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RELICS OF ANTIQUITY; 
 
 OR, REMAINS OF 
 
 ANCIENT STRUCTURES , 
 
 VESTIGES 
 
 ACCOMPANIED WITH DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES, 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, 
 
 By W. Clarke, New Bond Street; A. Molteno, Pall Mall; C. Chapple, Pall Mall; 
 J. M. Richardson, Comhill; Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, Paternoster Row : 
 
 And Sold by all the Booksellers in the United Kingdom. 
 
 1811 . 
 
LIST OF PLATES 
 
 Remains of Tudor Hall, 
 
 - 
 
 • 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Isle of AngJesea 
 
 Ancient sculptured Stones, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 Brecknockshire . 
 
 Launceston Town, 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 Ditto, Castle, - 
 
 — 
 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 Bishop’s Seat, St. Germain’s Church, 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 Entrance to the Hospital, St. Mary Wike, 
 
 - 
 
 
 * Cornwall . 
 
 Well, near St. Austell, - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 St. Michael’s Mount, - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tintagel Castle, - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Marldon, - -- -- 
 
 a* 
 
 
 m , 
 
 -1 
 
 
 Lydford, - 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 Bridge, Ditto, - 
 
 
 
 
 
 * Devonshire. 
 
 Logan Stone, - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 Abbotsbury Abbey, three Views, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 * 
 
 Dorsetshire. 
 
 Ornamented Brick-work, Nettleswell, 
 
 
 _ . 
 
 -1 
 
 
 Nether Hall, - 
 
 
 
 
 
 * Essex. 
 
 Ancient sculptured Stones, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 “ J 
 
 Gla morgans hire. 
 
 West Gate, Winchester, 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 Porch ester Castle, two Views, 
 
 
 
 
 .} 
 
 Hampshire. 
 
 Goodrich Castle, two Views, - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 Herefordshire. 
 
IV 
 
 5 J 
 
 Remains of St. Andrew’s Priory, Rochester; four Views,! 
 Hall of Eltham Palace, - 
 Allington Castle, - 
 
 Kits Coity House, - 
 Leyburne Castle*’ two Views - 
 Remains of the White Friars Monastery, 
 
 St. Sepulchre’s Church, two Views, 
 
 Woodford Church, ----- 
 
 Stanwick Church, - 
 West Gate, Bridgenorth, 
 
 Bridgenorth Castle, - 
 Farley Castle, two Views, - 
 Pevensey Castle, ------ 
 
 West Ham Church, from ditto, - ~ - 
 
 Crypt at Chichester, - 
 Kennel worth Priory, - 
 Ancient House, Park Street, Coventry, - 
 Old Free School, ditto, - 
 Ouse Bridge, ------ 
 
 Kent, 
 
 Lintolnshire. 
 j* Northamptonshire 
 
 j- Shropshire. 
 Somersetshire . 
 
 3 
 
 -} 
 
 Sussex. 
 
 Warwickshire. 
 Yorkshire . 
 
 
RELICS OF ANTIQUITY, 
 
 %C. 
 
 LAUNCESTON CASTLE, CORNWALL. 
 
 Launceston, according to Leland, was called Lostephan, and also 
 Dunevet; the last, perhaps, from allusion to the family of the 
 Nevets or Knivets, who might either give their name to it, or be 
 styled De or Du-Nivet, after it. 
 
 Borlase, in his Antiquities of O0111 wall, supposes tins castle to be 
 older than the yam yuo, and says, “ It is not improbable that this 
 spot might have been fortified by the Romans. There was 
 undoubtedly a castle here before the conquest; of which Othamarus 
 de Knivet was hereditary constable, and was displaced by the 
 Conqueror, who gave both it and the town to Roger earl of 
 Moreton, with the earldom of Cornwall, and many other manors 
 and estates. William, his son and heir, kept his court here, and 
 probably made so many alterations and additions, that he has by 
 some been considered as the founder. From him it fell to the 
 crown, with his other lands, and was at length made, and still 
 continues, a parcel of the estates of the dutchy of Cornwall/’ 
 
 Leland, treating of this castle, says, “ The hill on which the 
 keep stands, is large* and of a terrible height ; and the keep of 
 it having three several wards, is the strongest, but not the biggest 
 that I ever saw in any ancient work in England.” Borlase, who 
 
 VOL. i. b 
 
o 
 
 seems to have examined this building with great attention, thus de-^ 
 scribes it: “ The principal entrance is on the north-east; the gateway, 
 120 feet long, whence turning to the right, you mount a terrace, 
 running parallel to the rampart, till you come to the angle, on 
 which there is a round tower, now called the witches tower, 
 from which the terrace runs away to the left at right angles, and _ 
 continues on a level, parallel to the rampart, which is nearly of 
 the thickness of twelve feet, till you come to a semicircular tower; 
 and, as I suppose, a guard-room and gate : from this the ground 
 pises very quick ; and, through a passage of seven feet wide, you 
 ascend the covered way betwixt two walls, which are pierced with 
 narrow^ windows for observation, and yet cover the communication 
 between the base court, and the keep or dungeon : the whole keep 
 is ninety- three feet diameter. It consisted of three wards: the wall 
 of the first was not quite three feet thick; and therefore I think could 
 only be a parapet for soldiers to fight from, and defend the brow 
 of the hill. Sir feer within stands the second wall, which is 
 twelve feet thick, and has a staircase three feet wide, at the left 
 hand of the entrance, running up to the top of the parapet. The 
 entrance of this staircase has a round arch of stone over it. Passing 
 on to the left, you find the entrance into the innermost ward ; 
 and on the left of that entrance, a winding staircase conducts you 
 to the top of the innermost rampart, the wall of which is ten feet 
 thick, and thirty-tw r o feet high from the floor ; the inner room is 
 eighteen feet six diameter ; it was divided by a planching into two 
 rooms. The upper room had to the east and west, two large 
 openings, which were both windows, and I am inclined to think, 
 doors also, in time of action to pass from this dungeon out upon 
 the principal rampart, from which the chief defence was to be 
 made ; for it must be observed, that the second ward was covered 
 with a flat roof at the height of that rampart, which made the 
 area very roomy and convenient for numbers. 'These openings 
 
 2 
 
 V 
 
$ 
 
 therefore, upon occasion, served as passages for the soldiers to go 
 from one rampart to another. In the upper room of the innermost 
 building there was a chimney to the north ; underneath there was 
 a dungeon, which had no light. The lofty taper hill on which this 
 strong keep is built, is partly natural, and partly artificial ; it 
 spread further in tho town anciently, than it does now; and, by 
 the radius of it, was 320 feet diameter, and very high. 
 
 “ It is probable, that the hill had a wall or parapet round the 
 bottom of it towards the town ; for the principal rampart of the 
 base court breaks off abruptly fronting the town, and seems 
 patched and maimed, and to have lost some of its works at this 
 place. The base court, half of which, or more, is now covered 
 with the houses of the town, had formerly in it the assize-hall, a 
 very spacious building, a chapel, and other buildings, now all gone 
 but the county gaol.” 
 
 As the town of Launceston w'as a principal residence of the 
 earls of Cornwall for many years after its foundation, its conse- 
 quence continually increased ; and many liberties and privileges 
 were bestowed on its inhabitants. Soon after the conquest, the 
 market, which from the time of .Edward the Confessor had been 
 held at Lanstuphadon, or the town of St. Stephen s Church, about 
 a mile distant, was transferred to Launceston ; and in the reign of 
 king John the townsmen paid five marks for the privilege of 
 removing the market-day from Sunday to Thursday ; but it has 
 been since changed to Saturday. In the reign of Henry III. the 
 town was made a free borough by Richard earl of Poictiers and 
 Cornwall, and brother to the king. He also granted to the inha- 
 bitants some additional immunities, which were confirmed bv 
 subsequent m on arch s. 
 
 Grose's Antiquities — Beauties of England and Wales. 
 
4 
 
 BISHOP’S CHAIR, &c. ST. GERMAIN’S CHURCH, 
 
 CORNWALL. 
 
 The church of St. Germain consists of a nave and two aisles : the 
 southernmost aisle is compass-roofed, as well as the nave, and is of 
 equal height, breadth, and length with it ; the northern aisle is 
 low and narrow, with a slanting roof, which does not reach to the 
 height of the wall by several feet. It is ten feet wide within, 
 and formerly extended the length of the building. The church 
 measures 104 feet 0 inches in length, by 67 feet 0 inches in 
 breadth, within the walls. There is one stall remaining, which 
 has commonly been called the bishop’s chair, but seemingly with- 
 out reason, as it rather appears to have been the seat of one of 
 the monks : several of the same kind are still preserved in Bodmin 
 church. It is accompanied by a piece of carved timber, on which 
 is the coat of arms of the priory, a sword and key crossed. Con- 
 cerning these arms there is the following article in Tanner’s 
 Notitia Monastica, among the notes on the armorial bearings of 
 the different monasteries : “ St. Germains : the priory is the 
 mansion of Mr. Eliot : in the great hall are the arms of the priory 
 on painted glass, of a large bow window, viz. a sword and two 
 keys, endorsed in saltire.” 
 
 Carew, in his History of Cornwall, relates the following curious 
 particulars relative to the manner in which Champernoun became 
 possessed of this priory : “ The church town mustreth many 
 
 inhabitants, and sundry ruines, but little wealth ; occasioned eyther 
 through abandoning their fishing trade, as some conceive, or by 
 their being abandoned by the religious people, as the greater sort 
 imagine ; for, in former times, the bishop of Cornwall’s see was 
 from St. Petrock’s in Bodmyn removed hither, as from hence. 
 
b 
 
 when the Cornice dioces united with Devon, it passed to Crediton. 
 But this first losse received reliefe through a succeeding priory, 
 which at the general suppression, changing his note with his coat, 
 is now named Port Eliot ; and by the owners, charitably distri- 
 buteth pro virili , the alms accustomably expected and expended at 
 such places. Neither will it (1 think), much displease , you to 
 heare, how the gentleman’s ancestour of whom master Eliot 
 bought it, came by the same. John Champernoun, sonne and heire- 
 apparent to sir Philip of Devon, in Henry the Eighth’s time, fol- 
 lowed the court, and through his pleasant conceits, of w hich much 
 might be spoken, won some good grace with the king. Now r , 
 w 7 hen the goiden showre of the dissolved abbey lands rayned wel 
 nere into every gaper’s mouth, some two or three gentlemen, the 
 king’s servants, and master Champernowne’s acquaintance, waited 
 at a doore at which the king was to passe forth, with purpose to 
 beg such a matter at his hands. Our gentleman became inquisitive 
 to know their suit, they made strange to impart. This while, out 
 comes the king ; they kneele dowm, so doth master Champer- 
 nowne ; they prefer their petition, the king graunts it ; they ren- 
 der humble thanks, and so doth Champernowne ; afterwards he 
 requireth his share, they deny it, he appeales to the king, the king 
 avowth his equall, meaning in the largesse, whereon the over- 
 taken companions w r ere fayne to allot him this priory for his 
 partage.” 
 
