his second wife, the Hon. Anne Brydges, sister of the first Duke of Chandos, known as "the princely duke." A tall oak cabinet contains some old and quaint Chelsea ware, and other interesting objects. To the left is the dining room, which also contains portraits ; over the mantel is the Bev. John Walcot, rector of Bitterley, 1766, there are also portraits of his wife Sarah, and her brother Sir John Dashwood King, of West Wycomb, and their mother Lady Dashwood, and of General Sir Thomas Molyneux. The drawing room has a lofty ceiling, finely moulded ; it contains five pictures, over the mantel being an equestrian portrait of Charles I., of whose house the Walcots were such staunch adherents. There is also a full length of Mrs. Walcot, said to be by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and two other female portraits. On the staircase are also many portraits, among them those of the John Walcot who sold the ancestral estate of Walcot to Lord Clive, his brother-in-law Sir Francis Dashwood, afterwards Lord le Despencer, a crayon portrait of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Humphrey Walcot, the royalist, and Mary Walcot, 1739, by Carpentier, who also painted some of the other portraits, which are dated the same year. In the library is an engraving from the above-mentioned portrait of Sir Francis Dashwood, sometime Chancellor of the Exchequer, but more notorious as President of the Medmenham Abbey Club. Over the mantel is a piece of tapestry, framed. Many family treasures are preserved here ; one of the most interesting being half of the cloak worn on the scaffold by Charles I. This is stained with his blood, and was given to William Walcot, page of honour to the ill-fated monarch, who attended him at his last hour. In a cabinet in the entrance hall is a silver case containing portraits of the kings, Lord Darnley, Anne of Denmark, Frederick, King of Bohemia, and his son, which we learn from a note by the Rev. Mackenzie (167; COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. E. C. Walcot, are known as Pass's Counters, being made by license of King James I. There is also a very beautiful christening robe, of the sixteenth century, wrought with stripes of a geometrical design in silver, and of a vignette pattern in gold, upon a blue ground. A regimental flag of the British army is celebrated as being the first that ever crossed the equator ; it bears the Hanoverian horse, and came to the Walcots from Genaral Adlercron, an ancestor of the present owner. There is a large collection of family manuscripts of more than ordinary interest; these include autographs of Charles I., Judge Jeffreys, Charles II., Sunderland, and other notabilities. The paper's were examined for the Historical Manuscripts Commission by Mr. H. C. Maxwell Lyte. A deed of 1591 records "The names of the valletes or coppes (coppices) in the Lordeshipp of Ladie Halton," from which place, with others, there is a subsequent petition to Charles, Prince of Wales, concerning his chace. Various ancient and lengthy rolls of parchment contain the family pedigrees ; some of these are the original records made by the Heralds at their periodical visitations, and contain many emblazonments and achievements exquisitely worked. One pedigree is compiled by Lee at the Visitation of Salop in 1592. The original arms of the family are depicted on the earlier rolls, an azure cross with fleurs de lys ; and a quaint record informs us when and how by the addition of chess rooks their coat was changed to the present one — Quarterly ; first and fourth, argent, a chevron, between three chess-rooks, ermine ; second and third, argent, on a cross flory azure, five fleur-de-lis or ; " This John Walcot plainge at the chesse with Kinge Henry fift King of England gave hym the check matte with the rouke whereupon the Kinge chainged his coat of arms which was the crosse with flower de luces and gave hym the rouke which his posteritie has continued to this daye and gave him the same for his coate." The cross on the shield is said to have been acquired by a member of the family in the wars of the Crusades. There are some interesting old books, notably a pre-Eeformation Service Book, in which all the portions referring to the Pope had been carefully obliterated with ink by order of Henry VIII. There are two copies of the " Icon Basilike," one first edition 1648 with crown and monogram C.E. on the cover ; the other edition of 1649. We have already (p. 43, ante.), made a brief reference to the origin of this ancient family, which was seated at Walcot from time immemorial. In the reign of Edward II., John de Walcot is recorded as being lord of the township of Walcot. The lineage given in Burke's Landed Gentry begins at Llewellyn Audorchog (of the golden chain), lord of Yale, who married Efa, daughter of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, King of Powys, and had a son, Llewelyn Vychan, lord of Yale, who married Anne, grand- daughter of Elystan Glodrvdd, Prince of Fferlys. Their son, Eees ap Llewelyn, married Lleshi, daughter of Llewelyn, baron of Twgynon, and had a son, Einion ap Eees, Lord of Yale, who married Jane, daughter of Einion ap Seissylt, lord of Mathafern ; their son, Iorwerth, married Jane, daughter of David Vychan, of Bachelldre, and was succeeded by his son, Trahairn, who married Dyddo, daughter of Meredith, lord of Cardewen. His son, Iorwerth, lord of Garthmael, married Jane, daughter of Sir P. Corbet, Knt., and was father of Eees, whose son, by his wife Jane, daughter of Einion Pen, was David ap Eees ap Iorwerth ap Trahairn, Lord of Garthmael. He married Jane, only daughter and heiress of Sir John Walcot, and was father of Ievan Walcot, of Walcot, so called by desire of his (168) BITTEBLEY COUBT. mother. Ievan married Anne, daughter of John Mynd, and had a son, Roger Walcot, who married Edith, daughter of Sir W. Downes, Knt. ; his eldest son, Sir Phillip Walcot, Knt., of Walcot, married Julian, daughter of John Harley, of Hereford, and was father of John Walcot, of Walcot, who, in the reign of Henry V., married Maud, daughter of Sir Richard Cornewall, Baron of Burford, a descendant of King John through Richard King of the Romans. His son, Roger Walcot, married Margaret, daughter of David Lloyd, of Mathavern, and left a son and heir, Edward Walcot, who married Alice, daughter of Sir T. English, Knt., and was father of John Walcot, of Walcot, who married Margaret, daughter of Edmund Plowden. His son, John Walcot, of Walcot, married Mary, daughter of Sir Peter Newton, Knt., of Highley, Shropshire, chancellor to Henry VII., by a daughter of Stanley Earl of Derby, and by her had two sons and two daughters. The heir, Humphrey Walcot, of Walcot, married in 1582, Alice, daughter of Sir Richard Hale, Alderman of London, and died 28th August, 1616, being succeeded by his eldest son, Humphrey Walcot of Walcot, born in 1586. He was receiver of the county of Salop in 1625, and became High Sheriff in 1631 ; he was greatly distinguished for his loyalty to Charles I., and made many sacrifices in the Royal cause. Many of the family papers preserved at Bitterley relate to this gentleman ; among them is a warrant from Charles I., dated at Shrewsbury, September 23, 1642, under the monarch's sign manual, to Humphrey Walcot to deliver to the bearer the sum of £5,000, for the maintenance of the army. He promises " in the name of a Kinge " to repay the same with interest. From a receipt dated at Salop, October 9, by Lord George Digby, it appears that Mr. Walcot had provided " one horse and furniture, with a case of pistolls for Prince Rupert's use, beinge the horse which hee entertaines in the traine troope of Saloppshire." A writ of the Earl of Lindsey requires all whom it may concern " to forbeare to doe or suffer to be done any violence, hurt or damage" to the person or gouds of Humphrey Walcot of Walcot Esq., who has shown himself " very dutifull and forward in the furtheringe and assistinge his Majestie and his aff'ayres," and has willingly received diuers of his Majesty's soldiers to be billetted in his house; this document, which bears signature and heraldic seal, is dated 1643. A printed letter, bearing the sign manual and privy seal of Charles I., and signatures of Sir Edward Littleton and S. Eure, requests a loan of one hundred and fifty pounds, or the value thereof in plate; this Humphrey Walcot furnished, as is testified by the endorsed receipt, May 13, 1644. There is also an acquittance from Mr. Jones and Mr. Cheshire for one hundred and thirty pounds, for proposition money paid in June and August, 1645." April 20, 1646, there is copy of an order for the repayment of one hundred and seventy pounds to him, by the Committee of the Lords and Commons for advance of money, with other memoranda concerning his composition. A printed licence with six signatures, December 15, 1646, allows him, whose composition for his delinquency is not yet perfected, to continue within the cities of London and Westminster, in order to attend his said composition. Thirteen days later there is a receipt from Richard Waring and Michael Herring, Treasurers of the monies to be paid into Goldsmiths' Hall, to Humphrey Walcott of Walcott, for two hundred and fifty pounds in full of five hundred pounds imposed on him as a fine for delinquency. May 24, 1647, there is a certificate of the payment of £300 by Mrs. Alice Walcott, of London, of which she had lent £200 on the proposition before assessment at Haberdashers' Hall. A deed dated July 3, 1649, and bearing eight signatures, is the discharge (169) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. of the estate of Humphrey Walcott from sequestration. November 10, 1657, there is an order by the trustees for the maintenance of ministers that whereas Humphrey Walcott, esquire, has conveyed the rectory of Clunbury co. Salop, for the raising of forty pounds a year for the minister of the said place, the sum of forty pounds a year be paid to Mr. John Keynolds, approved by the commissioners for the approbation of public preachers. This Humphrey Walcot married Anne, daughter of Thomas Docwra, Esq., of Poderich Hertfordshire, by whom he had three sons, and died in 1651, being buried at Lydbury, 8th June in that year. His funeral sermon by Thomas Froysell, Minister of the gospell at Clun, in Shropshire, and entitled " The Gate of Opportunity," was printed in London in 1658. The second son, Sir Thomas, of Bitterley Court, a judge of the King's Bench, married 10th December, 1663, Mary, daughter of Sir Adam Lyttleton, bart., and had a son Humphrey, whose son, the Eev. Humphrey Walcot, of Bitterley Court, sold that place to his cousin of the elder line, Charles Walcot, 1764-5. The heir, John Walcot, of Walcot, baptised 24th of June, 1624, was high sheriff of Shropshire, 1661, and M.P. for the county 1685 ; he married, firstly Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, which lady died 1654. He married secondly, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir George Clerk, of Watford, Northamptonshire, by whom he had six sons and six daughters. To this gentleman was addressed the following letter from Judge Jeffreys, which is still preserved among the family papers at Bitterley. " Sir, His Majestie having been pleased to doe me the honour to make me his Lieutenant of the county of Salop ; but his service requiring my attendance upon him here, whereby I am prevented from the happiness I proposed to myself of waiting upon you in person in the country, and therefore I am commanded to give you the trouble of this by my servant who I have ordered to attend upon you for that purpose. I doubt not, Sir, you have perused and well considered his Majestie's late Gratious Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, and thereby are fully satisfied of his Majestie's reale intentions to us, his uttmost endeavours to have the same establisht into a law and for that purpose does very suddenly design to call a Parliament to have the same effected wherein He doubts not to have ye concurrence of His Houses of Parliament in the carrying out of so good a work, which is of Publick Advantage to all his kingdome, and in order thereunto has commanded me and the rest of his Lieutenants to propose to the Deputy-Lieutenant and Justices of ye Peace within our severall lieutenancies these questions following, which I begg leave to propound to you and desire your answer thereunto by this bearer or as soon after as possibly you can. 1st. If you shall be chosen Knight of the Shire or Burgess of any Town when the King shall think fitt to call a Parliament whether you will be, for taking off the Penall Laws and the Tests ? 2nd. Whether you will assist and contribute to ye Election of such members as shall be for the taking off the Penall Laws and Tests ? 3rd. Whether you will support the said Declaration for Liberty of Conscience by living friendly with those of all persuasions, as subjects of the same Prince and o-ood Christians ought to doe ? Sir, His Majestie having so fully exprest his Royall Intentions in the said Declaration it would be impertinent in me to give you the trouble of any Discant or (170) BITTERLEY CROSS. BITTERLEY COURT. Comment upon the said questions. I cannot but humbly hope for a complyance in you to his Majestie's pleasure herein, who is already sufficiently satisfied of your Loyall affection towards him with your true zeal for his service. I shall therefore give you no further trouble, but to begg your -pardon for this, and to assure you that I am with all sincerity, Sir, yr most faithfuil friend and humble Servant, Jeffreys, C. To John Walcott, Esq., this, March 24th, '87. From my house in Duke Street, Westminster." " Eeceived this letter March ye 30th, '88, and returned the answer the 31st next following : — My Lord, I have received yr Lordship's letter, and in obedience to yr Lordship's commands I humbly return this answer by yt servant ye bearer, that I cannot in conscience comply with yr Lordship's proposalls in taking off ye penall laws or tests. I shall always continue my allegiance to the King and live peaceably with my neighbours. My Lord, I am yr Lordship's most humble and obedient servant, J.W." At his death in 1702 he was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Walcot, of Walcot, born 1660, who was high sheriff 1710. He was thrice married, and left at his death in June 1726, a son, John, by his second wife, the Hon. Anne Brydges, daughter of the eighth Lord Chandos. This John Walcot, of Walcot, born 1697, was M.P. for Salop 1727 ; he married Mary, daughter of Sir Francis Dashwood, bart., of West Wycomb, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Walcot, born 1738, who sold the paternal estates of Walcot to Lord Clive, and, as we have already stated, purchased the Bitterley property from his cousin. He was M.P. for Weymouth 1765, and high sheriff of Shropshire 1782 ; he married Anne, daughter of the Rev. John Levett, rector of Blythfield, by whom he had two sons and one daughter. The elder son, the Bev. John Walcot, of Bitterley Court, was rector and patron of Bitterley 1766, and married 2nd December 1788, his cousin, Sarah, eldest daughter of Sir John Dashwood King, bart., of West Wycomb, and at his death, 23rd November, 1834, was succeeded by his son the Rev. Charles Walcot, born 23rd January, 1794. This gentleman married, firstly, 23rd February, 1818, Anne, eldest daughter of Major William Walcot, of Ferry Park, near Dublin, afterwards of The Moor, near Ludlow, by whom he had three sons. He married secondly, 8th July, 1827, Charlotte, eldest daughter of John Molyneux, Esq., of Ludlow, by whom he had no issue ; and thirdly, 29th April, 1851, Mary Anne, daughter of the Rev. John Rocke of Clungunford House, Salop, by whom he had one son. A pedigree of the Rev. Charles Walcot in Burke's Royal Descents traces him as seventeenth in direct descent from Edward III., and included in the line is the famous Hotspur killed at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1401. As a descendant of the brother of Archbishop Chicheley he was also of "Founder's Kin" of All Souls College, Oxford. The reverend gentleman died in December 1875, being succeeded by his eldest son, the present rector and patron of Bitterley. The Rev. John Walcot was born in June, 1820, and was rector of Bewdley ; he married in August 1844, Mary Sophia Bamfylde Foster, second daughter of Sir Thomas Phillipps, bart., of Middle Hill, Worcestershire, which lady died 28th February 1858, leaving three sons and four daughters. The eldest son, Owen Charles Bamfylde, is a magistrate for Salop, and married Charlotte, second daughter of James Orchard Halliwell- Phillipps, Esq., F.R.S., the distinguished Shakesperian scholar, and has a son and four (171) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. daughters. The second son, Captain John C. P. Walcot, B.N., married Katherine, youngest daughter of Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, an is now in command of H.M.C.S. Protector, belonging to South Australia. The eldest daughter, Mary, is married to the Eev. John E. Burton, the second, Katharine, to the Eev. Charles E. Blencowe, and the third, Louisa, to Canon Blencowe, of Chester. Mr. Walcot married, secondly, Emma Elizabeth, sister of Sir Eichard Temple, Bart., G.C.S.I., of the Nash, Worcestershire. One of the Walcots was a fortunate survivor from the massacre in the " Black Hole " of Calcutta. A few yards from Bitterley Court is the parish Church of St. Mary, consisting of chancel, nave, and tower, a substantial building of stone, in the style of the early part of the eleventh century. It was repaired in 1850, when a transept was added, and in 1874 a chancel was built at the sole cost of the present rector. In 1880, the edifice was thoroughly repaired at a cost of £1,600; the north wall was entirely re-built, the north aisle and large arch were removed and the floor lowered two feet to bring it to its original position. The pulpit was also lowered and a reading desk provided, the rood screen was restored, and the church was re-opened 24th May 1881, by the Bishop of Hereford. The tower contains three bells of the period Of Edward I., bearing inscriptions which are thus given by Hartshorne in his Salopia Antiqua : — Hie sono que nielis campana vocor gabrielis. Jesu le seigne seynt anne per le ordynaunce aleissturys. Que div asoile pursagaunt mercy. On the north side of the church is a very fine stone cross, supposed by some to be of the thirteenth century, although one authority considers it to be of the year 1500. In his Ancient Stone Crosses of England, Mr. Alfred Eimmer gives a view of this cross, accom- panied with the following description : — "Bitterley Cross stands in the churchyard of Bitterley, Shropshire, a village near the quaint and quiet old town of Ludlow, a town that possesses a castle which is celebrated all over England, and is contemporaneous with Warwick, Warkworth, Alnwick, and others that figure in English history. The steep streets and black and white gabled houses, also, of Ludlow, give one — next perhaps^to Chester — the best idea we can have of a mediaeval English country-town. The road to Bitterley is remarkably beautiful ; there are hills on each side cultivated to the summit, while the village is literally shut in with great elms and walnut trees, through which gables and high twisted chimneys appear at intervals. The church is situated in the park of Bitterley Court, and the lord of the manor is the rector. There are several peculiarities about the architecture of the church, which is small, and was principally erected apparently in the reign of Eichard II. The cross was also built about this time, and is very graceful in its outline ; probably it was originally intended for what is called a weeping-cross. There are four steps to it; the "stops" that convert the square base of the shaft into an octagon are peculiarly beautiful and ingenious. Behind the cross is a great yew tree, and the abrupt ridge of the hill rises up in the background. Perhaps it would be difficult to find a better example of a tall tabernacle-cross in England. Under the representation of the Crucifixion are some light and peculiar brackets that are almost unique, aud rather resemble thirteenth-century work . " Eyton thinks that the church " was doubtless one of those Saxon Foundations whose extensive Parishes we can partly identify by existing evidences, but which probably involved much more than can now be determined. The present Parish of Bitterlay comprises (172) COUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIBE. Cleeton, Henley, Middleton and Snitton. The Saxon Parish surely included Cainham and Hope Baggot ; probably Upper Ledwych and Silvington." At Domesday the manor of Bitterley was held by Roger de Lacy of the Earl, for the record informs us that "the same Roger holds Buterlie. Godwin held it (in Saxon times) and was a free man. Here are iii hides geldable. In demesne there is i ox-team and there are iiii teams among the Serfs, male and female. There is a Church, a Priest, vi Villains, and i Boor, with iii teams ; and yet there might be iii other teams here. Here are ii Hayes. In King Edward's time the 'manor was worth 60s. per annum, and after- wards it was waste, now it is worth 40s." In 1165 Roger de Eskeiot held it as a Knight's fee, and he granted 4s. rent out of his mill of Butterleg to Haughmond Abbey between 1173 and 1177. His descendant, Roger de Bitterley, was succeeded by Stephen de Bitterley, who in 1240 is recorded as holding one Knight's-fee in Buterleg of Walter de Lacy. At the Inquest of Overs Hundred in 1255, Sir Stephen de Butterleg was Foreman of the Jury, and it is recorded "that he held three hides in Bitterley of Dame Margery de Lacy, by the service of one Knight, and did suit to Overs Hundred." In 1260-63 he was the King's Escheator in Shropshire, and in 1266 he had royal license to hunt in all the Forests of Shropshire. In March 1316 another Stephen de Butterleg was certified as Lord of the Vill of Bitterley ; and some years later we find Stephen and Roger de Buterley, men-at-arms, summoned from Shropshire to attend a council at Westminster, May 30, 1324. (173) Siubstoxxe. IDSTONE was originally comprised in the ancient royal manor of Claverley, and its township formed part of the endowment of the Deanery of Brag (Bridgnorth). The name of the place is spelt in early records as Luddesdun, and Eyton informs us that " The Inquest of 1255 reported that Peter de Rivallis (he was then Dean) held in Claverley Manor half a hide in Luddesdon, wherein the King was used to have all amercements arising under the assize of beer, and this right had been withdrawn (from the Manor Court) five years since. ' The Township pertained to the Church of Claverley ' i.e. to the Deanery. The same Dean's Tenants at Luddesdone had, also five years since, withdrawn the suit, which, in common with other Tenants in Claverley, they owed to the County Court. Roger Archer of Luddesdon was assessed in 1262, under regard of Morf Forest." The Deans of Bridgnorth were important personages in Plantagenet days ; some of them were very warlike ecclesiastics, like Peter de Rivallis in the reign of Henry III., who was constable of all the royal castles in Shropshire. This worthy was the principal conspirator in the murder of Richard Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, for which crime he was arraigned before the king and his judges ; and he presented himself in his priestly robes, wearing under them a corselet, with a dagger at his girdle. He was committed to the Tower of London, and his temporal estates confiscated. Another Dean in Edward Ill's reign, was the famous William of Wykeham, a bene- factor to his country, who " being dead yet speaketh " by his good works which remain to this day. Bellett's "Antiquities of Bridgnorth" thus refers to this prelate: — " His munificence was unbounded, so that it is doubtful whether any sovereign Prince ever expended so large a revenue on others as he did in his public and private charities. Amongst other works which attest the largeness of his heart in this respect may be mentioned his maintaining twenty-four poor persons in his own family, his building and restoring churches and erecting residences for his clergy at his own expense, and his rebuilding, at an immense cost, the nave of his own Cathedral Church of Winchester, which stands at this day a noble monument not only of his princely munificence, but of his architectural taste ; for there are but few ecclesiastical buildings in England which equal it (175) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. in dignity and grandeur ; but the chief works which have rendered his name illustrious as a benefactor are the building and endowing two noble colleges, one at Winchester and the other in Oxford, the former of which he designed as a nursery for the latter. These he enriched by very large and liberal endowments, and enriched them still more by the treasures of wise counsels and wholesome laws which he introduced into the statutes which are so admirable — ' drawn up with such judgment and reach of thought,' as Collier observes, ' that they have been transcribed for the benefit of other houses, and served as it were for a pattern to the principal colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.' " From Mrs. Stackhouse Acton's " Castles and Old Mansions of Shropshire," we learn that " about this old house (Ludston) very little information has been obtained, except that it was built by a Whitmore, about 1607, probably on the site of an earlier mansion, as the protection of a moat was no longer necessary in the seventeenth century ; and the Whitmores are known to have been living here at an earlier period. Thomas Whitmore, of Ludston, in 1679, gave to the poor of Claverley, in which parish it is situated, five pound per annum, and appointed the same to be received by the inhabitants for the time being of his then dwelling-house, to be by them distributed among the necessitous poor. The house contains a handsome oak staircase and other relics of its former importance, but L is now occupied as a farm-house." Ludstone is about a mile north east of the large village of Claverley, and nearly nine miles by road from Bridgnorth. Two Manor houses are said to have been erected there before the present mansion, which was built early in the reign of Charles I. by a member of the Whitmore family, in whose possession the property remained until about twenty-five years ago, when it was purchased with the Apley estate by W. 0. Foster, Esq., from whom Ludstone was bought, seventeen years ago, by the present owner, Joseph Bound Cartwright, Esq., J. P., who has chosen it for his Shropshire residence. The Hall was then in a dilapidated condition but it has been carefully restored by Mr. Cartwright in accordance with the original design and it now stands a splendid example of the domestic architecture of the Jacobean time. It is very similar in appearance to Condover Hall and Whitehall, Shrewsbury ; but it possesses an unique and interesting feature in the moat which surrounds the mansion, its water flowing from the pool that extends over a considerable area at the back of the house. This moat, still in perfect condition, adds greatly to the quaint aspect of the structure, which occupies an imposing site in the midst of one of the most picturesque parts of South Shropshire. The Hall commands fine views on every side, in fact it may be said to have three fronts, facing the east, south, and west, respectively. It is approached from the road by a trim avenue of choice evergreens, leading from the neat lodge at the entrance gates to the south front. This lodge was built by the present proprietor, and is in excellent character with the mansion itself. In front of the entrance gates, across the road, is another pool, which lends an additional charm to the view obtained from the Hall door. This is one of many great improvements effected by Mr. Cartwright, who has expended considerable time and money in renovating the house and placing the domain in first-class order. From 1870 to 1872 various portions of the edifice were carefully restored, and additional domestic offices built ; the saddle-room bears date 1872, and the stables a year later. These are fitted with the latest modern improvements, and a telegraph wire connects them with the Hall. Some distance away is the Ice House, near to the large pool, which (176) LUDSTONE. is the haunt of wild ducks ; and a rustic bridge over the moat on the west side leads to the kitchen gardens, greenhouses, and large vinery. The entrance hall is spacious and well lighted, with richly moulded ceiling ; its polished floor is inlaid with various woods, and there is some good old tapestry on the right of the fireplace. The mantel is of stone, with four marble columns ; the architrave and pilasters are carved. Various bronzes and ornaments are effectively arranged here in front of the fine oak panelling of the walls. To the right is the morning or breakfast room, which is lighted by one large window facing the south and by another to the east It has an open fireplace, and its walls are panelled in oak, like the other rooms of the mansion. The dining room occupies the place of three former rooms, it is a large, lofty, and well- lighted apartment, panelled in unstained oak, which time is toning down to the deep colour beloved of connoisseurs ; the cornice is splendidly moulded, and decorated in white and gold. Fine candelabra are suspended from the ceiling ; the massive sideboard is of oak, with fine carvings in high relief. Oak pilasters divide a portion of the wall space into large panels, which are decorated with smaller panels in green and gold. From the inner hall a massive staircase leads to the upper rooms, its carved pillars are magnificent ; at the top of the first flight is an old-fashioned wicket, facing a large window, whose eight mullions are filled with stained glass. The walls are lined with tapestry, and there is an old carved settle here. The drawing room has a wide cornice and frieze richly moulded in foliated ornament ; this has been carefully treated in accordance with the original design. The walls are panelled in oak, and the large mantelpiece is flanked by two stained windows, each of four mullions. A semi-circular bay window looks out over the portico, and comm ands a charming view of the landscape to the south-west. The spacious bedrooms are, like the other apartments, panelled in oak ; one of the largest contains a finely carved bed- stead, dated 1651. This is splendidly adorned, and bears cherubs' heads among its rich ornament. A massive dressing table, of similar character, is in this room, which has tapestry in front of the fireplace ; over the mantelpiece is a carved frieze of excellent workman- ship, the subject being Joseph and Potiphar's wife. Over this frieze, which is whitened over, are some queer ornaments of circular glass. On the floor above is a large room, which was probably the chapel in former days, it has an arched ceiling and a bay window leading into a balcony over the portico; this apartment is now partitioned off with an oak screen, glazed. The house is fitted with electric bells throughout ; and is now a well-appointed country seat — one of the many picturesque, old-fashioned mansions of Shropshire. (177) ETLEY, the seat of the Eev. St. Leger Frederick Hope-Edwardes, is about eight miles south of Shrewsbury, and one mile from Dorrington, a station on the Shrewsbury and Hereford Line, and in the parish of Stapleton. The present house was built by the late ' Ihomas Henry Hope-Edwardes, Esq., and was begun in 1854, and finished 1858 ; it stands near the site, and in the grounds, of a former mansion pulled down at the time, only a small portion bein" left, which now serves as a gardener's • cottage. The house is of red brick, ith white stone facings, portico, and balustrade, and was built from designs by the late Edward Haycock, of Shrewsbury, architect. The entrance under the massive portico leads into a vestibule, from which folding doors open into the spacious entrance hall, lighted in the top by a skylight of stained glass. A handsome staircase leads to the gallery and rooms above. There is here a fine inlaid marble table on massive carved legs. In the morning room, lighted by a large bay window, are portraits of the late T. H. Hope-Edwardes, Esq., and his widow. The drawing-room is also lighted by a large bay window, its walls being decorated in tones of pale green and grey, relieved with gold. On either side of the fireplace are fine pilasters in colour, and there is a splendid lustred chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The site commands some charming views of the Church Stretton Hills, only six miles awav ; also of Acton Burnell and Frodesley Hills, with the Wrekin in the distance. In the pleasure grounds (which were those of the former house) are two cedars of unusually laro-e proportions, and a savin-bush of perhaps still more remarkable dimensions. On the estate i (which, with the exception of the part which is at present the property of the Eev. St. L. Hope-Edwardes, belongs as life-tenant to his mother, Mrs. Louisa Charlotte Hope-Edwardes, under the will of the late T. H. Hope-Edwardes, Esq., her husband) is an ancient British camp, from which some celts have been exhumed, and close by is Signall Bank, said to have been used as a post of observation and for lighting beacon-fires during the Eoman and British wars. This neighbourhood abounds with ancient remains, especially towards the Longmynd ; as at Woolstaston and Smethcott where a large quantity of bones were found in a tumulus near the church, which is supposed to have been the scene of a sanguinary conflict at some unknown period. At Stapleton also there is a barrow in the churchyard ; (179) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the church presents three different periods of architecture, and has been recently restored by the rector, the Hon. and Eev. C. W. A. Feilding, brother of the present Earl of Denbigh. The late T. H. Hope-Edwardes, Esq., married Louisa Charlotte, daughter of Colonel Francis Knyvett Leighton, by Louisa Anne, daughter of St. Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile, of Doneraile, Ireland (whose ancestor Sir Eobert St. Leger, Knt. was one of the knights of William the Conqueror, his name being entered on the Eoll of Battle Abbey) Colonel Leighton was fourth in descent from Sir Edward Leighton, 1st Bart, of Wattlesborough, created 1693, ancestor of the present Sir Baldwyn Leighton, of Loton. Mr. Hope-Edwardes died in 1871, leaving the Eev. St. Leger Frederick, eldest surviving son (two elder sons having predeceased their father), who married, in 1886, Alice Mary, daughter of the late Eev. J. C. Bradney, of Bradney in Somersetshire, and Llanfihangel Ystern Llewern, Monmouthshire, late rector of Greete, Salop ; and two other sons, the Eev. Leighton, late rector of Ash, Whitchurch, and Lieut. -Col. Herbert James, late of the 60th Eifles ; and four daughters, the youngest of whom married Eobert Hanson Coldwell, Major in the Militia, and late Adjutant of Shropshire Eifle Volunteers, and has issue, two sons and three daughters. The late Mr. Hope-Edwardes assumed the name and arms of Edwardes by letters patent on inheriting the property from his mother, Ellen Hester Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Edwardes, sixth Baronet of Netley, Greete, and Pontesbury, and Edwardes Street (now part of Wigmore Street), London, who married John Thomas Hope, Esq., a descendant of the family of Hopes of Amsterdam, who trace their descent from John de Hope, ancestor of the Hopes of Craighall, and also of the family of the Earls of Hopetoun. Mr. J. T. Hope's father, John, son of Eichard Hope, married Margaret Jocelyn, whose father was a merchant at Cairo, and of whom there is a curious sketch extant, representing him in Oriental costume, accompanied by his native servant. Sir Thomas Edwardes, sixth Bart., the father of Mrs. Hope, was son of Sir Henry, the grandson by a younger son of Sir Thomas, first Bart., who was so created by Charles I. in 1644 for his services to the Eoyal cause. His patent having been lost during the civil wars, was renewed, by Charles II, to his son Sir Francis, second Baronet, with precedence to date from the time of the first creation. Thomas, younger brother of the second Baronet, married Ann, daughter and heiress of John Haynes, Esq., by which marriage the Netley estate was acquired. Sir Thomas was of Shrewsbury and Greete, which latter place he bought from the Fox family, and in the cellar of the old manor house (now occupied as a farm house) there is an aperture reputed to have been a hiding place of Charles II., which has been found to lead into a perpendicular shaft about thirty feet high, which probably communicated with a closet or small chamber just above. This manor house dates from about this period, and appears to have been occupied for a certain time by the Edwardes family, as several of Sir Thomas's children are recorded to have been baptized at Greete. This first Baronet was son of Thomas, younger son of Hugh Edwards or Edwardes of Kilhendre, in the parish of Dudleston, and an eminent merchant of Shrewsbury, who in conjunction with another of the leading inhabitants of that town obtained from Edward VI. the charter for the foundation of Shrewsbury Grammar School. In an old seal the two citizens are represented as kneeling before the King and receiving the charter from him. (The elder son's branch is now represented by the Morralls of Plas Yolyn and Plas Warren 'near Ellesmere.) Hugh Edwardes was descended from Iddon Ap Ehys (180) NETLEY. Sais, Lord of Dudleston, fifth in descent from Tudor Trevor, Lord of Hereford, founder of the tribe of "the Marches," who married Angharad daughter of Howell Dda, King of South Wales, in 907, and through him from Caradoc Vreichfras. In the fourth generation from Sir Thomas, the first Baronet, Sir Francis leaving only a daughter, the title passed to his cousin and brother-in-law Sir Henry, the father of Sir Thomas the sixth Baronet ; and this branch ' also ending in a daughter (Mrs. Hope, of Netley, above-mentioned), the title again passed to a cousin, the Kev. Sir Thomas, whose son, the Bev. Sir John Thomas Cholmondeley, rector of Frodesley, Salop, left two sons, — -the elder Sir Henry, succeeded as ninth Baronet, and the second, the Kev. Benjamin, was father of the late Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes, K.C.B., K.C.S.I., Major-General in the Indian Army, who highly distinguished himself in the Punjab wars in 1847 and 1848, and was afterwards Com- missioner of Peshawur, which office he held for about six years. It is recorded on his monument in Westminster Abbey, how this gallant soldier " struck the first victorious blow at the insurrection in Punjab in 1848 and in 1857, at a time of unexampled danger, greatly contributed to the security of the frontier and the salvation of the British Empire in India." In bis early years Sir Herbert lived at Netley, having been adopted by the above-named Mrs. Hope, daughter of Sir Thomas Edwardes, his relative. He married Emma, daughter of James Sidney, Esq., which lady has lately written "Memorials" of his life and correspondence. He died in 1868, at the age of forty-nine, his constitution having been undermined by the climate of India, and his labours and anxiety during the Mutiny. A portion of the story of the life of Sir Herbert Edwardes is briefly and eloquently told by Mr. John Buskin in his volume entitled " A Knight's Faith," the latter part of which deals with the battle of Kineyree, fought for nine hours under an Indian sun in June. A graphic description of the fight is given in Edwardes' own words, and Mr. Buskin writes : — " This battle is singular in having been fought under the command of a Christian missionary or modern military bishop, differing from the military ecclesiastics of former ages, in that they, officially bishops, were practically soldiers; but the hero of this, my Christinas tale, officially a soldier, was practically a bishop. Practically, indeed, both, and perfectly both; a first-rate fighter of men, in war; a first-rate fisher of men, in peace; a captain whom all were proud to follow ; a prelate . whom all were eager to obey ; and, in a word, ' a man under authority, having soldiers under him,' of whom his Master might, perhaps, in our days also, have said, ' I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. You will have noticed that the battle was fought on Waterloo day. It is very singularly also, in the course of it a miniature Waterloo, won by sustaining for many hours the attack of a superior force till the time of retaliate charge arrived ; but it differed essentially from Waterloo, in that it was won with native, not British troops ; won with a motley gathering of various tribes, some hostile to each other, some on the eve of revolt to the enemy — not a single British soldier or officer on the ground but the one in command, and the handful of faithful troops with which he wrought the victory, attached to him only by personal regard, by their knowledge of his justice, their experience of his kindness, and the fidelity which over all the earth binds together the hearts of its brave and good men." His uncle, Sir Henry, ninth Baronet, married 19th June, 1828, his cousin Louisa Mary Anne, daughter of John Thomas Hope, Esq., of Netley, and sister of the late T. H. Hope- Edwardes, Esq., and died 2nd August, 1841, being succeeded by his elder son, Sir Henry Hope-Edwardes, tenth Baronet, born 10th April, 1829. (181) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. A younger brother of the late T. H. Hope-Edwardes, Esq., was the Eev. Frederick William Hope, F.R.S..F.L.S., late. President of the Entomological Society ; this gentleman made a magnificent entomological collection, probably gathered during his many years travel in Italy, Germany, etc. This, on his death about thirty years ago, he left to Oxford University (where it was placed in the museum), where also he founded a chair of Entomology, the first occupant of which was Professor Westwood, curator of the collection. Mr. Hope published various works on his favourite study, and is mentioned by the late Charles Darwin (in one of the letters in his " Life " lately published by his son), who speaks of him with great respect as an entomologist, and for the great kindness and generosity with which he offered or presented many rare specimens to his distinguished contemporary. Domesday says " that the Earl himself holds Netelie. Elmar held it (in Saxon times) and was free. Here is one hide geldable. The (arable) land would employ ii ox-teams. It is and has been waste. Its value (in Saxon times) was 12s. per annum." Eyton savs {Antiquities vi., 297) that " the manorial status of Netley was destroyed, probably by Earl Roger himself, and in pursuance of a design which would seem to have been entertained at the time of Domesday. The land was evidently annexed to the Forest ; and though in the thirteenth century the Vill was partially re-populated no tenant-in-fee of the Manor ever occurs. " In 1209 Richard and William de Netelegh and the men of Netlegh are charged with imbladements within Regard of the Long Forest. In Langley's Forest-arrentation 1250, Ralph le Lung and other settlers at Netley are assessed in small sums. The period when its Manorial status was restored to Netley does not come within my present scope. Nethclegh was, however, one of the places which were disforested by the Great Perambulation of 1300-1." (182) < z LU Q JUfcett Ijam. 'LDENHAM formed part of the Domesday manor of Morville, which was held by Earl Eoger. It has been for many centuries the seat of the Acton family, whose present noble head is the Right Honourable John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Baron Acton. The hall, which was built of stone in 1697, by Sir Edward Acton, Bart., M.P., stands in a richly-wooded park of 170 acres, near to the village of Morville, in the midst of varied scenery, and commands a magnificent expanse of landscape, bounded by far blue hills. It is approached from the south by a beautiful avenue of stately elms, which extend in a straight line for half a mile from the fine entrance gates. These gates are of noble proportions, and exceedingly handsome ;j they are of wrought iron, elaborately worked ; over the stone pillars in the centre is some good scroll work, the whole being surmounted by the cognisauce of the Acton family. Iu the well-kept pleasure grounds adjoining the mansion are some fine ornamental trees, including cedars, firs, yews, and Portugal laurels ; and the kitchen gardens are very extensive. On the western side are the commodious and well-fitted stables and coach-houses, and to the east of the hall is a terraced garden, on the left of which, secluded in foliage, is the domestic chapel (Roman Catholic), a brick structure, dedicated to St. Mary. From this spot there is a charming view of the deer park lost in the rising woodlands fading in the distance. On examination of an early period of the family history, we find that William de Acton Burnell (living 1340), had two sons, of whom the younger, Edward (Sheriff 1383), was the first recorded Acton of Aldenham. Sixth in descent from him was William Acton, who through his eldest son, Robert, was great grandfather of Sir Edward Acton, the first Baronet of Aldenham ; and also, through his second son Richard, was grandfather of Sir William Acton (Bart. 1629; Sheriff, Alderman, and Lord Mayor of London, 1641). Sir William had only one child, Elizabeth, who married Sir Thomas Whitmore, of Apley, and therefore, at his death, this Baronetcy became extinct. Sir Edward, the first Baronet of Aldenham, was created January 17th, 1643, by Charles I., for his fidelity to the Royal Cause. He was the only son of Walter Acton, by his wife Frances, daughter and heiress of Edward Acton, of Acton Scott (settled there before 1250), and married Sarah, daughter of Richard Mytton, of Halston. His second son Thomas is now represented by Colonel Farrer Acton, of Gatacre Park. The eldest son of the first Baronet was Sir Walter Acton, who was member of (183) COUNTY SEATS OF SHBOPSHIBE. Parliament for Bridgnorth in 1670. He married Catherine, daughter of Eichard Cressett, of Cound, and Upton Cressett, an old and picturesque manor house, still standing near Upton Cressett Church (the property of their descendants, the Pelham family of Cound). Sir Walter's eldest daughter, Sarah, who was buried in 1722 at Claverley, became the wife of Thomas Gatacre, of Gatacre, an ancient family whose home has been at Gatacre since the time of King Edward the Confessor, and who are still represented by Edward Lloyd Gatacre, Esq. Sir Walter was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward, who was also M.P., and died in 1716, and his second son, Walter (a goldsmith in London), was ancestor of the present Lord Acton. Sir Edward's eldest son inherited the title, and became Sir Whitmore Acton. His second son, Edward, inherited Acton Scott ; but dying without issue was succeeded in that estate by his next brother, John, Vicar of Clun, whose grand-daughter, Susannah, married John Stackhouse, Esq., and the descendants have taken the name of Acton. The late Mrs. Stackhouse Acton, the authoress of "Castles and old mansions of Shropshire," and "Garrisons in Shropshire," was the wife of Thomas Pendarves Stackhouse Acton, and the accomplished daughter of Thomas Andrew Knight, of Downton Castle. She died at an advanced age in 1881, and i? succeeded by the nephew of her husband, Augustus Wood Acton, Esq. Sir Whitmore Acton, fourth Baronet, married a daughter of Matthew Gibbon, the Historian's ancestor, and at Parlors" Hall, in Bridgnorth, was born, 1st January, 1711-12. their son Sir Eichard, who married, in 1744, the Lady Anne Grey, daughter of Henry, Earl of Stamford, but dying 20th November, 1791, and having no male issue, he demised part of his estates to his cousin, John Francis Acton, who succeeded to the baronetcy. This cousin, John Francis Acton, was descended from Walter, the second son of Sir Walter Acton, the second Baronet of Aldenham. Edward, grandson of this Walter Acton, was travelling in company with Edward Gibbon, father of the historian, in France, and having applied himself to the study of physic, was able, when his friend Mr. Gibbon was taken ill, to render him much assistance during their stay for a few days at Besancon, an interesting city, whose citadel, on an inaccessible rock, was built by Vauban. In this once favourite station of the Eomans in the Valley of the Doubs, Edward Acton met with Mademoiselle Catherine de Gray, whose father lived in Burgundy, and he became so enamoured chat he changed his religion, married the young lady, and took up his residence at Besancon. His son was John Francis Edward, who inherited the title as sixth baronet. He was minister to the King of Naples, Generalissimo of his forces, and co-operated with Nelson in driving the French out of Italy. He married, by dispensation of the Pope, and in accordance with a custom not unusual in Naples and Spain, his niece Mary Ann, daughter of Lieutenant General xlcton, of the Neapolitan army. The issue of the marriage was Sir Ferdinand Eichard Edward ; Charles Januarius Edward, who became Cardinal Acton, 24th January, 1842, and died in 1847 ; and Elizabeth, who married Sir Eobert George Throgmorton, Bart. Sir Ferdinand Eichard Edward Acton, Bart., was born 24th July, 1801, and married, 9th July, 1832, Marie Louise Pelline, the only child and heiress of Emeri«h Joseph, Duke of Dalberg, by whom he had an only son, John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, who was born 10th January, 1834. Sir Ferdinand assumed by sign manual, 20th December, 1833, the surname of Dalberg before Acton ; and on his death in 1837, his son inherited the title as eighth Baronet, and married, 1st August, 1865, Marie, eldest daughter of Count Arco Valley, of Austria and Bavaria. Sir John was raised to the peerage 11th December, 1869, under the style and title of Baron Acton, of Aldenham. His lordship has two sons and two daughters, the heir being Eichard Maximilian, (184) A L DEN II AM. born in Bavaria, 7th August, 1870. One of the cadet branches of this family owned the Buildwas Abbey Estate, and the heiress married Walter Moseley, of the Mere, whose mother was Dorothy Billingsley, daughter of Francis Billingsley, of Astley Abbots, near Bridgnorth - This branch is now represented by Walter Moseley, Esq., of Buildwas Park. Another cadet branch of the Acton family were the owners of an estate in the Parish of Astley Abbots, near Bridgnorth. Their residence was the old timbered house of Dunvall, certainly built before 1600, an engraving of which is in Mrs. Stackliouse Acton's work. In 23 Charles II. (1683), Edward Acton died there, and a curious inventory of his effects is still preserved,' which with other interesting family documents and books (including a deed, being a pardon of alienation, by Bichard Ottley, 14 James I. 1616, and signed by Lord Chancellor Bacon) have passed in the female line from Miss Elizibeth Acton to the mother of the last repre- sentative, Mr. John Bowen, who until recently resided at Dunvall. There are three other branches still extant who claim descent from William de Acton Burnell, viz. : — the Actons of Ludlow, and Corve Dale; the Actons of Bentworth, co. Dorset; and the Actons of Westaston, co. Wicklow. Members of the last-named family have of late years been distinguished officers of the British army. Lieutenant Acton, of the Connaught Bangers, under circumstances of great gallantry, led the last British charge which decided the fate of the battle of Inkerman. (See Kinglake's History of the Crimean War.) Members of the Acton family have occasionally held the honourable office of High Sheriff of Shropshire, and in the accounts of the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury 1457, there is the following record : — " Paid for a breakfast to Thomas Acton and Thomas Hoord for their good council touching the return of a precept to the Duke of York, directed to the Bailiff's for surety of the peace." The family has been long connected by fame and fortune with Bridgnorth, where junior members have often resided. Bichard Acton, a captain in the Navy, one of the cadets in the Buildwas branch, died at Bridgnorth, 1674, and was buried at Morville. In 1702 a Bichard Acton was one of the bailiffs of Bridgnorth. In 1711 Mrs. Hester Acton, widow, gave a carpet of fine broad cloth, and a damask table cloth and napkin, for the Communion table of St. Leonard's Church. The last time the