 Grose's Antiquities .< — Beauties of England and I Vales, 
 
 WEST GATE, WINCHESTER, HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 The ancient precincts of the castle of Winchester, of which 
 there are now scarcely any remains, extended nearly to the west 
 gate ; the only one of the original entrances now existing, of this 
 vol. i. 
 
 c 
 
kind, into that city ; the north, east, and south gates having been 
 demolished by the commissioners of the pavement, appointed under 
 an act passed in the year 17 70. This gate has itself been much 
 altered; part of it is supposed to be of the same date as the city 
 walls ; but the machiolation, the grooves for the portcullis, the 
 busts, the shields, inscribed in quatrefoils, and, in genera), the 
 whole western facing, display workmanship of much later, date. 
 Adjoining to the gate on the outside, are some remains of an 
 ancient chapel, called St. Mary in the Ditch. The ruins of the 
 wall extending on the north side, are fringed with shrubs and 
 ash-trees. At a little distance from the gate are the- remains of 
 a turret, which, with another of the same description, defended 
 the intermediate space of the wall, as far as what is called the 
 Hermit’s Tower, , at the northern extremity. 
 
 Beauties of England and Wales. 
 
 REMAINS OF THE CHAFFER-HOUSE, PRIORY OF 
 ST. ANDREW, ROCHESTER. 
 
 The see of Rochester, though one of the most ancient, is at the 
 same time one of the smallest in England; and those only of 
 Gloucester and Oxford are stated in the king’s books as inferior 
 in value. It was founded about the year 600, by Ethelbert king 
 of Kent, together with a priory of secular canons, in honour of 
 St. Andrew ; to whose powerful intercession were ascribed many 
 signal instances of divine favour* and various miracles. 
 
 The possessions of the secular canons, first granted by Ethelbert, 
 were occasionally augmented by new grants from the Saxon kings ; 
 yet the many losses sustained during the wars between the states 
 of the heptarchy, and in the subsequent destructive incursions of 
 
► 
 
 BUMLMWS ©If Ipm2®BT 0 IE©€lHIE3TI13E 0 II£EM'T 
 
 Plate 
 
7 
 
 the Danes, caused such a considerable defalcation in the revenue, 
 as to leave them scarcely sufficient for a decent maintenance. At 
 the time of the conquest, the canons, though reduced in number 
 to five, were obliged to depend for a portion of their sustenance, 
 on the alms bestowed by the pious. 
 
 Gundulph, when bishop of Rochester, removed the secular 
 clergy, and replaced them in the priory with Benedictine monks, 
 to whom he conveyed the greater part of the estates belonging 
 to his see; and was likewise the means of procuring for them con- 
 siderable acquisitions in grants of lands and other property. Out 
 of those manors however, which he had assigned to the monks, he 
 reserved to himself and successors a right to certain articles of 
 provision, which were to be rendered annually on St. Andrew’s 
 day, under the name of a xenium, i. e. a present given in token of 
 hospitality. The original record concerning this provision has 
 been copied into the Registrum Roffcnse : the following is a 
 translated abstract of it. 
 
 “ I Gundulph do appoint, that every year, at the celebration of 
 the feast of St. Andrew the apostle, there be reserved to me and 
 my successors, out of the estates which I have assigned for the 
 maintenance of the monks, such a xenium as is here specified ; 
 that is to say, from Woldham, and from Frindsbury, and from Den* 
 ton, and from Southfleet, and from Stoke, sixteen hogs cured for 
 bacon, thirty geese, three hundred fowls, one thousand lampreys, 
 one thousand eggs, four salmon, and sixty bundles of furze ; and 
 from Stoke, sixteen seam and one measure of oats ; but half the 
 fish and eggs to be the monks’ portion ; and from Lamhea (Lam- 
 beth), one thousand lampreys for the use of the monks ; also from 
 Hadenham, twenty shillings worth of fish to be carried to their 
 cellar. But if it should happen, contrary to my wishes, that I, or 
 any of my successors, should be absent from the feast, then, in 
 God’s name and my own, I order that the whole xenium be car- 
 
 4 
 
8 
 
 ried to the hall of St. Andrew, and there, at the discretion of the 
 prior and brethren of the church, be distributed to the strangers 
 and poor, in honour of the festival.” The claims of the bishops 
 to the xenium were afterwards contested by the monks with 
 much pertinacity ; but the disputes were at length settled, by the 
 former consenting to receive a composition in money, in lieu of the 
 provisions in kind. This composition, as appears by some passages 
 in the Registrum RofFense, amounted, in the time of Ha mo de 
 Hethe, to Al. 12s. 9 d. for all the articles, except corn, which 
 was to be estimated according to the current price. 
 
 In 1 137 the priory buildings were mostly destroyed by fire. The 
 monks were dispersed in different abbies, whilst the monastery was 
 rebuilding ; and this appears to have given opportunity to John, a 
 Norman bishop, W 7 ho had been translated to the see of Rochester 
 in 1137, to alienate several of the churches in favour of one of his 
 own friends. Ascelin, who succeeded him in 1142, vindicated the 
 claims of the monks, and obtained restitution of their possessions, 
 by an immediate order from the papal see, he having travelled to 
 Rome to state the circumstances of the case to the pope in person. 
 Walter, archdeacon of Canterbury, and brother to Theobald the 
 archbishop, was nominated to the vacant see ; and was elected by 
 the monks of Rochester in the chapter-house of Canterbury ; where 
 they had been assembled for that purpose. During his prelacy, 
 another fire happened (anno 1179), which nearly destroyed the 
 whole city, together with a considerable portion of the cathedral 
 and buildings of the priory. Bishop Walter died in the year 1182 : 
 his successor, Waleran, endeavoured to eject the regular canons, 
 that he might again introduce a fraternity of seculars ; but did not 
 succeed. Gilbert de Glanville, the next bishop, pursued a similar 
 line of policy, in endeavouring to humble the pride of the monks, 
 with whom he was, in consequence, involved for many years in 
 contentious controversy. The subtlety of the monks, sharpened 
 
0 
 
 by their necessities, occasioned by this dispute, led them some 
 time afterwards, in 1201, to improve an accidental event to their 
 own advantage. A benevolent Scotchman, & baker by profession, 
 named William, had been induced to undertake a pilgrimage to 
 Jerusalem ; but when on the road to Canterbury, a little beyond 
 Rochester, he was murdered by his servant, and plundered of his 
 property: his remains were brought back to Rochester, and in- 
 terred in the church ; where, according to the report of the monks, 
 various miracles were wrought at his tomb : the sepulchre of the 
 murdered pilgrim attracted great crowds of visitors, and the ob- 
 lations made by them became to the monks a source of consider- 
 able affluence. 
 
 In the year 1316 , the prior Hamo de Hethe was raised by the 
 monks to the see: he made numerous gifts to the priory, and 
 established a chantry for two priests, to officiate near the shrine of 
 St. William, and heightened the great tower at the end of the 
 cathedral, at the intersection of the nave and transept. 
 
 On the dissolution of religious houses, the revenues of the priory, 
 of Rochester were valued at 486 /. lls. 5d. 
 
 The remains of the ancient chapter-house and cloister, which, 
 except the cathedral, are nearly all the portions left of the priory, 
 adjoin the cathedral on the south, and are supposed to be the 
 work of bishop Ernulph ; they exhibit a very beautiful series of 
 Norman arches and ornaments, but greatly mutilated. The ves- 
 tiges of the chapter-house display, in the upper part, three semi- 
 circular-headed windows, plain, with recesses in the wall between 
 them, having borders of zigzag. Below these is a rich door-way 
 in the centre, with a highly ornamented arch on each side, sup- 
 ported on short thick columns, with flowered and figured capitals, 
 and displaying an uncommon and elegant variety of mouldings, 
 zigzag, quatrefoils, and billeted. The billet moulding, which goes 
 round the outside, and forms the finish to the others, originally 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
10 
 
 terminated in corbel heads, which are now broken away. The 
 capitals of the outer columns, which sustain the centre arch, and 
 the fascia, immediately below the billet moulding, and above the 
 upper range of zigzag, are decorated with various rude sculptures 
 of animals, birds, and human figures. The mouldings of the 
 southernmost arch unite with those of a smaller arch belonging to 
 the cloister ; and these again with the mouldings of a second highly 
 enriched door-way. An arch rising from two three-quarter co- 
 lumns, and intersected by two others springing from a column in 
 the centre, connects this doorway with a third, equally highly 
 ornamented : beyond this extending southward, is a range of semi- 
 circular arches, a part of the cloisters. 
 
 Beauties of England and Wales. 
 
 HOSPITAL OF ST. MARY WYKE, CORNWALL. 
 
 St. Mary Wyke, or W eek St. Mary, is a considerable village, but 
 the houses are scattered, and many of them ruinous. In this 
 parish was formerly established and maintained an hospital or col- 
 lege for the education of youth, the remains of which stand con- 
 spicuous amidst the mud-wall cottages surrounding it. A qua- 
 drangular court, with embattlements, sculptured arches, and large 
 windows, are still in tolerable preservation. 
 
 St, Mary Wyke is mentioned by Carew as the birth-place ot 
 Thomasine Bonaventure ; but whether so called by “ descent or 
 event,” he professes himself incapable of determining. Her ex- 
 traordinary story is still current in the country, and the tale of her 
 exaltation and beneficence has been thus related by Mr. Gilpin : 
 “ She was originally a poor girl, and, being beautiful, had the for- 
 
11 
 
 tune to marry a rich clothier, who dying early, left her a w ell- 
 jointured widow. A second advantageous match, and a second 
 widowhood, increased her jointure. Being yet in the bloom of 
 youth and beauty, her third husband was sir John Percival, a 
 wealthy merchant of London, of which he was lord mayor ; he 
 also left her a widow, with a large accession of fortune. Possessed 
 of this accumulated property, she retired to her native village, 
 where she spent her time and fortune altogether in acts of gene- 
 rosity and charity. She repaired roads, built bridges, pensioned 
 poor people, and portioned poor girls thus setting an example 
 of benevolence, which deserves to be embalmed by the grateful 
 remembrance of posterity. 
 
 Week St. Mary, in the hundred of Stratton, is a rectory, valued 
 in the king’s books at 7 ; the patron, H. F. Carteret, esq. 
 
 Front's Tour .—Beauties of Englatid and IVales. 
 
 REMAINS OF TUDOR HALL, PENMYNYDD, ISLE OF 
 
 ANGLESEA. 
 
 Pexmynyjdd is situated on the eastern side of Anglesea, near the 
 great road from London to Holyhead. The hall is celebrated for 
 being the native place of Owen Tudor, from whom descended a 
 numerous race of kings. The remains of the residence of the 
 Tudors are the door of the gateway, part of the house, and the 
 great chimney-piece of the hall, which maybe seen in a farm- 
 house at Penmynydd, in the Isle ot Anglesea. Some coats ot 
 arms, and dates of the building, or time of repairs, with the initial 
 letters of the names of the owners, still remain. 
 
 The Tudors, for a considerable time before the extinction of 
 their race, assumed the name of Owen. Richard was the last male 
 
12 
 
 of the family, and was sheriff of the county in 1*357. Margaret, 
 heiress of the house, married Coningsby Williams, of Glanygors, 
 in this island, who possessed it during his life. It was afterwards 
 sold to lord Bulkeley, in whose descendant it still continues. 
 
 Pennant , 
 
 MARLDON, DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 T- h*. church of Marldon is a light and handsome structure, built 
 with hewn stone. The most considerable part of this parish is 
 justly said to consist of the richest and most fertile land in the 
 south of Devon ; and the whole is upwards of 2000 acres. The 
 manor belongs to sir Lawrence Palk. 
 
 That ancient and venerable fabric, called Compton Castle, now 
 belonging to James Templar, esq. was formerly possessed by the 
 Gilberts : one of whom built the church. In several of the win- 
 dows of the church may be seen their arms. 
 
 Polwhele. 
 
 Kisdon says, “ Into Torbay, a brook sheddeth itself, that break- 
 eth forth from Marldon, so called belike of the quality of the soil ; 
 for here all about it consisteth of a kind of marie and chalky sub- 
 stance. In this parish is Compton, the lands of Angier anciently, 
 whose daughter and heir Alice was the wife of Ralph de Pole, in the 
 time ot king Henry II. which remained in that family until kin°' 
 Plenry III. in the 2 ;th year of which king’s reign, Ralph de 
 Dodescombe was lord thereof, whose male line being extinct, it 
 was left to daughters; whereof one, as I am informed, was wife 
 unto one of the Worths ; a name that enjoyeth lands here at this 
 present. This lady, Alice Pole, gave another Compton unto one 
 ot the family ot Peter, whose posterity took the name of the place ; 
 
 5 
 
$jww>w@wn) 9 
 
13 
 
 and after it had continued six descents in that line, William, the 
 last, left two daughters, Joan, married to Jeoffry Gilbert, and Su- 
 san, unto Richard Chiderly ; this land fell to Gilbert’s part, and 
 hath ever since been the inheritance of that family, where they 
 have a house seated low in a valley between two hills.” 
 
 LYDFORD, DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 Lydford is a poor decayed village, consisting of a few ragged 
 cottages, situated about seven miles north of Tavistock; it was 
 formerly a place of consequence, and is said to have been ho- 
 noured with a visit by Julius Caesar on his second coming to Bri- 
 tain. It was despoiled by the Danes in 997 , but again recover- 
 ing, it had, in the days of the Conqueror, 122 burgesses. Some 
 remains of its ancient importance may still be seen in a square 
 tower, or keep of a castle, which was formerly used as a court ; 
 and a prison, where those criminals were tried and confined, who 
 offended against the stannary laws. 
 
 Beauties of England and Wales. 
 
 Browne, in an old humorous ballad relative to this town and 
 castle, says : 
 
 They have a castle on a hill, 
 
 I took yt for an old wyndmill. 
 
 The vanes blown down by weather. 
 To lye therein one night ’t is guest, 
 
 T were better to be ston’d and prest. 
 Or hang’d, now chuse you whether. 
 
 Ten men lesse roome within this cave 
 Than five mice in a lanthorn have ; 
 
 The keepers they are slye ones. 
 
 If any could devise by art. 
 
 To get yt upp into a cart, 
 
 ’T were fit to carry lyons. 
 
 One told me in kinge Caesar’s time 
 The towne was built with stone and lyme. 
 But sure the walls were clay. 
 
 And they are fallen for ought I see. 
 
 And since the houses are gott free. 
 
 The towne is run away. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 O Caesar, yf thou there didst raigne. 
 While one house stands, come ther agayn, 
 Come quickly while ther is one. 
 
 If thou but stay a lyttle fytt. 
 
 But fyve years more, they will commyt 
 The whole town to a prison. 
 
 E 
 
14 
 
 I kist the mayor’s hand of the town. 
 
 At six o'clock I came away. 
 
 And pray d for thoes that were to stay 
 
 Who, though he weare no scarlett gown. 
 
 Honours the rose and thistle. 
 
 Within a place so arrant, 
 
 Wyde and ope the wynds so roar. 
 
 By God’s grace I ’ll com ther no more. 
 
 A piece of corall to the mace. 
 
 Which there I saw to serve in place, 
 Would make a good child’s whistle, 
 
 Unlesse by som tynn warrant. 
 
 Topographer , Vol. II. 
 
 Lydford or Lyghatford, was a town of some noteduring the Saxon 
 heptarchy ; and so great were once its privileges, that it was not 
 rated at any other time, or for any other cause, than London was. 
 
 Ihe large limits of this parish, and the distance of some of its 
 villages from the church, occasioned a petition from several of the 
 parishioners to Walter bishop of Exeter, dated September 13, 
 120o. In this petition they represented the inconvenience of 
 their attending divine service ; in consequence of which, the 
 bishop ordered, with the consent of the patrons, that the inhabit- 
 ants of Balberg and Pushill, two villages on the moor, on account 
 of their distance from Lydford, their mother church, “ being eight 
 miles in fair, and fifteen in foul weather,” should resort to Withe- 
 combe church ; and for such their privileges should pay their tithe 
 lambs and three parts of their offerings to the parson of Withe- 
 combe, and all other tithes to their mother church. 
 
 Lydford bridge is a great curiosity; the first appearance of it is no 
 other than a common road bridge of one arch ; but when you reach 
 it and look over, the depth is truly tremendous. The rugged 
 rocks on both sides, that in some places almost join (so narrow is 
 the channel), the broken abruptness and wild irregularity of each, 
 and the perturbed stream roaring below, as if it had even yet to 
 force its way through the rocky impediments— afford a picture of 
 the sublime, adapted to the pencil of a Salvator Rosa. 
 
 At Lydford bridge, the channel of the river Lyd is undoubtedly 
 seventy feet deep : and the surface of the water scarcely ever less 
 than sixty feet below the bridge, though it is not above seven or 
 
 2 
 
Etch* byJ- Lxre 'u] 
 
 Drawn by S Trout . 
 
 JLTOF©^® 3B2MTIE)©!! 
 
15 
 
 eight feet between the rocks, which, on each side, project irregu- 
 larly. Risdon says, that “ the hideous noise of the water can 
 only be heard,” and that the river cannot be seen by the passen- 
 ger ; but this is a mistake. Its channel is visible in summer, when 
 the water is at the lowest, and is certainly one of the finest spe- 
 cimens of a river wearing out its bed. 
 
 Polwheles Devonshire . 
 
 GATEWAY OF THE WHITE FRIARS MONASTERY, 
 STAMFORD, LINCOLNSHIRE. 
 
 The White or Carmelite Friary was seated about a stone’s throw 
 east from St. Paul’s gate, where the road divides for Rihall and 
 Ufiington ; by the walls yet standing, it appears to have been a 
 large structure; and tradition says, it was a very magnificent one, 
 and particularly famous for a beautiful church and steeple. 
 
 Above the western entrance are three niches, where probably 
 three statues stood, each of which had a coat of arms over it, cut 
 in the stone-work ; those of each side are defaced ; the centre one 
 had the arms of France and England, quartered. It was founded 
 by Henry III. and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Many of our 
 monarchs were lodged and entertained here, in their journies to 
 and from the north. Edward III. lodged in it, and held a council 
 here when he was at Stamford. This monastery was surrendered, 
 October 8, 153Q, by its then prior. 
 
 Harrod's Antiquities of Stamford and St. Martins. 
 
IQ 
 
 ST. SEPULCHRE’S CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON. 
 
 1 he church dedicated to the honour of the Holy Sepulchre is 
 situated at the north end of the town, is of a circular form, and 
 consists of a body, north and south aisle, leaded. In the middle is 
 a cupola, covered also with lead, and supported by eight pillars of the 
 Tuscan order, each pillar standing at the distance of eight feet from 
 one another, and forming an angle with the pillar next adjoining ; 
 at the east end is a chancel, with a north and south aisle, to which 
 you enter from the church by an ascent of three steps. At the 
 west end is a broad embattled tower, on which is raised a pyra- 
 midal spire, of eight sides. In the tower are six bells. The 
 length of the church and chancel is 97 feet 0 inches ; the breadth 
 of the chancel and aisles, 58 feet. The diameter of church and 
 aisles is 58 feet 6 inches ; and the compass of the circle of the 
 eight pillars, measured outwards, 1 1 2 feet 8 inches. The tower is 
 in length 16 feet 6 inches, and 11 feet 6 inches in breadth. The 
 height of the spire is about 1 1 6 feet. On the south side is a porch 
 covered with slate ; the register bears date in 1571 . The church 
 was probably built by the knights templars, after the model of the 
 church erected over the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. The body 
 only was first built ; the chancel and steeple plainly appearing to 
 have been added afterwards. This church, with four acres of land, 
 was given to the convent of St. Andrew, by Henry I. and con- 
 firmed to them by Richard archbishop of Canterbury, and Hugh 
 Wells, bishop of London, in whose time the vicarage was or- 
 dained. In 1 254, 38 Henry III. the rectory was rated at four marks, 
 but there is no mention of the vicarage. In 1535, 26 Henry VIII. 
 it was valued at 6/. 1 2s. The vicarage amounting in its clear 
 yearly value, only to 20 /. los. 10 d. hath been discharged by the 
 
17 
 
 governors of queen Anne’s bounty, from the payment of first fruits 
 and tenths. After the dissolution of religious houses, the patronage 
 appears to have continued in the crown ; but belonged, in about 
 1640, to sir John Lambe, who sold it to Peter Whalley, esq. from 
 whom it came to Nathaniel Whalley, clerk, his grandson, who is 
 the present patron. The great tithes of this living, with those of 
 St. Giles, are now in the hands of — Pilkington, as impropriator 
 
 Of both parishes. Northamptonshire. 
 
 ORNAMENTED BRICK-WORK, NETTLESWELL CHURCH, 
 
 ESSEX. 
 
 This specimen of ornamental work, in bricks is inserted into the 
 wall of Nettleswell church on the south side near the porch: it 
 appears to be of the time of Henry VII. or rather earlier, and 
 perhaps alludes to the disputes between the houses of I ork and 
 Lancaster. In the centre is a radiant rose, so frequently displayed 
 by Henry VII. supported by animals scaled to the shoulders: 
 other portions contain a smaller rose, a bull, and a viper. 
 
 The parish of Nettleswell is situated at the south-east extremity 
 of the half-hundred of Harlow, and is, together with its appurte- 
 nances, computed to be about fifteen miles in circumference ; it 
 was one of the seventeen lordships given by king Harold to his 
 
 great abbey of Waltham at its foundation, though it does not occur 
 in the doomsday survey among the possessions of that monastery. 
 
 The church is a rectory valued at ^200 per annum ; and at the 
 dissolution of monasteries was granted to Richard Higham, esq. 
 The parsonage is a neat house, and built at the expense ot the 
 
 late incumbent, the Rev. A. Natt. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 F 
 
18 
 
 KENILWORTH PRIORY, WARWICKSHIRE. 
 