Actons represented the Borough of Bridgnorth was in 1727, when Sir Whitmore Acton was returned with John Weaver, Esq., of Morville, the defeated candidate being Edward Bridgen, Esq. In 1741, in another contest for the representation of the Borough. Thomas Whitmore, Esq., and J. G. Grove, Esq., of Pool Hall, in the parish of Alveley, were returned, Sir Bichard Acton and Sir Bobert Lawley Bart., being the unsuccessful candidates. A monument in Astley Abbotts old church, erected after the restoration of King Charles II. to perpetuate the memory of Colonel Billingsley, who was slain in St. Leonard's Churchyard, on the 31st March, 1646, while defending the town from the attack of Cromwell's forces, records the marriage of John Billingsley, his ancestor, with Francis Acton, of Aldenham, and the arms of Acton are among the heraldic bearings on the monument. The cavalier's long rapier was presented by Mr. Samuel Instone, a descendant of the Billingsley family, to the parish where he was slain, and is now preserved as a valued memorial of Boyalist fidelity on the wall of the south aisle of St. Leonard's Church, Bridgnorth. Lord Acton resides mostly at his Bavarian residence on the Tegern See in the Tyrol, where he entertained Mr. Gladstone for six weeks in the Autumn of 1886. Aldenham Hall is at present occupied by W. J. Barber Starkey, Esq. In the vestibule or hall are many portraits of the Acton family, one of the most (185) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIBE. noteworthy being that of Cardinal Acton, who died in the Jesuits' College at Naples June, 1847. On the right is the dining room, a lofty apartment whose ceiling is divided by massive beams into six large panels. Its walls have a foliated frieze and gilt cornice both richly carved; the fine mantel is also carved, and the oak chairs are fitted in crimson velvet. Yellow curtains help to make up a very charming interior, and among the interesting objects of art are an old bronze shield, and an oval shield of brass, richly chased. A smaller dining room contains many fine pictures, chiefly landscapes and genre subjects, and a portrait of an Acton in priestly vestments. There is also a picture of the Annunciation ; and a pretty water-colour of three children's heads, flower-crowned, entitled " Violets," after Ed. Taylor. The chairs are embroidered with the armorial bearings of the family, and there are some fine oriental cabinets, brass-bound and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Adjoining is the large drawing room, which contains eight oval and five square family portraits, as well as many small cabinet pictures of rare excellence, and some miniatures under glass. The walls of this apartment are lined with bookcases ; it has a fine marble mantel and moulded cornice. In an alcove are emblazoned the Acton arms, and in a richly carved case is some fine old china. Among the other objects of interest are some large Etruscan vases, large screens, and a splendid circular bronze of Shakespere, surrounded by a frieze representing scenes from his plays. A magnificent chandelier is suspended from the ceiling, but, like all the others in the mansion, the room has been fitted by Mr. Barber Starkey with electric light. The saloon is a fine lofty apartment, along one side of which is a gallery entered from the staircase above. Like many of the other rooms, its walls are well-lined with books and many valuable pictures. Most conspicuous over the marble mantel, which is lined inside with tiles painted in arabesques, is the large Vandyck, Charles I. on horseback, probably a replica of the famous picture in the royal collection at Windsor. On either side of this are two fine landscapes ; another choice work is an oval picture on panel, representing the escape of Mary Queen of Scots from Lochleven Castle. The chairs are of carved oak, and there is an antique coffer of the same material, as well as cases of birds. The gallery is supported on columns, between which hang beautiful tapestry curtains. The splendid staircase which leads to the upper rooms is decorated with twelve family portraits, conspicuous among them being a fine equestrian portrait of the late Sir Eichard Acton. Another large work is the Eesurrection of Christ ; and on the landings is some fine classic statuary, including an Apollo and a recumbent Venus. Several fine marble busts are also here, among them one of Lord Acton (when Sir John), and another of his illustrious friend, Mr. W. E. Gladstone. Standing on a gilt pedestal is a cabinet curiously adorned with ornament in high relief. The large bedroom, known as the Oak Boom, has magnificent cornices and pilasters of carved oak, and the bedstead is of the same timber, richly adorned with carved figures and grotesque ornament. Here is also a large oak cabinet, richly worked ; and the chairs are covered in red velvet. Other bedrooms also contain oak cabinets and numerous pictures, one fine portrait in water colours representing the present Lady Acton ; in the same room is an old print of the Congress of Vienna. Another bed chamber, formerly Lord Acton's dining room, contains a view of the Hall, three fine landscapes, and other choice pictures, including a small Cruci- fixion, and a girl crowned with flowers, in an old gilt frame. The chairs here bear the family crest. The state room is a spacious apartment ; its walls are lined with books, and it contains a large portrait of Lady Acton, above which is a small Madonna. A most interesting object here is the bedstead in which King Charles I. slept on his visit to Sir (186) ALDENRAM. Edward Acton. This bedstead is a magnificent specimen of carved oak ; its hangings are of crimson and gold, with the Acton crest as a centrepiece, the same heraldic bearing is also carved in the oak. The leather coat of the ill-fated monarch is still preserved as a precious heirloom by the family at Aldenham. An imposing feature at Aldenham is the fine library, an addition to the east end of the Hall, made by the present Lord Acton. It is a very large and spacious apartment, having a gallery all round ; it is lighted from the top and by a large bay window. From two corners of the room small staircases lead to the galleries ; and from floor to ceiling the walls are fitted with bookcases of admirable design, which are crowded with the rare literary treasures of Lord Acton, who is himself a scholar of great repute. The family of Lord Acton is, as already indicated, closely connected with that of Gibbon, the famous author of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire;" and some " kit-cat " portraits of the Gibbon family adorn the walls of one of the principal rooms at Aldenham. A striking feature in the library is the family tree of the Dalbergs on a huge canvas, which has a great number of shields of arms emblazoned thereon. Here are also portraits of many Dalberg lords and ladies in the wigs and embroidered dresses of past centuries. There are two large pictures of saints, with golden nimbi ; also a portrait of the late Sir Richard Ferdinand Acton in diplomatic uniform, painted at St. Quentin in 1830 by Lemasle. Another large picture, by Hens, 1865, represents the Pope with a cardinal and the Emperor of Austria in conference. The domestic chapel, already mentioned, has a fine east window of stained glass, depicting Christ with the Dove descending ; the front of the altar table has a copy in embroidery of the Last Supper, and at the back of the table are some fine panels of carved oak. On the south wall is a fine mural monument to the memory of Sir Richard Ferdinand Acton, who died at Paris, 31st January, 1837. Above the inscription are allegorical figures of his son (now Lord Acton), and his widow, Marie, daughter of Emerich, Duke de Dalberg. The body of Sir Richard was brought to Shropshire and lay in state at the Castle Hotel, Bridgnorth, previous to interment in the chapel at Aldenham. The widowed Lady Acton subsequently married Lord Leveson (the present Earl Granville), and at her death, March, 1860, the body was also brought to Aldenham, where an imposing torchlight procession accompanied it to the chapel. (187) 'HIS splendid specimen of half-timbered work was built between 1554 and 1588 by Thomas Howell (or Powell), son of Howel ap Griffith of Oswestry, who claimed descent from a junior branch of the royal line of princes of Powys. His family resided in it until the line ended in an heiress, who sold the place to Francis Charlton, of Ludford. On the demise this gentleman, it passed to his second son, Job, at whose death, without issue, it was inherited by his sister, whose third husband was John Charlton 1 Kinchant ; and their descendants held it for many years. The lands around the mansion were formerly the park (whence its name) be- longing to Whittington Castle, whose picturesque ruin is about two miles distant. The main entrance is through a massive porch, containing oaken benches ; over the outer portal is carved the following appropriate inscription, the letters appearing in gold upon a blue ground : — QVOD TIBI FIBRI NON VIS ALTERI NE FECERIS. Iii similar characters over the door inside the porch are the words MVRVS ATHENEVS SANA CONSCIENTIA. The door itself is a fine specimen of ancient work : on the exterior its solid planks are iron- studded, and it still retains its original massive hinges and hasps. It opens into the spacious entrance hall, the floor of which is beautifully inlaid with various woods, and extending nearly its whole length is one of the huge tables of ancient days, formed of one solid plank of oak. This magnificent piece of furniture bears date 1581, and incised upon its surface are two heart-shaped outlines, which arc supposed to have marked the place of the salt in old times. The table is 21 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2-1- inches thick ; upon it stand a group of statuary, and other interesting objects, among which are an old " black jack " and two " leather bottels," mounted in silver, apparently of Irish workmanship. In an alcove in the hall are two fine chairs and an old bench, bearing initials P.W.C., 1688. To the right of the entrance, another old door opens into a corridor leading to the right wing of the house. To the left is the drawing room, a fine apartment with a (189) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. richly moulded ceiling ; the mantelpiece hears the date 1640, and its centre compartment formerly contained a beautifully carved allegorical design, representing Music, Painting, and Poetry ; inscribed in a scroll its motto still remains 16. NEC VI, NEC VENTO. 40., but the space is now occupied by a gilt clock let into the woodwork. This \ clock has a curious history, for it was once stolen from the panel and lost for some years, being after- wards accidentally seen at a pawnbroker's shop, whence it was recovered. The room presents a fine interior, a view of which is given in Richardson's second series of Scenes from Old English Mansions, 1841, in which rare and valuable work the ceiling is also figured. THE DRAWING ROOM. From this room a door opens into the domestic chapel, a small apartment 17ft. by 12ft., in the west wing of the mansion ; it has three stained windows, and the family pew is a gallery which communicates with a bedroom on the upper floor. The beam which supports this gallery is carved on its front face, and over the outer entrance to the chapel are in- scribed the words Petra et ostium Christus est. This chapel is said to have been consecrated by Archbishop Parker. In the library is a curious old Italian cabinet of large size and beautiful workmanship, composed of tortoiseshell, inlaid with silver ; in the panels are cameos set round with jewels and inlaid with mosaic, in the inner portion quaint little figures stand on a tesselated floor. Standing at each end of this cabinet is a fine suit of bright armour. The dining room is situate in a recently added part of the mansion, its wainscotted walls are finely carved by Kendal ; over the door the architrave bears carven shields with the armorial bearings of the (190) PARK HALL. present owners of the place, Mr. and Mrs Wynne Corrie. The larger panels of the walls bear alternately the same arms, as well as both quartered. The mantelpiece is appropriately carved with game. In an adjoining corridor are two large pictures by Snyders, a boar hunt, and foxes with game, as well as two family portraits, life-size. The billiard room, which is lighted from the top as well as by three windows, opens out into a spacious conservatory ; among the furniture here are two old chairs with armorial bearings, and two without. Mrs. Corrie's sitting- room is nicely panelled, and contains a carved cabinet similar to one in the billiard room, as well as some choice china. The massive staircase is profusely carved, and is in excellent preservation ; this also is figured in Eichardson's book before mentioned, a copy of which is in the library at Park Hall. On the walls of the staircase are several good portraits, and a Latin inscription is carved below some of the windows. In the spacious room over the entrance hall are two tables with inlaid tops and queerly bossed carved legs. The bedrooms are wainscotted and in many cases richly carved, and in one of them is a large old-fashioned bedstead and a huge press. This room leads into the gallery of the Chapel; in its chimney piece are inserted medallions with figures of Queen Elizabeth, below which are two large medallions of heads. Eichardson says that Park Hall, " one of the most perfect examples of the half- timbered house so common in Shropshire and in the northern counties, stands one mile from Oswestry, and is (1841) in the possession of E. H. Kinchant, Esq., through whose good taste the building, which was for many years in a most ruinous state, has lately been com- pletely restored. "These houses exist in great variety in different parts of England; in Shropshire they are known by the name of black and white houses, from the wood-work being usually painted black, and the spaces intervening whitewashed, the effect of which is by no means pleasing — in Lancashire they are called post and pan houses, which appears to be the earliest and most proper name for them. "In the southern counties the pargetting, or plaster- work, is more commouly impressed or embossed with ornamental patterns, the grounds of which are sometimes colored. " It is not known precisely when Park Hall was erected ; dates are to be fouud on the building of the early part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, so that there is some probability of its having been commenced earlier than that reign "It may here be observed, that the chapels attached to the domestic buildings of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., furnish a sort of converse to what has been noticed respecting the porches. They were generally in the Gothic style, although the buildings to which they were attached might be Italianized ; — of the low character of Gothic which then prevailed, but unmixed, and the builders of that period, though they might judge the ' new manner ' of building most adapted to domestic architecture, seem to have considered the Gothic as exclusively ecclesiastical ; this is particularly seeu at Crewe Hall, where the chapel which occupies the centre of the north front is Gothic, (however debased,) and forms a curious spot in the middle of the Italian facade." Mr. Wynne Corrie is descended from an ancient Scottish family about which we quote the following information from Anderson's Scottish Nation : — " Corrie, a surname derived from a Gaelic word signifying a narrow glen. It is the name of an old parish (conjoined in 1G09 with Hutton), and of a river and lochlet in the district of Annandale, Dumfries-shire. (191) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. The lands of Come, forming the southern division of the united parish of Hutton and Corrie, were, in the twelfth century, held by a family, vassals of Eobert de Bruce, who, from them, took the surname of Corrie. In the Eagman Eoll is the name of Walter Corrie of this family. " In the 33rd year of David II., a grant was made to Eobert de Corry (and his spouse), son and heir of the late Thome de Tor-thorwald, ' our kinsman who died at the battle of Durham,' of the lands of Conlyn and Euchane. He had another giant of lands from the same monarch in the 40th year of his reign. In the Rotuli Scotice is recorded in 1367-68 a safe conduct granted by Edward III. to ' Eobertus Corry de Valle Annandiaa Scot, cum sex equitibus.' " Adam de Corry is a witness to a charter of Confirmation by Eobert, Duke of Albany in 1411. " The Corries of that ilk and of Newby in Dumfries-shire, are frequently mentioned in the Public Eecords of the loth and 16th centuries. In the reign of James V., one of the Johnstones of Annandale acquired the estate by marriage with the daughter an 1 heiress of Sir Thomas Corrie. " A branch of the same family possessed the lands of Kelwood, in Dumfries-shire, until the end of the 16th century, when they passed to the Charteris family. In 1572, at the meeting of Parliament at Edinburgh, George Corry de Kelwood was one of the barons present. " Although the ancient possessions of the family passed into other hands, the name did not become extinct in Dumfries-shire. Early in the last century, James Corrie, Esq., of Spaddoch, provost of Dumfries, son of John Corrie, by his wife, Jean Paterson, sister of William Paterson, who planned the Darien scheme, married Janet, daughter of Mr. Goldie, of Craigmuir, Kircudbrightshire, and left numerous descendants. Thomas Corrie, Esq., of Shielston and Newton, Airds, for many years manager of the British Linen Co. Bank, was his male representative. " James Corrie's brother, Joseph Corrie, Esq., proprietor of various lands in Dumfries- shire, married a daughter of Judge Phipps, and his only daughter, Sophia Corrie, married William Hope Weir, Esq., of Craigie Hall. " From their half-brother, William Corrie, of Eedbank, are descended families of the name, occupying a prominent rank among the citizens of London and Liverpool. " Their sister married the Eev. Mr. Ewart, of Troqueer. One of her sons, Joseph, was ambassador from the British Court at Berlin, and died at the early age of 33. Another son, William, a merchant in Liverpool, was the father of William Ewart, Esq., M.P. for the Dumfries district of Burghs." Mr. Wynne Corrie is also collaterally descended from a Welsh family of Wynn, of whom we find that David Wynn, gent., of Bagholt (? Bagillt), Flintshire, flourished a.d. 1500 ; and, through the marriage of William Wynne with Harriet Southby, his family is of founder's kin with William of Wykham. (192) (193) & AT T the time of the Domesday survey the manor of Longner was held by the Bishop of Chester. Its name was then given as Langenuare, and the record further informs us that the place was held under the Bishop by one Wigot. " Here is one hide. The (arable) laud is (enough) for ii ox-teams. In demesne there is i team ; and ii serfs and ii villains have i team. The ^ manor was and is worth 8s. (per annum)." In 1165 the Liber Niger records Geoffrey fitz Eeginald, who held half a knight's fee of old feoffment under the Bishop of Coventry, and Longner is assumed by Eyton to have formed part of this i holding. This Geoffrey was living in or after 1203, for between that year and 1206 he, as " Geoffrey, son of Keiner de Wirley," gave half a virgate in Longenholre to Haghmond Abbey. This grant was confirmed by his son William, whose widow subsequently sued William de Duston for her dower of one third of the vill of Longenhalre. William de Duston's heirs eventually succeeded to the fee simple of Longner and enfeoffed there the Haughton family. Eyton (Antiquities viii. 210) continues : " That the Burtons were seated here long before any extant account of that family would lead us to suppose, I know from the best authority ; but I presume that they held under the Haughtons and their successors the Greys. Be that as it may, a Deed is still preserved at Longner, which bears date at Leighton, May 28, 1316. By this Deed, Edward Burton of Longner gives to Thomas Cresset of Leighton an acre of land at Garmestor. in exchange for 1| acres there, and also concedes to the same Thomas license to enclose, and build upon, a parcel of ground in the said Edward's common pasture." The family of Burton is thus seen to be a very ancient one in Shropshire, and dates back as far as the fourteenth century. The name was anciently written de Burton, de Borton, de Burghton, Boerton, and Burton, and they w y ere originally seated at Burton, or Boerton, in the parish of Condover. Burke traces their origin through a long line of noble ancestry to Thomas de Burton, who married a daughter of the Lord of Codarcote, in the reign of Henry III. William Burton, the antiquary, in his Commentary on Antoninus' Itinerary, tells us that they were " a family for some time, for no ordinary relations, very gracious with the several princes of the Royal House of York." Many members of this ancient family have borne conspicuous places in the history of our country, and held high and honourable posts, civil, military, and political. One Edmund de Burghton, in 1371, (195) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. held the office of high sheriff, during the reign of Edward IV., and a John de Burton was sheriff of Shropshire from 1354 to 1359, in the same reign. William Burton was a member for Shrewsbury in 1379, Richard de Boerton in 1381, William Burton from 1313 to 1385, and again a William Burton in 1436 and 1442. During the eventful struggles between the Houses of York and Lancaster, one Edward Burton, of Longner, was with King Edward IV., successful in fourteen set battles, and was, for his great loyalty and good services, made a knight banneret under the royal standard in the field a.d. 1460. His son, Sir Robert Burton, Knight, had the first grant of arms, dated May 22nd, 1478, which being a very remarkable document we give verbatim. "To alle true and Xtian. people, these psnte Ires heryng, seeying, or redying, I Johan Wrythe, oderwyse called Norrey, King of Amies, of the Northe partyes of Ingland, due and humble recomandacion in our Lord everlasting fore soo moche as ther bee many personnes sette and disposed of their said noble and gentyll couraige to exercise and use vertuous manes and. nobles condicions, by the which wt. godd grace they shall more atteigne unto the perfeccions of grete honour of noblesse of which psones one ther is in special, named Robert Burton, of the courte of Yorke, which hath instantly desired, and he onered to have to him and to his heires for evermore, the tokings and markys of noblesse, wherfor I the said king of amies, not only by comun. renoine and report of dyvers nobles personnes that the said Robert Burton hath long contynued wt. the king our Souveraig Lord and comas of Guij in alle his warres and in the disciplyne of the actes of noblesse worthy to be reputed amytted among order noble men for the causes above said by the power to myn office annexed and attributyd have demysed, orderyd, and assigned unto the aforesaid Robert Burton, and unto the pseid of him wyth the dew difference as hit shall and apperteyn. That is, the said, a shild of azure and pompll. parted in pall, a cross engrayled gold or bythwen foure rosses silver, and to his tymbre, a gauntellet sillver sette as hit apperit in the margyn her of, which amies he and his heires shall now use and enjoye for evermore wythoutyn any prejidice or empeachment. In wyttnesse whereof I the said king of amies to these pntes have sette my seall of amies and signed wt. my hand. Given at the cite of Yeorke, the 22nd day of May, the 18 yeare of the reigne of our Souveraig Lord King Edward the Fourth, 1478. " NORREY, ROY DE ARMES." The white roses — the Yorkist badge — on the escutcheon were no doubt designed to mark his zealous attachment to the cause of - Edward IV. The family of Burton is allied to the ancient one of Lingen. In 1442 Sir John Burgh was heir by his mother to all the great estates which, at the time of Domesday, Roger Corbet held under Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury. He died without male issue, and his vast estates were divided between his four daughters, one of whom was the wife of Sir John Lingen, of Lingen, Herefordshire, and from whom are the Burtons of Longner, through the marriage of Thomas Lingen with Anne, sister of Thomas Burton of Longner, 1705-1730. The son of this marriage, Robert Lingen, assumed the name of Burton by Act of Parliament, 1748. Perhaps of all the distinguished members of this family who have occupied places in the historic records of our county, none stand more prominent than the one of whom we are about to speak, in consequence of the remarkable circumstances connected with his death (196) LONGNER HALL. and burial, viz., Edward Burton, who was born in 1510, and lived through the troublous times of Queen Mary, dying in 1558. This Edward Burton was a zealous Protestant in the days of Queen Mary, and on that account essayed many hairbreadth escapes, which it is to be lamented Fox, the martyrologist, has not related where he thus speaks of him : — -" The like example of charitable affection in these Catholic churchmen is also to be sene and noted in the burying of one Maister Edward Burton esquire, who in the same diocese of Chester, departyng out of this world the very day before Queene Elizabeth was crowned, required of his frendes as they would answer for it that his bodye should be buried in his parish churche (which ^Ya3 St. Chadde's in Shrewsbury), and that no masse monger should be present thereat, which thing being declared to the curate of that parish, named Sir John Marshall, and the bodye being withall brought to the burying upon the same daye that the Queene was crowned, the curate being therewith offended, sayd playnly that he should not be buried in the church there, whereunto one of his frendes, named George Torpelley, answering agayne, sayd that God would judge him in the last day, &o. Then the curate sayd, 'Judge God or devill, the bodye shall not come there.' And so they buried him in his owne garden, where he is no doubt as neare the kingdom of heaven as if he had bene buried in the middest of the church." — But the story is best told by William Burton, great grandson of the Edward