 I his priory of black canons was founded in 1122 by Geoffrey de 
 Clinton, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 
 
 For the redemption of his sins, Dugdale tells us v and for the good 
 estate of king Henry I. (whose consent he had to it), his own wife 
 and children, v^linton endowed it with all the lands and woods that 
 he had in the parish of Kenilworth, except what he had reserved 
 for the building of a castle and making a park, with many other 
 lands and liberties ; all which he enjoined his heirs to observe, on 
 pain of his curse, and God’s wrath. 
 
 Geoffrey his son, and Henry his grandson, not only confirmed 
 his gifts, but made considerable additions to the revenues of it, out 
 of their own estates ; the former granting them the tithes of all man- 
 ner of provisions whatsoever, that were carried into the castle. 
 
 There were many other benefactors to this priory, whose lands ' 
 and rents king Henry I. briefly reciting in his charter, confirmed, 
 and granted the canons great liberties and immunities at the same 
 time ; as did Henry II. insomuch that they had the privileges of 
 court-leet, assize of bread and beer, authority to try and punish 
 malefactors, freedom from county and hundred courts, free war- 
 ren within certain manors, &c. paying to the king, his heirs and 
 successors, 1 1 Ql . 2s. 8d. per annum. 
 
 At the time of the dissolution it was valued at 543/. 155 . Ad. per 
 annum, above all reprizes; which being included, the true value was 
 643/. 145. 0 \d. The house was surrendered by Pinion Jekys, its 
 abbot, and sixteen monks : these had all pensions assigned them, in 
 the 2Qth of Henry VIII. who granted the site of it to sir Andrew 
 Flamock, a courtier of the time; whose grand-daughter and heiress 
 brought it with her in marriage to John Col born, esq. of Morton 
 Morell; but 'he having purchased some horses that had been stolen 
 
 2 
 
19 
 
 out of the stables of the earl of Leicester, near the castle, was 
 frightened into a conveyance of his right to that nobleman, to 
 whom queen Elizabeth had before given the manor and castle. 
 
 It is now almost entirely demolished, there being only the gate 
 and some small parts of the walls remaining ; but their distances 
 from each other, and their curious architecture, show that it has 
 been a spacious and beautiful structure. /’* 
 
 NETHER HALL, ESSEX, 
 
 Is so named from the low situation of the house near the conflux 
 ence of the rivers Lea and Stort. It is situated in the parish of 
 Roydon, about a mile and a half south-west of' the church, and 
 was formerly the seat of the Colt family, which appears to have 
 been settled here as early as the reign of Edward IY. : from what 
 family or in what way the manor came into the possession of the 
 Colts is not known. It was first noticed as a manor in 1401, when 
 Thomas, son of John Organ, conveyed it to Nicholas Collorn and 
 Thomas Prudence. The ancient mansion, which had been con- 
 certed in to a farm-house, Was demolished about the year 1773, the 
 gateway and some portion of the walls only being left standing 
 through the strength of the brick- work, which rendered their de- 
 struction too expensive. The whole building was surrounded by 
 a moat, and the moat encompassed with a wait. 
 
 The gateway, which consists of two floors, is of brick, with a 
 half-hexagon tower on each side of the entrance; nearly the whole 
 ot one of them has fallen in, and the space between them is in a 
 very ruinous condition. Each floor is occupied by only one room, 
 measuring about twenty-seven feet by twenty-three and a hah; 
 formerly lighted by large and elegant windows ; the upper story is 
 
20 
 
 nearly destroyed. The ceiling of the lower story is of wainscot, sus- 
 tained by arches of the same material, resting in front on three 
 blank shields, and a truss composed of a radiant rose ; and at the 
 back, on four trusses, the first and third of which represent griffins, 
 the second and fourth a bear and ragged staff : the westernmost 
 shield is supported by two horses ; the second is held by a sprea 
 eagle, supported by a lion and unicorn ; and the third rests on a 
 lioness and bull, ducally crowned. The room has been wainscoted 
 to about the height of eight feet : above, on the plaster, are ru_e.) 
 painted in compartments various figures, purporting to be repre- 
 sentations of some of the most eminent persons in sacred, profane, 
 and fabulous history, whose names are thus added in the eastern 
 bow— “ Hercules, Georg for Ing.” In the western bow, “ God- 
 fery of Bulen, Chari the Great.” There was formerly anotner 
 figure in this compartment, now erased. On the west wall, over 
 a window, is a black figure blowing bubbles, dividing this sentence : 
 “Time tarrieth for no man. Hector.” On the north, David be- 
 tween two figures, nearly erased. On the east wall, u ious 
 
 Seaser” and “ Judus Maccabieus.” 
 
 On the summit of one of the side-walls of the gateway are con- 
 siderable remains of two curiously twisted chimnies : a trefoil orna- 
 ment appears to have nearly surrounded the upper part of the gate- 
 way ; it is again introduced beneath the windows, and round the 
 towers, upon a parallel with their bases in the lower story ; the 
 brick-work of the towers is in many parts tessellated, as it is like- 
 wise upon the most perfect part of the adjoining wall : the gateway 
 is embattled, and has a square projection at the corner ; the tre- 
 foil ornament is here continued. Above the entrance is a mac n- 
 colation, and the place where the portcullis has been is yet to be 
 seen. The remains of this ancient manorial mansion are almost 
 every day suffering dilapidations for the purposes of the tenant who 
 now holds the lands around it ; considerable quantities ot the ma- 
 
21 
 
 terials supply the place of gravel on the roads and cartways in the 
 vicinity. Many noble trees still stand near the moat, which we 
 understand are marked for the axe. 
 
 To Thomas Colt, esq. who was employed on some foreign 
 embassy by Edward IV. is attributed the erection of this manor- 
 house, as representations of both the coats on his monument in 
 Roydon church were to be seen on a doorcase in the farm-house 
 before it was destroyed, viz. afess between three colts (Colt), im- 
 paling gerrone of eight trees (Butt). His epitaph is as follows : 
 
 “ Nobilis ille Thomas Colte, armiger, hie requiescit, 
 
 Edwardi regis consul honorificus. 
 
 Prudens, discretus, fortis, tam consiliisquam 
 Armis, vis talem quis reperire potuit 
 Illias sobolu sponse dneq. Johanne, 
 
 Stirpis prasclaraj tumba dat effigiem. 
 
 s anno 
 
 MC quater semel lxv bis et xi probus iste 
 s die 
 
 Augusti mensis x bis et i bis obiit.” 
 
 In Holy Cross, or Westgate church, Canterbury, there is a 
 memorial of Robert Colt, a common brewer ; and from his armo- 
 rial bearings, which are three colts, he was probably one of the 
 same family. He died Dec. O* 1444 . 
 
 ABBOTSBURY ABBEY, DORSETSHIRE. 
 
 This once splendid and extensive abbey was founded, according 
 to some historians, by Orcus or IJrkus, steward of the royal palace 
 to Canute, and Thola his wife, about the year 102O, for Benedic- 
 tines : but by others it is asserted, that Orcus only expelled the 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
22 
 
 secular canons, who had for some time before been established 
 here, and introduced regular ones in their room. Edward the Con- 
 fessor bestowed upon the Benedictines of Abbotsbury all wrecks 
 found on the shores near the place, which were afterwards con- 
 firmed to them by Henry I. who likewise added many immunities 
 and privileges. 
 
 Of this abbey so little remains, that it bfecomes extremely diffi- 
 cult to trace the arrangements of its parts ; the most extensive por- 
 tion of the ruins is used as a barn; but whether originally devoted 
 to that purpose or not, is now unknown. It is surrounded by a 
 parapet, communicating with turrets at its angles. Only half of 
 this building is now in use. The walls of the other portion being 
 in a ruinous state, are beautifully varied with the appendages with 
 which nature has clothed them, and afford a most striking contrast 
 to the part now occupied. The gatehouse, formerly the principal 
 entrance to the abbey, a portion of the adjoining walls, the dor- 
 mitory, now used as a stable, a ruinous porch which apparently 
 belonged to the conventual church, and two buildings, conjectured 
 to be the malthouse and brewhouse of the original establishment, 
 are all the other parts of which the least traces are left. The gate- 
 house or entrance consists of a large pointed arch, the interior of 
 which is groined, and a small portal separated from it by a broad 
 buttress ; over them are some of the ancient chambers, now used 
 as a deposit for corn, and other purposes. Considering the general 
 devastation of this abbey, it is rather surprising that this part has 
 received so little injury. 
 
 The church, which contained the remains of the founders, Orcus 
 and his wife, with the descendants of their family, together with 
 many eminent personages, is totally destroyed, except the before- 
 mentioned porch : a conception therefore can only be formed of its 
 original splendour, from a knowledge of tne numerous chantries 
 and chapels which were attached to it. The principal of these, Sh 
 
- 
 
a 
 
23 
 
 Mary s chapel, was in all its parts most exquisitely wrought, and 
 finished in the purest style of English architecture. At the disso- 
 lution of monasteries the manor of Abbotsbury, together with the 
 abbey, were granted to sir Giles Strangeways, who preserved the 
 chapel of St. Mary as a place of sepulture for himself and family, 
 and near it erected a substantial mansion with part of the abbey 
 materials ; but both chapel and mansion were levelled to the ground 
 during the civil wars in the reign of Charles I.; at which time also 
 the meritorious work of destroying the abbey was completed to 
 nearly the state in which it now remains. 
 
 Abbotsbury, an inconsiderable market-town, is situated in a 
 valley, surrounded by hills of great magnitude, at the distance of 
 about one mile from the sea-shore, and consists of three streets, 
 divided nearly into the form of the letter Y. The buildings are 
 of stone; the number of houses is 173; the inhabitants are 7 ; 8 , 
 whose principal employment is fishing. 
 
 On an eminence, half a mile south-west from the town, stands 
 a small ancient edifice, called St. Catherine’s Chapel, which, 
 from the loftiness of its situation, and its own height, serves both 
 for a sea and land mark. The materials with which it is built are 
 a reddish stone, obtained from the hill upon which it stands : the 
 whole building, although but recently repaired, is going fast to 
 decay. 
 
 At the end of a ridge of hills, about a mile and a half west of 
 Abbotsbury, is an old fortification called Abbotsbury Castle : its 
 form is nearly square, with the angles rounded off. On the north 
 side is a rampart, and on the south another ; but neither of them 
 Fise above the area. On the east side are two very high and thick 
 ramparts, and on the west are two others, but not equal in height 
 or thickness to those on the east. 
 
 The greatest curiosities to strangers who visit Abbotsbury, ex- 
 cepting those already mentioned, are the decoy and the swannery 
 
 4 
 
24 
 
 The decoy is about one mile south-west from the town, and is 
 well covered with wood ; here great numbers of wild fowl re- 
 sort, and are taken. Not far from the decoy is the swannery, 
 in which are kept Goo or 700 swans ; formerly as many thou- 
 sands. 
 
 ST. MICHAEL’S MOUNT, CORNWALL. 
 