Burton in question, in his Commentary on the Itinerary of Antoninus: — "Edward Burton, esq., a religious asserter of the Gospel in Queen Marie's time, and by the author of the Acts and Monuments of the Church of England named among those that escaped the per- secution then for that cause. But the whole story is this : he was a man indeed, who by many waies and courses he took for his safety (too long to be told here), and to evade the hands of such as lay in wait for him ; when one day sitting alone in his upper parlour at Longner, in meditation no doubt of God's deliverance of his people, he heard a general ring of all the bells in Shrewsbury, whereunto in St. Chadde's parish his house belonged, when straight his right divining soul told him it was for Queen Marie's death, yet longing to know the truth more certainly, and loath to trust his servants therein for some reasons, he sent his eldest son, my grandfather, being then but a boy of sixteen years of age, willing him to throw up his hat if it were so, so impatient was his expectation, who finding it, and doing accordingly as he was directed, the good man retiring presently from the window and recovering his chair, for extremity of joy which he conceived for the de- liverance of the saints of God, he suddenly expired. And this was his nunc dimittis Domine. But neither was the storm of persecution so quite blown over hereby, but that still some scatterings did fall upon the servants of God, for they suffered some grievances still, among which was their being debarred from Christian interment in churches. But facilis jactura sepulcri. His friends made a shift to bury him in his garden by the fish ponds, and set a monument over him, which being defaced by time and rain, it happened in the year mdcxiv. that Edward Burton, esq., his grandson, inviting to dinner the noble Sir Andrew Corbet, then lieutenant of the shire, with divers other gentlemen of quality ; that the good baronet desirous to see the place which preserved the reliques and memory of that excellent man, as good men are still inquisitive after them whose virtues they honour ; but finding it much decayed by the weather, after a friendly correction of his host, and serious injoynment to repair the tomb, whereby the memory of hfs most deserving grandfather was kept alive, he without ado, effected what he spake for, and promised himself to become the poet for an epitaph, which he accordingly wrote " as follows : COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Here lieth the body of Edward Burton, Esquire, who deceased Anno Domini, 1558. Was't for denying Christ, or some notorious fact, That this man's body Christian burial lackt ? no ! not so : his faithful true profession, Was the chief cause, which then was held transgression : When Pop'ry here did reign, the See of Rome Would not admit to any such a tomb Within her Idol Temple walls, but he, Truly professing Christianity, Was like Christ Jesus in a Garden laid. Where he shall rest in peace, till it be said. Come faithful servant, come receive with me, A just reward for thine integrity. — lGl-t. Thomas Burton, who was fourth in descent from the last-named, being a warm friend to civil freedom in the reign of the last Stuarts, was, after the Eevolution, rewarded for his zeal by being made a Welsh judge and recorder of Shrewsbury. In 1709, Robert Burton, eighth in descent from Robert Burton, knighted by Edward TV., was sheriff of Shropshire, and his daughter married Thomas Lingen, Esq., of Sutton Court, Herefordshire, and of Radbrook, Gloucestershire, a family of very great antiquity. Robert Lingen, their eldest son, who was born in 1725, assumed the name of Burton, as we have already said, pursuant to the will of his great uncle. He was High Sheriff in 1763. He was succeeded by his son Robert, who was also Sheriff in 1801. This gentleman had two brothers, Edward Burton, banker, of College Hill, and the Rev. Henry Burton, vicar of Atcham. He died April 1st, 1841, and was succeeded by his nephew, Robert (eldest son of the aforesaid vicar of Atcham), who was born April 28th, 1796. In early life this gentleman was admitted a burgess of Shrewsbury, and soon afterwards be- came a member of the Corporation. In 1831 he was chosen alderman, and at Michaelmas, 1835, was elected Mayor of Shrewsbury, which position he occupied when the Municipal Act came into operation January 1, 1836. Under the new corporate administration he was elected councillor in 1813, alderman 1819, and again chosen Mayor 1844. Mr. Burton served the office of High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1852, and was a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of the county ; he was also a captain in the South Salopian Corps of Yeomanry Cavalry. In 1833 he was elected a trustee of the Royal Free Grammar School in Shrewsbury, and was also a trustee of the Borough Municipal Charities, Millington's Hospital, Allatt's School, St. Chad's Church, and deputy-treasurer to the Salop Infirmary, etc. He was also for many years chairman of the Race Committee, and took a prominent part in securing the purchase and formation of the new r course. He was twice married — firstly, in November, 1825, to Catherine, second daughter of William Walcot, Esq., of Moor Hall, Salop; and secondly (in August, 1835), to Catherine, eldest daughter of the Rev. II. Oakeley, D.D., of Oakeley, Salop, by whom he had five sons and one daughter. At his death, 14 September, 1860, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert Lingen Burton (born 23 October, 1836), whose coming-of-age in October, 1857, was celebrated by a series of grand demonstrations in the county town and neighbourhood. He married, 29 October, 1861, Catherine Sophia, eldest daughter of Richard Francis Cleaveland, Commander R.N., and had three sons and five daughters. He died 17- November, 1880, and the estates passed to his eldest son, John Burton, Esq., the present squire, who was born 25 July, 1862. Longner Hall is situate in a retired but pleasant part of the county, about three miles from Shrewsbury, and one and a half miles north of Atcham. The house is in the parish of St. Chad, but the richly-wooded grounds are in Atcham parish. The present gothic mansion, which is of recent date, is built on the site of the old hall, which is considered to (198) LONGNEU HALL. have been built in the 15th century. Mrs. Stackhouse Acton states that "it was surrounded by a moat; and had a curious wide staircase of wood, with large pillars of the same material on each side, in one of which was a sliding panel which formed the entrance to a hiding-place." Early in the Civil Wars of Charles I., the house was garrisoned for the King; it was demolished in the last century. The site commands extensive views of the adjacent country, and its park is well timbered and well watered— the Severn being its boundary on the southern side. The entrance hall of the house, the ceiling of which is decorated with plaster work, is plentifully adorned with pictures, comprising family portraits, and views of the edifice as it originally stood. Leading from it is a very fine open staircase, in the centre of which is a stained window, deep in colour, depicting the figures of Edward Burton (obit 1558), King Edward IV., and Edward Burton, Knight-banneret; the last-named being in complete armour. The library has a fine timbered ceiling, artistically carved; it h lighted by a large window, of somewhat ecclesiastical appearance, being divided into narrow pointed lights, the upper mullions con- taining stained glass. The books are arranged in rather unpretentious cases around the room, and standing at one end are plaster busts of Seneca and Herodotus. Nine family portraits hang in this apartment, including the late Eobert Burton, Esq., in hunting costume, and a water colour of Eobert Burton and his wife, dated 1799, painted at Matlock by Smith, and over the mantelpiece is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, given by herself. The dining room is a magnificent apartment, redecorated at considerable expense in May, 1884, under the direction of Mr. E. Swinfen Harris, architect, of London. The walls are richly decorated in chocolate, and blue and gold; the upper portion being of sage green. The room contains many paintings, includiug eighteen family portraits, among them being Judge Burton in his robes of office; there are also two large hunting pieces, probably by Snyders. The furniture is very handsome, the fine mahogany chairs being specially note- worthy; they are beautifully carved and seated in red leather. The large bay window over- looks a portion of the grounds; its upper mullions contain the armorial bearings of several ancient families, including Burton Coyney, Walton, Berkeley, Ballard, Lingen, Hill, Smitheman, Newton, Poyner, Maddocks, and Biest. The splendid oak mantelpiece also contains five family escutcheons ; and in the marble frieze above the grate is a brass plate bearing the following inscription : — "In loving memory of three members of the Lingen Burton family, whose names have not been elsewhere recorded, viz. Eobert, who died September 14th, 1860, aged 64 ; Catherine, his widow, who died August 22nd, 1868, aged 60 ; and Eobert, their eldest son, who died November, 17th, 1880, aged 43 ; this mantel is here placed by Catherine Sophia, widow of last named, and John, their eldest son, who attained his majority July 25th, 1883." The drawing room is lighted by three windows opening out into a corridor, and com- manding a view of a goodly portion of the park. A feature of peculiar interest in the room is a pair of lace christening gloves, presented to the Burton family by Queen Elizabeth, a possession which is naturally prized by the present members of the family. The room is upholstered in green, and its white walls are surmounted by a cornice of interlaced fret. A striking picture here is the life-size portrait, by Bott, of the present proprietor, in hunting dress, with his horse ; there is also another noteworthy picture, containing portraits of three brothers, namely, Eobert, Henry, and Edward, sons of the Eobert Lingen, who assumed the name of Burton in 1748. The other pictures include four large Eoman views, copies from (199) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Canaletti, by Marlow, as well as many smaller works. Adjoining the hall is a very handsome and spacious conservatory, which contains many magnificent palms and other exotics, also a splendid specimen of the gutta percha plant, as well as a number of unusually fine camellias, and a charming variety of other plants and flowers. Attached to the mansion is a long range of domestic offices and stabling, admirably adapted for the requirements of an English country gentleman's mansion. . (200) „ r EIGHTON Hall, the seat of Thomas Frederick Kynnersley, Esq., is charmingly situate on the banks of the Severn, nine miles from Shrewsbury, six from Wellington, and four from Ironbridge. Ic stands in a small but beautiful park, commanding unrivalled views up and down the Severn Valley with Acton Burnell, Church Stretton, and the Welsh hills in the distance. The house is approached from the Shrewsbury and Worcester road through a pair of massive old iron gates, over which are the Kynnersley arms supported on stone pillars, with a smaller iron gate at each side. On the right is a pretty lodge, just built to corresponding style with the hall itself, which is reached through a drive under some magnificent beech trees and old elms ; to the right, partly hidden by the tall trees, is the little church ; on the left stretche? a splendid panoramic view of the Severn. The river appears to have originally run much nearer to the site of the mansion than its present stream, for when recently excavating the ground to the south-west of the house the mud and piles of the ancient river bed were discovered. A huge boulder of the glacial period was also found, which had evidently rolled down to the river in early times. The date of a house on this site is very early, not improbably as far back as the time of the Conquest ; the foundations are immense walls of stone, from six to ten feet thick, upon these in the sixteenth century stood a half-timbered upper portion ; and in 1778, the great-grandfather of the present owner erected upon the same foundations a mansion of red brick, and of this the present hall partially consists. The place has just been thoroughly restored by its present occupants, and considerable additions made, so that it is now one of the largest houses in Shropshire. The work, — which was done by Mr. W. Bowdler, of Shrewsbury, under the able direction of Mr. A. E. Lloyd-Oswell, A.R.I.B.A., of the same town, — was commenced in May, 1887, and completed in December, 1888. In the course of the alterations many features of the Elizabethan house were discovered ; many old doors and windows were found in all parts, from roof to cellar ; under the old drawing-room thirteenth century tiles were turned up, also a curious glass bottle bearing the initials A.K. (Anthony Kynnersley), — this is evidently about two centuries old. The edifice is of red brick with stone facings, and its Georgian style has necessarily governed the character of the new building. The entrance was originally on the east side, (201) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. but it is now on the south, where a handsome portico of stone gives access. This consists of three arches, over the central one are the family arms and crest carven upon a stone shield. The spacious entrance hall is beautifully panelled with old oak, which is considered to be of the thirteenth century, as it is not sawn, but cleft, and is of a rare species of Qucrcus now nearly extinct in our forests. This wainscot is about eight feet high, and was all upon the premises (none new being bought), the grand oak staircase has been made a principal feature in the extensive alterations already mentioned. The appearance of the interior of this fine apartment is very striking. At the top of the staircase is a magnificent Louis XVI. clock encased in mahogany, 24 inches high by 11 inches wide, decorated with gilt bronze of chaste design and beautifully sharp outline in scrolls, beading and pillars, the movement by Deniere, with centre seconds, and striking hours and half hours. Behind this is some fine tapestry. On either side of the staircase hang portraits by Sir Peter Lely ; and with its real old Chippen- dale settees, and large Japanese vases, this entrance hall presents a very charming effect. Near the entrance, to the left, is the library, a panelled room, whose bookcases contain several thousand volumes ; on its walls are some original sketches by John Leech. Next to this is the drawing-room, a fine well-lighted apartment more than forty feet long ; its moulded ceiling is decorated in white and gold, and a handsome gilt cornice adorns the walls, upon which hang two portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and various water-colour drawings by such masters as David Cox, De Wint, and Barrett. The mantel of Italian marble of two colours has a carved frieze of a shepherd piping to his flock. This was formerly the property of Lord Shannon ; upon it stands a beautiful mercury gilt and rouge marble Louis XVI. clock, with pair of candelabra en suite formed as vases, with branches of trees and flowers ; also a pair of exquisitely chased bronze and mercury gilt candelabra on Porphyry vases, on either side of which stands a pair of splendid gilt bronze candelabra of the time of the Restoration. These are for six lights, 33 inches high, the pillars being formed of fine old Sevres decorated with wreaths of flowers resting on square pedestals of amboyna, the plaques of painted Sevres and gilt mounts. At one end of the room stands an old cabinet containing a priceless collection of Sevres, Dresden, Chelsea, Old Worcester, and Salopian china ; at the other end is a magnificent old Japanese cabinet, with another to the right, upon these stand two splendid Sevres vases, called the "King's Vases," they are two-handled vases 23 inches high, richly gilt and painted with flowers autour, marked Sevres 1844, given by King Louis Philippe to William Standish-Standish, Esq., 1844. The effect of this handsome apartment is enhanced by a curtained recess to the left of the large bay window, and by the Chippendale furniture, two settees, — and twelve chairs to match. On the other side of the entrance hall is the spacious dining-room, which is even larger than the drawing-room ; on its walls hang family portraits, and at each end is a Chippendale sideboard, with fourteen chairs of the same date. Here is a magnificently- carved mantel-piece of Jacobean time, which was formerly the property of Baron Rothschild ; upon this stand caudelabra. Beyond this, and opposite the library, is the morning room, whose walls are beautifully decorated in pale blue and gold, and farther adorned with choice water-colour drawings ; this room also contains cabinets of rare old crown Derby and other china. On the first floor is a billiard room containing a table by the well-known makers, Burroughs and Watts ; on the walls are various old sporting pictures and prints. On the walls of the corridors hang paintings by Sir Peter Lely, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Jac. Blanchard, I LEIGIITON HALL. and other artists. Mr. Kynnersley's business room is well appointee) and adorned with Hogarth's prints, etc., and a complete set of the old castles of Shropshire; this room is entered from the hall, and also has an entrance from the domestic offices, distinct from the main entrance. The bedrooms are all large and luxuriously fitted, almost entirely with Chippendale furniture, whose genuineness is attested by the fact that it has been in the family for years ; one bedroom and dressing-room has oak wainscot, and contains curious little cupboards, whose doors have old hinges. These were discovered under the wall-paper when the restorations were being made. The ancient church of St. Mary is, as we have already stated, close to the mansion ; it is built of stone, cased in brick, and contains tower, gallery, nave, and chancel, the latter being the property of the Kynnersleys, whose monuments entirely line its walls. On the south side is a stone effigy in chain armour, said to be Sir Richard de Leighton, temp. Edward I. ; this was brought from Buildwas Abbey. The pleasure grounds are well laid out and planted ; on the west is a sunk tennis court, upon the site of the old moat, where the oldest villager can yet remember a fish pond ; this has recently been levelled a considerable depth below the house, around the top of its bank is a terrace walk. To the south, and further west, are shrubberies and walks commanding extensive views of the surrounding landscape. The length of the garden front is 230 feet. In Domesday the manor of Leighton is recorded as being held by Eainald Vicecomes. — " The same Eainald holds Lestone. Leuui held it in King Edward's time. Here are three hides. In demesne are iii ox-teams ; and vi Neat-herds, iiii Villains, and vii Boors, with a Eriest and one Frenchman have v teams. — Here is a mill of 4s. (annual value), and half a league of wood yielding lid. (annually). In King Edward's time the Manor was worth 20s. (per annum) ; now it is worth 40s. He (Eainald) found it waste." From Ey ton's Antiquities we learn that, within half a century from Domesday, " Eainald, or one of his successors enfeoffed a Tenant in Leighton. That Tenant was Ancestor of the Knightly family which took a name from the place, and which has borne its part in Shropshire history from that day to this. The labours of Heralds have been bestowed on the early part of this genealogy with ruinous effect. Invention has supplied the place of fact, and thus an ancient pedigree, which needed no adornment or addition, has been sup- planted by an incredible myth. " Tihel, or Tiel, the known ancestor of the Leightons, was probably the first Feoffee who held the Manor, and his era was, if so, the reign of Henry I. His name is apparently Saxon, but the arms borne by the Leightons point, I think, to some early alliance with the influential House of Fitz Warin. Tihel de Lahtune, as he is in this instance called, survived the restoration of Henry II. to the throne, and of the first William Fitz Alan to his Shropshire Estates." Before 1165 Tihel had been succeeded by his son, Eichard Fitz Tiel, who appears in the Liber Niger as holding one Knight's fee of old feoffment in the barony of Fitz Alan. In 1177 Eichard Fitz Tiell pays half of a sum of 40s. in which he had been amerced by Henry II. for forest trespass. In 1180 Eichard de Lehton is assessed 7s. for an imbladement of 7 acres of corn, also is amerced 2s. for waste. The Eipe-Eoll of 1188 shows Eichard de Leocton paying a fine of 6s. 8d. for disseizin. On December 5, 1194, (203) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Richard de Letton having a suit pending at Westminster against William de Hetleia (Hadley), excused himself from attending, by the essoign called de vialo venicndi. All the above references probably relate to Richard de Leighton (I), alias Richard fitz Tiel ; but inasmuch as he was succeeded by a son and grandson of the same name, it is not easy to mark the points of interval in this succession. It was perhaps his son, who, as Richard de Lecton, was subjected to a charge of half a merk in 1200 by Hugh de Nevill, then Justice of the Forest, and who paid the debt in 1201. Probably also the following Deed, which certainly passed about 1200 or 1201, may be looked upon as a confirmation, granted by the Suzerain, at the period of the Grantee's succession. This interesting document, which is still preserved at Leighton, is given by Eyton in its original language : — " Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum pervenerit, Willielmus films Williehni, filii Alani, salutem. Noverit universitas vestra me concessisse et hac presenti carta mea confirmasse Ricardo de Lectona et heredibus suis totam villain de Lectona, cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, in bosco et piano, in viis et semitis, aquis et molendinis, et in omnibus locis ad predictam villain pertinentibus, cum advocacione ecclesiae ejusdem villae, tenandam de me et heredibus meis, sibi et heredibus suis, in feudo et hereditate, libere et quete et honorifice per idem servicium quod ipse et antecessores sui mihi efc antecessoribus meis inde facere solebant. Et quia volo hanc concessionem firman et inconcussam permanere, earn sigilli mei impressione confirmavi. Hiis testibus, Robet'to Coi'bet, Hamone Extraneo, Warino de Burwardoll, Reinerio de Le, Roberto de Wodescota, Bartholomeo filio Petri, Hamone filio Marescot et multis aliis." At the Assize of October, 1203, Richard de Lecton appears as a Knight and as a Juror ; for some false finding as a common Juror, he and his associates were amerced half a merk each. Again in the Pipe-Roll of 1207 Richard de Lethon appears paying an amerce- ment of similar amount for some unspecified offence. Not without hesitation Eyton fixes upon the interval between the years 1210 and 1215 as the probable date of the following Chatter of Richard de Leighton (II.). — " Notum sit tarn presentibus quam futuris quod ego Ricardus Alius Ricardi de Lehton, pro amore Dei et pro animabus antecessorum et successorum (meorum) concessi, etc. Deo et Sanctae Mariae et Monachis de Buldewas totum pratum de Ewewere, tarn illarfi partem quae fuit de dominico patris mei, quam illam quae fuit Ricardi filii Lamberti, scilicet quicquid est inter terrain arabilem et Sabrinam fluvium, cum duobus seylionibus qui juxca sunt per terminos ibidem factos ; — tenendum et habendum, ipsis et successoribus, in liberam, puram, et perpetuam, elemosynam ; excepto quod dabunt inde annuatim mihi vel heredibus (meis) quatuor denarios ad festum Sancti Michaelis pro omni servicio. Et habebunt in Ipso prato pasturam bobus et aliis quibuslibet averiis suis, et liberum introitum et regressum averiis suis ad ipsum pratum, et ab ipso per terrain meam et hominum meorum ; ita tamen ut non noceant feno val blado meo vel hoininum meorum. Et ego et heredes mei ipsum prenominatum pratum, cum prenominatis aisiamentis, eis garen- tabimus, contra omnes homines. Hiis testibus — Hugone de Seinton, Thoma de Costentin, Willielmo de Middelhope, Ricardo filio ipsius, Willielmo de Bassechirche, Hugone de Bolinghal, Alano de Billewes clerico de Billewes, Radulfo de Erleton, Willielmo fratre ejus, et multis aliis." Besides the effective bearing which this deed will be seen to have on the Leighton LEIGBTON HALL. Pedigree, some heraldic interest attaches to its Seal. From Eichard de Leighton's thus using the cognizance of a Lion or Leopard it would seem that the family had not yet assumed those Fitz-Warin arms, which Eyton cannot but think point to some latent fact in its history. He is of opinion that the next Eichard de Leighton who occurs was son and heir of the above benefactor to Buildwas Abbey. With this idea he classes the following extracts under the name of — Eichard de Leighton (III.), leaving it a question whether some of the earlier ones relate to him or his father. In the struggles which closed the reign of John, Sir Hugh de Sheinton, being one of the Coroners of Shropshire, remained a Eoyalist. Eichard de Leighton, on the other hand, and Thomas de Constantino took the same side with young John Fitz Alan, their Suzerain. Hence a Writ-Close of April 10, 1216, orders the Sheriff of Shropshire to hand over to John Fitz Philip the lands of Eichard de Leghton in Leghton and Garmundeston (Garmeston), which lands, together with those of Thumas de Costentin, unless they were of more than £20 (annual) value, the King had granted to the said John. A Writ of King Henry III., dated November 3, 1217, certifies the Sheriff of Shrop- shire that Eichard de Letton had returned to his allegiance. Such a writ was of course tantamount to an order for the restoration of his estates. Accordingly, at the Assizes of 1221, we have Sir Eichard de Lechton as a Knight, and as a Selector of other Knights, who tried certain causes of Grand Assize. At these same Assizes ho was called to warranty by his Tenant, Eobert de Wodecot, who was impleaded for a part of Leighton Mill. A Writ of King Henry III., dated at Ludlow on October 2, 1224, orders that Eichard de Lecton, Eichard de Middlehope, and Thomas de Constantine, being three of the King's Verderers for Shropshire, shall not, as long as they hold that office, be put on any Assizes, Juries, or Eecognitions ; but the Sheriff was not to remove them from any panel on which they were already serving. However, in August 1226, all three persons appear on a Jury of the chief men of Shropshire, to try certain issues connected with the Stiperstones Forest. The Pipe-Eoll of 1231 exhibits Eichard de Lecton and Thomas de Constantine once more in conjunction, viz., as sureties for Gilbert de Bukenhull. In Michaelmas Term 1237, Eichard de Middelhope, Thomas de Constantine, and Eichard de 'Lecton appear as Fellow- Jurors in a great cause heard before the King at Worcester. The Feoclary of 1240 duly registers Eichard de Letton as holding a knight's-fee in Letton, in the Barony of John Fitz Alan. In the same year Eichard de Letton was im- pleaded by William de Erleton for refusing to allow the said William reasonable estovers in Legton bosc, such as he had been used to have, viz., husbote and other estovers. By fine levied on November 18, 1240, Eichard Lsgtou allows the demand, subject to the purview of his own Forester. For this the plaintiff gave a sore sparrow-hawk. A Patent of July 14, 1241, again associates Eichard de Leghton and Eichard de Middelhope as Justices, to deliver Shrewsbury Gaol, and to try a civil suit at the next County-Court. In or after the year 1242 Eichard de Leighton was still acting as a Verderer of the Shropshire Forests. On two Inquests, held pursuant to Writs of May 7 and July 9 1246, Eichard de Leighton was a Juror. Perhaps the year 1249 is the latest date which can be assigned to any of the numerous attestations of Sir Eichard de Leighton (III.) Even at that rate his activity would seem to have been nearly co-extensive with his life, for (205) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. within the next three years he was certainly deceased. His son and successor was William de Leighton, who in the year 1256 appears in the important post of Constable of Oswestry. He attests, apparently as a knight, and at a somewhat earlier period, a Charter to Buildwas Abbey. In a Charter in the year 1252 — " William, son of Eichard, Lord of Leithone, grants his Mill of Lsithone to God and Saint Milburg and the Monks of Wenlock," though it is strange to find a Leighton thus granting to Wenlock in preference to Buildwas. The latter House obtained a Mill in Leighton the very next year, and, though not by William de Leighton's grant, yet apparently with his sanction. The Bradford Hundred-Boll of 1255 gives important evidence about Leighton. "William, Lord of Leheton, holds the Manor of Leheton of John fitz Alan by service of one knight's* fee in time of war, at Oswestry Castle, for forty days, and at the Tenant's charges. And the Manor is in hides (the Domesday estimate) and pays 12d. per annum for stretward and 12d. for motfee, and does due suit to County and Hundred." — "The Abbot of Buildwas obtained entry into the said Manor in respect of one meadow, in the time of the said William's Grandfather ; and he holds the said meadow in pure alms ; and it is worth one merk yearly." " The same Abbot bought a certain Mill from Bobert de Wodecote two years ago, and he holds the said Mill, in the said Manor of Lechton, of the fee of William de Lechton, and it is worth 16s. per annum." When we see that William de Leighton himself was the second Juror who reported on the tenures of Bradford Hundred, we are satisfied of the accuracy of the above return, and not surprised at its fulness. It helps to prove four generations in the Leighton Bedigree, for we learn that Eichard, son of another Eichard de Leighton and Grantor of the meadow aforesaid, was William de Leighton's Grandfather. At the Assizes of 1256, William de Laighton was one of the two Jurors of Bradford Hundred who chose the rest of the Panel. The Justices pronounced him and other knights in misericordid for refusing to make some Perambulation which they had ordered. On April 2, 1258, we have Sir William de Leghton, Knight, Constable of Oswestry, testifying in full Court of the Hundred of Oswestry to a grant then made to Haughmond Abbey. In Easter Term 1260, William de Lecton was one of the only two Jurors who appeared at Westminster to certify as to their previous verdict in the famous trial between Thomas Corbet of Caus and Fulk fitz Warin. Sir William de Leighton died in 1263, apparently about the month of March. In perfect consistency with such a date we find early mention of his son and successor, Eichard de Leighton (IV.) ; for a Patent of February 18, 1263, includes Eichard de Lecton among those who were to be protected from all Law-suits, etc., till June 24 following, and as long as there should be war with Wales. Eichard de Leighton then undoubtedly shared in the toils of that period, so memorable on the Shropshire Borders, when the Princes of North Wales and of Powys stood leagued with De Montfort against the English Crown. This Eichard de Leighton succeeded his Father as a Coparcener in the Manor of Stanwardine-in-the-Fields. On January 27, 1282, a Fine was levied at Westminster between Eobert (Burnell), Bishop of Bath and Wells, plaintiff, and Eichard de Leghton, deforciant of a messuage and (206) LEIGH TON HALL. one acre of land in Leghton, whereof was plea of Convention. Richard acknowledged the premises, together with the advowson of Leghton Church, to be the Bishop's — to hold to the Bishop and his heirs, under Bichard and his heirs for ever at a clove rent. For this the Bishop is said to have given a sore sparrow-hawk. We know that Bishop Burnell forthwith conveyed the above premises and advowson to Buildwas Abbey ; and the Monks took immediate steps to obtain permission to appropriate the Rectory of Leighton, and were successful. In prospect of such success, and with reference to the territorial interests which they would have in Leighton, as appropriators of the glebe- land, the Monks seem to have had some negotiations with Sir Bichard de Leighton. By one agreement, dated 12 Edward I. (1283-4), Sir Bichard covenants that, in case the Monks " shall possess the Church of Leighton in proprios usus," they shall keep a certain quantity of stock in the common pastures of Leighton, over and above what they were already entitled to keep under grant of Sir William, father of Sir Richard. Sir Bichard further commutes his present hay-tithes for a plot of meadow in Addeley, to be conveyed to the Monks ; and in lieu of certain plots already given in commutation of other hay-tithes, Sir Richard under- takes to measure, and convey to the Monks, a plot of equal extent, before Christmas, 1284. In lieu of houseboot and hayboot Sir Richard will give the Monks a small meadow of 2s. annual value, besides a certain quantity of fuel under view of his Forester. Sir Richard was to keep the meadow called The Rea, fenced in, and the Monks were to have no common right in that. Both parties bound themselves in £40 to the Church of Lichfield to fulfil the above agreement as soon as practicable. The Feodary of 1284 says that " Bichard de Lechton holds the villa of Lechton and Garmonston under Bichard. fitz Alan, who holds of the King in capita." A somewhat later Feodary expresses Bichard de Leighton's service to be that of a knight's-fee, and adds that his estate in Leighton .and Garmston was geldable. At this point of the Leighton genealogy it is uncertain as to the time when Richard de Leighton (IV.) was succeeded by a son of the same name. A Sir Richard de Leighton occurs, either with the express title of Knight, or in the position of a Knight, under the following dates, viz., on a Jury of December 1285, in a testing-clause of 1286, as a Knight in August 1290, and as a Witness in March 1294. Again we have a Richard de Leighton, apparently a Knight, attesting a Buildwas Deed in May 1303, and sitting as foreman of a Jury at Wellington in March 1304. This Richard de Leighton (V.) came into collision with the Consistory Court of the Diocese, and having been repeatedly pronounced contumacious by Bishop Langton's Commissary in the said Court, was at last excommunicated. On January 12 1310, the Bishop absolves Sir Richard de Leighton, Knight, from this sentence, but enjoins that under a penalty of 40 merks he shall, before Michaelmas next ensuing journey to Rome, and there offer 12 pounds of wax-candles in the Church of St. Peter, and make a like oblation in the Church of St. Paul. During the reign of Edward II. he was returned as a Knight of the Shire for Salop, to five Parliaments, viz., three in 1313, one in 1314, and one in 1318. In four instances we have evidence of his attendance, and in the last case his Manucaptors were Roger de Leighton, and William de Leighton (of Eaton Constantine). In 1308, and 1316, Sir Richard de Leighton acted as a Commissioner of array, and for raising levies in Shropshire. In the Feodary of March 1316, he is returned as Lord of the Vill of Leighton, and in May, 1324, he was summoned from the County of Salop to attend a Great Council at Westminster. (207) COUNTY SEATS OF SHEOPSRIBE. Eyton concludes his account of the family by showing the mode in which this Richard de Leighton settled his estate. The deed, of which he gives an abstract, passed on July 13, 1315, and must be taken as a feoffment-in-trust : — " Ricardus Dominus de Leghton, Miles, dedi, etc., Willielmo filio, Ricardi Pride de Salop, pro quadam surnina quam dedit, etc., totum manerium, meum de Leighton cum dominio ejusdem manerii. — Habendum et tenendum cum wardis Releviis, Escaetis, homagiis, fidelitatibus, sectiis, serviciis, boscis, moris, etc., dicto Willielmo et heredibus, et assignatis, de capitalibus dominis imperpetuum sine retinemento mei etc. Hiis testibus, — Dominis Ricardo de Harlegh, et Willielmo de Lodelawe, Militibus ; Rogerio de Cheney, Hugone de Sheynton, Rogerio de Mokeleye, Hugone de Besselowe, Johanne Rondulf et aliis. Dat' apud Leghton, Dominica post Translacionem Sti Thome Martyris Anno Regni Regis Edwardi octavo finiente." This document is still preserved at Leighton. The dating clause of this deed is very remarkable. The Clerk neglects to distinguish Edward II. from bis father or son. Moreover he was ignorant that Edward II's regnal years terminated on July 7, so that it really belonged to the beginning of the King's ninth, and not at the end of his eighth, year. The seal is also remarkable. It is of white wax, and gives the Grantor's Arms as — Quarterly per fess indented, over all a Bendlet. A fine levied at Westminster, on October 13, 1415, shows that the above feoffment was by Royal license, and declares the uses of William Pride's Trust. The fine purports to be levied between Richard de Leghton and his wife Agnes, plaintiffs (William son of Richard de la Fountain of Upton being put in Agnes's place by writ royal), and William, son of Richard Pride, of Salop, deforciant, of the Manor of Leighton, etc., whereof was plea of Convention. Richard acknowledges the right of William, who in turn concedes and surrenders the premises to Richard and Agnes, to hold to them and to the heirs which Richard shall have begotten of Agnes, of the Chief-Lords of the Fee. If Richard die without heirs by Agnes, then after the deaths of Richard and Agnes the premises shall remain to Walter, son of Richard, and to the heirs of Walter's body ; to hold of the Lords of the Fee. On Walter's death without such heirs, there are further remainders to John, brother of Walter, and to William, son of Richard de Leghton. The son of this Sir Richard Leighton was the sixth who bore that Christian name, and was Knight of the Shire in 1338 ; his son Sir John de Leighton, Lord of Leighton 1347, married Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Drake of Wiltshire, Knt. ; their son John de Leighton was of Leighton, and of Church Stretton in the right of his wife, Matilda, daughter and heiress of William Cambray of that place. His eldest son Edward Leighton of Leighton and Church Stretton married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Stapleton of Stapleton, Salop, and died 34 Henry VI., being succeeded by his second son, John Leighton, who married Anchoretta, second daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Burgh, of Wattlesborough. He was of Leighton and Wattlesborough 1455, Sheriff of Shropshire 1468, 1472, 1482, 1493 ; Constable of Oswestry Castle, 1476 ; Steward of Bishop's Castle 1463-4 ; Steward of Pontesbury 1474. His elder son, Sir Thomas Leighton, Knt., of Wattlesborough, was born 1453 ; he was Sheriff of Shropshire 1495. By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers of Chartley, and widow of Sir Richd. Corbet, Knt., he became ancestor of the Leightons of Wattlesborough and Loton. He married secondly, Ann, daughter of Roger Baker of Shrewsbury and Stretton, and died 1519, being (208) LEIGHTON HALL. succeeded by his son Thomas Leighton, of Leighton and Eodenhurst. Sir Thomas's brother, "William, married Margery, daughter and coheiress of Sir Fulk Sprenchose, of Plash, and became ancestor of the Leightons of Plash. Thomas Leighton, of Leighton and Eodenhurst, was father of Hugh Leighton, whose son, John, married in 1564, Dorothy, daughter of William Ottley of Pitchford, and died 1574, being succeeded by his son John Leighton, of Leighton and Eodenhurst, who married at Shawbury, 1 January, 1562, Katherine, daughter of Thomas Newport. John Leighton, who was baptised at Shawbury, 20 May, 1568, married Katherine, daughter of Thomas Ditcher, of Muckleton, and was buried at High Ercall, 3 May, 1614, being succeeded by his son, Eichard Leighton, of Leighton and Eodenhurst. He was baptised at High Ercall, 11 February, 1593, and married Mary, daughter of William Hay ward, of Little Wenlock; he was buried at Leighton, 7 February, 1632. His son, John Leighton, baptised at High Ercall, 27 September, 1618, was of Leighton and Chariton, having married Sarah, daughter of Eowland Lea, of the latter place ; he was buried at Leighton, 8 March, 1680, and succeeded by his son, Eichard Leighton, of Leighton, who was admitted at Christ Church, Oxford, 3 November, 1670, at the age of 18 ; he was a barrister-at-law, and Sheriff of Shropshire, 1695. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Anthony Kynnersley, of Wrickton, and died 1 December, 1715, having had two sons and eight daughters. The elder son, John Leighton, of Leighton, baptised at Eodington, 2 August, 1693, was buried at Leighton, 29 August, 1716 ; the second son, Eichard, was baptised at Eodington, 12 March, 1G96, Sheriff of Shropshire 1726, and like his brother, died unmarried, being buried at Leighton, 25 August, 1733. Five of his sisters were Elizabeth, wife of John Stanier, of Cosford; Sarah (heiress); Lettice, wife of John Hayne, of Uttoxeter; Margaret, wife of Thomas More, of Millichope ; and Eachael, wife of Eobert Davison, The Brand. The heiress, Sarah Leighton, was baptised at Eodington, 26 October, 1686, and was there married, 9 September, 1708, to her cousin, Thomas Kynnersley, of Wrickton, and died 28 February, 1723. Her husband died 20 November, 1734, and was buried at Leighton. Burke's Landed Gantry states that according to an old pedigree " the family of the Kynnersleys is very ancient being seated long before the Conquest in com. Hereford in a castle soe called at present. In Doomesday Booke it is recorded, that when the Conqueror was possessed of his newe kingdome of Englande, hee sent his Commissrs throughout ye remote parts thereof, to know howe every man held his lands. In which tyme there was an ould gentle- man that lived and was owner of Kynnardsley Castle, in com. Hereford : by name John de Kynnardsley, and by title a knight (if any knights were before the Conquest). This ould gentleman was blind, he had then liveing with him twelve sonnes, whom with himself he armed, and stood in his castle gate, his halberd in his hand, attending the coming of sheriffs and other commissrs from ye king, who being arrived, demanded of him by what tenure he held his castle and lands; ye old knt replied by his armes, showing to them his halberd." Hugo de Kynnardsleye is mentioned in several charters in the time of Henry III., and was seised of the manor of Newland, and other estates in the counties of Gloucester and Hereford. This Hugh is stated to have been a soldier of the Cross, to have accompanied Prince Edward to the Holy Land, and to have received the honour of knighthood, upon which occasion he added the Jerusalem crosses to his arms, which were before "Az., a lion rampant, arg." Thomas Kynnersley, of Badger, co. Salop, and Loxley Hall, co. Stafford, was father of Anthony Kynnersley of Wrickton, whose son of the same name was father of Thomas Kynnersley, sheriff of Shropshire 1654, who, as above mentioned, married Sarah, the last of the Leightons, of Leighton. The children of this marriage were five sons— Thomas, (209) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Anthony, John, Clement, and Francis, and one daughter, Elizabeth. Thomas died without issue, and the heir, Anthony, married in 1753, Jane, daughter of Borlase Wingfield, of Preston Brockhurst, by whom he had one daughter, Jane, who died young, and three sons — Thomas Kynnersley, who married Anne, daughter of Thomas Eyton, and died without issue 1844 ; Richard Leighton Kynnersley, who also died without issue ; and Anthony Kynnersley, captain, who in 1789 married Harriet Gertrude, daughter of the Eev. Edward Browne. The children of this marriage were two, who died infants, Anthony, and the eventual heiress, Jane Eliza Kynnersley, who married Eobert Panting, son of Thomas Panting, of the Council House, Shrewsbury, whose father was the Rov. Stephen Panting, vicar of Wrockwardine and Wellington, Salop — a descendant of the Pantings of Eed Castle in Worcestershire, 1445. On the death of his maternal uncle, the Eev. Dr. Gardner, canon of Lichfield, and rector of Birmingham, Eobert Panting assumed by Eoyal License the name of Gardner, whose family estate of Sansaw he thus inherited, as well as Plas-y-court, Montgomeryshire. The Gardners are said to have come into Shropshire from Lancashire at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Later, we find John Gardner, of Sansaw, who died 2nd December, 1699, having married Jane, daughter of L. Thompson ; their son, Lawrence Gardner, prebendary of Lichfield, married Anne, daughter of F. Blakeway, by whom he had three daughters, co-heiresses, one of whom, Josina, married Stephen Panting, vicar of Wellington, and had two sons. The elder, Lawrence Panting, D.D., died childless, having assumed by Eoyal License 29 April, 1801, the surname of Gardner; his brother, T. Panting, who predeceased him, married Mary Miers, by whom he had a son, Eobert Panting, who 27 August, 1844, took by Eoyal License the name of Gardner under the will of Lawrence Gardner. This gentleman, as we have already stated, married the heiress of the Kynnersleys, and had three sons, Thomas, Anthony, and Eobert, and four daughters, Jane, Mary, Ann and Isabella, three daughters and his eldest son are still living ; and at his death in April, 1880, the family estates were inherited by his eldest son, Thomas Kynnersley Gardner, who in 1887, by Eoyal License, resumed the surname and arms of Kynnersley. This gentleman married, 25th March, 1856, Fanny Melita, eldest daughter of Colonel Eichard Frederick Hill, of Prees Hall, Shropshire, and niece of Eowland, second Viscount Hill, and has issue Thomas Frederick Kynnersley, the present occupant of the ancestral home. This gentleman married, 1st January, 1887, Elizabeth Maud, widow of the late Edward Eodgett, of Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire. (210) ~J-P - \ CtffSjtX J?--2*ew 6" /&/£e\ AKLY Park is the Shropshire estate of the Right Hon. Lord Windsor. The house, now the residence of Lady Mary Windsor Clive, is an elegant mansion built of brick with stone facings, in the modern style. It was mainly rebuilt in its present form about the year 1837 by the late Hon. R. H. Clive ; and stands in the parish of Bromfield, about three miles north-west of Ludlow. The surrounding grounds are extremely romantic and beautiful the ^•Jp plantations being tastefully and judiciously laid out ; towards the south-east is a distant view of Ludlow Castle. The park itself, which formerly contained 900 acres, is yet very extensive, it covers about 400 acres and abounds in stately trees, including many oaks, ancient and venerable enough to have gained the name of " Druid Oaks." The river Teme flows through the park and adds to the beauty and variety of the landscape ; its banks are adorned with many fine trees. The entrance hall is circular, and has a fretted ceiling with foliated centre, from whicli a large lamp is suspended. In the wall-panels over the three doorways are painted landscapes, the centre door opens into the inner, or white hall, from which the staircase ascends to the upper floors. Two marble columns support a gallery; on the walls are many good pictures, one large work by Benjamin West commemorating a historic scene in the life of the great Lord Clive. Below this is a portrait of Lady Mary Windsor Clive by J. Leslie, on either side being two smaller male portraits; also small portraits of Lady Clive and the Hon. Charlotte Clive, (wife and daughter of Robert, 1st Lord Clive) by William Owen. On the staircase are the following valuable works : Holy Family, by Luini ; Woman at a Window, by Van Tol ; Italian Carnival ; Venice, by Canaletti ; Dog, by Ward ; The burning of Troy, by Breughel ; a portrait of Henrietta Antonia, Countess of Powis, by Romney; "Architecture," by Ghisolfi ; portrait of Lieut. -Colonel R. Clive- a Seapiece ; another Ghisolfi, companion picture to the one already mentioned ; Virgin and Child by Schidone ; a Stag Hunt, by Snyders ; Musicians, by Rombont ; Dead Game and Fruit, by Fyt ; a Storm at Sea, by Vernet ; Dog, by Gainsborough Dupont. The drawing room has a white ceiling with fine centrepiece in gilt, from which a chandelier is suspended. This large apartment is lighted by two windows; between these are two oval mirrors. Over the mantel piece, which is of carved marble, is a portrait of (211) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the late Baroness "Windsor by Sir T. Lawrence, on either side of which are gilt candelabra. The walls of this room are adorned with many good pictures by old masters, including two battlepieces, by Bourgogne ; Cephalis and Procris, and the Landing of iEneas, by Claude ; Sea-piece, by Vandervelt ; Fox and Cranes, by Paul Vos ; Infant Saviour, by Murillo ; Christ crowned with thorns, by Caravaggio ; two landscapes, by Salvator Eosa ; Traveller Beposing, by John Miel ; St. Appollonia, by Carlo Dolce ; Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene, by Andrea Secchi ; St. Francis, by Spagnoletto ; a Drummer, by Velasquez ; landscape, by Gaspar Poussin ; the Funeral of Phocion, by Nicholas Poussin ; and Christ in the Storm, by Vlieger. The library contains well-stored cases of books ; in the fireplace are the old-fashioned dog irons, and there is a mirror over the mantelpiece. A portrait of the Hon. B. H. Clive, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.B.A., hangs here ; there are also two marble busts. The dining room is lighted by three windows ; its ceiling has a richly-moulded cornice. On the mantelpiece are two busts in marble, and three bronzes ; the chairs are furnished in red leather, and granite-topped tables support the candelabra. In two niched recesses are marble groups, Hagar and Ishmael, and the Prodigal Son in front of the central window. In the dining room are the following appropriate pictures : — Two fruit pieces by Menedez ; Vegetables by Van Helmont, Fish and Game, by the same artist, who is also represented here by an Armourer's Shop ; Lobsters, by De Heem ; Foxes and Wolf, and Lioness and Boar, by Snyders ; Peasants drinking, the two centre figures of this picture are by Velasquez, the rest has been added by another hand ; and portraits of Lord Clive, by Dance, and George, Earl of Powis, by Gainsborough. In the billiard room, which has a richly decorated marble chimney-piece, are portraits of Lord and Lady Windsor, and several small water-colour pictures. Adjoining this apart- ment is a little museum, containing collections of shells, minerals, and stuffed birds. The family title dates from 1529, in which year Sir Andrew Windsor, of Stauwell, Middlesex, K.B., had summons to Parliament, and took his seat 1st December as Baron Windsor, of Bradenham, Bucks. He was descended from William of Windsor, son of Walter FitzOther, a baron of William the Conquerer ; and possessed a great portion of the ancient feudal barony of Windsor, which included his manor of Stanwell. The title was enjoyed by holders of the Windsor name until the death of Thomas, 6th baron, when it passed to his nephew, Thomas Windsor Hickman, 6th December, 1612. This 7th baron was a Eoyalist, who maintained a troop of horse at his own expense, and commanded a regiment at Naseby, 1645. After the Eestoration his title was restored by the king by patent 16th June, 1660, and he was subsequently (6th December, 1682) created Earl of Plymouth. He was twice married, and the great grandson of his first marriage, Other Lewis, was '4th Earl of Plymouth. He married 11th August, 1750, Catherine, eldest daughter of Thomas, Lord Archer, and died 20th April, 1771, having had, with four daughters, three sons, who each succeeded to the family title. The eldest son, Other Hickman, 5th Earl, was born 30th May, 1751, and married 20th May, 1788, Sarah, eldest daughter and co-heir of the last Lord Archer, by whom he left at his death, 12th June, 1799, a son and two daughters. The son, Other Archer, 6th Earl, married Lady Mary Sackville, eldest daughter and eventual co-heir of the third Duke of Dorset ; he died without issue 10th July, 1833. His sisters were Lady Maria, OAKLY PARK. married to the third Marquis of Downshire, and died 7th April, 1855, and Lady Harriet, married 19lh June, 1819, to the Hon. Eohert Henry Clive. At the death of the 6th Earl of Plymouth, his uncles, Andrews and Henry, succeeded as 7th and 8th holders of the title, they both died without issue, and at the death of the 8fch Earl, 8th December, 1843, the earldom expired. The abeyance of the barony of Windsor