 St. Michael’s Mount is one of those rare and commanding ob- 
 jects which arrest and fix the attention the moment they are seen. 
 Its peculiar situation, and the sublime character it assumes from 
 appearing to rise immediately from the waves, singularly interest 
 the imagination of the observer, though, when viewed from the 
 land, its magnitude is apparently diminished, from the vast extent 
 of the horizon, and the expanded tract of water which surrounds 
 its base. At high tides it' appears a completely insulated congre- 
 gation of rocks, rising to a considerable height, gradually de- 
 creasing in size, till, assisted by the tower of the chapel on its 
 summit, it assumes the form of a complete pyramid. At low 
 water it may be approached from the shore over a kind of cause- 
 way of sand and rocks, which are submerged by every rising tide, 
 and the Mount again rendered a perfect island. Some of the 
 masses of rock in the intermediate space are immensely large, 
 and all composed of granite of a close texture, with its felspar of 
 a pinkish colour. The Mount itself consists of a hard granite, 
 in which transparent quartz is the preponderating substance. 
 From various stations its appearance is different, being in some 
 places nearly perpendicular, and at others of a gentle declivity ; 
 and, though the rocks are for the most part craggy and barren, 
 yet the soil affords sufficient herbage to pasture a score of sheep, 
 or upwards, for the whole year. It has also some small planta- 
 
25 
 
 tions of fir scattered over its surface. The distant view of the 
 Mount excites ideas of impressive grandeur ; but the effect is 
 considerably increased when traversing its base, ascending its 
 eraggy sides, or slowly winding beneath its immense masses of 
 pendent rocks. Ihe whole scene is singularly calculated to in- 
 flame the enthusiasm of the poet ; and a mind of no common 
 mould has thus poured the note of sublimity from the vocal shell 
 on contemplating the beauty of the prospect, and revolving the 
 events which the traditionary lore of past ages represents to have 
 occurred on this spot : 
 
 Majestic Michael rises ; he whose brow 
 Is crown’d with castles, and whose rocky sides 
 Are clad with dusky ivy ; he whose base, 
 
 Beat by the storms of ages, stands unmov’d 
 Amidst the wreck of things— the change of time. 
 
 That base, encircled by the azure waves, 
 
 Was once with verdure clad ; the tow’ring oaks 
 Here wav’d their branches green : the sacred oaks, 
 
 Whose awful shade among, the Druids stray’d 
 To cut the hallow’d mistletoe, and hold 
 High converse with their gods. 
 
 Another poet of eminent genius has also characterized the Mount 
 in the following classic terms : 
 
 Mountain, the curious Muse might love to gaze 
 On the dim record of thy early days ; 
 
 Oft fancying that she heard, like the low blast, 
 
 The sounds of mighty generations past. 
 
 Thee the Phoenician, as remote he sail’d 
 Along the unknown coast, exulting hail’d, 
 
 And when he saw thy rocky point aspire, 
 
 Thought on his native shores of Aradus or Tyre. 
 
 Thou only, aged Mountain, dost remain, ' 
 
 Stem monument ! amidst the delug’d plaih ! 
 
 And fruitless the big waves thy bulwarks beat. 
 
 The big waves slow retire, and murmur at thy feet. 
 
 H 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
20 
 
 The first of these extracts has reference to the popular belief 
 of St. Michael’s Mount having, in the remote ages of antiquity, 
 been situated in a wood ; a circumstance to which its name, in 
 the Cornish language, gives a considerable degree of plausibility : 
 its Cornish appellation was Carak-ludgh in Luz, which signifies 
 the gray or hoary Rock in the Wood ; and by this title it is men- 
 tioned by William of Worcester, who wrote his Travels over 
 England about the year 1490, and, in speaking of St. Michael, 
 employs these w r ords : ec Apparicio Sancti Machadis in monte 
 tumba antea vocato, Le Jioclt Rock in the if odd. I he tradition 
 is partly confirmed by the testimony of Leland, who remarks 
 that “ in the baye betwyxt the Mont and Pensants be found 
 neere the lowe water marke, rootes of trees yn dyvers places 
 and Borlase, in a paper published in the fiftieth volume ot the 
 Philosophical Transactions, strengthens the evidence by relating 
 the discovery of roots and trunks of trees, some of them im- 
 bedded in the natural soil, but covered with sand, and submerged 
 by twelve feet of water every flowing tide. Ptolemy calls the 
 mount Ocrinum ; but soon after the sixth century it seems to have 
 received its present name from the apparition of St. Michael, 
 whose appearance, according to the monkish legends, to some 
 hermits on this Mount, occasioned the foundation of the monas- 
 tery. The place where the vision sat was a craggy spot, in a dan- 
 gerous situation, near the upper part of the rock, which in the 
 time of Carew still bore the name of St. Michael s chair ; but that 
 appellation has since been transferred to a more accessible, but 
 equally dangerous spot, on the summit of one of the angles of 
 the chapel. However little the credit that can be attached to this 
 wild tale, it is certain that the Mount became hallowed at a very 
 early period, that it was renowned for its sanctity, and was, for 
 a ume, an object of frequent pilgrimage. The superstitious ve- 
 
2 7 . 
 
 neration p&id to it by the mistakenly devout is alluded to by 
 Spenser in his Shepherd’s Calendar, and in terms sufficiently ex- 
 plicit to mark its fame : 
 
 In evil hour thou erst in hond, • 
 
 Thus holy hills to blame, 
 
 For sacred unto saints they stond, 
 
 And of them have their name. 
 
 St. Michael’s Mount who does not know. 
 
 That wards the western coast ? 
 
 When it was first consecrated to religious purposes is un- 
 known ; but the earliest time it is on record as a place of devo- 
 tion is the fifth century, though it seems probable that it was 
 then highly celebrated, as St. Keyna, a holy virgin of the British 
 blood royal, and daughter of Braganus prince of Brecknockshire, 
 is stated to have come hither on pilgrimage, about the year 490. 
 Here she was joined by her nephew Cadoc, who is reputed to have 
 caused a fountain to spring up in a dry place, on which a church 
 was erected to his honour, upwards of 500 years afterwards. Ed- 
 ward the Confessor founded on this spot a priory of Benedictine 
 monks, on whom he bestowed the property of the Mount, toge- 
 ther with several other places. The peculiar respect in which this 
 church was held, may in some degree be estimated from the fol- 
 lowing particulars copied from an instrument recorded by William 
 of Worcester, and asserted to have been found among its ancient 
 registers : 
 
 •* To all members of holy mother church who shall read or hear 
 these letters, peace and salvation. Be it known unto you all, that 
 our most holy lord pope Gregory, in the year of Christ’s incarna- 
 tion 1070, out of his great zeal and devotion to the church of 
 Mount St. Michael in Tumba in the county of Cornwall, hath 
 piously granted unto the aforesaid church, which is intrusted to 
 
28 
 
 the angelical ministry, and with full approbation consecrated and 
 sanctified, to remit to all the faithful who shall enrich, endow, or 
 visit the said church, a third part of their penance ; and that this 
 grant may remain for ever unshaken and inviolable, by the autho- 
 rity of God the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 
 he forbids all his successors from attempting to make any altera- 
 tion against this decree.” We learn from the same author, that 
 these words were placed publicly on the gates of the church, and 
 enjoined to be read in other churches, that the devout might be 
 induced to visit the Mount more frequently, and in greater numbers. 
 
 Beauties of England and Wales . 
 
 TINTAGEL CASTLE, CORNWALL. 
 
 T. he most interesting objects on the coast of Cornwall are 
 the remains of Tintagel, or king Arthur’s Castle, scattered amidst 
 such wildness of scenery as seems the work of magic power; on 
 every side nature appears in wild solemnity. The principal re- 
 mains of this fortress are on a bold promontory, stretching out on 
 the sea, and nearly separated from the land by an immense chasm; 
 this peninsula was anciently joined to the shore, with the commu- 
 nication of a drawbridge, and after its destruction was supplied 
 by trunks of trees ; but the only access, at present, is by a narrow 
 sheep-path, overlooking a hideous cliff, which cannot be climbed 
 without the utmost danger. The island contains many acres of 
 excellent pasturage for sheep; two or three, being put forward, 
 lead the rest over the crumbling ledge. There are no doubts of 
 this castle being a British structure, and built in the rudest times, 
 when the Cornish Britons had not learnt any thing of the art from 
 the Romans; what remains is constructed with slate, pierced with 
 

 
 
 
 . 
 
2g 
 
 loop-holes, and strengthened with buttresses. Tintag£l was the 
 seat of the dukes and earls of Cornwall to the time of Edward U 
 when palaces and castles were converted into prisons, and magni- 
 ficence fell into ruins ; but it is particularly famous for giving birth 
 to the hero of the west, the enterprising Arthur, who is said to 
 have imbibed the spirit of his native spot, and to have united the 
 savage warrior with the religious enthusiast. 
 
 After the death of Ambrosius Aurelius, A. D. 4Q7, it is said, 
 that a Briton, named Uter, having been victorious over his 
 Saxon enemies, made a triumphal feast for the principal nobility 
 and soldiers of his kingdom ; giving orders that the invitation to 
 his court should be extended to their wives and daughters, to 
 unite their congratulations over his pagan enemies. Among the 
 princes who attended this celebration was Gothlois, earl and duke 
 of Cornwall, with Igerna, his lady, with whose beauty and charms 
 the king was so much delighted, as to omit the necessary affairs of 
 his kingdom to enjoy her company. Gothlois, possessed with jea- 
 lousy, abruptly left the court, and, with Igerna, returned to his 
 own country, obstinately refusing obedience to the commands of 
 Uter, considering himself a free prince, who owed neither homage 
 nor allegiance; whereupon Uter denounced hostility against him ; 
 but Gothlois still persisted, notwithstanding his threats, from which 
 the king’s hopes were considerably dismayed, and the anguish of 
 disappointment increased, having learnt that the object of his desires 
 was secured within the impregnable fort of Dundagel (Tintagel), 
 “ which was a place munified by art and nature, and of so narrow an 
 entrance over the sea and rocks, by a drawbridge, that three armed 
 men at once would keep out his whole army, and maugre all their 
 skill and strength.” Uter found the force of his arms ineffectual, 
 being altogether discomfited in his attempts; but as he was more 
 desirous to vanquish the chastity of Gothlois’s lady (Igerna) than 
 to shed blood, he resolved to have recourse to the magic .art of the 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 i 
 
30 
 
 old British prophet (Merlin), who bid the king be of good com- 
 fort, for that he doubted not but in a short time he would introduce 
 him into the company of Igerna ; “ whereupon Merlin ordered 
 the king, together with Ursan, of Richardock, to attend him one 
 night in the twilight, with whom, in secret manner, he went to- 
 wards the drawbridge of Dundagel castle, where, making a noise, 
 the sentinel demanded in the dark, who they were? Merlin, being 
 transformed into the shape of Bricot, a servant who waited on 
 Gothlois, and lay in his bedchamber, made answer, that his duke, 
 Gothlois, escaped from the siege of Dameliock, was at the gate for 
 entrance. The sentinel apprehending he heard the very voice of 
 Bricot, and seeing at some distance two persons talking together, 
 the one king Uter, metamorphosed into the shape of duke Goth- 
 lois, and another Ursan, of Richardock, transformed into the shape 
 of Jordan, of Dundagel], let down the drawbridge, and so gave 
 them opportunity to enter into the insular castle aforesaid ; where 
 he had further confirmation of the identity or reality of their per- 
 sons by their speech and apparel, as far as the night would permit 
 him. Whereupon he joyfully conducted king Uter to Igerna’s 
 chamber, who, in bed, not discovering the fraud, gladly received 
 him for her lord; when, that very night betwixt them w r as begot- 
 ten that valiant, noble, and religious prince Arthur*.” 
 