was, however, determined 25th October, 1855, in favour of his surviving niece, Lady Harriet Clive, who on the 8th November in the same year, took by Eoyal license the surname of Windsor, in addition to and before that of Clive. As already stated, her ladyship had married the Hon R. H. Clive, son of Edward, 1st Earl of Powis, and by him (who died 20th January, 1854) had three sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Robert, was born 24th May, 1824, and married 20th October, 1852, Lady Mary Selina Louisa Bridgeman, fifth daughter of the 2nd Earl of Bradford ; he died 4th August, 1859, leaving one son (the present baron) and three daughters. His mother, Baroness Windsor, died 9th November, 1869, when the title devolved upon her grandson, Robert George Windsor Clive, who succeeded as 14th baron. His lordship was born 27th August, 1857. Acly was once possessed by Simon de Halton, and at the same time Corfham belonged to Walter De Clifford. The inquisition of 1224 records that Corfham Castle was given to De Clifford by Henry II. for love of his daughter, " Fair Rosamond." In 1617 Oakly Park was held by Sir Charles Fox, of whom the President and Council of the Marches of Wales recorded that he " refuseth to show by what title he doth then houlde the same. And keepeth more sheepe and cattell than Deere," whereof the Council humbly craved instructions from Charles I. Oakly Park and its locality have several traditions ; one curious legend is related by Thomas of Walsingham, a fourteenth-century historian — in his Chronicle. He says that in the year 1344 a Saracen physician came to Earl Warren, asking permision to kill a serpent, or " dragon " which had its den at Bromfield ; the monster was ravaging the Earl's lands on the marches of Wales, and assent was given to the Arab's request. His incantations overcame the dragon, in whose den it was believed that much treasure lay hid. Hearing of the report, some Herefordshire men, at the instigation of Peter Picard, a Lombard, went by night to dig for the gold; they had just reached it when the retainers of Earl Warren, having learned what was proceeding, fell suddenly upon the treasure-seekers and imprisoned them. The treasure, of which the Earl took possession, is said to have been very great ; probably it was a deposit of Roman coius, etc., found in the neighbourhood of the Old Field, and one of the barrows or lows there may have been the reputed dragon's home. We may here mention that, according to Wright (History of Ludlow, 1852, p 3), the geographer Mannert locates the Roman Bravinium at Bromfield. Another legend relates that Robin Hood stood on the large mound at the Old Field (now the site of Bromfield Racecourse) and aimed an iron arrow at the weathercock of Ludlow Church, but the shaft fell short of the mark and has ever since remained in the place where it fixed itself, at the extremity of the north transept, where it is to be seen to the present day. It was at Bromfield that " Susan Grey " lived, and where the scene of Mrs. Sherwood's pathetic story is laid; the villagers yet point out a grave in the churchyard as being the one which contains the remains of the poor heroine. (213) (214) The Gate-House, Whitehall. I U: tat §t)xeiv5bnx\y. B manorial rights and the greater part of the land in the Parish of Holy Cross were held by the Benedictine Abbey of S. Peter and S. Paul until the time of the Dissolution. Where Whitehall now stands, then stood the Home Farm, or Grange, of the Abbey, with its many outbuildings and enclosures, while the Sheep Farm, with its large unenclosed area, was at Monkmoor. Large barns and granaries were at both places. Part of these buildings yet remain at Whitehall, in the stabling and pigeon house, and a small outbuilding adjoining the house, and in the garden walls. Over the stables still exists one granary, the sides of which are lined with closely fitted oaken boards. At the Dissolution, grants of the Abbey estate were made to several persons, by payment, doubtless, of heavy premiums to the Crown. In 1578, Mr. Eichard Prince, who had already obtained some portion of the Abbey lands, became, with Mr. Hatton and Mr. Eock, joint owner of the Manor. Mr. Hatton was the survivor, and his family retained the manorial rights till 1651, when they passed again by purchase to Mr. Prince's descendants, who had, in the meantime, obtained the greater part of the estate. In the year 1578, Mr. Prince began to build a house, where the Grange Farm had stood. The old Abbey buildings below seem to have served as his quarry. This appears from the fact that the stones of the structure are not all of one kind (the Abbey having bee n built at different periods and from different quarries), and many of them show evident tokens of having been used in some earlier fabric. The timber was all new ; and the bill of its purchase still exists. It briefly states that 1,500 oak trees were purchased by Mr. Prince in 1578, at Acton Scott, and that he paid for them sixty pounds. It must be remembered that this sum is equivalent to more than £700 in our day, and that the removal along twenty miles of such roads as then existed must have added largely to the cost. The wood must have been very " green," and this will account for the uneven surface of some of the upper floors, where they have not been relaid. The construction of the house is peculiar. The four external walls vary in thickness from five feet to three and a half. All the 'chimneys are contained in them, and are lined with brick, and are of that material (215) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. also when extended above the walls. This was done on account of the friable nature of the stone. There is no brick or stone work within the four walls, with the exception of a brick chamber connected with one of the chimneys, which was long supposed to have been a hiding place, but which, doubtless, served (by hooks still fastened to its ceiling) for the smoking and drying of the winter supply of meat. The wealth of timber inside the house is remarkable. The interior is one great framework of beams of largest size, filled in with " wattle and dab." The stairs are not framed, but are all of solid blocks. The architect, who had built the house at Acton Scott, a few years before, and who seems to have designed other mansions in South Shropshire, planned the house to be a perfect square, all the offices being in the basement, which is only partly underground. Each side presents a different design, the proportions of which have been most carefully adjusted, with three gables on each face. There is no outbuilding or projection whatever, except on the east side, where two " garde-robes " are provided outside the main wall. From the centre of the roof is uplifted an octagonal turret, or " belvidere," of wood, forming part of the original frame of the interior, and pierced with windows on every face. The internal plan is very simple, consisting on each floor of a large room in every angle, and smaller rooms in the centre of each face. This secures a cross light in all the larger rooms, and, combined with the unusual height of twelve feet, gives a very cheerful aspect to the interior. All the principal rooms were richly panelled with oak about twenty-five years after the hall was built, and when the timber cut in 1578 had been well seasoned. The house was four years in building, and much of it, even of its roof, has remained without alteration to this day. Its completion is thus recorded in a quaint contemporary chronicle (Dr. Taylor's MS.) : — ' ' This yeare and in the sayde moonthe of Marche 1582 the famous howse in the Abbe foryate in the the towne of of Shreusberie sytuate by a greate barne callyd the Abbotts barne was boyldid by one master Prynce Lawyar callid master Pryncs place the foondac'on began in Marche 1578 so was it iiij yeares in buyldinge to hys greate chardge, wth fame to hym and hys posterite for ev.' " It is stated that the mansion " was long known as ' Master Prince's Place ' " ; and the poet Churchyard tells us, in his Worthines of Wales, 1587, that " Maister Prince his house stands so trim and finely, that it graceth all the soyle it is in." A small porch was affixed to the west front about 1612. Apart from the house, and about sixty feet in advance, is the gateway, of similar construction to the house, and built at the same time. Below, are two small chambers for the gatekeeper; and above is a large panelled room, with a bedroom and "garde-robe," where the chaplain was lodged. In the garden is an octagonal pigeon-house of unusual size, with more than 550 nests, and still retaining its revolving ladder, which works from a central pillar ou pivots, whereby every nest can be easily reached. A very delicate cornice of moulded brickwork runs round the exterior. Its date seems to be about 1510. Between the house and the pigeon-house are five larch trees, which have seen their best days. They are said to have sprung from cones brought to Shropshire in 1724, and some of which still stand near some country houses, and notably at Linley Hall in South Salop. There is also, at the back of Whitehall, a very large walnut tree, which sends forth, from a stem of sixteen feet in circumference, boughs of great size and length, one of which extends sixty- six feet from the trunk. The whole tree, notwithstanding the recent loss of some large branches, covers a circle whose diameter is 110 feet. THE MANOR HOUSE CALLED WHITEHALL. In front of the mansion, stretching down to the Horse Fair, was in past years a grass lawn, called in mediaeval Latin the " Gaia," or Gay, a name given to small parks or ornamental enclosures. This remained with some fine chesnut trees till 1835. It still retains the name, though now covered by buildings and gardens known as "Whitehall Street and Holywell Terrace. As to the name of the house, it has been commonly supposed that it was called Whitehall because it was coated with whitewash. But this is a mistake. It is true that a hundred years ago it was so covered, the object being to preserve the surface of the stone, which from long exposure was crumbling away. For two hundred years the house presented the same red aspect that it does now. The origin of the name seems to have been that Mr. Prince, who had practised as a successful lawyer in London, and had attained some dignity equivalent to a Serjeant or a Queen's Counsel, had also received a patent office of Purveyor of Italian Groceries at thp Queen's Court of Whitehall. On his return to Shrewsbury and the erection of his house, he named the latter Whitehall, "in grateful resentment," as the phrase then ran, of the scene of his practice and his profits. He seems to have sprung of a Shropshire family, and to have inherited some houses in the Abbey Foregate, before his purchase of the Abbey land. He had resided for some time in the "east foriatt," for in the parish deeds of Holy Cross we find a lease dated 31 August, 7 Edward VI. (1553), granting for sixty years " by and wyth the hole assente and consente of the hole p'ocheners of the p'y'she churche aforsaid in consideration , of the good s'vice labor and travtiyle of the said Eichard conc'ynge the p'ishe church aforsaid " " two chamsbers withe the apprentices scytuate and beinge over the northe dore of the p'ishe churche aforsaid late in the tenure of Eoberte Turvyn clerke." It is surmised that the good services here referred to were the successful exertions of the eminent lawyer on behalf of the Parish in its suit for recovery of the bells, which had apparently been seized by the lay possessors of the Abbey. In the 18th year of Elizabeth's reign he is described as Eichard Prince of Abbey Foregate monastery. His father, who lived where Holy Cross Hospital now stands, was warden of St. Giles' Hospital, and died in 1557. Eichard Prince had no children by his first wife. His second wife was a daughter of Chief Justice Leighton, cf Plash Hall. He had nine children, two of whom were knighted. Sir Francis Prince married Mary Pigott, of Chetwynd, but died childless. Sir Eichard Prince married Mary Wrottesley, of W T rottesley, by whom he had twelve children. His son, Philip Prince, married Elizabeth, daughter of Chief Justice Banks, but died before his father, who was succeeded by Wrottesley Prince, who married Beatrice Morrice, the heiress of Clun- gunford Hall. He was succeeded by his son Eichard Prince, who was succeeded by his brother Francis Prince, whose only daughter and heiress married Sir John Astley, of Patteshull. She had nine children, of whom the only son died in the lifetime of his father. Her fourth daughter, Alicia, married, 1742, Charles, Lord Ossulton, who became third Lord Tankerville. She was the only one of a large family that left issue, and thus the Shrewsbury property of the Princes centred in Charles, fourth Earl Tankerville, the grandfather of the present Lord. There is a tradition that, after some years of married life, Sir John Astley and his wife were not well agreed, and ceased to live together. He built, in the Abbey Foregate, a house called the New Hall (where Mrs. Juson now lives), which troubled her by shutting out the view of the hill country from her upper windows. She then built in front of his house a number of mean cottages. He (217) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. then erected a very high wall which might screen the cottages, and of which the lower portion still remains. Whitehall was subsequently tenanted in succession by Mr. Wingfield, by Mrs. Hanmer, and by Mr. Richard Corbet. In 1835, the trustees of the late Lord Taukerville sold Whitehall and some adjoining land to Dr. Butler, who was then about to retire from the head mastership of Shrewsbury School. Dr. Butler never lived there, being made Bishop of Lichfield in the spring of the following year. His widow and family came to reside in it in 1840. The house and grounds were purchased in 1858 from his son by his grandson, the Yen. Archdeacon Lloyd, the present owner. t Jldon ^Burnett. > 3 parish and village of Acton Burnell is situate seven miles south- south-east of Shrewsbury. The Hall, an elegant mansion of white freestone, stands at the entrance to a well-wooded park, extending over five or six hundred acres, which is plentifully stocked with deer. The park commands beautiful views of the surrounding country ; and the pleasure grounds adjoining the hall are tastefully laid out. A fine Ionic portico gives access to the mansion, the doors opening into a spacious and well-arranged entrance hall ; near the doorway is a seat, composed principally of antlers and skins of the deer. The large rooms are well lighted and handsomely decorated ; the drawing room has a large bay window giving an extensive view of the park. Acton Burnell is the Shropshire residence of Sir Charles Frederick Smythe, Baronet, who is the chief landowner, and lord of the manor. In the reign of William the Conqueror, Sir Bobert Burnell had his seat here, and his posterity nourished in the vicinity for a long period. About the time of Bichard, the manor passed to the Mauduits of "Warminster, as collateral heirs of the barony of Holgate, and by them it was sold in the reign of Edward I. to his brother Bichard Plantagenet, King of the Bornans, who conveyed it to Bobert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Lord Chancellor. This prelate was the builder, or more probably the restorer, of Acton Burnell Castle, whose picturesque ruins still stand on Acton Hill, in the grounds of the present residence. It was not a fortress, but simply a castellated manor house, licence for the crenelation being given to Bobert Burnell, who was also authorised to cut timber in the King's forest for the building. Camden tells us that the Burnell family " was very honourable and ancient ;" and it is evident that they possessed the royal favour, for Philip Burnell, in the 54th year of Henry III., had the grant of a market on Tuesday, and two fairs in the year, the one on the eve, the day, and the morrow of the annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, and the other on |the j eve, the day, and the morrow of St. Michael the Archangel. In the same reign Bobert Burnell was tutor to the Prince ( afterwards Edward I.), on whose accession he was made Lord Treasurer. In the month of May, 1232, his Boyal master spent three days at Acton Burneil, but it must have been in the old house which Leland calls a "greate barne," which is evidently of far greater antiquity than the Castle, the licence for building which (219) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. was not granted till two years later. In the intervening year Edward again visited Acton Burnell, staying from the 29th September to the 12th November. The castle formed a parallelogram about 95 by 60 feet, having a square tower at each angle ; the building seems to have had three storeys, a beautiful hall with decorated windows forming the first floor. Though the towers and outer walls remain, the interior is almost entirely gone, the skeleton being almost entirely concealed by the luxuriant growth of ivy and other climbing plants. The building has long been in decay, and was, at the time of the succession of the present proprietor, used for farmyard purposes ; Sir Frederick Smythe, however, had the structure cleared and carefully repaired. Of the older building only two gables remain, these are some distance in front of the hall ; the side walls are very low and the gables exceedingly high. They are 40 feet wide and separated by a distance of 157 feet ; the space enclosed by them was probably the hall of the old house, celebrated as the place in which Edward I. held a Parliament. The king, in June, 1283, took captive David, Prince of Wales, who was sent in chains to Shrewsbury for trial. A Parliament was summoned to meet September 30th, 1283; the writs, dated from Ehyddlan, summoned the temporal peers to Salop in Crastino Michaelis, and directed twenty cities and towns (Shrewsbury among them), to send two two representatives each, and every sheriff to send two knights. This is considered to be the first national assembly in which the Commons had any share by legal authority, and the attendance was unusually large. The Welsh prince, as a vassal of the Crown, was tried for rebellion, and was sentenced by the chief justice, John de Naus, to barbarous execution ; and the sentence was carried into effect at Shrewsbury in the horrible fashion of that age. David was dragged through the streets at the heels of horses, then was hung up awhile and taken down while still living ; his heart and bowels were torn out and burned before his face, and decapitation ended his torments, though the mutilated body was quartered and the parts exhibited in four of the chief cities in the kingdom ; his head went to London. The execution is supposed to have taken place at the top of Pride Hill ; and after the appalling spectacle the peers adjourned to Acton Burnell (whither the king had already preceded them), and proceeded to legislation with the Commons, the most memorable enactment being the famous Stattitum de Mercatoribus, to which the monarch gave his royal assent at Acton Burnell. Authorities are somewhat divided as to the exact place in which the Parliament assembled. Lloyd, the editor of Camden's Britannia, says : " The Parliament sat at Acton Burnell Castle, the House of Commons in a barn belonging to Shrewsbury Abbey ; the gables of which are still remaining." Sir Eoger Owen, of Condover, states that the Lords sat at Acton Burnell and the Commons at Shrewsbury ; but Blakeway states that the Lords sat in Acton Burnell Castle and the Commons in an adjoining apartment. The bishop died at Berwick in 1192, and was buried in his cathedral at Wells. His successor at Acton Burnell was Sir Edward, son of Philip Burnell and Maud, daughter of Eichard Arundel ; this knight served in Edward's Scottish campaigns, and is said to have always appeared in great splendour, attended by a chariot decked with banners of his arms. He was summoned to Parliament from the fifth to the eighth year of the reign of Edward II., aud died in 1315. " Mawd, the heiress, marry 'd John Lovel for her first husband, and John Handloio for her second, whose son Nicholas took the name of Biornel ; from whom the Ratcliffs, Earls of Sussex, and others derive their pedigree" (Camden's Britannia). This Nicholas had possession of the castle in 1346 ; he is styled Lord Burnell, and died in 1382, being buried in the church under an altar tomb inlaid with his effigy in brass. t AG TON BUB NELL. The Lovell family were subsequently possessed of the estate, which was eventually forfeited by Lord Lovell in consequence of his adherence to Richard III. Henry VII. being seated on the throne, granted Acton Burnell, together with other estates in the county, to Jasper Tudor, Earl of Bedford ; after whose death it reverted to the Crown, and Henry VIII. granted it by letters patent February 1, in the fifth year of his reign, to Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, distinguished for his valour at the battle of Flodden. The estate was held later by Sir John Dudley, and became the property of the ancient family of Lee, of Langley, a place in the parish of Acton Burnell. Richard Lee was Sheriff of Shropshire in 1479, and fourth in descent from him was Humphrey Lee, who was created a baronet May 3, 1620, and is said to have been the first Shropshire man who received that title. His son, Sir Richard Lee, left two daughters and co-heiresses ; the elder, Rachael, married Ralph Cleaton of Oneley, Salop, and took Lee Hall, while the younger daughter, Mary, who took Acton Burnell, married Edward Smythe, Esq., of Eshe Hall, county Durham, who was created a baronet 23 February, 1660. Sir Edward died 12th October, 1714, being succeeded by his eldest son, Sir Richard, at whose death in December, 1736, the title passed to Sir John. This third baronet had married Constantia, daughter of George Blount, Esq., and sister of Sir Edward Blount, Baronet, of Sodington, by whom he had two sons and one daughter ; he died 17th September, 1737, nine months after he inherited the title, and was succeeded by his elder son, Sir Edward. This gentleman married firstly, 25th July, 1743, Maria, daughter, of Peter Gifford, Esq., of Chillington, by whom (who died 30th May, 1764) he had an only son, Edward, his successor. He married secondly Mary, daughter of Hugh, 4th Lord Clifford by whom he had several children ; at his death the title and estates passed to his eldest son, Sir Edward, fifth baronet, who married 15th October, 1781, Catherine Maria, only daughter and heiress of Peter Holford, Esq., of Wootton Hall, Warwickshire, by whom he left at his decease 11th April, 1811, an only son, Sir Edward Joseph, born 1787, and married 23rd October, 1808, Frances, daughter of the late Sir Edward Bellew, Bart., of Barmeath, county Louth, by whom he had four sons and three daughters. He was sherift of Shropshire in 1831, and died 11th March, 1856, being succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Sir Charles Frederick, seventh and present baronet. Sir Charles Frederick Smythe was born 10th March, 1819, and married 17th October, 1855, Maria, third daughter of Lord Camoys, and has had issue one son and one daughter. The son, Edw r ard Joseph, was born 17th November, 1857, and died 13th September, 1858. Sir Charles Frederick was sheriff of Shropshire in 1867. Leaving the Castle grounds by a gate at the park entrance, a Roman Catholic cemetery is reached. In the centre stands a large crucifix, and immediately adjacent is the tomb of Canon Colgan, bearing the inscription, " Of your Charity pray for the soul of the Very Reverend Richard Colgan, Canon of Shrewsbury, who died May 19th, 1875 ; aged 75 years. R.I. P." At the suppression of religious houses in France in 1793, the English Benedictine monks had to flee to England, where they were offered shelter by the Smythe family. The first to reach Acton Burnell was the Community of St. Lawrence, of Dieulouard, in Lorraine ; these monks subsequently removed to Vernon Hall, near Liverpool, and finally to their present abode at Ampleforth, Yorkshire. The monks of St. Gregory, of Douai, who also came to Acton Burnell, remained there until 1814, when they went to a fresh home at Downside, near Bath. Their original dwelling here was a wing from the present portico, 221) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. which has now disappeared. The shrubbery walk and many of the trees were planted by the Benedictines, whose mission has been in existence ever since 1748. Close at hand is the parish church, dedicated to St. Mary, it consists of nave, transepts, chancel and north porch ; is cruciform, without a central tower, there being no western arch to the cross. The east front is remarkable for massive dignity and simplicity of detail. The church is without aisles ; the porch has a niche over the doorway. All the mouldings are early English. A corbel table, composed of grotesque heads and brackets alternately, rans round the whole of the building. The venerable edifice was built by Eobert Burnell, about the end of the reign of Henry III. It is a very beautiful specimen of the transition between the early English and the decorated styles of architecture, and has several points in common with the Palace at Wells, part of which is believed to have been built by Bishop Burnell. The proportions of the church and the ornamentation are very fine ; indeed, in some respects, it could hardly be surpassed in architectural beauty by any parish church of its size in the country. Some parts of it unfortunately, had been built of an inferior kind of stone, and were for years in a very bad state of decay ; the wet, finding its way into the walls and foundations, doing serious damage. The interior beauties of the church were almost entirely hidden from view by plaster and whitewash, and the space blocked up by high box pews, and the huge timber supports of the bell cot, a comparatively modern addition at the inter- section of the crossing. The fine open timbered roof of oak was concealed by a plaster ceiling. So dilapidated had the fabric become, that, in 1887, it was resolved to commence the work of restoration, which was entrusted to Mr. F. B. Wade, of London, at an estimated cost of about £1700. The Bector and Churchwardens issued an appeal for funds which met a liberal