 The same night Uter’s soldiers seized the castle of Dameliock 
 (now St. Udye) maintained by Gothlois, who fell in the conflict. 
 Soon after, king Uter was publicly married to Igerna, by whom 
 (as afore-mentioned) he had a son named Arthur, and a daughter 
 named Ayme. 
 
 In consequence of the achievements of Arthur being so inter- 
 woven with fabulous and imaginary accounts, many rigid histo- 
 rians have doubted his existence; but of his acts, lord Bacon says, 
 “ There is truth enough to make him famous, besides what is fa- 
 
 * Hals, p. 9$. 
 
31 
 
 bulous.” He was born in the year 500 , fifteen years after which he 
 is said to have succeeded his father in the kingdom, and to have lost 
 his life in the 30th year of his reign, in a battle near Camelford, 
 
 SCULPTURED STONE IN THE CHURCHYARD OF LANT- 
 WIT MAJOR, GLAMORGANSHIRE. — No. I. 
 
 The situation of this place, though rather low, is yet pleasant, 
 being at a little distance only from the sea, and is more particularly 
 famous, as being the residence for some time, of German us and 
 Lupus, sent here for the extirpation of heresy. Besides the remains ol 
 the celebrated schools in which so many nobles are supposed to have 
 been educated, and the ruins of many other buildings, there are 
 several streets in different directions, that retain their names, though 
 the houses on each side are destroyed. A large old building called 
 the town-hall is still standing. Several curious monumental stones 
 are seen in the church and churchyard, and figures of a very ancient 
 date. The subject at present before us is supposed to be a grave- 
 stone, and has a rude inscription on it ; it lies on the south side ot 
 the church, and is about four feet long, but seems to have been 
 broken. 
 
 Archceologia, Vul, vi. 
 
 SCULPTURED STONE AT PEN Y MYNIDD, 
 BRECKNOCKSHIRE.— No. II. 
 
 I his stone is marked with a cross cut within a small semicircular 
 sort of channel or groove, each bar of the cross having besides, on 
 
cither aide, a parallel range of dots or points. What the remaining, 
 sculptures on this stone mean, is not now to be determined. 
 
 Jlrchceologicij Vol. iv. 
 
 Pen y Mynidd is situated on the eastern side of Anglesea, near 
 the great post-road from London to Holyhead, and six miles from 
 Bangor Ferry. It is celebrated for being the native place of Owen 
 Tudor, from whom have descended a numerous race of kings. 
 Whether he was lord of the manor, does not appear. By what 
 means he found his way to court, is uncertain ; but at his first 
 introduction, being unacquainted with the English tongue, he was 
 Called “ the dumb Welshman.” 
 
 Catherine of France, the widow of Henry V. married Owen Tu- 
 dor in 1428, and, from what can be collected from history, they 
 lived agreeably together. The queen lived nine years after her 
 marriage, and died January S, 143 7 , in Bermondsey. On her 
 grandson Henry VII. ascending the throne, her relics were taken 
 up, and never interred after ; but lay neglected in a shabby coffin 
 near Henry V.’s monument in Westminster Abbey. By Catherine, 
 Owen had three sons, Edmund, Jasper, and Owen ; he had also a 
 daughter by her, who died young. Though the court took no 
 notice of the father, except to punish him, they attended to the 
 children. Edmund was created earl of Richmond, and married 
 the heiress of the house of Beaufort, pretenders to the crown after 
 the reigning family. He died in 1450, at the age of 27 , leaving 
 his son, afterwards Henry VII. fifteen weeks old. Jasper was earl 
 of Pembroke. In 1459, Henry VI. granted to sir Owen Tudor, 
 he having been knighted by his own son the earl of Pembroke, 
 ^100 yearly out of his manors of Falkston, Walton, and Bensted, 
 in Kent ; and the next year, some emoluments out of the lordship 
 of Denbigh. But he enjoyed these but a short time ; for in 14(3 1 
 he was taken prisoner by Edward IV. at the battle of Mortimer’s 
 Cross, in fighting for the house of Lancaster, as an officer under 
 
33 
 
 liis son the earl of Pembroke, was carried to Hereford, suffered 
 decapitation without trial, and was buried in the Gray Friars 
 Church. 
 
 FARLEY CASTLE, SOMERSETSHIRE. 
 
 •At what time this castle was erected, or who was its builder, is 
 not certainly known; indeed, considering its importance (at least 
 if one may judge from the extent of the ruins), it seems surprising 
 so little should be said of it in history. 
 
 The first account of Farley Castle is no further back than the 
 lOth of Edward III. when Farley, or Farleigh, appears to have 
 been the property of Bartholomew lord Berghersh, who then 
 obtained a charter of free warren for all his demesne lands here. 
 It was sold by his grand-daughter, the sole heir of his son Bartho- 
 lomew, with other estates, to Robert lord Hungerford, who for 
 his attachment to the house of Lancaster was attainted by parlia- 
 ment, when Edw 7 ardIV. w r as settled on the throne: his lands being 
 confiscated, this manor, and several other of bis estates, w r ere 
 given to Richard duke of Gloucester, brother to the king, in 
 ■Vvhose possession it continued till after his accession to the crown. 
 
 Richard, among the many honours and favours he bestowed on 
 John lord Howard, duke of Norfolk, and earl marshal of Eng- 
 land, in consideration of his faithful services to the house of York, 
 granted him the castle and lordship of Farley in special tail. It 
 seems afterwards to have returned to the Hungerfords ; but whe- 
 ther it w 7 as restored. to them, or they repurchased, does not appear. 
 By Camden’s manner of expressing himself it looks as if it did not 
 belong to them, 'when he wrote. His words are, “ Farley, 
 
 VOL. i. k 
 
 once 
 
34 
 
 a castle on a hill (but now pulled down), belonging, not many 
 years since, to the Hungerfords;” and yet from the date of some 
 monuments in the chapel, it appears to have been the burial-place 
 of that family as late as the year 1613. It was afterwards the 
 property of the earl of Huntingdon, and has since been purchased 
 by Frampton, esq. the present possessor. 
 
 The chapel in Farley Castle consists of a single aisle, having a 
 Lll *4, on i„ north ,ide , the ceding of which » 
 ornamented with (what was once) a fine painting of the resur- 
 rection, in many parts now demolished; but though it is exposed 
 to the injuries of the air and weather, the roof being decayed and 
 gone, the remaining part is remarkably, fresh. In a border next 
 this ceiling, are represented several saints. This chapel was (it 
 has been before observed) the burial-place of the Hungerfords, 
 though many other persons were probably interred here, as a great 
 heap of human bones are piled up in one corner of the building ; 
 and through every aperture ot broken pavement, more appeal. 
 Here are four monuments of the Hungerford family in the recess, 
 which 's paved with black and white marble; one very elegant, 
 representing a man and his wife carved in white marble, recum- 
 bent on a black marble slab. 
 
 Among many memorandums of the Hungerfords, the following 
 has- rather a pretty turn, particularly in the four last lines. It is 
 engraved on brass. 
 
 If birth or worth might add to rareness, life, 
 
 Or tears in man revive a virtuous wife, 
 
 Looke in this cabinet, bereav’d of breath. 
 
 Here lies the perle enclos’d; the which by death, 
 
 Sterne death, subdu’d, slighting vain worldly vice, 
 
 Achieving heaven, with thoughts of paradise. 
 
 She was her sexes wonder, great in blood, 
 
 But, what is far more rare, both great, and good. 
 
 She was with all celestial virtues storde. 
 
 The life of Shaa, and soul of Hungerforde. 
 
35 
 
 AN EPITAPH, 
 
 Written in memory of the late right 
 Noble and most truly virtuous 
 Mrs. Mary Shaa, 
 
 Daughter to the Right Hon ble . Walter Lord 
 Hongerford, sister and heyre general to the 
 Right Noble S r . E d . Hongerford, Knt. deceased, 
 And wife unto Thomas Shaa, Esq. leaving 
 Behind, Robert Shaa, her only sonne. 
 
 She departed this life in the faith 
 Of Christ, the last day of September, 
 Anno D ni 1613. 
 
 In a vault beneath this chapel, to which the descent is from 
 without, are six leaden coffins, exactly resembling those enclosing 
 Egyptian mummies, having the representation of a human ace 
 raised on them, a swelling about the shoulders, gradually tapering 
 to the feet : upon the upper lids of two of them are placed smaller 
 coffins, containing the bodies of children : they are kept fiom e 
 ground, being laid on pieces of stone, squared like large beams. 
 Here is likewise an urn, containing the bowels of some person who 
 
 was embalmed. , 
 
 Near the entrance into the chapel stands a chest of old armour, 
 
 formerly belonging to the Hungerfords, and brought from the 
 casile; on opening which, were found three original letters writ- 
 ten by Oliver Cromwell. Two of them, it is said, were lent to a 
 gentleman, who never returned them. The third is preserved in a 
 
 In the east wall are the remains of the communion-table, the 
 dab of which was not long ago taken away. The woman who 
 shows the ruins, says, that her grandfather was game-keeper o 
 
36 
 
 the last of the Hungerfords that possessed this castle, who sold 
 twenty-eight manois, and lived to be li5 years of agej but that, 
 owing to his great extravagance, the last thirty years of his life he 
 was reduced to subsist on charity. 
 
 Grose's Antiquities. 
 
 CHAPEL OF THE BEAD-HOUSE, HIGHAM FERRERS, 
 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
 
 1 he bead-house, or alms-house, stands on the south side of 
 Higham Ferrers church : it was founded by archbishop Chichely, 
 for twelve men, and one poor woman to attend them ; with a daily 
 allowance of one penny each. This building is much injured by 
 neglect, and the ravages of time : the interior was divided, by screens 
 of wood, into several compartments or cells; some of them are yet 
 standing. A crypt has lately been discovered under the floor, and 
 the key-stone being taken away, it now remains open, and may 
 easily be descended from the interior of the chapel, though the 
 original entrance appears to have been on the northern side from 
 the churchyard. A few years since, the windows of the chapel 
 retained a portion of their painted glass, but now not a shred re- 
 mains. On each side of the east window is a niche; and on the 
 south side, in a small cavity, is a bason, probably for the reception 
 
37 
 
 PEVENSEY CASTLE, SUSSEX. 
 
 P evensey, though now a small village, was formerly of some note. 
 Its castle is undoubtedly of great antiquity ; and, from the num- 
 ber of Roman bricks worked into its walls, is supposed to stand 
 upon the site of a still more ancient edifice. 
 
 At this place William the Conqueror made his debarkation ; 
 and about eight miles from hence was fought the decisive battle 
 of Hastings. The town and castle of Pevensey was given by the 
 Conqueror to Robert earl of Morton in Normandy, his brother 
 by the mother’s side, who was created earl of Cornwall in the 
 succeeding reign. He was succeeded in his possessions by Wil- 
 liam earl of Morton and Cornwall, who, on being refused the 
 earldom of Kent, entered into a rebellion; whereupon the king 
 seized upon this town and castle, and gave them to Gilbert de 
 Aquila, with all the land thereunto belonging. In the lifetime ot 
 his immediate successor this town and castle reverted to the 
 crown; and after divers changes, they, by gift from king Henry II. 
 became the property of Richard de Aquila, whose posterity en- 
 joyed them quietly till the reign of Henry III. when Gilbert de 
 Aquila, by disorderly conduct, made himself obnoxious to the 
 king, who seized upon all his estates. This honour, in the nine- 
 teenth year of his reign, the king granted to Gilbert Marshal, earl 
 of Pembroke, during pleasure. In the twenty-fifth year ot his 
 reign he gave the, honour to Peter de Savoy, uncle to his queen, 
 and afterwards granted him the inheritance thereof, with the castle 
 ; and its appurtenances. 
 
 Before the reign of James I. this castle was a part of the pos- 
 sessions of the dutchy of Lancaster; for James, by his letters pa- 
 
 VOL. i. 
 
 L 
 
tent under the seal of that dutchy, granted to Edward earl of 
 Dorset the castle of Pevensey and portreve of Pevensey, to hold 
 the same during his life. 
 
 For a considerable length of time this castle had been held by 
 the Pelham family, under a lease from the dutchy of Lancaster, till 
 some years since his grace the late duke of Newcastle gave it up to 
 the late earl of Wilmington, on his being created baron Pevensey. 
 It now belongs to the Northampton family. 
 
 From the ruined walls of this castle may be seen a most beau- 
 tiful prospect, the church of West-ham forming a principal fea- 
 ture in the view. 
 
 PORCHESTER CASTLE, HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 I he precise origin of this structure is unknown ; it is situated on 
 a neck of land, jutting out a considerable way towards the middle 
 ot Portsmouth harbour; it is a noble pile of a quadrangular form, 
 surrounding an area of between four and five acres ; and still in 
 sufficient preservation to be used as a place of confinement for pri- 
 soners of war; from 3000 to 5000 of whom have been secured 
 here at one time. The walls are from eight to twelve feet thick, 
 and about eighteen high ; having in many places a passage round 
 them, covered with a parapet. It has eighteen towers ot various 
 shapes and magnitudes, including those of the keep ; and is de- 
 fended on the north, west, and south sides, by a ditch, varying in 
 breadth, and fifteen feet deep ; on the east are two ditches, which 
 extend to the water, and have probably been filled by the influx of 
 the tide. The entrance on the west side is thirty feet deep and 
 
39 
 
 fourteen wide, under a square tower: on the inside, over the gate, 
 are two projecting figures, somewhat resembling Egyptian 
 ^ ^e east wall, nearly opposite this gate, is another of 
 like dimensions. There are likewise two sally-ports. The keep 
 encompasses a parallelogram of 65 by 1 1 5 feet. It has four towers, 
 three of them standing on the outside walls ; one of these, which 
 is much larger than the rest, forms the north-west angle of the 
 square : the fourth tower stands at the south-east corner of this 
 building. Here are many rooms, several very large, and some 
 arched with stone : among them is one which appears to have 
 been a chapel ; the entrance is through a gate on the south side, 
 only eight feet wide. Several of these towers, as well as parts of 
 the walls, are now in ruins. 
 
 In the keep, which forms the north-west angle of the castle, traces 
 of the architecture of the Saxon and Norman periods, and even of 
 later ages, to the time of queen Elizabeth, are plainly to be seen. 
 The great tower is lofty, and contains two vaults or dungeons at 
 bottom, with the remains of three double apartments above them, 
 in so many several stories ; its walls are nearly eight feet thick, 
 and its external dimensions on the north and south, fifty-seven 
 feet ; and on the east and west, fifty-eight feet ; all the light it 
 receives is from narrow loopholes, excepting only in the third 
 story, where, on two sides, in what appears to have been the state 
 apartments, are small windows in the very plainest Saxon style ; 
 all the windows are on the sides. Within the area, adjacent to this 
 tower, on the east, and indeed immediately connected with it, are 
 the remains of a building, which appears to have been formed sub- 
 sequently as an entrance, the original entrance having apparently 
 been by a flight of steps, on the same side. 
 
 In the year 3 209, the town and castle of Porchester, with the 
 forest, then valued at 16 /. 135 . were settled on queen Margaret, as 
 
4r 
 
 40 
 
 part of her dower ; and in a register of the abbey of Glastonbury 
 it appears, that in the 12th of Edward III. John Hacket, lieutenant 
 to the earl of Arundel, was constable of this castle, for the defence 
 of which, and the guard of Portsmouth, the abbot was bound to 
 find three men at arms for his lands in Wiltshire, and one for those 
 in Berks. This castle descended from the Nortons of Southwick, 
 in the same manner as their other estates, to the late Robert This- 
 tiethwayte, esq. of whose family it has been rented by govern- 
 ment, since it became a place of confinement for prisoners. 
 
 WELL, NEAR ST. AUSTEL, CORNWALL. 
 
 St. Austel is a market, but not a borough town, though of con- 
 siderably more importance than many places that depute represent- 
 atives in this county. It occupies the eastern side of a hill which 
 slopes gradually to a small rivulet, that babbles along a narrow 
 valley. This stream, as well as the inequality of the ground, have 
 been rendered exceedingly useful to the tin manufactories of the 
 neighbourhood ; as the water has been conducted round the side 
 of the hills, and in its course impels the machinery of several 
 stamping-mills, which have been erected on different levels. It is 
 also employed to cleanse and separate the tin from the pounded 
 matrix, by passing through several buddies. 
 
 The well is situated on one of the reaches of the stream. 
 
41 
 
 ELTHAM PALACE, KENT. 
 
 The manor of Eltham, which was a royal one from very remote 
 antiquity, was held, in the time of Edward the Confessor, under 
 the crown, by one Alwolde. King William the Conqueror gave 
 it to his half-brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and earl of Kent. 
 
 In 1522, king Henry VIII. bestowed it on sir Henry Guilford, 
 the comptroller of his household. 
 
 Edward VI. granted the manor of Eltham to sir John Yates, 
 who enjoyed it but a short time, being executed for high treason 
 in the last year of Edward’s reign. 
 
 The kings of England had a palace here at a very early period, 
 and here were kept many of the joyous Christmasings of ancient 
 days. Edward II. frequently resided here: in the year 13 i5, 
 his queen was brought to bed of a son in the palace, who, from 
 his birth in this place, acquired the name of John of Eltham ; and 
 it is probable, from that circumstance, this edifice has been called 
 king John’s palace. Edward III. held a parliament here in 1329 ; 
 and in the year 1304, he gave a magnificent entertainment at this 
 palace to John king of France, then a prisoner in England. 
 
 A survey was made of the palace in 104Q, and the materials va- 
 lued at 2754/. This survey is extremely interesting: it gives an 
 idea of the extent and magnificence of the building as it existed in 
 its original state. 
 
 The capital mansion called Eltham, is therein described to be built 
 of brick, wood, stone, and timber, and to consist of one fair chapel, 
 one great hall, forty-six rooms and offices below stairs, with two 
 large cellars; and above stairs seventeen lodging-rooms on the king’s 
 
 VOL. 1. M 
 
42 
 
 side, twelve on the queen’s side, and nine on the prince’s side, in all, 
 thirty-eight ; and thirty-five bayes of building, or seventy-eight 
 rooms in the offices round the court-yard, which contained one acre 
 of ground. None of the rooms were at this period furnished, except 
 the chapel and hall. The house was reported to be much out of 
 repair, and untenantable. The hall is now used as a barn, and the 
 other buildings, converted into modern dwellings, are called, with 
 the surrounding premises. Court Farm. 
 
 Approaching the ruins from the town, to the left is seen a large 
 fragment of the park wall, with its ancient gateway ; then the 
 moat, with its grassy bottom, the stone bridge by which it is 
 crossed, the high walls covered with ivy, and the magnificent hall. 
 The appearance of these relics is extremely impressive, and power- 
 fully recalls the memory of times, when — 
 
 “ Princes sat where nettles grow.” 
 
 OUSE BRIDGE, YORK. 
 
 T- his bridge, which is an object highly deserving of notice, is 
 composed of five pointed arches : the centre one stretches eighty- 
 one feet across the river, and is fifty- one feet high ; the remaining 
 four are of much smaller dimensions. It was built in 1500, on 
 the site of another bridge, of great antiquity, which was carried 
 away by an immense flood, bringing with it vast quantities of ice. 
 On the present bridge stands the great council- chamber of the city, 
 in which, till very lately, the records were kept ; but they now 
 
43 
 
 occupy a part of the guildhall. Beneath the great council-cham- 
 ber is the prison for felons ; and on the opposite side is a gaol for 
 debtors, built in 1 724 . At the foot of the bridge, on the east side of 
 the river, is a convenient quay or wharf, strongly walled and paved 
 for the lading and unlading of merchandise. On the banks of the 
 Ouse is a walk, nearly a mile in length, finely gravelled, and most 
 agreeably shaded with trees : at convenient distances are placed 
 grotesque chairs, for the accommodation of the company which 
 frequent it : the utmost attention is paid to the order and cleanli- 
 ness of this walk, and it is universally allowed to be equal to any 
 in the kingdom. 
 
 ALLINGTON CASTLE, KENT. 
 
 N ear the banks of the Medway stand the remains of Allington 
 Castle, which was originally built by the noble family of Colum- 
 barij, but was destroyed by the Danes. Soon after the conquest, 
 the manor was given to the great earl of Warrenne, who is stated 
 to have rebuilt the castle, but this is doubtful ; history informs us, 
 that sir Stephen de Penchester, constable of Dover castle, in the 
 reign of Edward I. and then owner of this manor, had the king’s 
 license to fortify and embattle his mansion-house here. The 
 castle afterwards came into the possession of the Cobhams, and 
 from them it passed in the reign of Edward IV. to the Brents, by 
 whom it w^as alienated to sir Plenry Wyatt, a descendant from a 
 respectable family in Yorkshire, who lost his liberty, and most of 
 his property, by engaging in a plot against Richard III. in favour 
 
44 
 
 of the earl of Richmond. Afterwards, when the earl became 
 Henry VII., sir H. Wyatt was released, and received from th? 
 king many honours : he made Allington Castle his chief residence ; 
 and here was bom his son and successor, the accomplished sir 
 Thomas Wyatt, styled, by Anthony Wood, the delight of the 
 muses and of mankind ; he was equally renowned as a scholar, a 
 soldier, and a statesman; he died in his thirty-eighth year, at 
 Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, of a violent fever, while on a journey 
 to Falmouth, in order to embark for Spain, whither Henry VIII. 
 had appointed him as ambassador* 
 
 KITS COTY HOUSE, KENT. 
 