response. The walls have been underbuilt, the windows carefully restored, and the oak roof opened out and re-covered with tiles ; but up to the present time the work remains unfinished, being, as the Archdeacon of Salop mentioned at his visitation in May, 1889, "indefinitely broken off by the undue payment and subsequent failure of the contractor." Inside the church are several altar tombs and mural monuments ; the earliest being to the memory of Nicholas, Lord Burnell, who was summoned to Parliament in right of his barony of Holgate. This tomb bears inscription thus : — hic jacet d'n's nich'us bubnell miles d'n's de holgot qui obiit scvo die januabii anno d'ni mmo. cccmo. lxxxii cui a'i'e p'pitiet d's am.' In the north transept also are some very fine Elizabethan monuments to the Lee family ; the largest of these has two recumbent figures resting upon a sarcophagus. The figures, finely carved in marble, are those of a knight in full armour, with his lady, both with hands folded in the attitude of prayer ; at the back under a semi-circular arch, is a frieze representing nine figures in the costume and ruff of Tudor days, and above this is a panel bearing the following legend : — HIC JACET COBPVS BICHAEDI LEE, AEMIGEEI QUI. OBIIT .27. r>IE MAIL ANNO DOM 1591. On the adjoining wall is another memorial to Sir Humphrey Lee and his wife, whose (222 v ACTON BUBNELL. kneeling effigies face each other under sculptured niches, below which are six figures, also kneeling, representing their children. The inscription runs thus : — Memoriae Sacrum Nobilissmi. et Clarissmi. vivi Dni. Humfredi Lee, primi Comitatus Salopia; Baronetti Virtute et Prosapia ^Eque. Venerabilis Qui Post Annum Suum Septuage Simum Septimum faeliciter Actum Pridie Nonarum obclormivit et sub Hoc Marmore Requiescens Justorum Anastatian Expectat. Hie jacet obscura clausus vir clarns in Urna Lfeus ; et est titulus quern gerit Urna brevis Nec Mansotaso titulo nec dignior amplo Ullus erat virtus si monumenta daret. The living, which has been held since 1862 by the Eev. William Serjeantson, M.A., is a rectory in the gift of Sir Frederick Smythe. The tithe rent charge is estimated at £390, and the gross yearly value £400, with residence and nine acres of glebe. one of the pleasantest and most picturesque parts of South Shropshire, half-way between Ludlow and Bridgnorth, stands Burwarton Hall, a fine mansion built of freestone in the Italian style of architecture. The spacious house is delightfully situate in a richly wooded park, to the north-west of which is the highest hill in Shropshire — the Brown Clee — whose prominent crest adds greatly to the beauty of the surrounding landscape. In the park, some pretty lakes add to the variety of the scenery, and the extensive pleasure grounds and shrubberies adjoining the mansion are tastefully laid out and kept in admirable order. Burwarton is one of the country seats of Viscount Boyne, whose family is a branch of the ancient ducal house of Hamilton, and derives its pedigree from Lord Claud Hamilton, son of James, second Earl of Arran, Regent of Scotland, and Lord of the Duchy of Chatelherault in France. Lord Claud, who was a zealous and faithful adherent of Mary Queen of Scots, was created Baron Paisley by King James in 1587 ; and married Margaret, daughter of George, fifth Lord Seton. He died in 1621, having had four sons, the youngest of whom, the Hon. Sir Frederick Hamilton, served under Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and afterwards settled in Ireland, where he became governor of Ulster, and did considerable service during the rebellion of 1641. He married Sydney, daughter and heiress of Sir John Vaughan, and had four children ; the youngest son, Gustavus, was a distinguished military officer in the service of William III., for whom he raised six regiments, two of which are well known as the Inniskillen Dragoons. He defended Coleraine and Derry, had his horse shot under him at the battle of the Boyne, and stormed Athlone ; and for these services, he was rewarded with a grant of forfeited lands, and appointed brigadier-general of King William's armies. In the reign of Queen Anne he was promoted lieutenant-general ; and by George I. in 1715 raised to the Irish peerage as Baron Hamilton, of Stackallan, and was created Viscount Boyne, in August 1717. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Brooke, of Brookesborough, and had several children ; the eldest son, Frederick, did not survive his father, but died in 1715, leaving by his wife Sophia, sister of Viscount Limerick, a son, Gustavus, who succeeded to the family titles at the death of his grand- father, 16th September, 1723. This second viscount, who was born in 1710, was M.P. for (225) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Newport, I.W., 1735, and died unmarried in 1746, when the honours passed to his cousin, Frederick, third viscount, who died, without issue, in 1772, being succeeded by his brother Eichard. This fourth viscount was born 24th March, 1724 ; and married Georgiana, daughter of "William Bury, Esq., of Shannon Grove, by whom he had seven sons and seven daughters. His lordship died 30th July, 1789, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Gustavus, fifth viscount, who was born 20th December, 1749, and married Martha Matilda, only daughter of Sir Quaile Somerville, Bart., of Somerville. He died in 1816, and was succeeded by his eldest son Gustavus, sixth viscount, born 12th April, 1777, who married Harriet, only daughter of Benjamin Baugh, Esq., Burwarton Hall. This marriage brought the beautiful Burwarton estate to the Boyne family. Lady Boyne died 1st November, 1854, and the Viscount died 30th March, 1855, leaving an only surviving son and heir, Gustavus Frederick, seventh viscount, who was born 1797. He married, 9th September, 1828, Emma Maria, daughter of Matthew Eussell, Esq., M.P., of Brancepeth Castle, Durham ; this lady inherited the Brancepeth Estates, on the death of her brother in 1850, when Viscount Boyne assumed by royal license the name of Eussell, in addition to that of Hamilton. On the 31st August, 1866, his lordship was created Baron Brancepeth ; he died 29th October, 1872 (his wife having pre-deceased him on the 29th April, 1870), and left an only son, Gustavus Eussell Hamilton-Eussell, the present Viscount Boyne, Baron Hamilton and Baron Brancepeth. His lordship was born on the 28th May, 1830, and married, 2nd September, 1858, Lady Catherine Frances Scott, third daughter of John, second Earl of Eldon, and has five sons and four daughters, the heir being the Hon. Gustavus William, born 11th January, 1864. The entrance hall is a large apartment, which has a mantelpiece of richly-veined grey marble ; above this is a stag's head, whose massive antlers sufficiently indicate that their possessor must have been a veritable monarch of the woods. On either side of the fireplace stands an elegant slender glass vase, and chairs bearing the viscount's coronet and crest of the Hamilton-Eussells, portraits of whose ancestors adorn the walls. In a comer to the right of the fireplace is the tall hall clock, in handsome inlaid case ; and an old oak chest stands on the other side of the room. The valuable pictures adorning the walls include portraits of the first Earl of Abercorn, in armour ; John Hudley, Archbishop of Armagh, 1744 ; the first Viscount Boyne's eldest son, and his wife ; also a fine miniature of Benjamin Baugh, Esq., who formerly possessed the Burwarton estate. There are also portraits of the present viscount's father, the Earl of Tyrconnell, and the Countess of Tyrone ; and an old Dutch interior of an apothecary's shop. Folding doors lead into the dining room, whose walls are well adorned with ancestral portraits and other good pictures. Conspicuous over the mantel is the first Viscount Boyne, in armour, and another noteworthy portrait is that of his great fellow-soldier, the Duke of Schomberg, who carries his field-marshal's baton. Another fine work depicts a youth in a blue costume— the son of the first viscount ; next is a female portrait, and over the door Captain Lord John Hamilton, Earl of Arran. There are also two dark figure pieces and two small landscapes. Among other portraits are James, 2nd Earl of Arran and Duke of Chatelherault, a full-length of Sir Frederick Hamilton, Claud Hamilton, Viscount Strabane (in armour), and the Earl of Abercorn. Fifteen pictures adorn the walls of an adjoining boudoir, one fine portrait being carefully shielded by a red curtain, this represents a son of James Hamilton, of naval fame. A landscape, with figures, bears the name of C. de Moor ; then come portraits of Eichard, fourth viscount, the Countess of Charleville, and a small three-quarter length female figure by Muzio Diaj, 1825. (226) BUBWABTON HALL. Over the mantel is a tine interior of a Capuchin Chapel, and a small sea piece ; there are also some small statuettes in parian, and three fine pictures of stirring scenes in the life of the first Lord Boyne — these include the famous hattle from which he took his name, the Siege of Athlone, and the Storming of Vigo, all by the same artist, F. P. Stephens. The well- furnished drawing room, also contains many excellent works, including a large sacred subject, given to Lord Boyne by the French at Vigo. A small picture gives a view of Putney Common, and another shows Melbury Park, Dorsetshire ; other views include Hampstead Heath, and a Kentish scene, by Laporte, and a water colour drawing of Lord Boyne's Durham seat, Brancepeth Castle. Among the portraits are the second viscount in blue dress, Lady Paisley, a water colour of the late Lady Boyne by Clialon, R.A., and a miniature of William Gwynne ; and the other pictures include game and poultry, a landscape with cattle, and a female figure subject. This room has a fine mantelpiece of white marble ; and the adjoining library has six busts arranged over its book cases. The billiard room is a large apartment, with a magnificent domed ceiling and tine cornice ; it has a splendid fireplace, composed of marble of various colours. Five portraits hang here, including Caleb Cartwright, William Richardson, Esq., by Slaughter, 1745, and General Richard Hamilton, 1749. In the housekeeper's room is some rare and valuable china, some, of which formerly belonged to the Due de Angouleme. On the staircase are portraits of the Duke of Ormonde, Earl of Peterborough, Viscount Mountjoy, Earl of Abercorn ; also a large figure subject and four landscapes. In the spacious bedrooms also are many pictures, including a portrait of the Earl of Abercorn, a Holy Family, a Madonna, a Saint, a view of Stackallan, Lord Boyne's Irish seat, a landscape with figures, by Polemberg, and a water colour portrait of Andrew Knight, Esq. From Domesday Book we learn that in the time of King Edward the Confessor Burertone was held by Azor, and that after the Conquest it formed portion of the vast possessions of Earl Roger de Montgomery, who granted it to Radulph de Mortimer, lord of Wigmore, under whom it was held by Helgot, lord of Castle Holgate. The record further informs us that " Here is half a hide geldable. The [arable] land is [enough] for iii. ox- teams. Here two villains have one team. It was waste [i.e., when it came to Mortimer]. Now it is worth 2 shillings [per annum]." For at least three centuries the seigneury of the Mortimers continued here, although the ordinary successors of Helgot do not appear to have retained the tenancy. An early feoffee of the Barons of Castle Holgate, Robert de Girros, however appears to have had possession ; about 113S-9 he witnesses a grant of Philip de ■ Belmeis to Buildwas Abbey. This Robert de Girros, or his son of the same name, was tenant of the Crown in the royal manor of Claverley, until Michaelmas 1190, when his estates fell into the King's hands. Some years later the holding of a Roger de Girros in Burwarton appears to have been made over to his sister Isabella, who prior to 1207 had become the wife of Thomas de Constantyne, and whose son, another Thomas de Constantyne was eventually found to be co-heir with Robert de Girros. It seems that both these tenants joined the rebellion of the Barons in 1216-17, and that Hugh de Mortimer took the opportunity of confiscating to himself the estates held by them of his barony ; but on their return to allegiance to Henry III. in 1217 each of them obtained letters of reseizin. COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. In 1^40 Thomas de Costentin is entered as holding one-third of a knight's fee in Borwarton under Ealph de Mortimer. The manor contained half a hide of land, did suit to the hundred, and paid the Sheriff 2d. annually for Stretward and 4d. for Motfee. The Constantines appear to have subsequently become extinct and the mauor to have passed to the nearest of kin, Walter de Hopton, who in 1304 was found to be holding half a Kuight's fee in Borewarton. He died March 10, 1305, and the inquest which sat on his death found him to have held a third part of a Knight's fee in Burwarton of the heir of Edmund de Mortimer, which heir was then in minority. Walter de Hopton's heir was also a minor at his father's decease and continued so, for the Feodary of March 1316 records that Burwarton was in the King's hands, by reason of the nonage of Walter de Hopton. (22S) g>cut&for6. ANDFORD Manor has been held uninterruptedly since the Conquest by the ancient and distinguished family of the Sandfords. In the time of the Conqueror it is recorded as being held by one of his great barons, Gerard de Tornai, who appears to have granted it to Thomas de Saundford. This founder of the family came into England with the Norman King, and his name occurs in every known copy of the famous Roll of Battle Abbey. The manor is thus described in Domesday Book: "The same Gerard holds Sanford. Uluiet held it (in Saxon times) and was free. Here iii hides geldable. The land is [sufficient] for three ox-teams. In demesne is a team and half a team ; and ii serfs, and iiii villeins with i team. There is a wood which will fatten 30 swine ; and a haye. In the time of King Edward [the manor] was worth 15s. [annually] : now 10s. He [Gerard] found it waste.'' From Gerard de Tornai the seigneury over Sandford passed to Hamo Peverel and his wife ; and afterwards it escheated to the Crown. Like the other Tornai forfeitures, the manor then became a tenure in capite, and the tenant, whether enfeoffed here by Gerard de Tornai himself, or his son-in-law, Hamo Peverel, or by Henry I., at all events derived his surname of Sandford from the place. As we have already stated, the family of Sandford is very ancient in Shropshire ; and it is named by the Ulster King-at-Arms, Sir Bernard Burke, in his " Landed Gentry," as being one of the untitled families whose claim to hereditary nobility could scarcely be rivalled in France or Germany. The family escutcheon has more than fifty quarterings ; and the learned Eyton thinks that^ the arms (Quarterly, per fesse, indented, ermine, and azure) indicate alliance with or descent from the great house of Fitz Warin. The name is variously spelb in the old deeds relating to the family ; it is given as Sontforde, Sonforde, Sanfort, and finally Sandford. The lineage is traced in direct line from Thomas De Saundford, previously mentioned, who held the manor under the powerful Norman baron, Gerard de Tournai. His son, Sir Thomas de Sauxdford was living in the reign of Henry I., and both held Sandford and Rothal manors as tenant in chief of the King : he was the father of Randulfus De Sontford dominus de Sontford and Rothale (time of King (229) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Stephen), whose son Sir Richard dk Sanford is mentioned in the Pipe Roll of 1169. His son, Sir Thomas de Sanfort, married (8 Richard I.) Amabil, daughter and co-heir of Sir Richard de Cardiff, Seneschal to William, Earl of Gloucester. There is a rescript of Pope Innocent III., dated at St. Peter's, Rome, March 3rd, 1214. regarding this " Thomas the Knight," and his complaint that " Thomas and N. Ecclesiastics have unjustly despoiled the Chapel of Sanfort in the Diocese of Coventry of certain rents, lands and other things which the Ancestors of the same Knight have granted to the same Chapel for the performance of good service in the same." This interesting document is addressed to the Abbots of the Cistercian Order and the Prior of Rauton, who are commanded to hear and determine the complaint. The following deed also relates to this Thomas. "Fines in the time of the 8th year of King Richard I. Between Thomas de Bavis and Hadwiss his wife. Demandants, and Thomas de Sandford and Amabel his wife, Tenants, of the moiety of three parts of a Knight's fee in Toppesfield and the moiety of a fourth part of a Knight's fee in Grantendon ; and the moiety of a Knight's fee in Hameledeun and the moiety of a fourth part of a Knight's fee in the New Vill of Glamorgan and the moiety of a Knight's fee of one Knight in Glamorgan of Saint Hilary and the moiety of three hides and one virgate of land with the appurtenances in Haiston which Richard Cardif Father of the aforesaid Amabel and Hawiss held. So that all the laud of Glamorgan and Hameledene and all the service of Grantendene and all the three hides and one virgate of land with the appurtenances in Haiston may remain to the before mentioned Thomas de Sandford and Amabel his Wife as firstborn and their heirs for ever — And all the aforesaid land of Saint Hilary with the appurtenances which the aforesaid Richard of Cardiff held may remain to the before named Thomas de Baviss and Hadwiss his Wife and their heirs for ever — Doing therefore service to the before named Thomas de Sandford and Amabel his wife as the first born that is to say for Toppesfield three parts of a Knight's fee, and for the Vill of Saint Hillary half a Knight's fee." His successor, Sir Ralph de Sanfokd, held the manor in capitc, by the service of half a knight's fee. He joined the barons against King John, and his lands were confiscated and given to David de Malpas ; they were, however, restored by Henry III. He was evidently a personage of considerable importance, for having complained to Pope Honorius III. of the refusal of the Rectors of the church of Prees to celebrate Divine service in his Chapel of .Sandford, that Pontiff promulgated a bull enjoining the Priors of Buddwas, Haugh- mond and Wenlock to adjudicate upon the complaint. This deed, " dated at the Lateran, the 14th of the Kalends of October, in the 3rd year of our Pontificate," is still extant. This Ralph appears to have been twice married, for in the Warwickshire Assize Rolls is a deed which recites that Sibilla, the widow of Ralph de Sandford, sued Richard, son of Ralph, for one-third of the manor of Sandford, and one-third of 8J virgates of land, and of an assart called Wilmedon, and 8 acres of land in Brocton, as her dower of which she had been endowed by Ralph her husband, and also for one-third ■ of the Manor of Cattelegh and one-third of a fourth part of the manor of Horlavestun, and one-third of the service of Adam the Clerk in Hulle, as her dower. Richard appeared and conceded the dower claimed, except as regards three-parts of the claim in Brocton, where he stated that she had no claim for dower, because Ralph the Welshman (Walensis) the grandfather of Richard gave the land to Ralph de Sandford, the father of Richard, in frank marriage with Sibilla his (230) SANDFOED. daughter, the first wife of the said Ralph, and the said land was, therefore, the "maritagium " of Sibilla his mother, and Ralph had no right in the land except by his wife, and therefore could not endow this Sibilla out of it. Sibilla pleaded that Ralph, the grandfather of Richard, held the land by a fine levied between him and one Griffin de Sutton, and after the death of Ralph, the said Griffin had intruded himself into the land by the fine so levied, and a contention had arisen afterwards between the said Griffin and the said Ralph, the husband of Sibilla, so that Ralph had appealed him (de pacis fractu et de plug is) for breach of the peace and of wounds (de plagisj, and the said Griffin, on the occasion of the appeal, had conceded to the said Ralph, all the aforesaid land in Brocton in fee, so that he might be quit of the said appeal, and also for 27 marks which Ralph had given to him, and in this way Ralph had died seised of the land as of fee, and could endow her with it — and she appealed to a jury. The Sheriff is therefore commanded to call a jury of the vicinage before him and the " Custodes pacis regis" — (i.e. the coroners) and in full county to make inquisition into the facts, and to return the inquisition into Court at the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula at Northampton. Sibilla afterwards appeared and stated that there were only four virgates out of which she claimed dower and not seven as stated formerly. The Sheriff is therefore commanded to make another Inquisition and to return it into Court at Bedford on the morrow of Michaelmas, and Ralph afterwards came aad conceded dower to her, viz. : one-third of all the lands of which Ralph her husband had died seised. The son of Sir Ralph — Sir Richard de Sandford, married Eleanor, probably co-heir of Elkin Cadugan. (She re-married in 1251, Richard Burnell, Lord of Langley.) His son and heir, Sir Ralph de Sandford, was in ward to Odo de Hodnet, 39 Henry III., and married Alice, daughter of Wolfric de Whixall, and sister of Sir Adam Fitz Wolfric. Of his sons were Richard the heir ; William, and Nicholas. William was distinguished in the reign of Edward I. and Edward II. He joined the Earl of Lancaster in the conspiracy against Piers Gaveston, and was pardoned for this 7 Edward II. In the 15th year of that monarch we find "William de Sondford, Knight" witnessing an agreement between his brother "Richard Lord de Sondford and Hugh de Say, Lord de Morton"; he is also recorded as granting to his said brother a fish pond. He was knight of the shire in 1320, and in 1321 was Commissioner of Array in Shropshire for the King. His name and Arms occur on the roll of Knights who fought at Boroughbridge, March 1322. Nicholas is returned as "man at arms" to attend the great Council at Westminster, 1324. The eldest son, Sir Richard de Sandford, married Agnes, daughter of Hugh, and sister of Robert, de Say, Lords of Moreton and Say; and in the fifth year of Edward II. we find that " Richard de Mitley came and did fealty and acknowledged that he held of Richard Lord de Sondford Son of Ralph and Agnes his Wife and of his heirs one Ox land with the appurtenances." He is styled ''Lord of Sontford" Pari. Writ, 9 Edward II., and died in 1327. The heir, Richard de Sandford, fought at Cressy, 1346, and his good service is acknowledged in letters patent under the great seal of Edward III., still preserved at Sandford. The document runs thus : — EDWARD BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING of England and France and Lord of Ireland. To all his Bailiffs and faithful people to whom the present Letters shall come Greeting. Know ye that of our special grace and for the good service which Richard de Sandford in our war with France did to us We have pardoned to him the suit of our COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. Peace which belongs to us for all homicides feloniss robberies and transgressions whatsoever by him in our Kingdom of England against our peace perpetrated whereof indictment accusation or appeal exists and also outlawries if any &c — So that he may stand right in our Court if any person would speak against him concerning the homicides felonies robberies and transgressions aforesaid — And that the same Richard may not without our special license withdraw from our service while we may happen to be detained this time in parts beyond seas — In Testimony whereof etc. Witness Ourself at Calais the 4th day of September in the 20th year of our Reign of England but the 7th of our Reign of France. Under the Great Seal of England. Richard died at Calais, 1347. His second son, Sir Richard, was one of the body guard of Henry IV. at the Battle of Shrewsbury, where he was slain. In a deed 44 Edward III. Isabella, Relict of Richard de Sontford, and Nicholas his Son granted and demised to Nicholas de Hord and Matilda his wife, their Hall in Whixall. Nicholas de Sandford, son and heir of Richard was Sheriff of Shropshire, 9 Richard II., but became a Lancastrian, and his whole estate was laid waste during the civil war in the reign of Henry IV. He married Alice, daughter of William Lord Botiler of Wemme, and in a deed "written at Wemme on Thursday in the Feast of St. George in the 15th year of the reign of King Edward the son of King Edward," we find that William le Botiler granted to him " 14 acres of freehold land in the Vill of Stile." His children were Richard de Sandford, his heir; Griffin, father of William; and Nicholas of the Lee, who was the ancestor of the Sandfords of the Isle of Rossall, which branch of the family is represented at the present time by Humphrey Sandford, Esq. Richard de Sandford was the last who was styled " Lord of Sandford ;" he married Maude, daughter and heir of William Le Banaster, Lord of Hadnal. He was the King's escheator for Shropshire, 6 Henry V., and his name appears in the list of the gentry of Shropshire, 12 Henry VI. He died 1452, and his son, John Sandford, of Sandford, married, firstly, Eleanor, daughter and heiress of William Styche. The following deed relates to this marriage : — This Indenture made between William Stuch Lord de Stuch and Richard Sondford Lord de Sondford — Witnesseth that the aforesaid William has given and granted to the aforesaid Richard Eleanor his daughter and heir together with the marriage portion of the same Eleanor. To have and to hold the aforesaid Eleanor with the marriage portion of the same Eleanor to the aforesaid Richard his executors and assigns. So that the aforesaid Richard shall marry the aforesaid Eleanor to John Son and heir of the aforesaid Richard, etc. In Testimony whereof etc. in the 4th year of the Reign of King Henry the 5th after the Conquest. These being witnesses William Begh Griffin Sandford Thomas Banester Nicholas Sandford with many others. At the death of Eleanor (who died without children), he married secondly, Julia, sister of Sir Roger, and daughter of Robert, Corbet of Moreton Corbet, Sheriff of Shropshire 1419. She remarried to Sir Hugh Peshall, Knight Banneret, of Horsley, co. Stafford, Sheriff 1488. Mr. Sandford was succeeded 30 Henry VI. by his only son Richard Sandford, who swore fealty to Edward IV., in 1469, on coming of age, and had his estates confirmed to him. He married Jane, daughter and co-heir of Humphrey Peshall of Knightly, co. Stafford, and had five sons and eight daughters. He died 1520, and was succeeded by Hugh Sandford, who married Jane, daughter of John Dod, Esq., of Cloverley, Salop, and at his death in 1530 left, with others, SANDFOED. Richard, his heir; Robert, heir to his nephew George; Jane, married to James Moreton, Esq., of Wilbrighton, from whom springs the Earl of Ducie ; and Alice, married to Robert Boughey, Esq., of Whitmore, co. Stafford. Richard Sandford, married Maud, daughter of Sir John Mainwaring of Ightfield, and died 1532, leaving George Sandford, who died without issue, having married Jane, daughter of Richard Grosvenor of Eaton, who re-married to Sir William Hollis. Leland says " Sandford dwellith at Sandforde, wher is onely his place and a parke." His estates were in Sandford, Acheley, Stele, Whichesall, Lynford, Weston, Longford, and Myteley ; and he was succeeded by his aforesaid uncle, Robert Sandford, who married Isabel Egerton, half-sister of Sir Thomas Bromley, Lord High Chancellor, and daughter of W. Egerton of Betley. By her he left 1597, Arthur, his heir ; and Thomas, the celebrated captain of the firelocks, a royalist. He besieged and took Hawarden Castle 1643 ; and stormed Beeston Castle ; being killed at the taking of Nantwich 1643. This event is specially mentioned in Sir Thomas Fairfax's letter to Cromwell. Arthur Sandford, like his younger brother, was a zealous royalist, and with one of his sons (Robert, captain in the Royalist army) was made prisoner at Shrewsbury when that town was taken 22 February 1644. He was a benefactor (1624) to the Library of the Shrewsbury School, where he had been a scholar. He married Anne, daughter of Francis Kynaston of Oteley, and by her left in 1645, with others, his heir, Francis Sandford, also a celebrated Royalist, said by Fuller to be " very well skilled in making warlike fortifications." He resided much in Ireland, and was (as shown by various letters) a most intimate friend of the Lord Deputy, the first Viscount Falkland. An interesting letter is preserved at Sandford from Arthur Sandford to this son Francis, then in Ireland, in which he speaks of his grandson " Roben," who was then " a man att armes, his grandmother hath bouth him a sowrd, and hee hath a great desire to fit a combat with a rebell or a thefe, all wayes provided that i stand by to see him pouder his carcass." Another son "Samueh" is also mentioned in the same letter. In 1643 Francis was constituted by Prince. Rupert one of the commission to act in Shropshire in his absence ; and in 1645 he paid £40 for his ransom out of prison, also compounded for his estates by fine of £459. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Calcott Chambre, Esq., of Williamscote, co. Oxford, and Carnowe Castle, co. Wicklow, and by her left Robert, his heir; Arthur, who died unmarried, 1659; and Francis, born 1630, who became a celebrated genealogist, and was created, 16 June, 1661, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms. He was author of the "Genealogical History of the Kings of England," published in 1677, and other great works. He surrendered his patent of office in 1689, rather than proclaim William of Orange King. He died 1693. Robert Sandford married Anne, daughter of Peter Daniell, Esq., of Tabley, co. Chester, M.P., and had several children, among whom were Margaret, Christian, and Anne wife of the Hon. Henry Paget, of Beaudesert (ancestor of the Marquesses of Anglesea). One of his sons, Daniel Sandford, went to France, whence he wrote home many interesting letters, which are still in existence. From these we learn that one of his cousins was secretary to Lord Preston, the English Ambassador at the Court of Louis XIV. This Daniel Sandford died abroad at the early age of 23. Robert Sandford died 1672, and was succeeded by his son, Thomas Sandford, eventual heir, who took the oath of allegiance to the House of Hanover, 1723. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Admiral Sir Richard Munden, and dying 1726 was succeeded by his (233) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. son, Thomas Sandford, who was High Sheriff of Shropshire 1752. He married 15 October, 1725, Alice, daughter of Charles Ward, of Bradwell Hall, co. Chester, who was brother of Michael, Bishop of Derry, and grand uncle of the first Viscount Bangor. Mr. Sandford died 1769, and left a son and heir, the Bev. Daniel Sandford, D.C.L., of Oriel College, Oxford. He resided much at Delville, near Dublin, the residence of Dean Delany, and married Sarah, daughter of the Rev. John Chapone (sister-in-law to Mrs. Chapone, of literary fame), by whom he had two sons, Thomas, 1 lis heir; and Daniel, who was born at Delville, July 176G, and in 1784 entered at Christ Church, Oxford. He was greatly distinguished for his accurate and accomplished scholarship, and especially for the elegance of his Latinity. In 1787 he won the Christ Church prize for Latin composition, and on February 9, 1806, became Bishop of Edinburgh. He married 11 October, 1790, Frances-Catherine, eldest daughter and co-heir of Erskine Douglas, Esq., and died 14 January, 1830, leaving three sons, the second of whom was Sir Daniel Keyte Sandford, D.C.L., Oxon, sometime M.P. for Paisley, and Professor of Greek in the University tif Glasgow. The eldest son of Sir Daniel is Sir Francis Richard John Sandford, who was secretary to the Royal Commissioners for the International Exhibition of 1862. The Rev. Daniel Sandford died 1770, and was succeeded by his elder son, the Rev. Thomas Sandford, who married Armina Rebecca, eldest daughter of Dr. Kennedy, physician to George III., and sister of Commissary-General Sir Robert Kennedy, and had Thomas Hugh, his heir ; John Robert, major in the East Indian Army, and Mary, who married John Edenson Heathcote, Esq., of Apedale Hall, co. Stafford. Mr. Sandford died 15 December, 1812, and was succeeded by his son Thomas Hugh Sandford, born 1795, who married 9 December, 1817, Eliza Ann daughter of Thomas Kirkpatrick, Esq., grandson of Sir Roger Kirkpatrick, Bart., of Closeburn. This lady died 8 August, 1825, leaving two sons — the late lord of Sandford, and his brother John George, who died 11 May, 1834 — and one daughter, Armine Eliza. Mr. Sandford died 7 November, 1822, and was succeeded by his elder son, the late Thomas Hugh Sandford, Esq., of Sandford, who was born 9 April, 1820, and married firstly 29 April, 1849, Alexina Nisbet, daughter of the Hon. Charles Lindsay, brother of the Earl of Crawford (which lady died 30 August, 1851) ; and secondly, 2 October, 1856, Sarah Ilalsted, second daughter of Captain Poole, of Terrick Hall, Whitchurch, who survives him. Mr. Sandford, for some years, was Captain of the Whitchurch or Prees troop of the Shropshire Yeomanry, now disbanded. He was in politics a Liberal, and for over 27 years — from the time of the death of his father-in-law, in 1859 — was chairman of the Whit- church bench of magistrates, a position he was well fitted to occupy, having been educated for the Bar. He was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1866, and Treasurer of the Salop Infirmary. In the grounds of the mansion is a large mound whose origin is now lost in hoar antiquity ; it has probably been the site of a watch tower, whence a sentinel could survey the surrounding country in the days when Sandford was often troubled with incursions of the Welsh. Near at hand, in the old-fashioned English garden, is a large dove cot, formerly a black and white edifice, but now plastered over. This is an ancient election, and is the " columbarium " mentioned in the early deeds relating to Sandford. The interior of the mansion is well appointed and fitted in appropriate fashion. In the drawing room are four small water colour drawings by Philip Vandvke Brown, also an early sketch in water colour by Sir Thomas Lawrence — a portrait of Miss Lyell ; (234) SANDFOBD. a miniature of Thomas Sandford, who was High Sheriff of Shropshire 1752. This gentleman was a Jacohite, like many other Shropshire men of his day; and he dressed his javelin men in the Stuart tartan. Ahove the marble mantel are several painted plaques, and some good old china ; there is also here a stand of twelve good miniatures, two coloured mezzo- tints, a copy of Baffaelle's Madonna, and a Dutch cattle piece by La Cave, 1806. On the inlaid floor stand tables laden with choice curios ; for many quaint and interesting objects are lovingly treasured in this ancestral home : worthy of note is the wondrous lace-like paper work done by the deft fingers of the Sandford ladies of past generations ; one remarkable example of this is a book of plants, cut out of paper with extreme delicacy and skill — another contains an array of figures in profile. Another interesting object is a paper weight, which is a model of the Bell Eock Lighthouse, made by the hands of the architect and designer of that famous structure. Stephenson himself gave this to Mr. E. D. Sandford, one of the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses, by whom it was presented to Mr. T. H. Sandford. The drawing room contains some fine old blue china ; and from its three windows charming views are obtained, overlooking the pool. The morning room is a cosy apartment, daintily furnished ; its mantelpiece bears the family shield, and above this are eight painted plaques and a picture of " A studious boy," by Sir Joshua Eeynolds, who is also represented by engravings from his well-known pictures of the Strawberry Girl, and the Age of Innocence, as well as by a copy of his portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire in the National Gallery, and a picture of two male heads. There is also a family portrait by Kneller, and four old prints of the memorable Victory of the Nile. Here are several small specimens of Eembrandt's rare and exquisite etchings ; and a large engraving of Mrs. Siddons, also two water colours. The dining room is also adorned with many fine pictures ; over the mantel piece are five beautiful etchings by Eembrandt, including a rare " state " of his own portrait. Nine ancestral portraits hang here, including Dr. Kennedy, physician in ordinary to George III., and his wife ; also another portrait of the same doctor when a young man ; Dr. Middleton Massey, in the red coat and wig of his day, by Sir Joshua Eeynolds ; his son by the same great artist ; and a three quarter length of Miss Massey ; Dr. Michael Ward, the Bishop of Derry, and his niece Alice, who married Thomas Sandford, Esq. A water colour caricature of the great Duke of Wellington, with his autograph attached, also hangs here ; and there are two characteristic pen-and-ink sketches by the late Bandolph Caldicott. One of these gives a glimpse at the " Morning Train " crowded with men scanning the morning papers, the other represents a hunting scene — •" A Check." A portrait by Gainsborough depicts Mr. Chamberlain, father of Mrs. Kennedy ; another portrait is that of Mrs. Childe, and there is a small oval portrait of a gentleman in a green coat. There is here a cabinet of carved oak, which has two fine panels and centrepiece. The architrave over the mantelpiece is also of carved oak, in which are inserted three escutcheons with the family arms. This was given to the present owner by Eichard Corbet, Esq., of Adderley, and was formerly in a house which that gentleman pulled down to make way for the new Town Hall in Market Drayton — this house had been the Drayton residence of the Abbot of Combermere, who was lord of the manor of Drayton. The mantelpiece stood in the room said to be the Abbot's parlour. In the staircase hall are six pictures, principally family portraits ; one is a copy of Sir Joshua Eeynolds's Banished Lord, the original of which is in the National Gallery. On (235) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. the staircase itself is a curiosity in Hungarian earthenware, a hare, which was in the Great Exhibition of 1862, and which was afterwards presented to the Secretary of the Commissioners, Sir Francis Richard Sandford, who gave it to his kinsman. Like many other places of ancient date, Sandford has its legendary ghost, and an interesting portrait here is that of the Madam Sandford, who is said to haunt the place, and who is mentioned in the following quotation from Miss Burne's Shropshire Folk Lore: — "Most of the midnight riders are feminine, like the German Frau Holda. ' Madam Sandford ' of Sandford, in the parish of Prees (North Shropshire), is one of these. She is supposed to have lived some four or five generations ago, and to have had a dispute about some landed property, which kept her from resting in her grave. She was laid in a wayside pond called the Black Pool at first, but she " came again " out of that, and teased the waggoner's lads terribly by riding their horses when they took them down there to water. So they laid her again, and threw the bottle into the Red Sea this time, and to make everything safe they filled up the pool, and since then she has been seen no more." The various bedrooms also contain numerous good pictures, chiefly family portraits; three of these are in old carved frames of remarkable excellence. Two oval portraits, in crayons, dated 1770, are by Hamilton. Preserved here are further specimens of the paper work already referred to, these are cuttings for the inside of watch cases and date from 1788. One bedroom was occupied on several occasions by the Empress of Austria, when residing at Combermere Abbey ; a print of her imperial majesty hangs over the mantelpiece. Some needlework by Mrs. Delane is also treasured here. It will be seen from previous quotations that there exists a large and interesting collection of family papers, which Mr. T. H. Sandford kindly placed at our service for this account of his seat. These valuable archives, which deserve the attention of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, have been carefully preserved for many generations, and are still kept at Sandford. In 1672 the executors of Robert Sandford, in their copious instructions regarding the property ordained "That Mr. Barker of Cousage be desired and imploied to dispose all ye antient Deeds Evidences and writeings into good order and place them together as they belong to every Lordshipp in the Case of Boxes for yt purpose and to fix the papers p'vided (yt lye in Mr. Sandford's deske) on every boxe of the sd drawers and such writeings as are of imediate vse to dispose with a Catalogue if they may bee easily found especially those relative to Whixeall, lest any trouble from that Lordship should appeare and p'judice accrue for want of writeings And the Executors will gratify Mr. Barker's paines." " The Executors do further order and desire that vntill the Evidences and writeings be disposed into order by Mr. Barker of Cousage Ed : Witherings do see them locked vpp & eyther himself or some trusty pson in his absence any whither if need bee to lodge in the Chamber nexte to them, and when they are disposed into order to be carefully conveyed to Temlowes there to bee preserved till the hey re come to age." Mr. Thomas Hugh Sandford died, without issue, 26 November, 1886, and on the following Wednesday his remains were placed in the family vault within the quaint old Parish Church at Prees, in the north aisle of which is the Sandford Chapel, dating from ancient clays. The chapel has a stained window to the memory of Richard Sandford, who was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury, after being knighted on the mom of that eventful day. This window is a very fine example of mediaeval stained glass ; it formerly stood in the SANDFOIW. Collegiate Church of Battlefield, but was removed at the restoration of that edifice in 1862. The window is of three lights ; in the centre of the middle light is the kneeling figure of the knight at prayer, wearing, over his armour, the emblazoned surcoat showing the cognisance of his family. Above and below are various heraldic ensigns, and the following inscription at the foot. " Eicardi Sondeford effigies qui in praelio apud Salopian commisso pro rege suo for titer pugnans occisus est A.D. 1403." The upper portion of the left panel is composed of several fragments with heads depicted thereon, among them a King and his Queen, crowned, and two female heads, above which is a chalice and paten ; in the lower portion are four heads upon a light ground. At the base is an imperfect inscription: "Orate pro animabus Eogeri hujusce capillani . . . . " In the right panel are more heads, and it is stated that the glass formerly represented the decollation of St. John the Baptist. The east window of the chapel is of plain cathedral glass, except in the centre mul'ion, which contains a very beautiful fragment taken from the old mansion house. On the north wall is a monument to the memory of Major J. K. Sandford, of the 22nd Madras Native Infantry ; it is erected by his brother officers. There is also a memorial of Alexina Nisbet (the first wife of T. H. Sandford, Esq.), who died the 22nd of August, 1851, aged 31. Sandford Township is 1J miles north-north-east of Prees, and Sandford Hall is about three miles from Prees Eailway Station. The present manor house, which is of red brick, with white stone dressings, was built in the year 1720 by Thomas Sandford, Esq. An older mansion, half timbered, was standing until 1772, and the " inventory of the goods, cattle, and chattels, of Francis Sandford, Esqre., late of Sandford in the county of Shropshire, deceased, taken the 17th day of April, 1653," gives the names of the rooms in this "Old Hall" as follows: — "1, The Parlour. 2, The Buttery. 3, The Buttery Chamber. 4, The Parlour Chamber. 5, The Little Chamber at the Stair Head. 6, The Chamber of the Day House. 7, The Dining Chamber. 8, The Cock Loft. 9, The Chamber over the Kitchen. 10, Mrs. Sandford's Closet. 11, The Lobby. 12, The Maid's Chamber. 13, Mr. Sandford's Closet. 14, The Gate House Chamber. 15, The Talbot Chamber. 16, The Middle Chamber. 17, The Bride's Chamber. 18, The Chapel Chamber. 19, The Men Servant's Chamber. 20, The Day House. 21, The Pantry. 22, The Kitchen. 23, The Brew House. 24, The Baking House. 25, The Kiln House." The house which existed before this Old Hall was destroyed in one of the incursions of the Welsh, for in the Inquisition taken at Salop, 3 Henry V., it is stated that " It was totally wasted and burnt by the invasion of the Welsh rebels, last begun and raised in the time of Lord King Henry late King of England father of the said now King." The Hall stands on a bank above the pool, which covers 10 acres. The dam was formed in the time of Edward III., and the following deeds from the family records refer to it : — EDWAED BY THE GEACE OF GOD KING of England Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine — To the Sheriff of Salop greeting. We command you that by the oaths of good and lawful men of your Bailiwick by whom the truth of the matter may be better known you diligently enquire if it be to the damage or injury of us or of any other person if we grant to Eichard de Sandford that he may divert to a straight line a certain highway (237) COUNTY SEATS OF SHROPSHIRE. which leads from Chester to the Vill of Newport, and which extends itself obliquely upon the edges of the pool of the aforesaid Eichard in the same Vill of Sandford for the purpose of enlarging the same pool and to hold to him and to his heirs for ever So that the same Eichard may cause to be made in place of the same Highway a certain other straight way of the same length and width on his land there as fit for persons passing, or not — And if it be to the damage or injury of us or of any other person then to what damage and injury of us and to what damage and injury of any other person and whom and how and in what manner and how much that way contains in length and width by the number of rods or feet And the Inquisition thereof distinctly and plainly made you send to us without delay under your Seal and the Seals of those by whom it shall be made and this Writ Witness Ourself at Westminster the 6th day of December in the 4th year of our Eeign. Cloune. The endorsement thus The Answer of Jno de Hinkeley Sheriff. The execution of this Writ as made in the Inquisition to this Writ sewn. Inquisition made before John de Hynkeley Sheriff of Salop at Sandford on Monday in the Feast of St. Cuthbert in the 9th year of the reign of King Edward the Third after the Conquest according to the form of the Writ to this Inquisition sewn by the Oaths of John de Willaston Eoger de Willaston Eichard de Hadley John de Hethe Ralph de Achesleye William Aleyn Thomas de Say Eobert Parlebien Adam the Son of Adam de Darlaston Eobert de Hethe and Henry del Parrock — Who say that it is not to the damage or injury of the Lord the King or of any other person although the Lord the King should grant to Eichard de Sandford that he may divert to a straight line a certain Highway which leads from Chester to the Vill of Newport and which extends itself obliquely upon the edges of the Pool of the aforesaid Eichard in the same Vill of Sandford for the purpose of enlarging the same pool and to hold to him and his heirs for ever And they say that the same way contains in length five statute rods and in width one statute rod and a half And they say that the same Eichard is able to make a certain other direct way of the same length and width in his land there more fit for persons passing over it than the other way was before — In Testimony whereof the said Jurors to this Inquisition have affixed their Seals. The pool is also mentioned in earlier deeds, and in the reign of Henry III. it was recorded that " the Fishpond is worth 4s." The head of the pool is a morass, with an oak wood adjoining (probably " the Wood of the same Vill " set down as valued at 5s. per annum) — the haunt of wild fowl and foxes. Sandford Manor is some thousand acres in extent, and is considered one of the best partridge manors in this part of England. Its original tenure is described in the following :— Inquisition made at Sandford on Sunday on the morrow of Saint Hilary in the first year of the reign of King Edward the son of King Edward concerning the lands and tenements which were of Eandulph de Sondford who held of the Lord the King in Capite on the day of his death by the oath of Hugh de Sey, Eichard de Lak, John de Montague, Thomas de Soulton, William Hadley, &c. Who say by their oath thai the same Eandolph held in Capite of the Lord the King in his demesne as of fee on the day on which he (238) SANDFORD. died the Hamlet of Sandford by Sergeantcy, and he owes homage to the Lord the King and 50s. for a Relief. And he finds one armed man with a horse without harness for 40 days at his own proper charges in the Keep of the Castle of Montgomery in time of war in Wales, and he owes annually with the Bailiffs of the Lord the King 2s. for a certain service which is called Stretward. And he does suit at the County of Salop from month to month, and suit at the Hundred of Bradford from three weeks to three weeks. And there is there a certain Capital messuage and it is worth per annum 40s. And there are there Eighty acres of land whereof each acre of 40 is worth per annum 3d. And each of the other 40 acres is worth per annum 2d. And there are there 3 acres of meadow and each acre is worth per annum 6d. And there is there a certain little Wood and it is worth per annum with the pasture 40d. And there is there a certain Water Mill and it is worth per annum 10s. And the Fishery is worth per annum 12d. And there is there the Rent of free tenants per annum 8s., vizt. On the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Mary and on the Feast of St. Michael by equal portions. And the Rent of the Villeins there at the same terms 60s. And the pleas and profits of Court are worth per annum 2s. They also say that Richard his Son is his next heir and is of the age of Twenty years. They do say that he had 10s. of annual rent of free tenants in Darlaston and Mitterley, which he held of the Bishop of Chester. And he owed Suit at the Court of the said Bishop of Prees from 3 weeks to 3 weeks. In Testimony whereof to this Inquisition they have affixed their Seals. The tenure is also recited in several other records, and the knight's service was compounded for by Sir Ralph De Sandford, as the following document shows : — " To all Persons seeing or hearing the present Letters Bogo de Cnovill health in the Lord everlasting. Know ye that I have received Forty shillings for the good and laudable service of the Lord Ralph de Sontford in the time of the war of Llewellyn and David by William son of the said Ralph faithfully performed. In Testimony whereof I have caused these my Letters to be made Patent. Dated at Seintone the 8th of the Kalends of May in the 34th year of the Reign of King Edward." The war of Llewellyn and David ended at the death of the former prince, 11 December, 1282. In the 24th year of Henry VI. John Sandford gave half a mark to be paid into the Hanaper to have respite, of his homage. In later years the service appears to have consisted in supporting a troop of horsemen ; this is evidenced by the following extract from the copious directions to the Executors of Robert Sandford, 6 April, 1672. " Concerning the light horse charged on the family of Sandford the Executors conceiue yt the Deputy Lts. will suspend the same for some tyme vnless their appeare imediate necessity for the same. And the first opptunity Mr. Sam : Sandford is desired to moue them to yt purpose, and against the tyme the horse must appeare Ed : Witheringe is desired to look after the Armes as pistoll swords sadle and other accooltermts and to find out the backe brest and head piece at Weme and to setle the future appearaunce of ye horse betwixte ye family of Sandford and Rectory of Weme as formerly it hath bin." (239) r TOKESAY Castle stands on the roadside between Bishop's Castle and Ludlow, about seven miles north-west of the latter town. It was evidently rather a castellated mansion than a fortress, and this view is supported by ^