 This well-known cromlech stands on the downs, about one mile 
 north-east from Aylesford church, and is generally supposed to be 
 the burial-place of Catigern, who lost his life in a great battle, 
 fought between the British under Vortimer, and the Saxons under 
 Iiengist and Horsa, in the year 455 . It is composed of four huge 
 unwrought stones ; three of them standing on end, but inclining 
 inwards and supporting the fourth, which lies transversely over 
 them, so as to leave a recess beneath. The height of the stone on 
 the south side, is eight feet, its breadth seven feet six inches, thick- 
 ness two feet : the middle stone is very irregular : the width of the 
 recess at bottom is nine feet, at the top seven feet and a half ; the 
 height from the ground to the upper side of the covering stone, 
 is nine feet About seventy yards towards the north-west from 
 Kits Coty House, was another single stone, of a similar kind and 
 dimensions to those forming the cromlech ; this, which is thought 
 
mmmmm 
 
*5 
 
 to have once stood upright, has been broken into pieces, and removed 
 About the distance of five hundred yards south by east, has been 
 another cromlech, consisting of eight or nine stones, now lying in 
 a confused heap, it having been thrown down about a century ago, 
 by order of the then proprietor of the land, who intended to break 
 the stones and sell them ; but their extreme hardness served as a 
 prevention, and they remain now nearly as he left them. 
 
 BRIDGENORTH CASTLE, SHROPSHIRE. 
 
 Brugge, or Bridgenorth, was built by Ethelfleda in the time of 
 the Saxon heptarchy. It consists of an upper and lower town, 
 which are separated by the river Severn, over which there is a 
 handsome stone bridge,, with a gatehouse. The castle stands on 
 the south end of the lofty rock which forms the upper town : 
 when, or by whom, it was built, is not certain. It is mentioned 
 as early as the reign of Henry I. when, according to Stowe and 
 others, both that and the town were strengthened by Robert dc 
 Belesme, earl of Shrewsbury, eldest son of Roger de Montgomery, 
 and held against the king, who, after a short resistance, made him- 
 self master of it, and permitted Belesme to retire to 'Normandy; 
 but seized his estates here. Robert finished within the walls of the 
 castle, a chapel, which was afterwards made a collegiate church 
 for a dean and six prebendaries, and dedicated to St. Mary Mag- 
 dalen. This chapel, Tanner says, was begun by his father, and, till 
 the general dissolution, was accounted a royal free chapel. In the 
 twenty-first of Elizabeth it was granted to sir Christopher Hatton. 
 
 VOL. I.. if 
 
 * 
 
46 
 
 In the siege above-mentioned, sir Ralph de Pitchford, one of the 
 king’s commanders, behaved himself so gallantly, that Henry 
 granted him an estate in the neighbourhood, called the Little 
 Brugge, to hold by the service of finding dry wood for the king’s 
 great chamber in the castle as often as he should come there. This 
 town and castle being thus in the possession of the crown, it con- 
 tinued there some time ; but in the reign of Henry II. was held by 
 Hugh de Mortimer against that monarch, who besieging it in per- 
 son, gave occasion to one of the most romantic acts of loyalty ever 
 recorded. Hubert de St. Clare, constable of Colchester castle, see- 
 ing one of the enemy taking aim at his sovereign, stepped before 
 him, and received the arrow in his own breast, thereby saving the 
 king’s life at the expense of his own : he died justly lamented by 
 his royal master, who took his only daughter into his immediate 
 protection ; and, when of a proper age, provided for her very ad- 
 vantageously in marriage. Nothing more occurs concerning this 
 fortress till the eighteenth of king John, when it was entrusted to 
 the care of Philip d’ Aubigny. In the tenth of Henry III. Henry de 
 Audeley was constable. In the tenth of Richard II. Hugh lord 
 Badlesmere was constituted governor of this castle, and had certain 
 lands in the town ; but the manor remained in the crown till John 
 Sutton, lord Dudleys in the first of Richard III. obtained a grant 
 of it for himself and his heirs male. The succession did not, as 
 it is said, continue long in his family ; his son being a weak and 
 extravagant man, was tricked out of his estates by usurers. The 
 following entry occurs ; In the last civil war, this castle was 
 totally demolished, and the collegiate church so injured, that it 
 was taken down and rebuilt; at present there is nothing left stand- 
 ing but what seems to have been a part of the tower, which, by 
 undermining, was made to incline so much, that it appears to 
 threaten destruction to such as approach it. It makes nearly an 
 
47 
 
 angle of seventy- three degrees with the horizon, or seventeen 
 from the perpendicular. The only ancient entrance to the town 
 now remaining, is the west gate, which is a pointed arch, and now- 
 in good repair. 
 
 CRYPT AT CHICHESTER. 
 
 > 
 
 The cathedral of Chichester, to which this curiously vaulted 
 chamber was annexed, has been for canons secular from the time 
 of its erection ; and therefore was not changed by Henry VIII. 
 The foundation consists of a dean, praecentor, chancellor, trea- 
 surer, two archdeacons, one of Chichester, the other of Lewes^j 
 thirty prebendaries, four of whom have ever been called to resi- 
 dence, and are styled canons residentiary, four vicars, and a suffi- 
 cient choir. The crypt is very extensive, and was probably the 
 kitchen in which provisions were prepared for the clergy ; behind 
 it are two ranges of vaults that might serve as butteries. 
 
 GOODRICH CASTLE, HEREFORDSHIRE. 
 
 Goodrich Castle stands on the western bank of the river Wye, 
 about sixteen miles from Hereford; it was formerly a place of 
 considerable strength and magnitude. The entrance into it is 
 over a small neck of land, supported on each side by a stone wall* 
 
43 
 
 near the south-east angle of the castle ; and a small bridge, having 
 ope Gothic arch, whose point is extremely acute, and half another, 
 \yhich is circular. The ground upon which the castle stands, 
 forms nearly a square, being about fifty-two yards long, and forty- 
 eight wide. The means of defence which this fortress possessed, 
 were great and various ; it had four large round towers, one at 
 each angle of the walls : it is situated on the summit of a hill, 
 two sides of which are nearly perpendicular ; and where the hill 
 does not form a defence, there is a deep ditch twenty yards broad, 
 hewn into the solid rock. 
 
 By whom, or when, this fortress was built, is entirely unknown. 
 Among the most perfect remains is to be reckoned the keep, a 
 square building, resembling Gondulph’s tower in Rochester 
 castle, but much less. This tower suffered much during the civil 
 wars, when the castle was dismantled and rendered untenable. 
 
 ANCIENT HOUSE, COVENTRY. 
 
 1 he old house in Little Park Street, here represented, was built 
 in 1028 , by sir Thomas Norton, and was his residence — it is a 
 curious specimen of the domestic architecture of that period. 
 There are some remains of painted glass in one of the windows, 
 particularly the arms of queen Elizabeth. It is now the property 
 
 of Gunman, esq. of Dover, who has considerable estates in 
 
 the neighbourhood of this city.. 
 
49 
 
 LOGAN, OR ROCKING STONE, NEAR DREW 
 STEIGNTON, DEVONSHIRE. 
 
 This monument of antiquity is poised upon another mass of 
 Stone, which is deep grounded in the bed of the river. It is un- 
 equally of great size ; at some parts six, at others seven feet in 
 height* and at the west end ten ; from its west to its east point it 
 may be in length about eighteen feet. It is flatfish at the top, and 
 seems to touch the stone below in no less than three or four places. 
 It is easily rocked with one hand. Both the stones are granite. 
 It seems to have been the work of nature. 
 
 Bohvhele. 
 
 LEYBOURNE CASTLE, KENT. 
 
 The remains of this castle are chiefly confined to a ruined gate- 
 way, machicolated and flanked by round towers, and some re- 
 mains of walls and arches. The whole has been surrounded by a 
 moat ; and within the site, though not very extensive, stands a 
 more modem mansion, now a farm-house, formerly the residence 
 of the Goldings, and in which Thomas Golding, esq, kept his 
 shrievalty in the year 1703. 
 
 Beauties of England and Wales.. 
 
 VOfc. I. 
 
50 
 
 FREE SCHOOL, COVENTRY. 
 
 At the end of Bisliopsgate Street, in Coventry, is the Free 
 School. It sprung out of an hospital, founded in the beginning 
 of the reign of Henry II. by Laurence, prior of Coventry, and 
 his convent, at the request of Edmund, archdeacon of Coventry, 
 for the reception of the sick and needy. At the dissolution, John 
 Hales, a gentleman who had a large share in the plunder of the 
 church, and having neither wife nor child, converted this found- 
 ation, which he had purchased at a very cheap rate, into a free 
 school, and endowed it with two hundred marks a year in land. 
 At first, the boys were instructed in the church of the White 
 Friars ; but the magistrates finding that Mr. Hales had bought the 
 lands, but not the church, took advantage of the flaw, re- 
 moved the scholars to the present place, and pulled down the 
 church. The chapel, now reduced to one aisle, is the present 
 school ; and the master resides in the house belonging to the 
 ancient master of the hospital. The school has also a library be- 
 longing to it 
 
 WOODFORD, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
 
 W ooDFoitD is remarkable as the supposed site of a Roman fort; 
 one of the line which Ostorius established on the river Nen, 
 for the purpose of checking the incursions of the northern inha- 
 bitants cf our island. Considerable vestiges, of a Roman station 
 
51 
 
 are yet evident; especially three tumuli, about half a mile north- 
 west of the town, near to which, tiles, fragments of a tessellated 
 pavement, an urn, all decidedly Roman, have formerly been 
 found. On the banks of the river, near the church, is a steep 
 and irregular terrace, apparently artificial, though too much broken 
 up to satisfy the antiquary, that it ever bore the rectangular form 
 of the Roman fort. 
 
 The church is pleasantly situated on the banks ot the river. 
 
 STANWICK, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. 
 
 Xhe lordship of Stanwick is in length about two miles, and about 
 one mile broad. The town is situate on a rising ground, from 
 west to east ; near which have been found fragments of a tessel- 
 lated Roman pavement. 
 
 Stanwick manor continued a part of the possessions of Peter- 
 borough abbey, till the dissolution of it. Falling then to the 
 crown, it was given by Henry VIII. to the dean and chapter, 
 which he founded there in the thirty-third year of his reign, but 
 was afterwards resumed by him. It continued in the hands of the 
 crown till the time of James I. or Charles I. when it was sold, 
 and at length passed into the family of Ekins. 
 
 The church, dedicated to St. Laurence, consists of a body, south 
 aisle, and chancel, all embattled and leaded. At the west end, 
 on an octagonal turret, in which are three bells, is a neat spire 
 steeple. The church and chancel are ninety-six, feet six inches 
 
52 
 
 long; the body and aisle thirty-seven feet six inches broad ; the 
 tower in length, fifteen feet three inches; in breadth, twelve 
 feet six inches. The right of patronage was in Peterborough abbey, 
 but coming, at the suppression of the monasteries, to the crown, 
 is now in the seals. It is in Higham deaaeiy. 
 
 THE EN2>. 
 
 . ^ , ' 1 1.1 
 
 Vnottd by S. Cosuxil, Link Queen tomt, Holbein, London. 
 

 
 
 
 
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